007 in Beijing

For the first time a James Bond movie has premiered in China... uncut. The censors always found something objectionable in previous movies: too much sex, too much pretty girls, too much British propaganda, an ally portrayed in a bad light (North Korea) or misplaced laundry in Shanghai. Not so this time. In Casino Royale, Bond is battling the terrorists and China doesn't object.

But will Casino Royale become a box office hit? That's doubtful. Because if the censors didn't cut anything what is there to see? Surely nothing exhilarating. Some fans say this 007 is more real. “A man willing to lose his own life for his true love is more three-dimensional,” commented one fan. Perhaps, but cinema is all about fantasy. Beam me up, Scotty.

How many people will want to spend money in the theaters? Grainy copies are already circulating on pirated DVDs. It's not a pretty sight, but you can follow the story. This is no Zhang Yimou costume drama in a gazillion hues of gold. No Gong Li cleavage either (Bond girl Eva Green doesn't measure up). Who needs a big screen for this 007 flick? A 7 kuai DVD will do.

Wow, the Great Swindle

Today, Vista, the latest incarnation of Microsoft's Windows operating system, hits the store shelves. It is really amazing that anybody is getting exited about it and even more amazing that anybody is willing to pay a dime for Vista.

The richest man in the world is trying to force you and me to pay €279 to €549 for a brand new copy of Vista and a little bit less for an upgrade. The new MS Office 2007 is also priced at hundreds of euros. So what do you get? A slightly improved version of Windows XP with a few extra embellishments and bug fixes. And security will surely crumble the moment the first hacker lays its hands on it.

Why not choose one of the more than 500 Linux distributions on the Distrowatch website, most of them free of charge and all of them cheaper than Vista? Why not try OpenOffice instead of MS Office? You won't have to wait another five years for the next upgrade. Most Linux distros are upgraded with the latest features twice a year. You don't have to run to the store to get a shrink-wrapped box and contribute to environmental pollution. You can download your Linux OS online. Now Microsoft also wants to make Vista available for download. But only in the United States. In the eyes of Bill Gates, the other peoples of the world are clearly inferior.

Dump Vista and get a Linux!

A pig problem

The Year of the Pig will start on February 18, but China's CCTV has banned all pig images from commercials in order not to hurt the feelings of Muslims.

I am all for tolerance and respect for other people's religion and feelings, but in this case CCTV is overstepping the line. Muslims constitute less than 2% of China's population. The majority Han and many other minorities like pigs. Why would 98% of the Chinese people not be allowed to see a little fat pig in a commercial, because 2% think it's dirty. What's next? Banning the consumption of pork and alcohol?

On the other hand, I am opposed to the prohibition for Muslim women working in the city administration of Antwerp, Belgium, to wear the headscarf if their work brings them into contact with the public. What's so terrible about a lady wearing a headscarf?

In the first example, a minority custom is imposed on the majority (no pigs), in the second a majority custom is imposed on the minority (no headscarf). Nobody should impose anything on anybody else and everyone will be able to live in peace with due respect for others.

Once I was traveling in China in the company of an Egyptian colleague who had amassed a rather voluminous amount of documentation. So I volunteered to help her carry it. To thank me, she offered me a coffee in the airport coffee shop. Of course I preferred to have a beer (or two). I politely inquired whether she had any objection that I drank a beer in her company. Well, of course not, she replied. When I picked up the bill, she was surprised, because she wanted to pay the tab. I said no, because I didn't want her to pay with her money for my beer. She was pleasantly surprised about my consideration for her customs and religious prohibitions. No clash of civilizations here!

Now where our those little piggies to bring on the Year of the Pig?

Shame on CNN!

One of the top stories today is – or at least should be – the anti-war protests in Washington.

MSNBC: War protesters demand U.S. troop withdrawal
ABC: Crowds on Both Coasts Protest Iraq War
CBS News: Protesters Feel "Obligation" To Stop War
France 24: Mobilisation massive contre la guerre en Irak
Aljazeera: Washington rally urges end to war
Washington Post: Tens of Thousands Rally Against Bush Policy

On the above mentioned web sites, the protests were among the top stories. So what about CNN? Nothing, absolutely nothing! Except, buried under the U.S. section, as yesterday's story, 'Stars, vets kick off protest' is an updated 'Fonda, Sarandon among Iraq war protesters'. Not the major story, nor one of the 14 on the right of the CNN website. Buried under U.S. news. Buried under an outdated heading. Barely worth mentioning. (Web sites accessed around 9 p.m. on January 28 Beijing time)

Obviously, CNN doesn't want to cause further embarrassment to the Decider-in-Chief... They are joining Fox News. From now on we'll have to look elsewhere for our 'Breaking News' and 'Developing Stories'.

The rich and the famous

Tomorrow the world's most celebrated talking shop, organized by the World Economic Forum in Davos, closes its doors. Will anything have been achieved? Very little, no doubt. There is nothing wrong with talking, and some of the participants to the Davos meeting will not have many opportunities to meet each other elsewhere. But it is basically one more venue for the rich and famous to bask in the limelight.

Attendance is arbitrary. Anybody who is rich or famous or both is basically welcome. Some go to Davos, some don't. There is no guarantee that those who should be sitting around the table are there.

There are basically three kinds of people in Davos.
+ the politicians, like Tony Blair. They already meet each other at all kinds of summits, at the U.N., on bilateral visits.
+ the CEOs, like Bill Gates. They only want to make money and consider Davos a nice place for networking.
+ the celebrities, like Bono. They shine once more in the limelight, like they do elsewhere.
Perhaps the added value of Davos is that those three kinds of people are meeting. And talking. And schmoozing. Will that solve any problems? Unlikely.

