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The "Cyber War Threat" Debate
I mentioned back in April that I was going to be out of DC on June 8 -- but that if I had been around, I would have been sure to attend the Intelligence Squared debate at the Newseum on the motion that...
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One-Man Government: The Clock Ticks On
It's been just over two weeks since Senator Mitch McConnell, on his own, derailed the planned Senate confirmation of 80-plus federal nominees. This left U.S. embassies vacant and the US embarrassed in...
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The Only Daily Show Clip I Will Ever Embed
Reason for never doing it otherwise: everyone has seen them.Reason for doing it in this case: you cannot imagine how amusing it is to see this particular (sublime) segment in Beijing. Or maybe, how...
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Planting a Million Trees in China
The Asia Society's China Green project continues to produce compelling and informative video features about environmental challenges in China and their effect on the rest of the world. (Disclosure:...
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Earthlink Is Still At It
I should have stuck to my original policy, previously announced here. That policy was, I will not reply to any message coming from an Earthlink.com address. Twice in the last two days, I've had...
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'Rock Paper Tiger,' Plus More on E-readers
To add to the list of "good fiction set in modern China," check out Rock Paper Tiger, by Lisa Brackmann. It's a mystery/action novel that pretty much pulls off something I would have thought...
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The Best Picture to Come From the World Cup WITH IMPORTANT UPDATE
Update: A big important asterisk apparently applies to all the below....And see bottom for UPDATED UPDATE.____I am no big fan of soccer, but the whole World Cup extravaganza, angry-bee-swarm horns and...
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Follow-ups: Earthlink, Duct Tape, Daily Show, Cyber Threat
In the spirit of the iterative search for truth unintentionally illustrated in the previous post, here are responses to several recent items:1) About Earthlink, previously here: Several readers write...
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If You Were Waking Up in Zhuhai This Morning
This is what you might see. Looking another way, a little more toward the north:No policy point here, just atmospherics. Zhuhai is a sprawling, not-universally-adored, tropical-coastal Chinese city...
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Obama's Next Big Speech: 3 Ways to Measure Its Success
I'll be watching in a few hours, on what will be Wednesday morning (of Dragon Boat Festival day) in Beijing, with these matchup questions in mind:- Can he match himself? The good thing about a series...
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The Oval Office Speech, Seen From Beijing
I couldn't see this real-time in China, so I've just now read the speech and watched an online replay. I have deliberately not yet read or listened to any on-line commentary. Thus my untutored reaction...
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'The Grip of Fossil Fuels'
Channel surfing before bed on the (controlled) Chinese TV lineup just now at 12:45am. Costume dramas. World-cup recap. Shanghai stock-exchange report. Women's badminton, Indonesia v Laos or something....
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Two Last Comments on the Energy Speech
I'll lay off after this. Previously here, here, and here. Now, two reader replies. First, a claim that the Administration has hurt itself by not emphasizing from the start how dire, even hopeless, the...
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Born Too Soon, Chapter 2,313
In the late 1980s, my family lived in a suburb 40 minutes from Tokyo on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi commuter line. It had many charms, but the beer available there (often from streetside vending machines --...
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The China Daily Never Disappoints
Never, ever, ever. Today's front page lead story:Two points that go beyond a normal appreciation of my favorite newspaper. (For the record: state-controlled.)First, on the substance of this story: In...
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This Could Be Significant: Announcement of RMB "Flexibility"
Yesterday I mentioned the mounting concern I'd been hearing in China that despite everything -- despite a "decent interval" of minimal public criticism from the US including deferral of a "currency...
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Good News: Music. Bad News: Oil
Of course you should read everything on the Atlantic's site, plus the magazine. You can easily do that, plus hold a day job, as long as you don't sleep. But even if you're sleepy here are two items not...
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The "Beat Tony Hayward" Contest
From "I'd like my life back" to "I don't know" ^ 65 to "rare private time" on his yacht in clean European waters, BP's Tony Hayward has put on the most self-damaging and institution-harming performance...
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It Never Ends: The Boiling Frogs
I'm not waging a crusade here any more. Just noting the persistence of a cliche.* Thomas Friedman, NYT, June 20 2010:Up to now, Erdogan has been very cunning, treating his opponents like frogs in a...
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"Mutual Leverage" Between China and the US
After this item, on Friday, about speculation that the Chinese government might stonewall and refuse even the slightest gesture toward revaluing its RMB currency; and this news, yesterday, that at...
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