Comments by Max Burns

Baobab -

Why go out of the way to tell us The Economist will be steadfastly avoiding any real investigative journalism into one of the most profitable and destabilizing trades in the world? I wish you the best on your sailing, leave the risky and valuable journalism to others, I guess.

I find myself agreeing with just about every word of this - the pompousness of titling has begun to resemble a Monty Python sketch.

M Burns, DTR/NA (Director of Title Research, North America)

Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) reports that China will have a hard time handling the recession if it keeps alienating private industry - it's good to see the Economist taking a similar tone.

These language problems will grow in a globalized world - Asia Chronicle (www.asaichroniclenews.com) had a great eport on this, I'm glad to see Economist picking up the pace.

Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) had a pretty great article on the impact of modernization on the Middle Eastern and Asian world not too long ago. They covered much of what was said here, but went farther in saying every dictatorship that fails makes the remaining few even harder to topple.

China can't expect its business dealings to survive intact with displays like this. Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) reported on this earlier in the week, and it's truly a disheartening turn of events.

The recent racial killings in China are a symptom of a larger disease, at least according to Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com). China has proven capable of restraining its people before, but slowly the veneer of control is cracking around the edges.

India's multiethnic and multiracial society has always had problems, but this is worse. According to some writing over at Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com), this could destabilize India in a way nothing recently has.

Much depends on how the world reacts to the Iranian threat, as the article on www.asiachroniclenews.com argues. Protests aren't really about overthrowing a government. Rather they seem to want a different public face to the same policies...

As Asia Chronicle reports (www.asiachroniclenews.com) the allowance of certain settlements, and Israel's recognition of the right of Palestinians to live unmolested, will have ripple effects in how the Arab world views Israel, and may lead to Arab recognition.

As Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) mentioned last week, revolutions go both ways, and those on top fall soon enough. I wonder if Khamenei will sacrifice the Islamic Republic for another Ahmadinejad term?

"If one wants to look at the real root of the Sri Lankan problem, one need only look at the imperial powers who imposed false identities on a once-unified people." Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) said that in a special report right after the deaths of the Tamil leaders. It's a shame we ignore the root causes.

There are two blogs I was reading that linked to this which I found interesting. One was Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.net) and the other was a blog based in Mainland China which posted a pro-resistance message and was taken down before I could link it. Says something about how healthy the government there is 20 years after Tienanmen.

As one of the Asia Chronicle (www.asiachronicle.com) writers said in reference to the anniversary of the riots and marches, "One can't trust a company that opens up markets abroad while restricting freedom at home."

Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) broke the stories of major attacks and the increase in bounties for Taliban militants days ago. Looks like Economist is getting a little bit behind!

Roh's death rattled stock markets and added to a growing sense of instability in the region. Events in Korea affect the entire world. Asia Chronicle (www.asiachroniclenews.com) has been reporting on this for weeks now, it seems less shocking to hear about Roh's death when one is properly informed.

This is weird, because so much of this was covered in Asia Chronicle's article on North Korea a few weeks ago - they went as far as to nearly guarantee something like this would happen in the near future. I can't believe it turned out to be so accurate so soon. I wonder if the writer is a reader of Asia Chronicle.

It's reassuring to see the conflict concluded, at least in a logistical sense. There's a pretty good article about the Tamil identity and culture coming out soon in The Asia Chronicle, a new journal on Asian and world affairs.

It'll be interesting to see what it has to say. The link is www.asiachroniclenews.com