I am going to write your unusual snappishness off to you having a bad day. I respect your work too much to dismiss you over this little rant you went on.
But the vexatious blogger did not submit gracefully — and the Bosco temper threatened to erupt:
You really do not want to carry this petulance further--you are overmatched.... You my friend have no patience with the written word or the techniques of journalistic or even civil discourse.You are a terribly insecure young person who feels completely threatened whenever your self-appointed position as the artbiter of all things having to do with Chinese politics comes into question. This is particularly true when it comes from someone who just might be in possession of information and sources you don't have and will not have until you have spent several decades learning the skills of a journalist.
Now, we can end this silliness or you can continue and I will take it further publicly and embarrass you greatly.
That was petrifying enough. The young fellow's follow-up consisted of a solitary sentence: "I am, quite literally, speechless."
And Bosco granted that he had been appeased: "Good, keep it that way in regards to this matter and this silliness will end now."
But Bosco can be gracious, even unctuous, when he sees something he likes. Phil, another member of the China blogging community, posted a draft of an article he was preparing for the UK press that featured Bosco quotes. The article concerned the estimated 300,000 blogs now operating in China, and it showed Bosco again drawing on his insight into Chinese Communist Party thinking as he propounded his views to the reporter:
I do not believe the government will stop blogging. I do believe they are going to monitor it and trim it back frequently for some years yet.The significance of Chinese blogging is more symbolic than actually effective or influential. However, symbolism in this regard is very important. The fact that there are a reported 300,000 main land Chinese bloggers is powerfully prophetic of what could be.
Bosco was pleased with the article, and promptly posted his comment:
Excellent work, Phil. You actually managed to render my ramblings intelligible, which is not easy to do. Seriously, it's a fine piece. You took a complex issue and bundled it up coherently while using a fairly large number of quoted sources with differing viewpoints in a limited amount of space.Congratulations.
I never heard of Bosco until a few days ago, when I discovered the "Living in China" community of bloggers. Those 300,000 Chinese blogs are, of course, generally written in Chinese, but "Living in China" seems to be English-only and currently includes just 47 bloggers. I emailed a brief note to a few of them to let them know about "Inside China's Diplomacy School," my account of my experiences at the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU).
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
that was one hell of a tale Uriel, thanks. Your relationship with Bosco reminds me a bit of my dealings with Andrew Sullivan a few years ago.
2 - Angelina Fiorentino
I would personally like to thank Joe Bosco for writing the fascinating book A Problem Of Evidence. I am glad someone had the balls to straight out say the truth about the Brown Family. (The Family Brown Ch. 12) I feel so sorry for Nicole Brown Simpson having been sold out by her family for OJ's money. And then they have the nerve, ESPECIALLY Denise Brown, to start a charity, that has been underfire by the IRS, under their murdered sister's name. Now she's the big DV expert? Denise Brown is the biggest phoney!
I have followed this case since the day I heard about the murders, I saw Denise Brown mouthing off to every tv show and the family selling Nicole's Diary, Nude Pictures (sold by sister Dominique), everything of Nicole's for In My Opinion, blood money!