Chinese Government: Smog a Health Benefit (that makes people funnier)

I am sure people are laughing like no tomorrow across China[quote]In America, we’re used to our government, our industry and our media putting a spin on events to make the world seem a brighter, better place than it really is. But China is showing some impressive spin talent of its own, with a rationalization for pollution that is, quite literally, breathtaking.

[b]Much of China has been suffering through choking smog in recent weeks, which has hampered daily activities and forced the closure of schools. In response, the government published a list of reasons documenting the benefits of smog. Yes, benefits.

A Time magazine translator indicated that Global Times offered up the following rationalizations for smog:

1. It unifies the Chinese people.
2. It makes China more equal.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development.
4. It makes people funnier.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze).[/b]

That’s some interesting rationalization. Following that line of thinking, hurricanes also unify people by forcing them to leave their isolated homes and gather in collectives. Tornadoes give people a sense of the power of nature. Wildfires place everyone on an equal footing by burning everyone’s possessions to the ground. See? The problem isn’t nature, the problem is you.

Oh, but the disinformation campaign wasn’t done. The Global Times, a newspaper connected to the Communist Party’s preferred publication the People’s Daily, noted that smog has a defensive benefit. “Smog may affect people’s health and daily lives," the newspaper wrote, “but on the battlefield, it can serve as a defensive advantage in military operations.” The article pointed to military operations in Kosovo and Saudi Arabia that used smoke as a means of obscuring the enemy’s sight lines and fouling electronic equipment. This takes “we had to burn the village to save it” to a completely new level.

Assuming these comments are real — and China historically has little patience for satire — it’s a stunning attempt to deceive a populace about the true seriousness of a man-made environmental threat.

In future weeks, expect the Chinese government to endorse smoking (toughens your lungs!), junk food (purchasing larger items of clothing helps the textile industry!) and reality television (gives you a healthy distrust of your closest friends and family!).[/quote]

source

The version I heard was that it makes Chinese targets hard to hit and could disable sensitive weapons equipment belonging to China’s enemies.

(Nevermind China’s own equipment.)

I remember once reading somewhere that the Great Wall of China is visible from space. Well, apparently that is bullshit but NASA just released an image of the Great Smog. I would like to know how far south it extends beyond that photo.

China’s pollution problems are scarily similar to those of Victorian-era English cities. It’s basically the Industrial Revolution taking place again, but on a larger scale and with even more toxic materials. The human cost of all this is just going to be staggering.

The scale must be about 10 times bigger, and the pollution from there extends right across the region.

This is smoke from burning off fields, in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, at least. And allotments in the city, stupid fcking peasants. I can see some old blokes burning a heap of paint cans, from my window. It’s ok: they rinsed them in the stream, first. :unamused:

The government should pull it’s finger out of its arse and start fining farmers. God knows they find ways to micromanage peoples lives if they are getting knocked up or ‘starting rumours’ on the Internet.

It’s so bad you gotta laugh…

Saw a disturbing movie about the pollution surrounding Beijing and the people that live in and around it. Sheep farmers were taking their sheep to graze from the hundreds of toxic rubbish dumps that surround the city. The sheep were eating through plastic rubbish/garbage bags to get to scraps. These sheep were in turn sold to restaurants in Beijing. There was loads of other disgusting stuff, sludged up rivers and so on.

Is it real? I mean, it could be just people making fun of China and its retarded government…

Same thing happens all over Indian cities except it’s cows eating the plastic bags there and they don’t generally eat cows (or they are not supposed to…I guess some people might).

Same thing happens all over Indian cities except it’s cows eating the plastic bags there and they don’t generally eat cows (or they are not supposed to…I guess some people might).[/quote]

I think that some people sometimes eat cow, but it’s kinda rare. I have seen pigs (wild? domestic?) running and eating garbage in New Dehli. Pigs eating garbage in the street. In the capital city :smiley:

The movie is called Beijing Besieged by Waste. The whole movie is on Youtube:

youtube.com/watch?v=W73eKAjyNXs

It’s a bit long - here is the trailer for those who don’t want to see the whole thing:

youtube.com/watch?v=juJLxiVD9nU

Maybe smog, like Chairman Mao, is 2/3 good and 1/3 bad.

That’s pretty much how its viewed by scientists, cloud and smog block radiation from the sun cooling the earth.
At the same time soot particles land on ice and make it melt faster by absorbing radiation. It’s all give and take.

This appears to be a Google cache of the original Chinese-language CCTV article:

webcache.googleusercontent.com/s … en&ct=clnk