cce blog

damn salon

i read the news, write a blog entry about it, and then i go and see that Salon has already published a much better article that says the same thing as mine. argh.

the plundering has begun

When time comes for Iraq to rebuild, they'll need food, water, shelter, and ... American cell phone technology, of course! This last Wednesday Congressman Darrell Issa (R.-Calif) introduced a bill requiring that the US Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense use American CDMA technology instead of the more widely-used GSM wireless standard in "any such contract for the provision of commercial mobile wireless communication service."

CDMA is a technology patented by QUALCOMM, Inc. that is used in the US mobile phone network. GSM is a similar technology used in Europe and almost every other mobile phone network in the world. A GSM phone can be taken from London to Hong Kong to Cambodia to Qatar and still work, whereas an American phone needs to be "multi-band," i.e. built to support both CDMA and GSM. All the other Middle Eastern mobile phone networks are GSM. So what's the difference? Simple: QUALCOMM gets royalties for CDMA, whereas European competitors Nokia and Ericsson prefer GSM.

It is commendable that Representative Issa cares so much about the Iraqi people that he is involving himself (and Congress) in even the smallest details of the reconstruction plans. Obviously these kinds of questions must be answered: metric or imperial? Windows or Macintosh? Skim or regular milk? Diesel or unleaded? CDMA or GSM? But "in wartime," is it really a pressing legislative issue to require Iraqis to use American patented technology in their cell phones?

Halliburton has already arrived in Iraq: I've seen them on TV, in their orange jumpsuits, talking on BBC about how much capacity they'll be able to pump (for the benefit of the Iraqi people, of course) in a few months. The press calls them "civilian firefighters," and they've been outsourced to put out the Iraqi oil fires.

Perhaps in response to public suspicion about links between the firefighting contract and Cheney's status as former CEO of Halliburton, USAID confirmed yesterday that Halliburton is now out of the running for bids on lucrative construction contracts for highways, bridges, airports, and buildings in postwar Iraq [Newsweek, Washington Post]. The profits from these contracts will be given to other American companies instead. The highways and bridges will be provided free of charge to a grateful Iraqi people, of course -- or maybe USAID will decide to dock the construction costs from Iraq's oil profits.

Of course, once the Iraqis have all these spiffy new highways and bridges to drive on, they're going to need Fords and Chryslers and SUVs to drive around their new, liberated country. I'm sure it's every Iraqi's dream: cruising down the new American-made highway, getting stuck in traffic at the new American-made bridge, and using the new American cell phone to let the family know that you'll be running a bit late.

class cancelled

as i mentioned, public schools have been cancelled in Hong Kong due to SARS, and i just received this email a few minutes ago. looks like i'll finally have more free time like i wanted.

Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 12:28:05 +0800
Subject: Suspension of Teaching & Academic Activities

March 29, 2003

Dear teachers and students:

     To prevent the spread of SARS among students and staff, The Chinese University of Hong Kong has, after careful consideration and deliberations, decided that teaching on the Shatin Campus be suspended from Saturday, 29 March until Sunday, 6 April.
     All the classes held in CLC and on CUHK campus will also be suspended from Monday, 31 March. Classes will be resumed on the following Monday, 7 April. Despite the suspension of classroom teaching, the General Office of CLC will remain open and maintain normal operation. If you have any enquiry, please contact us by phone at 26096727 during office hours, or by email clc@cuhk.edu.hk. Please view our web site at www.cuhk.edu.hk/clc for the latest update.

The final oral examination will be re-scheduled from April 16, 17 to April 25 and 26.

Sincerely
CLC

*Office hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 12:30 pm, 1:30pm to 5 pm; Saturday 9 am to 12:30 pm.

　　新雅中國語文研習所停課通知

各位老師，各位同學：

　　為避免SARS在校園內擴散，香港中文大學經慎重考慮和評估後，於昨天（三月
二十八日）決定自三月二十九日星期六開始暫停在沙田校園的教學活動，至四月六日
（星期日）止。
　　新雅中國語文研習所將跟隨大學，由三月三十一日（星期一）起開始停課，
四月七日（星期一）復課。停課期間，辦公室會繼續工作，同學有任何查詢
可以於辦公室時間星期一至星期五上午9點至12點30分，下午1點半至5點，星期六
上午9點至12點30分，致電26096727，或電郵至clc@cuhk.edu.hk。
欲知最新消息請上網至本所網頁www.cuhk.edu.hk/clc查看。

