In Asia’s Covid-19 reopening debate, are scientists having too much say?

Directing arrivals to quarantine at HK airport 

John Power, sounding like he’s been reading my posts on Zero-Covid. As in: it’s more a hope than a strategy, for how do you get out of it when the rest of the world is nowhere near zero? How do you open up, ever? 

…the dominance of a relatively small group of experts from a limited number of scientific fields – in particular epidemiology and virology – has also raised questions about the kind of expertise informing the pandemic response, including whether more broad-based knowledge is needed to tackle a crisis with implications for practically every aspect of society.

Such questions have been especially pressing in “zero-Covid” economies in the Asia-Pacific, where authorities and prominent experts have adopted a hyper-cautious approach towards any loosening of restrictions, including some of the world’s strictest border controls. Although credited with keeping deaths to a minimum, a zero-tolerance attitude towards Covid-19 cases in places such as Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong has left authorities struggling to map out a path back to normality, even as other parts of the world such as Europe welcome the return of international travel. Read on…

Ive mentioned before how surreal it is to watch Australia from afar. Panicking when they get one case somewhere and locking everyone down. It’s over the top. Power has a go at Oz well. Interesting because the Post is not particularly agin’ zero Covid and our dear motherland is itself, as are we here in HK, pretty much on zero Covid “strategy” places as well.

 

Calligraphy: dissing the philophers

 

My calligraphy, done for an o/s friend

"Reading Lao Zi" by the Tang poet Bai Juyi. Here's a translation, from Chinese poems: 

言者不如知者默
此语吾闻于老君
若道老君是知者
缘何自著五千文

yán zhě bù zhī zhī zhě mò
cǐ yǔ wú wén yú lǎo jūn
ruò dào lǎo jūn shì zhī zhě
yuán hé zì ruò wǔ qiān wén

Those who speak do not know, those who know are silent,

I heard this saying from the old gentleman.
If the old gentleman was one who knew the way,
Why did he feel able to write five thousand words?

The "old gentleman" is the philosopher Lao Zi. It really ought to be called "Dissing the dude". That's what Bai Juyyi is really doing.... Prime Tang Dynasty trolling. Or gentle fun, if you wish.

Lao Zi (aka Lao Tzu) developed what became Taoist philosophy in the 6th C BC, around the time of Confucius. 

As China turns inwards, Hong Kong’s international outlook fades

An unclear future for Hong Kong
Internet Archive version

At this time when there is so much focus on national security issues and more integration with the mainland, two recent events have brought home the historic role of foreigners, good and bad, in the creation of the city.

First was that a half-Chinese Hongkonger with the very Irish name of Siobhan Haughey became the first to win two Olympic medals. That in itself was a lesson in how Hong Kong has to some extent avoided the ethno-nationalism that afflicts many places, the mainland included.

Second is the imminent publication of a biography of the late Hari Harilela, the Sindhi trader whose family came to Hong Kong in the 1930s and who went from small player in the tailoring business to richest Indian in the city with a string of hotels and other properties here and overseas. The biography written by formerly Hong Kong-based journalist and author Vaudine England includes much from Harilela’s own written recollections as well as a wealth of background information on Hong Kong’s business history and international links. The full article...  [and the second half below the fold]

Icing on the cake for Hong Kong

I guess it’s safe, safer than news: devote the whole of the front page to the Olympics closing ceremony and how well Hong Kong did. 

But the Closing Ceremony? We thought it a stinker. Too long, too boring, too masked-mandated. The only fun bit was when they crossed to the Eiffel Tower square where a big happy crowd had gathered to welcome the handover for Paris 2024.

We did enjoy the Olympics  and the happiness of the athletes. They had a ball. Even in the despair of defeat. Strong emotions. Just a shame the mask mandate was so strictly enforced. And the closing speeches by IOC bureaucrats, oh boy… and some of the ceremony so self-indulgent and self-important worsened by militaristic and religious overtones. Yuck..

Roy and H.G. on the French

Well the Olympics are over for another four three years.

We — this household, male and female, young and old, canine and human — have enjoyed them.

