Chinese Sci Fi : The Dark Forest

In this Pesach week I finished reading the Cixiu Liu trilogy. There are several fascinating tit-bits in this fiction.

The story begins with a scientist discovering a message from the Trisolaris extraterrestrials. A friendly Trisolarian sends her a message: "Don't answer! Don't answer!" But she is so bitter with her Cultural Revolution experiences that answers: "Come and destroy humanity! I'll help you!" She establishes a secret movement dedicated to sabotage human defense and to facilitate Earth's invasion. I find that since Ancient Greece, In all history, specially in the Ancient Greece, there are always voluntary traitors, in fact, an enemy storming a city could always be confident that a faction would betray the defense. Why is that so?

When the Chinese decide to build their Space Force, they find it natural and necessary to create a Space Force Political Department to carry on political and ideological work. They select Zhang Beihai to lead this branch and he proposes that some of the best officers should be sent to the future (by hibernation), to re-inforce the fighters that by that time may have been weakened by "defeatism" and "escapism". More than a technological fiction, Liu spends about half of the text in imagining the political and hierarchical setup of humanity's efforts to confront the Trisolarian invaders. The setup is - surprise me ! - an idealized contemporary Communist China - the book tries to convince the suffering Chinese reader (more than 1000 pages) that the current regime is good and will be going two hundred years from now. Otherwise, Liu's book may have had little chance of being published and less translated. It even could be seen as political propaganda under a sci-fi cover.

No Eugenics in China

The Third Hospital of Peking University launched a sperm donation campaign from Wednesday to run until May 23, and listed a series of requirements for the donors. Source. 

In addition to being in good health, the hospital says donors must have “favorable political qualities”. “[The donors must] love the socialist motherland and embrace the leadership of the Communist Party,” the notice said. “[He must] be loyal to the party’s tasks, be decent, law-abiding and be free of any political problems.”

Apart from meeting the political requirements, would-be donors must be over 20 years old and show no obvious signs of hair loss, color blindness or weight problems.  

Families applying for IVF treatment wait more than a year, partly due to a shortage of suitable donors. China bans the sale of human semen and women looking to undergo fertility treatment must use non-profit sperm banks. 

For all the fears or hopes that the Chinese are improving their deteriorating gene pool, it appears that it is not happening. Surprisingly, the Chinese are as clueless as their Western counterparts. Much more, in fact, as apparently Party membership is one of the "genes" they are looking for. 

The Wolfowitz Doctrine

In short, the Wolfowitz Doctrine says that the USA should

“prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union."

Obama's do-nothing policy did not prevent anything but conduced exactly to that scenario. Now America is striving to regain its former hegemonic position.It is called Trade War.

America is in War

The Chinese Communist Party declared trade war with the USA and calls the American people to defenestrate President Trump:

 "Most Americans have their life linked with China-US trade.
As the tensions escalate, we want to expand the trade war to all Americans so that they have to choose whether to support Trump's unscrupulous move or to hold the president accountable."

China has crossed the line in the sand: It is paying for its oil purchases with the yuan, its own currency. This is a challenge to the dollar, a bold attack against America.

India is buying weapons. Russia is very quiet. Europe hates Trump and it will take time till it follows his leadership. Japan, South Korea, Israel are in this with Trump.    

China will lose but the future is dark for everybody. 

Rolpens, or Gefilte Keres

Rolpens, the Rolled or Filled Paunch (Rumen) is not a traditional Ashkenazi plate but it could be. The original Dutch filling is minced pork, but that is a small detail, fat goose would taste even better. I love these exotic filled meat and fish preparations but they are tabu in my naturalist, vegetarian, pro-starvation home.

Palestinians Playing with Fire

The Palestinians found a new way to kill us: burning thousands of old tires on the border and using the wind to blow the air pollution into Israel. If "eco-terrorism" ever had a concrete meaning, this is it.

In Israel we buy new tires every four years and the seller has to take back the old tires and recycle them. Burning tires in the open air is a criminal offense.

Israel is Paradise on Earth

I think so. The Eritrean infiltrators are allowed to work but 20% of their salary is retained and paid back when they leave. 16% additional is retained by the employers for an unemployment and retirement fund. An Eritrean in Israel accumulates seventy thousand dollars, yet no one is leaving. Ah, forgot, Israel gives a good-bye present of three thousand dollars to each one voluntarily climbing the airplane's stairs.

Millions of Palestinian "refugees" claiming to be "re-admitted". But no Arab is moving to the Palestinian Authority. These days, hundreds of thousands are risking their lives to break through the border fence in Gaza.

Objectively, they share my conviction that living among Jews is the best and Israel is as close to paradise as a political entity can be.