What’s In A Fish?

I’ve just caught my eye on this headlined article about the recent plan of the European Union to curtail or even impede the fishing of bluefin tuna in the european side of the Atlantic and towards the Mediterranean seas where most of them actually thrive.

This move is apparently the result of environmentalists’ reports that stocks of the highly-priced tuna specie is fast dwindling and would soon be extinct if fishing for such would not be drastically brought down to unprecedented (low) levels.

Tsk..tsk…we used to worry solely of dolphins and whales disappearing from our seas, (along with for-rich-only sturgeons in the Black Sea) but now, the luscious tuna would soon be on our list. Statistics shows that bluefin may not be the only tuna specie that would be at risk of extinction but also the more prevalent ones like the yellowfin and skipjack, two species that the Philippines is a major exporter of—-about half-a-billion dollars worth of shipment to the United States and Japan.

In a year, the entire catch of tuna reaches nearly 3 Million tons and with such gargantuan magnitude, environmentalists from the WWF sees intense overfishing and cries out the need for a general limit to fishing quotas across the globe.

I wonder if this present tuna debacle would soon affect the rack prices of my favorite Century Tuna’s over at my favorite grocery store just a block away. Over the years, I have seen the steady rice of canned tuna to nearly double of what it had cost some five years ago. It used to be around somewhere 17 bucks per pop but now, it can go as high as 30 pesos. I often squirm seeing those ever-changing white sticker price tags pasted on them tuna cans.

I could say that I am a tuna fanatic and I want to eat it uncooked, with chunks and chunks of it dipped in savory oil or brine, and steamy rice on the side. Forget about chickenjoys or mcburgers, but when I feel the need for real hearty meal, I’d just be hiking off to that grocery store I had mentioned above and eat to my heart’s delight.

An uncle once told me that in America, tunas are merely consumed as cat food. I wonder if this is true. Do you think that American cats are so privileged kind that them mewwing lots had made Uncle Sam as this nation’s number one importer of tuna products? I don’t think so.

Apparently, the ever-growing demand for Japanese concoctions called sushi and sashimi are behind the present overfishing issue of tunas from the world’s ocean. Japan consumes nearly a quarter of the world’s tuna catch.

Japanese appetite for raw fish now not only becomes responsible for the whale extinction scare, but also of the present threat to tuna’s dwindling stock in the seas.

Tsk..tsk..all I can say is that “God save the tuna in our seas”.

Sex And Technology

The news on the radio was blasting this morning about a rape incident that had occurred in Los Baños, Laguna, involving 7 youths. The young victim herself was being interviewed on the air and had bravely recounted how the crime was effected and had named some of the assailants. For a rape victim, she sounded so young and also so courageous.

Her forward demeanor while narrating the harrowing incident was a bit unusual as she spoke in straight and unwavering tone in that radio interview. Possibly, the terror of her ordeal had hardened her that there was nothing else left for her to do except to tell—-to live and tell—-and to get the ends of justice despite the huge embarrassment that the experience will bring her and her family.

The rape had happened on June 18 and the delay of her testimony might weaken her cause. However, this is very understandable since the alleged assailants, one of them the son of a policemen, were threatening her and family to no end. To top it all, the rape incident was even video-cammed by one of the rapist using a cellphone. That would make any victim all the more hesitant since broadcast of it would be another callous intimidation. If you speak, you’d be shamed to the whole world.

This is the problem with technology, despite it’s boon, there’s always a bane to it, and minimal as it may seem, but when utilized, may be very vile and destructive.

This rape incident left my mind wandering about how some of our youth had become so sexually callous. I am not generalizing here,but I am just pondering. I am thinking how perhaps advanced instruments like cellphones and the Internet could be at times hazardous to the society, where these gadgets could in some other time become devices to generate highly sexual materials and then to propagate it, thru mails and image messages.

In the Internet, explicit content can be viewed so easily and by any youth even not of age, just as long as the youth knows how to click the proper buttons.

I am not saying that such misuse of the net by youths is so rampant. In fact, I can say that Internet cafés administrators—-at least to the ones I frequent—-have done good in controlling such inclinations except that once in a while, I notice how some would veil the explicit sites by pretending to browse on regular websites while clicking back to the sexually-explicit site every now and then, when the café administrator or keeper is out of sight. In fact there was this one memorable occasion when I saw a very young child, like 8 or 9 years old, playing some colorful java games. But on the corner of my eye, the screen in front of the young boy kept on changing hue that when I observed closer, the boy was actually browsing a very explicit site when no one is looking, and just pretending to play a game. I felt a little shock realizing how a very young boy like that could be exposed to such materials.

And then there was this another incident when while this Internet café was so busy with lots of customers—-some playing while others surfing—-there was this burly fat guy, who just sat in front of a computer and immediately opened numerous porn sites without hesitancy or reservation whatsoever, and went on downloading like there was no tomorrow and like there were no other people present there. Of course, many had thrown knowing looks at each other in that café, including the café administrator and me. Everyone seems to notice how unusual the situation was and in fact a bit funny that I smirked lengthily while surfing the net, trying to hold of a laugh.

What the hell was this fat guy thinking just coming in and downloading porn while the net was particularly full of people at that moment. I bet even the café administrator couldn’t do anything about it—-it was liked an unprecedented situation for him that he wasn’t prepared to handle or did not anticipate to happen.

Despite that there is no concrete indication relating the increasing amount of sexual misconduct among our youths today to the proliferation of sexually-explicit materials on the net and thru cellphones, and while there is yet to be a very formal scientific study on the subject, I feel somehow that unmitigated and unrestricted access of our youth, and even of the general population, to such highly explicit sexual materials would be deleterious to the society, propagating a general psyche in the population of sexual looseness and injecting disturbing ideas to a youth population that should in the first place be concentrating on their studies and other worthwhile social duties. As of now, it might not be as prevalent—-although I feel it is—-but the government should not wait for the situation to get worse before it acts on it.

The Internet is so seamless and so vast that I know controlling or regulating it against explicit content would be a hugely monumental task, quixotic even. But somehow, we got to do something.

This is the right and proper opportunity for newly-elected political leaders to be of significance to our society. Lawmakers should formulate a scheme that would curtail misuse of technology such as cellphone messaging and the Internet, even to the extent of creating an agency that would specially handle and monitor such improper conduct(s). There are lots of government agencies out there that do not really matter much to our population and yet they are there just for the sake of it. But if there is an agency that would be well-worth people’s money, it is this agency that should be watching out for these kind of misuse.