I’ve also had fun listening to Aussie comedic commentators Roy and HG do their “Dodging Armageddon” blog from Tokyo. Day 14 is here, not sure for how long as you can’t subscribe.

I liked Roy’s ideas for making some sports more interesting. Like the equestrian dressage. Combine that with horseback shooting, says Roy. “What sort of guns?” Asks HG. Well, they’d need to be Olympic compliant, of course, says Roy. Like 25m air pistols or 50m air rifles. 

And this morning, doing their valedictory show, they looked forward to Brisbane 32, Roy suggesting adding new competitions like historically-themed events. “You could have the Pirates Pentathlon” for example. Sailing, fencing, archery, tug-of-war and walking the plank (aka diving)”. Brilliant! says HG.

ADDED: waiting for the closing ceremony. Three hours…sigh… The opener was four hours. Mind, that included the agonisingly long march past by the athletes, which you can’t really do without. 

End the "War on Drugs" (re: “Modern property hid huge cannabis grow house")

The “drug den” (police talk) at Tai Shui Ha Rd Yuen Long
The jacket says “Customs, Drug Investigation Bureau”

The Hong Kong Drug Investigation Group talks up its latest arrests: '"We have blocked the drugs from entering the local market," said Chan Siu-kau, acting superintendent of customs' drug investigation group'. ("Modern property hid huge cannabis grow house", August 7) 

If the acting superintendent thinks that "blocking the drugs" will have anything other than a minor and short-term effect, he is deeply deluded. 

The world has been fighting a so-called "war on drugs" since the "Harrison Narcotic Act" of 1914. The Act had immediate and negative effects, including:

…the failures of promising careers, the disrupting of happy families, the commission of crimes which will never be traced to their real cause, and the influx into hospitals to the mentally disordered of many who would otherwise live socially competent lives.

Sound familiar? That's the New York Medical Journal writing in May 1915. Yet rather than accept the expert opinion of deeply-engaged doctors ("following the science" in today's parlance), authorities chose to double down. Predictably, things got worse. 

Today, a full 106 years later, the message from doctors is the same. Prohibition harms. A recent BMJ meta study of 141 studies notes 

An estimated 271million people used an internationally scheduled ('illicit') drug in 2017, corresponding to 5.5% of the global population aged 15 to 64.1 Despite decades of investment, policies aimed at reducing supply and demand have demonstrated limited effectiveness.

"Limited effectiveness" is putting it pretty mildly.  There's worse:

…prohibitive and punitive drug policies have had counterproductive effects by contributing to HIV and hepatitis C transmission, fatal overdose, mass incarceration and other human rights violations and drug market violence.

By contrast decriminalisation "was most often not associated with change of use" in the studies, while reducing harms from both illicit drugs and licit drugs like alcohol and tobacco

The alternative, as is now well known, is not free-for-all, but a sophisticated medical-regulatory regime. Not gloating over the arrest of hapless weed growers in Yuen Long.

Decriminalisation is recommended by the United Nations, and 23 countries have followed the recommendation  Yet still we go on, at least here in Hong Kong. It's truly sad and depressing that we've learned nothing from more than a hundred years of failure. Our acting superintendent is proud of his catch — he's implementing the law! But the law is an ass, as history clearly shows, and the UN confirms. 

Blindly following asinine laws is really not something of which to be proud.

PF etc…

‘Miracles’ as city medal tally rises

HK Games success brings some positive vibes here
after a grim couple of years

We’ve watched a lot of this Tokyo 2020 and note this: that the athletes love them. There are naysayers out there. Cynics like Pierce Morgan saying “only gold matters”; others that this will be the last Olympics of its type. But the athletes? All of them every single one, love the Olympics. They’re happy when they get through early rounds; happy when they qualify; happier still if they make the podium; happiest when they strike gold. Even if they don’t, they’re happy to be here, at the Olympics. Happy, happy, happy!

Football and basketball have weekly outings. But for most Olympic sports— track and field, archery, judo, karate, sports climbing, wrestling, gymnastics and the dozens of others — this is a once every four years thing. They’re  in the world eye and they love it. 