The major beneficiary of the WEF-meeting is the local economy of Davos.

The arrogance of power

Not only royalty is afflicted with the virus of arrogance. Uncrowned heads are also dizzy with preposterous idiocy. Prince Philippe of Belgium has no power, will never have any and is only uttering nonsensical gibberish.

On to another power holder without much power, Israel's president Moshe Katsav, standing accused of rape, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, fraud, sexual harassment and breach of trust. Clinging to his ceremonial power even when his prime minister is calling for his resignation and the Knesset is starting impeachment procedures. At least he can be impeached, royalty usually can only be thrown out manu military from their imperial palaces.

The third arrogant dickhead, unlike the former two, does have a lot of power and his arrogance far exceeds Philippe and Katsav's. Dick Cheney, vice president of the United States, is no doubt the most arrogant of all. “Talk of blunders in Iraq is hogwash”, according to the veep. Sure, everything is going America's way in the land of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Even if Congress passes a resolution opposing a troop increase, Cheney will go ahead. American-style democracy, never mind the votes of the electorate, never mind the elected representatives in Congress, Dick is staying the course.

The world is safer because the U.S. ousted Saddam, Hillary Clinton should not be president because “she is a Democrat” and Ronald Rumsfeld did a superb job during his six years as defense secretary. (CNN: Talk of blunders in Iraq is 'hogwash')

Can arrogance get any worse than this?

The arrogance of royalty

At a New Year's reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels, crown-prince Philippe of Belgium severely criticized two editors-in-chief, Yves Desmet of the daily De Morgen and Pol Van Den Driessche of VTM TV because they made reports critical of him following a trade mission to South Africa. Once again prime minister Verhofstadt had to reprimand the prince, whose outburst he called “unwarranted”.

Prince Philippe told the editors they should show him “awe and respect” because he would be Belgium's next king. For good measure he threatened to declare them persona non grata at the palace if they wouldn't change their reporting in the future.

This is really utterly disgusting and repulsive. Who does this little shit thinks he is or represents? This good-for-nothing has on numerous occasions caused embarrassment to his country by uttering stupid comments and behaving like an asshole. Some say he is “opening doors” abroad. The door to the toilet no doubt.

The Belgian monarchy should be abolished without any further delay and its ill-gotten wealth confiscated. It will come in handy to fill up the government's budget deficit. Let's not forget that the Saxen-Coburg's started garnering their wealth by plundering Congo and slaughtering ten million of its inhabitants in the process.

And what is one of Leopold II's dependants doing now? Lecturing two professional journalists as if they were black slaves. What is he going to do next? Cut of their hands or heads like his forefather commanded his minions to do in Congo. Does Philippe know in which century we are living? The times of trembling in awe at the sight of a crowned head or head-to-be are long gone. Never to return.

If it is too difficult to turn Belgium into a republic because you can't have a Dutch-speaking and a French-speaking president at the same time, let's set up the Republic of Flanders. The Walloons can set up their own or join France.

But first, end this Saxen-Coburg farce.

Give Bush no chance

In his State of the Union, Bush asked the U.S. Congress to give his Iraq surge plan “a chance”. To increase troop levels in Iraq provides “the best chance of success”, Bush rambled. In a way he's right. But success for whom? Success for the resistance, because they get an additional 21,500 targets to shoot at. If 140,000 American troops can't “do the job”, 160,000 won't do either.

Even if Bush takes up the suggestion of Ayman al-Zawahiri and sends all American armed forces up to the last “man and woman in uniform” to Iraq, Bush will lose. Sure, the U.S. army, air force, marines, navy and national guard, equipped with the world's most sophisticated weapons, is a formidable fighting force. But that's besides the point.

Mao pointed out that a just war enjoys the support of the people and a wrong war gets no support. It is the people who determine the outcome of war, not the number of soldiers or their armaments. According to Bush “To win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy”. Translation: launch aggression against other countries. That's a recipe for disaster. Fight the enemy at home and you will win, because in that case the enemy is the aggressor.

Buried in his speech, we find Bush's real intention: launch a war against Iran. He accused Iran of arming terrorists and we know he will make no distinction between the terrorists and those harboring them. Today Bush issued a declaration of war on Iran. That is his State of Mind.

Don't give Bush a chance. Give peace a chance.

5 minutes to midnight

In 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists first unveiled its Doomsday Clock and set it at seven minutes to midnight. In 1953 it moved forward to two minutes to midnight, in 1991 it moved back to 17 minutes to midnight. What will happen when the clock strikes midnight? The world will experience nuclear Armageddon and may very well be destroyed in the process.

The closest the world got to Doomsday was in 1953, the furthest it got away from it was in 1991 when the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). On January 17, the Bulletin moved the clock's hand forward again by two minutes, from seven to five minutes to midnight. Once again the world is becoming a more dangerous place.

During the Cold War, Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) kept the U.S. and the Soviet Union from using their nuclear arsenal. But they still keep 2,000 warheads ready for launch within minutes. And the number of nuclear powers is rising: Pakistan, India and North Korea joined the club. There is no MAD anymore today and the war may turn hot.

Civil nuclear power is becoming fashionable again. In the past two or three decades many opposed the use of nuclear energy to generate electricity. Accidents could happen, as Chernobyl showed, and leaving future generations with nuclear waste was considered 'not done'. But global warning requires that the use of fossil fuels is scaled back and 'clean' nuclear power is making a comeback. Global warming, biological experiments and advances in nanotechnology may also bring doomsday nearer. Imagine a destructive missile the size of an insect...

