Yesterday was a busy news day in the US: a controversial Supreme Court nominee; another indictment of the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives; continuing  political upheaval in Iraq.  So much was happening that this post at… Continue reading

     A nice piece in the NYT on happiness in general and Bhutan in particular.  It seems in Bhutan a concerted effort is made to foster not only material development but subjective happiness: "We have to think of human… Continue reading

    An interesting op-ed in today’s Washington Post by Leon Kass, the Chairman of the President’s Council on Bioethics.  He focuses on our ethical obligation to provide close and loving care of aging elders, an issue of increasing significance… Continue reading

    I can’t let this one go by.  Another People’s Daily commentary invoking Confucius.  Once again, a state-sponsored  intellectual is singing the praises of Chinese foreign policy, arguing that it follows along the harmonious path suggested by the Venerable… Continue reading

    A trial is currently taking place in Pennsylvania, in which a local school board is being sued for violating the separation of church and state by its insistence on introducing the concept of "intelligent design" in public schools. … Continue reading

     Here’s a piece from China Daily, discussing how Chinese who have left China to study and work in the US are now returning to China (and Taiwan – the story is clearly treating Taiwan as a part of… Continue reading

    My post today is part of a blogosphere-wide effort to raise awareness about special education and childhood disability.  Laura M, of 11D, is organizing things and I will link to all participants as they come on-line throughout the… Continue reading

     The speech given by US Deputy Secretary of State, Robert Zoellick, yesterday is getting a fair amount of attention.  From a Confucian-inspired point of view, the speech seems out of place.  Instead of lecturing China on what it… Continue reading

    Sun Bin, a very well-informed and intelligent blog on contemporary Chinese political economy, has a post today that suggests that Legalism, an ancient school of thought that emphasizes strict application of clearly defined rules, could provide a market-based… Continue reading

    I found this article in the NYT today about a man, David Rothenberg, who plays music with the birds.  He is a clarinetist and he goes out in the field, plays and the birds, he says, sing with… Continue reading