’tis the October holiday, and while it would be nice to relax in Kunming all week, I’ll be up to something far more interesting. A few friends and I will be going off to towns in the central Yunnan countryside, traveling almost exclusively by bicycle. I won’t have the opportunity to blog during the trip, [...]
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was interviewed recently by well-regarded foreign affairs journalist Fareed Zakaria. A transcript of the conversation is here. Note the exchange regarding Tiananmen Square. Wen was photographed standing next to former Premier Zhao Ziyang as the latter addressed the demonstrating students in 1989. Zhao, who was the lone member of the Politburo [...]
Here is a photo of President Bush appearing on television to urge the House of Representatives to resolve the bailout legislation as quickly as possible. Bush is 62 years old, but here he looks north of 70. He also looks haggard and exhausted, undoubtedly due to dealing with the recent financial crisis. Still, though- wow. [...]
I didn’t watch the debate (I might later if I can find a spare hour and a half and a decent feed) but have read enough reactions, spin, and prognostications to give me an impression of what happened. After all, in American politics, substance typically means very little during election season. IR blogger Dan Drezner [...]
I woke up too late to watch the Presidential debate live, but I turned on my local National Public Radio affiliate (KQED) to see if I could catch a bit of post-debate spin. Instead, I’ve been listening to an hour-long interview with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Commonwealth Club. The interview has focused mainly on [...]
In his latest Sinosplice post, John wonders whether the dread 7-day workweek will become a thing of the past as China adjusts its holiday schedule. I arrived in Lianyungang on a Friday evening right before the October holiday. When my colleagues greeted me at the door, they said that while I didn’t have to take [...]
This is too funny: Chris Tavelli, who owns the Yield Wine Bar in San Francisco’s revitalized Dogpatch neighborhood, noticed recently that demand for his best-seller, an organic wine from Chile’s Lymari Valley, had plummeted. The likely reason? The wine’s name, Palin Syrah, sounds a lot like Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee Oops! .
Recently I wrote about how the fast-food chain KFC has different cultural significances in China and in the US. In the former country, KFC represents modernity, cleanliness, worldliness, and sophistication. In the latter, the restaurant signifies poor health, cheapness, and simplicity. And yet the restaurant itself is nearly identical in both countries, though as Matthew [...]
…was an aside in a Nicholas Kristof column discussing the alarming number of Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim, or possibly Satan. Writes Kristof: Just imagine for a moment if it were the black candidate in this election, rather than the white candidate, who was born in Central America, was an indifferent churchgoer, had [...]
I admittedly know very little about finance, hence my bleg from the other day. What I do know about, though, is American politics. It appears that Obama has gained a little momentum in recent days, presumably directly related to the Wall Street meltdown. Momentum is extremely, extremely important in American politics. John McCain’s selection of [...]