Somaly Mam: The Holy Saint (and Sinner) of Sex Trafficking

Simon Marks of the Newsweek published a lengthy article about Somaly Mam, one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2009. It turns out that key pieces of her story were largely fabricated in order to gain support from the public for her cause and foundation.

Mam’s tale raises an important question, is it acceptable to use lie to attract support for a noble cause?

Before answering this question, let’s glimpse back the history:

In 1930s, a German politician promised to solve the economy and political crisis of German after World War I. After his election till his death, more than 50 million people died.

In the end of 1950s, a Chinese leader mobilized the entire country on an economic and social campaign to improve the life of Chinese people. Millions of people died within four years during the campaign.

In 2003, US military force invaded Iraq in order to disarm the latter from weapons of massive destruction (WMD). After eight years, no WMD had been found and millions of Iraq civilian died in the war.

Will we ever learn any lesson from these tragedies?

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/282496855/can-a-television-network-be-a-church-the-irs-says-yes

What is the financial status of churches? NPR’s investigation of television network Daystar opens a door towards the secretive financial world of some self-claimed churches. No wonder churches are so politically powerful  in U.S.

Talking about legitimacy

Day before Crimea holds a referendum on leaving Ukraine, our “free press” and western governments shout out loudly about its illegitimacy. But Russia, backing the referendum, does not give a sh*t to us. Why? Because we have showed them that legitimacy means nothing. Let’s take a hard look at just a few famous examples in the past:

In 1953, when CIA and M16 backed army general Fazlollah Zahedi forced legally elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq out of office in a coup, we did not call it ‘illegitime’. Instead, we supported Iran’s new autocracy government for decades till it was overthrown by the Iranian Islam Revolution

In 2011, democratically elected Egypt President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by a military coup. Today, we still give the illegal Egypt military government billions of dollars annual aid.

Not long ago, when Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych was forced out of office by none of the three legal means documented in Ukraine Constitution (death, quit, or impeachment), we unconditionally embraced the new illegal Ukraine government without any hesitation. It quickly turned out that we supported the unrest and deliberately backed the massacre to increase the tension at Kiev.

Now we call Crimea’s referendum “illegitimate”. What a joke!

Leaked Phone Call: Kiev Snipers Hired by US-Backed Opposition

They did it again! It sounds so familiar, right? Not long ago, our “free press” was all over the Syria’s rumored chemical weapon attack. Assad was assumed guilty even before any evidence showed that such attack truly happened. When Assad was about to win the civil war, a true chemical weapon attack was aired. The western governments quickly pointed fingers to Assad even before UN investigators entered Syria to gather evidence.

So is Viktor Yanukovich in Ukraine this time. Shortly after an agreement was established between the US-backed opposition and Yanukovich government, snipers killed protestors in Kiev. This caused a huge outcry from western governments and our “free press”, resulting to political collapse of Yanukovich government. The opposition force was much more successful than Syrian rebels.

The only difference between Ukraine and Syria is that this time, a leak happened, proving western is actually behind the scene. But, such news has little value since it does not reinforce the perception that all we westerners did are good and all they (eastern, russia, syria, etc) did are wrong. Thus, our “free press” will not pay much attention to it.

Teach Kids to Love, Not to Kill!

This was a speech by Dr. Li on a demonstration protesting ABC News Corporation and Jimmy Kimmel at Boston today.

What a Journey

Chunyan Li, Ph.D.
11/8/2013

Dear all,

How long does it take us to get here today? One hour? Two hours? For me, it is 20 years! 20 years ago I arrived at this land of the free, full of ideals, perhaps from listening too much to radio Voice of America. 20 years later my sons join me to protest against ABC’s spreading of racial hatred and violence. What is wrong with this picture?

I ask my teenage son whether we should just treat “killing Chinese” as a joke. He said this demonstrates what the society and media had been feeding our young kids. My heart sank. Is America moving forward or backward?

