Filler for Red Stockings

  "Looking for the perfect gift for the ideologue in your life? Fed up with counting off how many shopping days there are to Christmas while the Con-Dems slash and burn all that you once held dear?

Convinced that the season of peace and goodwill is a tool to instil false consciousness but at the same have a spot under the tree to fill or you're toast?

Don't worry  Philosophy Football have the solution with the kind of present unlikely to be found in most gift guides. Never mind those trendy 'head gardener' or ' yummy mummy' mugs, this one wears its politics on its sleeve, well bone china actually. For those of us who believe no team can ever be too leftsided.

Available from http://www.philosophyfootball.com/

Politics in America: Craven Press, Credulous Public

I want to call attention to two columns that Glenn Greenwald has posted at Salon.com in the past few days. The first is on the putative terrorist attack 'foiled' by the FBI in Portland, Oregon last week; the second is on the reaction to the Wikileaks document dump this weekend. In both offerings Greenwald rightly focuses in on the credulousness of the public and the cravenness of the mainstream press in the face of assertions made by government officials.

Here are some of the good bits from Greenwald's response to reaction to the alleged terrorist plot:

"Media accounts are almost uniformly trumpeting this event exactly as the FBI describes it. Loyalists of both parties are doing the same, with Democratic Party commentators proclaiming that this proves how great and effective Democrats are at stopping The Evil Terrorists, while right-wing polemicists point to this arrest as yet more proof that those menacing Muslims sure are violent and dangerous.

What's missing from all of these celebrations is an iota of questioning or skepticism. All of the information about this episode -- all of it -- comes exclusively from an FBI affidavit filed in connection with a Criminal Complaint against Mohamud. As shocking and upsetting as this may be to some, FBI claims are sometimes one-sided, unreliable and even untrue, especially when such claims -- as here -- are uncorroborated and unexamined.That's why we have what we call "trials" before assuming guilt or even before believing that we know what happened: because the government doesn't always tell the complete truth, because they often skew reality, because things often look much different once the accused is permitted to present his own facts and subject the government's claims to scrutiny. [ . . . ]

It may very well be that the FBI successfully and within legal limits arrested a dangerous criminal intent on carrying out a serious Terrorist plot that would have killed many innocent people, in which case they deserve praise. [ . . . ]

But it may also just as easily be the case that the FBI -- as they've done many times in the past -- found some very young, impressionable, disaffected, hapless, aimless, inept loner; created a plot it then persuaded/manipulated/entrapped him to join, essentially turning him into a Terrorist; and then patted itself on the back once it arrested him for having thwarted a "Terrorist plot" which, from start to finish, was entirely the FBI's own concoction."

His column on Wikileaks is less easy to summarize because its targets are more diffuse. In it he excoriates the press for its servility and various commentators for their hypocrisy and callousness. The ultimate focus is on how Americans seem to be wholly unable to think critically in the face of government duplicity and dissembling.

Quote of the Week: The Good 'Ol Days

Most generations look back on their childhoods as a time of innocence and purity and 'when the world made sense' and 'everything was in its place'.  That might be a tad of an exaggeration but you get the gist of it.  President Ma of Taiwan the Republic of China is no different in this respect except that for him the 1970's were a time to fondly remember. That's the 1970's in Taiwan. Under Martial Law. Under a dictatorship and a period known as the White Terror for the fact that suspected opponents to the regime were often harassed, beaten and politically detained if not murdered.  At the time, Ma was a rising star in the KMT inner circle and a close confidant of the dictator Chiang Ching-kuo.  He later became Minister of Justice and opposed democratisation.  That much is now known without debate.  Touring a museum yesterday, Ma made the following remark:

“I miss the good old years,” President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said as he looked at pictures of himself at the recently opened Presidential and Vice Presidential Artifacts Museum in Taipei.

The photographs had been taken in the 1970s, when Ma was a secretary and interpreter for then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), son of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

I think this really signals that Ma has always been far more inclined to support a 'benign' dictatorship than a democracy.  To look back at the 1970's and remark that they were good old years, no matter whether his judgement of them as 'good' was entirely from his personal experience, is a terrible and open slap in the face to those who suffered during that time and those who fought, and died, for the democracy that allowed Ma to become President.  It also exposes Ma's previous comments about KMT attrition for what was done to Taiwanese as false and disingenuous.  The KMT never changed. It just changed it's PR.

I reckon that if Ma begins his second term as President, and as Taiwan slips further into economic, judicial and political 'synchrony' with the PRC with all the attendant social and economic impacts that will have, many Taiwanese will become gradually aware how the good old days were really 1996 to 2008 when at least the people had Presidents who championed the country and its then independent people rather than cravenly pay tribute to Beijing to share the crumbs that fall off the Emperor's table.

Cartoon of the Week: Wikileaks

Steve Bell of The Guardian

On the Argentine Central

A short Colorado narrow gauge railroad, The Argentine Central Railway ran from a connection with the Colorado & Southern at Silver Plume to Waldorf and served the silver mines of the region. A tourist operation went up to the summit of Mt. McClellan, as shown here in this card postmarked 1908. Using switchbacks and Shay locos to reach the summit, passengers were treated to rides in vintage arch-roofed C&S coaches. 

