To Your Heart's Content

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Shady Shearing

The administration continues to shear some of America's greatest liberties. It now has been intent on silencing or at least filtering some competent and respected scientists' independent opinions and predictions about climate change. One of which is a climate expert at NASA, Dr. James Hansen, who has come under pressure by his superiors to limit, if not discontinue, offering his personal opinions. Check this quote out by the NY Times:

"The fight between Dr. Hansen and administration officials echoes other recent disputes. At climate laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for example, many scientists who routinely took calls from reporters five years ago can now do so only if the interview is approved by administration officials in Washington, and then only if a public affairs officer is present or on the phone.

"Where scientists' points of view on climate policy align with those of the administration, however, there are few signs of restrictions on extracurricular lectures or writing. "

For the whole article go here.

I don't know about you all out there but I believe this administration is making a concerted effort to seriously undermine some of the fundamental liberties that make America the great country it is (or used to be?).

Bare Branches and Hypergyny

I read a recent scholarly report that was in no small terms provocative as well as elucidating in its analysis and conclusion. It adds a new dimension, for those who are interested, to the many subtle dynamics and complexities of Chinese society. It points out that the scale on which sex ratios being artificially altered today in Asia, especially in China, (since the onset of prenatal offspring sex selection around 1985 and the one child policy) are unprecedented in history. That within 20 years or so China may have as many as 40 million bare-branches—bachelors who will never be able to marry—and that the implications of such a number are profound. The authors purport and demonstrate via historical examples in Portugal and China, and others, that a sex ratio of approximately 120 males per 100 females or more in any country is inherently unstable, that in those areas where the sex ratio is extremely disproportionate tend to be more violent, i.e. Uttar Pradesh in India. The China Academy of Social Sciences reported in1999 a sex ratio of 120, with journalists and scholars reports citing a ratio of between 131 and 400 between 1995 and 2000, depending on a particular region/town. With such an abundance of males, this naturally gives rise to hypergyny, or the "marrying up" of women at marriage age. This disproportionate demographic shift does not bode well for China's future and indeed will come to be a pressing issue for the government. To deal with these bare branches, countries with high ratios will tend towards more authoritarian systems of governing, which offers a bleak outlook for the development of democracy in China (which I am, in fact, against at the moment anyway). And further presents the ominous question of what to ...If you are interested in reading more, click the Read More! link below.


Bare branches, or guang gunr, tend to congregate together, especially amongst the 200 million strong floating population in China. They are likely to be from the lowest socio-economic class, be un— or under—employed, and live a transient lifestyle with few ties to communities in which they are working. Guang gunrs, living a life of forced celibacy, are an outcast subculture and are predisposed to organized social banditry. Basically they have no face to lose and are proven to be more ‘testosteronized’ than the married, sedentary man and thus they are more prone to seek satisfaction through vice and violence. Take this to its logical end and the prospect of war to obtain riches and status through looting and pillaging is highly attractive.

The development of a large floating population was always a harbinger of increasing social unrest in historical China and guang gunrs truly add fuel to that flame. In fact, most protests in China occur today because of the disparity between rich and poor, between those privileged and those not. Add to this that China is a society with an acute unequal resource distribution, and the future looks bleak.

So, how will China deal with this pressing issue in the future? According to the report, there are only three choices since even prosperity is no panacea: Fight them, encourage their self-destruction, or deport them. The gov’t may wish to see them used in pursuit of national interest rather than allow them remain to be a threat to national interests. This may in fact be why the gov’t clamped down so hard on the Falun Gong: their major source of recruits is the unemployed.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Quote of the week (or so) # 4

"Yo doc, my ear aches."

2000 BC -- "Here, eat this root."
1000BC--"That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1850 AD--"That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."
1940 AD--"That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."
1985--"That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000AD--"That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!"

Thursday, January 19, 2006

oddities

having problems with the chinese characters appearing in the blog below. Funny, that didn't happen before...well, bear with me as I try to fix this...

