Back in the USA = back to blogging...?

stay tuned...

China: Choking on Growth (NYTimes) - "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes"

(my questions posted to the NYTimes forum for the series):

1. With the recent dog food safety and product recalls calling attention to pervasive problems in the Chinese regulatory framework, the idea of boycotting products from China has gained attention (eg. _A year without "made in China"_). What would the effect of a boycott be on China? If large enough, would it actually 'cool' the overheated export-driven market leading to a reduction in negative externalities, or would it paradoxically have negative pressure on prices, leading Chinese manufacturers to further circumvent the expenses of regulatory compliance (such as it is) and environmental controls?

2. On the topic of relative energy efficiency of production between equivalent (assumed) Chinese goods and more developed nations: Is there anywhere in the world (applied, or in development) a labeling system that compares energy use in production relative to global industry ranges for the same product? I am thinking obviously of the US "energyguide" appliance labels, and similar programs in other countries, which apply to the post-purchase side of the cycle.

3. China's pro-growth policies seem to be urban- and industrial-focused, but at least some of the environmental problems have a large-scale landscape / rural domain: silted rivers, particulate matter in the air from farming practices/desertification, and this year's extreme flooding problems. Is there a rural component to China's potential 'sustainable development' pathways?

Thanks for the note, mom [ Remembering September 11 ]

(inspired by a forwarded e-mail I received this evening regarding Ollie North, Al Gore, and Osama Bin Ladin...see full text of the original e-mail below)

Thanks for the note, mom.

A couple other memories, and I'd appreciate everyone who read the entirety of the last e-mail (attached below) to read the entirety of this one:

Remember that Ollie North was under questioning for selling weapons illegally to Iran, and using the profits to fund a small rebel group in Nicaragua that was attempting to overthrow the government (which had come to power by overthrowing a military dictatorship).

I remember that we tried to assassinate Castro. I remember that Kennedy was assassinated; and Regan nearly so. I believe that to argue for assassination of the leaders of other ideologies, rather than bringing them to fair trial, is philosophical support for their calls for assassination of our leaders.

I remember that Jesus said "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword"; and "as you sow, so shall you reap." I remember that Malcom X, speaking of the Kennedy assassination, said it seemed a lot like "chickens coming home to roost".

I believe that to secretly fund small rebel groups attempting to overthrow governments sounds an awful lot like assassination, and like 'funding terrorism'; and not unlike using US Tax dollars via Ft. Benning, Georgia's 'School of the Americas' to train the El Salvadorian paramilitaries who massacred thousands of women and children at El Mozote in 1981.

Palestinians blowing up buses is evil. So is the Israeli bulldozing of Palestinian homes (with people inside) and plowing up the orchards, destroying the livelihoods, and building illegal settlements on non-Israeli land.

Liberal feminists were warning us about the Taliban over 10 years ago, but you probably didn't get the message; you weren't on that listserv. After all, they were only fighting for women's rights under an oppressive regime, nothing that we needed to be concerned about.

I also remember that we armed and trained Bin Ladin and others like him in guerilla tactics, to support their fight against the Russians.

And, we gave chemical weapons to Iraq, a secular Arab state, to 'balance power' in their ground war against Iran, a fundamentalist Islamic state.

I also know (confirmed by the senate) that Bin Ladin, a fundamentalist islamic Saudi Arabian living in Afghanistan (at the time, where is he now?), was an ideological enemy of Sadam Hussein, a secular Iraqi Arab, whom we supported because he, like us, was afraid of a fundamentalist uprising by the religious majority of that country (a country, like Israel, cobbled together by European / American powers). I.E., the war in Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with Bin Ladin, terrorism, or 9-11.

Or didn't. Now, with the secular dictator gone, and US troops on Arab soil, the terrorists have yet another thing to hate us for.

I also remember that in July 1988, the US military blew a 280 person airplane (Iranian Air flight 655) out of the sky over the Persian Gulf.

A home security system will do little to protect you from terrorists, whether they be foreign or domestic, independent operators or state-sanctioned.

Finally, on this day heavy with our sorrow, let's remember some other famous 9-11's in history:

9-11-1973, Santiago, Chile: With the assistance of the CIA and US made military hardware, Agusto Pinochet lead the Chilean military to overthrow the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, installing a brutal dictatorship which massacred thousands of political opponents.

9-11-1922, the British Mandate of Palestine was approved by the League of Nations.

I will stop here. I have more to say, but perhaps have said too much for some of you already. I only hope that we will never be content with the limits of our knowledge, will remember both wrongs done us and wrongs we have done; and never cease to ask forgiveness for our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us. May we see ourselves as others see us, may the rule of international law restrain international crime, and may all leaders cease to see themselves as above the universal laws of truth, justice, and mercy.

