If Asians can think, then can Americans learn geography?

The Unknown

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
—Donald Rumsfeld at Department of Defense news briefing Feb. 12, 2002, available at http://www.slate.com/id/2081042

Donald Rumsfeld left out a very-often unmentioned type of known here: the unknown known, the things we don't know that we know. This is a fundamental flaw in a world where we are overloaded with communication, particularly with the advent of the Internet. It is not that we are missing the fundamental facts; it is that we are not looking at the big picture and putting the pieces of the puzzle together!

Don't lose too much hope, though. We don't know how to make the pieces fit because we don't know what the solution is or what the big picture should look like, though we like to hypothesize.

Take the American surprise at the global rise of China over the past 20 years: unless you were actively questioning the way the American media categorized China as pinko commies with a complete disregard for individual freedom, you would never guess they would suddenly grow into a big player on the world stage. All the information was there, but not all of it was presented to Americans.

Now, if you were a Sinophile, you would surf the Net for all things China-related, and you would be a fool to limit yourself to American news sources (especially if you limited yourself to English language sources as well).

One way to explain the phenomenon of why many were surprised was that the news media was portraying a different picture and limited our potential for understanding and making our own conclusions, due to foreign policy and cultural biases. If you're not angry about being lied to, maybe you should be: the majority of the American news media today tends to strongly emphasize conflicts of development and corrupt government officials and synthesizing it with Asia's economic "miracle" in an attempt to show what the price of progress is in the region.

But you should also probably be a little more sympathetic towards Americans and their media instead of outraged, considering:

1) the United States is a big country with so much going on that people tend to only care about what goes on in their community, and if anything more, what their State and Federal government affairs mean to them;

2) the information is there, but that doesn't mean they'll read it or access it;

3) alternatively, they may not even have the means to access all the information, such as the non-tech-savvy and those who can't read (illiteracy is still common); and

4) how much does a West Virginia coal miner care about the new independence of East Timor, let alone why should he care when it may have no effect on his life whatsoever?

Now to totally throw that one around by reiterating the earlier statement of the unknown known: there are things we don't know that we know, and it can and will hurt us because we don't prepare for it. Biggest example: all the information for 9/11 led up to it, but it was virtually ignored because it was categorized as low-priority by the higher echelons of national security, and through that perspective, we didn't expect to be attacked, yet we knew we were going to be attacked. To hit a little harder, the Detroit automobile manufacturing industry didn't know how bad Japan's rise would affect them and destroy their industry.

Fact of the matter is, we should care about Asia. We should learn Mandarin Chinese and Japanese (and potentially Korean soon) for business and political reasons (and because your boss may just speak one of those as his or her mother tongue), plus because it gives us access to information that is not limited by our English. We know that it's important because we don't know what can happen, and though we do know that the less we know, the stupider we feel when someone tells us that the Philippines is in Asia, not Latin America.

A tribute to the best waste of time: celebrities

When people pry themselves off of their blogs and online communities, it's a bit hard to find out what's going on in the streets outside of their apartment highrise since they're disconnected from word of mouth. They are not, however, altogether hopeless, as the Internet is another privilleged resource for their daily dose of wasting time. After all, there are incentives to traverse the streets of Hong Kong and New Delhi, amidst the aroma of stinky tofu and chicken curry, amidst the hustle and bustle of crowded streets and city lights. Some of those incentives are entertainment, and what better incentive than entertainers themselves?

If love can move mountains, then sex can shake the foundations of reality and the universe. And this isn't pornography, this is sex appeal, coming from beauty. Who better else than perhaps the world's most beautiful woman, Aiswhwarya Rai? Bollywood's biggest starlet and former 1994 Miss World, has a myriad of fans worldwide, and the websites keep on coming. Aishwarya forever is no exception to this, with a site that collects all of her filmography, interviews, pictures, a message board for all her followers, and news updated daily, those who need their quick fix can head over to http://www.aishwarya-forever.com/home.html. Leave the curry in the oven; it should be ready once you come back from the video rental store with a handful of her awe-inspiring movies. Even for those who don't want to spend time navigating the site, the bar at the top has splash images to give would-be viewers a look at the stunning actress. The archive of files are always growing, with contributions from site members not just limited to news bulletins or message board posts, making it a very inviting site for one-time visitors and enticing for regulars.

