Seven years ago, I wrote a little something for a website that I developed when I was an expatriate living in Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. It has turned out to be more than prophetic, so I believe the time is now to resurrect it in light of the current international turmoil surrounding the Olympic flame and the protests it has engendered world wide. The central point of the editorial back then was human rights in China. Here is the original article, followed by some current commentary:
"Taiwan is known officially as the Republic of China, and functions as a democratic regime on an island 100 miles off the coast of mainland China. Communists under Mao Tse-Tung overran the Republic of China after World War II, and have since claimed to be the legitimate government of China. They also pursue the political ideology of "One China". And they continue to oppress the very people who's republic they say it is (People's Republic of China is their official name). Ever since Chiang Kai-Shek fled with the legitimate government of China to the island of Formosa in 1949, the Communist regime has viewed Taiwan as a rogue province to be recovered at all costs. Over the years, the Communist leaders on the mainland have managed to bully the rest of the world into accepting them as the legitimate government of China. Taiwan was one of the charter members of the United Nations, yet they were stripped of their seat in favor of the these hooligans. Yes, I know this is not politically correct these days, but what are they going to do about it--my ISP is in the U.S. where I have the freedom to say whatever the hell I want to.
Just how did they do this? However they managed it, the world's leaders chose to ignore every not-so-subtle indication that these guys aren't exactly the definition of trustworthy. The cold war may be over, but to really get a hint of what these guys are really about, try this on for size. These are two snippets taken from the front page of The Wall Street Journal on the same day in January, 2001. They represent a perfect example of the two-faced hypocrisy that the PRC has gotten away with. When will we wake up and realize that these people will tell us what we want to hear in order to accomplish their agenda?
[The first snippet:]
China intends to ratify a key international human-rights pact within the next three months, officials told the U.N. secretary-general. The government is seeking to keep human-rights abuses from sinking Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics. The treaty is one of two, which also has yet to be ratified, that lays down baseline guarantees for civil liberties often neglected in China.
[Followed in close proximity by this one:]
China intensified a crusade aimed at deterring protests by the Falun Dafa during Lunar New Year celebrations. Beijing warned that deonstrators would be harshly punished and urged the group's followers not to sacrifice themselves. Meanwhile, members of the sect are selling works by its leader at two market kiosks in Hong Kong amid warnings from Beijing that the city should not be used for "subversion".
This is great, isn't it? You just can't make this stuff up! Just for information, this Falun Dafa group (also known as Falun Gong) is a peaceful religious sect that practices meditation, self reliance and inner strength. Now, we can't have that, can we? Want more examples? Can you say "Tienanmen Square, June 4th, 1989"? Or how about Tibet, and the Dalai Lama? Stay tuned for more.... Don't you just love freedom of the press?"
So that was what I wrote seven years ago, the day that these two snippets appeared to expose the duplicity that permeates the Chinese government. Now, we are faced with a real dilemma and are looking to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take a position.
According to the Associated Press, when Jacques Rogge, the IOC head, was asked whether he had second thoughts about awarding the games to Beijing seven years ago, he responded:
"I've said that it is very easy with hindsight to criticize the decision," he said. "It's easy to say now that this was not a wise and a sound decision." Again according to the Associated Press, Rogge insisted Beijing had "clearly the best bid" and offered the strong pull of taking the Olympics to a country with one-fifth of the world's population. "That was the reasoning for awarding the bid to Beijing."
When Beijing was seeking the games, Rogge noted, Chinese officials said the Olympics would help advance social change, including human rights. He called that a "moral engagement" and stressed there was no "contractual promise whatsoever" on human rights in the official host city contract.
"I would definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement," Rogge said, in one of his most pointed comments on the subject.
Rogge reported having "very frank and open discussions" with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on a range of Olympic issues Wednesday. He declined to elaborate. Rogge insisted that "a number of important points have been met" on human rights, including a new Chinese law enacted in 2007 that removed many restrictions on foreign journalists. But he said the law had not been fully implemented and he was urging Chinese officials to do so "as soon as possible."
Okay, that's enough from the AP on the subject. Considering that I wrote about this seven years ago, why should any of us be surprised that things have turned out this way? Beijing is escorting foreign journalists, allowing them no freedom of movement, always under the control of their "handler". They have cut off free access to the internet, so their citizens don't have accurate information at all. And before it is over, they will make another empty promise, and the world will accept it, not even considering the possibility that they might be lying. I for one won't be buying it. For those who believe anything coming out of Beijing's mouth, I have a wonderful piece of beachfront property for sale about ten miles outside of Tucson.
As I said before, I just love freedom of the press - it's a wonderful tool to enable us to poke a sharp stick into Beijing's eye.
