What a week it’s been. It started over a week ago when I felt a ripping pain through the abdomen, kind of like a pinched nerve. The kind of pain where you double over and turn white. Luckily, it came and went, and only seemed to hit when I made certain movements, like getting up from a chair or stretching. That same day I had to make an emergency business trip to Beijing, and the problem got steadily worse while I was there, ruining my plans to meet up with some of you (apologies). I saw the doctor on Monday, who determined it was some form of intestinal strangulation, or maybe a contracted muscle along the gastrointestinal wall (whatever that means). They gave me medicine that made it far less acute, but it’s still there. It was only today that the excellent doctors here narrowed it down. It’s some sort of kidney problem, where there’s definitely a chronic infection (again, whatever that means). Today the pain shifted rather dramatically from the abdomen to the right-lower back. I’m okay until I make a suden move. Walking home from the bus stop tonight along the rainy sidewalk, I slipped on some garbage and landed hard on my right foot, which set off an excruciating pain in the right kidney that’s still making me miserable an hour later. And I have to wait a full week to go back for the final test to determine whether it’s a kidney stone (if it is, I will be gone from blogging for yet another extended period). The doctor said today I should go to the ER if I was suffering acute pain, and I’m weighing doing that right now. Next Wednesday sounds like light years away. å“Žå‘€,å?¯æ†?çš„ç?†æŸ¥!

Okay, I am really sorry to bore you all with these very personal details. But in case I disappear into thin air in the days ahead, you’ll know why. This is turning into a much more complicated mess than I expected.

The following is an announcement by my friend in Taiwan, Bill Stimson. But allow me to put in a personal endorsement: I went to one of Bill’s dream groups a couple of months ago, and it was an unforgettable experience. I promise you, you will get your money’s worth – especially because it’s practically free. There’s a magical quality to the way Bill guides participants through their dreams, causing them to look at them (and at their lives) in a new way. The level of emotion and self-awareness that fills the room is hard to describe. It is an experience of incredible power and profound enlightenment. And I’m not being a PR man as I say that. If you are in Beijing and can make it, don’t even think twice.
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BENEFIT DREAM GROUP IN BEIJING
Led by William R. Stimson, Ph.D.

In Beijing at some point between November 24-28, William R. Stimson, Ph.D., founder of the Dream Network, will be in Beijing leading what will probably be the first experiential dream group workshop ever held in China. The group will be limited to 12 individuals. It will be either an all-day workshop or maybe two evening workshops, depending on what would be most convenient for most participants. Anyone fluent in English and interested in deciphering the meaning of dreams may apply.

This is a not-for-profit benefit workshop for the Kyoto Journal, the premiere English-language magazine in Asia. Each participant is encouraged to bring a check for the equivalent of U.S. $39.00 made out to Kyoto Journal. This is the exact cost of one year’s subscription. Each person who contributes this amount will receive a year’s subscription. The dream workshop leader himself makes no money from this arrangement. His hope is to connect writers in China with a high-quality magazine that can publish their work in English.

To apply, please e-mail billstimson[AT]mac.com. Provide your name and cell phone number. Include a short paragraph about yourself and the nature of your interest in dreams. If you can contribute space for the workshop or know of a venue where it can be held, please include that. If you are eager to come but cannot afford the Kyoto Journal subscription amount, indicate that but don’t hesitate to apply anyway. No one will be turned away for reasons of money.

For information on the Montague Ullman experiential dream group method see: http://siivola.org/monte

For information on Kyoto Journal, a non-profit volunteer-based quarterly magazine, see: http://www.kyotojournal.org/index.html

I’m going into the hospital for emergency surgery in a few minutes. Not a big deal at all but a major inconvenience and always a tremendous hassle. There is never a good time to be sick. I know I’ve neglected this site since my trip to Vietnam, and it’s held up only thanks to the incredibly good work of the guest bloggers, who I want to beg to keep it going. I had a good time in Beijing, but it was kind of ruined when, on Friday night, I began to feel acute pain that’s basically kept me immobile. The trip also forced me to take a hard look at my life and my dreams and ambitions, and as soon as I can function fully, I’ll talk about it here. But right now all I’m focused on is getting better. Thanks again for your patience, and sorry for the long period of radio silence.

Update: I am back at least for a while. I need to go back to the hospital for test results on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I feel like I’m being kicked in the stomach, but stuff like that’s never stopped me from posting in the past…

Always remember the source: Gertz writes for the Moonie times, and as always, he is banging the drum for “the China threat.”

A Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group in the Pacific last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times has learned.

The surprise encounter highlights China’s continuing efforts to prepare for a future conflict with the U.S., despite Pentagon efforts to try to boost relations with Beijing’s communist-ruled military.

….The incident is a setback for the aggressive U.S.-China military exchange program being promoted by Adm. Fallon, who has made several visits to China in recent months in an attempt to develop closer ties.

However, critics of the program in the Pentagon say China has not reciprocated and continues to deny U.S. military visitors access to key facilities, including a Beijing command center. In contrast, Chinese military visitors have been invited to military exercises and sensitive U.S. facilities..

To know what I think of Gertz, just do a quick search of this site. There may indeed be a story to be told about China’s arming itself for a war of aggression against the US. But with Gertz, it’s always the same story with very little variation.

This happened while I was away – I’m really devastated. Go here to read their goodbye statement. Yes, maybe they’d said it all, but it was still the funniest read in town. They will be sorely missed. I only wish they had left the old stuff up for all to savor; now it’s just a memory.

I’m in-between doctor’s appointments. I love the idea of universal medicine, but my experience today in Taipei revealed some of the less wonderful aspects of healthcare for all.

Yet another riot in China, after a young boy died after drinking pesticide (rather foolishly put in a soft drinks bottle).

Hospital death sparks China riot

About 2,000 people protested outside a hospital in southwest China after a boy died after mistakenly drinking pesticide, a human rights group says. Doctors told Xiong Hongwei’s grandfather he did not have enough money for treatment, the group said. After the boy died protesters attacked the Guangan No.2 People’s Hospital in Sichuan province. At least 10 people were injured in clashes with police.

There seems to be a dispute over whether the hospital treated the child or not. What could have happened was that doctors began to help, but wouldn’t give further aid until more money was obtained. Certainly if they refused to treat a medical emergency due to a few hundred yuan, then those punks would have got what they deserved if the mob had broken in and taken their anger out on them. The primary objective of a doctor should be to save life, not keep the cash register ticking over. But we’ve heard enough of these stories to work out that some people in China don’t see things that way….

Of course, things being the way they are, what may have happened was that the grandfather was asked to get more money to pay the fees after he died, and the story about refusing treatment had been a rumour. Of course that would have been completely insensitive anyway – why should someone pay such a “trivial” sum of money (trivial to the hospital – significant to poor people) for failing to save your relative’s life?

And all the while China’s medical system groans under the strain of increased usage and dwindling public funds (which is why these charges are often pursued so vigorously), the central government increases Chinese defence spending by double-digit percentages, funds a space programme and plans to spend $60 billion on yet another “great” public works project (channelling water from the South to the North, when reducing water wastage would be a lot cheaper). To be quite honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if the last project ends up costing nearer $100 billion.

Makes me think of that classic Communist saying – “capable women can make a meal without food”. Well, I guess sick Chinese people will have to make themselves feel better by looking at the inspiring sight of Chinese men being sent into space and the PLA parading their hardware in Beijing.

That sort of attitude makes me feel quite ill, curiously enough…..

No time to post, but here’s the latest on the changes in China’s death penalty policy:

China’s chief justice is urging extreme caution when imposing the death penalty, state media said, the latest effort apparently aimed at curbing the country’s frequent use of capital punishment.

China, believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined, enacted legislation last week that requires approval from the Supreme People’s Court – the country’s highest – before putting anyone to death.

“In cases where the judge has legal leeway to decide whether to order death, he should always choose not to do so,” Xiao Yang, the court’s president, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

“Judges should be very cautious, as if walking on thin ice,” he said.

The death penalty should be reserved for only an “extremely small number'” of serious offenders, Xiao said. The report did not give any details.

Xiao said it was unlikely that the death penalty would be completely abolished:

“The conditions are not yet ripe for China to ban the death penalty,” he said. “It is still a necessary means to ensure the safety of the state and protect the people.”

Good news, though I’d still like to know how the death penalty “ensures the safety of the state.” By scaring the monkey, maybe?

Given the recent elections, I thought this article on foreign policy might prove interesting. Will Taiwan be helped by these elections? The Taipei Times seems to believe that might be the case.

