Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 4:37AM ARTICLE: 'All-Out War' Declared on Hamas, By Griff Witte and Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, December 30, 2008; Page A01
If Israel was going to do something to create new facts on the ground, better it was Hamas than Iran, because that's choosing the inevitable over the incredible.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 3:51AM WORLD NEWS: "Manila Banks on Its Expats," by James Hookway, Wall Street Journal, 8 December 2008.
Ten percent of the Philippines lives and work abroad (9 out of 90 million). Since 2005 they have sent home between 10 and 15 billion dollars a year. 2008's running total is still ahead (through September) of last year's, keeping the overseas Filipinos in line to boost their annual take for the 7th year in a row.
Mexico is currently suffering from lower remittances, because so many guest workers are in the construction industry, now in the doldrums. The difference with Filipinos? Lots in education and healthcare--more recession resistant. Thirty percent of these overseas Filipinos are in the U.S.
The saving grace? Most overseas Filipinos send home the same amount, even as conditions abroad tighten. They simply tighten their belts--so to speak.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 3:49AM MONEY & INVESTING: "China looks to Wall Street To Lure Back Native Talent," by James T. Areddy and Carolyn Cui, Wall Street Journal, 5 December 2008.
INTERVIEW: "Be Nice To The Countries That Lend You Money," Gao Xiqing by James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly, December 2008.
China needs its market talent to come home and help it dramatically upgrade its own--and fast.
As Fallows' interview shows, China is getting smarter about its money, but the rule sets lag behind badly.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 3:47AM INTERNATIONAL: "Rwanda Stirs Deadly Brew Of Troubles In Congo: Driven by Riches, Fear And Strategic Interests," by Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times< 4 December 2008.
You'd think they'd learn, but we're talking about a fake state drawn with meaningless borders--the Congo, that is, so the temptation is simply too great, apparently.
The Congo remains a carcass state that the neighbors routinely pick over.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 3:40AM ARTICLE: "Obama's Mideast Plans Face New Complications," by Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal, 29 December 2008.
Granted, Israel can always cite cause, but you have to wonder if Tel Aviv isn't simply getting its licks in while it can in order to set the table to its liking vis-a-vis the new administration.
Israel is as calculating as any Arab regime in the region on this score.
To me, a rather solid choice. Hamas deserves its beatdown, so why not get it over early?
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 6:34PM Couldn't get anyone to watch a movie with me and my brain was operating too slow for me to do anything else. Everyone wanted some space after the trip, plus new toys were finally being put to use.
So, with Vonne reading, I caught one of the two favorites that she got me for Xmas: "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) which Wyler directed three years after "Mrs. Miniver" (1943). He won best directing Oscars for each, and later added a third for "Ben-Hur." Only Frank Capra (3) and John Ford (4) won as many.
Wyler's most acclaimed (by Oscar, that is) movies are:
1937 Nominated for "Dodsworth"
1940 Nominated for "Wuthering Heights"
1941 Nominated for "The Letter"
1942 Nominated for "The Little Foxes"
1943 Won for "Mrs. Miniver"
1947 Won for "The Best Years of Our Lives"
1950 Nominated for "The Heiress"
1952 Nominated for "Detective Story"
1954 Nominated for "Roman Holiday"
1957 Nominated for "Friendly Persuasion"
1959 Won for "Ben-Hur"
1966 Nominated for "The Collector"
Something to be nominated in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
I think most people would cite "Wuthering Heights" and "The Heiress" as his two other best movies. Although "The Letter" is a classic too. The guy had a huge rep for directing women; every leading lady wanted to work for him (kinda spoils the old review joke about "Loved Ben, Hated Her")
Get the whole dump here.
The other favorite movie of mine that Vonne got for Xmas was . . . "Mrs. Miniver." That movie proved to be such a morale booster in England in 1943 that Churchill said Greer Garson was worth a dozen battleships, in his opinion.
