The Useless Tree

Politics

  • Mao Fed People to Animals

    A new book about the Great Leap Forward has been published.  It’s in Chinese; the title is Mubei (Tombstone) and is written by Yang Jisheng.  I have not seen it myself yet but a review is available in yesterday’s (July… Continue reading

  • On Being Powerful

    Good news today on the foreign policy front: the US has finally started to make progress in opening up its relations with North Korea.  Don't get me wrong.  I have nothing but disdain for the government of NK. But the… Continue reading

  • Barak Obama, Confucian Gentleman

    In a Father's Day speech in Chicago today, the Democratic nominee said it straight: “Too many fathers are M.I.A., too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said to a chorus of… Continue reading

  • Modern Confucianism

        A good post over at Granite Studio by Jeremiah brings up a question I have posed here before: How modern can Confucius be?  Jeremiah is responding to a talk given by Daniel A. Bell, a philosophy professor at Qinghua. … Continue reading

  • 5000 Years of Olympics Civilization?

         This really doesn’t have anything to do with my project of considering ancient Chinese thought in modern American life, but it is too funny not to mention.     I’ve been following the struggle over the Olympic torch… Continue reading

  • The Greatest Olympic Protest Ever

           The problems in Tibet of late are linked to the Olympics.  The torch relay has already been used as a site of protest.  Over the next month we will likely see significant demonstrations (I am guessing in… Continue reading

  • Tibet: Media Bias versus Media Control (with reference to Han Fei Tzu)

        I’ve been quiet on Tibet since my first post.  It takes time to absorb the events as they unfold, and to hear various points of view.  But one thing has struck me of late, the question of media… Continue reading

  • “Bush’s War”

        Last night I watched a good portion of the Frontline program, "Bush’s War."  It was a frustrating reminder of the many, many inhumane decisions that led to the US war in Iraq.  Then, this morning, I saw this… Continue reading

  • 4000

         Four thousand American soldiers have been killed in Iraq.  Precise figures for the numbers of Iraqis killed are not available for political reasons – neither the US nor the current Iraqi government wants to detail the full scale… Continue reading

  • Who’s Important

          Sorry for the dearth of posting the last couple of days.  I’m grading.  For any academic who has faced it, you know how diverting it can be; and for those who do not have to do it, trust… Continue reading