Posts by fulltimestudent

44

Is North Korea Changing ?

by fulltimestudent in

there's a good chance that a process of change is occurring in nk, which i'll come back to, as first i'd like to briefly explain how korea became divided.. i've spent a lot of time this past calendar year on the history and development of korea, this last semester focussing on modern korea with all its sadness, commencing with the japanese takeover in 1905, and the full annexation and military occupation in 1910. .

many korean's (naturally) opposed the japanese occupation.

some actively fought the japanese as guerilla's in the mountains.

fulltimestudent

When it comes to North Korea, the general theme of narratives is very negative. A lot of that surely emanates from western governments, who if they think they may one day wish to blast the sh*t out of a country, peddle as much disinformation as they can about the place.

But every now and again along comes a story that runs counter to all we believe (have you been there before? grin). You can find one such story in the GlobalPost, of October 31, 2012.

The story is head-lined, " North Korea's Not as Crazy as Everyone Says." It's written by a Swiss businessman who lived there for 7 years. Well, right off, that arouses some curiousity, does it not? Does he have some hidden ulterior motive for the article? Or, (just maybe) is the USA about to start a new narrative about NK? I recall about 18 months before the recent changes started in Myanmar there suddenly was, "New light" about the place.

You can find Felix Abt's article at:

www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/commentary/north-korea-defectors-real-life

And, I'll finish this post with the opinion, that if, in 1948 I'd had to go an live in Korea, I would have preferred NK, to South Korea. Why? The evidence is plain, that at that point in the game, NK was better run that SK. The US had imported Syngman Rhee, a poisonous rattle-snake if ever there was one, to run SK. It cost the South Korean people a lot of blood to get rid of him in 1960, but for those years SK was a much worse place to live than NK, excepting for the war years.

Of course, it didn't stay that way, but that's another story.

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Sat for an exam on Korea today, thats the end of the academic year for me. (smile) - 40 questions, I knew most, but had to guess the answer for five of them. My late friend, who was a long term academic, told me - always make an educated guess - you just may guess correctly.

18

Did the Apostle Paul exist

by Unbrainwashed publisher1 in

has any one ever found secular documented proof of the apostle paul's existence?.

fulltimestudent

which one? - some scholars suggest that at least 3 different people were writing under that name.

21

About to end a friendship, please help. How do you pronounce General Tso?

by MC RubberMallet in

i say - general tee so.

friend 1 says - general chow su .

friend 2 insists - general cho.

fulltimestudent

I'm not sure either, what this thread has to do with Bible research ... but still, I guess is no more irrelevent than the Bible itself.

If the name refers to a certain dish that Wikipedia says is sold in North American Chinese restaurants, then the name should be pronounced something like 'swore,' but I think the S sound at the beginning needs more articulation (seperaton) to the 'wore' that follows.

The confusion arises because Chinese does not use an alphabet, so westerners need to transliterate the sounds into their own language. A number of systems have been used to to that, the original western system in English was called the Wade-Giles system.

The founding of the PRC in 1949 gave Chinese scholars the opportunity to develop their own system, commonly called 'Pinyin.' It is I think a superior system, and its used in China to (for example) to provide an alphabetical name for subway stations that westerners can read. It's in increasing use in western scholarly circles, except I think in the USA, where for ideological reasons, scholars need to demonstrate that they are not communists, by using the out-dated Wade-Giles system

Some sounds in Chinese need to be identified with two letters, as for example the combination ts, in this case.

If you refer to General Tso's chicken in Wikipedia, the author of the entry believes the General mentioned is a 19th century Qing General named in Pinyin, General Zuo Zong-tang. I would believe from my studies that Zuo is pronounced (as I said previously) 's-wore.'

And, of course the next problem is what tone should be used, but that's a whole different problem.

55

The End of Cheap Chinese Goods-What will it Mean for You?

by fulltimestudent in

the yahoo7 web-site (aussie version) carries an item with this heading.. find it at:.

its clear (to me, anyway) that big changes are coming, and have been in the pipe-line for at least 5 years.

it was about that long ago, that i noticed a news report saying that the guangdong (provincial) govt.

fulltimestudent

Mr Freeze, Foxconn is the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, a Taiwanese multinational Electronics manufacturing that is a principal maker for Apple. Foxconn has many factories in many different cities in China and it seems to have one of the worst records in China for labour relations.

The latest instance of unrest (this year) started as a dispute in a dormitory between some workers. Factory security intervened and bashed on of the workers so badly that he nearly died, a riot developed and the civil police had to be called.

I think you have to remember that 30 years ago, China can only be described as poor. In 30 years it has become the second richest nation (as measured by GDP) in the world and probably in the next 10-15 years will have the biggest GDP in the world.

