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An Olympic Moment

Jacob Blumenfeld delivered what was arguably the most courageous performance by a San Diegan at the recent Beijing Olympics. And he didn’t compete in swimming, track and field, or gymnastics but in the far more ...

Bummer

One of the more downhearted groups in the world must be the 2012 London Olympics organizers after watching Beijing's opening ceremony. China's big show had astounding scale, precision, balance, intimacy, and surprise. It was an ...

Olympics Loophole

I am at a table in a Chinese restaurant, inside a Chinese shopping center. Both entities are crowded with Chinese shoppers. Opposite is Todd Anderson, gnawing on a pork rib. Todd says, “This is a ...

Made in China

'We realized that our son, who was four at the time, needed new shoes," says Sara Bongiorni, author of A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy. "It's ...

Kendra Wiseman in Beijing

Death of a cynic I'm happy. And it makes me feel pathetic on a very fundamental level. I'm a cynic, okay? I don't know what emotional or accessorized state you base your self-image on, but ...

Kendra Wiseman in Beijing

Add To Cart As I clicked on the "Place Your Order" button, having once again spent more money on Amazon than I make in a week, I realized I didn't care. Because I am getting ...

Kendra Wiseman in Beijing

Wet Dragon Cloudblaster If you'll just take a minute to read over my brief profile on the left-hand side of my online blog, you'll discover that "malfunctioning technology" is listed under "Peeves." That's because my ...

Kendra Wiseman in Beijing

Manga-Eyed Terror My boss is a crime lord. I don't want to talk about why it is that a couple of weeks ago I was online at 5:20 in the morning, except to make myself ...

Genuine Chinese Irish Lace

Heymatt: I was recently given some lovely lace handkerchiefs from my grandmother. Several of them have a gold sticker on them that proclaims "Genuine Irish Lace Made In China." How can it be "Genuine Irish ...

Chinese flies

Matt: In school there was a rumor that Chairman Mao convinced the population of China that everyone should participate in the Great Leap Forward and kill ten flies every day to help rid the country ...