The Useless Tree

Current Affairs

  • “Hobbling the Army”

         Bush’s impending senseless escalation of the Iraq war runs squarely against Sun Tzu’s thinking (I know, lots of Sun Tzu this week: it’s on my mind from my class…).   It seems that high level military planners are doubtful… Continue reading

  • Sad China and Master Chuang

         China Daily today tells us: A survey conducted by chinahr.com, a leading Chinese recruitment website, shows over 90 percent of white collars felt anxiety and depression as the past year came to an end and a new year… Continue reading

  • Southern Comfort

        Just noticed this short piece in China Daily: Guangzhou achieves developed city status (Bernama.com/chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2007-01-04 21:48 The per capita of Guangzhou, the capital of China’s richest Guangdong province, is expected to surpass US$10,000 last year, becoming the… Continue reading

  • The Failure of Saddam’s Family

         Here’s a grim passage from the Guardian’s obituary of Saddam Hussein (hat tip, Andrew Sullivan): Saddam was born in the nearby village of Owja, into the mud house of his uncle, Khairallah Tulfah, and into what a Tikriti… Continue reading

  • A Confucian Legislature

         A story ran a few days ago in the Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail, about a friend of mine, Daniel A. Bell, who works to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of ancient Chinese, and especially Confucian, thought: Prof.… Continue reading

  • On the Execution of Saddam Hussein

        It didn’t take long to confirm the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, which says this about capital punishment (it is not all that it says, but it is a prominent aspect): The Executioner’s [i.e. Way’s] killing is… Continue reading

  • A Confucian Christmas

         Last year I wrote about A Taoist Christmas.  I like that post and re-wrote it for a submission to China Daily, which I think was not published by Christmas in China.   But I want to pick up on… Continue reading

  • Caring for Children, Caring for Elders

         Yesterday was just too busy to blog: a long meeting at work to decide on a new hire (we did!); lots of grading (the bane of many academic lives right now); and some time sitting around the Albany,… Continue reading

  • Mencius on Shenzhen

         In an earlier academic life, before Aidan turned me toward philosophy, I studied and wrote about China’s Special Economic Zones, of which Shenzhen is the largest and most important.  My work focused on the origins and early development… Continue reading

  • More on Sperm Donors and Fathers

         A good piece in Sunday’s WaPo opens a new perspective on the complex of ethical issues surrounding sperm donors: the point of view of the children so conceived.   Katrina Clark is one such person and she does a… Continue reading