Mr. Zhou Ze had returned to Beijing after failed to meet his client, the jailed reporter Li Min in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
Mr. Zhou, the attorney hired by Li Min's father arrived Taiyuan, accompanied by Li's Uncle. The detention center refused his request to meet Li Min, citing instruction from the D.A. The D.A.'s office, denied they blocked the visit, but refused to talk to the detention center. The duo shuttled between the D.A.'s office and the detention center for two days without getting a clue, until they were suddenly told that another attorney was hired by Li Min, the reporter herself. The other attorney had been granted a visit.
Same trick had been played before in Yang Jia's case. Immediately after Yang Jia was arrested, the Shanghai police kidnapped Yang's mother. A lawyer was allegedly hired by Yang's mother to represent Yang in the trail, while no one knows the whereabouts of her. After Yang Jia was sentenced to death, Yang's mother was released from a police mental facility. On a side note, mental facilities are widely used by local government to jail whistle blowers, as recent publicized case in Shangdong.
Maybe, anyone should rent a safe box in a bank in Switzerland, with a note 'The only lawyer I trust is (fill in the lawyer's name here), and that any words I said after being arrested shall not be seen as my truthful willing'. Maybe, there's just no escape.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Top 10 Chinese Internet Events in 2008
1) Push up
2) Buying Soy Sauce;
3) Five Times Better;
4) To be Suicides;
5) Very Yellow, Very Violent
Monday, December 22, 2008
Great Quality Control
A blogger and amateur photographer Ke Renchang (Shu Ran) toured the National Stadium (Bird Nest) and was shocked to see the otherwise brand new stadium, the pride of the nation is falling apart, only a few months after hosting the Beijing Olympic Games. Signs and logos are loosing parts, while paved ground are turning into gravel roads.
This picture showed one of the five characters of 'National Stadium' in Chinese lost parts.
On the bright side, it demonstrated the great quality control exercised by the Chinese project manager. The stadium sustained the most important political assignment, the whole purpose of its life. Who cares whether it may fall apart after the Olympic show? This was taken only days after the closing ceremony of the summer Olympic.
Another Olympic stadium, the BUTU stadium, was damaged after a windy night. It may somehow remind you the New Orleans Super Dome after the Katrina, but there's nothing dramatic like that. An otherwise perfect normal windy night in Beijing's winter left the brand new Olympic looking for a roof. The university had banned students talking topic on its BBS.
This picture showed one of the five characters of 'National Stadium' in Chinese lost parts.
On the bright side, it demonstrated the great quality control exercised by the Chinese project manager. The stadium sustained the most important political assignment, the whole purpose of its life. Who cares whether it may fall apart after the Olympic show? This was taken only days after the closing ceremony of the summer Olympic.
Another Olympic stadium, the BUTU stadium, was damaged after a windy night. It may somehow remind you the New Orleans Super Dome after the Katrina, but there's nothing dramatic like that. An otherwise perfect normal windy night in Beijing's winter left the brand new Olympic looking for a roof. The university had banned students talking topic on its BBS.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
An Anatomy of Free Press
For photojournalism, when you have to take the shot right there and then, there's no skill or preparation can guarantee technical perfection. Photo editor Joe of a local paper portrait in length of a discussion with his colleagues on whether or not it's ethic or professional for a photojournalist to remove red-eye effects with photo editing software. Joe used the opportunity to illustrate the high bar a photojournalist must pass in daily working.
I had an experience covering a same game with Joe once. That was the first game in the season. At the beginning, the players received a ring from the club. Of course that's one of the photo moment you have to catch. Each ring comes in a small box, which made it difficult to find a good angle to shoot the picture. Joe approached one player, ask him to 'show' him the ring, and took a shot. I noticed John, another photographer on the scene, shook his head in an apparent despise. This begs the real question: how much editing is acceptable?
