Articles by mgedwards

Yellow Sand is back

I noticed yesterday that the Yellow Sand is back in town.  I knew it when my nose felt dry and dusty at work–the same sensation you get whenever you change a dirty air filter.  Yellow Sand, or hwangsa (황사), is an annual event in northern Asia, where sands from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia blow across the plains into northern China and the Korean Peninsula.  The sand stops at the Eastern Sea (Sea of Japan), so it doesn’t quite reach Japan (lucky Japanese).  The sky turns dingy gray, greatly diminishing visibility, and fine sand granules settle everywhere, including in one’s lungs.  I attached a photo of Seoul Tower taken today.  The photo does accurately show the full effect of Yellow Sand, but it gives you an idea of what it can do.  Medical professionals encourage people stay indoors during bouts of Yellow Sand or wear masks if venturing outdoors.  Unfortunately, silty air still enters and circulates in homes and offices with inadequate air filtering.  Yellow Sand gets into the eyes, nose, mouth, lungs, hair–you name it.  Last year, the Yellow Sand was moderately light, but this year the annual phenomenon hit Korea with a vengeance.  It usually lasts about a week and a half, ruining what would otherwise be a wonderfully mild spring. 
 
I hope the Yellow Sand subsides as soon as possible.  My nose is choking as I write, and I don’t feel so well.  I have a splitting headache, probably because I snorted too much sand today (my family and I went out for awhile).  My negative reaction to the Yellow Sand reminded me that I was very fortunate this winter to stay relatively healthy.  Considering how busy I’ve been lately, I’m glad that I’ve felt great–until now.  I suppose that going outside today without wearing a mask worsened my condition.  My wife and son also have stuffy noses, although I think they feel a little better than I do.  Just a little.
 
On Friday I drove past the Seoul City Hall.  A work crew was in the process of demolishing the makeshift outdoor ice rink in the grassy, circular greenspace in front of the city hall.  Although I’m glad winter is coming to an end, I think it’s a shame the rink was torn down.  It was one of the nicer attractions in downtown Seoul during the past winter.  With its Christmas light displays and casual skaters, and the ice emitting a soothing white and blue hue, the rink brought some coziness to the cold downtown.  The light displays that once graced Cheongyecheon Stream just north of City Hall (see the photo album) are gone too.  Winter is officially over in Seoul.  The Yellow Sands have begun.  I can’t wait for Spring to arrive. 

Scuttle the ports deal?

U.S. news sources reported today that by a 62-2 margin, the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee voted to bar DP World, which is run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at U.S. ports.  Thus far most of the debate has centered around national security concerns and the prospect that some key U.S. ports would be operated by a foreign operator.  Less attention has been paid to whether it makes sense from a trade policy standpoint to allow DP World to take over some U.S. port operations.  I think that an unusually bipartisan House made the right decision to scuttle the deal.  However, I would have supported the bill for a reason other than national security.
 
The argument that U.S. ports should not be operated by foreign operators is baseless.  "This is a national security issue," said Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-California), adding that the move to bar DP World would "keep America’s ports in American hands."  This statement is fallacious and is myth being perpetuated by both Democrats and Republicans for political reasons.  Britain-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) currently operates the ports in question.  DP World is merely acquiring the company and assuming control through its acquisition of P&O.  Few critics of the DP World deal are concerned about the fact that P&O is also a foreign company.  The widespread, bipartisan support for banning DP World from operating U.S. ports over national security concerns may be inherently discriminatory.  Dubai-based DP World is located in a country no more prone to terrorist activity than is Britain-based P&O.  More terrorist cells, including IRA and radical Muslim terrorist cells, are based in Great Britain than in Dubai, despite the fact that Dubai is located in the Middle East.  DP World may be victim of a U.S. polity that is overly cautious about doing business with Middle Eastern firms and under estimating the global reach of terrorists.  P&O’s port operations could be infiltrated by terrorists as readily would port operations under DP World.  U.S. port controls may actually improve under DP World, which successfully operates the Middle East’s largest port and the world’s 10th largest.
 