Now I ask again: How long does it take us to get here?

I don’t know about you, but the last 20 days seem longer than my 20 years. Those of us who stand here today must have been reading, writing, arguing, and agonizing over confusing pieces of reports and commentaries. And we ask ourselves, are we being unreasonable? Is our English that bad that we don’t know what an apology is?

On 10/28, the night of our first protest, Mr. Kimmel said, “today is a weird day…I am sorry if I offended anyone.” I ask ABC, who is the weird one? Who truly apologizes if he doesn’t even say sorry for what? Sorry to whom? To the Chinese whose sense of tranquility is forever disturbed? To our kids whom we try so hard to shield from pain and harm? To the schools that teach kids the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King? ABC, do you call that an apology?

In a letter to 80-20, ABC still claims it only entertains. Why is joking about killing Chinese so entertaining? Is it because we are always so nice? My friend’s sweet 11-year old wants to write on his poster, “do not take advantage of us.” I first didn’t understand, then found out he meant “don’t take advantage of us because we are nice.” That broke my heart!!! ABC and Mr. Kimmel, we hold you accountable for taking away our children’s precious sense of security. And we hold you accountable for sowing the seeds of hatred in other children’s minds.

On 10/29, Mr. Kimmel even resorted to the ridiculous notion of cultural difference. I ask him, what cultural difference do you mean? A culture of hard work, respect, harmony versus a culture of violence and racial hatred? Then I admit there is an unbridgeable difference between Kimmel and us. We know what’s right, what’s wrong. And we know what humor is too! Yet we have no tolerance of your malicious joke, subsequent insult on air, then the absurd reference to culture. This only proves Mr. Kimmel you are unfit to be a public figure.

ABC, stop blaming cultural differences for your own mistakes! Except for Native Americans, all are immigrants with unique traits. Yet we share the basic value of human dignity. Stop magnifying the differences in skin colors, or accents!

I ask a third time, how long does it take us to get here? Our friends started telling us there is another written apology somewhere. Who in real life is given so many third chances? Yet I ponder, are we asking too much? I discovered to my dismay that in that written letter, Mr. Kimmel is still hiding behind the 6-year old. Come on Mr. Kimmel, you think our anger is on a 6-year old? Our anger is on your malicious question “Should we allow the Chinese to live?” Our anger is on your subsequent arrogant ridicule. Our rage is on ABC for not letting the public know the truth of these so called apologies.

America is the home of the brave. ABC, show our kids you have the courage of admitting wrong doing, show our kids you have the guts to take responsibility by dismissing Mr. Kimmel. Show us you have the resolve to institute procedures to prevent future incidences. ABC, do NOT hide behind a 6-year old! Show us what a major network can do to right its wrong!

Twenty years, twenty days. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Who doesn’t want to be happy? But without life, what is liberty? Without liberty, what is happiness? Let’s join hands in our pursuit of human dignity.

Teach kids to love, not to kill!

Blame-China-4-Everything and The Road to Holocaust

The following is onetiemyshoe’s comment on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show on ABC aired on Oct 16, 2013. It explains why the Chinese and Chinese-American community are outrageous on the show. Here is another article giving more detailed analysis on this incident.

Some poster described encountering objection by Jewish Americans on the Holocaust comparison.

The parallel with Holocaust is not only the “kill everyone in China” comment. The parallel started when Jimmy Kimmel while talking about the government shutdown, asked the loaded question: “We owe the Chinese a lot of money, 1.3 trillion dollars.” then he invited the little kids to come up with solutions and led to the notorious line “kill everyone in China”.

This is called “race scapegoating”, or “race baiting”. The US holds 10+ trillion dollar debt and $50 trillion unfunded liabilities, to many countries and to it’s own people. Yet the Chinese debt is cited as cause for special concern, gets the main blame for government shutdown.

