The Useless Tree

Current Affairs

  • Still Against Valentine’s Day

         We’re getting ready for a big snow storm here (I ran out today to buy a new snow blower to replace my broken one).  Tomorrow will be taken up with digging out and trying to do what is… Continue reading

  • North Korea Nuke Deal

         Perhaps some good news on the diplomatic front with today’s announcement of an agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program.  I have argued in the past that something like this – essentially buying off NK’s threat – was the… Continue reading

  • Idaho Taoists

         Yes, we’re on a Taoist roll here at The Useless Tree this week – and maybe next week as well.  That’s what a tutorial will do to you: close reading of the text brings out lots of possibilities… Continue reading

  • Thinking of War, Again

         Just as a report comes out reminding us of the "inappropriate" uses of intelligence in the run up to the Iraq war, we hear that the same people, using the same methods, are thinking about war against Iran. … Continue reading

  • Mr. Libby Lied

         Reading accounts of the trial of I. Lewis Libby, the former right hand man of Vice President Cheney, I am coming to the conclusion that he will be found guilty of perjury.  The prosecutor has done a masterful… Continue reading

  • Foreign Confucians

         This just in: foreign descendants of Confucius (Kong Zi) will now be counted in the official Kong family tree.  Here’s how Xinhua tells it: This is also the first time that overseas citizens and those who converted to… Continue reading

  • Finding the Chinese “Ti” in the Internet “Yong”

         The NYT today has a piece reporting on the big Chinese internet company Tencent, and one of its founders, "Pony" Ma, the power behind the giant mobile instant-messaging service, QQ.  The line that caught my attention was this:… Continue reading

  • So…What’s Up With That Book Banning?

         A few days ago I posted on the banning of eight books in the PRC, how it resonated with the Legalist practices of the Qin emperor and how the the resistance of some writers suggested that China was… Continue reading

  • Paid Family Leave: Cultivating The Root Of Humanity

        This just off the AP wire: The United States lags far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding, a new study by Harvard… Continue reading

  • Avoiding the Vacuous

        Raymond Zhou, who writes a column for China Daily, and bilingually blogs, warns us against the reinvention of the kowtow:  Winter vacation is around the corner, and a management school at Zhengzhou University has given one special assignment… Continue reading