The two movies also have two of my favorite male actors of that timeframe (and later): Walter Pidgeon (Miniver) and Frederic March (Years).
Of course, the big draw in both movies for me in Theresa Wright, the only actress nominated for Oscars in her first three movies. She won for "Miniver."
It always amazes me how "Best Years" holds up with time. The dialogue is as fresh and meaningful today as it must have been then (indeed, it must have really caught a lot of people off-guard in its existential ennui). Amazing performance from Dana Andrews too, who never got another role of that quality, in my mind.
"Best Years" killed "A Wonderful Life" at the Oscars that year, getting a best supporting for the real-world WWII double-amputee Harold Russell. March took the best actor. Screenplay and best picture to boot. Russell got a second honorary award for inspiring other disabled vets.
My only quibble: the DVD wasn't widescreen. Not sure if the original was that wide to begin with, but I felt a bit cheated because the backgrounds are so interesting in this movie. Still, I don't think it was clipped. Seemed like the whole frame, just boxier.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:59PM It was kind of fun to do the Tweeter thing. I really had to watch the character limit (140 spaces--filled or not), but it's a cool way, methinks, for capturing a long, episodic event--vacation, big gig, overseas travel, book tour, media appearances, the inauguration, etc.
So it won't be something I do everyday (so far, at least), but I can see using it regularly and perhaps for the more observational bits I just want to stream with no special effort..
The problem for me is the archiving, which is what I love about the blog. So I'm having Sean bundle it all up and linking it off my Tom's trips page.
Flights back last night easy enough. We got home at midnight with no delays or troubles. Today was errand and catch-up tasks of all sorts. Tomorrow is the annual New Year's Eve movie marathon, skipped last year for DisneyWorld. We view a non-stop show of something, like one year we did all the Lord of the Rings movies (extended) in a row. We start at noon.
This year it'll be Mel Brooks movies. May have to Tweet that.
Gave an impromptu interview by cell to Matthew Stannard of the San Francisco Chronicle (walked right past the HQ this weekend--off Mission?), who's closing a story on Obama's challenges coming into office. He's reading Great Powers (proof) and says he's liking it a lot. Hoping for a review . . . He says he will try to plug the book. Good thing he was reading, because I was on my way to the doc for another sinus infection (following a cold).
Took down all the Xmas stuff today. No work tomorrow with the marathon and then, bright and early on the 1st, I begin my big push on the new brief, prepping it for a counter-terrorism conference at the Reagan Building on the 8th. Second show will be the Minnesota open-to-the-public gig at Mankato at 4pm CST on the 16th.
We going to watch "Escape From Alcatraz" tonight, while the island is fresh in our memory.
I am glad I got the antibiotics, I can feel it kick in now for real. Got my workouts (Precor elliptical and Bowflex) in, though. I'm thinking of adding yoga as the third leg to the stool.
My secret dream as it emerges: Eli versus Peyton in the SB. Could happen. Giants are the class of NFC and nobody's hotter than the Colts right now.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:57AM ARTICLE: "No Easy Indian Response To Pakistan's Troop Shift," by Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 29 December 2008.
Pakistan has shifted troops from FATA to the border with India.
Neat when the terrorists call all the shots, isn't it.
Pavlov's dog has spoken...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:56AM OBITUARIES: "Samuel P. Huntington, 81, Political Scientist, Is Dead," by Tamar Lewin, New York Times, 29 December 2008.
First (and just about only prof) at Harvard who didn't return my papers with question marks and "huh?'s in the margins. Instead, he offered excited comments and compliments and questions and encouragement. My one class with him was the comparative politics graduate survey co-taught by Bob Putnam.
Huntington was the first poli sci guy in grad school who made me feel like I had a chance of doing something useful in the field--the first prof who really seemed to "get" me.
And that meant a lot to a 24-year-old grad student. I can't tell you how much relief his feedback generated.