In hope for peace in our time,

David Dwight Gregory
September 11, 2006


Nina Gregory ----@----.com wrote:

>
> > From: "Ted & Phyllis" <-------@------->
> To: "Ted & Phyllis" <------@------->
> Subject: FW: Remember this?
> Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:17:18 -0400
> _____
>
> From: Diane Domer-Fortney
> [mailto:------@-------.net]
> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 7:33 AM
> To: -------@------.net
> Subject: FW: Remember this?
>
> Interesting reading...
>
>
> Do you Remember THIS????
>
> ?Thought you might be interested in this forgotten
> bit of
> information.........
> It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were
> playing an old news video
> of Lt.Col. Oliver North testifying at the
> Iran-Contra hearings during the
> Reagan Administration.
>
> There was Ollie in front of God and country getting
> the third degree, but
> what he said was stunning!
>
> He was being drilled by a senator; "Did you not
> recently spend close to
> $60,000 for a home security system?"
>
> Ollie replied, "Yes, I did, Sir."
>
> The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of
> the audience, "Isn't
> that just a little excessive?"
>
> "No, sir," continued Ollie.
>
> "No? And why not?" the senator asked.
>
> "Because the lives of my family and I were
> threatened, sir."
>
> "Threatened? By whom?" the senator questioned.
>
> "By a terrorist, sir" Ollie answered.
>
> "Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you
> that much?"
>
> "His name is Osama bin Laden, sir" Ollie replied.
>
> At this point the senator tried to repeat the name,
> but couldn't pronounce
> it, which most people back then probably couldn't. A
> couple of people
> laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued.
> Why are you so afraid of
> this man?" the senator asked .
>
> "Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that
> I know of", Ollie
> answered.
>
> "And what do you recommend we do about him?" asked
> the senator.
>
> "Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend
> that an assassin team be
> formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of
> the earth."
>
> The senator disagreed with this approach, and that
> was all that was shown of
> the clip.
>
> By the way, that senator was Al Gore!
>
> Also:
>
> Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in
> Israel in 1986. The Israelis
> captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the
> Oslo agreement with the
> Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release
> so-called "political
> prisoners."
>
> However, the Israelis would not release any with
> blood on their hands, The
> American Preside nt a t the time, Bill Clinton, and
> his Secretary of State,
> Warren Christopher, "insisted" that all prisoners be
> released.
>
> Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked
> the US by flying an
> airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center.
> This was reported by many
> of the American TV networks at the time that the
> terrorists were first
> identified.
> It was censored in the US from all later reports.
>
> If you agree that the American public should be made
> aware of this fact,
> pass this on.
>
> Do Not Break - it is 3 years strong
>
> This is why I always say I love YOU....
>
> This has not been broken since 9/11/01, please keep
> it going...
> This has been kept alive and moving since 9/11. In
> memory of all those who
> perished this morning; the passengers and the pilots
> on the United Air and
> AA flights, the workers in the World Trade Center
> and the Pentagon, and all
> the innocent bystanders. Our prayers go out to the
> friends and families of
> the deceased.
>
>
> Send this to at least 10 people to show your
> support.
>
>
> PLEASE DON'T BREAK IT!!!!!!

===Message Truncated===

Birthday Love Notes

(arrived home at midnight from tapas in SF with friends, to find this love note carefully written for me and waiting in my friendster inbox...enjoy...)

From:
kelly
Date: Friday, December 13, 1901 12:45 PM
Subject: hello
Message: Dearest,

I am writing to show my desire towards your
profile.I mean no harm but with love and carring
and to grow everlasting relationship with you.I
believe age,height,eithic,language,religion and
color does not matter where real love exist.

I want us to get to know each other and exchange
ideas and orintation.I am 25 years old girl, never
married before and searching for the soulmate of
my life.I am free to relocate anytime anyday.

I speak English. My present location is in Dakar-
Senegal.I shall send you my picture upon your
reply.comarkelly@yahoo.com

Lovely,
Kelly Comar.

Home

The smell of the steam when I pulled the lid off the the wok immediately made me think, 'home'.

Which makes no sense...The smokey sesame oil? Ginger? Steamed kale? or together mixing to make me think of green tea, sitting on a couch with my hands around a cup. I grew up in an East Coast city, but my dad did do stirfry often. I lay my dinner over brown rice; tofu, mushrooms and carrots; somehow very like California, home in a stranger's skin.

I have lived here one academic year, and the ice cubes in my freezer have sublimated; too few *on the rocks. Reading Harper's magazine, about Zadie Smith, I feel far away from stuffy New England academia, and I like that.

What does it mean to say 'it feels like home', or 'you feel like home to me'? You can retreat to it, or you can keep running toward it. That life can be reduced to, however briefly, a Jewel reference, or for that matter a country music cliche, makes it no less truly yours.

I was overseas, on the phone long distance to a woman in that painful space between when I thought she was an ex-girlfriend and when she thought so; when she asked me when I was coming home. It was like a fist in the gut. I mumbled something about not knowing, about not having one.

...so Richard got married to a figure skater...

Slum Ecology

An article by Mike Davis that I came across in Orion Magazine while checking e-mail in Salamanca, Spain, this evening...

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/167/

hikikomori

[recent article from NYTimes Magazine...cultural differences b/t US teen angst / ennui and Japanese]