a perspective on china

Excellent article from the Christian Science Monitor on China, from the viewpoint of an American teaching English there at a college. Too short, but it captures a little of what I saw there.

no good deed goes unpunished

Apparently, the designers of electric cars were not thinking about who might be outside the car.

I admire the Toyota spokesdude for saying, very nicely, “This is how it is. Deal with it.”

barbarians

Another captured US soldier is being used as propaganda by the captors. Their aim is to embarrass/humiliate the US, and to give further ammo to those who would speed our exit from that conflict. For those who are already persuaded that this would be the wise course, it will do exactly that. For most of us who are looking at the aftermath of a hasty withdrawal, this provides another example of why we shouldn’t get out while the getting is only not-so-good.

Rome was once the global superpower. Its governance covered a huge portion of the explored world at the time, and its influence spread further.

But Rome became lazy.

The government became bloated and lethargic, and the citizenry became less interested in the state of the Empire than in personal satisfaction (gratification is probably a more accurate phrase here). Eventually, Rome fell to barbarians.

Rome became self-focused, and ultimately lost everything.

We are not the new Roman Empire. We do not desire to run the world (despite what some think).

But there are parallels.

The barbarians were not content with pushing the Romans out of their home territory; they continued marauding until Rome was destroyed.

Barbarians who would behead their enemies, who would blow up marketplaces full of innocent non-combatants, who would brag about the number of notches on their gun…these are not people who will be content with us leaving their region and coming home. They will pursue. And they will not be dissuaded by “talks.” Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the US; this is not a negotiable item for them.

They may be flies that we could easily swat, but so were the barbarians.

It is fine to discuss blame for the state of the world, but at some point we need to consider the future with at least as much energy.

history disputes itself

From the newswires of the Scrapwood Press organization – A paleontology expedition working in the Sierra Pobre mountains outside Brisbee, NM has made a shocking discovery in cave paintings. The team from PollyWollySciFi U. was called in after a local shepherd stumbled across the cave while playing ‘Hide and Bo peep’ with his flock.

In a series of paintings, scientists believe they have found the cause of the last Ice Age. The crude paintings depict a society divided into more stratified classes than was previously thought may have existed among prehistoric tribes. Apparently, the tribe that lived up on the mountains rode a breed of mastodons that was larger and created noticeably higher emissions than the breed ridden by the valley dwellers.

One mural depicts a hole in the sky opening above one gaseous beast, with the inscription ‘mukmuk,’ which is translated as ‘Hole in the ozone layer’ by some of the scientists. Paleontological linguists are at odds though; there are a percentage who believe the caption is more properly interpreted as “Pull my finger.”

The debate continues.