Chinese hip-hop

East–West chill

US–Russo relations frosted over to cold war levels this week. As if the Eastern power hadn’t done enough to undermine Dubya’s ‘axis-of-evil’ speech – what with its nuclear deals with Iran, and its plans to welcome North Korean Big Cheese, Kim Jong-il, to Russia later this month – it now plans to sign a $60 billion economic cooperation deal with – yep, you guessed it – Iraq.

According to Abbas Khalaf, Iraqi ambassador to Moscow, the deal, which he assures will not violate UN trade sanctions against Baghdad, will be signed in the next few weeks. Perhaps they could invite Kim Jong-il to the ceremony?

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri praised ‘Russia’s great role in a settlement around Iraq and the traditional friendly nature of relations between the two countries.’ The deal is for the next ten years, and will involve new projects as well as the upgrading of the old Soviet infrastructure. It includes sixty-seven contracts in oil and gas extraction, transport and communication.

Sabri said, ‘We have given full priority to Russian companies in Iraqi oil trading on the world market.’

Khalaf called Russia, ‘a country which supports peace and stability in the whole world,’ and predicted it would do all in its power to prevent a war in Iraq. He said, ‘what we need from Moscow is moral, political and diplomatic support because Iraq has shown the whole world that it can defend itself…. America’s aggressive statements against Iraq aroused a negative reaction in Russia.’

Well indeed. Looks like Russia can be counted out of any allied action against Saddam’s regime. And one wonders how well they will take an American assault on their economic interests. The stakes are raised.

Soros in Moscow

Two weeks ago, another commercial scandal erupted in Moscow. The longstanding conflict between the Russian division of the Soros Foundation and the landlord company, Nobel Technologies, over the rental agreement went beyond the court rooms – and any limits of a civilised scenario – when the Foundation’s employees were locked out of their offices and all the office communication lines cut. Management of the Soros Foundation announced it could not continue its work in such conditions and planned to suspend its activities in Russia.

The Soros Foundation has occupied a house in Ozerkovskaya embankment in Moscow for several years. Recently, the owner of the building, Nobel Technologies, asked the Foundation to leave the premises on the grounds that the lease had expired. The Foundation managed to prove in the court that the documents were forged and retained the right to the premises. But it looks like this did not put an end to the conflict.

However, these are all technical details. Bolder statements were made by some MPs, who called for the withdrawal of George Soros from Russia, and his replacement with Russian home-grown oligarchs, such as Roman Abramovich or even perhaps Boris Berezovsky. So far, nobody has heard of any charity foundations named after the above-mentioned individuals.

George Soros himself appeared to be undisturbed by the news. He was convinced that the situation would be resolved and assured everyone that he would continue his mission in Russia.

Meanwhile, the US Peace Corps programme announced plans to cancel its Russian class this year because the Russian government refused to issue visas to its volunteers. In addition, thirty volunteers, halfway through their service period, were also refused visa extensions. The Russian government offered no explanation of the situation. The Peace Corps has sent volunteers to Russia to help improve education, health and agriculture since 1992. America is not happy about this at all. Spies are one thing; the Peace Corps something else altogether.

Let’s wait and see who’s next on the list.

US and the world

PIPA, the Programme on International Policy Attitudes, has released its May 1-5 poll figures on the attitudes of the US public towards the Israel–Palestine conflict.

Findings include:

• A very strong majority favour a multilateral approach in resolving the conflict.
• A strong majority favour the UN playing a major role in trying to resolve the conflict. The majority supports having the UN determine where the boundary should be between Israel and a new Palestinian state, and giving the UN interim control over disputed areas.
• A modest majority is against Israel building settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.
• Americans characterise the conflict as a struggle over land, not part of the war on terrorism.

To read the complete findings, visit the website Americans & the World.

Spaced out

To China, where the times they are a changin’.

First, news came this week that the country is preparing the fourth test of its Shenzou space capsule. If successful, the test, which might be run before the year is out, could be the last. The next move will be to send the first Chinese astronaut – taikonaut – into space.

Four months ago, China launched the third Shenzou capsule into the Earth’s orbit. But there were no taikonauts aboard, only some fertilised chicken eggs. The eggs made it back in one piece, and hatched on return to Earth.

Next step, humans. Reports suggest nine Chinese fighter pilots are in training in a secret location near Beijing. The US Department of Defense, which is taking a keen interest in these activities, estimates that China could put a man in space within the next eighteen months.

But back on Earth, celebrations of a different kind

‘China’s Woodstock’ wrapped up Monday with a rousing finale from the ‘founding father of Chinese rock music’, Cui Jian. The Snow Mountain Music Festival was held in the south-western province of Yunnan, half way up the 5,596 metre Jad Dragon Snow Mountain, and was billed as the ‘world’s highest’ music festival (a claim also made by those who can’t remember if they were at the real Woodstock). It was also the country’s first ever outdoor music festival.

Despite dreadful weather conditions, ten thousand fans packed in to listen to the stars. The event is being seen as a turning point in rock music’s relationship with the Chinese authorities.