Rockin’ For Planet Earth

I was so glad I was online some moments ago that I become timely informed about a grand event scheduled this coming Sunday—-Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and Kevin Wall of the historic Live 8 concerts are staging a similar huge musical undertaking in Live Earth where about 150 artists would be performing in venues stretching across the globe, from New Jersey to Johannesburg, in a lengthy 24 hour period.

In Live 8, rock bands like U2 and artists like Sting came forth to hark about G8’s seeming indifference to the economic havoc occuring in Africa. This time around, they’d be priming the worldwide public with global warming awareness, pronouncing to consumers around the world how they can help minimize and diminish the threat of greenhouse gasses to our environment. It would be so fascinating to see the numerous documentaries that are scheduled to be exhibited while the concert progresses.

Whether we like it or not, the effects of global warming is already being materially felt in our world today with the onset of unusual weather behavior, rising temperatures, melting polar ice, depleting rainforests and many other symptoms of a tapering environmental condition.

It’s about time to heed the call of the times. It’s about time that we become palpably aware of the ruminations of our environment. It’s about time we should listen to the murmurs of our Planet Earth—-for as they say, we only have one Earth and none other.

I have not become so particular aware about the exact schedule of the Live Earth concert and the local television station that would carry it. Since the concerts are slated Saturday in the states, it would be Sunday morning here. Last time around, Studio 23 carried the lengthy and highly-enjoyable Live 8 concerts and it might similarly bring Live Earth to our shore this time. For those who have high-speed connections, MNSBC would be streaming it live straight to your monitors.

See you at the concert.

When Tragedy Strikes Twice

I’ve been watching closely the Utah mining disaster for nearly two weeks now and on the 11th day, I felt so saddened that instead of finally reaching the six miners trapped underneath the mines since Monday of last week—-when the pit there collapsed enormously—-three more deaths have occurred.

CNN had been showing even the very tunneling activities made by rescuers—most of whom were colleagues of the trapped miners—-and exhibited almost a blow-by-blow account of the rescue operation; it this was thought to be a first in broadcasting history.

I saw how mothers were crying for fear that the trapped miners were already dead, about six to seven days after being trapped there. I also saw those who feared for the lives of those who tried to save lives by digging new tunnels that would have lead to the estimated area where the trapped miners would possibly be.

And this latest tragic incident happened—-resulting to more lives lost instead of having saved any . It’s like what most call a lost-lost situation. Authorities in Salt Lake City have finally decided to scale down the rescue operation or call it off ultimately for fear of losing more lives.

This decision reached despite that some days ago, some sounds were heard from below the ground by a microphone and had given hope that the six miners might still be alive in a particular chamber underneath the mine, one that was hoped to have breathable space for the trapped miners to survive.

But eleven days hence, hopes have started to die down. Such tragic, tragic disaster really—despite that every disaster is supposed to be tragic in the first place. I am so saddened now realizing how fathers have lost their lives trying to earn their keep and gain a decent living, leaving wives and children behind, as well as brothers, sisters and comrades. How I wish this sort of thing doesn’t happen or have not happened.

I wonder now how mining is such a dangerous undertaking. We’ve heard ever so often how mining disasters occur in every part of the world, from South America to Asia, to places in Peru and in China, over and over again, throughout the years. America is the most developed nation in the world and still, no fool-proof mining scheme have been established despite that as a country, America have been mining minerals such as coal so vigorously for centuries now. The mining operation in Salt Lake City, where the disaster had occurred, was mining for coal to be used for energy and heating in households. There are such 18,000 coal mines spread all over America and as a long as the need for coal remains high, such disaster would always be at risk of happening.

I wonder if the danger posed by coal mining—-which includes sending miners dangerously so deep underneath the ground—-would justify other sourcing of energy like nuclear plants, which some sectors believe could be largely safer when it comes to deaths by accidents, as opposed to mining operations.

But radioactivity or the danger of contamination by such seems to be a looming hazard, like a huge fearful shadow that we often imagine at night when we were still so young as kids trying to get sleep so late at night.

Such is the dilemma posed by this mining disaster, between safety and the need for more and more sources of energy.

Myanmar's Quest For Freedom

Something so important is brewing over there in Myanmar right at this very moment, even as we speak. Tens of thousands of people have gathered and joined the monks-led protests against the generals ruling within the SLORC (State Law and Order restoration Council), swooping down through the main avenues and streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. The mass action is now entering into it’s fourth day and most recent reports on it have seen the generals finally issuing a grave warning, threatening an intense crackdown against the monks, who are mainly well-revered by the people of Myanmar and had generally been immune from the restrictive hand of the military rule over there.

It is not so clear yet what cause or causes the Buddhists monks have mainly voiced-out in this yet another major protest action (a student-led protest against SLORC had been crushed in 1998) but it is generally seen that the military junta over there had been so fraught with human rights abuses, various brutalities that consists of forced labor and violent repression against ethnic minorities, particularly the Karen group where many of them have retreated towards the borders or had even taken refuge into neighboring countries such as Thailand.

The Myanmar situation had long been an issue in the ASEAN leadership where Myanmar remains the only member-country with a military junta as a form of government and America and Europe had long criticized ASEAN for being too lax on Myanmar, citing it’s far-from-ideal human rights record and repression of democracy. Now, ASEAN is forced to take issue on the brimming scenario over there in Yangon. Would they support the anti-government move? Would it prod the military junta to take strength? Or would ASEAN continue to be silent over the boisterous issue that is Myanmar—-like a whiny child?

At least, US President George Bush has already taken note on what’s happening in Yangon and had today announced more sanctions against the military junta or its members, as well as to their financial supporters, which are mostly coming from China and India, Myanmar’s two closest allies, perhaps showing to us that America is not merely interested in oil-rich regions, but as well as in others.

Whatever becomes of the mass protest in Yangon, I hope nothing extraordinarily violent would inure, despite that in every move against a government, violence (or some form of it) may always exist. I hope the generals would keep their composure and not step back in time and become beastly in engaging the protesters in the streets. We have been placed in the same situation once before—-or twice even—-first in 1986 along EDSA and then in 1991 when former President Joseph Estrada was forced to step down.

I hope so well that something good emanates for Myanmar after this—-like freedom and democracy.

Would The National Broadband Network Possibly Be Beneficial To Us?

It has become such a full-blown issue. The first time I heard about the NBN-ZTE controversy, I felt like it was just merely yet another jar that the administration people had gotten their hands into—-and being caught yet once again. For certain, the ZTE issue becomes now an unfastened Pandora’s box, and everything now is in wide disarray. In fact, this issue finally became the source of an impeachment proceeding to be filed against COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos, just when he is about to retire from public service. Imagine a cyclone approaching land-base and then the destruction it leaves behind when the faintest wind finally stopped.