Let’s keep the Olympics! Let’s have even more sports in the Games!

ADDED: 

1. Doesn’t seem to be such a focus in medals, which is good. No medals table in our local paper (last time they did) and no medals table on the TV coverage, also good. You might imagine that we here, being under the heel of Beijing, might have the table, with China at the top, shoved in our faces. But no.

2. It seems there’s greater number of countries participating and getting to finals, and more medals outside the “big five”. But that’s just an impression, haven’t seen the numbers. 

Quarantine-free entry for returning residents halted

This is what happens when you have a “Zero-Covid” policy. As does Australia, New Zealand as well as we here in Hong Kong. This quarantine-free entry (already limited) was halted because of one case. So when can we ever open? The world won’t be without Covid in my lifetime, if ever. While other places, Europe, the UK, the US, are highly vaccinated and getting in with pretty normal life and largely quarantine-free travel for the vaccinated. 

All of the zero Covid places have low vaccination rates. 

ADDED: “Zero Covid” economies risk being overtaken. By John Power

Opening economies as much about politics as science. By Kok Xinghui and Dewey Sim

Bigger, Stronger, Faster: The Truth About Testosterone

Click above to go to the podcast, Barri Weiss talking to Carole Hoover

@45:00 discussion of trans women in sport. Carole Hoover says men are on average 40% stronger than women, especially in the upper body. Men have twice the muscle of women and women have twice the fat of men. The whole discussion is interesting but I’m mainly interested in the transgender in sports issue, because it’s a hot topic right now, especially with the first transgender woman in the Olympics. I wrote here about it.

When a man transitions to a trans woman, that extra body strength only drops about 5% (to 38% stronger) twelve months after transitioning. Hoover say a trans woman will “retain significantly more muscle mass and body size" than a woman (which she calls "natal woman"). 

I’m short, she says, science shows us unequivocally, that the post-puberty strength, speed and size advantage of men is largely retained when they transition to trans women. Whether that is an unfair advantage is a separate question which she does not want to address. She says the people pushing for trans women to be allowed to compete in elite sports are trying to make the argument on the basis of science, but the science does not support their argument. They ought to be making their case on human rights grounds. I'd be happy to see a human rights argument. The thing is, we could all agree that we ought confer all human rights to trans people both men and women. But, there is no human right to take part in a sports contest. Particularly when that right collides with the right of a natal women, whose spot is taken by a (on average) stronger, faster, trans woman. (Note the issue here is always about trans women. There's no fear that a trans man -- a woman who has transitioned to a man - will challenge natal men).

I wrote more about this here. That was about Laurel Hubbard, the first trans woman to be allowed to compete in the Olympics. That was NZ's Laurel Hubbard in the +87kg weightlifting. She did poorly. Probably to the relief of promoters of trans women in sports, who can say "see.... she got beat by cis-women, so what's the problem?".

ADDED: re the last para, that very point was made here, at the Althouse blog. An Occasional Reader believes Althouse is just stating the facts of  where we're at, not endorsing them. I'm not so sure....

Quoting her, I responded:

Broad ruling will have chilling effect in free speech

Michael Davis criticises the recent ruling and sentencing of “secessionist” motorcyclist Leon Tong — banged up for nine years. 

Davis makes the case that the ruling ignores the International Covenant on Human Rights, the HK Basic Law and even the National Security Law itself. The Treble! 

Let’s note — with some hope in our hearts ❤ — that this is published in our own South China Morning Post by a professor at the University of Hong Kong (ok, “former” professor). By “hope” I mean hope that at least this level of free speech — able to criticise the government and judicial decisions by local residents in our main English language newspaper — can continue. And that the other shoe doesn’t drop. Which I keep fearing. 

ADDED: I looked up “waiting for the other shoe to drop” to make sure I’d used it correctly and its origin. 

