Latest Posts
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Friday I Ching: Bush Will Rebound
It is impossible to avoid the big issue in the US today (about 25% of the readers of this blog are from outside the US and may not fully appreciate how obsessed American political analysts are with this):… Continue reading
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Harriet Miers Postmortem: Did President Bush Read My I Ching Post?
Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to the Supreme Court. It was a bit surprising this morning when the news broke. I thought Bush, under pressure from what appear to be impending indictment(s) of key high-level aides, would… Continue reading
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Vainglorious Thievery
So Republicans in the House of Representatives, facing the reality of the huge budget deficits they have created through tax-cuts and war-spending, have come up with a solution for narrowing the fiscal gap: take it from the poor… Continue reading
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Indisputable
Is it just me, or is it not clear why scantily clad ladies prancing about in banana skirts somehow contribute to the claim the Taiwan is a part of China? Here is the caption for the picture below… Continue reading
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Competition
China Daily today runs a Reuters story on the embarrassment caused by the recently-completed National Games, a nation-wide sports competition and run-up to the 2008 Olympics. The headline: "China puts glory before honour at National Games." The critique: From… Continue reading
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Looking Back
A few days ago, over at Crooked Timber, Kieran Healy commented on an article by Leon Kass, in which the esteemed bio-ethicist argues that contemporary courtship has been ruined by a host of modernizing influences. Kass longs for… Continue reading
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Sunday “Modern Love:” The Limits of Friendship
Howie Kahn writes a fun and funny piece on his friendship with a married couple. He knew her before she got married, and he grew to be a close friend with him. Kahn was the ring-bearer, of sorts,… Continue reading
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Friday I Ching: Will Vice President Cheney Be Forced to Resign?
The Valerie Plame scandal (which is all about the public disclosure of a covert CIA agent for political purposes) is soon to reach a climax: there is widespread expectation that indictments could be forthcoming, perhaps next week, and… Continue reading
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Naming Democracy
So the Chinese government has issued a "white paper" entitled, "Building Political Democracy in China." The title might leave the erroneous impression that the Communist Party is serious about democratization. A quick read, however, shows that this document… Continue reading
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Sun Tzu and Fourth Generation Warfare
In one of my various other lives, I teach international politics. My current senior seminar, entitled "Globalization and War," is considering how the economic, technological, cultural and political transformations characterized as "globalization" (a fairly sprawling and thus vague… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 