We Wish You a Hong Kong Christmas

We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
And a prosperous New Year!

Good Fung-Shui we bring to you and your kin
And dim-sum and char-sui and TVB Cheer

We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
And a healthy New Year

Good flu shots we bring to settle your fear
But what of the pollution that still fills our air?

We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We’re not sure about the next year!

A property bubble continues to rise
But they tell us it’s harmless and nothing to fear.

We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
We wish you a Hong Kong Christmas
And we'll be in Shanghai next year!

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The blogger who isn't really a song writer

A Christmas Tree

Kind of a neat  E-card.

10 Qustions

Notice the academic qualifications of the people answering these questions. They are at least as qualified as any of the "experts" Owl Gore uses in his lying, misleading and fraudulent film.

Oh no!

There is considerable evidense of Global Warming on Mars.

How are we going to get Martians to reduce the CO2 levels in their CO2 atmosphere?

I know, we'll blame it on the US.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The blogger who becomiing increasingly sarcastic

From the nice folks over at "Watts Up With That?"

This is for Peter Sherwood of Discovery Bay who had such a nice letter in the SCMP today.

It isn't difficult to deny Global Warming because it isn't happening or at least not the way the the Warmist say it is. The ices cores you reference clearly show that the Warmist are liars.

These People are Ruining My Christmas

I am a librarian not a scientist. I have a PhD in Philosophy and thus am more of a meta-physicist than a physicist. However, to paraphrase Tim Allen in the movie Galaxy Quest "It doesn’t take a good actor to recognize a bad one and it doesn't take a good scientist recognize a terrible one" The people promoting Global Warming are bad scientist.

Because most of them are also apparently as dumb as a sack of rocks here is how I put the argument for the simple minded.

"It is impossible to create the graphs used to support Global Warming with the data that the people who produced the graphs used. They also cannot use their models to work backwards from where the temperature is now and get an accurate picture of the temperature changes over the last 20 years or so. If you cannot accurately predict what has already happened then you cannot predict what hasn't happened."

At a slightly more sophisticated level I ask the Warmist to publish their error bars and confidence levels for their statistics. They don't even know what those are! But even if they did they cannot give you a confidence rating for their work because it is so statistically flawed that it is worthless. They simply have no idea what they are doing.
(http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/11824#more-11824)

They are not scientist they are monist who worship nature.

I have seen several Warmist the past several weeks debunking critics who were less than well versed in statistical method. But at least the critics were TRYING to work with actual data. The Warmist do not even use their own data. Any Warmist still using EAU-CRU or ICCP data that has in the past three weeks been clearly and without doubt shown to be worthless should be shouted down. Phil Jones and Michael Mann simply made it up as they went along and then pummeled doubters with ad hominem attacks and charts created from worthless data. Indeed, the most unscientific of critics are more scientific and fact based than the average greenie cap&trader who appear to me to be morons who believe in a sort of noble savage world of grass huts and happy natives.

The greenies I've talked to don't know the difference between Carbon-Dioxide and Carbon-Monoxide. They can't tell you how much CO2 is in the atmosphere or how much of that is naturally occurring. They don't understand nature except in an impressionist painting or from grocery fliers from Whole Foods.

The real tragedy is that the Warmist have wasted 15 years or so and untold amounts of money on a fraud and that time and that money could have been used to solve some real environmental problems.

Global Warming is not about the environment. It can't be because there are no environmental issues associated with current levels of CO2, or if there are they are different issues than are being presented. Everything or almost everything they publish is provably false. I think it is actually about population control but I can't prove that. I think they are actually anti-human.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger is a better scientist than Phil Jones of the EAU-CRU

Evil ! Evil! Evil!

Some relavant quotes from notable Environmentalist:

“The common enemy of humanity is man.
In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up
with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming,
water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. All these
dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through
changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome.
The real enemy then, is humanity itself.”
- Club of Rome,
premier environmental think-tank,
consultants to the United Nations

“We need to get some broad based support,
to capture the public’s imagination…
So we have to offer up scary scenarios,
make simplified, dramatic statements
and make little mention of any doubts…
Each of us has to decide what the right balance
is between being effective and being honest.”
- Prof. Stephen Schneider,
Stanford Professor of Climatology,
lead author of many IPCC reports

“We’ve got to ride this global warming issue.
Even if the theory of global warming is wrong,
we will be doing the right thing in terms of
economic and environmental policy.”
- Timothy Wirth,
President of the UN Foundation

“No matter if the science of global warming is all phony…
climate change provides the greatest opportunity to
bring about justice and equality in the world.”
- Christine Stewart,
former Canadian Minister of the Environment

“The models are convenient fictions
that provide something very useful.”
- Dr David Frame,
climate modeler, Oxford University

It doesn’t matter what is true,
it only matters what people believe is true.”
- Paul Watson,
co-founder of Greenpeace

“We are on the verge of a global transformation.
All we need is the right major crisis…”
- David Rockefeller,
Club of Rome executive member

It isn't about the environment. It isn't about polar Bears. It isn't about helping the poor. It is about something else. These people want to control your life.

They are evil. They are evil. They are evil.

The ice isn't melting
The seas are not rising
The previous decade was not the warmest ever, not even close
CO2 is not a pollutant
Al Gore is not a well meaning advocate for the environment
The ICCP lied
The EAU-CRU lied
The media and government of Hong Kong are just stupid.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao

The Sick Man in Europe Designed the HK Health care system

Why did I already know this?

Anyone who has used the public hospitals in HK knows how frustrating they can be.


Until Next Time
Fai Mao

Slimeballs of a feather flock Together

The whole book is available online.


Al Gore is a paranoid slimball.

Fai Mao

Cheung quits in ATV drama

At the risk of being blunt, good!

Am I the only one who noticed that ATV reran the entire program schedule this year? The same episodes of the same shows down to the movies! The only thing new they got were a bunch of nature programs that invariably told us we are all going to die from Global Warming. Geezes-Cheeses if that's true you'd think they'd at least let me die happy and air a few new episodes of CSI or something.

Three or four years ago ATV had good shows, things a chubby middle-aged guy with a bad ankle would want to prop his foot up and watch. Then those shows began to slowly disappear and the few that remained are aired really late at night. I have to work, I cannot stay up until 10:30 or 11:05 PM to start a program on a week night. Now we have three or four year-old reruns of Dr. Who, horse racing (Real family entertainment there!) Obscure British chiefs with snotty attitudes like Gary Rhodes cooking foods that remind me of why people say the British can't cook and that is in prime time. Oh, and the ever obnoxious "Globe Trekker" and "Loney Planet" type travel shows that detail how you too can be a tourist without looking like one. You know you've gone clean through the bottom barrel when they best thing you've got is "Varun Shama's Luxury Travel"

But regardless, everything being broadcast was already broadcast last year. They just repeated the same programing.

You'd think if ATV were that hard up they could do some reruns of the Green Hornet series with Bruce Lee from the 1960's or something. That'd be cheap and they could bill it as "Classic TV" they but no, we get a second year of Heston Blumenthal making cheeseburgers from organic French cows.

I guess they can't do any original progaming either. That's a shame because 15 minutes of Anne-Marie Sim, or Kumi Taguchi pole dancing live right after the news rather than reading the weather might get pretty good ratings. Tim Bredbury could host a "Bowling For Dollars" show rather than ignoring the World Series why reading out scores from 2nd tier British Scoccar games. Michael Chigani could maybe do a local verson of "Home Improvement" or "The Jerry Springer Show" that last one wouldn't work because it would look too much like Newsline.

Concomitant with the decline of ATV has been a noticible slide by the other broadcast station here TVB. Competition is a good thing and since ATV mailed it in it seems that TVB has too.

I need to read more.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really needs cable

More Lies by the Warmist

The Greenland Ice Cores show NO warming people who say otherwise are lying. It is just that simple.









These were swiped from the Climate Observer.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who wishes he didn't have to post these.

Pre “Adjusted” CRU Data & IPCC AGW Models Prove AGW Theory Is WRONG!

Why repackage? This is the conclusive proof.

The Warmist are liars. Their own data proves it.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao

What ATV or TVB should be saying

This is from, I think, The CBC. We need this here.



Until Next Time
Fai mao
The Blogger who can't wait for the Warmist to be go to jail.

Do As I Say, Not as I Do

So, the holier-than-thou big-wheels and fat cats at the Copenhagen event are actually doing what they tell other people not to do.

So it is appropriate for them to tell everyone else to use video conferencing but they have to have a face-to-face?

Hey, why didn't they do this in Second-Life? Then they could all look young, happy and environmentally correct.

I guess I should expect this from criminals, liars, frauds and drug using paedophiles

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who hopes their planes crash on the way home

It’s Got to Suck to be a Climavangelist!

Why write a rant when someone else has done it better?

Until Next Time
Fai Mao

I wish I'd known this sooner!

I always knew there was good scientific reason I shouldn't be expected to do housework.

Fai Mao

“OH F–K THIS.”

