I did a bit of searching, and some Chinese users have came to the same (irritated) conclusion as I, that China Telecom (中国电信) is actually inserting these ads into 3rd party web pages, without any regard for the original content of the page.

If you dig into the actual page code, you’ll see something along the lines of:

Fortunately, it seems that “ct10000.com” is on the FireFox AdBlock Plus black list, so I’ve installed the FireFox AdBlock Plus plugin to prevent these China Telecom ads from popping up.

Best of luck!

11 months after this article was published, Sidney was imprisoned again, from 1968 – 1977 (9 years). After his release in 1977, Sidney continued living in China for 3 more years (Total of 36 years, 16 in prison), and in March of 1980 he returned to the United States.

I’ve met few Chinese people who speak, read or write Chinese as well as Sidney – and it’s hard to imagine any other person not exposed to Chinese during their childhood attaining his level of fluency.

Bottom line, even after 6 years in China, I had to check my dictionary several times on reading through Sidney’s People’s Daily article: Chinese Cultural Revolution Opens Leadership Channel for Communism.

中国文化大革命打开了通向共产主义的航道

美国 李敦白 1967年04月08日

一

我到中国来的时候，根本不知道什么叫毛泽东思想。当时我对毛泽东思想 ，对中国共产党的路线、方针、政策都不了解，因为这些与美国共产党的一套 太不相同了。经过相当时间，我的脑子才转过来，认识到什么是真马列主义， 什么是假马列主义。我认识到中国共产党是真正的马克思列宁主义的革命党。

我对毛主席是非常尊敬的。我年青时候在一家纺织厂工作。我们工会开会 是在一个商店的楼上，是一间破破烂烂的房子，墙上只挂着一张相片，就是毛 主席。那时候，我已经知道有一个毛泽东，也知道毛泽东是中国的列宁。

我记得到延安以后，毛主席跟我谈过几次话。每次谈话的时间不长，但是 留下的印象很深。因为在每次谈话以后，我总是思考，毛主席为什么这么提， 为什么同我脑子里原来的想法不一样。解放战争时期，我就开始有这样的想法 ：要解决美国革命问题，答案就在中国的土窑洞和土平房里。虽然美国的实际 情况与中国很不相同，但是我感到美国的革命，应该走毛泽东思想所指引的道 路。

去年六月，我又到了延安，同那里的一些老同志和青年座谈时讲到，以前 ，美共在南方的党，很小，但很坚强。南方党员入党搞革命，几乎每个人都挨 过打，坐过牢，受过压迫。组织从来没有瓦解，能坚持下去，有一定的发展。 三Ｋ党的迫害，没有能消灭它；政府的镇压，没有能消灭它；派进去的一些特 务的破坏，也没有能消灭它。但是后来党和它的群众组织一下子消灭了。这是 美共变成了修正主义以后，下命令要我们自己动手解散的。我到中国以后，每 当回想起这些，心里就很气愤。我们的党，不是帝国主义从外面把它压垮的， 而是敌人在我们内部培养修正主义，从内部把它搞垮的。那时我们不懂得反对 奴隶主义，不懂得如何区别资产阶级盲目的纪律和无产阶级自觉的纪律，也不 懂得造反，当然也就没有顶住这股修正主义的反革命逆流。怎样找一个防止党 内出修正主义的根本办法呢？我一直找不到一个明确的答案。在解放战争时期 和刚解放以后，我开始形成一个想法，就是要把毛泽东思想，要把马列主义真 理，与自己国家的革命实践相结合，这样，就可以防止出修正主义，就是出了 修正主义，也能够战胜它，打倒它。在当时可以说只是在理论上意识到了这个 问题。而在这次无产阶级文化大革命中，我对这个问题不仅在理论上，而且在 实践上又有了进一步的认识。

文化大革命使我感到了新生，年轻了二十岁。文化大革命为怎样防止和反 对修正主义找到了道路。我感到中国有这样的红卫兵小将，有这样在毛泽东思 想哺育下成长的革命青少年，世界革命的前途是完全可以放心的。中国的文化 大革命对世界革命是具有决定性意义的。