Taiwan may get boost from US results

The Democratic Party’s dramatic victory in the US House of Representatives is expected to be a net plus for Taiwan, as Taiwan’s supporters seek to exploit the split between the House Democratic majority and the Republican White House in the wake of congressional elections in which most backers of Taiwan retained their seats. “Democratic control of the House is good for Taiwan,” said Coen Blaauw, a veteran Washington lobbyist for the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, who feels the Democratic majority will be more willing than their Republican counterparts to buck US President George W. Bush and the State Department in pushing for legislation about Taiwan opposed by the administration. Most of Taiwan’s biggest backers in the House retained their positions despite earlier fears that some could be defeated.

Although it is good for Taiwan to hang on to “key players” in Congress, is this article rather over-egging what may happen? Will the Democrats use China/Taiwan as a stick to beat Bush with? The point about Nancy Pelosi was interesting, as she will have a highly important role from now on. Or might the representatives even feel more inclined to make the White House be more reconciliatory towards Beijing, by using the “aggressive foreign policy never solves anything” card, using Iraq as an example? That appears unlikely, but I thought it might be an interesting thought to consider.

To be quite honest I find it very difficult to offer a comprehensive view on this article, as I am not an American. So I wish to open up the floor to my respected “brothers and sisters” from across the (other) Pond for their views on where US relations with Taiwan may go from here. Might Congress prod President Bush to authorise the sale of the 66 F-16 fighters, given the recent developments in Taiwan concerning the “Big Three” arms purchases, for example? Or is the article correct to suggest that it would kill off the chances of a US-Taiwan FTA? There are also other pieces of proposed legislation, which have not been passed – what will happen with those I wonder…..

Considering that I have long thought the Bush Administration was based on the works of either Philip K Dick, Franz Kafka or George Orwell, I’m as happy as Brendan about the new Congress. But I’m such a party pooper I immediately started wondering how the Democrats are going to introduce a whole new strain of screw ups. There’s the “Democrats that might as well be Republicans” meme floating out there, but then I realized that there’s a very clear example of how they’ll be annoying. I have two words for you: “China”, and “Schumer”.

Slate points out that economic nationalism is a potentially popular issue for the new Democratic majority. Senator Elect Sherrod Brown, replacement for the noxious Mike DeWine, wrote “Myths of Free Trade”, which is on the Lou “Red China” Dobbs must-read list.

As Jacob Weisburg points out “For some reason, economic nationalists never seem to complain about job-killing Dutch or Irish competition. The targets of their anger are consistently China and Mexico, with occasionally whacks at Dubai, Oman, Peru, and Vietnam.”

Mind you, I’m not a believer in pure free trade. I’m more with what Weisburg describes as “Clinton’s argument”, which “was always that government should address the negative consequences of open trade through worker retraining programs and by providing benefits not tied to employers, like health care and portable pensions.” Tariffs are just kneejerk, and involve a whole branch of fearmongering that is closely related to Arab port deals and Spanish national anthems. And besides being an exercise in nationalist hysteria, those advocating these measures can’t even put together a cogent argument for them.

A great example of this sort of grandstanding and the incoherent arguments that go with it, one need look no further than Chuck Schumer. Bob Dole, one of the funniest elected officials of recent times, accurately quipped “the most dangerous place to be in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a camera”. Schumer and his buddy Lou Costello – I mean Lindsey Graham – were in Beijing in March get tough on the greatest threat to American lives at the time, Chinese manufacturing. I didn’t know there were IED factories in Guangzhou, but Chuck Schumer gets to see the intelligence reports I guess. Well, Schumer will have at least one new “Lou Dobbs Democrat” with him in the Senate. How many more will there be? Could this be on track to be a 2008 issue?

Just to point out I’m not alone in my opinion:

“Shanghaiist called it a long, long, looooong time ago: Senator Chuck Schumer is a blithering idiot.”

– Shanghaiist

“They couldn’t remembe vice premier Wu Yi’s name, whom they had just been meeting half an hour ago, (“one tough lady, she would do well in an American courtroom, I like her a lot” was all they could muster), and two and a half years after raising that sorryass China-bashing bill of theirs, Schumer still couldn’t get his pronunciation right (“yuan” with a Y instead of “won” with a W, Chinese instead of Korean currency, your Senatorial High-ness).”

– Non Violent Resistance

Ah well, at least it doesn’t involve a secret prison system or bunker busters.

Leading off in the “It’s about time” division…At a morning press conference, Bush announced that Donald Rumsfeld stepped aside as Secretary of Defense on Wednesday.

Asked whether his announcement signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops, Bush said, “Well, there’s certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon.”

You think we might need that? What tipped you off?

Former CIA director Robert Gates has been tabbed for the position.