For more information on the Agentine Central Railway, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Central_Railway 

Support The Clinton Foundation With A Private Dinner

Anyone that wants to support the Clinton Foundation can do so buy bidding on a dinner with with President Clinton on Ebay with all proceeds going to the foundation.  At this typing the bid was at $28,400.

What Follows The Irish Bailout

As most of you know, the EU (and predominantly Germany) has bailed out Irish banks after serious austerity promises were made.  The problem could lie with future bailouts and the politics of it.  Here are some of the possible issues as relayed by Pat Buchanan:

Angela Merkel, whose Germany is fronting much of the bailout money, has been demanding that bondholders take a haircut – lose some of the face value of their bonds – in all future bailouts.

Sunday, the EU agreed to consider it for all bailouts after 2012. But we may not get there before nervous investors decide to dump their bonds first and the European house of cards comes crashing down.

For if bondholders know they will be among the first victims burned in bailouts in 2013, they may suspect a singeing even before then. This will impel them to start shedding the bonds of any nation with deficit and debt problems, which will deepen those deficit and debt problems. 

If bondholders are not compensated for deals made by banks and backed by the government(s) then a tidal wave could ensue that could ensnare all of Europe and even the U.S.  Now, this is somewhat fatalistic, but it is almost definite that Portugal will also receive a bailout (which is nothing), but if Spain follows then we might need too keep our heads down:

...unlike America, Spain is on the edge of a debt crisis. The U.S. government is having no trouble financing its deficit, with interest rates on long-term federal debt under 3 percent. Spain, by contrast, has seen its borrowing cost shoot up in recent weeks, reflecting growing fears of a possible future default.

Should Spain try to break out of this trap by leaving the euro, and re-establishing its own currency? Will it? The answer to both questions is, probably not. Spain would be better off now if it had never adopted the euro — but trying to leave would create a huge banking crisis, as depositors raced to move their money elsewhere.

Two Cool Blogs to Check Out

Sexy Girl Blogger

I have been promising to write an article highlighting some of the blogs from my fellow bloggers for some time, and I finally feel like I am in the mood to do it. So, here goes: Note that these blogs are in no particular order (because I thoroughly enjoy reading both of them).

Show Me Your Look Today

What it's about: The blogger, who we will call "Mike" (because that's his name) writes about his daily life and adventures in Manila, Philippines. I think that he started out the blog as an attempt to show the world the fashion of his different friends and family, but, like most of us, he has had a hard time staying in niche writing and has expanded out to include articles about daily life, personal philosophy, etc.


Why I like his blog: Mike's writing is very sincere and honest. I can also tell from his writing style and subject matter selection that he seems to genuinely care about the people he is around, always a good trait by my standard.


What Burns My Bacon

What it's about: This blog is a chance for the author, we'll call him Anthony (because, again, it's his name) to write about politics in the United States. Mostly, his stance favors this political right in this country, although he also has several views that could be considered much more centrist. He also uses the blog as an opportunity to reference several of his articles on Sodahead.com -- a site for which he also professionally writes.


Why I like his blog: I always find Anthony's opinions both interesting and well thought out. While I don't always agree with him on everything, I respect a man who can argue his points well, whatever point he may be arguing; and Anthony's intelligence and education shows through in his writing.

I also want to point out that, out of all the comments I've ever received on my blog or chat window, these gentlemen account for a good percentage of them, for which I am grateful.

Do you have any other blogs that I should check out? Do you want my readers to check out your blog? Then please leave a comment about the blog!

A 2010 Christmas Carol

In an east London state nursery, staff noticed that a three year old new starter, a little girl, was still wearing nappies.  They were concerned and when the mother came to pick the toddler up, they spoke to the Mum.

Her mother was a single parent who was originally from East Europe.  She explained that the only accommodation she could afford was a small room in a large house full of strangers.  The one toilet in this house had no door on it.  The toddler refused to use this toilet since there was no privacy.  Therefore she still wore nappies.

Extreme poverty and deprivation still occurs in this country.  Not the same scale as in the times of Dickens but still here - and now.  Coalition cuts in building and refurbishing homes, housing benefit, protection against eviction, regulations of HMO's, massive increase in rents and the farming of homeless to the private sector will make things far, far worse.

There was redemption for this family as nursery staff rallied around to rescue Mother and daughter, from the slum and help find them a self contained flat to live.  Well done to them. No Tory "Big Society" saved them but rather experienced and trained public sector professionals - thinking out of the box.

It goes without saying that you could hope against hope that a Christmas spirit would mean that Cameron, Clegg, Shapps and Boris (four guilty men) will change their ways to prevent the "shadows of what may be."

Which always reminds me of the saying "you've got two hopes, Bob Hope and no hope" of this.

