More News Briefs

Once again, here are some brief comments on a few of things that have been happening in the world:

Having mentioned the apparent failure of the Russian Phobos-Grunt mission a few weeks ago (a few days ago contact was finally made with the probe, still in orbit around the Earth, but it seems that there is little if any chance of it going on to Mars), it was good to see more positive news for Mars exploration in the successful launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Mission, featuring the large rover Curiosity. If it reaches Mars successfully, this rover will be by far the biggest ever to explore Mars, and will no doubt do some amazing science in and around its landing site at Mars's Gale Crater, especially if it can match the longevity of the previous two rovers to explore Mars, Spirit and Opportunity. The latter rovers landed on Mars separately in 2004; Spirit stopped responding only last year, and Opportunity is still operating, making it the longest lasting Mars probe ever. Curiosity is five times larger than its two predecessors and carries ten times the mass of scientific instruments, so it is capable of accomplishing much more, even helping to lay the groundwork for a future human mission to the red planet. Of course a successful launch from Earth doesn't guarantee the spacecraft will make it to Mars; the real hard part will be landing (which scheduled to happen in August 2012). But at least the first hurdle has been overcome.

Back on Earth, revolution has returned to Egypt with new protests in Tahrir Square against the ruling military council. The protesters are fully justified in their anger, as the military has failed to noticeably improve the miserable human rights situation that existed under Mubarak (as shown by everything from the "virginity tests" they gave to some arrested female protesters to the continued suppression of dissident voices and the violence meted out to Coptic protesters not long ago), and seems inclined to maintain a long-term hold on power rather than submitting to civilian control. Whether the protesters will be able to force the military to relinquish power is another question. Now that Egypt is voting in its first post-Mubarak elections for parliament, we will soon see if the results, whatever they turn out to be, will lead to real change.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, there have been some seemingly positive developments with respect to Syria and Yemen. In an unprecedented move, the Arab League has voted to impose sanctions on Syria for its continued violent suppression of protests. Unfortunately the UN has not been able to a similar step, thanks to the usual friends of oppressive governments, China and Russia (not that the US has not been known to block UN votes against its own allies who engaged in harmful acts -- such as Israel's continued settlement building in Palestinian lands -- but overall China and Russia have an even worse record for blocking measures against reprehensible states). It is also uncertain how much effect the Arab League sanctions will have, as neither Lebanon or Iraq, which share long borders with Syria and would be needed to help enforce them, voted in favor. But at least it isolates Syria further. In Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh has finally agreed to leave power. Of course he hasn't actually left yet, and given his record, he may yet renege once again, and the immunity from prosecution the agreement gives him understandably doesn't sit well with many Yemeni protesters. But if they can really get rid of him, it would be a step in the right direction.

Speaking of small steps in the right direction, it's worth noting that we've also seen some of those in Burma (Myanmar) in recent months. One of the most notable was that the government actually listened to popular sentiment and stopped a dam project in the northern part of the country that was environmentally destructive and was mainly being built to provide power for China, not for Burma itself. They have also taken steps to reduce censorship and open up the political process, to the point that Aung San Suu Kyi herself may be able run for political office in the next elections. Some political prisoners have also been freed (though still only a minority of them) and government officials have maybe positive statements about liberalizing the country. Of course there is still a long ways to go, as the fact that most political prisoners have not been freed shows, and the junta-imposed constitution still gives the military a guaranteed share of power that it certainly does not in the least deserve. But it is still good to see positive signs out of a country which has long suffered under one of the world's worst regimes.

Here in Taiwan, the elections are getting closer and the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen has a slight lead in polls over KMT President Ma Ying-jeou. Complicating the race is the fact that former KMT heavyweight James Soong has decided to run yet again as the head of his so-called People's First Party. I really don't want to see any more of him, but on the plus side, he will mainly take votes from Ma, which makes it more likely that Tsai will win.

In the US, the so-called super-committee tasked with coming up with a plan to cut the budget deficit failed to reach an agreement. In some ways this is not a bad thing, as almost any agreement the Republicans would have been willing to sign on to would almost certainly have been awful. Unfortunately, until the right wing extremists have their numbers reduced substantially, long-term prospects for a reasonable budget deal remain dim.