Tag: politics

A History of Modern Burma by Michael W. Charney

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I read A History of Modern Burma as part of the research for my current fiction project, and as histories go, I’m happy with what I learned as well as the perspective I gained from the text. Charney is clear, thoughtful, and quite balanced: he tries to at least make clear the kinds of thinking and motivation that underlied the military rulers of Burma in ages past and present, differentiating between them and their policies, as well at working to show what effect those policies had on the common people of Burma. Another point of strong interest is the role …

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China and Google: “Obey the Country’s Laws and Traditions”

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So, I presume everyone’s heard of the row between Google and China, over the (obviously state-sponsored) hacking of Google accounts in the hopes of nabbing those pesky Chinese democracy activists? If not, this article might catch you up. It contains at least one howler: The California-based company, which launched in China in 2006, said it would quit the country unless the government relaxed censorship. On Tuesday, the Chinese government said Google and other foreign companies had to obey the country’s laws and traditions. The howler being that if you know even just a little about China’s traditions and history, you …

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Rabid Dung Beetles

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One reason I love my friend Adam Lipscomb’s blog is because of what he writes about politics — or, rather, the magical way he writes about idiots in politics and religion in America. For example, this post. Go on, read it, it’s short, and it has Pat Robertson, rabid dung beetles, rotted Norway rads, fetid dogshit, and Pat Robertson shitting his own teeth. It’s beautiful. A beautiful imagine for the rationalists of today. Now, skipping to the meat, the point is that Pat Robertson claimed that “they” (them folks in Haiti) made a pact with the devil and that’s why …

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I’ve Got You Under My Korean-English Dictionary

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A lot of Westerners I know balk at the way Korean high schools regulate all kinds of things in their students’ lives — hairstyle and coloring, an absence of piercings, and so on are all required at most high schools. Kids with hair that is too long risk having their hair cut on the spot by some teachers, and even corporal punishment. That’s right, a boy can get a whupping, because his hair is too long. A girl can if she’s suspected of dyeing it. (Heaven help those who are born with brown hair.) But what kills me is when …

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It’s Earth Day!

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Say what you like about Earth Day — there’s someone I know out there is snarking about it right now, if he even knows about it — but if you ask me, it’s a holiday about celebrating and embracing something that is here, visible, tangible, and unarguably real. People survived and thrived for hundreds of thousands of years without holding major festivals for specific deities, without holding big annual parties for imaginary constructions like nation-states. Nation states are all well and good, but the Earth is here, tangible, and absolutely necessary for our survival. It’s as close to sacred as …

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