The government strategy (as expressed by Deng Xiaoping) was to allow a market economy to develop, with both private enterprise and SOE's (Corporations with mainly government shareholdings) . Shares were allowed to be traded so that stock exchanges could gradually develop ( which they have). On the way from 1978 to 2012, there has been a gradual improvement in living standards. Along the East coast, most people have reasonable jobs and a middle class way of life.

A friend I made 3 years ago, came from a village farm. His father had worked in factories to earn enough money to send this friend and his brother to university. This friend did well in his IT field and was snapped up be a large bank when he graduated. He is well aware of the sacrifice his father made, working long hours in factories to attemtp to give his kids a better future. And, that's the reason that so many Chinese work in factories like Foxconn. Would you do that for your kids? We are already seeing a second generation of middle class people. A university friend, doing accounting at my University (which trains about 4,500 Chinese students) wanted to stay in Australia. Naturally, he's got a lot of competition for a job, but was accepted on his first interview, by a mid sized accounting company.

Another friend, spent 8 years studying here (Australia)- his parents had a business selling bathroom and kitchen equipment. He decided to return to China, and has built the family business to a chain of six showrooms. He's just been here in Sydney sourcing Australian products to sell in another business he is starting. He's now really wealthy. He also is an independent (i.e. not a member of the CPC) member of the city government in his city.

In the 30+ years since Deng set the new creed - "To get rich is glorious." Many have done exactly that. Never before in history have so many people moved from poverty to middle class life. But it all started with the change of policy by the CPC. It should be stated that many prominent members of the CPC, (who had supported the CPC over the American supported GMD(KMT)) wanted a mixed economy. In brief, Mao wanted to try a different path. When his Great Leap Forward failed, the CPC pushed Mao sideways. His reaction was the Cultural Revolution, which brought China to a standstill, until even Mao eased up. Mao called his in-party opponents, "capitalist-roaders" as he was opposed to a market economy.

The era of the Foxconn type factories is nearing its end, because wealth is spreading to even the poorer parts of China.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=45LIkj58ujY&feature=related

24

Jehovah's Witness father botches kitchen floor circumcision...and goes to jail.

by Balaamsass in

todays google alert, from the toronto sun;.

man who botched son's home-circumcision guilty of criminal negligence, top court rules 21. by brigitte pellerin,parliamentary bureaufirst posted: friday, november 16, 2012 11:41 am est.

the supreme court of canada in ottawa on july 21, 2011.

fulltimestudent

Obviously this guy was trying to be like Abraham!

Which brings to the fore the question of Abraham's competence to perform a circumcision. I wonder how many Jewish boys (in the past) lost their penis because of someone's incompentence?

And, the question of ritual circumcision (brit milah) in contemporary Judaism: after the mohel performs the cut, the tradition has been to place his mouth over the wound. So if the mohel has herpes, the child is in danger of being infected, as the UK Daily Mail reports two deaths and 11 infections in NY between 2000 and 2011.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170825/New-York-wants-ban-Jewish-circumcision-ritual-causes-fatal-HERPES-babies.html

NB. Many scholars seem to think that primitive circumcision involved the removal of only the very tip of the foreskin.

55

The End of Cheap Chinese Goods-What will it Mean for You?

by fulltimestudent in

the yahoo7 web-site (aussie version) carries an item with this heading.. find it at:.

its clear (to me, anyway) that big changes are coming, and have been in the pipe-line for at least 5 years.

it was about that long ago, that i noticed a news report saying that the guangdong (provincial) govt.

fulltimestudent

I think you're right Satanus, a resurgence of manufacture in some western nations may not translate into more factory jobs for the reason that anyone investing in a new factory in 2013 will be thinking of robotic fabrication. and since the distribution and transportation network is already in place, there may not be many new jobs there anyway.

Another thing is that the world has already moved on, personal budgets have adjusted to low cost products, and increased prices will just mean that people will buy less of that product.

And obviously, if China is moving out of the cheap end of the market, then they are planning (hoping) to move upmarket. My impression is that in those areas, the Chinese may have an excellent chance of succeeding. On my visits to China, I've tried to wander around the back streets as well as the main streets. In those streets, you often see small shops with well-made, good-looking products on display, particularly in women's clothing.

This shop is obviously more up-market than what I've seen, but it illustrates the trend.

english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20121116/101911.shtml

It took the Japanese near 20 years to move from cheap to quality. Korea about 15 years and my estimate is about the same for China (15 years).