It is worth noting at this point how the whole shenanigan had started and progressed into the huge mess that it is right now. GMA News offers this very concise timeline of the ZTE deal, from the time it was offered by the government of China towards the time it was brought to the public eye as a full-blown controversy.

Bingskee over there at Warmstone had presented how the deal was so flawed in its conception that it is actually in direct violation of eight important laws, including the BOT Law and the Anti-Graft and Corruption Law. Being such, it is most probably a contract null and void from the beginning.

The main question or questions that the Senate hearings seem to have aimed at is whether or not the contract was in violation of established government policies and laws, especially the procurement guidelines set in such mode of governmental undertaking. Senator Francis Escudero was at his sharpest this afternoon and was in fact so effective in digging up mud, slowly but surely establishing the defects of the whole NBN-ZTE deal, being so haphazard in its preparation and hugely flawed in its execution.

Considering the amount involved (approximately $329.5 Million), the contract signed by DOTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza with the government of China had not obtained proper documentations such as the DOJ and DBM advises as well as approval from the Government Procurement Policy Board.

Despite that direct contracting is allowed within our governmental system, such is tolerated merely on very special circumstances like the procurement of necessary goods in times of urgency, such rice shortages due to calamities and the like, and only if it is done through a government-to-government agreement, thereby obtaining the character of an executive agreement (mostly undertaken through memorandum of agreements) and bidding and other regular procurement procedures would be set aside and done with in this manner.

Such is the general rule on special procurements done by the government. An example of this circumstance is the implementation of projects by World Bank and the International Bank of Rural Development Bank here in the Philippines, where mostly performance of contracts are done through sub-contracting and where bidding procedures are skipped in order to avoid any delay, selecting merely contractors from an accredited list. Other situations where public bidding is avoided is when the transaction is in consonance with a signed treaty or if the goods are for use by foreign-funded projects.

In the situation at hand, the ZTE contract is for procurement of infrastructure and not of goods as specifically pointed out by Senator Escudero, thereby very far from the safe embrace of executive agreements. It appears now that the contracting parties here have merely circumvented certain restrictions by using the special characteristic of an executive agreement.

Going to other matters, there is one salient issue that the Senate hearings have not so far tackled so thoroughly, or not even a slight indication to it. It should now be a question—-while the ZTE deal is under suspension from Malacañang and TRO’d by the Supreme Court—-of whether or not a National Broadband Network is necessary and very beneficial to the government and to the State as a whole. Former NEDA head Romulo Neri cited it’s very huge rate of return (at 29%) as a very strong motivation to procure it. Aside from that, the DOTC justifies it through a projected 3.6 Billion pesos yearly since the government is presently spending about 4 Billion pesos in telecommunication bills each year. The broadband network would also allow better interconnectivity among various governmental agencies and would allow the smooth and hassle-free implementation of new online services such as those being implemented by GSIS, where loans and other benefits could be obtained by just logging into the Internet and acquiring the proceeds from an ATM-like machine. One aspect of the planned infrastructure that the DOTC is highlighting (in its justification of it) is its VoIP capability that could save the government in long-distance expenses. In fact, it is foreseen that even the lowly barangay level government unit would be able to have access to inter-agency connectivity—-broadband and VoIP at that.

Of course, the private sector would frown on this as it would be losing from the income it usually generates from government activities. But that is beside the point if for example it is primordial for the government to be so effective in its communication and at the same time save on expenses. What would be a major issue by then is if ever the government—-with an infrastructure like the National Broadband Network—-would steal away business from private telecommunication companies, and while the constitution specifically forbid this kind of setup. With the NBN, it is projected that the government could be able to offer very low broadband rates to the public and beat the existing prices currently offered by private companies. Of course, this would particularly be beneficial to the ordinary Internet users, having access to very affordable broadband services. At present, the rates of broadband connection are far from being affordable to the average income earners.

Even Singapore is ambitioning of having a blazing speed Internet broadband network. But over there, the Singaporean government would be tapping the private sector to spearhead the installation of such and would merely be interfering in the initial stages—-unlike the NDN deal, where the government plays an active role in its operation.

The NBN would somehow be very beneficial by making available a much cheaper and faster connection into the Internet by government agencies, and possibly by the public in general.

CHED Chairman Neri was right to suggest that any procurement of such infrastructure in the future (in case the ZTE deal would be scrapped entirely) should be done through proper public bidding, in order that the government may gain mostly from it and not be worried with overpricing and substandard implementation as what is feared with this ZTE deal.

Photo: FreeFoto.com

The Beginning Of The End In Myanmar

In 1986, The Philippine EDSA Revolution had achieved its most immediate aims with only one casualty involved and was called bloodless that way. It was referred to by many as a modern-day miracle because of such circumstance. But in Myanmar, 9 people have already been killed by strafing soldiers, including a 50 year old Japanese reporter that took a bullet in the chest, and was caught by a panning camera lying on the grown, his face towards the sky, and probably seeing how death could become in order that others may be free.

Bloody and ruthless. That’s how this purge by the military in Myanmar should be described in the most apt manner. And I felt that it was also so cowardly where the insecurity of the military regime there had become finally patent that it had resorted to such form of beastly conduct. It is becoming more and more clear now how the military junta there is merely a semblance of a legitimate government, a pretender for authority, for it doesn’t even have a code of conduct in resolving this kind of urgency, resorting immediately to ultimate violence (shooting into the crowd indiscriminately), not exerting best effort to moderate the situation by utilizing less deadlier means, like the use of water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.

It was nowhere shown that the shooting of protesters by soldiers stationed to guard premises there had resulted from heat of the moment situation, erupting untowardly, like when the situation had reached a certain level of raucousness that force had to be used. The soldiers just shot at the protesting crowd, without any immediate harm to be thwarted. It should have been primordial that before violence would be exerted by the authorities, it should have been determined to be ultimately necessary, in the presence of clear and imminent danger and with the purpose of thwarting of a harm imagined to be greater than the violence exerted. This crudeness in the use of force merely offers evidence that in Myanmar, the rule of law is not such a very clear idea. And this must be why the Jakarta Post had termed the purge there as “Murder In Myanmar”.

ASEAN should go the extra mile and suspend Myanmar’s recognition into the regional group for such rogue conduct of the military junta there must have no place in a group like ASEAN, one that was formed in order to promote sympathy among nations involved, as well as to its populace as a whole.

