O'Rourke Reviews Schlesinger's Book

I'm avoiding the gym for a couple of hours, hence the random posts. This is pretty funny:

Dear Diary,
I Think I'm in Love
The confessions of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
by P.J. O'Rourke

This is a bad, vain, dull, repulsive book. Don't read it. I didn't.

........................

You see there was this fellow, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., who died early this year and is on his way to being forgotten but who, unfortunately, isn't quite there yet. Schlesinger spent some of his time being a Harvard historian and all of his time kissing the behinds of rich people, famous people, and people who were powerful in the Democratic party. He accomplished only one thing of note. (If you don't count his unfinished, multivolume history of the FDR administration and his A Thousand Days buncombe about JFK, and you certainly shouldn't.)

.................

Yet Journals is so much more than gush. Its pages also crack open a hellgate to give us a peek at the eternally consuming fires of egotistic solipsism to which the soul of a liberal is forever condemned. Not even the undying love that Arthur Schlesinger felt for Kennedy money, power, and prestige could redeem poor Art from the perdition that awaits the bien pensant. His is the sin of pride, such that produces the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society. It manifests itself in the deeds of the mighty. Or in the case of Arthur Schlesinger, it manifests itself in mighty bad taste.

......................

Naturally we cannot expect a man with credentials such as Arthur's to be merely a jerk; he's an idiot, too. The quickest riffle through Journals is enough to prove it. Said Arthur, after a 10-day visit to the USSR in 1982: "I fear that those who think the Soviet Union is on the verge of economic and social collapse are kidding themselves." It just so happens that I was in the USSR myself for about 10 days in 1982. I was an ignorant, neophyte foreign correspondent on my first overseas assignment. But I did notice that the Soviet Union was on the verge of economic and social collapse.

Schlesinger's ability to make people look like cretins is by no means limited to himself. He visits President Truman and emerges from the Oval Office with this unlikely quote from the former haberdasher: "The professional politician, he said, is the straightest-shooting man in the country. [Alert readers note foretokening of JFK on the yacht.] I don't mean the city machine type; but the man who makes a career of elective politics. The biggest crooks in the country are the businessmen."

..........................

I'd like to escape from further comment on Journals. I'm looking for a way out of this article. I consult the notes that I took as I flipped through the opus. "I cannot bear to read it, partly because of the vulgarity of the diction, partly because of the nakedness of the self-exposure, partly because of the frustration over not being able to review it. I cannot recall any political autobiography in American history which has represented quite such an orgy in unconscious self-revelation," I wrote.

Read the whole thing - it might make sense then.

Best of 2007 III

Michele Maulkin has a list of her favorite quotes:

"Whore.” - What Democrat Rep. Joe Baca called Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in protest.

“Beclowned.” - To make a thorough ass of oneself in public, coined by blogger Tim Blair.

This is both my first post to the Edwards blog and my announcement that I’m joining the presidential campaign for John Edwards for 2008. I’ll be taking over the job of Blogmaster (mistress?) over the course of the month of February. The main two questions this brings up are: Why me? And why John Edwards? - Amanda Marcotte’s first official post as chief John Edwards blogger

"I’m not serving you.” - restaurant owner Jeff Ruby to O.J. Simpson

"Aww don’t feel noways tired. I’ve come too faarrr from where I started frum. . . . Aww could have listened all day luung.” - Hillary Clinton in Selma, Alabama.

"You know, when I walk into the Oval Office in January of 2009, I’m afraid I’m gonna lift up the rug and I’m goin’ to see so much stuff uh-nder thar . . . You know, what is it about us always havin’ to clean up after people? . . . But this is not just going to be pickin’ up socks off the floor. This is going to be cleanin’ up the government.” - Hillary Clinton preaching at Al Sharpton’s church.

F**k you.”
“Chickensh*t*”

- John McCain cursing out John Cornyn over shamnesty

Best of 2007 II

Here are the some of the Top Ten Most Memorable Quotes from 2007. One and two didn't seem worthy of their spots:

3. Third was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's October comment at Columbia University in New York, "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."

4. Shock jock Don Imus comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team: "That's some nappy-headed hos there," was fourth.

Imus created a national outcry and lost his job at CBS radio in April, but returned to the airwaves in December with Citadel Broadcasting.

Other phrases on the list:

6. "There's only three things he (Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani) mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11." -- Sen. Joseph Biden, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate.

7. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9 percent approval rating." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

8. "(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom." -- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's explanation of why his foot touched that of an undercover policeman in a men's room.

9. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." -- Biden describing rival Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

10. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." -- Former President Jimmy Carter in an interview in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

Carter must have slept through his four years. Imbecile.

Best of 2007

Here are a few of the Top Ten PR Blunders of 2007 according to Forbes:

1. "No Reporters? No Problem." (ABC News)

Already troubled by continued claims of inadequate disaster response and wasteful use of funds, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) truly fumbled when it held what the Washington Post described as a "phony press conference" in response to Southern California wildfires. "Questions were asked by FEMA staffers playing reporters," "lob[bing] one softball after another so [Vice Administrator Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., could] praise FEMA's work," said the Post. Homeland Security Department head Michael Chertoff was reported by CNN, CBS and others to have said that "it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things [he has] seen since [he has] been in government."

3. "Why I Hate Race-Baiting Columns" (San Francisco Chronicle)

The true "what were they thinking" moment in this year's Blunders: when San Francisco's AsianWeek, the self-styled "voice of Asian America," published a brief column in February entitled "Why I Hate Blacks." The offensive piece ran in the middle of Black History Month in a publication based in what is supposed to be one of the most politically correct cities in the U.S. Filled with pejorative racial stereotyping, the column, by regular AsianWeek contributor Kenneth Eng, was described by Los Angeles Times columnist Erin Aubry Kaplan as "remarkably hateful ... most base and unsubstantiated." After public outcry, Eng was quickly terminated and apologies were issued through statements and at town hall meetings.

4. Iggy Come Home!

Ellen DeGeneres might have overdone it when she tearfully pled, during a taping of her popular talk show, for the return of Iggy, a dog she had previously adopted and given to her hairdresser's family after it took issue with her cats. On the other hand, Mutts & Moms, the agency she adopted it from, probably wasn't making the right decision when it repossessed the dog from its new family -- aggressively, on video, prompting criticism and threats from Ellen's fans after she gave them the tearful play-by-play. San Francisco Chronicle television critic Tim Goodman noted that " ... if you're Mutts & Moms, you've got to be thinking, 'Well, I guess we should have hired a real public relations person instead of Betty's daughter from payroll.'"

Number 3 is entertaining. As I've mentioned, the Chinese are not amused by blacks - terrified is a better word.

More on David Hicks

Tim Blair is keeping tabs on his fellow countryman, David Hicks, who it appears is a bit concerned for his safety in light of his prior behavior.

Mr McLeod said his client had concerns for himself and his family because extremist groups believed that, by renouncing his Islamic faith in 2002, he had dropped his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. His al-Qaeda training and capture among Taliban forces in Afghanistan could also anger nationalist groups, he said.

His al Qaeda training only angers nationalist groups? Might want to broaden that a little. Dave-friendly types will be interested to learn that their chubby mate believes we have groups here who are not only loyal to Osama bin Laden, but whose loyalty to the cave-bound death cultist is apparently tied to their sacred religion of peace.

If you're wonder why he should be concerned about the nationalist groups, here are a few choice parts of his letters home to his parents during his stay in Afghanistan:

Dear family I spent around three months in a muslim military training camp in the mountains.I learnt about weapons such as ballistic missiles, surface to surface and shoulder fired missiles, anti aircraft and anti-tank rockets, rapid fire heavy and light machine guns, pistols, AK47s, mines and explosives. After three months everybody leaves capable and war-ready being able to use all of these weapons capably and responsibly.

The Christians and Jews are fighting the Muslims. As a practicing Muslim with military experience I can go to help in any of those conflicts contacts are not a problem.

And another from 2000:

There is one thing I wish to explain about jihad the non-believers, Jews and Americans in the western world are determined to prevent it to come back again. Jihad is still valid today and will be for all time. The West is full of poison. The western society is controlled by the Jews with music, TV, houses, cars, free sex takes Muslims away from the true Islam keeps Islam week and in the third world.

Real jihad is possible just like before in the Prophets day where martyrs die with a smile on their faces and their bodies stay smelling of beautiful perfume for weeks after death.

The West lives in the dark in a narrow sort of living. Allah will use his servants to punish non-believers in this world.

.....................

If I do get martyred that is what I want. If Dad rings and says that, you know that your son is dead, say congratulations. Allah will help just let him know that you are happy about it.

There are others, but you get the gist.

Coming to a City Near You

I think I've found some friends for Mr. Hicks and Mr. Lindh.

In 2002, about a decade after [Michael Muhammad Knight] discovered Islam through rap lyrics and Malcolm X biographies, the 25-year-old became disillusioned with dogma. He tried going to college but soon dropped out.

“I was coming to class wearing this Khomeini-sized black turban,” he says. “Kids who were sitting behind me had to move; they couldn't see.”

Working as a night-shift janitor and feeling his time with Islam might be coming to an end, Knight began writing a novel about a Muslim culture he wished existed. The result was The Taqwacores, a fictitious account of Muslim punks in Buffalo.

And from this book he spawned a music genre that attracted numerous other unemployables.

