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The Pope takes on Internet trolls

By Daniel Burke, Belief Blog Co-editor

(CNN) Careerist clergy. The super rich. And now we can add another pelt to Pope Francis' collection: Internet trolls.

In a speech addressing social communications on Thursday, the Pope said communications technology is building unprecedented bridges between people across the world.

At the same time, however, those connections can cause us to "lose our bearings," said the 77-year-old pontiff.

"The speed with which information is communicated exceeds our capacity for reflection and judgement, and this does not make for more balanced and proper forms of self-expression," Francis said.

"The variety of opinions being aired can be seen as helpful," the Pope continued, "but it also enables people to barricade themselves behind sources of information which only confirm their own wishes and ideas, or political and economic interests."

Francis also said the "desire for digital connectivity can have the effect of isolating us from our neighbors, from those closest to us."

“It is not enough to be passers-by on the digital highways, simply 'connected'; connections need to grow into true encounters," the Pope said. "We cannot live apart, closed in on ourselves. We need to love and to be loved. We need tenderness. Media strategies do not ensure beauty, goodness and truth in communication."

The Pope's comments are somewhat ironic, considering that his own soaring popularity can be partially traced to the Internet and social media. According to a study released in November, Francis was the most talked about person online last year.

But, drawbacks aside, the Pope did not argue that people should reject social media, which he said can foster unity and "help us feel closer to each other."

Instead he argued, all the advances in bits and bytes shouldn't distract from the fact that digital communication is, at root, about people talking to each other.

"What is it, then, that helps us, in the digital environment, to grow in humanity and mutual understanding," the Pope said.

"We need, for example, to recover a certain sense of deliberateness and calm. This calls for time and the ability to be silent and to listen. We need also to be patient if we want to understand those who are different from us."

The 'Tiger Mom' Superiority Complex

A new book from Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld seeks to explain why some groups succeed in America, and some fail. But when does cultural pride cross over into racism?

By Suketu Mehta Monday, Feb. 03, 2014

From time to time, every Indian American finds an email in his or her inbox, like the one my grandfather once sent me: "Take a Pride—Being an Indian. 38% of Doctors in U.S.A. are Indians. 36% of NASA employees are Indians. 34% of MICROSOFT employees are Indians."

On my desk now is a book-length version of such an email: The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America, by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld. You may remember Chua as the "Tiger Mom" whose 2011 memoir about the rigors of Chinese parenting set off waves of anxiety among aspirational American parents who had been raised with Dr. Spock's permissive child-rearing attitudes. Her new book, co-authored with her husband, widens its aim, purporting to explain why not just Asians (like Chua) but also seven other groups — Cubans, Jews (like Rubenfeld), Indians (like me), Nigerians, Mormons, Iranians and Lebanese — are superior when it comes to succeeding in America.

The book claims that these groups thrive because of three traits: a superiority complex, insecurity and impulse control. The ones lacking the "Triple Package" are African Americans, Appalachians, Wasps and pretty much everybody else.

Does such thinking shock you? if not, it may be because it has become so insidiously commonplace over the past decade as a new strain of racial, ethnic and cultural reductivism has crept into the American psyche and public discourse.

Tiger Mom vs. Brooklyn Dragon:
I Hereby Challenge Amy Chua to a Barefist Kung Fu Duel
Posted by Jie-Song Zhang
...

1) Your personal success, popularity, and financial gain from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom are paid for by an increased threat of psychological and even physical violence for Asian youth, everywhere throughout America.
...
...
2) Your new work¸ The Triple Package, attempts to assess the value of human communities based on income and test scores - this is shallow and simple-minded.
...
...

3) Your two latest books drive a feeling of distance and opposition between communities, endangering the American future.

Robert Frank Friday, 17 Jan 2014 | 1:14 PM ET

Do the wealthy Chinese know something we don't?

A new report shows that 64 percent of Chinese millionaires have either emigrated or plan to emigrate—taking their spending and fortunes with them. The United States is their favorite destination.

The report from Hurun, a wealth research firm that focuses on China, said that one-third of China's super rich—or those worth $16 million or more—have already emigrated.

The data offer the latest snapshot of China's worrying wealth flight, with massive numbers of rich Chinese taking their families and fortunes overseas. Previous studies show the main reasons rich Chinese are leaving is to pursue better educations for their kids, and to escape the pollution and overcrowding in urban China.