二

现在的世界局势，就是劳动人民和一切爱好自由的人民为一边，人类最凶 恶的敌人美帝国主义和各国反动派为一边，进行全球的阶级斗争，可以说，这 是一场全球性的阶级战争。美帝国主义要霸占全球，到处镇压革命运动。苏修 领导集团作为美帝的盟友，公开出来压制革命群众，出卖革命群众，替美帝国 主义效劳。中国无产阶级文化大革命，给了帝国主义、修正主义和各国反动派 以毁灭性的打击。

中国无产阶级文化大革命，进一步地把世界革命的领袖、世界革命的指导 思想、世界革命的中心这些问题突出地摆在全世界革命人民的面前。这样，全 世界的无产阶级革命派就有了明确的方向，这是革命成败的关键所在。中国无 产阶级文化大革命开辟了世界革命新的一页。

我觉得赫鲁晓夫修正主义对世界革命的一个严重打击，就是所谓反对个人 迷信。赫鲁晓夫的这个罪恶行动，对世界革命造成的损失是巨大的。如果不打 退这股反革命逆流，革命就不能前进，更不能胜利。否定无产阶级的革命领袖 ，实际上就肯定了资产阶级的领袖。美国黑人起来战斗，他们是很能看清这一 点的。我看到他们的一些油印小报，政治上很敏感，就是喊：“毛泽东！毛泽 东！毛泽东！”美国黑人处在美国社会的最下层，阶级觉悟最高，再加上民族 压迫，就更敏感。他们的出发点很简单，美帝是最凶恶的敌人，它最反对毛泽 东，那么毛泽东一定是最正确的。于是他们就拚命去找毛泽东的书，一看，就 感到很亲切，觉得就是给他们自己写的，给他们指出了道路。谁是他们的领袖 、他们的导师，他们心里非常明白。他们就是从毛泽东思想根本的一条出发： “凡是敌人反对的，我们就要拥护；凡是敌人拥护的，我们就要反对。”他们 从心底喊出：“毛泽东万岁！”北京的一位外国朋友到美国去，参加了一个辩 论会。辩论的问题是，毛主席是全世界革命人民心中最红最红的红太阳，这句 话怎么看？一个黑人青年站起来说：“你们在理论上辩论很多问题我不了解， 但是对我来讲，没有什么可辩的。在我心中，毛泽东就是最红最红的红太阳！”

毛主席是当代最伟大的马克思列宁主义者，是当代世界革命的伟大天才， 是当代革命最伟大的旗手。文化大革命充分证明，照毛主席指示去做，革命就 前进，离开了毛主席指示，革命就失败。对中国是这样，对全世界革命派也是 这样。毛主席天才地、创造性地、全面地继承、捍卫和发展了马克思列宁主义 ，把马克思列宁主义提高到一个崭新的阶段。毛泽东思想是在帝国主义走向全 面崩溃，社会主义走向全世界胜利的时代的马克思列宁主义。毛泽东思想是唯 一正确的指导革命、引向胜利的马列主义。

中国无产阶级文化大革命，在世界革命人民的心目中更加明确地解决了世 界革命的领袖、世界革命的指导思想、世界革命的中心等重大问题，这是对世 界革命的一个最根本的贡献。世界各国真正的无产阶级革命派，高举毛泽东思 想旗帜，高举毛主席是全世界革命领袖的旗帜，不顾反动派的种种迫害，大胆 前进。他们对毛泽东思想无限热爱，对本国的革命作出越来越大的贡献。

三

中国无产阶级文化大革命解决了当代无产阶级革命的一个极为重大的问题 ，就是在无产阶级夺取了政权以后，怎样防止资本主义复辟，怎样巩固和发展 无产阶级专政和社会主义制度以及怎样打开通向共产主义的道路的问题。这个 问题解决以后，就会使全世界革命运动打开新的局面，开始新的阶段，就是说 帝国主义要在全世界被打垮，社会主义、共产主义事业要在全世界取得胜利。 一八七一年巴黎公社有了无产阶级夺取政权的经验。一九一七年俄国十月 革命发展了这个经验。怎样巩固和发展政权，这方面过去有过的经验，只是抵 抗外部武装进攻和进行内部战争来维护政权。

