“The Chinese leaders know they have blood on their hands. They fear that if the truth comes to light, the government will be under pressure to bring those responsible for this crime to justice.” Renee Xia, Chinese Human Rights Defenders
Hurricane Earl took aim at North Carolina on Thursday and is on track to lash its barrier islands with dangerous winds and pounding surf before cutting a path up the U.S. East Coast.If you hear a distant fanfare this weekend as you huddle around the last barbecue of summer, chances are it is Labor Day signaling the start of the home stretch to the Congressional mid-term elections. From here on out, we’ll see more ads, more posturing, more mudslinging, and great herds of political pundits thundering across the land with all the enthusiasm and grace of buffaloes in a rut. And no one will be more aware of all that than a man whose name is not on any ballot, and yet has everything on the line: President Barack Obama.An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy burst into flames on Thursday and unleashed a mile-long oil sheen into the Gulf of Mexico, in the region’s first major offshore disaster since BP’s oil spill began in April.Coming fresh off of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reunion (did you all catch that horror show? One word: cray-cray) is the announcement that Bravo is set to release yet another Real Housewives franchise, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” next month.Hollywood loves a good formula, and this fall movie season is rife with tried-and-true plot setups that will give you deja vu.From Baltimore to Lancaster avenues and along Market Street in between, University City is abuzz from the arrivals of college students and professors back after summer vacation.Tiger Woods fans have put up with the philandering, the text messages and the domestic spats. Now comes what may be the hardest thing of all to tolerate: losing.While breast-enhancing surgery has become almost a norm for American women, men are also heading to the plastic surgeon’s office more often — to have their man-boobs (moobs) removed. If you are what you eat, then most Cape Codders would be a clam — or maybe a lobster roll A land named for a type of fish should abound with chances to sample tasty seafood, and Cape Cod does not disappointSo you squandered an estate note on a bachelor’s degree, then trudged through more entry-level hardships and thankless internships than should be legally permissable, only to backslide into a self-esteem shattering, résumé-derailing grind, several tax brackets below your dignity. 
“The Chinese leaders know they have blood on their hands. They fear that if the truth comes to light, the government will be under pressure to bring those responsible for this crime to justice.” Renee Xia, Chinese Human Rights Defenders
China has begun implementing an “information blackout” as tomorrow’s 20-year anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre approaches.
Outspoken critics have been put on house arrest, newspapers thoroughly warned and popular information-sharing sites — search engines, social networks and even e-mail services — have been blocked, all in an effort to ensure no sign of dissent is given any voice, local activists said yesterday.
Chinese officials instigated a “coordinated takedown” yesterday at 5 a.m. EST. Microsoft’s blogging portal MSNSpaces is down; so is Yahoo’s Flickr.com photo-sharing site; and Hotmail users found themselves unable to send or receive e-mails.
Microblogging site Twitter was also under sustained attack by Beijing officials, as users conceive of new methods to bypass state censors.
Pictures by the BBC and other world broadcasters, beamed into China via satellite, were blacked out for several seconds when they referred to the massacre.
Subscribers to The Economist shouldn’t be too confused as to where their missing pages went: party officials ripped them out.
“The massacre is never mentioned. They have erased it from history as far as many young Chinese are concerned. Many in their teens have no idea it ever happened,” one activist told Western media yesterday.
Amnesty International says 1,000 Chinese democracy advocates were killed by the Chinese army on June 4, 1989. The Chinese government put the death toll at 241.
The Tiananmen Square massacre is known as the “June Fourth Incident.” It began when protesters converged on Tiananmen Square in response to the death of a leading opposition figure. The military response to the protest left scores dead.
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In the July MMMpod, Young Veins talk about breaking away from Panic! at the Disco, Keith Lockhart talks about Buckwheat Zydeco throwing the Boston Pops for a loop, Zooey Deschanel talks about how Roy Orbison inspired a She & Him song, Derek Miller of Sleigh Bells talks about how awesome Funkadelic is, and we talk about how awesome Jimmy Cliff is, who in turn talks about Sam Cooke and divine intervention. An explosive show for July! Oh yeah, and we also test your knowledge of America songs in the MMMPod medley.
