so much fascinating stuff gets lost or ignored or forgotten, at least by the US. I would lay heavy odds, however, that the current General Zhu remembers his grandfather's snub. Our simplistic understanding of what's going on in East Asia has been a constant problem. My favorite case in point, the Korea situation is not really democracy vs communism, but the three outside powers jockying for influence, i.e. China, Russia and Japan, something that really started in the mid-1800s. This is something I've been instructed in with gory details by my wife's family, since they remember the problems quite well. My wife's great aunt was the last ruling queen, Queen Yun, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunjeong_of_Korean_Empire, and her g-g aunt was Queen Min, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Myeongseong

Both women were Korean patriots who did their best to stop the takeover of the country. The US tried twice to force an opening of the country in the style of Perry in Japan during Queen Min's reign, while she tried to balance Russia and China against Japan. After her assassination, when the Japanese were close to a complete takeover, they sought and received Theodore Roosevelt's approval. Queen Yun did what she could, including hiding the great seal of state, so the invaders never were able to pretend it was anything other than an invasion by force. Those relationships as much as anything between the US and USSR were what underlay the Korean War of the 1950s. What if Roosevelt hadn't okayed the Japanese takeover? Dunno, but it's an interesting thought.

I've never understood that - they're expensive, they're full of cliches, I've never heard of Zig Ziglar other than in newspaper ads for the seminars - I don't understand the whole deal.

It used to be your only choices were the bike equivalent of a lotus elise or a ford expedition. Things aren't quite that bad anymore, but bike sellers and manufacturers still see bikes as either toys, exercise machines, or racing vehicles. My commuting bike, in Altadena/Pasadena, is a BikeE recumbent - and BikeE went out of business shortly after I got mine.

but not that long ago I saw an article describing the discovery that some poor countries who still have good metal-working craftsman were hand-producing weaponry that were duplicates of popular US and/or Russian weapons - virtually indistinguishable. Don't know or remember if an AK-47 could be made this way. Does that ring a bell with you?

and blaming the natives is an old game. We played it in Viet Nam, and we played it in Korea - and here we are again.

the phrase was not "we'll share our missle defense technology" but "we'll share our vision".

but this sort of article is exactly what has harmed the US over the past 8-10 years; what got Bush elected twice. There is no discussion of substance; it's all about superficialities. I get enough of that from the mainstream media. I didn't read far enough to see if Paglia compared clothes or hairstyles, but it wouldn't have surprised me.

Fred Thompson - the next Gerald Ford?

in fact, inside Kaiser Permanente, which has been held up a couple of time in this thread as a symbol of the flawed health care system. It's not. It has its problems, partly because it insists on going with a matrix management system rather than a hierarchy, and partly because the competition - the Aetnas, the WellPoints - offer cheaper products and claim better results. Those prices and results are debatable, but it's what impresses insurance purchasers. Those purchasers are the factor left out of the discussion thus far. When you're unhappy with Kaiser Permanente for not providing benefits or charging you too much for what you're getting, perhaps you should first check and see what your employer bought for you.

And just as a final, slightly defensive remark - KP clinicians are here because they're salaried, don't have to fiddle with trying to get paid by insurance companies, and can concentrate on providing care. Most of them are devoted, compassionate people who enjoy medicine and are highly competent. Exceptions exist, of course - KP covers 8.5 million people or so, so of course you can find problems - but on the whole, it's a fine system and works well.

the rest of the equation, and I'm sure Pelosi and Reid are aware of this even if they don't watch Korean TV dramas - Korean presidential elections are in December, and right now the leading candidate for the conservatives is Pak Kunhye, who will likely encourage more friendly relations with the US, and back off some on Noh's initiative with the North. Not sure who's leading for the liberals - it could be former prime minister Han Myoungsook, in which case both presidential candidates would be women! Also not sure how Han would treat with the US. Her husband's an academic and an activist; both were jailed in the bad old days of Noh Taewoo and Chun Doohwan, spent some years in prison and were tortured. So, we shall see.

My wife knows both women, and doesn't really have a take on what Pak would do. She's certainly not a copy of her father, who was dictator of Korea during the 60s and 70s.

My snapshot on our department's website is several years old - guess I'm dead or they'd've done a new one.

*sigh*

What the blazes does Harry Reid think last fall's vote was about? I'd love to see some people with spines running in the democratic primaries.