Puns, Puns, Puns: deciphering the Chinese language

Chinese is a language suffused with commonly used puns on many words due to the extraordinary (and burdensome to the beginner) amount of homonyms, which are differentiated by their tones. This is why four, 四, si, fourth tone, is a symbol of bad luck (it sounds like to die 死, si, third tone) and why the symbol fu 福 , or good fortune/happiness/blessing, is often hung upside down in homes: upside down, dao 倒, third tone, and to arrive or get, dao 到, fourth tone, are homonyms. Thus, ‘dao fu’, or get fortune. These puns prevail all throughout the language, usually related to either auspicious/good or inauspicious/bad things. Fish, or yu 鱼, is often served on, say, somebody’s birthday or a special occasion since one of its homonyms means long lasting, 余yu. So, you can see how tones become all important. For the sound ‘shi’, get this, there are over forty-five different characters and thus meanings!! It is, I believe, the most commonly used sound, being used to express ‘to be’, ‘food’, ‘know’, ‘truth’, and many others. Keeping the characters straight in one’s head can be a pain in the ass! My host father told me that sometimes Chinese will have competitions with friends on who can create sentences with one sound. The classic: ma ma ma ma ma 妈妈骂马吗? Does mother curse/scold the horse? They all seem kind of random to me, however, since there are often so many homonyms that many, many words could have puns. Of course, the amount of homonyms I believe are a serious inadequacy in the language in terms of it ever becoming a feasible world language. Even Chinese sometimes need to ask each other for clarity regarding which character they mean! Thus, the most important aspect of talking with a Chinese person as a beginner is context. Try to bust a non sequitur, and they may be stumped. And now the reader understands why tones are so important to pronounce correctly.

This also makes brand names and a person’s name so vitally important and the reason why transliterations of names can be so botched. Roosevelt, for example, sounds like lucifer. You have to be careful of the character you use in the name and its homonym, as well as the meaning of the characters together, and the tones (if all of the characters have the same tone in a name, this is considered inauspicious or crude). Sprite had to change its name after first entering the Chinese market because it used a character that sounded like to die. Even more frustrating is that different regions in China pronounce characters differently, so that, for example, shi will sound like si, or zhi like zi, or vice versa! It’s incredibly convoluted.

Puns can go a little further too, whereby the pun of an answer to a quip is the meaning intended. The following are some examples:

外甥打灯笼 – 照舅. (照旧)waisheng da denglong—zhao jiu. (zhao jiu) Nephew is lighting the lamp—call uncle. (as always/usual) “Call uncle” sounds like ‘zhao jiu’, which puns what’s in the parentheses: zhao jiu, which means, ‘same as before’, or ‘as always’. So, say I have a son who always fails his exams. If he comes home one day and tells me he failed again, I could turn to my wife and say: Nephew is lighting the lamp.

孔夫子搬家 – 净是书. (输)Kong fuzi banjia—jing shi shu (shu) Confucius is moving—only books. (lose) The pun here is on shu, which means books and to lose. So if I am playing a game of poker and I (am gonna) lose, I could say: Confucius is moving.

飞机上挂暖壶 – 高水瓶. (高水平)Feiji shang gua nuanhu—gao shui ping. (gao shui ping) There is a thermos in a plane—high water container. (high level) So if I am complimenting somebody’s language level I could say: There is a thermos in a plane.

You guys get the point. Here are a couple more:

电线杆上插鸡毛 – 好大的掸子. (好大的胆子)The meaning I am not clear about, but the pun is on dan zi, which puns a duster and bravery/courage.

烂棉花 – 没法弹. (没法谈) Rotten cotton--must toss it. (must discuss). The pun here is on tan, which means to fling, or throw away, and talk/discuss.

Monday, January 16, 2006

What the...China Discovered America??

A recent article by the Economist reports on purportedly the first map of the world and other written statements made by 1421 by a Chinese admiral named Zheng He, possibly proving that Chinese seamen first discovered America! To read the full article, go here. This comes after Gavin Menzies, who is a former submariner in the Royal Navy and a merchant banker, made the controversial claim in 2003 that Zheng He circumnavigated the world, discovering America on the way.

re: the environment, check these startling stats out...