Mark Steyn is one of two or three people that everyone should read

Until Next Time
Fai mao
The Blogger who wishes he could write so well

The real Criminals Sit on the Bench in Hong Kong

The continued dismantling of the HK justice system took another step forward yesterday. I have some sympathy for the truck driver in this case however, this was a horrific crime and his sentence is entirely inappropriate.

He should be in jail forever more and the churches who are petitioning for him should simply take care of his wife. Mercy to the guilty is a punishment to the victims. That said, the victims need to excercise some forgiveness as well.

Until Next Time
Fai mao
The Blogger who believes that punishment should fit the crime

The little Dutch boy may have run out of fingers

The BBC finally picks up the Climate Gate Story after having the information nearly two months. It appears the dike is about to brake on this story.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who wants clean air not fake science

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year - A Christmas Devotion

1. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus
2. it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.
3. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
4. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you."
5. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6. then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
7. the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
9. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.
10. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35: 1-10

Christmas, we know the story, Mary and Joseph, a child in a manger, the wise men, singing angels, cowardly sheep herders, Herod killing the babies, gold, frankincense, myrrh, not to mention the carols and songs and so forth and so on. We also generally have fond memories of, and an appreciation of at least some of the more secular elements that have come to be associated with the season like lights and food, trees, squadrons of flying reindeer and silly fat men in red suits. It is often for us, as Beryl Ives’ sang so long ago “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” This is true for me too. Some of my fondest and earliest memories are of Christmas. It is a good time of year.

Brain researchers tell us that we can only remember about 10 or 20 days in our life. I don’t think that is accurate. It seems that I can remember more parts of just Christmases than that. But maybe they mean whole days not moments so I can’t really know for sure.

Memories are wonderful but increasingly this year I have found my self not looking back to the ghost of Christmas Past but forward to that second Christmas still to come, a Christmas that isn’t the child in the manger but rather the Savior on the white horse. Maybe I’m getting old. Maybe I’m just homesick or tired, maybe some of both. But when I stop and think about it, maybe not. My hope, our hope lies in the Jesus raised from the grave not Jesus crying in the manger.

God’s justice will come with the Second Advent as God’s salvation came through the First and I long for that second Advent. I grow weary of the injustice in this world. I grow weary of seeing evil called good and wickedness praised as virtue. I grow weary living in this world that groans beneath the sin of Adam. I long for a place where everything beautiful has not been touched by pain. I want to live in a land where truth is not associated with hand grenades or love with sadness. I grow increasing impatient for the world to be made new and for every tear to be wiped from every eye, forever! Yet, all I have is a child in a manger. Whatever my longing, whatever my fears, whatever my hopes and dreams or desire to see justice, no matter how fervent and heart felt my prayer I have only a child in a manger.

That child lying in a manger was God lying in the straw, an incomprehensible thought.

Upon further reflection, that is enough. For that child in a manger knows, and cares, and weeps and died so that one day all the things I rage about will be put right. He grew up knowing far more than I ever will of the sinfulness of the world. He never despaired. He laughed and loved and made merry with his friends and disciples. He cared for those around him. He knew our sin and He loved us in spite of it.

That child lying in a manger was God lying in the straw, an incomprehensible thought.

The hope of the world.
Emanuel.
The Mighty God.
The Everlasting Savior.
The Prince of Peace.

That should be enough to make anyone glad and enough to give anyone hope. So, almost in spite of myself, I find myself being merry and looking forward to Christmas. It is “The most wonderful time of the year.”

From me and mine to you and yours:
Merry Christmas

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who wishes you a merry Christmas

Hide the Decline

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The non-musical blogger

The Death-Rattle of a Movement - Except in Hong Kong

A.J. Strata is one of my favorite online reads. I wish I had the science background he does and could couple it to my philosophy and social science background. I'd be a better blogger. His post earlier this week titled: Alarmist hide truth about (lack of ) global warming: was picked up by several other blogs and was rated as one of the best blog entries by the political blog Watchers of the Weasels

I have become increasingly frustrated over the past two weeks or so as the growing scandal over the leaked, not hacked, emails from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University have been completely overlooked by the print and broadcast media here in the Big Lychee. Maybe they've talked about it on the radio but radio was always something I did in the car. Since I don't drive here I don't listen to the radio.

The problem is that if I say anything about this at work or in social settings then I am called names by the apostles of Owl Gore. This issue has become so polarized that there can be no rational discussion about it. People believe it, or they know the truth. If you express doubts about AGW as I have for years then you are labeled as a polluter, anti-environmental monster, worse, worse than worst and still and lower than the lowest war criminal ever executed.

Well fine, call me names. I don't care and I will laugh while you watch your false god teeter and then fall. Nobody wants to see the horrific air pollution in China reduced more than I do. But, I would rather rather breathe the smoke in Causeway Bay than reduce the pollution problem by lying about it and the global warming hysteria is based upon lies. I refuse to scare people with lies to make them behave. I didn't do that with my children and I won't do with nearly illiterate HKU graduates.

If you want the facts, the truth about global warming then click on A.J. Strata's blog. He has the scientific credentials to back up his claims as do the people he links too. The people who oppose the AGW are not:
1. In the pay of big oil
2. A fringe of bitter religious nuts with big automobiles
3. Crackpots
4. Disreputable

It is true that all most everything presented as fact by the global warming advocates is either a lie or an exaggeration
1. The sea levels are not rising faster now than in the past.
2. It isn't hotter now than in the past. In fact it was hotter in the 1930's and 1940's
3. The arctic ice is NOT melting
4. CO2 is not a pollutant.
5. There are not more or bigger hurricanes or tornadoes
6. The science was never settled
7. Most the 2400 names on the famous list were not even scientist
8. Al Gore is not a well meaning advocate and neither are the leaders and persons pushing this lie.

They don't even know how a greenhouse works.

If you can't handle that then go buy some dope from this guy and get high together in a Chinese jail. Because I give up. If the the real science, the real facts, the real data do not convince you then you are either an idiot or something much worse. Go ahead, call me names, I admit I started it this time but mine are true and yours are not. But, don't email this blog with fake and manipulated statistics from "An Inconvenient Truth" or any other information that uses information from the East Anglia CRU because none of it is true.

Alternately, you can get really angry that you were lied to in a deliberate and pervasive manner and work on real environmental problems. You might also need to apologize to a few people as well.

It will be fun to see when the news finally hits Hong Kong about this issue. It is the largest scandal in the history of academia with professors rigging the system, rigging the review process and intimidating the opposition into silence. It will probably give science a black-eye for decades and I am not sure it isn't deserved.

I just wonder, does this mean that Donald Tsang's brother-in-law is going to lose money on all those twisty light bulbs he imports?


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The blogger who believes that pollution is a problem but doesn't believe in Global Warming

Favorite Day of the Year

Today is an American holiday, Thanksgiving. If you are a US citizen you probably consider it to be one of the big three along with Christmas and Independence Day. In many ways I think it is my favorite holiday and is one that I am surprised that more people outside the US do not adopt.

The story of Thanksgiving is familiar enough. The Puritans came to what is now the Boston area in 1620 and landed too late in the year to grow food for the winter. They almost starved and would have all died without the help of the natives in the area. The next year, 1621 they were able to plant crops and build adequate shelters and knew that they would have enough to carry them through the winter so they held a feast to celebrate and even invited the native American tribes that had helped them.

Other cultures, almost all of them in fact have similar stories of people being grateful that they have enough to eat. Indeed, I cannot really think of a better reason to celebrate than knowing that you will not starve. Lots of people in the world don't know they will not starve.

So in the off chance that someone reads this most obscure of Hong Kong blogs today, take a little time to be thankful. Take some time to say thank you to someone who has helped you when they didn't have to.

Get into the holiday spirit, if only a little bit.


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The blogger who really does like roasted turkey and pumpkin pie

Home Sick

I've been in Hong Kong a long time.

There are still a few days I get homesick for Texas. Thanksgiving is one of them. The link below isn't a Thanksgiving song but it is close enough for me today

Behold, a voice crying out in the wilderness!

I sometimes wonder if I am the reincarnation of John the Baptist when it comes to Hong Kong politics. I don't normally believe in reincarnation but, when it comes to local politics here in Hong Kong I certainly know how old locust breath felt. He had a rough time of it until Herod Antipas beheaded him. It is tough to preach to a stubborn and recalcitrant generation who resist doing the hard work of making straight the way for the Lord, or in this case resist making the hard political decisions that would lead to a better Hong Kong.

The issue of Universal Suffrage here in "The Pearl of the Orient" is a good example. I can't believe that I am the only one who notices that there is a problem in the way various members of the political zoo are braying, roaring and barking. The local politicians are using the term "Universal Suffrage" wrong. To be fair, both the pro-government and pro-democracy camps are missing the point. But then they were all educated by the colonial government to follow instructions and repress any independent thought so maybe that is to be expected.