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How have your holidays been? Ours have been pretty good, all in all, if we only think about our immediate family. And when we do, think very hard about how fortunate we are. We're thankful to have food on the table, a roof over our heads, and our health. On November 1, I experienced the surgeon's knife for only the second time in my life, and I came out wondering why I didn't do it sooner! Severe lower back and leg pain fell by the wayside immediately! I woke up from surgery healed - well, I still had a month to recuperate from the actual surgery, but all of the pain was gone, and has stayed gone. I figure, if that's the worst of it I should be thankful indeed. All summer long, I looked wistfully at my road bike parked in the garage, unable to swing a leg over the top tube to get into a riding position - I put ten miles on it in April and then had to stop. I put twice that number of pounds onto the body over the next four months. Twenty pounds later, I can now get back on with the help of a trainer that will let me "spin" during winter days when riding isn't wise. The goal is to get the weight off by May and ride the Copper Triangle Alpine Classic in August. It's a 78-mile ride to benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation, dedicated to research of Parkinson's disease which struck Davis in the prime of his riding career. Davis rode on the 7-11 team with Bob Roll, Ron Kiefel, and a few other notables and I believe was the first American to win a stage in the Tour de France. I'll have to double check that. It's a bit of a daunting goal for me - I'll let you know how it goes. Another benefit will be regaining the ability to show our dogs, and to do so without popping the button off my blazer on the go-round....
Our youngest son made it home for Thanksgiving week and helped Dad move into the iPod generation. I never thought I would go there, until an absolutely miserable flight sitting across the aisle from a very unhappy four-month old child who screamed for every minute of the three hour flight. I looked around at all of the people who were blissfully "plugged in" and the idea began to germinate. By the end of the flight, it was an English garden in full bloom.
On the downside a lot of the people reading this will have already seen some news on the Wiscoy Breeder's Forum or elsewhere of the passing of Gail Grosscup of Ridgeview Labradors on December 7. We attended a beautiful memorial service for her and shared some tears as well as some laughter with her husband, Paul, and many family and friends. I don't know how many people are aware, because Gail never was one for a lot of publicity about herself, but she was one of the first people to complete an AKC Championship and a Master Hunter title - and she did the training and the handling herself. She was also a Master Hunter judge. She worked tirelessly for our club, the Labrador Retriever Club of Greater Denver, for as long as she was physically able. A little more than a year ago, Gail received a double lung transplant that extended her life, but in the end she lost a courageous fight against rejection. She leaves behind the two things in life that she loved the most: her husband, and her dogs. Godspeed, Gail - save me a spot at the table, would you?
That's it for this entry - until I can get back here, ciao! Feel free to add your own comment!
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Entries closed a week ago. Our entries are down, but that's not it - everyone's are, I'm told, because who can afford to drive several hundred miles at the price of gas these days. It's because most of the work is over and I have time to think, and this happens to me every year, and to my wife who is the Specialty chair. It happens because we just spent time preparing our ads for the show catalog, and that always makes us think of past Specialties and those dogs that are no longer with us, and if we happen to have veterans to show we think of them and realize that they won't have many more opportunities to get out and show their stuff (and, of course, get fed as bribery to stand pretty). They also get petted by little children, and by old timers who remember them in their prime. Some of the old timers actually cry. How undignified!
This year, our thoughts center on two in particular.
The first, Misty, is one that hits us almost every year -- hell, every day is more the truth. Misty was Kellyn's Midnight Mist, our "typey little black bitch" that we had such dreams for, and who would have made the most wonderful mother because she adopted every one of the litters we had when she was with us. She was dysplastic, and tore both of her cruciates along the way. She also was in an accident that resulted in her digital flexor tendon being almost severed. She recovered from that one, though, and accumulated eight championship points (and one major) before she was two. The dysplasia and the cruciates are what retired her, and what made her Mama's couch potato. She spent her last few years as Mama's Secretary -- under Mama's feet while Mama worked from her home office as a project manager for a major corporation. After a couple of years, every conference call began with the standard round of inquiries -- "How's Mama's Secretary?" As she grew old, her black muzzle became riddled with the grey that added dignity and wisdom to her soft, kind expression. But we both knew her time would come. In the end, she did not give us our wish of saving us from having to make the hardest of decisions. It was but two days before the Specialty that year when Dr. Tom came out to the house and helped her cross The Bridge where we know she and her mother, and now her sister and brother, are waiting. Her Memorial in the Specialty catalog began with the words, "We have a secret, you and I...."
And that's as far as I ever get....
I said there were two this year. The other is our eleven year old boy, Ch. Simerdown's Kellyn Tanqueray. We have Linda Vaughn of Simerdown Labradors to thank for the years of enjoyment we have had with "Tank" - The Tankster. And we have Shelly Rekow of Pleasurethyme to thank for handling him to the last ten point and major that he needed to complete his Championship. What makes this year special for Tank is that he is retiring after this year's Specialty, when he will be shown in the Veteran classes. It's also special -- and quite remarkable -- because just eight weeks ago we almost lost him to an unexplainable ailment. Over just a couple of days, he bled out internally and collapsed literally on the doorstep of the vet's office. Dr. Tom took one look at the whiteness of his normally pink gums and uttered, "Oh, no....". Immediate and quite heroic measures somehow stabilized him, and he defied all logic by making it overnight. He was transfused twice. Full blood work was done, and full body scans and X-rays to confirm his spleen was functioning and that there was no cancer. To this day, neither we nor our vet can explain what happened. But he is here with us now, happy as a clam and "nickering at the fillies" as the horse folks say. So his journey into the ring in a little over a week will make more than a few people cry.