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Meaning: Waiting for something to happen you feel is inevitable [Usually negative]

In the tenements of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th century, apartments were built with bedrooms on top of one another. It was common to hear your upstairs neighbor take off a shoe, drop it, and then repeat the action. It became shorthand for waiting for something you knew was coming. [Link]

I learn also that a “shoe drop” is the difference in height between the heel and the sole of a shoe. I now have a drop of half an inch inserted into my right hand Croc, as I did something to my back in my last dive into the pool last October which seems to have shortened my right leg. I just bought a pair of heel risers (“drops”, I guess) on Amazon and used just the right one. It seems to do something, though I should really go along to have an X-ray.…I’ve put my back out in some way.

Bearing Witness to China’s ‘Orwellian Dystopia’

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen
Is that Winston Smith I clock, front and centre?
Kashgar, Xinjiang, 2019; Patrick Wack’s “Dust “

Things are much too often said to be “Orwellian” these days. But it may be spot on for today’s Xinjiang in Bari Weiss’s “Bearing witness to China’s Orwellian dystopia”. That’s sure how it seems for the untermemsch, the poor Han-suppressed Uygurs, as described in photographer Patrick Wack’s interview with Bari’s sister Suzy Weiss.

Another classic example of the Streisand Effect in action. When will authoritarians learn? Don’t bring attention to things you’re trying to hide, by banning them! You only get world attention. Who would have noticed Wack’s new book, “Dust”? Answer: maybe 1,000 folks who bought it. Who will know about it now? Answer: many hundreds of thousands, the whole readership of Bari Weiss, former editorial writer at the New York Times and now a popular author in Substack. I’d never have heard of Wack but for the efforts of China’s censors and Kodak’s supine submission to it. Shame on Kodak!

The ten photographs that China objected to are now preserved Bari Substack link above. TBF, I don’t find them all that damaging to China. I don’t see the big deal. I guess it’s the contrast between the freedom for Uygurs to pray just a few years back and the destruction of most of Xinjiang’s mosques since then. That’s only an inference from the photos, which clearly China’s fervent censors were quick to make.

Nine years’ jail for first conviction under security law

Today's front page. Buried online. Many comments

At least let’s be thankful for small mercies. Prisoner Leon Ting could have been sentenced under Chinese law and the sentence could have been life in prison. But the three judges held firm in that, at least: convicting under Hong Kong law, as required by our Basic Law. Though, tbf, nine years seems harsh. For the “crime” of riding a motorbike into a cordon of police.

Meantime Hong Kong’s second silver to add to the gold in fencing. Siobhan Haughey strikes again with Silver, in the 100m freestyle where Australia’s Emma McKeon won Gold. UPDATE: Kaylee McKeown just struck again with another Gold in 200m backstroke! (09:40 HKT). UPDATE: And then Oz’s Ariadne Titmus gets Silver 1.3 seconds behind Katie Ledecky’s Gold in the 800m freestyle  (10:00). Good race.

We’re enjoying the Olympics. Though weird and sometimes sad there’s no fans. Such great facilities. Empty. Though they need not have been. That was just an over cautious decision by…who? The Japanese? The IOC?

Our favourite sport, surprise to us, has been Archery. The format is terrific, quick and utterly fair competitions, that aren’t over till they’re over, and often tense. Jing and I are going to head off to buy Archery kits, after John has headed back to LA.

Calligraphy (Mine)

七十而从心所欲，Qi Shi Er Cong Xin Suo Yu
"When you’re 70 you can go, like, wherever…" Li Shu = Clerical Script

As above, Xiao Zhuan = Small Seal Script
(Except top left, 心 ❤️, Xin, in script from Warring States
because I don’t like the Seal Script for xin)*

Si Zhong Hua Zhi Xing Nian Jiu Zhou Zhi You
When you think of travels in China think of your friends there
Xing Shu = Running Script

“Peaceful Night” by Tang poet, Li Bai
Xing Shu = Running Script 

First lines of “peaceful night” in
 Modified Li Shu = Clerical Script

Practice in various styles

“Friend”, You, in various scripts: Xing, Li, Xiao Zhuan, Da Zhuan, Kai
(With one trick "you" for China nerds)

The above are my calligraphy, on Meiyutang (美玉堂) Xuan Handmade Rice paper, with various brushes and brush pens. Done for friends around the world. 