In fact, every nation in the world should take away recognition of the military junta there as the legitimate government of Myanmar. The people yearn loudly for freedom and to be wise, the generals should take heed of this in the most efficient manner. When the populace there chooses to chart another direction, away from the wave of hatred and repression that the military had been sowing there through the years, then the generals there becomes merely a bunch of bullies intending to rule the people solely through the use of force, and not one legitimate government for and in behalf of the people.

Let us see how much of the populace really clamor for a different direction in Myanmar. If every soul there sees with repulsion the military junta that governs them by iron hands, then this mass uprising, sometimes called by others as “The Saffron Revolution” should become the beginning of the end for the ruthless military regime there.

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

This must be the sweetest moment for former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, winning the world’s most sought after award with the Nobel Peace Prize that was just handed to him hours ago on TV, sharing it with the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It feels so much like the accumulation of all his efforts to bring towards general awareness the climate crisis that once everybody thought to be just mindless rhetoric and nothing more. Thanks to Al Gore, every thinking individual is more aware now of global warming than ever before, and every aggregation—-from APEC to ASEAN to EU—-sees this issue as very urgent and ultimately significant.

Right about the time he had made and released the highly-acclaimed documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, he was just then merely seen as one among many who has something to rant about, a voice in the wilderness, and were it not for his stature as a man formerly holding a very high position in the most powerful country in the world, he would have not had a reasonable audience, for by the way, what’s global warming? What’s the meaning of greenhouse gasses? What’s the fuzz about carbon emissions? It was such a boring and tedious topic to discuss and be interested in at that time.

But now, things have changed. Everyone’s talking about climate change and in fact it’s one of the most talked about issue in the international socio-political scene nowadays. And Mr. Gore had been the one single force that drives this great progress in environmental awareness.

Once, he was like Noah hearing God’s voice to hurry up and build a very huge boat. Now everyone listens to him. And perhaps, if every soul takes the warnings with enough seriousness, then we may not need another Noah boat.

Kurdistan: A Lost Nation To Be Regained

As we speak, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has made pronouncement on how his country would take further actions into Iraq in the coming days as nearly 100,000 Turkish troops have already been deployed near the border it shares with Iraq—-reinforced by attack helicopters and warplanes.

Just about a week after the Turkish parliament had authorized military incursion into northern Iraq, PM Erdogan has not been satisfied by merely bombarding Kurdish rebel positions from within its own field down south and now plans to actually march its troops into another country’s territory, breaking sovereignty in the process. Some 3,000 Kurdish militants are suspected to be holed-up in the northern Iraq and are mainly blamed for a spate of deadly attacks in several locations in Turkey; the most recent and bloodiest of which was the death of 13 Turkish soldiers in one of the southeast regions there.

Prime Minister Erdogan wants to crush the Kurdish insurrection once and for all and wants to decimate the entire PKK (or the Kurdish Workers’ Party) by intruding into Iraq and sending its troops across the border.

This is purported to be the military solution.

However, the Kurdish problem is far from just being a military-conflict problem; it is in fact a very circuitous political and social issue that had been contented to and rooted to through decades and even through the centuries—-a problem more in-depth than what is viewed from initial observations. Therefore, the military solution being presented by Turkey would not be the mightiest solution after all and it could merely be futile and could prove to be too costly, searing up relations with the United States and provoking a nascent government in Iraq.

Turkey is not the only one trying to resolve Kurdish rebellion but also Iran, and most prominently Iraq, where Saddam Hussein was convicted and meted the death sentence through the charge (among others) of vicious persecution of the Kurds minority in the northern Iraq, highlighted by the incident of mustard gassing of an entire community of Kurds in 1988, where pictures of that harrowing episode had appeared so memorably in the pages of widely popular publications such as Time and Newsweek.

In 1982, the Kurds was granted a form of autonomy through the Kurdish Regional Government, in an agreement with the Iraqi government then. After the end First Gulf War in 1992, the United Nations had instituted a safe haven in the northern region in order to protect the Kurds from increasing persecution from Baghdad.

Despite that it is not considered as a state or sovereignty, the place called “Kurdistan” had been in known not only in most recent times but also in the past. Without a fixed territory to show, Kurdistan is theoretically seen as encompassing a contiguous land area that spans through southeastern part of Turkey, a northern portion of Iraq, and some areas in Iran and Syria (see the map images). Meaning to say, a certain unseen nation is hiding somewhere in this region (south of Turkey and north of Iraq) that time and history had forgotten. There is in fact a people so distinct and unique from the rest that is not having its own nation. The might of the Ottoman Empire in the past had ceded part of Kurdistan to Turkey. The British Mandates after World War I had encumbered the rest of it in favor of Iraq, Iran and Syria that now it had become a lost nation without it’s own territory. The Jews were more fortunate to have declared their own state and reclaimed Israel after the British Mandate had abandoned control on the old Palestine in favor of United Nations control. One could infer from this very unique situation (where the Kurds had been left out entirely) as a result of the haphazard partitions made by colonial powers (particularly Great Britain and France) after they had decided to let go of their full control over territories in the Middle East—-partitioning and dividing without knowing fully the social and racial make-up of the population involved, leading to the disenfranchisement of the Kurdish people. In fact, Iraq is in such a situation now where it’s northern part and southern part is so distinct and separate from the Sunni controlled Baghdad in the middle; a nation mandated by powerful western forces while in reality, it is a cornucopia of different peoples. Many now in fact fears that in the event that the United States pull out of Iraq, a civil war might ensue among the Sunnis, the Shiites in the south and the Kurds up north.

Perhaps, the Kurdistan issue should be resolved now, in parallel to resolving the Iraqi problem. The Iraqi solution should be held in consonance with the Kurdistan solution. Otherwise, if the situation would be left as it is, Iraq would become or remain a state of at least two nations forced to bond together, when in fact, they could not and do not intend to. In this setup, a fragile bond holds and would always threaten to untie any time

Turkey may have to be involved in the compromise, upon realizing that holding a region populated by a different people may not in any manner inure to its best interest. Why would a nation like Turkey hold on to a nearly barren region with no Turkish identity to it whatsoever?

The answer lies in the rich oil fields located in the area populated by the Kurds. Most of Iraq’s oil revenues are coming from oil fields in Kirkuk and Mosul, two areas within the theoretical Kurdistan territory. Turkey had even pronounced in recent years about its sentiment on Kirkuk and Mosul, claiming them to be within Turkish territory historically, citing the Ottoman Empire’s grasp of Kurd’s areas in the past.

The Kurdistan issue had now complicated the Iraq Situation with this recent move by Turkey to traverse border in order to resolve Kurdish rebellion in the south.