There's actually no standard, and most people follows the practice of reputed larger firms, such as NYT. Then who decides the ethics laws at NYT? Recall the famous and iconic scene when Iraqi people pulled down dictator Saddam's statue after the liberation of Baghdad in a celebration. The pictures released by Reuters and AP made it look like thousands of local people joined the celebration, while in reality only dozens of airborne Iraqi Americans exiles took part. In that case, pictures surely did not reflect the fact, but would that (shooting from weird angle and cropping) be considering photo manipulation? In another example, NBC digitally replaced the backdrop of their Evening News, so that the Time Square buildings carries a Toyota logo in place of a real Honda logo (for the sake of argument). Should this be considered digital manipulation? The third strike came recently: court ruled that news agencies produce news as a product, and had lawful right to process the 'news', without no obligation to the truthfulness of it. This was regarding the milk case if you remember.
See, there's really no real ethic standard in the news media after all. The perceptive meaning of a free media is that the media is free to tell the truth, while in reality, it's that the media is free to make up any story that sells.
I had an experience covering a same game with Joe once. That was the first game in the season. At the beginning, the players received a ring from the club. Of course that's one of the photo moment you have to catch. Each ring comes in a small box, which made it difficult to find a good angle to shoot the picture. Joe approached one player, ask him to 'show' him the ring, and took a shot. I noticed John, another photographer on the scene, shook his head in an apparent despise. This begs the real question: how much editing is acceptable?
There's actually no standard, and most people follows the practice of reputed larger firms, such as NYT. Then who decides the ethics laws at NYT? Recall the famous and iconic scene when Iraqi people pulled down dictator Saddam's statue after the liberation of Baghdad in a celebration. The pictures released by Reuters and AP made it look like thousands of local people joined the celebration, while in reality only dozens of airborne Iraqi Americans exiles took part. In that case, pictures surely did not reflect the fact, but would that (shooting from weird angle and cropping) be considering photo manipulation? In another example, NBC digitally replaced the backdrop of their Evening News, so that the Time Square buildings carries a Toyota logo in place of a real Honda logo (for the sake of argument). Should this be considered digital manipulation? The third strike came recently: court ruled that news agencies produce news as a product, and had lawful right to process the 'news', without no obligation to the truthfulness of it. This was regarding the milk case if you remember.
See, there's really no real ethic standard in the news media after all. The perceptive meaning of a free media is that the media is free to tell the truth, while in reality, it's that the media is free to make up any story that sells.
Friday, December 19, 2008
LA Chinese Baby Auction Case New Twist
The online attention to the Craig's List Chinese baby trading case was quelled down overnight with a message cross posted all over Internet and major Chinese media claiming that it's a harmless prank. The almost instant response invited more skepticism than answering questions.
1) Without exception, all of the reports, including those appeared on hundreds of Internet sites and those released by major Chinese news agencies cited the same little known source USA Qiao Bao(notable, there's no reference to the incident on its website as of the time of writing: http://www.chinapressusa.com/) and repeated the story word by word;
2) There is absolute zero official reference to this case in English media;
3) There is no official police statement anywhere from LAPD or FBI;
4) According to the report, an LAPD police officer Carlos Monterroso told the reporter that the person who posted the message did not violate any law, and no charge would be filed. This simply can not be true. In a high profile United States v. Lori Drew, 2008 case trailed in Los Angeles, Lori Drew was found guilty in three accounts for violating EULA of AOL by posting false information. This is mandated in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030. No LAPD officer can be so unprofessional to the extend to say a federal criminal offense is lawful.
Therefore, the 'Hoax' report itself must be a hoax.
1) Without exception, all of the reports, including those appeared on hundreds of Internet sites and those released by major Chinese news agencies cited the same little known source USA Qiao Bao(notable, there's no reference to the incident on its website as of the time of writing: http://www.chinapressusa.com/) and repeated the story word by word;
2) There is absolute zero official reference to this case in English media;
3) There is no official police statement anywhere from LAPD or FBI;
4) According to the report, an LAPD police officer Carlos Monterroso told the reporter that the person who posted the message did not violate any law, and no charge would be filed. This simply can not be true. In a high profile United States v. Lori Drew, 2008 case trailed in Los Angeles, Lori Drew was found guilty in three accounts for violating EULA of AOL by posting false information. This is mandated in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030. No LAPD officer can be so unprofessional to the extend to say a federal criminal offense is lawful.
Therefore, the 'Hoax' report itself must be a hoax.
