Since the beginning of their existence liberals have yearned to destroy the suburbs. The idea of people freely choosing to live in safe, spacey neighborhoods in homes with trees, yards, and (gulp) driveways is an affront to much of what they hold dear.
For the most part, they haven't been able to come out and say this directly of course. Instead, they've couched their plans in seemingly innocent terms like "smart growth" and "sustainability." But no matter what the wording, the end goal has always been to limit people's freedoms to decide for themselves what kind of community they would like to live in. Much better to have the "experts" in planning and government decide for them where they should reside.
Now, as Joel Kotkin related in Saturday's WSJ, in California the planner class--in the form of Attorney General Jerry Brown-- has latched onto global warming as the latest excuse to drive this suburb destroying agenda forward:
In the meantime, Mr. Brown is taking aim at the suburbs, concerned about the alleged environmental damage they cause. He sees suburban houses as inefficient users of energy. He sees suburban commuters clogging the roads as wasting precious fossil fuel. And, mostly, he sees wisdom in an intricately thought-out plan to compel residents to move to city centers or, at least, to high-density developments clustered near mass transit lines.
Mr. Brown is not above using coercion to create the demographic patterns he wants. In recent months, he has threatened to file suit against municipalities that shun high-density housing in favor of building new suburban singe-family homes, on the grounds that they will pollute the environment. He is also backing controversial legislation -- Senate bill 375 -- moving through the state legislature that would restrict state highway funds to communities that refuse to adopt "smart growth" development plans. "We have to get the people from the suburbs to start coming back" to the cities, Mr. Brown told planning experts in March.
Because he knows better and he's not above using the full force of the government to make it happen. Whether the people want to or not isn't his concern.
The problem is, that's not what Californians want. For two generations, residents have been moving to the suburbs. They are attracted to the prospect, although not always the reality, of good schools, low crime rates and the chance to buy a home. A 2002 Public Policy Institute of California poll found that 80% of Californians prefer single-family homes over apartment living. And, even as the state's traffic jams are legendary, it is not always true that residents clog roads to commute to jobs in downtown Los Angeles or other cities.
Neither is whether these plans would actually help reduce global warming.
Ali Modarres, associate director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University Los Angeles, believes the density-first approach is ill-suited for areas like L.A. County, where most residents and jobs are dispersed among subregional "nodes." Research by Mr. Modarres, co-author of the powerful book "City and Environment," demonstrates that people living in nodes -- Pasadena, Torrance, Burbank and Irvine -- often enjoy considerably shorter average commutes than do a lot of inner-city residents. Many of these people commute through tangled traffic to get to jobs on the periphery.
"I have no problem trying to find solutions on global warming," Mr. Modarres told me, "but I doubt these kinds of solutions are going to do anything. The whole notion that through physical planning you can get a lot of people to abandon their cars is pretty iffy."
Mr. Modarres also points out that forcing developers to build near transit lines, a strategy favored by "smart-growth advocates," does not mean residents will actually take the train or bus. A survey conducted last year by the Los Angeles Times of "transit oriented development" found that "only a small fraction of residents shunned their cars during rush hour."
There is also little punch behind the science used to justify the drive to resettling the cities -- and plenty of power behind the argument that suburbs are better for Mother Earth. Several prominent scholars -- including University of Maryland atmospheric scientist Konstanin Vinnikov, University of Georgia meterologist J. Marshall Shepard and Brookings Institution research analyst Andrea Sarzynski -- have found there is little evidence linking suburbanization to global warming, pointing out that density itself can produce increased auto congestion and pollution.
The antisuburbanites also ignore evidence that packing people together in cities produces "heat islands." Temperatures in downtown Los Angeles sometimes reach as much as three degrees centigrade higher than outlying areas. Recent studies in Australia have shown that multistoried housing generates higher carbon emissions than either townhomes or single-family residences because of the energy consumed by common areas, elevators and parking structures, as well as the lack of tree cover.
None of this matters because the real goal of all this has little or nothing to do with global warming. It's about telling you where you can and can't live. What you can and can't drive (if you're allowed to drive at all). What you can and can't eat and drink. Where you can and can't smoke (pretty much everywhere now). How much you can heat and cool your home. Etc, etc.
Oh and by the way, these rules only apply to the people not the planners.
A report by the Los Angeles Weekly's Dave Zahniser -- entitled "Do as We Say, Not as We Do" -- found that a lot of prominent "smart growth" advocates in Los Angeles live in large single-family homes, some of them long hikes from mass transit. Mr. Brown himself, not long ago, moved from a loft in crime-ridden downtown Oakland to a bucolic setting in the Oakland Hills.
What, you don't expect HIM to live in the city do you?
Monday, July 21, 2008
One World One Dream
A few notes and pictures from China.
- Although you read quite a bit about the growth of religion in today's China, you still see few outward signs of it. Sure, you can find the odd church here and there like this one in Shanghai.
