Blog: China

HRW calls on other companies to follow Google ending all their censorship in China

2010-03-23T11:53:00.000+02:00

Human Rights Watch, March 22, 2010 -

(New York) – Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese search engine is a strong step in favor of freedom of expression and information, and an indictment of the Chinese government’s insistence on censorship of the internet, Human Rights Watch said today. Google announced today that it would not censor searches and instead redirect searches to its uncensored Hong Kong-based site that would provide results in simplified Chinese. The company also said it would monitor and publicize any attempts at censorship of the site by the Chinese government.

“China is one of the world’s largest economies, but hundreds of millions of Chinese internet users are denied the basic access to information that people around the world take for granted,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Google’s decision to offer an uncensored search engine is an important step to challenge the Chinese government’s use of censorship to maintain its control over its citizens.”

China’s estimated 338 million internet users remain subject to the arbitrary dictates of state censorship. More than a dozen government agencies are involved in implementing a host of laws, regulations, policy guidelines, and other legal tools to try to keep information and ideas from the Chinese people. Various companies, including Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft, have enabled this system by blocking terms they believe the Chinese government will want them to censor. Human Rights Watch documented this corporate complicity in internet censorship in China in “Race to the Bottom,” a 149-page report published in August 2006.

On January 12, 2010, Google announced that it was prepared to withdraw from China unless it could operate its Chinese search engine, Google.cn, free of censorship. This decision was made after the company disclosed “highly sophisticated and targeted attacks” on dozens of Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China. Google said some 20 other companies were also targets of cyber attacks from China. On February 18, 2010, the New York Times reported that these attacks had been traced to Shanghai’s Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School. The latter reportedly has close ties to the Chinese military.

In response to the prospect that Google might stop censoring its search engine, on March 12, Li Yizhong, China’s minister of industry and information technology, said, “If you want to do something that disobeys Chinese law and regulations, you are unfriendly, you are irresponsible and you will have to bear the consequences.”

On January 22, 2010, in a major speech on internet freedom, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the Chinese government to investigate those attacks. She also noted that the “private sector has a shared responsibility to help safeguard free expression. And when their business dealings threaten to undermine this freedom, they need to consider what’s right, not simply the prospect of quick profits.”

Human Rights Watch said that companies operating in China or other countries have an obligation to safeguard freedom of expression and privacy online. The Global Network Initiative (GNI), an international effort comprised of companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, academics, and socially responsible investors to protect freedom of expression and privacy online, recommends that companies: “challenge the government in domestic courts or seek the assistance of relevant government authorities, international human rights bodies or non-governmental organizations when faced with a government restriction that appears inconsistent with domestic law or procedures or international human rights laws and standards on freedom of expression.”

Human Rights Watch called on other companies to follow Google’s example and end all their censorship of politically sensitive information.

“This is a crucial moment for freedom of expression in China, and the onus is now on other major technology companies to take a firm stand against censorship,” said Ganesan. “But the Chinese government should also realize that its repression only isolates its internet users from the rest of the world – and the long-term harm of isolation far outweighs the short-term benefit of forcing companies to leave.”

- Human Rights Watch

[Via http://chinaview.wordpress.com]

Google has shut down it China operation.......

2010-03-23T03:48:00.000+02:00

Google.com.hk tells users, “Welcome to the new home of Google Search in China.” Users can search the Web, the Chinese-language Web, the Web in simplified Chinese and Web sites from China. Colored dots point to videos, photos, shopping, maps, music, Google translate and a Chinese-language site called 265.

The Chinese have not backed away from it position that any web hosted site in China will abide by its policy of censorship…..

Google has found that unacceptable ……

And voted against the policy with their foot…..by closing its Chinese operation and asking users to switch to its Hong kong Based search engines …….

Very few other companies could …..or would make the economic decission…..

Just over two months after threatening to leave Chinabecause of censorship and intrusions from hackers, Google on Monday closed its Internet search service there and began directing users in that country to its uncensored search engine in Hong Kong.

While the decision to route mainland Chinese users to Hong Kong is an attempt by Google to skirt censorship requirements without running afoul of Chinese laws, it appears to have angered officials in China, setting the stage for a possible escalation of the conflict, which may include blocking the Hong Kong search service in mainland China.

The state-controlled Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed official with the State Council Information Office describing Google’s move as “totally wrong.”

“Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks,” the official said.

Google declined to comment on its talks with Chinese authorities, but said that it was under the impression that its move would be seen as a viable compromise.

“We got reasonable indications that this was O.K.,” Sergey Brin, a Google founder and its president of technology, said. “We can’t be completely confident.”

Google’s retreat from China, for now, is only partial. In a blog post, Google said it would retain much of its existing operations in China, including its research and development team and its local sales force. While the China search engine, google.cn, has stopped working, Google will continue to operate online maps and music services in China.

Google’s move represents a powerful rejection of Beijing’s censorship but also a risky ploy in which Google, a global technology powerhouse, will essentially turn its back on the world’s largest Internet market, with nearly 400 million Web users.

More…….

[Via http://politicaldog101.com]

The Nine Nations of China: The Crossroads

2010-03-21T11:43:00.000+02:00

THE CROSSROADS

(Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan)

Territory: 707,124 km2 (7% of total)

Population: 226 million (17% of total)

Per Capita GDP: $2,402 (#7 of 9)

Exports as % of GDP: 6%

Net Trade Balance (ex-China): $6 billion surplus

All of the dynamics driving the first four nations converge in the Crossroads. The middle stretch of the Yangtze is a natural transportation and communications nexus. It is the heart of China, pumping the lifeblood of men and material to every other part along capillaries of water, road, and rail. Interrupt this heartbeat—as a freak snowstorm did last year when it hit the Crossroads during Lunar New Year—and the entire country can grind to a halt. But the region’s central strategic position has never translated into political power. Instead, it has always been a zone of competition among its stronger neighbors, a place for their rival armies to march and fight.

The wetlands along the Yangtze and its tributaries supply much of China’s rice, fish and fowl, and the surrounding hills are rich in orchards above ground and minerals below. But nearly all of its resources—the electricity generated by the Three Gorge Dam, the copper mined to make electrical wiring—flow outward to fuel China’s more developed coastal provinces. The most important outflow is human. Along with the Refuge, the Crossroads supplies the vast majority of China’s migrant workers, a floating population of 150 million people.

Standing in the crosscurrents of so many comings and goings, the Crossroads functions not only as China’s physical heart but as its emotional heartland as well. When migrants return home, they bring back ideas and experiences from every part of China, which mix and recirculate through the entire body. It helps that the inhabitants of Chu—as the Crossroads was called in ancient times—have long been known for their strong passions and fierce loyalties. It is no coincidence that the popular uprisings that began both the Nationalist and Communist revolutions happened here, or that many of China’s leading reformists and revolutionaries, including Mao, rank among its native sons. But while many things begin in the Crossroads, few ever reach their fruition there.

[Via http://chovanec.wordpress.com]

Digging a hole from London to China

2010-03-21T03:46:00.000+02:00

China has a crazy idea:

China may have to move some metaphorical mountains to build its proposed 16,000-mile, high-speed train network from Beijing to London, with lines running to Southeast Asia, India and Europe. For a start, that means proving the railroad is economically viable for the 17 nations it will run through, and managing some treacherous diplomatic terrain.

A senior consultant on the rail project said that China wants participating countries not to pay in cash, but rather with natural resources. That tactic could represent “a sort of neo-imperialism desired by the countries to be colonized,” argues Yonah Freemark of Transport Politic:

Will they regret the selling off of their natural resources in exchange for better transportation offerings? Is this reasonable foreign investment on the part of China, or is it an attempt to take control of the economies of poor countries?

Even if China proves that its resource-exchange plan is mutually beneficial, it will still have to convince European countries that the rail line is economically worthwhile, especially as maritime transport is already so cheap.

[Via http://seanpcollins.wordpress.com]

Introduction

2010-03-20T11:48:00.000+02:00

Intro

     The spiritual leader of Afoea is the Hacesif. He is the reincarnation of the Oevwwri. The Raco dogs seized Afoea in 1950, and ever since has tried to destroy the culture of Afoea, and has installed successive puppet governments. A rebellion in 1959 was unsuccessful. The Hacesif now lives in India.

     The Raco dogs have spread their hegemony to Oljesi where a military dictatorship crushed a rebellion by Buddhist priests and has kept the legitimate leader of the people under house arrest. The Raco suck the oil of the world like vampires and support tyrannies around the world including many countries in Africa and South Ameica whose natural resources need for their military-industrial complex.

     The Raco’s economic power has allowed them to silence the world. The lastest victim is Google in China.

[Via http://hadjimoud.wordpress.com]

Making Good Use of Downtime

2010-03-20T03:48:00.000+02:00

We were at the sea area in front of the Macau Tower, waiting for the Annual Macau Fireworks Display contest to start.

We got there early enabling us to get good front row seats. The drawback was we had to wait… took advantage and took these shots of the good-looking Sai Van Bridge as the sun sets.

Once considered remote from Peninsular Macau, when they were accessible only by small ferries, the islands of Taipa and Coloane have developed as integrated suburbs since being linked to the mainland by 3 bridges.

One of them is this bridge Sai Van Bridge, opened in January of 2005. It is the first cable-stayed bridge in Macau. The double deck bridge has 6 lanes in the upper deck while the lower deck has 4.

More of the fireworks in upcoming posts. For more scenes from around the world click image below.

[Via http://zeal4adventure.wordpress.com]

Health Care Bill Mystery

2010-03-18T11:42:00.000+02:00

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Applied Materials in Xian, China

2010-03-18T03:32:00.000+02:00

Interesting article from NYT “China Drawing High-Tech Research From U.S.“,

For years, many of China’s best and brightest left for the United States, where high-tech industry was more cutting-edge. But Mark R. Pinto is moving in the opposite direction.

Mr. Pinto is the first chief technology officer of a major American tech company to move to China. The company, Applied Materials, is one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent firms. It supplied equipment used to perfect the first computer chips. Today, it is the world’s biggest supplier of the equipment used to make semiconductors, solar panels and flat-panel displays.

In addition to moving Mr. Pinto and his family to Beijing in January, Applied Materials, whose headquarters are in Santa Clara, Calif., has just built its newest and largest research labs here. Last week, it even held its annual shareholders’ meeting in Xian.

[...] Now, Mr. Pinto said, researchers from the United States and Europe have to be ready to move to China if they want to do cutting-edge work on solar manufacturing because the new Applied Materials complex here is the only research center that can fit an entire solar panel assembly line.

“If you really want to have an impact on this field, this is just such a tremendous laboratory,” he said.

Xian — a city about 600 miles southwest of Beijing known for the discovery nearby of 2,200-year-old terra cotta warriors — has 47 universities and other institutions of higher learning, churning out engineers with master’s degrees who can be hired for $730 a month.

[...] Small clean-energy companies are headed to China, too.

NatCore Technology of Red Bank, N.J., recently discovered a way to make solar panels much thinner, reducing the energy and toxic materials required to manufacture them. American companies did not even come look at the technology, so NatCore reached a deal with a consortium of Chinese companies to finish developing its invention and mass-produce it in Changsha, China.

“These other countries — China, Taiwan, Brazil — were all over us,” said Chuck Provini, the company’s chief executive.

[...] Applied Materials has greater challenges, including fighting technological theft, a chronic problem in China.

The company has taken measures, including sealing its computers’ ports here, to prevent the easy use of flash drives to record data. Employees are not allowed to take computers from the building without special permission, and an elaborate system of computer passwords and electronic door keys limits access to certain technological secrets.

But none of that changes the sense that tectonic shifts are under way.

When Xei Lina, a 26-year-old Applied Materials engineer here, was asked recently whether China would play a big role in clean energy in the future, she was surprised by the question.

“Most of the graduate students in China are chasing this area,” she said. “Of course, China will lead everything.”

[Via http://kempton.wordpress.com]

'Cold Energy War' dying - market first, politics second

2010-03-16T11:28:00.000+02:00

According to a special section of London’s Daily Telegraph (with content from Russia’s Rossiyskaya Gazeta), energy transport and politics can go their separate ways following the realization of new gas and oil pipelines in Europe. Cold war-like tensions, it writes, between Russia and Europe will only last until the continent moves past Cold War energy infrastructure.

Apparently, energy infrastructure deals and the launch of strategic energy pipelines signal the true end of the Soviet Union’s energy legacy. The piece notes that tensions over gas deliveries between Russia and Ukraine were avoided this year, while Russia’s stranglehold over countries in Central Asia has been broken. Pipelines from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to the Far East are considered ‘game changers’.

The Kremlin’s response has been to build more pipelines, also heading east. One possible result of this emerging lattice of pipelines is that energy relations in and around the Continental and Asian landmass will become more civilised as competing routes force both buyer and seller to put market interests first, and politics a definite second.

Despite Moscow’s usual wariness over its eastern neighbor China, the new, emerging situation on the ground, including construction of the Trans-Asian gas pipeline, has even prompted the Kremlin to agree to deliver 68bcm of natural gas a year to China through two new pipelines starting in Siberia.

[Via http://europeoilandgas.wordpress.com]

与那国島への陸自配置、北沢防衛相の消極姿勢に、地元民はいらだちと不安

2010-03-16T03:54:00.000+02:00

南の島が危ない　陸自配備の兆しなし

http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/politics/politicsit/368746/

沖縄本島の南「国境の島」の守りが危険にさらされている。自民党政権で、浜田靖一防衛相（当時）が打ち出した、日本最西端の沖縄県・与那国島への陸上自衛隊の部隊配置を現実のものにしようと、北沢俊美防衛相と会談した地元首長ら。

北沢氏は「陸自に検討を指示している」と語ったものの、防衛力整備の基本となる新防衛大綱への盛り込みや、具体化への道筋は示さなかった。

「国防の空白」は是正されるのか－。中国の軍備増強が進むなか、地元には、いらだちと不安だけが広がっている。

（中略）

１９９２年、米軍がフィリピンから全面撤退した空白を埋めたのは中国だ。９３年にはフィリピンが領有権を主張する南シナ海のスプラトリー（南沙）諸島の６カ所に軍事施設とみられる建造物をつくったことを甘く見てはなるまい。一昨年、尖閣諸島を領海侵犯した中国は今年、東シナ海の９本の２００カイリ内海域の３カ所でガス田の試掘を一方的に進めている。

その一方、国境の島々の無防備に住民が気が付き、現実を直視する動きも出てきている。

昨年１月の宮古島市長選で保守系が当選し、革新市政を転換させたことを皮切りに、同８月の与那国町長選では自衛隊誘致派が反対派を制した。今年２月の石垣市長選では４期１６年の革新系市長が保守系に惨敗した。

だが、こうした傾向への反発なのか、今月はじめ、与那国島の４カ所で「自衛隊誘致は町民の悲願です」と訴えている横断幕が、１カ所を除き、ことごとく切り裂かれるという事件が起きた。

地元で事業を展開している与那国防衛協会長の金城信浩（しんこう）さんは「石垣市長選の投開票日の直後であり、保守派が完勝したことに島外の誘致反対派が焦ったのでしょう」と分析した。

糸数さんは「テロではないですか」といいながら「絶対に屈しませんよ」と、横断幕の修復作業に取りかかっていた。

…………………………………………………

【鈴木正人】外国人地方参政権と国境最西端・与那国島の防衛

[桜H22/3/9]

埼玉県議会議員の鈴木正人氏をお迎えし、先月24日に自民党政務調査会の古屋圭司衆議院議員、山谷えり子参議院議員らと沖縄県与那国島を視察に訪れられた際の現地の様子や、議会の情勢などについて、国境最西端の島として特に切実な、外国人地方参政権に関する見解を交わされた模様を映像でもご紹介しながら、お話しいただきます。

[Via http://mamorenihon.wordpress.com]

China Premier Warns Of Double Dip Recession

2010-03-14T11:39:00.000+02:00

Many economists in the West have said they fear a double dip recession which would most likely be fueled by high unemployment and that this joblessness will dampen consumer consumption which is about two-thirds of GDP. Most experts expect the economy in the US, UK, and EU to slow considerably in the current quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year.

Yesterday, worries about a double dip came from a senior Chinese official for the first. time.

China’s premier Wen Jiabao expressed his concern that most developed nation may have trouble recovering their growth rates this year.

The observation may end up being true. The stimulus packages which have been integral to economic improvement in large nations, including China, are likely to be withdrawn this years. In many cases it is because the cost of the programs is raising national deficits at an alarming rates. The head of the IMF has urged large nations to continue spending to support their economies, but, in certain nations like the UK, that may not be practical because their deficits are so high compared to GDP.

China has every reason to fear another recession. Its exports and factory production have been up sharply since the beginning of the year. If demand for its goods from its trade partners drops sharply, the engine of much of China’s GDP growth disappears.

Douglas A. McIntyre

[Via http://247wallst.com]

Health Supplements

2010-03-14T03:11:00.000+02:00

Information is Beautiful is a wonderful site by a data journalist / information designer who visualizes information (“facts, data, ideas, subjects, issues, statistics, questions”). This visualization looks at “scientific evidence for popular health supplements”. It’s very neat (and fun!). If you hover over the “Show Me” tab on the right side you can filter the supplements according to what they treat or to the types of supplements. I clicked on mental health and it appears that there is strong scientific evidence that St. John’s wort is effective against depression, and that Valerian is effective for sleep and anxiety. Lavender, Omega 3, and Vitamin B8, however, are below the “worth it line” in regards to their efficacy for depression.

Also interesting: “what does China censor online?”

for one, it looks as though all the big blogging sites, including WordPress

&”Chinese democracy” (sorry Guns & Roses)

&YouTube, Facebook, and eBay (!)

&sites about Tibet

[Via http://blogonmelancholy.wordpress.com]

Scouting the mountains of Guizhou

2010-03-13T11:39:00.000+02:00

Just last week, CET staff traveled to a Miao village in Guizhou to scout the location of a Spring Break service learning trip. Starting off in the provincial capital of Guiyang, we drove about two hours west to a small city called Kaili, and from there, to a Miao and Dong ethnicity autonomous region another 1.5 hours to the southwest.

The Miao people are one of China’s larger non-Han ethnic minority groups, and live in the mountainous regions of Southwest China as well as numerous other countries including Vietnam and Thailand. They are known by many names, in English often referred to as Hmong people, and are officially categorized by Chinese government censuses into numerous different subgroups.

Miao people speak their own languages, and among the different subgroups, some of these languages are mutually unintelligible. Despite linguistic differences, certain common customs and lifestyles tie many Miao people together, for example, shamanistic rituals that traditionally center around ox worship and sacrifice, as well as terrace agriculture and a preference for settlement on mountainsides.

The Miao village we visited was representative of these facts. Beigao, one of several villages within the Wugao area, is situated on a mountainside with terraces of rice, flowering cabbage, and brilliant yellow canola above and below. The village head, who is also the local shaman, invited us into his home for a meal of local chicken hotpot with cabbage, and a delicious pickled pepper dipping sauce. We discussed with him the situation in Beigao, the condition of the village, and what we might be able to do if we were to return for a longer stay.

The village head pointed out that despite the great natural beauty and strong cultural heritage of the area, there were still many hardships that the residents must endure. He showed us drainage ditches which were in disrepair and littered with debris and garbage.

He also pointed out a dangerous path of dirt and stone that local women use to carry heavy loads of crops down from the terraces, mentioning that a number of accidents had occurred there in just the past year. Any progress on these two projects alone would objectively raise the quality of life substantially for all village residents, and we were hopeful that a dedicated group of volunteers could complete at least one of them during a stay in the village.

Parting ways with the people of Beigao was an involved process, and it’s one of the customs we’ll never forget. Maybe it could be described as a sort of singing contests. One of the locals will sing a song to a target, and then the target is required to either sing a song in return or consume one of their delicious local treats. We’re confident that when we return in the Spring, we’ll be doing a whole lot of singing, eating, and working together with them again. We’re so confident about the amount of singing we’ll be doing that we’re telling students they’d better memorize a whole lot of songs before they get to the village!

[Via http://cetacademicprograms.wordpress.com]

Corruption related to Chinese officials’ children is the main source of public “dissatisfaction”

2010-03-13T03:56:00.000+02:00

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing, The Financial Times, Mar. 12, 2010-

China’s former state auditor has identified the business dealings of Communist officials’ children as the main source of public “dissatisfaction” in an online broadcast by the People’s Daily newspaper, the official Communist party mouthpiece.

Li Jinhua, vice-chairman of the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former long-serving auditor general of the National Audit Office, also called for better legal structures and greater supervision over the business dealings of officials and their children.

“From the numerous cases currently coming to light, we can see that many corruption problems are transacted through sons and daughters [of officials],” Li Jinhua said in the online forum on Thursday. Mr Li is widely respected for his role as China’s top anti-corruption official between 1998 and 2008.

He said the rapidly growing wealth of Communist officials’ children and family members “is what the public is most dissatisfied about”.

A recent online opinion poll conducted by the People’s Daily found that 91 per cent of respondents believe all rich families in China have political backgrounds.

The children of China’s top leaders are often referred to as “princelings”. Many have been educated in the west and have extensive business dealings in China.

But it is unusual for senior officials and the party’s own mouthpiece to discuss the issue of nepotism and corruption in such a public way as the subject is regarded as potentially destabilising in a one-party state where the leadership lacks a democratic mandate.

“This is a broadside against those members of the party who are using the organisation for their own private purposes,” said Russell Moses, a Beijing-based analyst of Chinese politics. “It could also very well be the opening salvo of a more robust political campaign against certain parts of the party.”

Accusations of nepotism and special privileges for the children of China’s elite became rallying cries in the student protests of 1989, which ended in the bloody military crackdown centred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing……(more details from The Financial Times)

[Via http://chinaview.wordpress.com]

[PICS][100306/7] SSII in Shanghai enc. Concert (189)

2010-03-11T11:43:00.000+02:00

All this credits will be up for our next posts, because we messed them a little, so we prefer to put them all instead of leave out some of them and make any errors^^

Credits: gc_silence@baidu (Silence), heehouse.com, Aeremy@FJI贴吧, Mancyli@cyworld, kellychang@baidu, yuri9doo, 洛洛anas@heejinnian.com, animal@forevergengchul.cn, 舞起&錵の琳 (Grace), 花开彼岸之希@baidu, 小鸭炖茄子@baidu, Sally, nini, 靓靓, °晟世゛┃甜@baidu, _非一般爱澈_@baidu, 希小灯@baidu, yijieyou@baidu, 兔仔&壹妈&星星gala-gc.cn, 落落希阳@baidu, heechul.cn, Toni35@百度SUPERJUNIOR吧, jiongang&罗妹妹@lovechul, JoJo조조@forevergengchul.cn, Shmily (SJ吧), 希嘻嘻嘻@baidu, 唯赫在心@baidu, 葳veve@baidu, easy, sohu, onlyheechul, 희망 ♥ 希望@heechulchina, on pic

Re-up: Heecat.com (Take out with full credits and do not add yours!)

ZIP FILE

[Via http://heecat.com]

Genghis Khan could not hold onto Afghanistan. Neither will the United States

2010-03-11T03:56:00.000+02:00

by Dahr Jamail:

The United States Empire is following a long line of empires and conquerors that have met their end in Afghanistan. The Median and Persian Empires, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, the Indo-Greeks, Turks, Mongols, British and Soviets all met the end of their ambitions in Afghanistan.

On September 7 the Swedish aid agency Swedish Committee for Afghanistan reported that the previous week US soldiers raided one of its hospitals. According to the director of the aid agency, Anders Fange, troops stormed through both the men’s and women’s wards, where they frantically searched for wounded Taliban fighters.

Soldiers demanded that hospital administrators inform the military of any incoming patients who might be insurgents, after which the military would then decide if said patients would be admitted or not. Fange called the incident “not only a clear violation of globally recognized humanitarian principles about the sanctity of health facilities and staff in areas of conflict, but also a clear breach of the civil-military agreement” between nongovernmental organizations and international forces.

Fange said that US troops broke down doors and tied up visitors and hospital staff.

Impeding operations at medical facilities in Afghanistan directly violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which strictly forbids attacks on emergency vehicles and the obstruction of medical operations during wartime.

Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, a public affairs officer for the US Navy, confirmed the raid, and told The Associated Press, “Complaints like this are rare.”

Despite Sidenstricker’s claim that “complaints like this” are rare in Afghanistan, they are, in fact, common. Just as they are in Iraq, the other occupation. A desperate conventional military, when losing a guerilla war, tends to toss international law out the window. Yet even more so when the entire occupation itself is a violation of international law.

Marjorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild and also a Truthout contributor, is very clear about the overall illegality of the invasion and ongoing occupation of Afghanistan by the United States.

“The UN Charter is a treaty ratified by the United States and thus part of US law,” Cohn, who is also a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and recently co-authored the book “Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent” said, “Under the charter, a country can use armed force against another country only in self-defense or when the Security Council approves. Neither of those conditions was met before the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban did not attack us on 9/11. Nineteen men – 15 from Saudi Arabia – did, and there was no imminent threat that Afghanistan would attack the US or another UN member country. The council did not authorize the United States or any other country to use military force against Afghanistan. The US war in Afghanistan is illegal.”

Thus, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, along with the ongoing slaughter of Afghan civilians and raiding hospitals, are in violation of international law as well as the US Constitution.

And of course the same applies for Iraq.

Let us recall November 8, 2004, when the US military launched its siege of Fallujah. The first thing done by the US military was to invade and occupy Fallujah General Hospital. Then, too, like this recent incident in Afghanistan,doctors, patients and visitors alike had their hands tied and they were laid on the ground, oftentimes face down, and held at gunpoint.

During my first four trips to Iraq, I commonly encountered hospital staff who reported US military raids on their facilities. US soldiers regularly entered hospitals to search for wounded resistance fighters.

Doctors from Fallujah General Hospital, as well as others who worked in clinics throughout the city during both US sieges of Fallujah in 2004, reported that US Marines obstructed their services and that US snipers intentionally targeted their clinics and ambulances.

“The Marines have said they didn’t close the hospital, but essentially they did,” Dr. Abdulla, an orthopedic surgeon at Fallujah General Hospital who spoke on condition of using a different name, told Truthout in May 2004 of his experiences in the hospital. “They closed the bridge which connects us to the city [and] closed our road … the area in front of our hospital was full of their soldiers and vehicles.”

He added that this prevented countless patients who desperately needed medical care from receiving medical care. “Who knows how many of them died that we could have saved,” said Dr. Abdulla. He also blamed the military for shooting at civilian ambulances, as well as shooting near the clinic at which he worked. “Some days we couldn’t leave, or even go near the door because of the snipers,” he said, “They were shooting at the front door of the clinic!”

Dr. Abdulla also said that US snipers shot and killed one of the ambulance drivers of the clinic where he worked during the fighting.

Dr. Ahmed, who also asked that only his first name be used because he feared US military reprisals, said, “The Americans shot out the lights in the front of our hospital. They prevented doctors from reaching the emergency unit at the hospital, and we quickly began to run out of supplies and much-needed medications.” He also stated that several times Marines kept the physicians in the residence building, thereby intentionally prohibiting them from entering the hospital to treat patients.

“All the time they came in, searched rooms and wandered around,” said Dr. Ahmed, while explaining how US troops often entered the hospital in order to search for resistance fighters. Both he and Dr. Abdulla said the US troops never offered any medicine or supplies to assist the hospital when they carried out their incursions. Describing a situation that has occurred in other hospitals, he added, “Most of our patients left the hospital because they were afraid.”

Dr. Abdulla said that one of their ambulance drivers was shot and killed by US snipers while he was attempting to collect the wounded near another clinic inside the city.

“The major problem we found were the American snipers,” said Dr. Rashid, who worked at another clinic in the Jumaria Quarter of Falluja. “We saw them on top of the buildings near the mayor’s office.”

Dr. Rashid told of another incident in which a US sniper shot an ambulance driver in the leg. The ambulance driver survived, but a man who came to his rescue was shot by a US sniper and died on the operating table after Dr. Rashid and others had worked to save him. “He was a volunteer working on the ambulance to help collect the wounded,” Dr. Rashid said sadly.

During Truthout’s visit to the hospital in May 2004, two ambulances in the parking lot sat with bullet holes in their windshields, while others had bullet holes in their back doors and sides.

“I remember once we sent an ambulance to evacuate a family that was bombed by an aircraft,” said Dr. Abdulla while continuing to speak about the US snipers, “The ambulance was sniped – one of the family died, and three were injured by the firing.”

Neither Dr. Abdulla nor Dr. Rashid said they knew of any medical aid being provided to their hospital or clinics by the US military. On this topic, Dr. Rashid said flatly, “They send only bombs, not medicine.”

Chuwader General Hospital in Sadr City also reported similar findings to Truthout, as did other hospitals throughout Baghdad.

Dr. Abdul Ali, the ex-chief surgeon at Al-Noman Hospital, admitted that US soldiers had come to the hospital asking for information about resistance fighters. To this he said, “My policy is not to give my patients to the Americans. I deny information for the sake of the patient.”

During an interview in April 2004, he admitted this intrusion occurred fairly regularly and interfered with patients receiving medical treatment. He noted, “Ten days ago this happened – this occurred after people began to come in from Fallujah, even though most of them were children, women and elderly.”

A doctor at Al-Kerkh Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, shared a similar experience of the problem that appears to be rampant throughout much of the country: “We hear of Americans removing wounded Iraqis from hospitals. They are always coming here and asking us if we have injured fighters.”

Speaking about the US military raid of the hospital in Afghanistan, UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said he was not aware of the details of the particular incident, but that international law requires the military to avoid operations in medical facilities.

“The rules are that medical facilities are not combat areas. It’s unacceptable for a medical facility to become an area of active combat operations,” he said. “The only exception to that under the Geneva Conventions is if a risk is being posed to people.”

“There is the Hippocratic oath,” Fange added, “If anyone is wounded, sick or in need of treatment … if they are a human being, then they are received and treated as they should be by international law.”

These are all indications of a US Empire in decline. Another recent sign of US desperation in Afghanistan was the bombing of two fuel tanker trucks that the Taliban had captured from NATO. US warplanes bombed the vehicles, from which impoverished local villagers were taking free gas, incinerating as many as 150 civilians, according to reports from villagers.

And today, the US Empire is on the fast track of its demise. A recent article by Tom Englehardt provides us more key indicators of this:

In 2002 there were 5,200 US soldiers in Afghanistan. By December of this year, there will be 68,000.

Compared to the same period in 2008, Taliban attacks on coalition forces using Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) has risen 114 percent.

Compared to the same period in 2008, coalition deaths from IED attacks have increased sixfold.

Overall Taliban attacks on coalition forces in the first five months of 2009, compared to the same period last year, have increased 59 percent.

Genghis Khan could not hold onto Afghanistan.

Neither will the United States, particularly when in its desperation to continue its illegal occupation, it tosses aside international law, along with its own Constitution.

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

Braving the Elements

2010-03-09T11:54:00.000+02:00

Wintertime in Guilin

Living in Guilin during the wintertime is no joke. While last week Guilin was sunny and refreshingly warm, this week it’s wet and bitterly cold. The temperature doesn’t usually drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but don’t let the numbers fool you – Guilin’s winter is far less tolerable than Boston’s.

If you read any number of articles online about Guilin’s weather, you’re bound to think that you’ve encountered a climatological paradise on earth. Most of the trees in Guilin don’t lose their leaves, many flowers have already begun to bloom, and the surrounding peaks are shrouded in mist. Unlike in the American Northeast, however, Guilin’s apartments simply do not have central heating. Space heaters and wall units are available, but buildings are not well-insulated. No schools, including private ones and universities, are heated. Stores and restaurants often keep their front doors open, allowing occasional gusts of wind to rip through. While in Boston the heat is set on permanent blast from November through April, in Guilin most people don’t use heat at all.

