CCTV FOLLIES 12.06 Great Hall Memorial
-Xi dominates dull proceedings with half-hour rote speech read in slow motion.
-Delegates can be seen looking at watches
-Russia shooting rockets at Ukraine
-Ukraine strikes Russian airfield
-Volcanoes around the world
The morning news cycle was thrown off by the live event from the Great Hall, so the news program that follows is disorganized and slapdash but rather interesting.
But first you have to endure the Kremlin Follies brought to you by Igor Konashenkov in Moscow...
lots of missiles in the skies of Ukraine, firing repeatedly
different missiles, different angles
What are the targets?
How many human lives are destroyed by this futile "show of strength"?
Ukraine fights back.
Something new today. It's file footage, but it's rare to see any footage from Ukraine other than the most desultory kind. Someone at CCTV wants to show that Ukraine actually has jets and an air force.
And perhaps there's some weird connection about possible escalation being made because Ukraine drones struck deep into Russian territory
CCTV's biggest objection seems to be the satellite footage--Ukraine got it from American company Maxar. And CCTV shows some of that footage.
Obligatory scenes of Russian prowess after admission their airfield was hit by a drone. Russia fights back!
Bang, bang, bang!
And some obligatory Russian truculence from FM Sergei Lavrov:
-It's all the fault of NATO, they made us do it!
-We will never let Ukraine take control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant! Never!
-NATO is so arrogant that they wouldn't listen to the proposal of our President Putin!
CCTV enables Lavrov's frothing visions by running stock footage of NATO troops training.
A less-than-alert viewer might well conclude that the unmentionable war was started by this apparent NATO offensive.
In keeping with the theme of Russia, Dmitry Peskov comments on Western price cap on Russian oil, saying that sanctions only hurt Europe and Russia will not abide by any of these US-led moves.
India is going its own way, too.
Russia still sells a great deal of energy to Europe, as the Indians correctly point out, with oil shipped by sea and gas going in by pipeline.
The next story is catnip for the American-mockers at CCTV
A power substation in North Carolina gets shot up and leaves thousands of Americans without power
The typical American interviewed below "has neither a place to burn things or a stove or firewood."
How's she gonna cook?
And then, after an out-of-order sequence of domestic stories (Covid now not as bad as before. Beijing policies were correct then, and they're correct now) and then an unexpected twist:
Ten minutes of volcanoes!
We start in Hawaii...
then go to Sicily and then on to Chile
People watching the volcano erupt.
and then there's Indonesia, and the volcano, the highest in Java, is no joke. Villagers evacuate.
Then there's an earthquake in Mexico, a mud slide in Columbia and a drought in the Andes...
"We have no water. It is too dry!"
and that's the news of the world on December 6, 2022!
During this time of trouble, the restive populace is sure to be calmed by this new publication highlighting Xi Jinping's penetrating insights into high-level science
Yet another publication by the world's greatest freelance writer:
Xi Jinping Thought on Strong Military
Why read it once when you can read it three times?
The next ten minutes is devoted to some reassuring, inspirational shots of Xi Jinping who has total control of the military and wants the world to know it.
Patrick Chovanec, a consultant at Silvercrest Asset Mgmt has done some China virtue-signaling by compiling photos about the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations, an event he evidently knows little about.
(a thread)
To do this, he compiled over a dozen of my photos on his blog , and when I brought this to his attention, he made no effort to credit the photos or reveal where he got them from. patrickchovanec.com/about/
Some of the photos now have a life of their own on the internet, including the above photo, (caption by Chovanec) which has been used by conspiratorial pro-China bloggers as proof of a "color revolution."
;-)
A political bible with quasi-religious overtones is unveiled like a holy relic.
A book by Xi Jinping! In English!
CCTV news shows the entire table of contents
Wow. It sure looks like a gripping read. Find a comfy chair, put the kettle on and settle for a long enlightening read.
CCTV FOLLIES: 5.26
China state TV doubles down on dubious Russia claims about "secret" US bio-labs in Ukraine.
(from May 26 Xinwen Lianbo)
Anchor Li Zimeng couches the accusations in the language of Russia's Defense Ministry, but the CCTV editors like the story enough for it to get major airtime.
The Russia Defense Ministry, solid architectural monolith that it is, is portrayed as a presumably authoritative source.
Read all about it! Top of the news! Yet another much-heralded publication by the indefatigable freelance writer Xi Jinping, whose excessive narcissism is nicely balanced with pictures of himself.
Up next, a nostalgic look back to 2017 when this man was laying the foundation of today's greatness.
Among many, many other incredible, almost super-human accomplishments, he created a city out of dust.