但是，有一个问题没有解决，就是无产阶级掌握政权以后，如何不出修正 主义，如何不让资本主义复辟，如何把无产阶级政权发展下去，把革命进行到 底，怎样把已经胜利的社会主义国家继续发展下去，把无产阶级革命发展下去 ，成为世界革命的基地，保卫无产阶级革命，这个重大问题过去没有解决，这 次文化大革命才得到明确的解决。无产阶级在夺取政权以后，还要继续造资产 阶级的反，造修正主义的反，造一切剥削阶级意识形态的反，破资产阶级世界 观，用无产阶级世界观武装广大群众。无产阶级用武力夺取政权是普遍规律。 夺权以后，如何自下而上地发动广大人民群众开展无产阶级文化大革命，扫除 资产阶级思想，进行第二次夺权，这也是普遍规律，但以前根本不知道。现在 不但是在理论上已经知道，而且在实践上也有了经验。

夺取政权以后，必须继续夺头脑中资产阶级思想的权，否则旧世界不能破 得彻底，新世界创立不起来。

《修养》这本书危害很大。我自己受害之大，控诉几天几夜也说不完。《 修养》是大毒草，培养你当奴隶，如果你按着他的《修养》去做，不反抗，你 就能往上爬，万一犯了错误，遮遮掩掩，也能过去。这本书还提倡“吃小亏占 大便宜”，就是自己“修养”好，是为了个人有好处，对小集团有好处，这是 十足的资产阶级剥削思想。

《修养》是完全违反毛泽东思想的。毛主席提倡树立无产阶级世界观，树 立彻底为人民服务的思想，毫不利己，专门利人，用为人民服务的思想来考验 一个人在斗争中的表现。

过去我们都很信任苏联，看着克里姆林宫上面的红五角星，就觉得有了希 望。后来这个灯灭了。我们就想，中国革命有朝气，现在还在支持各国革命派 。但是有什么把握可以保证不变？亚洲、非洲、拉丁美洲同志，一到中国都提 出这个问题。一九六三年，毛主席发表了支持美国黑人斗争的声明，同时还接 待了我们两个美国人和十八个非洲国家的代表团。喀麦隆一个代表站起来说： “有一句话，我们不好意思讲，但是我们受武装斗争青年的委托，让我们问， 有什么把握证明中国今天支持我们，明天是不是还支持我们？”文化大革命清 楚地回答了这个问题。文化大革命使社会主义中国永葆革命青春，誓把革命进 行到底。通过文化大革命，现在可以得出这样一个结论：中国变不变的问题， 用不着担心了。经过阶级斗争风浪锻炼的广大中国革命青年和革命群众就是保 证，毛泽东思想就是保证。

中国革命进行到底，就一定会把世界革命进行到底。中国的无产阶级文化 大革命重新打开了被赫鲁晓夫修正主义阻塞的通向共产主义的航道。

四

中国无产阶级文化大革命的伟大胜利沉重地打击了帝国主义、现代修正主 义和各国反动派。“五敢”精神是把一切反动派都是纸老虎的思想，和战略上 藐视帝国主义、修正主义和一切反动派的思想贯彻到实际行动中去。知道了是 纸老虎，应该怎么办？就要有敢想、敢说、敢干、敢闯、敢革命的“五敢”精 神，中国的文化大革命做出了样板，英勇的红卫兵小将提供了榜样。在文化大 革命中，把“五敢”精神，革命造反有理的思想，提到了第一位。把革命造反 有理的思想交给各国革命派，这对促进世界革命将有巨大的意义。

中国的文化大革命也是对全世界无产阶级革命派政治上和各方面的支援。 这使帝修反非常害怕。《纽约时报》的一个叫杜尔敦的、研究中国问题的特务 记者，在文化大革命初期，就在报上写过一篇报道说，过去把希望寄托在毛泽 东的第二代，现在看来这第二代可能比第一代还要厉害。

中国的文化大革命提供了防修反修的战略和策略，是防修反修的大演习。 苏修领导集团非常了解这一点。他们拚命捣乱，特别是从上海的“一月革命” 开始，苏修豁出来了。柯西金到英国女王面前骂中国，骂中国的文化大革命， 竟然公开乞求帝国主义赏识他，援助他，一切面子都不要了。中国的文化大革 命激动了革命人民的心，也激动了苏联人民的心。中国的文化大革命把苏修的 老底揭露出来了。苏修怕得要死，于是大造谣言，他们胡说什么中国无产阶级 文化大革命不是无产阶级的，不是文化的，不革命的，甚至是反革命的。这简 直是胡说八道。苏修统治集团骂中国比帝国主义骂的还凶，因为它心虚得很。 它尤其怕打倒奴隶主义！怕打倒党内走资本主义道路的当权派和无产阶级革命 造反有理的响亮口号！中国人民在文化大革命中高举毛泽东思想伟大红旗，毛 主席成了世界革命人民心中的红太阳。苏修的日子越来越不好过了。修字号的 先生大叫大嚷说，文化大革命是别有用心的。这个用心是可以承认的，就是决 心在中国挖掉修正主义的根子。中国文化大革命增强了修正主义国家人民的斗 争勇气和信心。这些国家的人民一定会起来用适合他们需要的办法进行革命造 反。