First Online Privacy Case Sentenced
On Dec 29th last year, Jiang Yan jumped from 24th floor of her apartment building in Beijing, exhausted and desperate from her husband Wang Fei's extramarital affair with a co-worker Dong Fang. She arranged her MSN Live blog opened by a friend after her death, which contains a letter along information of her husband and his mistress.
A 'network mob' was summoned out of anger and websites were set up to curse the husband and his lover. Soon the two were fired, and the husband was diagnosed with depression.
The case went to trail in Chaoyang Court of Beijing. The man sued websites and won a verdict of RMB Yuan 3,000 ($500) and 5,000 ($800) from two sites, a third site was acquitted because it removed the offending materials in time. The case is significant as it is the first of such in China.
Reading between lines:
1) Network media could be held responsible for privacy violations, even though the information is freely accessible online. The MSN LIve Space Blog authored by Jiang Yan, the original source of the allegedly offending information, has never been shut down. MSN was never named in the lawsuit brought by the husband;
2) Hosting company was not liable as long as they removed the materials posted by its users 'promptly';
3) The fine, $500 for setting up a special column and leaked private information and $800 for setting up a dedicate website contains private information, is hardly a serious punishment by all means;
4) The court made a judicial recommendation to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, suggesting a harsher monitoring system on online speech.
A 'network mob' was summoned out of anger and websites were set up to curse the husband and his lover. Soon the two were fired, and the husband was diagnosed with depression.
The case went to trail in Chaoyang Court of Beijing. The man sued websites and won a verdict of RMB Yuan 3,000 ($500) and 5,000 ($800) from two sites, a third site was acquitted because it removed the offending materials in time. The case is significant as it is the first of such in China.
Reading between lines:
1) Network media could be held responsible for privacy violations, even though the information is freely accessible online. The MSN LIve Space Blog authored by Jiang Yan, the original source of the allegedly offending information, has never been shut down. MSN was never named in the lawsuit brought by the husband;
2) Hosting company was not liable as long as they removed the materials posted by its users 'promptly';
3) The fine, $500 for setting up a special column and leaked private information and $800 for setting up a dedicate website contains private information, is hardly a serious punishment by all means;
4) The court made a judicial recommendation to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, suggesting a harsher monitoring system on online speech.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
No Country for Perfect Women
If you won't move on, you would be moved on. Perfect woman Zhou Huimin (Vivian Chow) released a statement drafted by her boyfriend Ni Zhen (Joe Nieh, aka Joe Ngai, Son of famous fiction writer Ni Kuang) to end their 20 years fairyland relationship.
41 years old Chow is a perfect woman. She was a red hot top female singer in Hong Kong during the 90s. She also appeared in many movies and TV productions. She published literature in Japanese and English. She is an award winning painter, a champion Ruhr ball player, a professional pianist. Chow is an iconic figure for her charity works, volunteered to be ambassadors of many charity organizations. Chow is also a vocal advocate for animal rights. Besides, Chow has been the princess of Hong Kong, deemed most beautiful throughout the years every since she was exposed to the public almost 30 years ago. Age left little traits in her and she is still one of the most beautiful women in Hong Kong, among actresses who were born 20 years later.
Chow has magic hands in business too. Only last year, Chow gave Ni a $2 million share of her business. Ni will keep receiving chips from Chow's other businesses. Ni had been known of seeing other women, and Chow had been known for turning her head on the 'rumors'. Just before we heard the two would finally tie the knots, when Ni was caught making out with a young woman. Pictures showing the two kissing were published on newspapers. It was suggested by some that the event was a set up by Ni. Promptly Ni and Chow released two statements. Ni exclaimed that he was so ashamed that he no longer deserved Chow, and Chow stated she agreed to terminate the relationship. Sources suggested that Ni set up the event and drafted both statements.
A dream girl of millions of men, Vivian was deserted by the one she chose.