Update: Another Christmas Carol

Hard Ground

According to this story in The Guardian last week, Tom Waits has collaborated with photographer Michael O'Brien on a portrait of homelessness. The book, Hard Ground, will be published in the spring.* Regular readers will know from my serial postings that I hold Waits in high esteem. I really don't know O'Brien's work at all (except for some of the images he's made for Waits album covers.) But this seems like an auspicious partnership, even if it might be setting expectations just a smidgen high to compare (as the publisher does) the collaboration to Walker Evans and James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. In any case, I've linked to the publisher's page below where you can find a sample of the images from the book.
__________
* Hard Ground. Photographs and Interviews by Michael O’Brien, Poems by Tom Waits. University of Texas Press. (March 2011).

There is an interview with Margaret Atwood . . .

Margaret Atwood. Photograph © Lluis Gene / AFP / Getty.

. . . here at The Guardian. In the course of the conversation Atwood nicely notes the central role of creativity and imagination in both art and science. She seems to have a clear-eyed view of political leaders, but it is perplexing to think about the opposition she seems to see between environmentalism and political protections for humans.

"It's become a race against time and we are not doing well. The trouble with politicians [at events like the Copenhagen summit of 2009] is that no one wants to go first, go skinny dipping and take the plunge. Oh, and then you have people arguing about fatuous things like the environment and human rights. Go three days without water and you don't have any human right. Why? Because you're dead. Physics and chemistry are things you just can't negotiate with. These, . . . these are the laws of the physical world."

The opposition cannot be anywhere near that stark, and Atwood herself knows it. Here is her view of the environmental problem:

"We shouldn't be saying 'Save the planet'; we should be saying: 'Save viable conditions in which people can live.' That's what we're dealing with here."

Just so. And the "viable conditions" necessary for human flourishing include matters like robust, enforceable rights and principles, claims that people can make - that they can use - in the face of feckless or predatory political leaders or of exploitative, oppressive political-economic conditions. It seems to me that the task of implementing (institutionalizing) such claims requires just the same sorts of imagination and creativity. Only this time the domain is politics. The fix that Atwood rightly calls for is not, in other words, going to be technological in the narrow sense. We don't need to save "viable conditions," we need to create and sustain them.

New Politics. New Ideas.

I've just signed up to "Fresh Ideas".  This is one of the ways that Ed Miliband wants us all to contribute to Labour's policy review. This is a great start. The Centre Left have been losing the Battle of Ideas to the Right. We need rebirth. Bottom up as well as top down.

"Labour’s next chapter will be written by you. The ideas, commitment, and passion of hard working people have always been at the very heart of our movement, and this is a real opportunity for you to get involved and have your say.

Politics has been too removed from people’s lives, and we’re changing this.

Whether you have fresh ideas on driving the NHS forward, bringing new jobs to your local area, or ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life - we want to hear from you.

Now is a time for new politics, and fresh ideas. Sign up to hear more, and to play your part in shaping Labour’s new era".

Hat tip Luke

Brit Street Protest: School kids protect police van during riots?

This is an amazing photograph on a number of levels.  Taken in the midst of the noisy and self indulgent disorder during the otherwise peaceful Student demonstration on Wednesday against the massive rises in tuition fees. 

A group of London year 11 High School pupils (bunking off for the demo) put themselves at risk by trying to circle and protect an abandoned Police Van from the "idiots".  I am very proud that they had enough guts to make such a stand but despair that the pointless violence they experienced has now made them reluctant to go on any future protests.

This Government is vulnerable to peaceful targeted protest and demonstrations but not to dipstick hooligans and head bangers (nor those who should know better). 

The vast majority of student protesters that day of course wanted nothing at all to do with the pathetic  middle class poseurs desperately trying to earn their Citizen Smith 4th class Berets. 

Such nonsense will not change policies nor bring down the government.  They just distract from the genuine arguments we can marshall against such policies. The tiny minority of protesters out to deliberately cause trouble in such protests don't realise they are just acting as Daily Mail 5th columnists.

"Ruffled" - Catwalk to High Street in 6 weeks: Who cares about ethics...?

Invitation to a play..."30 November-5 December 2010 - Ruffled, a new play by Ellen Gylen

Etcetera theatre, above the Oxford Arms pub, 265 Camden High Street, London NW1 7BU

War on Want will soon take the stage for a new play that uses both comedy and drama to put fashion ethics on the rack.

Ruffled is the story of Emma who works for Ruf: a fast-paced fashion retailer. Catwalk to high street in six weeks, with an ethical reputation to protect. When the bottom line is threatened, suppliers' credentials go out the window. But who cares when good PR can save them from bad press?  A War on Want speaker will take part in a Q and A after each show and talk about our Love Fashion Hate Sweatshops campaign.

The play has been written by and stars Ellen Gylen, with other actors Linda Lowell, Stephanie Cohen, Andrew McHale, Robbie Byrne, Jaz Deol and Elena Popovici. The director is Tim Daish.

Performances will start at 7.30 pm from Tuesday to Saturday, and at 6.30 pm on Sunday.