And, I agree, that the 'low-end' manufacturers are already moving on to other Asian countries. Bangladash and Cambodia among them. And, possibly later they'll head for Africa. The Chinese are investing heavily in infra-structure in Africa, they obviously think that something will change in that continent. And, they are spending a lot on infra-structure in Asia, also. Already there is a second route (to the Trans-Siberia railway) to Europe, through Central Asia and a third route is in planning, links are planned that will mean you can travel from Singapore or Bangkok all the way to London. That no-so-future-world will be much different to yesterday's world.

55

The End of Cheap Chinese Goods-What will it Mean for You?

by fulltimestudent in

the yahoo7 web-site (aussie version) carries an item with this heading.. find it at:.

its clear (to me, anyway) that big changes are coming, and have been in the pipe-line for at least 5 years.

it was about that long ago, that i noticed a news report saying that the guangdong (provincial) govt.

fulltimestudent

Comments on the quality of some Chinese made stuff are valid. But have you ever stopped to ask, how come this low quality stuff turns up in your marketplace?

Do the leaders of China sit down in Beijing and decide, "Lets send a ship load of this crap to XXXX (whereever)?"

Or, does the buyer for a company in the country where you live, go on a buying trip,maybe to different countries (its a global market), sees the stuff he wants, and decides to place an order for those things? That buyer will likely have a reason for the decision he makes. He know his market is likely very price-conscious and willing to trade some quality for a lower price.

I have had a lot of experience in custom made stuff. Managed a couple of SME factories. One problem in Australia is productivity. As one current owner of factory that makes to order tells me, he has a difficult time keeping his staff at work. (always wanting a day off). I was in another factory last year with a friend (I do some part-time work) The owner was late for our appointment. So while waiting I watched what was going on in the factory - those guys were only pretending to work, probably because the boss wasn't there. Another problem is quality. Some guys just do not care, which turns out to cause long defects lists.

Incidently, not all Chinese factories are sweat-shops. I accompanied a business friend to a trip to China and we looked at a few factories, and I doubt that the staff were working under pressure.

OTOH, in a factory I inspected in Taiwan they were really going for it. The production line made upright commercial refrigerators- equvalent of 2 doors, but fitted with 4 half doors. It was extremely well-organised, and each team of two guys were assembling two cabinets a day. I do not think any factory making similar cabinets in Aust. would achieve that output, which is the reason (I guess) why most cabinets like that now come from Asia ( Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and China).

I've heard from another ex-jw of a brother in western Sydney who managed the NSW Government Railways Foundry. It was a union shop, and when the workers felt they'd done enough work, they just eased off. The manager (brother) used to warn them of what would happen one day, and his forecast came true. The railways eventually closed the foundry and bought from, guess where? Asia, of course! So, in the end all manufacturing moves and the last lot of trains that were bought for the Sydney rail network, had carcasses that were made in China.

Another problem in buying from anywhere overseas is failure to set up proper specification schedules and detailed and approved shop drawings. In that case, variation in detail is bound to happen.

And, another problem is an attempt to force the sell-price lower. Then the factory making the stuff will make their own efforts to cut costs, which probably means subbing the stuff out.

55

The End of Cheap Chinese Goods-What will it Mean for You?

by fulltimestudent in

the yahoo7 web-site (aussie version) carries an item with this heading.. find it at:.

its clear (to me, anyway) that big changes are coming, and have been in the pipe-line for at least 5 years.

it was about that long ago, that i noticed a news report saying that the guangdong (provincial) govt.

fulltimestudent

What does it mean for me? Good question! Materially, very little. I'm already "chinese" in that I'm daoist in attitude and try to live a simple life. An $8.00 T-shirt from Kmart that likely cost them $1.00 ex the factory gate suits me fine (presently). (As an XJW, I am somewhat allergic to suits and no longer possess one.)

From an academic viewpoint, though all this means a lot. Historically, we seldom have an opportunity to watch the rise of a world power, particularly the way this is working out. In reality though, we are not seeing the rise of China - we are seeing a restoration of China. Before 1800, China was likely the richest nation on earth. Why, then did it collapse so easily? I think there are two aspects to that historical collapse. First, was the fact that what we call China was then actually captive to the Manchu dynasty called Qing. The focus of the elite was to maintain their dominant position as overlords of China, although in practise, they had already been absorbed by the Chinese civilisation. (More or less before they even commenced their project to take control of China. But so complete was the Chinese absorption of the Qing, that when the dynasty finally collapsed and war-lors took control of Manchuria, they did not seem to have any intention of detaching themselves from civilisational China. And, today. the dongbei (the north east), the former Manchuria is as much Chinese as any other part of contemporary China.