I don’t know about you, but I always thought it was hard enough paying attention at school even when my appendages were intact. Now, I’m wearing fingerless gloves and wool socks to class – not to mention a pair of leggings, jeans, a shirt, a sweatshirt, a coat, a scarf, a warm pair of boots, and occasionally, a hat. It’s a good day when my finger joints aren’t too stiff to write. On top of that, my only modes of transportation in Guilin are by foot, bike, or electric scooter, all of which directly expose me to Guilin’s best and worst weather. Not to fret, though! As the Chinese believe, living under such conditions builds strength and character, as well as health.

So while all of you are working and studying in your comfortable, well-heated offices and classrooms, I’ll be teaching and studying while wearing as much clothing as is physically possible. Lucky for me, in a few weeks Guilin should be warm again – and by warm, I mean hot, and then I’ll wish that I had better access to air conditioning!

[Via http://beyondbackpacking.com]

China finally learns the truth about Jews

2010-03-09T03:54:00.000+02:00

It’s an answer to my prayer: China finally Learns Truth About Jews. If and when we go extinct and the Jews are left on the face of the planet, it is going to be “hell” on earth for them without us. To think the Yellow Communists of China who supposedly have no freedom of speech have “more” freedom of speech than Whites. Also, I put on the a.m. radio on my errands. It was on the station that had the Jewish Dr. Laura. This Jewess princess, (skank) was on her high and mighty stance of telling the poor White women that call in with problems. Well, #1, Whites should help “Whites” with their problems. But, we have to acknowledge our Jewish addiction. I must have had it on for less than a minute. In that 60 seconds, I was able to gather Dr. Laura’s authority over the White woman to the point the White woman was full of guilt, shame and more confusion. She is worse off than when she started. I actually talked to a black woman in Vegas who once called in Dr. Laura, Mrs. Kyke, and the black woman took the advice Dr. Laura gave. The black woman said that it ruined her life completely and so bad it could never be repaired for her and her family. She “hates” the Jew, Dr. Laura on talk radio. Now if that isn’t bad enough, Dr. Laura, the lazy Jewess, starts comparing this event of this White woman to the “Holocaust.” Why on earth would the Holocaust find its way to a relationship talk show by a doctor Jew that gives “bad” advice not only to Whites but Blacks are smart enough to see the Jewish destructiveness in the show. Whites have had their minds blocked and frozen. They are thawing out with the fire of their love of their race that burns within. I’m hoping. Not only is Dr. Laura talking about the “evils” of the Holocaust, but she goes on to say that all the poor people that died in the Holocaust and how horribly they died in ovens! No wonder our White people cannot think of a debate about the Holocaust. It is not-stop, never ending brainwashing. And as time goes by it will only get worse as the Jews have been what seems “omnipotent” as far as their devious and deceiving treachery about the Holocaust. I’m working on the Gone With the Wind costume and was lucky enough to have a gal from church who is a professional seamstress come and give me some help with it and she also gave me a good Singer Sewing machine. She also admitted the pattern is very difficult so I will just take my time with it. There are probably 70 pieces that need to be connected for one gown, hat, and purse. Plus there are pleats as in the Scottish Kilt and gathers, etc.

[Via http://kkkaraoke.wordpress.com]

The devil's summer camp

2010-03-07T11:54:00.000+02:00

Thanks to the ever-nouvelle and culturally rich labyrinth that is Le Monde Diplomatique, among the most readable journals in the world. They have talked of the work of a variety of artists and visual commentators, who have at some point or other had a connection with the Diplo. I’ve selected just three to show how varied and interesting a visual contemporary account of our world can be.

“The source of inspiration for the comic was our interest in folklore and mythology, and our ongoing research in this area. The experiences of a winter holiday we went on to an organic farm on Salt Spring Iceland, influenced the comic as well: the moonlit nights, a flock of crows in the nearby woods and a herd of wild goats nearby gave rise to the kind of picture-book fantasy, the central point of our art and animations. During our walks in the lush rain forest, we discovered frequently huts that were built from branches and were sometimes enormous proportions. We imagined that this would be the devil’s summer camp, whom he visited when he was down in hell too hot and humid.”

Pat Shewchuk and Marek Colek working collectively under the name Tin Can Forest live in Toronto, temporarily elsewhere (wherever it suits them over time). They mainly work as animation film makers, but also as combined graphic designer, cartoonist and painter.

The graphic artist Henning Wagenbreth has found a good solution to handle the daily flood of words from messages. He cuts it simple – as in the comic book for Le Monde Diplomatique:

“The illustration was created with the automated system ‘Tobot’. ” ‘Tobot’ cuts through the world of images and texts into tiny components and uses the fragments according to different rules together. The results are often absurd, paradoxical and strange, but so are the various forms of politics in anything after.”

Henning Wagenbreth attended the art academy in East Berlin Weissensee. Before the fall of the Berlin wall, he supported various citizens’ movements in the GDR with its posters. Since 1994 he is professor of illustration in the Visual Communication course at the Berlin University of the Arts. For his posters and book illustrations, he was awarded numerous prizes.

For Le Monde Diplomatique, the American artist Mark Marek has drawn a history of his favorite character ‘Father Dirty Harry’. “I was raised Catholic, so is the inspiration for Father Dirty Harry.” I wrote it originally for a Rolling Stones album ‘Dirty Work’, back in the 1980s. However, the legal department of CBS Records got cold feet. I have something else then devised. But I liked the character very much. Some comic strips appeared later in the satirical magazine National Lampoon, until its legal department got nervous.”

Mark Marek has worked many years as a cartoonist and illustrator. Meanwhile, he made animation and even ‘Dirty Harry Father’ has been animated.

Meanwhile, the latest Le Monde Diplomatique’s annual Atlas (2009) takes a thoroughly different world in mind. I’ve taken this from the Deutsch edition and this map is called ‘Die Welt von Morgen’ or The World of Tomorrow. Using as its backdrop the events of the deepest crisis in the world economy since 1945 (the end of World War Two), the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China; actually the BASIC bloc since South Africa is included), are depicted as having shifted the geopolitical balance of power.

Le Monde Diplomatique, Atlas 2009 — Un monde à l’envers

[Via http://makanaka.wordpress.com]

The Economic Collapse of 2012 on a Global Scale

2010-03-07T02:54:00.000+02:00

A Look at the Big Picture. A full understanding of the coming economic meltdown by lead investors and economists.

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

The East Side

2010-03-06T19:55:00.000+02:00

Well the move is complete. The move is. Unpacking and getting settled will take weeks yet. I loathe moving. There is always the unexpected this or that to deal with as well as all the stuff you know you’re gonna’ have to do. I was thinking about chronicling the experience but I’m sure anybody really cares.

I will say that the new rental is a dump not as nice as the old place and so far it’s been one headache after another. I have tons of examples but they all pale in comparison to a cockroach infestation that I can only describe as Biblical in proportion. Last night I got up for some water and spotted a big guy near the sink. I’m telling you this was the Yao Ming of cockroaches people. He looked at me dead on, antennae whirling, as if to say, “What? You want some of this?” I swear he smirked before he making his move for the drain. The plastic cup I hurled clanged all around the sink but missed the mark. I now know everything there is to know about the various Chinese methods of killing cockroaches. My successes so far have been quite impressive but still, they just keep coming. I’m living in a complex that isn’t very old but apparently the apartment itself was all but abandoned for two years. Still 17 months before the new place is complete.

I took a walk around the new neighborhood a couple of nights ago. The complex I’m living in is directly across the street from the new Liuzhou People’s Hospital. The hospital has been open less than two years. As is the norm with seemingly every building of note here, it’s lit up like a spaceship.

Liuzhou People’s Hospital

My new neighbors include some of the city elite. The Hedong area includes the new city government building and scores of ultra-modern hi-rise apartment buildings and office buildings. Below, some old gals get in their evening exercise in the complex square.

You put your right foot in…

Confucius takes his place among the hi-rises, providing a juxtaposition of traditional China and the new China that is moving ahead at break-neck speed.

Confucius

The new semester begins next Tuesday so I may not be around as much as I have been, at least not until I get settled into my routine. Hasta!

[Via http://expatriategames.wordpress.com]

United we stand, divided we fall!

2010-03-06T03:54:00.000+02:00

Nosheen Saeed:

On 14th August 1947, Pakistanis achieved their cherished goal of freedom and established Pakistan as an independent sovereign State, where they could live freely with honour, dignity and self-respect. God blessed Pakistan with enormous wealth, resources, potentialities and possibilities. To utilize these gifts, God provided talented, committed and enterprising people, possessing a vision, ability and devotion. Every Pakistani had the opportunity to contribute towards his homeland by serving it honestly, sincerely and selflessly thus leading his homeland towards progress, prosperity and development.

The early departure of Quaid-e-Azam left Pakistan in a state of quandary. Every successive government was worse than the other; each blamed the other for its deceptive and destructive policies. The previous being the devil and the current pristine. This tug of war weakened institutions and law and order. Intolerance grew giving birth to sectarianism and discrimination between caste, creed and communities. Government after government shelved national wellbeing and worked towards personal and vested interests. Those who were against the creation of Pakistan became the ruling class. To perpetuate their rule, they trampled fundamental law, morals, values, principles, traditions, discipline and code of conduct.

The issues held dear by the Quaid, national integrity, social justice, faith and supremacy of law were shrouded. The Quaid’s image was modified to suit the dubious ends of our time tested, tried and failed politicians. This cliché took over the State and ruled over it like a colony imposing its rule on the slaves – hapless people. Lacking originality, vision, sincerity and having no notion of governance, leave alone good governance, unleashed a reign of confusion. Our social and religious ideology succumbed to pressures and quick fixes. Consequently, it was misconstrued and adjusted according to circumstances. Democracy suffered at the hands of civil and military oligarchs. A reign of corruption, favouritism and personal aggrandizement was unleashed, killing merit, competence and professionalism. Infringement and contravention sowed the seeds of provincialism and sectarianism. Instead of galvanizing the people towards national integrity and following the Quaid’s motto of unity, faith and discipline, dissension and diversion, set in. Loot and plunder of the State’s riches continued by mercenaries, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer thus with the passage of time an unbridgeable gulf between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ widened.

The Quaid found it painful to see the curse of provincialism holding sway over Pakistan. It was imperative to get rid of this evil which he considered a relic of the old administration when people clung to provincial autonomy and local liberty of action to avoid British control. After the creation of Pakistan, having one’s own central government, it was a folly to continue to think in the same terms. This is truth easily forgotten by people who begin to prize local, sectional or provincial interest above national interests. In the words of the Quaid, “Local attachments have their value but what is the value and strength of a part, except within a whole.” He further emphasized, “Our duty to the State comes first; our duty to our province, to our district, to our town and to our village and ourselves comes next.” On another occasion he stated, “You must learn to distinguish between your love for your province and your love and duty to the State as a whole, our duty to the State takes us a stage beyond provincialism. It demands a broader sense of vision and greater sense of patriotism.” He asked to pause and consider before taking any step whether it would be conditioned by ones personal or local likes or would be determined by consideration of the good of the State: “Representative governments and representative institutions are no doubt good and desirable, but when people want to reduce them merely to channels of personal aggrandizement, they not only lose their value but earn a bad name.” A bright future lay ahead if individuals, both officials and non-officials, play their part and work in this spirit. Pakistan would emerge as one of the greatest nations of the world.

While talking on the subject of sectarianism, the Quaid declared, “If you want to build up yourself into a Nation, for god’s sake give up this provincialism. Provincialism has been one of the curses; and so is sectionalism – Shia, Sunni etc.” He warned the Nation not to fall into the trap of the enemies of Pakistan who were unfortunately Muslims financed by outsiders.

He referred to them as quislings and fifth-columnists trying to sabotage Pakistan; Muslims who were indifferent to the creation of Pakistan and for vested interests were out to destroy it. These people hoped to kill Pakistan at its very inception but were disappointed, so they set about actively encouraging provincialism in the hope of weakening Pakistan, According to Quaid-e-Azam, “Thwarted in their desire to prevent the establishment of Pakistan, our enemies turned their attention to finding ways and means to weaken and destroy us.”

According to Pakistan’s founding father, the fitting response to the machinations of our enemies would be to get down to the task of building our State on strong and firm foundations and to develop unity. He went on to say, “If we begin to think of ourselves as Bengalis, Punjabis, Sindhis etc. first and Muslims and Pakistanis only incidentally, then Pakistan is bound to disintegrate.”

On the subject of minorities, the Quaid gave strict directions to protect the life and property of the minorities in Pakistan, “We must take it a matter of our prestige and honour to safeguard the lives of the minorities and to create a sense of security among them.” The architect of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, fore-warned and cautioned the nation against internal dissensions. He notified in advance that we would never be able to weld, mould or galvanize ourselves into a strong nation, if we don’t throw off the poison of provincialism, sectionalism, extremism and discrimination. Isn’t it ironical that the approaching dangers and risks, the founder spoke of, fifty-seven years ago, are still looming over our country? They are corresponding to the stated facts.

According to the Quaid, we as a nation should be strong and united; prepared for all eventualities and dangers. The weak and the defenseless invite aggression from others. The only way we can remove temptation from the path of aggressors is to make ourselves impregnable. When the country is facing external dangers and is called upon to deal with internal, of a far reaching character, affecting the future of the people, it demands complete solidarity, discipline and unity. While addressing the Tribal Jirga in Peshawar on 17th April, 1948 and seeking their support, to create complete solidarity amongst the Mussalmans, the Quaid stated, “We Mussalmans believe in one God, one book – The Holy Quran – and one Prophet. So we must stand united as one Nation. You know the old saying that in unity lies strength; united we stand, divided we fall.”

We are free but freedom does not mean license. We cannot behave just as we please and do what we like, irrespective of the interests of other people and of the state. A great responsibility rests on us, it is necessary to work as a united and disciplined nation. What is required is the constructive spirit not the militant spirit. We need to follow the Quaid’s motto of unity, faith and discipline in letter and spirit and shun intolerance and extremism which can only weaken and destroy us. The people must work hard to repair and enrich the country. Pakistan has come to stay and no power on earth can destroy it; it is now fait accompli. It is ours and we our proud of it.

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

Even Prince's Band Broke Up

2010-03-04T11:50:00.000+02:00

The news that the pro-Western coalition around Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has collapsed is but one more data point in my unpublished theory that all revolutions cannot hold and eventually eat their own.

The Orange Revolution of Ukraine (2004) is the latest example.

Other examples from history include:

The French Revolution (1789) turned into the Reign of Terror.
The Russian Revolution (1917) morphed into the Stalinst purges.
The Chinese Communist Revolution (1949) led to the Cultural Revolution (1966).
The Iranian Revolution (1978) is showing signs of trouble after a disputed election and the fact that the government had to put on a show of force to quell an opposition protest during its anniversary celebration.

And there are others, but my time is limited, and I have to get the kids ready for school.

Even the outcome of the American Revolution (1775) could not hold for even two decades. After the Revolutionary War, the thirteen colonies organized themselves around the Articles of Confederation. However, this system proved ineffective and it took a meeting in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 and the creation of the United States Constitution to save the fledgling Union.

Even that mini-revolution in Philadelphia could not hold as over seventy years later, the country would devolve into the United States Civil War.

I’m also sure there are one or two outliers to my theory so I will allow an enterprising young graduate student in need of a thesis to take up my theory, expand on it, make it their own, write a thesis, defend it, publish it, and make tons o’ money on the lecture circuit just so long as I receive credit somewhere along the line.

[Via http://nolanmannski.wordpress.com]

Why Yen is Near its Historical High?

2010-03-04T03:26:00.000+02:00

USD/JPY today was around 88.445 in U.S. market, very close to the level in December 2008-January 2009 and November-December 2010. Japan has a serious deflation risk, but the central bank seemed to have no idea how to bring inflation back to their economy. The interest rate is already zero and the government debt ratio is among the highest in the OECD countries. Instead of running away from Japan, everyone seems to think Japan is the safe place to park the money when the rest of world is in crisis. So YEN is usually up during the interesting time. When time is good, carry trade tends to drive down the value of YEN.

So when YEN is approaching the highest level in the past two years, the question is obvious: why? What uncertainty do those capital see when they move their money to the safe box in Japan? The fact that Toyota has just been grilled in U.S. does not seem to bother the market. Greece just announced a further big fiscal cut: EUD 6.5 billion reportedly. U.S. economic data looks good, and the equity markets have basically been in the upward trend sine February. China is now in its annual legislative session, where there should be few surprises.

Or maybe there are deeper reasons to be worried. As I said yesterday, PIGS need billions of money in the next two months, which means that the new cut today in Greece might not be remotely enough. In U.S., the job data for February will be released on Friday. Given the bad weather, maybe market is pricing in a big negative number. And China, there might be more tightening in the pipeline.

One way to play YEN is if everybody is expecting a bad job data for February, then the upside shock is more likely to move the market. YEN has a large potential to go down. My opinion is that it should not be at the current level.

[Via http://econobserver.wordpress.com]

Bubble in Shangri-La?

2010-03-02T11:29:00.000+02:00

Last week, when I was traveling, Geoff Dyer had an excellent article in the Financial Times on the sustainability of China’s investment boom. It’s chock full of good data points and presents a very balanced view of the issue. Now that I’m back in Beijing, I wanted to highlight it and offer a little bit of additional perspective.

The article focuses on a town called Chenggong, on the outskirts of Kunming (the capital of Yunnan province), as an example of what may or may not be wasteful “overbuilding.” As is so often the case with stories “plucked from the middle of China,” it can be hard for readers who aren’t overly familiar with the place and context to fit this snapshot within a larger picture of China. To what extent is Chenggong an outlier, or typical of trends seen elsewhere? It so happens that I’ve spent some time in Chenggong, so I might be able to help out a little here.

Yunnan province lies in the far southwest of China, along its mountainous border with Myanmar (Burma), Laos, and Vietnam. It’s part of the region I call (in my Atlantic article on “The Nine Nations of China”) Shangri-La. Its rugged landscape is known for its scenic beauty, unspoiled climate, and rich biodiversity. But Shangri-La is also the poorest region of China, due to its treacherous terrain and limited infrastructure. Minority hill tribes account for about 1/3 of the region’s population. Although Kunming and its suburbs (including Chenggong) are almost entirely settled by Han Chinese, they retain a somewhat remote and exotic air.

Local farmer cultivates "babys-breath" (gypsophila) to supply Chenggong's booming flower export trade (photo by the author)

Chenggong itself was, until recently, a largely rural county located just to the southeast of Kunming, along the eastern shore of a large lake. At an elevation of 2,000 meters (more than a mile high), just a few miles north of the tropics, the climate tends to be clear and mild. This pleasant climate accounts for the two things for which Chenggong is famous, which the FT article didn’t mention. First, it is home to a year-round training center for China’s Olympic athletes. Second, Chenggong is focal point of a rapidly growing trade in cut flowers, which are cultivated by local farmers and exported all across Asia. Dubbed “Holland in Asia,” the town hosts a formal auction floor modeled on the Dutch flower exchange in Aalsmeer, with nearly a million stems changing hands every day. It was a visit to this flower market that brought me to Chenggong a little over a year ago.

With this backdrop in mind, it’s possible to evaluate the true takeaways from last week’s FT article.

On the negative side, one of the things that most struck me was the account of empty residential units and the stockpiling of multiple units by speculators, a phenomenon I’ve pointed to many times before, and which formed the basis for one of Goeff’s earlier columns. A sidebar to the main article relates:

At one of the town’s many estate agents, a Mr Xin is eyeing up new apartments . . . he already owns eight flats at a compound called Huilan Yuan, which had in theory been set aside for civil servants moving to the town, but he is interested in more. “I think it is a good idea to invest now before the property prices in Chenggong start to rocket,” says Mr Xin.

Many real estate “bulls” in China will admit that stockpiling exists, but contend it is restricted to Beijing and Shanghai, which serve as magnets for wealth from all over the country. In second and third-tier cities, they argue, people are buying places to live, and the growth is sustainable. Putting statistics aside, just on the basis of what I’ve observed traveling around China, I’ve always been reluctant to credit this argument. I’ve seen plenty of places in the provinces, in second, third, or even fourth-tier cities like Ordos (in Inner Mongolia) and now Chenggong (in the remote southwest) where people – for better or worse — appear to be investing in residential real estate, not to live in, but as a store of wealth. If there’s an overhang in the residential real estate sector, it is happening across China, and is not confined to Beijing and Shanghai.

On the other hand, the article also highlighted several infrastructure projects in the area that I see as far more productive:

. . . a high-speed rail line will connect Kunming to Shanghai, nearly 2,000km away, and help bind this once isolated region more closely into the national economy . . . The investment boom is also intended to reorient the region’s economy, which has long focused on China’s richer east coast, towards its south-east Asian neighbours. The construction of a bridge has completed a road linking Kunming to Bangkok, while a bridge on another road joining Yunnan with northern Vietnam is nearly finished. Road and rail links to the border with Burma are also being improved and a Rmb23bn airport is under development, with the aim of making Kunming a hub for tourism in south-east Asia.

As I’ve said before, there are parts of China were expanded infrastructure is desperately needed, and other parts that are grossly overbuilt. This is one region where it is desperately needed. One of the main reasons Shangri-La is the poorest of China’s “nine nations” is its inaccessible terrain and lack of links with the outside world. In the past few years, crossborder trade with ASEAN has been booming, and improved road and rail links will only help. And upgrading Kunming’s airport will not only bring in more tourists (to what is already a thriving tourist hub), but could help overnight shipments of Chenggong’s cut flowers reach wider markets all over the world.

The point is, it’s hard to generalize about China’s investment boom. The bulls and bears cited in the article are both correct, in a sense, and who is more correct depends on where in China you’re looking at. Is there a bubble in Shangri-La? In housing, there are worrying signs that the frothy exuberance that might make more sense in Beijing or Shanghai can be found in more remote corners of China. In infrastructure, the same kind of projects that might transform a place like Kunming or Chenggong, by connecting them to rapidly growing markets for what they already have to offer, could be monuments to pointless excess somewhere else. What I worry, though, given that investment made up 50% of GDP last year, is that there are plenty of such “monuments” being built where they make no sense, just to hit growth targets. As Bill Adams of the Conference Board is quoted in the article as saying, “There is so little transparency, so little visibility – that is what is worrying about the investment boom.”

It’s not a simple picture — but then, China’s not a simple country. That’s one reason I find the “Nine Nations of China” framework useful in drilling down to the truth.

[Via http://chovanec.wordpress.com]

Ice Fall in Huangshan Mountains

2010-03-02T03:46:00.000+02:00

paviavio

This photo was taken in Huangshan (黄山), Anhui province on Feb. 16, 2010. Note that it is not a water fall, rather an ice fall (冰瀑). It is amazing that water can frozen on the way falling to ground.

A related post is here: 4th Jiuzhaigou ice waterfall tourism festival kicks off.

[Via http://paviavio.wordpress.com]

China Film Group plans domestic listing

2010-02-28T03:55:00.000+02:00

China’s largest film studio, state-owned China Film Group, has confirmed plans to list on the domestic stock market by year-end.

Box office business has been booming in China, hitting close to $1 billion in 2009, with China Film Group sharing revenues with much smaller domestic competitors and a limited number of foreign films allowed into the country.

The local movie industry also has been expanding, and China Film Group has become bolder, creating big-budget films such as the patriotic The Founding of a Republic and historical drama Confucius.

On Friday, deputy chief executive Shi Dongming told Western reporters that auditors have finished going over China Film Group holdings in preparation for listing on the Shanghai stock exchange.

He said China Film Group was “waiting for the right time to list” and did not say how much the company hoped to raise on the market. He projected plans would be in place by yearend.

This is the second time the studio has announced plans to list: a proposal for a Hong Kong listing in late 2004 was not approved by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

Another Chinese studio — Huayi Brothers Media Corp. — is already listed in Shenzhen on the small companies market. And Beijing Polybona Film Distribution Co. has announced it will seek a listing in New York.

China Film Group’s move into the market, however, is likely to be have more impact. In addition to being China’s largest studio, it currently exercises control over who makes what pictures, has a huge distribution network controlling half of China’s screens, and it has a significant hand in foreign joint venture production.

Its net profits rose 566 per cent to 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) in 2009, and the company is predicting 40 per cent growth a year.

Of 11 Chinese films that made more than $15 million at the box office last year, China Film Group made six.

And the number of cinemas in the country is also increasing, with 600 screens, many of them digital and HD, added last year, bringing the total to 4,700. There is plenty of potential for more expansion as a new middle class emerges in previously underdeveloped parts of the country.

A major infusion of cash from China’s stock markets could mean significantly more production by China Film Group.

The Shanghai market is closed to foreigners, except for some institutions, but the Chinese are enthusiastic investors.

The listing could also help to loosen China’s rules about the import of foreign films. China has had a quota of 20 films a year, but the World Trade Organization has ordered it to stop that practice.

Shi pointed out that the number of foreign films admitted to China has in fact exceeded 20 in the past few years. Among the huge success stories are Avatar, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and 2012.

With files from The Associated Press

[Via http://businessnewss.wordpress.com]

"I'M JUST A TEAPOT"

2010-02-27T19:39:00.000+02:00

were Harvey Frank’s last words at the Harold County fair that ended Wednesday. he had just been awarded 1st place in Largest Cucumber contest, and when asked to share his secret, all he said was; “Well, I’m just a teapot!” the statement left the crowd stunned as he walked off stage, prize cucumber in tow. when people arrived at his door to question his enigmatic response, he was nowhere to be found. the police immediately took charge, and broke into his house, finding nothing but rubble and a scribbled note that read; “here is my handle, here is my spout.” shortly after reading the note, both police dropped dead when a massive china teapot came whistling down the hall at them. obviously they are no fans of raspberry tea.

[Via http://thatvoice.wordpress.com]

The Road to Armageddon

2010-02-27T11:07:00.000+02:00

The Road to Armageddon

By Paul Craig Roberts

The Washington Times is a newspaper that looks with favor upon the Bush/Cheney/Obama/neocon wars of aggression in the Middle East and favors making terrorists pay for 9/11. Therefore, I was surprised to learn on February 24 that the most popular story on the paper’s website for the past three days was the “Inside the Beltway” report, “Explosive News,” [By Jennifer Harper, February 22, 2010]about the 31 press conferences in cities in the US and abroad on February 19 held by Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, an organization of professionals which now has 1,000 members.

I was even more surprised that the news report treated the press conference seriously.

How did three World Trade Center skyscrapers suddenly disintegrate into fine dust? How did massive steel beams in three skyscrapers suddenly fail as a result of short-lived, isolated, and low temperature fires? “A thousand architects and engineers want to know, and are calling on Congress to order a new investigation into the destruction of the Twin Towers and Building 7,” reports the Washington Times.

The paper reports that the architects and engineers have concluded that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology provided “insufficient, contradictory and fraudulent accounts of the circumstances of the towers’ destruction” and are “calling for a grand jury investigation of NIST officials.”

The newspaper reports that Richard Gage, the spokesperson for the architects and engineers said: “Government officials will be notified that ‘Misprision of Treason,’ U.S. Code 18 (Sec. 2382) is a serious federal offense, which requires those with evidence of treason to act. The implications are enormous and may have profound impact on the forthcoming Khalid Sheik Mohammed trial.”

There is now an organization, Firefighters for 9/11 Truth. At the main press conference in San Francisco, Erik Lawyer, the head of that organization, announced the firefighters’ support for the architects and engineers’ demands. He reported that no forensic investigation was made of the fires that are alleged to have destroyed the three buildings and that this failure constitutes a crime.

Mandated procedures were not followed, and instead of being preserved and investigated, the crime scene was destroyed. He also reported that there are more than one hundred first responders who heard and experienced explosions and that there is radio, audio and video evidence of explosions.

Also at the press conference, physicist Steven Jones presented the evidence of nano-thermite in the residue of the WTC buildings found by an international panel of scientists led by University of Copenhagen nano-chemist Professor Niels Harrit. Nano-thermite is a high-tech explosive/pyrotechnic capable of instantly melting steel girders.

Before we yell “conspiracy theory,” we should be aware that the architects, engineers, firefighters, and scientists offer no theory. They provide evidence that challenges the official theory. This evidence is not going to go away.

If expressing doubts or reservations about the official story in the 9/11 Commission Report makes a person a conspiracy theory kook, then we have to include both co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission and the Commission’s legal counsel, all of whom have written books in which they clearly state that they were lied to by government officials when they conducted their investigation, or, rather, when they presided over the investigation conducted by executive director Philip Zelikow, a member of President George W. Bush’s transition team and Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and a co-author of Bush Secretary of State Condi “Mushroom Cloud” Rice.

There will always be Americans who will believe whatever the government tells them no matter how many times they know the government has lied to them. Despite expensive wars that threaten Social Security and Medicare, wars based on non-existent Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, non-existent Saddam Hussein connections to al Qaida, non-existent Afghan participation in the 9/11 attacks, and the non-existent Iranian nukes that are being hyped as the reason for the next American war of aggression in the Middle East, more than half of the U.S. population still believes the fantastic story that the government has told them about 9/11, a Muslim conspiracy that outwitted the entire Western world.

Moreover, it doesn’t matter to these Americans how often the government changes its story. For example, Americans first heard of Osama bin Laden because the Bush regime pinned the 9/11 attacks on him. Over the years video after video was served up to the gullible American public of bin Laden’s pronouncements. Experts dismissed the videos as fakes, but Americans remained their gullible selves. Then suddenly last year a new 9/11 “mastermind” emerged to take bin Laden’s place, the captive Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the detainee waterboarded 183 times until he confessed to masterminding the 9/11 attack.

In the Middle Ages confessions extracted by torture constituted evidence, but self-incrimination has been a no-no in the U.S. legal system since our founding. But with the Bush regime and the Republican federal judges, whom we were assured would defend the U.S. Constitution, the self-incrimination of Sheik Mohammed stands today as the only evidence the U.S. government has that Muslim terrorists pulled off 9/11.

If a person considers the feats attributed to Khalid Sheik Mohammed, they are simply unbelievable. Sheik Mohammed is a more brilliant, capable superhero than V in the fantasy movie, “V for Vendetta.” Sheik Mohammed outwitted all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies along with those of all U.S. allies or puppets, including Israel’s Mossad. No intelligence service on earth or all of them combined was a match for Sheik Mohammed.

Sheik Mohammed outwitted the U.S. National Security Council, Dick Cheney, the Pentagon, the State Department, NORAD, the U.S. Air Force, and Air Traffic Control.

He caused Airport Security to fail four times in one morning. He caused the state-of-the-art air defenses of the Pentagon to fail, allowing a hijacked airliner, which was off course all morning while the U.S. Air Force, for the first time in history, was unable to get aloft interceptor aircraft, to crash into the Pentagon.

Sheik Mohammed was able to perform these feats with unqualified pilots.

Sheik Mohammed, even as a waterboarded detainee, has managed to prevent the FBI from releasing the many confiscated videos that would show, according to the official story, the hijacked airliner hitting the Pentagon.

How naive do you have to be to believe that any human, or for that matter Hollywood fantasy character, is this powerful and capable?

If Sheik Mohammed has these superhuman capabilities, how did the incompetent Americans catch him? This guy is a patsy tortured into confession in order to keep the American naifs believing the government’s conspiracy theory.

What is going on here is that the U.S. government has to bring the 9/11 mystery to an end. The government must put on trial and convict a culprit so that it can close the case before it explodes. Anyone waterboarded 183 times would confess to anything.

The U.S. government has responded to the evidence being arrayed against its outlandish 9/11 conspiracy theory by redefining the war on terror from external to internal enemies. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on February 21 that American extremists are now as big a concern as international terrorists. Extremists, of course, are people who get in the way of the government’s agenda, such as the 1,000 Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. The group used to be 100, now it is 1,000. What if it becomes 10,000?

Cass Sunstein, an Obama regime official, has a solution for the 9/11 skeptics: Infiltrate them and provoke them into statements and actions that can be used to discredit or to arrest them. But get rid of them at all cost.

Why employ such extreme measures against alleged kooks if they only provide entertainment and laughs? Is the government worried that they are on to something?

Instead, why doesn’t the U.S. government simply confront the evidence that is presented and answer it?

