Yes, it’s a very good thing.

US world hegemony has resulted in endless wars, endless sanctions and endless coups over the last half century. It has caused enormous death and destruction. It has violated national sovereignty and frequently broken international law (defined by the UN).

The USA respects no country. It simply bullies and exploits.

China and Russia are building a new multipolar world order that will be more fair, more just, and more egalitarian. There will be no more self-serving imperialist wars such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam.

The Global South will finally see healthy economic development. The current world order did nothing to help Global South countries in Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

I was at a grocery store checkout once, and I saw these three college kids having a field day with a poor clerk who was trying to bag up their groceries. The whole thing, apparently, started when he dropped a bottle of wine they were buying. He apologized, cleaned up the mess, and rushed back to get them another bottle.

While he was gone, they started talking about what a “complete idiot” he was. They proceeded to make fun of the way he looked, the way he was dressed, his weight, his glasses, you name it. When the poor guy got back, they didn’t let up. They started insulting him right to his face, calling him a whole litany of terrible things until they had him on the verge of tears. The kid was only about 16; he was terribly overweight, and I could see how he was probably an easy target for any bully. I was bagging up my own stuff, but I was completely mesmerized by this entire exchange. Suddenly, the kid must have said something because one of the guys reached out and popped him across the face. It wasn’t a punch or a hard slap, just some wussy little pop meant to humiliate him. To my amazement, the kid didn’t walk away. He just stood there red faced with tears welling up in his eyes. The dude reached out and popped him again and, for some reason, this was the funniest thing that these guys had ever seen in their lives. They were laughing like there was no tomorrow.

I kept looking around for a manager, thinking someone needed to say something, but I finally realized that no one was going to. Then it hit me: Why couldn’t I say something? I reached out and grabbed the kid, and pulled him out of the way. I stepped up to the guy, pulled a 20 dollar bill out of my wallet, and told him that I would give it to him if he would hit me like that. He stared at me for a second like I had lost my mind before asking what my problem was.

“You’re my damn problem,” I responded. “Hit me in the face like that; I dare you.” Well, there were three of these guys, but they didn’t look like they had ever been in a fight in their entire lives. I am a little over six feet tall, and I weigh around 225. I don’t consider myself to be a tough guy but, needless to say, they didn’t want any part of me. Instead, they simply started gathering their things and headed for the door. I pulled the kid out from behind me, and ordered them to apologize. They laughed at me, and hurried for the parking lot. Well, I was a lot angrier that day than I thought.

I followed them out of the store all the way to their car doing my best to start a fight. They got very quiet, and not one of them had anything to say. Instead, they just kept their heads down, and refused to make eye contact.

I let them leave, and then pulled the kid aside and told him to never let anyone push him around like that. In the future, he needed to, at least, walk away and find a manager. At this point, the kid just broke down in tears and sobbed on my shoulder. It turned out that his dad had died only a year earlier, and he and his mom were all alone in the world. At that point, I really wished I had put one of those bastards in the hospital. Instead, I gave the kid my card, and told him to call if there was ever anything I could do for him. I never saw or heard from him again.

This question shows that the person asking has zero knowledge of China’s government and election process. I suggest that the person asking this question do some research before asking more questions so that he does not embarrass himself by showing his lack of knowledge.

Let us look at the democratic process of the Chinese “parliament”, the National People’s Congress and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) are elected by the Provincial People’s Assemblies from all the provinces and regions throughout China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Members of the Provincial People’s Assemblies in turn are elected by lower level assemblies, and so on through a series of tiers, to the Local People’s Assemblies. The Local People’s Assembly is very much like a village or small town assembly, members of which are directly elected by the people living there. The voters know personally who they are electing.

Unlike in Western democracy, what happens through this system is that the voters, for each level, are voting people whom they work with and know very well. For example, members of the local assembly would vote for the best among them, those who can work and produce results, to represent them at the next level.

Through this system, only the best gets chosen for the NPC, after several layers of the selection process.

This is different from Western democracy where members of the public elect candidates whom they don’t know personally. The candidates are only known from TV appearances, news in the mass media and similar non-personal things.

The very best from among the NPC members are then elected into the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. This is the group that runs China – individuals who have been chosen through a highly competitive selection process and have proven their ability to govern at a lower level.

This is the reason why China’s economy is growing at such a fast rate – only very capable leaders make it into the Standing Committee.

No.

Airliners is a special business, even within aviation.

Why?

They carry passengers in the tens to hundreds.

That is why there is extraordinary scrutiny on the entire system, down to the stewardess serving cup noodles on budget flights.

Yes, she has to obtain a type certification, just like the pilots, and it is specific to the airliner model. The same goes for the maintenance crew—everyone is trained, tested and certified, with the cycle repeated to maintain currency.

