Mayors in this part of the world are quite powerful, almost like kings. The mayor of this town is well known for his strong armed tactics, yet the majority of citizens flock to the polls and re-elect him time after time. He is credited with turning this city around from being a syndicate-infested killing field 15-20 years ago to a fairly safe city today. He is probably most well known for his anti-drug campaigns. It is said that he once pushed an unrepentant drug lord out of a helicopter into the sea. He has also had an anti-smoking campaign - smoking is now banned in most public places. He has had a garbage campaign and as a result this city is one of the cleanest in Asia. He was annoyed at young upper class kids drag racing on public streets and threatened to catch them and tie them up naked in front of city hall. Since it is known that he does what he threatens to do, the kids believed him and the drag racing problem has ceased. He has banned firecrackers within city limits, and recently banned rowdy music and drinking in cemetaries.
Of course some bans are easier to enforce than others. It is illegal to give to beggers, but, well, obviously this is not strictly enforced. It is illegal to sell pirated CDs but as soon as the police stop patrolling the pedestrian bridges, the sellers return. It is illegal to urinate just anywhere. Of course you cannot police a whole city's urinating habits but at least I have observed guys being a LITTLE bit more discrete about it. This month begins a traffic campaign. Starting today if you want to turn left you are to get in the left lane. If you want to turn right you are to get in the right lane. If you want to go straight, stay in the middle lane and if you don't you will regret it. We can expect that at least for the month of December this will be enforced. But old habits die hard - why not get in the left lane to go straight, especially when the center lane is backed up? To tell the truth, traffic in this city generally moves VERY well. Especially when you consider how very few traffic lights there are. In fact it seems that the more traffic police there are on the streets, the more snarled traffic becomes.
I hope that one of these days the mayor can figure out a way to stop the teen aged gangs.....
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
ting-ting-ting
Remember those musical greeting cards? You open them up and a small disc embedded in the card starts ting-ting-tinging Happy Birthday or Jingle Bells or something. Some Asian entrepenuer began inserting those ting-ting-tings into Christmas decorations. A few years ago I was in the village in church. The pastor had gotten some ornament with lights that he attached to the pulpit. He'd turn it on during the church service and just let it ting-ting-ting through the whole service. I guess he thought it was just super cool. It drove me crazy. I am sure that I was the only one in the congregation that knew that every tune it played was about Rudolph, or white Christmases, jingle bells, etc. Not exactly fitting for the local climate not to mention the sermons being preached. I avoided services as much as possible that trip. Upon returning to the third of my worlds I discovered that "musical" decorations were on sale here too.
Now my neighbor has put up a whole string of Christmas lights - "musical" ones - ting-ting-tinging outside my window. Did they think to put the ting-ting-ting INSIDE their apartment so they could enjoy it? Oh no. They put it OUTSIDE so I could hear the ting-ting-ting reverberating between the buildings. Not only that, they typically turn it on and then go out for the evening! What's worst of all is that it is a cheapie. It plays only one or two lines each of Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus, We Wish you a Merry Christmas and then starts over again. Over and over and over and over.........
Am I going crazy?!!! I am considering going over there one of these evenings soon and unscrewing a lightbulb....and if that doesn't work I have scissors.... >:-)
(No, don't worry. you won't see headlines saying I was electrocuted cutting wires. There are other more culturally appropriate ways of trying to deal with it. You know, the third party approach...)
Now my neighbor has put up a whole string of Christmas lights - "musical" ones - ting-ting-tinging outside my window. Did they think to put the ting-ting-ting INSIDE their apartment so they could enjoy it? Oh no. They put it OUTSIDE so I could hear the ting-ting-ting reverberating between the buildings. Not only that, they typically turn it on and then go out for the evening! What's worst of all is that it is a cheapie. It plays only one or two lines each of Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Here Comes Santa Claus, We Wish you a Merry Christmas and then starts over again. Over and over and over and over.........
Am I going crazy?!!! I am considering going over there one of these evenings soon and unscrewing a lightbulb....and if that doesn't work I have scissors.... >:-)
(No, don't worry. you won't see headlines saying I was electrocuted cutting wires. There are other more culturally appropriate ways of trying to deal with it. You know, the third party approach...)