But the Chinese seem to treat them as more curiosities than anything else. Since the government isn't all that keen on religion, most of the supposed "boom" has occurred in underground, non-government approved churches which may explain why the short term visitor doesn't encounter visible evidence of it.
- One does see a lot of evidence of China's desire for unity.
And much of that is linked to the Olympics and the motto of "One World, One Dream." You see that slogan everywhere from a wall in Shanghai.
To a tourist trap temple in Nanjing.
The Olympic rings and the mascots (who frankly kind of creep me out) are also ubiquitous as seen in this park in Nanjing.
Are the Chinese people themselves excited about hosting the games? I guess so, although I question how much of that is genuine excitement and how much is being artificially ginned up because they're being told (literally) that they should be excited.
- One of the hardest things for a good ol' Midwestern boy like yours truly to adjust to when visiting Chinese cities is the crowds. It seems that wherever you go at any time of day, there is a crowd. At times it can be crushing.
For trips of relatively short distances I prefer travel by train over airplane. It's usually not as much of a hassle to get on, the atmosphere on board is much more laid back and carefree, and you can enjoy the view of the countryside on your journey. In the case of my trip from Shanghai to Nanjing, said view was of mostly smoke bellowing industries, but it still was interesting.
Train travel in China however--like every other activity--involves crowds. Crowds at the station before you leave.
And crowds once you arrive at your destination.
The train trip itself was pleasant. The pre and post portions were a bit too busy for my tastes.
- Let's close with a few final pictures.
The old and new in Shanghai, home to some of the world's most diverse and interesting architecture.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. In this case in Nanjing.
Leaving Shanghai:
Through a window lightly in a temple/market in Nanjing:
- Although you read quite a bit about the growth of religion in today's China, you still see few outward signs of it. Sure, you can find the odd church here and there like this one in Shanghai.
But the Chinese seem to treat them as more curiosities than anything else. Since the government isn't all that keen on religion, most of the supposed "boom" has occurred in underground, non-government approved churches which may explain why the short term visitor doesn't encounter visible evidence of it.
- One does see a lot of evidence of China's desire for unity.
And much of that is linked to the Olympics and the motto of "One World, One Dream." You see that slogan everywhere from a wall in Shanghai.
To a tourist trap temple in Nanjing.
The Olympic rings and the mascots (who frankly kind of creep me out) are also ubiquitous as seen in this park in Nanjing.
Are the Chinese people themselves excited about hosting the games? I guess so, although I question how much of that is genuine excitement and how much is being artificially ginned up because they're being told (literally) that they should be excited.
- One of the hardest things for a good ol' Midwestern boy like yours truly to adjust to when visiting Chinese cities is the crowds. It seems that wherever you go at any time of day, there is a crowd. At times it can be crushing.
For trips of relatively short distances I prefer travel by train over airplane. It's usually not as much of a hassle to get on, the atmosphere on board is much more laid back and carefree, and you can enjoy the view of the countryside on your journey. In the case of my trip from Shanghai to Nanjing, said view was of mostly smoke bellowing industries, but it still was interesting.
Train travel in China however--like every other activity--involves crowds. Crowds at the station before you leave.
And crowds once you arrive at your destination.
The train trip itself was pleasant. The pre and post portions were a bit too busy for my tastes.
- Let's close with a few final pictures.
The old and new in Shanghai, home to some of the world's most diverse and interesting architecture.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. In this case in Nanjing.
Leaving Shanghai:
Through a window lightly in a temple/market in Nanjing:
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Indoctrinate Your Children Well
Matt e-mails to pass on a tempting invite:
The Will Steger Foundation is hosting its third annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education!
The Institute will take place August 11-13 at the Science Museum of Minnesota and is a great opportunity to enhance your own understanding of climate change. Dr. James Hansen, renowned NASA climate scientist, will be the keynote speaker to discuss the latest on climate science in addition to Andrew Revkin (NY Times Science Reporter) and WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby.
Institute participants will receive a resource binder with new climate change curricula, expedition supplements and action resources. The theme of the Institute is "Changing School Culture" with a focus on reducing a school's carbon footprint, from classroom to community. Learn more and download the application at www.globalwarming101.com
Hansen, Shelby, AND resource binders? Right here in our back yard? This is too good to be true. Get your application in today!!!
The Will Steger Foundation is hosting its third annual Summer Institute for Climate Change Education!
The Institute will take place August 11-13 at the Science Museum of Minnesota and is a great opportunity to enhance your own understanding of climate change. Dr. James Hansen, renowned NASA climate scientist, will be the keynote speaker to discuss the latest on climate science in addition to Andrew Revkin (NY Times Science Reporter) and WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby.
