Beer cures bird flu? / On animation / In Chinatown / Helping the poor - suspicious?

We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done. Alan Turing

Beer cures bird flu?

The Kirin Brewery has developed an antibody, which protects from catching flu and also helps in recovering from flu. Now they just have to add it to their beers and I can guarantee huge commercial success.

On animation

While we were having coffee in the small cafe in Chinatown, S pointed out that Americans are actually not that animated, when they speak. Americans tend to make similar faces as the soap opera stars do, but otherwise they do not animate that much. Chinese are different: their do not make that much faces, but they use their hands and voice to give mphasis to their speech. Interesting observation.

In Chinatown

A demonstration broke through the busy life of Chinatown. Some hundred demonstrators were voicing their opinions against the Chinese communist party and claiming that a book called "9 commentaries" is bringing the party down. Maybe - definitely I would hope for the dictators to go away and some kinds of democracy to appear. Just how likely both of these wishes are to come true, I do not know.
Before the demonstration, a nice lunch in the Taiwan Cafe with S. Very authentic food and busy atmosphere. Then coffee in the corner cafe, we being the only non-Chinese. I so much like the Chinatown. I miss living in China.

Helping the poor - suspicious?

Recently, I have read several articles (in NY Times, Wall Street Journal etc) telling that Venezuela's president Chavez has "showered the nation's oil profits on government projects aimed at the poor" (as NY Times put it today). The papers hold this activity against Chavez, but they never tell why. Helping the poor is something that most people consider a duty of governments, so it cannot be the reason. I think the real reason must be, that just giving money to the poor is not going to help them in the longer term - it is well know that only a few countries (e.g. Norway) has really benefited from oil profits. I think it would be prudent to be more verbose in blaming Mr Chavez, though.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs December 2005".