Michael Phelps cemented his place in Olympics history Sunday, capping a sensational week by becoming the first athlete ever to win eight gold medals in one Games.
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08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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A group of Mauritanian lawmakers announced Saturday an initiative to return democratically-elected President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi to power, 10 days after he was ousted in a coup. "Our goal is to lead a democratic battle to re-establish the legality, the liberty and the return" to presidential office of Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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A Southern Africa regional summit ends with no power-sharing deal on Zimbabwe but negotiators remain optimistic. Yeah, yeah. Another month's gone by and I haven't lost any weight, despite telling myself regularly that I shouldn't eat so much ice cream, cocoanut cream pies, and lard. I continue to remain optimistic.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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The government is going to rearrange the civil and police administration in two weeks through transfer and posting, and through withdrawal of officials facing specific allegations or having poor performance records, officials say.
Instructed by the Chief Adviser's Office, the establishment ministry along with the Cabinet Division initiated moves last week and is now busy scrutinising field level officials to pull out those whose involvement might make polls controversial.
In the police administration, officials posted by the then Iajuddin Ahmed-led caretaker government would be transferred from their present stations.
"We have 10 such superintendents of police [SP] and 58 officers-in-charge [OC] who will have new postings," said Additional Inspector General of Police NBK Tripura. He added they have backtracked on a decision of massive reshuffle in police administration.
"The officers facing allegations of specific misconducts or irregularities or showing poor performance will be withdrawn from the field," he told The Daily Star yesterday. The police administration is doing the homework to complete the reshuffle by end of August, he added.
The army-backed caretaker government, which has hardly brought any changes in the administration so far, has asked the establishment and home ministries to bring the necessary changes before the upazila and national polls.
Establishment Secretary Abdus Salam Khan on Wednesday told a group of journalists that the reshuffle would take place in phases. "It's going to start with the UNOs... But no massive changes will take place," he said.
A three-member committee formed last week headed by Additional Secretary to Cabinet Division Zahid Hossain passed hectic days on Wednesday and Thursday as it is assigned to reorganise the bottom-level officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If you mix them up too much, you'll have crossfires all over the place. Compound crossfiring could even occur.
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina said the massive public misery in the last one and a half years has proved that unelected governments cannot bring any good for people. However, the massive public misery in the years preceding that proved that having one of, if not the most, corrupt governments on the face of the earth did them little good, too.
She called for handing over power to elected representatives by holding a free and fair election without any further delay. Those would be the same elected representatives who're being marched off to jail in herds for amassing wealth at the expense of the Bangla in the street.
Hasina was speaking at a discussion on the 33rd death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15 at a hotel in Virginia State, according to US-based news agency News World. "There is no alternative to holding parliamentary elections; no alternative to democracy to build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh braving the challenges of the 21st century," she said. That was, from what I've read, Mujib's intent. Instead, he was bumped off in the usual kind of Third World coup d'etat, the people who were on the Pak side in the late festivities weren't punished or expelled and wormed their way into the corridors of power, where they continued acting like Paks, and probably continue taking Pak pay checks.
The former prime minister said the anti-corruption drive has turned into an instrument of depoliticisation. Tough. With a nation paralyzed between two bitch women who were willing to do most anything, each to keep the other out of power, even a military dictatorship would look good. From what I've seen, what Bangla now has is a lot more and a lot better than I ever expected to see.
The authorities arrested low-profile leaders leaving the bigwigs untouched in a bid to secure some select constituencies in the general election, robbing the anti-corruption drive of its credibility, she alleged. She's one of the two top-level bigwigs, mind you...
She said the caretaker government searched for honest people by detaining her on charges of dishonesty. "People want to know how many honest people they have so far found", she said adding that people who whitened their black money and those known as usurers are dear to the administration as honest people.
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08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
However, the massive public misery in the years preceding that proved that having one of, if not the most, corrupt governments on the face of the earth did them little good, too.
Its frickin Bangladesh, what do they EXPECT?
Quality government like New Orleans? East St. Louis? :)
Detained Awami League presidium member and former home minister Mohammad Nasim was released on Friday on a High Court bail two days after jail authorities received the court order.
Family sources say Nasim, who was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment by a special court for amassing illegal wealth, would be sent to Singapore for treatment as early as possible.
He is also accused in another corruption case in connection with illegal installation of telephone lines by Worldtel Holdings Ltd.
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Detained Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) mayor-elect Badar Uddin Ahmad Kamran will be freed on parole today to attend the namaj-e-janaza of his mother Nurunnesa Lalon who passed away yesterday.
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The soldiers told us they had an order from Putin - leave or be killed. Manana Dioshvili showed no emotion as she described how Russian troops forced her to flee her home. Her former neighbours nodded in agreement, huddled together in a kindergarten whose windows had been blown out by a Russian bomb.
Thats how they explained themselves to us, she recalled of the moment they fled the ethnic Georgian village of Kurta, near the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali.
They said, Putin has given us an order that everyone must be either shot or forced to leave. They told us we should ask the Americans for help now because they would kill us if we stayed.
