Meblog

Double Dilemma

What would you choose, as impoverished parents of conjoined babies who have been offered paid surgery to separate the children:

To enjoy the children as they are for as long as they will live? Or put them through surgery which has high risks: Surgery might result in a heart-attack in one child, which would likely lead to the death of both.  And if they were separated successfully, they would have to live with only 1 leg each.

But there is much more to consider. What if the children would survive, conjoined, longer than separated?  Perhaps surgery and separating the twins would only prolong suffering for both the parents and children. And these parents are in poverty; though the surgery is paid for, the care of these children, who may never walk or sit, will cost them much.  I don't want to sound like economics is the final discussion. Not at all. But these are the issues that the team of doctors in Singapore must weigh.

Read the short story here.

In India, on the other hand, two 34-year old sisters who share a pair of legs have decided they want to stay as they are, especially after the sad deaths of 29-year old Iranian sisters in 2003 who were joined at the head. Imagine 34 years together on one pair of legs!

From their story:

"If God has made us this way, then this is how we should remain — together forever," she said.

When the Indian sisters were born, doctors told their parents the girls could live a normal life if they survived past three months. Ayara said she understood the motivation of the Iranian twins.

The phenomenon of conjoined twins — two bodies joined in the womb — occurs in 1 in every 2.5 million births, said Dr. Muralidhar Pai, a neurosurgeon at the Kasturba Medical College.

"Most attempts of separation lead to the death of both the children," Pai said. "Even saving one child during the separation is so uncommon that it remains a surgically challenging proposition."

Trustworthy Pyongyang

It amuses me for a moment --and then saddens me for its people living under such deception and evil-- whenever I read North Korea's international statements.  It seems mildly comical that Pyongyang is discussing building a trust relationship between the US and itself, when it has been the noncompliant player all along.

Now it is pushing for comprehensive arms talks:

North Korea's Foreign Ministry says six-way talks on its nuclear programmes must be upgraded into comprehensive disarmament talks now that it has become a nuclear state, Seoul's Yonhap news agency is reporting.

What exactly does this mean? I sure hope Washington, Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo know what North Korea means about "upgrading" the talks; all seems a bit fuzzy to me.

As for that trust-atmosphere in Northeast Asia, here is a quote from a spokesman of the NK foreign ministry:

"Escalating the U.S. nuclear threat on the Korean peninsula and its surroundings, which gave us no choice but to possess nuclear weapons, must be cleared and a relationship of trust between us and related countries must be established," he said.

Imperfect and yet just perfect

Families and marriages in particular are imperfect. Of course they are; they're made up of us. But there is a certain beauty to families that weather the storms and stay togehter. There's a glory, an honor about a family that stays together. 

My grandmother was married to an attractive, selfish, utterly successful adventurer who took her to southeast Asia and later had her return to Europe with 6 children to raise them while he continued business in Asia.  She was not pampered by her husband; she seemed more to be his hired wife. But she made the most of it, never complaining, but thriving in the little world that was in her hands. And now, in her late 80s, she has the respect and honor of her children and their children for how she bore the load and never considered divorce an option. 

I told her once how much I respect her for never quitting on a terrifically difficult marriage. And she simply said, "No. You know, [divorce] is just something you don't do."  And this commitment of hers left an imprint on her 6 children: no divorces and no talk, ever, of such a thing.

This afternoon we have an interesting family over for lunch.  Watching the parents and the three children interact around our small garage-sale-bought table, I felt a certain awe at the simplicity of what a family can be.  This family is by no means perfect or spectacular. The father is a rather awkward physicist who will never hope to be the center of attention, while the wife has a genuine interest in everyone and everything around her.  I know they struggle in their marriage, since he tends to be so controlling, and she struggles to keep up her spirits under his control. (He even gives orders about when to pass food around the table and when not to.) Yet their family is a FAMILY, and even though there are various hurts, you can tell that the children feel secure in the structure of their home. 

After lunch we marched over to the nearby park and played soccer in the muddy grass, while the father read a book on a bench.  His wife tied her frizzy hair back and played as good a soccer game as her energetic, healthily competitive 7 year old.  I loved that scene: watching a woman who has had 15 years of difficulty with a very strange/remarkable man (think "A Beautiful Mind") playing soccer and laughing heartily when she'd miss or make a goal.  She has been faithful to her role as mother and wife, and it is a testimony to us and her children that marriage is a commitment, not a feel-good activity for how ever long the feelings last.

My own mother has endured over a quarter-century with a good, successful, yet very self-focused man.  His affair with another woman this summer was assumed by the rest of us to be the straw that would break the camel's back. But instead, my gentle (rather emotional) mother came into a new strength and declared that she would stay in the marriage, but that my father would be free to leave if he so chose.  We children had little hope that he would stay, but by grace (God Almighty's grace), my father stayed, and their marriage is healing and growing stronger.

My mother-in-law is a remarkable woman in a different way. She has been married many years to a fantastic, loving man.  But she too has been stretched to be a faithful support to him.  When she was in her early 20s, they moved into the jungle, where she raised 3 blonde cuties, without her mother and friends to help her and visit her.  She has remained a beautiful woman, gracious, intelligent, healthy, fit, well-mannered, caring and fun.  I -and others who meet this veteran missionary wife- admire her and are encouraged by her life.

I am young and married to a truly excellent man; I know I have been given much, and I can only pray for extraordinary strength and joyful faith to follow this extraordinary man. May we who are wives never consider divorce an option (unless the man refuses to live any longer with us). May we seek to be gracious, supportive, creative and beautiful, whatever our simple circumstances (like my mother-in-law and grandmother have been). May we decide today to remain faithful mothers and wives, even if when we imagine that life would be so much easier and freer away from marriage.

The sermon at church was on divorce today.  Check out www.desiringgod.org for archived sermons on the subject of marriage, divorce, etc.

Bush: Not your president?

We've all seen the bumper stickers, signs and t-shirts that declare, "Bush: Not my president."