Institute participants will receive a resource binder with new climate change curricula, expedition supplements and action resources. The theme of the Institute is "Changing School Culture" with a focus on reducing a school's carbon footprint, from classroom to community. Learn more and download the application at www.globalwarming101.com
Hansen, Shelby, AND resource binders? Right here in our back yard? This is too good to be true. Get your application in today!!!
Friday, July 18, 2008
It's The Corruption Stupid
Another example of what Saint Paul likes to call "Catholics being Catholic" from today's Philippine Star (whose masthead reads "Truth Shall Prevail"):
As poverty in this country worsens, some politicians mostly in Congress always seize the opportunity to single out the alleged overpopulation as its main cause, in order to mightily push for the forced reduction of population growth through certain bills now more attractively and euphemistically called "Reproductive Health and Population Management Bills".
Their problem however is that more and more people are now realizing that our country remains poor and is getting poorer because of their own extravagance and corruption in the performance of their job. If they can just give up their pork barrels and forego with their expensive junkets abroad, our country will have saved billions of pesos enough to help improve our economy. Our country remains poor because of corruption in government that started on a large scale during the Marcos regime and continues up to the present on an even larger scale, and not because of the alleged overpopulation and the rapid population growth.
The grand deception becomes more sinister because the bills' sponsors and their supporters who cutely style themselves as "pro quality of life" as well as some misinformed media people continue to insist that these bills do not promote abortion. They even unfairly criticized some bishops, more specifically Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus A. Dosado CM for allegedly spreading disinformation on the bills because he is courageous enough to come out against them with a firm Pastoral statement that politicians who do not promote the sanctity of human life in his territory should be denied communion because "you cannot call yourself Catholic in good standing and at the same time publicly hold views that are contradictory to the Catholic Faith and if you are legislators in my territory then I have the right to refuse you Holy Communion".
At first blush, one might say that the proposed bills are nothing more than an effort to make contraception more widely available in the Philippines. However, if one considers the history of the path that such "reproductive rights" have taken in other countries, it's not surprising that the Catholic Church is resisting the slide down what has proven to be a very slippery slope indeed.
As poverty in this country worsens, some politicians mostly in Congress always seize the opportunity to single out the alleged overpopulation as its main cause, in order to mightily push for the forced reduction of population growth through certain bills now more attractively and euphemistically called "Reproductive Health and Population Management Bills".
Their problem however is that more and more people are now realizing that our country remains poor and is getting poorer because of their own extravagance and corruption in the performance of their job. If they can just give up their pork barrels and forego with their expensive junkets abroad, our country will have saved billions of pesos enough to help improve our economy. Our country remains poor because of corruption in government that started on a large scale during the Marcos regime and continues up to the present on an even larger scale, and not because of the alleged overpopulation and the rapid population growth.
The grand deception becomes more sinister because the bills' sponsors and their supporters who cutely style themselves as "pro quality of life" as well as some misinformed media people continue to insist that these bills do not promote abortion. They even unfairly criticized some bishops, more specifically Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus A. Dosado CM for allegedly spreading disinformation on the bills because he is courageous enough to come out against them with a firm Pastoral statement that politicians who do not promote the sanctity of human life in his territory should be denied communion because "you cannot call yourself Catholic in good standing and at the same time publicly hold views that are contradictory to the Catholic Faith and if you are legislators in my territory then I have the right to refuse you Holy Communion".
At first blush, one might say that the proposed bills are nothing more than an effort to make contraception more widely available in the Philippines. However, if one considers the history of the path that such "reproductive rights" have taken in other countries, it's not surprising that the Catholic Church is resisting the slide down what has proven to be a very slippery slope indeed.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A Few Of My Favorite Things
Wednesday's Financial Times offered up a trifecta of much interest for our own Saint Paul.
First, a review of a concert by Saint's favorite Scottish rockers The Fratellis:
Presumably the ham-fisted heraldry was supposed to underline The Fratellis' pride at being a people's band. Unfashionable but hugely popular--their first album sold 1.5m copies--the Scottish trio bash out unreconstructed bloke rock, all football terrace choruses and beer-spraying guitar solos. The singer Jon Lawler has a passing resemblance to Marc Bolan with his tumbling curls of hair but otherwise they're archetypal lads next door, dressed in dark jeans and casual tops and possessing not one ounce of charisma.
They opened with "Mistress Mabel" from their new album Here We Stand. Pub rock piano and rhymes from Noel Gallagher's reject pile ("Mistress Mabel, you're seriously wrong/Clears my table, bang, and then she's gone") clattered from the stage. The words "Nae Dance" were spray-painted on a speaker stack. Beery men lurching around in the audience did their best to obey the injunction.
The evening's course had been set. The songs were plodding and derivative: sub-Beatles melodies, unglittery glam rock (more Slade than T-Rex), rabble-rousing punk rock in the dubious mould of The Libertines. Lawler's vocals aped Liam Gallagher's growl and the Arctic Monkeys' phrasing. Britpop's life flashed before my eyes.
