Did Beijing Olympics Rip Off Disney?

Sure sounds like it. Via the New York Times:

China lacks enough snow for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, environmentalists said. China is too repressive to hold the Games, detaining hundreds of lawyers just in the past month, rights campaigners said. On Friday, despite those complaints, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Beijing. Now some people are drawing attention to what may be a third early problem, one that could entangle China in a dispute with the Walt Disney Company or at least attract ridicule. An official song of the Games, “The Snow and Ice Dance,” they asserted, is suspiciously similar to “Let It Go,” the wildly popular ballad sung by Idina Menzel in the Disney animated film “Frozen.”

Beijing To Host 2022 Winter Olympics

CNN has more:

Beijing is set to become the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics after it was chosen to stage the 2022 Winter Games. International Olympic President Thomas Bach confirmed Beijing, which hosted the Summer Games in 2008, had been chosen ahead of Almaty in Kazakshtan at the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Friday. "I am so excited. This is China's pride," Zhang Hong, China's women's 1,000m speed skating gold medal winner at the Sochi Games, told CCTV. Only Beijing and Almaty had been left in the running after Oslo, Munich and Stockholm bowed to public pressure and decided not to pursue plans to host the winter sports showpiece.

The opening ceremonies for Beijing's 2008 Games was the most stunning thing I've ever seen on television.

Chinese Gays Marry In West Hollywood

Via the Los Angeles Times:

For seven Chinese gay couples, a trip to California offered something that wasn't legal at home: marriage certificates. The couples were among hundreds who entered a high-profile online contest offering an all-expenses-paid American dream wedding. On Tuesday, they wed at the West Hollywood Library — the same place where, two summers ago, gay couples married en masse after same-sex marriage became legal in California. As camera crews surrounded her, Xue Mengyao sneaked a look at her bride-to-be, Xu Na, getting her makeup done and wearing a long white dress with lace and pearls. Asked how Xu looked, Xue couldn't answer. She said if she did, she would start crying and ruin her own makeup. “First sight,” she said, recalling when she first knew she would fall in love with Xu. “First sight.” The women, both in their 20s, met while volunteering at the Beijing LGBT Center. They were in a crowded, noisy room, but there in the middle, Xue spotted a woman who just radiated beauty and confidence.

Hit the link for much more. And get a tissue.

TRAILER: Brother Orange

Buzzfeed reporter Matt Stopera, whom I've met a couple times, had his cell phone stolen in an East Village bar in January 2014. What followed is probably the craziest and most amazing story about social media that you'll read this year. You might want to hit the link before watching the trailer as the many photos there set up the coming documentary beautifully.

CHINA: "Homowives" Advocate For The Rights Of Their Gay Husbands

Millions of Chinese gay men are believed to be in opposite sex marriages and some of their "homowives," as they are known in China, have begun to advocate for gay rights and same-sex marriage in a campaign to stop these loveless unions. Quartz reports:

“Homowives” and their supporters are getting more vocal about their own situations, and the need for China to become more accepting of homosexuality. Zhang Ziwei, a 27-year-old corporate secretary from Nanchang, southeast China’s Jiangxi Province, who dated a gay man three years ago, now manages a QQ chat group on the topic with more than one hundred members. She is translating two books—My Husband Is Gay and When Your Spouse Comes Out, written by Carol Grever, an American woman who married a gay man—into Chinese. After she finishes, she plans to send them to other women in her situation, because there are no such books in China.

One woman who was formerly married to a gay man, who calls herself “Little Delan,” dressed in a bridal gown to seek marriage at the Qixi Festival, China’s Valentines’ Day, in August, 2014 on the the streets of Quanzhou, the largest city in southeastern Fujian Province. She told Chinese media that, besides finding the right man, she wanted to raise awareness about homowives, and the need for China to offer homosexuals equal rights and legalize gay marriage. Among the thousands who attended Hong Kong’s annual gay rights parade in November, Aunt Moon and the three women she was with became a peculiar scene with their different identities and pursuits from the gay marchers. During the march, they held up placards that read: “My husband is gay. I am in pain.”

Fascinating story. Hit the link for more.