One problem is that if you are capable of producing nuclear energy, you are also clever enough to make the bomb. Sometimes it is not clear which is which. Iran says it is pursuing the peaceful use of the atom, U.S. and Israeli Ziocons say it is preparing to acquire nuclear weapons. The Ziocons themselves are actively preparing to use nuclear weapons to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Let's turn the clock back by exposing the warmongers.

"World's #1 Terrorist"

When Allen Jasson tried to board a Melbourne to London Qantas flight wearing a T-shirt proclaiming the truth and nothing but the truth, he was prevented from boarding the aircraft because the truth may offend fellow passengers.

Somebody wearing a T-shirt proclaiming blatant lies, would no doubt be allowed to board. What does this say about the view Qantas management has about its passengers. Bloody fools?

So what did Allen's T-shirt proclaim? “World's #1 Terrorist” above a picture of the world's Number One terrorist. What's wrong with that? Of course we may disagree about who is the world's number one terrorist. But it's not quite like disagreeing about who is the world's most beautiful woman. The latter is a matter of taste, and tastes may differ. The first is a matter of logic and mathematics.

Osama perhaps? No, he's not the most beautiful woman. He didn't even have a sex change last time we checked. We're talking about the terrorist. Does Brother Osama merit this honor? Let's see, 3,000 deaths on 9/11, plus a few other terrorist attacks, now let's be generous, won't we? 10,000? Let's give Osama a bonus! Let's add a zero on the house. Here you go, a hundred thousand for Osama bin Laden. Not that it's true, we're way off the mark here, but we're only being generous to help Osama to the coveted number one spot so his photogenic face may grace a T-shirt or two.

Sorry Mate! Really, Osama, you still have some work ahead of you. Who caused the deaths of 655,000 Iraqis, a hundred thousand Afghanis and is planning to murder a million Iranians? No, not Osama bin Laden.

Gimme that paper, will you? And the winner is ...

George Walker Bush. [Thunderous applause]

The managers of Qantas are a bunch of idiots, no doubt in part because of the number of criminals among their forefathers. Qantas should be grounded. (BBC News: Flight ban for anti-Bush T-shirt)

Please note: In no way did I associate Australians with criminals. Many Australians are wonderful people (and I am not only talking about the girls). Qantas management is a disgrace to Australia!

Hebron settlers act as Nazis

Every clear-headed observer can see the parallels between Hitler's Nazis and Olmert's Zionists. Before and during the second World War, Jews suffered “persecution, harassment, stone-throwing, damage to livelihood, intimidation, spitting and scorn” and this treatment escalated further in pogroms and gas chambers.

Compare this to how Zionist settlers in Hebron are treating the Palestinians: “a Hebron settler woman hissing "whore" at her Palestinian neighbor and settler children lobbing rocks at Arab homes”.

Denunciation of the Zionists this time did not come from Hamas, Hezbollah or left-wing supporters of the Palestinians, but from a rather unlikely source: Yosef Lapid, the chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's largest Holocaust memorial and a former Israeli minister of justice. (Aljazeera: Israel's Hebron settlers criticised)

In a weekly commentary on Israeli Radio, Lapid said that the acts of some Hebron settlers reminded him of persecution endured by Jews in his native Yugoslavia on the eve of the second world war. “I was afraid to go to school, because of the little anti-Semites who used to lay in ambush on the way and beat us up. How is that different from a Palestinian child in Hebron?”, Lapid asked, to go on “It is inconceivable for the memory of Auschwitz to warrant ignoring the fact that there are Jews among us who behave today towards Palestinians just like German, Hungarian, Polish and other anti-Semites behaved towards Jews.”

Mr Lapid, nobody has the right to deny the Holocaust to support the Palestinian people. The treatment of the Jews by the Nazis was a horrible crime, the treatment of the Palestinians by the Zionists is likewise a horrible crime. Measuring degrees of horribleness is not required. More than 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. That crime cannot be stopped anymore, it is part of history. The Holocaust of the Palestinians is ongoing. It can still be stopped, before 6 million Palestinians are dead.

Mr Lapid, open the doors of Yad Vashem to Palestinian victims of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Zionist Jews!

Space bully slapped

According to Aviation Week & Space Technology (Chinese Test Anti-Satellite Weapon), a Chinese intermediate ballistic missile on January 12 (Chinese time) destroyed an obsolete Chinese Feng Yun 1C polar orbit weather satellite, which was launched in 1999. China had every right to conduct this military test and did not break any international treaty or law. China did not comment on, nor confirm the test, but let's assume it's true (after all, American intelligence cannot lie all the time).

Imperial and neo-colonialist powers like the U.S., Britain, Australia and Japan immediately whipped up a diplomatic storm. The U.S. is dependent on about 200 military satellites, which are its eyes (for reconnaissance), ears (to communicate) and hands (to guide satellite-guided bombs). Now China can damage that capability. That's why the White House and the Pentagon are mad.

Let's first check-out the rubbish published in the world's press in the past few days:
+ “China is the rogue state par excellence” (The Guardian: Dire straits in the East China Sea)
+ “The Chinese military showed its true colors” and “the missile test represents grotesque carelessness on the part of the Chinese” (Taipei Times: China's missile tests the US) The Taipei Times' editorial also lamented that Washington did not retaliate “over Beijing's misuse of space technology”.
+ “China's most provocative military action since it testfired missiles off the coast of Taiwan more than a decade ago” (The New York Times: China Shows Assertiveness in Weapons Test)
+ “China, in an alarming exhibition of its military muscle” (The Financial Times: China sets off a new round of Star Wars)

But the BBC's Rob Watson had to acknowledge that “on the issue of space weapons, the US certainly risks the charge of hypocrisy”. It is Ronald Reagan who in 1983 proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also called 'Star Wars'. It is the U.S. which spent most on the militarization of outer space. The U.S. and the then Soviet Union already destroyed orbiting satellites in the 1980s, not once, but more than a dozen times. Why would China not be allowed to so to show that it can also play ball?

“Testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation,” lamented U.S. National Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe. Would he have said the same if it was a U.S. test? Of course not, that would only be to “protect the national security interests of the United States”. Is China not allowed to protect its own national security interests?

The destruction of the satellite caused thousands of pieces of debris to be dispersed in space, which could endanger other satellite. That is deplorable, but you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs. It is unacceptable that the U.S. monopolizes the making of the omelets. If eggs have to be broken to end that monopoly, let it be so. (While Russia can also knock out satellites, it does not have such disproportionate capabilities of waging war as the U.S.)

China again solemnly reiterated it was opposed to the use of weapons in space and that it will not participate in any arms race in outer space. If the U.S. and some other countries are so concerned about this test, they can join China in signing an international treaty prohibiting the use of space for military purposes. That includes using a satellite to guide a nuclear armed ICBM to its target. But the U.S. is opposed to such a treaty because it wants to be the only nation which can use space to wage war.

China has demonstrated that it can destroy American satellites in orbit. That makes the world a safer place. The U.S. is acting as if it owns space. It can do whatever it likes and prevents any other country to do whatever it doesn't like. Ever heard of the schoolyard bully? China slapped it in the face.

The Emperor (U.S.) may look strong, but the Jedi (China) will prevail.

Forbidden Starbucks

A storm in a coffee mug was raised by CCTV9 presenter's Rui Chenggang's blog attacking a Starbucks outlet in Beijing's Forbidden City as damaging Chinese traditional culture. A heated debate has ensued and Starbucks in the end may be forced to leave the Forbidden City. (The Guardian: Online campaign aims to rid Forbidden City of Starbucks)

A lot of arguments have been bandied about, so let's separate the cappuccino form the latte.

I basically agree with the arguments presented by Shanghai Daily's commentator Wang Yong (Don't blame Starbucks, don't equate Forbidden City with Chinese culture):

There should be no cafes or eateries in the Forbidden City. Some visiting tourists no doubt would like to have a coffee. What about those who would like to have a beer? Open a beer house? Or a hamburger? Here comes McDonald's. Or a finger-licking chicken wing? KFC anyone? Come to think of it, why not a branch of Morel's, so people can have decent food and a choice of 50 or so Belgian beers? The Forbidden City or Palace Museum as it is officially called is just that, a museum, a rather large one for sure, but no place to eat or drink.

By singling out Starbucks for criticism, the issue has become entangled in nationalist rhetoric. Starbucks is said to damage Chinese traditional culture. As Wang Yong points out, the 15th-century Forbidden City should not be equated with traditional Chinese culture, because it was only used by the 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Han, Tang and Song dynasties better represent traditional Chinese culture than the Ming and Qing. As Wang Yong writes: “What the Forbidden City stands for is quite possibly the opposite of essence [sic] of Chinese traditional culture - it stands for isolation”.

Aside from the Forbidden City, I am all for a world-wide boycott of Starbucks. Its chairman, Howard Shultz, is a Zionist and inveterate defender of Israel, using Starbucks to sponsor the Zionist cause. He called the Palestinian intifada a manifestation of anti-Semitism and asked people to unite behind Israel. Starbucks should be boycotted, not in the name of traditional Chinese culture, but in support of the Palestinian people against Zionist oppression and exploitation.

Let Stabucks follow the disgraced eunuchs in exile from the Forbidden City. Dump the coffee, have a beer!

War and peace

After a week-long visit to U.S. cronies in the Middle East, including Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Missy Rice concludes that “the whole of the Mideast wants peace”. Sure. And the only way to achieve that lofty goal is when the last imperial U.S. stormtrooper will have perished in the desert sands and the Jewish people will have been liberated from the Zionist yoke.

Some say Israel is a lackey of the U.S. and some say the U.S. is a lackey of Israel. Powerful arguments supporting the latter opinion are laid out in “The Power of Israel in the United States” by sociology professor emeritus James Petras of Binghampton University in New York. (to order the book at Amazon, click on the title in the side bar under Books Top 50).

Petras convincingly argues how the Ziocons (that is the Israeli Zionists and their American lackeys) have lied and pushed and cheated to destroy the sovereign state of Iraq and murder 650,000 of its people (and still counting) and are now once again on the war path to launch a war of aggression against Iran.

Bush should be impeached and hauled before the International Criminal Court, but that won't solve the problem as the Democrats are even more pro-Zionist than the Republicans. A broad-based world front is needed to prevent the Ziocons from starting another war. The leaders of the anti-imperialist struggle used to be revolutionary movements such as the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). They have been marginalized. But a new powerful alliance is forming between the socialist movements in Latin America (Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Equador, Nicaragua) and the rising stars in the Middle East, Ahmedinejad, Nasrallah and Meshaal. An unlikely alliance, but the anti-imperialist struggle requires strange bedfellows. Unite all who can be united to defeat the No 1 enemy.

One last question: which side is China on?

Farewell Comrade Bo

The last and longest living of the '8 Immortals' has passed away. Former vice-premier Bo Yibo died on January 15 in Beijing at the age of 98. The other seven are Deng Xiaoping (93), Li Xiannian (83), Wang Zhen (85), Chen Yun (90), Yang Shangkun (91), Song Renqiong (96) and Peng Zhen (95). They were all persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and all played a role in formulating and executing the policy of reform and opening up launched in December 1978.