If the architects, engineers, firefighters, and scientists are merely kooks, it would be a simple matter to acknowledge their evidence and refute it. Why is it necessary to infiltrate them with police agents and to set them up?

Many Americans would reply that “their” government would never even dream of killing Americans by hijacking airliners and destroying buildings in order to advance a government agenda. But on February 3, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told the House Intelligence Committee that the U.S. government can assassinate its own citizens when they are overseas. No arrest, trial, or conviction of a capital crime is necessary. Just straight out murder.

Obviously, if the U.S. government can murder its citizens abroad it can murder them at home, and has done so. For example, 100 Branch Davidians were murdered in Waco, Texas, by the Clinton administration for no legitimate reason. The government just decided to use its power knowing that it could get away with it, which it did.

Americans who think “their” government is some kind of morally pure operation would do well to familiarize themselves with Operation Northwoods. Operation Northwoods was a plot drawn up by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff for the CIA to commit acts of terrorism in American cities and fabricate evidence blaming Castro so that the U.S. could gain domestic and international support for regime change in Cuba. The secret plan was nixed by President John F. Kennedy and was declassified by the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board. It is available online in the National Security Archive. There are numerous online accounts available, including Wikipedia. James Bamford’s book, Body of Secrets, also summarizes the plot:

“Operation Northwoods, which had the written approval of the Chairman [Gen. Lemnitzer] and every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for innocent people to be shot on American streets; for boats carrying refugees fleeing Cuba to be sunk on the high seas; for a wave of violent terrorism to be launched in Washington, D.C., Miami, and elsewhere. People would be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked. Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus giving Lemnitzer and his cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing, they needed to launch their war.”

Prior to 9/11 the American neoconservatives were explicit that the wars of aggression that they intended to launch in the Middle East required “a new Pearl Harbor.”

For their own good and that of the wider world, Americans need to pay attention to the growing body of experts who are telling them that the government’s account of 9/11 fails their investigation. 9/11 launched the neoconservative plan for U.S. world hegemony. As I write the U.S. government is purchasing the agreement of foreign governments that border Russia to accept U.S. missile interceptor bases. The U.S. intends to ring Russia with U.S. missile bases from Poland through central Europe and Kosovo to Georgia, Azerbaijan and central Asia. [See Impending Explosion: U.S. Intensifies Threats To Russia And Iran, by Rick Rozoff, Global Research, February 19, 2010] U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke declared on February 20 that al Qaida is moving into former central Asian constituent parts of the Soviet Union, such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. Holbrooke is soliciting U.S. bases in these former Soviet republics under the guise of the ever-expanding “war on terror.”

The U.S. has already encircled Iran with military bases. The U.S. government intends to neutralize China by seizing control over the Middle East and cutting China off from oil.

This plan assumes that Russia and China, nuclear armed states, will be intimidated by U.S. anti-missile defenses and acquiesce to U.S. hegemony and that China will lack oil for its industries and military.

The U.S. government is delusional. Russian military and political leaders have responded to the obvious threat by declaring NATO a direct threat to the security of Russia and by announcing a change in Russian war doctrine to the pre-emptive launch of nuclear weapons. The Chinese are too confident to be bullied by a washed up American “superpower.”

The morons in Washington are pushing the envelope of nuclear war. The insane drive for American hegemony threatens life on earth. The American people, by accepting the lies and deceptions of “their” government, are facilitating this outcome.

Paul Craig Roberts [email him] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand. He is the author of Supply-Side Revolution : An Insider’s Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for Peter Brimelow’s Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct. His latest book, How The Economy Was Lost, has just been published by CounterPunch/AK Press.

http://vdare.com/roberts/100225_armageddon.htm

[Via http://eldib.wordpress.com]

Gingrich no fan of Obama policies

2010-02-25T11:56:00.000+02:00

Newt Gingrich hasn’t been US House Speaker in some time, but the Republican clearly still has a strong taste for policymaking and an outspoken nature. In a recent Atlanta speech (2/24/2010), he used “magic wand” to describe the political approach of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

Gingrich, a “Reaganite” who represented Georgia during the Clinton administration but who now lives in Virginia, described the “Obamacare” health proposal as a “1970s liberal model in a world that has changed.” He feels that the president’s government-controlled approach to health care will collapse, and that states — who have Medicaid — can be innovators in a new model.

Gingrich is now involved with www.healthtransformation.net, a collaborative effort that offers an alternative approach to health care reform. This site will engage in live blogging on Feb. 25, during Obama’s health care summit. (Gingrich also is @newtgingrich on Twitter.) Polls by the Gingrich-backed group say that 52% of those who follow health care closely strongly oppose Obama’s health care proposal. Making health care more affordable rates as the top priority.

In other matters, he called government the latest “bubble” in America, after housing, technology and investments. He said that both at the federal and state levels, Americans have a government that they “can’t afford. … For 25 years, we’ve been lying.”

He also sees competing with China and India as a huge challenge, as well as educating a society for a world that will be far more dependent on science and technology. He compared the current economy in America with the “pain” of 1979-80, but he is “very optimistic” in the long run. “This is the most creative society … this country is so amazing.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich meets media after Atlanta speech.

[Via http://humanclippingservice.wordpress.com]

About the Title...

2010-02-25T03:46:00.000+02:00

Forgive me if I’m being cliche – yes, the dragon here refers to something about China. Specifically the cybersphere in China. It’s powerful, mighty, and full of mischievous funs, yet its strength is seriously limited. It’s barred, by one of the most notorious and paternalistic censorship in the world. Yet of course the dragon never gives up on fighting and finding its way out, and that comes the charm of China’s internet. You never lose the tension and excitement watching this two forces combating each other and making their moves. I would like to use the blog to record the fun happenings along the battles.

And why the dragon is in the wonderland? Well, the wonderland to me refers to China. Forgive me again that I could not settle for a better word to describe my feeling towards the country. China is a wonderland, because it’s a land full of energy, adventure, and miracles, and a land with strange figures, extravagant endeavors and bizarre rules. And to quote a saying about China popular among expats who are living there: its a land where nothing is permissible, yet everything is possible.

The stories of the barred dragon are set against the backdrop of this wonderland. I welcome you to join my explorations.

[Via http://rerdchina.wordpress.com]

Chinese schools deny link to Google attack

2010-02-23T11:45:00.000+02:00

A prestigious Chinese university and a lesser-known vocational school have denied a report they were the source of recent cyber attacks on Internet giant Google and other U.S. corporations, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. A representative of Shanghai Jiaotong University, considered one of China’s best, said the allegations in a New York Times report were baseless and even if the school’s computers appeared to be involved, it did not mean the hackers were based there. The Communist party boss at Lanxiang Vocational School, the other institution fingered in the report, also denied any role. Google announced in January that it had faced a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” in mid-December, allegedly from inside China, and declared that it was no longer willing to censor search results in the country as required by Beijing. The attacks have been a source of friction in Sino-U.S. relations at an already tense time

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE61I0OS20100221?sp=true

[Via http://virginonmedia.wordpress.com]

Drought and Deluge: Two Major Mechanisms of Collapse

2010-02-23T03:46:00.000+02:00

Growing Disasters, Shrinking World Drought and Deluge Wreaking Havoc Globally The Philippines

Philippines farmlands are drying up in the intense heat; there’s no rain in sight. The El Niño has affected about 160,000 hectares (ha) of farmland in the country, destroying more than 200,000 MT of crops including palay, rice and corn.

“Below normal rainfall is threatening some 42,000 hectares of rice paddies in the region, with 11,000 already beyond recovery and another 21,250 damaged. The dry spell has also affected corn crops in other areas.” FEWW said.

To ensure food security, for now at any rate, the Philippines National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is buying 2.65 million MT of rice, mostly from Vietnam and Thailand.

Syria

Persistent Drought in eastern and northeastern Syria regions has driven about 300,000 families to urban areas in search of work, a worrying massive population displacements in Middle East in recent history. Some villages have lost about half of their population to overcrowding cities. More than 80 percent of livestock on small and medium-sized farms have died as a result of a 75-percent rise in the cost of animal feed.

A dense plume of dust [sand] swept from Syria into Iraq on February 22, 2010. This photo-like image of the dust storm [sand storm] was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite in the early afternoon (12:30 p.m. in Syria, 1:30 in Iraq). Distinct plumes rise from many point sources in the Syrian desert. Within a few kilometers, the plumes blend into a dense cloud that completely obscures eastern Syria and western Iraq. The veil of dust is thick enough that the ground beneath is not visible, which means that people on the ground are probably getting little light from the Sun. Image Credit: NASA/MODIS/Jeff Schmaltz: Caption: Holli Riebeek.

China

In China’s southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou, up to 4 million hectares of crops have been damaged by severe drought. Water shortages are affecting about 6 million people and 3.6 million livestock. Several of China’s northern provinces are also affected by the dry spell, with major signs of stress emerging in the farmlands after a 40-day drought.

Island of Madeira (Portuguese Territory)

At least 42 people were killed and 120 others injured when torrential rains ledt to massive mudslides on the Atlantic resort island of Madeira flooding the popular holiday destination and destroying about 240 homes and damaging many more. Roads and other public infrastructure were also damaged by the storm.

Spain

Heavy rains which triggered extensive flooding in the country’s southwest province cut off access to the city of Jerez, prompting the authorities to shut down the airport.

In Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spanish Territories), strong winds and violent downpour led to deluge across the island and left at leat ten thousand homes without electricity, according to the officials.

Temasek: the significance of Seatown

2010-02-21T19:45:00.000+02:00

Seatown is Temask’s new toy: an absolute return fund. But with a reported US$3 billion available for playing in the pen:in the context of Temasek’s reported US$120 billion in assets, and the world’s biggest hedgies http://hedgefundblogman.blogspot.com/2009/08/top-100-largest-hedge-funds.html, US$3 billion is”Peanuts,” as Mrs Goh Chok Tong might say. Seatown doesn’t even make it to list of 100 biggest hedgies: the smallest of which manages US$4 billion +

So what is Seatown’s significance?

Since Ho Ching became its CEO, Temasek has done a series of big deals, taking controlling or strategic stakes in high profile companies like Shin, Merrill Lynch, Barclays, ABC Learning, Bank of China, China Construction Bank , Hana, ICICI Bank, NIB Bank, PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, and Standard Chartered.

Some were real dogs, others were good performers, and the balance were average performers.% of those still in its portfolio.

But whatever they were, the size of the investments meant that they could not be done discreetly. When things went badly, S’poreans knew, and knew whom they blamed.

It could be that Temasek will slow down Buffett-size deals, using Seatown to do lots of smallish deals that will not appear on the radar, and depending on rapid turnover (i.e trading) to make $. And if Seatown comes a cropper, US$3 billion is a rounding error. But if it does well, financial engineering will magnify its returns: supposing if Temasek funds Seatown from the proceeds of its recent bond issues, the cost of the capital could be “peanuts”, leading to great returns when calculated using the cost of these bonds. Or so I’ve been advised by the same people who tell me that SingTel should have taken an impairment charge (at least A$3 billion) for Optus and SIA for Virgin Atlantic (sum unknown but sure to be in billions whether in US$ or sterling). And no they are not members of SDP, they are accountants’ accountants.

Moral of the story: don’t do a Buffett, unless you got a brain to match. Scholars, SAF generals, or FTs from top biz schools do not a Buffett make.

Maybe Temasek thinks that a Soros or John Paulson can appear from one of these scholars, SAF generals, or FTs from top biz schools, though based on the exit from BoA (that bought ML), “Dream on baby”. John Paulson was buying as Temasek was selling.

And maybe the Chinese can teach Singapore Inc something. FT reports: ”China Investment Corp, Beijing’s sovereign wealth fund, has agreed to invest $1.5bn in the private equity secondary market through custom accounts with three of the biggest specialists in buying second-hand buy-out and venture capital fund interests.

‘Lexington Partners, Goldman Sachs and Pantheon Ventures have each agreed to manage $500m for CIC through special accounts, which are to be kept separate from their main funds … The move is the biggest injection of capital into the secondary market.”

“It underlines how CIC is using its size to win special terms from private equity groups, including lower fees and transfer of knowledge on specialist markets … The era of big public pension funds and sovereign wealth funds accepting the same terms as smaller investors is over,” David Rubenstein, founder of the Carlyle Group, said.”

Outsource to the best, using wagga to get good terms.

But then the S’pore govmin is as mercantilist as the French.

[Via http://atans1.wordpress.com]

Chinese school denies attack on Google

2010-02-21T11:28:00.000+02:00

A Chinese school linked to cyberattacks on Google denied any involvement, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

Li Zixiang from the Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong province said “investigations . . . found no trace the attacks originated from our school.”

The New York Times reported on Thursday that the cyberattacks aimed at Google and dozens of other firms were reportedly traced to computers at two Chinese schools.

Citing unidentified anonymous sources, the newspaper said trails led to Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School, which was created with military backing and trains some of its computer scientists.

But the school denied any relationship with the military and rejected links made in the New York Times report to a specific computer science class taught by a Ukrainian professor.

“There is no Ukrainian teacher in the school and we have never employed any foreign staff,” Li told Xinhua. “The report was unfounded. Please show the evidence.”

Lanxiang was founded in 1984 and has about 20,000 students who are currently on their winter vacation, Xinhua reported. The school teaches vocational skills such as cooking, auto repair and hairdressing, Xinhua reported. But the computer science class offers only basic courses.

The director of the school’s general office, Zhou Hui, said 38 students had been recruited by the military since 2006 “for their talent in auto repair, cooking and electric welding.”

Google vowed in January to stop bowing to Internet censors in China in the wake of sophisticated cyberattacks aimed at the U.S. firm’s source code and Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists around the world. The Internet giant continues to filter searches as per Chinese law while trying to negotiate a compromise with officials there.

But co-founder Sergey Brin said Friday he is hoping the Internet powerhouse will find a way to operate in China without censoring web search results.

“I’m optimistic,” Brin said during an onstage chat at the prestigious TED Conference in California.

bron: www.calgaryherald.com [21-2-2010]

[Via http://wocview.wordpress.com]

China - Out of a Tour Bus Window - Part 2

2010-02-20T19:25:00.000+02:00

Yes… the photos continue!

Lets hit the road…. Toyota Hiace

After spending a night at the Hot Springs Resort – fabulous chinese dinner, buffet breakfast combination of east and western foods…. we hit the road towards Dongguan area, to a Tourist Theme Park called OCT East Theme Park

Our tour was a 3-day tour, with two days spent at this theme park, since it was pretty big.

I saw a lot of major infrastructure, mainly large highway construction though the countryside. Sometimes, it even went through and over peoples houses.

New Bridge piers.

Approach roads, and major earthworks.

Buried concrete pipeline…..

Precast Concrete Yard.

A billboard – presumably promising a brighter, better future…. in the city. That Pagoda and man-made lake we saw on our first day at Hui Zhou – Mainland China people want to be Westernized somewhat, or at least have first world living standards.. i.e – Live in an apartment, in a city, bright lights and entertainment…… The good life?

Pretty?

New Condos – not small either, and in the middle of relatively no where….

I think this is the start of another MEGA condo/living area development… and i think the NEW BIG HIGHWAY I keep seeing is in the background….

Lots of Land – in some ways, China could be the next US – since it has so much land, and just PUMP out urban infrastructure…. more strip malls, franchaise, same but same everywhere?

A house, right next to the highway…. and another motorbike.

The typical shop-front-come-residential-house-one-stop-shop. It’s not a house, it’s a home.

Same again….

Rubbish Collection?

The new concrete road built over the old one….

… and I’m presuming all the aggregate for the concrete came out of THAT mine site/quarry. Pretty awesome chunk taken out there! Great planning, having all your materials close by…….

…and all these concrete batching plants dotted alongside the road you are building. Go big brother!

Home-made incinerator.

..another batch plant, not that far down the road…

Pretty Big

Workers.

…and back to market gardens.

I think this plaque was for the highway.

Concrete Piers…..

Modernized Motorcycle.

Irrigation Ponds

Lovely Pastels….

Concrete Crew – oh yeah! Love the skirts boys.

The Shed.

Men running the errands. Hold on…. to your bags.

.. the landscape of future development.

The boarder between the factories, and the seemingly endless land available.

Here’s one they prepared earlier. Highway – Almost reminds me of the US Interstate Roads – lots of it!

Green Roof.

A factory

…. you’ve probably noticed that a lot of these photos are rather hazy, overcast, grey-washed and not the usual blue-bird, crisp and clear skys that I’m usually used to living in Vancouver and New Zealand.

Accommodation blocks – for factory workers…

..more grey-washed landscapes of factory sprawl.

These photos were taken on the outskirts of Dongguan…. a really prosperous area, stacked with factories.

Like everything else, I’m not sure what this place is, does etc!

US Interstate? Or Chinese Expressway…..

…. yep. Expressway.

Toll Booths. At least Big Brother is getting something back for building all this.

Damn – that is a long, long building…

…pumping out factory after factory. It’s a “wonderful” recipe. Build factories, fill them with cheap labour from the middle of nowhere, produce, export and supply goods to the WORLD – a bottomless pit of commercialism and consumption. Can-do attitude…. What can’t the Chinese do. Yes – they’ve been doing it all day Ref.

More developed areas.

..Laundry!….. All that order, wonderful.

How about these for some more pumped out condos? Where does the money come from? What sort of people live in here?

What I haven’t touched on is that there is a very apparent gap between the rich and poor. Some Mainland Chinese are becoming increasingly wealthy, not surprisingly since they are the manufacturers to the world.

These factory blocks impressed me – brand new, and EMPTY. Ready for some entrepreneur to pounce with the next big thing, or the next small piece of junk at the dollar store.

Nothing inside, but the potential to manufacture ’stuff’.

..over a bridge and down in the valley is a string of market gardens…. Very pretty.

Tunnels.

These shocked me a bit. Imagine being the rich property developer – “I want to build my big condos on that ridge line!!” – hell, go ahead build them wherever you want!! Awesome……

Some slope stability works – for my geotechnical friends…..

That’s one big slope!.. Check out the people half way up.

Drainage provisions, toe buttresses…. bridges, tunnels. This is right by the Yan Tian International Container Port.

This place was hard to find of Google Maps – Port and OCT East Theme Park

This was impressive….. so many container cranes!

I thought Oakland Bay (across from San Fran) was impressive…. but that is nothing compared to this.

This new roof was taken in Da Mei Sha (Dameisha) – a very touristy bay where OCT East Theme Park is located. Impressive.

Tourist City, Built for tourists – both international, and the Chinese Tourists!!…. The good life. The NEW life… for those that can afford it……

….and those that are living in the developing countryside….

[Via http://ginman5.wordpress.com]

Weekend Cyber War Reading

2010-02-20T03:55:00.000+02:00

Bored this weekend and want something to read that gives you a look into the shadowy world of Cyber War? Well we won’t disapoint. Here are our top picks from scribd.com:

Project Grey Goose Phase I Report - Russia/Georgia Cyber War – Findings and Analysis

Project Grey Goose Phase II Report - The Evolving State of Cyber Warfare

And last but not least:

Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network - 10 month investigation into Chinese spying against Tibetan institutions.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think of these exceptional articles.

[Via http://cyberarms.wordpress.com]

aliens-3

2010-02-18T11:47:00.000+02:00

When I travel in China I stay out of the tourist tracks as much as possible. Often I visit villages where no other western people have been before. I remember in 2007, when we got out of the car in Buja – a village high in the Pamir mountains in Xinjiang – the whole village fell silent. People stopt doing what they were doing and just stared at us. Then they started to move and in a little moment we were surrounded by people asking questions. I didnot feel comfortable. The crowd was a bit too big and surpressing for me. But then it got better and I felt free to move around. The dwellings along the river looked like fortresses. The thick walls were at least 2 meter high. Old willow trees were standing in the yard to give shade in the hot sun. The fresh green from their leaves made a bveautifull contrast with the dusty beige mud of the walls and the whole surrounding. Inside these high walls there were several houses. Some were of the new type the government offers to farmers needing help. These houses are build of concrete with big windows to let in a lot of light. This may seem healthy, but in this area not very well suited to the climate. Must be very hot in summer and cold in winter. But these government farms are the same for all regions. The older houses were traditional mud houses. At the end of the yard there was a door in the wall. The oldest man in the house showed us around and opened what proved to be the door to his house. He was the patriarch of the family, with a long white beard and high leather boots. He was 89, his wife a very frail woman of 86.

The walls of their house were about 1 meter thick. From a small window in the roof beautifull light streemed on the mud platfrom where people sit during the day and sleep in the night. It was a good house he told us. He had build it himself and all his children had been born there.

This Patriarch’s Home is one of the pictures that will be on show in my exhibition that opens coming sunday February 21st in Art Space Fred Wagemans, Beetsterzwaag, The Netherlands. At the opening at 15.00 I will tell more stories from my diary. There will be picures from 2005, 2007 and 2008.

One more picture from a very different corner of China. This is from a very small hamlet in Xishuangbanna in Southern Yunnan on the border to Laos. Farmers here live in houses build from mainly bamboo. The families live on the first floor, stables and storage is on the ground under the living areas. These hamlets are surrounded by primeval rainforest. It can be very difficult to reach them, especially during the rain saison. I remember our car more sliding then driving through the mud. I was very happy to arrive safely and finding both a very good meal and a wonderfull nights’ sleep in this beautifull house. Also this picture will be included in the show.

[Via http://marrigjedemaar.wordpress.com]

Huiyuan Bridge has stood more than 400 handred years

2010-02-18T03:49:00.000+02:00

Huiyuan Bridge has stood more than 400 handred years (Source: ChinaNews via WenxueCity)

An ancient bridge, Huiyuan (会源桥) was recently discovered in Dexing city, Jiangxi province. It was built in Wanli 23 year, Ming Dynasty (Year 1595). Its height is 15 meters; its span is 11 meters; and its width is 14 meters. It is built with granite. It is said that such a tall arch bridge is seldenly seen in China.

In ancient China, arch bridge was very popular. The most famous arch bridge in China is Zhaozhou Bridge (赵州桥 or 安济桥) which is the world’s oldest open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge. It is also more than 400 years old already.

[Via http://paviavio.wordpress.com]

Philippines and U.S.A P.I.P.C Review

2010-02-16T11:34:00.000+02:00

Philippines Platinum Fireworks Soundtrack

Eye of the Tiger – Survivor

Twilight Zone OST – Marius Constant

Pink Panther OST – Henry Mancini

Voices – Vangelis

A Call to Arms – World of Warcraft

Clash of Arms – X-Ray Dog

The grand finale Edward Scissorhands OST – Danny Elfman

Here Comes the King – X-Ray Dog

Dethroned – X-Ray Dog

U.S.A Pyrofire Display Soundtrack

I Need a Hero – Bonnie Tyler

Take me to the Philippines – Apl De Ap

Live and Let Die – Guns N’ Roses

The Prayer – Andrea Boccell and Celine Dione

Lord of the Dance – Ronan Hardiman

[Via http://reflectionsofearth.wordpress.com]

Chinese New Year Money Ideas

2010-02-16T03:50:00.000+02:00

With the arrival of the last time, shopping malls and the stores increasingly booming business, with the average improvement of living standards, advance online ordering of goods has become the most fashion-conscious consumer choice. Yesterday, Tencent network first announced the number of Internet users in China reached 210 million, only 5 million only a thin inferior to the United States, we can see great prospects for the business on the network in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other major cities, there are 80 % have online shopping experience, according to an authoritative survey shows that 75.8% of Internet users said that the holidays will first consider a gift for friends and family online ordering, we can see the prospects for online shopping in this market for a 1.4 billion population of the country to that the great prospects of profit margins, open one’s own profitable online store has become the first choice!

Crown crown studios, based on experience, the past six months, we will experience profitable Shop as New Year’s blessing to start a company dedicated to you friends, if you agree, please give us a support, in other words inadequate to please the teacher and Comment, thanks!

As a customer perspective, personal integrity and merchandise Shop after-sales service has become the biggest worry, more choices in a large well-known shopping site, although prices are expensive, at least not worry about donations to escape and the sale of goods issues! Of course, the merchants, for example, Dangdang, Joyo, these well-known websites will cater to customer psychology, engage in the activities of non-stop during the holidays, promotional gifts, encourage customers to maximize consumption. Thus we gave birth to a new business opportunities, start a mediation-based discount shopping Shop for customers to save money shopping at these well-known websites! Discount Shopping Shop, also known as intermediate-type shopping back in cash, all major shopping malls nowadays the most popular mode of promotion of a feedback, we will be onto the network to operate it, according to our survey, the network operated only a handful of such sites ! Its principle of operation is as follows:

1And more businessmen to discuss cooperation in their own business Web site to connect to the Shop! Exemption Distribution of trouble!

2, There are customers to go through your e-shop shopping, business responsible for sales, after sales, do not you worry!

3, The customer through the shop you go after merchants, merchants to give you commission!

4, You can give your business a part of the commission returned to the customer!

5, Do not you have a penny working capital, the return of the former customers of his shop, the merchant commission to you!

Here, we have the basis of this principle to make further market for the Spring Festival shopping revenue estimate, if you spend a day2Shop for your hours and doing promotion, focusing on the statement of your Shop Web site specifically for customers in major Chinese New Year to save money service which we believe will attract more customers, if you are recommended a day100People visit, there are20People to come shopping, per capita consumption500Yuan, businesses to give you commission20%, Then come the day your earnings:

20 people x per capita consumption 500 = 10000 yuan (Shopping gross)

10,000 yuan x20% commission = 2,000 yuan (total commission)

20 days around the Spring Festival x2000 = 40000 (Chinese New Year 20 days income)

Of course, shoppers can not always be 500 yuan, more or less, according to our experience in previous years, the Spring Festival, and some time on the shopping nearly million customers, through our on saving a thousand dollars, women’s consumption of cosmetics is more crazy, a shopping Du In the last thousand dollars more than the gift of caring for their parents are around 500, give the child a toy to buy at least 200 or more, maybe you do not do not know where Shop has opened business opportunities, but during the Spring Festival is indeed a windfall, countless Shop income of several hundred thousand dollars before and after the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year to grasp business opportunities, and strive to struggle hard20Days, I believe this20Days might earn a few months of your income!

Finally, I hope we all walks of life during the Spring Festival where friends can get a satisfactory return on their own and wish everyone a happy new year in revenue rolling in!

China Suppliers Trade Directory offering a huge range of China Solar Panels, China Sofas, China Notebooks, China Car GPS, Chinese Lamp Shades, China Smartphone, China Evening Dresses, China Batteries, China IP Camera, China Hoist, China Phones Products, Suppliers, Buyers and Wholesalers.

[Via http://chineseproducts.wordpress.com]

A China away from China.

2010-02-14T11:39:00.000+02:00

So from today begins the year of Metal Tiger, and here’s hoping that some of that monetary luck is coming my way. We went into Box Hill which was thriving with masses of Chinese – Box Hill being home to a massive Chinese population. While Melbourne has its own Chinatown, which is effectively just a very Chinesey street, Box Hill in many ways is close to the real deal. So many Chinese have made this particular suburb of Melbourne (and surrounding areas) their home that it is starting to reflect the culture they have come from.

Last night was no different. The spring festival had begun, the first day of the new Chinese lunar year ticked over. While the weather was patchy, with a few brief (and thankfully light) showers, it didn’t deter the multitude of Chinese who headed into the town centre to do what Chinese do best; eat and shop.

Unlike many western festivals – and I noticed lots of this in China, the rows of tents were not so much novelty, but commercial. While there was the occasional face painting, calligraphy and various others selling holiday related goods – most were promotional offerings from banks, religious groups and pirate DVD sellers – the latter having DVD’s playing at such high volume that I was positive I actually was back in China.

Part of the main road had been closed down and a long row of food tents were set up. We set out searching for particular Chinese treats – and found them. We have spoken many times of the fabled skewered meat which we ate across China which involved pieces of random beef skewered and dusted in chilli powder – absolutely delicious. There were no shortage of these and we bee-lined for the store, ordering 7 – 4 for me, 3 for Courtney. Handing over a $20 we got a mere $2.50 change!

“How much are they each?” Courtney asked the girl.

“$2.50,” she replied, looking somewhat bored.

$2.50 each! In China, you would pick them up for 1 rmb a pop. For $17.50 (or 106 Chinese Yuan) we get 7 – back in China, we could have gotten around 80+!! Likewise, the old strawberries on a stick – which I have since found out are called tang hu lu – $5.00 each! While there are things I definitely don’t miss, the cheap street food is definite in my top 5 of things I do miss.

We walked around for a while, enjoying the atmosphere, while the Chinese excitedly looking at displays of pillows for sale, bought masks, and generally ate the whole time. We decided to go home for an hour or two and return to catch the fireworks/firecrackers/dancing lions/dragons etc – and while we did this, were horribly disappointed to find that beyond a very small set of crackers and a brief dragon dance show, the night didn’t eventuate into much else.

It was an enjoyable night, and one we’re glad we made the effort to participate in. There was a casual, family atmosphere which underpinned everything, which is largely due to the fact that the majority of people present were Chinese. Had you replaced everyone with your typical Australian’s, then it would have been infested with bogan’s and drunks.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Tang hu lu, hao chi!

Festival related goodies for sale

A plethora of people and things to see

Seeing the dragon over the wall of onlookers was a feat

[Via http://lifeafterchina.wordpress.com]

High-Speed Whatnot

2010-02-14T03:46:00.000+02:00

That we are allowing this to happen is beyond stupid. China is a poor country with nothing comparable to the tremendous research, industrial and economic resources that the U.S. has been blessed with. Yet they’re blowing us away — at least for the moment — in the race to the future.

Our esteemed leaders in Washington can’t figure out how to do anything more difficult than line up for a group photo. Put Americans back to work? You must be kidding. Health care? We’ve been working on it for three-quarters of a century. Infrastructure? Don’t ask.

This article from the New York Times on China’s stimulative high-speed rail projects, and this column on the green economy from Bob Herbert, has spurred quite a bit of commentary in the blogotubes, including this hyperbolic declaration from Open Left that China is now the most advanced country on the planet. Like Kevin Drum I’m skeptical that the nation-state is the right frame for this discussion—and like Kevin Drum I’m perfectly happy to pretend it is if that would get results from our incredibly short-sighted political institutions.

When the history of the decadent stage of the American empire is written, there will be multiple chapters devoted to our steadfast refusal to invest in either our technological infrastructure or the basic well-being of our citizenry, in both good economic times and bad.

[Via http://gerrycanavan.wordpress.com]

Indian troops martyr two innocent youth in Indian Occupied Kashmir

2010-02-13T19:46:00.000+02:00

ISLAMABAD : Indian troops, in their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred two innocent Kashmiri youth in Rajouri district of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

According to Kashmir Media Service personnel of 48-Rashtriya Rifles during siege and search operations killed Mohammad Aslam and Saddam Hussain Bakerwal in Kandi Kalar area of the district.

On the other hand, at least a dozen persons were injured when Indian police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers resorted to baton charge and fired numerous tear smoke canisters to disperse protesters at Nowhatta, Gojwara, Rajouri Kadal, Brein-Nishat, Palhalan and Sopore areas.

“The CRPF personnel hurled stones and smashed windowpanes of several residential houses, which created panic among the residents,” said residents of Nowhatta and Palhalan.

Meanwhile, a constable of BSF 68th battalion, Lakhvinder Kumar, involved in the killing of 16-year-old, Zahid Farooq on February 5 at Brain-Nishat, said before the police that he was forced by his senior to shot at the teenager.

“The BSF Commandant, R K Birdi forced Lakhvinder Kumar to shoot thrice at Zahid. The constable has disclosed before the police that he was forced by his senior to shoot the teenager. -APP

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

CyberSpace

2010-02-13T11:55:00.000+02:00

Podcast: A metal podcast, the episode I have selected covers one of my favorite styles within the genre which is symphonic meta- an interesting style that combines traditional metal with elements such as choirs, orchestral arrangements, and some epic subject matter.

http://www.metalcastshow.com/archives/1403

In this week’s articles two differing view points are offered on the progression and future of cyberspace.

