Taiwan Pro Basketball

I am no fan of basketball, but saw a game on the tv last night so decided to watch. I thought it was the CBA, which is nothing great, but in a pinch is mildly entertaining. What I got was the Taiwanese pro basketball and in a word it was Horrific!

I am from the midwest of the USA where high school games end in scores like 38-37, and present as much excitement as those numbers would lead you to believe, but this Taiwan league has us beaten. I am not lying, I watched maybe 8 minutes and saw only 1 basket! I saw missed layups, air balls, shitty passes, falling down, poor offense and lackadaisical defense. I kept watching thinking that there must be a catch, like maybe the guys were blind or something, but nope, it was able-bodied people.

It would appear that the Taiwan pros are like China whereby each team is allocated so many foreigners, so each team had two thuggish black dudes with the requisite tats, but even they sucked. I don’t know how much the league pays, but it is pretty pathetic.

Marbury CBA Star To Leave?

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BEIJING – Stephon Marbury confirmed his status as the CBA’s top player with an MVP-winning 30-point and 10-assist effort in the league’s All-Star game over the weekend.

However, that gala performance also marked his last appearance in the CBA this season, and probably forever, as his Shanxi Zhongyu Kylins failed to make the playoffs.

“I’m still talking to them (Shanxi) right now. I haven’t decided (about coming back) and I don’t know when I will decide,” Marbury told Sina.com, a Chinese portal site, before the All-Star weekend.

“I might come back to play in the CBA or play in the NBA it depends on the situation.”

Marbury joined the NBA in 1996 and the 1.88m point guard was an All-Star in 2001 and 2003. He was also a member of the US team at the 2004 Athens Games, where it finished third.”

Red Guard Marching- Chaos in China

Photo of the Red Guard, who really had no authority other than the thanks of Mao. They were nothing more than thugs who beat teachers, terrorized the people and caused chaos.

Come Drought or High Water, The Water Splash Festivities Will Go on In China

 

Apparently some ethnic minorities in China engage in a thing called ‘watersplash’ and these watersplash activities will go on despite a crippling drought that has hit the area. But, unfortunately  the boat race will be cancelled. The highlight will be a ‘rain dance’. Hmm if it were that easy, why didnt they do this months ago?

On Google- From the Chinese Point of View

As far as I can tell, there are three camps of thought within China when it comes to the Google incident. First off are the die hard nationalists who think all things that are foreign are bad or wrong, they make up maybe 10-15% of the population- they think Google and all foreign entities should leave. Then there are those who feel sympathetic to Google, they understand why they are leaving an admire them- this group comprises 7-10%. The rest truly do not understand Google’s move. To them, to pull out of a country on mere principle is foolish. They cannot understand how a company can forgo cash for a matter as small as ethics- unfortunately this is the state of China today.

Take Yahoo’s Word For It…

This from Yahoo, I am not going to push it and have my IP tracked, just to be safe, but yahoo alleges that results in the mainland are still being censored. No real surprise there.

“SAN FRANCISCO – Google’s attempted detour around China’s Internet censorship rules was met with countermeasures Tuesday by the communist government, which blocked people on the mainland from seeing search results dealing with such forbidden topics as the pro-democracy movement.”

Google Still Up in the Mainland

For those of you keeping score, Google is still accessible in the mainland without using a proxy. Supposedly they have rerouted traffic to Hong Kong routers and some search results are censored. I didn’t try my luck, I have seen what the chicomp is capable of…

Bike Repairs in China

Here is an old guy who fixes bikes outside the CBD. Here is here 7 days per week.

Clean Air China

This is actually how it looks in Beijing when it is smoggy. I take all photos with my Nokia phone, what is crazy is that oftentimes you cannot even see the sky, as it is obscured by smog. Kinda sad…

Police Brutality in China

Think LAPD has a bad rep, check this out from wackychina.com,

“This week, we’ve heard quite a few appalling stories about China’s police force. In Gansu province, an officer named Zuo Fengyuan stabbed a pregnant nurse to death. The killing took place at the hospital where the nurse was employed, Zuo had come there to question the victim of a traffic accident, but somehow began an argument with her. He then left the hospital only to return about an hour later, equipped with a knife.

From Shaanxi province we heard about Xu Gengrong, a high school student who was suspected for the murder of a school mate. Xu died after being taken in for questioning, according to Shanghai Daily: witnesses had said that there were bruises across the youth’s body and blood in his nose. “Medical examiners reportedly told them that the marks indicated the teen had been severely beaten”.

And two teenage offenders were reported to have died while in custody.