CHINA: Viral Video Urges Parents To Welcome LGBT Kids Home For New Year

Via Time Magazine:

The video, Coming Home, tells the story of a young man who summons the courage to talk to his mom about being gay, only to be criticized and cast out. After a long period of heartache and estrangement, his mother comes around, tearfully welcoming him home. As the credits roll, real mothers speak directly to the camera, offering words of encouragement and advice to young people facing the journey. The message to parents: “Accept your children, welcome them home.” And for children: “Don’t give up. Your parents might not understand today, but maybe they will tomorrow.” It’s a sentiment that obviously struck a chord: the video has already racked up 100 million views.

REPORT: Gay Man Files China's First-Ever Sexual Orientation Discrimination Lawsuit

Via Shanghaist:

Last October, a video showing the Nanshan police dealing with a dispute between two gay males in the street went viral on the web (see below). A speech made by one of the men wearing a "little red hat" in the video turned into an internet meme, and it further inspired multiple music videos and imitation videos online. The man and his "little red hat" gained so much attention, he was even able to sign with a talent company. However, the other party of this dispute, a man named Mu Yi, said he was "outed involuntarily" because of the viral video, and is now suing his company for firing him because he is gay. This is believed to be China’s first ever sexual-orientation discrimination lawsuit. "During that time (when the video went viral) I was a total wreck. I couldn't go out. I couldn't answer the phone. I even lost my job," Mu told reporters. "I was the victim to begin with, it doesn't make any sense for my company [to punish me more]," he said.

One of the viral remixes follows the original video below.

CHINA: Court Orders "Ex-Gay" Torture Clinic To Pay Compensation To Victim

In the first-ever such ruling in Chinese history, a court has ordered an "ex-gay" torture clinic to pay compensation to one of its victims. Via the Wall Street Journal:

“We’re incredibly happy,” said Yang Teng, the plaintiff in the case. Mr. Yang earlier told China Real Time (which previously quoted him using the pseudonym Xiao Zhen) that staff at a clinic in the southwestern city of Chongqing told him they could cure his homosexuality, then put him in a state of light hypnosis and shocked him with electrodes every time he thought of gay sex. “In her decision, the judge said that homosexuality is not a disease, therefore the clinic had no basis to undertake treatment,” he said. Mr. Yang said the court had ordered the clinic, Chongqing Jinyu Piaoxiang, to pay him 3,500 yuan ($563) in compensation. It also required the clinic to post an apology for offering the treatment on the front page of its website for 48 hours and ordered an investigation whether the clinic’s license was valid.

Chinese search engine giant Baidu was also named in the suit, but the court ruled that it could not be held liable for running ads for the torture clinics. Those ads have since been removed and a spokesman for Baidu commented on the ruling: "We’re very glad to see justice served, and we share the opinion that unqualified therapy must be very vigilantly regulated. We hope Yang Teng will find some comfort in the court’s ruling."

China Enacts Pun Control

Via the Wall Street Journal:

No puns, please. This is China. That’s the message from the country’s media regulators, who on Thursday derided the use of wordplay in advertisements and broadcasts, saying they were “contradictory in spirit to the promotion and continuance of excellent, traditional Chinese culture.” Examples cited by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, or SAPPRFT – whose dim view of language abuse evidently doesn’t include any reticence about long-winded names — include slogans that have been previously used to promote tourism and medical treatment. “They can create misunderstandings for the public, especially for minors,” the regulator said in a notice posted to its site. “They need to be firmly corrected.” The agency isn’t alone in its campaign for linguistic purity. Earlier this year, Communist Party flagship paper People’s Daily also railed against the seeping of English terms such as “CEO” and “wifi” into the Chinese language.

HONG KONG: Democracy Protest Swells, Police Respond With Tear Gas

Via the Washington Post:

Swelling crowds of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong on Monday plunged Asia’s normally staid financial hub into a tense standoff with Beijing that strikes directly at China’s expanding political grip in the former British colony. The rapidly escalating demonstrations are aimed at forcing Beijing’s Communist leaders to abandon newly declared powers to weed out any candidates in upcoming Hong Kong elections. Yet many on the streets proclaimed they are fighting for something even bigger: preserving a vision of Hong Kong promised 14 years ago when it reverted to Chinese rule. At the time, Chinese leaders promised a state within a state: allowing special hands-off provisions for Hong Kong such as elections and a degree of self-rule in policy making. But protesters now accuse China of reneging on the deal and trying to exert its control over every aspect of Hong Kong’s political affairs. The mounting protests present a conundrum for Beijing. Too hard a crackdown could drive more people to the pro-democracy cause, and that would embarrass Chinese authorities, who would never permit such a challenge on the mainland. Yet, by the same token, allowing the protesters some room risks encouraging others to question Communist control in the rest of the country over such issues as media freedoms, economic development and minority rights.