为什么杜尔敦写这样的文章？为什么一谈越南问题，往往就联系到中国的 文化大革命？因为帝国主义的反动阶级本质引起它注意中国的文化大革命。文 化大革命堵住了帝修妄图在中国搞“和平演变”的道路，对美国的全球战略是 个沉重的打击，对各国人民革命斗争是有力的支援。中国无产阶级文化大革命 的伟大成就鼓舞着世界革命人民。成为世界革命基地的中国的日益强大，也大 大增强了世界革命人民的斗争信心。斯特朗同志现在的思想非常活跃，她说： “我这人已经八十一岁，但是还能干革命宣传工作，还能看许多东西，大概我 能看得到的中国革命、世界革命的事情，比我原来设想的可能多得多！我这个 八十一岁的老革命还是很有奔头！”我觉得她有这种感觉，外国的许多青年更 应该有这个感觉。

文化大革命以来，我在许多方面确实变了。我的思想变了，我的一些根深 蒂固的生活习惯，也开始变了。怎么变的？就是因为心中有红太阳。我学习了 毛泽东思想，我进一步认识到毛主席是伟大的革命领袖和伟大的导师，我就有 了一种新的力量。我深深地感到，一个人有了毛泽东思想，心里有了红太阳， 他就可以打破自己原来的思想，可以超脱原来的范围，成为大集体中十分有力 量的一员，发挥自己全部的光和热来参加革命事业。红卫兵小将们不是生来就 勇敢的，而是因为他们心里有了红太阳，所以勇敢。

毛主席不仅是中国人民心中的红太阳，也是全世界革命人民心中的红太阳 。全世界革命人民永远跟着红太阳，一定会把世界革命进行到底！

关于我们 ECO中文网创建于2006年，是《经济学人》爱好者的家园，凝聚了世界各地的华人力量翻译每期《经济学人》的精彩文章。《经济学人》最早于1843年9月由詹姆士·威尔逊创办，以独立和全球化的视角著称。创办的目的是“参与一场推动前进的智慧与阻碍我们进步的胆怯无知之间的较量”。

Translation:

About Us: The “ECO” Chinese language website was established in 2006, it is <The Economist> magazine’s hobbyists homeland, made up through the power of Chinese people all over the world translating every issue of The Economist’s brilliant articles. The Economist was founded in September 1843 by James Wilson, and has stood alone with it’s pro globalization prospective. The economist was founded to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”.

Kind of funny to watch the Chinese Black Market “economically” handling distribution for The Economist. See it for yourself: www.ecocn.org.

The Federal Government has a debt of at least $14.7 Trillion. Additionally, the Federal Reserve has a debt of at least $2.5 Trillion.

According to Dean Baker – Center for Economic and Policy Research:

There is a simple way to avoid a sharp rise in the interest burden associated with a higher debt. The Federal Reserve Board can buy and hold the debt that is currently being issued by the Treasury to finance the deficit. The logic of this is straightforward. If the Fed holds the debt, then the interest on the debt is paid to the Fed. The Fed then returns the interest to the Treasury each year, meaning the net cost to the government is zero.

This technique is known as monetizing the debt.

In August, 2010 the FOMC (Federal Open Markets Committee) actually stated they would begin monetizing the debt with this anouncement:

“To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities. The Committee will continue to roll over the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities as they mature.”

Fed Gov’t Debt ($17.7T) + Fed Reserve Debt ($2.5T) = $20T. Debt is already over 140% of GDP.

The important lesson here, is that the Federal Reserve Balance Sheet can continue to absorb an infinite amount of Federal Gov’t debt, for Zero fee.

So, about Enron.

Enron created off balance sheet limited partnerships, these were named LJM1, LJM2 and Raptor I, I, III and IV. When Enron didn’t have enough money, it would borrow money from these off balance sheet partnerships. When it lost money, it could hide those losses in these partnerships.

