When a nation loses its symbol

Korea is an old civilization with epochs of great cultural achievement. But like its neighbor, Japan - another old civilization with great cultural feats by world standards - Korea has long harbored a collective inferiority complex vis-a-vis America and Europe. The Korean propensity to nestle in the collective myth of cultural uniqueness, racial purity and ultimate antiquity is matched only by the preponderance of such impulses on the part of the Japanese.

Hence, the Korean trauma of helplessly bearing witness to an historic national monument burn down to ashes cuts deeper than, say, Parisians witnessing the Eiffel Tower collapse, or Bostonians watching Faneuil Hall burn to the ground. Beneath the pain and fury that the Koreans feel flows a visceral psychological hurt, shaped in part by pride in their old history and in part by an abiding discomfort in having played in recent memory, and in having to go on playing still today, the catch-up game with America and Europe. That some 350 firefighters over the course of nearly five hours could not extinguish a fire inside a wooden structure is considered by many South Koreans as national humiliation of the first order.

Korean - and, as an extension - East Asian attachment to antiquity stands in vast contrast to the future-oriented mentality of Americans. Americans are unencumbered by their youth as a republic or even civilization. One rather obvious reason is that the United States is just barely over 230 years old, while the Chinese civilization is - if not in point of antiquity then certainly in point of continuity - the oldest civilization in the world. Perhaps world hegemony is a most effective cure for collective neurosis, but the forward-looking mentality of Americans was apparent even in the 19th century when the young American republic was at best only a second-rate power.

China may not harbor such acute self-doubt as Korea or Japan when it comes to historical seniority and superiority, because China is indeed the oldest and for much of human history was the world's leader in wealth and technology. On the other hand, or perhaps precisely because of China's once glorious past, the Chinese, too, are particularly sensitive when it comes to protecting their cultural relics and works of art.

[ ... ]

The US government and the American people would never support an exhibition abroad of say, the Declaration Independence. Nonetheless, they were still unable to understand the emotional attachment to centuries-old art on the part of the Taiwanese. The signed copy of the Declaration of Independence preserved in the National Archive in Washington, DC, was sealed in 1951 in a bullet-proof glass encasement with humidified helium to block out oxygen and a filter to screen out light. In recent years, new and improved encasement designs made from pure titanium filled with inert argon have replaced the older ones. Americans, too, care for their national treasure, except that Americans simply do not have centuries-old art or monument to make a fetish of.

In many ways, art and cultural relics in China, Japan, and Korea embody the spirit of independence and national pride contained in the American Declaration of Independence. Namdaemun for many South Koreans was just that - the spirit of the Korean people and the Korean republic. It was certainly something to dote on - a beloved icon that came close to a national fetish.

~  from A blow to the Korean soul ~

International Congress of Ethnobiology: Cusco, June 2008

http://www.icecusco.net

11th International Congress of Ethnobiology
Cusco, Peru 25-30 June 2008

Livelihoods and Collective Biocultural Heritage

The 11th International Congress of Ethnobiology will be held in the context of the United Nation's International Year of the Potato, a Peruvian native crop which epitomizes the close links between cultural and biological diversity in the Andes. The aim of this Congress is to stimulate awareness, discussion and debate on the state of knowledge and practice around biological and cultural diversity by providing a forum to share information and examples from a variety of regional and national settings.

~ from Colonos ~

Reeling in Venezuela

Looks like fun and games time is over and the empire is getting restless. Used to be countries had to be 'pacified'. Now 'hard measures' such as regime change and bombing countries silly may be excused in the interest of 'fighting terror' (I suppose the joke of fighting terror with greater terror is lost on them who are embroiled in this noble cause). Case in point...

Our next regime-change project

Does Dubya have time to get rid of Hugo Chavez before he leaves office? Probably not -- but never fear! Both Dem candidates seem okay with the Bush policy toward Venezuela. After Colombia's recent cross-border incursion into Ecuador and Chavez' saber-rattling reaction, Obama issued a vague anti-terrorism statement, and Hillary sided strongly with our client state Colombia, while calling Chavez the provocateur. See http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/06/7520.