Today, walking down a dingy hallway in the linguistics building, I passed a grungy, black-clad undergraduate whose t-shirt declared that rather silly phrase.

It was all I could do to keep myself from tapping him on the arm and saying, "Oh, he's not your president either? I'm from Europe, where are you from?"

That statement, "Not my President," is simply indicative of the divorce such people have from reality.  When a country has a President, that person is PRESIDENT.  A President is not created or legitimized by the heart-commitment of the people, but by the votes of a majority.  When one says, "He is not my President", one either means that one is from another country (as I am), or that one is being totally ridiculous, basing a presidency on emotional loyalty. 

Saving Face is always the name of the game

Indonesia and Malaysia don't seem any friendlier these days over the disputed oil-rich land off of Kalimantan! In the first rounds of talks to move towards a resolution, both sides remained absolutely stubborn that they would not back down. 

I predict that (beyond the riches of oil on the island)  this is simply one big show of "saving face" for both nations. Neither wants to say it is acting wrongly.  Sadly, it may be that violence will end up being the deciding factor on coming to a resolution.

As of Wednesday, Indonesian and Malaysian warships continued their patrols around the disputed blocks. Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the military would maintain its presence there while the negotiations were underway.

What's slightly amusing is that more talks are planned for May.  Do they honestly hope that the other side will humbly step down?  In the meantime, Indonesia will complete a lighthouse it is building on the disputed land.  Indonesia claims to have legal rights to the land, but will wait 'til the next round of talks to explain these rights.  Indonesia has also politely requested Malaysia to explain its claim to Ambalat.

"Both sides have been very open and straightforward about their respective positions. We asked (Malaysia) about the basis for their argument in determining the borders,"

Wouldn't it seem (to those of us more accustomed with more logic-driven agendas in the public) that the issue of who has the legal claim to Ambalat should be the first subject of the first round of talks? 

...Indonesia is in a very interesting time in its history.  This is a nation "in transition" that is worth studying and observing, even from a distance, via the Internet.

The Softer Economist in Jakarta

On a trip yesterday, I browsed The Economist magazine during the flight. I always enjoy the magazine, for the breadth of subjects they cover.  This issue was that of March 5, 2005.

It had an article on Indonesia's recent decision to slash fuel subsidies.  This comes as one of the first actions after a long period of inaction (the tsunami and cultural holidays did slow things down in the last few months).  Yudhoyono (President) ran his campaign, promising to clean out the corruption that is inherent to Indonesia, but has done nothing to show for it.  Another concern of his was the poor.  The reduction of subsidies on various oils raised fuel prices by 30%, which has angered many. But Yudhoyono promises to direct $1 billion, from that subsidy cut, into social spending. He points out that the Indonesian government has been spending more on fuel subsidies than on education and health combined.

He is now using the media to reach the poor with the message that he is taking active steps to reform the economic system in Indonesia.  One TV commercial features a tycoon's driver explaining to fellow workers how the subsidies have been benefiting the rich, not the poor.  In truth, Yudhoyono did protect the poor in one big way with this subsidy cut. He is not allowing kerosene prices to increase. Many poor depend on kerosene for cooking and lamp light.

Indonesia still has a long ways to go, but it is refreshing to hear Yudhoyono (who interrupted his campaign to finish a doctorate in economics) draw attention to social issues in his country.  His vice-president is reportedly more focused on immediate economic matters, like increasing bank lending and improving the country's infrastructure.  If the two can continue working together, they might strike a balance that strengthens Indonesia.  Indonesia isn't doing too poorly, but some of its neighbors (like Malaysia) are experiencing greater growth.  It will be interesting to see where southeast Asia is at, 5 years from now.

I am curious to see what sorts of ideas Yudhoyono has for decreasing corruption in Indonesia.  Corruption there seems as efficient of a system as the lack of corruption works in Scandinavia.  Today's Jakarta Post reports that "stern action" is encouraged against any who are caught in corruption... hmmm... what exactly does this mean?

Also, I wonder how he will distribute the $1 billion into social spending?  I've seen some of the government's "social programs" in Indonesia, and I have only observed inefficiency and lack of training among the government workers. But perhaps he will be more observant and creative with the government's programs than Suharto ever was. He does seem to have a softer side to him, balanced by that economist degree he now has.

Indonesia, onward towards secularism

Today I marveled, as I read The Jakarta Post online, at how news has changed since the years under Suharto, when I lived there.  I remember getting the 3-days old International Herald Tribune from Singapore, with sections inked out in dark black by the Indonesian press regulators.  It used to be that Tempo would bravely express a politically opposing view, and that was the extent of the "secularism" of the press.  Nowadays, we read a very different press in Indonesia, because society is changing.  

Jakarta is considering legalizing prostitution and gambling, because it will be easier to control (think HIV, condoms, etc.) and because it will increase city revenues.  Concerns raised include the safety of children possibly involved in prostitution, and "the public in general." 

Of those fighting prostitution in their neighborhood, one district leader had a very creative, likely highly effective method for closing a local brothel:

Separately, head of Ciracas district Muhammad Iwan said that the district office had decided to convert a former brothel complex into a to dump site.

"We have cleared the complex of prostitutes nine times since January this year, but the sex workers just return again and again," he complained.

He said the conversion of the complex into a dump site was meant to deter sex worker's clients from coming to the area. 

Correspondent in Borneo toughens up again

We received news from the jungles of Borneo. The Cessna 185 lacked necessary paperwork to comply with recent Indonesian military security measures, so the river-system will be the way back interior for our sister and parents.  But the latest bureaucracy in Indonesian "security" works out for the good in this situation.  For our correspondent there, It mean taking a series of boat rides further and further into Borneo, as far as the existing "express" route will take them. Then they will have to wait for a boat from their tribe to take them home.  This is just the sort of adventure one would desire, after a desk job in an American office.  Only our correspondent's feet were complaining. Winter stockings and fancy office carpeting do nothing for toughening up the feet, but the sun, rocks and jungle paths will quickly make up for that.  Hopefully those feet will toughen up quickly, so that our sister can explore and enjoy the jungle fully.