Sound familiar?

The Federal Government doesn’t have enough money. Nobody wants to buy Treasuries to lend it more? No need to raise interest rates – just let the Federal Reserve hold the Federal Debt on it’s balance sheet, and since profits of the Federal Reserve are paid to the Federal Government, nothing is really owed, so we can keep this cycle up indefinitely.

Until the music stops.

The more junk stored on the Federal Reserve balance sheet, the less likely anyone outside of the Federal Reserve will buy treasuries – yet each time the Fed buys, it intrinsically expands the dollar supply and thereby devalues the dollar.

The Chinese Central Bank is determined to store overpay for large piles of US treasuries, and the US Central Bank is also determined to overpay for large piles of US treasuries, and other Toxic assets.

Future borrowing needs to move from easily devalued national currencies to a more difficult to devalue trans-national standard. I mentioned Special Drawing Rights two years ago, and they were really a pretty novel solution to the US debt problem at the time. Once the Chinese and Japanese central bankers come to their senses, if the Treasury wants to sell debt to anyone besides it’s Enron style Special Purpose Entity (the Fed), then it’s going to have to denominate debt in something more stable.

Companies like General Motors have invested heavily to gain a foothold in China and only recently started to see profits. China now has plans to increase domestic vehicle market share. The road to Chinese revenue is paved with lots of dollars spent in vain as government restrictions and favoring domestic goods and services increase.

I remember an O’Reilly Media un-conference I attended in Beijing a few years back. One of the more memorable quotes from an audience member left me with a profound impression of business in China. He noted that western companies coming to China should take note their patents are meaningless.

It’s hard to get your hands on good research anywhere, but in China it’s a downright challenge. Cash is still king in China. Internet purchases have ramped up slowly. People have less disposable income so the dominant portion of purchases occurs for household items.

‘I will state that there will be a polarization of society here in the United States. People who are using their brains are moving up. Then you have another part of society that is doing services. These services will not be paid well. But you would need services. You would need restaurants, you would need cooks, you would need drivers et cetera. You will be losing your middle class.

‘This I would not see in the same fashion in Europe, because the manufacturing base there today can compete anywhere, anytime with China or India. Because their productivity and skill sets more than offset their higher costs. You don’t see this everywhere, but it’s Germany, it’s France, it’s Sweden, it’s Austria, it’s Switzerland…. So I feel Europe still will have a middle level of people. They also have people who are very rich, they also have people doing services. But there is a balance. I don’t see the balance here in the US.’

Dr. Bharat was here mainly to talk about engineering developments at Mercedes, notably a car designed to respond to collisions just before they occur (via radar and other sensors to detect imminent crashes) and apply a variety of pre-protective, hunkering-down measures. Details on the ‘Pre-Safe’ system here. But his matter-of-fact observation of why companies in the United States might match any firms anywhere in raw innovativeness and profitability, while American society as a whole becomes more polarized and caste-like, was sobering to put it mildly. Not a new theme, obviously, but presented quite starkly. Andy Grove of Intel to the same effect here;  background from the Atlantic here and here.

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Bonus ‘it’s a big world’ note: Dr. Bharat is originally from Madras/Chennai and is an alum of the storied Indian Institute of Technology/Bombay. But he went to work for Daimler as a very young man and (as he jokingly pointed out himself) now speaks English with a rich Jawohl!-style German accent rather than Indian English. This is a more charming combination than you might think.

A hostile Asian bloc combining the most populous nations of the world and vast resources with some of the most industrious peoples would be incompatible with the American national interest. For this reason, America must retain a presence in Asia, and its geopolitical objective must remain to prevent Asia’s coalescence into an unfriendly bloc (which is most likely to happen under the tutelage of one of its major powers). Americas relationship to Asia is thus comparable with that of Britain toward the content of Europe for four centuries. Winston Churchill described that situation eloquently:

For four hundred years the foreign policy of England has been to oppose the stronger, most aggressive, most dominating Power on the Continent… These four centuries of consistent purpose amid so many chances of names and facts, of circumstances and conditions, must rank as one of the most remarkable episodes which the records of any race, nation, state, or people can show. Moreover, on all occasions England took the more difficult course. Faced by Philip II of Spain, against Louis XIV under William III and Marlborough, against Napoleon, against Wiliam II of Germany, it would have been easy and must have been very tempting to join the stronger and share the fruits of his conquest. However, we always took the harder course, joined with the less strong Powers, made a combination among them, and thus defeated and frustrated the continental military tyrant whoever he was, whatever nation led. Thus we preserved the liberties of Europe, protected the growth of its vivacious and varied society… It is a law of public policy which we are following and not a mere expedient dictated by accidental circumstances, or likes and dislikes, or any other sentiment.

