Chiang Kai-shek reviews Taiwanese conscripts in the 1950s. Image source. Two weeks ago The National Interest published an important, hard-nosed essay by Wendell Minnick. I have had the opportunity to meet Minnick before. His knowledge of and long experience with the ROC Armed Forces (the “guojun” ๅ่ป) has few equals. His assessment on Taiwanese defense preparations […]
“Bag End” by Tim Doyle.You can purchase this print here. Deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden […]
Image source I have spent the last month in Cambodia. During my time here I have taken a keen interest in what every day Cambodians think about the torrent of things Chinese that has flooded into their country over the last few years. I have not found any survey data on this question (readers are […]
Rainer Hachfeld, Stalin-Mao-Xi, originally published 12 March, 2018. The most striking difference between ancient and modern sophists is that the ancients were satisfied with a passing victory of the argument at the expense of truth, whereas the moderns want a more lasting victory at the expense of reality. In other words, one destroyed the dignity of human thought […]
Image Source The New York Times had an interesting piece out this week about the lengths their reporters in China go to try and protect their sources and their data from the digital surveillance state. To quote a bit from the piece: I use an iPhone because Apple tends to be more secure than Android. […]
Image Source For readers curious about my the lack of new posts over the last month, the answer is easy: I recently relocated to Cambodia, and have focused my efforts on establishing things here instead of on writing. Hopefully posting will improve a bit over the next few weeks as things become more settled down […]
I dieโbut first I have possessโd, And come what may, I have been blest. โLord Byron This clip has been played 87 million times on Facebook and another seven million times on Youtube. It’s inspirational. It’s powerful. I get why it has as many hits as it does. But there is something more to it, […]
The original signalling theorist. There is a principle, supposed to prevail among many, which is utterly incompatible with all virtue or moral sentiment; and as it can proceed from nothing but the most depraved disposition, so in its turn it tends still further to encourage that depravity. This principle is, that all benevolence is mere […]
Rainer Hachfeld, Stalin-Mao-Xi, originally published 12 March, 2018. The State is a machine in the hands of the governing class for suppressing the resistance of its class antagonists. In this way the dictatorship of the proletariat differs in no way essentially from the dictatorship of any other class. โJoseph Stalin (1937) Over at Sinocism, Bill […]
Image Source A new year has arrived, and that means it is time to post my annual list of every book I have finished since the last new year’s day. I have kept a list of every book I have read, along with a few short comments summarizing and casting judgment on each title, since […]