Traditional or Simplified?

I have a lot of commentary on this issue. But for the moment, I will simply put up this news story and a couple links that help orient the question. (Now I must go study for an exam).

Almost at the two-month mark, my friends. Strange to think that it was only a few weeks ago that everyone was still here.

Taiwan President urges cross-strait consensus on Chinese characters
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=971736

Technology as friend of tradition!
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/03/old_and_new_characters_languag.php

Simple arguments for character standards
http://www.danwei.org/scholarship_and_education/simplified_traditional_charact.php

Sorry to our friends on the Mainland, but I don't think "etaiwannews" is available there... But then again, Blogspot itself is blocked (see Erica's entry below), so perhaps this is a moot point.

Tiananmen and Democracy

James Kynge of the Financial Times has an excellent and revealing take on the relationship between Tiananmen and Chinese democracy without all the media hype.

In other related news, The NYT's photoblog, Lens, did two incredible posts about the iconic "Tank Man" photographs. The first tracks down the photographers who shot the original photos and gets their comments. The second, even more incredibly, reveals a second version of the Tank Man that has never been published before.

For more coverage of Tiananmen, see Danwei.org's June 4 Roundup.

Today

Well, today is the day. Hope everyone who wants it can find a moment of quiet reflection.

二十周年

Twenty years after courage, and ideals, and the beautiful expression of the human spirit. Remember, don't forget, those earlier generations and what they stood for.

The dream that they believed in still lives in the hearts and minds of people all around the world.

China Blocks Twitter

China blocks Twitter and other social media sites before Tianamen Square's 20th Anniversary on June 4th! Check out the full article at http://tinyurl.com/pdx3dm.

The original post was by Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/02/china-blocks-twitter-ahea_n_210177.html

There's also a Google spreadsheet of all of the sites that have been blocked: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rcz-FpRKSsvyQUnLL1UMjcg&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Post by Erica Swallow