Tickets, price £12 (£10 concessions), can be reserved on 020 7482 4857 or atwww.ticketweb.co.uk or www.etceteratheatre.com. Map at http://www.etceteratheatre.com/index.php?id=6
Download the event flyer here".

Hat tip SERTUC.

Google Earth Foreign Policy

There is a good article at Foreign Policy entitled "The Geopolitics of Google Earth" in which FP looks at Google Earth satellite images and their impact on global politics.  Good Read.

New Mexican Drug Tunnel Found

An all new tunnel has been found between Tijuana, Mexico and Otay Mesa, California:

The new tunnel is around 2,200 feet in length and equipped with lights, ventilation and even a mini rail system for the transportation of drugs under the heavily patrolled border. Over 20 tons of marijuana was seized as part of the operation.

Authorities believe the tunnel may be the work of the Sinaloa cartel, which has a strong presence in the border region. 

U.S. Braces For More WikiLeaks Revelations

The. U.S. is briefing foreign governments on the possibility of "embarrassing" diplomatic cables that may be published by the whistle blower website WikiLeaks:

The US has briefed a number of foreign governments, including the UK, about the possible release of diplomatic files by whistleblower site Wikileaks.

Reports say Turkey, Israel, Denmark and Norway have also been warned to expect potential embarrassment from the leaks.

Newspaper reports indicate the release will include papers suggesting that Turkey helped al-Qaeda militants in Iraq, and that the US helped Iraq-based Kurdish separatists who have been engaged in a long conflict with Turkey.

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball: Burma

Harn Lay (2010). Photograph © Platon, for Human Rights Watch.

It has been roughly a week since the military junta in Burma released Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. At the time I noted here that while this was a welcome turn of events, it represented a quite minimal step by the authorities. There are many prisoners being held and many others who have been driven into exile. Cartoonist Harn Lay is among the latter group. He has been in exile in Thailand since 1988. Human Rights Watch has commissioned photographer Platon to portray some of the many others who have born (and continue to bear) the brunt of military rule in Burma. You can find the results of his work on this project here.

The upshot? It is important that we outside of Burma continue to speak out against the junta and its authoritarian policies. And it is more important still to devise policies that might bring pressure to bear on the junta. Many observers think that is impossible given their intransigence. For example, here are remarks (part 1, part 2) made by Amartya Sen at this conference coordinated by Human Rights Watch last month. What is called for is not just moralizing, but concerted political action.

Green Party Preliminary 2010 Taipei City Council Election Results

These images taken from the Central Election Commission at 10.30pm.  Excellent results for the Green Party.  No-one got elected but four of the five candidates will have their deposits returned.

Taipei Constituency 2 - Li Ying-hsuan

Taipei Constituency 3 - Pan Han-sen

Taipei Constituency 5 - Song Jia-lun

Taipei Constituency 6 - Zhang Hong-lin

Xinbei Constituency 1 - Wang Zhong-ming

Looks like KMT won Taipei, Xinbei and Taichung (in order of margins of win).  Taichung has gone very close tonight - within 3% points which represents a huge success given media polls were giving Hu a much large margin in the run up to the election.  Looks like the big upset is Hau winning in Taipei.  The DPP have taken Tainan and Kaohsiung by huge margins - the others not even coming close but it looks like the KMT are still strong in the new Kaohsiung Municipal council.  In Taichung it is the reverse with the DPP gaining council seats but not overall control.

I'm waiting to see further concrete results and analysis before commenting more.  

Best Shots (141) ~ Ben Schott

(168) Ben Schott ~ Enoch Powell circa 1995 (24 November 2010).

Irony.

James: I know karma doesn't necessarily work this way, but this sure is ironic:

Bernard Matthews, known in Britain as the 'turkey tycoon,' died on Thursday [Thanksgiving, when many Americans eat turkey and give thanks for things in their life] at the age of 80, his company said. "He is the man who effectively put turkey on the plates of everyday working families."

On Not Shopping

As a general matter I am not an anti-consumption type. I do worry about how much we are prepped to buy and how wasteful much of our 'products' turn out to be. But, in economics I buy broadly Keynesian approaches in which consumption - spending - looms large. But it is easy enough to think about how we might encourage spending on sustainable production that I think it is pretty easy to reconcile my views.

That said, I had occasion this morning to spend some time in the car, listening to npr. The amount of time and anxiety the local station devoted to 'black Friday' and variations on whether and what we should buy struck me as disgusting. On the one had we got lectures about being financially responsible in the realm of personal spending. On the other we got advice about how to plan our post-holiday spree (hint: focus on big ticket items today, since the savings are greater there and the sales will continue on less expensive things). All that was leavened by lots of moaning and anxiety regarding whether merchants would do well enough over the next few days to salvage a respectable year. It was nearly enough to get me to subscribe to Adbusters and their Buy Nothing campaign.

As a long term strategy for economic development in an impoverished region like Western NY this is nonsense. But, as a way of resisting, Ulysses-like, the twin shoals of moralism and profligacy I endured this morning it was yet a third temptation. I (again) recommend Juliet Schor instead. You can find her web page here. And, in case you are wondering, I didn't buy anything today.