Headline Of The Day

From Britain's always bombastic Daily Mail:

Wearing matching slippers and bow ties, Brian Davidson, 55, Britain's consul-general in Shanghai, married his 33-year-old American boyfriend Scott Chang on the lawn of the home of Ambassador Sir Sebastian Wood. New rules mean that British nationals in homosexual relationships can marry in British consulates in 24 countries around the world as the land where the building stands is technically British soil. Brian Davidson hails from Northern Ireland and has worked as Consul-General in Shanghai since January 2011. He was previously Consul-General in Guangzhou from October 2006. He said that he was surprised at the response to his posting on Sina Weibo: 'The scale of the coverage has been a bit daunting but it has mostly been very positive.' A spokesman for Britain's embassy in Beijing confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the wedding had taken place, but said that the couple viewed it as a 'private matter'.

Britain permits gay weddings at its consulates provided that the host country does not object. According to the Daily Mail, China has not protested but the former British colony of Hong Kong has stated that it will not allow such ceremonies.

CHINA: Man Sues Search Engine For Directing Him To "Ex-Gay" Torture Clinic

Via the Associated Press:

A gay Chinese man said Thursday he was suing a psychological clinic for carrying out electric shocks intended to turn him straight, as well as the search engine giant Baidu for advertising the center. The Beijing LGBT Center, which campaigns for gay rights, said it was the first court case involving so-called conversion therapy in China. China declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001. The center's executive director, Xin Ying, said some professional hospitals in China, as well as smaller private clinics, still provide conversion therapy and that the group hopes the case at the Haidian District People's Court in Beijing will lead to a ban on the therapy. Yang Teng, 30, told The Associated Press that the therapy given to him included hypnosis and electric shock and he was left physically and mentally hurt. He said he voluntarily underwent the therapy in February following pressure from his parents to get married and have a child.

Local activists demonstrated outside the court today carrying a banner that read: "Homosexuality is not a disease, we don't need to be cured." A judgment in the case is expected by the end of the year.

Malaysian Prime Minister Tells Families That All Lives Were Lost In Airline Disaster

CHINA: Gay Man Sues Search Engine Giant For Promoting "Ex-Gay" Therapy

A gay man has filed suit against China's largest search engine company for directing him to an "ex-gay" therapist that tortured him with electroshock therapy. Via Gay Star News:

A court in Beijing will decide in the next few days whether to proceed with the lawsuit against Baidu and Chongqing-based Xin Yu Piao Xiang (XYPX). Baidu, the fifth most frequently visited website in the world, has broken various laws for displaying advertisements by XYPX with false claims about changing sexual orientation, according to volunteer lawyer Huang Yizhi. Last August, the gay man, who goes by the name of Xiao Zhen, googled the terms "homosexuality" and "gay therapy" on Baidu and the first result he got each time was an advertisement by XYPX. With XYPX promising to cure him of his homosexuality with a 30,000 yuan ($4880, €3525) treatment course, Xiao Zhen travelled all the way from the capital to Chongqing last month. "The psychological counsellor asked me to lie down for hypnotization, leading me to imagine being with another guy," he said. "I was electroshocked each time I was aroused. I was freaked out and jumped up at once, but he insisted that it was all right and that one needed persistence to succeed."

With an estimated market value of $55B, Baidu was the first Chinese company to be listed on the NASDAQ 100.

CNN: Missing Plane Was Far Off Course

CNN has a breaking report:

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was hundreds of miles off course, traveling in the opposite direction from its original destination and had stopped sending identifying transponder codes before it disappeared, a senior Malaysian Air Force official told CNN Tuesday. If correct, these are ominous signs that could call into question whether someone in the cockpit might have deliberately steered the plane away from its intended destination, a former U.S. aviation investigator said. "This kind of deviation in course is simply inexplicable," said Paul Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. However, veteran pilot Kit Darby, president of Aviation Information Resources, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that mechanical problems could still explain everything: A power failure would have turned off the main transponder and its backup, and the plane could have flown for more than an hour, he said.

If the new report is accurate, it could be that all those ships and aircraft have been searching the wrong area.

