Foreign Tax not about Foreigners

Perhaps this issue is old hat and considering the fact that much of the implementation and enforcement of China’s Social Security Law is, shall we say, open to debate, there might be no purpose at all in even thinking about it. But I have been. And I have come to the conclusion that every expat […]

A question of existence

I came across some interesting thoughts the least couple of days. Although I don’t write about current affairs nearly as much as I used to, i still rant about stuff during my lunch break or late at night to bean, who listens politely. I’ve explained a few times already why i don’t write about US […]

The Beijing Consensus

Let’s take a look at the countries that refused to attend the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony: Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Venezuela, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Sri Lanka and the Palestinian Authority A collection of enlightened governments, no doubt about it. Standouts include Afghanistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The […]

Can’t Truss It ..

No No No No! I try not to get sucked into these discussions anymore, but part of my daily routine is to open sites like Atimes.com and Antiwar.com and others and when I read certain passages I just can’t help my emotional response. Last week, during the peak of the Sino-Japanese pissing contest over rocks […]

“Don’t be Evil” — Tell that to Wall Street

After Google announced that it might leave China, Wall Street and other stock exchanges around the world reacted in typical fashion, by buying Baidu stock and selling Google stock. Baidu’s stock jumped by at least 12%, while Google’s slid by about 1%. For the money-men — the same people, let us not forget, who caused […]

Violence in Xinjiang

Uighers in Urumqi rioted over the past 24 hours, destroying property, killing people and fighting the police. The immediate cause for the riots was a brawl in Shaoguan, Canton Province that began after some fool posted a note on QQ saying that 6 Uigher boys had raped 2 Han women. Han workers then rampaged through […]

Two books that I urge you to read:

The first deals with IslamNo god but God, the origins, evolution and future of Islam This book (FINALLY) traces the roots of Islam back to the socialist hippy rebel Muhammad and his community of passionate young revolutionaries. All prophets are socialist rebels … have you noticed? and their message eventually falls prey to the wealthy, […]

Its all bad; its all good

My landlord Nikki V is doing a piece for KBOO Radio about austerity measures people (may or may not have learned from their parents/grandparents) are using to get by in “this nasty economy.” I listen with mild interest, because so far my economy seems unaffected by Wall Street’s 777+ drop this week after the big […]

We have seen this before, and its always sinister

In today’s NYT, the “demise” of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is treated with the soft gloves of supposed objectivity. The article begins by saying that the tumultuous tumble in stock value of the two mortgage giants is inexplicable and at the same time potentially devastating for the US economy and, above all, taxpayers.“There is […]