Kourosh [a friend of Knight's] started a band and named it after one of the bands in the book: Vote Hezbollah. Soon came more groups, such as the Boston-based Kominas, whose achievements include penning the catchiest song ever to work the phrase “Suicide-bomb the Gap” into the chorus.

Lovely folks these.

The article explains that there are occassionally some issues because not everyone in the movement adheres to the same brand of Islam. Some challenge "homophobic" Mullahs as well as advocating suicide bombings in Israel.

Saturday Night

I had a late night conference call to the states this evening which left me walking home from the office late. Shanghai is safe at night, thankfully. There is always activity on the street, and although many residents would be happy to relieve you of your wallet, they are content to leave your person alone.

The Diarrhea Clinic was very potent though. I'm not sure what's causing the latest outbreak of cholera, but they seem to have run out of pot to reduce the smell.

Winter has arrived and it is cold. I went to the Shanghai Art Museum with a friend today to check out the Rembrandt exhibit and a tapestry exhibit. Well, I don't think it was tapestry, but some kind of sewing that was quite detailed and intricate. In Vietnam, this type of sewing art was popular and many of the state owned "friendship" type stores carried the stuff, but it was on a Velvet Elvis level instead of museum quality. Quite a difference I must report.

My knowledge of art is embarrassingly embarrassing, but I enjoyed the exhibit. If I need a quick lesson in quality art, I can now look around my apartment at the meager "works of art" that I have collected during my stay in China. It is immediately apparently that I didn't bargain enough for any of the pieces given that the prices should have approached zero.

Nice Try

I'd like to know who actually thought this might be the case?

What a bummer! A study by the British Medical Journal reveals that although the Wii game console offers more activity than passive videogames, Wii tennis is not an exercise substitute for real tennis.

A standard videogame only requires players ;move their thumbs and index fingers playing a standard video game, whereas the Wii actually requires players to move their hand or occasionally their entire arm to interact with the game, but that's not enough action to break a sweat for most couch potatoes.

Nice

I wonder what city in Louisiana these were taken in?

Cultural History With Chinese Characteristics

China still lags behind in its development of the cultural industry. Looking at the cultural development paths of other countries we can find ways to advance our cultural industry with Chinese characteristics.

"Advance our cultural history with Chinese characteristics". What does that mean? How about just advance and promote Chinese cultural history or Chinese history? Everyone is so pscyched to use the phrase "with Chinese characteristics" that it often makes no sense in the context in which it's used.

The Chinese government is making significant improvements in this area. They struggle with the same issues that any fast growing nation fights. Keeping pace with the growth is almost impossible. It must modernize quickly and cost effectively and that often means tearing down old housing with no electrical or plumbing. Yes it is quaint, but people's basic needs must be met.

Then all the sudden at the end of the article is this:

Last but not least, legislation is needed to protect the national spirit and economic value of our cultural heritage. An international vision is needed. The cartoon movie Mulan of Walt Disney was created on the basis of a Chinese legendary story. The blockbuster has made nearly $400 million for the company but China, where the legend originated, has gained very little.

Another case that deserves vigilance: a Japanese company has made a game based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), one of China's four major classical novels, but depicts the Chinese heroes in an absurd and pornographic way. We should use our laws to protect our cultural heritage so that national pride will not be harmed.

Bad news China. No matter what legislation you pass, Walt Disney isn't going to pay over any portion of Mulan or their next movie about Chinese history to you. Can you imagine if every country had to be paid off anytime a reference was made about that country's past. You've got to come up with the idea first and then produce it.

Unfortunately the article ends with the victimization of China worried that its "national pride has been harmed." It hasn't; you're fine. Thicken up that skin and stick out your chest. You're doing extraordinarily well on the national scene and have no reason to feel inferior. Besides, it is just Japan. You hate them anyway.

Carrefour Fined

Craziness. Carrefour issues an apology to the Chinese. For what? It discounted a US$7 bottle of cooking oil down to US$5.45 (a savings of $1.55) and there was a stampede. Carrefour was reprimanded and fined and (I'm sure) forced to issue the appology. The government is just teeing it up for the trial lawyers in a couple of years.

A Carrefour outlet issued an apology on Saturday in response to a stampede triggered by a sales promotion that left three people dead and injured 31 last month.

In the letter of apology, the outlet in southwest China's Chongqing city, where the stampede occurred, said that it would take responsibility for, and learn from, the accident.

Also on Saturday, authorities in the outlet told Xinhua reporters that all those responsible for the tragedy had been punished.

According to an investigation conducted by the local government, the stampede took place when Duan Chengwei, a security officer in the supermarket, tried to stop people from rushing in by blockading an entrance with a table. But that move backfired and caused the stampede.

Duan was remanded to local judicial authorities after the investigation.

The investigation also showed that the store was responsible, both because of the mishandling of the emergency and a lack of accident prevention measures.

The Carrefour outlet was fined 500,000 yuan (about 68,000 U.S. dollars).

Two other persons deemed responsible for the incident, including the supervisor of the outlet, were also fined.

Twenty-three of the 31 injured have so far been discharged from the hospital.

The incident took place when a three-day promotion was launched at the hypermarket in the city's Shapingba District to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the French retail giant's opening in the city.

The shop offered an 11.5 yuan saving from the original price of51.4 yuan for a five-liter bottle of edible oil. When it opened its doors for business, huge crowds rushed in and the stampede began.

The Ministry of Commerce issued an emergency directive last month banning time-limited sales promotions following the deadly stampede.

I'm not sure how you enforce that in a country that bargains for everything. I just hate to see China go the way of the US where there is no concept of personal fault anymore. Everything bad that happens to you can be blamed on some company, and you can often collect a few bucks for it. I hope China learns from our ridiculous law suits and selects another course.

The Pride of the Aussies

One of two prodigal sons returns:

David Hicks walks out of Adelaide's Yatala prison this morning in circumstances somehow befitting his seven-year odyssey through radical Islam, the "war on terrorism" and the US's most notorious military prison.

It is a case that has captivated the nation, and politicians at the apex of power in the US and Australia. It is also, his father Terry Hicks says, a simple story of a wayward son who has now returned to the fold.

"He took an interest in something and it went wrong," Mr Hicks said yesterday, with considerable understatement. "He's really just like any other normal fellow. He just wants to get on with his life."

David Hicks grew up in the working class outer suburbs of Adelaide, a troublemaker who was expelled from high school and became a father at 18.

Short of stature, Hicks would big-note himself frequently to the irritation of friends and workmates. The mother of his two children, Jodie Sparrow, said he seemed "lost".

Hicks, who had been rejected by the Australian Army, drifted through menial jobs, depressed until he became obsessed by the conflict in Kosovo. He went to fight alongside Kosovo's Muslims.

He trained but never saw conflict, but this whet his appetite for Islam, and adventure.

Hicks left for Pakistan in 1999, where he joined Lashkar-e-Toiba, an organisation that had thousands of offices through Pakistan and had yet to be proscribed as a terrorist group. Hicks received extensive training, travelled to the border and fired weapons into Indian-controlled Kashmir.

In letters he boasted to his parents of his "adventure" in Pakistan. The letters were also filled with anti-semitic rants, pledges to die a martyr, his encounters with the "lovely" Osama bin Laden and his pride in being accepted as a Taliban member.

Eight to 10 years old, the letters have been regularly recycled to damage Hicks's standing, not least by the Australian Federal Police in court proceedings this month to impose a control order on him.

A fine sort obviously. What his father fails to elaborate on is that his son took an interest in terrorism and war and it went wrong and led him to Islam and ultimately Afghanistan. His son was a bum.

A powerful lesson to all. Before sending those well-intentioned "I love killing Jews and taking up arms against my own country" letters back home, be sure to remind your folks to promptly dispose of them lest they be used against you in a case of treason.

Hicks went to Afghanistan and became deeply immersed in training at al-Qaeda camps - everything from marksmanship to military tactics and surveillance. He later told US interrogators he declined to become a suicide bomber and was ostracised by his hardline comrades.

I bet they offer the role of suicide bomber to all their most promising recruits.

The rest of the story is a puff piece on how poor David became a pawn in a political game and contains a strong whiff of victimization. It ends with this warning of a book deal in the works.

Terry Hicks says his son will not been talking today, although a statement will be released. But, in a few months, when his US-imposed gag order is lifted, it is expected Hicks will tell his side of an extraordinary story.

Can't wait till it comes out.

The Iraq War

Victor Davis Hanson has a good overall look at the Iraq War to date. He begins by reminding us of why we are there:

After the victory of the 1991 Gulf War, a bipartisan consensus had emerged that Saddam Hussein had to be contained — by both arms and sanctions. Our government wanted to prevent him from using oil revenues to obtain more dangerous weapons, destroying more of his own people, and from attacking or invading yet a fifth nearby country. Few, if any, disagreed.

But after September 11, and the realization that state-sponsored terrorists from the Middle East had the desire to destroy the United States and the capability to do it great harm, the decade-long containment of Saddam Hussein, in light also of his serial violations of both armistice and U.N. accords, was considered inadequate. Few disagreed.

So both houses of Congress, backed by an overwhelming majority of the American people, authorized the use of military force to remove Saddam Hussein, at the vigorous request of the President.

Read the whole thing. It's a good piece.

Job Well Done

This'll look good in Pakistan.

