(Wild Applause in the Cairns Household) September 6, 2008
Posted by thomas in : Uncategorized , 5 comments
Yep, this immigrant has finally been immigrated. After a year and a half of bureaucratic wrangling you are now reading the blog of a bonafide permanent resident of these United States. Lady Liberty has, at least for the moment, allowed her cold suspicion to melt away and now welcomes me to her bosom of freedom with open arms and a glossy brochure.
I also feel like I have a new appreciation for this:
It’s this crazy thing: they’re eating dinner while we’re eating breakfast! It’s the Olympics in China! August 7, 2008
Posted by thomas in : Uncategorized , 3 comments
As the Olympics get set to kick off tomorrow evening/morning (depending on your hemisphere) some of the political tensions surrounding the games have increased in intensity and visibility. President Bush arrived in the country today after comments criticizing China’s human rights record and restriction of civil freedoms, which provoked a swift response from the Chinese government:
“The Chinese government puts people first, and is dedicated to maintaining and promoting its citizens’ basic rights and freedom,” said the statement by Qin Gang, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, as translated by The Associated Press. “Chinese citizens have freedom of religion. These are indisputable facts.”
China has demonstrated its respect of basic rights and freedoms in recent days by denying former Olympian (and co-founder of Team Darfur, “an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about, and bringing an end to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan”), Joey Cheek’s visa ; limiting internet access for foreign journalists; and deporting/arresting various protesters. Joey Cheek hardly seems like much of an Olympic-wrecking-nutjob; in fact an athlete who donated his 2006 medal winnings to Sudanese refugees in Chad seems like the sort of guy who might comfortably embody the Beijing Olympic slogan “One World, One Dream“.
Adding some further complexity and flavor to these already very spicy Olympic games is the sheer amount of money involved. The youtube video above is a Coke commercial featuring Chinese track superstar Liu Xiang, the former world record holder and reigning Olympic champion in the 110m hurdles. For many companies (and some athletes) what makes the games of the XXIX Olympiad so appealing is the potential to reach the massive, growing (and largely untouched) Chinese consumer market. There are articles about the huge wads of cash thrown around to secure official Olympic sponsorship rights here and here. There is a huge financial interest in encouraging the increasing openness of Chinese markets, and this demands a certain sensitivity towards provoking the government. A cynical observer might suggest that the huge money making potential of the Olympic games is at least part of the reason why the International Olympic Committee has been so reluctant to offer any criticism of the various measures taken by the Chinese government in the days and weeks leading up to the opening ceremonies tomorrow.
Let them eat dirt? July 29, 2008
Posted by thomas in : Uncategorized , 2 comments
With rising food prices it is important to compare your shopping options…
There are plenty of reports like this one on American news programs: advice on how to stretch your food budget, how to manage the 30% increase in the price of eggs or the rising cost of milk. The authors give good tips like eating before going to the grocery store, and buying generic as opposed to brand name products. I wonder how the people in Haiti manage to choose between generic and brand name mud cakes? Haiti relies almost exclusively on imports for food and with rapid inflation discs of hardened mud are a staple to combat hunger. I realize this sort of thing isn’t exactly breaking news (which is sort of absurd in itself - the fact that this sort of story isn’t that surprising for us), but I was just struck by how advice that you should eat before shopping to prevent impulse buys would strike so many in the world as an unbelievably surreal response to rising food prices. In some ways we do live in a global village and we are becoming increasingly interconnected, but in others the deep rift of separation and difference - the accidents of geography and history that leave some people literally eating dirt and others struggling with obesity - is so absurd that it is beyond comprehension.
SURPRISE! July 26, 2008
Posted by thomas in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farSomeone dear to you has an upcoming birthday/anniversary/random reason for rejoicing - what should you do to celebrate? Maybe you could throw them a surprise party…
(Apologies to my Canadian readership as I have doubts as to whether you will be able to view this video… and to everyone else for the advertisement. Video is provided by the rather clever site www.hulu.com - now there are only a few clicks of the mouse and some 30 second shampoo advertisements between you and those Remington Steele reruns you crave)