Month: August 2012

A blast from the past on China's hilarious overthinking of the 2008 Olympic mascots, the Fuwa:

The subcommittee decided to come up with a different set of mascots, five in number, inspired by the five Olympic colors and the five elements in traditional Chinese cosmology—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The artists wanted a dragon, but their supervisors on the Olympic organizing committee vetoed it: the dragon was a sacred mythic animal, and it couldn't be seen on a team with any secular creatures. In addition, the organizers had consulted Chinese experts on Western attitudes, who declared that Westerners did not like dragons and associated them with evil. "We thought it was a pity," said Chen Nan, one of the designers.

The mascots were originally called "Friendlies." The dirt behind the change to "Fuwa":

Why the name change was made and why the announcement was kept so low key is somewhat of a mystery. It was a report aired last week on China Radio International (CRI) that revealed the name change and listed the reasons why the name should be altered: Firstly, Friendly is somewhat an ambiguous name, which could refer both to friendly people and friendly matches,"… a Dr. Li from Lanzhou University was quoted as saying on the site. "Secondly, the term Friendlies has a similar pronunciation to ‘friendless’ and thirdly, the spelling of Friendlies could be split and pronounced, ‘friend lies’."

Their genders were bafflingly overwrought as well:

Jingjing the panda and Huanhuan the Olympic flame were male characters, and Beibei the fish and Nini the swallow were female. Yingying the antelope had been conceived as a girl, but had been given a sex change when the designers learned that only the male Tibetan antelopes had horns.

And then there's the Tibet issue:

Beyond his transgender status, Yingying was freighted with politics: the Tibetan antelope, according to the official materials about the mascots, was a "symbol of the vastness of China's landscape." He was an ethnic palimpsest; the crown of his headgear was based on a roof design from the western region of Xinjiang, minus its traditional Islamic crescent; his ear ornaments were of Tibetan design; his hair was curly, Chen said, because baby antelopes have curly coats, and "people in western areas tend to have curly hair."

(Photo by Eveline Chao, who notes, "A fallen fuwa – they would come out and bounce around during time outs and stuff, but evidently the costumes are hard to walk in because they kept falling over. Volunteers had to come over to help them up.")

Michael Sacasas enlightens us:

Toilet paper, in case you’re wondering, was in use in China as early as the fourteenth century and it was made in 2? x 3? sheets. Everywhere else, and in China before then, people made use of what their environment offered. Leaves, mussel shells, corncobs were among the more common options. The Romans (what have they ever done for us!) used a sponge attached to the end of a stick and dipped in salt water. And yes, as you may have heard, in certain cultures the left hand was employed in the task of scatological hygiene, and in these cultures the left hand retains a certain stigma to this day.

Americans took a more literary route:

It has been claimed that the Sears and Roebuck catalog was also known as the "Rears and Sorebutt" catalog. The Farmer’s Almanac even came with a hole punched in it so that it could be hung and the pages torn off with ease. Toilet paper in its present form first appeared in 1857 thanks to Joseph Gayetty. It was thoughtfully moistened with aloe.

A vivid new front in the social media revolution.

Stan Collender emphasizes that the deal announced by Boehner this week doesn't really affect the fiscal cliff problem:

[T]he fiscal cliff as it was used by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke primarily referred to the tax cuts that expire on December 31 and the sequester that will cut spending by $120 billion on January 2. The [continuing resolution deal] and cliff are related only in the sense that they both deal with the budget and so are often discussed at the same time, but the two are and always have been completely different…. So the answer to the question I was asked most often yesterday — Does the CR deal mean that sequestration won't happen? — is a resounding "no." The sequester is a separate issue and the only way it won't happen is if Congress and the White House agree to legislation stopping, delaying, or modifying it.

The Olympic's visual theme has so far skewed odd – and its mascot choices are a double-Futurama-whammy. Writes Jason Toon:

Amid all the ridicule for the London 2012 Olympic logo, it's easy to overlook the equally bizarre Wenlock and Mandeville, the official mascots for this year's games. Some say they're a bold departure, others say they're softening up the youth of Earth for the imminent metal-cyclops takeover.

