One month on from Brexit and the UK has yet to tear itself apart and sink into the sea. I know that's an exaggeration of the doomsday prophesies, but it seems that most people are determined to carry on as usual... with just a little more grumbling. Business hasn't come to a screeching halt just yet and foreign companies are still looking to invest in the UK. Just last week, I heard about EDF's decision to push on with a huge investment in the Hinckley nuclear power plant (although the British government has delayed its own decision to appease the environmentalists) and a Chinese investment group bought Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club. I'm not saying that two deals means that Brexit is a huge success (nothing has actually happened yet) but it does indicate that people are still willing to take a risk in the country. Whether part of the common market or not, I believe that the UK is still an important market which now has the scope to broaden its sights globally. Hopefully that's a view shared by investment groups and the new government.
Speaking of the new government, that was a very quick transition to a new PM and completely overhauled cabinet. The Tories have shown how to do a leadership change on the fly and Labour have decided to completely ignore the example and make a shambles of their own. By the looks of it, while the Conservatives have opted to quickly shift power from Cameron to a heavyweight hitter from the front bench, Labour have opted for the drawn out and bitter contest between an unpopular leader without much support beyond their base and a guy most people have never heard of. The Labour Party have decided to drag out their election until the party conference, by which time a bitter and divided party might be looking at a snap General Election and another long period in the wilderness. Personally, I think that an election is not only prudent but necessary considering the implications of Brexit and the fact that nobody actually voted for the government we currently have... at least I don't think anyone predicted that Boris Johnson would be Foreign Secretary.
---
In movie news, nothing interesting has been released in China for months. A new Jackie Chan movie came out, but it was only available in English on its first day and I happened to be busy on that day. The last film I saw in the cinema was Batman Vs Superman (which I really enjoyed) and I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. I did see the other comic-book blockbuster, but on my computer rather than at the cinema. Looking forward in the year, there is nothing I'm particularly interested in seeing. My friend is desperate to see Suicide Squad, but I'm not that bothered about it and it probably won't be released over here anyway.
---
In football news, Man Utd have officially gone insane. They planning to spend far too much money on a decent, but not spectacular, player in a position they are already well covered in. 100million is more than enough to buy most clubs, so to spend that on one player is utter madness. Pogba might prove to be very good, but you could buy three players who will improve the team togethe far more than he will on his own for the same price. The world is going mad.
---
Speaking of the world going mad, I had a discussion with a friend of mine about a Chinese cult this month. My friend opened the wikipedia page for Falun Gong and started reading out paragraph after paragraph of utter nonsense. I happen to know a little about these things thanks to my degrees, so I couldn't help but laugh when he listed off some of the more outrageous claims made on behalf of the cult. Thanks to my friend, I intend to bore you with my own thoughts on that particular group of nutjobs in the near future and about the prevalence of cults in modern society (particularly Asia). Wikipedia is a dangerous thing when one group gets control over its own page. I would encourage anyone who reads something outrageous on there to consider looking a bit wider on the Internet to discover whether there might actually be any truth to the claims. Cults are very diligent about protecting their image and the stories that come out about them. In that respect (and many others), Falun Gong is very much an Asian cousin of Scientology.
---
That's it for now. I don't mean to bore you so much with politics, but sometimes it is necessary. In addition to my special cult edition, I plan to post a preview of the Premier League season and hopefully some more tales from my life in China as well.
I'm a History graduate from the UK who got bored of his dead-end job and decided to try his luck in China. I now have a new dead-end job teaching English, but it's much more rewarding (not financially) and I'm in a fascinating country. I'm also an occasional blog writer.
