26 October 2011

China Should Ask for European Territories in Exchange for €

Now that Europe is on the brink of bankruptcy and collapse, the People's Republic of China should give the Europeans a dose of their own medicine from a century ago.  China should demand a piece of Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, and France in exchange for bailout money, which China has plenty of.

Alas, the Chinese won't do it.  They are too nice for their own good.

22 October 2011

Nicole Seah Xueling: Brains & Beauty

Here's the Beauty part of Nicole (above)





Here's the Brains part of Nicole (above)

We worship at the shrine of Nicole Seah...

21 October 2011

Today's Asian Kids Are So Epic!



"Cute" Chinese Hmong-American boy dancing to K-pop.

While some netizens have accused him of being gay, he's just a "pretty boy" who has classical Chinese  Asian "beauty."

Update:  His name is "Calvin Her."  Yep, he's a Her.  LOL!

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Muamar Gadaffi found in rubbish-filled pipeline.

Injured on the chest.

Somehow shot in the head and died.

18 October 2011

Nicole's Excellent Stump Speeches

She has the cutest Singaporean-English accent ever!



Nicole, Will You Please Marry Me?


I still can't get over Singapore's most beautiful and popular politician, Miss Nicole Seah (佘雪玲).  She has the beauty of a model supermodel, the intellect of a scholar, and the compassion of a saint.  It's no wonder that even in politically suppressed Singapore, she is so popular among the masses as well as the netizens.  And she's only 24 or 25.  I am totally in love with 雪玲 xiaojie!!!

My editor, Mr. Fairbank, describes her as having the audacity of Margaret Thatcher, the gravitas of Angela Merkel, the charm of Evita Peron, the heart of Mother Teresa, and the beauty of Han Ga-in.

Bian-lian Huang  (fairbankreport@gmail.com)

16 October 2011

Singapore's Nicole Seah -- A Future Prime Minister

With her good looks, intelligence and poise, Nicole, aged 24, could have easily won a seat in the Singaporean Parliament had she sided with the ruling PAP party.  But she did not take the easy route.  She campaigned on the ticket of a small opposition party, the National Solidarity Party and became its spokesperson.

She is one of the brightest young people we have come across.  Although she "lost" the May 2011 election, she will be a forceful presence in the island-state's politics. And, if fair elections were to exist in Singapore in the coming years, its future Prime Minister!


Welcoming Our First Reader from the Kingdom of Cambodia!

15 October 2011

Gentlemen, Please be Upstanding for the Anthem of the Socialist World Republic

down with global KKKrapitalism!



Wall St protests spread to global stage

The protests against the global financial system that have swept across the US in the past month have spread to the international stage, inspiring offshoot occupations in London, Sydney, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Toronto and other cities.
A “global day of protest” is planned for Saturday in at least 868 cities in 78 countries. Organisers say they are broadly in favour of greater democracy in global financial and political systems.
“Undemocratic international institutions are our global Mubarak, our global Assad, our global Gaddafi,” said a statement from Egality, an activist group that is helping co-ordinate the global protests.
Shimri Zameret, a co-ordinator for Egality, said that events such as the Arab spring, the student-led protest movement in Chile and Spain’s indignados , or outraged, who have been demonstrating against joblessness and austerity measures, were all part of the same global movement demanding greater democracy and fairness.
The inspiration for Saturday’s protests is the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US, which began in New York last month with the occupation of Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan, but has since spread to cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco.