This extraordinary level of training and oversight is what makes flying far safer than driving.

Every physical part of an airliner is tested to death, especially the engines. Even the number of coats of paint is a controlled spec, not only because paint add weight to the airframe, but the thickness can alter the operation of moving parts, especially the control surfaces.

Comac has recently introduced its first narrowbody six-across C919. It is at the most painful stage currently, ironing out teething issues for the early jets, while ramping up production to fulfill the burgeoning order book.

It will have to document every spec, down to the training requirements for technicians and crew, and make the material broadly available to all customers and regulators. It will have to publish procedures for the safe operation and maintenance of the aircraft, and establish the technical limits of the airframe and moving parts.

All these take time, especially if one starts from a clean sheet, and the entire process is regulated by authorities, who will have to sign off on the type certification.

It is a rigorous process that takes lots of time.

Gee, you’re the self-proclaimed “China expert”. You even studied “China” at Harvard (whatever that means) so you must know better than people who’ve actually visited, lived or done business there, right? So why are you asking all us brainwashed peeps?

I do find it odd that you proudly proclaim a connection to NED, whose job is to spread the gospel of democracy (coincidentally, mainly to countries that the United States doesn’t view as allies).

But well done, keep preaching it, brother.

However, the reason I raise this point is that it automatically makes the motives of your question (and any of your questions about China) suspect. Because what you’re essentially saying here is that anyone who doesn’t agree with the American view — YOUR view — that China is the fount of all evil in the world must be de facto brainwashed and a wumao.

Never mind that an actual visit to China and exposure to Mainland Chinese people would likely lead you to a different conclusion entirely.

So I’d answer your question this way: disagreeing with the American narrative on China doesn’t automatically equate to brainwashing. Neither does it equate to blind support of China or believing that the country is perfect.

But I do wonder something. If you really are with NED, how do you reconcile what you do to spread the gospel of democracy to the world with the fact that the United States itself has demonstrated time and time again that it’s willing to hold its nose and ally with authoritarian countries and odious dictators?

Have a lovely day.

Barbecue Beef Roast

Ingredients

• 1 (2 – 2 1/2 pound) beef chuck roast
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I prefer Sweet Baby Ray’s)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Instructions

1. Place the roast in the slow cooker (slice in half if using a 4-quart slow cooker).
2. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the roast. Cook on LOW for 6 hours.
3. Remove the roast and shred with two forks (it just falls apart), place in a serving dish and ladle some of the juice over the top before serving.

I was at a party (mid 1970s). Amidst all the chatter, I heard these two guys talking about a contract they’d just secured. Sponsored by a government lab to bring together scientists and engineers and government functionaries and get them to go over technical details of a power generation project. This was just their sweet spot, but they were concerned about running sessions to get these diverse groups to talk to each other, and coming up with a coherent final report.

I eavesdropped, then butted in. “I’ve done a good bit of that at my job at UCLA,” I said. I suggested ways to do this. They ended up inviting me into their project to handle the interactive part. The event went very well, and other labs wanted to bring us in.

But my two partners weren’t interested in this type of work—not technical enough for them. So they handed the whole thing over to me. I had a company with half a dozen employees and a government contract.

Started me down my road to entrepreneurship.

It has happened more than once.

One restaurant visit that I remember particularly was in Wuhan, China. It was in 2006. I was on my way to Ichang and Three Gorges (the big dam). I wasn’t in a hurry and stayed for four days in the city.

On the first evening I walked along the street where I stayed and looked for a place where to eat. Everything was in Chinese. There were no signs in English, so I couldn’t even memorize the name of the street where I stayed. I wouldn’t venture too far, not to get lost.

Anyway, I found a restaurant close to the shabby hotel where I stayed. I went inside and it looked quite unappealing. Simple forniture, tiled floor and very bright lights. The interior looked cheap and uninviting. At first I thought I wouldn’t eat there, I’d only have a beer. But, after a while I realized I wouldn’t find another place. Nobody spoke English and I wouldn’t know where to go. I had no choice and decided I’d have whatever they had to offer.

I drew a fish on a napkin – that would be my order. Somehow, I tried to explain with gestures that I’d also like some side dishes. When the food arrived I was in a shock. That would be enough for a family of four. Everything looked really nice, especially the fish. It was a whole fish, steamed and garnished with vegetables – it looked like a masterpiece. The whole dinner was a devine culinary experience. I didn’t manage to eat it all – I left some of the small dishes that accompanied the main dish. And the most suprising thing came at the end – the bill. I paid 35 yuan for the whole feast. It was equivalent of 6 US Dollars. One of the best meals of my life, that I still remember after 18 years.