Vardo Babutidze, 79, was not lucky enough to be visited by Russian soldiers. Her husband Georgi, 85, was shot twice through the chest by an Ossetian paramilitary who came to their house to demand weapons.
President Dimitry Medvedev delivered his most hawkish statement yet in the current Georgian crisis today when he warned that any further aggression against Russian citizens would prompt a "crushing response". This includes, one guesses, the ethnic Russians who have been recently issued Russian passports - in Ukraine and the Baltic republics. Expect Sudeten-like riots in the near future in the "near abroad". Those passports are weapons.
If I were running the Latvian government I'd be getting worried. I'd be talking to my NATO allies and make sure they're serious about protecting me.
Mr Medvedev, the former technocrat who is generally seen as the more conciliatory voice of the Kremlin duumvirate, told Second World War veterans in the Russian city of Kursk that Russia had the power to counter any threat against its citizens.
His statement came as Russia appeared to be dragging its heels in withdrawing its troops from Georgia amid growing international demands that it implements a ceasefire deal signed last week.
"If anyone thinks that they can kill our citizens and escape unpunished, we will never allow this. If anyone tries this again, we will come out with a crushing response," Mr Medvedev said, according to Reuters. "We have all the necessary resources, political, economic and military. If anyone had any illusions about this, they have to abandon them." Ok, liberalhawk - this is the use of hard power.
Tony Halpin, a Times correspondent, said that Russian troops were still manning checkpoints on the road from Tbilisi to the strategic town of Gori near the border with the disputed enclave of South Ossetia, where the conflict erupted 10 days ago. I wonder if that agreement includes the Chechen mercs and the S.O. paramilitaries? The Russkies appear to be on the same departure schedule as the Soviets' when the Sovs evacuated northern Persia after WWII.
Mr Medvedev's statement will be seen as a warning not just to Georgia against any further military action in South Ossetia or breakaway Abkhazia but other former Soviet republics including the Baltic states, which have large and restive Russian minorities.
Mr Medvedev, facing his first international crisis since taking over the Kremlin's top job in May from Vladimir Putin, said that Russia did not want to spoil relations with anyone but demanded respect. "We do not want a deterioration of international relations, we want to be respected. We want our people, our values to be respected," he said. "We have always been a peace-loving state. Practically there is not a single occasion in the history of the Russian or Soviet state when we first started military actions. We have not attacked anyone, we only secured the rights and dignity of people as peacekeepers." Oh boy. "Russian or Soviet"? And he's supposed to be the "nice guy".
#2
"We have all the necessary resources, political, economic and military. If anyone had any illusions about this, they have to abandon them."
Ok, liberalhawk - this is the use of hard power.
anyone who has followed my participation here over the years knows I recognize that hard power can be quite useful. Soft power is a complement and supplement to hard power, NOT a substitute for it.
Also you seem to include political and economic as hard power. If you mean hard power is purely military, than I guess you think Moscow hasnt been pressuring the Ukrainians and Baltics till now, since they havent sent tanks in.
Ultimately the power to coerce is based on tangible physical realities, either military or economic (the relation of military and economic is complex, as you need economic strength to support a military, but you can sometimes seize economic resources using the military) Diplomatic and hearts/minds strategies work by IMPACTING the economic and military situation, either locally or in related or even unrelated areas. For ex, in the last '70s the USSRS behavior in SE asia and elsewhere pissed off China - which led to Chinese support for guerilla wars against the USSR and its allies - wars that were ineffective in SE asia itself, but proved more important in Afghanistan.
Look at someplace where we are winning - Iraq. Things are going much better because of a deft interweaving of hard and soft power, with each one reinforcing the other.
Clearly in Georgia where we lack hard power, and the only real hard power that could be used against Russia is a guerilla war that the Georgians seem reluctant to launch as along as theres a chance the Russians will leave soon, soft power is weakened, due to the inability to leverage hard power.
"Soft Power" and "Hard Power" as tools of a nation-state's foreign policy. Not as means used in a counter-insurgency campaign within a nation-state (i.e., Iraq).
You state: Soft power is a complement and supplement to hard power, NOT a substitute for it.
"Power" on an international scale is not only a compilation of tangible assets, it is also dependent on the morale of the actors - their willingness to execute policy to the extent necessary to achieve their objectives. If we accept that "War is merely a continuation of politics", as Clausewitz puts it, we must also address the matter of perception.
The Russians, if nothing else, are cold-blooded realists. They know to the last dollar, euro, yuan, and yen how much their adversaries are spending on their national defenses. They carefully study the character of each country's leadership, its security interests, and its ability and willingness to defend those interests.
So what is Russia's perception of the current state of NATO and the willingness of its members to enforce the charter's objectives? Will that evaluation also include the current defense spending (as a percentage of GDP) of each member? Will it include the inevitable conflict of interests between EU, NATO, and national objectives?
Personally, I find the terms "hard power" and "soft power" as discrete components useless. Effective national diplomacy is based on security interests and the use of power (the perceived aggregate of economic/military assets, and morale) needed to protect them.
