I am filled with deep respect for your many achievements over the course of thousands of years. Your accomplishments in science, language, mythology, philosophy, spirituality, architecture, literature, music, cuisine and so many other cultural and intellectual pursuits are astounding. You have given the world many of the greatest minds.
But out of ten ethnically Chinese Nobel Prize winners so far, only one — journalist and writer Liu Xiaobo — has done his work in his own homeland, where his intellect is wasted in prison.
No less than six (Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, Samual Chao Chung Ting, Steven Chu, Daniel Chee Tsui, Roger Yonchien Tsien) have left China to do their work in the United States of America.
One (Charles Kuen Kao) has done his research in England and Hong Kong, one (Yuan Tseh Lee) in Taiwan, and one (Gao Xingjian) has done his writings in France. One other (the Dalai Lama) is not ethnically Chinese. Although he is highly respected everywhere he goes in the world, he is loathed in the People’s Republic of China — and only there.
Dear Members of Government of the People’s Republic of China:
Does it not give you reason to ask yourselves why so many of your people’s best thinkers feel the need to leave the land of their ancestors?
Your artists, your philosophers and your scientists have so much to contribute to the entire world. They are your best ambassadors, your best assets. We want to hear from them. We all need them to make the world a better and more civilized place.
Wouldn’t it be time to let them do that? Wouldn’t it be better to give them all your support, so that they may earn even more respect for your culture, for the success of your country and for the countless virtues of the Chinese people?
John Lennon was killed 30 years ago today. Recorded only hours before the murder, this is the very last interview with him and Yoko Ono.
The interview took place at Studio One at the Dakota building in New York, where Lennon and Ono lived and where the deadly shots were fired at the entrance.
Listening to this caused me to pause and remember how quickly and unexpectedly life can end, and how rapidly families and relationships can be shattered.
I have omitted Parts 1 – 3, on which one could hear Yoko Ono chatting with reporters while they are waiting for Lennon, who is running late and enters the room at about 3’40” of Part 4 (below).
Just before one of the most important American holidays (and peak travel season), the ferocious debate about the new full-body scanners and manual body searches at U.S. airports shows no sign of abating.
What I find most infuriating is the perplexing amount of disinformation and blatant propaganda spewed by the TSA and its supporters, to the degree where it becomes condescending and insulting to rational human beings. Continue reading →
A Pentagon official, taken by surprise, called the incident “bizarre”. The U.S. military seems stumped, and nobody has been able to offer any explanation so far.
Last night just before dusk, a KCBS news helicopter captured footage of what appears to be a large missile launched about 35 miles off the coast of Los Angeles. The launch site, destination and who launched it are part of a mystery.
Of course, this could just be a strange visual illusion — most likely the con trail of a passenger jet, illuminated by the sinking sun. But if it is not, we should be seriously concerned.
If it was indeed a missile — could it be American? Theoretically, yes, but not likely. California is home to several weapons test sites. And the state is home to several U.S. Navy surface ships and submarines capable of executing such a launch, which can be done from a submerged sub. However, the U.S. Navy has denied that any exercise or test took place in the area last night, and has denied any involvement. A spokesperson of Vandenberg Air Force Base, on the coast a little further up north, denied that the con trail originated from there. Neither Navy, nor the Air Force, NORAD or the Defense Department have been able to come up with an explanation so far. And the Federal Aviation Administration had not approved any commercial launch activity in the area on Monday, a spokesman said.
A secret weapons test seems highly unlikely because such tests are not usually conducted in plain sight of a major metropolis, and not in one of the busiest shipping routes along the U.S. West Coast. And firing a large rocket in an unrestricted, civilian airspace would be a violation of all kinds of aviation regulations. And very stupid. Furthermore: judging from the video footage, the con trails seems far too big to come from an amateur rocket.
All the above seems very improbable. Whoever did this must have anticipated (or even desired) the incident to be seen. In the absence of other likely explanations, there are not many plausible scenarios left. But all the remaining ones are all rather disconcerting.
(1) It could have been an accidental firing off a U.S. Navy vessel. (Again, highly improbable, and it would be unwise to attempt a cover-up).
