Images

I just came back from the UN in New York, where I attended the UN Forum on indigenous rights. Indigenous nations from all over the world came up with the first UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights. Topics such as the effect of Climate change on the SIDS, the preservation of Indigenous languages, or the promotion of land titles for First nations were hotly debated.
It was a nice complement to the week before , where I was in Tokyo, attending a meeting of the G 8 Education group in charge of implementing the 2nd Millenium Goal, Education for all.
One is struck, when hearing these debates, how much more fundamental these conversations are, than the latest sound bite about Rev. Jim Wright or Bosnian sniper fire from last Century. (I happen to know that Rev. Wright speaks for all blacks and gives a very good description of their state of mind. And why would not blacks think like that?) What troubles me is that Obama was not strong enough to champion the cause of all the blacks who voted for them. Instead, when came the time to own up to it, he played the part of St Peter when the rooster sang three times... Disappointing, but not surprising for a candidate who never had to face a tough question until now.
I was still mulling the interview I had the other day with Jeremy Rifkin on the dichotomy between Efficiency and Affectivity, when I met a living Hero, Bronislaw Geremek, founder of Solidarnosc. Humble, learned, a historian who made history, a patriot who was jailed by traitor to his country, you know greatness when you hear him.
The Olympic flame riots have really riled the Chinese and their government has skillfully used the videos around the world to rally the population around the image of country about to lose face. Face is the singlest most important currency in the Middle Kingdom, and all the pro-Tibet do-gooders have not realized they were walking right into the trap!

Tintin in Tibet

The recent riots in Tibet have thrown a shadow over the Beijing Olympic games.
Ever since its de facto annexation by China in 1960, Tibet has been a thorn in the side of the Middle Kingdom.
The Mongols were the first to throw Tibetans and han Chinese together in the IX Century AD. Ever since Tibet has been the object of wars and unrest. The Dalai lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, lives in exile in India.
It is probable that activist Tibetans saw a golden opportunity to rattle their cage when the entire world is about to shine a light on China at the occasion of the Olympic games. Some have asked to boycott the games. I think it is a mistake.
Chinese people are very sensitive to FACE. By making the authorities lose face, the would be boycoters would only harden their stance. Besides, the Chinese population would surely side with their government.

There is probably a long way to go to accomodate both communities. But diplomacy, integration, regionalization in an age of globalization, and, perhaps federalism, might be better suited to solve the problem than criticism.

Greed

Our era is marked by a surfeit of news. But paradoxically, we know less than our grand parents learned from their gazette. Amid the clutter of information, how are we to sort out the grain fron the chaff? Beyonce's wedding, the olympic torch, Obama's slip... We sort of missed the return of hunger in the World.
Institutional investors no longer want to park their money in a tattered US dollar.Investing in real estate turned out to be a bad deal, just as rotten as investing in dot coms. So the world traders are now betting on commodities. This explains partly why oil is going through the roof, as well as gold, steel, coal paper etc. Unfortunately, these financial blood hounds have also decided to speculate on foodstuff. The price of grain, rice, meat, and other staples is on a fast ascending spiral.
This has hit poor countries badly. When you are on 1 or 2 dollars a day, the doubling or tripling of the price of rice is the difference between life and death. People have started rioting all over the world.

Since Ronald Reagan, regulations and rules enforcement has been sacrificed on the altar of greed. We are now reaping its bitter crop.