From truthout.org

The climb in carbon dioxide content showed up in readings from the US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken at the summit of Mauna Loa, Hawaii. The measurements have been taken regularly since 1958 in the 11,400ft peak's pristine conditions, 2,000 miles from the nearest landmass and protected by unusual climatic conditions from the pollution of Hawaii, two miles below.
Through most of the past half-century, levels of the gas rose by an average of 1.3 parts per million a year; in the late 1990s, this figure rose to 1.6 ppm, and again to 2ppm in 2002 and 2003. But unpublished figures for the first 10 months of this year show a rise of 2.2ppm.
Scientists believe this may be the first evidence that climate change is starting to produce itself, as rising temperatures so alter natural systems that the Earth itself releases more gas, driving the thermometer ever higher.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

qingdao pics and crabapples

some pics from Qingdao are now available...

Speaking of which, everybody who saw this pic (in Micky D's, when Igor first told me he had never tried the hashbrowns) thought it was hillarious, so here it is, for your enjoyment...



Also, one of the more delightful fancies I take to during the colder months is caramelized crabapples (or whatever else the vender's whim decides) on a stick--a chinese traditional snack. Yes, they really exist and are not just a nickname for them grumpy curmudgeons! These looked too perfect to eat...




drooling yet...?

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Thank You Professor Long

A quick shout out of support and a thank you to Professor Long of Syracuse University, who for decades has collected records showing how thoroughly the Internal Revenue Service audits big corporations and the rich, and how much it discounts the additional taxes assessed after audits. The information was given at no charge to Professor Long, who made it available on the Internet at .trac.syr.edu, with tools for people to conduct their own analyses. In fact, much of what the public knows about the efficiency, effectiveness and evenhandedness of the revenue service and other big federal agencies is based on the figures that Professor Long collects and posts. It is quite an extensive and interesting site offering a "service of understandable, authoritative, and complete information about the federal government--how it enforces the law, where it assigns its employees, and how it spends our money."

Well, in May 2004, the revenue service told her that it would not provide the information and ordered its statisticians to stop answering her questions. It also advised her that if it ever did make the data public again, the information would cost $12,000 a month to receive electronic copies. This is in violation of a 1976 court order, filed by Professor Long herself, requiring their disclosure. Researchers, reporters, lobbyists and others have argued that government agencies have for several decades become less open...

Quote of the Week # 3

As you can tell, my weeks are getting longer... :) This quote's dedicated to Chris...

"We have no more than glimpses and touches; we are torn away from our theories; are spun around and round and shown this or the other view of life until only fools or knaves can hold to their opinions. All our attributes are modified or changed; and it will be a poor account of us if our views do not modify and change in proportion. To hold the same views at forty as we held at twenty is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank not a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and none the wiser."
–Robert Louis Stevenson

Well-put sir! Yes indeed! What would life be like without change?? In fact, physicists, philosophers, etc. claim that the one and only constant truth in all history is: change. So if any of you out there are sojourning in ol' Procrustes's bed, get the heck out and go for a walk. Stop, take a few glimpses around. Take time to notice the new in the old and never not allow yourself to change, it is unnatural!

Sunday, January 08, 2006

news china update

Unfortunately the NY Times China website is not only intermittently interrupted with ads and polls but has also implemented a strategy to charge readers. Thus, many of the most interesting articles about China are archived now almost immediately and can only be accessed if one is a member of Times Select, which of course charges a fee. Sometimes some articles cannot even be viewed unless one is a member. A year ago this was not the case. Thus, I have changed the link in my sidebar from the NY Times, which heavily focuses on China's development of the Rule of Law, to the Guardian's China webpage, which in general has more variety. The NY Times, I must say however, does have some interesting articles now and again.

Miners

The recent catastrophe in a West Virginia mine where almost a dozen miners were killed even wiped Iraq out of the headlines for a few days, maybe even a week. My symphathies and condolences to the bereaved families. I want to note here my gratitude for freedom of the press in America--a freedom to which very few contries are privileged. Further, my gratitude for Americans' concern for fellow Americans and justice. And here is a perfect humbling contrast. According to the Guardian, more than 5,000 Chinese miners are killed each year, 75% of the global total, even though the country produces only a third of the world's coal. Recently, 216 miners were killed at a mine in north-east China in the most deadly accident in 50 years. Last October, another gas explosion killed 148. Countless other accidents at small unregistered mines go unreported because the owners - often in collusion with local officials - buy off or threaten the victims' families. Very little is heard about this in the Chinese press and even so, there is hardly any outcry from ordinary citizens.