But other than that, how was the show?
Then we have Gideon Rachman comparing American and British journalism and the use of Saint Paul's favorite tool of the trade; the anonymous source:
American journalists, I realised, regard themselves as members of a respectable profession--like lawyers or bankers. Their British counterparts generally prefer the idea that they are outsiders. They like to quote the adage of the late Nicholas Tomalin that: "The only qualities essential for real success in journalism are rat-like cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability."
The British sometimes argue that because American journalists have joined the establishment they are easily duped by "senior sources". The US press's supine role in the run-up to the Iraq war is cited as evidence.
Maybe so. On the other hand, it was painstaking and daring American journalism that uncovered the Watergate scandal.
Certainly, after a while in Washington I began to develop a grudging respect for my neighbours at the Tribune. I admired the fact that their investigative team would work for months on a single article. On the British paper I then worked for, an "investigation" was something we started on Tuesday and published on Sunday. I was also sure that when American papers used the phrase "sources say", there really were some sources. I was not always so confident when that phrase appeared in my own newspaper.
Later in my career, I found myself defending a British colleague in Thailand--who was being roundly criticised by some Americans for using quotes from the Bangkok Post, without attribution. I coldly informed my American colleagues that they were box-tickers, making a fuss about nothing. When the Americans left, my British colleague thanked me and then added casually: "Mind you, you might have struggled to find those quotes in the Bangkok Post." He had made them up.
Finally, a look at Saint Paul's favorite Asian cooking instrument, the "hot wok." Okay, it's really more of look at China's "war on nature" and the spectre of rising Chinese nationalism by Niall Ferguson, who is one of Saint's favorite writers:
China on the eve of next month's Olympic Games is like a "hot wok" of aiguozhuyi - national pride--according to Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese writer. The question is how far the Chinese government risks overcooking the popular mood. Wherever you go, there is no escaping the official slogan of Beijing 2008: "One World, One Dream". The five cutesy Olympic mascots known as Fuwa are equally ubiquitous, chirruping away on screens large and small, from Beijing's striking new international airport terminal to the humblest local railway carriage.
*****
The trouble with a semi-planned economy, as soon becomes clear to the visitor to Chongqing, is twofold. First, in the absence of rule of law and meaningful private property rights, there are no real limits to the "negative externalities" of economic development. The air in Chongqing is as thick with pollutants as the local food is thick with hot chili peppers, frequently turning the city's natural mists into dense pea-soup fogs. Second, the semi-planned economy allocates resources to infrastructure investment but does nothing to mitigate social inequality. The economic gulf between insiders (officials and entrepreneurs) and outsiders (construction workers and the rest) is now huge. If this is the "harmonious society" of which China's leaders boast, then São Paulo is an egalitarian paradise.
*****
Yet the new forms of electronic communication may just as easily act as channels for popular nationalism as for political dissent. "We Have Nothing to Fear", an unofficial video posted on the internet shortly after the unrest in Tibet, is almost hysterically critical of the western media.* With its ultra-nationalist imagery, its strident music and its defiant slogans--"China's sovereignty is sacred and inviolable"; "We have an obligation to safeguard the community's prosperity and stability"; "Do not provoke us!"--it perfectly captures the moment when Chinese nationalism met YouTube.
On the eve of the Olympics, there is indeed something of the "hot wok" about the mood in China. But it is China's hot websites, burning with a new generation's nationalism, that should make the rest of the world feel uneasy.
First, a review of a concert by Saint's favorite Scottish rockers The Fratellis:
Presumably the ham-fisted heraldry was supposed to underline The Fratellis' pride at being a people's band. Unfashionable but hugely popular--their first album sold 1.5m copies--the Scottish trio bash out unreconstructed bloke rock, all football terrace choruses and beer-spraying guitar solos. The singer Jon Lawler has a passing resemblance to Marc Bolan with his tumbling curls of hair but otherwise they're archetypal lads next door, dressed in dark jeans and casual tops and possessing not one ounce of charisma.
They opened with "Mistress Mabel" from their new album Here We Stand. Pub rock piano and rhymes from Noel Gallagher's reject pile ("Mistress Mabel, you're seriously wrong/Clears my table, bang, and then she's gone") clattered from the stage. The words "Nae Dance" were spray-painted on a speaker stack. Beery men lurching around in the audience did their best to obey the injunction.
The evening's course had been set. The songs were plodding and derivative: sub-Beatles melodies, unglittery glam rock (more Slade than T-Rex), rabble-rousing punk rock in the dubious mould of The Libertines. Lawler's vocals aped Liam Gallagher's growl and the Arctic Monkeys' phrasing. Britpop's life flashed before my eyes.
But other than that, how was the show?