　　本學期原定口試時間將由4月16日和17日延至4月25日和26日。
　　
　　　　　　　　　　　　新雅中國語文研習所謹啟
　　2003年3月29日

SARS warning from the consulate

Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 20:49:12 -0500
From: AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL HONG KONG
    <R-5-792271-10113304-2-7575-HK1-5594C763@xmr3.com>
To: chris@erway.org
Subject: Department of State SARS Fact Sheet 28MAR2003

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs

FACT SHEET: 
SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (SARS)
March 28, 2003

The U.S. Department of State encourages American citizens traveling or residing 
abroad to familiarize themselves with the information available from the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) 
about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). This Fact Sheet updates the 
March 21, 2003, version and reflects changes in the geographic spread of SARS 
cases and includes additional information. In light of the evolving nature of 
the SARS situation, American citizens should regularly consult the CDC website 
http://www.cdc.gov/ and the WHO website http://www.who.int/ for updates.
In Hanoi, Vietnam and Hong Kong, the appearance of SARS has had an impact on 
medical facilities, due to the closing and/or quarantine of hospitals and the 
spread of the disease to health care workers. Medical evacuation of SARS 
patients currently is not available by commercial carrier; additionally, the 
number of countries willing to accept SARS patients is very limited. 
Prospective parents of adoptees from mainland China and Vietnam should consult 
the appropriate link on adoptions at the CDC website, 
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/adoption.htm.
In addition to Vietnam, Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore, the CDC has 
received reports of outbreaks of SARS elsewhere in Asia and in Europe and North 
America, including Canada, the United States, Thailand, Germany, and 
Switzerland. Most cases appear to involve health-care workers caring for SARS 
patients and close family contacts. CDC is working closely with WHO and country 
partners to define the origin of this infection, to track patterns of its 
transmission, and to determine effective strategies for its control and 
prevention. Local health authorities should be notified of all suspected cases 
of SARS.
The CDC has identified the following three criteria, which must ALL be present, 
by which a potential SARS case may be identified, for those with the onset of 
illness after February 1, 2003: 
--Fever greater than 38° C (100.4°F), AND 
--One or more signs or symptoms of respiratory illness including cough, 
shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood), 
x-ray findings of pneumonia, or respiratory distress, AND
-- One or more of the following within 2-7 days of the onset of symptoms: Travel 
to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Vietnam; and/or close contact*, with 
a person who has been infected with SARS (*close contact means having cared for, 
lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions (such as 
coughs and sneezes) and body fluids of a person with SARS). 
The incubation period between exposure to infection and the development of 
symptoms appears to range from 2-7 days. For more specific information regarding 
case definition updates and empiric treatment clinicians should consult and 
monitor the CDC’s and WHO’s web sites. 
Currently, prevention of new cases is based on individuals avoiding close 
contact with SARS-infected persons, as described above. Persons matching the 
case description for SARS should be promptly evaluated by medical personnel and, 
if indicated, admitted to a hospital. Persons suspected of having SARS should 
limit their interactions outside hospital settings. 
Contact Information for the CDC:
Public Inquiries:
English (888) 246-2675
Spanish (888) 246-2857
TTY (866) 874-2646
Mon-Fri 8am-11pm EST
Sat-Sun 10am-8pm EST
Address: 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
1600 Clifton Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30333
USA(404) 639-3311 

AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL HONG KONG
26 GARDEN ROAD, CENTRAL, HONG KONG

coalition of the willing

some funny articles today: america's friends among the pacific islands are a little pissed off about being made fun of for joining the "Coalition of the Willing." the message: coconut jokes aren't funny.

not only that, but we mixed up Slovenia and Slovakia in the coalition list, and the republicans even drafted legislation for $4.5 million in aid to Slovenia, even though Slovakia is the actual supporter.

the Marshall Islands also say they're not a member, even though they're listed on the White House coalition list.

In Hong Kong, US warships have been denied docking priveleges here by Beijing.

more on SARS

Atypical pneumonia-related tidbits:

• Did you hear the one about the piano teacher whose students wore their masks while sitting at the piano because their parents wouldn't let them take it off?
  
• There are these special hazardous waste bins in the train stations and at school that are for throwing out used masks. They have scary biohazard symbols on them.
  
• 3M's are the best masks (and hard to find now). They're just called "3M's" now, everyone knows what you're talking about, in English or Cantonese.
  
• Have you ever watched a businessman try to hold a tiny mobile phone up to his face while keeping his mask on? You have to slip the phone between the mask and your mouth with the other hand. It's funny.
  
• I saw my first "fashion accessory" masks today -- a happy 30something couple in identical Burberry jackets and cute cartoon dogs and pigs on their masks.
  

News from this morning's SCMP (mainly for my worried family):

• 1,000 people placed under quarantine.
  
• All schools shut down until April 6.
  
