Years of Poems and Spirits

Finally watched Avatar–so many people told me so much about it, I figured that if I didn’t watch it now, I’d probably lose interest soon. It was good. I have to say the visual effect is less than what I expected but the story is more weighty. Overall, it is great. ZR and I had this discussion afterward. She thought the references in the movie about War on Terror (”we have to fight terror against terror”, etc.) was a little overbearing and unnecessary. I thought that was the part I liked it.

Not that the reference is any more clever or persuasive than the prosaic news columns we all have read. But I can tell Cameron is inspired by the absurdity sensible Liberals like him have to live through in the name of Democracy. Like other artists who created their masterpiece after years of mental agony, Cameron’s work is not a show for show’s sake. It is trying to say something. In that way, it is not unlike some of the great movies made after the Vietnam War, except the means through which Cameron & Co delivered the message is incredibly imaginary and beautiful. Still, at the end of the day, Avatar is a allegory, not just a fantasy.

I don’t know how many people truly get the message though. It was said that when the Pope first saw Michelangelo’s painting in Sistine Chapel, he immediately knelt and asked for forgiveness. I don’t see any tourists doing that nowadays. They just hold up their camera phones and say, “Wow, how beautiful!”

Just saw two pieces of news – “浙商发布投资黑名单惹争议 山西因煤改位居榜首”, “发改委、能源局通报山西省煤矿企业兼并重组成果”

The essence of the news is that in Shanxi, the tide has shifted. The government has undertaken policy changes to force industry consolidation. So much so that private capital starts to lose interest in this strategic industry.

According to Xinhua-

整合重组后，山西省矿井数由２６００座减少到１０５３座，７０％的矿井规模达到年产９０万吨以上，年产３０万吨以下的 小煤矿全部淘汰，平均单井规模由年产３０万吨提高到年产１００万吨以上，保留矿井将全部实现机械化开采。产业集中度明显提高，企业主体由２２００多家减少 到１３０家，形成４个年生产能力亿吨级的特大型煤炭集团、３个年生产能力５０００万吨级以上的大型煤炭集团。

Since this is the field where I ended my study on, it was really exciting to hear the good news. And I am kind surprised the change comes much earlier than I anticipated. It is really uplifting.

Of course, I don’t think the book is totally close shut. I still have questions about how the consolidation was financed, or was it by fiat? If it was financed by State money (national banks), this is a good case to show why, sometimes, “crowding out” private capital may not be a bad thing at all.

So much has changed after I wrote the paper. I wonder how I would write it now if I were given the chance.