“…The Chinese ideal was rule by virtuous men, not by law. The law was an instrument for officials to control the people, which is why some argue that benevolent authoritarianism is more natural to China than democracy, that Jiang Zemin is more ‘Chinese’ than ‘bourgeois liberals’ such as He [Qinglian] and [Martin] Lee. “In fact, however, Chiense thinkers reflected on the rule of law and how to limit the power of rulers long before bourgeois liberalism or communism were even... Read more

UPDATE TO MEANNESS/POETRY POST: UO wonders if we disagree. We don’t. He’s right. I’m still thinking about what to call the thing I think Hoagland is trying to praise; will blog if I come up with anything cool. ANOTHER UPDATE: For pity’s sake, could I possibly have written more convoluted sentences in that freakin’ meanness post? I need to curb that. Read more

AWESOME, AWESOME TRIBUTE TO THE COLOSSAL SQUID. Seriously, click now, all ye who love the vast beasties of the deep. I fell in love with the giant squid (again I note that these huge critters are smaller than the colossal squid under discussion) when I saw the pickled one at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Never saw a reason to reconsider my wonder at the great chieftains o’ the squidly race. Read more

UTTERLY RANDOM THOUGHT (BOOK RECOMMENDATION): There are a lot of reasons I rave about how good The Secret History is. (Donna Tartt’s, not Procopius’s, although the latter is fun too if you like ferocious accounts of sixth-century court scandals.) Vivid writing; exactly as lurid as I wanted it to be; captures the feeling of entering a world in which every gesture and joke is a meaningful and often sinister allusion to past offenses, or a tactical strike in an ongoing,... Read more

POETRY THURSDAY THURSDAY: From George Herbert. Got what I think is the most famous line from this poem stuck in my head earlier today. The formatting is totally off because I don’t know how to do it right in Blogger, sorry, that’s just an awful thing to do to Herbert. It’s “Affliction (IV).” Broken in pieces all asunder, Lord, hunt me not, A thing forgot, Once a poor creature, now a wonder, A wonder tortured in the space Betwixt this... Read more

POETRY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY: The Williams poem referred to below. “Last Words of My English Grandmother.” There were some dirty plates and a glass of milk beside her small table near the rank, disheveled bed— [rest clipped] Read more

2003-04 SEASON AT WASHINGTON SHAKESPEARE THEATRE. Looks awesome. I’m about to subscribe for the season. The Shakespeare Theatre is consistently terrific. Read more

CHRISTUS VICTOR. Blog from Notre Dame. Read more

WHITE HOUSE DROPS DRUGS = TERROR ADS. Yay! Via The Rat. My most recent JWR column includes a slam at these ads. Read more

“The Opium War [a propaganda movie made to celebrate the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC, in which a girl, representing Hong Kong, is raped by a ‘loathsome barbarian’] had some success in China but was a flop in Hong Kong, as were other celebrations of official ‘Chineseness.’ The propaganda was crude, confusing, and insulting. That Chinese girl in the movie, sacrificed after the Opium War to the hairy barbarian, stood for Hong Kong. The awkward thing is that... Read more