Clearly in Georgia where we lack hard power, and the only real hard power that could be used against Russia is a guerilla war that the Georgians seem reluctant to launch as along as theres a chance the Russians will leave soon, soft power is weakened, due to the inability to leverage hard power.
I disagree. The US has the ability to project overwhelming military power anywhere on the globe, including Georgia. Whether we do so or not depends on our national security interest(s) in the area and the price in blood and treasure we are willing to spend to defend them.
I alluded to the Soviet withdrawal from Iran in 1946. It wasn't the military power of Persia that persuaded Stalin to evacuate that country's oil fields.
#5
So what is Russia's perception of the current state of NATO and the willingness of its members to enforce the charter's objectives? Will that evaluation also include the current defense spending (as a percentage of GDP) of each member? Will it include the inevitable conflict of interests between EU, NATO, and national objectives?
Personally, I find the terms "hard power" and "soft power" as discrete components useless. Effective national diplomacy is based on security interests and the use of power (the perceived aggregate of economic/military assets, and morale) needed to protect them.
I think you are being both too narrow, and too broad. First too broad - willingness to use it, from the perspective of a rational power wielder, is NOT based on his own "morale" - it is based on his weighing of the costs and benefits, the means and ends. Whether in a democratic polity the objections of the electorate to the cost-benefit calculation of a given policy maker should be considered a weakness, or a disagreement, is complex.
I will accept however that broadly the morale of the populace is AN element of power. I would suggest as well that there are elements of power in addition to the tangibles of military and economic. There is the relative willingness of other powers to marshal their own tangible power in support of or in opposition to your wishes, above and beyond their own immediate goals. EG UKs willingness to support the US in doing things the UK otherwise doesnt particularly like, out of a desire to maintain the long term relationship. I would call this diplomatic power. It also operates at a couple of removes - Ghana, say, might participate in sanctions on Iran, cause it not only wants to stay on the good side of the US, but on the good side of states like the UK that want to stay on the good side of the US. And this power is perishable - either from being too weak, or being too aggressive, but mainly being too arbitrary, reckless and unpredictable. I will do as you want for a reward (short term or long term), or out of fear of punishment, but not if your punishments are given out without regard to my behavior.
And there is the element of sympathy from the populace of other countries, whether its support for tangible measure by their govts, or support for intangible measures, etc in support of or opposition to mine. I would call that hearts and minds. Two weeks ago a bare majority of Poles opposed the missile defense system, and that constrained the govt to some degree. I think its clear that has changed today.
I realize that international relations are distinct from counterinsurgency, but I think the mix of uses of power is still illustrative. I would also suggest that international relations cannot be seperated from the events in Iraq - both in the nature of Iran as a negative player needing to be blocked, and the Sunni neighbors as potential helpers needing to be enticed back into involvement by better treatment of Sunnis, which in turn led to greater Sunni confidence, in a potentiall virtuous cycle.
as for there being hard power options in Georgia, well sure, we also have hard power options in Burma, say, to overthrow the regime by force of arms, or to threaten to nuke china unless they do. Options that are so unbalanced in costs and benefits arent worth discussion, and thats what I meant by 'no hard power options" No realistic hard power options. I dont personally think that if our morale was better we'd be sending ground troops to Georgia.
#6
I alluded to the Soviet withdrawal from Iran in 1946. It wasn't the military power of Persia that persuaded Stalin to evacuate that country's oil fields.
We failed to remove them from Poland, and arguably at the time eastern europe wasnt much less important economically than persia. The difference was strategic and logistical acccess.
*sigh* The Times reporters write like the New York Times staff think they do.
I believe it was Britain that kept the Soviets out of Persia. Then they divided their Near East into new countries and put new kings in charge of them.
#10
First too broad - willingness to use it, from the perspective of a rational power wielder, is NOT based on his own "morale" - it is based on his weighing of the costs and benefits, the means and ends.
History is replete with stories of very bad, highly-motivated, politically-adept men doing terrible things to their neighbors.
Without morale - the utter self-confidence in one's own judgment and motives, a leader dissipates the power he holds. Napoleon is alleged to have said "When you set out on taking Vienna, take Vienna!". Ditherers and bean-counters make poor warlords.
National leaders on the international stage must compete with the adversaries they have, not with the adversaries they want.
Keegan's book The Mask of Command is required reading on this subject.
as for there being hard power options in Georgia, well sure, we also have hard power options in Burma, say, to overthrow the regime by force of arms, or to threaten to nuke china unless they do. Options that are so unbalanced in costs and benefits arent worth discussion, and thats what I meant by 'no hard power options" No realistic hard power options.
Nice dodge.
First, Georgia is a friend of the United States; it has sent troops to Iraq at the request of the United States; most of its army has been trained and equipped by us. Georgia borders Russia and Turkey (a NATO ally). A portion of a US-backed pipeline that extends from the Caspian Sea to the coast of Turkey runs through Georgia. And Georgia has a port on the Black Sea. None of that pertains to Burma. Or to China. We also have more than 120 US military advisers in Georgia. The number of US military advisers in Burma? Zero.