Another recent example, as reported by the NY Times, in yet another toxic spill in a tributary of the Yangtze river, this time in the south, the official EPA report claimed that cadmium (used in batteries) levels in the Xiangjiang River were still "one or two times above national standard, but did not represent an immediate public health hazard." That iBut the provincial environmental administration said just on Sunday that cadmium levels in the river were still 22 to 40 times above standard.

seamy abuse of the legislative process

Though this site is dedicated to my experiences in Asia, following American politics is also a most important part of my experience. Click the read more link at the bottom for a little somethin' about the intricacies of Republican cronyism.

Hurwitz, a Texas billionaire who owned a 25% stake in Texas savings and loan bank when it collapsed in 1988 costing taxpayers $1.6 billion, was pursued by the FDIC, seeking $300 billion from him, in order to compensate taxpayers for his role in its collapse. Turns out that DeLay (Rep. Texas) sided with two congressmen from California, both Reps, in order to help Hurwitz, a generous campaign financer. What they did is a blatant abuse of political powers that should be dealt with harshly. The two CA congressmen, according to the LA Times, "used their power as members of the House Resources Committee to subpoena the agency's (FDIC's) confidential records on the case, including details of the evidence FDIC investigators had compiled on Hurwitz." William F. Kroener III, general counsel at the FDIC, warned the committee that Hurwitz and his lawyers were not entitled to see many of the documents for fear that, "should the material end up in their (Hurwitz's lawyers') hands, it "could significantly injure our ability to litigate this matter and reduce damages otherwise recoverable to reimburse taxpayers."

What did the two CA Reps do? Within a year they filled the Congressional Record with 115 pages of the subpoenaed documents, costing an additional $20,000, taken from their congressional accounts (taxpayers' money) to cover extra printing costs. Hurwitz's lawyers now had legal access to the documents. Not long afterward, the FDIC dismissed its case, and the Office of Thrift Supervision settled with Hurwitz for about $200,000 in administrative costs. FDIC's chief spokesman, Phil Battey, said in a statement to the Sacramento Bee at the time that the publication of the materials was a "subordination … and a seamy abuse of the legislative process."
For the full article, go
here

This is just one recent example of how insidious corruption can take place in our American system. The Republicans continue to defend only themselves, keeping only themselves in mind and not giving a hoot about the average American, about how our tax money is spent, about the health of our nation and people, and so on. I hope we all can remain vigilant in being aware about the abuses the Republicans continue to commit against the average, middle-class American people, which are now slowly but surely coming to the surface.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Qingdao and hasbrowns

Well Happy New Years to everybody! New Years resolution, you ask? To stem the normalization of my life here in Beijing. But as we all know, who the hell really believes the resolution will last for more than a few months, sometimes days!




Went to Qingdao for New Years with a few good friends, Igor, Erika, and Reka. A coastal city with a population of 8 million, its unique quality lies in the contrast of European architecture with the Chinese lifestyle. Overlooking the sea with a relatively clement climate, Qingdao was once occupied by the Germans in the very early 20th century, who put some serious time and effort into making it as German as possible. The city's architectural charm and layout was kept intact thus creating an eerie atmosphere: one is at once surrounded by German ancient-fortress architecture all the while being in a Chinese city with the norms of Chinese modern life. Reka is Hungarian and she noted how some buildings even reminded her of Romanian cottages! It is quite astonishing. Besides the architecture, however, there is not much otherwise special about the city. It does brew China's most popular and purportedly only exported beer (TsingTao), surprise, surprise! Good ol' Germans. And the beach is nice. But I hear in summer the city is flooded with tourists, that one can be hard-pressed to even find a place to stay.



It was also here where Igor was introduced for the first time to McDonald's hashbrowns! I think he appreciated them more than the trip itself! Nothing beats those little bastards, they're soo good! Yum yum. Thanks Ronny.

Some pics will be posted soon...


 



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