New Energy Source: Bunnies

Nordic countries, in my impression, are the most heaven-like places in the world. Comfort lives with beautiful land, and even more nice-looking people.

They are also leading in the campaign to tackle climate change. But their way to find new energy sources is debatable.

Thousands of stray rabbits in Sweden are being shot, frozen and burned for heat. (Der Spiegel)

I can’t imagine the brutality in this wonderland, which is even worse than the atrocity committed by Viking Pirates. I doubt the efficiency of this energy source and more importantly, it seems the carbon emission from this is also significant.

I hope the fellow Swedes will think twice.

R-rated dissident

I'm feeling very relieved after learning the Zambian journalist Chansa Kabwela has been acquitted. (BBC)

She wanted to report the lack of access to proper medical treatment in this country, especially for pregnant women. A picture, showing a baby being delivered, was really a shocking example of that. According to the report, the nurses were on strike and the women has been turned away from two clinics.

Would the government do something to tackle this issue? First Lady of the country has a different perspective. She accused this picture of pornography, which is still illegal in Zambia.

Pornography is an explicit depiction to arouse sexual excitement. I doubt this picture can play this role. Any excitement would be lost if you see this shocking picture.

Is this a way of political oppression? This reminds me of the Lese majeste in Thailand, which is an extremely strict law to ban any offense against the dignity of royal family, but has been taken advantage by those in power to prosecute their opponents. Another example is the sodomy accusation against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar bin Ibrahim. Clearly, those laws are also well used by my government.

Anyway, it’s good to hear that the case has been ended in a happy ending. I hope the government would put more efforts to improve the medical conditions, instead of learning the Russians.

Iron Curtain is still there

I read a fascinating report about deer on the Germany-Czech border. 20 years after the fall of Iron Curtain, although the barbed wires are no longer there, the deer are still unwilling to cross that line. It shows how powerful the politics can even influence the nature. (Wall Street Journal)

Also, it has been snowing heavily in China. I want to share pictures of some funny snowman. Chinese can also be creative.

Pictures

Somali pirates made their biggest mistake

A North Korean ship was kidnapped by invincible Somali pirates despite warships from numerous countries are patrolling in that area. (BBC) But as they did when they mistakenly attacked a French warship, they made a huge mistake again. Capturing a North Korea ship is really a bad deal.

First of all, they should have known how much this ship is worth. What’s on the ship probably cannot even offset the fuel to capture it. The old Soviet-era ship would have sunken without the rescue of Somali friends.

Secondly, the dear leader Kim doesn’t care the life of his people whatsoever. There is no way that North Korea would pay the ransom, let alone whether it has those money. Probably they will wait for South Korea to pay it for them as a precondition to restart the negotiation on whether they will start to consider returning to the six-party talks. Good deal, huh?

Moreover, those people probably won’t want to leave Somalia because they are fed by the pirates. Back in North Korea, it’s unlikely that they can have double-digit number of meals in a week. Likewise, they are enjoying the freedom they have not thought about even though they are detained by armed pirates. At least they don’t have to shout long live to the great leader a hundred times a day.

But nothing is certain. By some remote chance, the great leader had the mood to withdraw some secret private money from Swiss bank to pay the ransom and get those hostages back. The reason why he does this is because North Korea wants to torture and execute those traitors by themselves. They want to show their brand-new high-tech bullets and the shooting ability of their great soldiers.

But it is unlikely to happen anyway. Somali pirates should come to MSFS and take globalization course to better understand who to kidnap and trade course to know the important of labor scarcity to cut a good deal.

Political correctness in Chinese Foreign Ministry's Press Conference

When Qin Gang, the spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry, was answering a question raised by a journalist about whether Obama will meet with Dalai Lama, his answer was funny, but probably normal for Chinese.

Dalai Lama was the head of Tibetan slavery system. In 1959, China abolished slavery in Tibet, which was the same as what President Lincoln did in 1863. As a black man, President Obama should understand China's policy and stop supporting Dalai Lama.

Tibet before 1959 was a slavery. This is basically the fact. But linking this to race shows Chinese people's insensibility to racial issues. Even the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, who should be most careful before uttering any word, would make this kind of statement.

Indeed, racial problem is new to Chinese. When a half-Chinese, half-African-American girl took part in a reality show, what she faced were jeers. In 1988, before the before Tiananmen square protest, there was an anti-African demonstration in Hehai University in Nanjing just because some Africans had Chinese girlfriends.

Chinese are generally hospitable, and they are very nice to foreigners. But the thing is they don't want you to join their family. This is not an issue limited to China. In Korea and Japan, foreigners are also complaining it's hard to be accepted by the society. But if China is able to continue its growth, more foreigners will come to China, and even there will be some immigrants. The society will face the test and I hope the mentality will change.

Obama shook hands with my friends~

Obama had a town hall meeting with Shanghai students, therefore, many people I know took part in that meeting, and rightfully, sat in the front rows.

Probably my friends didn’t have the chance to ask questions, but a question about whether Chinese should have the freedom to use Twitter still impressed me, that the government would allow this question to be asked since it is something about the freedom of expression, a sensitive topic in China.

Obama answered the question in an indirect but perfect way to ensure that the transcript would be put on the website of Chinese official news agency. I applaud Obama’s attempt to reach out to Chinese student, who will be the future of China. State-run education is still cultivating anti-west mood and a charismatic American president would be really a good way to win support from China’s future.