Any number of military options are available to the US, including overflights of Georgian territory by US tactical aircraft, and US naval forces deployed to Georgian territorial waters.
#11
There are two other factors here that I haven't heard mentioned.
1) Love him or hate him, W is a lame duck and will be out of office soon. I wouldn't doubt that they are hoping for Obama, who will be very easy for a former KGB guy to push around.
2) The Russians believe, and may be accurate on this point to an extent, that they have the EU by the balls wrt energy policy. They provide a substantial portion of their supply, and don't think they won't threaten to use it.
You bet your sweet bippy that they think we'll back off if/when they put the screws to Europe (especially if this winter is a cold one). I remember one statement from my Soviet Military History course....the greatest general the Russians ever had was General Winter. The winter stalled Napoleon, it stalled Hitler, and if the Euros are freezing their asses off, they'll do whatever they have to in order to keep the heat on.
Pray for a relatively warm winter in Europe, everybody. I'm dead serious.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
08/18/2008 23:57 Comments ||
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#1
Some of this makes little sense to me, as the Russians seem to be furthering the declared targets of terrorists. Targeting energy supplies, especially to the US and our European allies to destroy us economically has been the stated goal of many a jihadi video. The strategy Russia is employing seems at cross purposes to their own main source of survival in a global downturn, as boycotting their oil and gas sales and suspending WTO and other harsh measures to stem their push into Georgia also will hurt economically. They declare sovereign rights to protect territory, fight Islamists, and are fiercely proud and intend to take their place on the world stage. With all the strutting of their military feathers lately, why would they jeopardize their standing in the eyes of the EU, NATO, and the UN? Georgians firing on journalists trying to see the damage done by Russian bombs and get at the truth, so justice and freedom prevail, also makes little sense. On the other hand, I am reading an intriguing book that is making sense out of it all and I highly recommend it: Epicenter by Joel C Rosenberg. I personally have always placed Ezekiel 38-40 after Revelation, chapter 20, and the peaceful land restored from war attacked following the Millenium. My personal difference in interpretation doesn't alter this guys incredible insight from a unique viewpoint any. He has Iran and Russia as allies in the battle over Israel/Jerusalem. The good news is 1/3 of Assyria(Iraq) and 1/3 of Egypt are good guys on the right side of things in this battle. Also, a God-fearing King of the East arises, as well as one from the Land of the Rising Sun. The author actually has credibility and has worked as a government consultant and has an interesting array of friends. I used to give Pooty the benefit of the doubt, but if he is in league with Dinner-jacket, he's very, very dangerous. This is nothing less than a plot to control the world from space, if Rosenberg is correct.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday in the Georgian capital that the ex-Soviet republic, currently mired in conflict with Russia, will join NATO. "Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," she said before talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi.
It was one of the strongest statements yet of support for Georgia's NATO membership bid, which is fiercely opposed by Russia.
Merkel was in Tbilisi to support Saakashvili and press for the withdrawal of Russian troops who attacked Georgia on April 8 to repulse an offensive by Georgian troops against a Moscow-backed separatist region.
Moscow is furious at Georgia's attempt to join NATO. The Western military alliance is divided over how fast to accept Georgia, but has indicated that membership is a matter of when, not if.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX > TURKEY: US MUST SHARE POWER IN NEW WORLD ORDER.
#7
given that Germany has been the state pushing hardest of all against NATO membership for Georgia, I suspect if Germany says Georgia will be a NATO member, Georgia (or whats left of Georgia) will be. Given the POV of US, UK, and New Europe, its pushing on an open door for Germany to support it - who is going to block it, Berlusconi?
#9
What difference does it make if the remains of Georgia join NATO. In a test of wills between the Russian godfather and you'reapeon solidarity, I think we all know who wins.
#10
So why doesn't Italy build nuclear power plants? We all know why the Germans are down on them - crazed watermelon Greens whose pregnant mothers were scared by Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, followed up by the Soviet disaster at Chernobyl. What's the Italian excuse? No money, or their large and loud Communist minority?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/18/2008 10:40 Comments ||
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#16
#8, yeah, but so are the Germans. I mean Italy can still WANT to block Georgia, but are they really gonna stand alone against US-UK-France-Germany-New Europe?
#20
I find all this trolling upsetting. Sorry, I am out of here. I can't take this abuse. I'm weak. I'll still come here as Joseph Mendiola when the Percoden runs out.
Britain is pushing to suspend security co-operation with Russia as its aggressive actions in Georgia expose deep divisions within Nato as to how Moscow should be punished.
Nato foreign ministers are meeting for a special session on Georgia in Brussels tomorrow. Already there is disagreement between the United States and Britain on one side, which want to take a tough approach, and Germany and France, which are urging a more cautious stance. They are likely to block attempts to send Nato military monitors into Georgia.
We dont want to leave the Russians out in the cold but we want to make it clear to Moscow that its no longer going to be business as usual, one British diplomatic source said.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed last night that David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, will visit Georgia after the Nato meeting.
Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, said that Russias action had been adversarial and that Moscow appeared to be heading back to its past. He described its actions in Georgia as aggressive.
