Off in the next two weeks

I’m leaving for home in hours, and unfortunately, blogspot is still unavailable over there. So, I will come back as soon as I return in two weeks' time. If you have time, read some of the older articles and leave comments. Thank you for your support. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Four foot good, two foot bad!

I have rarely read a whole book, except in this semester for globalization and IR. I think I should read more, and the start was a very short but famous one – Animal Farm.

Having lived in a communist state, I admire the power of this book. It can really scare the dictators, and awaken the readers. I can’t imagine how Orwell could write down those words and predict what would be going on in communist states 66 years ago, but he did.

He really showed us how fragile we are to propagandas. We are smarter than the animals, in that we can remember more than the alphabet, but our minds are also washed everyday since our births. The education in the school and the media around us told us what to do, how to behave, and how to think. No matter how much freedom we seemingly have, we are who we are because of the society.

Fortunately, George Orwell didn’t predict the free flow of information brought by the internet and other modern technologies. In his another book, 1984, the technology is advanced, but it doesn’t benefit the general population. Today, everybody has so many options what to read and they can express their own opinions and share them with others. This is a progress and it can undermine the propaganda the ruling power wants to impose on the people. As a result, those governments are also spending a lot to influence their people through internet. (50-cent party)

That would return us to another question. What caused communism? George Orwell was a staunch believer of socialism. What he opposed to was dictatorship. So what caused the tragedy in the Soviet Union? Was it Stalin or the system? Could it be any different if it was Stalin who lost the power?

He can always argue that it could be different, but would it be that different? Joseph Stalin was wily and evil, but there could have been more Stalins if not this Stalin took power. Power will change people’s attitude and value. Few people will be the same if they have more power, and it seems to be the human nature that the communist system will fail, because however rosy the future it paints to the people, it won’t be in the interest of the rulers to achieve that, or even move any step closer to that goal.

However slowly the things are improving in democracy, it is the only path to success. You can always argue for authoritarianism, as people argued for Hitler and Stalin. You may say things are different, but we could recall that’s what people have said again and again. There will always be argument for dictatorship, but they will be proved unfounded, though it will be too late for many innocent lives.

Four foot good, two foot bad better. That is exactly what has happened in my country.

Nauru, Inc.

When I was young, I was obsessed with geography. Nauru is one of my favorites, because it has a lovely Chinese name. Its size is very tiny, the third smallest, after Holy See and Monaco. But its citizens are one of the most obese in the world, with 90% of the people heavier than world average and 40% having type II diabetes. Whenever seeing a world map, Nauru is the first place I want to find. But what I couldn’t understand then was politics.

Nauru was rich in phosphate, which, though is not as valuable as oil, can still benefit the small island nations and even made it one of the richest sovereign states during 70’s. But natural resource is always limited. Nauru needs to find a new way to make money, otherwise, it is a country without a future. It virtually becomes a corporation with a good number of employees and a small piece of land.

The government found many ways. First, a tax haven sounds pretty good. But this is illegal and punishable by other states, which means too much risk for Nauru. Then, Nauru started accepting aid from Australia in exchange for housing an illegal migrant detention center. It is not a bad idea, but Australia has moved most of the asylum seekers to its own Christmas Island instead, which can save them a huge amount of aid money.

But the difference between Nauru Inc. and the other corporations is that it can vote in the United Nations. However small it is, its voting power is no smaller than the United States and China in the General Assembly. As a result, its vote is always solicited.

To Nauru’s advantage, there are so many international dispute on sovereignty issues for Nauru to benefit from. China and Taiwan has sent tons of aid to Nauru to earn its diplomatic recognition. It established diplomatic relations with China in 2002 for $130 million, but switched back in merely three years to Taiwan. It is no wonder that a Chinese diplomat lamented “Nauruan government cares too much about its economic interest.”

Last week, Nauruan government recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, breakaway republics in Georgia. It is only the fourth country to do that in the world, after Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

This brought Nauru $50 million aid money from Russia. This is a big money for a country with a size of Nauru, but this is not a sustainable way to make money. Tourism or other services should be the solution, though it still seems a non-starter in Nauru. The natural environment is certainly attractive to the tourists if there is better infrastructure. People there can speak good English, and German and British historic buildings and remains of Japanese occupation still stand on this tiny island, far from any other inhabited islands in Pacific and only miles away from the Equator.

Why the government is still finger-crossing for more political disputes in the world to take advantage of, its president, who used to be a weight-lifting champions in Commonwealth Games, has certainly much to shoulder in order to guide his country to a good future, if any. But his country should also use their diplomatic powers responsibly.

Argentine Jewish tango? Sounds fanstastic, doesnt it? USCIS doesn’t think so.

For Americans’ information, the most hated U.S. government agency in the world is not CIA, but USCIS, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The draconian law restricting the employment and even travelling for many countries, are notorious. But I didn’t expect it could be so bureaucrat until I read this piece of news. (Wall Street Journal)

When Jordan Peimer booked an Argentine band that fuses Jewish Klezmer music with tango, he thought he had the perfect act to headline his "Fiesta Hanukkah" concert.

"It is hard to imagine any band more fitting than Orquesta Kef," says Mr. Peimer, the program's director at the Skirball Cultural Center here. The event was designed to attract a Jewish audience and the city's burgeoning Hispanic community.