As well as old-timer Cui Jian, the concert boasted the likes of Sun Nan, Luo Zhongxu, Dou Wei and Zhu Zheqin. It also featured some of the new generation heavy metal, hip-hop and punk bands, such as Brain Failure, Wild Children and Confucious Says. The audience included local Communist Party officials.

Cui Jian belted out political messages. He has spent much of his career at odds with the authorities, being repeatedly banned from performing, recording or getting airplay. This time he turned his attacks on the music broadcast by Chinese Central Television (CCTV).

In reference to the nation’s most popular programme, aired on New Year’s Eve, he said, ‘About eighty per cent of what you see on CCTV is faked (lip-synched) and one hundred per cent of the Spring Festival Eve Special is faked.’

It sounds almost as bad as Western pop music.

The Dushi Times was right behind Cui, saying that he ‘has always stood for beauty in the truth’ (as Woodstock-like a remark as you could ask for). It argued that, ‘From an ethical point of view, everyone should wholeheartedly support the end to unhealthy practices in order to bring happiness to the viewing public.’

Bring on the revolution.

(Sources: Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, AFP)

A real fizz

Just as multinational corporations get serious with their ‘greenwashing’ campaigns in the run-up to the Johannesburg summit (painting themselves in an environmentally-friendly light), Coca-Cola and Pepsi have gone and put a spanner in the works as it emerged this week that adverts for the soft drinks have been painted directly on to the side of the Himalaya mountains.

The logo-laden rock faces are alongside fifty-six kilometres of road – from the village of Kothi to Rallah waterfalls to Beas Kund – along the Rohtang pass in Himachal Pradesh. India’s Supreme Court issued notices to the companies.

But Coca-Cola and Pepsi say that they are not directly responsible for the adverts. Coca-Cola India and Pepsi Co. operate through franchises in the region. It is thought the franchises contracted painters to emblem the rocks.

The area in Himachal Pradesh is supposed to be protected by strict conservation laws. The Court was told that the rocks are home to many different species of moss, destroyed by the painting. The removal process will cause even more ecological damage. The clean-up will involve a lot of paint remover or thinner.

The companies have asked to be sent photographs of the adverts and Coca-Cola have dispatched a man to the scene. It is unclear whether they will pay for the clean-up.

Forgetting to lock up

And returning to the space theme, a hacker nicknamed RaFa has reportedly broken into the ‘secure’ NASA website. Before leaving the ‘safe area’, he took with him the blueprints for COBRA, a reusable, hydrogen-fuelled rocket booster, planned for use in NASA’s next generation Space Launch Initiative.

Dan Verton, a journalist at Computerworld magazine, received an email from RaFa on 7 August. It included a 43 megabyte document, made up of mechanical designs for COBRA and Boeing’s Advanced Checkout, Control and Maintenance System, which is designed to ensure safety during shuttle launch.

There are fears that the information could enable rogue states to launch spy satellites or space-based weapons into orbit. The reusable launcher has obvious military applications.

RaFa claims to have already forwarded the documents to some hackers in France (a rogue state?), but says that he is no genius. NASA, he insists, just forgot to turn on the security features of its website. Access to the documents was easy.

Let that be a lesson to you.

(Source: New Scientist)

Quotes of the week

‘Even though times are kind of tough right now, we’re America.’
President George W. Bush, rallying his country after his one-day economic forum at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

‘You need to know that I’m incredibly optimistic about America.’ ibid.

‘Most Americans don’t sit in Martha’s Vineyard, swilling white wine.’ President George W. Bush, explaining why he had organised the Waco conference.

‘The US President uses the same language as Hitler.’ Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei.

‘Dead wrong.’ US Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to the suggestion by senior US military officers that a covert US programme during the Reagan administration provided Iraq with critical battle planning assistance, such as satellite photography, while knowing that Iraqi commanders would employ chemical weapons. In 1988, Colin Powell was national security advisor. Iraq’s use of chemical weapons is constantly cited as justification for regime change in Iraq. (Source: Washington Post)

‘It’s not roll-up plots, knock-your-socks-off kind of stuff.’ Anonymous US Intelligence Official describing the disappointing information gathered thus far from the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. (Source: Los Angeles Times)

‘The wonderful thing about science is that it can even explain things nobody needs to know.’ Robert Wolke, emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and author of ‘What Einstein told his Cook’, an investigation into frying eggs on sidewalks and car bonnets. (Source: Business Week)

Figures of the week

$1 billion
The estimated worth of this year’s opium poppy crop in Afghanistan.

$21 billion
The estimated GDP of Afghanistan in 1999.

Readers’ Responses

‘There is a middle way,’ says Paul Riesz, in response to reader Randy Mott.

Randy Mott says: ‘Countries that retain protectionism, nepotism, corruption, nationalized basic industries, and other obsolete policies have lagged behind and the gap is often widening.’

Here is my answer: We do not have to choose between this bundle of negative policies and the present model of corporate globalization.