In the twenty-first century, an analogous objective for the United States in Asia poses a more complex challenge. The European balance of power was sustained by nation states of substantially homogeneous ethnic composition (with the exception of Russia); many of the major Asian states (China, Russia, India, Indonesia) are continental in size and multiethnic in composition. The European equilibrium was seamless in the sense that all major states were part of it – that is, the interplay of their alliances constituted the balance of power; thus a crisis over Serbia in the Balkans escalated into the First World War. The Asian balance of power is more differentiated and therefore more complex.

In Europe, two world wars and the insufficient scale of the European nation-state in the face of global challenges have made the nineteenth-century balance of power irrelevant. The nations of Europe no longer treat one another as strategic threats; threats from outside Europe have been dealt with by the alliance with the United States.

By contrast, the nations of Asia have never acknowledged a common danger, having quite differing views about what threatens their security. Some have historically feared Russia; others worry mostly about China; still others are concerned about a resurgent Japan; some in Southeast Asia consider Vietnam the principal danger. India and Pakistan are each obsessed with the threat of the other.

To be sure, it is in the American national interest to resist the effort of any power to dominate Asia – and, in the extreme, the United States should be prepared to do so without allies. But a wise American policy would strive to prevent such an outcome. It would nurture cooperative relations with all of the significant nations of Asia to keep open the possibility of joint action should circumstances require it. But it would also seek to convey to China that opposition to hegemony is coupled with a preference for a constructive relationship and that America will facilitate and not obstruct China’s participation in a stable international order. Confrontation with China should be the ultimate recourse, not the strategic choice.

We can’t afford another so-called economic “expansion” like the one from the last decade — what some call the “lost decade” — where jobs grew more slowly than during any prior expansion; where the income of the average American household declined while the cost of health care and tuition reached record highs; where prosperity was built on a housing bubble and financial speculation.

Interesting that this sounds a whole lot like the so-called economic “expansion” here in China…

On their own, new technologies do not take sides in the struggle for freedom and progress, but the United States does. We stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. And we recognize that the world’s information infrastructure will become what we and others make of it. Now, this challenge may be new, but our responsibility to help ensure the free exchange of ideas goes back to the birth of our republic. The words of the First Amendment to our Constitution are carved in 50 tons of Tennessee marble on the front of this building. And every generation of Americans has worked to protect the values etched in that stone.

There are, of course, hundreds of millions of people living without the benefits of these technologies. In our world, as I’ve said many times, talent may be distributed universally, but opportunity is not. And we know from long experience that promoting social and economic development in countries where people lack access to knowledge, markets, capital, and opportunity can be frustrating and sometimes futile work. In this context, the internet can serve as a great equalizer. By providing people with access to knowledge and potential markets, networks can create opportunities where none exist.

States, terrorists, and those who would act as their proxies must know that the United States will protect our networks. Those who disrupt the free flow of information in our society or any other pose a threat to our economy, our government, and our civil society. Countries or individuals that engage in cyber attacks should face consequences and international condemnation. In an internet-connected world, an attack on one nation’s networks can be an attack on all. And by reinforcing that message, we can create norms of behavior among states and encourage respect for the global networked commons.

Taken in context, this reads to me like a veiled threat against China. Of course, the NSA’s job is cyber-espionage and cyber-terrorism, so it’s not really something new. Just part of The Great Game.

To use market terminology, a publicly listed company in Tunisia or Vietnam that operates in an environment of censorship will always trade at a discount relative to an identical firm in a free society. If corporate decision makers don’t have access to global sources of news and information, investors will have less confidence in their decisions over the long term. Countries that censor news and information must recognize that from an economic standpoint, there is no distinction between censoring political speech and commercial speech. If businesses in your nations are denied access to either type of information, it will inevitably impact on growth.