41 years old Chow is a perfect woman. She was a red hot top female singer in Hong Kong during the 90s. She also appeared in many movies and TV productions. She published literature in Japanese and English. She is an award winning painter, a champion Ruhr ball player, a professional pianist. Chow is an iconic figure for her charity works, volunteered to be ambassadors of many charity organizations. Chow is also a vocal advocate for animal rights. Besides, Chow has been the princess of Hong Kong, deemed most beautiful throughout the years every since she was exposed to the public almost 30 years ago. Age left little traits in her and she is still one of the most beautiful women in Hong Kong, among actresses who were born 20 years later.Chow has magic hands in business too. Only last year, Chow gave Ni a $2 million share of her business. Ni will keep receiving chips from Chow's other businesses. Ni had been known of seeing other women, and Chow had been known for turning her head on the 'rumors'. Just before we heard the two would finally tie the knots, when Ni was caught making out with a young woman. Pictures showing the two kissing were published on newspapers. It was suggested by some that the event was a set up by Ni. Promptly Ni and Chow released two statements. Ni exclaimed that he was so ashamed that he no longer deserved Chow, and Chow stated she agreed to terminate the relationship. Sources suggested that Ni set up the event and drafted both statements.
A dream girl of millions of men, Vivian was deserted by the one she chose.
Artist: Brooks And Dunn
Song: Cowgirls Don't Cry
Album: Cowboy Town
Her daddy gave her, her first pony
Then taught her to ride
She climbed high in that saddle
Fell I don't know how many times
Taught her a lesson that she learned
Maybe a little too well
Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
lessons in life are going to show you in time
soon enough your gonna know why
it's gonna hurt every now and then
if you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry
She grew up
She got married
Never was quite right
She wanted a house, a home and babies
He started coming home late at night
She didn't let him see it break her heart
She didn't let him see her fall apart
'cause Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
lessons in life are goinna' show you in time
soon enough your gonna know why
it's gonna hurt every now and then
if you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry
Phone rang early one morning
Her momma's voice, she'd been crying
Said it's your daddy, you need to come home
This is it, I think he's dying
She laid the phone down by his head
The last words that he said
Cowgirl don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
Lessons in life show us all in time
Too soon God lets you know why
If you fall get right back on
Good Lord calls everybody home
Cowgirl don't cry
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Nobody Wants A Crying Baby, For Real!
I don't like the baby we adopted. (Beverly Hills)
Reply to: sale-958665137@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-12-15, 8:36AM PST
Hello. My name is Barbara Stanwick. I need help, my adopted baby isn't what I expected and I don’t like it. Here’s my story…
Ever since my husband, Don, and I married 22 years ago, I've wanted children. The years passed, and once I turned 45, I knew it was too late for me to conceive. So last year, on my 46th birthday, Don surprised me with adoption papers. It was the greatest day of my life. We were going to adopt a baby! It was from China, but I was still excited (we're very gracious, and wanted to save a baby from the communists)!
After being on the adoption list for several months we were informed that a child had been selected for us! My anxiety acts up on planes, so Don's assistant, Lauren, retrieved the baby. I was finally going to have my very own child.
When Lauren walked in, it was swaddled in blankets. I named her Wing, right then and there. A combination of Wang and Ling. I had never been happier, holding little Wing in my arms.
But it was all downhill from there. I pulled back the blanket from her face and that's when I saw the problem. Not only did Wing NOT look like wanted her to, but she was BALD! I had been given a BALD looking baby! My vertigo hit me like a wall.
Since then, I have been trying to send Wing back to China, but they won’t take her. I filed a complaint with the adoption agency, but they didn’t accept “bald baby” as a reason for returning it. Wing cries all the time, which makes my migraines act up and I think the cat might be allergic to her as well. If anyone would like to take Wing, even though she's bald, I will either trade or sell her to you. She's not a bad baby, I just think we can find a better one. Thank you for your time. Serious inquiries only.
From Craig's List (http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/bab/958665137.html), firstly flagged by a post on XiXiHe through MITBBS. Although the original thread has been removed by the Los Angeles Craig's List, they should still have information regarding the person who posted on the heavy traffic list.
McDonald's Sanyuan Melamine Baby Killers
Hebei Sanlu (Three Deers) Dairy Company, a state run enterprise triggered the melamine crisis, changed its name to Sanyuan (Triple Circles) Hebei to avoid compensating victims. Sanyuan is a Beijing based dairy company listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The wholly held subsidiary will start producing next week.
Sanyuan operates McDonald's franchise in Beijing and Guangzhou. While Sanyuan refused to pay for baby's medical expenses, more are dying at this minute.
