Cup of Cha
This is China

While he’s not exactly the messiah, Barack Obama has done a lot of good things as a candidate and president. People seem to be making the case that he has not done much in his first nine months in office, but people also forget that January was one of the worst job loss months in [...]

Continue reading “Obama Wins Nobel; Lebron Named Best Player Ever” »

Riots in Tibet last year. Riots in Xinjiang this year.
There is one lesson that we can learn from all of this:  Old people are dangerous.  Incited youths listen to and heed the words of virtually anyone the age of their grandparents. Young people are not motivated by ethnic hatred, lack of jobs or the perception [...]

Continue reading “Chinese Government Fears Old People” »

We’re 20 years removed, and China is a far different place from where it was on that terrible day.
There are two schools of thought about what has changed in the 20 years since. The first argument is that China totally opened up its economy in the aftermath of being shunned by most of the world, [...]

Continue reading “Modern China: Hermit or Leader?” »

Speaking of brilliant ideas, how did China get to the point where it thought blocking YouTube would be a good idea. I know a few months ago there was a controversial video about Tibet (and when I say controversial, I mean it seemed to contradict a government account), but seriously, that was a month ago. [...]

Continue reading “China, the Fragile Superpower?” »

Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank’s governor, recently proposed that a new international super currency be created to replace the US dollar as the international reserve currency. The currency, which I call “Esperanto Bucks,” would  be tied to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), a weighted basket of currencies the International Monetary Fund (IMF) currently uses [...]

Continue reading “China Pushes for Esperanto Currency” »

Obama’s coming to China later this year, according to reports coming out of London. It should be an exciting moment. I don’t really have any comment here, I just like the title of the entry. Feel free to add your own opinions about what Obama’s visit will mean for the US and China.
Here’s the FT [...]

Continue reading “Guess Hu’s Coming to China” »

In a shocking move, Beijing has canceled planned dates for an Oasis tour that would have landed them in Beijing and Shanghai. Shocking, because apparently Oasis still has enough of a following to go on tour.
Beijing apparently just discovered that lead singer and guitarist John Lennon–I mean Noel Gallagher–played at a Free Tibet event 12 [...]

Continue reading “Beijing Bans Oasis to Obscurity” »

Not to gloss over the remarkable achievement of America electing its first Black president, but  the heavy focus  we have seen misses the point of this election entirely. Barack Obama is set to lead this country out of one of the worst periods in its history. And he will do so slowly and steadily, with [...]

Continue reading “Policy, Not Race, Could Make Obama Great” »

Since February I have been predicting a Democratic blow out. However, I am a Democrat. And a Mets fan. And a Jets fan. Let’s just say optimism isn’t my thing. So as we approach the moment of reckoning, I’m confident–but totally scared shitless. One similarly-minded friend of mine got mad at me because I kept [...]

Continue reading “Cup of Election Predictions” »

John McCain could still easily be the next American president. Although behind in the polls, it’s pretty easy to come up with a mathematical formula for him to win the 270 electoral votes he would need. Yet the man who says he would “rather lose an election than lose a war” should be worrying about [...]

Continue reading “Legacy, Not Just Presidency, on Line for McCain” »