Before Holocaust, the Nazis did exactly the same kind of media manipulation, scapegoating Jews for the defeat in WW I, for the war debts demanded by the French, for the Weimar inflation, for everything. This kind of rhetoric paved the way for Kristallnacht then to Holocaust. The road to gas chambers started with a simple “blame-the-Jew” rhetoric device, continued to “kill-every-Jew” jokes that nobody believed in, finally it became Holocaust, a human tragedy.

That is why we make the parallel. First it was “blame-the-Chinese” for everything, then it’s “kill every Chinese” jokes that seems acceptable to a lot of people. This is where we draw the line. Cause and effect and parallels are so indisputable that we must draw the line. We sow hatred we reap violence.

And when we said “never again”, we meant “never again”. Apologize for hurting the Jewish feelings. But the parallel exists and ask their help to revise our language in a way to get the Jewish support.

Because our common goal is “Never again”.

An Example of Media Bias

Miss Representation is the award-winning documentary film that exposes how mainstream media contributes to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman or girl to feel powerful herself.

http://www.missrepresentation.org/the-film/

Like female politicians or not, it is a real shame for our “free media” to abuse without reservation the women in public office.

Why is “free press” worse than China’s propaganda machine?

“The public is lied to every day by the President, by his spokespeople, by his officers. If you can’t handle the thought that the President lies to the public for all kinds of reasons, you couldn’t stay in the government at that level, or you’re made aware of it, a week. … The fact is Presidents rarely say the whole truth—essentially, never say the whole truth—of what they expect and what they’re doing and what they believe and why they’re doing it and rarely refrain from lying, actually, about these matters.”

Pentagon whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg told us and proved to us that the government is untrustworth to the public long time ago. But this is hardly the end of the story. If the government’s lies are constantly delivered to the public by the press without any fact-checking, the press is acting as a propaganda machine by the government. This is exactly what is going on around us.

When Bush regime used false intelligence of Iraq WMD as an excuse to drag America into a decade-long war, the press simply handed over everything told by the regime to the public. No question asked.

This time, Obama regime is repeating the history, so is the press. News like this MintPress exclusive report is not meant to appear on any main street media. “Free press” may argue about the credibility of the MintPress article, thus they refuse to publish the story. But why didn’t they argue about the credibility of the government? It is easy to see that they spent 99% of their effort to spread the words from the US government and only 1% on the words from the opposite side (Syria, Russia, etc). Would any critical thinking mind call this practice unbiased and objective?

The Chinese government’s propaganda machine never pretends to be unbiased and objective. It is easy for people from China to recognize lies in the news reports run by the state media. The “free press” always pretend to be “free” and “independent” from the government control. Their brainwashing is quite successful and effective because the public always believe they themselves hear the truth from the press!

Let’s put it in this way, if a press always talks the same tone with their government, regardless whether the press is self-claimed “free” or “independent”, it is not trustworthy.

Should Tibet Be Free?

The well-written original article was published in skeptoid.com: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4111

Misinformation and fantasy surrounds the popular Tibet notions.

Filed under Fads

Skeptoid #111
July 29, 2008

Perhaps an equally important question is “Should a science podcast take on a political topic?” For a long time, listeners have been sending me requests to do an episode about Tibet, and for a long time I’ve been putting the requests into a folder and keeping it stored away. This is Skeptoid, not Politicaloid, and my purpose is not to advocate one side or the other in political questions where you have two sides that are perfectly valid to different groups of people. But the more requests I’ve received, the more I’ve realized that there is a lot of misinformation, if not true pseudoscience, surrounding Tibet. There is, undoubtedly, a set of popular pop-culture beliefs out there, based entirely upon made-up crap that bears little resemblance to reality.

Mind you, I’m not saying “Hey, you’ve heard one side, let me give you the other side,” because that’s the job of a political commentator. What I’m saying today is “Here is the reality of Tibet, go forth and form whatever opinion you like,” but base it on reality, not on made-up metaphysical nonsense. I’m encouraging you to apply skepticism to the reasons you may have heard for freeing Tibet.