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Lamp shade hats
Yesterday I went to a graduation. I've managed to avoid them for a long, long time but finally one came along that I just couldn't say no to. This was someone receiving a master's degree in business administration. She wanted me to go along as the "parent". You see each graduate is allowed only one guest. It is usually a parent or sibling or aunt or uncle. But in this case none of her family was available so I got the honors. Literally. I was given a green ribbon with "PARENT" written down it to stick on my blouse. And my friend had to wear a yellow one saying "GRADUATE". (I suppose that was just in case someone wondered if she was really a graduate or whether she just always wears long baggy black polyester gowns in the tropical heat.)
It was the kind of cultural event where everyone pretends to know what to do, but actually, I think not everyone did know. I wasn't the only one watching everybody else to try to get some clues. Kids were selling ribbon and flower garlands and corsages. Hmm. Maybe we're supposed to buy them. Yes indeed as it turns out. They are a necessary part of the ceremony. Fortunately the kids were also selling little cloth and bamboo hand fans because all the pre-ceremony standing around was done outside in the sun.
About 1:30 we were finally lined up and marched single file into the gymnasium. We had to all walk to the front and then circle back down the other side to our seats. Masters and PhDs were first in and sat near the front. There were probably over 500 grads all together. Undergrads had colored cords strung through their gowns along the yoke front and back. Masters had wide satin borders down the front of their gowns, colored according to major. They also wore square black boxy hats with long fringe all the way around. Looked a lot like lamp shades.
Extra guests filled the bleachers way up in the balcony. Not sure what they could see from up there. It was pomp and circumstances as a university leader solemnly paraded in with the college emblem on a stick. All the staff paraded in behind him in their colorful graduation regalia. Some intrepid boy scouts stood at attention across the front of the stage holding various flags. Peppy march band music was piped in from somewhere.
And then we waited. And waited. It turned out that a major donor to the university was going to be given an honorary PhD in humanities that day. He is a very wealthy man, owns the national airline and a big brewery in addition to other businesses. But even he couldn't get the plane to arrive on time. So we all had to wait 45 minutes for him and his party to arrive. Those boy scouts deserve a badge - they stood there at attention the entire time and didn't falter or faint.
Finally Mr T arrived and the shown was on. He was awarded the first degree and all his honors were read out. Then he read a speech in English. It was very disapppointing - he's either not a very good reader or he needs new glasses. After some other speeches, the grads and "parents" had to stand and award each other with the corsages and garlands/leis. You would have been really embarassed if you hadn't bought some because your poor grad would have been the only one without one. And you would have been the only "parent" without one. Then some more speeches. Then the grads and parents had to stand again and the poor parents had to try to figure out how to put the "hoods" or whatever they are around the shoulders of the grad and stick it in place with straight pins. These hoods are more colored satiny stuff with weird projections and protruberances. I think I finally got it on more or less right but no guarantee I could do it correctly a second time! Even the undergrads had these "hood" thingys so it was quite colorful.
Then we had to line up by departments, two by two. As two intrepid people read out the names of each and every grad and their "parent", groups of 6 pairs of "parents" and grads had to go up front to a line of colorful university staff handing out fake diplomas. It was kind of like going forward to take communion - the staff stood behind a long table and on our side of the table the space was divided into six sections so that each pair of us went up a step to stand in one of the sections before one of the staff and recive a rolled up fake diploma. We got a guy with a cool purple fringy hat. We both shook his hand and then backed down off the step and paraded back around to our seats.
This took awhile as there were several hundred grads but finally it ended. Then they had everybody but the masters change their tassle to the other side of their hats. (The lamp shade hats didn't allow for moving the fringe anywhere.) They made the grads all stand and give an oath of loyalty to their alma mater, sing the school song, plus a school "victory" song. And then they were pronounced graduated and some nets on the ceiling full of balloons and confetti were opened and all that stuff floated down on top of us. That was kind of cool. After the emblem on a stick and the staff paraded out, the rest of us were allowed to leave.
Of course you have to hang around awhile and take pictures of your grad and all their friends and the "parents". But finally it's time to leave and you wend your way slowly out to the main road and join the rush hour traffic trying to find transportation home.
I am grateful graduations don't occur every week!