Moscow was criticised by other Western leaders yesterday as it delayed implementing the terms of the EU-brokered ceasefire it signed on Saturday. It promised to begin the withdrawal of troops today.
The Nato members that want to send the strongest-worded condemnation of Russian military action in Georgia are expected to underline the serious repercussions for the future if the alliance is seen to be ambivalent in confronting Moscow.
With both Georgia and Ukraine seeking full Nato membership, President Medvedev of Russia has already given warning that Russia reserved the right to protect its citizens wherever they were living.
The promised pull-out of Russian troops from Georgia was announced by Mr Medvedev in a telephone conversation with President Sarkozy of France. He said that they would move towards South Ossetia, the breakaway region of the country where the conflict began after Georgian troops tried to gain control of the territory with a military offensive. Such a promise, however, has been made before; the Russian leader also indicated that a large force might remain in South Ossetia. Russia had only about 1,000 peacekeepers in the region before the fighting flared up.
Mr Sarkozy said that there would be serious consequences if the withdrawal of Russian troops did not begin; and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, who has been in Georgia, said: I hope this time he will keep his word.
One American/British proposal for the Brussels meeting will be to suspend the security co-operation between the West and Moscow, enshrined in the Nato/Russia Council which consults regularly over issues of mutual interest, such as counterterrorism and regional stability, and which was set up in 2002 specifically to draw the West and Russia closer together. There will also be moves to approve a request from President Saakashvili, the Georgian leader, for Nato to send military monitors to the former Soviet republic to monitor any Russian activities that might breach the ceasefire and withdrawal promises made by Moscow.
However, diplomatic sources for the alliance said that there appeared to be no hope of reaching consensus among the Nato foreign ministers over either of these issues. Offers of help from Nato are expected to be restricted to humanitarian assistance.
Germany made its position clear yesterday when Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Foreign Minister, urged the alliance not to opt for a knee-jerk reaction to the conflict by suspending either the Nato/Russian Council or the current talks on a partnership and co-operation agreement between Moscow and the European Union, or even preventing Russia from joining the World Trade Organisation.
The one area where Nato foreign ministers are likely to achieve consensus is over Georgias right to become a member of the alliance. This was agreed at the Nato summit in Bucharest in April but it will be reaffirmed by the foreign ministers in Brussels. The final decision, however, on whether to invite Georgia and Ukraine to join Natos membership action plan, the first step towards becoming a member, will not be made until December.
Germany and France both voted against allowing Georgia and Ukraine to start the membership action plan but agreed with all the other alliance members that both countries would one day join Nato. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, confirmed yesterday that Germany supported Georgias aspirations. Alliance sources said that, even if Nato foreign ministers approved the action plan in December, it could take up to ten years before membership was finally approved.
Despite the divisions in the alliance, American and British diplomats are hopeful that the meeting in Brussels tomorrow will send a strong signal to Moscow that Nato supports Georgia and condemns the breach by Russian troops of the former Soviet republics territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The permanent representatives of Natos decision-making North Atlantic Council are due to visit Georgia next month. The trip was planned before the present crisis.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
Looks more like the economic stranglehold approach is floating to the top. Besides, we'd totally destroy Georgia trying to "liberate" it. But they say sometimes you have to destroy the village to save it.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
KOMMERSANT > seems SOUTH OSSETIA is offering RUSSIA to set up a formal MILBASE [bases?] within its area. SOUTH OSSETIA WILL NO LONGER ALLOW INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS ON ITS TERRITORY???
#2
Methinks ARMENIA will happy as larks wid RUSSIAN MILFORS based in SOUTH OSSETIA + SOUTH OSSETIA back in Russ fold - WHAT MORE IFF US-NATO + EU IS ALSO JUST OVER-THE-BORDER IN GEORGIA PROPER, + UKRAINE!?
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > RUSSIA PLANS TO SEND 1000 TROOPS [SHHHH - fully equipped] for pre-scheduled MILEX ["Border 2008/RUSAR 08"]wid ARMENIA.
When China began limiting couples to one child 30 years ago, the policy's most obvious goal was to contain a mushrooming population. For the Chinese people, however, the policy's greater purpose was to turn out a group of young elites who would each enjoy the undivided resources of their whole familythe so-called xiao huangdi, or "little emperors." The plan was to "produce a generation of high-quality children to facilitate China's introduction as a global power," explains Susan Greenhalgh, an expert on the policy. But while these well-educated, driven achievers are fueling the nation's economic boom, their generation has become too modern too quickly, glutted as it is with televisions, access to computers, cash to buy name brands, and the same expectations of middle-class success as Western kids.
The shift in temperament has happened too fast for society to handle. China is still a developing nation with limited opportunity, leaving millions of ambitious little emperors out in the cold; the country now churns out more than 4 million university graduates yearly, but only 1.6 million new college-level jobs. Even the strivers end up as security guards. China may be the world's next great superpower, but it's facing a looming crisis as millions of overpressurized, hypereducated only children come of age in a nation that can't fulfill their expectations.