But analysts say there is another reason the Chinese rich are fleeing: to protect their fortunes. With the Chinese government cracking down on corruption, many of the Chinese rich—who made their money through some connection or favors from government—want to stash their money in assets or countries that are hard for the Chinese government to reach.

According to WealthInsight, the Chinese wealthy now have about $658 billion stashed in offshore assets. Boston Consulting Group puts the number lower, at around $450 billion, but says offshore investments are expected to double in the next three years.

A study from Bain Consulting found that half of China's ultrawealthy—those with $16 million or more in wealth—now have investments overseas.

The mass millionaire migration out of China is also hitting luxury companies hard. Hurun said China's luxury sales last year fell 15 percent—the biggest drop in over a half a decade. Spending on gifts, which made up a sizable portion of luxury sales, fell 25 percent.

Bentley Motors last week said that its sales in China slowed last year in part because of "the migration of high net worth individuals from China."

In other words, it isn't that wealthy buyers in China are spending less—they're just disappearing.

Most are looking for permanent residences, Hurun said. The United States was their top destination, which any real estate agent in San Francisco, Seattle or New York can confirm. Europe is their second favorite destination, followed by Canada, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

wherestip wrote:

64% 中国富人移民海外

针对空气污染的治理，国务院于去年9月10日发布了《大气污染防治行动计划》，其中明确要求：到2017年，北京市细颗粒物年均浓度控制在60微克/立方米。

王安顺回忆，自己当时带着壮士断腕的决心签订了这份“生死状”：“如果空气污染（治理目标）到2017年实现不了，领导说了既是句玩笑话，也是句分量很重的话，‘提头来见’。”

ysun wrote:

如何把“提头来见”翻成英文？不过，既然那只是句“玩笑话”，那就不必当真，倒还不如说届时实现不了目标就“引咎辞职、削职为民”还更管用些。

ysun wrote:


非常合乎逻辑。

wherestip wrote:

只能拿个兜子拎进来呀。 ...

中国梦 ...

http://video.sina.com.cn/p/ent/v/m/2014-01-30/210263456385.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.

The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Excerpts from Chapter 9:
The American Dream in the 21st Century

The American Dream has always involved a clear sense of the goals to be pursued and means by which they might be achieved. The American Dream has clear expectations both for the individual and the nation. At the individual level, as Penn, Franklin, Alger and so many others knew, the Dream demanded “character;” preparation in school and shop, honesty, hard work, frugality, and persistence. At the national level, the Dream demanded that society provide an open, fair, competitive, entrepreneurial environment in which individual merit could find its place....

The Founders well understood that a free, stable, and prosperous society required constitutional rules of the game that were carefully crafted. Individuals were responsible for their own character and preparation. They were expected to foster good habits and avoid bad habits; to be honest, fair, and truthful, and to avoid lying, drinking, and swearing. They were also to prepare themselves, through education and preparation for a job or career, to be useful members of their society. Then they were expected to work hard, save, invest, persevere, and with a little luck, to succeed and perhaps to prosper. But no matter how well they prepared, how hard they were willing to work, society and the economy had to be well organized and vibrant enough to provide the opportunities over which they might compete.

...

wherestip wrote:


What's with the walking? It looks like a somewhat toned-down version of one of Richard Simmons' exercise routines.

I think there's a major flaw with the message of the so-called "Chinese dream"(or "China dream" if you believe in bad English). It seems to glorify a leisurely existence without emphasizing the necessary hard work that precedes it. IMO, the message it carries is quite different than that of the "American dream".



IMO, pollution of the mind is even worse than pollution of the air. But whatever, the audience seems happy and content.

现在大家也在讨论中国梦。 何为中国梦？ 我以为实现中华民族的伟大复兴，就是中华民族近代最伟大的中国梦。 因为这个梦想啊，它是凝聚和寄托了几代中国人的，这样的一种夙愿； 它体现了中华民族和中国人民的整体利益，它是每一个中华儿女（啊）的一种共同的期盼。 这个历史任务光荣而艰巨， 是须要我们一代又一代的中国人呢，不懈地为之共同努力。 空谈误国、实干兴邦。 我们这一代的共产党人啊， 就是要继往开来、承前启后，团结全国各族人民； 要继续坚定不移地朝着中华民族伟大复兴的这样一个历史目标奋勇前进。

- 习近平