It was the kind of cultural event where everyone pretends to know what to do, but actually, I think not everyone did know. I wasn't the only one watching everybody else to try to get some clues. Kids were selling ribbon and flower garlands and corsages. Hmm. Maybe we're supposed to buy them. Yes indeed as it turns out. They are a necessary part of the ceremony. Fortunately the kids were also selling little cloth and bamboo hand fans because all the pre-ceremony standing around was done outside in the sun.
About 1:30 we were finally lined up and marched single file into the gymnasium. We had to all walk to the front and then circle back down the other side to our seats. Masters and PhDs were first in and sat near the front. There were probably over 500 grads all together. Undergrads had colored cords strung through their gowns along the yoke front and back. Masters had wide satin borders down the front of their gowns, colored according to major. They also wore square black boxy hats with long fringe all the way around. Looked a lot like lamp shades.
Extra guests filled the bleachers way up in the balcony. Not sure what they could see from up there. It was pomp and circumstances as a university leader solemnly paraded in with the college emblem on a stick. All the staff paraded in behind him in their colorful graduation regalia. Some intrepid boy scouts stood at attention across the front of the stage holding various flags. Peppy march band music was piped in from somewhere.
And then we waited. And waited. It turned out that a major donor to the university was going to be given an honorary PhD in humanities that day. He is a very wealthy man, owns the national airline and a big brewery in addition to other businesses. But even he couldn't get the plane to arrive on time. So we all had to wait 45 minutes for him and his party to arrive. Those boy scouts deserve a badge - they stood there at attention the entire time and didn't falter or faint.
Finally Mr T arrived and the shown was on. He was awarded the first degree and all his honors were read out. Then he read a speech in English. It was very disapppointing - he's either not a very good reader or he needs new glasses. After some other speeches, the grads and "parents" had to stand and award each other with the corsages and garlands/leis. You would have been really embarassed if you hadn't bought some because your poor grad would have been the only one without one. And you would have been the only "parent" without one. Then some more speeches. Then the grads and parents had to stand again and the poor parents had to try to figure out how to put the "hoods" or whatever they are around the shoulders of the grad and stick it in place with straight pins. These hoods are more colored satiny stuff with weird projections and protruberances. I think I finally got it on more or less right but no guarantee I could do it correctly a second time! Even the undergrads had these "hood" thingys so it was quite colorful.
Then we had to line up by departments, two by two. As two intrepid people read out the names of each and every grad and their "parent", groups of 6 pairs of "parents" and grads had to go up front to a line of colorful university staff handing out fake diplomas. It was kind of like going forward to take communion - the staff stood behind a long table and on our side of the table the space was divided into six sections so that each pair of us went up a step to stand in one of the sections before one of the staff and recive a rolled up fake diploma. We got a guy with a cool purple fringy hat. We both shook his hand and then backed down off the step and paraded back around to our seats.
This took awhile as there were several hundred grads but finally it ended. Then they had everybody but the masters change their tassle to the other side of their hats. (The lamp shade hats didn't allow for moving the fringe anywhere.) They made the grads all stand and give an oath of loyalty to their alma mater, sing the school song, plus a school "victory" song. And then they were pronounced graduated and some nets on the ceiling full of balloons and confetti were opened and all that stuff floated down on top of us. That was kind of cool. After the emblem on a stick and the staff paraded out, the rest of us were allowed to leave.
Of course you have to hang around awhile and take pictures of your grad and all their friends and the "parents". But finally it's time to leave and you wend your way slowly out to the main road and join the rush hour traffic trying to find transportation home.
I am grateful graduations don't occur every week!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Smoke and haze
Imagine living in a city where instead of a dry season you had a smoke season. Imagine for over two months having the airport closed due to low visibility. And not only the airport. Sometimes the roads into town are also closed, even river traffic has difficulty due to poor visibility. Imagine having to frequently use headlights to drive around town in the daytime. Imagine school being cancelled for days at a time because the smoke is so thick that there is a real danger of children being hit by cars on their way to and from school. Not to mention the air quality in unairconditioned schools. People who can afford it leave town for the season. But most must stay.
I was planning to go there this week for a workshop, but was informed today that the workshop has been cancelled. The area covered by smoke is steadily decreasing as the rains finally begin to fall. But this city is right in the heart of it and so far the particulate matter in the air is still well in the dangerous zone, and the airport is still closed.