Here is the deal. We already have Universal Suffrage. For those offices for which we are allowed to vote everyone who meets the qualifications to vote can vote. The vote is not coerced or corrupted. Elections are honest and fair in Hong Kong. Indeed, in Hong Kong the requirements to vote are in some ways quite lenient. Permanent residents who are not citizens can vote in district council elections. You don't see that in many places. What the two sides are really arguing over is not Universal Suffrage but which offices in the government are elected and which are appointed. This is a worthy topic for political discussion but it isn't Universal Suffrage. Rather it is the scope of Universal Suffrage. Granted, some of this is the fault of the lowest common denominator newspapers. Reporters are the dumbest of the dumb except in Hong Kong where they are dumber. It could be that the politicians have it right and it is being reported wrong. I don't think that is the case.

This is not a trivial point because since the two sides have the question framed wrong they cannot be expected to ever solve the problem satisfactorily.

Most nations with a representative government have some high governmental offices that are appointed rather than elected. Supreme Court Justices are appointed in the US and serve for LIFE. The house of Lords in the former UK (Now the EU province of England)are not elected. Yet, people do not say that those countries do not have Universal Suffrage. Rather than shouting about Universal Suffrage in front of microphones and making silly threats or throwing cardboard microwaves, what the two sides here need to do is sit down and discuss which offices SHOULD be elected, which MUST be elected and which should NOT or MUST Not be elected. Then, they need to come up with a procedure to appoint those offices that are not elected that allows the population to see that the appointments are just and reasonable.

I feel like John the Baptist, standing in my camel hair robe, rough sandals and leather belt lifting my voice and crying from the wilderness: "Why must the CE be directly elected?" If Gordon Brown was not directly elected to the office of PM the HKCE needn't be either.

Instead of threatening to quit maybe the pan-democrats should ask "Do we need a directly elected CE?" Is it possible that an indirectly elected CE would serve as well? Honestly, I have more problems with the functional constituencies and endless appointed Secretaries of bric-abrac than I do with the CE. How about letting the Central government simply appoint the CE but Legco has to approve any ministers, Secretaries or Czars he/she/it/they appoint?

How about a legco that can override the CE in a meaningful way?

How about removing de facto lawmaking powers from bureaucratic flunkies who are not elected?

I think that the proposal submitted by the CE office for political reform in Hong Kong is a good place to start. It may not be where you finish but it may be a good place to start. It expands the pool of people who select the CE. It makes the body more representative of the population and is generally a step in the right direction. Take the government's proposal as a starting point.

Admit it is an improvement if only a small one and go from there.


Here is a question for the pro-democrats:
Long hair Leung was directly elected, would he be a better CE than THBT? Or, could and SHOULD some governmental body protect us from ourselves, at least a little bit? Would Albert Ho or Emily Lau actually have less problem with the governmental policy if Long Hair were elected CE of Hong Kong? Would they honestly believe that he wouldn't be worse than THBT? If the CE is directly elected then that possibility exist. We may think that THBT is a bumbler but at least he understands the job, is able to mollify the central government and keep the PLA tanks from rolling down the street.



Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who has a sudden craving for wild honey

Skin Care Products?

I thought this kind of stuff only happened in China.

Guess not.


Fai Mao

Life and Death in a Government Hospital - A subject revisted

Without a doubt, some of the most intense, emotional entries I have posted on this blog were those that dealt with the death of my mother-in-law in 2005.

I thought of this today because of an article that appeared as a eulogy on the American Thinker Blog. One of their frequent commenter's, Peter Blocking recently died. He posted under the name PeterUK or PUK. He was generally a funny, genial man whose wit and humor were always a welcome break from the acrimony that is so often the norm on political blogs regardless of ideological bent. However, one of the best post Peter made was neither funny or genial.

He wrote a long comment about the death of his mother while being cared for by the NHS. His experiences were so similar to those the wife and I had during her mother's death that I went back and re-read my post titled "Life and Death in a Hong Kong Hospital" from 2005.

As the US congress seems determined to visit the dehumanizing evil of socialized medicine to the US public I thought I would post links to my essays with my experiences using the HK Health care system as well as a link to Peter Block's post at the American Thinker.

Life and Death In a Hong Kong Hospital

Less Life More Death in a Hong Kong Hospital

A Lingering Death

A Walk in the Park (Not about my mother-in-law)


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who tries hard to avoid the government health services in Hong Kong

Another Source

I've received some Email about my last post. I even work with some ex-Brits now EUers who don't realize they have just lost their country.

I guess if you are one of the 20% in the former UK that live on the government dole you don't actually care who sends the check as long as someone does.

You'd think the other 80% would care.

In other news the US just became a basket case today as the congress passed the Obama socialized medicine bill that nobody has seen and nobody has read.

I guess that means that the disgruntled EUers will have to come to China

Until Next Time.
Fai Mao
The Blogger who just has to shake his head

A Really Sad Day

I had to really look to find an article on the shenanigans of the EU yesterday. The US press is filled with news about the US off year elections and the local papers are focused on a new Disney Land in Shanghai.

The nations of Europe basically ceased to exist yesterday and were replaced by the EU in what amounts to a bloodless coup.

There will be, in my lifetime probably no better example of the stupidity of the press than the lack of coverage of this event. This was a huge event and Hong Kong is worried about the revenue at Disney Land?

There is no more France. There is no more Germany. There is no more Italy. No more Belgium, Denmark, Slovakia, Austria, or Spain. There is barely a UK. The Lisbon treaty, which the Czech president was blackmailed into signing yesterday abolished them all, or very shorty will.

It does not matter that when votes were held on this treaty the populations of nations voted it down. The tyrants, the nuvo-nobility who believe they know what is best for everybody else have taken over through political maneuvering. It is done.

What is really scary is that so many of the officials in Hong Kong were trained by the Bloody British to be shoe-shine boys for the colonial masters and follow their lead. Is it any wonder that they bow and scrape to their supposed betters in Beijing? How long before they sign away our liberty to emulate their European heroes?

What is even scarier is that there have been no riots or demonstrations in Europe. Are the French, Italians and Germans so beaten down that they would willingly accept tyrants assuming control of their nations without a fight? Not one demonstration protesting the loss of sovereignty or national heritage in all of Europe. Cheese eating surrender monkeys indeed!

Assuming that the US, the PRC and Russia are not going to call this an illegal coup and raise armies of liberation to invade Europe (Something I would not support if the local populations are not resiting this takeover with force); I have some suggestions for Barrak Obama, Hu Jintau and Vladimir Putin.

They should demand the following things:

The US, the UK, France, Russia and China are permanent members of the UN security council. The UK and France are no longer nations but provinces that means that Europe is over represented. Both those nations need to be removed. The UN might possibly give one seat to the EU and one seat to another nation with a Democratic government based upon population; maybe India or Brazil but maybe give them both to democratically elected government somewhere else. In any case the UK and France should be removed from the UN Security Council.

Indeed, the ex nations of Europe no longer need to have separate missions to the UN. They should be replaced with a single EU mission in New York.

The UK, France, Germany, Italy and any other ex-nation that is now a member of the EU should lose their place in any other international organizations such as the G20. They are now part of the EU and are represented by the EU.

If the US, China and Russia only get one Olympic team the same should be true for Europe. Most of the provinces in China have more population than the former countries of Europe. If England or France insist upon their own Olympic teams now then why can't Heibei or Gaungdong have their own Olympic teams if they want? The same is true of the US States of Texas and California. (By the way the States in the US are now closer to independent nations than the former nations of Europe.) If the US and China only get one Olympic team then the EU should only get one Olympic team.

The US should immediately withdraw from NATO. The nations in that treaty no longer exist. Let the EU defend itself.

Russia should demand to renegotiate treaties for natural gas and other commodities they ship to the various ex-nations of Europe.

Replace all the big embassies in ex-capitals with smaller branch consulates. Have one Embassy in Brussels.

Require all people carrying passports from the ex-nations to either get a new EU passport or leave.

Please understand, none of these demands is punitive. They would simply bring the EU into line with international norms.

Lastly; make an open announcement that any citizen of the new EU that does not feel that they can live under the tyrannical government that has taken over their countries is encouraged to immigrate to freer countries like The PRC, The USA or Russia.

God help the people of Europe. They have taken a huge step towards despotism. I hope it is a step that can be retracted.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is glad he isn't in an EU member state

The Cost of Dissent

I am surprised that this story is still in the news. Normally this kind of thing is quickly swept under the rug in favor more pressing concerns like the business ventures of the THBT's increasingly distant relatives.

As I said in a previous post on this; I am having a hard time sympathizing with this dissident. He KNEW he was a wanted man in China. He WAS travelling under fraudulent documents. The government MUST obey the law.

If the officials in the HK immigration service had looked the other way in this guy's case and the mainland had found out about it then we could kiss any thoughts of universal suffrage goodbye. Indeed, we could probably have kissed the basic law, the SAR and the special privileges and freedoms (At least when compared to the rest of China) we enjoy in Hong Kong away

It is just that simple. The dissident should not have tried to enter China to see his family. Was he so dumb that he didn't think his family would still be under surveillance? Why did he even come here? Why not cross the border in Macau?