As it stands, Americans can consider information presented by foreign governments. We do not block your attempts to communicate with the people in the United States. But citizens in societies that practice censorship lack exposure to outside views. In North Korea, for example, the government has tried to completely isolate its citizens from outside opinions. This lopsided access to information increases both the likelihood of conflict and the probability that small disagreements could escalate. So I hope that responsible governments with an interest in global stability will work with us to address such imbalances.

And censorship should not be in any way accepted by any company from anywhere. And in America, American companies need to make a principled stand. This needs to be part of our national brand. I’m confident that consumers worldwide will reward companies that follow those principles.

In fact, I would like to see more governments, if you disagree with what a blogger or a website is saying, get in and argue with them. Explain what it is you’re doing. Put out contrary information. Point out what the pitfalls are of the position that a blogger might be taking.

Erwin
1981 – 2009

Location Battle Creek, Michigan
Age 28 years
Murdered
Born Jan 27th 1981
Death July 27th 2009

Erwin was loved by everyone who ever got the chance to truly get to know him. He was a very talented rapper and enjoyed being around his friends and family. He was very intelligent, taking college courses in sociology and psychology and reading self improvement books. He leaves behind his loving mother Kim, father Raymond, grandma Edeith and grandpa Norman and his brother Deon along with a host of cousins, aunts and uncles and friends along with Sandy a family friend. To carry on his legacy he has a son, whom he cherished. Erwin is greatly missed but will NEVER be forgotten. We love you Erwin.

Please accept my sincerest condolences. I hope the Erwin family of Battle Creek, Michigan is able to be together during this holiday season.

One trip to Macau and you’ll probably be asking yourself what the numbers really mean. In typical China Fashion, it means less than you think.

'07 Gambling Revenues: Macau  $7.0B   Vegas   $6.5B

VIP Rooms:             Macau    65%   Vegas      0%

Slot Machine Revenue:  Macau     5%   Vegas     60%

Gambling % of Revenue: Macau    95%   Vegas     40%

Length of Avg Visit:   Macau      1   Vegas       4

Hotel Rooms:           Macau 13,000   Vegas 130,000

65% of money bet in Macau is in the “VIP Rooms”, which typically equals money laundering. Without that, Macau is at about $2B/year. In terms of pure table games, Macau and Vegas are nearly equal – around $2B/Y, but Slot Machines contribute more than double table game revenues, and the vacation/convention business accounts for 2.5x the gaming total. In summary:

Macau: $2.5B (less money laundering)

Vegas:  $16B (including slots and retail)

Those numbers basically match what you feel when you’re in Vegas.

You may be wondering how VIP Rooms work. James Fallows’s new book “Postcards from Tomorrow Square” explains.

The Chinese government doesn’t allow rich people to take their money out of the country easily, it allows them to convert only small amounts of renminbi each year. So a factory owner from the Pearl River Delta or a corrupt public official who has grown wealthy, will head to Macau.

One Western banker with extensive experience in Macau pointed out that the city functions as one big, quasi-official money-laundering site via the numbers gold dealer’s shops on either side of its border with mainland China.

Chinese visitors buy bold with RMB from shops on their side of the border and then sell to dealers on the Macau side for Hong Kong dollars – a ‘hard’ currency that can be converted into U.S. dollars or euros and sent anywhere in the world.

Something similar can go on when wealthy Chinese visit a VIP room. The room’s operator lends them money for gambling – often large sums, worth thousands or millions of U.S. dollars. The loan is in Hong Kong dollars, the main betting currency of Macau (its own currency is the pataca). If the Chinese gambler wins, he now has hard currency. If he loses, he settles the debt back in China, in RMB. A related practice is “doubling down” which the bets are made in one currency, say Hong Kong dollars, but the players agree to settle later in another, like U.S. dollars. Exactly how the debts are paid, and just where the touts get their substantial operating capital, is obscure. But the rooms and other Macau-based services are assumed to be a major channel for money flowing illegally out of China – and North Korea.

