The Useless Tree

Sam Crane

  • The Rui’an Microcosm

        About three weeks ago a high school teacher in China, Ms. Dai Haijing, was found dead.  She was determined, by local officials, to have committed suicide.  Her students found this unbelievable and they started asking questions and demonstrating,… Continue reading

  • Remembrance

         Roland posted this picture.  It is beautiful.  It reminds me of riding the Staten Island ferry, going to see my wife-to-be, and the NYC of the seventies.   UPDATE: And here is a sad reminder of the presence… Continue reading

  • How Modern Can Confucius Be?

         A rather ambivalent editorial in the People’s Daily: Needless to say, Confucius is the most attractive symbol in Chinese traditional culture. But when a rapidly growing China is trying to build a new image and engage in greater… Continue reading

  • Technology does not Solve our Ethical Dilemmas

         It is widely reported that a new type of brain scan has detected mental awareness in a women who had been diagnosed as being in a "persistent vegetative state:"  According to all the tests, the young woman was… Continue reading

  • Mao Lives!

         Or, at least, a distorted image of him is kept alive by an authoritarian political party too afraid to face up to its own history.  That, at any rate, is what this story in today’s Globe and Mail… Continue reading

  • Confucius to Bush: Speak Less Please

         Bush gives a big speech yesterday, telling us that torture is not really torture, and that one long-time captive in our secret jails is a "big clever fish" in global terrorist networks, when, it seems, he is merely… Continue reading

  • Fewer Sticks for North Korea

        I have been suggesting for some time now that to get out from under the obvious failure of US foreign policy toward North Korea, we should drop the overly punitive approach of the Bush Jr. administration and start… Continue reading

  • Family History

        A good post over at Crooked Timber: Harry Brighouse summarizes and critiques a paper by David Vellman (PDF!) on the genetic basis of parenthood and children’s identity.  Vellman, according to Brighouse (I have only started the ful 22… Continue reading

  • Nationalism and Culture

         A revealing interview with Wu Jianmin, President of Chinese Foreign Affairs University, in today’s People’s Daily.  The nameless interviewer asks some leading questions: Reporter: Culture is a component of China’s soft power strategy to develop national strength, and… Continue reading

  • There’s Only This

        I went to see the musical "Rent" today with my twelve year-old daughter.  I know it has been around for a long time, and I have heard a lot about it, but I never had the chance to… Continue reading