• Beijing authorities say only 8 cases reported there, rumours and other estimates put it at 100. Rumours of an outbreak in Shanghai denied so far.
  
• Bug identified as coronavirus family, can be transmitted by coughing, sneezing, or touching contaminated objects and then rubbing one's eyes, mouth.
• Treatment has been 80% effective since first cases, doctors say success rate for early detection is 90%.
  
• I washed my hands when I got home from the train today, Mom...
  

So, that's it. I'm a bit more worried than before, but it's not too infectious, I should be fine, and check this FAQ from CNN for more info. OK!

richard perle and the AEI scare me

Does anyone know who Richard Perle is? He scares the pants off of me. I keep hearing his name mentioned as the "mysterious Svengali behind Bush's Iraq policy" but I really don't know anything about him. He's not in the government, but he just advises the administration on defense issues ... he's a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute ... he really wanted to go to war with Iraq (interview) ... yeah.

So I read this Guardian article and this NYTimes Dowd column. They're both very biased (especially the Dowd column, which calls him the "Prince of Darkness"), so I went to the AEI website and read a few articles for myself, and ... they're crazy! They dream of schemes to create "An enduring 'Pax Americana'" and run the world! And publish crazy partisan rants by that David Frum guy from the National Review (who believes that "there has never been a president who worked harder" than Bush "to conciliate and befriend the opposition").

They have these things at the AEI called Black Coffee Briefings on the War in Iraq where experts come up and talk about different war and post-war scenarios. Luckily, one of the experts they've had to come and give a presentation was none other than the President himself! Watch/listen to his speech online and see him really kiss some AEI ass in his intro. Then watch the rest of the speech and how he awkwardly pauses all the time, expecting applause to break out after each sentence fragment (even the audience of supporters can't keep this up). Argh, he's addressing a think-tank of "scholars," talking about what are supposed to be his well-thought-out beliefs on foreign policy, and he awkwardly trips through just a couple pages of these thoughts, dragging it out for half an hour.

But the scariest part for me came during his introduction, when Bush made it clear that the AEI's agenda of everlasting American hegemony was also his:

At the American Enterprise Institute, some of the finest minds in our nation are at work on some of the greatest challenges to our nation. You do such good work that my administration has borrowed 20 such minds. I want to thank them for their service, but I also want to remind people that for 60 years, AEI scholars have made vital contributions to our country and to our government, and we are grateful for those contributions.

We meet here during a crucial period in the history of our nation, and of the civilized world. Part of that history was written by others; the rest will be written by us. (Applause.)

aaack! It would be one thing if they were just another crazy right-wing think-tank, but they're not -- they're the President's favorite thinkers now! Get to know them better.

SARS in class

yesterday at CUHK CLC they handed out free protective masks to all the students. the kids staying in the dorms had already received them. i got one during lunchtime and wore it throughout my afternoon class. so did several of my classmates.

on the train heading back home, there was a sign in every station advising passengers who exhibit any flu-like symptoms to request a free mask from the ticket booth. about half of my train car was wearing masks. our teacher told us that she sneezed on her train to work and some guy ran away from her.

the conversation in class today covered: what the best brand of mask is (3M, apparently, though one especially good model has sold out), where the latest cases have been reported, how you can catch SARS (through 口水, saliva) and why riding the train is so scary. it was kind of ridiculous to try to answer questions in chinese while muffled behind a mask. i blew my nose a couple times in the afternoon (allergies) and the student next to me asked me if i was okay, with a serious tone in her voice.

sophie counted 48 masks (and 3 mormons) on her way to work yesterday, and 151 masks this morning. we also downloaded and watched the movie "outbreak" last night, and, no, it's nothing like that here, so don't worry. (plus, did you know kevin spacey has a small supporting role in "outbreak"? i plumb forgot.) just as long as i don't let any sick-looking people sneeze on me, and i wear my mask on the train, i'll be fine. ok!

SAR syndrome

SARS is still spreading through hong kong, though the specific bug has been identified and there's a treatment for it now. a school reported an outbreak and other new cases have been in the news lately. i keep seeing more and more people wearing those surgical masks -- it used to be for the traffic pollution around some of the busier areas, but now people are wearing them indoors, on the trains and in other public places.

today my teacher wore a mask throughout the entire class. she said it was for our protection, in case she's got the bug (the university's medical school has a few cases among the faculty). her voice was kind of muffled and it looked insane at first, but we got used to it. crazy.