According to the local news, the government is renting two water bomber planes from the former Sov.U. The planes can scoop up 12 tons of seawater and fly in to the worst of the fires and dump it. Friday the pilots said they were were disappointed because they had not been able to get to the worst burning places due to poor visibility. Saturday one of the planes slid off the runway in a neighboring city and is now awaiting repairs. It was thought that poor visibility was the major contributing factor to the accident.
The smoke is the result of farmers and plantation owners burning the land off every year as a cheap and convenient way of clearing it. Because there is so much peat, the peat continues to smolder long after the surface fire has gone out and only a period of substantial sustained rainfall puts it out.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Update on D
D has been out of the hospital for over a month now. He is doing very well, though he still has drainage from the major knife wound in his abdomen. The doctor says some internal stitches are infected but the body will eventually reject them (or was it eject them?) He is eating well, no more fever. He would like to play basketball but the doctor says to wait. He still wears only elastic waisted pants because of the wound and he still walks a bit bent over, but he is alive and on the mend.
Enough funds came in to pay for all his medicines. His aunt was able to get the mayor's office to pay for his hospitalization as he is technically an orphan. His extended family was finally able to get a loan on their coconuts (4 families' coconuts). The terms are that the lendor gets to harvest the coconuts for five years and the family gets a loan of $480. By the time the loan came through D was out of the hospital, so it was decided to use part of the money to pay off the mango orchard loan. So now they have the use of the mango orchard again which should help them pay off the coconut loan. If they are lucky and careful, they might be able to pay off the coconuts early. Of course they would have to add extra because the 5 years of harvests was the interest...
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Wild bus rides
While in the second of my worlds last month, I travelled on a chartered bus 3 hours each way, up and over the mountains and down the coast a bit to a culture contest. It was one of those little busses designed in some industrialized Asian country that never made it in the home country and so was dumped on the market in a less fortunate country. It's the kind of vehicle that looks kind of cool on the outside, streamlined glass the whole length, but totally ignores passenger comfort on the inside. There were about six rows of seats, some so close together that even the tiny natives of this area were hard pressed to get their knees behind the seat in front of them. The little section of the window that actually could be opened was at about waist height - not very useful for anybody who was car sick or even just wanting a little air. As mentioned in my July post on Putting on a good face, the incidence of motion sickness in this area is VERY high.
To save my knees, I sat in the back seat by the door. There was 6 centimeters of space for my feet before the meter deep drop off into the stair well. An inexperienced rider would have been thrown off the seat into the stair well every time the driver braked, which on the narrow, twisting road was quite often.
Soon after beginning the climb up into the mountains the bus got very quiet. The only thing you could hear was the "kkkkkkkkkhhh!" of people clearing the backs of their throats trying frantically not to vomit. People were soon vying for plastic bags and taking turns standing in the stairwell so they could get air or at least barf out the door. The driver's assistant had left the door open but had helpfully put a grab bar across the opening which later on was very helpful to those so overcome by nausea they barely had the strength to stand. One guy would hang his head out the door hugging the door because he was so sick. I was afraid he would get whacked by a tree branch or even lose his grip and fall out. I decided then and there to NEVER pass a bus on the shoulder.
When we arrived back in the village people quietly got off the bus, some immediately squatted down at the side of the road, others lay flat on the floor of the nearest structure. Those who could still walk gathered their things and went quietly home. Those who had remained by the side of the road were all recovered by the next afternoon.
I am very grateful that I do not get car sick. They joke about it but it can truly be a terrible thing.
To save my knees, I sat in the back seat by the door. There was 6 centimeters of space for my feet before the meter deep drop off into the stair well. An inexperienced rider would have been thrown off the seat into the stair well every time the driver braked, which on the narrow, twisting road was quite often.
Soon after beginning the climb up into the mountains the bus got very quiet. The only thing you could hear was the "kkkkkkkkkhhh!" of people clearing the backs of their throats trying frantically not to vomit. People were soon vying for plastic bags and taking turns standing in the stairwell so they could get air or at least barf out the door. The driver's assistant had left the door open but had helpfully put a grab bar across the opening which later on was very helpful to those so overcome by nausea they barely had the strength to stand. One guy would hang his head out the door hugging the door because he was so sick. I was afraid he would get whacked by a tree branch or even lose his grip and fall out. I decided then and there to NEVER pass a bus on the shoulder.
