Discussing the Divine Comedy With Dante

i'm sure this painting is no stranger to many, but for those that are unfamiliar (like myself), do spend some time and see if you can point out all the famous personalities.

there are 103 people in this painting, 100 famous personalities. this piece is called "discussing the divine comedy with dante" by dai dudu, li tiezi, zhang an - 2006.

however, does anyone know why the artists created this piece? what were their motivations? what message are they trying to convey?

answers here:

http://i.gae.ro/painting/

http://cliptank.com/PeopleofInfluencePainting.htm

I got my copy, did you?

The 2008 Olympics - Missing out on the athletic aspect?!?

the tibet-china story has been lingering in the media for weeks, ever since the initial torch lighting ceremony. i feel sorry for the athletes that have put in so much of their time and efforts in training for this once-in-a-four-year occasion because no one is writing about their stories. what was meant to be a goodwill sporting event has turned into a political platform.

anyhow, there has been some interesting anti as well as pro china campaigns circulating in the media and web. some are quite creative while others are very extreme.

an online game developed by the americans that show their anti-china views. even if you do not feel the same as the guys who developed this game, i am sure you will get a kick out of this. http://www.addictinggames.com/olympictorchrelay.html

in retaliation of cnn's pro-tibet coverage, computerworld reported that a bunch of chinese hackers are readying an attack on cnn. however, there is always a conspiracy theory to everything, so could this be something that anti-china parties have planted to make themselves look vulnerable. you be the judge.
http://www.cw.com.hk/article.php?type=article&id_article=1444

here is a guy (i am assuming it's a guy, looking at the language used in the video) that have quite a strong view on those who don't know the facts about the china-tibet relationship, but are slashing the chinese government for their actions against anti-china protestors. this video generated 2,779,252 views over a month and numerous comments among youtube viewers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QNKB34cJo

i am sure you know this one... the [heart] China that appears in front of the names on your msn contact list. this viral has spread like a virus and i m sure you are also seeing this on your msn. my question is, do people know why they are putting the [heart] China in front of their names? is this to show that they are in support of the olympics? or is it because they agree with the chinese government's views? by participating, they've engaged themselves in the political agenda.

so... who is stirring up all these controversies and driving the political frenzy. my guess would be those who run the united states of america and people's republic of china. lets focus back on the games and continue the political warfare after the games, shall we?

Hu, Wen, Wei

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxVpMV7edgQ#

Hu is the President of China. Wen is the premier. And "Wei" is what you hear when a Chinese person picks up the phone.

A place for free speech or is it?

(source: internet)

some interesting cases on web censorship:

- a senior malaysian minister vowed to apply law prescribing jail terms for web writers of comments said to disparage islam or the king. malaysian police grilled one online author over postings the ruling party described as an attack on the country's state religion and a bid to stir racial tension.

- kazakhstan seized all .kz internet domains and closed one deemed offensive and run by british satirist sacha baron cohen, who had made the acclaimed spoof film borat: cultural learnings of america for make benefit glorious nation of kazakhstan.

- at least 54 chinese internet users are presently imprisoned for signing petitions, calling for an end to corruption, spreading information about sars and planning to establish pro-democracy groups. these include shi tao, a chinese journalist who is serving a ten-year sentence after sending an email about the anniversary of the tiananmen square protests to a chinese editor in the US.

- iran became the first country to imprison a blogger: sina motallebi, sentenced to 23 days in solitary confinement. since then, 28 bloggers and online journalists have been jailed, including arash cigarchi, who was sentenced to 14 years. he initially faced the death penalty, but was eventually acquitted of "insulting the prophets".

Bush Cheats In Press Conference

bush reads off the SCMP.com website during a press conference















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmJJnn6FB8