That was before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services weighed in with some cultural commentary of its own. The band couldn't travel to the U.S., the agency ruled, because it didn't satisfy a "culturally unique" requirement for a performer visa called P-3.

"The evidence repeatedly suggests the group performs a hybrid or fusion style of music...[which] cannot be considered culturally unique to one particular country, nation, society, class, ethnicity, religion, tribe or other group of persons," read the denial. It was signed by caseworker CSC4672/WS24533.

I am amazed that this way of dealing with foreign artist is not the distinct feature of my country’s government agencies.

Smart Brazilian thieves

Brazilian thieves have shown the quality of thieves in a superpower. They used the football celebration and Christmas trees to make their robbery seem legitimate.

Thieves in Brazil have stolen more than £5m ($6m) from a cash delivery firm, taking advantage of the nation's passion for football, police say.

Police believe the thieves - who had dug a tunnel into the firm's building - struck when season-ending matches were played in Sao Paulo on Sunday.

A security guard later told local media he had heard a loud noise but thought it was fireworks lit by fans.

The theft was only discovered on Sunday evening - after the matches had ended.

They also have to predict the right result. If the home team had lost, probably they wouldn't have had the chance to cover up the explosion.

Inconvenient truth about liberal democracies

Switzerland, one of the most democratic and well-off countries, have passed a referendum banning the Muslim minaret. It seems Huntington was right, or wasn’t he?

Fear of Islam is rife in Europe, not only after 9/11. Muslims came to Europe because they were colonized, and also, there has been a demand for labor force. But Europe has never been as open to the immigrants as the United States. Considering the anti-immigration sentiment in America, it is understandable that immigrants are not welcome in Europe, especially those we don’t speak the European languages very well.

But what about culture? Is it really the clash of civilization? 9/11, Madrid and London bombings of course worsened the situation. This gave some politicians excuses to shut the door for Muslims. But we all know there are Christian extremists and there were many more in the past. The cause is not the religion per se, and it will certainly improve in the future. But prejudice, animosity and discrimination will only delay the moderation of Islam.

Can democracy help? It’s hard. I do believe liberal democracy is the best type of political system mankind has ever made, but everybody recognizes it’s far from perfect. The political diversity is good for the society, and people are always easy to be influenced and incited by some demagogues or warmongers. Whenever there is a crisis, hatred and fear will dominate and be taken advantage of by politicians.

Even there were no Islam, they would still use the differences among people (there are always some, because everyone is unique), in terms of their religion, culture, language, race, gender, wealth, etc., to pursue their hidden agenda. There will always be some.

But are those politicians to blame? No. They exist because of the system. You cannot expect everybody to be Philosophy King. People do what they do because of the system they are in. It is really an inconvenient truth. I would expect this kind of story will exist forever in the world. What I can do is to finger-cross and hope it will become rarer.

Finally they will hold an election, or will they?

People love soccer would know the national team of Cote d'Ivoire has been very strong in the last decade. But its rise of football power is accompanied by the start of political turbulence, including a civil war.

Right now, a fragile peace is still in place. But the presidential election, due in 2005, is yet to be hold, thanks to the fragility of political situation.

Now, early March next years has been set for the date of next election. But whether it is going to happen is questionable since 8 previous attempts had failed. An election is possible to set fire on the political situation and start new conflicts among different cliques, but blank check of never-going-to-happen elections is not going to help. Holding a free-and-fair election on time and opening to international aid and supervision can be and should be the only solution.

Dear Leader needs your money

News related to North Korea is most about its nuclear program and the disputes with its southern neighbor. But this week, the totalitarian government started to issue new currency. I didn't know North Korea has a currency since there are so few to sell.

The policy is draconian. It not only devalued the currency, won, one hundredfold, it also restricted the amount of money allowed to be held by a family to somewhere under 100 dollars. This is outrageous. The government, again, showed its determination to exploit and enslave its citizens.

The implication is tremendous. The economy has already dismal enough, and the government is still squandering budget on military. Like the other East Asians, North Koreans also have the habit of saving. This policy has rendered their lifelong savings useless. No wonder there has been reports of demonstrations in this most oppressive country.

The real target is reported to be the black market. We all know when a government-led economy is failing, black market helps sustain people's daily lives. Smart dictators would recognize this fact and ignore it, but Kim Jung-Il probably thinks he is much smarter than them. This policy is likely to backfire.

A Chinese saying goes, "Nobody wants to rebel, but they have to when the government leaves them no choice." North Korea is on the right direction.

European Standard

This took place three years ago, but it was so funny that I want to share with you guys. It shows how Lukashenka, dubbed “Last Dictator in Europe”, is ruling Belarus. (Radio Free Europe)

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, accused of inflating his vote tally to win reelection in March, says he actually reduced the number of votes he received to make the result more acceptable to the West.

Lukashenka made the remark to journalists in Minsk on November 23.

"Yes, we falsified the latest elections," Lukashenka said. "I have already told the Westerners about this. As many as 93.5 percent of voters voted for President Lukashenka. But they said this was not a 'European' figure. And we reduced it to 86 [percent]. That's indeed what happened."

Finally, he recognized the fact that his government has rigged the election, but just the opposite direction. How modest he is. It really shows his commitment to rejoin Europe and reestablish good relations with neighbors, or does it?

The only thing is he actually only got 83% in the official tally. It turns out his subordinates have done a better job than he expected.

There are so many fake or heavily-rigged elections in the world. Are they a good step forward or they are even worse than no election at all?