1. In cosmopolitan ideal or Cybercentris Charles Ess presents the view point that although there appears a to be truly free global village ,it is in fact restricted by the cultural and value barriers that manifest itself in different parts of the worlds. While the internet seems to be based on and espouses western values, nonetheless it does not necessarily contribute to the spread of these values worldwide because of the cultural barriers, where some places might not agree with the western values of freedom. Essentially while the internet is based in western thought and principles, the idea that it will spread in a free manner, reflects the culture bias of western society. Instead what is increasingly being recognized is that the internet is simply a tool, and can be used toward different ends depending on the means of the user. This is best explained in Chinas use of internet security tech to help the chins government subvert the freedoms of their citizens. As such the internet while it has western principles in mind will not necessarily reflect those ideals in practice.

2. Betting’s key idea is that the internet started out as a free institutions which reflect the western values of liberty and choice, however despite this it is becoming subject to increasing corporate influence and control. The ultimate fear is that the internet will become a virtual prison that is controlled by corporations who will have monopolized the means of access to the internet. In his view this will come about from companies limiting choice consumers have by limiting some products in order to create profit.

In looking at both of these view points I see a similarity that they both agree on the internet had a good start, and then warns us of a future danger. The first being primarily concerned with cultural limitations while the second with commercial limits. I don’t think the points of these articles are mutually exclusive in the sense that it’s not one or the other that has to be right, and in a sense I disagree with both of them: as I think that ultimately you cannot stop the internet. If I had to pick one, than I would say the cultural aspect resonates more with me. This is because it has already been proven in history that commercial attempts to limit the freedom of the internet have failed I.e. AOL. On the other hand while I believe in the superiority of western values, that view is only an opinion and can in turn be fallible: so it is plausible that the freedom on the net could be foiled through different value systems.

[Via http://nightvole.wordpress.com]

Wishing you A Happy Valentines Day.

2010-02-11T19:55:00.000+02:00

Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name “Valentine”, derived from valens (worthy), was popular in Late Antiquity Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969. But “Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome” remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30. the name “Valentine” (Priest Valentio) does not occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, compiled by the Chronographer of 354. The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs. The Saint Valentine that appears in various martyrologies in connection with February 14 is described either as: A priest in Rome, A bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), or A martyr in the Roman province of Africa. The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner — until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor — whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn’t finish him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273. The official Roman Martyrology for February 14 mentions only one Saint Valentine. English eighteenth-century antiquarians Alban Butler and Francis Douce, noting the obscurity of Saint Valentine’s identity, suggested that Valentine’s Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. This idea has lately been contested by Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas. Many of the current legends that characterise Saint Valentine were invented in the fourteenth century in England, notably by Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle, when the feast day of February 14 first became associated with romantic love. While a website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and other sources give different lists of Saint Valentines, the Catholic Church’s official list of recognized saints, the Roman Martyrology lists seven: a martyr (Roman priest or Terni bishop?) buried on the Via Flaminia (February 14); a priest from Viterbo (November 3); a bishop from Raetia who died in about 450 (January 7); a fifth-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18). Earliest church dedications Saint Valentine receives a rosary from the Virgin, by David Teniers III Hagiographical sources speak of a Roman priest and a bishop of Terni each buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city, with each venerated on February 14.In the Middle Ages, two Roman churches were dedicated to Saint Valentine. One was the tenth-century church Sancti Valentini de Balneo Miccine or de Piscina, which was rededicated by Pope Urban III in 1186. The other, on the Via Flaminia, was the ancient basilica S. Valentini extra Portam founded by Pope Julius I (337‑352), though not under this dedication. The basilica appellatur Valentini, “is called Valentine’s”; but early basilicas were as often called by the name of their former owner as by the saint to whom they were dedicated: titulus. This, the earlier and by far more important of the churches, is dedicated to the less prominent of the two saints, Valentine, presbyter of Rome; this was the Basilica S. Valentini extra Portam, the “Basilica of Saint Valentine beyond the Gate” which was situated beyond the Porta Flaminia (the Porta del Popolo, which was the Porta S. Valentini when William of Malmesbury visited Rome). It stood on the right hand side at the second milestone on the Via Flaminia. It had its origins in a funerary chapel on the site of catacombs, which the Liber Pontificalis attributes to a foundation by Pope Julius I (337-352). However, the dedications of two basilicas dedicated by Julius are not specified in the Liber Pontificalis. It was restored or largely rebuilt by Pope Theodore (642‑649) and Pope Leo III (795‑816), enriched with an altar cloth by Pope Benedict II (683‑685) and by gifts of Pope Hadrian I (772‑795), Pope Leo III and Pope Gregory IV (827‑844), so that it had become ecclesia mirifice ornata, “a church marvellously adorned”. The monastery of San Silvestro in Capite was annexed to it, and in the surviving epitome of a lost catalogue of the churches of Rome, compiled by Giraldus Cambrensis about 1200, it was hospitale S. Valentini extra urbem, the “hospital of Saint Valentine outside the city”. But in the thirteenth century the martyr’s relics were transferred to Santa Prassede, and the ancient basilica decayed: in Signorili’s catalogue, made in about 1425, it was Ecclesia sancti Valentini extra portam sine muris non habet sacerdotem, “the church of Saint Valentine beyond the gate without [enclosing] walls, has no priest”. In the Golden Legend The Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine has him refusing to deny Christ before the “Emperor Claudius”[16] in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of “Valentine”, “as containing valour”. St. Valentine’s Day Historian Jack Oruch has made the case that the traditions associated with “Valentine’s Day”, documented in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules and set in the fictional context of an old tradition, had no such tradition before Chaucer. He argues that the speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler’s Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. In the French 14th-century manuscript illumination from a Vies des Saints (illustration above), Saint Valentine, bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni; there is no suggestion here yet that the bishop was a patron of lovers. Relics and liturgical celebration The flower crowned skull of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. In 1836, some relics that were exhumed from the catacombs of Saint Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina, then near (rather than inside) Rome, were identified with St Valentine; placed in a casket, and transported to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, to which they were donated by Pope Gregory XVI. Many tourists visit the saintly remains on St. Valentine’s Day, when the casket is carried in solemn procession to the high altar for a special Mass dedicated to young people and all those in love. Alleged relics of St. Valentine also lie at the reliquary of Roquemaure in France, in the Stephansdom in Vienna and also in Blessed John Duns Scotus’ church in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland. There is also a gold reliquary bearing the words ‘Corpus St. Valentin, M’ (Body of St. Valentine, Martyr) at The Birmingham Oratory, UK in one of the side altars in the main church. Of greatest interest at this altar is the rich coffin which lies beneath it, containing the body of St. Valentine, a martyr whose relics from the Roman catacombs were given to John Henry Cardinal Newman by Blessed Pius IX in 1847. The Saint Valentine who is celebrated on February 14 remains in the Catholic Church’s official list of saints (the Roman Martyrology), but, in view of the scarcity of information about him, his commemoration was removed from the General Calendar for universal liturgical veneration, when this was revised in 1969. It is included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found. Some[who?] still observe the calendars of the Roman Rite from the Tridentine Calendar until 1969, in which Saint Valentine was at first celebrated as a simple feast, until 1955, when Pope Pius XII reduced the mention of Saint Valentine to a commemoration in the Mass of the day. It is kept as a commemoration by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who, in accordance with the authorization given by Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, use the General Roman Calendar of 1962 and the liturgy of Pope John XXIII’s 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, and, as a Simple Feast, by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who use the General Roman Calendar as in 1954. The feast day of Saint Valentine, priest and martyr, was included in the Tridentine Calendar, with the rank of Simple, on February 14. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reduced the celebration to a commemoration within the celebration of the occurring weekday. In 1969, this commemoration was removed from the General Roman Calendar, but Saint Valentine continues to be recognized as a saint, since he is included in the Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church’s official list of saints. The feast day of Saint Valentine also continues to be included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found. The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all — at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday — St. Valentine. “He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time,” Father O’Gara explains. ” He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.” “I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived,” says Father O’Gara. “Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.” “The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.” Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison. “One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, who’s daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result.” In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter. He inspired today’s romantic missives by signing it, “from your Valentine.” “What Valentine means to me as a priest,” explains Father O’Gara, “is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that — even to the point of death.” Valentine’s martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint. “Valentine has come to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a Christian marriage you want some sense of God in your life — some great need of God in your life. And we know, particularly in the modern world, many people are meeting God through his Son, Jesus Christ.” “If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you’re going to have to suffer. It’s not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don’t be surprised if the ‘gushing’ love that you have for someone changes to something less “gushing” but maybe much more mature. And the question is, is that young person ready for that?” “So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context,” Father O’Gara says. “Love — human love and sexuality is wonderful, and blessed by God — but also the shadow of the cross. That’s what Valentine means to me.” Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name “Valentine”, derived from valens (worthy), was popular in Late Antiquity Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969.[3] But “Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome” remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics.In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30. the name “Valentine” (Priest Valentio) does not occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, compiled by the Chronographer of 354. The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs. The Saint Valentine that appears in various martyrologies in connection with February 14 is described either as:A priest in Rome,A bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), orA martyr in the Roman province of Africa.The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner — until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor — whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn’t finish him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.The official Roman Martyrology for February 14 mentions only one Saint Valentine. nglish eighteenth-century antiquarians Alban Butler and Francis Douce, noting the obscurity of Saint Valentine’s identity, suggested that Valentine’s Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. This idea has lately been contested by Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas. Many of the current legends that characterise Saint Valentine were invented in the fourteenth century in England, notably by Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle, when the feast day of February 14 first became associated with romantic love.While a website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and other sources give different lists of Saint Valentines, the Catholic Church’s official list of recognized saints, the Roman Martyrology lists seven: a martyr (Roman priest or Terni bishop?) buried on the Via Flaminia (February 14); a priest from Viterbo (November 3); a bishop from Raetia who died in about 450 (January 7); a fifth-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18).Earliest church dedicationsSaint Valentine receives a rosary from the Virgin, by David Teniers IIIHagiographical sources speak of a Roman priest and a bishop of Terni each buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city, with each venerated on February 14.In the Middle Ages, two Roman churches were dedicated to Saint Valentine. One was the tenth-century church Sancti Valentini de Balneo Miccine or de Piscina, which was rededicated by Pope Urban III in 1186. The other, on the Via Flaminia, was the ancient basilica S. Valentini extra Portam founded by Pope Julius I (337‑352), though not under this dedication. The basilica appellatur Valentini, “is called Valentine’s”; but early basilicas were as often called by the name of their former owner as by the saint to whom they were dedicated: see titulus.This, the earlier and by far more important of the churches, is dedicated to the less prominent of the two saints, Valentine, presbyter of Rome; this was the Basilica S. Valentini extra Portam, the “Basilica of Saint Valentine beyond the Gate” which was situated beyond the Porta Flaminia (the Porta del Popolo, which was the Porta S. Valentini when William of Malmesbury visited Rome). It stood on the right hand side at the second milestone on the Via Flaminia. It had its origins in a funerary chapel on the site of catacombs, which the Liber Pontificalis attributes to a foundation by Pope Julius I (337-352). However, the dedications of two basilicas dedicated by Julius are not specified in the Liber Pontificalis. It was restored or largely rebuilt by Pope Theodore (642‑649) and Pope Leo III (795‑816), enriched with an altar cloth by Pope Benedict II (683‑685) and by gifts of Pope Hadrian I (772‑795), Pope Leo III and Pope Gregory IV (827‑844), so that it had become ecclesia mirifice ornata, “a church marvellously adorned”. The monastery of San Silvestro in Capite was annexed to it, and in the surviving epitome of a lost catalogue of the churches of Rome, compiled by Giraldus Cambrensis about 1200, it was hospitale S. Valentini extra urbem, the “hospital of Saint Valentine outside the city”. But in the thirteenth century the martyr’s relics were transferred to Santa Prassede, and the ancient basilica decayed: in Signorili’s catalogue, made in about 1425, it was Ecclesia sancti Valentini extra portam sine muris non habet sacerdotem, “the church of Saint Valentine beyond the gate without [enclosing] walls, has no priest”.In the Golden Legend The Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine has him refusing to deny Christ before the “Emperor Claudius”[16] in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of “Valentine”, “as containing valour”.St. Valentine’s DayHistorian Jack Oruch has made the case that the traditions associated with “Valentine’s Day”, documented in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules and set in the fictional context of an old tradition, had no such tradition before Chaucer. He argues that the speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler’s Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. In the French 14th-century manuscript illumination from a Vies des Saints (illustration above), Saint Valentine, bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni; there is no suggestion here yet that the bishop was a patron of lovers.Relics and liturgical celebrationThe flower crowned skull of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.In 1836, some relics that were exhumed from the catacombs of Saint Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina, then near (rather than inside) Rome, were identified with St Valentine; placed in a casket, and transported to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, to which they were donated by Pope Gregory XVI. Many tourists visit the saintly remains on St. Valentine’s Day, when the casket is carried in solemn procession to the high altar for a special Mass dedicated to young people and all those in love. Alleged relics of St. Valentine also lie at the reliquary of Roquemaure in France, in the Stephansdom in Vienna and also in Blessed John Duns Scotus’ church in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland. There is also a gold reliquary bearing the words ‘Corpus St. Valentin, M’ (Body of St. Valentine, Martyr) at The Birmingham Oratory, UK in one of the side altars in the main church.Of greatest interest at this altar is the rich coffin which lies beneath it, containing the body of St. Valentine, a martyr whose relics from the Roman catacombs were given to John Henry Cardinal Newman by Blessed Pius IX in 1847.The Saint Valentine who is celebrated on February 14 remains in the Catholic Church’s official list of saints (the Roman Martyrology), but, in view of the scarcity of information about him, his commemoration was removed from the General Calendar for universal liturgical veneration, when this was revised in 1969. It is included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found. Some[who?] still observe the calendars of the Roman Rite from the Tridentine Calendar until 1969, in which Saint Valentine was at first celebrated as a simple feast, until 1955, when Pope Pius XII reduced the mention of Saint Valentine to a commemoration in the Mass of the day. It is kept as a commemoration by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who, in accordance with the authorization given by Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, use the General Roman Calendar of 1962 and the liturgy of Pope John XXIII’s 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, and, as a Simple Feast, by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who use the General Roman Calendar as in 1954.The feast day of Saint Valentine, priest and martyr, was included in the Tridentine Calendar, with the rank of Simple, on February 14. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reduced the celebration to a commemoration within the celebration of the occurring weekday. In 1969, this commemoration was removed from the General Roman Calendar, but Saint Valentine continues to be recognized as a saint, since he is included in the Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church’s official list of saints. The feast day of Saint Valentine also continues to be included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found.The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all — at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday — St. Valentine.”He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time,” Father O’Gara explains. ” He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.” “I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived,” says Father O’Gara. “Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.” “The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.” Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison. “One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, who’s daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result.” In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter. He inspired today’s romantic missives by signing it, “from your Valentine.” “What Valentine means to me as a priest,” explains Father O’Gara, “is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that — even to the point of death.” Valentine’s martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint. “Valentine has come to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a Christian marriage you want some sense of God in your life — some great need of God in your life. And we know, particularly in the modern world, many people are meeting God through his Son, Jesus Christ.” “If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you’re going to have to suffer. It’s not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don’t be surprised if the ‘gushing’ love that you have for someone changes to something less “gushing” but maybe much more mature. And the question is, is that young person ready for that?” “So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context,” Father O’Gara says. “Love — human love and sexuality is wonderful, and blessed by God — but also the shadow of the cross. That’s what Valentine means to me.” Happy Valentines Day Gyandotcom

Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name “Valentine”, derived from valens (worthy), was popular in Late Antiquity Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969. But “Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome” remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics.In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30.the name “Valentine” (Priest Valentio) does not occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, compiled by the Chronographer of 354. The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs. The Saint Valentine that appears in various martyrologies in connection with February 14 is described either as:A priest in Rome,A bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), orA martyr in the Roman province of Africa.The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner — until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor — whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn’t finish him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.The official Roman Martyrology for February 14 mentions only one Saint Valentine.English eighteenth-century antiquarians Alban Butler and Francis Douce, noting the obscurity of Saint Valentine’s identity, suggested that Valentine’s Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. This idea has lately been contested by Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas. Many of the current legends that characterise Saint Valentine were invented in the fourteenth century in England, notably by Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle, when the feast day of February 14 first became associated with romantic love.While a website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and other sources give different lists of Saint Valentines, the Catholic Church’s official list of recognized saints, the Roman Martyrology lists seven: a martyr (Roman priest or Terni bishop?) buried on the Via Flaminia (February 14); a priest from Viterbo (November 3); a bishop from Raetia who died in about 450 (January 7); a fifth-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18).Earliest church dedicationsSaint Valentine receives a rosary from the Virgin, by David Teniers IIIHagiographical sources speak of a Roman priest and a bishop of Terni each buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city, with each venerated on February 14.In the Middle Ages, two Roman churches were dedicated to Saint Valentine. One was the tenth-century church Sancti Valentini de Balneo Miccine or de Piscina, which was rededicated by Pope Urban III in 1186. The other, on the Via Flaminia, was the ancient basilica S. Valentini extra Portam founded by Pope Julius I (337‑352), though not under this dedication. The basilica appellatur Valentini, “is called Valentine’s”; but early basilicas were as often called by the name of their former owner as by the saint to whom they were dedicated: titulus.This, the earlier and by far more important of the churches, is dedicated to the less prominent of the two saints, Valentine, presbyter of Rome; this was the Basilica S. Valentini extra Portam, the “Basilica of Saint Valentine beyond the Gate” which was situated beyond the Porta Flaminia (the Porta del Popolo, which was the Porta S. Valentini when William of Malmesbury visited Rome). It stood on the right hand side at the second milestone on the Via Flaminia. It had its origins in a funerary chapel on the site of catacombs, which the Liber Pontificalis attributes to a foundation by Pope Julius I (337-352). However, the dedications of two basilicas dedicated by Julius are not specified in the Liber Pontificalis. It was restored or largely rebuilt by Pope Theodore (642‑649) and Pope Leo III (795‑816), enriched with an altar cloth by Pope Benedict II (683‑685) and by gifts of Pope Hadrian I (772‑795), Pope Leo III and Pope Gregory IV (827‑844), so that it had become ecclesia mirifice ornata, “a church marvellously adorned”. The monastery of San Silvestro in Capite was annexed to it, and in the surviving epitome of a lost catalogue of the churches of Rome, compiled by Giraldus Cambrensis about 1200, it was hospitale S. Valentini extra urbem, the “hospital of Saint Valentine outside the city”. But in the thirteenth century the martyr’s relics were transferred to Santa Prassede, and the ancient basilica decayed: in Signorili’s catalogue, made in about 1425, it was Ecclesia sancti Valentini extra portam sine muris non habet sacerdotem, “the church of Saint Valentine beyond the gate without [enclosing] walls, has no priest”.In the Golden LegendThe Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine has him refusing to deny Christ before the “Emperor Claudius”[16] in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of “Valentine”, “as containing valour”.St. Valentine’s DayHistorian Jack Oruch has made the case that the traditions associated with “Valentine’s Day”, documented in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules and set in the fictional context of an old tradition, had no such tradition before Chaucer. He argues that the speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler’s Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. In the French 14th-century manuscript illumination from a Vies des Saints (illustration above), Saint Valentine, bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni; there is no suggestion here yet that the bishop was a patron of lovers.Relics and liturgical celebrationThe flower crowned skull of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.In 1836, some relics that were exhumed from the catacombs of Saint Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina, then near (rather than inside) Rome, were identified with St Valentine; placed in a casket, and transported to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, to which they were donated by Pope Gregory XVI. Many tourists visit the saintly remains on St. Valentine’s Day, when the casket is carried in solemn procession to the high altar for a special Mass dedicated to young people and all those in love. Alleged relics of St. Valentine also lie at the reliquary of Roquemaure in France, in the Stephansdom in Vienna and also in Blessed John Duns Scotus’ church in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland. There is also a gold reliquary bearing the words ‘Corpus St. Valentin, M’ (Body of St. Valentine, Martyr) at The Birmingham Oratory, UK in one of the side altars in the main church.Of greatest interest at this altar is the rich coffin which lies beneath it, containing the body of St. Valentine, a martyr whose relics from the Roman catacombs were given to John Henry Cardinal Newman by Blessed Pius IX in 1847.The Saint Valentine who is celebrated on February 14 remains in the Catholic Church’s official list of saints (the Roman Martyrology), but, in view of the scarcity of information about him, his commemoration was removed from the General Calendar for universal liturgical veneration, when this was revised in 1969. It is included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found. Some[who?] still observe the calendars of the Roman Rite from the Tridentine Calendar until 1969, in which Saint Valentine was at first celebrated as a simple feast, until 1955, when Pope Pius XII reduced the mention of Saint Valentine to a commemoration in the Mass of the day. It is kept as a commemoration by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who, in accordance with the authorization given by Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, use the General Roman Calendar of 1962 and the liturgy of Pope John XXIII’s 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, and, as a Simple Feast, by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who use the General Roman Calendar as in 1954.The feast day of Saint Valentine, priest and martyr, was included in the Tridentine Calendar, with the rank of Simple, on February 14. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reduced the celebration to a commemoration within the celebration of the occurring weekday. In 1969, this commemoration was removed from the General Roman Calendar, but Saint Valentine continues to be recognized as a saint, since he is included in the Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church’s official list of saints. The feast day of Saint Valentine also continues to be included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found.The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all — at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday — St. Valentine.”He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time,” Father O’Gara explains. ” He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.”"I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived,” says Father O’Gara. “Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.”"The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.”Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison.”One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, who’s daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result.”In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter. He inspired today’s romantic missives by signing it, “from your Valentine.”"What Valentine means to me as a priest,” explains Father O’Gara, “is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that — even to the point of death.”Valentine’s martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint.”Valentine has come to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a Christian marriage you want some sense of God in your life — some great need of God in your life. And we know, particularly in the modern world, many people are meeting God through his Son, Jesus Christ.”"If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you’re going to have to suffer. It’s not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don’t be surprised if the ‘gushing’ love that you have for someone changes to something less “gushing” but maybe much more mature.And the question is, is that young person ready for that?”"So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context,” Father O’Gara says. “Love — human love and sexuality is wonderful, and blessed by God — but also the shadow of the cross. That’s what Valentine means to me.”Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name “Valentine”, derived from valens (worthy), was popular in Late Antiquity Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969.[3] But “Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome” remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics.In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30.the name “Valentine” (Priest Valentio) does not occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, compiled by the Chronographer of 354. The feast of St. Valentine was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” As Gelasius implied, nothing was known, even then, about the lives of any of these martyrs. The Saint Valentine that appears in various martyrologies in connection with February 14 is described either as:A priest in Rome,A bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), orA martyr in the Roman province of Africa.The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner — until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor — whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn’t finish him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.The official Roman Martyrology for February 14 mentions only one Saint Valentine.nglish eighteenth-century antiquarians Alban Butler and Francis Douce, noting the obscurity of Saint Valentine’s identity, suggested that Valentine’s Day was created as an attempt to supersede the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. This idea has lately been contested by Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas. Many of the current legends that characterise Saint Valentine were invented in the fourteenth century in England, notably by Geoffrey Chaucer and his circle, when the feast day of February 14 first became associated with romantic love.While a website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and other sources give different lists of Saint Valentines, the Catholic Church’s official list of recognized saints, the Roman Martyrology lists seven: a martyr (Roman priest or Terni bishop?) buried on the Via Flaminia (February 14); a priest from Viterbo (November 3); a bishop from Raetia who died in about 450 (January 7); a fifth-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18).Earliest church dedicationsSaint Valentine receives a rosary from the Virgin, by David Teniers IIIHagiographical sources speak of a Roman priest and a bishop of Terni each buried along the Via Flaminia outside Rome, at different distances from the city, with each venerated on February 14.In the Middle Ages, two Roman churches were dedicated to Saint Valentine. One was the tenth-century church Sancti Valentini de Balneo Miccine or de Piscina, which was rededicated by Pope Urban III in 1186. The other, on the Via Flaminia, was the ancient basilica S. Valentini extra Portam founded by Pope Julius I (337‑352), though not under this dedication. The basilica appellatur Valentini, “is called Valentine’s”; but early basilicas were as often called by the name of their former owner as by the saint to whom they were dedicated: see titulus.This, the earlier and by far more important of the churches, is dedicated to the less prominent of the two saints, Valentine, presbyter of Rome; this was the Basilica S. Valentini extra Portam, the “Basilica of Saint Valentine beyond the Gate” which was situated beyond the Porta Flaminia (the Porta del Popolo, which was the Porta S. Valentini when William of Malmesbury visited Rome). It stood on the right hand side at the second milestone on the Via Flaminia. It had its origins in a funerary chapel on the site of catacombs, which the Liber Pontificalis attributes to a foundation by Pope Julius I (337-352). However, the dedications of two basilicas dedicated by Julius are not specified in the Liber Pontificalis. It was restored or largely rebuilt by Pope Theodore (642‑649) and Pope Leo III (795‑816), enriched with an altar cloth by Pope Benedict II (683‑685) and by gifts of Pope Hadrian I (772‑795), Pope Leo III and Pope Gregory IV (827‑844), so that it had become ecclesia mirifice ornata, “a church marvellously adorned”. The monastery of San Silvestro in Capite was annexed to it, and in the surviving epitome of a lost catalogue of the churches of Rome, compiled by Giraldus Cambrensis about 1200, it was hospitale S. Valentini extra urbem, the “hospital of Saint Valentine outside the city”. But in the thirteenth century the martyr’s relics were transferred to Santa Prassede, and the ancient basilica decayed: in Signorili’s catalogue, made in about 1425, it was Ecclesia sancti Valentini extra portam sine muris non habet sacerdotem, “the church of Saint Valentine beyond the gate without [enclosing] walls, has no priest”.In the Golden LegendThe Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily on each occasion. The very brief vita of St Valentine has him refusing to deny Christ before the “Emperor Claudius”[16] in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Jacobus makes a play with the etymology of “Valentine”, “as containing valour”.St. Valentine’s DayHistorian Jack Oruch has made the case that the traditions associated with “Valentine’s Day”, documented in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Parliament of Foules and set in the fictional context of an old tradition, had no such tradition before Chaucer. He argues that the speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler’s Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. In the French 14th-century manuscript illumination from a Vies des Saints (illustration above), Saint Valentine, bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni; there is no suggestion here yet that the bishop was a patron of lovers.Relics and liturgical celebrationThe flower crowned skull of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome.In 1836, some relics that were exhumed from the catacombs of Saint Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina, then near (rather than inside) Rome, were identified with St Valentine; placed in a casket, and transported to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland, to which they were donated by Pope Gregory XVI. Many tourists visit the saintly remains on St. Valentine’s Day, when the casket is carried in solemn procession to the high altar for a special Mass dedicated to young people and all those in love. Alleged relics of St. Valentine also lie at the reliquary of Roquemaure in France, in the Stephansdom in Vienna and also in Blessed John Duns Scotus’ church in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland. There is also a gold reliquary bearing the words ‘Corpus St. Valentin, M’ (Body of St. Valentine, Martyr) at The Birmingham Oratory, UK in one of the side altars in the main church.Of greatest interest at this altar is the rich coffin which lies beneath it, containing the body of St. Valentine, a martyr whose relics from the Roman catacombs were given to John Henry Cardinal Newman by Blessed Pius IX in 1847.The Saint Valentine who is celebrated on February 14 remains in the Catholic Church’s official list of saints (the Roman Martyrology), but, in view of the scarcity of information about him, his commemoration was removed from the General Calendar for universal liturgical veneration, when this was revised in 1969. It is included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found. Some[who?] still observe the calendars of the Roman Rite from the Tridentine Calendar until 1969, in which Saint Valentine was at first celebrated as a simple feast, until 1955, when Pope Pius XII reduced the mention of Saint Valentine to a commemoration in the Mass of the day. It is kept as a commemoration by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who, in accordance with the authorization given by Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007, use the General Roman Calendar of 1962 and the liturgy of Pope John XXIII’s 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, and, as a Simple Feast, by Traditionalist Roman Catholics who use the General Roman Calendar as in 1954.The feast day of Saint Valentine, priest and martyr, was included in the Tridentine Calendar, with the rank of Simple, on February 14. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reduced the celebration to a commemoration within the celebration of the occurring weekday. In 1969, this commemoration was removed from the General Roman Calendar, but Saint Valentine continues to be recognized as a saint, since he is included in the Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church’s official list of saints. The feast day of Saint Valentine also continues to be included in local calendars of places such as Balzan and Malta, where relics of the saint are claimed to be found.The origin of this holiday for the expression of love really isn’t romantic at all — at least not in the traditional sense. Father Frank O’Gara of Whitefriars Street Church in Dublin, Ireland, tells the real story of the man behind the holiday — St. Valentine.”He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time,” Father O’Gara explains. ” He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.”"I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived,” says Father O’Gara. “Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.”"The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.”Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison.”One of the men who was to judge him in line with the Roman law at the time was a man called Asterius, who’s daughter was blind. He was supposed to have prayed with and healed the young girl with such astonishing effect that Asterius himself became Christian as a result.”In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius’ daughter. He inspired today’s romantic missives by signing it, “from your Valentine.”"What Valentine means to me as a priest,” explains Father O’Gara, “is that there comes a time where you have to lay your life upon the line for what you believe. And with the power of the Holy Spirit we can do that — even to the point of death.”Valentine’s martyrdom has not gone unnoticed by the general public. In fact, Whitefriars Street Church is one of three churches that claim to house the remains of Valentine. Today, many people make the pilgrimage to the church to honor the courage and memory of this Christian saint.”Valentine has come to be known as the patron saint of lovers. Before you enter into a Christian marriage you want some sense of God in your life — some great need of God in your life. And we know, particularly in the modern world, many people are meeting God through his Son, Jesus Christ.”"If Valentine were here today, he would say to married couples that there comes a time where you’re going to have to suffer. It’s not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don’t be surprised if the ‘gushing’ love that you have for someone changes to something less “gushing” but maybe much more mature. And the question is, is that young person ready for that?”"So on the day of the marriage they have to take that into context,” Father O’Gara says. “Love — human love and sexuality is wonderful, and blessed by God — but also the shadow of the cross. That’s what Valentine means to me.”

Happy Valentines Day

Gyandotcom

[Via http://gyandotcom.wordpress.com]

Berlin 2010 Preview: Forum, Part 1

2010-02-11T03:46:00.000+02:00

So if the Panorama section deals with contemporary issues and Generations is for the children, what’s Forum? Well, loosely defined it’s where Berlin can put all the other films they like. There’s a particular emphasis on first-time filmmakers and experimental approaches. The net is cast wide this year, with movies from as far a-field as the Chinese-Burma border and Uganda in the first installment of our Forum preview. As for cutting edge, cut-up techniques are used to relate a transsexual romance. The line-up includes the best movie about clams since that one with Elvis Presley. Click on the titles to watch trailers.

Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza)

Swiss documentary filmmaker Nicolas Wadimoff went to Gaza to find the images behind the headlines. He got the goods. This al-Jazeera co-production shows how life goes on under the blockade, with moments of ordinary happiness punctuated by the occasional explosion.

La belle visite

The subjects of Jean-François Caissy’s documentary are in an unusual place. They live in a Quebec roadside motel that’s been turned into a retirement home. Caissy’s long takes and eye for detail emphasizes the grim tragedy of getting old in a mausoleum with has lost none of its transient air.

Bibliothèque Pascal

To get her daughter back from child services, Mona accounts for the last three years. She spins a tale of Barth-ian robustness that takes her from Hungary to working as a prostitute in Liverpool. White Palms director Szabolcs Hajdu’s shaggy dog story is rendered in eye-popping colors and lush visuals. With Orsolya Török-Illyés.

La bocca del lupo

Mary and Enzo’s relationship was unusual to begin with. Mary is a transsexual. Director Pietro Marcello, however, portrays it in what the program notes say is “the form of a script for a documentary.” His use of non-diegetic music and footage spins not only a classic romance, but a city symphony dedicated to Genoa. Marcello’s feature was the first Italian film to win the top prize at the Turin festival.

