According to U.S. removes N. Korea from terror list, the decision is not universally accepted:

Removing North Korea from the list was immediately criticized by some conservatives who said it goes too far and sends a bad signal to other U.S. adversaries, notably Iran. Hill, a lightning rod for conservative criticism on the issue, was noticeably absent at the State Department announcement.

Critics pilloried the development because they said it is not adequate to address its involvement in spreading nuclear weapons technology or its alleged uranium enrichment activities.

“By rewarding North Korea before the regime has carried out its commitments, we are encouraging this regime to continue its illicit nuclear program and violate its pledge to no longer provide nuclear assistance to extremist regimes,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Still remaining in the “axis of evil” are Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, and Syria. The only question is if this classification actually accomplishes any good, besides denying modernization to nations which so desperately need it.

BEIJING—A universally recognized symbol of goodwill, the Olympic torch was used to immolate hundreds of Tibetan protesters during its journey across mainland China last week, in what is being called a stirring display of competitive spirit and Chinese nationalism.

Given all of the things in the mix–Tibetans rioting, the Chinese army shooting Tibetans, various protests, the Olympic torch-snuffing, heat from the Dali Lama, the Chinese government photoshopping photos–what needs to happen is for people to step back, calm down, and go about their normal lives. Here, and in Tibet and China. That way we’ll have a lot less political mess, death, and suffering in the eastern parts of the world.

Björk closed out the set with the anthemic ‘Declare Independence,’ chanting the name of a huge piece of real estate west of Sichuan and Yunnan amongst a hail of streamers. [Bjork] shouted “Tibet, Tibet!” followed by “Raise your flag!” towards the end of her final song, “Declare independence.”

Creating machines to automatically detect and defuse land mine fields isn’t a hard problem, but just an expensive one.  And, as land mines continue to be used around the world, the problem will persist indefinitely.  We need to be aware of the dangers of landmines and stop making them.  Perhaps if the supply atrophies they will disappear entirely.

As you know, in 1951 the People’s Republic of China asserted control over Tibet, forcing them to sign a 17-point agreement. Before that, Tibet existed as a sovereign nation. However, Tibetan exiles say that 1.2 million people have died as a direct result of the “Great Leap Forward,” which China denies. Living conditions in Tibet are also considered substandard as a result of Chinese rule.

Yesterday, Boing Boing collected a series of stories detailing how Tibetan refugees were shot crossing the border. Stranger yet is that China admits that the PLA killed some of the refugees:

China admitted that its soldiers killed a person who was trying to flee Tibet, but the official account contradicted eyewitness reports that the troops had shot at unarmed refugees. The state-run Xinhua news agency released a short report of the September 30 incident that occurred near Mt Everest, saying soldiers had found nearly 70 people trying to illegally cross the Tibetan border into Nepal.

Interestingly enough, there is actually video footage of the atrocity:

The video footage, taken by a Romanian cameraman who was at advance base camp on Mount Cho Oyo at the time, depicts a line of Tibetans walking uphill through the snow on the Nangpa Pass when a shot is heard and one of the figures falls to the ground. The video clearly depicts that the Tibetans had their backs to the soldiers, were unarmed, and offered no resistance. The nun who died, Kelsang Namtso, appears to have been shot in the back.

I have no idea what can be done about this, but given China’s poor human rights record, this will just keep on happening. It’s the classic Machiavellian state–do what you need to to browbeat the people, assert power, and silence dissidents.

“Starting 500 years ago, waves of Western European immigrants began arriving in North America without Visas or Green Cards, killing, infecting, and stealing from the native population.”

Nationalistic pride, mixed with a feeling of racial superiority, mixed with the idea that the government is never wrong, mixed with saving face… It is a scary/irritating situation I live with every day. [...] When censorship happens, it is not so much the government controlling the people, as it is 1.3 billion people putting their fingers in their ears and saying “Mmmmmm!!!!! I can’t HEAR youuuu!” Not only are conflicting ideas censored, but any negative events or occurrences within China.

It’s a good read, go check it out! While you’re at it, you might also want to read the thesis that Chinese people are naturally superior and hard-working, so SE Asian countries with high numbers of Chinese are naturally more prosperous.  I’m not sure that I believe that one…

1. Malaysia outlaws unsuitable names
2. Botox ban for Malaysian Muslims
3. Kiss warning to Malaysia tourists

Tourist aren’t allowed to kiss because, “kissing and hugging [isn't] acceptable to Malaysian citizens” according to Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz. According to the 2004 Global Sex Survey by condom manufacturer Durex, Malaysian’s are the second most-virgin (losing to Vietnam), and the sixth least-sexed. So, if abstinence is the goal of censorship, the banning of public affection, and other laws in Malaysia, it’s probably working.

I wonder what would happen if you correlate things like “standard of living” and “GDP” with sexual satisfaction and cultural tolerance.  It’s probably no accident that well-to-do countries are often made up of more open societies.

In fact, researchers found that searching for “Tibet independence” or “6-4″ (4 June is the anniversary of Tiananmen Square) won’t just give you shonky results but will get you barred from the site for an hour.

I must point out that censorship of the internet is simply fighting a losing battle.  If people are saying that your government sucks, the solution isn’t to prevent other people from hearing them, but to make your government un-sucky.

Wired has an article with more specifics about the salary that the Chinese women working in the factory make:

According to the report (paraphrased here by Macworld UK), Foxconn’s giant Longhua plant employs 200,000 workers, who work 15-hour days but are paid just $50 a month — miserable even by China’s standards. It claims they work and live in the plant, in dormitories housing 100 people, and outside visitors are forbidden.

However, the large corporations running factories in China and abroad claim to enforce basic standards of living across all of their sites.  And, while these standards are lower than US standards, they are probably above an “acceptable” line by some local measure, or no one would choose to work at the factory.