No Rain, But Many Umbrellas at Tiananmen Square

On the 20th anniversary of the bloodshed known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, there appears to have been little or no rain clouds at the site in Beijing where university students waged an anti-government protest.  There were, however, enough umbrella-toting government officials present to prevent members of the Western news media from reporting much news from the heart of mainland China.

The video shows a BBC Television correspondent being harassed both by uniformed Chinese policemen and plain-clothed government officials expecting bad weather.  Despite the fact that he possessed all of the necessary government-issued press credentials as well as a passport, he was prevented from entering Tiananmen Square.

And, no, the umbrella-toting goons were not members of the New Black Panthers Party for Self-Defense, but they show signs of having gone through the same type of training.

Hat tip: Boing Boing

New Infectious Disease Spreading Across China

New Tang Dynasty Television, based in New York City, aired a report yesterday about a new infectious disease that is said to be spreading in large areas of Mainland China. Symptoms are reportedly similar to AIDS, but the disease spreads faster between family members, even via bodily fluids like saliva.

Preliminary research shows that patients have symptoms of fatigue, chronic diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes and weakened immune systems, according to the report, but doctors cannot find any sign of the HIV virus.

Developing…