The former premier’s answer has become a frequently deployed cliché, used as evidence of the sage Chinese ability to think long-term – in contrast to impatient westerners.
The trouble is that Zhou was not referring to the 1789 storming of the Bastille in a discussion with Richard Nixon during the late US president’s pioneering China visit. Zhou’s answer related to events only three years earlier – the 1968 students’ riots in Paris, according to Nixon’s interpreter at the time.[...]
At a seminar in Washington to mark the publication of Henry Kissinger’s book, On China, Chas Freeman, a retired foreign service officer, sought to correct the long-standing error.
“I distinctly remember the exchange. There was a misunderstanding that was too delicious to invite correction,” said Mr Freeman.
He said Zhou had been confused when asked about the French Revolution and the Paris Commune. “But these were exactly the kinds of terms used by the students to describe what they were up to in 1968 and that is how Zhou understood them.”
Here's Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic performing the Guns 'n' Roses classic "Welcome to the Jungle" on a pair of cellos. We've previously featured their rendition of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". It's not just the music that's amazing. Hauser and Sulic put on a stunning visual performance while rocking out. -via The Mary Sue
Each day, out-of-work computer programmer Luke Allen self-medicates by watching animated ponies have magical adventures.
The 32-year-old, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, loves his daily fix of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, and he’s not alone. He’s part of a growing group of “bronies” (“bro ponies”) — men who are fans of a TV show largely intended for a much younger audience.
“First we can’t believe this show is so good, then we can’t believe we’ve become fans for life, then we can’t believe we’re walking down the pink aisle at Toys R Us or asking for the girl’s toy in our Happy Meal,” Allen said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “Then we can’t believe our friends haven’t seen it yet, then we can’t believe they’re becoming bronies too.”
I followed the super heroes home to highlight the contrast of the fantastic and mundane. Though in costume, the super heroes are unmasked by the ordinariness of their apartments and their routine chores. While I photographed Batman, a family pulled over to take his picture. He strode up to them with super hero confidence and the children approached him with awe. He was Batman because he was Batman to them. Then late, in his apartment, when he'd taken off his mask and cape and was reheating leftovers in the microwave, he was merely ordinary. I could see what it was that drew him back to Hollywood Boulevard.
Kjersti Sommerset, the head of Norway’s foreign ministry’s centre of excellence, told Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv: “We now have 106 foreign service missions and they get many enquiries from people who want information about Norwegian black metal as a phenomenon. In the training program, we have a large cultural program in order to give the trainees a good understanding of Norwegian culture and the cultural industry. Black metal is clearly a part of this ‘global awakening.’”
A few days later on June 3, a bus driver noticed a passenger struggling with a heavy suitcase and called in the cops. Officers opened up the bag, which they said felt unusually warm. Inside was a sweaty man, nearly 6ft tall, equipped with a headlamp, a sharp tool and a cell phone.
"They'd done their homework," the head of the bus company Jose Luis Martinez said. "They are very large baggage compartments, with very few obstacles, where he could move around easily," he said.