More

On this story

In London, hundreds – or possibly thousands – of activists are expected to march on the London Stock Exchange and occupy nearby Paternoster Square, a business development which houses Goldman Sachs’ investment management business.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has come under criticism for lacking a clear agenda. Many of those planning to attend the London rally emphasise that they would have more specific ideas and proposals.
“[We are] reclaiming space in the face of the financial system and using it to voice ideas for how we can work towards a better future. A future free from austerity, growing inequality, unemployment, tax injustice and a political elite who ignores its citizens, and work towards concrete demands to be met,” said Occupy LSX, the demonstration’s organiser.
Organisers say the London protest will adopt the same format as the US occupations and will attempt to remain in the square for as long as possible.
Because Paternoster Square, is privately owned, however, the police may have the power to remove activists who try to set up camp there.
The police said they were aware of the protest and that “appropriate policing was in place”. The LSE and Goldman Sachs declined to comment on Saturday’s planned events.
In New York, 14 protesters were arrested on Friday as they marched towards Wall Street, police said. But a larger showdown was averted on Friday morning after the owner of Zuccotti Park, Brookfield Properties, postponed a move to clear them out for cleaning.
Brookfield Properties had told the demonstrators to leave the park by 7am Friday so the area could be cleaned. Brookfield had asked the New York Police Department to clear the park and the administration of Michael Bloomberg, New York mayor, had said protesters must leave temporarily.
Shortly before the 7am deadline, however, the city said Brookfield had put off the cleaning operation.
A statement from Cas Holloway, New York deputy mayor, said: “Brookfield believes they can work out an arrangement with the protesters that will ensure the park remains clean, safe, available for public use and that the situation is respectful of residents and businesses downtown, and we will continue to monitor the situation.”
Occupy Wall Street participants had called Brookfield’s cleaning plans an “eviction” and urged their supporters to come to the park early Friday morning for a “non-violent action”. The group also organised clean-up crews that worked on Thursday to sweep and mop the park ahead of the deadline.
“The fact they backed down is a clear sign that this movement is demonstrating a lot of power,” said Yotam Marom, who has been living in Zuccotti Park over the past month.
Unions, celebrities and politicians have come out in support of the movement’s calls to regulate the financial sector, reduce economic inequality and end what they say is an overly close involvement between corporations and politics.
“Aside from our personal feelings about corporate greed, we found out yesterday that our union had endorsed Occupy Wall Street,” said Richard Addeo, a 60-year-old electrician from New Jersey who came out on Friday with fellow members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. “We have to honor what they say and we also believe in it.”
Last week, President Barack Obama said the protests “express the frustration” of ordinary Americans with the financial sector.
Some corporate executives have also said they understand protesters’ grievances. Laurence Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, said on Thursday that he was “very encouraged” by the protests and surprised they had not occurred sooner. He said that it would also be foolish to “turn our back on this protest movement.”
But the movement has drawn criticism as well. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager, said in a statement this week: “Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City and continue to grow.”
Mr Paulson’s Manhattan home was one stop on a “millionaires march” organised earlier this week by community activists to call on the richest Americans to “pay their fair share”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

OneRepublic's "Stop and Stare" -- best cover ever!

Another great talent publicized by the FAIRBANK REPORT!

13 October 2011

12 October 2011

Bo Xilai: China's JFK?

From The Independent

Bo Xilai, China's most charismatic politician, makes a bid for power


Speculation mounts that China's Mr Cool may become a contender

By Clifford Coonan in Beijing

Monday, 8 March 2010


Bo Xilai: has been a big-city mayor, provincial governor and trade tsar



The tall, dapper and smiling Chinese leader looked presidential as he pulled up at the front entrance of the Great Hall of the People, waving photographers and waiting reporters away. Senior members of the Politburo never enter through the front door. But this is Bo Xilai. And when the popular Bo, the mafia-busting Communist Party chief in the south-western city of Chongqing, arrives for the annual National People's Congress, there is a whiff of change. "He is very cool. He's Bo, no?" said one passer-by. At the vast People's Congress which opened in Beijing on Friday and continues until Sunday, Bo is enjoying a moment of celebrity.

It could be a sign that the "princelings" – the children of the 1949 Maoist revolutionaries – are gaining even more political traction in the Chinese power structure. It is an open secret that Mr Bo is seeking promotion to the powerful 9 member Politburo standing committee, the top rank of the leadership, and China watchers believe he is a serious contender.

At 60, Bo is comparatively young, and has done it all in China: he has been a big-city mayor, provincial governor and trade tsar. He is seen as a maverick but even more unusually for a leading Chinese politician, he oozes charisma and charm.



He is also Communist royalty: his father, Bo Yibo, was the last of a group of party leaders who consolidated their power in the 1980s and 1990s, oversaw the Tiananmen Square massacre, and are known as the "Eight Immortals".



The question of whether Bo will rise to the top of the Communist hierarchy is significant because the battle for these posts coincides with a moment when China's new-found international power is upsetting US and European leaders. There are growing concerns about the distorting effects of China's currency, while inside China, rampant corruption and the gap between rich and poor are fuelling protests.



When it came to trade tensions over European socks and Chinese-made bras, Mr Bo has already demonstrated his tough side, facing down the then EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson. Some say his media-conscious publicity-seeking side will work against him. But this is a man who is no stranger to adversity.



When he was 17, during the Cultural Revolution, he was imprisoned along with members of his family for five years, after which they were placed in a labour camp for another five years. During the Cultural Revolution, Bo's father was imprisoned and tortured for ten years; his mother was beaten to death.