This may be a bit of a stretch, but it reminds me of our society and of our individual lives.  Our society is seeing a general "weakening", mentally, physically and emotionally.  Mentally, we are expecting the media to entertain us, lest we be unfairly forced to think for ourselves. Physically, well, 60% of the adult population in this country is overweight. Emotionally, we are whining about stress at work and are unwilling to give up personal "rights to happiness" when a marriage is at stake. (I'm speaking in general terms of the popular culture prevalent in today's young people; there are many tremendous individuals in this country who endure hardships that I am not fit to even write about.)

As a result of our poor mental, physical and emotional stamina, we are not going to be enjoying and exploring our life's potential as fully as we could, if we were willing to toughen up.

One symptom (and cause) of this weakening is that we don't want to work anymore. The other day in the gym I overheard a young college student whine incessantly on her cell phone about having to go to work that afternoon. It struck me how ungrateful our younger generation is for our work, and how we regard it as a gross injustice whenever it is less than comfortable, while others around the world dream of having such a life of ease: time to go to the gym, time and money to go to college, a job at a cozy coffee shop, and 1200+ stores to blow the easy-earned money on. 

Ah, America. Everything has to be comfortable and custom-made to fit your preferences. This is both the strength and the Achilles' heel of this nation.

We're seeing a similar down-turn in a work ethic since years in urban Europe as well: shorter work weeks, more paid vacations, etc. etc.  Where is the incentive to work? Where is the honor of a work rewarded?  I, being European, must say I don't see a healthy future for Europe.  What I see is an ever increasingly obese European youth, following the American model of "more" is better. 

Somehow we need to start valuing challenges and suffering again.  Only once we're strengthened by them can we be more useful to others, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.

Sadly, popular culture is not alone in where it is headed. The Western Christian church is usually only 2 steps behind the rest of the world in its passions and inclinations. And so we rightly earn the accusation of "hypocrites."

John Piper pointed at our church-going young generation in one of his messages and said :

So I ask all of you now: are you going to throw your life away with the rest of the world by striving to minimize your suffering and maximize your comforts in this life? Are you going to work for the bread that perishes? Build bigger barns? Lay up treasures on earth? Strive for the praise of man?

Or will you see in Christ crucified and risen, bearing the sins of his people—will you see in this God-Man the all-satisfying treasure of your life? Will you say with Paul, “To live is Christ and to die is gain . . . I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”?

If your generation buys into the American mindset of preserving comfort and safety and security and ease, you will be passed over, and God will get his work done another way. And over your generation—as over much of mine—will be written “Fool! Whose will these things be?” And the tragic word: “Wasted!”

For those who value God's hand in our lives, ponder 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Repressing hunger in the bugs, but what about the hungry people?

I think this article speaks for itself... (see below)

If all we knew of NK was from its news sources, we'd all be clamoring to move there! The liberals might even forgo Canada and head straight to the DPRK instead! As it is, most North Koreans would rather move out...

    Pyongyang, March 3 (KCNA) -- Scientists of the Koryo Biological Medicine Center of the Branch Academy of Biology under the Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have developed a new Koryo biological agricultural medicine. "Myongrok"-branded natural organic medicine is made in proper combination of extracts from some medicinal herbs with nourishing and activating materials and additives by the method of manufacturing traditional Koryo medicines.
    It kills harmful insects of rice and other crops, fruit trees and vegetables including rice stem borer, defoliator, Leucania selarata, Aphididae and caterpillar.
    Even though it is diluted to the point that it is unable to kill harmful insects directly, it can reduce their appetite more than a half to repress their growth. 
    It is hard for the insects to be immune from Myongrok. It, with a long period of medicinal value, gives no harmful effect to human body, fish, livestock and crops.
    If seed is treated with Myongrok, it promotes sprouting and root growth, activates photosynthesis and thus shortens the period of crop growth. The medicine also makes crops and vegetables resist unfavorable weather conditions.
    According to Yu Son Ok, a section chief of the center and one of the developers, last year Myongrok was applied to more than 30,000 hectares of rice fields of many co-op farms including those in Hwangju County, North Hwanghae Province. It remarkably reduced damage from harmful insects and raised the grain output.

Pharma Propaganda: Pfizer, Lilly and North Korea

Great news, just in from the Korean Central News Agency of the DPRK! The latest, most promising drug on the market.  Really, who needs Pfizer, Lilly and the others any more, when we could save millions, perhaps billions of $$ by obtaining superior medications from the DPRK!?  Maybe they will be key in developing life-saving drugs for the developing world, while Big Pharma continues on its self-destructing path of re-marketing old drugs and creating new disorders for us to be diagnosed with.  ...But back to North Korea's latest phenomenon:

Pyongyang, March 9 (KCNA) -- The Branch Academy of Biology under the Academy of Sciences in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed a new kind of medicine for hepatitis. Made by the traditional method of Koryo Medicine and after over twenty years of research based on modern science, it is very efficacious for acute and chronic hepatitis, cholestatic hepatocirrhosis, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, alcoholic and toxic hepatopathy as well as acute and chronic gastritis.
    It was proved through clinical experiments by many hospitals in Pyongyang and local areas including the hospital attached to Pyongyang University of Medicine that more than 90 percent of patients were recovered from hepatitis in some twenty days in case of acute hepatitis and in thirty days in case of chronic.
    Researchers say the tablet has a great detoxification power.
    The result of its application to those patients who could hardly stop drinking shows that its effect is little different from that on those who did not drink.
    A pill of this medicine taken after a drink neutralizes alcohol regardless of its amount. With this medicine 10-20 days are enough for a long-tern indigeston.
    With no side-effect, it is good for the protection of the liver and stomach.
    The medicine obtained a state patent in Juche 93 (2004).