Nick Clegg: The Porkie King

Note that our Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party is holding a placard saying "I pledge to vote against any increase in in fees" (for UK Students).

On the way home tonight BBC radio 4 News suggested that there will be a deal for the Lib Dem Government Ministers and MP's to abstain against increases.

When before the election they "pledged" to VOTE against any increase. 

In London we have respected figures who do good works and raise money for local charity and they are called Pearly Kings and Queens.

Surely, if Nick does not vote against any increase in fees or if he abstains, he is in the East End at least, a Dunlop Tyre.  There are some other possible choice words to describe him.

Nuf said?

Hat tip Socialist Unity

Update: a facebook pal Mr Shoebury reminds me that Clegg and his MP's all actually pledged to abolish fees and linked to this report that at the same time they made the promises they were planning to renege on them.

Netroots UK: Building the Progressive Grassroots On-Line

This is a must (IMO) for anyone who thinks there is a role for progressive online activism.  Saturday 8 January 2011 in Central London. Only a £5!

Check out "A one day event to help network and inspire progressive activists working on the web.

Saturday 8 January – Central London

Netroots UK will bring together hundreds of grassroots activists in central London for a day of workshops, discussions and networking activity.

• Hear from innovative and effective campaigns in other fields.
• Make useful contacts with key people and organisations.
• Get practical training in digital techniques and technologies.
• Take part in the debate on the future of UK activism.

The day will feature keynote speakers and discussions, as well as many workshops, aimed at all levels of activists. There will be plenty of opportunity for networking outside the organised sessions.
We’ll be helping make better links between campaigners from the worlds of politics, environment, development, civil liberties, unions, community groups and many more.
We’re putting the details of the event together now, and need you to get involved:

Individuals

• Come to the event. Tickets will be available shortly.
• Got an idea for a great session? Let us know or volunteer to help run it.

Organisations

• Sponsor the event. Is there any practical help you can contribute to make it a better day?
• Publicise the event. Help make sure people from right across the UK, and all strands of progressive activism are aware of it.
• Share your expertise. Could you organise or contribute to a session or discussion?

Get in touch with Netroots UK here.

Cartoon of the Week: Using the Law to Dissuade Your Opponents

Re-discovering Ernest Cole

“He wasn’t just brave. He wasn’t just enterprising.
He was a supremely fine photographer.”
~ David Goldblatt

"Train Station" © The Ernest Cole Family Trust/Hasselblad Foundation Collection.

"Mine Recruitment" © The Ernest Cole Family Trust/Hasselblad Foundation Collection.

There currently is, in Johannesburg, an exhibition of work by the late Black photographer Ernest Cole (1941-1990) who depicted the humiliations and depredations of Apartheid during the 1960s. Much of his work has been neglected since his death and has escaped the vaults in part due to the efforts of David Goldblatt. The exhibition has generated notices in, among other places, The Independent, The Guardian, and The New York Times [1] [2] [3]. (There is a slide show of some of his work here and a much more extensive collection here.)

Pan-blue Businesses Fly Voters In

Read this news story below carefully.  To my eye there are a number of telling points about it which I have highlighted ...:

Central News Agency (2010-11-26 20:39:33)

Yan Cheng-li, left, vice president of the Beijing Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises, and a China-based Taiwanese student are shown at an airport in Beijing China as they prepare to take a flight back to Taiwan to participate in Taiwan's five municipality elections tomorrow.

(Note the flag they are holding - its the five petaled national flower of the ROC, adopted by the nation in the 1960s.  This is because to show the actual ROC flag in Beijing would be illegal and it would be snatched away and destroyed.  The businesses and students are so patriotic and wish to play an active role in their nation's politics that they are happy to live and work in a place that would lock them up for showing their own national flag. Go figure.)


A group of 163 Taiwanese students studying in Beijing took a charter flight today to return home to vote in Saturday's special municipality elections, one of three student groups taking advantage of a campaign to encourage overseas Taiwanese to vote.

The trip was partially sponsored by Taiwanese businesses based in Beijing as part of the campaign.

Taiwan does not currently allow absentee voting, forcing citizens living abroad to return to Taiwan if they want to cast a ballot in any election.

According to Yan Cheng-li, vice president of the Beijing Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises (BATIE) , two other groups of students totaling 100 people had returned to Taiwan during the previous two days.

All the students will go back to Beijing aboard a charter flight scheduled for Nov. 30, Yan said.

He said the flights cost approximately 1 million Chinese yuan (US$150,202), and each of the students joining the trip needed to pay only 500 yuan (US$75), with the rest covered by donations from BATIE members.

Lin Yi-chun, a doctoral candidate at Peking University who was one of the initiators of the campaign, said the purpose of the drive was to get as many people as possible to cast their votes in the elections.

Lin said she would vote for the political party that supports cross-Taiwan Strait peace, economic and cultural exchanges with China, and the recognition of Chinese diplomas. (This is largely the KMT's platform)

Kao Yi, another Peking University student who also took today's flight, said he had not decided whether to vote for the blue or the green camp, but stressed that all the students hoped that cross-strait peace could be achieved.