This culture of pressure and frustration has sparked a mental-health crisis for young Chinese. Many simmer in depression or unemployment, unwilling to take jobs they consider beneath them. Millions, afraid to face the real world, escape into video games, which the government considers a national epidemic. And a disturbing number decide to end it all; suicide is now China's leading cause of death for those aged 20 to 35. "People in Chinaespecially parents and college studentsare suddenly becoming aware of huge depression and anxiety problems in young people," says Yu Zeng, a 23-year-old from Sichuan province. "The media report on new campus suicides all the time."
#1
Ah, we do it a little different. We pile years of student loan debt upon millions of students seeking degrees in non-employable majors. That surly clerk at the check out counter who has an advanced degree in Middle English Literature or that arrogant non-French waiter with four years at Juillard's usually is a give away.
#2
Millions, afraid to face the real world, escape into video games, which the government considers a national epidemic.
Almost two centuries ago, the Chinese blamed opium addiction for China's problems. Never mind that opium had been available in China since the Tang dynasty 1000 years ago. Never mind that opium was legal and widely available worldwide in more concentrated forms (as laudanum and cough syrup in the West). Opium addition, in this view, was a cause, rather than a symptom, of China's problems. Sadly, the Chinese will swallow the current government's explanation just as readily as they swallowed the previous government's explanation for its failures.
#5
I would say that someone with an advanced degree in Middle English literature would have many prospects as an English teacher or in other professions because she was taught to think clearly and write. The real wastes are low end BAs in Business Admin which can be all BS courses. You can bullshit through that degree without even having to write long essays or do math higher than you learned in High School.
Most kids could benefit from a year of prep school so they can shoot for more difficult science and engineering majors.
#6
even worse- a journalism major - learn to write about someone else's achievements, add your bitter little bias to a news story, and spellcheck cleans up the tripe
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2008 16:23 Comments ||
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#7
Not mentioned is that the Chinese much prefer boys and only being able to have one child caused couples to take steps to ensure that that child was a boy. Girls are dumped and/or sold to western couples looking to adopt. China (and India) have become the top markets for ultrasound machines.
China is now running about 120 boys for every girl. The internet is the only option for some of these guys (and I'm not talking games).
#10
The disadvantage from a military standpoint is that they're becoming a nation of sole surviving sons. Once Sonny goes, the family line goes with him.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 18:43 Comments ||
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#11
The disadvantage from a military standpoint is that they're becoming a nation of sole surviving sons. Once Sonny goes, the family line goes with him.
An interesting prospect is of kids without aunts or uncles.
(KCNA) The British Branch of the Korean Friendship Association headquartered in Spain released a statement on Aug. 12 to denounce the Ulji Freedom Guardian war exercises to be staged by the U.S. and south Korean warmongers.
The statement branded the above-said war maneuvers as an open declaration of confrontation with the DPRK and a blatant challenge to the Korean people and the international community desirous of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. The projected war exercises are little short of an armed intervention for destroying the man-centered socialist system of Korean style by force of arms, the statement noted, and continued:
The reality clearly indicates that the "dialogue", "peace" and "improved relations" on the lips of the U.S. imperialists and the Lee Myung Bak puppet clique are nothing but empty words and they only seek confrontation and war. It strongly demanded the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean puppet clique give up at once the projected reactionary and provocative Ulji Freedom Guardian war exercises.
I'd give it an '8', but they lost points because they subcontracted the spittle out to a lackey, and an expatriate British one at that. So it's a '6'.
#1
See also REALCLEAR POLITICS > WHEN WILL NORTH KOREA FINALLY COLLAPSE? Ten Years of pervasive = seemingly never-ending food shortages and famine has put NOKOR on a Nation-, Regional-, and even World-Threatening Precipice.
*TOPIX > EHTIOPIA's NEW FAMINE IS A "TICKING TIME BOMB" + WORLD NEWS > RISING FOOD PRICES IS PLACING OVER 14 MILYUHN PEOPLE AT RISK OF STARVATION.
* NEW SCIENTIST > WORLD FARMERS LOOK TO RAW [mostly untreated]SEWAGE FOR IRRIGATION [+ Fertilizer] [GW-induced Water Shortage] + THE FARMERS OF INDIA AND BRAZIL MUST ADAPT OR ROAST IN THE HEAT/FIRE.
#2
Despite heavy rains and flooding during the early part of the growing season, I've read that U.S. farmers are harvesting a bumper crop this year, JosephM. So we can hope to see food prices fall a bit, preventing 14 million dead bodies in the poorer parts of the world.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has played down the significance of reports that Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads. The foreign minister said Sweden was already aware of Russia's nuclear capacity in the region. "According to the information to which we have access, there are already tactical nuclear weapons in the Kaliningrad area. They are located both at and in the vicininty of units belonging to the Russia fleet," Bildt told the TT news agency.
Bildt's comments came after a senior Russian military source told The Sunday Times that Russia was planning to equip its Kaliningrad-based naval fleet with nuclear warheads for the first time since the Cold War.