That now, the Kurdistan issue had to be resolved together with the present U.S. campaign in Iraq. To be clear, I do not confrom to the violence exhibited by the Kurdish rebels against Turkey—-it is not a solution by any means. Diplomacy and compromises should be the best (and only) means of all.

Otherwise, the problem would go on and on as long as the Kurds remain a distinct people without a nation.

The Bali Climate Deal: Will Things Work Out This Time Around?

Well, I hope so. For certain, any wide agreement to curb global carbon emission is the welcomest treaty at this time, when hints of a destabilizing global environment are ever persistent. Super-typhoons, receding forest, melting polar ice, increased earth temperature, and smog in every major city in the world—-these are signs and symptoms that could not easily be rebuffed. Perhaps, even America could not stay blind to the impending environmental catastrophe that now, it becomes a very active propeller of this most recent climate deal being sponsored by the United Nation, as the Kyoto Protocol is about to expire on 2012 (without fulfilling the desired).

In 1997, the united States have dissuaded from signing the Kyoto Protocol having been not in agreement with the amount of emission reduction that it had prescribed. This time around, the deadline is set further towards 2050, farther and longer in period, but the emission reduction rate would be far more substantial, somewhere around 40 to 50 percent of the current level.

Would this ever be possible? Having about 40% lesser carbon in the air than we have now? Would this be possible without sacrificing the need for industrial growth and wider transportation use that would be attendant at that future time?

The only manner that this could be possible is if technological advancement in power sourcing would be had in great strides right now and in such a short period of time thence, like the sustainable institution of such alternative renewable energy source like wind and solar energy systems, and hydrogen cells in most transport vehicle by then. Simply put, in order that such amount of reduction could ever be attained 40 years from now, world’s use of fossil fuel or petroleum should be radically curbed. (I can almost sense how OPEC would react on this turgid aim to agree on carbon reduction by most participants in the Bali climate meet).

Be as it may seem, any agreement to curb carbon emissions would be the most positive thing that could result. And with the active participation of the United States around—-hopefully with more commitment than ever before—-then the climate deal would be on the right track. It is hoped that other highly-industrialized nations like Japan, China and EU could follow America’s interest on this.

The US Economic Slowdown – Is This The Beginning of A Quantum Shift?

I have been following this issue for some weeks now—-the recent slowdown of the U.S. economy—-and wanted to blog about it so eagerly but wasn’t able to due to time constraints; what with the perniciousness of task at work. Presently, I am being the overall coordinator for the conduct of a symposium on International Relations and Foreign Policy slated this coming Friday, and things to be done had become more urgent as the date approaches so nearly.

When the news on the U.S. economic slowdown finally became widespread, after weeks of speculation and foreboding, I got a glimpse of U.S. President George Bush speaking about it in a news conference in the White House, and I could fairly note the grimness of the situation through the heavy face that he had wore that particular moment. Often, action speaks louder than words.

It is simply the worst time for this to happen. Election time is fast approaching in America and the war crises in Iraq are far from over. An economic downturn is the last thing that President Bush would need right now. If he could not resolve this economic woe, President Bush would probably have to contend to a scenario where he have to exit his post with a dark shadow following him—-mismanagement of the economy and an unresolved war in Iraq.

Perhaps, he had given so much focused on his war campaign in the Middle East that he had forgotten that his people had also needed much attention from him.

Right now, the U.S. Congress had approved a bill allowing nearly $160 Billion worth of funds to be inputted into the American economy, putting money in the hands of middle income Americans, hoping that they would spend it on consumer products, pump priming the economy with sustained economic activity.

But what if this strategy wouldn’t work at all? Too much or abrupt increased in spending could result to high-inflation, doing more harm than good in the process.

If that happens, a prolonged slowdown would inure to a full recession, where the U.S. economy would shrink by so much that jobs would continue to be lost and productivity could move towards a downward spiral.

And everyone knows what happens when the America catches cold. The rest of the world sneezes. Even as we speak, stock markets across the world have suffered due to this debacle in the American economy. It is then of grave concern for all of us. In our turf, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had just approved a 75 Billion pesos stimulus fund, hoping to shield and immunize our economy from the global effect of the slowdown in America. And it comes now at issue on where does our government get such huge amount of money when in fact we have lingering problems in our balance of payments and our offshore debts remain at a scandalously high level. It had amazed me to no end on how our President could easily announce the release of such huge amount of money, just like eating peanuts in the park—-when we all know that money in our treasury is of no significant amount.

Perhaps, it would amaze us more in the coming weeks when we try to find out where this money from the so-called stimulus fund had gone. I hope not. Or we’ll be having yet another useless Senate inquiry on this. (Isn’t it often funny to observe how our Senators are always asking some Malacañang official about some money and where did it go, and in the end, they’d be finding none? Senators ought to be smart and not gullible, aren’t they? But they seem always to end up like Wily Coyote, continuously putting traps here and there, and yet, Mr. Road Runner always come out unscathed and scot-free. I could always see a Wily E. Coyote scenario in our Senate.)

So where were we?

In my analysis—-I could see some form of irreversibility in the recent economic woes of America. International political analysts have always put forward the idea about how there would come a time when economic power would shift away from America, transferring wealth and productivity might towards other important players in international economics like China, India or EU and it seems to me that as elementary as these views are, such prognosis seem to become more and more patent and appertaining, not in the near future, but even now as we speak, where the wheels of change has started rolling so furiously. It is in the decline of American economic right happening right before our very eyes.

It is of great note how writers have begun to write about the gap between rich people and poor people in America—-on how it continues to widen, causing major and systemic economic problems there—-when in fact, just about a decade ago, there is no such term as the “poor people in America”. But now, there are the so-called “poor people” in the land of milk and honey.

Times are but a-changing.

In my readings, this most recent economic turmoil in America had been caused by the increased prevalence of joblessness and high-cost of housing there. Of course, it goes to say that when many Americans are unemployed or underemployed, not many of them could afford to buy houses, driving prices upward in the process as demands decreases. I understand that housing is a very huge and palpable sector in America. House mortgages and loans are main activities in the financial system, becoming therefore a major economic catalyst. If the housing sector is slow there—-or at worse stagnant—-then the whole U.S. economy suffers.

But then, it all boils down to joblessness in America. It is of common knowledge that a great bulk of the manufacturing sector there had outsourced their main production activities overseas, towards China primarily and to many other locations in Asia, such as India or Vietnam. Such is the trend happening for more than a decade now and the very low labor cost in Asia had compelled every American business to look eastward, or face obsolescence as they would become so hard-pressed to compete in terms of sales. How would Nike for example level up with Reebok when Nike continues to pay high-wage American workers while Reebok could lower their sales prices benefiting on very cheap labor cost in China.