For Benazir Bhutto, the decision to return to Pakistan was sealed during a telephone call from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just a week before Bhutto flew home in October. The call culminated more than a year of secret diplomacy — and came only when it became clear that the heir to Pakistan's most powerful political dynasty was the only one who could bail out Washington's key ally in the battle against terrorism.

"The U.S. came to understand that Bhutto was not a threat to stability but was instead the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact," said Mark Siegel, who lobbied for Bhutto in Washington and witnessed much of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Perhaps I'm a bit cynical, but this sounds like a big load of spin.

Obviously we tamper with other countries politics, but when we do a poor job of it and get caught, this is not a good thing. The formidable State Department might recall the response from the voters of Clark County, Iowa when a few English weighed in on the 2004 presidential election at the suggestion of The Guardian. If you've forgotten, I've reprinted a few letters from concerned Americans to the Guardian as a refresher. Strangely enough, it did not go down well. Pretty sure we'll get a similar response from Pakistan.

"[Bhutto] had been prime minister twice and had not been able to accomplish very much because she did not have power over the most important institutions in Pakistan — the ISI [intelligence agency], the military and the nuclear establishment," he said.

"Without controlling those, she couldn't pursue peace with India, go after extremists or transfer funds from the military to social programs," Galbraith said. "Cohabitation with Musharraf made sense because he had control over the three institutions that she never did. This was the one way to accomplish something and create a moderate center."

The turning point to get Musharraf on board was a September trip by Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte to Islamabad. "He basically delivered a message to Musharraf that we would stand by him, but he needed a democratic facade on the government, and we thought Benazir was the right choice for that face," said Bruce Riedel, former CIA and national security council staffer now at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy.

What I have read about Bhutto to date does not support the tall tale being spun like mad by Washington. She hasn't been presented as a model of virtue restricted in carrying out her Mother Theresa-esque agenda by the other brutes around her. In her prior life, she was hostile to India and making nice with the extremists on the borders of Afghanistan. As well as competently upholding the high standards of corruption in the region.

U.S. policy — and the commitment to Musharraf — remains unchanged. In a statement yesterday, Rice appealed to Pakistanis to remain calm and to continue seeking to build a "moderate" democracy.

"I don't think it would do any justice to her memory to have an election postponed or canceled simply as a result of this tragic incident," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. "The only people that win through such a course of action are the people who perpetrated this attack."

I'm sure Musharraf is grateful for the public endorsement. For the record, the Pakistanis hate us. 46% still think Osama bin Laden hung the moon. I suspect the 54% who think a little less of him are not card carrying American enthusiasts.

Again, I'm not naive. We openly rearranged Afghanistan and Iraq and would do the same for Iran and Syria if given half a chance. But I don't buy what they're selling on this one and either way, it reeks of Carter-style incompetence.

Americans' letters to the Guardian:

Have you not noticed that Americans don't give two shits what Europeans think of us? Each email someone gets from some arrogant Brit telling us why to NOT vote for George Bush is going to backfire, you stupid, yellow-toothed pansies ... I don't give a rat's ass if our election is going to have an effect on your worthless little life. I really don't. If you want to have a meaningful election in your crappy little island full of shitty food and yellow teeth, then maybe you should try not to sell your sovereignty out to Brussels and Berlin, dipshit. Oh, yeah - and brush your goddamned teeth, you filthy animals.
Wading River, NY

Consider this: stay out of American electoral politics. Unless you would like a company of US Navy Seals - Republican to a man - to descend upon the offices of the Guardian, bag the lot of you, and transport you to Guantanamo Bay, where you can share quarters with some lonely Taliban shepherd boys.
United States

KEEP YOUR FUCKIN' LIMEY HANDS OFF OUR ELECTION. HEY, SHITHEADS, REMEMBER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR? REMEMBER THE WAR OF 1812? WE DIDN'T WANT YOU, OR YOUR POLITICS HERE, THAT'S WHY WE KICKED YOUR ASSES OUT. FOR THE 47% OF YOU WHO DON'T WANT PRESIDENT BUSH, I SAY THIS ... TOUGH SHIT!
PROUD AMERICAN VOTING FOR BUSH!

Shame on you for using the people of Ohio like this. The US presidental election isn't just about foreign policy, it's about healthcare, taxes, education, transportation, natural resources and all manner of issues with little to no impact on the people of Britain.

We live in a globalised, interconnected world. If China shuts its borders to US imports, you better believe American companies, shareholders and workers are affected. Should US citizens therefore have a direct say in Chinese policies? No - Americans should demand that their own elected leaders address the issues with their Chinese counterparts. The British have a similar voice in US policies - through your own elected representatives who have any number of diplomatic, economic and military tools at their disposal. You vote for your leaders and we'll vote for ours. Your problem is with your leaders, not ours.
Washington DC

Real Americans aren't interested in your pansy-ass, tea-sipping opinions. If you want to save the world, begin with your own worthless corner of it.
Texas, USA

A Good Idea

[F]ormer Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee suggested that after the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the United States should, "have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our border, and particularly to make sure, if there's any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into the country. We just need to be very very thorough in looking at every aspect of our own security internally."

No failure to state the obvious here. I'd have hoped the US was watching the borders for Pakistanis coming into the country before Bhutto was gunned down.

Hillary is praying this guy is her opponent in the general election.

US Election From Abroad

It is difficult to watch a US election from another country without decent cable and a 14 hour time difference. Everyone looks either stupid, incompetent, conniving, deceitful or some other unattractive adverb - which most of them are.

My love of Bush hasn't grown in China, but I largely defend him in foreign policy - the only thing that counts to expatriates and foreigners. My defense does not come from some "my country right or wrong" idea. I think Bush took a bold assertive position on Iraq and Afghanistan, and I think it was the right decision. Yes that makes me a political pariah over here. I've only found one person who agrees with me, and he is Icelandic and can't vote. I've learned not to look for fights and only to give my opinion when asked unless the person is a close friend. Even then, I'm very careful.

Whether Bush has executed this war flawlessly can be debated. Perhaps because of earlier mistakes it will take longer to win. Perhaps it wouldn't have made any difference. The point is, his decision wasn't easy. He risked a lot in making it and standing by it and that is admirable. His education bill wasn't.

But in campaigns, some times the less said the better. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Pakistan at this time" should have been enough for any of the candidates. When you don't know what the hell is going on or what you are talking about and you're running for president, shut up.

Huckabee gets big bonus points with two good ones: "what impact does it have on whether or not there’s going to be martial law continuing in Pakistan" and "our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan". The second is easier to dismiss as a mild misstatement. The first - read the papers man! Pakistan is a large pocket of hell for the US, and a place I think our next president should be very familiar with. Legend has it that Osama is hanging out in some Pakistani cave; it is a hotbed for Islamic radicalism; and that election could have made a difference given that Bhutto was purportedly in favor of eliminating Al Qaeda (although she was tight with the Taliban in a former incarnation).

It reconfirmed that Ron Paul is an imbecile too, but that didn't need reconfirming.

Iowa

Peggy Noonan asks Iowa for a favor: Please pick a reasonable person. Who from the list are reasonable? She goes through a few here:

Duncan Hunter, Fred Thompson, and Bill Richardson are all reasonable--mature, accomplished, nonradical. Mike Huckabee gets enough demerits to fall into my not-reasonable column. John Edwards is not reasonable. All the Democrats would raise taxes as president, but Mr. Edwards's populism is the worst of both worlds, both intemperate and insincere. Also we can't have a president who spent two minutes on YouTube staring in a mirror and poofing his hair. Really, we just can't.

I agree. And a trial lawyer to boot.

China Eastern

This is a great idea - it looks like it is moving forward despite objections from China Air.

The partnership between China Eastern Airlines and Singapore Airlines will provide necessary financial resources and management expertise to help the Chinese firm achieve the goal of becoming a hub airline company based in Shanghai, China Eastern's President and Chairman Li Fenghua said Thursday.

Li told China Daily the share sale to the Singaporean company will provide the sorely needed funding to establish the mainland's third largest carrier as a credible hub airline in Shanghai.

Currently the Chinese airline lacks management expertise and is weak in product design, which give rise to losses in many of its international flights. It loses 1 million yuan on each flight bound for the United States and 3 million yuan for each bound for South Africa because of low occupancy rate.

These loses are amazing. Every flight I've ever been on between the US and China is packed. You can't get a seat in business without calling well in advance and the cabin always appears full. China Eastern is much cheaper than United or American, but the condition of the planes is worse (although the flight attendants on the Chinese airlines are far superior).

Manditory Salary Adjustments?

Here is a positively brilliant idea. The government has already made it more expensive to fire someone. Now let's tell companies what a "reasonable salary increase" is.

Sun Baoshu, vice minister of China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security, disclosed at a recent meeting that China is drafting a Salary Rule to solve such social problems as low salaries, slow increase of salaries, problems of collecting back pay for workers and establishing a normal salary increase and payment mechanism.

Sun says that to protect workers' rights in getting paid, the Chinese government at various levels are working to clear unpaid salary and improve their salary payment mechanisms. Sun says that by the end of 2007, most provinces in China will finish solving the unsolved salary problem and a few provinces that had more of such problems will finish the task in the first half of 2008.

The government just can't let the market work. Working on ensuring that workers get paid is a good move. Frequently construction workers are not paid by general contractors and other individuals in low level positions will get paid when and if the employer has the money. These practices need to stop.

But hopefully the government will back off issues of increases.