Pfizer, are you listening? Sounds like they have some excellent products! Or perhaps they're even better at propaganda than you!?

Choose your News wisely

In this, the most liberal of all institutions I've ever attended, we are not to mention Fox News, nor President Bush (unless in a very derogatory way), nor anything the hints of personal responsibility and discipline (because, remember, it's the evil system's fault, and you are a victim of the conservatives).

In an examination of the news this week, classmates looked at the major TV  channels to find how much international news is covered.  They were disappointed that only BBC did a decent job, while CNN could've done better, and the local stations simply did not report anything international except a public pillow-fight in Israel.

I asked if anyone had looked at Fox News (I would've, had we a TV, but we don't). My classmates and professor looked at me in visible horror. One even shuddered and made a dramatic gesture with her hands as though I had just described a grotesque scene all too vividly.

Somewhere in the discussion of media, I reported on the LA Times' rather disgusting article "North Korea without the Rancor."  Read it and marvel at the propaganda being spread through American media in service to the Dear Leader. No mention of the gulag, of the abuses, of North Korea's failure to keep its promises.  Instead, the article implies that the USA has been unduly harsh on the hermit kingdom that it is feeding. Anyways, no one seemed to care.

The discussion continued onto other topics ---like the USA's decision to send John Bolton to the UN.  I had just heard (on Fox News, radio) how Bolton will make an excellent representative to the UN, because he will not be afraid to challenge the corruption there.  However, my classmates had only heard that it was a terrible, terrible, terrible idea to send a man to the UN who had (unthinkably) criticized the UN in the past!!!  (Oh NO! He has criticized the UN? Who in his right mind would do such a thing!)

My only observation to them was,

"Hmm, it's rather interesting that you would have that view. It just shows how we are influenced by the news we hear. Actually, this will be good to have Bolton in there. You know as well as I do that any organization is strengthened by a healthy amount of criticism. The UN has a history of corruption, and needs some fresh voices in it, to challenge it to stay its course. We don't want to simply come crawling on our hands and knees back to this organization. We want to be an active part of it.  My own father started out as an idealistic UN worker, but left after barely 2 years on account of the widespread corruption he saw in it.  The UN can only stand to gain from Bolton in it."

I wish John Bolton wouldn't bother going to the UN, but come to the UMN, where we need some fresh air of healthy criticism.

International Currencies, Territorial Disputes and MN bus rides

[Our tumbleweed has tumbled into the jungles of SEA, where Internet access will be severely limited. Her brother and I will be the visiting bloggers for a while...] Today I received an email (cc:ed) from the head of a company I recently worked for, containing a news excerpt from Indonesia's Jakarta Post on protests over the ongoing territorial dispute off the Sulawesi coast. The news piece was followed by a question about selling the company's US Dollars and buying up cheap Indonesian Rupiah for the time being. It said, "Should we sell all US$? The Rupiah is weak." It's a clear and interesting example of how international companies scan the news horizons for any easy short-cuts to increasing their cash flow.

Vast the linkages across economies and societies in today's world, and immense the differences of concerns at varying economic levels.  It seems that these Muslim students in Java are quite in earnest (they're willing to start a war), though I cannot imagine how they would be affected by any change in the governance of the disputed piece of land. I suspect that they have a few radical leaders who gleefully stir up passions among their young follower. A pity, really. These students have more immediate issues that they could become radical about.

There's winners and losers in every situation. Sometimes the winners are far from the scene of the fight; an international company, operating in South America, Europe and Asia, is benefitting from all the ruckus between Indo and Malaysia. The company can play with the consequences of the dispute from a safe distance to increase its cash flow, with absolutely no involvement in the dispute.

Sadly, sometimes the losers can be entirely separated from the issue as well. My husband and I often speak in Bahasa Indonesia while we're on the bus, to keep our conversations more private. Through this, we've met a Malaysian and an Indonesian. The Malaysian young man has become a good acquaintance --we laugh and talk on the way to school in Bahasa. But this morning he was far less friendly than normally. And the Indonesian who rode with us today was quite chilly when we asked if he knew our Malaysian acquaintaince. He said quite rudely, "No, I have nothing to do with Malaysians." and got off at the next stop. We never even got his name. We wondered if we had said anything to offend him... or could it be that this anti-Malaysian attitude is worse than we think?

Anti-Malaysian protests continue

JAKARTA (Antara): Hundreds of people staged Anti-Malaysian protests across the country on Tuesday with a burning of Malaysian flags in Makassar, South Sulawesi, to protest a territorial dispute off the Sulawesi coast. In front a house used as a registration for migrant workers in Makassar, protesters burned four Malaysian flags to protest Malaysian's claim over the Ambalat area in Sulawesi sea.

In Jakarta, hundreds of people, some supporters of the Islamic-based United Development Party, staged a rally in front of the Malaysian Embassy.

In Jember, East Java, dozens of students grouped under the Islamic Student Movement, also conducted a rally, urging to be ready to make war if the negotiations with Malaysia failed. (*)

Lullaby on NWA, Asian Politics, and Singapore Airport

I'm typing in front of a waterfall surrounded by orchids and tropical plants, and the Internet is free.  Doesn't get much better than this.  So where is this wonderful place?  Singapore Airport.  The most beautiful airport in the world, I think.  I just saw some kue lapis (layered cake) as I was on my way over here so I'm heading over there next.  The only thing that has put a damper on my trip so far is the weight of my carry-ons.  Surprise.  I'm guessing my carry-on is over weight.  The bruises on my legs and arms and the fact that I can barely lift it up into the overhead compartment are my clues.  And I think only I would call my purse a purse and not another carry-on.  It's so heavy my sternum aches from the strap.  But it's extremely hard to be prepared for every and any possibility and still pack light.  In Tokyo (a surprise stop for me since it wasn't mentioned on my ticket or itinerary), they searched my bags as I was headed into the plane.  The lady spoke about five words of English and looked very flustered as she was trying to do a thorough job on my bags.  She eventually gave up. lol  But guess what - they now let you bring tweezers on the plane.  Boy is security getting lax.