With technology transfer easily transmuted nowadays, from one continent to another, the level of workmanship in America is easily replicated in areas like Taiwan and China.

This way, American companies have no other recourse but to shift manufacturing overseas in order to remain competitive. As a result, a huge portion of jobs in America would be lost, thereon spurring lower spending among the population and a continued meltdown of the U.S. economy is most likely to happen. Like I said, there is an irreversibility in all of these. The decline of the once so mighty American economy has started and shift in economic power would be given way.

And decades from now, even political and military power would soon follow.

The Tibetan Question

There’s violence in Tibet in most recent days and they are not merely trifling. In fact, deaths were reported in the capital city of Lhasa just about a week ago and just hours ago, the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic torch in Athens was so untowardly blighted by a man that had suddenly appeared with a banner in hand, seen on live TV worldwide, in protest of the recent violent crackdown of the Chinese government troops of protesters in Tibet. To be sure, the fast-approaching Summer Olympics in Beijing becomes now an all too ominous stage for Tibet protest and this has gotten the extreme ire of the Chinese government, especially China Premier Wen Jiabao.

Now, this latest spark of conflict in Central Asia had intuited a number of why’s and how’s in my mind. Such question as to why Tibet had gone into absolute territorial control of China and how a reasonably distinct nation—-with an auspiciously unique culture and ways of life—-becomes subject to the sovereignty of a neighbor country.

As a matter of fact, Tibet is one location that is wider than Western Europe and had in fact been once an empire by itself, encroaching towards India and western part of mainland China. In my mind, Tibet had always been a separate existence form China where Tibet is not China or China is not Tibet. It’s like Mongolia. Mongolia was never part of China even if for once it had ruled the whole of China thru the Manchu Dynasty.

Nepal and Bhutan are fully sovereign countries even though they are small in size and despite that they are similarly situated near China. Yet Tibet had been incorporated into the territorial delineation of China ever since troops from the People’s Liberation of China had marched into Lhasa in 1959, with guns and munnitions, starting an occupation that had seemingly ripened into full annexation when in 2007, the Dalai Lama himself—-the spiritual and known leader-in-exile of Tibet—-had publicly renounced his desire for a the grant of sovereignty to Tibet but merely greater autonomy in terms of cultural and religious practices. This renunciation had of course caused so much surprise and amazement from the international scene and many Tibetans in exile in many parts of the world had not taken such declaration with approval.

But perhaps, to fulfill the core Buddhist faith of peaceful means, the Dalai Lama had actually accepted China’s sovereignty over Tibet. Or perhaps, it might have been just a simple act of desperation on his part at that time.

Despite of that, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had most recently lambasted the Dalai Lama and accusing him of inciting the recent uprising and protest action in Lhasa, unduly sullying the spirit of the Summer Olympics that Beijing would host this coming August.

Now finally, one very interesting question is on why does China becomes so interested in a land that is almost bare such as Tibet, where arable lands are scarce and there are no known mineral deposit there like oil or gold?

This urgent desire for clasp in Tibet by China might be reasonably pointed out towards security concerns, where a disruptive Tibetan population, one that is hugely characterized by serfdom and almost nil economic activity, could pose numerous hazards to the integrity of the China sovereignty. But upon being aware that the relatively small Tibetan population could in no way harm the Chinese state, security reasons, as one main cause for annexation, could not thereon be fully justified.

So now there remains a hugely unresolved Tibetan question.

The Democrat’s Free Trade Gambit

SO IT’S NOW A CERTAINTY—-if the Democrat’s win the U.S. Presidential Election this coming November, it would be the downside for global economy as both Democratic Party nominee aspirants have voiced out their disillusionment with free trade. Some months ago, Barack Obama had to apologize publicly for announcing his intention of cutting back down or tightening trade stipulations in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) America it has with Canada, and thereon with it’s southern neighbor Mexico. While I thought that Mr. Obama was merely alone in this precept, I found out lately, while updating myself with the latest developments in the presidential race over there, that Ms. Hillary Clinton holds the same sentiment.

This becomes now a vital issue not merely in the coming polls in America, but subsequently throughout the four corners of the world, that if the Democrat’s win in November, the global thrust of freeing trade from tariff restrictions and other economic barriers would be broughgt back a great number of years, parlaying the substantial gains it had in the Doha Round.

Not that we could entirely blame Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton for their perspectives on free trade for America have been losing jobs and economic advantage over the recent years in very dramatic fashion, where every major American multinational have locations in China or elsewhere in Asia. And if the this trend goes on and on unabated, the U.S. economy would surely go towards a steep downward spiral, when in fact as of the present, a dragging slowdown is biting the economy over there like a giant leech that couldn’t be taken out even through the smartest financial surgery.

But are they doing the right thing?

It couldn’t be helped to assume that both Obama and Clinton is merely taking advantage of the gaining disillusionment of the Americans over the negative results of intense globalization and loosening of trade barriers to their country, losing jobs by the hundreds of thousands as every major American products is now either manufactured or assembled in China or Vietnam. And if they pander on this sentiments, their party would surely amassed most of the votes this coming November in a huge way, and along with the Americans well-rooted dissuasion with the Iraq War that President George W. Bush had started, one could say that the Democratic presidential nominee—-either Obama or Clinton—-has a monkey-wrench hold of the presidential victory later this year.

I have a feeling that despite the seemingly reasonable concerns of both Obama and Clinton on free trade, America may not really be able to untangle itself from the overly mature growth of liberalization of trade all over the world, where every nation today have already committed themselves towards free trade and free flow of goods and labor in the coming years or decades. At this point, not even America could hold it back or reverse the flood of global intention to make trade free and fair among every trading nation all over the world. It’s like perhaps Al Gore’s well-publicized intention to bring America towards the Kyoto Protocol and agreement to steep industrial gas reduction where for example that he had won the presidential election years ago and once he was already in the top position, he wouldn’t still be able to carry this intention anyway—-at least not wholly as he had intended it—-for such action would greatly bring damage to the American economy to the extent that a radical reduction in industrial fumes would mean stifling and paralyzing the U.S. economy. He wouldn’t have done it in the end.

And so as with the nascent Democrat’s battlecry of pulling America away from free trade and towards economic isolationism because the moment it disengages itself from the ever-persistent call for global trade liberalization, there might be disastrous economic impact on America where China becomes continually and slowly indestructible as an alternative trading partner, along with the European Union and countries in South America as well as ASEAN where the Philippines is a member. What America should better do in the process is not to dispel free trade entirely but find ways instead on how to buffer or adjust to an entirely new environment that global free trade connotes, like for example re-examining high labor cost in America and uncompetitive pricing of American manufacture.