Bo worked at the Hardware Repair Factory for the Beijing Second Light Industry Bureau before he was admitted to the Peking University Department of History, majoring in world history. He later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1982, he graduated from the Postgraduate Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a Masters.



His father was in charge of a Red Army unit called the "Shanxi Suicide Squad for the Liberation of China", which fought first against the Japanese and then against the Kuomintang in the Civil War, which led to the Revolution of 1949. His son, Bo Guagua, is at Oxford, his picture a fixture on Chinese celebrity websites as he squires willowy beauties to various balls.



Meanwhile, back home Mr Bo likes to present himself as a champion of the ordinary man and a very modern Maoist. In Dalian – the Garden City – one of China's prettiest and most financially successful cities, statuesque women astride horses patrol the city's precincts. Bo Xilai, according to local legend, used the tallest people to help rebrand one of China's burgeoning cities when he was Dalian's mayor.



Last year he also became China's best-known "red texter", sending out 13 million text messages to mobile-phone users bearing quotes from Chairman Mao including: "What really counts in the world is conscientiousness". Recipients relayed the messages 16 million times.

11 October 2011

Mainland Chinese Actress 马雅舒 -- Ma Yashu


 When she was 35 years old last year, she played the role of twenty-something Sang Caiqing in the TV drama "Pretty Maid."  And she actually looked the part.  So epic!  So cute!

08 October 2011

Seductive Kommunism





爱 相 随 -- best cover ever!

Another Youtube talent publicized by The Fairbank Report/ Ruyi Baogao!


HOW PRESCIENT WE WERE!!!

06 January 2006

Who's the Girly Man Now?


Volte Face: As recently as two months ago, California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, passionately pushed for fiscal restraints and accountability. Rebuffed by the voters in last November's special election, he is now giving the people what they want and can ill afford: more, more, and more spending on pet projects. Yesterday, the governor outlined a 10-year $225 billion plan to improve and build new schools, courthouses, roads and water delivery systems.

How does the governor plan to pay for all these nice and shiny things? Borrow the money from Wall Street. Why prioritize when you can borrow. Why practice restraint when you can borrow. Why not cater to every interest group when you can borrow.

What happens when the bills come due? Well, Arnold, Maria and their gaggle of kids will be long gone from the statehouse when the invoices arrive in the mail. Why worry now when you can pass the buck to someone else and to the next generation.

In a way, we can't blame the governor. He tried to work with the legislators, and they rebuffed him. He went to the people, and they rebuffed him. Now he's just giving the uneducated voters of California what they deserve: fuzzy math, more debt and general fiscal sloppiness.

God help us all.

Jonathan Fairbank
Editor-in-Chief
THE FAIRBANK REPORT

Ka-Ching for Illegal Aliens!

In the dead of a weekend night, California governor Old Fart Jerry Brown stealthily signed legislation, which was sponsored by One-bill Gill Cedillos (a socialista suprema), to provide $$$ for illegals to attend colleges and universities.  By the way, California is broke.

The Occupy Movement: We're not gonna take it anymore!

http://occupywallst.org/

爱相随




07 October 2011

Go Dutch!

Today, we had more clickers from the Netherlands than from any other country!

06 October 2011

LEE WEILING: WHY I CHOOSE TO REMAIN SINGLE

The following piece by Lee Weiling, the daugther of Singapore's founding father, Lee Kwan Yew, is fascinating in several regards.  It is fascinating because today many professionals choose to remain single -- with all the freedoms and heart aches that this decision entails.  It is equally fascinating because it is about the life choices of a successful public figure from an exceedingly wealthy and powerful family -- again with all the privileges and heart aches that come with her status.




Lee Wei Ling: Why I choose to remain single




April 6, 2009 by admin

By Lee Wei Ling, for the Sunday Times

05 April 2009



ST link



My father became prime minister in 1959, when I was just four years old. Inevitably, most people know me as Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter.



My every move, every word, is scrutinised and sometimes subject to criticism. One friend said I lived in a glass house. After my father’s recent comment on my lack of culinary skills, another observed: ‘You live in a house without any walls.’ Fortunately, I am not easily embarrassed.



As long as my conscience is clear, what other people say of me does not bother me. Indeed, I am open about my life since the more I try to conceal from the public, the wilder the speculation becomes.