Congo in Four Acts

Four young Congolese directors cram this portmanteau film with fresh images of their nation. The stories told include the plight of new mothers whose destitution means they can’t live the maternity ward and the heartbreaking existence eked out in a mining town. Another segment profiles crusading journalist Grace Ngyke.

Double Tide

Sharon Lockhart has made labor her beat and few filmmakers render it so compellingly. The woman at the center of this portrait is a clam digger who works in the hours of twilight. Lockhart captures the rhythm of her routine in an immerse combination of sight and sound.

Fan shan (Crossing the Mountain)

Yang Rui captures the spirit of a remote corner of China in a series of surreal and disconnected vignettes reminiscent of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The Wa people living on the Burmese border talk to her camera about head-hunters, human sacrifice and a pantheistic existence in harmony with the surrounding wild.

Fin (End)

The Internet is a great place to meet people. Especially if your kind of people are World of Warcraft-playing pederasts. Just kidding! Luis Sampieri’s road movie uses three friends who met on online to force audiences into a guessing game. What makes these three kids tick? Then the horror really unfolds.

Eine flexible Frau (The Drifter)

In her feature debut, German director Tatjana Turanskyj takes a different tack on work. Greta M. (Mira Partecke) loses it after being fired from her position as an architect. Like a daffier Jeanne Dielman, she drifts through Berlin. She’s looking for purpose. She finds the new face of woman in the workplace.

Im Schatten (In the Shadows)

Berlin doesn’t shirk from genre. Thomas Arslan’s offering is a crime film using those old saws of an ex-con pulling off one last job and the crooked cop who gets in his way. Arslan gives all the hallmarks his own twist as Trojan (Lost Killers’ Misel Maticevic) assembles a team and preps his robbery with ruthless professionalism.

Imani

It’s a day in the life of three very different Ugandan characters. Housekeeper Mary must buy off the cops to protect her sister. Olweny is a former child soldier returning to his parents’ village. Armstrong negotiates with a childhood friend-turned-gangster to make sure a hip-hop performance goes off without a hitch. Directed by Caroline Kamya.

[Via http://squallyshowers.wordpress.com]

Principais notícias: dívida atrelada à taxa Selic atinge patamar recorde

2010-02-09T11:46:00.000+02:00

Números divulgados pelo Banco Central demonstram que a dívida do governo, proporcionalmente, nunca esteve tão atrelada a taxa Selic – o juro básico de economia brasileira. No último mês de 2009, o endividamento líquido do setor público era 62% atrelado à taxa, valor 20 pontos percentuais acima dos 41,7% auferidos em 2006.

A notícia é um dos principais destaques nos jornais e cadernos de economia desta terça-feira (9). Veja também as demais manchetes referentes a economia e finanças que são ou poderão ser assunto no mercado:

O Estado de S. Paulo

B1 – Dívida atrelada à Selic chega a 62%;

B3 – Focus prevê nova alta para a inflação;

B8 – Fitch não vê contágio na zona do euro;

B15 – Usiminas prepara investimento de R$ 3,2 bilhões para este ano;

B15 – Gafisa fará emissão de R$ 1 bilhão em ações.

Folha de S. Paulo

Dinheiro – Governo vai rever modelo de concessões ferroviárias;

Dinheiro – Governo da China investe US$ 500 milhões em papéis da Vale;

Dinheiro – BNDES pode se associar à Braskem em futura aquisição;

Dinheiro – Comércio: balança inicia mês com déficit de US$ 172 milhões;

Dinheiro – Imóveis: Gafisa tem lucro e quer levantar R$ 1 bilhão em ações;

Dinheiro – Economista propõe fundo monetário europeu;

Dinheiro – BC americano agiliza plano para “apertar” o crédito;

Dinheiro – Consumo: demanda por crédito inicia 2010 em queda.

O Globo

Economia – Gafisa lucra R$55,3 milhões no 4º trimestre e quer emitir R$ 1 bilhão em ações.

Jornal do Brasil

Economia – Entidades são contra redução da jornada de trabalho.

Valor Econômico

A3 – País tem primeiro superátiv geral na balança de petróleo;

A3 – Mercado financeiro eleva projeções para câmbio e inflação;

B7 – Petrobras prevê investir R$ 4,5 bilhões na Amazônia até 2014;

B11 – JBS vê “sequelas” da crise e aposta no mercado interno;

C8 – Dívida dos países desenvolvidos dá salta de US$ 40 trilhões;

E1 – AmBev sofre nova derrota em discussão judicial com investidor.

Fonte: InfoMoney

[Via http://naaltaounabaixa.wordpress.com]

Blog

2010-02-09T03:40:00.000+02:00

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Latest from Dr.M -Melayu Mudah Lupa & Melayu Mudah Takut!as reported by Ramli A.H.at "Bicara Perdana" bersama YABhg Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad

2010-02-07T11:07:00.000+02:00

Ramli wished to inform that during the recent session of “Bicara Perdana” with YABhg Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad held at the National Library (PNM) our beloved Tun Dr.M have mentioned about his famous poem Melayu Mudah Lupa and also his thoughts on the new “Melayu Mudah Takut”.Everyone knows what the contents of the Melayu Mudah Lupa (Ramli have attached in this posting also below-please read both the Malay and English translation)

What is Melayu Mudah Takut?

According to Tun Dr.M briefly he said that “Melayu dulu (before the Merdeka 1957) hidup dalam takutan”,”sikit uggutan,Melayu sudah takut” ,”Melayu mudah dijajah” and “Melayu bertindak setelah belajar dari sejarah silam”

Hopefully,maybe Tun Dr.M will write his poem on this “Melayu Mudah Takut” if not Ramli can also write and U all 1Malaysians esp the Malays can also write your “Melayu Mudah Takut”

With this provoking thoughts maybe like what Tun Dr.M have done with “Melayu Mudah Lupa” have jolted the Malay minds and actions to be more conscious,more concerned and more daring to ensure “Melayu Tak Mudah Lupa” and become a World Class Race in this World just like the Chinese,Japanese or even Iranians etc…

Here is the Poem by Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad on “Melayu Mudah Lupa” and the English translation as ref;from Wikipedia.

Melayu Mudah Lupa (Malays forget easily) is a poem recited by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad during UMNO General Assembly 2001. It was also the title of the speech that he gave that year, which was later published as a book. Whether it can be classed as literature rather than politics (or polemics) is debatable.

The Poem

Melayu mudah lupa

Melayu mudah lupa

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya dipijak

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya retak

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya teriak

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya haprak

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya kelas dua

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya hina

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya sengketa

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya derita

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya kerdil

Melayu mudah lupa

Dulu bangsanya terpencil

Melayu mudah lupa

Tiada daulat

Tiada maruah

Tiada bebas

Melayu mudah lupa

Melayu mudah lupa

Melayu mudah lupa

Sejarah bangsanya yang lena

Tanah lahirnya yang merekah berdarah

Ingatlah

Ingatlah

Ingatlah

Wahai bangsaku

Jangan mudah lupa lagi

Kerana perjuanganmu belum selesai

English Translation:

This is just a direct translation, for those who noticed any error in the meaning, please rewrite it:

Malays easily forget

Malays easily forget

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were ‘tread on’ by others

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were among the broken

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were crying

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were among the faggots

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were among the second class

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were insulted

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were fighting each other

MMalays easily forget

There was a time when they were suffering

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were small

Malays easily forget

There was a time when they were isolated

Malays easily forget

They have no Majesty

They have no Dignity

They have no Freedom

Malays easily forget

Malays easily forget

Malays easily forget

About the history of their ’sleeping’ nation

About the cracked bloody land where he was born

Forget not

Forget not

Forget not

O people of my nation

Never forget again

Because your struggle is not finished yet

[Via http://pramleeelvis.wordpress.com]

China is aiming at America’s soft underbelly: the Internet

2010-02-07T03:02:00.000+02:00

Another soft belly of US is its business interests and corporations. As it is China more or less calls the shots in US’s finances indirectly.Better be watchful at least on this front.

Story:

Google and the National Security Agency (NSA) are engaging in a cooperative investigation to determine who exactly from China was trolling through Google’s proprietary networks, including e-mail exchanges of Chinese dissidents. They are also joining together to develop new defenses against malicious intrusion and attacks on America’s cyberinfrastructure.

Though America’s cybervulnerability has long been a concern of intelligence agencies, the Google episode has catapulted it to a national security priority.

No one knows more about China’s cyberwar capacities than Mike McConnell, who was director of National Intelligence, the authority over all US intelligence agencies, from February 2007 to January 2009, and director of the NSA from 1992 to 1996. After attacks last spring on the Pentagon and the New York Stock Exchange, I sat down with him to discuss China, the chief suspect then also, and to get the lay of the cyberwar battlefield.

Here is an excerpt of what he had to say.

Nathan Gardels: Defense analysts say that 90 percent of the probes and scans of American defense systems as well as commercial computer networks come from China. Is China the chief culprit?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100205/cm_csm/278435

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust

2010-02-06T11:27:00.000+02:00

By Timothy D. Naegele[1][2]

Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung were the most ruthless killers of their own people in the 20th Century, and perhaps in the entire history of mankind. They were responsible for the world’s deadliest holocausts—or the mass destruction of human beings—yet their victims have never been identified or honored. It is time for the silent voices of those who died to be heard, and for these human tragedies of epic proportions to be recognized fully.

The famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal once spoke about the duty owed by survivors of the Nazi Holocaust to Jews and non-Jews alike to insure that other holocausts did not occur again, and of course he was correct. Memorials have been erected to those who died at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s thugs. However, those noncombatants who were killed by Japan prior to and during World War II, and by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot in Cambodia, and in Africa and elsewhere are forgotten.

Saddam Hussein’s brutality with respect to the Kurds and Iranians, and those Kuwaitis whose fate has only been determined recently in shallow Iraqi graves, pales beside that of Stalin who was Hussein’s hero. Aside from ordering the killing of those in the Soviet hierarchy, it is estimated that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million men, women and children—his own countrymen—including millions during the collectivization of the Soviet farms in the 1930s.

History has focused on Hitler’s rise to power during that period, and his atrocities in the Nazi death camps and on the battlefields of World War II. Memorials have been erected to the fallen of many nations that brought an end to his cherished dream of a “Thousand Year Reich,” and to the Jews who were persecuted and systematically killed by the Nazis. However, there are no memorials or tributes to those who perished under Stalin.

He was revered in the former Soviet Union for having defeated Hitler on his Eastern Front, and for the Red Army’s capture of Berlin—even though as the Soviets moved through Germany, they raped at least two million German women in what is now acknowledged as the largest case of mass rape in history. As the truth about him became known following his death, a program of “de-Stalinization” was implemented. However, never in the Soviet Union’s history were steps taken to honor fully those whose only crime was working on the land. They were peasant farmers, most of them, but they stood in the way of “progress,” Soviet-style. To increase agricultural production and to implement the multi-year plans that were being devised for their confiscated farms, which became state-owned lands, they were expendable—and liquidated.

For such a colossal crime to go “unnoticed” outside of the Soviet Union can only be explained by the gathering storm clouds of World War II, and the march of Germany and Japan, which focused the world’s attention elsewhere. China and other parts of Asia came under attack and were later occupied by Japan, while Hitler marched into Poland and then conquered Europe. Straddling the Atlantic and Pacific with Hitler in the East and Japan in the West, and still dealing with the Great Depression’s aftermath, the United States was preoccupied prior to World War II. Also, there was a strong sense of isolationism—that America was an island, bounded by the Atlantic and Pacific—which militated against our involvement in the Soviet Union’s “internal affairs.”

China’s Mao Tse-tung was directly responsible for an estimated 30-40 million deaths between 1958 and 1960, as a result of what Mao’s regime hailed as the “Great Leap Forward.” Like Stalin, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions. The Communist Party forbade them even to cook food at home; private fires were outlawed; and their harvests were taken by the state. Those who dared to question Mao’s agricultural policies—which sought to maximize food output by dispossessing the nation’s most productive farmers—were tortured, sent to labor camps, or executed.

More than 60 million human beings are forgotten, seemingly having disappeared without a trace in the Soviet and Chinese Holocausts of the 20th Century, as if they never existed or were swallowed up by history. Yet they did exist, and they might have produced descendants numbering in the hundreds of millions today. One can only conjecture as to the contributions they would have made to mankind, which are forever lost like the contributions of those Jews, Gypsies and others who were killed in the Nazi Holocaust, and by Japan, and by Pol Pot, and in Africa.

Approximately 70 years have passed since this human tragedy of epic proportions occurred in the Soviet Union. Approximately 25 years have passed since the comparable tragedy occurred in China. It is time for the world to pay tribute to more than 60 million people who perished under Stalin and Mao. While the precise numbers of the victims may never been known, each of us has a duty to honor their memories and take steps to insure that holocausts do not occur anywhere again. China, Russia and the other former Soviet-bloc countries whose citizens numbered among the silent voices must take the lead, and other nations must join as well.

It is possible that relatives and people who knew those who died are still alive today, and can bear witness to what happened and give new meaning to their lives. However, the likelihood of that being true diminishes with each passing day, and it is a race against the clock before they too are gone—certainly in the case of those who might remember victims of the Soviet Holocaust. It is time for the silent voices to be heard again, so they are not forgotten, which would compound their catastrophic fate.

[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), the first black senator since Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War. He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates (www.naegele.com). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years. See, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles

[2] This article was published first at MensNewsDaily.com on August 9, 2005. See http://www.naegele.com/documents/StalinMaoHolocausts.pdf

Because more than four years have passed, the number of relatives and other people who knew those who perished, and can bear witness to what happened and give new meaning to their lives, has continued to diminish. It is even more of a race against the clock before they are gone too, which would compound the catastrophic fate of those who were victims of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust.

Russia’s dictator-for-life Vladimir Putin is every bit as sinister and evil as Joseph Stalin, and it is unlikely that he would be of help in such an effort.

[Via http://naegeleblog.wordpress.com]

Beijing: A Short Introduction

2010-02-06T03:31:00.000+02:00

The first thing that struck me about Beijing at night was the signs against the black sky. One after another, red signs passed by the car window as a winter haze hovered around us. It was cold, bitingly cold, a cold that Tokyo knows not the likes of. The congested traffic comforts and annoys me. I am American, so am used to traffic jams, honking horns, being “cut-off” as well as having to drive on a daily basis. Returning to this way of living as opposed to Nippon will once again take some getting used to, but is by no means impossible. Outside my window is a Detroit-esque mixture of urban high rise apartments and absolute rubble. Horses pull carts filled with food, which the vendors will sell, while an old woman stares out from her balcony. “Where should I put my cigarette butt?” “This is China, you can put it anywhere.” A dog limps by and another tries to bite me outside of a supermarket – a “Merry Mart.” Everyone’s eyes are glued to me and fingers are pointed, as well. “Don’t worry, they are not looking at you.” Yet, I know they are looking at me. Meanwhile, in the apartment, a pleasant heat fills the rooms, music floats in from outside and, earlier in the morning, a light snow dripped to the ground. Beijing. Here we go.

[Via http://eyeslitcrypt.wordpress.com]

The Copenhagen Accord and Vagueness

2010-02-04T11:47:00.000+02:00

Parties associated with the Copenhagen Accord have now submitted their quantified economy-wide emission targets and mitigation actions. These submissions are on the UNFCCC website. The US Climate Action Network has provided a useful table which summarises these submissions.

It is useful to have a ’schedule’ (such as the chapeau of the accord) in which as many emitters as possible list their targets and commitments. It is also useful to have conditional targets (along with conditions) placed into this schedule. If countries are able to commit to both conditional and unconditional targets, then we have a framework that could lead to countries choosing their targets cooperatively. This has been strongly suggested by research on mechanisms that implement public goods.

Unfortunately the way that these things are done in the accord is far too vague to work. It is hard to say what the accord’s targets imply in terms of actual emissions, because issues such as LULUCF accounting, international trading, carryover of Kyoto AAUs, and definitions of ‘business as usual’ are completely unspecified. Furthermore, the conditions that countries have specified for their conditional targets are completely vague, and it is impossible to be able to tell with much certainty from the accord schedule whether any of these conditions have been met. For example, the EU conditions use words like “comparable emission reductions” and “responsibilities and respective capabilities” without stating what these conditions actually mean.

A global framework for emission reductions should have an accounting framework that converts commitments into actual emissions. When countries make conditions for their commitments, these conditions should be based on this framework. Countries would then know what they would need to do in order for other countries to increase their level of ambition.

If a legally binding treaty is negotiated, it should be designed with these considerations in mind. Unfortunately progress on a legally binding agreement has been difficult: at Copenhagen, Tuvalu proposed to form a Contact Group to discuss legally binding agreements, but this was blocked by China, India, Saudi Arabia, and some other OPEC states.

[Via http://climatedilemma.com]

Reflective Tape Blue Lighted Flashing 6 LED Pet Dog Safety Nylon Collar

2010-02-04T03:31:00.000+02:00

When taking a walk with your pet, you should be confident that its security is guaranteed. Mostly the security comes from the type of collar that the pet is wearing or the type of leash that you are using on it. LED pet supply is very popular now. If it is just the normal collar then it might be hard to see it in dark places or when there is poor visibility. Drivers and cyclists might also not be able to spot it if it happens to get on their way. Therefore, in just to be sure you should go for the cheap gadgets - Reflecting Tape Blue Lighted Flashing 6 LED Pet Dog Safety Nylon Collars. The reflective material of this LED accessory ensures that you don’t loose the sight of your dog easily when walking.

Size: 50cm * 2.5cm (L * W)
Material: Nylon reflection material
3 lighting modes: steady on, quick flashing, slow flashing.
Light color: blue
6 LED
China LED lights will produce reflective effect with reflective tape.
Lifespan: 100,000hours
Runtime: 50hours continuously
Battery: 2 * R2032 button cells (included in side footprint box)
Adjustable quick release, side squeeze buckle
Weather resistant
Package include: 1* LED Pet Collar with batteries

From: http://www.chinabuye.com/reflective-tape-blue-lighted-flashing-6-led-pet-dog-safety-nylon-collar

[Via http://cheapledgadgets.wordpress.com]

China's top universities will rival Oxbridge, says Yale president

2010-02-02T19:53:00.000+02:00

“China’s top universities could soon rival Oxford, Cambridge and the Ivy League, the president of Yale University has warned. Professor Richard Levin, speaking to the Guardian on a trip to the UK, said Chinese institutions would rank in the world’s top 10 universities in 25 years’ time, squeezing out some of the west’s elite campuses …” (more)

[Jessica Shepherd, Guardian, 2 February]

[Via http://9thlevelireland.wordpress.com]

China Economic Indicator: Largest Oil Company To Up Output 28%

2010-02-02T11:29:00.000+02:00

If there was any question about how quickly the Chinese think their economy will grow this year, the production targets for Cnooc, its largest off shore oil and gas exploration company, answer them.

Cnooc plans to increase production by 28% according to Bloomberg. “That’s a staggering production forecast after a stand-out 2009,” David Hewitt, an energy analyst at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets said the news service reported.

The forecast says a great deal about the likely trajectory of China’s manufacturing and transportation industries for the balance of the year. But, it is also a reasonable guide to oil demand, which so far analysts have expected will be modest this year.

The predictions of $70 to $80 a barrel of crude this year are usually based on moderate industrial growth in the developing world and tiny improvements in the older developed nations. China’s internal growth forecasts must be better than most experts expect.

Douglas A. McIntyre

[Via http://247wallst.com]

‘It seems that the Indian polity is divided, India is confused’: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

2010-01-31T11:50:00.000+02:00

RupeeNews

LONDON: Referring to the meeting between the two ministers in New York September last, Shah Mahmood Qureshi clarified: “I gave him (S M Krishna) a very crisp proposal, a roadmap for the future. He said he would get back to me, but he has not got back to me. That means he has nothing to offer.” He persisted: “It seems that the Indian polity is divided, India is confused.”

The war of words between India and Pakistan has escalated with external affairs minister S M Krishna on Friday attempting damage control after his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s accusations against India a day earlier. Both ministers were in London to attend the Afghanistan Conference.

Qureshi had also stated that the MEA was divided on Pakistan. Krishna retorted: “I don’t know what makes him say that the MEA speaks in two voices. I think there is total unity of thinking in the ministry and unity of approach.”

LONDON: A one-day international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday rejected India’s argument that there were no degrees of Talibanism. British

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, hosting the conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, announced in his opening address the establishment of a $500 million ‘trust fund’ to buy “peace and integration” with warriors who are engaged in violence for economic rather than ideological reasons. A whopping $140 million has been pledged already for this year.

During his pre-conference discussion with the British foreign secretary David Miliband, external affairs minister S M Krishna had specifically said, “There should be no distinction between a good Taliban and a bad Taliban.” But this clearly fell on deaf ears. It was also unclear whether remnants of Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, once cultivated by India, would be accommodated in any way. There was also no reference to the erstwhile foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, who put up a spirited fight in the first round of the recent controversial presidential election and exposed fraud before withdrawing from the contest.

Krishna was allocated a seat in the second of three rows of attendees at the conference which in itself reflected India’s peripheral role in Afghan affairs in the eyes of the international community. This, despite India being the biggest regional aid-giver to Afghanistan, with a commitment of $1.3 million. Earlier in the week, Turkey, an ally of Pakistan, did not even bother to invite India to a confabulation on Afghanistan.

Krishna was among more than 70 foreign ministers and officials of international organisations who attended the convention at the 185-year-old Lancaster House, a coveted venue for summits and high level interactions.

Pakistan supports a differentiation between Taliban segments, including being generally soft towards the Afghan Taliban, which was sponsored by the Pakistani Army’s Inter-Services Intelligence. In an interview to a British daily on Thursday, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed: “Pakistan is perhaps better placed than any other country in the world to support Afghan reintegration and reconciliation.”

As a goodwill gesture, the conference was preceded by a lifting of United Nations sanctions on five leaders of the obscurantist Taliban regime, which was ousted by armed forces led by the United States after the 9/11 attack on New York by the Afghanistan-based Al Qaida. Among the beneficiaries is a former foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil.

However, Brown warned, “But those insurgents who refuse to accept the conditions for reintegration, we have no choice but to pursue them militarily.” It is widely believed that hardcore elements among the extremists will not accept the amnesty.

In keeping with United States President Barack Obama’s plan to start withdrawing American troops in a little over 18 months, Brown also declared that to fill the breach the strength of the Afghan army would be increased to 134,000 by October of this year and to 171,600 by October 2011. Corresponding enlargements would also occur in respect of the Afghan police. The template for Afghanistan is similar to the one utilised in Iraq, that of handover of responsibilities province by province to national security forces. Times of India. World rejects India’s Taliban stand

[Via http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com]

The Slippery Sidewalks of Jilin City

2010-01-31T03:51:00.000+02:00

This is the only city I’ve been to in Northeast China where they don’t clean the snow off of the sidewalks. Going outside is now an adventure and a test of balance. While little old ladies in high heels were perfectly capable of running full speed down these sidewalks, I fell over at least once a day moving at a snails pace.

[Via http://kenlarmon.com]

UN Secret Detention Report Asks, "Where Are the CIA Ghost Prisoners?"

2010-01-30T11:43:00.000+02:00

Thursday 28 January 2010

by: Andy Worthington, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

(Photo: loungerie; Edited: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t)

A major new report on secret detention policies around the world, conducted by four independent UN human rights experts, concludes that, “On a global scale, secret detention in connection with counter-terrorist policies remains a serious problem,” and, “If resorted to in a widespread and systematic manner, secret detention might reach the threshold of a crime against humanity.”

The 226-page report, published on Wednesday in an advance unedited version, is the culmination of a year-long joint study by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. It will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March.

In an introduction, the UN experts established that:

a person is kept in secret detention if State authorities acting in their official capacity, or persons acting under the orders thereof, with the authorization, consent, support or acquiescence of the State, or in any other situation where the action or omission of the detaining person is attributable to the State, deprive persons of their liberty; where the person is not permitted any contact with the outside world (“incommunicado detention”); and when the detaining or otherwise competent authority denies, refuses to confirm or deny or actively conceals the fact that the person is deprived of his/her liberty, hidden from the outside world, including, for example, family, independent lawyers or non-governmental organizations, or refuses to provide or actively conceals information about the fate or whereabouts of the detainee.

After running through the historical background to secret detention – both in a legal context, and through numerous examples from the 20th century – the report focused primarily on secret detention in the last nine years, providing a detailed account of US policies in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and also running through the practice of secret detention in 25 other countries, including Algeria, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Libya, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

These sections contain valuable summaries, explaining how, in many cases, terrorism is used as a cover for secret detention policies of a political nature. However, the heart of the report is a detailed analysis of the Bush administration’s “war on terror” policies.

Of particular concern to the authors of the joint study – beyond the overall illegality of the entire project conceived and executed by the Bush administration – is the fate of dozens of men held in secret prisons run by the CIA, or transferred by the CIA to prisons in other countries. Based on figures disclosed in one of the Office of Legal Counsel’s notorious “torture memos,” written in May 2005 by Assistant Attorney General Stephen Bradbury, the CIA had, by May 2005, “taken custody of 94 prisoners [redacted] and ha[d] employed enhanced techniques to varying degrees in the interrogations of 28 of these detainees.”

The 28 men subjected to “enhanced techniques” are clearly the “high-value detainees” – including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and Abu Zubaydah – who were transferred to Guantánamo in September 2006, but no official account has ever explained what happened to the other 14 high-value detainees, or, indeed, to the majority of the other 66 men.

The report also established that, at a minimum, many dozens of other prisoners were rendered to prisons in other countries.

In tracking these men, the report traced the development of the US secret detention program, drawing on new research into flight records to demonstrate that rendition flights, carefully disguised in the records, flew to Poland, Romania and Lithuania. The report also touched on the existence of a secret facility within Guantánamo, exposed by Scott Horton for Harper’s Magazine last week, which prompted the experts to note that they were “very concerned about the possibility that three Guantánamo detainees (Salah Ahmed Al-Salami, Mani Shaman Al-Utaybi and Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani) might have died during interrogations at this facility, instead of in their own cells, on 9 June 2006.”

Also mentioned are two little-reported facilities in the Balkans – Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and Eagle Base in Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina – and a claim that Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean (a British territory leased to the US) was used in 2005-06 to hold Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, a joint Syrian-Spanish national.

Accounting for other prisoners, the report focused on a number of secret prisons in Afghanistan – in particular, the “Dark Prison,” the “Salt Pit” and a secret facility within Bagram airbase. Of the 94 men mentioned by Stephen Bradbury – minus the 14 transferred to Guantánamo in September 2006 – the report established that eight were released, that 23 others were transferred to Guantánamo (mostly in 2004), that four escaped from Bagram in July 2005, that four others are still in Bagram (three of whom are awaiting a US appeals court ruling on their successful habeas corpus petition last March) and that five others were returned to Libya in 2006.

These five include Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, the CIA’s most notorious “ghost prisoner,” who falsely confessed, under torture in Egypt, that there were connections between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, which were subsequently used to justify the invasion of Iraq. After multiple renditions to other countries, al-Libi’s return to Libya came to a dark end last May, when he died under mysterious circumstances.

Discussing the other prisoners, whose current whereabouts are unexplained, the experts noted, “It is probable that some of these men have been returned to their home countries, and that others are still held in Bagram.” As I explained in an article last week, following the publication of the first ever list of prisoners held in Bagram, it appears that a handful of these men may indeed be in Bagram, but not all of them, and it is, therefore, imperative that the publication of this list leads to pressure on the Obama administration to reveal details of all the “disappeared” detainees.

The report also examined the cases of 35 men rendered by the CIA to Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Morocco, between 2001 and 2004. As with the “ghost prisoners” in Afghanistan, many of these men later surfaced in Guantánamo, or were freed, but the whereabouts of others – particularly those in Syria, and, probably, other completely unknown men rendered to Egypt – are unknown, even though some of the prisoners rendered to Syria were flown there as long ago as 2002, and, in at least two cases, were only teenagers at the time.

There are also sections on secret detention in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uzbekistan, and the experts also criticized other countries for their involvement in the program, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Kenya and the UK. According to Reuters, throughout the report, 66 countries in total are implicated in one way or another in secret detention practices – either independently, or as part of the US-led war on terror.

In concluding their review of US detention policies since 9/11, the experts welcomed President Obama’s commitment to revoke and repudiate many of the Bush administration’s policies, including the closure of all CIA black sites, but requested clarification “as to whether detainees were held in CIA ‘black sites’ in Iraq and Afghanistan or elsewhere when President Obama took office, and, if so, what happened to the detainees who were held at that time.” They were also “concerned that the Executive Order which instructed the CIA ‘to close any detention facilities that it currently operates’ does not extend to the facilities where the CIA detains individuals on ‘a short-term transitory basis,’” and, in the light of suggestions by Scott Horton that the secret facility at Guantánamo may have been run by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), noted that the order “does not seem to extend to detention facilities operated by” JSOC.

These were not their only concerns. Although they welcomed the implementation in August 2009 of a new policy whereby the International Committee of the Red Cross must be notified of all prisoners’ names within two weeks of capture, they noted that “there is no legal justification for this two-week period of secret detention,” because the Geneva Conventions allow only a week, and also because of their fears that some prisoners are being held who were not captured on the battlefield, and who may, as I noted in an article in September, in fact be prisoners who have been rendered to facilities outside of the military’s control (at Bagram in Afghanistan and Camp Nama in Iraq). The experts explained that they had “noted with concern news reports which quoted current government officials saying that ‘the importance of Bagram as a holding site for terrorism suspects captured outside Afghanistan and Iraq has risen under the Obama administration, which barred the Central Intelligence Agency from using its secret prisons for long-term detention.’”

The experts’ final concern was with Bagram’s new review system for prisoners. They noted that the decision to replace the existing system, which the judge in the habeas cases last March described as a process that “falls well short of what the Supreme Court found inadequate at Guantanamo,” was still inadequate. As they explained:

[T]he new review system fails to address the fact that detainees in an active war zone should be held according to the Geneva Conventions, screened close to the time and place of capture if there is any doubt about their status, and not be subjected to reviews at some point after their capture to determine whether they should continue to be held.

They were also “concerned that the system appears to specifically aim to prevent US courts from having access to foreign detainees captured in other countries and rendered to Bagram,” and, despite welcoming the release of the names of 645 prisoners at Bagram, urged the US government “to provide information on the citizenship, length of detention and place of capture of all detainees currently held within Bagram Air Base.”

While the report spreads its net wide, the US administration’s response to its findings about the Bush administration’s legacy of “disappeared” prisoners, and its focus on the gray areas of Obama’s current policies, is particularly anticipated. So far, however, there has been silence from US officials, and only the British, moaning about “unsubstantiated and irresponsible” claims, have so far dared to challenge their well-chronicled complicity in the secret detention policies underpinning the whole of the war on terror, which do not appear to have been thoroughly banished, one year after Barack Obama took office.

[Via http://zakiraah.wordpress.com]

British Iraq Inquiry: An ‘old fashioned anti-Semitism’

2010-01-30T03:52:00.000+02:00

Protesters outside the inquiry dressed (left to right) as Tony Blair, George W. Bush and Gordon Brown. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

“Criticism of Israel is old fashioned anti-Semitism,” Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada.

“A greater transparency about involving legal advice would have prevented the issue being left entirely to the Attorney General,” ,” – Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the only top British civil official who resigned in protest to London’s support for Dubya Bush’s war on Iraq in 2003.

What is wrong with Brits these days, eh! Though their elites played a major role (Balfour Declaration) in getting rid of millions of Jews from the West to a far-away Muslim Arab land in the Middle East – now some of them in the legal business are hunting for the mass-murderers, but ‘respectable” Israeli politicians and military leaders for being involved in the genocide of Iraqis, Palestinians and Lebanese.

