(07-30-2025, 05:11 PM)Kenzo1 Wrote: Kung Pao....is that ancient chinese proverb?
Dunno, but I had Kung Pao Beef for dinner last night. It was great!
Didn't stay at Holiday Inn Express though.
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Ninurta - So a couple things...
1. Propaganda is king in much of Asia. Even the people know it, but because of convenient culture they can't say anything about it. That, and everyone does it, from the leaders down to the individual people. Again, no one says anything about it because the custom of "Saving Face" is a very real thing. In the western world, 'Saving Face' is more of an abstract term generally referring to a person's ego, but not in Asia. In Asia it's like something people openly talk about..."Can't say THAT!" Even though we know it's true...because 'Saving Face'.
First time I was exposed to this in a professional work setting it was really weird. I didn't think it could possibly be real at first. But it is very real. They practice it daily, and people believe it enough to accept it without question. And the people who get the most deference from it are the leaders. In Malaysia (where I was based) if you said something negative about the PM, Sultans or King, you'd get tossed in the hoosegow for a very long time! Weirdly, it was okay to talk smack on the Deputy PM, because the PM himself was usually dissin' on him too! LOL!
2. Regarding the gold in particular - This is just the subject Du jour in the news. What we don't see is the tens of thousands of other bravado news items just like it which circulate on a day to day basis. This is just more of the same, no doubt. As you note, no, it's not a World saving quantity of gold, but this doesn't matter. To the common man in Asia it is far more money than they can even dream about, but it's not a sum they can't comprehend. That's the whole idea. To Asians, it's just enough to be unattainable, but not incomprehensible. I'll bet if we looked hard enough we'd find that the amount is slightly more than any of the wealthiest Chinese super-tycoons possess. (Have to impress humble them too, you know!)
Is it a scam? Dunno. Seems pretty scammy. But, there is gold to be had in that part of the world, that much is certain. Some of the biggest gold and mineral deposits in the world have been located in that region, most of them very real and actively being mined (or mined out). Whenever people talk about finding gold anymore, it all boils down to how many tons of rock you have to mine for every ounce of gold. The days of finding veins of gold are long past. Now it comes down to that rock vs. gold ratio, and the lower the better. I'm no expert, but do have some colleagues who prospect for gold in their spare time, and they tell me about the realities of the (to them) 'hobby'. Doesn't really matter if they're panning for it, or dredging for it, or digging for it, the equation is always the same.