Saturday, August 01, 2015

RB's Advice about China Trip

When I was sent to China in 2009, Richard said, "Make it Operation Wallflower," by which I think he meant "Keep your thoughts about Chinese corruption to yourself." So from Medford, shortly before boarding a flight to San Francisco and on to Bejing, I sent Rich this selfie photo:


Good thing. My trip was paid for by the PRC's Ministry of Education's Confucius Institute Program, aka 'bureau of soft power exporting to American schools and colleges.' During the 8-9 days there, the sales pitch was as intense as the thick Bejing smog. (50-story buildings two-three blocks away from our hotel were barely visible, most smart Chinese residents of Beijing wore stylish masks over their mouth and nose to filter the crud out of the air, I got a headache after walking along the sidewalk for 15 minutes, etc. It was unbelievably bad.)

And, for some reason, the Chinese style of ethics and politics brought to mind the nickname of that famous defensive squad of the Louisiana State University football team of many years ago. From Wikipedia:

"The 1958 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University during the 1958 college football season. Under head coach Paul Dietzel, the Tigers cruised to an undefeated season capped by a win overClemson in the Sugar Bowl. LSU was named the national champion in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Pollprior to their 7-0 Sugar Bowl victory over Clemson. It was the first recognized national championship for LSU in the poll era. The LSU team was led by Billy Cannon, who won the Heisman Trophy the following season. The team is also remembered for its unique defensive scheme, of which the "Chinese Bandits" were a part."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_LSU_Tigers_football_team
 

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