Not to leave out the opposite sex (or those who just admire the masculine abstract as opposed to the feminine divine), there is Chinese-American superstar celebrity based in Hong Kong, Daniel Wu, with his own equally devout following of fans and just as many sites. Although the site has more of a teenage girl's blog, it is the most informative with news updates by a dedicated host and a growing photo archive. Let the married women turn the other way as they hide their ring-bearing fingers when Daniel Wu graces their computer screens, and do yourself a favor by preparing for it when you check him out at the most resourceful site on Daniel Wu on the Internet, at http://inlovewithdanwu.50webs.com/. Although not as inviting since it does not allow for the interaction the way Aishwarya's site does beyond its tagboard (like a comment guestbook but not a message board), as posts and updates are made by the webmaster herself(?), though some of the pictures and news posts are contributed by regular visitors, but they are not allowed to post on their own, since they rely on e-mailing the webmaster who credits their discoveries every time the sightings are posted. One gripe about the photo gallery is that it is linked to a Yahoo! photo album, which is understandable for the frugal webmaster who is dedicating the time and money to the site for your viewing pleasure.

Japan Interpreted and Reinterpreted

From the land that gave us household brandnames for appliances, televisions, stereos, and automobiles, little else is known besides the consumer image of Japan. We know it exists, and we love to make fun of them (at least in the United States) when we aren't devouring their instant ramen as a staple of the university student's diet or wishing we had a Japanese car of our own. However, beyond brands, beyond cultural bias, and beyond the image (arguably facade), the image of Japan is more than meets the eye, especially if one only looks with the eye of the consumer, regardless of whether or not the consumer loves or loathes Japan.

One of the challenges, however, in trying to find the "real" Japan in spite of the nature of Japanese culture to have a consensus on news media when providing the image Japan wants to portray, is where does one go for top news on Japanese politics and all things Japanese? Furthermore, Japan is overwhelmingly advanced in terms of Internet technology, so digging through the myriad of news feeds available is a challenge that boils down to interface preference and if the information provided is satisfactory.

An important detail to note about Japanese media culture is that stories that would generate a controversey are seldom-reported due to fears of disrupting both order and the status quo, which the media, in tandem with the government, work hard to preserve. Regardless, one does not view Japanese news with a grain of salt along the same vein of China's Xinhua news agency where there is an obvious bias, because reporting is honest, though there is a big difference between outright lying and withholding information.

Cheers: Though lacking in presentation and being a list of different news feeds, News on Japan is the most informative site there is, for the viewer who does not need news images to relate to Japan's political issues. It is updated daily from multiple news sites and listed chronologically. Although the mixing of different news sites is debatable as the quality of each varies, one gets a very diverse image of Japanese politics due to the mix of sites and simple, accessible page loaded with information. It is one of the few news indexes that proves linking to multiple sites is not a bad way of sharing information, as organization is important, as well as consistency. After all, each site-- though having different interfaces and contexts-- provides in-depth analyses, background information, and come from reputable sources. Advertisements are minimal, limited to a google ad bar on the right, but everything else is visible without being distracted by ads or other content, including the easy-to-locate foreign exchange rate box on the left sidebar. It still loses points for creativity and interface, but for those who want the straight facts, head over to http://www.newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/morenews/Politics_News/. Conveniently enough, it also has an RSS feed which gives people the headlines and direct link to the articles of interest straight from their bookmarks toolbar.

Jeers: In trying to be partial, the Japan Today news site has literally tidbits of information because it has no opinion or depth. Even the headlines seem to present more information than the actual news articles, which are so short that it seems one could receive an entire news story in a single text message for his or her mobile device. Organization is one good thing, however, as almost all of the ads are small excerpts from a larger ad on the right in a small sidebar; and there is one banner ad at the top, so everything appears micromanaged just like most things in Japan. It is the organization which makes navigating the site easy and good, but is absolutely shallow in terms of depth since its articles are sometimes no longer than three sentences in a lone paragraph, making it seem like a robot wrote the article since there is no opinion, no emotional depth, so boring that it feels like reading out of a textbook. An example of this is seen here:

TOKYO — Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan, urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his cabinet members and senior lawmakers of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday to disclose how they spend money on maintaining their offices.