I'm sorry the politicians who are trying to make a stink about this are wrong. Even if they, like me somewhat support what the dissident claims to stand for. The immigration department, when they discovered who this guy was probably had no other choice but to return him to the PRC.


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who supports governments obeying the laws

Make Mine Freedom

Yes, this is really hokey. However, how much closer to true is this of the US than it is of the PRC?



Until Next Time
Fai Mao

Hope and Education

(A staff Devotion I presented in September of this year)

When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
But now faith, hope, love, abide in these three; but the greatest of these is love
1 Corinthians 13; 11-13

As I thought about this devotion today I was struggling. I just couldn’t seem to find a way to express what I wanted to say. I couldn’t even articulate it to myself. Then, yesterday a book order arrived for the professional development room and this book “Hope and Education” was right there near the top of the box. And as I read this book yesterday I knew what I was supposed to say.

I don’t know if the guy who wrote this is a Christian or not but the first three people he quotes are Saint Paul, Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant so I have my suspicions that he is. At any rate, this book is about hope. But not giving students hope but on becoming an educator who lives in hope. What I find so striking about this is that David Halpin applies Biblical principals and then Christian theology to a secular school. He even says that the virtues of hope, faith and love are essentially supernatural in nature and not something that exist in the temporal world! So teachers according to him, in secular schools, should practice Christian virtues. Let me rephrase that; his argument is that the spiritual virtues of faith, love and hope are supernatural virtues that must be applied in a secular setting and that teachers should diligently cultivate these in their lives regardless of their religious affiliation.

He then takes it a step farther and talks about hopefulness as not being merely the belief that things will improve but of hopefulness being a way of using the past, in the present to influence the future. Being hopeful is not a passive attitude but a lifestyle. It is a worldview, one that we should pass to our students. Part of this is to defeat the enemies of a hopeful lifestyle?

1. Cynicism; by cynicism we do not mean simply a person who questioning. We mean the person who is never satisfied with any answer. These are the people who tell you not to start because the odds of success are so small as to make it not worth the effort to try.
2. Fatalism or those who do not believe they can succeed is the second big enemy. These are the teachers who believe they are doomed to fail no matter how hard they try. Not that we sometime mustn’t try when we know we can’t succeed but that no enterprise will ever succeed
3. Relativism assumes there is nothing to look forward too. It just doesn’t matter because it doesn’t make any difference. I found this one particularly interesting in that he provides a damning critique of the current curriculum ideas promoted by many Post Modern educational writers. If all cultures and outcomes should be equal then who cares?
4. Fundamentalism and Tradition. These are not impediments to hope in the sense that all tradition and fundamental beliefs are to be abandoned but rather when they put excessive limits on what we can hope for they become evil things. I think that this is a particularly prevalent one in Hong Kong because we have all heard people here say “I can’t do that because nobody ever has.”

Talk about a Wow moment! This was one for me.

But he stops there and he shouldn’t

While, in some respects what we call a school can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, I think we give the Greeks more credit than they deserve. What we call a school is a Christian invention. In fact, all of the major movements in education were begun by Christians. Public schools as we know them, they first appeared in the Byzantine Empire, Special Education it was started by Christians. What about kindergarten and early childhood education? Oh, you bet Christians started that. Pedagogical reforms that brought about the modern classroom, Horace Mann, a Christian was the first to introduce them. Teaching girls as well as boys? Yep, education regardless of gender got started by Christians. When you look around the world you see schools in every land and nation. They are a testament to Christianity’s influence. Yet, poll after poll shows teachers are hopeless and depressed about their profession. How can this be? How have we lost our hope as educators? Why is it that when teachers’ around the world are surveyed they generally are the profession with the lowest moral?

We can argue some of the reasons but I feel it is because they have lost that hope that education is founded upon. We have lost the hope that our students are part of God’s plan. We have, or so it seems to me substituted tolerance for love, expediency for justice, curriculum for education and knowledge for wisdom. Are we satisfied with providing more facts with less meaning?

So, I’d like to encourage you today to be hopeful, to live in hope. I’d like to encourage you to let your hope allow your past, to influence your future and to salt your present with praise. Allow your students to know that you believe that God does have it under control; that all good and precious gifts come from above. That while we are yet desperate sinners we are all the more saved by grace. Don’t impart simply facts, knowledge or data to your classes today. Impart hope. Live in hope.

Stop. If hope is that important then consider a moment that Paul says of faith, hope and love that the greatest is love.

Maybe we can look at the place love plays in education another time.

If you’d like to read the book “Hope and Education; The role of the utopian imagination” by David Halpin it is in our Pro-D library (370 HAL)


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who sometime does other things

Oh Goody! Is it my turn now?

I am a little bit of a disgruntled employee right now. I was hoping to be promoted to the administrator pay scale when my next contract comes around and found out that is not going to happen because my department is being reorganized in a way that will forestall my argument of being an administrator. The job will not change but I will be struck at the top of the pay scale and not qualify for housing because of my wife's job. I don't really work for the money, we have enough, but I still feel rather like a jilted bride. I've put in 11 years for this school and have done a good job. And honestly, my job is about 80% administration. I deserve the jump in pay. The school I work for is a bit odd in Hong Kong because it does not take government funds and is supported completely by tuition and gifts from wealthy do-gooders who want their name over a door somewhere. (Not that there is anything wrong with do-gooders wanting to do that. Indeed, I wish there were more do-gooders to do that!) But, that means that my salary is actually lower than the equivalent position in a local school. I don't make the 80K or 90K a month like teacher at HKIS or CIS. With the economic downturn the school board are feeling pinched and are in a cost cutting mode. I can understand that but I don't have to like it.

This morning the really-pretty-very-smart-hard-working-loving-looks-25-years-younger-than-she-is Chinese wife and I were talking about the Bozo's (Apologies to real clowns) who make up the District Council and LEGCO in Hong Kong. Near the end of this conversation I said "You know, District Councilors make more than I do and it is considered to be a part time job. I've thought about running in the past. Maybe I should quit (The unnamed international school) and run for a District Council seat. I could work it 1/2 time. I'd have a shorter commute. Nobody would ask if I wanted to coach basketball. Plus, I'd make more money and have more fun all at the same time."

The wife was politely non-committal as to the merits of that plan.

But, if I read this article right then some of the various bumblers are going to quit and effectively call a special election. That means, unless I misread, no-incumbent. Amazingly, I am qualified to run for these district council offices, though not LEGCO unless I give up my US passport.

I may have to think about this. The history of politics is littered with the forgotten names of people who thought they knew better. Causeway Bay is international enough though that an English speaker with broken Cantonese could have a chance to win but would still be at a disadvantage versus the Cantonese speaker with broken English.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who would run if drafted and serve if elected

Top 10 List

I have a sort of list that I carry around in my mind of 10 inventions or ideas that have actually made our lives better rather than worse. It is a fuzzy list with items falling off and being added as the mood strikes me but normally looks something like:

10. Ball Point Pens - If you've ever had a fountain pen you'll understand.
09. The bicycle - The perfect urban transportation machine
08. Plumbing - both for sewage and fresh water delivery
07. Mechanical or chemical energy - Electrical, internal combustion engines, turbines and such
06. Telephones (Excluding cell phones)
05. Refrigeration as the agent of air-conditioning and to preserve food
04. Canned foods
03. Modern Medicine - especially vaccines & antibiotics
02. Air travel
01. Paper - and the associated printing presses it enabled

I also have a list of technological inventions or ideas that I believed have harmed civilization far more than they've helped it:

10. Cellphones/Mp3/diskman/walkman type things - Zombies-R-Us
09. Television - Encourages us to be lazy
08. Electric Can openers - the ultimate symbol of a decadent society
07. Socialism - Has killed more than 800 million people since 1917
06. McDonalds - God how I wish I had a Big-Mac and fries right NOW!
05. Computers - It seems to me they often make more work than they save.
04. Automobiles - A major cause of social alienation but oh so convenient
03. Motorcycles & Scooters - I think cars are less of a menace.
02. The Environmental movement - Only communist kill more people
01. Public education - More on this one later

A Sincere Thank You

I was alerted today to the fact that the persons over at Hong Kong Blog reviews had listed this blog in their recommended category.

I had been aware of them for sometime and found it somewhat disconcerting that they were evidently unaware of me. Though to be fair, I have thought for some time that the only people who ever read this blog are people still hoping that Nancy Kissel gets out of jail as some of them see me as an advocate for her. (I'm not by the way)

I think I finally sent them a link a couple of months ago; but I can't remember, maybe they just finally found me. I had always assumed they'd put me down at the bottom of the barrel category. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised.

Thanks guys for the kind words. I enjoy your site as well.