Bo Yibo is one of the last to have played a role in the Long March, the anti-Japanese resistance and the founding of the People's Republic of China, when he was first secretary of the North China Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1957 he became vice premier and director of the State Economic Committee. After the Cultural Revolution he once again became vice premier in July 1979, to become a State Councilor in 1982.

His role in the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989 is unclear. some reports claim he played a role in the decision to send the troops to crush the demonstrations. Unless more evidence becomes available, the jury is still out.

His most prominent son is the current minister of commerce, Bo Xilai, who spent long years proving his worth as mayor of Dalian and governor of Liaoning province, probably destined for even higher office. I have met Bo Xilai twice and there is no doubt he is a capable leader.

With the passing of Bo Yibo, another old revolutionary has left this world. A few are still among us, including former Chairman Hua Guofeng.

Hanging rope theory

One learns something every day, although the usefulness might not always be very high. The following is interesting, but of the morbid kind. On Monday, Saddam's half-brother was executed in Baghdad by hanging, together with the former chief judge of the Supreme Court. In the process, the half-brother's head was severed from the body. Why did this happen with the brother, and not with Saddam or the judge? A rather interesting topic. Time for physics class.

Well, good ol' CNN provides the answer. (CNN: How hanging is supposed to work). Their seems to be four ways to hang a guy (let's not talk about the girls here, they certainly won't mind the discrimination on this one). Let's quote CNN: “Four types of drop have been used in hanging: the short drop, suspension, standard and long drop. In all but the last, subjects can remain conscious for minutes and eventually die of strangulation and/or loss of blood to the brain.”

Suspension is probably the lynch mob method: throw a rope over a tree branch (or attached to a crane or tank barrel) and haul 'em up. I don't know what the meaning of 'standard' is. The short drop is tying the rope around the ceiling fan and jumping off a chair. All three methods are no good, because it takes too long to die. And strange things happen, as the 'Corrections Professional' describes: “the tongue protrudes, the eyes pop, the body defecates”. Rather messy. Besides, slow strangulation is considered to be “not humane”.

Enter the long drop through a trap door. The neck snaps, quick and clean.

Unless... the rope is too long in relation to weight, height and build. Bingo, the head comes off! The French used to have a better way to achieve the same result: the guillotine. No need to waste a lot of rope.

"It seems what happened was that the Iraqi officials who had worked so hard to get this one right just got it wrong," commented John Burns of the New York Times, who was invited to watch a video of the hangings.

They never seem to be able to do anything right in Iraq these days. For those who want to get a MHA (Master in Hanging Administration), please head to Michigan State University.

"Crappy stuff newspapers"

A Belgian friend of mine returned from a family visit to the U.S. just before New Year. He's got a nice blog too (Surviving Beijing since 1980). It used to be that foreigners loved to hate the China Daily. Propaganda only, no news. Well, no more... I'm gonna shut up and let Gilbert do the talking.

“I do read newspapers that teach me more about the USA than most Americans ever know. I think even China Daily is better than most of their crappy stuff called newspapers. Except the International Herald Tribune. But again, their head office is in Paris… As for TV, forget it.
I felt like going back to the information age when landing in Beijing. Here we know what is going on. Hey guys, believe me: China Daily really is not that bad. When they dish up their propaganda it is that obvious you don’t take them seriously. The rest at least keeps us in touch with the world.”

Right on the spot! Not to mention U.S. Immigration: “Well, I had the unique experience of CHECKING OUT IN IMMIGRATION. When waiting for my flight Chicago – Beijing I saw a lonely lady standing between toilets and other booths next to two terminals that looked like ATMs. I asked her what it was. Oh yes, foreign visitors need to check out here, so there I gave it a try for the experience: fingerprint scans plus face picture and passport scan. I even received an (encoded) receipt from the Homeland Security (I keep it as a souvenir!).” Nobody ever experienced such shit with our friendly Chinese border police.

Conclusion (mine at least, I don't know about Gilbert): the Communist dictatorship (as the neocons define the PRC) is a better place to live in than the 'Champion of Democracy'.

Deranged Wall Street 'logic'

The opinion page in The Wall Street Journal is scaling ever more higher heights in deranged war mongering, which would have made Goebbels blush about his own incompetency. Read this lunatic article (The Wall Street Journal: Squeezing Iran) and try not to retch...

Of course the writer is hiding behind the face of anonymity to hide the fact that he's no doubt a despicable Ziocon paid by the Zionist lobby to frantically push the U.S. to launch a war of aggression against Iran and slaughter a million or more innocent Iranians to protect the Nazi Führers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

“Iran is supporting Shiite radicals in Iraq and President Bush finally suggested he'll do something about it.” “It's about time [...] showing Tehran that it will pay a price for continued subversion in Iraq”, writes Mr. Anonymous.

Meddling in another country's affairs is wrong. About the only country which is consistently not doing so is China – unless it involves Taiwan, but China rightly considers this to be his own affairs, not somebody else's.

But if – for the sake of argument – some country would have the 'right' to meddle in Iraq's affairs, would it not be Iran, which has suffered in an 8-year devastating war, rather than the U.S., thousands of kilometers across an ocean?

“Consider the problem of Iranian-manufactured improvised explosive devices (IED)”, laments the Wall Street Journal. Well now, what about the problem of American bombers dropping the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB)? Which one is claiming more innocent victims, IEDs or MOABs? Why would the U.S. have the 'right' to send its stormtroopers into Iraq, while Iran would not have the 'right' to send its Revolutionary Guards Corps? Because the U.S. is defending 'freedom'? The 'freedom' of the oil companies to plunder Iraq's reserves? The 'freedom' of the Zionists to destroy the Muslims?

