Sarah Palin’s

Regional Tour

I just watched a swing dancing competition at the Great Wall of China. On the other hand, here’s something we should learn from them: favorite snack for teens at the ultra-touristy Summer Palace: baked sweet potatoes and grilled corn.  more

A veteran American China watcher assesses: “If they ever did have a free election here, the Chinese Communist Party would win 70% of the vote.”  more

One of the early surprises for an English-speaking visitor to China is how little enthusiasm for democracy – how much outright mistrust – is expressed by the highly educated, sophisticated, and globalized people he meets.  more

Everything good that has happened in China over the past three decades has come from discarding and reversing Mao’s destructive legacy. Yet, the only stories the Chinese hear of their past are those that represent Mao as a hero and his revolution as a triumph.  more

Yesterday’s Tea Party at the Washington Monument attracted a counter-protest of Obama supporters. While these protesters denied any official backing, some comments by members suggested there were MoveOn.org members in the mix.  more

Number of English-speaking pimps and prostitutes working the two blocks between the Beijing Sheraton and the nearest subway stop at 10:30 pm on a Friday night: 5.  more

At yesterday’s D.C. Tea Party rally, we surveyed attendees to determine which public figures Tea Partiers saw as potential leaders. Our results found a movement drawn to media figures such as Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, but still unable to identify with any one elected official.  more

Everyone’s heard this one right? “It takes twenty minutes for your stomach to feel full. You should eat at a slow pace so you don’t stuff yourself.” In theory it makes perfect sense. There’s only one problem: Most Americans have been trained since kindergarten to consume an entire meal in 15 minutes.  more

UPDATE: Maybe this censorship works better in Chinese, but while Twitter is blocked on my hotel ISP, I can read it fine on my phone.  more

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has tried to block Tea Party favorite Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, from winning the GOP nomination for the state’s other Senate seat. But his efforts appear to be failing.  more

My latest column for The Week dismisses the growing speculation that the Obama administration is planning to introduce a European-style value added tax. Count on Obama to instead opt for tax hikes that will garner less attention and less of a fight.  more

What’s taking place in Glenn Beck’s attacks on President Woodrow Wilson is a coy conservative self-conversation — a way of actually debating the presidency of George W. Bush without explicitly mentioning our former President.  more

Republicans should be careful not to oversell their ability to tackle the nation’s deficit woes.  more

I’ve been savoring the air in Beijing for 4 hours and on balance I still have to award Kabul the prize for the worst I’ve ever breathed. Coal dust, diesel exhaust and industrial effluent are nasty, but there’s nothing quite like the smell of sun-baked flakes of airborne human feces.  more

Reach the head of the line at immigration at Beijing airport and you see something unexpected: On a little ledge just below the officer’s line of sight is a small machine inviting travelers to rate the work of the officer.  more

The Newt Gingrich engineered government shutdown of 1995 destroyed Republican approval ratings and helped seal the reelection of President Clinton. Yet, Gingrich is now pushing a repeat of this disastrous strategy.  more

Paul Krugman’s scheme to cut emissions through cap-and-trade would fail to create the investment needed to sustain a carbon-free economy.  more

Medical students are bombarded with an onslaught of medical coursework to master in a short period of time. But are they ever taught to be cost effective?  more

The race for President Obama’s old Senate seat is officially Mark Kirk’s to lose. Kirk outraised Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias by $1 million during the first quarter of this year.  more

This week’s nuclear summit was a photo op without substance and did nothing to rein in the most dangerous nuclear offenders: North Korea and Iran.  more