China and Congress - Not Exactly a Love Affair

So, clearly I’m not anti-China. In fact, I’m very wary of painting China as the next, big, bogeyman. I don’t believe in simple solutions regarding trade, balance of power issues, or human rights. And, I think that it’s ridiculous to become locked in an “us” against “them” mentality.
This is a blog. Which means that I [...]

Thanks for ruining it for the rest of us, Tibet protesters.

I was scheduled to go to Kunming, China, in July as part of a thousands strong annual international academic conference. My panel’s topic? The cultural politics of disease prevention.  Specifically, I was scheduled to talk about bird flu, the sharing of samples, and all the politics that get involved in the implementation of health policies.
This [...]

Email Filters and Politics

I just had to put a blocking filter onto my gmail account.
Since the start of the political season (when, oh, when will the rhetoric of ‘change’ and ‘hope’ end?), I have gotten, on average, at least two or three forwarded diatribes per week. Sometimes, on a bad day, per hour.
The subject lines usually have a [...]

Go, Hilary, Go!

I really think Hilary Clinton would be a great president. Basically, she’s been training for this moment her entire life. She’s been involved in government, politics, or public service her entire adult life (and by adult here, I actually mean over the age of 29). When she was first lady, she traveled around the world [...]

More stupid teenagers, early 20s coolsters . . .

In light of the Miss South Carolina debacle, I thought it would be fun to post this.
One man went in search of ‘young people’, aka college students, to ask them what year 9/11 happened. This might have been entitled, “Man goes in search of people to make Miss SC look smart”. Surprise, surprise! He found [...]

Bird flu article is finished!

I just put the finishing touches on my article for Language and Politics, an academic journal which is publishing a special issue on avian flu. This afternoon, I sent it off to the editor, two days ahead of schedule. So, in other words, I’m feeling pretty good and largely carefree right now.
The article is entitled, [...]

The Politics of Public Health

A few days ago, the former Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, addressed a House committee - just days before the confirmation hearings of his successor. Basically, he accused the Bush administration of trying to suppress important health information that contradicted the administrations’ policies or beliefs. This is, perhaps, not so surprising. I suppose what is [...]

Pig Death Mystery Solved

I take it back. There is disease news to disseminate from the road.
Officials in China have confirmed that the microbe causing the mysterious epidemic in Guangdong, in which 300 pigs have died, has been identified. According to the Xin Hua news agency, it’s apparently a common pig illness called ‘blue-eared pig disease’. The People’s Daily [...]

Women’s Health in China

There have been a spate of stories related to women’s health in China over the past few days. One of which, in the NY Times, focused on the increasing rate of abortion in unmarried women. Abortion practices in China are not conceptualized as they are here in the US. In a country that has a [...]

Year of the Golden Pig - with an ironic twist . . .

The New York Times reported last week that an epidemic was killing pigs across the border from Hong Kong in mainland China, in two areas in Guangdong province.
This is ironic because this is the year of the pig in China, and the mystery disease allegedly began to surface immediately after the New Year celebrations. I’m [...]