Scrappleface IV

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney today continued to defend his statement that he “saw” his father “march with Martin Luther King” as a figurative expression meaning George Romney supported the civil rights movement. The former Massachussetts governor added, “I also saw my Dad step off the ladder of the lunar module to make the first human footprint on the moon.”

Of course, the younger Romney said, “that means Dad was supportive of the Apollo space program.”

“In 1968, I saw my father beat Richard Nixon in a landslide,” he said, “in the sense that he was a better man than Nixon, and in my mind’s eye, I saw him in the Oval Office for eight of the best years in American history.”

The Romney campaign denounced accusations that the candidate had perhaps mistaken his father for Forrest Gump, a mythical character who managed to appear in highly-visible places at pivotal points in U.S. history.

Rival Mike Huckabee, who continues to campaign despite the Hollywood comedy writers’ strike, noted dryly, “I saw George Romney drinking a piña collada at Trader Vic’s. His hair was perfect.”

Problems in Britain

Two more incidents leading Tim Blair to conclude that Britain is Still Doomed:

An audience of British leftists is asked: “Do you feel morally superior to the Taliban?” Their response:

Only about a third raised a hand to say they did, a nice demonstration of relativist liberal guilt.

And in other British Taliban news:

Spies from Britain’s MI6 are thought to have held at least six meetings with key Taliban figures in order to negotiate a peace deal in Afghanistan’s south-eastern Helmand province.
The revelations are an embarrassment to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who just a fortnight ago denied in the British Parliament any such talks were taking place.

Two European envoys - one working for the EU, and another working for the UN - have been expelled from Afghanistan over these Talichats.

Year in Review II

Victor Davis Hanson reviews Hollywood's performance in 2007:

The American people go to the movies to be entertained and occasionally enlightened. They do not pay to be lectured to, brainwashed or made to feel ashamed of their own country and military. Brian De Palma's movie "Redacted" did all three and came and went from theaters faster than you could say "agitprop."

"Lions for Lambs," "Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah" did little better. The fates of these films should remind those in Hollywood that when we want to be preached at, we prefer church.

Dinner

There is a large orange cat that lives at one of the small cigarette stores on the corner between my apartment complex and my office. When the cat was small, the owners had it tethered to a chair in the shop to keep it from running away and to keep it from getting squashed by a car. The cat is there day in and day out. He is larger now and free to roam about untethered.

My colleague named him Dinner. He'd walk by and talk to the cat, "Heah Dinner. Whatcha doin' there Dinner?"

Who Cares?

Unfortunately this isn't from The Onion.

With about 150 supporters crowded around a podium set up on the tarmac of Orlando Executive airport (and about 20 Ron Paul supporters waving signs outside) Mike Huckabee strode out to the strains of “Right Now” by Van Halen and immediately addressed the Bhutto situation, expressing “our sincere concern and apologies for what has happened in Pakistan.”

Hitchens on Huckabee

No ambiguity here:

However, what Article VI does not do, and was never intended to do, is deny me the right to say, as loudly as I may choose, that I will on no account vote for a smirking hick like Mike Huckabee, who is an unusually stupid primate but who does not have the elementary intelligence to recognize the fact that this is what he is. My right to say and believe that is already guaranteed to me by the First Amendment. And the right of Huckabee to win the election and fill the White House with morons like himself is unaffected by my expression of an opinion.

In a breathtaking profile of Huckabee published in the Dec. 16 New York Times Magazine, we read under the byline of Zev Chafets the following euphemistic drivel:

Nowadays, Huckabee has more policy positions, but his campaign is really all about his Christian character. His slogan is "Faith, Family, Freedom," which Huckabee, who was once public-relations man for the Texas televangelist James Robison, wrote himself. Huckabee is no theocrat. He simply believes in the power of the Christian message, and in his ability to embody and deliver it. "It's not that we want to impose our religion on somebody," he wrote in Character Makes a Difference, a book first published in 1997 (as Character Is the Issue) and reissued earlier this year. "It's that we want to shape the culture and laws by using a worldview we believe has value."

Nice work, no? Can it really be true that "no theocrat" Huckabee wrote that whole slogan all by himself? While you ponder this massively impressive claim, I suggest that you look up the life and times of "the Texas televangelist James Robison" and ask yourself if, in voting against him or his smarmy underling, you would be acting or thinking unconstitutionally.

Awarding his subject a prize for performing the same cheap media trick that he has just performed himself, Chafets (who might also be described as a former public-relations man, but this time for Jerry Falwell's old friend and patron Menachem Begin) concludes by asserting that "Huckabee has become a master at disarming secular audiences." This big fat lie becomes a slender and wispy half-truth only if enough fools can be brought to believe it.

European Holidays

Steyn reflecting on the differences between Europe and the US (a retread from '05).

In America, the Christmas holiday is what it says: a holiday to observe Christmas. If it happens to fall on a Saturday or Sunday, tough. See you at work Monday morning. But across the Atlantic, if Christmas and New Year fall on the weekend, the ensuing weeks are eaten up by so many holidays they can’t even come up with names for them. I see from the well-named “Beautiful Ireland” calendar this newspaper sent me in lieu of a handsome bonus for calling the US elections correctly that January 3rd 2005 is a holiday in Ireland and Britain – the Morning After The Morning After Hogmanay – and the lucky Scots get January 4th off too – the First Hogtuesday After Hogmonday? Eventually, the entire Scottish economy will achieve the happy state of their enchanted village of Brigadoon and show up for one day every hundred years.

But Paris in August, like London “over Christmas”, is in itself a symbol of flight – flight from work. Europeans can match Americans in productivity per hour; it’s getting them to put in the hours that’s the problem. In 1999, the average “working” German worked 1,536 hours a year, the average American 1,976. In the US, 49% of the population is in employment, in France 39%. From my strictly anecdotal observation of German acquaintances, the ideal career track seems to be to finish school around 34 and take early retirement at 42. By 2050, the pimply young lad in lederhosen serving you at the charming beer garden will be singlehandedly supporting entire old folks’ homes. If tax rates were to be hiked commensurate to the decline in tax base and increase in welfare obligations, there would be no incentive at all to enter the (official) job market. Better to stay at school till 38 and retire at 39.

It would require enormous political will to shift the people of Europe. After you’ve turned citizens into junkies, with government as the pusher, it’s very hard to turn them back again, and even harder to get them to quit (if you’ll forgive the expression) cold turkey. It’s all but impossible in the present Continental political culture. Europe has a psychological investment in longer holidays: the fact that they spell national suicide is less important than that they distinguish Europe from the less enlightened Americans.

Many aspects of European life are, indeed, very pleasant: jobs for life, three-week Yuletides, etc. But they’re what the environmental crowd would call “unsustainable development”. Despite the best efforts of lethargic Scotsmen, it can’t be Christmas all year round.

Honor Killings

In a Pakistani newspaper called the Daily Times, Farrukh Saleem writes:

A year ago, Muhammad took a passenger to Applewood Heights Secondary School. Perchance, he spotted Aqsa without her headscarf. Since that day, a year ago, Aqsa had been showing up at school with bruised arms...

Honour killing is our export to Canada... Here’s a fact: Aqsa has been murdered. For us, denial is not an option. According to the United Nations Population Fund more than 5,000 women worldwide fall victim to honour killing. Denial is not an option.

According to the UN’s Special Rapporteur “honour killings had been reported in Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Yemen”. Egypt is 90 percent Muslim, Iran 98 percent, Jordan 92 percent, Lebanon 60 percent, Morocco 99 percent, Pakistan 97 percent, the Syrian Arab Republic 90 percent and Turkey 99 percent. Of the 192 member-states of the United Nations almost all honour killings take place in nine overwhelmingly Muslim countries. Denial is not an option.

More recently, honour killings have taken place in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada...

Banks to Government: Send Money

It's time for the Chinese government to bail out two of its large insolvent banks. The banking system here is a disaster.

China will soon provide capital injections for the long-planned restructuring of state-owned Agricultural Bank of China and China Development Bank (CDB), the head of the fund that will carry out the recapitalisations said on Tuesday.

Lou Jiwei, chairman of China Investment Corp (CIC), did not give a detailed timetable.

But his comments provide the clearest official signal yet that the restructuring of both CDB and AgBank [ABC.UL] is imminent, particularly after AgBank earlier this month denied reports that its restructuring plan had won Beijing's approval.

The injections will be carried out by Central Huijin, an investment arm of the central bank that was acquired earlier this year by CIC, the government's fledgling sovereign wealth fund.

The restructuring they refer to looks a lot like an "Enron" restructuring. They create a number of subsidiaries, put all their non-performing loans to state-owned industries in them and market the parent as a model of solvency that only the Fed could love.

This isn't news to anyone, but I still don't understand the heavy investment these banks are seeing from western banks like Citibank and Bank of America. It is a tremendous risk.

Ford in China

Ford Motor Company says it has delivered another record year in China, not only in terms of sales, but also with the ongoing introduction of a pioneering program that helps improve the standards and working conditions of companies in its supply network.

"Our goal is to have all of our suppliers in China participate in this management program" said Mei-Wei Cheng, chairman and CEO of Ford China. "Ford sees it as our direct responsibility to ensure that each of our partners are providing their staff with a legal and decent work environment and working conditions. It's a part of doing good business and we're willing to make an investment to help achieve this"

I believe that western businesses are doing more for the Chinese worker than all the labor laws passed by the government. Western companies provide structure, management, better wages, social insurance and a safe working environment. Chinese companies typically provide none of these. So all those idiots out there screaming about Nike taking advantage of labor in China and elsewhere should get on a plane and tour both facilities before passing judgement.