After the scandal was revealed, more than 30,000 infants were hospitalized and had to go through surgery, while tens died.
The court system across China have thrown out legal complaints against Sanlu, citing government instructions.
The next burger you eat in McDonald's is dipped with baby blood. Boycott Sanyuan, for your health; Boycott McDonald's, for justice!
Tianjin Connected to Taiwan
For the first time in 60 years, ship left Tianjin New Port to Kaohsiung, a southern seaport of Taiwan on Dec 15, 2008. The Dayangzhou (Oceania) is one of the largest container carrier in the world, launched in April 2008, capable of carrying 10,000 standard containers. At the same time, another 68,000 tons containers ship 'New Yantai' is leaving Tianjin for Keelung, a northern seaport of Taiwan.
The new route connected 63 ports on the mainland to 11 ports in Taiwan directly without going through a third destination as Taiwan's policy used to required. At the same time, air travel and postal service are connected directly from this day. Thanks to treaties signed last month, the island is linked "directly", officially.
Despite the ongoing economy crisis, Taiwan businesses will invest $3 billion in Tianjin in 22 major joint projects in sectors of electronics, chemical industry and environmental protections. As of October this year, Tianjin has attracted 2,014 Taiwan businesses bringing in an investment of $8 billion.
The new route connected 63 ports on the mainland to 11 ports in Taiwan directly without going through a third destination as Taiwan's policy used to required. At the same time, air travel and postal service are connected directly from this day. Thanks to treaties signed last month, the island is linked "directly", officially.
Despite the ongoing economy crisis, Taiwan businesses will invest $3 billion in Tianjin in 22 major joint projects in sectors of electronics, chemical industry and environmental protections. As of October this year, Tianjin has attracted 2,014 Taiwan businesses bringing in an investment of $8 billion.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Reporter Vaporized in Shanxi
Guan Jian was last seen kidnapped from his hotel room in Taiyuan Shanxi 14 days ago. Mr. Guan Jian is the chief reporter of the 'Wangluobao (Network Daily)'. His assignment in Shanxi was about a real estate company's misconduct in land use. The head of the company is a senior local official. Li Shuanglong, the Assistant to the Chief Editor of Network Daily arrived Taiyuan on Dec 8th to handle the rescue. Local police at the Yingze Bureau refused to register the case.
Last week, a CCTV reporter was arrested by a D.A. office after she made a report of the corruption of the same office. Last year, a reporter Lan Chengzhang was beaten to death in Shanxi. In a early high profile case, a reporter was sentenced to jail for eight years after reporting a corruption case in Shanxi.
Last week, a CCTV reporter was arrested by a D.A. office after she made a report of the corruption of the same office. Last year, a reporter Lan Chengzhang was beaten to death in Shanxi. In a early high profile case, a reporter was sentenced to jail for eight years after reporting a corruption case in Shanxi.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Reporter Arrested
A CCTV reporter was arrested at her home in Beijing on Dec 4, 2008, by police from the Xinghualing (Apricot Blossoms Ridge) Justice Department (District Attorney's Office) of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Being the only officially national TV station, and an arm of the Communism propaganda department, CCTV had been in general immune from legal hassles in the past. As a matter of fact, employees of the three national news agencies, The Xinhua (New China) News, the Renmin Ribao(People's Daily), and the China Central Television State (CCTV), are government officials themselves, and usually of higher ranks than most local officials.
The reporter, Li Min, produced a report on the D.A. Mr. He Shusheng of the Xinghualing Office of Taiyuan, Shanxi on alleged abuse of power.
When the arrest was made, the police displayed an authorization file issued by the National Justice Department (National Attorney General Office). CCTV questioned the motives behind the arrest, and publicly refused to collaborate in the legal process. CCTV is a cabinet level agency in the Communism power architecture.
An Internet Google revealed that while on the post of D.A. of another district (Jiancaoping District of Taiyuan, Shanxi), Mr. He Shusheng was named as one of top 150 corrupted officials in an article "Who is whom, Chinese Corrupted Officials Edition", published in the "Walk in WTO" NO. 4 2002. The court of Mr. He Shusheng's District fined the author of that article $60,000.