Today’s students are more docile than those 20 years ago, but they can be the force to make change in China. Obama, the president of change, can make a difference.

New York Times mentioned that all students are hand-picked by the government and most of them are Communist Youth League members. It doesn’t tell a lot. I believe I would have had the chance to be be “hand-picked” if I had been there. They pick us because we study international relations. We could have maverick perspectives, but we won’t bring it up during such high publicity occasion. (One of my friends told me she didn't know this.... It seems people were using their connection to get a ticket)

New York Times should also understand almost every student in China are member of Communist Youth League. If one is not, he/she must have joined the Communist Party. The Youth League is the like the Young Pioneer. We didn’t have a choice to not join it without a risk to be weird and isolated from the others. It, by no means, shows our support for the system and the government. I am still a member of Communist Youth League, by the way, though I have no intention to apply for the party membership whatsoever.

Obama in China

Obama wasn't as popular as Hillary at first, but now he certainly is. Now he's on his way there, I would like to share some interesting pictures.

an unofficial poll on “US President will soon visit China, what do you most want to chat with him about?”

1. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize after just taking office, how did you get it?
   1487 votes (10.19%)
2. Discuss the Chinese human rights problem that Obama cares most about, how about it?
   620 votes (4.25%)
3. About the issue of whether Taiwan is a province of China.
   3322 votes (22.76%)
4. What will America use to secure China’s investment of American government bonds?
   2903 votes (19.89%)
5. How to promote denuclearizing of the world?
   614 votes (4.21%)
6. How does America plan to promote its relations with China?
   1670 votes (11.44%)
7. How can China and America cooperate in denuclearizing the North Korean peninsula?
   439 votes (3.01%)
8. What role does American want to play in the future East Asian Community?
   545 votes (3.73%)
9. When will America lift its embargo of high-tech products and weapons on China?
   2490 votes (17.06%)
10. How can China and America cooperate on anti-terrorism?
    503 votes (3.45%)

Green Olympics in Brazil, or Black Olympics?

Olympics is really beneficial for environment when China turned off numerous assembly lines to give Beijing a clearer sky last year. It seems Brazil was leading in this sense. But this wasn't so popular as China's.

The blackout of the country didn't show the commitment of Green Olympics, but the fragility of the country. Brazil has been doing very well under President Lula, but it still has so much to do before the World Cup and Olympics to showcase Brazil's modernization. In a democratic society, it is undoubtedly harder than authoritarian China. The process would take some time and effort, but it would be worthwhile. A Black Olympics is not likely to happen in 7 years.

Education in Spain: Learning how to use your hands -- to do job

Spain is still more religious than most other Western European countries as the Catholicism faith is still influential in the daily life for majority of the population. Most people go to church on Sundays, and they pray before meals, which is no longer the case in many other nominally Christian countries. On social issues, Spain is also more conservative. I remember Maria told me about the prohibition of oral sex, which sounds nothing but ridiculous in a non-Muslim country in 21th century.

But recently, Extremadura government launched a campaign to educate children about masturbation, based around the slogan "pleasure as in your own hands". Leaflets will be distributed, and workshops will be hold for students from 14 to 17 years old. This is no wonder hugely controversial. Social conservatives were extremely angered. (BBC)

I'm not sure about the benefit of this education, though not from a religious perspective. Probably most of the students have already become experts and the education would only reduce their level of enjoyment compares with the self-exploration process. But this is an interesting idea and I would love to know how it's implemented and the reaction of the students.

Being blessed 24/7

It is so nice when I hear somebody says "bless you" to me when I sneeze. This is a culture which doesn't exist in China. Trivial as it is, I feel the warmth of the society, even though many believe people are getting more indifferent to others.

But can you believe somebody who is surrounded by "bless you" everyday and all day long? A 12-year-old girl has this fortune, or more accurately, misfortune, of sneezing 12,000 times a day. (FOX News)

In fact, she has become a sneezing machine gun. Understanding this, she no longer goes to school. Poor little girl. Bless you!

New Berlin Wall erected

U2 is holding a concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of fall of Berlin Wall. But the authorities decided to erect a 2-meter wall around the concert. (The Times)

Setting up a wall to ensure the safety of the performer is understandable in most cases, but probably you should think twice before setting up a wall in Berlin.

Palau's double-standard immigration policy

Palau, a small Pacific island nation recently gained its independence from the United States, has announced its willingness to accept some acquitted Uighur detainees in Guantanamo. Those people have been proved to be innocent but no country would dare to accept them for fear of Chinese reprisal. China claims they are terrorists and many people fear they won't receive fair trial and will probably be executed if they return to China.

Palau has proved itself a credible ally of United States. When the United Nations General Assembly were voting to accept the Goldstone Report, in which it criticized Israel's human rights abuse in its Gaza Campaign, only three countries voted no. They were Israel, United States, and guess who, Palau. 187 countries voted yes. Surviving on U.S. aid, it is not surprising to see them as the staunchest ally of United States.

Today, when Palaun president Johnson Toribiong personally the Uighur prisoners, he even led them a tour, showing the country's hospitality. But on the same day, he announced plans to send home between 200 and 300 Bangladeshi Muslim migrants whose work visas have expired, and last month he banned anyone else from the South Asian country from entering Palau.

Oh, poor Bangladeshis. If they publicly denounce China's human rights policy, probably they will have a shot to be allowed to stay there!