I guess I need to post more.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who thinks his style is more "Conspiratorial" than "Colloquial"

A Rock and a Hard Place

I have harped pretty incessantly about the way the HK government is continually knuckling under to the overlords in the Beijing. However, I am not sure that I can be critical of the local officials in this case.

The guy was traveling under fraudulent documents which makes him a criminal.

Now, if he'd been living in the UK or the US or France or Taiwan and the PRC had kidnapped him back to China or poisoned him then he'd have my sympathy. If he'd used his forged documents to go into China to try and start a revolution and then got caught and died like a man then he'd have my respect.

As it is, he comes across looking like a sneaky little wimp rather than a person working for a freer China. Whatever the family issues were they should have taken a back seat to making China a freer place.

How dumb is it to try and sneak into China to see your family if you are wanted by the Chinese government?

There are all sorts of ways he could have contacted his family. I'm sorry, I don't see that the local athorities had much choice in this.

He should have stayed away if he was not prepared to pay the cost of getting caught.

But maybe the Hong Kong Standard misrepresents what happened.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who doesn't use a fake passport

Dumb, Dumber and Hong Kong

The story linked to in the title has been in the news here for about a week.

I don't know what bothers me the most about it; the fact that a developer is doing this or that buyers fall for it. But, it sort of makes sense when you think of the way they figure square footage here. The really-pretty-incredibly-smart-looks-20-years-younger-than-she-is Chinese wife and I own a flat in Causeway Bay that if you count the floor tiles is 811 square feet. However, in the world of Hong Kong real estate it is a 1200 to 1500 square foot flat. So, I guess calling the top floor of a 46 story building the 88th floor is par for the course here.

Maybe the government should get the real estate developers to solve some of our other problems the same way by re-measuring other areas in Hong Kong using the property developers system of counting and measuring.

If we measured roads the same way we measure flat size then all roads could be re striped with an extra lane. This would alleviate the need to build more highways

If we measured sidewalks the same way then suddenly we'd have more pedestrian areas.

All the buses could become triple Decker's and have three seats per side rather than two without any crowding at all.

School classroom size could be reduced by 30% and the teachers would still have a bigger classroom.

Here is the biggie. The Civil Servants will really like this one. The government could put a 100 square meter block of land up for auction and call it a 125 square meter block of land. That would instantly increase revenue from land sales by 25%.

Just think of all the problems we could solve if we measured everything the way that Henderson Land, China Chem, Cheung Kong, Sung Hung Kei and the other builders here measure apartments. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Of course we could have a population that refuses play into the hands of dishonest developers and a government that protects its citizens from fraudulent business practices and that would be more wonderful still.


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger with Sarcasm dripping from his keyboard

The AFT are anti-education goons

I don't normally delve into US political issues but this is an exception.

I have really come to despise the way the left is waging a progressively (did you catch that pun) open war on freedom of speech, religion and assembly. This is the exact opposite of everything they will tell you they stand for.

AFT you are, in my opinion, a bunch of thugs. Many of your members are probably illiterate. None of them should be in a classroom.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is a teacher but refuses to join a union

Fruits and nuts

Did I miss something here?

Long Hair Leung is throwing plastic bananas at THBT. Why?

In the US calling an Asian person a "Banana" (Yellow on the outside white on the inside) is a a racist and derogatory term.

Long Hair could have a place in the political conversation in Hong Kong. However like many far leftist he cannot see that his desired end does not justify his means.

He just needs to move to Cuba or somewhere where they already have a people's Paradise.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who would rather not talk about Long Hair Leung

Unsafe at anyspeed?

Yesterday I witnessed an accident between a bicyclist and a pedestrian. I’m sure this has happened many times before but it got me thinking about some things.

This accident happened on a dedicated cycling path, really a road for bicycles going north towards Tai Po Market from where I work in Sha Tin. This is a quite busy cycling area with lots of people on it at all hours. As the only road going the same way is a freeway it is a really nicely thought out way to make the eastern New Territories somewhat bicycle friendly. But there is a sidewalk and a public park area just beside the path that accesses a causeway along the ocean where people fish or walk or look at the gorgeous view.

I was on my evening ride puttering along at about 25K an hour and was passed by a guy on a full race rig Cannondale road bike. He was in the drops. Pumping the big ring and passed me like I was standing still. I actually thought “My, God, if he doesn’t look where he’s going rather than stare at his front tire he’ll kill someone.” Well, about 3 or 4 minutes later I rounded a bend and saw him T-bone and old woman who had stepped out into the cycling lane. He just nailed her. I mean he knocker her across the other lane and into the bushes. She didn’t get up. He went over the bars and landed face first on the concrete ripping the front out of his team replica jersey.

I stopped to render some first aid. I called an ambulance for the old woman who was unconscious and asked the rider in Chinese if he was all right. He replied in English that he was not badly hurt and then started swearing at the old woman he’d just T-boned. Before the police could get there he picked his bike up and just zoomed off at 45K per hour again. I couldn’t help thinking “I hope your fork snaps” as he left. I then had to convince the police when they showed up that I was not the one who’d nailed the old woman.

Here are the questions I thought about on the rest of my commute home: Granted the old woman was where she shouldn’t have been but the rider was going way, way to fast for the conditions he was riding in and was, in my opinion, more to blame. Especially in his total lack of any compassion for the person he nearly killed. Part of riding safely is anticipation and he could have avoided this accident with a little less speed or a little more attention to the road in front of him. Indeed, most of the blame for this was his. I ride that track everyday almost and have never hit anyone. But there are lots of really unsafe riders on this path and even more pedestrians and joggers on it when they shouldn’t be. So, should cycling areas like this be patrolled by bicycle police to both keep pedestrians off them but also to ticket unsafe riders? What about a speed limit for bicycles on paths like this? Should riders be required to pass some sort of licensing test as do automobile drivers before they are allowed on the roads? What about an annual inspection of bicycles like autos have to go through to ensure they are safe and in good working order?

Lastly and this is the one that people are not going to like, Are full race road bikes safe to ride in a setting like this? I see these guys all the time with their head down, in the drops with no view of the road in front of the bike beyond about 18 inches. As the bars have continued to go lower over the past 15 years this problem gets worse. Has the: stiffer, lighter, more aero, and faster mantra created a generation of not only dangerous riders but bike designs that are so extreme that they cannot be safely ridden outside a rice? I don’t even think I could tilt my head back far enough to see down the road on a typical bike made in the last 5 years. You can’t drive a formula 1 racer on the street because they are unsafe in general traffic. Have full race road bikes reached the point where they are unsafe, at amost any speed around other bicycles and pedestrians? I am afraid, in many cases the answer may be yes. The question is what, if anything can be done about it?


Until Next Time
Fai Mao

Hear! Hear! Bravo!

The Investor's Business daily gets it right!


Fai Mao

Injustice against women? Its a judicial institution in Hong Kong

I do not normally curse. The subject of this post is a time however when there is no other set of words that adequately express my sentiment over the incredible miscarriage of justice that judges in Hong Kong regularly inflict upon the the victims of crime.

There is really no way to describe the anger that the justice system in Hong Kong causes me to feel. Four years! Four years! For a premeditated act of violence of the worst kind. This girl never approved this and was not even his "girlfriend" at the time. She didn't ask for it, want it or deserve it. To not only rape a girl but to do it with your friends watching and to then post a video of it on Youtube is so reprehensible that only the most calloused, heartless and vicious individual could even conceive of it.

I don't give a Hairy-Hot-Damn how much this piece of dog shit's relationship with its parents has improved. I couldn't care less if it has matured. I don't care how much remorse it faked in the courtroom. I don't care if any of the remorse was even real. I don't care if it plead guilty though since the it put the video of itself raping a girl up on Youtube I can't imagine how he could have done otherwise.

This God Damned, sub-human, evolutionary throwback simian (apologies to real Chimps, Gorillas and Orangutans) should, at the very least be castrated, have the words "I'm ya'lls ho" tattooed on his forehead and then be forced to wear a short skirt with no underwear in a prison for the rest of his life; and I hope it lives to be a 100. Would that be harsh? Yes. But it would be closer to justice than the sentence handed down.

There are some crimes where you cannot simply "I'm sorry" and have the sentence reduced. This was one of them. Personal forgiveness from the victim is beside the point. This sub-human is the very definition of an anti-social monster. Yet in Hong Kong the judical system regularly gives these knuckle dragging apes lighter sentence for saying "I was a bad boy" in court. Make an example of it. Toss it into a deep dark hole and then throw away the key. In truth, given the attitude of criminals to offenders like this, the most humane punishment would be to execute these bastards but our justice system gave up humane punishment in favor of coddling years ago.

Once again, I come back to Nancy Kissel. She murdered her husband, who she may have had some cause to be afraid of and gets life. This POS performs a brutal rape and gets four years. The difference? There are two. One, Nancy Kissel pleaded innocent and judges don't like that here. Two, Nancy Kissel killed a well paid Caucasian banker and this girl was a 16 year old poorly educated Chinese.