I sat next to an electrical engineer from Singapore on the second half of the long stretch from Portland to Singapore.  I was asking him about the political situation in this part of the world.  He told me that he thinks that the reason Singapore has less trouble with corruption is due to it's very strict laws that are enforced and the fact that they pay their elected officials very well.  They are paid very well for the work they do, which is key.  Their government job is not all they do; they have regular jobs.  Therefore, since it is more like service instead of their sole source of income, they are less likely to squeeze every last penny from their position and the opportunities it affords.  It was an interesting conversation.

Sadly, after talking politics, there was no one to sing me to sleep like there was on the way to Japan.  This old Japanese man sat in front of me on that leg of the flight singing along with the songs on the new entertainment center in the plane.  Everyone would be falling asleep, when all of a sudden there would be loud burst of song.  Not quite the soothing lullaby, but at least, he didn't have the worst voice in the world. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to him in Japan.

I did learn that we give and get when it comes to salad dressing.  When I was opening my salad dressing packet for dinner, the dressing shot forward from the pressure decorating the chair in front of me, and when the guy next to me opened his at the next meal, I got spots, on my shirt, jeans and blanket.  Thankfully, I like ranch.  Unfortunately, my shirt doesn't. 

Best Buy vs. CompUSA

 

Is arrogance a prerequisite for working at Best Buy?  Wanting to retrieve some files from old zip disks, I stopped by the local Best Buy tonight in Roseville, Minnesota to ask about an external zip drive. Now I know zip disks are a thing of the past, but you would have thought, judging by the reaction I received, that I had asked for directions to the outhouse. Looking down his nose at me, the clerk told me that Best Buy no longer carries zip drives, and neither do the other retail stores, like CompUSA.  My best bet, he said, would be to find a computer shop that carries old computer parts.  Thankfully, knowledge gained from experience had me driving over to CompUSA where, with the help of a very friendly clerk, I found a variety of zip drives. What I want to know is have I just had bad experiences or are all Best Buys staffed with haughty know-it-alls who actually know next to nothing? From now on, even though it is less convenient, I’m going to CompUSA first. 

Squash Senate Grapes

On Friday, I believe, Hugh Hewitt was discussing the threat by Senate Democrats to not only continue filibustering but also shut down the Senate.  Hugh likened it to little children grabbing their toy and heading home when they don't get their way.  "I'm not going to play with you anymore!" 

Senate Grapes (click to enlarge):

It would almost be funny, but they aren't playing with Barbie and matchbox cars anymore.  Who elected such selfish, dimwitted creatures?

What accounts for such childish behavior among our illustrious Senators?  a.) They have not grown up and or b.) they know that their enemy will sooner or later give up.  It is time for a little surprise.  We need to squash our Senate Grapes by giving our Republican senators a shot of Finnish sisu (stubbornness).  They need to know we are behind them, and will not stand for this nonsense.  Hugh's idea is to give to Republican campaigns.   

Good Options:

Mark Kennedy is replacing the seat Mark Dayton is vacating in the Senate.  Obviously, it will not be hard to fill Dayton's shoes (though keeping up to him in retreat would prove difficult), but Mark Kennedy has never been one to just maintain the status quo.  His track record is one of hard work and doing what is right regardless of public opinion.  He and Norm would make a great team; a team we Minnesotans could be proud of and the country would benefit from.

Growing up my parents instilled me with the values that continue to guide my life today. I believe Minnesotans deserve representation that embodies the best of our character: hard w o r k, common sense, faith in God, cooperation to get things done, a sense of optimism and most importantly devotion to family.

Minnesota deserves two Senators who get up every morning looking to get things done for us. I want to bring our Minnesota values and common sense solutions to the U.S. Senate. With your help, we can make that a reality!

Michele Bachmann is going to run for the seat Mark Kennedy is vacating. She is the wicked witch, evil incarnate to the left so that alone indicates she is exactly who we want representing us.  She is passionate about education, social security, the value of life, and a host of other issues, and she's not going to give in or give up.  We need her strong, clear voice.

“I want to increase the number and vibrancy of local choices in education and move away from increased nationalized education systems.  I want to protect the traditional notion of marriage, as between one man and one woman, and will w o r k to insulate it from re-definition by activist courts.  I want to move towards healthcare that is more affordable and accessible, free market driven, decentralized, patient driven and less costly based upon unnecessary lawsuits,” said Bachmann.

“Leaving enough room for Minnesota values to succeed requires positive changes in Washington.  I want to help bring about those changes,”

Let's call our Republican senators and let them know that if they want to be reelected, they better not give in.

Find your senator.

for Minnesota it is Norm Coleman, of course, at (202) 224-5641

or you can e-mail him your comments here.

Republicans on the judiciary committee (thanks to the Corner):

Hatch (202) 224-5251
Grassley (202)224.3744
Kyl (202) 224-4521
DeWine (202) 224-2315
Sessions (202) 224-4124
Graham (202) 224-5972
Craig 202/224-2752
Chambliss (202) 224-3521
Cornyn 202-224-2934

New Tactic for War on Terror

We are on the offensive in this war on terror, and the progress we are making is wonderful.  However, in many ways, we are still beating the air.

When you want to get rid of ants, semadas (army ants) for instance, you don't just wipe out the columns of marching warriors.  Sure you may kill hundreds of thousands, but until you destroy the nest, they will be back. 

We know that the radical Muslims more often than not hold to the form of Islam called Wahabism.  Wahabism comes from Saudi Arabia and is spread through schools created and funded by Saudi money. So why are we waiting until these radicals have graduated and are going about their dirty, evil business?

We need to be closing down every one of those schools NOW!  We need to know everyone who studied and or taught at those schools NOW!  And then we need to keep track of them; we should know what they ate for breakfast and who they talked to during the day.  They should not be able to go somewhere or say something without our intelligence network knowing about it. 