Seth Stevenson delves into the mascots' industrial roots and worries about their marketability for kids:

Things are getting ugly, fast:

In the capital, Bamako, a political settlement between the military junta that overthrew the constitutional government and an interim civilian government supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is still elusive. The interim president has just returned after two months of hospitalization and recuperation in France following a beating by a mob in his own palace. Amnesty International has released a report documenting atrocities committed by junta forces in response to a failed counter coup. … And over the weekend, Ansar Dine stoned to death an unmarried couple in front of 300 witnesses, according to graphic and chilling reportage by the New York Times.

Apparently the US is considering military intervention, possibly because its Libya invervention helped arm the Tuareg secessionists. Harvey Glickman explains how Islamists have taken over the separatist movement:

In April 2012, Ansar Dine…supported by [al-Qaeda organisation in the Islamic Maghreb] AQIM, declared Shari’a the official law in three towns. At the same time, the [Tuareg rebel party "National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad," or MNLA] announced a new country, "Azawad" in Mali’s three northern administrative counties. (Ironically, it is possible that under international law MNLA has that "right," since at the time, no national Mali constitution was in effect.) Nevertheless, at this moment, August 2012, the radical Islamists, although divided, have managed to hijack the separatist movement, sidelining the MNLA; and they have created a safe haven for hundreds of jihadi fanatics.

Glickman argued a few months ago that the rise of al Qaeda-like militant groups could make Mali a hotbed of terrorism:

The new Mali government, with (or perhaps through) ECOWAS, the US, and its European allies, all need to co-operate to address the threat of AQIM and Ansar Dine. In addition today Mali faces a humanitarian crisis: cutbacks in trade and foreign assistance at the moment of incipient drought. Added to its internal political crisis in the southern part of the country and the forcible spread of Shari’a, terrorism and sheer lawlessness in the north, the Saharan-northern Mali area represents a new frontier for American and international counter-terrorism.

However, John Glaser cautions against what he sees as this worrying trend in US counterterrorism on the continent, with Somalia's al-Shabab the immediate target:

The Pentagon has already sent more than $82 million into counterterrorism assistance for six African countries so far this year. The top recipients are Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Djibouti – all key proxies for Washington’s covert war on al-Shabab in Somalia, where the most US interventions are concentrated…. Even the Obama administration has quietly acknowledged the fact that their military involvement in Somalia may create more problems than it solves, with one administration official telling the Washington Post in December there is a "concern that a broader campaign could turn al-Shabab from a regional menace into an adversary determined to carry out attacks on U.S. soil."

Wing wants you to party safe tonight, m-kay?

Many readers are offering personal perspectives on the political debate:

This is an issue that really irks me. My wife and I just had our first child – a beautiful baby girl. My wife was intent on breast feeding, but our daughter simply refused to latch properly. After a long labor and a somewhat harrowing C-section, my wife had to endure painful lacerations on both nipples as she desperately tried to get our daughter to eat. The physical pain was bad enough, but it was compounded by the psychological trauma of feeling like an inadequate mother. Luckily, our daughter eventually figured it out, but if weren't for formula, I don't now how we'd have made it through those first weeks.

I have nothing but contempt for breast feeding zealots like Bloomberg. Their sanctimony is bad enough in the private sphere (and trust me, they are some of the most holier-than-thou people you will ever meet). But using the power of the state in a matter as personal as how a woman chooses to feed her newborn child is reprehensible.

Another asks:

And is Bloomberg going to create laws which give women 12 months of paid maternity leave (like our neighbor to the north) so that they can have the time, energy, and food and housing security to breastfeed their babies?

Another reader:

Years ago a mother came in with her son for the first postpartum visit. She announced, "I have decided to breastfeed." I immediately replied, "No, you are not. You have gone 3 months since diagnosis without chemo or radiation. You will start them now. Your son needs to have a live mother more than he needs breast milk." She was being harassed by people who didn't know her cancer diagnosis about her shortcomings as a mother because she wasn't breastfeeding! She listened to me and is alive today.

In the '80s there was a cartoon strip. Cathy and her friend were walking, exchanging mutual admiration about what excellent friends they were, how tolerant and affectionate they were, etc. The friend raises her arm to wave to a friend in the distance pushing a stroller. Cathy knocks her hand down. "We're not speaking to her, she's bottle feeding."

Breastfeeding is wonderful, but it is not Holy Communion. It is a wonderful way to feed a baby. But as long as women have medical problems and a need to return to a hostile work environment, there will be a need for baby formula. In the end, it is about feeding the baby, not about proving what a wonderful person you are.

