Ezra Vogel, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

At Amazon, Ezra Vogel, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.

Odd Arne Westad, Restless Empire

I'm posting a bunch of new books as suggestions for under the Christmas tree.

Thanks for your support!

At Amazon, Odd Arne Westad, Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750.

Arrest of Meng Wanzhou Further Roils U.S.-China Relations

Bloomberg has an excellent piece, "China's Ire Finally Flares as U.S. Opens Huawei CFO Case."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "The arrest of a top Huawei executive is 'a shot into the heart' of China's tech ambitions, analysts say":

The arrest of a top executive at one of the most successful Chinese global companies threatens to upend a delicate detente between the U.S. and China in their months-long trade war.

Meng Wanzhou, deputy chairwoman and chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei, was arrested Saturday during a transit stop at a Vancouver airport and could face possible extradition to the U.S. and an appearance in federal court in New York.

A U.S. law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case by name, said the action against Meng involves violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. Another U.S. official described the violations as serious. Neither official provided specifics.

The arrest comes at a sensitive time as Washington and Beijing aim to strike a trade deal before March 1. White House officials told CNN that Meng could be used as leverage in trade talks. It’s unclear whether President Trump knew about the arrest in advance, though national security advisor John Bolton told National Public Radio that he did.

Now any trade agreement has to overcome what will probably be viewed as a provocation in the eyes of China’s leadership, given Huawei’s importance.

“Huawei embodies the existential angst of China hard-liners in the U.S. concerned about China's ostensible grand plan for global domination of new high-tech industries,” said Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University. “Meanwhile, such actions by U.S. and other governments crystallize fears among Chinese leaders that the real intention is to hold back China’s economic progress and transformation.”

China demanded the immediate release of Meng, who is among the cream of China’s corporate elite. She is the daughter of tech billionaire Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder and CEO and a former engineer in the People's Liberation Army.

Chinese officials said she had not broken any laws, accused the United States and Canada of violating her rights and demanded an explanation as to why she was arrested.

Huawei said in a statement it was unaware of any wrongdoing by Meng.

Chinese state media accused the U.S. of harassing Huawei to gain advantage in the worldwide competition for control of next-generation 5G cellular networks.

U.S. officials have not officially confirmed the reasons for Meng’s arrest. The U.S. has long considered Huawei a front for the Chinese government and military.

The arrest “wasn't a shot across the bow, but a shot into the heart of the ship” because Meng was basically considered an official of the Chinese government, a former U.S. official involved in national security matters said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Saturday to suspend planned tariff hikes for 90 days to allow negotiations on a deal to end the trade conflict.

In a sign that China wanted to push for a deal despite anger over Meng’s arrest, officials said Thursday that trade talks would go ahead on agricultural products, automobiles and energy.

Meng’s arrest, significant because of her elite connections and prominent corporate position, triggered shock in China. The arrest is doubly sensitive because it threatens the rise of one of China’s top cutting-edge brands, now the world’s second-largest smartphone company, surpassing Apple in sales this year.

The state-owned Global Times reflected Chinese outrage over her arrest in an editorial accusing Washington of “resorting to a despicable rogue approach” in a bid to hurt the company. The paper also tweeted Thursday that China should be ready for an escalation of the trade war, warning that Meng’s arrest was vivid evidence that Washington would not soften its stance against Beijing.

“It is clear that Washington is maliciously finding fault with Huawei and trying to put the company in jeopardy with U.S. laws,” the editorial said.

Washington is demanding sweeping changes to China’s industrial policy, in particular its state support for key high-tech industrial firms, forced transfers of technology by American companies doing business in China, and tolerance or tacit encouragement of intellectual property theft...

Still more.

This is What Sovereignty Looks Like

Seen on Twitter:

Everyone wants their countries back. Nobody wants unelected EU bureaucrats in charge.

This is what it looks like when the people decide to reject the false song of globalism, and embrace sovereignty over one’s own nation.

This is Rome over the weekend:pic.twitter.com/LNVHFw6kXc

— Alana Mastrangelo (@ARmastrangelo) December 9, 2018

America's New Religions

Folks are diggin' on this new piece from Andrew Sullivan. I admit I enjoy his writing, but never forget that he's got a few screws loose. Remember the 2008 campaign and Dr. Andrew Gynecologist diagnosing Sarah Palin as not able to have birthed her baby Trig (or something like that)? (See the Other McCain, "Dear Andrew Sullivan." Also, at AoSHQ, "Don't Go Over There, But Sullivan Is Pushing (of Course!) Trig Trutherism Now.")

