Tag Archives: election 2016

Weekend Links

Snow will likely remain on the mountains here in Dali, Yunnan Province, China for the rest of the winter. It’s beautiful in the morning and evening lights. The above pictures taken during my walks to and from work yesterday don’t really do the scenes justice. While the views are lovely in winter, the season comes withContinue reading “Weekend Links”

Weekend Links

I had no idea just how powerful this blog could be until yesterday. Recently, I wrote about how we used to have Beijing-style roast duck for Thanksgiving. On Saturday, a student who had just come back from Beijing brought me a duck from the very restaurant about which I had written. No way that kid readsContinue reading “Weekend Links”

Weekend Links

Our annual Thanksgiving tradition when I lived in Xining, Qinghai Province, China was to go out for Beijing-style roast duck. We were lucky enough to have an outlet of the famed Quanjude chain of restaurants, and over my 11 (!) years in China I must have spent five or six Thanksgivings there, feasting on delicious Chinese turkey. ThisContinue reading “Weekend Links”

The Agony of Debate: Voodoo Economics Cannot Fail, They Can Only Be Failed

The verdicts are in, and there seems to be agreement that tonight’s Republican debate, hosted by Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal, was better and more substantive than the turd show on CNBC a few weeks ago. If you missed it, here’s a good recap at The Guardian‘s website. Even though the moderators did an okayContinue reading “The Agony of Debate: Voodoo Economics Cannot Fail, They Can Only Be Failed”

Your Vote Is Not a Special Snowflake, Except When It Is

I wanted to save writing a post about protest voting and single-issue voting until closer to the general election. In case I have any tiny influence with the people reading this blog, it would be better to read this argument in the immediate run-up to the general election rather than a year out when naryContinue reading “Your Vote Is Not a Special Snowflake, Except When It Is”

Weekend Links

We invited one of the students in my adult class and her husband over for dinner tonight. This student, who goes by the English name Dana, is really impressive in her dedication to learning English. She teaches full time at a local high school. This year, Dana is the lead teacher for a class of high schoolContinue reading “Weekend Links”

The Republican Nomination Contest: Ben Carson, Really? Really? Edition

Famed pediatric neurosurgeon and crackpot pyramids theory enthusiast Ben Carson is now challenging Donald Trump for frontrunner status in the race for the Republican nomination for president. As mentioned previously, this new development could really complicate Trump’s core message, which seems to be that he’s a winner and winner’s win so vote for him if you want toContinue reading “The Republican Nomination Contest: Ben Carson, Really? Really? Edition”

Morning Coffee in China Links

First blue sky and sun we’ve seen in three days here in Dali. We got our first taste of the cold season here these last few days, and it tasted bitter! While Dali’s winter climate is quite mild, it’s kind of a tough season because there are no central heating systems. We use (terribly inefficient) space heatersContinue reading “Morning Coffee in China Links”

The Agony of Debate: CNBC, Candidates All Manage to Offend

Tonight’s Republican debate was terrible. After listening to several sneering exchanges about how government is always the problem and always screws things up and Obama welcomes violence against the nation’s police and BOO! socialism, I couldn’t get this refrain out of my head: Nasty people saying nasty things and being nasty to each other to the cheersContinue reading “The Agony of Debate: CNBC, Candidates All Manage to Offend”