Life in the frozen tundra

I've been in Minnesota for a long time now, too long to be honest. I came back last summer and was convinced, by myself as much as anyone else, to stay longer. Big mistake...Spending the last three years in the tropical paradise that is Taiwan has made me soft. While I hardly skipped a beat acclimating to the climate back home, not a day goes by that I don't think of palm trees fluttering in the Formosan sun. Then I open my eyes and see this

Bleak...

I'll be heading to China within the month, Changchun to be exact, and I did a lot of leg work in choosing where to go. After narrowing my locations down to three choices; Shijiazhuang, Shenyang and Changchun, I made sure to get the best information I could. One of the best ways in finding out about a new area is to go on Couchsurfing. The website has moved beyond it's namesake to become a sort of social network for travelers. While I've never actually 'couchsurfed' I've certainly attended countless CS meet ups and events.

So, I sent messages to about twenty active CSers in each of the cities and waited for the response. I won't bore you with all the responses, but they were plentiful and frank. But to bring this post full circle, no less than five responses from Changchun CSers included a statement along the lines of 'I see you're from Minnesota, the cold shouldn't bother you'...can't wait to arrive...

The thought police strike again

It was reported here, and here, that a CCP propaganda organ, known as Chengdu Xianfang Culture Media Co (成都先锋文化传媒有限公司) has mothballed a series of articles regarding Taiwan. The China Post references The Oriental Daily News, but I couldn't find the story.  One can only assume that the articles portrayed Taiwan specifically, and democracy in general, in a favorable light. Are they not merciful...

This is par for the course for the CCP. While they are allowed to bribe farmers in southern Taiwan, they simultaneously prevent any positive information about Taiwan to filter into China.

The fallacy of centralized health care

The AP recently ran a story highlighting the one of the more insidious effects of centralized health care. Mike Stobbe does a fair enough job of laying out the basics of the issue, but never mentions the elephant in the room; that being the removal of any economic incentive to not smoke or eat healthily.

From an economist's perspective, there would be less reason to grouse about unhealthy behaviors by smokers, obese people, motorcycle riders who eschew helmets and other health sinners if they agreed to pay the financial price for their choices.

The key verb in this paragraph is agreed . In a free society, the verb that would be used would be choose. One can choose to smoke or not to smoke. One can choose to eat food or eat faux-food. If one chooses to smoke and eat crap, then one can choose, or not choose, any medical procedure they wish to prolong their life.

Unfortunately, we don't live in an economically free society. Every choice we make regarding our health is influenced by state policies. Railing against obese smokers and policies that coddle them are easy targets; low hanging fruit, as they say. But I would be remiss if I didn't point out that it is state policies that make faux-food so cheap and readily available. It is state policies that promote drug based treatments and inhibit natural treatments. And, of course, it is state policies that tell every american that it doesn't matter how you live your life, as long as you make it to 65 years old, your medical care will be taken care of. 

In the library of the dear leader

A US delegation recently arrived in North Korea, headed by Bill Richardson and Eric Schmidt. In tow was Sophie Schmidt, daughter of the tech mogul, who wrote an interesting account of her trip. She posted a few interesting pictures and a few anecdotes. The most interesting tidbit occurred in the tech lab

• The Kim Il Sung University e-Library, or as I like to call it, the e-Potemkin Village

Looks great, right? All this activity, all those monitors. Probably 90 desks in the room, all manned, with an identical scene one floor up.

One problem: No one was actually doing anything.  A few scrolled or clicked, but the rest just stared. More disturbing: when our group walked in--a noisy bunch, with media in tow--not one of them looked up from their desks.  Not a head turn, no eye contact, no reaction to stimuli. They might as well have been figurines.  

No doubt these subjects were given strict instructions on how to act when the delegation arrived. One wonders what there actual job is and where they were herded off to once the performance was over.

The Tourist guild strikes again on the Beautiful Island:

According to the Tourism Bureau, it will not strictly enforce the hotel requirement in the beginning. If a travel agency schedules its clients to stay in star-rate hotel, however, this will help with the passing of the trip in the review process.

Are they not merciful...The Organization of Large Hospitality Operators has successfully used it's political and economic clout to create an effective monopoly on the Chinese tourist market. In order to receive a star rating, hoteliers are required to pay a fee to the requisite quasi governmental agency.

Right now there is a middle class Chinese couple in Shanghai looking at a family vacation. The new rules for Chinese tourists has made Taiwan an option for them to visit but increasing the cost of their stay will inevitably push some people to The Philippines, Vietnam or Hainan who will gladly let them stay wherever they want.