Jimmy Kimmel hosted a "kid's table" discussion on the US government shutdown last week, eliciting the usual spate of "kids say the darndest things" chuckles from the audience. But one sound bite in particular stood out. Let's roll the tape. Read more »
Here are some folks that jumped straight into the "anger" portion of the grieving process. A 22-year-old man died of kidney failure in a Shanghai hospital's intensive care unit on October 17, and his family responded by trashing equipment, etc. Read more »
While Harbin continues to wheeze under a blanket of pollution, Beijing's municipal government announced measures yesterday to combat smog should when it returns to the nation's capital. Read more »
By now you surely know: Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, a city of 11 million, is blanketed in cancer-gray, toxic-smelling, blindingly thick smog. The AQI is over 500 and the PM2.5 measurement hit one thousand -- higher than it ever was during the worst of times in Beijing. Everything has closed down, from highways to airports to schools. Sinosphere and the Atlantic both have pictures and anecdotes. And AFP has this bit of funny: Read more »
Those ever-vigilant consumer-rights watchdogs over at China Central Television were at it again this week, directing the full fury of their state-backed bite against Starbucks in a seven-minute hit piece on October 20. What got CCTV's proverbial underpants in such a bunch? Read more »
Do not mess with the Taiwanese Special Forces. They will suck the soul out of you and beat it to a pulp. With their eyes. In your nightmares. Read more »
As reported last month, former security chief Zhou Yongkang, now retired, has been the target of high-level corruption probes since at least late August. "How far and high is [Xi Jinping] willing to go to clean up China’s political elite?" the New York Times's Chris Buckley asked in a September 25 article.
Now we kind of know. The South China Morning Post reported today, citing unnamed sources, that Xi Jinping is overseeing a "special unit" to investigate Zhou, "bypassing the Communist Party's internal disciplinary apparatus." Read more »
