PSA: Godwin's Law Does Apply Internationally

In this spat between the Philippines and China, the Filipinos went Godwin first.

Quirky Asia Files: Getting From Point A To Point B

It all just makes me want to stay home, ha!

Life Imitates Star Trek in the South China Sea

Expansionist China tells its neighbors that resistance is futile.

Cartography Caper: China to Publish New Map of Its Territories

Expect lots of tendentious claims on that map, and I'm not only talking about the Senkaku islands.  It's almost like Beijing is actively trying to tick off its neighbors.   

Best comment yet: View from Taiwan - "Rumor has it the map will include the Andromeda galaxy, Ringworld, and areas to be named south of Gondor."

Philippines and Japanese Rearmament

WWII history or not, Manila appears to be absolutely fine with the idea.  Everybody's interested in counterbalancing China. Remember this?  WWII was 60+ years ago.  Manila is worrying about right now.

Land Grabs: Maps and Territorial Disputes

Bring it on!  Well, at least it's better than Apple Maps.

Chinese Patrol Ships Into Japanese Waters

There's a new round of the China-Japan dispute over the Senkaku islands as two(?) six Chinese patrol boats entered Japanese territorial waters.  Oh, and there's also a China-Philippines dispute over a shoal in the South China Sea - to which Manila is ready to redeploy ships after reports of Chinese ships mucking about there.  

Heh, there seems to be something about little islands in that part of the Pacific that gives Beijing a case of the knee-jerk expansionist chest-thumping crazies, to the headache of the Asian democracies involved.  Nobody likes a bully.  (Besides, as one of my Nerd Lords recently said with surprising forthrightness for academia, Beijing is "a criminal regime.") Note how very little of this ever shows up in Western news media.

Plus this saying that it's also Washington's problem, though that thought just makes me want to smack my head on my desk right now.  Foreign policy - ah, how to say this politely? - isn't exactly this administration's strong suit.

UPDATE: Dignified Rant has thoughts on how the US can help Japan.

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Happy Chinese New Year, my lovelies.  Bring on the firecrackers and red paper envelopes!  UPDATE: Check out some lovely photos from celebrations all over Asia.

Monday Therapy: the Dancing Filipino Traffic Cop

History Lesson: Women in World War II

Take a look at this remarkable collection of photos. 

Some of the women you will have heard of, others not.  The first one you meet is Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Russian sniper who racked up 309 confirmed German kills and so became the killingest female sniper in history.  The second photo gives you the infamous Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.  Elsewhere in the photo collection you will see, in moral and historical terms, the good, the bad, and the ugly from every aspect and location of the war.  (The "you go, girl" tag is obviously only for the good ones.)  In an historical event as massive as WWII, one tends to forget that it was composed of individuals.  This photo essay is a reminder of those individuals and the many roles they took.

Food Poisoning: A Taiwanese Company's Tainted Products

Fresh from an email sent by the Cine-Sib is this depressing/alarming/infuriating news.  At least this is all over the news in Taiwan, where nationwide store inspections have begun in response.  Oh, just heard from a family friend in Taiwan: It's a huge scandal ... as it should be.  Putting industrial plasticizer into food products?! NOT COOL.

Quirky Asia Files: Karaoke Killers in the Philippines

Oh, my!

The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

Quirky Asia Files: Extreme Asian Sports

Take a look at seven crazy athletic pastimes. Now, how do you say "ouch" in Japanese/Thai/Filipino/Hindi, etc.?

Requiescat in Pace, Corazon Aquino

Asia's first female president and a symbol of Filipino democracy, former president Corazon Aquino has died from colon cancer. Here is a little opinion piece about the housewife who argued that personal freedom is a moral right and ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Photos here.

Godspeed!

Ranking Courts and Judicial Systems in Asia

The China Law Blog has the link. Short version -- here are the 12 nations involved, ranked from best to worst. Look, of course, for Taiwan and China.

1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Japan
4. South Korea
5. Taiwan
6. Philippines
7. Malaysia
8. India
9. Thailand
10. China
11. Vietnam
12. Indonesia