"This is no surprise even if there are not press releases being sent out about it on a daily basis. But it is worrying from our point of view in a more general sense that nuclear weapons still play a major role in the overall Russian doctrine," said Bildt.
The Sunday Times' source said the Kaliningrad fleet had suffered from a lack of funding since the end of the Cold War but that this would now change. The small enclave of Kaliningrad is located between Poland and Lithuania, both of which are members of the European Union and Nato.
"In view of America's determination to set up a missile defence shield in Europe, the military is reviewing all its plans to give Washington an adequate response," said the Russian military source.
Several German politicians on Monday criticized former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for blaming Georgia for the conflict with Russia over South Ossetia in an interview published this week.
Schröder, known for close business and personal ties with Russia, called Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili a gambler in an interview with German newsmagazine Der Spiegel and said he sparked the conflict by marching troops into South Ossetia. The former chancellor said he thought Georgia's chances of joining NATO had moved "even further into the distance" following the fighting with Russian forces.
Critics on Monday noted that Schröder took a job with Russian energy giant Gazprom immediately after leaving office. The former chancellor now oversees the Russian-German operating company that is building a new Baltic Sea pipeline for natural gas, set to link western Siberia and Germany in 2010. Gazprom has a 51 percent stake in the more than 4 billion project.
"I get more and more of a feeling that the former chancellor has a faulty relationship with his former position. As soon as Russia comes into play, his judgment becomes disproportionate and unreasonable in the highest degree," conservative parliamentarian Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse.
Guttenberg, who heads the foreign policy committee for the Christian Social Union (CSU) of Bavaria, told the paper that Schröder should also consider himself a gambler for contradicting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who belongs to Schröder's centre-left Social Democratic Party.
"Schröder has become Moscow's most prominent voice in Germany," Eckard von Klaeden, foreign policy spokesman for the CSU's national sister party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), told the newspaper.
Schröder said in his interview that Russia was not pursuing an annexation policy in the Caucasus, adding that he saw no reason for the concept of strategic partnership between Germany and Russia to be affected by the war.
I reject the idea of demonizing Russia. I consider Russia as a part of Europe, he said.
CSU chief Erwin Huber said Schröder's comments did a disservice to human rights and weakened the position of the West.
"The strategic partnership between Germany and Russia requires a thorough review. It still has its roots in the time of the red-green alliance," Huber said, referring to Schröder's coalition of Social Democrats and the Green party. That government was replaced by Chancellor Angela Merkel's current coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats.
Huber said Russia today is presenting itself as a military power that does not recognize the sovereignty of neighboring states.
"Europe can't accept that without acting. The Russians must be told: 'You cannot act like this,'" he said.
And thus endeth the lesson on the limits of "Soft Power".
Step 1 in using soft power is uniting the players, and slapping down Schroeder is the first step to Germany coming on board.
There does seem to be definitional confusion though. Does economic power constitute soft power, or hard power? Seems supporters of soft power like to include it, and those who deride soft power like to consider economic power part of hard power.
#2
That pipeline's gonna be like a hypodermic needle pumping junk into Germany's veins. Russia gets 'em addicted and they'll do whatever their masters in Moscow want.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/18/2008 9:49 Comments ||
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#3
AU -
Not only that, but the Wiki article on the Nord Stream gas pipeline project does a nice job of pointing out the political ramifications of the pipeline:
1) After completion, current gas pipeline transit countries - Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Belarus, CR will face the possibility of having gas re-routed to the Nord Stream pipeline, leaving them even more vulnerable to Russian coercion. Not to mention a reduction in transit fees.
2) The Nord Stream pipeline will include an extensive array of sensors and repeaters networked via fiber-optic cable.
#4
Former Chancellor Schroeder? How would he know what the inner circles at the Kremlin are planning? He was only hired for his contacts in the West, after all, and that only of the main Russian petroleum producer. Really, you'd think the man would finally learn his place!
#6
Russian oil and gas go to Europe, not the U.S., so this impacts us only in as much as fungible oil from elsewhere goes to the highest bidder.Fortunately, it's only August, so there is some time yet before winter cold starts to bite in the non-southern countries of Europe. They many want to finance the building of more nuclear power plants in France to offset Russian brinkmanship.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been informed, in an inquiry report forwarded to him by the PM Inspection Commission, that a blue-eyed officer of former minister Zobaida Jalal has fled to Malaysia and has launched a business with the money he pocketed from the funds meant for the children of Balochistan.
Zobaida Jalal may face the shocking allegations of quietly helping a top officer of her former Education and then Social Welfare Ministry -- Irfanullah Khan -- to secretly launch his commercial business in Malaysia from the embezzled funds of billions of rupees of taxpayers' money.
The accused officer, after faking an ex-Pakistan leave from the Staff Welfare Organization Establishment, fled the country after Ms Zobaida Jalal fell from power on November 15, 2007. He knew that she was no more in a position to protect him in the new set-up after the elections in the country.
The absconding officer feared that after enjoying five years of full freedom to plunder and loot the resources meant for the children of Balochistan, this was the time to say goodbye to Pakistan and monitor his own business in Malaysia and wait for some ìgolden timesî to return and resume his lootings.