Scalia and rights

The Atlantic Monthly has a good column on the treatment and rights of enemy combatants, and the recent Supreme Court decisions on this. Check it out.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, I wrote another article for Kuro5hin (a news-and-discussion site). Here it is:

Justice Scalia says rights excessive, can be scaled down in wartime

While giving a lecture titled "Catholicism and Justice" at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was asked whether he thought constitutional rights were being violated in America's new campaign on terrorism.

Justice Scalia responded that the the government would be justified in scaling down rights. "The Constitution just sets minimums," he said. "Most of the rights that you enjoy go way beyond what the Constitution requires."

According to Scalia, during wartime one could expect "the protections will be ratcheted right down to the constitutional minimum." Don't let this worry you, however -- Scalia assures us he "won't let it go beyond the constitutional minimum."

The next day Justice Scalia received a "Citadel of Free Speech" award from the Cleveland City Club. The camera-shy justice banned broadcast media from recording his remarks at the award ceremony, leading a C-SPAN vice president to write the City Club, commenting that the ban "begs disbelief and seems to be in conflict with the award itself. ... How free is speech if there are limits to its distribution?"

Scalia was given the award in recognition of his rulings in defense of the First Amendment, most notably in striking down a Texas flag-burning law. In 1989, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of flag-burner Gregory Lee Johnson in a 5-4 vote. Mr. Johnson was convicted of burning an American flag while protesting outside the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas.

In a joke-filled speech, Scalia said that though he felt bound to do it, he did not enjoy setting Mr. Johnson free:

"Trust me, I did not like to not put Mr. Johnson in jail - bearded, scruffy, sandal-wearing . . . " - the crowd's laughter cut Scalia off.

"But I was handcuffed. I couldn't help it. That's my understanding of the First Amendment. I can't do the nasty things I'd like to do," Scalia said, partly in jest, alluding to law-school professors and Supreme Court critics who say Scalia's devotion to "originalism" legally chains him.

More insight on Scalia, his views on religion, the death penalty, and other nasty things he'd like to do can be found in this NYTimes guest editorial.

So, the question: are our rights excessive? And should they be "ratcheted down" in this time of war? What kind of "constitutional minimum" do you think he and other justices would accept?

[Note: someone on the K5 discussion page for this article ventured this photo showing Mr. Johnson was not, in fact, bearded.]

morcheeba in the mainland!

so last night i went to see morcheeba! it was rockin', but the scariest part was going to the big DA LU (mainland). the mainland has always been looming above me here in hong kong (see map), and the train i take to school always continues on to the mainland after it drops me off at CUHK. but i never worked up the nerve to actually go until we heard morcheeba would be playing.

so, it was cool. we left last night and due to a few planning errors got mixed up in meeting some of our fellow concert-goers, setting us back an hour. we took the KCR up to Lo Wu and then walked through the big HK customs building. i got my passport stamped, then we were all herded onto a walkway/bridge that connected the HK customs building to the mainland customs building. yeah, everyone says Hong Kong is "part of China" now, but the border is still very tightly controlled and they're still effectively two different countries.

once on the communist side i waited in line with a bunch of arab and african dudes in the "foreigner" line while they all made jokes in arabic or something. then the passport-checking guy mumbled at me in mandarin and stamped my visa again. i was finally in the mainland.

the funny thing about shenzhen: even though it borders hong kong and is in guangdong ("canton"), it's not a cantonese-speaking area, really. shenzhen is an entirely new city, having sprouted up in the last 10 years since the "shenzhen special economic zone" bordering hong kong was created. thus, since most of the people in shenzhen came from all over china to start businesses or what have you, mandarin is actually more prevalent here. so the cab drivers, shop owners, etc, they all use mandarin!

the club was very modern, surprisingly -- shenzhen is a cheaper night out than hong kong, which attracts some of the HK clubbing people looking for a bargain. morcheeba was great; i hadn't realized that they were a real band from hearing their record -- i'd always thought it was just one woman's voice and a bunch of computers. but they were a full band, with a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboard player, and a turntablist, and they created the trip-hop morcheeba sound i expected without any fancy computers. which was nice.

the border closes at midnight, so as soon as they finished, we were in a taxi heading back to the station. another hasty border crossing, this time with a lot of running, and we were safely on one of the last KCR trains coming back to hong kong at 11:50pm or so. by 1am we were home again and watching "A-day" begin on CNN.

about to go to shenzhen

i'm sitting in an internet cafe about to meet with sophie after she finishes work and head off to shenzhen to see morcheeba who are in china thanks to the british council arts exchange program. i'm a little scared, though, because shenzhen is where that SARS crazy pneumonia thing started, and i don't want to catch it on the train. i'm sure i'll be okay. plus they identified the bug and a treatment for it already, but still ... wish me luck!@

birds of baghdad

BBC News has set up a live video feed directly from "the streets of Baghdad." I'm watching it now and its still early morning there, so not much is going on. I can hear a faint conversation (between camera crewmen?) in the background, the occasional car goes by, and birds are chirping. I was struck by this: that even in Iraq, Most Evil Nation in the World, birds chirp in the early morning too.

