Craig Hill
Marilyn Monroe
September 6 1997 Princess Diana’s funeral watched by 2.5 billion people
On September 6th 1997, an estimated 2.5 billion people around the globe tuned in to television broadcasts of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died at the age of 36 in a car crash in Paris the week before. During her 15-year marriage to Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth II and … Continue reading
August 20 1918 Valley of the Dolls author Jacqueline Susann born
On August 20th 1918, Jacqueline Susann, the author of Valley of the Dolls, the 1966 mega-hit novel about the showbiz lives of three women (reportedly modelled in part after Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly), was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Like her characters in Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann moved to New York … Continue reading
August 5 1962 Marilyn Monroe found dead
On August 5th 1962, movie actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in Los Angeles. She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room. After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded … Continue reading
Most Recent Posts Post on My Blog About China: China News
Chinese Arctic incursion spooks US lawmakers
China is using the Arctic and seas only miles away from Alaska as a staging area to undermine U.S. national security, top lawmakers and experts say. Newly released images reveal a fleet of Chinese warships conducting operations in American waters off the coast of Alaska, prompting Coast Guard vessels to track and communicate with the […]
China declares all cryptocurrency transactions illegal
China intensified its crackdown on cryptocurrency on Friday, declaring all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies illegal and issuing a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency mining, the power-hungry process in which vast computer networks compete for newly created crypto tokens. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, dropped as much as 7 percent, to around $41,100, on the news, but […]
China plans tax crackdown on richest entertainers, including online influencers
China is set to conduct regular tax investigations into top entertainers including online influencers, promising serious punishment for offenders amid a deepening crackdown on the entertainment industry and lucrative culture of fandom. High-income celebrities who self-report offences by the end of the year, however, may receive reduced penalties or exemptions, the country’s taxation authorities said […]
Xi Jinping’s effort to return to socialism
For decades life in China had evolved around its home-grown version of let-it-rip capitalism. Despite being technically a “communist” country, the government had put its faith in trickle-down economics, believing that allowing some people to become extremely rich would benefit all of society by dragging it out of the disastrous quagmire of Chairman Mao’s Cultural […]
China is financing infrastructure projects around the world – many could harm nature and indigenous communities
China is shaping the future of economic development through its Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious multi-billion-dollar international push to better connect itself to the rest of the world through trade and infrastructure. Through this venture, China is providing over 100 countries with funding they have long sought for roads, railways, power plants, ports and […]
China’s military has an Achilles’ heel: Low troop morale
The Chinese Communist Party has unintentionally revealed weaknesses of the country’s military. One indication came with the building of facilities for launching new intercontinental ballistic missiles in an inland desert region. The other was a series of further attempts to increase childbirths, including measures to help reduce the costly burden of educating children. Behind these […]
Cadence Column: Asia, September 20, 2021
China steps up expansion via Hong Kong elections. Seven editors are banned from Wikipedia on concerns of not acting in good faith and with relation to China. The US sails through the Taiwan Straight again, this time a destroyer. Taiwan wants more backup runways for fighter jets. Escalations only continue and no side shows any […]
China adds powerful new ship to maritime patrol fleet
China has added a new powerful ship to its fleet of maritime patrol vessels in the South China Sea, state media has reported. The 5,560-ton Hai Xun 03 was launched on Tuesday and will become the largest ocean patrol ship under the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), the official China News Service reported, adding that […]
A lesson in political economy on investments in China
Paul Krugman, the eminent Nobel laureate in economics, recalls how companies are different from nations and their reasons. Business managers have different perspectives. It is economists – not managers – who place the question of foreign trade, the balance of payments and the exchange rate at the center of their reflections. Since 1989, China and […]
Are China’s climate promises just a load of hot air? (Yes!)
China is prepared to hold its cooperation on climate issues hostage to Western concessions elsewhere. Few cities in China represent the country’s addiction to coal more than Tianjin, where Alok Sharma travelled this week to talk about cooperation on climate issues. It sits on the coast of one of China’s most polluted regions, and its […]
