No-Bra Day and A Shares for the People in China

Two things of note for today. They aren't related except in the sense of, well, maybe you can figure something out.

1. Here is one of set of four photos the online English version of People's Daily, an official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published today:

The People's Daily offered this explanation:

To mark the No Bra Day, volunteers call the public to pay attention to the breast health in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province on July 9, 2015. Research indicates that wearing bra may increase the risks of getting breast cancer for a woman.

I would be curious to know the organizer of the event. More importantly, one of the claims, which inspired Felicia Sonmez, editor of the Wall Street Journal's China Real Time blog, to ask whether People's Daily has "lost its mind", deserves additional . . . context. I will keep it simple by quoting a single statement from the American Cancer Society:

There are no scientifically valid studies that show wearing bras of any type causes breast cancer.

2. For something different, James Kynge begins a piece in the Financial Times about China's recently declining stock markets with an observation of a special type of patriotism:

On Sunday, the new graduates of Tsinghua University are set to gather in their smartest attire to celebrate degrees from one of China’s most prestigious institutions, a place that has fostered generations of political leaders. Just after the ceremony starts — according to a written agenda — the graduates must “follow the instruction and shout loudly the slogan, ‘revive the A shares, benefit the people; revive the A shares, benefit the people’.”

I hope there will be video. Somehow, I don't think the same slogan was chanted at any Occupy protests.