His comments came after he revealed documents related to his own office expenses following a spate of money scandals, including fuzzy accounting of political funds, involving cabinet members and other key players of the LDP. Taken from http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399563

This is a a clear example of how boring articles here are, with only two sentences, and each sentence seems to take the tone of an aloof speaker who says a few key words which make the reader think and wonder what the author refers to, with nothing to explain what money scandals or who was involved with the scandals. Events are reported dutifully, but information is scarce.

For those with a short attention span, the link to Japan Today's political news feed, free of opinions and depth, head over to

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/cat/9

How to be an environmentalist without worrying about being politically correct

There are two images that spring to mind when people mention Asia and the environment in the same context. From the idea of an exotic, far-off locale in the Orient that is lush and praised by traveler's accounts like Marco Polo's trip to the Orient, to poets that include Samuel Coleridge glorifying the land, and even to Lonely Planet backpacker's guides, the first image of Asia shows a place that can exist only in traveler's dreams. This is an Asia that does indeed exist-- but possibly for not much longer.

The second idea of Asia is what is quickly transforming with modernization and industrialization, taking a page from Westernization (while at the same time criticizing it), very reminiscent of the traumatic Industrial Revolution of Europe in the 19th century.

So whether it is the exotic Taj Mahal of India and Great Wall of China that we imagine when someone mentions Asia, or it is the Beijing smog and Bhopal tragedy, these all exist in the same Asia, but different contexts. The question is, how long before these lines blur and we see industrial waste in the waterways of the Taj Mahal or a thick, black smog eclipsing the sun over the Great Wall?

One way to find that out is to become environmentally and geographically aware. China and India--the two giants of East and South Asia-- are in the process of rapid economic and population growth. As a result of that, however, the environment is taking a hit, for in order to overcome third-world living standards at the speed both countries want to proceed at, they choose not to take their time, as the forests and rivers prepare to depart, followed shortly by the ozone.

The risk in discussing the environment in the same context as the massive economic booms of India and China inc. is that one undermines the image both countries wish to portray of themselves. With China, it is a bad idea to discuss the destruction of the environment and China should perhaps grow a little bit slower, lest one gets labeled a dissident and disappears off the face of the earth. With India, its issues are very public, but one can not avoid its attraction for outsourcing due to its English advantage and tech sector, all inside airconditioned buildings under fluorescent lights as people die of the smog and heat outside.

For honest information on India's environment, one goes to India Together, a news site that is very up-to-date and with an easy interface to go with its simple-but-attractive color scheme. Stories are very diverse and they go beyond the simple laws and news updates on measures being taken, but individual opinions and in-depth analyses of a variety of issues that are ongoing in India. One example of this is in an article (http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/jan/env-expert.htm) on the debate over whose expertise is more valuable in terms of advising what to do and what can be done or what should be done over the use of forest lands for non-forest use, which is very objective and informative, detailing the background of the issue, the significance, and current news on how the issue is developing. There is such a wealth of information that it even has its own RSS feed located at the bottom of the page. Its location is conveniently found (and not only highly recommended, but highly encouraged to view) at http://www.indiatogether.org/environment/.

Sadly, the site that is least helpful-- no thanks in part to its interface and abundance of text or lack of not even monthly updates (the last update was November 2006)-- is the official government website of India. The problem with this site is it seems more like an index listing for the government officials to navigate through-- which seems to be the case, as nobody would feel inclined to wade through the site, due to the difficulty of navigation through the site, many of which are broken links. Most of the information is also in .pdf files, which one is more inclined to print out instead of utilizing the Internet to view. They are easily found (and not highly recommended) at http://envfor.nic.in/.