Attorney Zhou Ze of the Beijing Wentian Law Firm will represent Li Min on pro bono. Mr. Zhou Ze is a well known high profile, professional, courageous and passionate warrior in fighting the injustice system. However, his involvement as an political system outsider made the case looking not good. In Chinese legal system, the last thing you need is a good lawyer.
The Communism regime is like an old damned house, all pieces are so entangled that they dare not touch any piece of rotten woods, otherwise the whole building might just fall down. The top D.A.'s office got out of its way to specify a local D.A.'s office to investigate and investigate a reporter who had alleged wrongdoings of the same D.A. is beyond human sane.
The reporter, Li Min, produced a report on the D.A. Mr. He Shusheng of the Xinghualing Office of Taiyuan, Shanxi on alleged abuse of power.
When the arrest was made, the police displayed an authorization file issued by the National Justice Department (National Attorney General Office). CCTV questioned the motives behind the arrest, and publicly refused to collaborate in the legal process. CCTV is a cabinet level agency in the Communism power architecture.
An Internet Google revealed that while on the post of D.A. of another district (Jiancaoping District of Taiyuan, Shanxi), Mr. He Shusheng was named as one of top 150 corrupted officials in an article "Who is whom, Chinese Corrupted Officials Edition", published in the "Walk in WTO" NO. 4 2002. The court of Mr. He Shusheng's District fined the author of that article $60,000.
Attorney Zhou Ze of the Beijing Wentian Law Firm will represent Li Min on pro bono. Mr. Zhou Ze is a well known high profile, professional, courageous and passionate warrior in fighting the injustice system. However, his involvement as an political system outsider made the case looking not good. In Chinese legal system, the last thing you need is a good lawyer.
The Communism regime is like an old damned house, all pieces are so entangled that they dare not touch any piece of rotten woods, otherwise the whole building might just fall down. The top D.A.'s office got out of its way to specify a local D.A.'s office to investigate and investigate a reporter who had alleged wrongdoings of the same D.A. is beyond human sane.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Chinese Enjoy More Academic Freedom Under Communist Ruling, Said American Professor Xu
An "American professor (as the author referred to himself in the article)" of communications published on Chinese national media, saying a professor in the US would have been fired if caught discussing politics in classroom. The article was in response to the public outcry in China when a professor was summoned by the police for discussing politics in classroom. The "American Professor" told the Chinese media that there was nothing wrong for students to inform the police of inappropriate political comments made by professors.