My father said of my mother two weeks ago: ‘My wife was…not a traditional wife. She was educated, a professional woman… We had Ah Mahs, reliable, professional, dependable. (My wife) came back every lunchtime to have lunch with the children.’



Actually, my mother was a traditional wife and mother. She was not traditional only in one respect: She was also a professional woman and, for many years, the family’s main breadwinner.



One of my mother’s proudest possessions is a gold pendant that my father commissioned for her. He had a calligrapher engrave on the pendant the following characters: ‘xian qi liang mu’ and ‘nei xian wai de’.



The first four characters mean virtuous wife and caring mother. The second four mean wise in looking after the family, virtuous in behaviour towards the outside world.



My mother lived her life around my father and, while we were young, around her children. I remember my mother protesting gently once about something my father had asked her to do.



‘It is a partnership, dear,’ my father urged.



‘But it is not an equal partnership,’ my mother replied.



The partnership may not have been exactly equal at particular points in time. But over the years, especially after my mother’s health deteriorated after she suffered a stroke, my father was the one who took care of her. She clearly indicated she preferred my father’s care to that of the doctors’, in itself a revelation of the quality of his care.



He remembers her complicated regime of medications. Because she cannot see on the left side of her visual field, he sits on her left during meals. He prompts her to eat the food on the left side of her plate and picks up whatever food her left hand drops on the table.



I have always admired my father for his dedication to Singapore, his determination to do what is right, his courage in standing up to foreigners who try to tell us how to run our country.



But my father was also the eldest son in a typical Peranakan family. He cannot even crack a soft-boiled egg – such things not being expected of men, especially eldest sons, in Peranakan families.



But when my mother’s health deteriorated, he readily adjusted his lifestyle to accommodate her, took care of her medications and lived his life around her. I knew how much effort it took him to do all this, and I was surprised that he was able to make the effort.



If my parents have such a loving relationship, why then did I decide to remain single?



Firstly, my mother set the bar too high for me. I could not envisage being the kind of wife and mother she had been.



Secondly, I am temperamentally similar to my father. Indeed, he once said to me: ‘You have all my traits – but to such an exaggerated degree that they become a disadvantage in you.’



When my father made that pendant for my mother, he also commissioned one for me. But the words he chose for me were very different from those he chose for my mother.



On one side of my pendant was engraved ‘yang jing xu rui’, which means to conserve energy and build up strength. On the other side was engraved ‘chu lei ba cui’, which means to stand out and excel.



The latter was added just for completion. His main message was in the first phrase, telling me, in effect, not to be so intense about so many things in life.



I knew I could not live my life around a husband; nor would I want a husband to live his life around me. Of course, there are any number of variations in marital relationships between those extremes. But there is always a need for spouses to change their behaviour or habits to suit each other. I have always been set in my ways and did not fancy changing my behaviour or lifestyle.



I had my first date when I was 21 years old. He was a doctor in the hospital ward I was posted to. We went out to a dinner party. I noted that the other guests were all rich socialites. I dropped him like a hot potato.



In 2005, while on an African safari with a small group of friends, one of them, Professor C.N. Lee, listed the men who had tried to woo me. There were three besides the first. Two were converted into friends and another, like the first, was dropped.



I am now 54 years old and happily single. In addition to my nuclear family, I have a close circle of friends. Most of my friends are men. But my reputation is such that their female partners would never consider me a threat.



More than 10 years ago, when there was still a slim chance I might have got married, my father told me: ‘Your mother and I could be selfish and feel happy that you remain single and can look after us in our old age. But you will be lonely.’



I was not convinced. Better one person feeling lonely than two people miserable because they cannot adapt to each other, I figured.



I do not regret my choice. But I want to end with a warning to young men and women: What works for me may not work for others.



Many years ago, a young single woman asked me about training in neurology in a top US hospital. I advised her to ‘grab the opportunity’.



She did and stayed away for eight years. She returned to Singapore in her late 30s and now worries that she may have missed her chance to get married.



Fertility in women drops dramatically with age, and older mothers run the risk of having offspring with congenital abnormalities.



Recent studies show also that advanced paternal age is associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, such as autism and schizophrenia, not to mention dyslexia and a subtle reduction in intelligence. Men can also suffer from diminished fertility with age although there is wide individual variation.



I would advise young men and women not to delay getting married and having children. I say this not to be politically correct. I say it in all sincerity because I have enjoyed a happy family life as a daughter and a sister, and I see both my brothers enjoying their own families.



The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Send your comments to suntimes@sph.com.sg