Then we have Gideon Rachman comparing American and British journalism and the use of Saint Paul's favorite tool of the trade; the anonymous source:
American journalists, I realised, regard themselves as members of a respectable profession--like lawyers or bankers. Their British counterparts generally prefer the idea that they are outsiders. They like to quote the adage of the late Nicholas Tomalin that: "The only qualities essential for real success in journalism are rat-like cunning, a plausible manner and a little literary ability."
The British sometimes argue that because American journalists have joined the establishment they are easily duped by "senior sources". The US press's supine role in the run-up to the Iraq war is cited as evidence.
Maybe so. On the other hand, it was painstaking and daring American journalism that uncovered the Watergate scandal.
Certainly, after a while in Washington I began to develop a grudging respect for my neighbours at the Tribune. I admired the fact that their investigative team would work for months on a single article. On the British paper I then worked for, an "investigation" was something we started on Tuesday and published on Sunday. I was also sure that when American papers used the phrase "sources say", there really were some sources. I was not always so confident when that phrase appeared in my own newspaper.
Later in my career, I found myself defending a British colleague in Thailand--who was being roundly criticised by some Americans for using quotes from the Bangkok Post, without attribution. I coldly informed my American colleagues that they were box-tickers, making a fuss about nothing. When the Americans left, my British colleague thanked me and then added casually: "Mind you, you might have struggled to find those quotes in the Bangkok Post." He had made them up.
Finally, a look at Saint Paul's favorite Asian cooking instrument, the "hot wok." Okay, it's really more of look at China's "war on nature" and the spectre of rising Chinese nationalism by Niall Ferguson, who is one of Saint's favorite writers:
China on the eve of next month's Olympic Games is like a "hot wok" of aiguozhuyi - national pride--according to Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese writer. The question is how far the Chinese government risks overcooking the popular mood. Wherever you go, there is no escaping the official slogan of Beijing 2008: "One World, One Dream". The five cutesy Olympic mascots known as Fuwa are equally ubiquitous, chirruping away on screens large and small, from Beijing's striking new international airport terminal to the humblest local railway carriage.
*****
The trouble with a semi-planned economy, as soon becomes clear to the visitor to Chongqing, is twofold. First, in the absence of rule of law and meaningful private property rights, there are no real limits to the "negative externalities" of economic development. The air in Chongqing is as thick with pollutants as the local food is thick with hot chili peppers, frequently turning the city's natural mists into dense pea-soup fogs. Second, the semi-planned economy allocates resources to infrastructure investment but does nothing to mitigate social inequality. The economic gulf between insiders (officials and entrepreneurs) and outsiders (construction workers and the rest) is now huge. If this is the "harmonious society" of which China's leaders boast, then São Paulo is an egalitarian paradise.
*****
Yet the new forms of electronic communication may just as easily act as channels for popular nationalism as for political dissent. "We Have Nothing to Fear", an unofficial video posted on the internet shortly after the unrest in Tibet, is almost hysterically critical of the western media.* With its ultra-nationalist imagery, its strident music and its defiant slogans--"China's sovereignty is sacred and inviolable"; "We have an obligation to safeguard the community's prosperity and stability"; "Do not provoke us!"--it perfectly captures the moment when Chinese nationalism met YouTube.
On the eve of the Olympics, there is indeed something of the "hot wok" about the mood in China. But it is China's hot websites, burning with a new generation's nationalism, that should make the rest of the world feel uneasy.
Separated At Birth?
Rising Star
One of the genuine pleasures of returning to Manila is waking up to the Philippine Star on my doorstep (or more accurately outside my hotel room) each morning. The Star is one of my favorite newspapers because the writers feel no compuction to hold anything back. It's all over the top scribbling all the time.
Here's an example from today's newspaper of how to open an article:
There is something crushing about city life. Our daily toil, traffic that gives us a spectacular preview of Armageddon, and the plagues of heat, flash floods, occasional coup attempts, pigs in suits in government, and a spate of metro handsome posters in shocking pink. Heck, we all need a drink.
And that's a piece from the Lifestyle section about the best bars in town. Now, that is interesting writing.
Here's an example from today's newspaper of how to open an article:
There is something crushing about city life. Our daily toil, traffic that gives us a spectacular preview of Armageddon, and the plagues of heat, flash floods, occasional coup attempts, pigs in suits in government, and a spate of metro handsome posters in shocking pink. Heck, we all need a drink.
And that's a piece from the Lifestyle section about the best bars in town. Now, that is interesting writing.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Waiting Is The Hardest Part
You know this whole air travel thing wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for one thing...
..the waiting. Not the waiting at the gate to board or the waiting on the plane to takeoff (under normal circumstances of course). It's the waiting in line--sometimes one intermit table, never-ending line after another--that saps your energy, crushes your spirit, and drains whatever sense of adventure and pleasure that modern air travel still possesses.
Today was a perfect example for me. I waited in line for the quarantine check crew to arrive in Nanjing this morning so that we could pass through their inspection. Then, I waited for the ticket agents to show up so we could check in. Then, I waited in the immigration/security line. Three lines. So far.