Later thrill: helping bring him to CNA after his "Clash" article. He was always so gracious at moments like that. It's something I try to follow in similar F2F situations.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:45AM BUSINESS DAY: "Recession Trickles to India: Echoing Clients' Woes, Outsourcing Firms Are Scaling Back," by Jeremy Kahn, New York Times, 4 December 2008.
The killer point from a local Indian head of a Gartner unit:
Historically, when it comes to innovation, Indian companies are relatively weak compared to the I.B.M.s and Accentures of the world. It has been their chronic Achilles' heel.
So the "rise of the rest" hardly means the West becomes irrelevant in terms of generating global economic growth--anything but.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:43AM FRONT PAGE: "From Hoof to Plate, a New Bid to Cut Emissions: Focus on Efficiency as the Number of Meat Eaters Increases," by Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times, 4 December 2008.
This is moving in the direction of Amory Lovins' "natural capitalism" notion: incorporating the costs of natural capital into your economic transactions.
I use both this and Lovins' Oil Endgame stuff in Great Powers. I've known Amory for years now, and have a huge respect for his work.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 1:31AM TECHNOLOGY & HEALTH: "Poorer Nations Go Online on Cellphones," by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal, 5 December 2008.
Long predicted by smart observers.
Hell, I do almost half my web surfing on my phone now.
Monday, December 29, 2008 at 2:44AM ARTICLE: Venezuela to seize gold concessions as oil falls, Chavez says,
By Rachel Jones, Associated Press, 2008-12-27
The great comeuppance arrives for real among the axis of diesel.
(Thanks: Steve Epstein)
Monday, December 29, 2008 at 2:38AM ARTICLE: In Booming Gulf, Some Arab Women Find Freedom in the Skies, By KATHERINE ZOEPF, New York Times, December 21, 2008
Name that equivalent, time-capsule moment from U.S. history.
(Thanks: Kilngoddess)
Monday, December 29, 2008 at 1:56AM OPINION: "Let's End Drug Prohibition," by Ethan A. Nadelmann, Wall Street Journal, 5 December 2008.
Provocative and intelligent argument that says "Most Americans agreed that alcohol suppression was worse than alcohol consumption."
The truth is, drinking is a lot worse than pot in terms of social costs.
Monday, December 29, 2008 at 1:55AM MEDIA & MARKETING: "Advertising: Marketers Flock to China's Biggest TV Network," by Geoffrey A. Fowler, Wall Street Journal, 20 November 2008.
Despite global economic woes, western marketers are salivating at the notion of shaping the tastes of China's emerging middle class.
Brand loyalty wars are the biggest conflicts we'll see East-v-West in coming years.
Monday, December 29, 2008 at 1:51AM INTERNATIONAL: "South Korea Joins Lucrative Practice of Inviting Medical Tourists to Its Hospitals," by Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 16 November 2008.
You just gotta believe that South Korea is full of companies chomping at the bit to carve out empires among Asia's rising medical market as the continent ages while simultaneously growing richer.
South Korea is often a lead goose on these things.
Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 3:23PM From top of Coit Tower
5x9 cell
"Broadway" at night in Alcatraz.
Muir Woods
Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 4:33AM Got talked out of it.
Was told Obama is bringing hope.
Alcatraz
Sign at Alcatraz dock: shows remnant graffiti from Indian occupation at end of 60s.
Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 12:56AM Four scary words: Egypt after Hosni Mubarek
Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarek's "emergency rule" is deep into its third decade, with modernizing son Gamal teed up as the pharaoh-in-waiting. While Gamal's efforts to open up Egypt's state-heavy economy have progressed nicely the past few years, so has Mubarek the Elder's repression of all political opponents, yielding the Arab world's most ardent impression of the Chinese model of development.
But with the global recession now reaching down deeply into emerging markets, serious cracks emerge in the Mubarek regime's facade. Unemployment is - unofficially - somewhere north of 30 percent. Worse, it's highly concentrated among youth, whose demographic bulge currently generates 800,000 new job seekers every year.
Read on at KnoxNews.