Another:

Honest to god, who knew a choice like this was so fraught?  How many times have I seen moms reduced to tears arguing over a Time magazine article?  What is it about the human condition that compels us to judge others over personal parental preferences?  Conversely, why are people so unsure of their choices that the judgement of random people in the park sends them into a defensive, existentially assaulted posture?  I ask these questions without prejudice – maybe I'm just a man and too inexperienced a father to get it.

Another:

I loved breastfeeding. I thought it much, much easier than the endless bottle washing, etc. Diapers are hard enough. What made it easier for me was being able to take my child to work with me. When I went out and about, or traveled, I sat cross-legged on bathroom floors to feed him, with a blanket over us. That way, we didn't disturb anyone.

What is needed in our society is more flexibility so that mothers can take their babies to work with them (or more "working from home" options). That, and more public areas for breastfeeding that provide some privacy. If people want to promote breastfeeding they should say that it is also one of the easiest ways to lose weight that can be imagined. After I gave birth I just cut out sweet snacks, ate the normal three meals a day, and all of the baby weight plus the flab from before fell right off. (Of course I was awake night and day for the first four months.) It's the thinnest I've ever been since I was twelve.

Another:

When my wife had our child, she tried for a while, but was unable to produce enough milk for him. We were happy that we had formula available. However, we hated the whole issue around feeding our son. Everyone, from the floor nurses to the lactation consultants to the cleaning lady, constantly and firmly implied that, while we could make our own choices, the only option that really was good for our son was breastfeeding. It was pervasive, it was belligerent, and by the end it felt collectively abusive.

And while they were laying on the massive guilt trip, every fucking piece of anything baby related that they gave us (and they give you so. much. junk.) had a formula ad on it, or literature from a formula company, or both. It was like they were being paid off by the formula producers to put an ad in our hands every 10 minutes.

The mixed messages were astounding, and they came in at the least sane, most sleep-deprived point of our lives. Right when you need compassionate advice from someone you can trust, you have almost vicious voices telling you what you are doing wrong (and will hurt your baby forever!!!) and what you need to do right (which may be physically impossible) and what to absolutely not do, while giving you free samples and limitless ads and coupons for the thing they tell you not to do.

Bloomberg is an ass who wants to control people, and goes about everything the wrong way. But the way it works now is broken. I don't want his solution, but anyone with compassion for new mothers needs to know that a change is needed.

Before this thread started, a reader wrote:

Gabby Douglas' gold medal is being hailed all over the place as a first for an African-American gymnast. But I believe it's actually much more than that: Gabby is the first black athlete from anywhere to win the title, and one of very few to compete for it. I'm a good liberal, and all for the term "African-American" in its proper context, but in this case it seems to shrink the scale of Ms. Douglas's first – and America's. (Afro.com covers it here.) The fact that our country, while imperfect, is one where a traditionally elite (and still of course expensive) sport is open to anyone with the chops to win, gives me enormous pride. Seeing our multi-hued team of talented, determined young women – their families must have originally come here from all over the place – take apart the monochromatic, over-made-up, bawling Russians – that's where I get my Olympic jingoism on. America fuck yeah.

Update from another:

I was looking at the U.S. women’s gymnastics team and it occurred to me that we’re seeing what America looks like, that is there’s an African American, Asian American and Jewish American as part of the team.

Another reader:

Wow! what an amazing win and accomplishment by Gabby. An inspiration for tons of girls out there. And what a smile! 

But really? This reaction from one of your readers: "Seeing our multi-hued team of talented, determined young women take apart the monochromatic, over-made-up, bawling Russians – that's where I get my Olympic jingoism on."

Take all the pride in this country, because there are many things worth to be proud of, but deriding young girls from another country, because they all look white, and cry when they lose, like any other teenager in the world would do? Ugh.

(Top photo: Bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina of Russia, gold medalist Gabrielle Douglas of the United States and silver medalist Victoria Komova of Russia pose after the medal ceremony in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Individual All-Around final on August 2, 2012. By Streeter Lecka/Getty Images. Bottom photo: Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, Mc Kayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman and Kyla Ross of the United States celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team final on July 31, 2012. By Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The war on climate science intensifies in North Carolina.