Raids into Iran and Syria would be 'justified' to save American lives, according to the Wall Street Journal. Very well then, why would Iran and Syria not be 'justified' to stage raids against the Pentagon to save Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian lives? Because in the eyes of the Ziocon übermenschen they are worth nothing...

The opinion pieces in the Wall Street Journal are utterly despicable, the paper they are printed on only worth to be used in the toilet, the bits carrying them along the digital highway soiling the fiber-optic cables with stinking shit.

So this is America's freedom of the press... The freedom to preach a war of aggression, war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

“One failure of Mr. Bush's war leadership has been to clearly define the enemy in Iraq”, concludes the Journal. The peoples of the world will make no such mistake. They know who there enemy is: American imperialism.

Nokia's Apartheid

Good ol' Finnish Nokia is blundering. My first digital mobile phone was a Nokia and I have stayed faithful to the brand. That is from 1997 (if my memory is correct). I just got my 4th Nokia cellphone thanks to Pierre, who hand delivered an E61 model from Belgium, which is not available in China yet (and maybe never will be, if you believe the Nokia sales people).

It's a top-notch cellphone, with lots of applications. With just a few clicks and no configuration hassle whatsoever, I browsed the web and send e-mails. The full-scale keyboard makes writing an e-mail a charm. Nice indeed.

Well, there's always a but. My phone, being bought in Belgium, came with a Dutch/English language pack. Living in China, I also want to be able to read SMSs in Chinese (writing Mandarin would be a plus, but is not essential). Guess what? Adding or changing languages is against Nokia's rules and regulations! Even asking the question how you could add a language is against the rules on Nokia's discussion website.

This is Nokia Apartheid. If you buy a cellphone in Flanders, you can only use Dutch and English. If you buy one in China, you only get a couple of East Asian languages (plus English). So what about Dutch-English-Chinese? Or Urdu-Swahili-Dzongka?

We live in a globalized world. Any combination of languages should be possible and somebody somewhere will need it. Adding an additional language is easy on Sony-Ericsson and Motorola phones. Why not on a Nokia?

My advice to Nokia: stop this nonsense or lose customers!

"Beyond expectations"

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was very satisfied with his 3-day visit to Beijing, characterizing his talks with Chinese leaders as “surprising and encouraging, certainly beyond expectations”. The problem is, if it is encouraging for the Zionists, it cannot be encouraging for the Palestinian people, Iran and the Arab countries.

China does not want Iran to develop nuclear weapons. There is no problem with that, there is absolutely no proof that Iran is doing so. There was no need to fear Saddam's WMD because he didn't have any; there is no need to fear or oppose Iran's atom bomb, because the country is not developing any. Ayatollah Khomeini has said it loud and clear: possession of nuclear weapons is against Islam.

The problem lies with the Zionists and the neocons, or the Ziocons for short, to borrow a concept from James Petras (The Power of Israel in the United States). China always emphasizes dialogue and negotiations to solve international disputes. That is certainly to be preferred to waging war. The Ziocons however don't want any dialogue. They want to destroy the Palestinian people (like the Nazis wanted to destroy the Jews) and launch war against Iran, because Israel wants to wipe Iran of the map if it fails to install another Shah on the defunct Peacock Throne.

China has always warmly welcomed the Jewish people. In the 1800s Sephardic Jews were welcome to build business empires in the Middle Kingdom; following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, it welcomed Jews fleeing turmoil, including Ehud Olmert's parents who settled in Harbin and learned to speak Chinese. And before and during the Holocaust, Shanghai opened its gates to thousands of Jews – no visa required. No country did as much as China to save innocent Jews persecuted by the Nazis.

But in the 21st century we have to take a stand, certainly not against the Jewish people, only against the Zionists, because the Zionists are the Nazis and the Palestinians the Jews of the 21st century.

China should not have welcomed Olmert, a war criminal and corrupt element, despised not only by Palestinians, Arabs and Iranians, but even in his own country. China stood shoulder to shoulder with the Jews in the 1940s, it should stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinians today.

Into the graveyard you go

“So into the graveyard of Iraq, George Bush, commander-in-chief, is to send another 21,000 of his soldiers. The march of folly is to continue...” - Robert Fisk (The Independent: Bush's new strategy – The march of folly)

Bush changed course finally, and the new course is the delusion that (like in Vietnam) one more push, one more surge, will get the job done, because “Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States”. A disaster certainly it will be, and Bush is delivering close to 22,000 more targets to shoot at.

Up to now, most of the insurgency was Sunni. Now Bush wants to take on one of the most powerful Shia forces, Moqtada al-Sadr's Medhi Army, turning a majority of Shia Muslims into enemies of the American occupation. It may indeed lessen sectarian violence as Sunni and Shia will become more united in their opposition to the American occupation. More American forces will be embedded with Iraqi units, thereby ensuring that those Iraqi units will become prime targets of the Sunni insurgents and the Shia militia.

Bush believes “the Author of Liberty” will guide him. (The Wall Street Journal: Bush's Address to the Nation). How can that be? The Iraqi people want to have the liberty to live a life in peace, free from the American occupiers and their Quisling al-Maliki's.

The U.S. could leave now so that no more American soldiers will be sacrificed because Bush is incapable of recognizing that he is wrong. But no, Bush is sending 21,000 more of his own into the graveyard. Hundreds of thousands more Iraqi civilians will die. Standing on the scaffold with the noose around his neck, Saddam Hussein, the Martyr of Babylon, told the truth: Iraq has become hell.

