China preps reading list amid SARS
It's a nice gesture, to be certain, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you should never let a Communist Party official select your reading material- unless you're out of Sominex, that is.
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China has prepared a reading list for people staying at home after karaoke parlors and cinemas were shut to stem the spread of SARS and, not surprisingly, Communist Party tomes top the pickings.
Volumes such as the "16th Party Congress Report," former President Jiang Zemin's "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and "A History of the Chinese Communist Party" headed the list of nearly 100 titles, compiled by China's publishing regulator.
"In the development of human history, people inevitably encounter such disasters," the General Administration of Press and Publication said in a statement posted on the Web site http://sina.com.cn. "We think this is just the time to catch up on reading."
What? No "Minutes of the 47th Communist Party Congress?" It's a classic!!
If these were the only reading options I had, I'd have to think seriously about just letting SARS run it's course, rather than subjecting myself to this literary tour de farce. This reading list should be condemned as a human rights violation. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment....