Coming along to China, the most informative source comes from the outsiders, for all the information that the government has is reserved for its officials, lest the statistics and visuals that reveal the price of progress hinder the image China wishes to show to the world and its population. A welcoming note is that it comes from a fellow blogspot user, with good news feed of select articles and links. Though a very recent site, it is perhaps the place to go for one's environmental fix, located at http://china-environmental-news.blogspot.com/

Not surprisingly, the most informative source comes from the official government site, but with a twist: almost all the information shows how the government is combatting pollution, and all causes of pollution are by individuals. The government website essentially says that its hands are clean of causing any pollution, but it is willing to get its hands dirty to clean up their country. A wealth of information is available, but it should be taken with a pinch of salt. Well, perhaps a shaker, but nonetheless, one should observe the information cautiously. For the daring, the site is located at http://english.sepa.gov.cn/.

Business Where It's Nobody's Business: The Burma/Myanmar Edition

Dealing with people who subscribe to the Marxist ideology is not as difficult as one would presume, especially when one looks at a country with two names but the same problem: an absolute lack of money. This is followed by a plethora of resources ready to be tapped into by corporate and government vultures eager to take advantage of its resources and eventual need for developmental assistance.

Myanmar-- or Burma for followers of Suu Kyi who dislike the ruling military junta's preferred official name-- are not the People's Republic of China who are communist on paper only, though they both share the recognition that maintaining power the good old Stalinist way politically is effective until it comes down to economics. When it comes down to economics, the stock market and the corporate agendas do the talking, not the Western diplomats.

With very limited development, Myanmar will have to take what it can get for business ventures. There is a catch-22 for this, however: Myanmar wants to preserve its image and its "state secrets", so information is highly regulated and thus not very inviting to the prospective corporate vulture or government watchdog.

So while prospective business ventures will have to take what little information the government of Myanmar can offer, likewise, Myanmar will have to take what it can get until it opens up its information and stops denying its economic woes. This is especially evident in what is the best site for information, and--ironically enough-- the worst site for information on Myanmar business due to being a propaganda vehicle of the government, the Myanmar Times, located at http://www.mmtimes.com/. Information is meant to entice prospective businesses, although without a doubt there is an extent of manipulation of information, since Myanmar sites are monitored by the government, and being an official governmental site means that it is no exception to this rule. Organization is very good though, as it has no pop-ups, very few advertisements since there is little need to advertise on a government-run site since they already have the funding for quality, categories for news as well as business are listed under tabs making it very user-friendly, and all news releases come on a consistent basis. Since contacts are directly with the government, interested parties can work things out with representatives. Furthermore, job offerings are posted on a regular basis, even from places such as the Italian embassy for folks in the lower echelons of the work force, making it a very accessible site in spite of the questionable government information.

It could be worse, though. Though the rest of the world can see right through the veil of the government, one has to essentially scour through sites full of the depressing reality that is Myanmar. With far more legitimacy but offering little incentive for people to do business with Myanmar, the worst site to go to would also ironically be the most informative, which essentially states that one should not do business in Myanmar.

This makes writing about business news feed a very grey area for business-seekers, as the most informative and honest site would be considered the worst for official business, and that honor goes to business-in-asia.com's link at http://www.business-in-asia.com/burma.htm. It is very honest with information, but you can't get any business dealings aside from a summary of the trade and a few contacts, though reading how Myanmar deals business on the site may turn people away from seeking business ventures. Site organization is more of a snapshot from a catalog rather than a news site like the Myanmar Times, but is definitely much easier to navigate, though information differs significantly. It even gives a general overview about doing business in Asia, which makes it a good resource in general, but not for Myanmar, because it is likely to turn aside the average businessman due to the many warnings against Myanmar.

We all know that in the end, it isn't the official business dealings, but the under the table dealings that promote the economic growth at the expense of human rights, where the only winners are the government officials and the corporate vultures who employ their knowledge of loopholes in WTO regulation rules.

If nobody talks about it, does it really matter? The Philippines and Thailand in news media

Some people believe that the Philippines is somewhere in Latin America. Some people also still believe in the tooth fairy. The problem with these people is that they are ill-informed due to the lack of information provided to them. When a child is told that the tooth fairy and Santa Claus are not real, he resents the person because he is taken out of his necessary delusion. However, when stuck in the myth, a person only gets hurt by the limited information he has on the subject. He also gets hurt by being given the wrong information, such as being told that Santa Claus does not exist for children who are Jewish. Absurdity is the norm for those who do not have access to information, and it's just as bad when they are given terrible information.