The seals stamped on in red are also mine; first efforts at carving into soapstone.

Spring View, from here

*ADDED: (re 2nd from top) Here’s why I don’t like the Small Seal Script of 心 Xin ❤️. No matter how I draw it, it looks like bathroom graffiti. The Warring States version is far prettier, IMO…

HK rules to be used in terror case sentencing

Today’s SCMP front page 

Just as well, otherwise it would really have been all over for the rule of law in Hong Kong. Maintenance of which, the Common Law, is guaranteed under the Basic Law. Still, the prosecutor argued for mainland law to apply. Why? That's worrying indeed. Which could have given the convictee, Motorbike rider Leon Tong, life in prison for the “crime” of riding a bike into a police cordon. While flying a flag of the 2019 demonstrators. 

Also “terror” should be in quotes. By any reasonable take of the video it was dangerous driving. 

There’s more in this case in Wednesday post.

Inspector named to look into publisher

I’d thought it might be looking into the publisher arrested the other day for publishing kiddies books. 

But it’s all about the campaign of revenge against the Apple Daily. Not enough to have jailed the owner, his staff and shut it down. They’re dancing on the grave.

Meantime just to the right of the above headline, the good news… of Siobhan Haughey’s Sillver medal in the women’s 200 m freestyle. Just an arm behind Australia’s Ariadne Titmus in Gold, her second.

We’re enjoying the Olympics. Archery has been the surprise package fo us. Easy to understand, skilful and tense competitions. Cool gear too…

Guilty verdict in first case tried under new law

Today’s front page

Anywhere else — including Hong Kong of two years ago — the charge might have been “dangerous driving”. 

What he did, Leon Tong, and it was caught on video, was to ride a motorbike into a group of police. It’s not clear if it was deliberate or if he was just trying to break through the police cordon. 

His real “crime” was flying a black flag, with white characters 光復香港 時代革命 Guangfu Xiang Gang, Shidai  Geming, “Free Hong Kong; Revolution of our Times”, the motto of the 2019 demonstrations, and doing so on the 1st of July 2020, the day the new National Security Law came into effect.

The “free Hong Kong” bit is said to be Seditious. I thought it was a silly and pointless slogan for if there’s a bright red line for China it’s independence for Hong Kong. No way in a million years Beijing would allow even a whiff of a move to independence.  

So Tong was naive and foolish. But for that naivety for that foolishness he now faces life  in prison.

The National Security Law came into effect on July 1 last year, foisted on us by an impatient Beijing in direct response to the continuous riots through 2019. It was under that new law that Tong was charged with Sedition and Terrorism. A year in prison with no bail. Trial with no jury of his peers. Three judges. And verdict in a few weeks.

杀鸡儆猴 Shājī Jǐnghóu

“Kill the chicken to frighten the monkey”. Some say that strategy won’t work* but there are plenty of frightened monkeys. *(BTW that article, in Forbes, shows why it’s bad for ones health to be too rich or too independent in China. Why it won’t have its own Elon, or Jeff, or Bill).

Leon Tong Ying-kit plays chicken with the authorities …

ADDED: Inside pages:

Story of a slogan

ADDED: Is the South China Morning Post pushing the envelope in carrying a photo of the slogan that is now illegal — “Free Hong Kong; Revolution of our Times” ?

Zen and the art of Archery (and Air Pistolry)

Korean men's and women's teams both won Gold

Great sport to watch! Passes Roy and HG's "pub test" for watchability. The men's final was tense and exciting. 

Both the Korean men's and women's teams are world conquerors, having won all the gold medals since it became Olympic.

What a great sport. You don't have to punish your body or bend it out of shape. Shoot a few quivers with your mates and head off to the pub.... A similar other is 10-metre Air Pistol. All the guys lining up for the final the other day looked like they'd wandered in off the street after a few pints and a fag.... Fun. Was exciting too. Definitely passes the pub test for watchability and great format. Easy to understand and quick results. Ditto the archery.

Jing and I are looking into it.... There's an Archery Centre in Kowloon.