Like most Americans, I grew up watching video of the Chinese army taking howitzers and destroying the massive centuries-old Tibetan monasteries in 1959, and that’s an indisputable crime against history, religious freedom, and the dignity of Tibetans. And then I watched video of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, in his red and yellow robes, speaking words of wisdom and brotherhood and freedom and peace. And I’ll freely admit: For nearly all of my life, this was the extent of my knowledge of the Tibet situation: Violence and cruelty from the Chinese; innocence and beauty from the Tibetans. I believe that many Westerners, including many who fervently wave Free Tibet placards, have little knowledge of the situation any deeper than that. But isn’t it likely that there’s more to it than that? Isn’t it equally disrespectful of the Tibetans as it is of the Chinese to attempt to encompass who and what they are with those tiny little pictures?

A complete history lesson is impossible, but here’s a quick overview of the points relevant to today’s discussion. China and Tibet have a long and complicated history. In 1950, China invaded to assert its claim, and ruled by trying to win hearts and minds, building roads and public utilities, and allowing the Tibetan system of feudal serfdoms to remain largely intact. In 1959 the Tibetan ruling class revolted, prompting a Chinese crackdown that sent the Dalai Lama and most other Tibetan aristocrats into exile in India, where they remain to this day. The former serfs became ordinary Chinese citizens, and Tibet is now an “autonomous region” in China, a status that many describe as actually less autonomous than an ordinary Chinese province. From his palace in India, the Dalai Lama now travels the world in a private jet, hobnobbing with the wealthy and powerful, fundraising, and writing highly successful books on metaphysics.

Recently there were some anti-China, pro-Tibet protests in Nepal, a neighboring independent nation. This is illegal in Nepal, and the authorities have been cracking down on it. Why does Nepal side with China on this issue? Because they depend heavily on Chinese aid to survive, and this is a requirement that China imposes, though they call it a “request”. At first glance you might be shocked that an independent nation would give up its freedom of speech to make a deal with the devil, but that’s an easy opinion to form when you’re not hungry. It makes sense for Nepal to agree to these terms, because their back is against the wall: They need China’s aid. As for China imposing this condition? Well, that’s one for you to chalk up in your column of “Things China Needs to Reconsider”.

So, why doesn’t China simply give Tibet the same treatment they give Nepal — let them be an independent nation, give them aid, and just require them to say only nice things about them? Well, Nepal has long been an independent nation; Tibet hasn’t. The history of China’s rule over Tibet is exceptionally complicated and goes back many centuries. Anyone who tells you that either Tibet is historically part of China, or that Tibet is historically free, is making a disingenuous oversimplification. Personally, I choose to discount this subject completely, and not because it’s too intricate to make a clear decision. I discount it because practically every square inch of land on the planet has been taken over militarily or annexed or stolen in one way or another from one people by another people. We don’t give California back to the Spanish, and we don’t give Italy back to Norway [So many people have asked me about this that I’ll clarify. Italy, like the rest of Europe, was repeatedly sacked by Vikings. – BD]. Ancient history is not the way to settle current border disputes. To find a meaningful settlement that makes sense for people today, you have to consider Tibet to be a current border dispute. So while we’re chalking up China’s claim of ancient possession in the column of “Things China Needs to Reconsider”, let’s also chalk up Tibet’s claim of ancient autonomy in the column of “Things Tibet Needs to Shut Up About”.