You know, that's about all I can say at this point. Hug your old ones, and let them sleep on your feet tonight. Saluting all our veterans....
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Editorial Observer
Congress, the Constitution and War: The Limits on Presidential Power
By ADAM COHEN
Published: January 29, 2007
President Bush doesn't seem to care that Congress wants a bigger role in guiding the
It is hardly the first time this president has insisted that he is "the decider," or even the first time he's used the Constitution to justify it, as Vice President Dick Cheney did when he told Fox News: "The Constitution is very clear that the president is, in fact, under Article 2, the commander in chief."
But Mr. Cheney told only half the story. Congress has war powers, too, and with 70 percent of Americans now opposed to President Bush's handling of the war, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, it is becoming more assertive about them. Congress is poised to pass a resolution denouncing the troop increase. Down the line, Congress may well consider mandatory caps on the number of troops in
If it does, we may be headed toward a constitutional clash, with the administration trying to read powers into the Constitution -- as it has with its "enemy combatant" doctrine and presidential "signing statements" -- that the Founders did not put there. The Constitution's drafters were intent on balancing power so no one branch could drift toward despotism. The system of checks and balances that runs through the document divides the war power between the president and Congress.
The Constitution's provision that the president is the commander in chief clearly puts him at the top of the military chain of command. Congress would be overstepping if, for example, it passed a law requiring generals in the field to report directly to the speaker of the House.
But the Constitution also gives Congress an array of war powers, including the power to "declare war," "raise and support armies" and "make rules concerning captures on land and water." By "declare war," the Constitution's framers did not mean merely firing off a starting gun. In the 18th century, war declarations were often limited in scope -- European powers might fight a naval battle in the
The Founders, including James Madison, who is often called "the father of the Constitution," fully expected Congress to use these powers to rein in the commander in chief. "The constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it,"
In the early days of the republic, the Supreme Court made clear that Congress could limit the president's war powers -- notably in the Flying Fish case. In 1799, during the "Quasi War," the undeclared sea war between the
When the Flying Fish was seized while sailing from a French port -- something Congress had not authorized -- the ship's owner sued. The Supreme Court decided in his favor, ruling that the president had no right to issue the order he did. John Marshall, the nation's greatest chief justice, declared that even in a time of hostilities, a president's decision to act militarily beyond what Congress had authorized was "unlawful."
The court has repeatedly reinforced this principle. In 1952, in the steel seizure case, it ruled that President Harry Truman could not seize steel mills to avert a strike -- even though steel was needed for the Korean War -- because Congress had set out a different way of handling the labor unrest. More recently, in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, it held that President Bush must follow Congressional guidelines when he sets up military tribunals for detainees.
Past Congresses have enacted just the sort of restrictions the Bush administration is trying to foreclose today. During the Vietnam War, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974 capped the number of American military personnel in
There is little question that Congress could use its power of the purse to end a war. But cutting off financing is a drastic step, and one that members of Congress are understandably reluctant to take, because it can look like a refusal to support the troops. The Constitution's text, Supreme Court cases and history show, however, that Congress can instead pass laws that set the terms of military engagement. Whether it would be wise for Congress to adopt such limits is debatable; whether it has the authority to do so should not be.
The Bush administration insists that if Congress tries to manage the
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One of the hopes that I have for this blog is that it creates a place for people to come to read about the wonderful Labrador Retriever breed, and to discuss through comments what is important to them, and what makes them happy during the time they spend with their dogs, their friends, and their friends' dogs. From time to time I'll publish something meaningful to someone, and there may be things that don't even relate to dogs, venturing off into some other space motivated by whatever happens on that particular day.
If someone stumbles across this blog and they wonder to themselves, "Who are these people???", I would direct them to our website for a good starting place. It's a good place to get some background information about us and our involvement in Labrador Retrievers over the past several years (since 1984). If you're one of those folks, here's the address:
http://www.kellyn.com/kellynlabs/
Fair warning: there will be days when I get up on the wrong side of the bed (doesn't everyone?) and I hear something on the news or on the Today Show that stirs my pot. I may use the blog to vent a bit - hell, I may as well just let you know, I will do some of that because y'know what? It's my blog, right? If you read something that really flips your switch feel free to leave a comment. It's a public forum to some extent, but I will control some of the content and censor as required. Blatantly offensive remarks, or personal attacks on other non-public figures will be dealt with forthrightly -- as in blocked or deleted as needed to maintain decorum. However, healthy and informed debate is always welcome....
That's it - the first real blog entry. Welcome, come back often, and chime in whenever you agree or disagree with a position expressed here, and are inspired to put it in writing.
Take care of you and yours....
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