Holiday Reminder

As we are about to celebrate Christmas spending time with our families and friends, let us all do our best to live up to the true spirit of this season — and to make it a time filled with love, faith, gratitude, hope, charity, and... yes, let’s try for some peace on earth. Let’s also remember the military families and our wounded heroes, who will spend this Christmas at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Medical Center, and other medical facilities across the nation. As we rush anxiously around because we “haven’t found the perfect gift” for so-and-so, these families hope and pray for gifts that cannot be put under a tree: a hand that squeezes back, a smile, the first step on a new prosthesis, or a positive medical report.

They need our prayers and support at Christmas and every day. Please give what you can to any of the wonderful organizations that support our bravest and their families.

More News From Eurabia

Muslim plans to broadcast a loudspeaker call to prayer from a city centre mosque have been attacked by local residents who say it would turn the area into a “Muslim ghetto”.

Dozens of people packed out a council meeting to express their concerns over the plans for a two-minute long call to prayer to be issued three times a day, saying that it could drown out the traditional sound of church bells.

But a spokesman for the Central Mosque said that Muslims also have the right to summon worshippers.

Dr Mark Huckster, who lives in Stanton Road and works at East Oxford hospice Helen House, told the Oxford Mail: “The proposal to issue a prayer call is very un-neighbourly, especially in a crowded urban space such as Oxford. I have lived in the Middle East and a prayer call has a very different feel to church bells and I personally found the noise extremely unpleasant, rather disturbing and very alien to the western mindset.”

He added: “If an evangelical Christian preacher proposed issuing sermons three times a day at full volume there would be an outcry. There could be a sense of ghettoisation of East Oxford. Cowley Road would have a Muslim flavour and could become a Muslim ghetto which is contrary to what we want in a multicultural society.”

A Year in Review

George Will reviews Congress's work in 2007:

Hell bent on driving its approval rating into single digits, Congress adjourned after passing an omnibus spending bill larded with at least 8,993 earmarks costing at least $7.4 billion -- the precise number and amount will be unclear until implications of some obscure provisions are deciphered. The gusher of earmarks was a triumph of bipartisanship, which often is a synonym for kleptocracy.

This was the first year since 1994 that Democrats controlled both houses. Consider Congress' agreeably meager record:

It raised the hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 -- less than the $7 entry wage at McDonald's -- thereby increasing the wages of less than 0.5 percent of the work force. Rebuffing George W. Bush, who advocates halting farm subsidies to those with adjusted gross incomes of more than $200,000, the Senate also rejected -- more bipartisanship -- a cap at $750,000. This, in spite of the fact that farm income has soared to record levels, partly because Congress shares the president's loopy enthusiasm for ethanol and wants more corn and other agricultural matter turned into fuel.

Bruce Raynor, president of the union Unite Here, expressed organized labor's compassionate liberalism when he urged sparing workers the burden of democracy: "There's no reason to subject workers to an election." The House agreed, voting for "card check" organizing that strips workers of their right to a secret ballot when deciding for or against unionization of their workplace. Unions, increasingly unable to argue that they add more value than they subtract from workers' lives, crave the "card check" system. Under it, once a majority of workers, pressured one at a time by labor organizers, sign a card, the union is automatically certified as the bargaining agent for all the workers. Senate Republicans blocked this, but the Senate Democrats voted to cripple the Department of Labor agency that requires union bosses to explain how they spend their members' money.

Good work gentlemen and ladies!

China's Growing Pains

Newsweek has an article on the rise of China that contains this interesting paragraph:

But whether this forward movement—economic and political—will continue has become the crucial question for China. It is a question that is being asked not just in the West but in China, and for practical reasons. The regime's main problem is not that it's incurably evil but that it is losing control over its own country. Growth has empowered localities and regions to the point that decentralization is now the defining reality of Chinese life. Central tax collection is lower than in most countries, a key indicator of Beijing's weakness. On almost every issue—slowing down lending, curbing greenhouse-gas emissions—the central government issues edicts that are ignored by the provinces. As China moves up the value chain, so the gap between rich and poor grows dramatically. Large sectors of the economy and society are simply outside the grip of the Communist Party, which has become an elite technocracy, sitting above the 1.3 billion people it leads.

So true. It is amazing how impotent Beijing is in parts of China. Watching Shanghai thumb its nose at the national government was quite surprising. I didn't understand for a long time that there are large swaths of the country that Beijing doesn't control.

Central tax collection is the source of many jokes here. Chinese companies don't pay taxes. The government's revenue comes from VAT taxes and western companies.

I think one of China's biggest challenges is that its citizens think and plan independently. Other than family, nothing and no one else factors in. There is no "how will this affect the neighborhood". It is "me and only me" and "today" vs "tomorrow". This thinking is magnified when it comes to cities and provinces. Each city operates as an island and city officials try to avoid major land mines randomly thrown out by Beijing.

An example. In December 2006, Beijing enacted a new law governing the sale of public land. All public land must be auctioned and sold to the highest bidder. A client was in the process of negotiating for a piece of property in a development zone and was concerned about what affect the law would have on negotiations. "Don't worry." said the official. "We'll arrange to have some bidders present and you'll get the land for the negotiated price."

This attitude explains why money for environmental cleanup never makes it down the line. Public officials each take a little for themselves so that there is never any money left to do that actual work.

German Christmas

I am a member of a group that meets frequently and tends to be fairly tight because we share a common hobby. One of the members of the group, a Barvarian fellow, had a Christmas party this afternoon which was well-attended by folks and their spouses.

They are generally fun gatherings because people are from different countries and have different takes on life, politics, food, etc. Our host's parents were there and prepared a very nice German spread. Sausages, sausages and more sausages. And a lot of bread. By the end of the party, there were a lot of people sitting around growning from the amount of sausages in their guts.

I had 5. Near death, I quit eating. There was a Kiwi telling us about New Zealand. Do you know that it has earthquakes all the time. Once month, not so often. I call that often. Apparently it helps if you build your homes out of wood.

The Thai was cold the whole time. I don't blame her. Thailand is pretty nice this time of year. Not Shanghai.

Great fun.

Good News II

Holy Smoke! Many kudos to this judge who let the government do its job.

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday upheld a government decision to refuse a prominent Swiss Muslim entry into the United States, saying the question of denying visas was best left to the authorities [good for him! - ed].

The United States had revoked the visa of Tariq Ramadan, an academic at Britain’s Oxford University and a vocal critic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its support of Israel.

The State Department initially gave no reason, but later said Ramadan had been barred under a provision of the USA Patriot Act that bars anyone who endorses terrorism. In October the American Civil Liberties Union denied this and argued Ramadan’s exclusion was therefore unlawful.

But U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty sided with U.S. government lawyers who argued the courts did not have the power to review visa denials. “The government has provided a facially legitimate and bona fide reason for Professor Ramadan’s exclusion,” Crotty said.

A New Presidential Candidate

A funny from Iowahawk.

LGF Humor

Are you concerned about getting your ludicrous antisemitic propaganda out to the world in time for Christmas? Not to worry! Agence France Presse is always there to help:

Israeli guards beat five demonstrators, including one dressed as Father Christmas, during a protest on Friday against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank, organisers said.

About 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists attended the rally in the village of Um Salomona, near Bethlehem, the Biblical birthplace of Jesus that is preparing to celebrate Christmas.

Israeli border guards armed with truncheons briefly detained one activist and beat another five during the rally, the organisers told AFP, adding that one was wearing a Santa Claus costume.

National Safety

People don't get excited about anything that infringes on their civil liberties. I understand that. Generally when you give the government something, it doesn't give it back regardless of the conditions in which the concessions were made.

And there always seems to be some threat to the world. In my youth, it was communism. Now it is the Islamic movement. But when we are in the throws of the battle trying to keep citizens safe and sound, it seems prudent that laws designed to keep us safe be interpreted liberally to allow governments as much flexibility as possible.

Last week I blogged about Diplomatic Assurances and several cases in Britain where courts determined that the British government did not have the authority to deport several Libyans because of the threat to their safety that their home countries posed. This despite that the British government had determined the Libyans were a security threat to Britain (which is saying something if you follow what a number of the British Mullahs are preaching these days).

Here is a recent case in Belgium.

A judge on Saturday released 14 men who had been accused of plotting to break a suspected supporter of Al Qaeda out of prison here, saying there was too little evidence to hold them.

Prosecutors said the investigation would continue, as would heightened security measures imposed across the country after the men were detained in raids on Friday. “We think there is still a threat,” said Lieve Pellens, spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor’s office.

The government had said it had information that the suspects were plotting to use explosives and other weapons to free Nizar Trabelsi, 37, a Tunisian serving 10 years for planning to a drive a car bomb into the cafeteria of a Belgian air base where about 100 American military personnel were stationed.

But Ms. Pellens said Saturday that a search of the suspects’ homes had uncovered no explosives, weapons or other evidence to warrant charges or keep them in jail.

Perhaps the judge made the right call. I doubt it. If something happens and these find gentlemen manage to take any Belgian lives, it will be interesting to see what the public reaction is.

