What Kills Us This Week!

Everyone's going on and on about the weather in Hong Kong because it's behaving in ways that can only be called bizarre. Warm, cold, freezing, warm, cold, freezing, and this is well into spring.  I've packed away the winter wardrobe three times already this month only to be forced to un-stash again. And you know what we're all blaming:

Yup, Al Gore! No, not really.

Got into a taxi the other day, gave my destination and the driver snaps at me.  "Three blocks. Global warming! Save the planet! Get out! WALK!"

But this is nothing compared with what's happening in China. Seems it's brutal up there. Snow storms. Dust storms. Drought. Entire rivers drying up. 

Of course, there is another explanation: CHINA HAS LOST THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN!

Cha cha! Cha cha cha! That's my happy dance, btw.

Do you know about the Mandate of Heaven?  This Chinese theory says that a Dynasty can rule as long as heaven permits, and when heaven withdraws the mandate the weather goes all wonky and haywire.

Some HK guy just completed a history PhD and the results were published in SCMP and in it he looks at 2000 years of Chinese history and weather patterns and, it turns out, there really is something to this: that wonky haywire weather ALWAYS precedes the fall of a Dynasty.

Yeah, you go, Mandate of Heaven.

Of course, it could just be that everyone believes in the Mandate of Heaven and thus they rise up and throw out their rulers whenever the weather turns bizarre like this, so it's really much more Marxist Materialist than Hegelian ... and I can't believe I said that, or even that I remember a word of that particular university lecture back in ... gosh, it was so long ago I can't even remember what year that was.

But let's pretend we believe it's the weather gods telling the Chinese Communist Party "Your time is up!" in no uncertain terms. Of course, CCP deserves to go.  We started the big "This is the end for CCP!" talk last month when China made it illegal to complain against injustice.  Did you hear about that?

Up in China, for many decades they've been saying "As least the Emperors allowed you to petition against wrong." and behind that wistful nostalgia there's been growing resentment and anger at this hideous lot.  And now this. Fifteen years in prison if you petition against wrong being done to you.


CCP, you are soooo gone!

Did you know that the Reign of Terror started exactly six months after the French king outlawed 'lampooning' and made it a beheading offense? And there he is, losing his own head very shortly after. Rulers should realise that folks need an outlet against injustice and CCP's imprisonment of those who petition really is WRONG and in the stupidest way too.  They really do need to read Rousseau's "Social Contract", don't they!

However, let's not choose this as our Threatdown for this week. Still on the theme of petitioning however, have you seen this:

Love those raincoats!

Yes, HK is following what's currently happening in Thailand with enormous envy at their protestive inventiveness.  You know, don't you, that the Thais are right now on the streets protesting their on-going coup - are you listening, Fiji? - by drawing their own blood and covering government buildings with it?  Well, HK is now petitioning the government using the same tactics ... only without using real blood because that's just icky.  This is watered-down paint which doesn't have nearly the same resonance but still looks effective in photographs.

However, this isn't my choice of Threatdown for this week either.  It would have to be:

THREATDOWN

This weekend the HK7s 

co-incides with a visit by the US Navy.

International hordes of rugger-buggers

coming abut shore-leave sailors.

Wan Chai will definitely turn into a battlefield.

What idiot in the US Navy let this happen!