This correspondent is regularly trying to get the version of Zobaida Jalal for the last many days but she is not available. Despite the recent publication of two stories in The News and Jang on the same issue, she did not come forward to give her side of the story. The mysterious silence being maintained by Zobaida Jalal has raised more doubts about her direct involvement in the embezzlement of the funds as charged by the PM Inspection Commission and fully backed by the auditor general of Pakistan in its report on the same subject.
Meanwhile, Yousuf Raza Gilani has now been informed in an inquiry report forwarded to him by the PM Inspection Commission that Irfanullah Khan had fled to Malaysia, where he has his own business. Many corrupt officers in Pakistan may feel envy on the fact how an ordinary employee, who had started a job of monitoring the non-formal basic education schools in Balochistan launched by the Benazir Bhutto government in 1995, is today running a multi-million rupee business in Malaysia.
The shocking inquiry report into the alleged irregularities of Zobaida Jalal and his handpicked officer has already been presented to the PM, who is yet to take any action in the light of the recommendations of the commission
The inquiry report, available with The News, clearly explains that Irfanullah Khan was boldly operating in two ministries: education and social welfare, where Zobaida Jalal was operating as the minister. The report says he had the full cooperation and protection of Jalal who never allowed anyone to try to question his activities.
The report says Irfanullah Khan had enjoyed the "political patronage" of Ms Jalal and a woman senator from Balochistan. The projects that he headed were under the same federal minister in two different ministries. He was also able to circumvent the senior bureaucracy through his easy access to the minister and his other political benefactors.
Earlier, the auditor general of Pakistan had also directly accused Zobaida Jalal of spending Rs 1.2 million from an education project for the children of Balochistan in the name of renovating her residence and office. She had spent money on carpets and luxurious bathrooms. The audit report into the irregularities of the Tawana Pakistan Project had revealed that a total of Rs 40 million from the education project were embezzled in one way or the other.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Anyone who talks against the Pakistan Army should be shot, said Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Sunday.
Addressing a seminar titled 'Strengthening Pakistan - Demands and Responsibilities' at the Rawalpindi Arts Council, he said, "I have said it before and I am saying it again. Anyone who talks against the army should be shot." He condemned the abusive language used by lawyers against Pakistan's armed forces at the Supreme Court's premises. He said the coalition government had so far failed to prepare a charge sheet against President Pervez Musharraf. He said Pakistan's enemies were bent upon destabilising the country, adding that they were also preparing plans to put the country under India's control. He said the PML-Q would do everything for the honour and safety of Pakistan, Islam and the country's 160 million people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
However, he still believes anybody actually FIGHTING against Pakistan's army should be negotiated with. Ironic, isn't it?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's just-ended visit to Turkey, a NATO ally that is also aspiring to the membership in the European Union (EU), aims to breach a diplomatic blockade set up by the United States and other Western nations, analysts said. The two-day working visit, which ended on Friday, came amid escalating tensions between Tehran and the West due to Iran's controversial nuclear program.
"Iran hopes to make a good use of its advantages in geopolitics, energy and religion to expand relations with all sides and build up anti-U.S. strength," said Zhao Qinghai, a research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).
Turkey has recently improved ties with Iran and argues that its close dialog both with the West and Tehran could be an asset for a peaceful resolution of the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program. Nevertheless, analysts said Turkey, which is completely dependent on energy imports to quench its increasing thirst for oil and gas, may have played up the nuclear issue to deflect criticism over inviting Ahmadinejad, whose country is currently Turkey's second biggest supplier of gas after Russia. The failure to forge a deal to boost Iran's gas supplies to Turkey was a blow to Tehran's diplomatic efforts to avoid international isolation, they said.
"Iran's diplomatic efforts have achieved some results, which partly dispelled pressures from the United States," said Zhao, the CIIS research fellow. "But due to geopolitical, historical and religious reasons and Iran's hard-line stance on the nuclear issue, its diplomatic efforts are still confronted with challenges."
A prayer group in Washington DC is claiming the credit for the recent sharp drop in the US price of petrol.
Rocky Twyman, 59, a veteran community campaigner, started Pray At The Pump meetings at petrol stations in April. Since then, the average price of what the US calls gasoline has fallen from more than $4 a gallon to $3.80. "We don't have anybody else to turn to but God," Mr Twyman told the BBC. "We have to turn these problems over to God and not to man." Ummm... Right. Pass the snakes.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
We have to turn these problems over to God and not to man
I think that has been tried and if my memory serves well, it did not work that well. Say, can you pray for 2 bucks reduction?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina said the massive public misery in the last one and a half years has proved that unelected governments cannot bring any good for people.
Detained Awami League presidium member and former home minister Mohammad Nasim was released on Friday on a High Court bail two days after jail authorities received the court order.
(KCNA) The British Branch of the Korean Friendship Association headquartered in Spain released a statement on Aug. 12 to denounce the Ulji Freedom Guardian war exercises to be staged by the U.S. and south Korean warmongers. 
