BANGKOK: THE LITERARY MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
TOM PLATE WRITES — The term ‘noir’ is rather difficult define but instantaneously recognizable. In the American literary tradition, many of our greatest writers have been associated with the tradition of ‘noir’ (French for ‘black film’). They would include Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Ross Macdonald and Elmore…
Full Article BANGKOK: THE LITERARY MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
BY TOM PLATE — The term ‘noir’ is rather difficult define but instantaneously recognizable. In the American literary tradition, many of our greatest writers have been associated with the tradition of ‘noir’ (French for ‘black film’). They would include Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Ross Macdonald and Elmore…
Full ArticleCHINA: Judgments Need to be Made Now
On March 15, Beijing’s National Library of China (NLC) said it will speed up work compiling historical files on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, aka the “Tokyo Trials.” For the uninitiated, the IMTFE is where alleged Japanese war criminals were put on trial for acts committed during…
Full Article CHINA: Judgments Need to be Made NowLAOS: Not Even Faint Praise for the Dams
Resources and Environment has also entered a partnership with the International Finance Corporation to create more sustainable ways to promotes socio-economic development. With this new partnership, the Vientiane Times has reported that Laos has the potential to build more than 100 dams on the Mekong River. Vientiane Times also interviewed…
Full Article LAOS: Not Even Faint Praise for the Dams
SANTA MONICA: Does the UN Have a Future?
Santa Monica College will host a late morning lecture by LMU Prof. Tom Plate this Thursday on its main campus. The prof’s presentation — “The Role and Realities of the UN Brokering Global Issues” — comes as part of this famously forward-thinking college’s 2013 lecture series “The World in 2013:…
Full Article SANTA MONICA: Does the UN Have a Future?Our Star Columnist Joins ‘Civil Dialogue’ in the Caribbean
The Asia Media Middle East correspondent Latifah RahmDel and her friend Ayesha Sayed, the licensee and curator of TEDxUAEU, are visiting Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince from March 16 to April 4. They will join this year’s Civil Dialogue in the Caribbean states and interact with students, grassroot activists, and social…
Full Article Our Star Columnist Joins ‘Civil Dialogue’ in the CaribbeanPHILIPPINES: Can Media Cooperation Mediate the Sabah Crisis?
In the middle of the ongoing territorial dispute over the Sabah between the Malaysian government and the Sulu Sultanate, the Inquirer and GMA 7 are the first Filipino news teams to be accredited by Malaysian authorities to go in-country and cover the crisis. Despite the Malaysian government’s reported ban on…
Full Article PHILIPPINES: Can Media Cooperation Mediate the Sabah Crisis?
JAPAN: The New PM Steps Boldly Into the Trade Morass
Pursuing avenues for economic revitalization has been an integral part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s agenda since he took office. Amongst the most contested options has been Japan’s recent decision to commit to negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan’s more liberal dailies, argued that…
Full Article JAPAN: The New PM Steps Boldly Into the Trade MorassLEBANON: Hey, Who Was It That Hacked Us?
Lebanon is no stranger to electronic revolutions. It has become quite common for government websites to serve as platforms for hackers to raise their concerns. Last year, a group of Lebanese hackers known as Raise Your Voice (RYV) hacked approximately fifteen Lebanese government websites with demands for change, calling for…
Full Article LEBANON: Hey, Who Was It That Hacked Us?PAKISTAN: None of Your Business, United States
Pakistan’s gutsy decision to continue building its share of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline against the warnings of possible sanctions by the US has made its way into the headlines. Within the next two years (and 1.5 billion dollars later), Pakistan plans to finish the construction of 781 km of the…
Full Article PAKISTAN: None of Your Business, United StatesVIETNAM: Beijing Ultra-Nationalist Acts Like a Bow-Wow
Maritime disputes are heating up between China, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam, all because of a sign. In February, an international outrage surged when a Beijing restaurant manager refused to apologize after removing a racist sign that excludes citizens of states in maritime disputes with China, and dogs. The sign…
Full Article VIETNAM: Beijing Ultra-Nationalist Acts Like a Bow-Wow
CHINA: Shanghai Love Market
FILM REVIEW BY LANI LUO – “Wake up. This is the new China. Things need to be planned and centrally controlled.” This quote comes from a short film written by Craig Rosenthal called Shanghai Love Market. Clearly, the title indicates that the story is not an academic critique on the…
Full Article CHINA: Shanghai Love MarketSINGAPORE: Let the FBI in Already!
Sometimes, one must give a little to get a little, a lesson Singapore is learning the hard way. Specifically, if the city-state gives in and grants the FBI access to evidence collected in the investigation of US engineer Shane Todd’s death, it will continue receiving generous funding from the US…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Let the FBI in Already!MYANMAR: Media Restrictions All Too Pressing
ALEXANDRE GUIRAUD WRITES – Myanmar’s Ministry of Information has seen concerned unions protest the draft of the Printing and Publishing Law that has been submitted to the parliament. When instated in 2011, the New Government expressed that changes aimed towards the freedom of expression would take place, contrary to the…
Full Article MYANMAR: Media Restrictions All Too PressingTAIWAN: Why Should the People Know?
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Has Taiwan developed its first medium-range guided missile that can be used against mainland China? According to South China Morning Post and Michael Tsai, defense minister of the former government of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, this is true. In fact, Taiwan had successfully developed the…
Full Article TAIWAN: Why Should the People Know?HONG KONG: Hunger Pang for Vulgar(ia) Sex Films
CORY LAI WRITES – Hong Kong was rightly proud to welcome the 37th International Film Festival which premiered the long awaited “Ip Man: The Final Fight.” It’s a good film. But the Los Angeles-based Hollywood Reporter revealed that raunchy R- rated comedies are the real moneymakers with the city’s current…
Full Article HONG KONG: Hunger Pang for Vulgar(ia) Sex Films