Signspotting
04/22/04
Upper East Side
Tribeca
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
Chinatown
CapedMaskedandArmed is well worth a look. I especially liked Street Jams (a collection of political street art) and A Study in American Nationalism.
12:37 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Hey, just wanna say that I'm a long time reader, first time commenter.
Anyways, those Chinese folks with the signs and stuff apparently are from Falun Dafa (a.k.a. Falun Gong) (yes, I know the signs say that). Just for an interesting background info, it's a religion like Tai Chi meets Buddhism and it's pretty spiffy - no clergy, no donations, the required readings and videos and stuff are all downloadble online, etc. It's actually been banned in China where it's deemed as "a dangerous cult".
IMHO, they're like, the anti-Scientology and that's pretty darn spiffy.
And this concludes what will perhaps be my one and only comment.
Posted by: Champthom at April 22, 2004 07:20 PM
Yup, they're very much repressed by the Chinese government. When I was in Shanghai, just doing a Google search for "Falun Gong" or "Falun Dafa" would result in that computer losing all Google access for 10-15 minutes. (Other, non-controversial search terms didn't get that treatment.)
Posted by: Mike at April 22, 2004 08:14 PM
Yeah, WOW is right.
anyway--been reading/looking for a while too. You capture some of the greatest reason that I love NY.
jocelyn
Posted by: Jocelyn at April 22, 2004 10:01 PM
I remember seeing a Falun Gong meditation session near the Chinese consulate here in Chicago. Very peaceful looking people. It's hard to think that they are banned in China.
Posted by: Chris at April 22, 2004 10:35 PM
The cardboard licence plate is just too much. That's even worse than none at all.
Posted by: nantel at April 24, 2004 10:39 AM
I want my site to be like yours when it grows up. As always,
johnseven
Posted by: johnseven at May 1, 2004 12:47 AM
I walk by these Falun Dafa folks every day. There have been five or six of them sitting quietly outside the consulate at 42nd and 12th each and every day, looking all peaceful-like. And now, as I understand it, oppressed. I had been wondering what they were all about...THANKS Satan's Laundromat!
Posted by: Malcolm at May 6, 2004 05:10 PM
my publisher..who grew up on City Island Johnmartone.net turned me on to your site.
I was born in 1941. My mother, l915..Manhattan
HOA
My friend, Fay Chin, now on Vestry..
I will look more cloasely at your "naratives"..
best, Ed
Posted by: ed baker at June 9, 2004 10:14 PM
I strongly believe that Chinese Communist Government made one of the most excellent decisions in regards to banning the Falun Gong. Be honest, we have people practice all kinds of religions and tai chi, kung fu, in China, so why those weren't banned instead, gainning support from both public and the governments. If Falun Gong so peaceful and it can cure sickness why don't they just practice it peacefully instead of spending so much money and so much time to go around the world and do all kinds of damage to the image of China. Why not a single doctor in the World can recomment to their patients to just practice Falun Gong and be cured. Falun Gong f@#ked by Western+US politics, period.
Posted by: Jack NYC at May 18, 2008 07:02 PM
I guess that Jack got payed to say these last things. If you knew more, you would understand these kind people are not trying to damage Chinese image, anyway the world knows how corrupt the chinese regime is, they are trying to show that the real chinese culture is not communist, but truly beautiful, deep and peaceful, were people had high standards and morality level. Which is not the case now and so since 1949.
Falun Gong practioners are really courageous to speak out, and at the same time being persecuted in a country where parents can't even be free to have more than one child and the one they have is poisoned by milk.
Posted by: ely at October 7, 2008 06:17 AM
Falun Dafa is great for the mind and body and it's all free online. People should try it before judging it. The thing is, the Chinese government is extremely corrupt and is paranoid of many groups. Because it's so beneficial Falun Gong grew very quickly. The ex-president made it illegal and launched a massive slandering campaign. Just to give some context, I could be jailed and stripped of my basic human rights just for posting this, if I lived in mainland China. Make's you appreciate our freedom of speech and belief, doesn't it?