I found a blog from Baghdad. It's pretty interesting, and I'm reasonably convinced that the guy is actually in Baghdad. The guy has all his pictures of Baghdad stored here -- and it's interesting to see just to see what it looks like in there. It's a real city with buildings and everything.

two bits

The President is as relaxed as he's ever been, cracking jokes and watching ESPN while we go to war, according to this (admittedly biased) short video piece from BBC, and article from same reporter. The video report compares W. to his father, Bush Sr., who became so stressed when ordering military intervention in Panama that he "couldn't move his arms." (Psychosomatic paralysis? I'd never heard about this, and can't find anything to confirm it online.)

And you've no doubt heard of American Psy-Ops and the leaflets we're air-dropping into Iraq. You can actually look at them online thanks to the American CENTCOM website. This one above carries the message: "If you shoot at us, then we will shoot at you. You decide." Pretty direct.

public announcement

Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 23:02:25 -0500
From: AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL HONG KONG
    <R-6-792271-9844027-2-7577-HK1-966D2C37@xmr3.com>
To: chris@erway.org
Subject: U.S. Public Announcement - Worldwide Caution

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT - WORLDWIDE CAUTION

This Public Announcement is being updated to alert
Americans to an increased potential for anti-American
violence, including terrorist actions against U.S.
citizens, as a result of the military action in Iraq.  The
U.S. Government remains deeply concerned about the security
of Americans overseas.  American citizens are reminded that
it is more important than ever to maintain a high level of
vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their
security awareness.  This Worldwide Caution supersedes that
issued on February 6, 2003 and expires on July 20, 2003.

As a result of military action in Iraq, there is a
potential for retaliatory actions to be taken against U.S.
citizens and interests throughout the world.  Public
demonstrations carry the potential for precipitating
violence directed at American citizens, symbols associated
with the United States or other U.S. and western interests.

The threat to U.S. citizens includes the risk of attacks by
terrorist groups.  Terrorist actions may include, but are
not limited to, suicide operations, bombings or
kidnappings.  Possible threats include conventional weapons
such as explosive devices or non-conventional weapons,
including chemical or biological agents.  Terrorists do not
distinguish between official and civilian targets.  These
may include facilities where Americans and other foreigners
congregate or visit, such as residential areas, clubs,
restaurants, places of worship, schools, hotels, outdoor
recreation events or resorts and beaches.  U.S. citizens
should increase their security awareness at such locations,
avoid them, or switch to other locations where Americans in
large numbers generally do not congregate.

U.S. Government facilities worldwide remain at a heightened
state of alert and some have drawn down their dependents
and/or personnel.  These facilities may temporarily close
or suspend public services from time to time for security
reasons.  In those instances, U.S. embassies and consulates
will make every effort to provide emergency services to
American citizens.  Monitor the local news and maintain
contact with the nearest American embassy or consulate.

As the Department continues to develop information on any
potential security threats to Americans overseas, it shares
credible threat information through its Consular
Information Program documents, available on the Internet at
http://travel.state.gov.  In addition to information on the
Internet, U.S. travelers can get up-to-date information on
security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 in the U.S.
and outside the U.S. and Canada on a regular toll line at l
317-472-2328.

AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL HONG KONG
26 GARDEN ROAD, CENTRAL, HONG KONG

the war from here

Only a few stations have switched to live coverage of the war: Hong Kong Cable News 2, which, impressively, has its own Cantonese reporters in 多哈 (Doha, Qatar) 科威特城 (Kuwait City), and 安卡拉 (Ankara) but none in 巴格達 (Baghdad) -- they're running the Reuters/BBC video feed.

China's state-run CCTV is just translating what it sees on the BBC and others -- but with someone from the People's Liberation Army (in full uniform) offering commentary in the studio. Right now I'm watching a Red Army general wave a pointer at a big tactical map of Iraq, trying to explain military strategy. It's rather surreal.

Phoenix TV, a private mainland news channel is in stark contrast, with a very modern studio (glass tables, newsroom of people running around) reporting the latest but without many correspondents abroad.

On CNN International (which, unlike its American parent, is based in London and usually features British accents, surprisingly) they've switched to coverage direct from CNN US. I'd forgotton how annoying Aaron Brown is: from his nasal whine to the shallow, simplistic way he sums things up to the stupid questions he asks reporters in the field. They do have reporters in Iraq though.

