THE FULCRUM

A seventh-grade social studies teacher in Presque Isle (Maine - ed.) who said he was barred from teaching about non-Christian civilizations has sued his school district, claiming it violated his First Amendment right of free expression.

Superintendent Gehrig Johnson said on Tuesday that he had not seen the lawsuit, but he noted that the curriculum has been "developed by teachers across the district and adopted by the SAD 1 School Committee."

"Teachers are expected to follow the curriculum," he added.

As a historian, I am dismayed by the letters I see that proclaim that America was founded as a Christian nation. Ms. Wittman’s letter is typical of those who take quotes out of context and buttress their argument with quotes from those who had nothing to do with the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
(via Tristero)

Karim Raslan, a Malaysian lawyer and writer who traveled to Washington recently on a Fulbright scholarship, put it this way. The American "obsession" with terror seems tedious to Asians, he said. "We've all got to live, we've all got to make money," said Mr. Raslan. "The Chinese want to make money and so do we."

Most disturbing for the United States, China's surging economy has much to offer America's most important Asian allies. Japan's rebound is being driven by a surge in exports to China. Australia's healthy economy is being kept that way by Chinese investments in liquid natural gas projects. China is now South Korea's largest trading partner.

"After Afghanistan, after Iraq, after bringing democracy to the Middle East, when the United States refocuses on Asia, it will find a much different China in a much different region," James J. Przystup, a research fellow at the National Defense University, wrote recently.

[snip]

...the more provocative Mr. Przystup counters, "Today, China is East Asia's great power."

With its factories working overtime, and its consumers on course to buy almost two million cars this year, China is developing a world-class thirst for oil. And its hunt for steady supplies is reshaping the global energy market, the environment and world politics.

China -- which this year surpassed Japan as the No. 2 petroleum user after the U.S. -- is increasing its oil purchases even faster than it is pumping up its brawny economy. Imports for the first 10 months of 2003 are up 30% from the year-earlier period. The International Energy Agency expects imports to double to some four million barrels a day by 2010. By 2030, the IEA expects China to be importing about 10 million barrels a day, roughly what the U.S. brings in now. Domestic oil output, meanwhile, is flat.

From Houston to London to Moscow, oil companies are looking to secure market share in China, as China roams the world looking for oil fields to develop. Some fear that China, which doesn't have large strategic reserves of fuel, might grow so desperate for oil that it would battle the U.S. for influence in the Middle East or even trade weapons technology to terrorist states. Others are more optimistic, and think China will realize it has a vital interest in keeping the region stable.

[snip]

Meanwhile, China's mushrooming fleet of cars is adding to worries about this smokestack nation's impact on the environment. In the next decade, the number of cars on Chinese roads is expected to grow fivefold to 100 million, approaching half of the U.S. total, according to the Development Research Center, a government think tank. China is set to tighten its emission standards by 2005, and in 2008 it plans to introduce standards that could be even tougher than those in the U.S.

"If all our bicycles turn into our cars, that's a horrible figure," says Zhai Guangming, retired director of oil exploration at state-run China National Petroleum Corp. "It would scare the world."

Still, many analysts are wary of a Beijing that could begin to feel boxed in by its energy needs. The study noted that China might emerge as a major arms supplier to the Saudis. Other analysts fear that China might be tempted to trade weapons technology for access to oil in countries such as Libya and Iran.

More than 60 years ago, another emerging Asian power felt squeezed on energy: Japan. The U.S. responded to Japanese aggression in East Asia by imposing a natural-resources embargo on Tokyo, which hit back by attacking Pearl Harbor.

By allowing units to drop to a level at which they aren't ready for war, the Pentagon is taking a calculated gamble that it won't have to fight a sudden war with a major force like North Korea on very short notice. "You are taking the risk because you don't want to take risk in some place like Iraq," Mr. Goure said. "You want to make sure those people have absolutely everything that they need."

Said one senior Army official who had been briefed on the plans: "This is a huge culture shift for the Army. We don't underestimate how difficult this will be."

Still, the move, which hasn't been publicly announced, could have political implications for President Bush. As a candidate during the 2000 election, he harshly criticized the Clinton administration for allowing two divisions just back from missions in the Balkans to fall to C-4 levels.

With the activists recast as dangerous aliens, Miami became eligible for the open tap of public money irrigating the "war on terror". In fact, $8.5m spent on security during the FTAA meeting came out of the $87bn Bush extracted from Congress for Iraq last month.

But more was borrowed from the Iraq war than just money. Miami police also invited reporters to "embed" with them in armoured vehicles and helicopters. As in Iraq, most reporters embraced their role as pseudo soldiers with zeal, suiting up in combat helmets and flak jackets.

The resulting media coverage was the familiar wartime combination of dramatic images and non-information. We know, thanks to an "embed" from the Miami Herald, that Timoney was working so hard hunting down troublemakers that by 3:30pm on Thursday "he had eaten only a banana and a cookie since 6am".