Musings and chronicles on life, work, film, culture, politics, etc.
30 Sep 2012 1 Comment
in China, expat life, food, photos Tags: China, corruption, dessert, Holiday, mooncakes, sweets, tradition
Today is Mid-Autumn Festival in China and the common gift is mooncakes. Above you see the ones my school gave me. Throughout the neighborhood there are vendors selling these cakes, which I’ve learned can be used as a secondary currency creating problems of corruption.
I don’t like the one’s with bean paste, but the nut-filled ones are okay. The trick for me is to eat about a quarter of a cake a day. They’re pretty heavy and the sweetness can get excessive.
17 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in China, commerce, expat life, society, travel Tags: Beijing, China, consumer protection, corruption, Taxicab, taxis, Transportation, travel, Vehicle registration plate
Next time maybe he will use the meter
Today I learned that my complaint against the black taxis, who refused to give my friends and I a ride using their meters, has resulted in some success. A Chinese friend helped me file official complaints a few weeks ago. I’ve just learned that one of the drivers was fired on May 3rd and another was fined.
So although as a foreigner who often feels that the system is beyond her and that some people are just bad, there’s no reason to despair. Sometimes justice is served. Perhaps in a small way I’ve helped taxi users in Beijing.
I urge anyone who’s having such problems to take a photo of the offending cab’s license plate and driver. Then report the matter to the police as Ling did or to the cab company.
26 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in news, opinion, politics Tags: Bo Xilai, China, Chongqing, Communist Party of China, corruption, murder, New York Times, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, wiretapping
US Secretary Gutierrez meets with Chinese Minister Bo Xilai cropped from File:US_Secretary_Gutierrez_meets_with_Chinese_Minister_Bo_Xilai.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’ve been following the Bo Xilai story as best I can, which is hard to do in China. At first the details were murky and I couldn’t figure out exactly what is alleged to have happen, but finally The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Guardian and others have clearer reports of what’s believed to have gone on.
What’s interesting is how little coverage the story gets here. A month ago CCTV reported that tangentially that several websites had been closed down for “spreading rumors” and that the
I’d just pieced together parts of the story, but now it’s clear that Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, is implicated in the murder of a British man, Neil Heywood, who was to help her send lots of money overseas. That Bo has tapped the phones used by high ranking CP officials and that although his job was to stop corruption, he was highly corrupt and also imprisoned people who crossed him. An NPR report a month ago mentioned that family members of missing people in his district were afraid to speak out about their missing relatives.
If this happened in the US, people would be talking about it. A lot.
That’s a big difference in living in China. I wouldn’t ask anyone about it as I think I’d be rude or worse. If a student brought this up, I’d be surprised and I’d probably change the subject, though I’ve been quite open about the scallywags in Illinois politics. I also don’t perceive the kind of energy that surfaces in the midst of a scandal. There’s no uptick in gossip that I can detect. Yet as I don’t speak Chinese I wouldn’t know, though I would pick up on the change of energy.
Well, it seems that the CCTV segment that showed that all is well in Mr. Bo’s Chongqing was might be on the money. There was an insipid segment on the news in which a reporter went to a GAP-like store in Chongqing and interviewed the assistant manager and a shopper or two. All said everything was hunky dory. Well, sure. When Blogojevich was on trial it’s not like, people stopped needing new jeans. Yet as I watched the report of how calm it was, made me suspicious. Why would someone report about a calm day?
08 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in bad jobs Tags: Cheongju, Computer crime, corruption, injustice, Korea, Law Enforcement, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, Police, prejudice, South Korea
Although I became resigned to the fact that the Korean police weren’t going to exert themselves in investigating my cyber crime, one friend of mine kept trying to find ways to move forward. I knew it was a futile effort, but I also know that this friend is more or less stuck in Korea till he retires in 10 years and that he was getting some satisfaction from the project. Every now and then he’d ask me to provide information as he tried to get lawyer friends to intervene.
While it was a lost cause, sometimes I think people can’t be talked out of things and that circumstances are the best teacher. I often liken this to learning to walk. The best coach is gravity. You can’t tell a child “If you try to go to fast . . .” or “If you put your foot down like that, you’ll probably fall.” They need the experience not words to teach them. So finally, my friend has concluded that nothing can be done. He needed several lawyers to convince him. When I started to try, he thought I was a quitter. It was best to let it work out this way.
Well, I did see that that experience should not be for naught. Ne’er do wells got away with something and they’ll try again. Yet vengeance is is foolish. One big problem that was as bad as the crime itself was that the police didn’t follow through and acted in a strange fashion. They went to the crime scene and collected evidence. They did some interviews and never looked at what they collected. Also, they refused to contact the internet services like Yahoo! and Google to obtain evidence. They gave me a song and dance about not being able to obtain the evidence, but both companies told me what was needed and I found out that Korea and the U.S. have a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty so investigation beyond the evidence they sat on was possible. As time wore on it was easier to see that any foreigner and many Koreans would have been ignored.
The only thing I could do, though perhaps not all that effective would be to write to the newspaper. They did publish my editorial which objectively calls for better services for crime victims. I realize few will read it, but I have the satisfaction of having done all I could. Here’s the editorial. Not my best work, but okay.
Also, if there’s any crime victims who need the text of this treaty along with the form and directions on how the police should fill it out and submit it, contact me.
31 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in politics, trial Tags: Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, Blagojevich, corruption
I went to the Blagojevich trial today. The defense continued their questioning. Blagojevich got to explain his side of the story regarding requesting Jerry Krozel, an influential businessman in the road building community, to fund raise as he had in the past. He went on to mention how he made sure that his wife Patty not take work that conflicted with the policy not to hire family members for state jobs.
All in all, Blagojevich did come off well. He apologized for all his profanity and boasted of his wife’s intelligence and determination. At one point Judge Zagel cut him off on saying something like, “I’m the last person to stop someone from praising their spouse but . . .” Throughout whenever the prosecution objected to a digression, the ex-Governor apologized saying he always did that. The “aw shucks” was implied.
I didn’t get into the courtroom. Didn’t even try since I’m not about to wake up at 4am to get one of the 16 coveted passes. I sat in the overflow with several citizens and U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, who sat at a table taking copious notes. Fitzgerald clearly wants to win this one.
I just stayed for the morning. According to the news, the afternoon consisted of testimony explaining Blagojevich’s take on the senate seat search.
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