The "American Professor" is an assistant professor in the School of Communications and Theater of the Temple University in Philadelphia.
Thank you for the information, Professor Xu. We Chinese learned so much about academic freedom from you!
source
The "American Professor" is an assistant professor in the School of Communications and Theater of the Temple University in Philadelphia.
Thank you for the information, Professor Xu. We Chinese learned so much about academic freedom from you!
美国传媒学院华裔教授：学生告教授一点也不荒唐
信源：中国青年报｜编辑：2008-12-03｜ 网址：http://www.popyard.org 抄送朋友｜打印保留
【八阕】郑重声明：本则消息未经严格核实，也不代表《八阕》观点。【八阕】一个劳动人民群众喜闻乐见的好地方:http://www.popyard.org
八阕 http://www.popyard.org 学生告教授一点也不荒唐--学术自由不是向学生灌输政治观点
徐开彬（美国费城天普大学传播学院助理教授）/张鸣先生在28日发了篇文章“如今学生告教授反革命太荒唐”。王晓渔先生也曾于27日发了篇“政法大学里的‘ 以言获罪’”。两文的大意是，华东政法大学杨师群老师在讲课时，批评中国文化，而且语涉政治，被他的学生告了。两人据此认为，这些学生忘记了大学的学术自由这回事，告老师，很没有道理，是要让老师以言获罪。
于是我设法找到杨老师的原话：“今天被领导叫去谈话，说有上《古代汉语》课的学生到公安局和市教委告了我。记得在上《古代汉语》课时，我当然会批判一些与课文有关的中国传统文化，在某些传统文化问题上如果与当今有一些关系的话，我也会联系当今和批评政府。下课时有二位女同学找我，愤慨地指责我怎么能批评中国文化！批评政府！甚至眼睛里已经含有泪水。这样热爱中国文化与中国政府的同学，我很敬佩，你们有这样的权利！但为什么我就没有批评中国文化和政府的权利呢？所以我告诉她们：我也有发表自己看法的权利，如果你们不愿意听我的课，以后不要选我的课就是了。不料，她们居然到上面去告我”。由于找不到当事学生，我们且以杨老师的话来分析，看其是否适当。
比较张鸣、王晓渔与杨老师三者的话，我有一点要质疑的。现在 “反革命”罪早已取消，学生咋会告“反革命”罪的呢？所以我对张鸣先生所说的“反革命”罪深表怀疑，是不是拿这个来博取眼球？而且，连杨老师的原话都没有提“反革命罪”，张鸣用这个词只能涉嫌炒作了。果然，我输入该文章标题一搜索，发现了众多转载，还包括一些政府网站。看来张先生把媒体和网民玩转的很好，不愧是政治系的教授。至于王晓渔先生所说的“以言获罪”，我不赞同，如果要让杨老师以言获罪，那就是公安直接来找杨老师，而轮不到杨老师的院系领导同事来和他谈这个问题了，而且还泄漏具体的缘由。可能就是给杨老师提醒一下吧。感觉三位言重了，自己先吓了自己。
笔者想说的是，杨老师绝对有批评中国文化和政府的权力，但是，地方选错了。我们都做过学生。我们都有个共同的经历，就是有些老师讲着讲着就喜欢借题发挥，讲到自己的收入少（现在好多了，这种抱怨少了），这个社会怎么了，这个政府怎么了。不同的老师反复讲，从学期开始到结束，做学生的也听腻了。但学生哪敢去阻止老师们反复发牢骚的呢？要知道，学生付出高昂的学费，是来听专业课的，不是来听牢骚的。如果要听牢骚，该去乡村听农民讲，去建筑工地听农民工讲。如果要去看批政府的文字，在网上可以免费看到，又何必花高昂的学费来听这些呢？
张鸣和王晓渔拿出“学术自由”的招牌去吓唬这两个学生，没有多少道理。学术自由，那是在与专业授课相关的内容上观点自由，或者在发表的学术著作上观点自由，或者在专门的学术研讨会上自由讨论学术，但不是利用课堂去向学生灌输自己的政治观点。即使在美国这样的推崇学术自由的地方，在涉及政治与宗教这两点上，课堂上教授们也小心谨慎。尽管如此，每年都会有学生将一些教授告到法庭去。为什么呢？因为，学生在政治和宗教上有不同的立场，由于教授在课堂上拥有的不对称权力，如果教授们在课堂上大谈自己的政治或宗教观点，就涉嫌利用课堂把自己的政治和宗教观点强加给学生，侵犯了与他们持不同政治或宗教观点学生的学术自由。目前美国有一个由125所主要大学学生组成的“学生学术自由”组织，他们的中心就是倡导“教室免受教授向学生灌输政治偏见”。他们还认为，教授在给成绩时往往会偏向与自己政治观点一致的学生，构成对学术公正的威胁。他们在网上专门列出在教室灌输自己政治与宗教主张的教授名单，有时这些教授和他们的学校都会被学生告上法庭。
就笔者而言，以前在国内大学授课时，也曾象某些老师无所顾虑地谈政治批政府，不顾忌学生的立场与想法，但在美国做了教授（个别读者不要误解为国内那种“正教授”职称，在美国博士毕业在大学任教别人都会说你“做了教授”），知道了这个规矩，就很谨慎，涉及到政治与宗教时，尽可能回避，或采取折中立场，就是怕学生告我。
比方说，我教授一门领导传播学，在美国大选期间，自然要讲到候选人。尽管我是支持奥巴马的，班上大多数学生也是支持奥巴马的，但我就不敢大谈奥巴马好或者麦凯恩、布什政府和共和党不好，因为班上可能还有支持麦凯恩的。如果我那样谈，支持麦凯恩和共和党的学生完全可以告我利用课堂灌输自己的政治观点。国内的这两个学生支持政府和共产党，也是她们的一种政治立场，杨老师在课堂上只顾大谈自己的政治立场，不尊重学生可能有不同的想法，涉嫌利用自己在课堂上不对称的权力灌输自己的立场，是不对的。