The BBC has a crew staying in Baghdad, admirably, and it's been okay. I'm watching it now.

From this guy's blog:

Still in Baghdad (as reported) CNN: Nic Robertson & Rym Brahimi - total of 4 people, NPR: Anne Garrels - Plans to stay throughout, Peter Arnett - freelance for MSNBC and National Geographic. - Plans to stay throughout , ITN, BBC: Total of 7 including 3 reporters - Rageh Omar -Plans to stay throughout, Washington Post -Anthony Shadid, AP - Hamza Hendawi, Reuters - 19 Staff, Sky News, Independent - Robert Fisk (what an ass), Christian Science Monitor -Scott Peterson, ZDF (Germany), Al Jazeera, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age - Paul McGeough, San Franscisco Chronical - Robert Collier, Los Angeles Times - John Daniszewski, Irish Times - Lara Marlowe

Not in Baghdad are CBS, NBC, ABC, CBC Radio, FOX News (kicked out), China's official Xinhua news agency, New York Times, Boston Globe (kicked out), USA Today, Daily Telegraph, London Times, Newsweek, US News & World Report, Time, Wall Street Journal.

a message from the warden

Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 22:36:57 -0500
From: AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL HONG KONG
    <R-0-792271-9843626-2-7577-HK1-975F042C@xmr3.com>
To: chris@erway.org
Subject: U.S. Consulate Wardens Message

Wardens Message from the U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong

March 20, 2003

Armed conflict with Iraq began on March 20, 2003.

The Department of State advises American citizens to take prudent steps to
ensure their personal safety in the coming days.  Remain vigilantly aware of
surroundings, avoid crowds and demonstrations, keep a low profile, vary times
and routes for all travel, and ensure travel documents are current.  Listen to
news reports and check the U.S. Consulate General website,
www.hongkong.usconsulate.gov, for updated information.

U.S. citizens and interests worldwide are at risk of terrorist attacks,
including by groups with links to Al-Qaida.  U.S. Government facilities are on
a heightened state of alert.  The Consulate General in Hong Kong may
temporarily close or suspend public services from time to time for security
reasons.  In that event, we will make every effort to continue to provide
emergency services to American citizens and will provide contact information by
a warden message and on our website.  Monitor the local news as well as the
Department of State website, http://travel.state.gov, for information
concerning safety and security of American citizens overseas.  The Department
of Homeland Security websites, www.dhs.gov and www.ready.gov, may also provide
useful information.

American citizens with questions or concerns may telephone the Consulate
General at (852) 2523-9011.  In case of an emergency outside business hours or
during any suspension of public services, American citizens may reach the
Consulate General duty officer by calling (852) 2523-9011.  American citizens
may also contact the Department of State, if calling from outside the United
States at 317-472-2328, or, from within the U.S., toll free at 1-888-407-4747.

American citizens in Hong Kong and Macau who have not yet registered with the
Consulate General are urged to do so as soon as possible.  You may register in
person by coming to the American Citizen Services Unit, Consular Section, at
the Consulate General, 26 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong, during the
Consulate's regular work hours or register on-line through the Consulate
General website at www.hongkong.usconsulate.gov.  American citizens already
registered with the Consulate General are urged to update their registration
information.

U.S. citizens should consult the Department of State's consular information
documents, including the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement located on the
Department's Internet website at http://travel.state.gov.

AMERICAN CONSULATE GENERAL HONG KONG
26 GARDEN ROAD, CENTRAL, HONG KONG

cook's speech

Wow. Well, we're going to war, it seems. I won't say much about that, but I will say that I just watched former foreign secretary and leader of the House Robin Cook's speech to the House of Commons and ... well, I've never heard a resignation speech, so I didn't know what to expect. So eloquent, and sad, a man resigning over principle, after years of service, and still complimenting Blair and Straw for their efforts. Not your typical abraisive anti-war stuff, either -- very polite and "with a heavy heart." It's definitely worth a watch.

Watch it here or read the full text here.

... of course, it could just be a political ploy, in which case it's not sad, but still well-put. He sounds pretty genuine in this interview but who knows.

hiking in ma on shan

so yesterday it was one of the nicest sunny weekends we've had this year, so to celebrate sophie and i decided to go hiking out in the new terroritories. for those of you who don't know where we live, here's a map:

Map of HK, school and home marked

we read about the MacLehose Trail in our lonely planet book and not knowing much about the New Terrorities, arbitrarily picked Sai Kung to go catch the trail somewhere. when we got there, we found our leg of the trail was marked "very strenuous," but figured that HK people are generally wimps, so it wouldn't be too hard ...