There is no “magic formula for (American) success in Iraq”, no “best shot at victory”. Only death will await the 21,000 American storm troopers.

"I cannot tell you much"

Belgium, thanks to its monarchy, is once again the laughing stock of the world. (CNN: Belgium turns critical eye to monarchy and The Independent: 'Playboy prince' testifies at £1.4m fraud trial) The youngest son of the King, His Royal Lowness Prince Laurent, received from the government a villa in the suburbs of Brussels in order not to have to seek refuge under an overpass. The villa is owned by a sort of Royal Fund, so Laurent of Belgium (that's the guy's name) doesn't own it, but, being rather bare, it still had to be furnished.

Now, of course, a guy with blue blood running through his veins is too stupid to be able to do what everybody and his dog has to do, which is to furnish his own home. His obliging father ordered a Navy officer to assist his son to furnish his lowly hovel. You should know that a special non-governmental organization was especially created to give the chairmanship to the Prince so a salary for doing nothing could be transferred to his bank account and in the meantime he also gets a royal yearly stipend thanks to the Belgian taxpayers.

Laurent's villa is duly furnished, HRL himself choosing the carpets and the draperies. Paid by whom? Who cares? His navy captain lackey is taking care. To make a long story short: Laurent in court as a witness to a case of theft, corruption and embezzlement. Duration of his testimony: 16 minutes. Highlight answering a question of the presiding judge: “I cannot tell you much”. Never for one minute did he wonder where the money to furnish his humble hovel was coming from.

Our southern neighbors the French got rid of their monarchy at the end of the 17-hundreds. When will Belgium get rid of this plague?

Hug me!

Hugging is in! Chinese people are not so keen on physical contact, but like everything else in the Middle Kingdom, that is changing fast. The Great Wall is no longer great enough to keep out Western influences. Greeting each other is not yet two kisses (France) or three kisses (Belgium), but a hug is a great way to start. Volunteer groups are prowling the streets of the capital, offering hugs to anybody who wants it (or dares to break Confucian conventions).

Some people need a hug more than others. You can't get AIDS by hugging, but most Chinese won't touch an HIV-carrier with a ten foot pole. Migrants also feel particularly lonely, working themselves to death far away from their families. The pretty chicks in the big cities of course don't like the country bumpkins.

The huggers are still scaring away many passers-by, but slowly the trend will catch on. So go for it! One caution though: when you do hug, stay away from Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C. Hugging That One won't do you any good.

100!

Time flies fast. I started this blog on China's National Day, October 1, last year. This is already my 100th entry. Up to now, the blog was still in beta. From 0.1 alpha to 0.9 beta. It was born on my website chinacorrespondent.com, but I didn't like the interface and so I switched to Blogspot. Content was added: favorite websites, books, restaurants... To each entry a picture was added, text flow-around to the right was put straight.

Comments were sparse, but anyway it was still beta... The blog is still not 100% as I want it. The green color, left, top and right has to turn into a revolutionary red. The blog has to move back to the site. That will happen before the release of version 2.0 and the 200th daily entry.

Writing an entry every day is not always easy, and sometimes one or two entries appear a day (or two) late. But after 100 entries it's forward – “stay the course” – to 200 on April 18.

And it's time to make a little publicity.

So stay tuned for more Views from the China Pagoda. Cheers!

Nukes against the atom

London's Sunday Times today revealed that Israel has drawn up plans to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities with tactical nuclear weapons (The Times: Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran). Two Israeli air force squadrons based at Hatzerim and Tel Nof are training to bomb sites in Natanz, Isfahan and Arak. The ultimate hypocrisy: Israel using nuclear weapons to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

In the deranged minds of the Zionists, they believe that they are fighting to preserve the Jewish state and prevent a second Holocaust. The outcome will be the opposite. Even worse: Jewish targets all over the world will be targeted and no distinction will be made between Zionists and ultra-Orthodox nationalists on the one hand and Torah-abiding anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews on the other. Far from preventing a second Holocaust, they might ignite the fuse that could lead to widespread attacks against Jews, making the world far less safe for them than it is now.

If the Iranians would follow Bush's pre-emptive doctrine, the leaking of Israel's attack plan would justify a devastating Iranian 'shock and awe' strike against Tel Aviv and Dimona, Israel's atom bomb factory in the Negev desert. That would truly change the Middle East as we know it. So will an Israeli nuclear strike on Iran. Part of the Middle East is already in flames. Such an unprecedented war crime as using nuclear weapons for the first time since 1945, would unleash a fireball through the Middle East. Pro-Western regimes would be toppled and replaced with a fundamentalist caliphate. A Shiite arc from Lebanon to Iran would become a no-go zone for Westerners.

And finally, although Iran and Pakistan are rivals, trying to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program (there is no proof it is making the bomb), may prompt Pakistan to use its existing nuclear weapons.

The U.N. should try to stop the Zionists before it is too late.
(The Times: Focus: Mission Iran)

No nukes allowed

Four retired American politicians – Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, William Perry and Sam Nunn – have urged the United States to lead in the creation of a “world without nuclear weapons”. While this is commendable, the big question is whether the U.S. government is willing to do that. The chance is close to zero.

Initiating nuclear disarmament is an obligation for all nuclear weapons states which have signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The treaty was signed in 1968 and came into force in 1970. Israel, Pakistan and India never acceded to the treaty, North Korea left it and Iran is accused of violating it. But the Big Five nuclear weapons states – U.S., Russia, China, U.K. and France – have never started to destroy their nuclear weapons and are therefore breaching the NPT. The U.S. and Russia should indeed take the lead because they have the largest arsenals. They are doing nothing of the sort.