In Hong Kong, I had to wait in a transfer line to get a boarding pass for my Philippine Airlines flight to Manila. The line itself wasn't particularly long, but it moved at a snail's pace. Every transaction going down in front of me apparently required two or three phone calls by the agent, a half dozen puzzled expressions, and several thousand keystrokes before a boarding pass could be printed. A frickin' boarding pass. Then, it was another wait in yet another security checkpoint line.
Lest you think that all my accounts of air travel are nothing but self-indulgent whining about what doesn't work (yes, I got your e-mail Atomizer), let me share a few positive experiences. On my Philippine Air flight from Hong Kong, the Airbus 320 had a video camera installed somewhere near the front wheel. As the plane taxied to take off we were treated to a live shot from said camera on the cabin video monitors. After takeoff, the camera was aimed down so we could see the runway and then sea grow increasingly distant as the aircraft took flight. Very cool.
And on my Dragonair flight from Nanjing to Hong Kong, I told the flight attendant that my son liked dragons and asked if there was anything she could give me with the company's logo on it. A deck of cards perhaps. She returned with a goodie bag with three Dragonair postcards, two in-flight entertainment (distraction) kits for kids, and two decks of cards. Now THAT was was service above and beyond the call.
By the way, when I arrived in Manila and passed through immigration, I was the first one in line. No waiting.
..the waiting. Not the waiting at the gate to board or the waiting on the plane to takeoff (under normal circumstances of course). It's the waiting in line--sometimes one intermit table, never-ending line after another--that saps your energy, crushes your spirit, and drains whatever sense of adventure and pleasure that modern air travel still possesses.
Today was a perfect example for me. I waited in line for the quarantine check crew to arrive in Nanjing this morning so that we could pass through their inspection. Then, I waited for the ticket agents to show up so we could check in. Then, I waited in the immigration/security line. Three lines. So far.
In Hong Kong, I had to wait in a transfer line to get a boarding pass for my Philippine Airlines flight to Manila. The line itself wasn't particularly long, but it moved at a snail's pace. Every transaction going down in front of me apparently required two or three phone calls by the agent, a half dozen puzzled expressions, and several thousand keystrokes before a boarding pass could be printed. A frickin' boarding pass. Then, it was another wait in yet another security checkpoint line.
Lest you think that all my accounts of air travel are nothing but self-indulgent whining about what doesn't work (yes, I got your e-mail Atomizer), let me share a few positive experiences. On my Philippine Air flight from Hong Kong, the Airbus 320 had a video camera installed somewhere near the front wheel. As the plane taxied to take off we were treated to a live shot from said camera on the cabin video monitors. After takeoff, the camera was aimed down so we could see the runway and then sea grow increasingly distant as the aircraft took flight. Very cool.
And on my Dragonair flight from Nanjing to Hong Kong, I told the flight attendant that my son liked dragons and asked if there was anything she could give me with the company's logo on it. A deck of cards perhaps. She returned with a goodie bag with three Dragonair postcards, two in-flight entertainment (distraction) kits for kids, and two decks of cards. Now THAT was was service above and beyond the call.
By the way, when I arrived in Manila and passed through immigration, I was the first one in line. No waiting.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Too Much Perspective
Starting your day off with a tour of a memorial dedicated to the victims of a mass slaughter is not exactly a day brightener, but a Sunday visit to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial was an educational and--while very somber--a very worthwhile experience. The memorial and museum are built on the site of a mass grave (10,000 some remains) that was uncovered in the 1980s.
Its main aim is tell the horrific tale of six weeks in 1937 when the Japanese Imperial Army captured Nanjing and went a bloodthirsty rampage of looting, arson, rape, and murder. In total, some 300,000 Chinese civilians and captured soldiers were killed during that time by the Japanese. A story also recounted by Iris Chang in the book The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II.
There's also sections on the history of Sino-Japanese conflict, the post-war justice meted out to those who lead the Japanese atrocities, and stories of foreigners in Nanjing who tried to limit the carnage and save the lives of Chinese civilians. That brave group included American missionaries, Red Cross workers, and diplomats among others.
In an interesting irony of history, some of the most forthright defenders of the citizens of Nanjing were German officials and businessmen. There are many pictures of refugees being escorted to safety under the protection of the Nazi flag. There is also a letter of commendation to John Rabe--one such German savior and leader of the local branch of the Nazi party to boot--from Herr Adolph Hitler himself on display.
Upon leaving the memorial, one feels a mixture of sadness at the horror just witnessed and relief. For in that particular environment, I was glad that I was not Japanese. You can understand why some of the locals are a bit hesitant about buying a Toyota.