New Developments In Airliner Case

Via New York Daily News:

Two men who used stolen travel documents to board the Malaysia Airlines jet that vanished Saturday were caught by surveillance cameras and were not Asian in appearance, a Malaysian official said Monday, conflicting earlier reports about what the pair looked like. "We confirmed now they are not Asian-looking males," Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said at a news conference Monday. Azharuddin said investigators reviewed surveillance footage taken at the Kuala Lumpur airport "from check-in right to departure" and confirmed that security protocols were followed — despite the fact that two men managed to board with stolen Italian and Austrian passports.

More from CNN:

According to Thai police officials, an Iranian man by the name of Kazem Ali purchased the tickets for two friends who he said wanted to return home to Europe. While Ali made the initial booking by telephone, either Ali or someone acting on his behalf paid for the tickets in cash, according to police. Rahman said Monday that authorities have reviewed security footage from the airport and said the men who traveled on the stolen passports "are not Asian-looking men." Interpol tweeted Sunday it was examining additional "suspect #passports."

There have been no "credible claims of responsibility" by terrorist groups, but some experts are speculating that the aircraft's disappearance may have been a trial run for a larger scale attempt to come later.

Search Continues For Malaysian Airliner

Debris from the aircraft may have been found.

Vietnamese aircraft spotted what they suspected was one of the doors belonging to the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on Sunday, as troubling questions emerged about how two passengers managed to board the Boeing 777 using stolen passports. The discovery comes as officials consider the possibility that the plane disintegrated mid-flight, a senior source told Reuters. The state-run Thanh Nien newspaper cited Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of Vietnam's army, as saying searchers in a low-flying plane had spotted an object suspected of being a door from the missing jet. It was found in waters about 56 miles south of Tho Chu island, in the same area where oil slicks were spotted Saturday.

This Guy Wants To Buy The NY Times

Via Gothamist:

Kazillionaire Chen Guangbiao, one of the top 400 richest people in China, recently announced his intentions to buy the NY Times with his gajillions of moneys. While the Times thus far has respectfully declined his requests for a meeting to discuss such an investment of gobagillions, if they got a better look at his business card, they might change their minds. Because clearly anyone who is a demolition expert, a moral leader, and the "most influential person of China" deserves a shot at the top of the masthead.

Buzzfeed has a fascinating story about him.

GENEVA: International Accord Reached With Iran To Halt Nuclear Program

Big news out of Switzerland tonight. The United States, France, Germany, China, Russia, Great Britain, and the European Union have brokered a deal with Iran on its nuclear program. Via New York Times:

The United States and five other world powers announced a landmark accord Sunday morning that would temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program and lay the foundation for a more sweeping agreement. It was the first time in nearly a decade of talks, American officials said, that an international agreement had been reached to halt much of Iran’s nuclear program and roll some elements of it back.

According to the agreement, Iran would agree to stop enriching uranium beyond 5 percent. To make good on that pledge, Iran would dismantle links between networks of centrifuges. All of Iran’s stockpile of uranium that has been enriched to 20 percent, a short hop to weapons-grade fuel, would be diluted or converted into oxide so that it could not be readily used for military purposes. No new centrifuges, neither old models nor newer more efficient ones, could be installed.

Centrifuges that have been installed but which are not currently operating could not be started up. The agreement, however, would not require Iran to stop enriching uranium to a level of 3.5 percent or dismantle any of its existing centrifuges. The accord was a disappointment for Israel, which urged the United States to pursue a stronger agreement that would lead to a complete end to Iran’s enrichment program. But Iran made it clear that continuing enrichment was a prerequisite for any agreement.

The president spoke about the deal late last night.

At Hong Kong Pride 2013

Gay Star News reports on Hong Kong's fifth pride parade:

Today's Hong Kong Pride showed the LGBT community there are more visible than ever before. The head of Hong Kong's Equal Opportunity Commission Dr York Chow addressed the crowd, as did member of the legislative council Cyd Ho. This year, the fifth Hong Kong Pride, saw more corporate sponsorship with JP Morgan and Citibank joining Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Nomura who gave cash sponsorship last year, Fridae reports. Paul Choi, Goldman Sachs' executive director of human capital management, also spoke at the parade. 'As a company, we have been participating in the parade since 2008, and we are glad to see more people taking part as Hong Kong becomes more inclusive,' he said in a statement.

An estimated 8000 people attended.