Hong Kong’s golden boy

Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung wins Gold 🎃in the Fencing foil. Watched by millions here.

The Hong Kong government did something good. They bought the rights to the coverage and gave them out for free. So we have no less than nine channels in Olympics at any one time.

We’ve enjoyed the Archery. Jing and I are going to buy some gear and give it a try.

The Carnival of Flowers, Toowoomba, Australia

 

The cutting above, from the Toowoomba Chronicle was sent by an occasional reader. I knew Essex Tait, quite well -- long-time dated his younger daughter. He was a bomber navigator over Italy in WW2. We used to have wonderful talks and disputations over the dinner table back in the 70s. Then we parted company, en tout, and he died a decade ago.

I never knew that he was the father of this Carnival of Flowers. Now 70+ years old. Like me. What a lovely legacy. If we could all have such a one, we'd be rightly proud.

Respectus Essex

Gone Girl.... and boy and mum and dad and family...

Hong Kong airport, once busy 24/7, is now busy only once a day：
for the afternoon flights to the UK

Returning home the other day I noticed a number of empty houses. I'd noticed one or two before, but that's normal Hong Kong churn. There seem to be rather more than usual now. 

If so, it's nor surprising, as we know a number of friends and colleagues who've left Hong Kong. For good. 

That number now is around 1,000 to 1,500 per day -- deduced from various data (and which I've not fact-checked).

Our government says it's no problem. They're just cracking hardy though.

1,000 a day is a million in three years; 1,500 is a million in just two. Of mostly working age folks, who've left and this time they're not coming back --unlike in 1997 when the jitters led some to head o/s to get foreign passports, before, in many cases, returning. We know that only from talking to them. Anecdote, in other words, not data. Still...

The loss of somewhere between 350,000 and 500,000 per year -- the total population of my old home town of Canberra, Australia's capital -- is the loss of the most productive of our society. The loss won't be made up by births, which run at 80-some thousand per year. And it won't be made up by mainlanders moving to Hong Kong, which number about 50,000 per year.

Despite all this, I remain fairly optimistic about Hong Kong. It will be more mainlandised, but that's not all bad. And the economy will power along, as we remain a financial centre and will be more so as China IPOs that might have gone to the US will now come to Hong Kong. It’ll be “good enough”. And especially in comparison with other places to live … we’ve seen some come back after having headed “home”, finding that home is in fact here.

The red line for me still is whether or not I can freely connect with the world. If that changes then I'd be looking to move. The arrest of kiddie book publishers, and opposition activists I deplore, as does the world. But does my leaving stop that. And I do know the "First they came for..." lament.

In the meantime, I hang out here. In fact some old mates, an occasional reader, that had left Hong Kong for Europe a few years back have recently returned. Because, they said, despite it all, Hong Kong was still "the best place to live" for them. 

Related articles:

Hong Kong residents leave, if they can

Hong Kong passes law that can stop people leaving

Leaving Hong Kong: a family makes a wrenching decision 

Arrested for publishing kiddies’ books

Today’s South China Morning Post

Really? This is a priority?? This is deemed necessary?? Publishing kids books about sheep defending a village from wolves is now “instigating violence? What next, Animal Farm? Damn the National Security Law…(*)

By contrast the headline at bottom is about the thugs that attacked protesters at an MTR station. Hey beat them viciously amd was all caught on camera. They were believed to be pro-government types. Bringing them to justice is a good thing. 

Arresting booksellers not so much.

(*)

ADDED: Comments are taking a very anti-slant: i.e. mocking the arrests for making satire illegal.  Samples:

J W.

Lol, satire is a crime now! China quickly cementing itself as the laughing stock of the world. Continuing Mao's cultural devolution.

Pang-fei L.

0 Based on hundreds-of-year long common law, 'sedition' involves causing the receivers to act due to the seditious materials distributed or published.But the draconian National Security Law (Hong Kong version) focuses on politics only and its main function is to silence dissidents and have them (even suspected ones) to be harshly punished by the http://law.No wonder, the western civilized democratic countries claimed that the goal of the Law (which was promptly formulated and had not been read by our sole delegate in the National People's Congress's standing committee nor our Chief Executive before its promulgation/announcement.) was to silence dissidents in this city after the forced closure of the outspoken local paper,' The Apple Daily

Paul W.

