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I like to keep up with what's going on in Taiwan. Recently, an editorial in Taipei Times referred to Secretary Colin Powell as "a sorry wreck of a once principled man." I was quite taken aback at how blunt the statement was, and though I don't agree entirely with the statement, I do see the message. The response from the State Dept. however, is one that is indicative of current US attitudes to criticism. Check the article here. The idea is that Taipei Times will now be blacklisted, and the State Dept. official in charge of Taiwan/ China affairs refuses to have any further communication with the newspaper. Similarly, we see Bush's disdain with the UN official's comments that economically well-off nations have not been generous enough with aid efforts in Asia. I understand it's important for one's self esteem to easily brush off criticism, but these guys just can't take any at all. Here's an editorial.

The earthquake/ tsunami centered near Aceh was truly a big one. The tidal effects were felt as far away as California's coastline, and the earthquake was so huge that Earth's spin rotational velocity has been increased by a split fraction of a second. This makes sense from a physics standpoint: imagine spinning on a rotating chair with your hands held out. If you pull your hands in, you end up spinning faster. The angular momentum remains constant, but since your moment of inertia is smaller, the angular velocity must increase. The Earth is large and has lots of resistance to change, but even so, when the India tectonic plate shifted under the Eurasia plate near Aceh, this caused a "pulling in of the hands." Scientists are not sure if this change can actually be measured. Still, an earthquake this big adds a few seconds to our year!

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