(2) It could have been a demonstration of a hostile foreign nation such as North Korea, which may have secretly developed a submarine-based launch system of their own. In addition to the U.S., Britain’s Royal Navy and the French and Russian navies have the capability as well. And while the first two are allies without a need to conduct such an exercise, Russia would seem disinclined to provoke an international incident with a silly stunt. Besides, the official Russian military has no need to demonstrate their abilities in this area either. Which leaves China and India, both of which have very limited submarine-based missile capability. Both have some new systems believed to come online this year. (Obama is in India at the moment, on his first official visit there. Could this have something to do with it?)
(3) The missile may have been launched from a surface ship disguised as a cargo or shipping vessel — possibly by a terrorist organization or other cartel using a commercial weapons system clandestinely brought close to the American shore. The possible purpose? A demonstration, test or exercise of some sort.
Such systems do exist. The most dangerous I know of is a Russian system developed by Concern Morinformsystem-Agat.
Known as the “Club K Container Missile System”, it consists of 4 surface-to-surface missiles and their launch tubes, concealed in a standard 40-foot shipping container. Such containers are ubiquitous around the world. Tens of millions are traveling on ocean ships, trains and trucks at any given moment. Their sheer number means that they cannot be effectively monitored.
The Club K system is unique in that it appears to be quite autonomous and automated. Concealed within their standard shipping container, the missiles and their launch system could travel, undetected, around the world. Any regular container ship, truck or flatbed train car are possible carriers. Once the container comes within 136 miles (220 km) of its intended target (as determined by GPS), the launch system inside the container activates, erects the launch platform and fires off the missiles. And after that, there is no defense. Ingenious — and very, very difficult to neutralize.
To show how this works, here is a video simulation:
This will be a fascinating story to follow. Clear is only: unless the Pentagon knows something it is not telling the public (and that too would not be unheard of), there is a flurry of major investigations going on right now.
John Lennon would have turned 70 years old tomorrow (Oct. 9).
Google had a neat idea. Today’s Google page features a brief animation based on John Lennon’s own “doodles”. Before the day is over, hundreds of millions of people will have seen it.
If I had to pick one single favorite picture of Lennon, it would be this one:
John Lennon in Hamburg in the early 1960s. Photo: Jürgen Vollmer. Click to enlarge.
The time and place was Hamburg in the very early 1960s. It was taken by Jürgen Vollmer, who befriended the Beatles on one of their first gigs outside of England. Walking by in the foreground are Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe. (The latter dropped out of the band, remained in Hamburg, but soon died from a brain aneurysm). Lennon later used the picture for the cover art of the album Rock’n Roll (1975), on which he bills himself as “Dr. Winston O’Boogie”.
The weather in Los Angeles has been rather peculiar this year. After an unusually cloudy and cold summer, September 22 turned into the hottest day since the beginning of records in 1877. This was followed by another low pressure system. And today, Downtown L.A. broke the rainfall record for this date, set in 1916.
I love summer, but I am also looking forward to fall — with its fresh fruit, crisp air, fog, quieter times and pots of hot tea. Today I felt inspired to compose a haiku:
I must confess that I like old cemeteries. I don’t perceive them as eerie, but as peaceful and tranquil. To those with open minds and eyes, cemeteries offer a glimpse into the lives of people who have long gone.
Here is a picture I took in a Southern California graveyard. Mrs. Death passed away 98 years ago, at the age of 81. Who was she? And how did she get that name? Surely, introductions at social gatherings would have resulted in some comical consternation.
I assume that Mrs. Death must have possessed a sense of humor — otherwise she would have changed her name at some point. (Quite easily accomplished in America, name changes are a time honored tradition among immigrants).
Peace be upon her.
R.I.P., Mrs. Death. Photo: Reinhard Kargl, 2010. Click to enlarge.
When I was a junior in college, one of my favorite books was Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. I read the German translation a few years after it came out. At the time, the novel piqued my interest in Los Angeles and laid the basis for my perception of the anthropological circus that makes up “Hollywood”.
25 years after the novel’s release, Ellis has now revived its twisted characters for his latest book, Imperial Bedrooms.
Blair and Trent now have a loveless marriage. Clay is a narcissistic but successful screenwriter (“with occasional production credits”), who attempts to have Julian killed. And Rip, of course, is still a villain.
When I was a junior in college, one of my favorite books was