And last, but most certainly not least, we need to get rid of the mother of all the nests - the radical Wahabists in Saudi Arabia.

Our ant problem (click to enlarge):

Terrorists in Paradise

After reading Roger Hardy's articles on Islam in Southeast Asia, I was very interested to see that Hugh Hewitt linked to Dire Straits a 2003 article by Austin Bay and a follow up post on Belmont Club about terrorism in Southeast Asia. 

In my post Pirates Have Disappeared and so will Dayton, I wrote, "due to outside pressure from those concerned about the potential of terrorists attacks in the shipping lanes (that pressure source would be us), Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore created "joint patrols to curb [the] rampant piracy," but the pirates have left at least the Indonesian navy in the dust (or should I say spray)."  Now Austin Bay, an author, Colonel in the Army Reserve, and professor, begins his article with a look at what a terrorist attack in the shipping lanes could look like.

THE BUMBOAT FERRY from Changi Point to Pulau Ubin may be as close as modern Singapore gets to Joseph Conrad's tropic island of trade and empire. Instead of coconut copra the boat's smell is diesel, but the engine chugs at a steam-driven rhythm and the deckhouse is open to the humid air and high noon of the equatorial sun.

Just 60 miles above the Equator--astride the main sea lane between the Indian and Pacific Oceans--Singapore's location is still its raison d'etre. Prime property for 19th-century commerce remains key economic and geostrategic real estate in the 21st. In the 19th century tin and tea and British troops were high-priority shipments. Today supertankers nose through the Strait of Malacca, connecting Middle Eastern oil fields to Asia's economic tigers. Merchant freighters move in both directions, as do warships.

All of which makes the ferry ride more than a tourist jaunt. Pulau Ubin and a handful of other jungle-green islets sit in the Johor Strait, the heavily trafficked northern waterway separating Singapore from Malaysia. East of Pulau Ubin, one shipping channel swings south from Johor, cutting well to starboard of the bumboat's route. That channel leads to Singapore's Changi Naval Base, where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers berth occasionally and capital ships stop as they shuttle to and from patrol stations.

Know the terrain, the technology, and the terrorists, and you don't need a Hollywood imagination to peg the channel as a perfect site for an ambush. Given ships in transit and the size of the kill zone, it would require speed, so a dinghy, like the one al Qaeda used on the docked USS Cole in Aden, won't cut it. Iran has used pesky Boghammers to harass ships in the Persian Gulf--one of those Swedish speedboats might w o r k as would a drug runner's Cigarette. The fast boat, packed with explosives and a suicide pilot, could slip from an inlet on the Malaysian side, gun its engine, whirl around an islet, perhaps Pulau Tekong, seeking the slate gray side of a carrier. It won't be a straight shot, though. There'll be tugs, armed escorts--

The US military officer at CENTCOM who first discussed the above scenario with Austin Bay in 2001 said,

"Singapore's a logical choice for a 'super Cole' operation, or something similar.  The Straits of Malacca are a chokepoint. The U.S. has log[istics] support on Singapore, to an extent replacing what we lost when we moved out of Subic [Bay, Philippines]. It's a nice place, First World in the Third World. Even if it wasn't a U.S. ally, Islamists don't like the island. It's Chinese--that's what the radicals say. They don't like it. Not because it isn't Muslim, but because it's a wealthy Chinese island dumped between two predominantly Muslim nations, Malaysia and Indonesia."

[Side note: They hate Singapore because the people are Chinese.  Now isn't that amazing.  Here I thought that as soon as the world could enlighten us stupid white men and women by freeing us from our prejudices and dipping into our savings accounts to cover reparations racial reconciliation would be acheived and hate crimes would cease to occur.  I will never understand why talk of prejudice and racial reconciliation is almost always discussed in black and white terms as though only whites have this prejudice gene and blacks are the sole victims.  Blacks were selling each other into slavery long before the white traders ever showed up on the coast of Africa.  What about the Hutus and Tutsis?  The Germans and Jews?  The Japanese and Indonesians?  The Indonesians and Chinese?  The Arabs and Jews?  The Turks and the Kurds.  We could go on all night connecting the dots and our picture of the world would be obscured by all the black lines because prejudice is not a white problem it is a human problem, a human problem that all the money in the world cannot fix.  There's a racial reconciliation conference coming up in Minneapolis at the church across from where I work.  I was looking at the brochure on Friday, and one of the sessions is on whether or not reconciliation can occur apart from reparations.  Why would you even have to ask that question?  Has money ever truly bought forgiveness and affection and l o v e?  Our country, our world will not be better off with the illusion of l o v e if reparations can even buy that. End of rant.  Back to topic at hand.] 

You have to wonder what is going through the mind of the captains of the vessels whether they are in control of a hugh air craft carrier, a smelly oil tanker, or regular merchant freighter as they pass through the Straits of Malacca.

Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the US are not being cautious over a far out possibility.  As Austin Bay notes there has been more than idle chatter among the terrorists about a sea attack and 

Singapore Home Affairs Ministry released a white paper confirming JI's (Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's branch operation in Southeast Asia, headed by radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir) plans for a sea attack. According to the report, markings on a topographical map ISD (Singapore's Internal Security Department) acquired "identified a strategic kill zone where the channel was narrowest and where the naval ships would have no room to avoid a collision with a suicide vessel."

Considering that the tsunami has stopped the pirates for a time, I wonder what effect if any it has had on the terrorists plans for a sea attack?

The problem though is bigger than the terrorists plans for a sea attack.  The Islamic radicals don't just want to make a statement; they want to land, lots of land.