It is obvious these publications are aimed at mocking the mainlanders and government and in most places this is rated as satire.  However, branding these as seditious material is a bit rich. 

Stu L.

Sad the way things are going. I assume satire would also now be illegal if it was directed at government officials or their actions. It's funny how people defend the NSL and say that all countries have national security laws like this .... because when I search Amazon UK for 'boris johnson' then every item is derogatory or 'inciting seditious thought', yet no one is being arrested or products withdrawn.

Mat2437

So if you come up with ideas to improve your government, is that seditious? If you say so and so is not suitable to be the head of gov, would that constitute an offence, bordering on seditiousness? 

Warren S.

So why this book and not other revolutionary related history books?  I'm sure our editors in SCMP have more scathing comments about the government and the protest events of 2019 than a picture book with no words.  Didn't SCMP also publish a book about the 2019 events with actual photos of protesters going up against police?  I would think that's more graphic than a bunch of sheep and wolves.

Damn the electric fence!

“He appears to be a machinist, at least by avocation and possibly professionally. He has access to very good tools: a lathe, a sandblasting cabinet, a milling machine, drill bits he keeps intimidatingly sharp." | Althouse

Click above to go to vid

With h/t to Althouse blog, a relaxing seventeen minute video of a careful restoration.
I love the comments at that blog post. I share their fascination with watching fine craftspeople and artisans at work. As commenters note, it's a relief after the hyper-ness of politics and current affairs. Relaxing, like after a fever.
The vid featured is a machinist restoring an ancient metal vise. It's an easy 17 minute watch.
In my own case I tend to watch vids on woodworking. Lumber milling (who knew? You can make fine lumber with just a chain saw); furniture making, especially with scrap wood, old palettes and the like; boat building.… 

‘Surely you must be joking, Mr President!’ | Alex Lo

 

US warns companies about doing business in Hong Kong 

Lately I’ve not often agreed with SCMP columnist Alex Lo.  But it today’s piece he’s spot on. Biden warns US businesses about doing busienss in Hong Kong. While that same business in Hong Kong tells him to butt out; his warnings will only harm them, they say.

Some believe Biden is just out to harm Hong Kong. Maybe. The real target is likely China and we’re just collateral damage. 

I give this “The Road to Hell…” tag, though I’m not so sure even the intentions are good.

Meantime.as a matter of fact, multinationals are increasing staffs in Hong Kong as they see it being an increasingly direct route into the Greater Bay Area, the economic bloc of southern China comprising over 90 million and scads of high-tech.

Student union raided

 

Today’s front page, SCMP
Click to enlarge 

Just the ticket. Just what you want to see on your front pages. The rozzers arresting students…

The Climate-Change Agenda Goes Out With a Bang | WSJ

Nissan Leaf recharging in Paris 

I had a discussion in Australia a few years ago on this very topic: given Australia has $x billion to spend on tackling climate change, how should we best spend it? Not just should it be wind or solar? Or carbon tax vs carbon capture. Where in the world should we spend it?

Given lie limited dollars, shouldn't we think more broadly? Globally? 

Given that it's a global problem, where in the world should we Australians spend that $xx billion? I suggested China, just on the basis that it has far larger carbon footprint than Australia. Economics teaches of the decreasing marginal utility of each extra dollar spent. It would have more far more utility — for the world — if spent our limited funds in China. Moreover each dollar would go further in China, given its lower labour and production costs.

Of course that doesn't cut much ice in Oz. Australia and its very active Greens want the money to be spent in Australia, to create new industries and generate new, green, clean jobs. And that’s understandable. It’s just not (arguably) in the best interest of the world. Not the most effective use of our money. 

I came across the same argument in the article below. Carbon intensity (amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GNP) in China and India is ten times that in America, Britain or Japan (note: not fact-checked). So it makes much more sense — from the world's point of view — to spend money in those countries, in China, etc, to reduce their carbon intensity, rather than our countries where they will have less impact globally.

