Twin “Cities of Light” by Tarek bin Laden

What is the real point of this project?

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Senate bill would restrict Bush from secret executive orders

The President will no longer be able to change published executive orders in secret if a bill introduced to the Senate Thursday becomes law.

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Litter and collective action

Everywhere you turn in Azerbaijan, collective action problems confront you. “Collective action problems” is a term describing situations where behavior most advantageous for individuals produces results that are the worst for the group. The over-fishing of the oceans is a good example. Everyone suffers, but no single individual has an incentive to change his or her behavior. Even it is in the individual self-interest of a fisherman to keep fishing, even while the fishery as a whole is collapsing.

Azerbaijan is not unique in its level of collective action problems. The collapse of the Soviet Union meant that many such problems that had been “solved” suddenly needed to be addressed in a new way. The old order – which imposed a solution on these problems – has fallen away. And the new order is unwilling or unable fix the problems.

The latest example came up yesterday as I was strolling with an Azerbaijani friend through a park area. It was quite lovely: woods, a steep mountain side, a view of the mountains on the other side of the river, and a view of years of accumulated garbage left behind by the people using the place for picnics.

My Azerbaijani friend remarked on the scene. He deplored the readiness of people to leave their garbage spread around the scene. But he also noted that there were no trash barrels. So, even if an entire troop of enterprising Boy Scouts came in and scoured the place, picking it absolutely clean of trash, the people still would have no place to throw their picnic debris.

Of course, you might say that the government should provide trash barrels, but this government does not provide for such services that benefit the collective. The government provides services that benefit well-connected individuals, but does not invest in sectors that benefit the general society. So, education and health care, for example, suffer from severe under-funding, while millions are spent on projects such as the museums glorifying certain leaders or Olympic-size athletic facilities.

When it comes down to it, such collective action problems are generally solved by governments. For example, no one individual has the incentive to educate the children of society. As a society, we acknowledge this, and so we pay taxes to fund this effort. No one individual has an incentive to collect the trash at these public places or to provide trash barrels. So, this service should be provided by a government.

But – this government does not. And when the government is not accountable, then it will not step in to solve these collective action problems. The trash problem is striking throughout Azerbaijan – but it is not simply a matter of mentality. No one likes to live around garbage. But because the government is not accountable to the people, it is not forced to respond to ordinary problems such as trash disposal, education, and health care. And the common areas used by ordinary people continue to be fouled by garbage, while the wealthy can build walls around private estates that presumably are cleaned by a private cleaning staff.

On a side note, I did learn a useful phrase that sounds very musical to me: Bura zibilidir. (There’s trash here.)

Included are a photo of trash and a view of the mountain valley, down the hill from the trashed picnic area.

Good site for checking political allegations this season.

McCain is telling more than his share of whoppers - but this site looks at all suspect claims.

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On the road to Zaqatala

Just a brief entry today – because it has been such a long day. We left early this morning from Sheki, taking a taxi to Zaqatala. It’s a 1 ½ hour trip – but we made it last something like six hours – stopping at old churches and other points of interest along the way. By the end – we were getting a bit jaded but really the trip was gorgeous. Sometimes, our information about the churches was quite limited – and they were not all ancient – but they were all evocative. We stopped for a stroll through the town of Ilisu, a charming little town, down the road from a small but very steep waterfall. Getting to the water required a long trudge up a dusty road and then a scramble over slippery piles of slate, but it was worth it. After lunch, our time was getting short, so we began to stop less frequently. We did stop in the village of Lekit, which holds a couple of church ruins. We found the ruins of the 7th century Albanian church. We’re told it’s of circular design – but this would be hard for someone with untrained eyes to see. The vine-covered ruins are evident, but their design isn’t. Still, it was peaceful to stand in the grove of hazelnut trees, listen to summer insects, and imagine the scene – 1400 years ago. Finally, we did make it to Zaqatala, which itself was worth the trip – and worth a return trip. I plan to come back to conduct a training in this small city in September. Zaqatala has a mountain atmosphere, and it’s сlear that Zaqatala is on the edge of Azerbaijan. The customs seem a little less conservative. For example, we saw young females and males spending time with each other in public, something that is not so common in other regions. I’ve included a shot of a couple, sitting under one of the enormous plane trees in the old part of Zaqatala. These trees are reputed to be 700 years old. They are certainly old and very large. And beautiful. Other photos include one of a Georgian church on the road to Zaqatala, a clip of what the church bell and the insects around there sound like, some of the ancient stones of the Albanian church ruins, the sidewalk market in Ilisu, and a view of the valley from the waterfall above Ilisu.

Bush Unveils Overhaul of Spy Powers

The White House is expected to roll out the largest rewrite of intelligence power in a generation, bolstering the power of the director of national intelligence. Some on Capitol Hill were frustrated that the administration kept Congress in the dark on this historic overhaul. "They did not consult Congress at all," said one congressional official.

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Today was thankfully short on work, and long on fun. I spoke to the students in the morning about their stories - asking which sources they were going to interview for the articles they are writing. Some, not surprisingly, had not given the matter much thought, but some had - and had a good list of sources to interview. It is difficult - because most of these students don't have press credentials. This limits their access to officialdom - but I tell them to try anyway. The worst that can happen is that they are denied access. But - you don't know if you don't try.

While one of my colleagues talked with the students about webcasting, I strolled up to the old town of Sheki with my colleague Chuck. He's never been to Sheki - and he was up for a hike. Good thing - because most of the walk to the old town is uphill. We stopped by a hat shop I had visited before - and chatted with the proprietor, who has been making hats for 40 years. Who will make these hats after he is gone? I don't think this is a craft that teenagers are learning nowadays. Chuck bought one hat & I will probably return next week & buy one myself.

We dropped by the Caravanserai - a restored building that used to shelter traders passing through Sheki - a prominent stop on the Silk Road. The lodging is quirky - no heat or air conditioning - but because of the construction - quite comfortable for much of the year. I've included a shot of the arches in the building.

In the afternoon, we went up to the ruined fortress of Gelersen Gorasen - which is roughly translated as "Come & see." This refers to the challenge of the Chelabi, local khan when confonted by the demands of Persian invaders in 1740. He said - come check out my fort & see if you can make bend. The fortress withstood the onslaught - but the local town didn't.

Now - the fort is in ruins - but many of the walls remain. It's a wonderful hike - and easy to imagine soldiers trying to scale its daunting walls.

Tomorrow - a road trip to Zagatala.