At New York Magazine:

"We’re mistaken if we believe that the collapse of Christianity in America has led to a decline in religion. It has merely led to religious impulses being expressed by political cults." https://t.co/bM8PPXXG8r

— Claire Lehmann (@clairlemon) December 8, 2018

Democrats Are Just Too Darned Smart

From Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "LIVING THE SMUG LIFE."

It's especially the smug Mazie Hirono.

.@maziehirono thinks Democrats are too smart & so they have trouble talking to the rubes

Someone told her this & she agrees

Let me help you
Whoever told you that
Is not smart
Neither are you or the rest of your crew pic.twitter.com/WBVaWyZCl2

— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) December 5, 2018

C.J. Chivers, The Fighters

This looks awesome. Chivers is a Pulitzer Prize winner.

At Amazon, C.J. Chivers, The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Leftists Are Redefining Racism

From William Voegeli, at the Claremont Review, "Racism, Revised."

Long, but very good.

Shopping Today

At Amazon, Today's Deals. Save on our top deals every day.

And especially, #followme Womens Ugly Christmas Sweater - Sweaters Women, and #followme Mens Ugly Christmas Sweater - Sweaters for Men.

Also, Chico's Women's Zenergy Convertible Waffle Cardigan.

More, Craftsman 108 Pc. Mechanic's Tool Set - 009-38108.

And, OTS NCAA Adult Men's Start Line Center Stretch Fit Hat.

Plus, Smith & Wesson SWA24S 7.1in Stainless Steel Folding Knife with 3.1in Clip Point Serrated Blade and Aluminum Handle for Outdoor Tactical Survival and Everyday Carry.

Still more, Buck Knives 110 Famous Folding Hunter Knife with Genuine Leather Sheath.

Here, MusclePharm Combat 100% Whey Protein Powder, Chocolate Milk, 5 Pound.

And, Prime Labs Men's Testosterone Booster (60 Caplets) - Natural Stamina, Endurance and Strength Booster - Fortifies Metabolism - Promotes Healthy Weight Loss and Fat Burning.

More here, Samsung QN65Q6F Flat 65” QLED 4K UHD 6 Series Smart TV 2018.

BONUS: Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

Brandon Hobson, Where the Dead Sit Talking

At Amazon, Brandon Hobson, Where the Dead Sit Talking.

Former President George W. Bush Overcome by Emotion During His Eulogy for His Father, George H.W. Bush (VIDEO)

I know a lot of conservatives dislike George W. Bush, but I love him. I wish I could meet him. He's my favorite president. I love Trump too, but there was the dignity of George W. while in office, and his dogged perseverance on the Iraq war I'll never forget.

And this is a wonderful eulogy.

Alexis Ren as Never Before (VIDEO)

She's a luscious little tart, dang.

At Sports Illustrated Swimsuit:

UPDATE: Not Cancelled! Meghan Murphy Cancels Vancouver Appearance

UPDATE: The Other McCain has a blog post with the correct information, "Buzzword Alert: ‘Neoliberalism’."

The cancellation was a hoax.

And Global News Morning's piece below has been updated, "Meghan Murphy’s gender identity talk at Vancouver Public Library not cancelled."

*****

See, "Controversial feminist speaker Meghan Murphy cancels Vancouver Public Library appearance."

"Trans activists" shut her down.

Feminist speaker Meghan Murphy, whose planned public talk at the Vancouver Public Library on Jan. 10 stirred local controversy over LGBTQ rights and the limits of free speech, has cancelled her scheduled appearance.https://t.co/HNocvff6Ou

— Global News Morning (@GlobalBCMorning) December 2, 2018

Progressive Denmark, the Scandinavian Wet Dream of Leftist 'Democratic Socialists' the World Over, Will Warehouse 'Unwanted' Refugees on Remote Pestilential Island

Seriously, the 2015 international refugees crisis has turned Europe upside down. Now those dang fascist Danes have produced a plan to house their virus-ridden unwanted refugees on some godforsaken island. You couldn't invent this in your most dystopian novel.

At the New York Times, "Denmark Plans to Isolate Unwanted Migrants on a Small Island":

Denmark plans to house the country’s most unwelcome foreigners in a tiny, hard-to-reach island. One of the two ferries that serve the island is called the Virus. https://t.co/BsAP5scxcf

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 4, 2018

COPENHAGEN — Denmark plans to house the country’s most unwelcome foreigners in a most unwelcoming place: a tiny, hard-to-reach island that now holds the laboratories, stables and crematory of a center for researching contagious animal diseases.

As if to make the message clearer, one of the two ferries that serve the island is called the Virus.

“They are unwanted in Denmark, and they will feel that,” the immigration minister, Inger Stojberg, wrote on Facebook.