Fallows also wrote one of my favorite quotes ever summarizing doing business in China:

“These standards include such vague-sounding principles as rule of law, transparency, and accountability, which in practice mean: Can you trust a contract? Can you win a lawsuit? Do you know who’s really making a decision? Will the decision be made in favor of whoever provides a “red envelope” containing the biggest bribe? How many sets of books should a company be keeping, anyway? How much money laundering is too much?”
“Postcards from Tomorrow Square” p108

• You’re ssh tunnel to your server outside the GFW will be active *whenever* your online
• When you need to bypass the GFW, simply select “SSH” from your locations menu
• When you don’t need to use your proxy, simply switch your location back to Automatic

What you need:

• SSH access to a server outside the GFW (See: ServerAge in Hong Kong)
• SSH Key Authentication configured (See: ssh-keygen, id_pub.rsa and ~/.ssh/authorized_keys)
• AutoSSH to auto-restart SSH sessions and keep SSH on forever (See: OS X Binary or Source)
• Instructions assume your on Mac OS X, but can be applied to any version of Linux

Configuring SSH key based authentication can be very difficult if you haven’t configured it previously. The idea is:

• Generate a key set on your local computer (with ssh-keygen on the local system)
• The Key Set will make two files on your hard drive, a “Private Key” and a “Public Key” (~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub on the local system)
• Note that the “Private Key” is many “lines” long, but the “Public Key” is a single line (no newlines/returns)
• The server that you’re logging into keeps a list of keys that are authorized to access the system (in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server)
• Copy the single line of your “public key” file onto any line of your “authorized keys” file.
• Make sure the permissions of both your public keys and private keys are “correct”. “Insecure” file permissions are the most common cause of SSH key’s failing to authenticate.
• Always keep your .ssh dir and all your keys chmodded to 700 and 600 respectively.
• Use “ssh -vvv” if you have trouble logging in, this will give you diagnostic output.

Verify that you’re able to connect to the system you’ll be using to proxy via SSH.

If you’ve got the Apple Developer Tools installed, then go directly to the AutoSSH website, download the source, compile and install. In case you don’t, I’ve complied a copy that you can download here.

Just extract with: [shell]tar zxvf autossh.tgz -C /[/shell]

Use foreground mode to verify that you’re able to connect to the system of your choice via AutoSSH.

[shell]autossh -M 19999 -D 9999 -N example.com[/shell]

Use cURL to verify that your proxy is working

[shell]curl —socks4a localhost:9999 -v www.facebook.com[/shell]

Now that your proxy is online, the next step is to define a new location in your Mac OS X “Network” Profiles.

In System Preferences / Network:

• From the Locations dropdown choose “Edit Locations” then add a new location called “SSH”
  
• Return to the main Network window and choose “Advanced” then “Proxies”
  
• Enable “SOCKS Proxy” setting the proxy server to “localhost” and port “9999”
  
• Under bypass proxy setting for these hosts and domains, you can enter any sites that will be slowed down by proxing via your SSH connection:
  [plain]*.local, 169.254/16, *.cn, *.163.com, *.baidu.com, *.youku.com, *.toudou.com, *.sina.com, *.chinesepod.com[/plain]

Last, we just need to configure autossh to start when our Mac boots up. We’ll use a Login Hook so that the script will run regardless of which user logs in.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2420

You’ll need to create the shell script to use as the Login Hook, save it as /usr/local/bin/loginhook, and make it executable (chmod 755).

[shell] #! /bin/bash

if [ "$(ps ax | grep autossh | grep -vc grep)" -lt 1 ]; then
  sudo -u {USER} /usr/local/bin/autossh -f -M 19999 -D 9999 -N -o ServerAliveInterval=3 {SERVER}
fi

[/shell]

If you have trouble connecting and need to debug the autossh line, first try disabling the “-f” so that the program runs in the foreground and returns output. If you need to send the output to a log file, you can edit the loginhook script to something like:

[shell]sudo -u {USER} autossh -M 19999 -D 9999 -N {SERVER} 2&amp;>1 &gt;&gt; /tmp/loginhook.log[/shell]

(Note that you’ll need to replace {USER} with the short name of the user account that is providing the SSH public key and {SERVER} with the host your connecting to)

[shell]sudo defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook /usr/local/bin/loginhook[/shell]

If your ever in doubt as to weather or not your new Proxy is running correctly, save the following script as /usr/local/bin/gfw. Run this script to instantly check on the status of your proxy.

[shell]curl –socks4a localhost:9999 -v www.facebook.com[/shell]

Reboot, Test and Enjoy!

China Unicom’s “3G Network” goes live on 10/1 (National Day).

Now is the time to stock up on CHU.

Photos from signing ceremony.

Groundbreaking for the US pavilion will be on July 17 at 10:30 AM. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will be present.