Tibet and the Baltic States

Gwynne Dyer, "No Tibetan independence," Japan Times Online (March 19, 2008):

The Chinese Communists seized power in 1949, and invaded Tibet the following year on the argument that "what was once ours is ours forever." So long as they hold power in Beijing, they will also hold Tibet — but an interesting analogy comes to mind. For the history of the Baltic states — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — is not very different.

They fell under the rule of the expanding Russian empire in the 18th century, but regained their independence after revolution overthrew the tsarist regime in 1917. They lost it again when the Soviet Union invaded them in 1940 — but got it back when the communist regime in Moscow collapsed in 1991. And the main motive for their drive for independence was fear that their languages and cultures were being submerged by a wave of Russian immigrants.

As with the Baltic states, so too with Tibet. If there is ever a change of regime in Beijing, then a window of opportunity will open — and Tibet will have a couple of years to establish its independence before a new government emerges in Beijing that feels compelled to hold onto it in deference to Chinese nationalist sentiment. But that window is not open now.

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Evidence Is Messy

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The Study of Juristerei (or Legal Rigamarole) and Other Such Matters (even theology)

In Goethe's Faust Dr. Faust speaks the following lines when he first appears:

Habe nun, ach! Philosophie,

Juristerei und Medizin,

Und leider auch Theologie

Durchaus studiert, mit heißem Bemühn.

Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor!

Und bin so klug als wie zuvor;

Heiße Magister, heiße Doktor gar

Und ziehe schon an die zehen Jahr

Herauf, herab und quer und krumm

Meine Schüler an der Nase herum-

Und sehe, daß wir nichts wissen können!

...

Bilde mir nicht ein, was Rechts zu wissen,

Bilde mir nicht ein, ich könnte was lehren,

Die Menschen zu bessern und zu bekehren.

A crude prose translation perhaps best conveys Faust's mood and sentiments:

Oh, I've studied -- thoroughly and passionately -- philosophy, law, and medicine -- and also, I'm sorry to say, even theology.

Now here I am, poor fool.

And I'm just as smart as I was before.

I'm called "master" and -- would you believe it -- even "doctor."

For ten years I've led my students around by their noses, up and down, this way and that.

And in the end I see that it is impossible to know anything.

...

I don't fool myself that I know what's right.

I don't fool myself that I could teach anything that would improve or reform mankind.

So the fellow turns to magic. Hmmm...





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Hillary Clinton's Kitchen Sink

Hillary Clinton vowed to throw the kitchen sink at Barack Obama.

Well, what would you do if you were the victim of a vast left-wing conspiracy?

A word to the wise: the above stuff is an attempt at humor.

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Ungeheures Ungeziefer: Eine wahre Erzaehlung!

Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

This is the famous opening sentence of Franz Kafka's Die Verwandlung, or The Metamorphosis.

A rough and free-flowing translation:

When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from disturbing dreams he discovered that he had changed, in his bed, into an enormous insect-like creature.

Well, it turns out that this shocking story was true! See Mark Leyner, "A Bug's Life. Really," NYTimes (March 9, 2008):

In a scandal that’s sending shock waves through both the publishing industry and academia, the author Franz Kafka has been revealed to be a fraud.

"The Metamorphosis — purported to be the fictional account of a man who turns into a large cockroach — is actually non-fiction," according to a statement released by Mr. Kafka’s editor, who spoke only on the condition that he be identified as E.

"The story is true. Kafka simply wrote a completely verifiable, journalistic account of a neighbor by the name of Gregor Samsa who, because of some bizarre medical condition, turned into a 'monstrous vermin.' Kafka assured us that he’d made the whole thing up. We now know that to be completely false. The account is 100 percent true."

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