Jul 20, 2007

China's Latest Scapegoat

I don't find anyone much discussing the latest example of China's unique approach to dealing with individual and national misdeeds (let's call them both "greed") and face saving in the eyes of the International community (let's call this propaganda).

In the past, we've heard described capitalism with Chinese characteristics (i.e.
"the marriage between unchecked power and ill-gotten wealth" [1]), Christianity with Chinese characteristics (i.e. the Three-Self Church), and the Internet with Chinese characteristics (Lenovo and Dell hardware running a lot of pirated software, with Free-World based companies Yahoo and Google teaming with China's own Baidu, etc. to spy on Chinese netizens and censor Internet content that the dictators in Beijing consider a threat to their grip on power).

Recently we have been reminded of justice with Chinese characteristics (i.e. when the world is questioning the safety of your exports, find a scape goat and execute him. Yeah, that'll show 'em who's boss and just how serious you take the matter AND by the way, remember Tienanmen). Blogger John E. Carey calls the latest example of justice with Chinese characteristics (though he does not use that phrase) cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, in the People's Republic of China, though cruel, it is not
unusual.

[1] The dark side of China's dazzling economic boom, by Minxin Pei, Commentary, SF Chronicle

China: Guilty Again of Cruel and Unusual Punishment

By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
July 10, 2007

China’s state television and the official Xinhua News Agency said that China had executed Zheng Xiaoyu the former State Food and Drug Administration director.

Zheng Xiaoyu managed China’s operation to review and approve food and drugs from 1998 until 2005.

During Zheng’s tenure his agency approved six medicines that turned out to be fake, and the drug-makers used falsified documents to apply for approvals, according to previous state media reports. One antibiotic caused the deaths of at least 10 people.

Photo
Photo courtesy of Xinhua.

Zheng, 63, was convicted of taking cash and gifts worth $832,000 when he was in charge of the State Food and Drug Administration.

At the time of his conviction, nearly all China watchers predicted that his sentence would be downgraded to life imprisonment, which is frequently the practice in such cases. In fact, in recent memory, there are no known senior officials that actually met their executioners even after a death sentence.

This execution was a needless act of cruelty to assuage the fears of the west about Chinese-made products and to “save face” for the Chinese leadership.

Listen to how China’s government spokesman characterized the execution.

“The few corrupt officials of the SFDA are the shame of the whole system and their scandals have revealed some very serious problems,” agency spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said at a news conference held to highlight efforts to improve China’s track record on food and drug safety.

SFDA stands for the State Food and Drug Administration.

So China, to lesson its own shame and to regain its market share, heartlessly executed a bureaucrat whose crime was looking the other way for less than a million dollars.

We deplore this killing as a needless and wonton abuse of human rights. This one man is not the cause or source of China’s massive breakdown of proper procedures, checks and balances. His death adds nothing to China’s reputation and does nothing to restore western confidence in China’s products.

Related:

China Planning a Surreal Facade for Summer Olympic Games: Beijing 2008

Jul 14, 2007

The Peaceful Majority - by Wm Haynes

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War Two owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

"Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.

Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this
moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march.
It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.
It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.
It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill.
It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.
It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.
The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority," the "silent majority" is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia comprised Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population, it was peaceful as well, but Chinese
Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War 2 was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awake one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Jul 6, 2007

Author and Speaker Steve Wohlberg on Harry Potter and Wiccan

This story is published on the Canada Free Press website
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/christian062507.htm

Author Contends Harry Potter Fuels Wiccan Growth Among Teens and that Witchcraft 'Spells Trouble' for Society

By Christian Newswire

Monday, June 25, 2007

FRESNO, Calif., June 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pottermania will sweep the globe with the July 2007 release of both J.K. Rowling's seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the fifth Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. With millions of copies poised to fly off bookshelves ("Accelerato!"), forecasts are that the latest book will become the fastest selling title in history. Global interest in the boy wizard will soar higher than Quidditch players seeking Golden Snitches.

While most consider all anti-Potterism to be downright Mugglish, concerns remain among many parents, especially in light of today's surging interest in "Wicca" (witchcraft) among teens. While millions devour Harry Potter novels, increasing numbers also frequent Wicca websites, cast "Love and Money Spells," and practice "white magic." Is it all just fun and fiction, or is something truly supernatural going on? Something dangerous?

Steve Wohlberg, bestselling author of Exposing Harry Potter and Witchcraft: The Menace Beneath the Magic (Destiny Image, 2007) has read all the Harry Potter books. He also understands that Wiccans love nature, don't believe in a "Christian devil," and wouldn't hurt a fly (or owl). He is no rabid witch basher, but believes in religious freedom. Nevertheless, Wohlberg is concerned about both Hogwarts and the Craft.

"There's plenty of real occultism embedded in Rowling's fantasy works," Wohlberg contends, "and in spite of naïve popular opinion, Pottermania is aiding Wicca's growth." Even the founder of a major Witchcraft school agrees (his online training center is called a "Cyber Hogwarts"). Wohlberg warns that when Wiccans summon "nature spirits" in their rituals, they are entering dangerous territory. "Occultism has a dark side," he warns, "and practitioners can easily become trapped like a fly in a spider web." Ex-witches themselves share riveting testimonies in Wohlberg's book.

Steve Wohlberg is the Speaker/Director of White Horse Media (Fresno, CA). TV producer (Amazing Discoveries, Israel in Prophecy, Hour of the Witch), radio host (World News and the Bible), and the author of 14 books, he's been a guest on over 500 radio and TV shows, including CNN Radio, USA Radio, American Family Radio, Cable Radio Network, Information Radio Network, Focus 4, and The Harvest Show.

For interviews, contact Steve Wohlberg at (559) 977-9744 (cell) or at steve@whitehorsemedia.com. Visit www.avoidharrypotter.com