And once we open up that column, we find it’s a Pandora’s Box. Advocates of a free Tibet make a long list of charges against Chinese oppression, largely centered upon a loss of rights and freedom. This claim makes anyone familiar with Tibetan history cough up their coffee. The only people who lost any rights under Chinese rule are Tibet’s former ruling class, themselves guilty of cruelty and oppression of a magnitude that not even China can conceive. The vast majority of Tibetans, some 90% of whom were serfs, have enjoyed a relative level of freedom unheard of in their culture. Until 1950 when the Chinese put a stop to it, 90% of Tibetans had no rights at all. They were freely traded and sold. They were subject to the worst type of punishments from their lords, including gouging out of eyes; cutting off hands, feet, tongues, noses, or lips; and a dozen horrible forms of execution. There was no such concept as legal recourse; the landowning monk class was the law. There was no such thing as education, medical care, sanitation, or public utilities. Young boys were frequently and freely taken from families to endure lifelong servitude, including rape, in the monasteries. Amid all the pop-culture cries about Chinese oppression, why is there never any mention of the institutionalized daily oppression levied by the Dalai Lama’s class prior to 1959?

Free Tibet advocates also point to the destruction of Tibetan culture. This charge is particularly bizarre. The only art produced in Tibet prior to 1950 was limited to the output of a few monks in each monastery, principally drawings of monasteries. New literature had not been produced in Tibet for centuries. Since the 1959 uprising, art and literature in Tibet have both flourished, now that the entire population is at liberty to produce. Tibet even has its share of well known poets, authors, and internationally known artists now.

Make no mistake about China’s history of human rights failings: China’s “Great Leap Forward” and “Cultural Revolution” programs from 1958 through 1976 were as disastrous for Tibet as they were for the rest of China. There can never be any excuse for the deliberate widescale destruction of life, liberty, and property during those years. Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans, and tens of millions of Chinese, lost their lives during this misguided pretense at “reform”. This was a phase that China went through, and it’s arguable that Tibet would have been spared this torment if they had been independent at the time. But for your average Tibetan in the field, a serf with no rights, living and working and dying at the whim of his lord, were those decades really worse than they would have been without China? There’s no way to know, but to a skeptical mind, it’s not a slam-dunk that China’s Cultural Revolution was harder on Tibet than Tibet’s ruling class had always been in the past.

If we think back to our list of red flags to identify misinformation, cultural campaigns and celebrity endorsements should always trigger your skeptical radar. Few campaigns are as near and dear to the hearts of Hollywood activists as “Freeing Tibet”. Notable Tibet advocates include Sharon Stone, Richard Gere, Paris Hilton, and the great political science scholar Lindsay Lohan. Journalist Christopher Hitchens notes that “when on his trips to Hollywood fundraisers, [the Dalai Lama] anoints major donors like Steven Segal and Richard Gere as holy.” Being anointed as holy probably does great things for your social standing within Hollywood, but it should not be considered evidence of expertise. I’ll bet that if you asked either Steven Segal or Paris Hilton to lecture on the events of the Lhasa Uprising of 1959, you’d find that neither knows even the most basic information about the cause they so passionately advocate. Just because Hollywood celebrities promote a viewpoint doesn’t mean they’re qualified to do so, something that (unbelievably) still seems to escape most people.

Furthermore, the people shouting loudest about freeing Tibet don’t seem to be aware that that’s not even what the Dalai Lama wants from China. He’s not seeking full independence, Nepal style; rather he would like to achieve the same status as Hong Kong, which is a “special administrative region”. This would give them full economic benefits without having to become a regular province, something along the lines of a US territory. So here’s a note to all the Hollywood celebrities: If you really want to support the Dalai Lama, ditch your “Free Tibet” signs and paint some up that say “Change Tibet from an Autonomous Region to a Special Administrative Region”. It’s not as good of a sound bite, and it’s a change that would have little practical impact on Tibetans; but it would allow the Dalai Lama to return to his aristocratic lifestyle and his 1000 room palace at Potala.

So to all those who so heatedly call for the freeing of Tibet, first consider whether you have the expertise to know whether Tibet is best served as an autonomous region or as a special administrative region. Understand exactly what implications such a change may have upon the economics and the daily lives of its citizens, or maybe even entertain the possibility that it’s a decision best left to Tibetans.

Who is Responsible for Syria’s Chemical Weapon Attack?

