In case you've been living under a rock...

China's on the another anti-protest crackdown. Again. This time it happened in the western region of Xinjiang.

There were at least 156 fatalities and over 800 casualties on Sunday, according to official reports.

This time the protesters are a group of oppressed Muslims called the Uighurs. They started protesting in response to a deadly brawl last month. The brawl happened someone posted rumors that six boys from Xinjiang had raped "two innocent girls". Apparently that sent people over the edge because it sparked a particularly nasty fight between Han Chinese and Uighurs at a factory. The fight killed two Uighurs and left 118 people injured. Police say this claim was false so the brawl was probably pointless.

China seems to have a problem with possible independence movements on the western edge of their massive country (Tibet, though powerful Tibetan figures such as the Dalai Lama are actually willing to accept a mostly autonomous region that is still a part of China).

But instead of sealing off the region from outside reporting, China is letting reporters inside the region. They're playing this off as ethnic tensions between two different groups: the Han and the Uighurs. It seems the Chinese have learned that hiding something from the rest of the world makes it look like you are, in fact, hiding something.

Completely unrelated note: Some singer named Michael Jackson got buried in a gold coffin this week and the American media covered the funeral like flies on a pile of dung.

What will happen next in the world?

As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."