Monday, July 14, 2008
An Exclusive Club
One of the side benefits of business travel in Asia is that you usually get to stay in much nicer hotels than you would elsewhere. In Nanjing, I'm holed up in a place called the Frasier Suites. My suite includes a full kitchen, a living room with a sectional couch and large flat-panel television screen, an office, a bedroom with another large flat-panel television, a balcony, and two full bathrooms; one with a washer/dryer. Pretty sweet digs (pun intended) for a slob like me. So far, the stay has been enjoyable.
Except for the food. The service in the restaurant has been slow and the food subpar. Earlier, we calculated that of five meals that we have had there so far, three have been disappointing to the palate.
But as often occurs, hope overcame experience on Sunday night as I looked to the house restaurant to come through with a room service standby: the venerable Club Sandwich. The Club is a simple sandwich in principal. Yet all the elements must be executed properly to pull it off.
The bread must be of good quality and toasted properly. The bacon needs to be crisp, but not overly crunchy. The lettuce needs to be crisp as well, the tomatoes ripe. The chicken should be plump and juicy and the mayonnaise judiciously applied. And, if said Club includes a fried egg--and my past favorites have--the egg should be done, but not overdone. When carried out just right, such a simple sandwich can be sublime.
Unfortunately, the Frasier continued with its poor culinary performance and delivered to my room a sub-standard Club that failed miserably to live up to its reputation. Starting with the soggy bread, continuing with the scraggly chicken and wilty lettuce, and ending with an egg fried beyond recognition, it was easily the worst room service Club Sandwich I have ever had the displeasure of trying to choke down. It was a major letdown and, in my opinion, the final nail in the restaurant's coffin. If you can't nail The Club, why should I have confidence in anything coming out of your kitchen?
Except for the food. The service in the restaurant has been slow and the food subpar. Earlier, we calculated that of five meals that we have had there so far, three have been disappointing to the palate.
But as often occurs, hope overcame experience on Sunday night as I looked to the house restaurant to come through with a room service standby: the venerable Club Sandwich. The Club is a simple sandwich in principal. Yet all the elements must be executed properly to pull it off.
The bread must be of good quality and toasted properly. The bacon needs to be crisp, but not overly crunchy. The lettuce needs to be crisp as well, the tomatoes ripe. The chicken should be plump and juicy and the mayonnaise judiciously applied. And, if said Club includes a fried egg--and my past favorites have--the egg should be done, but not overdone. When carried out just right, such a simple sandwich can be sublime.
Unfortunately, the Frasier continued with its poor culinary performance and delivered to my room a sub-standard Club that failed miserably to live up to its reputation. Starting with the soggy bread, continuing with the scraggly chicken and wilty lettuce, and ending with an egg fried beyond recognition, it was easily the worst room service Club Sandwich I have ever had the displeasure of trying to choke down. It was a major letdown and, in my opinion, the final nail in the restaurant's coffin. If you can't nail The Club, why should I have confidence in anything coming out of your kitchen?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
No Oil Resource Not Left Behind
In casually perusing the Almanac of American Politics last night, going through the biographies on the Michigan delegation, I came across one of those conservative democrats we keep hearing about. Bob Stupak represents the Michigan 1st district, which comprises the Upper Penninsula and other parts north.
He is a former police officer and Michigan state trooper, a Catholic, and vocal opponent of such things as abortion and expanded government funding of embryonic stem cell research. As summarized in his Michael Barone penned description:
Stupak's voting record has been toward the center for House Democrats, though he is more conservative than most of them on social issues.
Good so far. But it seems no modern Democrat is immune from suffering a severe case of misplaced priorities. From Stupak's list of legislative achievements:
In the House, Stupak has paid great attention to local issues. He claims to be the first elected official to oppose drilling for oil and gas under the Great Lakes and worked hard on the successful bill to permanently kill it in 2005. He was a leading Democratic proponent of a September 2005 measure to crack down on oil-price gouging.
ANWAR, off shore, on the continental shelf, oil shale reserves, these arbitrary government bans I knew of. But I didn't even know people suspected there was oil and/or gas below the Great Lakes. It sounds like most in Congress didn't either. But just in case, they went out of their way to pre-emptively kill any chance it would benefit American consumers and tax payers.
Among thevital reasons to institute a government ban:
Ban supporters appealed to environmental concerns, but mostly to the ugliness of oil rigs. [Rep. David Bonior (D)] said, "Families come to Michigan to fish, to use our beautiful beaches, to swim in our lakes and enjoy our sand dunes. They do not come to Michigan to look at oil wells or oil derricks. We are passionate about protecting the Great Lakes.
It's amazing that only three years ago this was thought to be feel-good, safe politics. Restricting the ability of America to access its own resources of a vital commodity, in order to preserve the mythical views for tourists in Michigan.
I suppose we should just be happy we didn't have men of this caliber in office at the turn of the 20th century. We'd never have been able to despoil the pristine beauty and environmental heritage of the Oklahoma and West Texas scrub for something as crass as drilling for oil.