A ’secret’ Iraq Inquiry on the role of Tony Blair’s government in Washington’s attack on Iraq based on Mossad/CIA fasle evidence of Iraqi WMDs – was announced by the British pro-Israel prime minister Gordon Brown on June 15, 2009. Later, however, under criticism by parliamentarians , the British government agreed to make the inquiry public. Gordon Brown himself chose a panel of five to conduct the inquiry under the chairmanship of Sir John Chilcot. Therefore, the inquiry is sometimes called “Chilcot Inquiry”. The other four members are; Sir Lawrence Freedman, Sir Martin Gilbert, Sir Roderic Lyne and Baroness Prashar. Both Lawrence Freedman and Martin Gilbert are welknown pro-Israel Zionist Jews. In raelity, like Barack Obama administeration, Gordon Brown’ government is also dominated by members of Friends of Israel, a British Zionist lobby group – which hold major power in both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

In his testimony to the Iraq Inquiry, former British prime minister showed no remorse for collaborating with Bush which resulted in the murder of over million of Iraqi Muslims and Christians civilians for the security of Israel. Now the same Israeli poodle says that Islamic Iran is a bigger threat than (Iraq) in 2003. Contrary to Tony Blair’s hatred towards the Muslims, the former British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, exposed Tony Blair’s lies in front of the inquiry on January 21, 2010 by saying: “I would not have written cosy letters to the US President promising that Britain would be there when America went to war (against Saddam Hussein).” Jack Straw is also against military action against Islamic Iran on Iraq-WMD style Israeli Hasbara evidence.

Oliver Miles, former Ambassador to Libya, writing in the Independent on November 22, 2009 – raised the doubts that the presence of two pro-Israeli members on the 5-member Iraq Inquiry would most probably hide the pro-Israel Jewish Lobby’s role in Britain’s joining the invasion of Iraq. The Jewish-owned TIME magazine called Oliver Miles’ comment as “disgraceful”. On January 28, 2010 – BBC was quoted Martin Gilbert, whom it described as a “proud practicing Jew and Zionist” saying he feels “deep unease” at Oliver Miles comments.

Professor William A. Cook (University of La Verne, southern California) in his book Zionist control of Britain\’s government: 1940-2009 traces the history of how Britain became a Zionist Occupied Government (ZOG). Reviewing the book Gilad Atzmon (Israel-born UK Jewish citizen)made the comment: “After so many years of setting the tone, bribing UK politicians and controlling the BBC they (Zionists) are used to being untouchable”.

It’s obvious that Iraq Inquiry would be as much of an official cover-up of Israeli involvement as was the case in the US’s 9-11 Commission. Both involved Zionist Jews as members. For example, 9-11 Commission member, Philip Zelikow, who told an audience at the University of Virginia on September 10, 2002:

“Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I’ll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990—it’s the threat against Israel. And this is the threat that dare not speak its name, because the Europeans don’t care deeply about that threat, I will tell you frankly. And the American government doesn’t want to lean too hard on it rhetorically, because it is not a popular sell.” ~ Rehmat’s World

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

Google's 'big sister' launches in China

2010-01-28T11:42:00.000+02:00

A new search engine and social network provider called Goojje has appeared online in China. The site contains very similar branding to Google, and the final syllable “jje” sounds similar to the Mandarin word for older sister (jiejie). Goojie’s search results appear to be filtered for sensitive content in accordance with Chinese regulations. Google has recently objected to those restrictions, but the new site appears to be urging it to remain in China. Google said on 12 January that hackers had tried to infiltrate its software coding and the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, in a “highly sophisticated” attack. The California-based firm – which launched in China in 2006 – said it would remain in China only if the government relaxed censorship. According to the Reuters news agency, Goojje has a message on its site which reads: “Sister was very happy when brother gave up the thought of leaving and stayed for sister”. While Goojje sounds like “sister”, the word Google sounds similar to the Mandarin word gege, which means “big brother”. Google has declined to comment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8483597.stm

[Via http://virginonmedia.wordpress.com]

Chinese legal experts call for ban on eating cats and dogs | World news | guardian.co.uk

2010-01-28T03:34:00.000+02:00

Chinese legal experts call for ban on eating cats and dogs | World news | guardian.co.uk

Chinese legal experts are proposing a ban on eating dogs and cats in a contentious move to end a culinary tradition dating back thousands of years.

The recommendation will be submitted to higher authorities in April as part of a draft bill to tackle animal abuse.

In ancient times, dog meat was considered a medicinal tonic. Today, it is commonly available throughout the country, but particularly in the north where dog stew is popular for its supposed warming qualities.

In recent years, however, such traditions are increasingly criticised by an affluent, pet-loving, urban middle class. Online petitions against dog and cat consumption have attracted tens of thousands of signatures. Videos showing the maltreatment of farmed dogs have spurred protests at markets where the animals are bought and sold.

But the drafters of the new proposal want far more drastic measures, which would oblige law enforcement authorities to close down thousands of dog restaurants and butchers which supply the meat.

According to the draft, illegal sale or consumption of pets would incur a maximum penalty of 15 days in prison for individuals or a 500,000 yuan fine for businesses. Public security bureaus would be obliged to respond to hotline calls from the public about violations.

“We are proposing that all dog and cat eating should be banned because it is causing many social problems,” said Chang Jiwen, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who heads the drafting team.

He said recent murders and thefts related to the dog meat trade showed that it had become a source of tension, while the economic impact of a ban would be small because an increasingly affluent population was less dependent on dog and cat meat.

The proposal reflects changing public opinion and international input. Drafters at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have been consulting for more than a year with Britain’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the US-based International Fund for Animal Welfare.

But the plan for a dog meat ban has stirred up fierce debate between animal welfare groups and defenders of traditional values.

“I support this proposal. Whether you judge this as a question of food security or emotions, there is absolutely no necessity in China for people to eat dogs and cats,” said Zeng Li, the founder of the Lucky Cats shelter in Beijing. “We need something more than moral pressure. Beijing’s dog restaurants get their meat mainly from vagrant and stolen dogs. In the suburbs, dogs are hung and slaughtered in front of buyers.”

Online critics said it was hypocritical to protect only dogs and cats, and that the government should focus on human welfare before protecting animals.

“This is absurd. Why only dogs and cats? How about pigs, cows and sheep,” wrote a poster going by the name Mummy on the Xhinua news agency website.

“I hope the experts went to see what laid-off workers and people in rural areas have to eat. They should pay more concern to problems that people really care about,” said another contributor under the name Starfish.

Even before the pet meat ban, the draft bill had already provoked controversy. Initial plans for a comprehensive animal welfare law had to be dropped in the face of criticism that human living conditions ought to be the priority at this stage in China’s development.

The focus has now been narrowed to prevention of animal abuse, which is defined as inflicting unnecessary pain and brutality. Even so, it is far from certain that the draft will be adopted by the government or the National People’s Congress.

• Additional reporting by Cui Zheng

Blogged with the Flock Browser

[Via http://barbaryalan.wordpress.com]

Airline to shanghai

2010-01-26T11:51:00.000+02:00

Finding an airline to Shanghai does not seem to be a problem, considering the fact that it is one of China’s major travel hubs, and whatever your nationality, there’s likely to be at least one carrier in your country that operates the route. As the most sophisticatedly developed and at the same time one of the most interesting cities in China, Shanghai draws both business and experiential travelers, who keep coming in mind-boggling numbers despite the worldwide economic crisis.

Daily Comment - 26th/27th January 2010: One Economy's Drink is another Economy's Poison

2010-01-26T03:24:00.000+02:00

Macro

One Economy’s Drink is another Economy’s Poison

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I was going to be away for the next couple of days, so I’ll give you the updates right now. I’ll try to simplify some of our discussions yesterday.

Firstly, in case you missed the dialogue on the question of whether inflation is good for stocks, as I mentioned, equities and commodities can indeed be good inflation hedges. In fact, as I mentioned in Decoding the so-called stock market rally/economic outlook contradiction, the rally of 2009 was, in part, an inflation trade which would have more than compensated for many years of inflation. Incidentally, one of the reasons for the equity rally I stated as being the pressure release on equities as a manifestation of an exploding monetary base in the banking system. Which, of course, makes Obama’s comments all the more poignant. This is more than just your run-of-the-mill anti-Obama sell-off. He’s effectively attempting to put a political plug on the Wall Street bank-monetary-base-to-risk-asset inflation valve in an attempt to get the inflation transmission-mechanism functioning more properly on Main Street. Hence the equity market sell-off had some conviction to it.

But when considering the cost of inflation or whether it is “good” for stocks or not we have to consider:

a) generally speaking the level of price inflation which results 4% is manageable 8% – less so. The piece I wrote on Friday was referring to how a higher inflation than we are accustomed to (what we are likely to get if the Fed is “successful” in promoting Money Supply traction) will be much more destructive to society and the economy and ultimately even real asset appreciation than we have been used to.

b) we need to differentiate between what is good for the economy versus what is good for equities/commodities and when independence between the two collapses.

c) the difference between the various economies, say, East and West, when considering inflation.

It’s the last point I wish to expand on today. Put (very) simply:

Less developed, Emerging economies with second-class infrastructure and support mechanisms (and thus higher savings rates) which run large surpluses would regard inflation as enemy #1. These countries (like China) consequently, would currently rather err on the side of disinflation.

More developed, Western economies with first-class inftrastructure and support mechanisms (and thus lower savings rates and record levels of consumer indebtedness) with run large deficits would regard deflation as enemy #1. These countries (like US, UK) consequently, would currently rather err on the side of inflation.

This would explain extremely responsive and proactive restrictive monetary policy (and associated rhetoric) by PRoC even while recorded CPI remains below trend while Bernanke has explicitly stated that The Fed would leave policy extremely accomodative for an extended period and would economic factors such as employment to gauge their more retroactive exit policy.

We’ve seen how equity markets react to restrictive Chinese monetary policy, so we need to monitor carefully the rhetoric as well as the inflation measures in China over the next few months. If inflation risks prove to be benign and China’s management of inflation expectations proves to be effective, there is no reason why equity markets continue to function with a normal level of volatility. However, tightening will get quite aggressive quite quickly at the first sign of a problematic inflation trajectory and, as we have seen already. While good for volatility, this could be at the expense of equity prices.

Macro Data to Watch 26th Jan:

Singapore Ind Prod
Korean GDP
UK GDP
US Consumer Confidence

Macro Data to Watch 27th Jan:

German CPI
South African CPI
Australian CPI

[Via http://theinternationalperspective.wordpress.com]

Sunday Africa Blog Roundup: Chinese Culture in Africa, Egypt-Sudan Relations, Uganda Anti-Gay Law, Africa and Haiti

2010-01-24T11:11:00.000+02:00

Reuters discusses China’s cultural outreach to Africa:

While China’s economic influence is now mighty and its cheap goods can be bought everywhere from Lagos to tiny tribal villages in remotest Ethiopia, Africans, especially young ones, still admire and try to copy U.S. culture.

Middle class teenagers in Nairobi dress like suburban kids from Atlanta, posters of Obama adorn minibus windows in Kinshasa, American hip-hop is everywhere.

China now seems to have realised this.

Here in Addis Ababa this week China and Ethiopia signed an agreement to work on a “cultural exchange program” from 2010 to 2013. Ethiopia’s state news agency said the countries will dispatch “art troupes, artists, writers and art exhibitions” to each other. It will be interesting to see how mutual the traffic is.

Sean Brooks explores relations between Egypt and Sudan.

Over at Foreign Policy, Kayzan Farzan says politicians are backing away from a proposed anti-gay law in Uganda. “Friction over the bill,” Farzan writes, “has led to a proxy battle over the U.S.’ cultural influence in the region.”

Kal looks at dialogues between Islamic scholars and Salafists in Mauritania. At Al Jazeera, Mohamed Vall addresses the same topic.

Chris Blattman passes on some “undiplomatic” remarks on the UN from James O.C. Jonah, former Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs under Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Louisa Lombard analyzes an encounter between an American gold mining company and the government of the Central African Republic.

Texas in Africa fills us in on Africa’s efforts in the Haiti crisis.

And here’s a blog I just came across: Roving Bandit, on South Sudan.

What are you reading?

[Via http://sahelblog.wordpress.com]

Demand virtue Science

2010-01-24T03:17:00.000+02:00

Science is defined to be knowledge of something. The most primitive science that has existed since the era of Greece, among others philosophy, mathematics, astronomy.

Philosophy includes concepts such as schools of natural Egosentris, Geosentris, or Heliosentris. Final views expressed SOCRATES. In mathematics, PHYTAGORAS find the definition of the relationship Right triangle.

Greek civilization and then move to the Islamic environment 8H-century in the eraByzantine Kingdom. Islamic scientists contributed to the incised Basic Medical ie Ibnu Sina alias Aavicenna, Astronomy such Umar Khayam. At that time in Cina science and technology have also been initiated. The discovery paper as stationery in China, the development of China’s Great Wall of China shows that when the State was in the shape of the empire’s civilized progress. If there’s no one Hadith the Prophet “Insist Science Into the Chinese State“.

Knowledge and then turned to Christian hands after the Crusades. The emergence of the Renaissance movement in France that spread to the Continent to produce works of art or a new political philosophy and the birth era of industrialization. The spirit of the Renaissance and Humanism is the concept “COBAR DERUM” or “Enjoy Life“.

In the UK the Industrial Revolution which arises from the concept originated Mercantilism (Home Industry). The Industrial Revolution is the application of technological innovation by scientists in the 18th century. The discovery of steam engine by James Watt, Aircraft by Wilbur Wright brothers, Machine Print by Johann Gutenberg, and other innovations.

In America, a Thomas Alva Edison succeeded in creating light after hundreds of experiments, Alexander Graham Bell created the Telephone and Telegraph. Albert Einstein did research on uranium as a raw material Atomic Bomb. Unfortunately research is misused for the purposes of World War II. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the U.S. bombed open our eyes that science should be directed to humanitarian or conservation of the earth and the atmosphere.

In a Hadith the Prophet of Islam: “Science without religion Blind, Religion Without Science Lame” Saheeh, suggests that pursuing knowledge is emphasized in Islam, both of Religious Science and other sciences. Looking for science can be done formally or informally. School is a science that links the most dominant and is now an integral part of our society.

[Via http://frijal.wordpress.com]

Social Pests Part III: Revelations of an Ah Tiong ShopperSoci

2010-01-23T11:36:00.000+02:00

I used to work in retail. Sadly, I got fired for asking for a more transparent salary system. That’s so Liberating Truth Style. Haha. This is one of the reason that made me start this blog.

Anyway, I would like to give you guys a breakdown of an Ah Tiong Shopper, in the fashion retail, through my observation.

1. She walks in, with full knowledge that she cannot afford or is unwilling to afford the kind of money to buy the merchandise. Some just come in to try for fun and make a nuisance. They don’t realize that they are making a fool of themselves.

2. She usually walks in with a guy or an older man. Only a few shops independently – I really respect such Chinese women who have the means to dress themselves up independently.

3. She asks you whether there is a discount, even when she knows that merchandises are NETT PRICE. No discount/ promotion is pasted anywhere. They expect you, the retail assistant, to give them a discount. – We ain’t the bosses.

4. She takes super long to consider buying and likes to yak about how she can afford it, even when she’s not buying. I’ve spent 2 days serving the same China shopper wanting to buy that particular item. It was absurd but they do it all the time. Some even throw tantrums. =,= gawd. it’s abusingly painful.

5. And when she really buys, you can consider yourself fking lucky. Half the time, it’s because she has sajiaoed enough to the man that the man buys it for her. That’s how cheap this tiong shoppers are and the stories you read on Lianhe Wanbao are true. But who cares, you still close that sale anyway.

Here’s a story about the B*TCH tiong I served…

There’s this old lady who brings different girls to the store I used to work at. Who knows what is the profession of such girls? And most of the time, they don’t buy anything. One of the girl this time was a knnbccb She walks in arrogantly and went through the racks aggressively. When she found a piece she wants, she ordered me like a servant. There’s no respect @ all. I mean I think that is just TIONG to do so.

She insisted me to let her try a few pieces, WITHOUT looking at the price. From one look, I knew that she is not buying. Fine, I mean that’s my job. I just let her try. =) So after trying, then she asks me for the price. I told her it is 800bucks… she just shove everything in my face. Any human being will be pissed. Summore it’s a tiong and I really hate tiongs (anyway, in my own definitation, a tiong is an uncouth and rude Chinese national who has a very low EQ and sense of moral values.) Look at how I write IT. No offense but sometimes, they treat their fellow human being like dogs. And what are we always taught? To treat people how we want to be treated. There you go. IT.

The next moment, it walked off with the old lady and her friend, without any gratitude or saying thank you.

FYI, this is not a hate post. It’s just experience about how crude can these Tiongs get and SGP is letting them flood into our country like some refugee camp.

[Via http://theliberatingtruth.wordpress.com]

Warnings surrounding the impending Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline deal

2010-01-23T03:41:00.000+02:00

Found some important news in the Iranian press today that needs additional discussion.

Iran, Pakistan to sign gas pipeline deal ‘next week’

Press TV,

Thursday, 21st January, 2010.

Pakistani Federal Minister for Petroleum Naveed Qamar has declared that Iran and Pakistan have finalized an agreement to build a natural gas pipeline.

Qamar said the federal government is taking serious measures to combat the current energy crisis in the country.

He noted that the two countries will sign an accord on the pipeline next week, Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Pakistani minister’s remarks come as the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke had earlier urged Islamabad to avoid the deal with Iran.

Holbrooke said the US would help Pakistan secure liquefied natural gas supplies, should it abandon the planned gas deal with Iran.

———————–

As I have repeated on this blog several times, an Iran-Pakistan pipeline deal is of key importance for countries in the region. Firstly, such a deal greatly increases Pakistan’s energy security and represents an opportunity for the country to overcome its domestic energy shortages. This deal is a great political and economic boon for Iran and will vastly increase their regional influence. The pipeline can be extended into China, who has expressed great interest in such a deal. For China, a natural gas pipeline from Iran via Pakistan means increased energy security via reduced reliance on vulnerable sea transports from the Middle East and Africa. It also means co-dependence on Iran and Pakistan for its energy needs and a key interest in the political security of those nations.

For these reasons, such a pipeline does not fit in with the long-term geopolitical strategy of the U.S. and will be heavily opposed. Consequently, expect significantly increased actions by the U.S. against Pakistan and Iran to disrupt this deal over the coming months. Efforts to destabilize Pakistan will likely significantly increase. Mostly this will be more of the same – internal disruption via mobilization of insurgent groups against the Pakistani government. We will see many more (1) al-Qaeda-like terrorist attacks that destabilize the country and promote civil war conditions, (2) agitation against the Pakistani government amongst militant Islamic groups such as when the CIA run al-Qaeda, blamed the Pakistani government for crimes it committed, (3) predator drone attacks which do nothing but stir up resistance and recruit people for the Taliban. Imperial overstretch means that conventional war (i.e. boots on the ground) is probably not possible between the U.S. and Pakistan. Therefore, be on the lookout for any attempts to play India off against Pakistan. Though any such action would have an incredibly slim chance of success and in the short term would actually stabilize Pakistan by galvanizing Pakistani patriotism, such an action could feasibly be attempted in order to use India as a stooge to diminish the strength of the Pakistani military. While this would inevitably create resistance to India amongst the various Islamic and tribal factions, a diminished military would increase the possibility over time that the various tribal and Islamic groups may try to seize power in Pakistan and end up Balkanizing the nation.

The U.S. does seem to want to avoid a conventional war with Iran, so I am predicting covert, rather than overt actions in that country (though Israel can always throw a spanner in the works at any time by unilaterally bombing Iran). The strategy regarding Iran will be to resurrect the Mousavi faction. Due to the inherent risk of blowback in Iraq, these actions will be less extreme compared to what can be done in Pakistan. I would expect to see increased efforts in Iran to get rid of the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad regime in order to kill the pipeline deal. There will be: (1) more disruption from the Mousavi faction (he might even be killed to spark mass unrest), (2) more cross-border terrorist attacks from Pakistan like last October’s suicide bombing of Revolutionary Guard commanders by U.S. funded group, Jundullah, (3) more internal terrorism from MKO etc during protests. Basically, anything to elicit a violent domestic response and cause further destabilization that does not provoke an Iranian response in Iraq.

If any significant escalation in covert activity within these two countries eventuates in the next few months, we will know who the real culprits are and the reasons behind their attacks.

: : : : : : : : : : :

[Via http://eschatonic.wordpress.com]

Bỏ chạy khỏi miền tự trị Yinchuan...

2010-01-21T11:44:00.000+02:00

Yinchuan khí hậu khó ở, gợi nhớ Ai Cập 3 năm trước tôi đi, cũng tháng 3 thế này. Cũng gió sa mạc, nắng sa mạc, cháy khô da mà lạnh cắt thịt.

Yinchuan sáng và tối lạnh cóng. Vừa vào khách sạn tắm rửa xong chạy ra nhìn xuống balcon, nắng ở đâu kéo về chói chang khiến tôi chả dám ra đường.

Còn ở đâu nữa, khu đồi cát cách đó không xa. Vùng này cận Mông Cổ, cũng chung một thứ bệnh khá đau đầu là bệnh sa mạc đang ăn dần vào đất ở. Nên nắng và gió và, cũng giống giống nhau…

Yinchuan là thủ phủ của The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, nghĩ ra cái tên tiếng Việt chưa ra, tôi không giỏi cả 3 thứ tiếng Anh Việt Hoa nên thôi, cứ ghi như trong sách tôi đọc, để chú ý một số thứ khác mà tôi cũng ít dịp được đọc từ nhiều nguồn tư liệu, mà do mình đến tận nơi.

Cứ đinh ninh rằng ông lãnh đạo Giang có chính sách từ nhiều năm trước sau một lần công du đến vùng Tây Bắc này, là sẽ dồn ngân sách khẩn trương để cân chỉnh điều tiết kinh tế, bảo vệ môi trường, bảo tồn văn hoá…

Tôi hí hửng đến đây.

Bước xuống đường, là bước xuống đời luôn. Nơi tôi ở là khách sạn gọi là 4 sao, tên Kaida International. Tôi cho rằng nó chỉ tầm 2-3 sao rồi họ tự đẩy lên thôi, chứ vào nhà tắm bước ra là biết ngay mấy sao ấy mà.

Thì nơi này là mặt tiền trung tâm, vị trí đắt địa cũng cỡ khu Đồng Khởi bên Saigon mình.

Nhưng bước ra đường là thấy rùng mình. Ôi lem nhem đường sá, bảng hiệu nhà cửa xô lệch, xe bus xe taxi chạy loạn vô tội vạ không theo lane line như mấy thành phố vừa đi qua.

Có nhiều chùa chiềng và có nhiều nhà thờ, đền thờ Hồi Giáo.

Dân ở đây phần lớn là theo đạo Hồi. Đạo không ăn thịt heo (lợn). Không ăn lừa ngựa dê chó. Các con vật khác muốn mổ xẻ thì phải tuân theo luật giết thú ăn thịt rất nghiêm nhặt của người trong đạo.

Dân Hoa đến đây sống lập nghiệp, ăn tùm lum thú hết, con gì cũng ăn. Lại thờ Đạo Phật.

Nhìn họ sống gần nhau, cứ rùng mình sợ chiến tranh đến nơi, cảm giác lạ lắm.

Ở Guangzhou cũng nguy hiểm chứ, nhưng cái nguy hiểm giành giật đâm chém vì tiền bạc sao không thấy ghê, mà cái u uẩn của hiềm thù tôn giáo, tôi thấy nghẹt thở thật sự.

Không dám chụp hình. Có quá nhiều ông đạo Hồi chống nạng thương phế binh. Chân cụt đến trên gối, mặt mũi lăm le cái gì mình không biết.

Có tiếng nổ đì đoàng cứ hơn nửa tiếng là mấy phát. Lúc ở khách sạn online với bạn Măng già, tôi còn định bảo này ku, bên này vui lắm, mấy ổng cho đốt pháo hay pháo hoa gì mà tớ nghe lốp bốp vui tai lắm í.

Đi một vòng quan sát phố phường về khách sạn, nghĩ chắc không ở lâu được. Mà thật, về là cãi nhau một trận với bọn nhân viên lễ tân.

Hồi sáng check in, chúng bảo mỗi ngày 200 yuan, phải ứng 400 thì mới được ở. Ở China người ta không bao giờ giữ hộ chiếu của khách, chỉ giữ tiền đặt cọc 2 ngày trước thôi.

Khi tôi về, cô nàng nào mới toanh, hình như được cử đến để nói tiếng Anh với tôi, chứ cái bọn còn lại, cứ phone lên phòng tôi, tôi alô hỏi gì, thì im thin thít rồi tịt.

Cô nàng mới này thu hết nước bọt, trán vã mồ hôi, rặn được mấy câu tôi hiểu là nàng đòi thêm tiền vì ngày hôm sau giá tiền là 300 yuan, giá 200 là sales off cho ngày đầu thôi.

Tôi bảo tôi chỉ ở một ngày.

Nàng bảo thế thì ngày của chị đã chấm dứt.

Tôi trợn mắt, tôi check in lúc 5g sáng vì tàu đến giờ đó.

Nàng bảo, vậy thì 12 giờ trưa là phải out.

Tôi cãi, thế sao lúc check in tôi hỏi lễ tân bảo là 12giờ mai mới out? Nàng bảo luật ở đây là vậy, không nói nhiều.

Tôi chán. Lên dọn đồ mới bực. Quần áo mình mới đổ ra giặt còn ướt long tong…

Hành lý thêm một túi to đồ ướt. Tôi vội lao ra taxi về sân ga.

Dạo quanh ráng kiếm khách sạn khác, thấy rùng mình. Họ ăn ở bẩn không thể vào được. Tôi bỏ chạy thật rồi.

Chao ôi, không một bóng du khách.

Không có một dòng chữ tiếng Anh nào để gọi là mình bớt đau. Họ làm cho người không nói tiếng Hoa cảm thấy nhục ghê gớm thế này thì làm sao phát triển du lịch được đây. Đó là chưa kể cảm giác bất an. Mà khỏi, nghĩ lại thấy mình gan. Tiếng súng đì đoàng mà dám bảo đó là pháo hoa…

Tẩu vi thượng sách.

Ra ga tàu, kiếm tàu đi Beijing. Không dám nghĩ đến vùng tự trị nữa. Bên Mông cũng tự trị, để về uống thêm 3 thang thuốc liều đã.

Không có vé Beijing, tôi bảo thế thì Shanghai, đi gấp trong ngày.

Họ huy động cả một đội nhân viên đến đàm phán vì không ai biết tiếng Anh. Tôi lục tung hành lý kiếm cái bản đồ Tung Của. Mất đâu rồi, vỗ trán nhớ ra mình lo cãi nhau rồi để trên quầy tiếp tân khách sạn rồi.

Mất bản đồ là coi như mất cái… tiền đồ, sẽ đen như mực, đen hơn cái của chị Dậu là chắc.

Khổ ghê lắm, không ai biết tôi mua được cái bản đồ đó tôi mừng thế nào. Vì nó có cả tiếng Anh. Hầu hết bản đồ bên này là toàn tiếng đó, tôi thua!

May mà mình chọn nơi đến là Shanghai, ít có ai không nghe ra chữ Shanghai.

Họ giúp tôi mua nhanh vé tàu, tôi lao vào nhà chờ. Thà nằm chết trong nhà chờ còn hơn là lang thang bên ngoài đường sá Yinchuan.

Nhà chờ, toàn dân nội địa. Có một ông đạo Hồi, đội mũ trắng, mắt lăm lăm lườm lườm tôi từ trên xuống dưới rồi đảo lại 3 lần. Tôi đảo mắt theo ông, nhìn kỹ mình. Đâu có gì hở hớ đâu kìa? Sao ông ta nhìn mình như muốn giết ấy!

Lên tàu rồi, thoát ông ấy rồi. Vội lục cuốn sách viết về vùng này, về đạo Hồi ở đây.

Té ra, hiểu. Đàn bà đứng tuổi, choàng khăn đen. Sồn thì khăn trắng.

Trẻ măng, 9, 10 X mới choàng khăn xanh lá cây. Màu xanh là khẳng định tớ còn cái kia chưa dùng đấy!

Khăn tôi thì xanh màu lá lúa. Chết mày rồi con, nhí nhảnh nhở! Mày tưởng mày còn đấy! Choàng khăn xanh. Sướng…

Hú cái hồn. Nhớ lại tiếng “pháo” đì đoàng. Nghĩ đến nơi sắp đến, đường xa lắm. Từ bắc đến nam chứ ít à. Nghĩ đến bài hát Bến Thượng Hải mà đi taxi hay được nghe:

Hát thế này: Lộn phanh… Lộn lầu…

[Via http://loanbb.wordpress.com]

Google hacking: Was it the Chinese government?

2010-01-21T03:39:00.000+02:00

Google hacking: Was it the Chinese government?

Another discussion of the Google issue de jour, this one an attempt to clarify the question as to who attempted to hack Google. While I hope that this post makes sense by itself, it will be somewhat clearer if you first read my earlier posting, “If Google leaves China, Human Rights and Access to Information will both be net losers”. Here I want to discuss, at some length, the following three questions:

1) What do we know for certain?

2) If not the Chinese government, then who?

3) Why I think the Chinese government either did it or wants the world to believe that it did.

I myself am inclined to believe it was the Chinese government, or at least that the government wants it believed that it was, for reasons discussed below. But I also believe that there are many other possibilities, and that at bottom, the issue is rather a silly one.

1) First, what do we know for certain? A brief answer here: almost nothing is certain. I accept that there was an incident, or a series or incidents, and these became linked in the media to many other similar incidents in an attempt to make meaning, and to draw audiences. From there everything gets rather murky.

Even Google’s motives in raising the issue now are disputed. Particularly here in China, netizens seem mostly to believe that the issue is simply one of Google’s frustration at its local market share, that it is prepared to leave because it was not a winner. This is a very interesting shift in attitudes between Chinese and American people. After many decades of doing outrageous things for the flimsiest of idealistic or ideological reasons, Chinese now see economic explanations as dominate ones. Americans, after decades of criticizing this Chinese behavior, now believe that Google acted not out of self-interest but out of altruism. One would think that at least Google shareholders would want a slightly stronger explanation, given the potential size of the China market. Weird!

So, accepting Google’s explanations, what do we know about the possible perpetrators? Again, nothing is certain. This, of course, does not prevent the media from not only speculating, but of presenting speculations as certainties. A number of businesses whose business it is to profit from analyzing or preventing such intrusions contributed their opinions, in some cases, conflicting ones.[i]

Media criticisms of China commonly show some common characteristics, one of which is that the articles, while often being carefully nuanced themselves, rapidly cascade toward certainty as they build upon each other. It is also common now that headlines or article headers proclaim certainty while the content often indicates considerable qualification.

John Markoff’s recent piece in the NYT is almost a classroom example for this sort of process.[ii] The article title fairly screams: “Evidence Found for Chinese Attack on Google” Most readers would, like myself I think, immediately assume a smoking gun. This is the only part of the piece that everybody will read, after that most readers are not going to go much further. Thus we have it, the Chinese government did it!

However, the article itself tells us only that the perpetrators are likely Chinese speakers because the malicious code was in the Chinese language and copied from a source that appeared, it is said, only in a Chinese technical journal. Now we have narrowed the suspects down to no more than several billion people distributed through China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc., right down, I must assume to The New York Times own staff.

Does this in fact prove that the Chinese government did it? The expert being interviewed himself uses numerous qualifiers and finally concludes: “Occam’s Razor suggests that the simplest explanation is probably the best one.” Oh good, that is plenty of evidence upon which to base an international incident with unspeakably large potential consequences.

Markoff’s article title could be used to illustrate a few other Western concepts, such as Orientalism, the process of ascribing characteristics to an entire people based on ultimately racist assumptions about them. The term “Chinese” here clearly means The Chinese Government, the evidence suggests Some Chinese Speakers. This argument, of course, may seem a trivially academic one, but bear with me; I am going to build upon it below….

2) If Not the Chinese government, then who?

