Tibet

There have been anti-Chinese demonstrations throughout Tibet this week. Now we hear that Chinese troops are pouring into the are, undoubtedly to provide the means for a violent suppression of the protesters.

I have a lot of admiration for the current modernization going on in China. The government is trying to balance the need for greater personal and economic freedom with the fear of the kind of post-Soviet chaos that occurred in Russia. The majority of Chinese are living far better lives than their parents could have imagined. Political freedoms are limited, but moving in the right direction (although very slowly).

It is hard to reconcile this with the heavy handed treatment that China is using towards Tibet. They seem to be motivated by a real fear of the influence of the Dalai Lama, who they label as "a devil". I think that they are afraid to consider the idea of limited autonomy, and they are waiting for the Dalai Lama to die.

Could it be a coincidence that this round of protests is occurring as the country really starts to ramp up for the opening of the Olympic Games? The Tibetan exile community is quite sophisticated in managing its image and tactics: they have a lot of support amongst influential people in the West.

This presents a real problem for China with regards to the Olympics. If they let the protests continue it will keep Tibet on the forefront of the news, a distinct embarassment to the government. On the other hand if they use military force to crush the protests, they run the risk of a boycott of the Olympics.

I am not sure that the Chinese government has a subtle enough understanding of world opinion to do the right thing in this case. I fear that paranoia will win out over caution, and Tibet is in for some rough treatment in the near future.

Gasoline

Gasoline prices will spike up to close to $4.00 per gallon within a few months, it was reported today. It really is painful for the economy and hits lower income working class drivers the hardest.

This reminds me of the mid 70's when the economy seemed to take one punch after the other and spiralled downwards into stagflation. Remember Gerald Ford's WIN buttons and Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech?

Hopefully this generation will be able to learn what others before have: the good times don't always last so have fun while you can but have a plan for what to do when things go bad...

SNOW

Here in Cleveland we got a ridiculous amount of snow this weekend.

Close to 2 feet fallen, with massive drifts everywhere. So much that the airport closed completely for a day. I know 2 people who were out of town and got stranded, but one was in Mexico, and the other was in San Francisco, so things could have been worse (they could have been in Buffalo).

I took my daughter sledding last week before the snow started, on the remains of last Tuesday's ice storm. We flew down the hill together, and she loved it. We might go tonight on the new snow.

Of course we will hear the chorus of morons shouing "What global warming, look at all of this snow!". Seems like a knee jerk response that someone has to make in any group of 4 or more people.

Go Hillary!

Hillary Clinton was the big winner in Tuesday's primaries.

I am really glad she is still in the race; I would hate to see Barack Obama ordained as the nominee. I hope that if democrats can take the next few months to evaluate these 2 fine candidates outside of the context of the primary horse race they will realize that she is the better person for the job.

I also hope that the Obama nation people can see the big picture enough to realize that even if Barack is not the nominee, it is much more important to elect a Democrat than it is to sit back and sulk during the November election, allowing yet another Republican administration.

I am a big Hillary backer, but if Obama gets the nomination, then I will close ranks and support him 110%. Let's hope the Obama supporters can do the same if the situation is reversed.

Ohio Primary

Tomorrow is the Ohio primary and I plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. I never got on the Obama band wagon. As cool as it would be to have a non-white president (I hestitate to call him Black, as he has one white and one black parent), I think Hillary is the better person for the job, regardless of perceptions of "electability"

My vote is based on a couple of considerations:
1. I have waited for 10 years to cast a vote for Hillary, and this may be my only chance, given that Obama may lock it up tomorrow.
2. Hillary is the person that the Republicans hate the most, which makes me want to vote for her the most.
3. When I ask myself who would do the best job if another 9-11 happened, or who would take reviving the economy most seriously, or who would make the strongest effort to restore the honor and dignity of our country in the world commnunity, I only get one answer, and that person is Hillary Clinton.

Go Hillary!

Yoga

I went to my first class at a local Yoga Studio last Saturday.

I got some coupons for Christmas (I asked for them), and I finally got around to going. I had done yoga informally for a long time, mostly using videos and books, but I had never been to an actual studio.

I loved it!

The session was called "Yoga Basics", so it assumed some experience, but was not too advanced. It was 75 minutes of continuous movement, and became very strenuous for me. I was sweating like crazy by the end of it, and I left feeling like I had both a good workout and a relaxing meditative session. I think it is the feeling of relaxed invigoration that makes yoga different from other forms of exercise.

It was a lot different from doing it on my own, as the instructor kept everyone focused and moving, with no rest. Noone was listening to their mp3 players during this class! I really enjoyed it, and my muscles still feel worked, but not strained.

I really think yoga has a great ability to keep you healthy, in many ways. Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, and predates most surviving forms of medicine.

My only regret is that I did not pursue a more formal practice years ago.

Florida (again)

We just came back from our second Florida Vacation since Christmas. This time we spent 5 days at Siesta Key, in the Sarasota area.

We really enjoyed the soft white sand beach, a world class beach; very wide and spacious.

My daughter and I made some sand sculptures, a big lizard and a butterfly decorated with seashells. Lots of people walking by were very impressed, and my daughter was quite proud of making them with her Daddy. It was cool to see them still there after a couple of days.

We spent a lot of time on the beach, with rented beach chairs and umbrellas. I got sunburned.

We also spent 2 days at the Magic Kingdom in Disneyworld, a first for me and my daughter. It was a good experience, mostly because the weather was great and it was not as crowded as I expected. We saw the parade and the fireworks, and went on a bunch of rides. Surprisingly enough, my 6 year old girls' favorite ride was the Speedway, where you get to drive cars around a track. You cans teer but a metal rod keeps them on track. She loved it and wanted to go back several times.

Disney is really all about illusion. MK seems like a really big place, but we took the steam train around the perimeter it only lasted about 10 minutes, with 3 stops. The place is architected such that you cannot see very far between the different areas, so it is hard to get much perspective, but the train ride reveals that it is quite a bit smaller than you would think.

All in all a good trip, and a great break from work and the snow.