There is a middle way, which protects local small farmers and some of the more promising local industries, which provide the jobs needed to keep the unemployment rate within reasonable limits, while reducing tariffs on the more sophisticated goods from the first world. By such measures, a healthy foreign trade balance is maintained and the financing of imports with foreign loans can be avoided. Otherwise, such loans can only be repaid by asking for emergency rescue from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which then enforces harsh structural adjustments, causing misery for the local populations.

To make globalization more equitable, developing countries must above all protect their local farmers against imports of subsidized foods, thus letting them provide healthy foods at moderate prices for all citizens, while earning a decent living at their homes and out of urban slums.

As to nepotism and corruption, they can bloom in free trade countries also and should be corrected everywhere.

Nationalized industries that are doing well should be retained, because their earnings stay in the country (Chile’s Codelco is a good example). Inefficient and stagnating ones should be privatized through OPEN bids, but should be supervised in order to ensure that the interests of the population for good and affordable services are being safeguarded.

Data on the growth of GDP and average income should be complemented with data on income of the poorer 50% and on the number of unemployed, who most often have no safety nets in developing countries.

Greetings,

Paul Riesz

Reader Joop Teernstra responds to openDemocracy’s interview with Esther Dyson.

Anthony Barnett asked Esther a very significant question, which she did not even attempt to answer (just a defensive ‘the Board members are not interested in getting rich’):

‘What are the real interests at stake?’

To answer this question needs investigative journalism and a wider range of interviewees.

It is a complex question, ranging from the original monopoly (.com, .net, .org) registration business of Network Solutions (going back to the SAIC old-boy network), to the interests of the Hollywood lobby, keen on acquiring the power to ‘take down’ domains that offend them, to the interests of the ‘Famous Names’ lobby that wants to inflate the envelope of trademark law.

The trademark lobby’s desire for speedy implementation of the UDRP (uniform dispute resolution policy) has been the earliest driving force of action in ICANN, along with diluting NSI’s monopoly and coming to an accommodation with them that was mutually beneficial.

Not a formulation of domain name holders’ rights or anything of that nature.

I would be very happy if the readers of openDemocracy got a pointer to the website where people interested in the ICANN issues can sign up to help self-organize its At Large membership bottom-up.

The At Large organization would be something of interest to anyone interested in the formation of structures that make online democracy a possibility. The initial objective and focus (domain names) is tight, and that may give it a small chance of success.

Not surprising that Esther did not make mention of this truly democratic (and chaotic) effort. Some ‘real interests’ would not be happy to see it succeed.

Joop Teernstra LL.M.
Initial webmaster at ICANN

Meanwhile, Sandra Necchi from Brooklyn is angered by Michael Brenner’s criticisms of Paul Rogers’ analysis of the Israel–Palestine conflict.

Mr Brenner’s attack on Paul Rogers’, openDemocracy and Europe’s view of the Israel–Palestine conflict is typical of pro-Israel fulminations. Anyone who condemns Israel’s actions is in an ‘ivory tower’ and woefully ‘naive’ of the reality on the ground.

During the years that I studied and traveled throughout the Middle East, I was struck by the most salient feature of Israeli society (unremarked in the West): the average citizen’s total insularity from the reality of life in the Occupied Territories. Except for a very few courageous Israeli dissidents, most remain thoroughly ignorant of the horrors perpetrated almost daily by their brutal military. As to Israel’s neighbors, I saw the same willful, chauvinist distance in the average Israeli’s perception of the very diverse, vital societies all around them.

Israelis and Zionist Jews around the world grow up on a diet of extremely simplistic and deeply racist pabulum about Arabs and Muslims. Their knowledge of the region’s history, its music, literature and art is disgraceful. In contrast, while in Syria, a Muslim student introduced me to Israeli films. On my first day in Egypt, my Muslim and Christian student friends took me to a concert where a female Sephardic Jewish singer held a huge crowd spellbound. Hell will freeze over before most Israeli Jews deign to even consider discovering the music of the Arab world, let alone attend a concert by one.

I long ago learned to dismiss the clichéd arguments offered by Mr Brenner for the hypocritical, racist and morally bankrupt nonsense that it is. No people are more deeply ignorant of their neighbors than Israeli Jews. Anyone who has actually gotten to know Arabs and Muslims in West Asia comes away with the full understanding that the vitriol spewed by the pro-Israel crowd is nothing more than hate-filled cultural and religious bigotry.

Naturally, Mr Brenner parrots the very tiresome charge that Israel’s neighbors ‘want to destroy Israel’. Typically, he ignores the recent proposal agreed to by every Arab state, plus Iran, that offered recognition to Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal to 1967 borders. But one should never expect an Israeli apologist to even consider the possibility that this is a serious offer. Arabs are all natural liars, you see.

The righteous wails offered by Mr Brenner ring entirely hollow. They should be wholly dismissed by anyone with a genuine commitment to justice, truth, and moral integrity.

Sandra Necchi

Brooklyn, NY