How often do we have to listen to the American public complain about that actions that weren't taken by Immigration and various law enforcement agencies against a number of the 19 terrorists responsible for 9/11? They had overstayed their visas or they had minor legal violations or they were taking flight lessons but didn't care to learn how to land the plane . . . We had opportunities to get rid of them that could have resulted in 3,000 lives saved. I think that's worth some heavy handedness.

Christmas in Shanghai

I'm staying in Shanghai this Christmas with significant reservations. The only people who do not leave for the holidays are the people who call Shanghai home (permanently). Even most of those people leave.

A number of my friends hate the holidays. I don't. I love holidays. I love giving presents, I love the festive atmosphere, I love the food and I love having friends and relatives around. I love Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The only holiday that I do not like is New Year's Eve. Perhaps because it comes on the heals of Christmas, it is always a let down. I don't want to be on the streets because of all the drunks. You can't get into restaurants.

So, I'm here for Christmas and I'm a bit grumpy about that. Originally, it appeared that several of my friends were going to stay. They all wisely changed their minds upon further reflection. I bought a Christmas tree several weeks ago and haven't mustered enough Christmas spirit to decorate the thing. I think it might already be dead.

My secretary who is Chinese and does not celebrate Christmas per se is exceptionally thoughtful. She announced that I will come home with her on Christmas Eve and will stay the night. We'll spend Christmas morning together. This is much better than my other alternative which is nothing. I have to come up with some presents. Her husband likes to drink beer and smoke, so I can get him some good cigarettes and booze. These may sound like strange Christmas gifts, but they are very common and prudent gifts to take men in China. She likes a lot of things.

Both she and her husband will come to the US with me in February when I move back. We'll head to Palm Springs for a long weekend and then my folks will take them to San Diego and LA to see the zoo, Disneyland and Universal Studios or whatever they have out there now. As I've mentioned, my parents live for things like that and they are very good at it. They know my secretary and her husband very well from both trips to China and prior trips to the US.

One friend who left yesterday has left me the use of his car and driver. This is a huge bonus and a very fine Christmas gift and will allow me to do some things that are otherwise quite difficult. I have conned a friend of mine who is knowledgeable about art into going around to different gallaries with me tomorrow and explaining the difference between good and bad art. I should be very familiar with bad art. It is my specialty. But what makes good art good?

I was at the Christie's auction in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago and terrible looking stuff was priced at hundreds of thousands of US dollars. I want to know why a big splash of red paint on a white canvas is $600,000 whereas a nice pastoral scene is $6,000 (actually, there wasn't anything at the auction for $6,000). Anyway, I expect to be incredibly knowledgeable after this.

Trade Surplus

VAT rebate adjustments implemented this year should have a very material impact on exports in 2008. The largest rebate cut occurred in early July and was such a surprise that few vendors had an opportunity to react. There was a rush to get goods to port and out of the country prior to the effective date of the regulations, but given that there were only three weeks between the announcement and implementation of the cuts, there was little people could do.

The Ministry of Finance said adjustments to import and export duties have ‘played a positive role’ in containing the country’s expanding trade surplus. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said China’s trade surplus growth slowed markedly the second half as a result of the measures taken.

The ministry said that from August to October, China exports’ year-on-year growth was 6.1 percentage points lower compared to the first seven months of the year, while trade surplus growth decreased by 50 percentage points.

Since November 2006, China has cut import duties several times on products the country needs urgently while beginning to levy or increase taxes on exports of natural resources or products whose manufacture is energy-intensive or highly polluting. China — previously a net coal exporter — became a net importer in the first 10 months this year, due to lower import taxes, the ministry added.

Because of existing contracts, many US buyers were unable to react in 2007. In 2008, that will change.

The Chinese government carefully picked industries that drain its natural resources or heavy polluting industries. These were industries that the government hoped to discourage anyway. Obviously these changes don't affect companies producing for the domestic market, because they aren't eligible for VAT rebates.

It predominantly affects straight export and processing trade.

Keep Pushing

The Singapore Airlines acquisition would be a very positive move for China Eastern. If the Chinese government is in favor of it, Air China will back down. I haven't heard what is going on behind the scenes with this potential merger, and it would be interesting to know.

China Eastern Airlines has said it will persevere its attempts to get shareholder backing for the sale of a 24% stake to Singapore Airlines and Temasek for US$923 million, the South China Morning Post reported.

The airline has so far made little headway in bringing support on board. China National Aviation Holding (CNAH), the parent company of Air China, owns 12.07% of China Eastern's H-shares as well as funds that have stakes in the airline, is threatening to oppose the sale, claiming the price is too low. However, China Eastern chairman Li Fenghua said he would "keep asking for a vote until the same proposal is approved at the board meeting."

The meeting is scheduled for January 8. Li made entreaties to CNAH on Wednesday, visiting the group's headquarters for talks and later saying that it had "expressed understanding of and support for the deal."

China Considers Allowing Hong Kong Elections

Here is some great news. I hope China moves forward with it.

Beijing has hinted that it may consider allowing Hong Kong's chief executive to be elected by universal suffrage in 2012, the South China Morning Post reported. State media quoted a leading official of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong as saying that current Chief Executive Donald Tsang was correct in his judgment that the public was in favor of a direction election in five years. Tsang had earlier reported to Beijing that while people were behind the move, introducing it in 2017 offered the best chance of securing majority backing. The state media news release came out half an hour before the chief executive met with 21 pan-democrat lawmakers and informed them that Beijing would give "active consideration" to his judgment. The Politburo Standing Committee will consider Tsang's report next week.

Keep in mind that the Brits appointed governors, so this move would be more democratic than existed under British rule.

Meeting Etiquette

A word about group meetings. In general, they are the biggest waste of time known to man. A one on one meeting with a client tends to be very useful. When the talking points are over, the meeting is over. But when 5 or more people get together to discuss a number of topics on an agenda, the reverse is true. There is always one person, usually more than one person, who doesn't understand what the meeting is about.

Here are some general guidelines:

1. Understand the purpose of the meeting. If we meet to discuss fundraising possibilities for a business non-profit organization, no one there wants to discuss what the font size should be on the organization's website. That is not the purpose of the meeting and it is a waste of my time to debate it. If we discuss the possibility of charging for an education session to members of an industry, I don't want to discuss the types of materials that would need to be distributed.

2. If you have nothing valuable to add, use restraint and shut up. To those of you who don't know how to sit in a meeting and not talk, a word of advice: general strategy sessions are just that. They exist to debate the pros and cons of various approaches to solving problems. They do not exist so you can demonstrate your knowledge of some minutia detail that won't be an issue if we can't talk our way through the major points.

3. Don't continue to debate the unknowable. If we don't know the answer to a particular issue, assign the topic to someone to look into outside the meeting and give them a deadline for reporting the information to the group. There is absolutely no point in continuing to debate a topic when the critical piece of information is not in the room. Done, move on to the next topic.

4. When necessary, form a committee. Do not try to solve a complicated problem with 20 people in the room, 15 of whom do not care about the problem to begin with. Form a committee and debate the issue outside of the 15 uninterested people and then report your findings in a clear concise way at the next general meeting.

5. Provide an agenda and manage the meeting. The person who calls the meeting should be organized enough to spend 2.5 seconds typing out an agenda and spend the entire meeting keeping people on track. You know that person who wants to discuss the color of the ink is out there - you have to find a way to occupy him/her so he/she won't run away with the meeting. Try putting the snacks in front of him/her.

Nice People

A top Muslim cleric in Iran, Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hassani said on Wednesday that women in Iran who do not wear the hijab or Muslim headscarf, should die.

"Women who do not respect the hijab and their husbands deserve to die," said Hassani, who leads Friday prayers in the city of Urumieh, in Iranian Azerbaijan.

"I do not understand how these women who do not respect the hijab, 28 years after the birth of the Islamic Republic, are still alive," he said.

"These women and their husbands and their fathers must die," said Hassani, who is the representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in eastern Azerbaijan.

British Judicial System

What it means to be British these days.

A convicted criminal has moved in with a married couple against their wishes after giving their address in court as his home.

Shane Sims, 19, has spent the last few days living with Brenda and Robert Cole after he was sentenced to a week’s curfew for breaching a supervision order.

But the couple claim the first they knew about it was when Sims, a friend of their daughter, moved in on Thursday - followed by security contractors who put a box in a bedroom to monitor his movements with an ankle tag. Sims’ tag keeps him indoors between 7pm and 7am much to the horror of the Coles, who both have learning difficulties.

Mrs Cole, 47, said: “It’s turned our lives upside down He’s taken over the whole place. He sprawls across the sofa and he’s always in the bathroom when you need it. It’s an absolute disgrace. They’ve let a criminal come into our home and there is nothing we can do about it.” ...

Sims appeared before magistrates last Thursday where he admitted breaching a two-year supervision order imposed for assault. He gave the Coles’ Bristol address as his bail address but the Probation Service did not verify it. Sims claims he was told he could stay by the Coles’ 16-year-old daughter Tanya after he fell out with his father.

He allegedly told Mrs Cole: “I’m staying here until the tag’s off. There’s f**k all you can do about it. The courts have told me to.”

A Closer Look at CAIR

As LGF notes, it is positively shocking that the San Francisco Chronicle printed this article which takes a closer look at the thugs over at CAIR.