Even in 2005, we did have some leaders willing to use their common sense to promote the common good. Check out the prescience of then Representive Tom Delay of Texas, said during a time when gas was half as much as it sells for today:
"The Democrat leadership is at war with our ability to produce an adequate and dependable energy supply. They oppose safe oil exploration. They oppose expanded nuclear power. They oppose clean coal. They oppose ANWR. They oppose tapping the natural gas trapped beneath public lands. They oppose drilling In the Gulf of Mexico. And now they oppose slant drilling in Michigan." Delay said that "this environmental extremism, this radical environmentalism, is entirely unwarranted. Today, slant drilling technology allows us to safely withdraw oil and gas beneath bodies of water from the shore. Environmentally safe. We do not have to trade environmental safety for energy security."
A person could win an electon with that kind of platform, especially versus an opponent more concerned about a one degree rise in global temperature over a century. McCain, Coleman are you listening?
He is a former police officer and Michigan state trooper, a Catholic, and vocal opponent of such things as abortion and expanded government funding of embryonic stem cell research. As summarized in his Michael Barone penned description:
Stupak's voting record has been toward the center for House Democrats, though he is more conservative than most of them on social issues.
Good so far. But it seems no modern Democrat is immune from suffering a severe case of misplaced priorities. From Stupak's list of legislative achievements:
In the House, Stupak has paid great attention to local issues. He claims to be the first elected official to oppose drilling for oil and gas under the Great Lakes and worked hard on the successful bill to permanently kill it in 2005. He was a leading Democratic proponent of a September 2005 measure to crack down on oil-price gouging.
ANWAR, off shore, on the continental shelf, oil shale reserves, these arbitrary government bans I knew of. But I didn't even know people suspected there was oil and/or gas below the Great Lakes. It sounds like most in Congress didn't either. But just in case, they went out of their way to pre-emptively kill any chance it would benefit American consumers and tax payers.
Among thevital reasons to institute a government ban:
Ban supporters appealed to environmental concerns, but mostly to the ugliness of oil rigs. [Rep. David Bonior (D)] said, "Families come to Michigan to fish, to use our beautiful beaches, to swim in our lakes and enjoy our sand dunes. They do not come to Michigan to look at oil wells or oil derricks. We are passionate about protecting the Great Lakes.
It's amazing that only three years ago this was thought to be feel-good, safe politics. Restricting the ability of America to access its own resources of a vital commodity, in order to preserve the mythical views for tourists in Michigan.
I suppose we should just be happy we didn't have men of this caliber in office at the turn of the 20th century. We'd never have been able to despoil the pristine beauty and environmental heritage of the Oklahoma and West Texas scrub for something as crass as drilling for oil.
Even in 2005, we did have some leaders willing to use their common sense to promote the common good. Check out the prescience of then Representive Tom Delay of Texas, said during a time when gas was half as much as it sells for today:
"The Democrat leadership is at war with our ability to produce an adequate and dependable energy supply. They oppose safe oil exploration. They oppose expanded nuclear power. They oppose clean coal. They oppose ANWR. They oppose tapping the natural gas trapped beneath public lands. They oppose drilling In the Gulf of Mexico. And now they oppose slant drilling in Michigan." Delay said that "this environmental extremism, this radical environmentalism, is entirely unwarranted. Today, slant drilling technology allows us to safely withdraw oil and gas beneath bodies of water from the shore. Environmentally safe. We do not have to trade environmental safety for energy security."
A person could win an electon with that kind of platform, especially versus an opponent more concerned about a one degree rise in global temperature over a century. McCain, Coleman are you listening?
We Will Bury You...With Low Prices
Last night, I had an experience sure to warm the cockles of JB's hardened heart. The place to be for the still pretty godless not so much Communist Chinese people on a Saturday night in downtown Nanjing? Wal-Mart.
Judging by the frenzied throngs we encountered at Wal-Mart between roughly 8:30pm and 10:00pm, the retail giant is not only surviving in China but thriving. The store is located smack in the middle of the downtown entertainment district. It's a four story monstrosity offering all the usual Wal-Mart goodies plus an impressive selection of groceries. It was a little surreal to see such huge (and pretty happy looking) crowds in a place like Wal-Mart at what isn't usually considered a prime shopping time, but in today's Chinese cities crowds and shopping at all hours of the day are the norm rather than the exception.
Judging by the frenzied throngs we encountered at Wal-Mart between roughly 8:30pm and 10:00pm, the retail giant is not only surviving in China but thriving. The store is located smack in the middle of the downtown entertainment district. It's a four story monstrosity offering all the usual Wal-Mart goodies plus an impressive selection of groceries. It was a little surreal to see such huge (and pretty happy looking) crowds in a place like Wal-Mart at what isn't usually considered a prime shopping time, but in today's Chinese cities crowds and shopping at all hours of the day are the norm rather than the exception.
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