But evidence gathered by Singapore's ISD over the past five years also makes Chang's point: Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia lie first and foremost in JI's geo-strategic kill zone. JI has large plans for the whole of Southeast Asia, plans dating from well before 9/11. Drawing on cadres schooled in past radical political movements that used Islam as both a wedge issue and a rallying cause, JI seeks to establish a grand "Islamic state" stretching from southern Thailand through Malaysia, the Philippine and Indonesian archipelagoes, and Australia. Indeed, JI produced a "green map" where the reach of sharia, as interpreted by JI leadership, extends into the Australian continent and New Guinea. Fanciful? Megalomaniacal? After 9/11 only the willfully blind can dismiss the motivating power of such an imperial eschatology.

Chang shows me a copy of JI's dreamland, pulling the map from his brown notebook and placing it on the counter. It's our second meeting. Chang orders a latte as I study the map. Borneo, Java, Thailand's Krak peninsula, the whole of the Philippines, western and northern Australia shaded in this photocopy.

"They believe it," he says.

And belief, in that crowd, becomes bombs. Or, rather, it becomes dreams of bombing campaigns.

Scary!  What will it take to open the eyes of the "willfully blind"?  The phrase I believe Hugh Hewitt stole to describe conservatives' feelings about John Kerry seems to apply to all ostriches - "I don't like you because you're gonna get me killed!"

Perspective from Singapore:

"JI chooses [terror operations] in Singapore for the demonstrative effect," says K. Kesavapany, director of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. "We in Singapore have our guard up, so if al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah could get it done here, a terror strike, they can get it done anywhere in the region. That is the message."

Perspective from Malaysia:

"Jemaah Islamiyah in Malaysia. They are clever, yes. They have an education program. But their secret is no secret. It's money. Arab money. Saudi Arab money."

"Can you prove that?"

"Where else but oil does it come from?" he says. "I know what I am told. With that money they promote the Arabization of our Islam in Southeast Asia. Object and you face personal violence."

Arabization is a highly nuanced term, one used repeatedly among Malaysian and Indonesian Muslims I talk to. The general drift is that it represents a movement toward an aggressive anti-Western, anti-secular, and racially tinged Islam in Southeast Asia, the racial tinge being anti-Chinese.

The short version of JI's "education program" is that terrorist cash muscles out public and moderate Muslim educators in Malaysian villages. Undermining the schools "preys on a [strategic] weakness in Malaysia," the scholar says. "Their object is to undermine moderate Muslims."

Perspective on Indonesia:

"What kind of counterterror cooperation exists with Indonesia since Bali?" I ask Chang, when I see him again.

"Since Bali the Indonesian police have been able to act more readily. Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore--the police cooperate closely."

"But until the Bali mess, the Indonesian government was publicly denying the threat of radical Islamists in Indonesia?" I prod.

Chang doesn't reply.

It is easy to isolate in one's mind the war on terrorism to the Middle East or Afghanistan where we see our troops on the ground.  Then reality like the Bali bombing intrudes reminding us that this is a worldwide war.

Frank Lavin, U.S. ambassador to Singapore, is an energetic and erudite man. "This is a war with many fronts and requires intense cooperation," he says. "Southeast Asia is a major theater of this war, no doubt about that. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Jemaah Islamiyah's transnational character demonstrates the need to cooperate. Singapore's done a superb job, as good as the U.S. But we know there could still be an incident."

Just like there could be another incident here in the US. 

Bay ends his article by describing his visit to the American embassy in Singapore. 

I...then head down the sidewalk to the street, a stretch of concrete that's as much a front line in this strange world war as Wall Street, or the Pentagon, or a minefield in southern Iraq.

And that, unfortunately, is reality. 

Read the whole article.  I'm going to look at the Belmont post next.

The Long Road to Peace?

Well, as Antara notes, the second set of peace talks have come and gone.  The Acehnese rebel leaders and the special Indonesian peace delegation met in Helsinki, Finland once again.  And as with the first, real progress was made during this second round of negotiations for a third set of talks has been agreed upon. Fancy that.

At first Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was disappointed that the first two talks did not settle the Aceh question, but then he realized the impossibility of resolving a twenty-nine year old conflict in two rounds at the negotiation table.  All things considered, he was pleased by the progress, and declared that Indonesia will "always be ready to continue with the informal meeting, of course if the agenda has been well and clearly defined."

But not everyone was so pleased.

In the meantime, two Indonesian legislators gave a negative reaction to the result of the second round peace dialogue which wound up with an agreement to hold a third meeting in April.

Effendi Choirie, member of the House`s defence and foreign affairs commission, said the dialogue between Indonesia and the GSA leaders has been a waste of time and energy.

I think I would have to agree with him.

"It is not necessary to hold further talks with the separatists. We have been constantly giving our attention to the peace dialogue in a foreign country, while the issue is actually an internal affair of Indonesia," he said.

Choirie said the dialogue was only held for the sake of courtesy and constituted a tactic to give the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) time to plan more military operations in Aceh.

Nothing like saving face while plotting your next move.  It's the old smiling yes that actually means no.

Ironically, the negotiators involved in the dialogue had frequently done it, but a solution to the problem was never found, he said, adding that in the future, dialogues with GSA should be held on Indonesian territory.

Yes, but think of the prestige that these professional negotiators and delegations would loose if they no longer had their talks to plan and attend.  And what about the Helsinki economy?  Loosing "the talks" could be quite a blow to the local businesses not to mention the airlines.

Earlier, another member of the House Commission, Arif Mudatsir Mandan, also reminded the government and the military (TNI) not to easily trust the statements made by GSA leaders, namely that they would reduce their demand for independence.

Wise advice, probably for both sides.

"The government and the TNI must exercise more caution over the top rebel`s statements," Arif said.

However, the statements may contain a certain objective, as they were made at a time when the TNI was about to launch a military operation.

"The statement has another interpretation," he said.

Everything has another interpretation.  That's why Effendi Choirie is right in saying these talks are a waste of time and energy.  Reminds me of another peace process.
 

The UN and North Korea

The UN's house of cards seems to be falling down around it and you have to wonder what is going through Kofi's mind as he surveys the ruins. 

