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Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu

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Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#171

Post by munificent »

phatfish wrote: post #71
appleflaxen wrote: post #9

That appears to be an incredibly classy thing to do, at no small risk to himself. The billionaires have the most to lose with any social unrest, and he exposed himself to support the masses. If so: Respect Counter-possibility: it's a CYA maneuver, which supports both sides simlutaneously and either message can be declared as "intended" post-hoc.

Agreed he has put himself in more "danger" by this action, but billionaires like him certainly do not have the most to loose. He will have investments, properties, friends or family outside HK. He can simply pay his way to citizenship in most countries around the world. The average HK citizen has everything to lose, their rights and way of life. He will loose some money and property at the most, depending on how he d…

I think both you and the parent comment are correct.

A billionaire has the greatest potential for relative change from the consequences of their actions. They have more chips they can put on the table and thus they can experience a change in fortune larger than others.

At the same time, the poor have the greatest potential for suffering. With fewer chips to put on the table, they are much closer to getting kicked out of the game entirely.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#172

Post by trumpreality »

phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #141
AYBABTME wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're there tanks back then?

>We're there tanks back then? No, we're here taking potshots at each other on the Internet.

It's as plausible as my alchoholic decrepid uncle being in the 80's Angola wars; I know the commanders since then, it's been disqualified. Tanks, sure, but, no uncles, in the specific sorts. Fucking thieves of valour.

(Fought with the LE, legion entrangere commanders, in later wars, no uncles was there.) I was everywhere, but, stolen valour suckes trick.

Fucking military simulants. Either fight or truck, or dang, more to speak, off..

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#173

Post by [deleted] »

dspillett wrote: post #16
namelosw wrote: post #10

If you speak Chinese, you'll find it's very easy to squeeze sentences in exact same characters. Almost all poems in China (except very modern ones) do this. It's so easy that people in forums do this a along - being sarcastic or just funny. You could have positive meaning literally, but hide dirty words in structures. Also because it's so easy that this was defined as serious crime in many dynasties. There were even…

> committed it by coincidence were sentenced to death So they sentenced themselves to death with an unfortunate sentence structure.

[deleted]

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#174

Post by lioeters »

starfallg wrote: post #59
smcl wrote: post #5

Can someone who knows HK weigh in on how likely this is to be subtle deliberate messaging, or whether it’s like Qanon (where “Q” just says vague things, and the followers go wild with all sorts of interpretations that confirm what they already think).

It's blindingly obvious that it's deliberate. Whether it's the graphic designer or LKS that actually formulated it, that is debatable. I wouldn't bet on the former though. Keep in mind that Li fell out with Beijing and have cashed out most of his assets in the Mainland over the last several years. There is no way that the following phrase, formed by the the end characters of each phrase in the ad, could be a coincide…

This is really a classy move.

It's like a compact puzzle or "steganographic joke" - intelligent, elegant, satirical and even humorous in a way.

Constructing these interlocking phrases, one "public" and the other a "private" message for those "in the know"; getting the right number of characters and dots; even using his own name as part of the message.

I don't know anything about this billionaire, but I appreciate the effort that went into this form of protest, it's a work of art.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#175

Post by [deleted] »

phatfish wrote: post #71
appleflaxen wrote: post #9

That appears to be an incredibly classy thing to do, at no small risk to himself. The billionaires have the most to lose with any social unrest, and he exposed himself to support the masses. If so: Respect Counter-possibility: it's a CYA maneuver, which supports both sides simlutaneously and either message can be declared as "intended" post-hoc.

Agreed he has put himself in more "danger" by this action, but billionaires like him certainly do not have the most to loose. He will have investments, properties, friends or family outside HK. He can simply pay his way to citizenship in most countries around the world. The average HK citizen has everything to lose, their rights and way of life. He will loose some money and property at the most, depending on how he d…

[deleted]

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#176

Post by AmericanChopper »

TheBranca18 wrote: post #112
nostalgk wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why has the US military machine failed to wipe out a few thousand foreign insurgents (generally less well equipped than American civilians) using drones then? Why did many of my peers, troops, die? I have severe doubts that the US could contain a civil uprising scenario, especially given international pressures. About 42% of Americans *live in a household with guns according to Gallup, with approximately 30% owning t…

To add context here, I responded to someone who said the current Hong Kong situation illustrates the importance of the second amendment. Which I think truly was a myopic, insipid comment. As far as your contention that they haven't wiped out a few thousand foreign insurgents, are you referring to Iraq or Afghanistan? Afghanistan is an interesting case, I truly don't understand what the current goal is. I would add th…

> To add context here, I responded to someone who said the current Hong Kong situation illustrates the importance of the second amendment. Which I think truly was a myopic, insipid comment.

The protestors themselves may disagree with that. There’s plenty of photos of protestors holding signs that make exactly that comment. Their oppressor in this case also actually has a history of massacring unarmed civilians.

Regarding the might of the US or Chinese military, I can’t think of an example of a military winning against an insurgency.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#177

Post by AmericanChopper »

thecopy wrote: post #27
AmericanChopper wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think anybody seriously thinks Hong Kong has any meaningful level of autonomy. The impasse is that Hong Kongers want freedom and democracy, and China wants Hong Kong to be China. I can’t see what the Chief Executive could possibly do. Either the protestors will give up, or stage a revolution, which seems unlikely for a population armed with umbrellas.

> I can’t see what the Chief Executive could possibly do Your assumption that HK doesn't have any autonomy might have something to do with that ;) As to what she could do: she can do a lot; the protestors have a list of 5 demands, one of them is the withdrawal of the extradition-bill. She could comply with that, for example.

But it seems quite obvious that she actually does not have the power to do that. She doesn’t even have the power to resign, she tried and China said no.

Their demands also include permanent legislative independence from China. Something they obviously don’t have today, and will have less and less as China continues it’s stated policy of continuing the complete integration of Hong Kong into China.

Any level of autonomy Hong Kong has is granted entirely at the discretion of China, and is only temporary in any case, as it has an expiry date. It’s exceedingly obvious to any observer that Hong Kong does not currently have sufficient autonomy to satisfy the protestors demands.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#178

Post by themaninthedark »

meddlepal wrote: post #21
pessimizer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's like getting annoyed when people refer to 9/11.

Eh no. Let me also be clear I say this and cannot remember the date of Pearl Harbor, Cherynobl, or a number of other major events. 9/11 is a bit of a weird case in that the name of the event is also the event itself... that usually does not happen. Please label your dates folks (except 9/11 I guess...)

December 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#179

Post by [deleted] »

phatfish wrote: post #71
appleflaxen wrote: post #9

That appears to be an incredibly classy thing to do, at no small risk to himself. The billionaires have the most to lose with any social unrest, and he exposed himself to support the masses. If so: Respect Counter-possibility: it's a CYA maneuver, which supports both sides simlutaneously and either message can be declared as "intended" post-hoc.

Agreed he has put himself in more "danger" by this action, but billionaires like him certainly do not have the most to loose. He will have investments, properties, friends or family outside HK. He can simply pay his way to citizenship in most countries around the world. The average HK citizen has everything to lose, their rights and way of life. He will loose some money and property at the most, depending on how he d…

[deleted]

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#180

Post by rv-de »

zhoujianfu wrote: post #103
dspillett wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> committed it by coincidence were sentenced to death So they sentenced themselves to death with an unfortunate sentence structure.

I believe the correct joke is simply: So they sentenced themselves to death.

They literally did.
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