MacLehose Trail Stage 4 Map

but, uhm, instead, we climbed most of the way up one of the highest peaks in hong kong, Ma On Shan. it was a lot of stairs for about an hour, and then we came down a bit, and then went back up again to pyramid hill and collapsed for a bit. the views were beautiful -- it was a great escape from the city, like walking around with the von trapps in "the Sound of Music" except with jungles and bamboo forests. i hadn't realized that HK had actually preserved some nature to walk around in, and it was great.

but as we climbed higher and higher, a thin fog starting creeping in, getting thicker and thicker and collecting as little droplets in our hair. when we finally reached the top of pyramid hill we had about five minutes to enjoy the view before it came in so thick that we could only see about 20 feet in front of us. it was eerie, uhm, just like scooby-doo.

by then we'd been hiking for about three hours and kept imaging that we were nearing the end of stage 4. we didn't bring any food and it was starting to get dark, so we walked through the really thick fog for about an hour before realizing that we had only actually walked half of the trail -- i guess we stopped too much to rest. plus, by then we couldn't see any of the views, and the trail signs started to get confusing and point towards exotic new destinations that weren't find in our slim tour book.

so we turned off the main trail and headed on a little one back to sai kung for a seafood dinner instead, coming straight down the hill for 45 minutes of steps and jagged rocks. my legs turned to mush, and at the bottom we found ourselves surrounded by posh villas that expats use on the weekends, with Benzes and Beemers parked everywhere. we hailed the next cab and gorged ourselves at the seafood restaurants on the waterfront -- huge tanks of seafood swimming around that you pick from and they bring to your table all cooked.

so our hiking experience taught me a few things: a] next time bring a map; b] i could use some more exercise; c] trail mix is a good idea; d] the bamboo forests from "crouching tiger" are real!

halliburton

arrrgh! all sorts of right- and left- wing conspiracy arguments aside, i understand that military contractors like halliburton do lots of business with the government, sure. but since halliburton was solicited to rebuild iraq, and is one of five companies on a shortlist of favored contractors, doesn't it look like a massive conflict of interest that cheney is still receiving $1 million a year from halliburton? even if cheney is doing NOTHING wrong, it still looks bad and weakens confidence in his intentions, wouldn't you think? i thought civil servants were supposed to divest and give up their past ties to private-sector affairs. grrr.

scary superflu outside!

crap, first there was that bird flu in guangdong and now there's a new crazy scary airborne super-flu in hong kong. some american came here from hanoi, got mad sick, and infected everyone at the hospital. the WHO is in hong kong investigating and it's in all the papers. i already received my "Warden message" in an email from the US Consulate. okay, i'm not going outside anymore, or i'll end up lookin' dead like i did when i had dengue.

try this if you're british

say this sentence out loud:

i'm going to the store because we haven't got bugger-all.

now say this sentence out loud:

i'm going to the store because we haven't got bog roll.

are the two sentences indistinguishable? then you might be british! now try saying it to an unsuspecting person and see whether they thought you said "bog roll" (toilet paper) or "bugger-all" (nothing).

another british sound-alike pair is "car stories" and "castaways" (admittedly, a situation where the context would lead you to get confused between these two is rare, but it HAPPENED TO ME!). also try saying "fillet" and "buffet" out loud to see if they rhyme. thank god i have my british-american dictionary.

two things from class

our text for conversation class today was about marriage and family, beginning by mentioning chinese scholar 錢鐘書's analogy for marriage (圍城). i have to remember to read that guy in translation sometime.

anyhow, so the text was talking about different kinds of couples, and then uses the term 丁克族 and i have no idea what they're talking about. what does ding ke mean? "oh, it's a borrowed term from english," my teacher explains, "it means a couple who makes a lot of money but doesn't have any kids." i still don't understand. another english-speaking classmate of mine suddenly gets it. "oh, you mean DINKies!"

perhaps i was too young and missed out on this acronym, but i'd heard of yuppies, yummies, tweenies, and even chuppies (chinese yuppies, an HK term), but i didn't know what a dinkie was. but i wasn't really upset that i hadn't heard of the term as much as i was surprised that it had even been translated into CHINESE before i'd heard of it. oy.

okay, here's the second thing. so there are several married women in my class. most of them (and i don't want to generalize, but ...) are japanese and korean housewives whose husbands work in hong kong, and to pass the time they take mandarin classes. this makes for an interesting classroom dynamic -- i recently listened to one japanese housewife give a long presentation on her favorite hobby, flower arranging: all about the master teacher she receives instruction from, her old teacher in japan, all the different kinds of flowers you can use, which are her favorites, which are best for what seasons, etc.

so anyhow we're talking about marriage, and someone says that "communication is the most important thing" and our teacher agrees, and they talk a bit. then the japanese housewife speaks up, and says that communication may be important, but in japan they have something called 默契 (moqi). my dictionary said it was a "tacit understanding" or "unspoken agreement" or something. she went on, saying that the typical japanese wife is expected to "just know" what her husband wants without him telling her -- specifically, she said "for example, what he wants for dinner, you just know without talking about it."