In my opinion, and like everybody else involved in this incident, I am expressing primarily my opinion; there is as yet no evidence that it was the Chinese government which might stand up in a court of law.

Markoff’s expert wound up appealing to a medieval argument for good reason; that is about the best that we can do. There are so many ways to loop Internet attacks through the web itself that certainty is finally impossible without something other than electronic evidence.

This attack began, it seems, most directly from a computer based in Taiwan, and then it has been followed back to mainland computers. This is an awfully simple route. Hackers and spammers in the private black-hat sector routinely use a lot more stages than that. Given purported Chinese control of some critical American sites, it would not have been impossible to pass the attack through pentagon computers, for example. This is of course, not evidence, merely a sort of quirk in the event.

Why is China inevitably involved in significant hacking events if Chinese are not the perpetrators? This question is pretty easy to answer. The Chinese computer system, despite all the media images of highly polished robot-like oriental geeks manning high-tech intrusions posts, is a mess. Once in Wenzhou I sat for an hour and watched 111 attempts to place a virus on my computer, all of which triggered my protective software and told me where the attempts were coming from—from the campus where I was working, even from which computer.

I patiently assembled a list and took it to the tech office. The Director grimaced and apologized. They knew about those computers, and many more—they were indeed sending out viruses around the clock. Some had been doing so for years. But they did not know where the machines themselves were. He had no record of when and where machines were added, their system had grown so swiftly and often by ad hoc illicit additions, that his office knew very little and was helpless to stop them. He did not have his systems mapped! And was unable to do so. Like most Chinese I.T. directors, he had given up.

Multiply that example by every campus, corporation, and private computer network in China, and it becomes obvious that China may be the world’s most fertile ground for hackers.

If it was the Chinese government acting directly, and there is a strong argument so far not trotted out for it being the ultimate but not the immediate culprit, I think it would have been far more sophisticated, and far more deniable. Google has said that the attack, while prolonged, was easily turned back. I once asked a no more than moderately knowledgeable le employee of a private security firm how difficult would it be, if you knew the location, to access something in the Google cloud? The reply was, “Like opening your closet door and rummaging through your clothes.”

The argument that it was the Chinese government has rested, by and large, on the position that only the Chinese government might have done it, or had motive to do it. To me, this is only a step above arguing that Fu Manchu has exited from some fiendish Limehouse device, possibly cryogenic or time-traveling, and is back in the game.

There are, however, a number of other possible perps, in addition to the Chinese government or Fu Manchu. One possible perp is any one of a number of young Chinese hacker-nationalists popularly known as “Angry Youth.” These folks, many acting privately and out of what they think of as good nationalist reasons, are actually to the right of the Chinese government now, or would it be to their left?

Anyway, like many American congressmen, they think that the government is just not doing enough to stand up to the bad guys, in this case, the former Western imperialists. Mao once proclaimed, a bit prematurely, “Now the East Wind prevails over the West Wind.” The Angry Youth now respond, “Cool, time to get some back!”

However flawed their motives may seem to us, they think of themselves as acting righteously and spontaneously in the government’s interests—the 21st century equivalent of the Boxers, judged to be a patriotic group here. Perhaps Boxers—“The Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists,” is too much “back in the day,” so let’s call them “Mousers”.

Do any of the Angry Youth have the ability? Oh yeah, unquestionably. They include distributed groups of well-trained and equipped I.T. specialists. They can read, and write, technical articles, like the one discussed above with the smoking code in it. They have been cyberjousting with the Iranian hackers who recently took down Baidu for god’s sake.[iii] Google has apparently been searching for government moles in its staff in Beijing, but I trust that they were thoughtful enough to look for Angry Youth as well.

Other suspects? Not quite endless, but numerous indeed. There are many reasons for wanting to identify lists of dissidents in China, some of which might seem positive to those bent on regime change. The CIA, for example. The hacker mirror image of Angry Youth, dissident youth. Fa Lun Gong, which once took over Chinese Central Television for most of a day operating, apparently, from a “former” American air base and listening post in Taiwan. Taiwan itself. And this only assumes the motive of wanting to identify dissidents for positive reasons.

If we add a second-level motivation of wanting to discredit the Chinese government, we have all the above plus yet additional figures.

What about blackmail purposes?

What about commercial rivalries? Baidu! Microsoft! Yahoo! If Google leaves, these latter two become players.

Obviously, some of these are far-fetched indeed, but none can be discounted without consideration, and Occam’s razor will not really sort them out for us.

3) Why I think the Chinese government either did it or wants the world to believe that it did.

It is not possible for me to sort out these two arguments and choose one, but both rest on a simple premise. The Chinese government knew who the dissidents were and was undoubtedly doing its best to monitor them. (It has been interesting to me that so many dissidents have come forward voluntarily to proclaim their involvement in this matter; things have really changed here, an important fact to remember in these circumstances…) The Chinese government also, undoubtedly does its best to monitor G-mail out of the mainland we must assume, given its proclivity for wanting to know every damned thing about every damned thing.

Moreover, we cannot rule out that some of these folks are serious dissidents, even terrorists, the sort of folk we would lock up in a moment if they were Muslims in the U.S.

And while we are on this issue, I am relieved to see that the President announced, again, that he is in favor of the “freedom of the internet.”[iv]

(Barack, if you are reading this, would you mind emailing me your blackberry number? I am going to pass through American customs in about 36 hours, and I understand that they have the right to open my computer and look through it, and I have a bunch of stuff I have downloaded in there, and might want to give you a call if there are any problems! And I read that the FBI recently has been conducting illegal searches on email—including that of some journalists— without bothering to don their usual fig leaf of referring to open terrorism cases. And can I call you and talk to you about that Patriot Act thing???)

By its lights the Chinese government feels it has the moral authority, and knows it has the legal authority, to monitor dissidents. And its lights are often not that different than my government’s lights.

So given this level of interest in dissidents and its vast facilities—including a labor force recently estimated at 30,000 internet monitors, how can the government not know who did attack Google, even if it did not do so? There are several possible answers here:

It does know. It knows because it used off-the-books private Chinese citizens, whether “Angry Youth” or mercenary hackers to do so, permitting it now to deny its agency. If the simplistic Occam’s razor actually has any merit at all, this is the answer right here. Why should the government have exposed itself—and ineptly so—by using its own people and its own machines?

The Chinese government knows, but does not bust the perps because it wants to let the world believe that it did do it…

What could more discourage dissidents than the image of an omnipotent Chinese government capable even of hacking into Google, the state-of-the-art Western corporation which, incidentally, has bet the farm on the inviolability of its servers and its cloud? If the dissidents’ email is not safe, neither is your correspondence with your tax attorney, your accountant, or those cute notes to Snookums. Better cancel that G-mail account!

Uber-Summary: Google, Chinese government, and American government: Step away from those microphones and that mouse! Get a grip! Even, you know, compromise! This is too important to stomp around in like Bruce Willis or Jet Li. Remember some other issues here: Rogue states with nuclear weapons; Global Warming; International trade, etc., etc., etc.

From Hong Kong, 1/21/2010

Chairman Mouse

[i] See: McAfee Cites Microsoft Flaw in Cyberattacks

By VINDU GOEL

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/mcafee-cites-microsoft-flaw-in-cyberattacks/ See also: Tania Branigan in Beijing and Kevin Anderson, guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 January 2010 19.20 GMT Google attacks traced back to China, says US internet security firm Verisign’s iDefense Labs says IP addresses of attack ‘correspond to single foreign entity consisting either of agents of Chinese state or proxies thereof’

[ii] Evidence Found for Chinese Attack on Google

By JOHN MARKOFF, January 19, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/technology/20cyber.html?hp

[iii] See http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/12/iranian-hackers-chinese-search-engine

[iv] See China responds to Google hacking claims

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 January 2010 07.41 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/14/china-google-hacking-response-dissidents

[Via http://chinatripper.wordpress.com]

Fasting Palace

2010-01-19T11:22:00.000+02:00

Doorway to the Fasting Palace at the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing. It is also called the Palace of Abstinence, and that name suits it better. This is because the Emperor did not come here to fast. Rather, he would come here to purify himself before participating in ceremonies by staying off meat, liquor and women.

[Via http://chaayaa.wordpress.com]

Leaping over the Great Firewall

2010-01-19T03:49:00.000+02:00

It’s tremendously easy to circumvent internet censorship in China. If anybody wants to access a blocked website, it can be done. One method I use is a proxy server, which is free. The other is a virtual private network (VPN), which costs a little money (maybe $1 a week to subscribe to.) Both essentially give me an American IP address, and encode my internet, so the firewall can’t pick out any information that it should block. I’m actually using a free VPN as I write this, called Hotspot Shield, however it is constantly popping up ads, for everything from toothpaste to porn, and I would not recommend it to anybody.

What the Golden Shield Project, or “Great Firewall,” does, however, is create a huge inconvenience, and the average internet user in China can generally find what they’re looking for on Chinese websites much more easily than foreign ones. For example, there is a Chinese equivalent to Facebook (http://www.renren.com) and numerous blog-hosting websites (http://www.sina.com.cn, for one), which follow Chinese law and censor themselves. An internet user here has no reason to go through the inconvenience of reading or setting up a Blogger or WordPress blog, unless they have something sensitive to say.

The genius of the system is not that its bullet-proof – far from it. It’s effective because it sets up enough roadblocks that if somebody wishes to access censored material, they must go through one of the above methods to do so. Most internet users simply aren’t bothered to jump through a few hoops to do that.

Of course, its effectiveness also goes hand-in-hand with a few other things, such as the government’s control of the education system and media. For instance, few people born after 1980 have heard about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as it isn’t a part of any Chinese history class and never mentioned in the media. Why would they search for something they’ve never heard of? Similarly, a certain view of Tibetan history is taught that is almost uniformly believed in China (China as liberators of the Tibetan serfs), and the Dalai Lama’s portrayal in the Chinese media is essentially the opposite to that found in the western media.

This kind of brings us back to Google. If it leaves, it’s leaving essentially the entire Chinese market behind. Few Chinese users will take the time and effort to continue to use Google if search results are constantly blocked for not abiding by Chinese law. Users will turn to the Chinese Baidu, or maybe Microsoft’s Bing will step in and fill the void. On the other hand, if Google backtracks now, and agrees to re-censor its search results, it would be a huge embarrassment for the company. From a business perspective, Google will probably be the loser.

[Via http://stephensmart.wordpress.com]

Sunday Africa Blog Roundup: Nigeria and District 9, Asia and Africa, Sudan and Chad

2010-01-17T11:49:00.000+02:00

Africa Is A Country points us to an interesting essay on the portrayal of Nigerians in District 9.

The middle classes in Africa (via Texas in Africa and Scarlett Lion).

Reuters on economic and political ties between Africa and Asia.

Sean Brooks parses the effects of a (possible) end to hostilities between Chad and Sudan.

Is there an end coming to the Sudan/Chad proxy war? Perhaps, and that may be a good thing in the long run, but in the short run the people of North Darfur are bearing the brunt of changing calculations by the ruling regimes in Khartoum and N’djamena. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) last week issued an urgent warning about attacks on civilians by the Chadian opposition forces operating in North Darfur. These troubling developments may be in response to the much rumored rapprochement between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Chadian President Idris Deby.

Speaking of Darfur, Rob Crilly has a nice takedown of Bernard-Henri Levy on the subject.

What are you reading?

[Via http://sahelblog.wordpress.com]

Bargaining

2010-01-17T03:42:00.000+02:00

Unless you go to a large, chain store, prices in China are a little more fluid. If you can bargain well, items may be cheaper. If you’re a foreigner, items may be more expensive. Well, actually, that’s always the case.

I took some American friends shopping this week. They were leaving China after about 8 months here, so they wanted to buy gifts for family and friends back home. Their Chinese is limited, so I gave them a hand. We went to a market that has a lot of jia de, or fake, jade and jewelery, and hand-made crafts, such as kites. I thought I was doing great, saving 70 RMB in one shop, almost 100 RMB at another. But later my girlfriend still told me that we over-paid (and in her typical evil way, laughed at me in front of my friends.)

So, I’ve developed some rules for shopping at markets.

If you buy a lot at one time, you can get a larger discount on individual prices.
Ask for a price, then immediately offer 15% of that price. If they counter with an offer, then great. If not…
Don’t be afraid to walk out of the store. In a market, there are dozens of similar stores selling the same crap. Sometimes they follow after you and agree to the price.
Just don’t care. You’re bargaining over mere dollars. You wouldn’t give a damn back home, so just have fun, and if you don’t get the price you want, then go somewhere else.

[Via http://stephensmart.wordpress.com]

India – China: Rift Widens

2010-01-16T11:16:00.000+02:00

Daily.Pk

INDIA IS LOSING THE BALANCE

Sino india India which has openly signed a number of mutual agreements with China, calling the latter a strategic partner, has been playing a double game with Beijing by acting upon a secret strategy.

Although Sino-Indian differences have always existed due to Indian presumption that peace-loving China is its adversary, yet the same has entered into the alarming situation when on December 29, 2009, Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor openly revealed that Indian Army “is now revising its five-year-old doctrine” and is preparing for a “possible two-front war with China and Pakistan.” While New Delhi is no is match to Beijing in conventional and nuclear weapons, but this statement clearly shows that Indian rulers are ready to go even to the extent of war especially against China. However, with the statement of Kapoor, Sino-Indian rift which has been in its embryonic stage has come on the surface.

Last year, Indian leaders and media seriously reacted to an article of a Chinese think-tank, Zhan Lue who suggested the disintegration of India. As a matter of fact, it was the only personal opinion of a Chinese think-tank, having no official backing, but Indian high officials took it as the state voice of Beijing. In this respect, on August 11, India Today cited Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta disclosing: “China is likely to be more assertive on its claims, especially on its immediate neighbours…matching division should be changed to technological advancement on the Indian military side. We should reduce the Chinese footprints on the Indian Ocean.”

While criticising the article, former officer of the Indian intelligence agency, RAW RSN Singh remarked, “This kind of a report never comes without state approval. But India is fully prepared, if the Chinese think of any misadventure, they will be in for a shock.”

In fact, under the pretext of Chinese threat to the Indian Union, New Delhi has itself been planning to destablise, and even to disintegrate China. In this regard, on March 10, 2008 when anti-government violent protests by Buddhist monks erupted in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa including nearby provinces, India, backed the same, though outwardly denied. Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet who has lived in exile in India along with his 120,000 followers since a failed revolt against Chinese rule in 1959 has been tacitly encouraged by New Delhi—enabling him to mobilize armed groups and international support to create instability in the neighboring provinces of China. For this purpose, India has clandestinely established secret camps where Dalai Lama’s militants are being imparted armed training. In this respect, Indian RAW has sent a number of agents who have joined the ranks and files of the Tibetan insurgents of China, and they create unrest from time to time.

New Delhi shows that despite Sino-Indian border dispute, she does not favour an independenceBorder Disputes of Tibet and avoids any propaganda against Beijing. But Indian stand was indirectly expressed by its leaders and media. For example, the former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha had said, “We want good relations with China, but if we reach a point of conflict over Tibet, we should be prepared for that eventuality.”

The state-run China Daily, on July 27, 2006, denounced the Lama as a “splittist” and pointed out that he has “collaborated with the Indian military and American CIA to organise Indian Tibetan special border troops to fight their way back into Tibet.”

It is notable that in order to conceal its covert activities, India has always blamed China for backing Maoist uprising. In this context, instead of addressing the root causes of the Maoist uprising, Indian government has recently intensified its blame game against China, alleging for supplying arms to these insurgents.

While everyone knows that in more than seven states, India itself faces separatist movements which are the result of acute poverty and social injustices. Particularly, Maoist movement has been raging in the form of peasant uprising in West Bengal. And its leader, Mupala Luxman Rao in 1969, protested against big Hindu landlords who left no stone unturned in molesting the poor people through their mal-treatment such as forced labour, minimum wages, unlawful torture and even killings. Now this movement which is indigenous has expanded to Indian other regions including Maharashtra. At present, it is a popular insurgency by the downtrodden who have massive support of people for their ideology.

In this regard, on October 31, 2009, The New York Times wrote, “India’s Maoist rebels are now present in 20 states and have killed more than 900 Indian security officers…India’s rapid economic growth has made it an emerging global power but also deepened stark inequalities in society.” However, by neglecting all these ground realties, and accusing Beijing, New Delhi has been advancing towards a self-destructive path. Taking cognizance of Kapoor’s threat against China and Pakistan, on January 2, Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid has rightly indicated, “The Indian Army Chief’s statement exhibits a lack of strategic acumen. He further said that such a path could “fix India on a self-destructive mechanism.”

India’s misperceptions about Beijing in connection with Maoist movement could also be judged from the fact that it has also been accusing the latter for supporting Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Recently, India has also blamed China for backing a Maoist study center so as to cause uprising in Nepal. While these Indian allegations were already proved untrue when in the recent past, Maoist political party won the overwhelming majority in country’s first genuine elections.

As regards Indian new military build up against China, on May 31 last year, after 43 years, New Delhi re-opened its Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) airbase in northern Ladakh, which overlooks the strategic Karakoram Pass and is only 8 kilometers, south of the Chinese border-Aksai Chin area. India has also erected more than 10 new helipads and roads between the Sino-Indian border.

In this connection, Defence Ministry planners are working on building additional airfields and increasing troops—raising two new mountain divisions to be deployed along the 4,057-kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC).

With the help of Israel and America, on 26 February 2008, India conducted its first test of a nuclear-capable missile from an under sea platform after completing its project in connection with air, land and sea ballistic systems.

In the recent past, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta revealed that New Delhi “will soon float tenders to acquire six submarines”. Mehta also accused Beijing and explained that the “Indian Navy would keep a close watch on the movements of Chinese submarines which are operating out of an underground base in the South China Sea” and “wish to enter the Indian Ocean”. However, under the pretension of China factor, New Delhi and Israel with the tactical support of the sole superpower are plotting to block the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean for their joint strategic goals.

It is of particular attention that in May 1998, when India detonated five nuclear tests, the then Defense Minister George Fernandes had declared publicly that “China is India’s potential threat No. 1.” India which successfully tested missile, Agni-111 in May 2007, has been extending its range to target all the big cities of China.

America which signed a nuclear deal with India in 2008, intends to make India a mini-super power of Asia by containing China and destablising Pakistan as well as Iran. Pakistan’s province, Balochistan where China has invested billion of dollars to develop Gwadar seaport irritates both Washington and New Delhi.

However, Beijing and Islamabad cannot neglect their common defence when their adversaries are following a covert strategy. In this connection, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari had decided to visit China after every three months to further cement ties between both the old friends. Both the countries have signed eleven agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors. So Sino-India rift is also part of the greater cold war between the US and China. Besides, Indian reservations regarding China’s infrastructural projects in Azad Kashmir are unjustified and discriminative.

Indian game plan against Beijing could also be assessed from the fact that on the one hand, New Delhi is grabbing waters of neighboring countries by building dams, while India is challenging the Chinese plans to build a dam on the river Yarlung Tsangpo in the upper reaches of Tibetan plateau, reiterating that it would adversely affect navigation in the Brahmaputra River.

Returning to our earlier discussion India which has wide-ranging agreements with Beijing, apparently emphasises mutual cooperation, but has been acting upon anti-China secret diplomacy. Hence, Sino-Indian rift has widened in the recent times.

Sajjad Shaukat

[Via http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com]

So, you want to visit China, pt. I

2010-01-16T03:52:00.000+02:00

I dug up a list of things that people are often surprised about when they first come to China, so I thought it would be fun to upload a few each day. The list is huge.

Don’t freak out when

…you blow your nose and your tissue is black. Of course, coal is used here in huge quantities. Weifang is actually not bad in this regard. We don’t have a lot of heavy industry here and the sky is pretty blue on most days, like today. However, I recently traveled to the western part of Shandong and did experience this first hand. I’ve heard Jinan, an hour west by train, is pretty bad sometimes.
people randomly and constantly shout out to you, “Hello!” then giggle. This happens every day and I don’t understand it, personally. It seems that it’s mostly young kids that do it, or males in their early 20s in a group. I just ignore it for the most part. I’m sure it’s part curiosity, part nervousness, and I’m sure part of it is genuine friendliness.
your empty beer glass while eating is suddenly refilled to the brim. The host is just being nice and wants to toast you… repeatedly. Fortunately, even I can out-drink many Chinese guys. Unfortunately, the beer is like water… one bottle means three bathroom trips.
people want their photos taken with you. Once in Beijing, a woman tried to give me her baby to hold for a photo. Surely, they’re tourists themselves, who have probably never met a foreigner. I often wonder about how many village homes my picture is now hanging up in.
people spit. When you hear that throat clearing sound, it’s time to duck and cover.

[Via http://stephensmart.wordpress.com]

RAW: An Instrument of Indian Expansionism

2010-01-14T11:52:00.000+02:00

Daily.Pk

The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), created in 1968, has assumed a significant status in the formulation of India’s domestic and foreign policies, particularly the later. Working directly under the Prime Minister, it has over the years become and effective instrument of India’s national power. In consonance with Kautilya’s precepts, RAW’s doctrine is based on the principle of waging a continuous series of battles of intrigues and secret wars.

RAW, ever since its creation, has always been a vital, though unobtrusive, actor in Indian policy-making apparatus. But it is the massive international dimensions of RAW operations that merit a closer examination. To the credit of this organization, it has in very short span of time mastered the art of spy warfare. Credit must go to Indira Gandhi who in the late 1970s gave it a changed and much more dynamic role. To suit her much publicized Indira Doctrine, (actually India Doctrine) Mrs. Gandhi specifically asked RAW to create a powerful organ within the organization which could undertake covert operations in neighboring countries. It is this capability that makes RAW a more fearsome agency than its superior KGB, CIA, MI-6, BND and the Mossad.

Its internal role is confined only in monitoring events having bearing on the external threat. RAW’s boss works directly under the Prime Minister. An Additional Secretary to the Government of India, under the Director RAW, is responsible for the Office of Special Operations (OSO), intelligence collected from different countries, internal security (under the Director General of Security), the electronic/technica l section and general administration. The Additional Secretary as well as the Director General of Security is also under the Director of RAW. DG Security has two important sections: the Aviation Research Center (ARC) and the Special Services Bureau (SSB). The joint Director has specified desks with different regional divisions/areas (countries):

Area one. Pakistan: Area two, China and South East Asia: Area three, the Middle East and Africa: and Area four, other countries.

Aviation Research Center (ARC) is responsible for interception, monitoring and jamming of target country’s communication systems. It has the most sophisticated electronic equipment and also a substantial number of aircraft equipped with state-of- the art eavesdropping devices. ARC was strengthened in mid-1987 by the addition of three new aircraft, the Gulf Stream-3. These aircraft can reportedly fly at an altitude of 52,000 ft and has an operating range of 5000 kms. ARC also controls a number of radar stations located close to India’s borders. Its aircraft also carry out oblique reconnaissance, along the border with Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Pakistan.

RAW having been given a virtual carte blanche to conduct destabilization operations in neighboring countries inimical to India to seriously undertook restructuring of its organization accordingly. RAW was given a list of seven countries (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Pakistan and Maldives) whom India considered its principal regional protagonists. It very soon systematically and brilliantly crafted covert operations in all these countries to coerce, destabilize and subvert them in consonance with the foreign policy objectives of the Indian Government.

RAW’s operations against the regional countries were conducted with great professional skill and expertise. Central to the operations was the establishment of a huge network inside the target countries. It used and targeted political dissent, ethnic divisions, economic backwardness and criminal elements within these states to foment subversion, terrorism and sabotage. Having thus created the conducive environments, RAW stage-managed future events in these countries in such a way that military intervention appears a natural concomitant of the events. In most cases, RAW’s hand remained hidden, but more often that not target countries soon began unearthing those “hidden hand”. A brief expose of RAW’s operations in neighboring countries would reveal the full expanse of its regional ambitions to suit India Doctrine ( Open Secrets. India’s Intelligence Unveiled by M K Dhar. Manas Publications, New Delhi, 2005 ).

Bangladesh

Indian intelligence agencies were involved in erstwhile East Pakistan,now Bangladesh since early 1960s. Its operatives were in touch with Sheikh Mujib for quite some time. Sheikh Mujib went to Agartala in 1965. The famous Agartala case was unearthed in 1967. In fact, the main purpose of raising RAW in 1968 was to organise covert operations in Bangladesh. As early as in 1968, RAW was given a green signal to begin mobilising all its resources for the impending surgical intervention in erstwhile East Pakistan. When in July 1971 General Manekshaw told Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that the army would not be ready till December to intervene in Bangladesh, she quickly turned to RAW for help. RAW was ready. Its officers used Bengali refugees to set up Mukti Bahini. Using this outfit as a cover, Indian military sneakeddeep into Bangladesh. The story of Mukti Bahini and RAW’s role in its creation and training is now well-known. RAW never concealed its Bangladesh operations. Interested readers may have details in Asoka Raina’s Inside RAW: the story of India’s secret service published by Vikas Publishing House of New Delhi.

The Indians played upon Bengali sentiments in the aftermath of the 1965 Pakistan-India war through RAW so that when opportunity struck the Indians were well-prepared. It was RAW that gradually converted Sheikh Mujibur Rehman from being a staunch supporter of Pakistan as a student leader to envisaging himself as the possible ‘Father’ of a new nation – Bangladesh. Indian sources, including journalists, have put on record how much before 1971 RAW had established the network of a separatist movement through ‘cells’ within East Pakistan and military training camps in Indian territory adjoining East Pakistan. The Mukti Bahini were all in place organisationally to take advantage of the political trouble in 1971 and carry out acts of sabotage against communication lines so that Indian forces simply marched in at the ‘right’ time. RAW agents provided valuable information as well as acting as an advance guard for conducting unconventional guerrilla acts against the Pakistani defence forces. A Bengali, who was a Mukti Bahini activist, Zainal Abedin, has written a revealing book which includes his personal experience in Indian training camps, entitled RAW and Bangladesh. It was the post-fall of Dhaka period which exposed the Indians’ true intentions and made Abedin realise that It was evident from the conduct of the Indian Army that they treated Bangladesh as a colony … It is now evident that India had helped the creation of Bangladesh with the aim that it would be a step forward towards the reunification of India.

Because Mujib returned, Indian forces could not remain in Bangladesh permanently and so it fell on RAW to initiate other fronts to undermine the sovereignty of Bangladesh. RAW has since been seeking to create Indian dominance culturally, ideologically and economically in Bangladesh.

In addition, RAW has also created another insurgency force: The Shanti Bahini (Fighters for Peace). This force comprises the Chittagong Hill Tracts Hindu and Buddhists tribesmen (the Chakmas) and the intention is to bleed the Bengali military and keep the border area tense. The Chakmas used to embarrass the Bangladesh government especially when the latter protested over Indian policy on the sharing of waters’ issue (http://www. defencejournal. com/jan99/ rawfacts. htm).

RAW’s involvement in Chittagong Hill Ttacts : some admissions

The Chakma guerrillas had closely assisted RAW operatives. They were assisted during and after the liberation War. The Chakmas, after the change of govt in 1975, contacted the RAW. The Chakmas offered to infiltrate among the Mizo rebels and pass on information to the Indian govt in lieu of assylum. This offer was accepted ( Inside RAW : The Story of India’s Secret Service, Asoka Raina, Vikas Publishers, New Delhi, 1981, pp.86-87 ).

In 1975, the RAW was instructed to assist the Chakma rebels with arms, supplies , bases and training. Training was conducted in the border camps in Tripura but specialized training was imparted at Chakrata near Dehra Doon. Shantu Larma’s Shanti Bahini members were flown to Chakrata and then sent back to Tripura to infiltrate into Chittagong Hill Tracts. A RAW office and its operatives at Agartala monitored the progress of the trainees. In 1976, the Shanti Bahini launched its first attack on the Bangladesh force. A new insurgency had been born and India’s secret war in the hills of Bangladesh had begun ( South Asia’s Fractured Frontier, Binalaksmi Nepram, Mittal Pablishers, New Delhi, 2002, pp-153 ).

The RAW was involved in training rebels of Chakma tribes and Shanti Bahini to carry out subversive activities in Bangladesh ( RAW’s role in Furthering India’s Foreign Policy, The New Nation, Dhaka, 31 August 1994 ).

The Indian intelligence had collaborated the armed rebels of Chittagong Hill Tracts to destabilise the region ( Indo-Bangladesh Relation, Motiur Rahman, daily Prothom Alo, 10 December 2002).

The creation of Bangladesh was masterminded by RAW in complicity with KGB under the covert clauses of Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation (adopted as 25-year Indo-Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation in 1972).RAW retained a keen interest in Bangladesh even after its independence. Mr. Subramaniam Swamy, Janata Dal MP, a close associate of Morarji Desai said that Rameswar Nath Kao, former Chief of RAW, and Shankaran Nair upset about Sheikh Mujib’s assassination chalked a plot to kill General Ziaur Rahman. However, when Morarji Desai came into power in 1977 he was indignant at RAW’s role in Bangladesh and ordered operations in Bangladesh to be called off; but by then RAW had already gone too far. General Zia continued to be in power for quite some time but he was assassinated after Indira Gandhi returned to power, though she denied her involvement in his assassination ( Weekly Sunday, Calcutta,18 September, 1988 ).

It has also unleashed a well-organized plan of psychological warfare, creation of polarisation among the armed forces, propaganda by false allegations of use of Bangladesh territory by ISI, creation of dissension’s among the political parties and religious sects, control of media, denial of river waters, and propping up a host of disputes in order to keep Bangladesh under a constant political and socio-economic pressure ( “RAW and Bangladesh” by Mohammad Zainal Abedin, November 1995, RAW In Bangladesh: Portrait of an Aggressive Intelligence, by Abu Rushd, Dhaka ).

RAW and Ford Foundation

Jaideep Saikia, an outward analyst, but virtually an Indian intelligence operative, hailing from Assam, abruptly tunes to India’s anti-Bangladesh campaign that the demography of Assam is being rapidly changed due to the alleged infiltration of the Bangladeshi Muslims into Northeast India, particularly in Assam in his recent book, “Terror sans frontiers: Islamist militancy in Northeast India”.

Educated, better to say trained, in school at the Rashtriya Indian Military College in Dehra Dun, Saikia recently researched on so-called Islamic Militancy in North East India under the aegis of a Ford Foundation fellowship, which was awarded for the year 2003. The research was conducted at the Program in ‘Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security’(ACDIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is an astonishing and utter folly how ‘For Foundation’ could sponsor and allow Saikia to use his fellowship on such an issue, which is not only controversial, but also baseless and false and a part of India’s anti-Bangladesh media campaign.

Saikia’s effort cannot be termed as research work, as this type of stories is written almost daily in India. India’s electronic and print media, including websites, are poured with such fabricated anti-Bangladesh items. It is assumed that Indian intelligence outfit RAW(Research & Analysis Wing) managed and possibly financed ‘Ford Foundation’ to award fellowship to Saikia, which he used not only to defame Bangladesh, but also to prepare a ground for India to invade Bangladesh.

Without deep and careful study it can easily be questioned, how Saikia, being a researcher could write, like his all other fellow-Indians, an essay having minimal statistics and historical facts, which he on the other hand, distorted in every possible ways. He tuning to his mentors in New Delhi chorused that Bangladeshis deliberately infiltrate into Assam to change the demography of the state either to form a new Muslim state out of Assam or merge the Muslim majority areas of the state with Bangladesh. To justify his claim, Saikia says, “The Muslims now constitute more than 70 per cent of the population of Dhubri district of Assam. But Saikia did not mention from which source he collected this religion-based demographic information, as the Indian census of 2001, did not enumerate its citizens on the basis of religion.

Secondly, he should know that at least five districts of Assam adjoining Sylhet had Muslim majority in 1947, when the subcontinent was partitioned. These districts were Goalpara, Hilakandi, Cacher, Dhubri and Karimganj subdivision of Sylhet. For this reason, the Muslims constitute about 30 per cent of the population of Assam. So whatever might be the percentage of the Muslims in any district of Assam it cannot be termed as a threat to Assam or India.