The moral: If you want to do a crime but not do the time in Hong Kong - commit the crime against a Chinese woman who doesn't have much money.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who does not normally curse

I refuse

1. I refuse to to be held guilty for the crimes of my ancestors, even if they were truly guilty of said crimes. We do not punish children for the crimes of their ancestors

2. I refuse to be held guilty for for the crimes of people I do not even know. We do not hold groups guilty for the crimes of individual members

3. I refuse to offer apologies for crimes or attitudes I do not hold simply because another wrongly believes I am guilty of those things. I am not guilty simply because you imagine it to be so

4. I refuse to admit that all cultures are of equal value.


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who excercises his right of refusal

The Pizza delivery from Hell

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who wants a smaller less alknowing government

Paying the cost to be the boss!

I was relaxing in front of the TV last night watching "Newline" as it was better than sitting there drinking beer in the dark while the wife wrote emails to the kids overseas. I really have to hope that the people who appear on that show are only ones with nothing better to do rather than the brightest and best that Hong Kong has to offer. Geezes Cheeses, what a bunch of dolts!

Last night they were talking about drug testing in schools. They had a Catholic priest who in effect said: "There are better ways to solve this problem" and some guy from Poly-U who is also the head of some sort of citizens concern group that advocates drug testing.

The priest was cogent, well spoken and had his position pretty well thought out. The only problem was, he was wrong. The guy supposedly advocating drug testing was, despite his PHD and head of what ever division at Poli-U a bumbling train wreck. That is a shame because he supports the better position.

The gist of the Catholic argument was essentially two pronged.

First, schools are for education. Education is easier in an environment of trust. Introducing random drug testing reduces trust. If students trust their schools and teachers they will receive a better education and won't be as tempted to use drugs. Therefore, drug testing is a bad idea.

Second, schools are for education. We should not introduce elements into the curriculum that do not further education. Drug testing does not further education. Therefore, drug testing is a bad idea.

The priest also took a couple of swipes at privacy issues but his basic argument was as presented above.

I am not sure what the other guy's argument was except: "We have this HUGE problem that is getting even more huge and so we have to do something."

I would have presented a better argument. Maybe Michael Chugani should have me on as a guest sometimes.

The arguments for random drug test in schools is simple.

1st. Argument
You cannot speed on a public road in a private car because even though you own the car you don't own the road. This is true even if speeding in a car did not endanger other drivers. If it is moral for the state to set and enforce speed limits then it is moral for the state to demand a drug free school and setup the enforcement procedure to ensure it. There is no difference between the two. If you hold that the state can do one then must be able to do the other.

2nd Argument
The state has a vested interest in seeing that school children grow up to become tax payers not welfare receivers and that is why the state funds schools, to create tax payers. This is a win win situation because through education the state gets more tax revenue and the student gets a higher standard of living. But, since drug users are prime candidates for welfare rolls and need more medical and social services than otherwise healthy people then there is a good chance that the state is wasting its money trying to educate them. Since students are taking money for their education from the state then the state has the RIGHT to demand they are drug free to ensure that the money spent on them by the state is not wasted.

3rd Argument
Schools, especially government supported schools are not private places. They are supported with public money which makes them public places. If you want to protect your privacy then stay at home. Don't go to school you are, by definition, not in a private place at school but a public one. If the state can stop motorist randomly and test them for blood alcohol to try and reduce drunks behind the wheel then it can force 15 year-olds to pee into a cup to reduce the number dopers in the algebra class.

As to someone getting a hold of the record 30 years later and trying to use a failed drug test in high school to keep Wolfgang Wong from becoming the Assistant-Permanent-Secretary-to-the-Second-Temporary-Vice-Secretary-of-the-Public-Hand-Sanitation-department-who-is-Seconded-to-the-Greater-Over-administrative-Secretary-for-Development-in-the-West-Kowloon-Cultural-District (Which still will not have been built),well, if smoking one reefer in high school ruins a civil servant career in Hong Kong then I'm all for it. But, I think that most people would be more tolerant than I on this issue and realize that youth sometimes do stupid things. That's what youth is for to some extent. I can't see that it would have that deleterious of an effect.

However, if that one failed drug test was the warning that allowed his school to do some caring intervention on little Wolfgang and start him on the path to an illustrious career as a nameless, faceless, but obscenely over paid civil servant then he should be grateful it happened.

Now to the refute the Catholic father's position.
Schools are for education. But a large part of that educational process is actually learning what the rules are for living in society. One of the rules of society is trust. But trust is earned. Does this priest advocate that schools stop having teachers check for students cheating on test? Doesn't looking for cheaters reduce trust? As Ronald Regan so famously said: "Trust but verify" Actual trust between students and teachers is not reduced by a drug testing program provided that testing is truly random, fair and honest. Most youth benefit from having parameters in place that help them know the limits of proper behavior in society. Drug use is, I believe one of those areas.

His second objection is refuted simply by asking if he knows that most schools in Hong Kong require uniforms? Are uniforms part of the curriculum? How exactly do they further the curriculum? Schools do lots of things that do not directly relate to the curriculum. They do these things to make the administration of the school easier. Yet many of these things are not directly related to education or curriculum. Why should drug testing be a special case?

So come on kiddies, line up and here is your cup. Fill it at least 1/2 way up.

Please note. I am not advocating either position Merely knocking holes in both

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is smarter than the guest on Newsline

The wife considers a career change

The really pretty-looks-25-years-younger-than-she-is-smart-and-hard-working wife and I were watching a Cantonese soap opera the other night. I get the impression that it is hugely popular in Hong Kong and she seems, at times to find it funny. My inexcusably poor for someone who has lived in Hong Kong as long as I have Cantonese prevents me from following the dialog. However the plot is pretty transparent and I can normally guess whats going on. I even have my own derogatory nicknames for the characters like "Fat legs," "Hot to trot," "Helmet," "Cute Fat," "I'm so gay," "Mr. Snake" "Triad Guy" "Tom Boy" and the like.

Recently the wife has been complaining about this show however. She thinks that the plots are overly simplistic, poorly written and predictable. But her major complaint is that the characters lack depth. She used an interesting comparison. Yesterday we were watching a DVD of an old Star Trek movie and she commented about how the characters had consistent personalities. How they have depth and personalities that are consistant from movie to movie and you knew how they'd react and how it was very different from TVB soap opera. Captain Kirk and friends were believable people and the TVB characters are not. She then commented that what made that even more startling was that she could see how well the characters were developed and she didn't really like that movie.

She thinks she could write a better script for TVB soap operas than whoever is currently doing it. I actually don't think that would be so hard because the plots look rather stupid but had assumed they are supposed to be because it is a soap opera. However, she has spent a few idle minutes looking at the TVB website devoted to this program and told me that the fans of the show have huge arguments about the plots and who they want to see married to each other and what not and this and that. So, she was wondering if the show was better written would it be less popular? Is the average HK TVB watcher too stupid or ignorant for a higher quality program? I had no answer on Friday but today I do!

I think the low level of scripts exhibited on TVB and ATV Chinese programs is because they are trying to provide a very important service to the city! I read in one report, I wish I remembered where and could link to it, that this woman was watching TV when the police broke down her door.

TVB and ATV are allowing the social welfare department to not keep track of paranoid schizophrenics by providing them with mind numbing entertainment so that they do not require anti-psychotic drugs. What a wonderful group of broadcasters we have in Hong Kong! York Chow should give the executives of TVB and ATV a medal.

But then I wonder, how many of the fans of this show are paranoid? It's probably just me.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who would rather watch a DVD of an old movie

Freedom and Control

I was watching Newsline on Sunday. I have come to really like that program in a perverse sort of way. It is a perverse pleasure because it almost does not matter who Michael Chigani has as his guest. If they are a government official, civil servant, legco member or the permanent-under-secretary-to-the-temporary-over-secretary for this or that government department I already know their answer. It is always the same. The words change but in essence they always say:
1. "You can't blame me for that!"
2. "We are very concerned."
3. "That is a problem that needs more study."
4. "Of course I'm worth what I'm paid."
5. "mumble-mumble-mumble, ergotaetoticsylibolicdiatribic national pride, mumble growl, sub vocalization, We're all Chinese. Now you see what I mean, don't you?"

Sunday was no different. Two legco members supposedly on opposite sides of an issue and they agreed with each other most of the time. How can you disagree if you accept each other's points? The question at hand was whether or not Hong Kong could use a 3rd broadcast television station. They yakked about it for 30 minutes and then the news came on so I could get the sports scores.

Here is the deal. Both of these guys were saying how IF and it seemed to be a big if another television license was granted then the government should make good and sure that the new station did not simply become a better or worse version of TVB and ATV.
Both want the new new station to reach out "minority interest" in Hong Kong and to raise the cultural level of the city.

I sometimes think that the reason my Chinese wife does not let me wear shoes in the house is so that I won't throw them at the TV. This was one of those moments where the stupidity, and foggy thinking of the self-perceived governmental elite is just so ignorant that they deserve to have something thrown at them.