These days the “free press” is devoted to report the chemical weapon attack happened in Syria last week. Predictable as usual, the “free press” aligned themselves with the US government again on this matter, and asserted that all evidence point to the Syria government who was responsible for this attack. While UN investigators are still gathering evidence onsite, US Secretary of the State John Kerry simply could not wait any further, “our understanding of what has already happened in Syria is grounded in facts, informed by conscience and guided by common sense.”

Really? Is this the simple truth behind Syria’s chemical weapon attack?

NPR put together some historical context of chemical weapon for its readers. The most intriguing part is not the article itself. Instead it is the reaction from the readers of this article. Apparently many readers do not buy the storyline told by the US government and the “free press”. They figured out the truth behind this:

“Follow the money”.

Fact #1, DoD has suffered tremendously budget cut this year due to sequestration. For sure Pentagon and the defense contractors are looking for means to get more revenue from some places. The easiest? You bet, a war!

Fact #2, Assad government has been an enemy of Israel for decades. A weakened or fractionated Syria is in the great interest of Israel. No question about it. So what can we do to accomplish this mission?

Fact #3, long before this alleged chemical weapon attack, the US government and the “free press” have mobilized a media campaign for months of the possibility of using chemical weapon by the Syria government. Is Assad really that stupid to cross the “red line” drawn by the US government? Literally, it is like to send a friendly invitation asking for western force intervene to beat the cr*p out of himself.

Fact #4, before the attack, a special UN team was expected to visit the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus. Why would Assad take out a new attack when the UN team was onsite? To hand over direct evidence to UN and the US?

Fact #5, before the attack, Assad was winning the war despite support from the US to the Syria opposition force. To take down Assad, the US needs an excuse to intervene directly, similar to what NATO did in Libya.

Fact #6, before the UN team gathered the evidence, John Kerry has already asserted that Assad was responsible, based on US intelligence in Syria. Well, given the track record of US intelligence about Iraq WMD, can we say that there is little doubt that this time the history is repeating itself again? Moreover, what is your thought if a cop sentenced you for some claimed crime before he showed any evidence, not to mention that judge and jury haven’t seen the case yet?

If we can live for the next 60 years, we probably will stand a chance to see the CIA classified document about the truth of this chemical weapon attack. I won’t be surprised that Assad is not responsible for this.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

History repeats itself

Sixty years ago, CIA help overthrew a democratically elected government of Iran. Sixty years later, the US is still paying a price for it – a hostile Iran. Well, perhaps some interest groups, e.g., weapon companies, have been well paid because of it. But the American people are paying for it everyday.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/18/cia_admits_it_was_behind_irans_coup

Now it is the rising of another Iran, by this we mean Egypt. Our government and the “free press” obviously did not like the democratically elected Egyption government since its first day in office, after the ouster of our long time ally, the three-decate long dictator Mubarak. Ironically, this democratically elected Egypt government was overthrown in a coup by US backed Egypt military just two years after it’s in office. History repeats itself again in the middle east.

What price are we going to pay this time?

Edward Snowden is a hero

No question about this. An individual against the most powerful government on this planet for the wrong-doing of the latter, no one can deny that Mr. Snowden is a hero.

Disclosing the crimes committed by the government is not a crime because government secrets to cover up its crimes do not stand as valid secrets. What Mr. Snowden has done is perfectly legal in defending our liberty and privacy and the law.

It is not Mr. Snowden who should be prosecuted. It is the government and its officials who violated the law be prosecuted and held accountable. By turning our focus to every small detail of Mr. Snowden, we are losing the whole point of Mr. Snowden’s whistleblowering. “Free press” like NPR are making every (subtle) effort to discredit Mr. Snowden in an attempt to move away our focus on the US government. We should be aware of this.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/14/the-sickening-snowden-backlash.html

Unknown School prepares kids for Jihad against China

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a3c_1366663039

Video shows a “school”, probably in the Af – Pak area (judging by the look of one of the teachers), preparing Uyghur kids for Jihad against China.

