Sol W. Sanders [See Archive] Chen Guangcheng and Bo Xilai represent the two poles of the Chinese political spectrum. Chen is a blind, self-taught lawyer and provincial activist for human rights, in a life and death struggle to reinterpret the system. Bo is a pampered scion of a famous Communist family, until recently a [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive] Despite the fact that Europe is in the Northern Hemisphere, the downward swirl of the euro this month took a reverse direction and started going left — counterclockwise. Maybe it is the first part of the Mayan prediction that gravity will fail later this year and we will all [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive] As more detail seeps around The Great Firewall Beijing masters once thought would suppress all dissident China blogging — and contradictory explanations emanate from Party sources — the case of Bo Xilai and his wife becomes all too familiar. For those who have tried to follow happenings over the [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Technology is politically and ideologically neutral. It would be comforting to believe increasing levels of technology alone could solve social and political problems and make the world a better place. But history has proved that false, alas! again and again. When German scientists with their traditional leadership in chemistry invented [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Authoritarian governments are paranoid, but just because they are, as the saying goes, doesn’t mean they aren’t threatened. The Chinese regime is no exception. We currently see a demonstration in shadowy but slashing decisive action by a normally ultracautious regime to purge a leading member. This political drama results from [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Like death and taxes the conundrum of short term advantage versus long term gain is always with us, in public as well as private life. Somehow, just now, it seems to be more than usually evident in political-economic decisions before The Republic. Here are two: The Supremes, as I write, [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Two recent deeply intertwined violent events demonstrate the terrible burden hanging on the outcome of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan and Pakistan. An American soldier’s rampage allegedly taking the lives of 17 Afghan villagers paralleled the attack of a Franco-Mahgrebian youth resulting in seven deaths of French [Muslim] veterans and Jewish [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive Imagine a graph representing world problems: There are two mounting growth lines. One represents “technology”, defined as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.” The other charts “common sense”, defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” At the upper corner [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive A perennial American foreign policy debate sets “realism” against “idealism”, national interest versus morality. The dichotomy is often overstated. The two currents divide and merge incessantly in the flow of implementation of any concrete overseas policy and tactics. American statesmen have argued — contemporary politicians still do as did The [...]
Sol W. Sanders [See Archive] An old adage holds bureaucracies may successfully pursue their original goals for only a generation. After that their efforts go to feathering their bureaucratic nest. Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae are examples: outrageous executive compensation and payoffs to Congressional friends, all contributing to a housing bust, now requiring more billions [...]