If these hotentots want to ensure that "minority interest" are being represented on TV then they should advocate allowing 8 or 10 more television station to operate in Hong Kong. Think about it. What would happen if they took the same line towards restaurants? Then these dim-bulb legislators would say things like "You can't open another noodle shop! You have consider the needs of the minority diets. You have to open an organic vegetarian Halal eatery instead." To say that it is the governments' responsibility to regulate minority programming on TV is exactly the same thing as saying what type of restaurant a chef can open. Neither is the purview of a bureaucracy. More than that there is a distinct whiff of snobbery in the idea that a TV station or any entertainment should raise a cultural level. Why is classical music any more "cultural" than canto-pop? Just because someone with a degree from HKU says so don't make it so. I get really worked up about this because it is simply one level of society, normally the level with more money trying to force its values on those without. Faugh! Stuff you Pavarotti CD's up where the sun doesn't shine. That is not to say that there is not value in opera. Just don't make me listen to it.

Before moving here I lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Coincidently that metropolitan area is about the same population as Hong Kong those much larger geographically. There are 18 broad cast television stations there. They are in three languages and most are 24 hours. There are stations that cater to Hispanics, to Blacks, to sports fans, to a religious audience, online shopping (That would be big here) and everything in between. They all make money or there would not be so many. It also isn't as though cable isn't available and various satellite dish systems are ubiquitous as well. Holy Cow, I can get more Chinese language TV stations through cable TV in Dallas than I can in Hong Kong!

So, question, if the DFW area with a population of 6.3 million people can support 18 full power free to air TV stations and probably well over 100 radio stations then why does HK have only two and a largely empty radio dial?

One of the guest on Sunday, I have forgotten which one touched on the answer. It is a matter of control. Despite the cries of "Self Censorship" that are raised occasionally here the real issue is government control. Because there are fewer outlets for news and opinion, the government has an easier time controlling what the population thinks about various issues. Imagine how much easier time Barrak Obama would have had if the US democratic party could control talk-radio in the US? However, an easier time does not necessarily mean better and that is true whether you agree with BO or not. Part of living in a free society means that the government allows people to voice their disagreement. Neither the British colonial government or the current Chinese sponsored fascist government wants to be disagreed with. So, the government in Hong Kong does not really want that many more media outlets. They'd lose control. They'd have to be responsive to the needs, and will of the citizens.

I'd also be willing to bet real money that TVB and ATV don't really compete any more than Wellcome and Park-n-Shop. The two TV stations here probably like their semi-monopoly. This would be especially true of ATV because it does not really compete with TVB in revenue. However, it is easier to keep taking the governments money than find an audience.

So, should Hong Kong allow another broadcaster to launch a television station? The answer is "No." The government should let as many as want to launch television stations, start them.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who watches TV

Why everything Sucks

I also think that as people have lost their religion they are afraid to grow old and go to the Hell they claim not to believe in.




Until Mext Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is happily middle-aged

That's So Retarded

The past couple of weeks have been real back breakers.

We renovated our flat in Causeway Bay but only paid “professionals” to do part of it. We had a non-weight bearing wall removed and the floor in that area redone and the area rewired. We would have had the professionals do the whole thing but they kept finding additional charges beyond the contracted price.

So, in the back of the flat rather than paying a painter and then paying him some more I did it all myself. I must admit that I still have the noble-savage bug and believe that every real man should know how to, and enjoy painting walls, building fences, sawing lumber, swinging a hammer and making furniture. Real men, or so my somewhat addled librarians’ mind thinks' know how to sweat and enjoy physical labor. But, painting in Hong Kong is just so frustrating because the painters are not only dishonest but stupid. They thin the paint thinking that it allows them to save a few dollars and then apply three or four coats of colored water rather than one or two coats of thicker paint.

That may, in fact save a tiny bit of cash except for three things that both relate to time.

First, it takes a lot more time to apply four coats than does one or two. If they didn’t thin the paint then they could finish faster and have more time for other jobs. They’d also spend a lot less time cleaning up because thicker paint drips less and makes less of a mess.

Second, thicker paint sticks to the wall better. But, because the painters here excessively thin their paint, every time you paint an interior wall you must remove the old paint. If you don't then the new paint softens the old paint and the whole mess pulls the old paint off the wall and you end up having to paint the same wall twice after scraping the weak old and your new paint off the wall. So, in addition to having to apply four coats of thin paint, local painters have to also remove the old paint which also adds to the time and mess.

Third, the thinned paint does not stay on the wall as long so you must repaint more often. This might make the painters feel they will have more work and thus a higher income but it is frustrating for residents to have to repaint their walls every three years.

So in a rather stupid attempt to save a few dollars of paint that is, most of the time paid for by the person who owns the flat anyway, painters spend more time to provide a lower quality job.

I'm not even going to get into the fact that they use small, cheap brushes, only 100mm rather 250mm rollers and I've never seen one use a heavy bodied paint sprayer to save time.

I’ve painted more than my fair share of interior walls. I worked as a house painter in college. We’d go into a duplex rented to students and have 12 hours to repaint all the walls and ceiling and then clean up so that it could be rented out again in 72 hours. We NEVER had to remove any old paint. Even if the tenants had painted walls a dark color like black or purple we’d just use a an undercoat like “Kilz” and then apply a white or beige or other neutral rental property color on top. Two guys, two rollers, two roller trays, and various types of rollers to cover the highly textured ceilings and less textured walls, plastic drop cloths, several brushes, scrapers for bad spots, a tube of spackling and caulk for cracks, some towels, goggles to keep paint out our eyes when painting ceilings and a boom box or radio. We generally had a Coleman cooler with some soda, water and lunch stuff as well. Most of the apartments and duplexes we painted were about 1000 square feet of living space not counting closets which would be a 1800 square foot flat in Hong Kong. We'd paint these flats in one day for $800.00 and we provided the paint which cost about $75.00 to $100.00. Not a bad job if we could do two a week and a good job if we did three.

In Hong Kong we’d have starved. We’d have first had to use a product called “Standard Retarder” to remove the old paint. You apply this like paint with either a roller or brush. Unlike modern water based interior paints this stuff stinks to high heaven and is the real reason that your neighbors complain when you repaint a Hong Kong flat. After the Standard Retarder sits on the wall a few minutes it softens the old paint which must be scrapped off. You then have to let the wall dry or else the new paint will not stick properly.

An additional problem is created because the painters here do not use drywall board or sheetrock to cover the concrete or brick. Once again the painters are being penny wise and dollar foolish. Instead they use gypsum powder and mix it with a gelatin to make plaster that is then spread over the wall. The plaster is then sanded and the multiple coats of overly thin paint applied. But the Standard Retarder also takes this off. So, you have to reapply the plaster before you can repaint. If the builders here would seal and apply a fungicide to the underlying concrete wall then cover that wall with sheetrock, tape and bed the sheetrock to cover the joints and the texture and paint with non-thinned paint, renovations in Hong Kong would be a lot easier. Subsequent repainting could just simply be applying new paint over old. But no, they work so that every time you paint you have to remove everything down to the bare concrete. This adds not only time and money but a significant amount of waste and trouble. As paint is considered to be a hazardous waste; removing it from the walls to throw into a land fill is also not an environmentally sound practice when it wouldn’t hurt anything to simply leave the old paint on the wall under the new. The net result is that a flat which Howard and I could have painted in 6 hours winds up taking 3 days for at least three guys working 12 hours a day. But, they spend less on paint.

Doing stupid things that waste money and time appears to be endemic to many levels of Hong Kong. Especially if someone in the government can find any type of short sighted savings. There must be something in the curriculum at HKU because all the civil servant types have a real problem seeing that short term saving often translate into long term expenses. For example; The EdB is going to stop allowing disabled students stay in the school system past the age of 18 despite the fact that non-disabled students who fail a year or two can be in government schools until they are at least 20.

That is as stupid as thinning paint.

These students could really benefit from a little longer time in school. An additional two or three years would allow many of them to gain enough skills and education to become productive members of society with jobs instead a lifetime of being supported by families or on the Hong Kong welfare rolls.

EdB says “They’ve already received more funding than non-disabled students so they are not entitled to more.” So not only are the knuckle-draggers in the EdB stupid dip-shits'; they are cold hearted bastards as well. I wonder how long it will be before someone in the hospital authority says: “Hey, all you people who have had a heart attack or all you losers with diabetes, you’ve already received more than you fair share of health services. No more doctors visits for you.” Since the Civil Servants are moved from department to department probably not very long. Since the civil-servants have their own hospitals and medical system they would be exempt from such decrees.