Those coun­tries need only im­port al­ready-ex­ist­ing car­bon-re­ducing technologies. Beijing's new emis­sions-trad­ing sys­tem al­most cer­tainly is an attempt to force re­cal­ci­trant com­panies to do this, as much for the sake of gen­eral economic ef­fi­ciency as for any other rea­son.

Such a tran­si­tion still will be costly, to be fi­nanced ei­ther via higher con­sumer prices on Chi­nese ex­ports or di­rect gov­ern­ment sub­si­dies. But it's al­most certainly cheaper than de­vel­oped countries' cur­rent plans to blow an­other few tril­lion dol­lars try­ing to in­vent an en­tirely new econ­omy to achieve only mar­ginal emis­sions re­duc­tions.

As the author says, though, it's unlikely that that common sense will prevail. Much more likely that $trillions will be spent in the developed west, to relatively small marginal gains. Arguments such as this will no doubt be dismissed as "climate denial" or "avoiding our responsibilities" or some such. Though they are not; they’re discussions about how to use limited international funds.

If we really are — as Extinction Rebellion et.al. keep telling us — in an existential crisis which confronts mankind as a whole, it's more than a pity that can't adopt the most effective solutions, for the world.

Meamtime, let's not forget nuclear! Merkel does her farewells in Washington, her baleful legacy is demolishing a perfectly safe, clean technology. Good one, Mutti…

The Climate-Change Agenda Goes Out With a Bang

ADDED: The article is mainly about how publics from France to Japan are rejecting some climate change initiatives. … Change of strategy needed.

‘China’s vaccine profiteering at the U.N. is being funded by U.S. taxpayers’ | WaPo

Sinovaxing a Manila resident

It must be really bad when Republicans and Democrats agree on something. In this case that China is ripping off the UN body in charge of distributing Covid vaccines. 

China stands to make billions by selling 550 million shots to the UN. 

That's after staring the whole mess in the first place.

I had the impression that China had been quite generous in distributing its Sinovac worldwide. It turns out, not so much …

/Snip:

Beijing has been exploiting the pandemic to advance its political and financial interests since covid-19 emerged in late 2019 in China. The latest and perhaps most egregious example came this week, when Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative, announced its new plan to purchase up to 550 million doses of China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, with expected costs in the billions.


This deal struck both U.S. lawmakers and some senior members of the Biden administration as scandalous, for several obvious reasons. Not only have the Chinese-made vaccines been shown to be less effective, but China has also contributed no money to the Covax program and has donated zero shots from its national stockpile. By contrast, the United States is Covax's largest donor, having pledged $4 billion, and has begun distributing 55 million donated shots and promised to donate 500 million more, no charge.


During Wednesday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, ranking Republican James E. Risch (Idaho) called the Covax contract "appalling." He asked Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, to comment on "the irony that China has contributed nothing to Covax and yet now stands to profit from it, when indeed, they started this whole mess in the first place."


Power agreed, saying: "It is appalling that Beijing chose to make a profit on those vaccines rather than to contribute financially to Covax or to donate its state-owned vaccines to Covax to reach people in their hour of desperate need."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/15/china-charging-un-for-vaccine-when-us-is-donating/

Digital Art or Visual Propaganda? China’s New Wave of Online Political Satire

 

The problem with these memes is that they're very persuasive. They're powerful. Wrong. But powerful.

With thanks to Manya Koetse over at What's on Weibo. Where they say:

A specific genre of political satire has been gaining popularity on Chinese social media lately, with some images even making international headlines. While political satire mocking Chinese authorities is generally soon taken offline, these online works are brought to the limelight by Chinese official channels. Is it grassroots digital art? Or is it official visual propaganda?

This is original content by What's on Weibo that requires investment. You are free to link to this article. Please identify this website or author when you base content on this source or quote from it. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com to buy additional rights. 

'The Last G7' by 半桶老阿汤, Half Bucket of Old Soup

Check it out. Click to enlarge. It's powerful satire.