When we arrived back in the village people quietly got off the bus, some immediately squatted down at the side of the road, others lay flat on the floor of the nearest structure. Those who could still walk gathered their things and went quietly home. Those who had remained by the side of the road were all recovered by the next afternoon.
I am very grateful that I do not get car sick. They joke about it but it can truly be a terrible thing.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Egg salad pizza anyone?
Back in the third of my worlds. After all the smoke and gloom in the second of my worlds, it was great to see the blue sky and fluffy clouds and green, green vegetation of this place. My cough cleared up quickly.
My head and heart have had a chance to calm down too.
A trip to the local mall was a bit disorienting as Christmas stuff is out already with a few nominal chains of paper pumpkins thrown in for Halloween. The problem with the Christmas season starting so soon is that by the time Christmas really arrives you are heartily tired of it.
The reason for the trip to the mall was that a friend was visiting from the second of my worlds so I took her out for pizza. I wanted to show her what real pizza is like - I don't think what they call pizza in her world really qualifies. I mean, should pizza taste like egg salad sandwiches? Or tuna and mayo sandwiches? Now I like egg salad sandwiches okay and I don't mind tuna sandwiches, but I see no reason to call it pizza! I am talking about a well-known pizza chain. No wonder all those poor folk down there pour hot sauce all over it! They would probably love real pepperoni if they could get it but instead the best they can get is pizza with canned hotdog slices. Yeeech!
My head and heart have had a chance to calm down too.
A trip to the local mall was a bit disorienting as Christmas stuff is out already with a few nominal chains of paper pumpkins thrown in for Halloween. The problem with the Christmas season starting so soon is that by the time Christmas really arrives you are heartily tired of it.
The reason for the trip to the mall was that a friend was visiting from the second of my worlds so I took her out for pizza. I wanted to show her what real pizza is like - I don't think what they call pizza in her world really qualifies. I mean, should pizza taste like egg salad sandwiches? Or tuna and mayo sandwiches? Now I like egg salad sandwiches okay and I don't mind tuna sandwiches, but I see no reason to call it pizza! I am talking about a well-known pizza chain. No wonder all those poor folk down there pour hot sauce all over it! They would probably love real pepperoni if they could get it but instead the best they can get is pizza with canned hotdog slices. Yeeech!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
When is enough enough?
October 16, 2006
Today another preacher was shot to death in broad daylight on the main road of the city. He was shot in the head between 8-9am while out shopping with his wife. Though some may see it as part of religious conflict, I am not so sure that it is. Who has guns? The people do not, not of any religion. Only the authorities have guns. Only someone with official protection could shoot somebody in broad daylight on the main road and not get caught. This was an assassination. That preacher was dangerous to somebody big, somebody with a lot of status and a lot of money. Perhaps because of his knowledge of that person's corruption in general or collusion in the inter-ethnic conflict a couple of years ago? Perhaps because of his willingness to appeal to the UN for what many perceived to be the unjust trial and rushed execution of three men last month? Or simply because somebody benefits from keeping the conflict going?
What was the first response of the local govt? Did they do something useful like search the local police and army barracks for fired weapons? No, they set up roadblocks to check cars and motorbikes coming INTO town for sharp weapons. Hmmm. Are they really that incompetent or is it on purpose?
Today was another hot, dark, and gloomy day as smoke covers the face of the earth, as if even God Himself can’t stand looking at the rottenness in this place…
Justice
October 14
Justice. People complain that things aren’t fair. The government isn’t fair. The courts aren’t fair. The village head isn’t fair. The teacher isn’t fair. Life isn't fair. But do people really want justice?
A number of years ago some friends were indirectly involved in a community issue and were accused of various offenses. Upon investigation it was found that the accusations were not true. Nevertheless the highest government official involved said in no uncertain terms that he was not concerned with what was true or false, but with public order and so wanted my friends to leave the area. Some see the government in this region as placating certain groups rather than being concerned with justice per se. A recent example was the execution of three men sentenced to death for their involvement in 3 years of inter-ethnic violence in this area. Many people felt the whole trial was unjust as the judges and witnesses were constantly threatened and intimidated. It was also seen as unjust because the parties instigating the conflict have never been tried, and very few from the other side of the conflict (non-natives) were ever even arrested, let alone tried or convicted. And no one has been tried for any of a long series of bombings, shootings, and beheadings that have followed in recent years aimed at the native community It seemed to many that these three men were being made the scapegoat for the entire conflict, though it was apparent to any reasonably impartial observer that the three could hardly be the masterminds, being uneducated farmers who weren’t even native to the area, tied only by religion to the native group.