Let's look at Thailand and the Philippines. They are more than just countries that are mentioned on the label of a shirt or pants that you wear which read "Made in Thailand" or "Made in the Philippines" (yes, there are things not made in China; hello globalization). When the word "globalization" is mentioned, the first thing people think of is economics-- whether it is outsourcing and sweatshop labor, or if it is more of China's massive growth. But there are other economies of importance out there besides China's, and their economies do not appear and re-appear every few weeks like moon phases, they are always there, just poorly reported.

The best site to visit for the Philippine economic news would have to be abs-cbn news, a local news media network there located at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/. Navigation is easy, as the interface has a good color scheme and each cateogry has a tab with headlines for each subject listed under in a well-organized manner; headlines are always up to date; and news is available in print and Internet format, as well as broadcast on television. From the minimal and non-intrusive advertisements to the link for a daily prayer reflection called daily bread showing how Catholic the country is, to the pictures and option to have news sent via SMS text messaging, this is the resource for the Philippines, even beyond news, for it is a window to the Philippines.

If you want someone to think that the Philippines is some tropical archipelago where people wear grass skirts and serve pina coladas to sex tourists, go to http://www.newsflash.org/, which is a site that looks like it was put together by a high school student whose greatest achievement in life is his ability to use flash media and program in it. One learns almost nothing but to find a list of links to news events in different sites. Clicking on each link opens up another window and list of headlines, NOTHING ELSE. Extra navigation from a page that attempts to be a good index portal to more noteworthy news sites does not give it high marks. If anything, you can do much better using google to find news sites because the news is all over the place and gives you the feel of pop-ups that you want to block. Although it is a simple resource hotlinking to other places to give you a quick Manila feel, it does not have the interface that makes you want to save it in your bookmarks and return to it time and again.

Thailand gets its Bangkok Post, the simple interface and up-to-date news with not too many advertisements getting in the way make it more attractive to the newcomer. Although the site is not professional, and definitely has the look of an independent effort, it has direct news feed that is consistent, simple navigation on the sidebar to the left, minimal but smart use of images, and a direct link to its newspaper print version as well which uses the cool epaper program to read it as though you were reading a newspaper by clicking on each page, article, and image for close-ups, similar to using pdf files. On the right sidebar, they have useful information on exchange rates, breaking news, and opinions. The bottom navigation bar also links to some non-news areas of the site, which show personal stories, special interests such as automobiles, and travel information. Truly a delightful (though somewhat simple-- or minimalist for the picky) site, it is conveniently located at http://www.bangkokpost.net/.

For people who believe Thailand and Taiwan are synonymous with one another, feel free to point them in the direction of http://www.thainews.com.au/news-bkk.html, which is also just a listing of links to different news feeds, done in the annoying comic sans font. Though it claims to be updated hourly, it just means that there are hyperlinks posted to about six different news sources, meaning that you would have to navigate through each and every one of them. This means you do more work than you should be doing in surfing for news. A waste of time, especially when they post advertistements along with news headlines, like this one that clearly reads "Mortgage Rates at 3.0% - Save Thousands...
$150,000 loan for $391/month - refinance, home equity and purchase. Sponsored Link - Refinance.LeadSteps.com Tue Mar 06 2007 16:09:00 GMT-0800 (Pacific Standard Time)", the fact that there are no pictures, and an annoying pink color font against a bland background image which is barely visible unless your screen settings are dark enough. There is no webmaster to contact, hence there is nobody to complain to about how the site needs a complete overhaul to be considered useful

Classroom Assistants should not be abbreviated to Class Ass.

Professor Tom Plate is extremely handsome and generous with giving an A+ grade to students, especially to John Chuidian, the magnanimous and talented young man.

Laurena Chen and Victoria Chin are beautiful, smart, and talented young classroom assistants who grade kindly and give the only A+ to John Chuidian, the jet-set traveler from Southeast Asia.

John Chuidian is the greatest legend and his name is spoken with awe and wonder throughout the Orient.