Thirdly, Assam or any other state is not richer than Bangladesh, rather many states of India, not to speak of Assam lag far behind Bangladesh to a great extent. So why should the Bangladeshis leave for a poorer region to lead a poorest life.It is to be mentioned that Assam Gano Parishad, (AGP) is the prophet of anti-immigration crusade in Assam. But during its 2-term rules, AGP government under Prafulla Kumar Mahanto could identify few Muslims as illegal infiltrators in Assam. Even the current Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gagoi and Former Chief Minister late Hiteshar Saikia officially acknowledged that there is no illegal infiltration of the Muslims in Assam.

Meanwhile, the Ahoms, including the mainstream secessionist outfit ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam), comprehended the design of RAW to divide the people of Assam into several antagonistic groups and crush them using one against the other mainly to frustrate the freedom struggle of Assam.

Realising the duplicity of Indian government, ULFA in July 1992 publicly declared the Bengali speaking migrants, which also include the Muslims, as friends. In a publication addressed to the ‘East Bengal migrants’ ULFA stated: “East Bengal migrants are considered Assamese. Without these exploited lot, ULFA cannot be successful. These are people who are educationally, economically backward. They cannot be our enemies.

These hardworking people are ULFA’s protection shield. Their contribution to the national income is immense. They can produce essential things from a small piece of land, sell without any profit, work hard for the betterment of Assam, sacrificing them for the future of the state. They are our real well wishers, our friends, better than the Indians. (’The Revolution Comes Full Circle: Bibhu Prasad Routray.)

In the same publication, ULFA went on to define the term ‘Bidekhi’(foreigner). “Those who do not regard this state as their own, accept it as their motherland, are not ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of this country, are aliens, ‘Bidekhis for us.” Saikia should have read this statement of ULFA. He should also know that the Bengali Muslims accepted Assamese as their mother tongue and identify them as Ahoms not as Bengalis. The new generations of the Muslim Ahoms even do not know Bengali. They are not antagonistic to the interest of Assam. All these factors prompted ULFA not to brand the Muslims as foreigners.

Being failed to brand the Muslims as infiltrators or outsiders, very recently India floated another allegations that Bangladesh designs to secede the Muslim majority districts of Assam either to merge with her territory or create an independent Muslim state in Assam. Virtually, the campaign is made to create anti-Muslim sentiment among the Ahoms so that the unity among communities becomes far a cry.

Saikia and other Indians not only floated the allegation of infiltration of the Bangladeshi Muslims to Assam, but also allege that Bangladesh in one of the mentors of the decades old secessionist militancy in Northeast. According to the allegation, which Saikia also did not forget to forefront in his book, Bangladesh provides shelter, training and even arms to different militant groups of the region, particularly ULFA, ATTF (All Tripura Tiger Forces), etc.

But being an Ahom and above all a researcher, Saikia should know that secessionist insurgency in Northeast when India got its independence from Britain in 1947, well before the birth of Bangladesh. People of this region do not feel them as Indians. They are fighting to end what they call, “Indian occupation.” Previously India blamed China, Burma (Now Myanmar), Pakistan and even America. But they shortened their list over the years and ascribe the allegation on Bangladesh and Pakistan. Some of the Indians now consider Bangladesh more dangerous for northeast than Pakistan. This allegation against Bangladesh was brought to the forefront, because it will be easier to squeeze weaker Bangladesh than any other country that India blames

But India could never prove any of her allegations against Bangladesh. India officially challenged that there are 195 camps or training centres of the Northeast insurgents in Bangladesh and supplied a list mentioning their whereabouts. According to the list, training centres and camps are situated in hospitals, police stations, residential colonies, government offices, playgrounds, etc. Bangladesh repeatedly requested India to come and show on-spot the existence of these camps and centres. But India never accepted the offer, as Indian policymakers know that there is not even single such centre or camp of the northeast militants, not to speak of 195.

Still the propagandists in New Delhi deliberately continue their fabricated allegations against Bangladesh, whose brief ulterior reasons I have mentioned earlier. I really feel pity for Saikia as well as Ford Foundation for being used as the tools of RAW. How Ford Foundation could accept such a baseless research work which goes against a country, which is a main target of Indian expansionist design. I would request Ford Foundation to send a ‘fact finding mission’ to Assam and Bangladesh as well to inspect the ground realities. Such mission will surely find that all the allegations that Saikia mentioned against Bangladesh in his so-called research work are the products of exaggeration and misinformation. Ford Foundation, to uphold its neutrality and worldwide reputation and acceptability, should consider my suggestion and act accordingly( http://banglades h-web.com/ view.php? hidDate=2005- 04-26&hidType=HIG&hidRecord=000000000 0000000042370)

August 17 Blasts: Is there external linkage?

The controversy over Tarique Zia’s seemingly misquoted comment in the BBC interview that al-Qaeda ‘may’ have been involved in the August 17 serial blasts notwithstanding, despondency is bound to set in as the investigators have not yet unearthed any significant leads to the attacks’ masterminds (and their political goals) despite over 300 arrestees’ testimony having been recorded and a slew of clues found.

Such uncertainty does give rise to an obvious concern: Is there an external link to the blasts and, if so, who could have pulled the strings from behind the nation’s borders, and why?

A study of the post-blast behaviour of the Indian media and the intelligence apparatuses can go a long way toward understanding why terrorist incidents in Bangladesh seem to matter so much to our neighbour. Since the attacks, the Indian media has launched a virtual crusade against Bangladesh, spearheaded by the Telegraph that wrote, ‘Delhi should urge major donors to impose economic sanctions on Bangladesh.’ The paper also reported that Indian security agencies had advised the central government to ‘force Khaleda Zia to clamp down on Islamic fundamentalist outfits’.

The government of Bangladesh did respond earnestly to such pressures and diatribes and conducted a virtual witch-hunt in the preceding weeks against Islamists of suspicious hues, although the end result of the ongoing manhunt seems destined to be as much a failure as the previous ones.

Meanwhile, a just concluded study of Bangladesh’s post-blast security situation by major Indian intelligence outfits pointed the finger of suspicion for the August 17 blasts at familiar groups like the Jagrata Muslim Janata and the Jamaatul Mujahideen, which are, says the study, ‘banned, and are known to have fanned anti-Indian sentiments’. Coincidentally, the police in Dhaka say the same thing but cannot trace the attacks’ elusive masterminds.

The masterminds of a series of such attacks over the years not having been traced, one cannot resist the temptation of being suspicious about the latest attacks’ genesis and the ultimate motivation of the masterminds.

The Indian intelligence bodies’ study, however, has made some interesting observations. ‘There were 370 explosions in 63 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. The kind of explosives used and the impact of each blast were similar to that on August 13 at a Muslim shrine in Akhaura in which one person was killed and 30 others were injured…There are insinuations that an earlier blast in August 2004 was suspected to have been inspired by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). It is possible that efforts will be on to malign India again by pointing fingers at Delhi,’ the study opined.

In conclusion, the study noted that ‘the outfits were emboldened because of the lack of tangible action by the Khaleda government… The blasts are intended to be a message to Dhaka and to discourage the government from succumbing to international pressure to clamp down on the outfits.’

Reportedly a separate detailed study, circulated among the top echelons of the Indian security establishment, says, ‘Delhi should actively consider economic measures against Bangladesh.’

The tirades of the Indian media and comments of the intelligence agencies aside, everyone knows that the Jamaatul Mujahideen had left leaflets on the sites of bombing and many of the arrestees have reportedly confessed to having carried out the attacks at its behest. Yet BNP Deputy Minister Ruhul Quddus Talukder (also an MP) had a different view of the events. He had said earlier, ‘I don’t think they (the JM) have such a strong network. Awami League must have done this, using fake leaflets, to blacken Bangladesh’s image internationally.’ Does the Minister know something that others don’t?

RAW: An Instrument of Indian Expansionism (2)

A somewhat similar claim came from Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini, chairman of the Amini faction of the Islami Oikya Jote and a constituent member of the ruling four-party alliance. He said on August 19, ‘Swearing upon Allah, I say the 14-party alliance of Awami League and left parties launched the bomb attacks in a planned way to uproot the Islamic forces, but Islamic forces can never be eliminated.’

To confound confusion further, both India and Israel were whisked into the scene by the Jamaat-e-Islami’s Amir and Industries Minister Matiur Rahman Nizami. He blamed India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and Israel’s Mossad for ‘playing an important role’ in the August 17 attacks. He added, ‘They are the patrons of the serial blasts as they don’t want good relations between Bangladesh and China. That’s why the incident occurred when Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was on a visit to Beijing.’

Juxtapose the above with the embedded Indian concerns over Bangladesh’s political developments over the years. The copy of a 2004 RAW report obtained by this author reads, ‘Pakistani intelligence officers in Dhaka are becoming increasingly active in espionage against India. In 2002, three modules (sic) being run by them from Dhaka, and using some Bangladeshi operatives, were busted. A large number of secret documents and photographs of sensitive defence locations were recovered from one Ziauddin Ahmed Biswas (resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal), arrested on November 17, 2002. Later, the arrest (December 2002 in Lucknow, UP) of Bangladeshi national, Mohammad Mamunur Rasheed, led to the recovery of fake travel documents and also incriminating documents indicating a plan to recruit Indian Muslim youths for training in Bangladesh and Pakistan for subversive activities within India.’

Another RAW report of 2004 implicates the Dhaka regime more directly. It says, ‘It is hardly any secret that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan has close links with Bangladesh’s Directorate- General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and operates openly and freely in that country. It (ISI) not only helps coordinate the activities of al-Qaeda and fundamentalist Islamic militant groups through the DGFI, but backs a Bangladeshi Taliban group named HUJI that runs six training camps for ULFA terrorists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.’

A West Bengal intelligence outfit goes a step further: ‘While ULFA training camps have been organised by the sector headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), training camps of the CNLF have been organised partly by 103 and 105 infantry brigades of the Bangladesh Army at Khagrachhari and Rangamati,’ the report claims.

From hindsight, the pattern of such accusations seems a corollary to many such reports circulated in the past. For instance, prominent security experts of India have been crying wolf since the late 1990s (long before the incidents of 9/11 that acted as a harbinger to the global hunts for Islamist terrorists) that activities in Bangladesh posed a serious danger to India’s security and national interests.

Particularly, Assam Governor Lt Gen (retd) SK Sinha wrote in his report to the central government in March 1998, ‘The long cherished design of Greater Bangladesh, making inroads into the strategic land link of Assam with the rest of India, can lead to severing the entire land mass of the North East from the rest of the country.’ In another report submitted to the President of India in November 1998, Sinha wrote, ‘Continued silent demographic invasion of the North East poses a great threat both to the identity of the Assamese people and to our national security.’ Influenced by such reports, India decided to fence the entire Indo-Bangladesh border at a cost of over $500 million and nearly 70% of border fencing was completed by mid-2005. The Indian Border Security Force also killed more than 500 innocent Bangladeshis over the years since General Sinha filed his first report.

India now claims that since 1990, Assam has seen the birth of 9 Muslim militant outfits owing allegiance to Harkat ul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba, the groups that run ferocious operations against Indian forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Indian intelligence outfits believe the groups have their rear bases inside Bangladesh. Is India looking for a pretext to launch pre-emptive military assaults on Bangladesh at some point in the future, based on such reports? Policy-makers in Dhaka must mull over this prospect seriously.

Coming to the August 17 blasts in particular, one wonders why the Islamists, whose ‘profound’ aim is to create a ‘Greater Bangladesh’ by creating demographic imbalance in the neighbouring Indian states of Assam and Tripura in particular (according to Indian reports), should resort to blasting of ‘innocuous’ bombs inside Bangladesh and leave behind signatures for identification? How is the mission of creating a greater Bangladesh served by such blasts?

Isn’t it more plausible that, in the absence of any verifiable and authentic conclusion, the blasts have occurred to prove to the world that Bangladesh is infested with Islamist Jihadis determined to take on India by using Bangladesh as a launching pad? At the least, such a hypothesis does mesh well with the embedded Indian perceptions of Bangladesh, as has been learnt from the intelligence reports quoted above.

It is under such contexts that one must compare the Indian mindset with the comments made by some Bangladeshi politicians after the August 17 blasts (quoted above), and try to guess the ‘untold’ reasons behind the authorities’ inability to reach any conclusion with respect to the attacks’ masterminds. Meanwhile, with each passing day, the tone of reports in the media of the two neighbours will keep confounding the conundrum instead of decoding the hidden secrets(http: //www.weeklyholi day.net/front. html#top) .

Sikkim and Bhutan

Sikkim was the easiest and most docile prey for RAW. Indira Gandhi annexed the Kingdom of Sikkim in mid-1970s, to be an integral part of India. The deposed King Chogyal Tenzig Wangehuck was closely followed by RAW’s agents until his death in 1992. Bhutan, like Nepal and Sikkim, is a land-locked country, totally dependent on India. RAW has developed links with members of the royal family as well as top bureaucrats to implements its policies. It has cultivated its agents amongst Nepalese settlers and is in a position to create difficulties for the Government of Bhutan. In fact, the King of Bhutan has been reduced to the position of merely acquiescing into New Delhi’s decisions and go by its dictates in the international arena.

Sri Lanka

Post- independence Sri Lanka, inspire of having a multi-sectoral population was a peaceful country till 1971 and was following

independent foreign policy. During 1971 Indo-Pakistan war despite of heavy pressure from India, Sri Lanka allowed Pakistan’s civil and military aircraft and ships to stage through its air and sea ports with unhindered re-fueling facilities. It also had permitted Israel to establish a nominal presence of its intelligence training set up. It permitted the installation of high powered transmitter by Voice of America (VOA) on its territory, which was resented by India.

It was because of these ‘irritants’ in the Indo-Sri Lanka relations that Mrs Indira Gandhi planned to bring Sri Lanka into the fold of the so-called Indira Doctrine (India Doctrine) Kao was told by Gandhi to repeat their Bangladesh success. RAW went looking for militants it could train to destabilize the regime. Camps were set up in Tamil Nadu and old RAW guerrillas trainers were dug out of retirement. RAW began arming the Tamil Tigers and training them at centers such as Gunda and Gorakhpur. As a sequel to this ploy, Sri Lanka was forced into Indianpower- web when Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 was singed and Indian Peace-Keeping- Force (IPKF) landed in Sri Lanka.

Up to the mid-seventies the Sri Lankan government had kept India happy by following policies which followed the Indian line – domestically and externally. The trouble began in 1977 when the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) lost power to the Jayewardene- led United National Party in elections. He moved towards a more cooperative policy with the United States and Sri Lanka chose to oppose the Indian demand for the withdrawal of all foreign naval forces from the Indian Ocean. Mrs. Gandhi had already been irked by Sri Lanka’s support to Pakistan during the 1971 war when it allowed landing and fuelling facilities to Pakistan’s East-West commercial flights. So RAW saw a perfect opportunity to exploit within the prevailing dispute between the Sinhalese majority (74 percent) and Tamil minority (14 percent) over distribution of economic and social spoils of independence. Before the two sides could work out a compromise, India, through its RAW, managed to polarise the two sides as well as militarise this essentially political conflict. On the Mukti Bahini model, RAW built up terrorist training camps in India for a number of Tamil terrorist organisations, while India suddenly began orchestrating a public campaign feigning concern because of the links the Tamils had with the 50 million Indian Tamils of Tamil Nadu state – which was separated from Sri Lanka by the Palk Straits. It was only a matter of time before the militants trained in India began sidelining the moderate Tamils and instead demanding complete independence – Ealam. Ironically, the presence of Tamil training camps in Tamil Nadu often created a law and order situation when large arms were captured by the state police. The surprise for the state government came when New Delhi ordered that such captured material be returned.

According to Rohan Gunaratna, in his book Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, RAW waged a secret war in India beginning 1983 so that when the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a major offensive against the Tamil militancy in 1987, the Indian government had already ensured that the Tamils were well supplied and were able to conduct terrorist acts that brought the war closer to Colombo. Tamil Nadu had become the sanctuary for the Tamil terrorists in their hit-and-run tactics. Already, a year prior to this offensive, that is by 1986, there were over 20,000 Indian trained and financed Tamils and India forced Sri Lanka through this militant pressure to alter its foreign policy. But even more crucial, India by now was systematically destabilising Sri Lanka. Being unable to resist the temptation to now intervene directly, India used the Sri Lankan offensive against the Tamil terrorists to force Sri Lanka to accept India’s armed intervention ostensibly to save ‘ innocent Tamil civilians’. Unfortunately for India, the controversial Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987 proved to be as much of a failure as India’s policy of direct intervention. The result was India’s massively assisted LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) turned on its benefactor and declared war against the Indian forces in Sri Lanka. All in all, this Indian adventure killed 60,000 men, women and children and forced the Indians to withdraw their forces without successfully completing their mission. The price has been steep for both India and Sri Lanka and even today Sri Lanka is paying the price for this Indian-initiated and RAW inspired polarised conflict. The extent of RAW’s role in this affair has been painstakingly documented by Gunaratna in his book on the Indian intervention( http://www. defencejournal. com/jan99/ rawfacts. htm)

The Ministry of External Affairs was also upset at RAW’s role in Sri Lanka as they felt that RAW was still continuing negotiations with the Tamil Tiger leader Parabhakran in contravention to the Indian government’s foreign policy. According to R Swaminathan, (former Special Secretary of RAW) it was this outfit which was used as the intermediary between Rajib Gandhi and Tamil leader Parabhakaran. The former Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, J.N. Dixit even accused RAW of having given Rs. five corore to the LTTE. At a later stage, RAW built up the EPRLF and ENDLF to fight against the LTTE which turned the situation in Sri Lanka highly volatile and uncertain later on.(Rohan Gunaratna and J N Dixit ).

Maldives

Under a well-orchestrated RAW plan, on November 30 1988 a 300 to 400-strong well trained force of mercenaries, armed with automatic weapons, initially said to be of unknown origin, infiltrated in boats and stormed the capital of Maldives. They resorted to indiscriminate shooting and took high-level government officials as hostages. At the Presidential Palace, the small contingent of loyal national guards offered stiff resistance, which enabled President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to shift to a safe place from where he issued urgent appeals for help from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Britain and the United States.

The Indian Prime Ministe Rajiv Gandhi reacted promptly and about 1600 combat troops belonging to 50 Independent Para-Brigade in conjunction with Indian Naval units landed at Male under the code-name Operation Cactus. A number of IAF transport aircraft, escorted by fighters, were used for landing personnel, heavy equipment and supplies. Within hours of landing, the Indian troops flushed out the attackers form the streets and hideouts. Some of them surrendered to Indian troops, and many were captured by Indian Naval units while trying to escape along with their hostages in a Maldivian ship, Progress Light. Most of the 30 hostages including Ahmed Majtaba, Maldives Minister of Transport, were released. The Indian Government announced the success of the Operation Cactus and complimented the armed forces for a good job done.

The Indian Defense Minister while addressing IAF personnel at Bangalore claimed that the country’s prestige has gone high because of the peace-keeping role played by the Indian forces in Maldives. The International Community in general and the South Asian states in particular, however, viewed with suspicious the over-all concept and motives of the operation. The western media described it as a display of newly-acquired military muscle by India and its growing role as a regional police. Although the apparent identification of the two Maldivian nationals could be a sufficient reason, at its face value, to link it with the previous such attempts by the mercenaries, yet other converging factors, indicative of involvement of external hand, could hardly be ignored. Sailing of the mercenaries from Manar and Kankasanturai in Sri Lanka, which were in complete control of IPKF, and the timing and speed of the Indian intervention proved their involvement beyond any doubt.

Nepal

Ever since the partition of the sub-continent India has been openly meddling in Nepal’s internal affairs by contriving internal strife and conflicts through RAW to destabilize the successive legitimate governments and prop up puppet regimes which would be more amenable Indian machinations. Armed insurrections were sponsored and abetted by RAW and later requests for military assistance to control these were managed through pro-India leaders. India has been aiding and inciting the Nepalese dissidents to collaborate with the Nepali Congress. For this they were supplied arms whenever the King or the Nepalese Government appeared to be drifting away from the Indian dictates and impinging on Indian hegemonic designs in the region. In fact, under the garb of the so-called democratization measures, the Maoists were actively encouraged to collect arms to resort to open rebellion against the legitimate Nepalese governments. The contrived rebellions provided India an opportunity to intervene militarily in Nepal, ostensibly to control the insurrections which were masterminded by the RAW itself. It was an active replay of the Indian performance in Sri Lanka and Maldives a few years earlier. RAW is particularly aiding the people of the Indian-origin and has been providing them with arms and ammunition.

RAW’s gameplan for Sikkimization of Nepal

An interesting new insight has been provided into the current thinking of the Maoist leadership by Baburam Bhattarai, one of its leading lights, via a write-up which seeks to explain what he terms as a “gameplan” for Nepal’s “Sikkimization” and its nexus with the rationale of the “People’s War”.

Beginning with the “so-called” India Today’s “Nepal gameplan” report, a product of RAW (India’s external, super secret intelligence agency), the Maoist stalwart (who incidentally holds a Ph.D degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi) concludes with an appeal to all “patriotic” forces “to come together and, through a united front, confront all external expansionist forces” operating against Nepal.

The said write-up appears in the latest issue of Maoist-friendly vernacular weekly Jana Ahwan. Bhattarai says that against the chain of events starting with the “neo-colonialist 1950 Treaty and including the Kosi-Gandak- Mahakali agreements, the Kalapani problem, the Laxmanpur barrage and the recent bill to amend the citizenship act”, it is abundantly clear that the “process for the Sikkimization of Nepal has accelerated and has greatly advanced.” He also makes the point that the RAW-inspired India Today “Nepal Gameplan” report makes it obvious how deeply RAW, and other Indian intelligence agencies, have penetrated Nepal.

He then rhetorically asks: “If the intelligence agency of a country which does not border Nepal and whose political, economic, cultural relations and interest in Nepal is negligible in comparison with India’s has as extensive and high level connections as is made out, how much more profound would the hold of India’s intelligence agencies be, considering that Nepal is surrounded on three sides by an India which has immeasurably greater political, economic, and cultural stakes in Nepal than any other country in the world.”

To underscore that salient point, the erudite Maoist leader says that if penetration by the intelligence agency of a country whose embassy has just 25 staffers is as extensive as claimed, how much greater would that be by intelligence agencies of a country whose embassy has 300 personnel?

Recalling events leading to the “merger” of Sikkim with India, including propaganda about “China” and a “CIA” threat, Bhattarai says it is not difficult to understand the motivation behind the hue and cry about alleged ISI activities today. He then angrily refutes allegations made in a report said to be provided to the Nepal police by the Indian Embassy (disclosed in Himal magazine, 1-7 Asar, 2057 issue) charging that Timila Yami, sister of Yisila Yami (Bhattarai’s wife) has been used by the ISI for contacts with Nepalese Maoists.

Moving on, Bhattarai claims that the ruling class in India has sought support from “Hindu fascists” as it is reeling against the impact of “national liberation movements from Kashmir to Tamilandu, from Punjab to Nagaland” and the struggle against “Indian expansionism in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan” in South Asia. In particular, he claims the Indian ruling class has become unbalanced seeing the impact of the People’s War in Nepal which aims not only at “class liberation” but also at “national liberation.”

What is particularly sad, he maintains, is that Nepal’s mainstream political parties and other political forces have fallen into the Indian “trap” vis-a-vis the Maoists’ struggle. Significantly, he also declares that, today, forces supportive of and against “Indian expansionism” in Nepal can be found in “the palace, Congress, RPP, UML and even in other small groupings.”

Equally meaningful is Bhattarai’s reference to an observation by nominated Upper House member Ramesh Nath Pandey who has been quoted (vide Kantipur, 16 Jestha 2057) as having said: “In my opinion, Maoists will not precipitate a national calamity; rather, it should be preserved for safeguarding the nation in case of a calamity.”

RAW has also infiltrated the ethnic Nepali refugees whohave been extradited by Bhutan and have taken refuge in the eastern Nepal. RAW can exploit its links with these refugees in either thatare against the Indian interest. Besides the Nepalese economy istotally controlled by the Indian money lenders, financiers andbusiness mafia ( RAW’s Machination In South Asia by Shastra Dutta Pant, Kathmandu, 2003).

RAW: An Instrument of Indian Expansionism (3)

Afghanistan

Since December 1979, throughout Afghan War, KGB, KHAD (WAD) (former Afghan intelligence outfit) and RAW stepped up their efforts to concentrate on influencing and covert exploitation of the tribes on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanista n border. There was intimate co-ordination between the three intelligence agencies not only in Afghanistan but in destabilization of Pakistan through subversion and sabotage plan related to Afghan refugees and mujahideen, the tribal belt and inside Pakistan. They jointly organized spotting and recruitment of hostile tribesmen and their training in guerrilla warfare, infiltration, subversion, sabotage and establishment of saboteur force/terrorist organizations in the pro-Afghan tribes of Pakistan in order to carry out bomb explosions in Afghan refugee camps in NWFP and Baluchistan to threaten and pressurize them to return to Afghanistan. They also carried out bomb blasts in populated areas deep inside Pakistan to create panic and hatred in the minds of locals against Afghan refugee mujahideen for pressurizing Pakistan to change its policies on Afghanistan.

Pakistan

Pakistan’s size, strength and potential have always overawed the Indians. It, therefore, always considers her main opponent in her expansionist doctrine. India’s animosity towards Pakistan is psychologically and ideologically deep-rooted and unassailable. India’s war with Pakistan in 1965 over Kashmir and in 1971 which resulted in the dismemberment of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh are just two examples.

Raw considers Sindh as Pakistan’s soft under-belly. It has, therefore, made it the prime target for sabotage and subversion. RAW has enrolled and extensive network of agents and anti-government elements, and is convinced that with a little push restless Sindh will revolt. Taking fullest advantage of the agitation in Sindh in 1983 and the ethnic riots, which have continued till today, RAW has deeply penetrated and cultivated dissidents and secessionists, thereby creating hard-liners unlikely to allow peace to return to Sindh. Raw is also involved similarly in Balochistan.

RAW has an extensive network of agents and anti-government elements within Pakistan, including dissident elements.Pakistan’s size, strength, and potential have always overawed India.It has always considered Pakistan to be the main opponent to its expansionist doctrine.India’s animosity toward Pakistan is psychologically and ideologically deep-rooted and unassailable.

India’s 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan over Kashmir, which resulted in the dismemberment of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh, is just two examples.Pakistan remains RAW’s primary concern.It runs thousands of agents and spends millions of rupees in its operations against Pakistan.It has made a three-pronged attack against Pakistan in an attempt to destabilize it,Propaganda, Espionage, and Subversion. RAW is totally committed on all these three fronts and is engaged in launching covert operations in consonance with India’s hostile foreign policy.All aspects of Pakistani activities, economic, military, industrial and cultural receive a close scrutiny of RAW. It goes to its credit that it has accomplished or at least continued in a motivated manner its assigned objectives.The Indian government spelling out the task for RAW in this regard has stated,’Pakistan should be so destabilized internally that it could not support the ‘Kashmir cause even morally, diplomatically or politically’.

Whenever and wherever there is a kidnapping, a bank robbery, a financial scandal, a bomb blast, or what have you, the I.S.I. is deemed to have.Ashok A Biswas, a Delhi-based research scholar, in his recently compiled study RAW – An Unobstructive Instrument of India’s Foreign Policy, (as quoted by Pakistan Observer in ‘A RAW deal for South Asia, 03 May, 1998) states that ‘the aim of RAW is to keep internal disturbances flaring up and the ISI preoccupied so that Pakistan can lend no worthwhile resistance to Indian designs in the region.’ He concludes, ‘RAW over the years has admirably fulfilled its task of destabilizing target states through unbridled export for terrorism had a hand in it.Reference: ( “R.A.W.: Global and Regional Ambitions” edited by Rashid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Saleem, Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Asia Printers, Islamabad, 2005).

RAW is also being blamed for confusing the ground situation is Kashmir so as to keep the world attention away from the gross human rights violations by India in India occupied Kashmir. ISI being almost 20 years older than RAW and having acquired much higher standard of efficiency in its functioning , has become the prime target of RAW’s designs, ISI is considered to be a stumbling block in RAW’s operations, and has, therefore, been made a target of all kinds of massive misinformation and propaganda campaign. The tirade against ISI continues unabated. The idea is to keep ISI on the defensive by fictionalising and alleging its hand is supporting Kashmiri Mujahideen and Sikhs in Punjab. RAW’S fixation against ISI has taken the shape of ISI-phobia, as in India everyone traces down the origin of all happenings and shortcomings to the ISI . Be it an abduction at Banglaore or a student’s kidnapping at Cochin, be it a bank robbery at Calcutta or a financial scandal in Bombay, be it a bomb blast at Bombay or Bangladesh, they find an ISI hand in it ( RAW :Global and Regional Ambitions” Edited by Rashid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Saleem, Published by Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Asia Printers, Islamabad, 2005 ).

RAW over the years has admirably fulfilled its tasks of destabilising target states through unbridled export of terrorism. The India Doctrine spelt out a difficult and onerous role for RAW. It goes to its credit that it has accomplished its assigned objectives due to the endemic weakness in the state apparatus of those nations and failure of their leaders.

BY: I Khan

[Via http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com]

Chinese Army Of 180,000 Cyberspies Threaten U.S. Infrastructure

2010-01-14T03:42:00.000+02:00

A classified FBI report indicates that China has secretly developed an army of 180,000 cyberspies that “poses the largest single threat to the United States for cyberterrorism and has the potential to destroy vital infrastructure, interrupt banking and commerce, and compromise sensitive military and defense databases.”

These spies are already launching 90,000 attacks a year just against U.S. Defense Department computers, according to a senior FBI analyst familiar with the contents of the report, making news Tuesday that the Chinese government may have hacked the email accountings of human-rights activists, prompting Google to consider withdrawing from that country, seem like child’s play.

[Via http://aconservativeedge.com]

The Art of Song Kun

2010-01-12T11:28:00.000+02:00

“Song Kun, who was born in Inner Mongolia in 1977, studied oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing until 2002. A founding member of the N12, a group of twelve ambitious young graduates of the Central Academy of Fine Arts who have been organizing their own annual exhibitions, Song Kun was educated after the Cultural Revolution and raised in an era of accelerated urban and economic development.” (Boers-Li Gallery)

Quote from LA Times review

Nowhere is it more engaged than in the triptych, where three panels show different views of a rock band playing on a club’s stage, fronted by a young female singer. In the lower left quadrant of each view, illuminated by stage lights that variously blare into your eyes, a uniformed soldier or policeman is seen from behind, intently watching the musical performance.

Song keeps shifting our point of view on the nightclub action, but it’s the official watching the free-spirited woman who seems to be the work’s true subject. Whether a performer merely being checked out by an unexpected fan, a symbol of youthful rebellion under the watchful eye of an authorized representative of government control or perhaps art being metaphorically monitored by shadowy proscriptions, the triptych mesmerizes. The show is Song’s U.S. gallery debut, and it represents a big step forward.

2005年中国艺术三年展上被称为“最值得期待的年轻女性艺术家”，宋琨的作品关注于日常现实中的生活细节。作为国内艺术团体“N12”的组建成员之一，宋琨和其他十一位毕业于中央美院的年轻而雄心勃勃的艺术家们每年都会组织一次展示他们自己创作的展览。(Boers-Li Gallery)

引用来自洛杉矶时报：

“这组作品是这个展览中最吸引人的/引人注目的，三幅画展示了酒吧舞台上的摇滚乐队的不同角度，主唱是女歌手。每幅画的左下角，一个武警或者警察背对着灯光耀眼的舞台，专注的看着音乐演出。宋让将焦点从夜店的演出上转移到看着演出的警官身上。不论作品想表达的是：这个警官是否是表演者的粉丝，在政府管控下的年轻人的开放还是暗中的监管，这组作品都令人着迷。这个展览是宋的美国第一次展览，这也是向前迈出的第一步。”

[Via http://knowwai.wordpress.com]