Underscoring this is an 'impartial' opinion from the people we can trust at the Latin American oil and gas industry's Petroleum World:

The Corrupcion of Democracy in Venezuela

Under Pres. Hugo Chavez's regime the last nine years, corruption has
reached heights undreamed of by even the greediest of despots, as the
people of Venezuela have been fleeced out of billions of dollars.

HUGO CHAVEZ was elected president of Venezuela in December 1998 on the strength of three main promises: convening a Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution and improve the state, fighting poverty and social exclusion, and eliminating corruption. Nine years later, it has become evident that the Constituent Assembly primarily was a vehicle to destroy all existing political institutions and replace them with a bureaucracy beholden to his wishes. Poverty and social exclusion remainas prominent as before, while the levels of government corruption are higher than ever.

Today, the nation is locked in an intense struggle between the defenders of democracy and a president intent on becoming a dictator bfor life. Chavez's latest attempt to push a constitutional reform that would have allowed him unlimited opportunities for reelection was defeated by a margin that official figures put at two points, but independent analysts place at five to 10 points. In negotiating the narrower margin with a National Electoral Council largely under his control, Chavez managed to appear magnanimous in defeat, but he is not a democrat, and he will keep trying to become president for life in any way he can...

Which in translation means they who remove him from power will be doing Venezuelans a big favor. Right...

Hillary's Irish peace claim "silly" says Nobel Peace Prize winner

Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a "wee bit silly" for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province.

Hillary Clinton with the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness after their meeting in Washington last year "I don't know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around," he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely "the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets" during elections. "She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don't want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player."

Mrs Clinton has made Northern Ireland key to her claims of having extensive foreign policy experience, which helped her defeat Barack Obama in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday after she presented herself as being ready to tackle foreign policy crises at 3am.

"I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland," she told CNN on Wednesday. But negotiators from the parties that helped broker the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 told The Daily Telegraph that her role was peripheral and that she played no part in the gruelling political talks over the years.

[ ... ]

There is no record of a meeting at Belfast City Hall, though Mrs Clinton attended a ceremony there when her husband turned on the Christmas tree lights in November 1995. The former First Lady appears to be referring a 50-minute event the same day, arranged by the US Consulate, the same day at the Lamp Lighter Café on the city's Ormeau Road.

The "Belfast Telegraph" reported the next day that the café meeting was crammed with reporters, cameramen and Secret Service agents. Conversation "seemed a little bit stilted, a little prepared at times" and Mrs Clinton admired a stainless steel tea pot, which was duly given to her, for keeping the brew "so nice and hot".

~ Full article ~

The (Unfolding Secret Banker Conspiracy) Plan Revealed?

Interesting proposition. The wise will keep an open mind but take with a pinch of salt...

...When enough of the Third World nations sign the agreement, saying they are not going to repay the loans they received from the holding company, the international bankers can declare the holding company insolvent. (This is where it becomes apparent why the money was put in holding companies instead of in banks. The holding companies were designed to go bankrupt.! Chase Manhattan or Chemical Bank would not have to be sacrificed since there were not responsible for the loans.)

Once the holding company is declared bankrupt, they can legally avoid payment to the Arab nations. The international bankers will say, "Sorry, Arabs. We lost your money. You are broke!" When the Arab nations realize that all their money is gone, they will immediately liquidate all of their other assets. They will dump billions and billions of stocks and Wall Street will collapse. They will put all of their farmland and real estate on the market and land values will plummet. Farmers will have no collateral to borrow against to plant next year's crops and food will become scarce in the grocery stores.

The effect this will have on the American economy will be chaotic. This catastrophic collapse has been purposely designed to throw the American people into a state of confusion. Then the benevolent bankers will step forward saying, "Look what these dirty Arabs have done to you!" and offer a solution to our problems.

Their solution will be to abolish our currency and institute a new form of money. Each person then would be issued a government ID number and would need a debit card to do any business transactions.

Perhaps the biggest shock in May's story is that the "Star Wars" system is only 40% concerned with defense and 60% concerned with banking! These "Star Wars" satellites would link the debit system to a central computer base - a super bank. Transfer of funds between accounts would be instantaneous and the internal bankers would finally have complete financial control. May says the debate over "Star Wars" is all show because the satellites are already in place!...

~ from New World Order - 13 Families Effectively Control The Central Banks ~