Or these are our future “freedom” fighters. Anyone against the evil commie China is a “freedom” fighter, regardless of their religion, age, ethnics, etc…

Boston attack vs Xinjiang attack

Recently there were two horrific terrorist attacks around the world, one in Boston of US, and one in Xinjiang province of China. Media coverage of the Boston attack is rolling on the headline of all major news media. On the other side, coverage of Xinjiang attack is relatively quiet.

We come cross a report of Xinjiang attack by Voice of America (a.k.a. VOA, the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government). Interested readers are encouraged to read the article below.

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-deeply-concerned-by-violence-in-china-xinjiang-province/1648512.html

As an exercise to the readers, try to flip the position of the report. Pretend this is a report from China to cover the Boston attack. For example, read the report as below:

China ‘Deeply Concerned’ by Violence in US’s Boston

China is calling for a thorough and transparent investigation into a confrontation in US’s restive northeast city of Boston that left 4 people dead and more than a hundred wounded.

State Department spokesperson XXX YYY says the China is “deeply concerned” by the Tuesday violence, which US was quick to label as a “terrorist attack.”

“We regret the unfortunate acts of violence that led to these casualties and we’ll continue to encourage US officials to take steps to reduce tensions and promote long-term stability in Boston,” he said.

Three civilians and one police officer were killed in the ensuing violence, while one suspect was shot dead. Another suspect was captured. A government official told the press that the incident was a “premeditated, violent act of terror.”

Another official, quoted in Thursday’s government (partially) sponsored NPR says the group was planning to conduct an “elaborate attack” and was involved in “extreme religious activities,” a common accusation against those in US’s predominantly Muslim community.

Some Muslim activists dispute US’s version of events. The World Chechen Congress says the violence broke out when US forces shot and killed a young Chechen as part of a government investigation on the ethnic minority group.

James Leibold, a Boston-based scholar on US minority populations, says the truth is difficult to discern in cases like this. He tells the media that the government explanation must be viewed with “extreme caution.”

“[The government] tends to want to play the blame game very quickly. Local officials, in this regard, will often use words like terrorism, jihadist, and blame Islamic extremism, when incidents of violence and unrest happen in US,” he said.

Leibold says incidents of ethnic conflict in US are often more complex and are rooted in a wide range of local dynamics.

“The rapidly changing nature of Boston society, which creates a sense of social, cultural and religious dislocation, and of course, there are outside influences that we can’t rule out, [such as] Islamic extremism,” he said.

Leibold warns that, just as government explanations must be viewed with caution, so should those by exiled Chechen groups.

“Both sides have an agenda and are trying to control the narrative and are trying to control how this incident is broadcast to the larger world,” he said.

Many in the Chechen community say they are economically and culturally disadvantaged and face widespread discrimination in the region.

…

How do you feel about such a report about Boston attack?

Summer Olympics 2012: Katie Ledecky’s Performance Should Help Ye Shiwen’s Case

Analyst Nikhil Baradwaj wrote an article “Summer Olympics 2012: Katie Ledecky’s Performance Should Help Ye Shiwen’s Case” to compare the media reaction towards American swimmer Katie Ledecky and Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen. We appreciate this kind of comparison, because it sends out a very clear message.

The message is pointed out by a reader hahn in his/her comment of the article, “What I find ironically sad in this situation is that there will be people who suddenly have a change of heart about Ye doping – watch as the criticism of Ye dies down. Why is this sad? Because they first needed to witness an American to demonstrate that such an amazing leap in performance, total domination of the competition, and trashing of the world record was possible. Because of course unless an American can do something like that, it’s just “impossible”. But now? NOW, we know it’s legit, because there is no way that Ledecky is doping. An American must set the standard of what’s possible, otherwise these kind of accomplishments are not to be trusted. That is the message we send out to the rest of the world. And we wonder why no else trusts us anymore.”