Good Signs from Sketchy Sources

Recent reports from Turkmenistan indicate that the new President may be a BIG improvement on the old regime. It is so early that it is untested and it could all just be to generate hype. There are now internet cafes open to the public. The cost at $4/hour is prohibitively high for a country where most people officially make $100/month. I say officially because I noticed that in Kyrgyzstan lying to tax authority is standard fair and collecting bribes is also. That makes the official economy the tip of the iceberg. I would count on the same being true in Turkmenistan. That said, people are not by any means well off.

Also he has started to free up the education system and promised some tweaks in the rest of the outrageously eccentric policies of his predicessor. He even made a commission to support human rights and uphold the constitutionally promised rights of Turkmenistan. I won't hold my breath for any explosive revelations. But hopefully, the reforms will keep on rolling.

That info comes from local printed press that is not online. It sited the AP but it must already be archived because it is not on the AP news wire anymore.

And Bush went to LA ostensibly not to counter Chavez, but he is too loud and dissonant to be ignored. I think Chavez is not right fundamentally, but neither are the United States and his outlandish criticisms push the US towards more responsive and responsible policies. It is too bad that the congress is now split from the White House. The Democratic party with its skitzophrenic save-the-underdeveloped-world hippy lobby and its don't-deal-with-the-underdeveloped-world labor lobby does not make for good legislative trade partners.

I would like to see the trade deals we hashed out with Peru, Columbia and Panama signed. This may be naive, but I think it gives Latin America an incentive to cooperate and put leverage on the US in the long run. I think that it will hurt as much as it helps in the short term. But if a few countries can get together and say "you guys are consistently being jerks with these common provisions, we want it changed or we are all pulling out" that will get US attention, especially after our industries have gotten used to exports dependent upon the treaties.

NYT Bush in LA Article

Here is a Russian joke:

Two guys are standing next to each other on the street.

First guy says, "how's it going?"

"aw, you know same as always, always a little different" the second guy says, "First everything was bad, bad, bad. But then things suddenly took a turn for the worst. But again now things are just bad, bad, bad."

I'll say this for the joke. It's very Russian. When I get home, I am going to watch a funny movie. A clever, ironic, intelligent and funny movie. But as long as I am here I will grimace and soldier on. The funny thing about fitting in here is that the world seems bleak and you feel generally estranged. And yet somehow I take great comfort in that.