Meanwhile, many businessmen based in China also returned to Taiwan today in preparation for the elections.

Lee Mao-sheng, president of the Shanghai Association, said the business community was taking an active part in the elections because they hoped candidates supportive of cross-strait relations could get elected. (Code: They hope KMT candidates get elected. The DPP has not been framed in the media as a party that is supportive of cross-strait relations despite the party's subtle shift of policy under the Leadership of Tsai whereby the DPP is seeking to avoid confrontation and build cross-strait relations, just not at any price)

With the help of the association, airlines have offered preferential fares to Taiwanese citizens returning home for the elections. A round-trip flight between Shanghai and Taipei cost only 2,000 Chinese yuan, which is 1,500 cheaper than normal the price.


Conclusions:
Pan-blue businesses are mobilising student voters by essentially paying for their airfares.
Many airlines are working with pan-blue business associations to help mobilise voters.
Have pan-green business associations missed a trick here?

Sean Lien Shot on Election Eve

This report from Taiwan News:

Sean Lien, son the KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, was allegedly being shot on his face during a campaign trail for KMT candidate in Yonghe City about 8:30 tonight, adding an unusual atmosphere to the upcoming five special municipality elections tomorrow, local media reported.

Speaking for Cheng Hung-yuan, a KMT candidate for Taipei County councilor, at the election-eve rally, Lien was allegedly being hurt as a man nicknamed “Horse Face” rushed onto the campaign stage and shot him. Lien was later sent to the hospital and found abrasion on his face, while another man identified as Huang Yu-seng was allegedly shot to death. The suspect has been detained by police for further investigation.

The Last Night

Its a frantic last night of campaigning in Taichung and it is fairly relentless.  Feels about every 10 mins a convey passes with blaring music and lots of drums.  Did I mention the fireworks? That also went on for about 2 hours earlier this evening.  Make no mistake - the election is less than 12 hours away.  So ... pop into the living room and turn on cable TV to see what the news are covering.   The partisan divide in Taiwan's media is more than plain to see.  Here are some stills from about 30 minutes ago as I flicked through all the cable news channels:

There are eight news channels which in my area are found from No. 50 - 58.  Of these eight channels, only two have run either news, talkshows or covered pan green party events and news.  The other six have covered pan-blue party events and news. That's 25% pan-green and 75% pan blue. 

The US Republican Party, even with Faux News behind them, could only dream of such overwhelming media bias in their favour.

And, with Hau and Lien Chan welling up on stage, do I sense some desperation from the KMT as they face losing Taipei and being taken oh so close even in Xinbei?  (Even Taichung's Hu might not sleep so well tonight which speaks volumes for how well the DPP's Su has run his campaign here).

Oh and here's my jiayo!s to Taipei City Council Election Candidate No.6 for Neihu and Nankang.

Capital Stewardship: UNISON London Pension Network

Next Tuesday lunchtime is the latest UNISON Capital Stewardship: London Pension network meeting. 

This is a meeting for  Greater London UNISON Pension trustees or member nominated representatives on the London Local Government Pension Schemes.

All such trustees and reps welcome!

We meet up 3 or 4 times a year to discuss issues and support each
other on what is often a very demanding, responsible and "head hurting" role.

Our Guest speaker this time will be from Fair Pensions who will be presenting on their new campaign “Tackling exploitative Pay and working conditions in the  Supply chain of the UK Largest Companies”.  Which I think will be more than interesting and relevant to trade union pension activists. 

I am just a little bit behind posting on Pension issues.  I have got reports on the latest LAPFF meeting, my last London Borough Tower Hamlets Pension scheme panel (and committee) as well as last week's really excellent annual TUC Pension Trustee event.  I must catch up.

Heroines: Arundhati Roy (24 Novemeber 1961 ~ )

Arundhati Roy (2010). Photograph: AFP.

I have commented here numerous times on Arundhati Roy and her courage in speaking out on matters and in ways that are politically unpopular. Yesterday was her birthday.

TSA Pat Down Alert

I know the TSA people are all really professionally trained to catch the bad guys before they get on a plane and cause havoc. So why do they have to put old ladies and others, who are obviously not a threat, through these intrusive body scans and pat downs? Because they are afraid to use profiling, so they profile everybody. The police use profiling every time they make a traffic stop. They find out who the driver is and if the car has been stolen, so they can find out who they're dealing with. Why can't the airlines do the same?

Clegg, Obama, 'Old-Style Progressives' and 'Pragmatism'

In the U.S. political ideas seem to twist and turn at the whim of various right-wing media mouthpieces. Typically the re-fashioning occurs in cahoots with the right wing politicians. So, as the conservative DLC types in the Democratic Party make a hard charge to the right (which has been ongoing since the late 1980s) there is not much push-back from people who say ... ''Not so fast, that is a bastardization of this or that progressive or liberal idea ... or ... No, actually the constitution or our political tradition (or whatever) don't state or imply anything like what you claim!'