In fact, the U.S. is going ahead with the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program to build a new generation of atom bombs. A plea by old crocodiles such as Kissinger is very unlikely to change that. Still, America's 10,000 atom bombs cannot help it win victory in Iraq and won't prevent another 9/11.

The sign “No drugs and nuclear weapons allowed” is displayed above the entrance to the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing. Now that the Seminole Indians of Florida have taken over the Hard Rock Cafe chain, the nuclear cowboys of Texas will certainly not be allowed to bring their nuclear weapons along.

They will leave them at home, but will not destroy them.

Side with the U.S. or Iran?

Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks in Beijing today with Secretary Ali Larijani of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. (Picture: shaking hands with State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan) It was a gesture of goodwill, less than a week before receiving Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In December China supported a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for not stopping its uranium enrichment program.

The message from Hu to Larijani: give a serious response to the U.N. and return to negotiations to solve the problem. Larijani told the press that tactical differences between China and Iran over sanctions would not endanger both countries' strategic relationship.

The fact remains that on the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, by voting for the sanctions resolution, China has chosen the side of the U.S. against Iran. In the times of Mao and Deng it would certainly have sided with a Third World country. China is a bit too eager to become a 'responsible stakeholder'. What looks responsible from Washington, doesn't look responsible from Teheran.

There is no proof that Iran is building the bomb and the country has the right to develop its peaceful program for nuclear energy use. It deserves the support of China.

Sleeping bull-dozer

Exactly one year ago, the then Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke. Palestinians were celebrating what they thought would be the last hours of the Butcher of Sabra and Chatila.

One year later, the Bull-dozer is still lumbering in a coma. Doctors gave him a few months to live, but he is still clinging to live, although he won't wake up again. It seems God nor the Devil wants to have his soul. Which suits him fine, too rotten and despicable a war criminal to find a place in Hell.

But it would nevertheless be nice if he could open his bloodstained eyes even for one minute to see what a mess his successor Ehud Olmert has made of the Zionist entity of Israel. Sharon's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza lies in a gabbles, the 'mighty' Israeli army has been beaten by Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the Israeli President Katzav is accused of sex crimes and the Olmert-Peretz-Halutz trio is clinging to power against all odds.

If Sharon would wake up today, he would be shocked and disappointed indeed.

Cowboy justice

The Iraqi quisling government is investigating who filmed the execution of Saddam Hussein with a mobile phone and who leaked the footage so it became available on the Internet.

Saddam deserved to die, but the way the execution was carried out is a disgrace for the American occupiers and their puppet government. They want to pretend that Saddam was executed by Iraqis. But all through his trial and up to 5.30 a.m. on the day of his execution, he was in the custody of the American forces. He was transported from one U.S. base to another and then handed over to the Iraqis – in a facility within the perimeter of an American base – where he was executed barely half an hour after being 'handed over'.

Then he was taunted and insulted, and he held his head high... Bush succeeded in turning Saddam – the guy he louted so much, “the guy who tried to kill my dad” - into a martyr. Well done, Georgie... Done a service for a fellow war criminal, didn't you?

And the Americans and their Iraqi lackeys are mad, not because of what they have done, but because it became known to the world. As Rosemary Behan explains in The Times (Without that shaky video we'd still be in the dark), “Even more chilling than the actions of Saddam’s guards is the thought that without the escape of this amateur video we would still be in the dark about what really happened, and about the true and apparently now official nature of the sectarian forces driving Iraq. In that we must be thankful for the truth, however sordid it is.” Thankful and sordid indeed.

Stone Age communication

A week after an earthquake damaged fiber-optic cables south of Taiwan, sending e-mails and browsing the web in Beijing (and many other places in the Far East) is still a hassle.

It's not exactly the Stone Age, although some Chinese bloggers felt that way. "No Internet. No life", wrote the China Daily. And kicking your computer wouldn't solve anything...

Complete inaccessibility of the Internet would be worse, but then again you could go to the beach, lock yourself up in a room with a shelf full of books or explore the nightlife in town till early morning. But the web is still accessible, so at least one knows what's going on in the world. Still, it's a frustrating experience. You never know in advance which websites will be OK, which will we slow as a turtle, and which will never show up on the screen.

Sending e-mails with an attachment is equally an exercise in frustration: try and fail, try and fail and maybe, with a lot of luck, on the twentieth or the fiftieth try, it will go through... Reports indicate traffic will only return to normal by January 15. At least we know now how dependent we have become on the Internet, surfing, blogging, chatting, skyping, googling, wikipedia-ing, flickring, youtubing,... What a way to start the new year!

Crystal ball gazing

A new year... yesterday we were looking back, today, let's look ahead. A tricky exercise, nobody's got a crystal ball. Never mind, here goes...

Bush is going to get stuck ever more deeper in the Iraq quagmire. Sending in more combat troops. Bring 'em on George, the Iraqi resistance forces will be happy to have more targets. But you shouldn't be doing this, sacrificing American boys and girls because you don't want to confess you're wrong.

The big question is will they, or won't they, attack Iran? There is a fair chance the Bush-Blair-Olmert axis of evil will do it, fortified by the assistance of the Saudi monarchy. Everybody and his dog is predicting it will be disastrous and so it will be. Imperialism will bite off more than it can chew.

In China, the big event (prior to the Olympics, that is), will be the 17th party congress in October, where the course for the next 5 years will be charted. In the meantime, China will try to start filling up the gap between rich and poor and develop the countryside. And China will become stronger. Following Iraq and Iran, the ultimate target of the mad neocons is China, because they can never accept a peaceful giant rising in the East.

In 2007 also, “the tree may prefer calm, but the wind will not subside” (Mao)