Latest Posts
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Save the Brothel!
China Daily reports that officials in Hunan are debating whether or not to preserve an 18th century brothel building: The brothel, built in 1733 in the ancient town of Jinggang, Hunan Province, is teetering on the verge of… Continue reading
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Mencius on Airport Security Screening
Story in today’s NYT: "Faces, too, Are Searched at U.S. Airports." Mencius: "Nothing reflects the person so well as the eyes. The eyes won’t hide the evil in a person. If a person’s heart is noble,… Continue reading
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John Mearsheimer, Taoist
Just found this little piece in the Block Island Times (h/t War and Piece) about a talk given by a few international relations specialists at the Naval War College in Newport. John Mearsheimer was one of the participants. … Continue reading
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Transracial Adoption: Confucius Agrees
A good story in the NYT today about transracial adoption in the US, focusing on the complexities of white parents with black children. As I read through it, it struck me that a Confucian point of… Continue reading
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Global Disability
I did not realize that the United Nations is negotiating an international convention to define and protect the rights of disabled persons around the world. Thomas Schindlmayr’s op-ed in today’s International Herald Tribune brought this to my attention. … Continue reading
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Modern Love: The Form of this Body
This week’s "Modern Love" column is a very poignant piece, by Jennifer Glaser, reflecting on her boy friend’s untimely death. He was dying of leukemia and they made love as they could until the illness separated them… Continue reading
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A Filial Yankee
Not too many stories satisfy both my interest in ancient Chinese philosophy and my allegiance to the New York Yankees. But this piece in today’s NYT, about the formidable Yankee pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang (or Wang Chien-Ming for purists),… Continue reading
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Slouching Toward Transparency
Back in February I wrote a short piece (about 1000 words) about how the PRC government is losing its battle against the free flow of information. I sent it to the LA Times, where I have published a… Continue reading
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Beijing Weekend: Women are Better Confucians than Men
I imagine there might be some dissent from some of my male readers out there. But, the more I think about it, the more it seems true to me that women, in their attention to social relationships, are… Continue reading
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Sun Tzu and the Airplane Bomb Plot
Today we have what appears to be a significant victory against global terrorist networks: the arrest of a ring of people in Britain who were preparing to blow up airplanes. It is noteworthy that this was the… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 