The problem, in part, is that any such voice of sanity is drowned out by the megaphones on the right. And, let's be clear here, I am not even talking about the Republicans with their party organ Fox 'News.' I am talking about the voices of 'moderation' among the Democrats. Of course, those voices are not typically attuned to intellectual discourse; they are concerned to show that they are realists. Think Bill Galston or Cass Sunstein. Think Rahm Emmanuel. No egg-head talk for them.

Here is an example from the U.K. Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg offers this pronouncement on 'authentic' progressive politics in The Guardian. He constructs a dichotomy between old-style progressive who are obsessed with equality and new style progressives (like himself) who are properly re-focused on social mobility as a way of fracturing inherited, hence unjust, patterns. This rhetorical move brings to mind a remark from Vaclav Havel: "... hard and fast categories ... tend to be instruments used by the victors." In this instance, the distinction also fails - as Stuart White points out in this astute commentary - to grasp the actual claims of 'old style' progressives of a liberal or socialist stripe.

Distinctions, in other words, carry consequences. and in this instance Clegg surely is aiming to shift the terms of discourse rightward. It is not enough to say, as he does in numerous ways, 'let's work together,' 'let's think in non-zero-sum terms,' lets embrace bi-partisanship' (to echo our own hoper-in-chief). Because, having constructed a false dichotomy at the start he proceeds to neglect the fact that any reconciliation has profound distributional consequences. And those consequences are, as White notes, precisely the basis for pervasive inequalities that subvert the prospects for social mobility.

There are lessons here for the Obama is a pragmatist crowd. It is not enough to simply listen to everyone and split the difference. One has to look at where we stand, how we got here, assess responsibility and, most importantly, see how political-economic power has been used to shape the current circumstances, before making a plan to move forward. Simply splitting the difference leads to more of the 'winner take all' politics that Clegg claims to abhor simply because it takes the current state of affairs, with its already established winners and losers, as the point of departure. Old style progressives, in other words, insist on getting an historical grip before plunging ahead. Without that historical perspective, a putatively pragmatist focus on consequences simply re-confirms the fixed inequities we currently endure. On health Insurance; on war-crimes; on economic recovery; on foreign adventurism. On all those fronts, Obama has done lots of listening and little serious analysis of the sort I mention above. As a result we get not pragmatism but opportunism. There is a big difference.

Have a nice Thanksgiving.
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P.S.: (Added 26 November 2010) You can find yet another astute reply to Clegg here. The punchline: "This isn’t democracy. It isn’t a new way of being progressive. It is the deep marketisation of our society, carried out at breakneck speed."

Happy Thanksgiving

Grieving for a dead partner who never got to meet his son: Want to know about "Burdens"?

Mum of two Laurie Swift 27 lost her partner Alan Winters, crushed to death at work. The 28 year old crane driver was killed just 6 weeks before the birth of his son Alan Jr.   The Tory/Coalition want to slash and burn basic health & safety legislation and essential regulation. For further details check out Hazards

The Altar 2.0

I've finally got the altar up at our new house. I've been wanting a Chinese style altar table for some time as I really like the designs. Plus, at the old place the altar was sitting on our entertainment center. So, it was a bit cramped. I also like that this altar has a little storage space inside; behind a set of small doors in the front of it. You can kind of see them with the knobs in this picture. They slide back and forth, and there is surprisingly more room in it then you might think form looking at the outside.

So, that gives me all the room I need to store my incense, candles and other Dharma items. The Buddha is a new addition as well. I wanted one that looked a bit more Indian in design. I just like that style of depicting the Tathagata.

Then I've got my traditional picture of my teacher Thich Nhat Hanh on the altar with a stalk of bamboo, a bowl for incense, a Tibetan singing bowl and a rock candle holder. It's nice to have the altar unpacked and sitting in the new home. It brings a nice energy to the place. Anyway, boring post but I thought some might be interested in where I meditate. Bowing.

~Peace to all beings~

Buying A Tiger

LINK

Passings: Chalmers Johnson (1931-2010)

Political Scientist Chalmers Johnson (no relation) has died. Johnson was a right-wing critic of American military adventurism overseas. I thought his views on many matters were wacked. But his criticisms of Bush-era foreign policy were useful for establishing that one cannot simply identify anti-empire positions as a form of left-wing subversion. And, of course, he provided a role model for those who think that the discipline ought to be engaged actively in public debate. You can read the obituary from The New York Times here

CBS Sports Profanity Laden Iron Bowl Preview

This has to be a mistake:


LINK

On the F&CC RR

The Florence  and Cripple Creek Railroad was a narrow gauge operation that served the Victor and Cripple Creek mining districts of Colorado. It's not known for sure how many cards were published in this F&CC series, although at least two are known to exist. The cards are divided-back, post 1908 cards and were probably published either after merger (most likely) or just shortly before the road was merged in with others in the area 'in the early 1900s'.The numbers '1921.' and '1917.' have nothing to do with date the views were originally photographed because those dates would have been  after the road disappeared through merger. A guess would be they are general views showing Colorado scenery rather than views of the  railroad in particular.

