Chinese lawyers and journalists prepare to

invade NYC Chinatown to assert the rights of Chinese Bettors secured by NY Const. Art 1, Sec. 3
Andrew Cuomo can neither read Chinese nor NY Const Art. 1, Sec. 3.
New York City part of the bankrupt states of America

Chinese Journalists Protest Official Censorship

• 
  

By BRIAN SPEGELE

BEIJING—A group of prominent journalists is demanding the resignation of a senior propaganda official in southern China who they say unjustifiably censored an editorial.
Dai Zhiyong, a commentator for Southern Weekly, wrote a New Year's editorial that picked up on a catchphrase used in recent weeks by China's new leader Xi Jinping—the "China Dream"—to advocate greater checks on government powers and for more personal freedoms. The piece was headlined "China's dream, the dream of constitutionalism."
Southern Weekly is based in Guangdong province and has a reputation for hard-hitting journalism that tests the government's tolerance. The New Year's editorial is a closely watched political barometer.

Enlarge Image

Associated Press

An editorial that picked up on a catchphrase of China?s new leader Xi Jinping, here in Beijing last month, was rewritten to be more upbeat.

In an open letter distributed widely Friday over the Internet, at least 35 former Southern Weekly employees demanded that Tuo Zhen, Guangdong's propaganda chief and a former vice president at state news agency Xinhua, resign. Signatories included well-known journalist and former senior Southern Weekly editor Qian Gang, who declined to comment.
The letter accuses Mr. Tuo of ordering last-minute changes to the editorial, unbeknownst to the newspaper's staff. The accusations, if proved true, would suggest aggressive efforts to silence reform advocates and a tightening grip over traditionally outspoken newspapers in Guangdong, media observers say.
The differing versions of the editorial appeared on multiple sites on the Internet, prompting anger on social-media sites.
A woman answering the phone at the provincial propaganda department said she wasn't familiar with the controversy and declined to provide contact information for other department officials. Southern Weekly journalists couldn't be reached to comment.
At a daily news briefing Friday, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, referred to the incident, saying "there is no so-called news censorship in China," and the government protects the freedom to report the news.
In a brief telephone interview, Mr. Dai confirmed he wrote the original Southern Weekly editorial now circulating widely on the Chinese language Internet. He didn't address the changes.
Mr. Dai's original article had called for China to be governed under the rule of law and that personal freedoms be ensured. By contrast, the published essay in essence told readers they should be thankful for their leaders' work in fighting for shared prosperity in China and urged everyone to remain united in pursuit of the Chinese dream.
"This kind of direct hands-on interference is really something new," said David Bandurski, a researcher with Hong Kong University's China Media Project, which ran the journalists' letter on its website. Whereas Chinese publications are given limits on the topics they can write about, the allegations that Mr. Tuo or his staff tampered with the newspaper as it prepared to go to press would be extreme even by China's own strict regulation of domestic media, he said.
The "China Dream" is a new phrase employed by Mr. Xi. While its precise meaning is unclear, he has used it in the context of what he has described as a "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
—Lilian Lin and Laurie Burkitt contributed to this article. Write to Brian Spegele at brian.spegele@wsj.com

HI-

Thanks for the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing address.

Claude Solnik

(631) 913-4244

Long Island Business News

2150 Smithtown Ave.

Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348 

Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays

Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012

Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.