Of greater concern is the fact that DP World is owned by the Government of Dubai.  I am critical of any quasi-private company that seeks to globally expand while their national or regional government owns a sizable stake in the company.  National companies, including national railways, airlines, and postal services, among others, exist to serve domestic markets.  When these companies begin acting as multinational corporations, acquiring other companies, serving foreign markets, and expanding their global reach, they gain an unfair advantage when backed by their home governments.  I was critical of CNOOC’s deal to purchase Unocal, a petroleum company, for this reason.  I would have preferred that Congress acted to block T-Mobile, a division of Deutsche Telekom, the German national telecommunications company, from purchasing VoiceStream Wireless, a fast-growing private U.S. company.  I was preturbed when I read that DHL, Deutsche Post’s air freight forwarding company, purchased Seattle-based Airborne Express and moved its operations, putting many Seattle-based employees out of work.  Companies whose largest shareholder is a foreign government have no business buying up the domestic assets of another country until they privatize–especially if it puts people out of work.  For this reason, I too oppose DP World’s takeover of U.S. ports–not because I am concerned about national security, but rather because the Government of Dubai needs to privatize the company before it takes over another country’s port operations.

Remembering the Reeve family

I came home late tonight from another late evening at work.  In a quiet office, with nary a soul in sight, I was finally able to finish some nagging projects.  Even the rat that had been haunting our office was gone, captured in a rat trap last night.  As long as new action items don’t descend upon me like hail stones, I think I will soon get through this latest wave of work that struck my desk like a hurricane hitting a disaster area.  Lately it seems that my standard response to the greeting, "How are you?" is "Busy!"  I suppose that people don’t really care to know how I really am doing when they ask that question.  It’s a standard greeting that does not need an honest response.  Whenever I think life is difficult, I reflect on the fact that life could be much, much worse. 
 
Tonight I was reminded of this fact by the death of Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve.  What happened to the Reeve family is nothing short of heart wrenching.  They met in 1987 and married in 1992.  Back in 1987, Christopher Reeve was an accomplished actor, best known for his portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman in the "Superman" movies.  Dana was an actress who worked in theater.  Christopher had two children from a previous relationship with Gae Exton, a modeling executive, and Dana and Christopher gave birth to Reeve’s youngest son, Will, in 1992.  Life must have been exceptional for the Reeve family before Christopher’s infamous equestrian riding accident in 1995, which left him completely paralyzed and on a respirator for the rest of his life.  The Reeve family pulled through and became an inspiration to many Americans when they launched the Christopher Reeve Foundation to promote stem cell research and find a cure for paralysis.  Reeve was an inspiration for his determination to conquer quadriplegia.  Although he never was able to walk again, he was able to move his fingers and toes, an amazing accomplishment for someone who could not control body movement below his neck. 
 
In 2004, Christopher Reeve died of heart failure, a complication related to his quadriplegic condition.  Dana Reeve lost her life’s mate.  Last year, she also lost her mother, and she was subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer, despite the fact that she never smoked.  On March 6, 2006, at age 44, she succumbed to lung cancer.  Dear Reader, can you imagine the tragedy that befell this family?  Two people, whose lives seems so idyllic, almost a fairy tale, when they married, ended so tragically just 13 years later?  I feel so bad for their children, especially Will, who is now an orphan.  His two other brothers lost their father and step-mother.  Stories such as these only serve to remind of the precious nature of life and how fleeting it can be, how quickly it can turn from tranquil to tragic.  It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, rich or poor, risk-taking or cautious, successful or nondescript, good or bad.  Tragedy can strike anyone, at any time.  The Reeve family was very wealthy, and the children will be well taken care of from the Reeve estate, but money cannot replace the loss of a parent or another loved one.  Life is so unpredictable that it’s vital to live each day as if it were your last, cherishing the ones you love, and preparing for what may lie ahead in the afterlife and preparing those you leave behind.