"how do you know?" i asked. "you just know, from knowing his customs, and his character, and ..." she went on, and as far as i could tell, it doesn't seem like the husband has to talk much at all; the wife silently takes care of everything for him without fuss. one of the younger college-age japanese students didn't know what "moqi" was, but then the housewife said it in japanese and she instantly recognized it, nodding. aaack!! crazy!!

hk pics

sophie got some photos developed so i stuck a few of them on my photos page. it's one of those crappy disposable cameras, though, so the quality ain't that great. we should really get a digital camera, but seeing as i'm poor, that won't happen anytime soon ... so this is it for right now!

intervention and sovereignty

I recently listened to a This American Life episode featuring interviews with Iraqi exiles and the stories of torture and persecution under Saddam's regime were pretty gruesome. So recently I've found myself thinking a lot about the role of the West in preserving human rights and "liberating" oppressed people. I mean, there is a humanitarian case that can be argued for invading Iraq, pointing out that Saddam's is a repressive totalitarian regime that should be deposed anyway. Just as the West stepped in and intervened in East Timor and Bosnia, and didn't intervene in, say, Cambodia under Pol Pot, many pro-war types argue that Iraq should be next. But when is it right to intervene, and when is it better (or safer) to let alone? This article in the Guardian has the best analysis I've read on this issue. Check it out.

leaders of the earth, unite!

here's a really interesting email from a woman who attended the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Makes for really interesting reading -- gossip from the world's rulers ...

nose-picking on the KCR

... on my way home from class, i was riding the KCR and minding my own business when the guy directly across from me starts picking his nose. i politely avert my eyes, and a minute later when i glance at him again, he's still picking his nose, digging up in there with his thumb. i try to look out the window again but he's still doing it, and now's he's wiped his thumb on his shirt and he's got it up in his nose again. i quickly scan my eyes past him again, just to look at something else, but this time HIS EYES LOCK ON TO MINE and now we're STARING AT EACH OTHER while he CONTINUES to dig at his nose with his thumb, without hesitating one bit. i'm sort of transfixed and awed for a few seconds, watching his nose bob up and down, up and down, but i break the stare first and he keeps picking. 10 minutes later he gets off at kowloon tong, having picked at that goddamned nose for the entire ride.

it's not that i'm grossed out (well, i was, a bit), but i'm partly jealous -- i don't think i could pick my nose on a subway without embarrassment for more than half a second. this guy didn't even flinch as he stared me right in the eyes, picking away. that takes guts, i think ... or not at all ...

kilts & cantonese

I forgot to talk about the New Year's party we had at CLC last Friday night. It was an "international" theme, with students encouraged to wear their "country's traditional dress" and bring international foods. I just showed up in jeans and a sweater, because I'm American and I didn't have a kimono to pull out of the closet or anything.

But then at the beginning they got a sampling of our more exotic students to come up and introduce themselves, using the language they're learning (Cantonese or Mandarin). It was a surreal experience, sort of a weird Epcot Center with different national stereotypes on display, all speaking Chinese. There was a woman from Tanzania introducing herself in Cantonese, wearing one of those colorful African dresses; a guy wearing a crazy-tartaned kilt and what looked like the top half of a tuxedo, explaining as best he could in Cantonese that he was Scottish; a French woman with a scarf and a beret speaking Mandarin; etc. The most surprising was a short not-at-all-African-looking-guy from Madagascar wearing what I assumed was the Malagay national costume -- a straw hat and a giant sheet draped over his shoulders cape-like, with what looked like a pirate's treasure map of Madagascar printed on it. He spoke okay Cantonese.

All of us students were encouraged to "perform" in some way -- so the Japanese sang a folk song, the African woman danced to Afropop, my class performed a really bad play, and then the kilt guy got up on stage by himself and announced he was going to read a poem. Armed with what sounded like just two months of language training, he began reciting in Cantonese (with a heavy Scottish accent) a poem that Sophie (who came along for the show) could only translate as "it's something ... about a flower."

I looked up on the stage, stepped back, and had one of those "this is ridiculous" moments one sometimes has when found in absurd circumstances. A Scotsman on stage in full regalia mumbling about a flower in broken Cantonese -- I was ready to go home now.