The second reason for the collapse, was that the focus of the state by 1800, seems no longer to have been to maintain control by force. The English writer, Somerset Maugham interviewed a Chinese philosopher in the 1920s, by the name of Gu Hongming. Gu was a supporter (still) of the Qing, and who claimed in the interview that the Chinese elite had tried to rule, not by force, but by wisdom. He then asked Maugham a rhetorical question - "Why does the white man despise the yellow?" And answered himself, "Because he (the white man) has invented the machine gun. ... We are a defenceless horde and you can can blow us into eternity. ... And now you are teaching our young men your secret ... Do you not know that we have a genius for mechanics? ... that there are in this country (hundreds of millions) of the most practical and industrious people in the world."

So watching this process of change in the world is an almost unbelievable opportunityto see a huge historical event happen before my eyes.

Read the Amazon review of the book mentioned in the Yahoo story. He's a Harvard graduate, who first went to China in the 1990's.

www.amazon.com/End-Cheap-China-Economic-Cultural/dp/111817206X

Another interesting book, is China versus the West, by Ivan Tselichtchev.

www.asianreviewofbooks.com/new/?ID=1295#!

55

The End of Cheap Chinese Goods-What will it Mean for You?

by fulltimestudent in

the yahoo7 web-site (aussie version) carries an item with this heading.. find it at:.

its clear (to me, anyway) that big changes are coming, and have been in the pipe-line for at least 5 years.

it was about that long ago, that i noticed a news report saying that the guangdong (provincial) govt.

fulltimestudent

The Yahoo7 web-site (Aussie version) carries an item with this heading.

Find it at:

au.pfinance.yahoo.com/photos/photo/-/13263001/what-the-end-of-cheap-china-means-for-you/

Its clear (to me, anyway) that big changes are coming, and have been in the pipe-line for at least 5 years. It was about that long ago, that I noticed a news report saying that the Guangdong (provincial) govt. had started telling the shoe manufacturing companies that their leases on the land on which their factories were built would not be renewed and suggesting they move out of Guangdong to make room for higher valued products. They had served their purpose in GD, so now these factories could move to some other place with poor people, even out of China into Vietnam, etc.

At the beginning of this year, very large increases in pay rates were ordered by the Central government. Lots of workers got 50% or more increases. As a result many of the 100,000,000 migrant workers that provide factory labour to the east coast cities were now able to get a job nearer their homes.

Even, 3 years ago, during my last trip to China, walking along a food street in the city of Suzhou, - ( i.e. that's quite a long street with mainly restaurants along its length), nearly every shop had a sign up advertising their staff vacancies.

So what next? First, in all the cheap shops like Walmart in the US, Kmart and BigW in Australia, there will be an increase in prices.

Second, because Chinese living standards will be higher, expect to pay more for commodities like coffee and meat, even milk.

Third, there will be more Chinese tourists in your town (if its worth visiting), or competing with you in resort areas. And, Chinese airlines will become more visible.

Fourth, China is going to change much more. It changes all the time now. But will change at a faster pace. On my first visit to Beijing in 2001, there were 2 subway routes, now there are more than 10. Nanjing had no subways, now there are 3 routes. Suzhou had none in 2001, Now there is one in operation and a second opens soon. Shanghai had two lines then, now a dense network covers the city. and connected into the network is a maglev train that speeds you from the subway to Pudong airport in 7 minutes at over 350 km/hour ( www.exploreshanghai.com/metro/ ) And then there is the fast train network. My first trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou, was on a all-stations train and took 4 hours, we went back to Shanghai on an express train in 2 hours. Now on the fast trains, its only a one hour trip. There is something like 12,000+ kilometres of high speed track already laid and in operation. There could be something like 20,000 km in operation by 2020.

And finally, China has long been a destination for the curious and adventurous. Its now becoming a destination for many other reasons. Just as Chinese students now flood out to schools and Universities all over the world, So the world's students are flooding into China. Soon the top Chinese Universities will be grouped among the best in the world.

And if your among the best in your field, you'll likely find a job in China.

Hope you enjoy Yahoo's presentation.

44

Is North Korea Changing ?

by fulltimestudent in

there's a good chance that a process of change is occurring in nk, which i'll come back to, as first i'd like to briefly explain how korea became divided.. i've spent a lot of time this past calendar year on the history and development of korea, this last semester focussing on modern korea with all its sadness, commencing with the japanese takeover in 1905, and the full annexation and military occupation in 1910. .

many korean's (naturally) opposed the japanese occupation.

some actively fought the japanese as guerilla's in the mountains.

fulltimestudent

Arbolesdearabia: Thnx for reminding me of the vice channel- I've posted some of their stuff elsewhere:

here's an interesting video - vice channel calls it a 'labour camp' giving an impression that its a 'forced labour' camp. Its not, as far as western sources can determine. The workers are there voluntarily. Why, in such a harsh place? Simply because they can earn more working therer than they can at home. The logging camps split the profits between the Russians and DPRK governments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_G1uVrzLU4