America has to go with the flow of trade liberalization or be left behind. You might think that this could be the most incredible thing to happen to the biggest nation in the world, but you know, it could happen.

Rice and Fall

The rice shortage that the country is experiencing at present makes us the world’s largest importer of rice—- at over 2 million metric tons each year. Now at least, we can say that we are keenest in the world at certain something aside from being the most corrupt.

After signing a deal with Vietnam, the government is still negotiating with Thailand for an additional horde in the coming days, proving altogether that indeed, the rice shortage we have right now is too real for comfort.

According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the present rice supply that the government has, through the National Food Authority, would last 57 days. I don’t know if that figure is healthy or not, 57 days is just days, what if in the 58th day there’d be no rice, then that’ll mean mayhem and turbulence in our streets of the meanest kind, much worse than in Indonesia or in Egypt where the military there had to stop militarizing and make bread just to put up with low bread supply and high bread demand among the Egyptians.

If on the 58th day, there’d be no enough rice within our reach, then I think the rice shortage would be far more malevolent cause for pulling down the government than the ZTE Controversy and Hello Garci hullabaloo combined, as people would surely packed the streets and demand an ouster, heads would roll for certain.

The government should do something drastically. I couldn’t believe that someone who look so smart or speak so eloquently such as Mr. Arthur Yap heads our Agriculture Department and yet the present rice shortage becomes like a menace that just came out of nowhere, like a miracle, or a flash of lightning and Mr. Yap says, “What was that?” He couldn’t be that naïve I am pretty sure.

Aside from all the patent reasons, like palay lands being converted to malls in tens or hundreds of hectares each year, the youth in the rural areas becoming nurses or call center agents rather than being rice farmers, low selling prices for the rice farmers, even the ever increasing scarcity of rainfall (due to climate change)—-the government should look inwardly towards its own turf. The National Food Authority should reinvigorate itself and clean up some of its mess and help straighten out the kinks in the rice supply chain, to not allow cheap smuggled rice to flood the market, or otherwise local rice traders would have less notion to put up stores for the golden grains and close shop instead. And of course, hoarding among our suppliers is a perennial problem.

And perhaps, Mr. Yap should seek some sort of regulations or legislation curtailing or minimizing the conversion of huge palay lands into malls or factories. In other countries, they prohibit excessive construction of golf locations as it consumes water in a very gargantuan manner, harming the environment in the process. I am sure we could do that here concerning our rice farms becoming malls.

The Boundaries of Polygamy

As I was reading the news today, I was full of bewilderment at the latest incident in Texas where 400 young girls were freed yesterday by police authorities out of a polygamists compound being operated by a religious sect known as the Fundamental Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Allegedly, the young girls were paired with old men in polygamous union, often by force and coercion or moral coercion, in accordance with the sect’s religious belief and practice.

It is of note that the above-mentioned sect is a breakaway cluster from the main Mormon religion formally known as the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, which had long ago negated on the practice of multiple marriages as a religious practice, where the U.S. Supreme Court had time and again decided against the practice of polygamy in America.

A landmark case on polygamy, one that is still being referred today as a leading case, is the 1879 U.S. Supreme Court decision entitled Reynolds v. United States where it was cited prominently how polygamy was (is) an “odious” conduct and ultimately contrary to “historic American values and culture”, even “from the beginning of time”, declaring farther how “marriage, while from its very nature a sacred obligation, is nevertheless, in most civilized nations, a civil contract, and usually regulated by law”

Yet, it is still an open secret in America, especially in locations within Utah and Arizona states, that polygamy have and are still being practiced and once in a while, such societal American phenomenon comes out in the open, like the Waco Incident of 1993 and now with this very recent detection of a polygamists compound in San Angelo, Texas.

Of immense interest now is the legal concept of freedom of religion, as to whether or not one’s belief and conviction allows one to practice his or her religion unabated and unhindered by any governmental restriction, as a matter of constitutional right?

Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion where the Bill of Rights, under Article III, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, states that:

“No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exervise and enjoyment of religious profession and whoship, without discrimniation or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be requires for the exercise of civil or political rights.”

While in America, the First Amendment similarly proclaims:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

In the end, “freedom of religion” in our territory and in America, where our jurisdiction had mostly structured the form and content of our laws, as well as government system from, remains one constitutional right that is held with enormous weight and sanctity, just like “freedom of expression” that the law and the judiciary often bestows attention to it, resolving questions involving such question of religion and practice in the most prolific manner and in often public spectacle, for the community to relish and appreciate. (Read this very interesting case on marriage and religion – Estrada vs. Escritor.)

Yet, the point of final determination as to the question of ‘freedom of religion’ remains in the one singular rule that proclaims unambiguously how the right to belief is not tantamount to the right to practice, where in the 1940 U.S. Supreme Court case Cantwell v. Connecticut (310 U.S. 296), applying the Belief-Conduct Distinction, it was deemed that:

“The Free Exercise Clause ‘’embraces two concepts—freedom to believe and freedom to act. The first is absolute, but in the nature of things, the second cannot be.’’ “

Similarly in our local jurisdiction, it is dogmatic that an individual has absolute freedom to believe in any form of religious belief, ‘he may even believe in the devil and worship Satan’, but once he or she puts this believe into action or outward conduct, then the State begins to interfere in the form of regulation and prohibition where in the present issue, as to whether or not freedom of religion allows one to establish highly anomalous and very scandalous polygamy compound such as the one in San Angelo, Texas where girls as young as 12 years old are compelled to enter marriages with much older men, and where there are persistent rumors of rape and physical harm.

Of course, American laws squirm at and reject polygamous union that despite that the leaders and members of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe in such, the law does not allow them and they have in fact violated pertinent laws, criminal laws for that matter, and their ‘freedom of religion’ would in no way come in towards their protection or the justification of their conduct.

The Saddest Scenes From China

It’s really the saddest sight on television every time the rescue operation in Sichuan, China is being shown on cable news. I would often turn my stare away from the scenes on the screen as children were being pulled from under the rubles that had resulted from the massive quake that had befallen the area a number of days ago.

It’s the most lamentable of all—- I thought the news shouldn’t be as visual as that, that there should be a limit somehow, for the senses could only witness a reasonable amount of grief.

After the tragedy in Myanmar, the earthquake in Sichuan Province is yet another enormous misfortune for Asia, as people in this region barely struggle past neverending food crisis and rising fuel prices. I just wished that we should have had done away with these recent catastrophes. But nature has it’s own willings that are beyond our grasps.

