FishingBanter - View Single Post - Not to be picky, but...(and something for jeff)

**jeff** · November 14th, 2009, 08:13 PM posted to rec.outdoors.fishing.fly

wrote:

your article states the following:

"Obama will have no trouble being recognized in China. He's been the
top-ranked foreigner in searches on Baidu, China's leading search engine
— No. 22 as of Thursday morning."

Do you have an opinion as to what that means, and if so, on what personal
knowledge do you base it?

never heard of baidu before your note. wikipedia says Baidu is China's
largest search engine with a market share of more than 62 percent. The
number of Internet users in China rose to 338 million by the end of June
2009, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information
Center. Baidu, the No. 1 search engine in China, has 61.6 percent of
China's market share as of June 2009, according to Analysys International.

so, i reckon it means what it says...obama is a popular subject of
searches by the chinese on baidu, according to the source you cited. the
numbers probably trump your shopgirl statistic with regard to
recognition in china. in fact, your source suggests obama is well-known
as far as being "recognizable" in china. i've not been to china.
whatever personal knowledge i have is based on my limited reading. of
course, i have no idea what prompted any individual search on baidu...

why you think the article, and the bland statements of two giggling
"shop girls" proves your point is a mystery to me...perhaps you can
explain its merit for your contention?

Perhaps you missed these items...maybe your tingling leg distracted you:

nah, alas, i read the whole thing. the reference to my leg was intended
to refer to a possibility you were "pulling my leg" with such a
ridiculous suggestion that the article had any real meaning in our prior
disagreement about who was more recognizable around the world.

"'He's special for the Americans, but definitely not for the Chinese,' said Shen
Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in
Shanghai. 'On the contrary, we are always influenced by the tone of
government-monitored media.'"

frankly...i don't recall contending the chinese thought obama was
"special". i read this as saying the perception of obama in china is
shaped by the government media, not that he is unknown.

"That media, so far, has not played up Obama's visit with the breathlessness of
U.S. media or of Chinese media whenever President Hu Jintao leaves the country."

....and this has meaning to you? china's government-controlled media
promotes and prefers its leaders to ours...so?

"'He's coming?' asked one clerk at a state-run Xinhua Bookstore, which displayed
biographies of Obama and his wife, Michelle, as well as collections of his
speeches."

appears to show a recognition of who "he" is. until the media announced
it here, i had no idea palin was coming to nc. that i didn't know she
was coming doesn't establish i don't know who she is.

"At newsstands in the past week, Obama could be found on the cover of just one
magazine: Men's Health."

government-controlled media perhaps?? but what meaning do you give that
statement, and what is your personal knowledge? i think it suggests more
about chinese recognition of obama than it does about a lack of
knowledge of who he is...do you reckon folks who saw the cover just
thought he was another of the healthy models usually on mag covers? no
mention that he's prez of u.s.? what was the story? and, do you think
that means there were no articles in any of the other chinese magazines
or papers, or comments and photos on chinese teevee? what's the
liklihood he'd get the cover of every magazine on that date? are you
claiming that the mens health magazine cover was the only public or
private recognition of obama by chinese people or media? c'mon...

really, that was lame and
beneath your ability to muster real facts to support your claim, imo.
though, i suspect the sudden twitch of my leg may be related to your effort.

If you assumed it was in any way meant to be a statement about Obama himself,
you assumed incorrectly. I was merely something that I saw that indicated that
Obama is not the world-wide sensation that many of his devout fans in the US
(and "the West") see him (and seemingly wish him) to be, nor is he "known" in
much of the world.

obama as a "sensation" mischaracterizes the real substance of our prior
discussion (in context of the peace prize and recognition in the world),
doesn't it? ...and, again, imo, if you think the cited article proves
your point...well, i have enough regard for your intellect that i still
believe you're pulling my leg.

jeff