Singapore
The number of heavy cargo ships idle here in Singapore's harbor bears brutal witness to the depths of this recession. So little merchandise is shipping through these Straits of Malacca that efforts are being made to rent cargo carriers for one-tenth the going rate. One reads in The Straits Times and elsewhere that citizens here cannot recall a time when so much shipping was dormant.
And speaking about scary, one can only grimace at the dangerous rightward shift of the Israeli government. Yes, tough times coupled with perceptions of insecurity generally reward those who sell fear, anger and hatred. As if a return to Bibi Netanyahu is not bad enough, however, his re-emergence is being made possible with support from ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman, head of the far-right Yisrael Beiteini and a dangerous guy. There is hardly any doubt that this rightward shift will deepen the current crisis there and result in a failed government. The question in these reactionary thrusts is always how many more lives will be sacrificed and how much precious time wasted before more rational, centrist adjustments are made?
The news in the fear-mongering department is not much better in Moscow, either. What a profound tragedy it is that the two Chechen accessories to the October 2006 murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya were acquitted this week. Everyone knows these clowns were accessories before, during and after the fact, but that they are not Politkovskaya's muderers. Unhappily, it seems, nobody will ever face justice for actually killing this brave PEN and Amnesty award-winning woman who dared to write truth to power about then-President Vladimir Putin. The result? Well, such political witchhunts continue with Putin allies and other crazies feeling completely empowered to keep killing anyone who threatens them. Just witness last month's assassinations of human rights attorney Stanislav Markelov and young journalist Anastasia Barburova. Few can imagine the extent of murderous totalitarian rule as is the case today in Mother Russia.
A vendor on Desker Street in Singapore's Little India today.
The number of heavy cargo ships idle here in Singapore's harbor bears brutal witness to the depths of this recession. So little merchandise is shipping through these Straits of Malacca that efforts are being made to rent cargo carriers for one-tenth the going rate. One reads in The Straits Times and elsewhere that citizens here cannot recall a time when so much shipping was dormant.
And speaking about scary, one can only grimace at the dangerous rightward shift of the Israeli government. Yes, tough times coupled with perceptions of insecurity generally reward those who sell fear, anger and hatred. As if a return to Bibi Netanyahu is not bad enough, however, his re-emergence is being made possible with support from ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman, head of the far-right Yisrael Beiteini and a dangerous guy. There is hardly any doubt that this rightward shift will deepen the current crisis there and result in a failed government. The question in these reactionary thrusts is always how many more lives will be sacrificed and how much precious time wasted before more rational, centrist adjustments are made?
The news in the fear-mongering department is not much better in Moscow, either. What a profound tragedy it is that the two Chechen accessories to the October 2006 murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya were acquitted this week. Everyone knows these clowns were accessories before, during and after the fact, but that they are not Politkovskaya's muderers. Unhappily, it seems, nobody will ever face justice for actually killing this brave PEN and Amnesty award-winning woman who dared to write truth to power about then-President Vladimir Putin. The result? Well, such political witchhunts continue with Putin allies and other crazies feeling completely empowered to keep killing anyone who threatens them. Just witness last month's assassinations of human rights attorney Stanislav Markelov and young journalist Anastasia Barburova. Few can imagine the extent of murderous totalitarian rule as is the case today in Mother Russia.
A vendor on Desker Street in Singapore's Little India today.