And I hope to the fullest that more and more survivors would be rescued from the rubles three days after, despite that as of now, the death toll is feared to have reach 50,000—- such unspeakable tragedy really.

A Man of History: Barack Obama

I’ve been too busy these days with classes opening very soon now and I’ve been serving our college in the enrolment processing.

But I was always deep into the news most of the time and wasn’t one to miss one eventful episode in American history and world history for that matter. Senator Barack Obama has finally garnered official nomination of the Democratic Party, after a very tedious and drawn-out race against early front-runner Senator Hillary Clinton.

It’s the closest primary race in decades and I have a feeling that it could be more memorable than the succeeding 2008 U.S. Presidential race that has just got started, whether or not Sen. Obama would win it against handsdown Republican candidate Senator John McCain.

The issue that is pressing now is whether Sen. Clinton would agree to become Sen. Obama’s running mate specially that the members of teh Democratic Party in America had become so divided that if the animosity amongst them would remain as heightened as it is right now, then their party should just forget about the White House come November.

By the way, there’s this Senator Obama picture that I had downloaded some months ago and had wanted to use it in one of my earlier postings but hadn’t been able for some reason. But now I am reminded about it and would definitely use it now. This picture shows Senator Obama and his wife, along with their daughter, standing before a crowd, waving and smiling so widely. I just thought then how perfect the picture could be if Sen. Obama would be the one to win the democratic primary as the joyous aura in that picture evokes great feeling of celebration and gloriousness, like it’s one moment in American history that should be captured and be told and retold for years and decades to come, like the hill scene in Iwojima or the Philadelphia declaration of independence.

That joyous moment could now be more glorious as Senator Barck Obama becomes the first African-American to become a presidential nominee, just about fifty years after the African-Americans have gained and were allowed civil rights in America. Truly historic and glorious.

Pyongyang’s Right Decision

June 26, 2008 should be marked as a historic date for world peace and North Korea’s move to destroy the cooling tower of it’s main nuclear reactor in Yongbon should be truly momentous and eventful and the world should have a good cause for celebration, a very good one in fact.

It should be remembered that just about a couple of years ago, North Korea had exhibited enormous malice by testing a massive underground nuclear explosion, parading to the world how capable it is in igniting widespread nuclear strike. North Korea’s penchant to sow fear among it’s nearest neighbor was so rampant and notorious in the past years, its act of rocketing devious Tae Po Dong intercontinental missiles over Japan and towards the Pacific every now and then was simply atrocious and malevolent.

But now, North Korea has suddenly made a 360 degree turnaround by declaring so patently its intention to absolutely abandon it’s nuclear ambition on Thursday. Immediately after that, U.S. President George W. Bush had ordered the taking out of North Korea from the list of “rogue” states and allowed the instantaneous withdrawal of economic and trade sanctions against it. All’s well that ends well. And it sounds so much like a good fairytale ending—- and I don’t mind this at all. Every development in favor of world peace and against nuclear proliferation is most welcome of all.

Troubles in Georgia

The present conflict in Eastern Europe—-between Georgia and one of it’s provinces, South Ossetia—-does remind me of a song which of course many of you would immediately be familiar with as that classic Ray Charles song, “Georgia On My Mind”.

At this juncture, one might asked the question as to whether or not the song “Georgia on My Mind” was written with the former USSR territory Georgia in mind or the U.S. state of Georgia instead. The answer should undoubtedly be Georgia, USA and in fact, it is now the official song of the state, as declared in 1979. Despite of that, “Georgia on My Mind” was originally made by its composer in honor of a sister named Georgia. It so happened that the lyrics of the 1960’s song are broad and general enough that it could now refer also to a state, as in to the state of Georgia, USA.

But there’s another Georgia that needs another song, one that could pacify and calm the rising troubles there. What started as merely erratic clashes between Georgian soldiers and separatists South Ossetians has now become a full-blown war and the European Union is so up on its feet in order to thwart any further escalation of conflicts there. EU does not need another Kosovo situation in its midst.

And what’s more alarming in the increasing conflicts is that it is now slowly becoming another proxy war between America and Russia where America is explicitly supporting Georgia, now being headed by its American-educated president Mikheil Saakashvili while Russia had become an ally of South Ossetia and had been shelling and bombarding Georgian positions in order to protect South Ossetia.

We had Vietnam and Afghanistan before, and now South Ossetia is becoming another dangerous proxy war between two military powers. This kind of conflict is always a grave concern for global peace most especially as the risk of widespread escalation is always a patent probability. Vietnam before could have spurred a world war in a time of nuclear arm proliferation in the 1960’s, towards the 1970’s, as USSR and America were trying to put up one against another over there, for pride and glory. One could say that it was a relief that conflict escalation had not occurred during the Vietnam War when we all know now, that it could have had happened for several causes or reasons, like the fear of the Communist Domino Effect in Southeast Asia.

Similarly, it was a relief that Afghanistan, where Russian and US forces have actively participated in, had not similarly led to a full blown war, like in a global scale.

But just about the time that we thought that proxy wars among and between superpowers have become a thing of the past, that global politics have grown over it and above it with the dissolution of the USSR and the capitalism in China, South Ossetia becomes now another specter of Cold War conflicts and era of proxy wars, like a specter that has come now back and refuses to disappear.

Would The GOP's Palin Gamble Still Hold?

Primarily, Senator John McCain’s and that of the GOP’s bid to retain the US presidency is in great jeopardy at this moment. The main question arising now is whether or not Alaska governor Sarah Palin could weather the media storm that had befell the Republican Party side ever since she announced her 17 year old daughter’s pregnancy to the public. It’s a case for Murphy—-just when they would have thought that nothing could go wrong, something did.

Imagine that Palin is from Alaska and we all know that Alaska does not really get anybody’s attention and interest except for polar bears and melting ice caps. That was the main gamble, Palin being a complete nobody.

But she’s personable enough to withstand that anonymity, as Sen. McCain would hope and I think that’s a fair chance. But despite of this apprehension, the pregnancy issue comes forth. I could almost feel the headache on every Republican Party strategist.

So there’s hope. That’s what is important now. Let us say that ‘nobody’s perfect’ and that this is a ‘brave new world’ where acceptability of norms and mores just got widened and besides, America ought to be the broadest-minded nation in the whole world.

Yet in politics, every candidate should be ‘perfect’. That should be a cardinal rule; to be perfect even if they have to lie or become hypocritical. It’s a jungle ought there.

Now I am reminded by Joe Kelin’s “Primary Colors”. Just when I thought that that the political election book was such a clever and very dramatic work, it pales in comparison to the drama and twists of this year’s US elections.