On Friday, the center-right government and the right-wing Danish People’s Party announced an agreement to house as many as 100 people on Lindholm Island — foreigners who have been convicted of crimes but who cannot be returned to their home countries. Many would be rejected asylum seekers.

The 17-acre island, in an inlet of the Baltic Sea, lies about two miles from the nearest shore, and ferry service is infrequent. Foreigners will be required to report at the island center daily, and face imprisonment if they do not.

“We’re going to minimize the number of ferry departures as much as at all possible,” Martin Henriksen, a spokesman for the Danish People’s Party on immigration, told TV 2. “We’re going to make it as cumbersome and expensive as possible.”

The deal allocates about $115 million over four years for immigrant facilities on the island, which are scheduled to open in 2021.

The finance minister, Kristian Jensen, who led the negotiations, said the island was not a prison, but added that anyone placed there would have to sleep there.

Louise Holck, deputy executive director of The Danish Institute for Human Rights, said her organization would watch the situation “very closely” for possible violations of Denmark’s international obligations...

Oh, like the U.N.' s1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol? Well, doesn't sound like Denmark's too worried about non-compliance or anything, but who am I to critique? (*Eye-roll.*)

Still more.

The Case for Spending More to Help Israel (VIDEO)

This is excellent.

It's U.S. Gen Chuck Wald, for Prager University.

Bari Weiss and Eve Peyser

They scheduled a meet-up to see if they could get along in real life.

At NYT, "Can You Like the Person You Love to Hate?"

Bari Weiss and Eve Peyser wondered: If we had met at a dinner party rather than on Twitter, would we have liked each other? Was social media creating a sense of intense conflict where there might be intense conversation? So they decided to meet. https://t.co/czJpRyfcjQ

— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) December 3, 2018

BARI WEISS: Everything sucks. That’s the overwhelming feeling I get when I spend too much time on Twitter. It makes me feel anxious and angry and amped up. And that’s on a day when I’m not even trending as a Very Bad Person.

This fall I read Jaron Lanier’s book “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now.” He helped me see that these feelings were the inevitable result of being manipulated by this behavioral modification machine.

I didn’t delete my account — yet! I know! I am full of shame! — but I did change the way I use it (no looking at my mentions; far less tweeting; aiming to highlight the work of people I like rather than criticize the work of those I don’t). It also made me think about how I saw other Twitter users, like Vice’s Eve Peyser. She was clever and often funny — and I disagreed with her about just about everything. Sometimes she jabbed at me. I watched her posts with a suspicious side-eye.

But I wondered: If we had met at a dinner party rather than on Twitter, would we have liked each other? Was social media, as Mr. Lanier’s book suggested, creating a sense of intense conflict where there might be intense conversation? Did we actually dislike each other, or was Twitter just making us think we did?

This is the story of how we went from being enemies to friends.

EVE PEYSER: In the woke world of New York digital media, the worst person in the world is Donald Trump, but you, Bari Weiss, are a close second. You’re the perfect target for media leftists because you look like you’d be one of us, but in fact, you have contrarian views on subjects like Israel and #MeToo.

Hating you was the natural position for me to adopt. After all, I’m a social democrat who eagerly voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries and has contemplated purchasing a “Free Palestine” T-shirt.

So I proceeded as one does these days: tsk-tsking various columns of yours, occasionally snarking about you on Twitter, and ascribing to the belief that The New York Times’s decision to hire you was most likely bad for America and the future of liberal democracy.

But I always had this nagging feeling that the Bari Weiss cyber outrage was overblown. Then, we became friends, and every tender thought I’d had about you was confirmed...

I doubt anything remotely like this would happen to me in real life. One exception: My students. I cut them slack because they're young, and of course I try to teach down the middle ---- on the one hand, and on the other hand ---- except for those times I just come out and show a Prager University video, or something, and I don't even tell them it's a conservative production. Students have to figure it out. Sometimes I even criticize President Trump from the left, and it confuses them, lol.

But keep reading.

Innocence and Wonder

So lovable and adorable.

I’ve watched this a hundred times. His little innocent face! And his sweater says “GENIUS!” So unbelievably adorable. pic.twitter.com/OjiMVVE3n0

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 21, 2018

Simpler Times

I found another "American Power" guy on Twitter, lol.

Simpler times . . . we could use a little more straight talk in America. pic.twitter.com/hkQN4zh9Ui

— AMERICAN POWER!! (@_Pax_Americana_) December 3, 2018

Heather Mac Donald Interview (VIDEO)

On Fox News, on "Life, Liberty & Levin."

And check out Mac Donald's book, at Amazon, Heather Mac Donald, The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture.

Fantastic Iggy Azalea

At I Like Breasts, "NSFW – Iggy Azalea."