Of course, maybe it is not the beginning of the end for the UN.  Maybe the world won't care that the UN is an utterly corrupt, immoral institution.  History and media coverage would seem to indicate that Kofi still has a chance. 

It is sad but not surprising that it is sex scandals within the UN that are getting the most press coverage while the more horrific abuses like the rape and prostitution of the refugees in the Congo by UN personnel and the oil for food scandal get but brief mentions.  Is this another sign of media bias or are we really more interested in a sexual harassment charge coming out of a plush UN office than the plight of hundreds of starving women and children who are raped and forced to sell themselves for food?  If it is the latter, the UN can look forward to a long life. 

And then there is Rwanda. That word alone should prove the complete worthlessness and failure of the UN.  Hundreds of thousands hacked to death.  Rivers so full of bodies you can't see the water.  The UN deliberating.  Help blocked by the word genocide.  And yet not only does the UN still exist, but nothing has changed as Claudia Rosett's latest article shows.

Hugh Hewitt links to Ms Rosett's editorial in the Wall Street Journal on another UN scandal: "the UNHCR's failure in recent years to stand up for refugees fleeing North Korea."

The situation, by U.N. lights, is of course complex. For more than a decade, North Koreans have been fleeing their country by the only avenue even partly open to them--past the northern border patrols, into China. An estimated 300,000 North Koreans are in hiding in China today. They have a well-founded fear of persecution, should they be sent back. Testimony has stacked up high and wide--much of it over the past four years, on Mr. Lubbers's watch-- that if returned these refugees would likely end up starved or worked to death in the labor camps of Kim Jong Il. Some are murdered outright. One recent dispatch from a South Korean private aid group, the Headquarters for the Protection of North Korean Defectors, reports that according to sources inside North Korea the regime there just last month executed some 60 North Korean would-be defectors sent back by China, killing at least eight in public, in the northern city of Chongjin--to deter others from making a run for it.

Such would-be refugees have been dying faceless, nameless and scarcely even remarked upon by the world community. But these were human beings. They had faces and names. From what we know of conditions in North Korean detention centers, it's a good bet they were freezing, famished and quite possibly tortured in the hours before they were then murdered in public due to the combined and systematic state policies of China and North Korea.

Where is the U.N. in all this? Under the U.N. Refugee Convention--which Beijing has signed and the UNHCR, with its $1.1 billion budget, is supposed to administer--these North Koreans refugees had rights. The convention promised them not a return to their deaths, but at least safe transit through China to a place of asylum.

The UNHCR keeps an office in Beijing, with a budget this year totaling $4.4 million, to which asylum seekers have no access. Four years ago, a family of North Korean refugees actually stormed the premises and gained asylum after threatening to eat rat poison from their pockets if forced back out onto the street. Since then, the UNHCR has allowed China's security agents to better defend the compound against further visits by the people the UNHCR is supposedly in China to protect.

For years now, the U.N. policy in dealing with North Korean refugees in China has been one of what its spokesmen call "quiet diplomacy." The hushed implication is that behind the scenes, the UNHCR is in deep and earnest discussion with the Chinese authorities. No doubt. And there has been some help for a small number, mainly by way of easing them quietly out of the country once they have risked their lives by storming foreign compounds other than the UNHCR's. But the broad picture, for the hundreds of thousands, is a quiet but dire absence of any help whatsoever.

And this is the institution that John Kerry was going to come crawling to on his hands and knees to beg forgiveness of.

It stands to reason that freeing the world of the yoke of the UN is the next logical step towards the continued spread of democracy and an essential component for victory in the war on terror.

Reviewing Roger Hardy's Islam's Furthest Frontier (Part III)

Roger Hardy, BBC Islamic affairs analyst, has a four part series on Islam in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia called Islam's Furthest Frontiers.

Part III: Indonesia: The shadow of extremism

Roger Hardy begins his third piece with a mention of the September 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta by the radical Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah - "the regional arm of al-Qaeda".  Eleven people were murdered and many more wounded from the blast, and this incident, following the 2002 bombing in Bali and preceding the Indonesian presidential elections, showed, according to Hardy, "that Indonesia's fledgling democracy still faces daunting challenges."

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world, and one of the most moderate. However, as Hardy notes in the following incident there must be a limit to tolerance. 

Back in the capital, I visited a bar which had been smashed up during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.

There I met Hilmy Bakr Almascaty, one of the leaders of the Islamic Defenders' Front - the group which carried out the attack.

He made it clear that any bar or restaurant serving alcohol during the holy month was a legitimate target.

Islamic radicals like these pose a direct threat to Indonesia's centuries-old tradition of tolerance and moderation.

I began to wonder if the "silent majority" wasn't just a little too silent.

Hardy next describes going to the trial of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.  Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is the cleric who is thought to be the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah and is presently being tried in Jakarta for his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings. 

There, at a distance, I saw the man who in many ways symbolises the radical Islamist challenge.

Sitting with a red and white keffieh draped around his shoulders, the elderly cleric smiled for the cameras.

Many Indonesian Muslims seem to regard him as a kindly old man who has no link whatever to Bali and the other bombings Indonesia has suffered.

One young radical I met at the trial said bluntly that the Bali attack had been carried out by the CIA - and that the trial was a CIA conspiracy.

A CIA conspiracy to do what?  How could the CIA benefit by blowing up a bunch of tourists in Bali?  I'm sure the answer would be entertaining.  I think this young fellow would get along famously with Eason Jordan.

The good news is that this conspiracy believing radical and others like him are the minority, but as Hardy makes clear, unless the majority resists the extremism of the minority, Indonesia's democracy is in trouble.

In numbers, Indonesia's moderate mainstream - bolstered by groups like Muhammadiyah - dwarfs the radical fringe.

But I was reminded of the cryptic words of a former British prime minister.

"It's not enough to be nice."

(I'm guessing that in Part IV of his series, Hardy is going to look at the Philippines.)