For more information on the F&CC, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_and_Cripple_Creek_Railroad

On Sovereignty: The Largest Two Parties' Positions Abbreviated

KMT:  The Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign nation-state that exercises de jure constitutional sovereignty over all areas under PRC control, Taiwan, Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen but which only exercises de facto constitutional and military sovereignty over Taiwan, Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen.  Taiwan does not exercise sovereignty because it is a 'region' of the Republic of China.

Note: Taiwan and Penghu are not explicitly mentioned as territories of the ROC in the 1946 ROC Constitution (instead, it makes reference to the previous short-lived 1936 Constitution.  Neither the 1923 nor 1912 ROC constitutions made reference to Taiwan, the latter explicitly naming the geographical areas covered.  It was in the mid-1930's that Taiwan and Penghu got appropriated by both the CCP and KMT to be included in the constitution despite these being Japanese territories at the time).

DPP: The Republic of China on Taiwan is a de facto sovereign independent nation-state.  Taiwanese exercise political and military sovereignty, generated, legitimised and sustained by its democracy, over Taiwan, Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen but under the formal name of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The two titles 'Taiwan' and 'ROC' are mutually equivalent in meaning and interchangeable.   The Republic of China currently exercises sovereignty on behalf of Taiwanese pending the ability for Taiwan to complete its democratic transition from ROC constitutional republic to a de jure  nation-state under the constitutional name of Taiwan.

Note: An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese citizens may regard themselves culturally as Chinese but equally overwhelmingly also regard themselves as collectively exercising a Taiwanese rather than Chinese nationality which constitutes an active, shared and vibrant Taiwan nation-hood.  Given a clear choice, and without concern for the preference or cognitive bias of the audience, more than 80% of citizens on Taiwan identify themselves as politically Taiwanese.     

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Origins of Beauty

Top 10 Fruits and Vegetables to Buy Organic

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Buying organic foods is good for the planet and positive for your health, but because organic produce is often more expensive than non-organic, it is important to think carefully about which fruits and vegetables to spend the extra money on. After all, some fruits and vegetables-especially ones with thick skin, such as avocados, bananas, pineapple, mangoes, and oranges-are just as healthy in their non-organic forms. To help in your grocery-shopping decisions, here are the top ten fruits and vegetables that should be bought organic.

Peaches

1.Peaches: Due to their thin skins and spongy texture, peaches tend to soak up pesticides and insecticides. Among all fruits routinely treated with chemicals, non-organic peaches carry the highest concentrations of iprodione (a fungicide) and organophosphate (an insecticide). Both are harmful to human health in large quantities.

2.Bell peppers: Bell peppers are not quite as absorbent as peaches, but they have a thin skin that does not provide much of a barrier to pesticides and other chemicals. Testing has shown that non-organic bell-peppers are near the top of the list in terms of pesticides absorbed.

3.Strawberries: Because strawberries have a relatively short growing season, most sold in U.S. stores are imported from other countries, where agricultural regulations may not be as strong. Plus, strawberries are artificially reddened by captan, a fungicide that is likely a carcinogen.

4.Celery: Because celery has no skin and is highly absorbent of liquids and chemicals in the soil and atmosphere, it tends to draw in pesticides and spread them up and down the stalk, where they cannot be washed off.

Celery

5.Apples: Apples are prone to a wide variety of growths and infestations, and because the apple industry is so huge, agricultural companies have spent billions coming up with specialized pesticides and other chemicals to keep apples sellable. As a result, practically ever non-organic apple you find in the store is coated with a layer of waxy residue, which permeates through the skin and mixes with the sugary insides.

6.Potatoes: Potatoes are among the most pesticide-treated crops due to the robust varieties of fungi and pests that tend to grow beneath the surface of the ground, where potatoes live. Organic potatoes are much harder to grow and thus typically more expensive, but they are worth it as they taste better and are much cleaner.

7.Blueberries: Due to their growing popularity in health-food circles, blueberries are becoming more and more in demand, which has numerous agricultural companies scrambling for ways to increase their blueberry yields. According to the USDA, blueberries are now treated with 52 different chemicals.

8.Nectarines: Like peaches, nectarines have a thin skin and an absorbent pulp, so that the 33 pesticides they are routinely treated with cannot be washed away. Among tree fruits, nectarines rank right up there with peaches and apples.

9.Leafy greens: Leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach are commonly treated with potent pesticides, which can be difficult to wash off of those pored and wrinkled surfaces. Plus, because most of these plants are so low to the ground, they tend to absorb chemicals from the soil and thus get permeated with unhealthy elements.

bell peppers

10.Pears: Pears are one of those fruits that, despite the best efforts of regulators, seem only to get doused in more and more chemicals by the year. As each new generation of insects grows increasingly resilient to the pesticides, agricultural companies have to keep creating stronger, more toxic pesticides to combat them. At this point, non-organic pears are routinely doused in 28 different pesticides, and this number will only grow.