Jennifer Foster: Let's talk about China, Tiger and Blagojevich

I read a column this week by a woman whose former colleague periodically wrote a feature he referred to as “shaking out the reporter’s notebook.” It was all those things that he found interesting but didn’t deem worthy of standalone space.

She called her effort “cleaning out my e-mail box.”

I like Jeopardy!, so I just call it potpourri.

* You probably know about gender-based selective abortion, where parents use ultrasound to find out the sex of their babies, then abort the girls to try for boys. But you likely aren’t aware of how widespread the practice has become – or that it’s spreading.

According to an editorial in The Economist this week, more than 120 boys are being born for every 100 girls in China and northern India (130 to 100 in some Chinese provinces). Other East Asian countries (including countries like Taiwan and Singapore, which have significant western influences), former communist states in the western Balkans and the Caucasus, and even sections of America’s population have distorted gender ratios.

“Women are missing in their millions,” the editorial says, and the ramifications are enormous. In addition to the practical consequences relating to marriage and reproduction — China alone stands to have as many unmarried young as the entire population of young men in America — The Economist warns of the stunning social implications of this practice: “In Asian societies, where marriage and children are the recognized routes into society, single men are almost like outlaws. Crime rates, bride trafficking, sexual violence, even female suicide rates are all rising and will rise further as the lopsided generations reach their maturity.”

It was a stark reminder that every choice has its own consequences – and they’re not always what you expect.

* It was reported Thursday that Tiger Woods has hired former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer to help him develop a strategy to return to the PGA Tour on March 25 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando.

You’d think that if anything enabled you to equip someone like Tiger to deal with an outright media crush in a way that doesn’t alienate his tabloid-weary, distraction-wary competitors, it would be presiding over the White House Press Corps during the first stages of the Iraq war, as Fleischer did.

Ari’s a pro, but you can’t blame Tiger’s fellow golfers for dreading the first test of his strategy.

* Did you think that you had heard the last of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich?

You’re not that lucky.

The hair-happy, poetry-slamming politician will make his reality show debut next week as part of the cast of Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

“‘You’re fired’? Yeah, I’ve heard THAT one before,” Blago says in an ad for the show.

As far as Blago is concerned, there is no disgrace, even in impeachment.

And that is its own disgrace.

* Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne scored a big endorsement this week when former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush threw his support behind the former state senator and two-year college chancellor. The two will appear together at a fundraiser for Byrne in Birmingham on April 1.

Jeb was a terrific governor, emphasizing reforms to drive better results, especially in education (sound familiar?) Jeb governed the purple state as a conservative but still managed to leave office with approval ratings in the mid-60s, even after eight years.

It’s a harbinger of good things for Byrne: Jeb Bush is good company when it comes to successful governors. And I can’t help but wonder whether Jeb’s decision to involve himself in state campaigns may portend his interest in a race of his own … say, in 2012.

Jennifer Foster is a political enthusiast who lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News. She can be reached at jefoster1@bellsouth.net