As a sidelight to this, you gentle reader might be interested to know that the EdB just gave out 4 land grants for new International schools. One of the ones approved was for a British boarding school for the wealthy brats of the upper class whose undisciplined hellions have to be locked away so they won't die of their cocaine addition before they complete secondary school. Many of the students in that school will not even be from Hong Kong or stay in Hong Kong after graduation. They also have other educational options. One land grant that was turned down was the proposal from the Hong Kong based International Christian School (ICS) for a new school expressly for students with moderate to severe disabilities that cannot be placed in an inclusive classroom. ICS wanted to create an affordable option for disabled students. EdB didn’t think that was as important as allowing spoiled trust-fund babies an opportunity to live in a dorm with other societal parasites.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who thinks the entire EdB is really retarded

I hope somebody at Rio Tinto sees this

I guess what goes around comes around

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who wants to see a free and ethical PRC

In Praise of Bad Men

Lots of Hong Kong bloggers, myself included, not to mention political figures, business types and even the normally thicker journalist and dim witted singers and actors have made a steady habit of criticizing Donald Tsang who is somewhat affectionally known as the Human Bow tie (THBT) on this blog.

We've called him all sorts of names, defamed his ancestry and disparaged his competence, intelligence and fitness for his job. However, I think that it is possible that I and all the others have been disappointed in THBT may have missed the point. The problem with Donald Tsang isn't that he is incompetent but that he is not mean enough. Oh he has a reputation for being petty and vindictive but those traits only rise slightly above the level of banality and give him the appearance of a bumbler making him him an easy target. THBT does not strike me as a ruthless man.

I was thinking about this because I've been thinking about the story of the prodigal son. Normally when we think of this story we think of forgiveness and the impetuousness of youth or the love of parents for their children. For some reason, I thought of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. He was a general, the adopted son of a general who was raised to the purple after one of the many civil wars that plagued Byzantium. Justinian then became the second in that dynasty after the death of his adopted father. He was also, in a very real way a returned prodigal because he wanted to give up the throne and was persuaded not to.

He was not a large man, slender and soft spoken. He married for love not politics which was rare in those days and would have been happy to remain a general. Not the image of the strong and tall emperor. He was also a blond haired, blue eyed man in a city of black haired, brown eyed Greeks and felt their dislike of him. Shortly after becoming emperor, the city of Constantinople was ravaged by riots. Justinian wanted to either abdicate or take the royal treasury and move the capital to his native Carthage. He was stopped by his wife, Theodora, who literally grabbed him by tunic and asked: "How many men would have given everything to wear the purple for only an hour? How many would have wished for the glory you have? Do you wish to be remembered as a defeated emperor, a man who gave up the throne?"

Justinian quelled the riots. This man who was described as gentle and soft spoken, who seldom raised his voice killed 40000 inhabitants of Constantinople to put down riots. He then borrowed money from the Greek Orthodox church to finance a a series of wars in an attempt to reconquer the Western part of the Roman empire. He defeated the armies of the Vandals, Berbers, Visigoths, Ostrogoths and Persians. He also build huge, magnificent churches and cathedrals. Under his leadership the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest territorial size.

We remember him as Justinian the Great. He is considered a Saint and "Right Believing" emperor in the Greek Church. Yet, when he died there was rejoicing in the streets. The people he ruled did not love him. They didn't like the heavy tax burden he'd imposed or the repressive measures he used to control the empire.

The point? Simply Justinian was more concerned about Byzantium than what people thought of him personally. He pursued the goal enhancing the glory and size of Byzantium ruthlessly. All great men and women have this trait. History may call them villains or it may remember them as heroes. It appears to me that most great men are a mixture of the two. Patton slapping a soldier, Scott letting men die to reach South Pole; Columbus confronting his mutinous crew with a swivel cannon, the examples are endless. Whether the great person is remember as a hero or villain is sometimes a matter of perspective but often goes to their motives as well. It also has something to do with whether or not they knew when to stop. Patton slapped the solider but didn't have him executed.

Donald Tsang, THBT is simply not ruthless enough. He is to concerned about people thinking of him as a nice guy. He needs to have a bad streak, maybe engage some dirty pool. He needs to take some initiative to do what he feels is right even if it is unpopular.

He be a lot more effective leader if he did.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who isn't very mean either

I'm back!

The really pretty-looks-25-years-younger-than-she-is-smart-and-loving wife and I just got back from an early summer vacation in Thailand. Thailand is a really interesting place. It has a great climate, friendly natives, good beer, cool things to see, nice beaches, a fair amount English and Chinese speakers, and low prices. It is probably my favorite place in Asia outside of Hong Kong and one of the few Asian countries I can see myself retiring to at some point. If they could just get their political shenanigans under control.

However, give me the doofi in yellow shirts who were upset that a man won an election with a bare 70% of the vote any day. I'd also take what is happening in Honduras any day to what we have happening in Hong Kong today.

Today is "Repatriation Day" in Hong Kong. We've been officially a part of China again for 12 years. This morning we had the paid, rent-a-mob parade in support of the government. I know many of the marchers were not from Hong Kong because they were all speaking Mandarin rather than Cantonese. This afternoon we will have the various 800 groups that want to protest that the government isn't giving out enough handouts or are upset at this or that or something else. They are probably locals and will be marching the same route under the mistaken hope that someone in the government will care. I think that both groups have missed the point. Neither one see the real benefit Hong Kong could be to China or the real threat facing Hong Kong from China.

Don't misunderstand. The Chinese in general and Hong Kongers in particular are reasonably unbothered from the government. While the odious British were here they were their normal alcoholic, antisemitic, pompous, racist, elitist, atheist, snobby selves. So I am not yearning for a return to British rule and laws that prevented Chinese from owning land or housing in certain neighborhoods and such. We are freer now than when the Bloody British were here. Indeed, the Chinese are, on the whole, as non-threatened by their government as any Western nation. I know there are some ideologues that will dispute that but it is really true.

I am, however; upset that the British didn't do a better job preparing Hong Kongers for self government. One need look no farther than the remaining corps of "civil servants" the British left us with to know that they didn't want anyone with tilted eyes and a bridgeless nose to ever think for themselves. Tung Che Wa, our first CE was incompetent because he was an out and out toadie for Beijing. He had no governmental experience. Since he inherited his money he had no real business experience either. He was the son of a wealthy tycoon and the civil servants and the PRC played him like a tin fiddle. When he lost his usefulness they discarded him. Probably the worst thing you can say about him was that he was outsmarted by Anson Chan. My God, how embarrassing is that? But, just when we thought it couldn't get worse it did. Donald Tsang, The Human Bow Tie (THBT) is worse. He is not only an obsequious toadie but if possible more incompetent than Tung ever was. He is also to stupid to know what an obsequious toad he is and to arrogant to admit it if he did. With Tung Che Wa I always got the impression that he knew he was a figure head and in over his depth. In that regard Tung Che Wa was a tragic figure. THBT thinks he is man for the job. I would agree if he believed his calling was to be a circus clown.

Yet, THBT is also a tragic figure. He is a product of the "Yes Sir," "No thank you" British colonial system that removed any ability to think from his psyche. That fact means that unless he is replaced with a PLA general the next Hong Kong CE will probably be as bad or worse and can only be marginally better. A PLA general could at least get the water pipes fixed and building codes enforced. Holy Cow; THBT's Tai-Tai still manages the family finances and makes him take a bag lunch to work. The guy can't decide what color tie to wear on his own.

That brings me to the link on my title. Martin Freeberg had a brilliant post on his blog titled:“We Are Under the Thumb of Idiots”(Scroll Down) All I can say is, Martin, try living in Hong Kong! We've got lots of experience being ruled by those who still need to be told what to do.

That is a shame. Hong Kong could be the greatest gift ever received by the Chinese people. Hong Kongers could have taught the Chinese what it means to be free. Not free in the sense of choosing your career or little things like being able to own your property (In some ways China is freer in those things than Hong Kong.) but free. Freedom is not simply a lack of rules but the ability to challenge rules. Hong Kong could have taught China that the mark of a civilized society is not having a "Harmonious Society" but one where people can respectfully disagree each other and the government. Freedom and harmony are mutually exclusive in this sense. When the PRC says "Harmony" it means control. Instead we whine that the government isn't giving us enough cash to cover our poor financial decisions.

The greatest threat to Hong Kong is that it is populated by officials like THBT who cannot think for themselves and only do as they are told. If THBT politely stood up to Beijing just once, even if it meant loosing his USD $40,000 a MONTH salary and said: "I am not less patriotic because I think you are wrong and I want you to reconsider your position and live up to the Chinese constitution" to his Beijing puppet masters then I would donate money to have his statue erected in Chatter Garden. That is the lesson that the PRC needs to learn. That citizens can disagree and still be loyal citizens. It is a lesson that the British should have prepared Hong Kong to teach to greater China. The Britdogs couldn't see past their beer and bank accounts and Hong Kong and China are worse for it. I am worried that next year, or the year after, the DAB won't have to rent a mainland crowd.

Yet, there does not appear to be any serious opposition to the governmental group think. If the best we can do is keep trotting out Long Hair Leung to curse and throw fruit at other legislators we are doomed.

Thailand is looking better all the time. I hope yellow or red shirted protesters don't close the Bangkok airport when it is time for me to leave.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who really does like Hong Kong despite how it seems