Latest Posts
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Two for Christmas
I have yet to emerge from the demands of the season. Much running around yesterday to tie up loose Christmas ends. And today, though rather more relaxed, a family dinner will keep me busy from afternoon into the night –… Continue reading
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My Bad
Almost a week without a post. That's not like me. So what's up? A couple of things. First, was the grading. This semester I taught two sections of the same class, "Asia and the World," an introduction to Asian history… Continue reading
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How can we know if Chinese people want democracy or not?
It seems that, despite arrests and repression, CCP leaders have not completely quashed the movement to sign and disseminate Charter 08. An Australian newspaper reports: MORE than 3600 people from all walks of Chinese society have now signed "Charter 08",… Continue reading
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John Maynard Keynes: Taoist?
OK, not really. But these lines from a recent NYT Magazine article caught my eye: …Then, as now, economists believed that all uncertainty could be reduced to measurable risk. So asset prices always reflected fundamentals, and unregulated markets would in… Continue reading
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Tao in the Net
The NYT Magazine today had its year-end edition, The Year in Ideas 2008, in which ideas from the last twelve months are briefly described. One item caught my eye, because my daughter plays goalie on her lacrosse team: "Goalkeeper Science."… Continue reading
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Confucius and the Pope
The Catholic Church has released a new document, "Instructions Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions," that applies to a broad range of topics: In a resounding confirmation that the Catholic church's pro-life concern extends to the brave new world of… Continue reading
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Charter 08: Tyranny Creates The Demand For Democracy
An extraordinary document, Charter 08, was released yesterday. It is a sweeping call for liberal political change in China, signed by more than 300 prominent activists and intellectuals. Its last two paragraphs capture the spirit of the document: China, as… Continue reading
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When Power isn’t Power anymore
A wild story out of Chicago: the governor of Illinois was caught in taped telephone conversations conniving to extract personal material gain from a public political responsibility, the appointment of a person to fill the US Senate seat vacated by… Continue reading
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Demon Rock and Roll
Alan Baumler, over at Frog in a Well, has a post up on Xunzi (who I really need to pay more attention to) and music. Great stuff. Xunzi (or Hsun Tzu) would definitely banned Eliv Presley: The influence of music… Continue reading
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Is Confucianism the answer?
Here's a sad story, from the Straits Times (Singapore): BEIJING – A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy was orphaned in the southwest Chinese city of Chongzhou when his parents drank pesticide after a nasty row. The tragedy, reported in the state media last… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 