所以，“学术自由”和“言论自由”被张鸣和王晓渔两位误解和滥用了。就这两位告杨老师的学生，如果按照美国大学的处理模式，她们向市教委告杨老师利用课堂灌输自己的政治观点是正确的（美国的学生是向法庭告），也可以向教务处投诉老师浪费课堂时间谈论与教学内容无关的。至于杨老师自己所说的公安立案调查一事，我们都不知道这是否属实，不便做出评断。杨老师觉得无辜，但学生们也很无奈。在学生与老师之间，学生总是弱者，杨老师的“如果你们不愿意听我的课，不要选我的课就是了”，亦可以看出杨老师的强势姿态。这哪里是一个有包容心、能容纳自由学术讨论的老师所说出来的话呢？杨老师在课堂上又哪里允许师生双方的言论自由了呢？还是在采取传统的“满堂灌”，把课堂沦为自己的一言堂，否则，反对他的学生在授课中间就早已提出反对意见，而不是要等到课后才去争辩。杨老师的这种话绝对是不适当的，如果发生在美国的高校，马上会被学生举报到学校最高层，甚至可能被学校停课。
学校既然在选课系统列出您的古代汉语，学生来修这门课，就是看在您古代汉语的知识上，而不是指望在课堂上来聆听您的政治立场的。课堂是自由讨论专业知识的场所，而不是老师们发牢骚和发表政治高见的场地（课外，那确实是各自的言论自由）。如果说这些学生对政治感兴趣，她们会注册政治课程而不是古代汉语。这几个学生的心态，可能觉得交了学费是来听专业课的，想不到杨老师浪费了课堂时间大谈不相关的内容，还强行被杨老师灌输与自己不同的政见。由于在课堂上老师有不对称的权威与权力，学生课后找老师，老师态度也不好，所以，只好通过外部途径为自己讨回公道。这件事，如果在学生来和杨老师谈话时，自己能态度谦虚点，比方该说“这只是我的一家之言，不一定正确，欢迎你们批评和讨论”，也不会弄成这样。
最后，杨老师虽然猛批中国的传统文化，其实自身还是摆脱不了这个文化。不然，为什么学生来向教授挑战时，就一下子动怒了，说出“如果你们不愿意听我的课，不要选我的课就是了”呢？这不正是典型的传统文化思维“老师要爱护学生，学生要听从老师”吗？而这两个学生，虽身为中国文化的忠实学生，却也能在课后勇于向老师提出自己不同的见解，说明她们也没有愚昧地照搬传统文化里的“听从老师”之言，不像某些人动不动拿出那种陈词滥调批判她们为“失去独立批判之精神”，恰恰相反，敢于挑战自己的老师，正是具有独立思考的表现。有些批评她们的人，其实也是跟着别人人云亦云来批她们，自己又哪里有什么独立批判之精神呢？
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An Angel Is Waching You
Zhang, a math major in the 2007 class, knows that he has been being watched. Could it be the girl who has been pretending studying the unnamed plants at the entrance of the building? Could it be the student sitting in the second row have the same page for hours? His mind is only assured that the wary eyes belong to an angel.
Wuhan Evening News reported on Dec 4th, that Hubei University launched a 'Little Angels Project'. Each student will be drawn randomly to watch another student, and take notes of everything noteworthy. At the end of each month, the notes will be assembled and released with personal identity information stripped.
Student life administrator You Junqiao told the newspaper, knowing they are being watched, students study harder.
Wuhan Evening News reported on Dec 4th, that Hubei University launched a 'Little Angels Project'. Each student will be drawn randomly to watch another student, and take notes of everything noteworthy. At the end of each month, the notes will be assembled and released with personal identity information stripped.
Student life administrator You Junqiao told the newspaper, knowing they are being watched, students study harder.
500 Thousands Leftovers in Beijing
Five hundred thousands women stepped in the 'leftover' category in Beijing. Still single in mid-thirties, the truth starts to sink in that a male partner may never appear. Researchers have been concerned on the gender disparity due to the one child per family policy. In many rural areas male to female children could be as high as 120:100. It's interesting to see in the end, it's the female who have more difficulties in finding their mates.
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