Mencius
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Mencius in a Beijing Courtroom
There was something about this story, related by Roland (scroll down to "Beijing Courtroom Drama), that stuck with me from yesterday. It is a sad tale of human pain and desperation: In April 2005, the 6-year-old son of… Continue reading
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So….Maybe China is a Confucian Society After All…Nah…
As regular readers of this blog know, I have, from time to time, taken the opportunity to link to various stories that show how contemporary China does not really live up to the title "Confucian." But here is… Continue reading
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So….Why Not Impeach Cheney?
In a democracy, the people are supposed to rule. They serve a function analogous to that of the aristocratic families in ancient, pre-Qin, China. And here is what Menicus says the "royal" families should do if the ruler… Continue reading
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Eighteen Years
This is the day we remember the horrible killings that happened in Beijing in 1989. While it is true that the greatest number of the killings happened on the night of June 3 in the neighborhoods and intersections… Continue reading
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International Relations Lesson of the Day: Iraq is not Korea
Josh Marshall picked up this doozy from Reuters: President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat… Continue reading
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This Just In: Mencius Is Right!
The Washington Post reports today on recent work by neuro-scientists: The results were showing that when the volunteers placed the interests of others before their own, the generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights… Continue reading
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Are We Born Moral?
In the most recent New York Review of Books, John Gray asks this question in connection with two books: Marc Hauser’s Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong, and Frans de Waal’s Primates… Continue reading
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Virginia Tech
My deepest sympathies to all those involved in the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech. What can we do, how can we respond, when confronted with such depravity? I heard a Christian preacher on the radio this… Continue reading
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Dick Cheney, Please Read Mencius
The Vice President cannot seem to accept reality; he is impervious to facts. He says, on a right-wing radio show, that al-Qaeda really did have a close, working relationship with Saddam Hussein, a charge that is rebutted fairly… Continue reading
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The Desire for War
Some conservative pundits are dismayed that the UK-Iran standoff has ended peacefully. They seem to believe it better to have taken take up arms, however implausible and destructive, than accept a deal, perhaps even a prisoner swap of… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 