A favored CAIR tactic is to push the specter of anti-Muslim hate crimes, as if to imply that the United States is a hostile environment for Muslims. The overriding narrative holds that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were the catalyst for a wave of unfounded hostility towards Islam. Never mind the fact that it is not anti-Muslim hate crimes that have been on the rise since Sept. 11 but rather anti-Jewish hate crimes, the United States is still the most religiously and ethnically tolerant nation in the world. This may perhaps explain why, as compared to other parts of the West, Muslims are thriving in America. But one would never know this to listen to CAIR’s dire reports.

Among the supposed anti-Muslim hate crimes sweeping the nation are death threats, a claim that has a habit of popping up whenever criticism is directed toward high-profile Muslim groups or individuals. It seems awfully coincidental that, following the announcement of Savage’s lawsuit, the FBI began investigating a death threat claim brought by Basim Elkarra, director of CAIR’s Sacramento chapter, which he insists resulted from the public feud. Strangely enough, Elkarra also reported a death threat after Sen. Boxer, as mentioned above, rescinded his award. While the basis for Elkarra’s current claim remains to be seen, such threats are in fact a hazard of public life and aren’t necessarily the doing of one’s political opponents. The truth of the matter is that those who dare to critique Islam — Muslims and ex-Muslims among them — are themselves most at risk of death threats in the current political and religious climate.

Mohammed Takes Second

For the last 13 years Jack has been the most popular boys' name in the land.

But in multicultural Britain children named after the Muslim prophet Mohammed come a close second.

In a reflection of the increasing influence of Islam, figures released yesterday showed the most popular spelling of the name - Mohammed - had climbed five places to 17th in the annual list of top baby names.

However, when the seven other spellings of the name are taken into account, the total comes to 6,347 babies, making it the second most popular name of the year - up from 5,936 last year.

Although Jack topped the list with 6,772 babies, that figure fell 156 on last year, meaning if the trends were repeated next year, Mohammed and its variant spellings would be the most popular choice in England and Wales.

The other spellings are Muhammad, Mohammad, Muhammed, Mohamed, Mohamad, Muhamed and Mohammod.

Britian is in for a big surprise over the next couple of decades.

Guess Who?

Could this freak get any weirder?

The Race to the Bottom Continues

China Eastern Airlines failed to win a gesture of support from its rival and shareholder Air China for a stake sale to Singapore Airlines Ltd during a meeting of top executives, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday. Citing unnamed sources, the official newspaper said China Eastern Chairman Li Fenghua and President Cao Jianxiong held a three-hour meeting on Wednesday with their Air China counterparts Li Jiaxiang and Cai Jianjiang to explain the significance of the planned China Eastern alliance with Singapore Airlines. However, Air China did not express support for the deal, the newspaper said.

Yeah. Air China is afraid China Eastern managment will learn to clean its planes giving China Eastern an unfair commercial advantage over Air China.

M&A in China

Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in China jumped 18 percent to more than 1,700 in the first 11 months of 2007,a report released on Wednesday said. The total M&A deals were worth more than 80 billion U.S. dollars, up 25 percent from the same period a year earlier, said a Price waterhouseCoopers (PWC) report.

Of the total, 987 deals were conducted by domestic firms, an annual increase of 45 percent. The deals were valued at 50.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 53 percent from the previous year. "Domestic capital continues to dominate M&A activities in China," said Zhao Liang, the director leading PWC's Transactions Strategy team in Beijing.

M&A saw robust growth in the financial services, property, manufacturing and mining sectors, the report stated. It added that during the January-November period, the number of M&A by private equity funds reached more than 140 and were worth 10.6 billion U.S. dollars. Overseas M&A by Chinese companies were valued at 16.4 billion U.S. dollars, Zhao said.

718 deals were conducted by foreign companies. That includes Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India and possibly Hong Kong. I don't know how they are treating Hong Kong these days. 718 doesn't seem like much considering what's going on in China. These deals are trickier for US companies due to Sarbanes Oxley. The reporting requirements are problematic.

As I understand it, the US company could be required to report all FCPA problems, tax avoidance issues and labor issues of the target company prior to aquisition by the US Company. What that means, is that US companies subject to SOX are left with the asset acquisition option because every single Chinese company will have problems in those three areas.

Al Qaeda - The Year in Review

This is very interesting. It's similar to a Year in Review for the terrorist movement and Al Qaeda specifically. The analysis is by and large positive.

BBC, CNN & Other "News" Stations

Yesterday the BBC had a report on New Jersey's decision to scrap the death penalty. The BBC isn't a favorite, but I was on the treadmill and HBO, Cinemax, National Geographic and Lifetime had nothing on - no surprises there. The reporter mentioned that the US puts more people to death in a year than Iraq, Iran, China and Syria. Pardon?

Why do "news" stations report official statistics from places like Iraq and Iran without any qualifiers when it is a historical fact that their official statistics are incorrect. It makes BBC & Co. look ridiculous.

You'll have to run your own search to verify this easily verifiable fact; Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch aren't popular in China, and my searches are blocked. Thanks China.

In 2007, 42 inmates were executed in the United States. In 2006, that number was 53. How many people do you think disappear each year in any one of the Middle Eastern countries? If I could run a search, I'd let you know.

Now I'll get back to searching the web for interesting stories on TAIWAN, TIANANMEN SQUARE, and FULAN GONG.

Friedman's Brilliance Lost on Me

I know Thomas Friedman is "brilliant" and knowledgeable about the Middle East and supposedly China, and that he's written many "bibles" for these regions [From Beruit to Jerusalem, The World is Flat, etc], but I can't stand him. Should all people working in China read The World is Flat? I don't know.

Writing for the NYT, his style should be more formal, but it seems to come off as common and condescending. Here's yesterday's opener:

As readers of this column know, I have a rule that there is a simple way to test whether any Arab-Israeli peace deal is real or not: If you need a Middle East expert to explain it to you, it’s not real. I now have the same rule about global climate agreements: If you need an environmental expert to explain it to you, it’s not real.

I needed 10 experts to explain to me the Bali climate agreement — and I was there! I’m still not quite sure what it adds up to. I’m not opposed to forging a regime with 190 countries for reducing carbon emissions, but my gut tells me that both the North and South Poles will melt before we get it to work.

For a top notch writer, that's an awful lot of I's and me's. It's two whole paragraphs, and he hasn't told me a thing. And he's not funny.

UPDATE: Check this out.

A Little Stocking Stuffer Idea

This is sweet.

A children’s sing-along DVD for would-be suicide bombers is being investigated by police after being found on sale in one of Britain’s terrorist hotbeds.

The disturbing disc of music videos - part of an Egyptian-made series [actually from the Palestinians – ed LGF.] - shows a young girl singing about following in the footsteps of her suicide bomber mother. A group of self-proclaimed orphans also turn against the West over the plight of the Palestinian people.

The shocking DVD was purchased in Bradford, West Yorks, and full details of the Leeds-based UK distributors are contained on the back of the cover. The West Yorkshire Police specialist counter terrorism unit are investigating the contents - which contain three tracks sung by children in Arabic with English subtitles.

The first song is about two children who lose their mother when she becomes a suicide bomber.

The song is believed to be a reference to Reem al-Reyashi, a 22-year-old Palestinian mother-of-two who blew herself up on January 14, 2004, at a crossing, in the Gaza Strip, killing four Israelis.

The video begins with an Arab woman playing with her two children, then leaving her home with dynamite tucked in her dress, blowing herself up after being challenged by uniformed soldiers, and her children and husband finding out about her death on TV.

After finding out about the suicide on television, her small daughter finds a stick of dynamite in her mother’s wardrobe and turns to the camera with the subtitles: “My love will not be by words. I will follow my mother’s steps.”

From LGF.

Education Today

Exactly what is this supposed to teach students?

The students had a role-play project: assume a Latino identity, build an imaginary life in your home country and develop a workable plan to immigrate to the United States.

Try it legally, Erica Vieyra told her 40 senior Spanish students at Olentangy Liberty High School. Fill out the correct documents, follow the proper steps. And then, after they spent days completing the actual paperwork from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, she took out her red ink pad and stamped a big, fat DENIED across every request.

Happens all the time. This should teach them to feel luck they were born in the US and never forget that advantage.

Now, let's teach the children how to break the law:

Now, she told the students, come illegally. Forge your documents, find a way across the border. Then, research real ads and find a place to live in Columbus. Figure out what it would cost, how to get food. Plan how to survive.

The students had to go to real businesses and ask for Spanish-language job applications. They had to visit a bank and ask for new-account documents written in Spanish.

Vieyra promised them that the process -- even in make-believe -- would frustrate them. But they would gain, she hoped, an understanding of what is one of the most important political and humanitarian issues facing the U.S. government today.

After three weeks of work, the students presented their projects yesterday and discussed their conclusions. Most said it was a grueling experience to even pretend to walk in an immigrant's shoes.

I think we should try another experiment. Little Suzy graduates from college and decides that America is too oppressive for her and she's having trouble finding a job. She applies to immigrate into Saudi Arabia because she thinks she can made a better life for herself there and meet some interesting people.

She fills out all the paperwork and is rejected. Not easily deterred, she manages to get into the country anyway. She doesn't speak the language and has a difficult time trying to find a place to live and a job to support herself. Then one day one her male neighbors reports her for not wearing hijab and it is determined that she is an abomination to Allah and must receive 200 lashes.

The point of this story is not that Saudi Arabia is a horrible place, but that when a country refuses to grant you a visa, you have absolutely no right to go there. Period. If you do, your risk mistreatment or as in the case of the States a difficult time finding shelter and a job. You have no right to complain about your situation. To teach children otherwise is a disservice.

