Friday, March 25, 2011

Friday's Loose Bloggers Consortium

Today's topic is "Conspiracy theories", and just by chance I happened upon a timely one! While I was in China this last week I learned that they had a shortage of salt. People were frightened about the radiation in Japan, and were buying iodized salt because they believed it was an antidote to radiation. The government of China was quite upset, and went looking for a scape goat. They found a young man who had allegedly spread rumors on the internet, and charged him with "rumormongering". He was charged $500 rmb (about $75 u.s. dollars), and was asked to write an apology online for leading everyone astray.

Knowing the government of China, I think a conspiracy exists to make the people think that there is no danger of radiation from Japan. I don't know that any clouds of radiation will reach China, but reports are that there is radiation in the ocean, which China shares with Japan. The Chinese government does not want panic. This could very well be a coverup on their part.

I have to admit that it was a surprise to see the label "rumormonger" under the picture of the man who was arrested. It makes me wonder what other things a person in China could be arrested for saying. And this is precisely why their government blocks many internet sites, including my blog! :)

Now go check out what the other consortium members have to say about this issue!

7 comments:

Rummuser said...

The last I heard, there was a conspiracy theory about a lady from
California who went all the way to China to learn about conspiracies to write about in her LBC blog posts.

Maria said...

Well, that's right Del. How can anyone say it isn't true?

Shackman said...

Not to mention the fact that the Japanese government has not exactly been forthcoming with the truth....and China can say and do about anything as the sliding scale of their enlightenment goes negative when it comes to scapegoats. Rumormongering - LOL - don't we just call that th eevening news????

Inklings said...

I went to read the Chinese blog of our aunt's friend, and it is no longer available. I wonder if the government had anything to do with that? She was not always complimentary in her views of China, although she loves the people she has met there.

Inklings said...

Hmm...never mind. I clicked on her link without thinking, and the blog is back on! Puzzling....

Amber said...

I wondered if the fish in the ocean would be safe to eat because of the radiation around Japan.

padmum said...

True salt of the earth rumourmonger!!