One can almost see government officials dithering over this case – if they didn’t carry out the execution the non-native ethnic group was threatening to burn the provincial capital down. That ethnic group is known for having volatile tempers, for taking “vengeance” not against the offender but indiscriminantly against anybody at all related by blood, religion, or geography to the offender. On the other hand, if they did carry out the executions the native ethnic group would certainly be angry. But the risk of the native group burning down the city was almost nil because that group was of a different religion and their religious leaders would preach against taking vengeance. So it seems possible that the decision to carry out the executions may have been driven more by the concern with “public order” rather than justice.
Even at the local level, justice is often not done because of a concern for public perception. I was at a contest a couple of weeks ago for reading, poetry, singing, etc. The participants were from 10 different villages. When the prizes were awarded many people were surprised that some very good performers had not gotten any prize and others who weren’t as good got trophies. I later heard people comforting each other by saying, “Well, maybe it’s good to distribute the prizes to as many different villages as possible so that people will still want to come next year. If they didn’t get any prizes, maybe they would lose heart and not participate.”
So do people really want justice? Or do they really want vindication of themselves? As the first of my worlds slides further and further from a justice system based on absolutes, will they see more and more decisions made catering to the perceptions of the majority or at least of those most likely to cause public disorder?
What is justice? Around here the answer seems to be that only God knows.
Justice. People complain that things aren’t fair. The government isn’t fair. The courts aren’t fair. The village head isn’t fair. The teacher isn’t fair. Life isn't fair. But do people really want justice?
A number of years ago some friends were indirectly involved in a community issue and were accused of various offenses. Upon investigation it was found that the accusations were not true. Nevertheless the highest government official involved said in no uncertain terms that he was not concerned with what was true or false, but with public order and so wanted my friends to leave the area. Some see the government in this region as placating certain groups rather than being concerned with justice per se. A recent example was the execution of three men sentenced to death for their involvement in 3 years of inter-ethnic violence in this area. Many people felt the whole trial was unjust as the judges and witnesses were constantly threatened and intimidated. It was also seen as unjust because the parties instigating the conflict have never been tried, and very few from the other side of the conflict (non-natives) were ever even arrested, let alone tried or convicted. And no one has been tried for any of a long series of bombings, shootings, and beheadings that have followed in recent years aimed at the native community It seemed to many that these three men were being made the scapegoat for the entire conflict, though it was apparent to any reasonably impartial observer that the three could hardly be the masterminds, being uneducated farmers who weren’t even native to the area, tied only by religion to the native group.
One can almost see government officials dithering over this case – if they didn’t carry out the execution the non-native ethnic group was threatening to burn the provincial capital down. That ethnic group is known for having volatile tempers, for taking “vengeance” not against the offender but indiscriminantly against anybody at all related by blood, religion, or geography to the offender. On the other hand, if they did carry out the executions the native ethnic group would certainly be angry. But the risk of the native group burning down the city was almost nil because that group was of a different religion and their religious leaders would preach against taking vengeance. So it seems possible that the decision to carry out the executions may have been driven more by the concern with “public order” rather than justice.
Even at the local level, justice is often not done because of a concern for public perception. I was at a contest a couple of weeks ago for reading, poetry, singing, etc. The participants were from 10 different villages. When the prizes were awarded many people were surprised that some very good performers had not gotten any prize and others who weren’t as good got trophies. I later heard people comforting each other by saying, “Well, maybe it’s good to distribute the prizes to as many different villages as possible so that people will still want to come next year. If they didn’t get any prizes, maybe they would lose heart and not participate.”
So do people really want justice? Or do they really want vindication of themselves? As the first of my worlds slides further and further from a justice system based on absolutes, will they see more and more decisions made catering to the perceptions of the majority or at least of those most likely to cause public disorder?
What is justice? Around here the answer seems to be that only God knows.
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