She should stick to math and literature.

We Want to Help

The World Bank is planning joint projects in Africa with China's Export-Import Bank to address concerns that Beijing is taking more than it gives as it scours the continent for oil and minerals. World Bank President Robert Zoellick, wrapping up a four-day trip to China, said the pros and cons of the country's push into Africa had been an important topic during his talks with senior officials including Ex-Im Bank Governor Li Ruogu. Chinese investors were building infrastructure and generating revenues for poor countries. But tapping Africa's natural resources also highlighted the need to ensure transparency and avoid corruption, Zoellick told a news conference.

"Governor Li and I both agreed we should try to develop a project or projects in Africa during the course of the next year," Zoellick said. He gave no details but said he had discussed with Li how the World Bank could help to train sub-contractors so that Ex-Im Bank can meet its goal of employing more African workers.

Here's a good example of when "yes" doesn't mean "yes".

Check Out Our Really Primative Banks

Gosh. I bet this is tempting. Our banks in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen are insolvent and mismanaged, but we'd like to encourage you to move into the less developed banking sector.

Foreign banks, which are expanding rapidly in China, would gain preference if they apply to move into the country's less-developed interior, a banking official said on Tuesday. China fully opened its doors to foreign banks last December, honoring a promise it made when joining the World Trade Organization in 2001. So far, 13 foreign lenders have incorporated locally, a precondition required by the banking regulator for full access to China's retail banking market. "We will keep guiding foreign banks to expand reasonably in China and give preferences to their applications to branch into middle and western regions," Qi Jianming, a senior official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission said in an online interview broadcast on the central government's Web site www.gov.cn.

I was chatting with a long-time China expat at lunch yesterday, and he expressed his surprise that western banks were willing to sink so much cash into Chinese banks. I couldn't agree more. I used to look at large companies and believe they had the inside track on things. If they were investing in an area, it was probably a good deal.

Not any more. China can break things that weren't broken before. There is a mystique about this place that with 1.3 billion consumers you have to get in early. But sometimes early is too early. Sometimes regulations, the inadequate legal system and the primative state of the industry combine to create a large black pit into which companies dump tons of money that is irretrievable.

Gift Ideas for Christmas

We're getting into the last days before Christmas and some folks out there are wondering what to buy their loved ones. I'm a very skilled Christmas shopper so I'll share some of my ideas with you.

The Hypochondriac

What to get the hypochondriac in the family? We all have one. We call ours Dad. This Christmas, be sure to get him something to prepare him for the next illness.

Has he been complaining about neck and back trouble - of course he has. This thoughtful gift is designed for just these complaints and takes only a few hours to assemble.



Several years ago, in response to an inquiry from my sister about what to get my father for Father's Day, my mother suggested a stool for the shower so he wouldn't be forced to stand. My sister responded that if our father was too f%^$ing lazy to stand in the shower he should take a bath. That suggestion never left our thoughts, and for his birthday, we came up with this:

It's timeless and says I know it takes great effort to stand up and sit down. I believe it comes with a magazine rack attached.

You never know when tibia cancer will strike, so it's a smart move to be one step ahead.

If you can't put weight on a foot or ankle because of injury, illness or surgery, ActiveForever.com has the solution for you - the Turning Leg Caddy Knee Scooter! The Turning Leg Caddy is designed for anyone who has an injury below the knee. Standard crutches cause underarm discomfort, balance problems and other adverse consequences. Unlike conventional walkers, the Turning Leg Caddy leaves both hands free for daily tasks. 120 degree turning radius allows for easy mobility and a hand brake provides maximum control. The Turning Leg Caddy is more maneuverable than wheelchairs and easier to transport. The Turning Leg Caddy has every possible feature and is the most maneuverable leg caddy / knee scooter on the market. Just compare it to the Rollabout!

As you probably know, there's nothing more frightening than not knowing what your illness is. Your hypochondriac probably has a host of medical books and journals to help him diagnose his problem, but sometimes symptoms don't add up. Your thumb hurts and you have a rash on your leg - no doubt they are connected, but how?

It could be that he's contracted a rare disease prevalent only in the more remote parts of the world. Consider the Hidden Gifts of Nature this Christmas. It provides a description of today’s use of plants in West Bushmanland (Namibia) and the healing powers of each plant along with a list of possible illnesses.

The Person Who Has It All

The person who doesn't seem to want or need anything can be the most difficult. This is my sister. Each year is a struggle to come up with something creative that says you mean a lot to me. Start by asking yourself: What does this person enjoy doing?

As luck would have it, my sister enjoys gardening, so something for the garden would be in order.

With his characteristically big feet, our over two-foot- tall Garden Yeti will have guests doing a double-take as they admire your creative gardening style! With alleged sightings the world over from the highest Himalayas to the northwest United States, this elusive, mythical legend has been captured exclusively for toscano in quality designer resin and finely hand-painted for startling realism. (12 lbs.) 19 1/2" W x 19" D x28 1/2" H.

Luckily, she's an animal lover and has two cats and three large dogs including a yellow lab, a black labish thing and a black labish thing/pit bull cross. This opens up to door to numerous gift ideas:



The Decorator

The perfect gift for the decorator can easily be turned into a gift for all. Mom enjoys dressing up the house each season and we want to make her chore a little easier -

Instead of spending hours up a ladder attaching lights to your house, take a few minutes to set this weatherproof light projector on your front lawn and transform your homes entire facade into an illuminated snowscape. The projector creates gently falling snow flurries or other images across a 60'-wide expanse by directing a bright white beam onto a rotating mirror ball. Turn the mirror ball housing and you can adjust direction (up, down, side to side, diagonal) of the flakes, while a simple switch adjusts rate of fall.

The projector also comes with a set of additional interchangeable slides (eight total including snowflake slide) that slip into the lamp housing for a variety of images, including: deer, stars, balloons, skaters, witches, bats, and ghosts. Projector rests on a stable stand.

Don't let the neighbors forget it's not just about the presents.

The neighbors are sure to thank you.

The other obvious choice is something for the yard that she can decorate regardless of the season. I know my mom would be thrilled to wake up Christmas morning to this sitting in the frontyard, and I bet your mom would be too.

A real to life replica that is large enough to attract the attention of Wagon Train enthusiasts, yet small enough to move about in your yard. Handcrafted of Western Red Cedar, the Conestoga Wagon makes an attractive addition to any yard or garden, or would make an intriguing interior conversation piece. The cover (hand sewn of tough material for exterior durability) is supported with aluminum hoops.

Length of body - 39”

Overall length with tongue - 62”

Height - 26” Width - 18”

Wheel sizes Front - 10” Rear - 12”

Your Brother-in-Law

The brother-in-law can be tricky too. How do you convey: Thank you so much for marrying my sister?

Get him something he can enjoy wherever he is.

Hammaka Trailer Hitch Stand and Hammock Chair Set - Burgundy
• Hang Out in Style on this Hammock Chair and Stand Set
• Hammock Made of 600-Denier Polyester, 100% Polyester Burgundy with Solid Pattern
• Powder-Coated, Stained Black, Brown Finish Steel, Hardwood Frame
• Reinforced-Stitch Construction , Brass Hardware
• Attaches with Woven Nylon Hanging Rope, Chains, Polyester Rope, Hooks
• Foot Rest, Armrests, Portable Design

Remember, you want to buy his loyalty so that in the event of a family squabble, he owes you one! so don't stop with the Hammaka. Complete your gift with something that says he is sophisticated, yet not afraid to live on the edge.

Cruzin Cooler combines two basic necessities of life, the ability to have cold food or a beverage handy along with the means to get somewhere, without walking. With modern technology, the Crusin Cooler is available in gas and electric models.

The cooler is light enough to be driven to a location and then picked up and carried!! The cooler can be used for hunting, sporting events, races, camping, golf or even a trip to the grocery store to keep your food cold all the way home. Marine use will be popular for the new cooler allowing you to take your fish/drinks/food/ ice to and from your boat with powered assistance and braking. Simply ride or power your way up and down ramps.

Don't Forget the Neighbor's Kids

Even though they put leaves in your mailbox and Teepeed your house, this is the season of forgiveness and new beginnings.

Child's Play Station by Home and Garden

Don't let this coffin-like play-station fool you! It's fun for the kiddies all day long.

Aunts and Other Cooking Enthusiasts

Have an aunt you don't see regularly? She probably likes to cook. Consider getting her something for the kitchen that's practical and tasteful and shows her cultural sensitivies.

Mr. Chin - Hand-decorated Kitchen Timer
In collaboration with the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, Stefano Giovannoni has created a new 'Chin Family' line that is made from thermoplastic resin and are individually hand painted. Made in Italy.

The Alcoholic Friend

How about a gift for that someone who tends to overindulge? Everyone will giving bottles of wine and fine scotch. Come up with something different this year. Something stylish and unassuming.

Shotcha Bandolier
01A5BAND
Old West-style bandolier strap that holds 6 shotgun shell-shaped shot glasses with a large pouch for a bottle.
One size fits all.

Company Party

Finally we come to the Company Party gift. You're required to bring a generic gift for a man/woman that costs $20 or less.

A friend of mine recently purchased a Kamasutra gift basket for him and his girlfriend at an auction and I thought, what a lovely gift. I'll have to keep that in mind. So here is a nice one that should work for any company party: