How to Raise Your Awareness and Blood Pressure

Leading off with something to raise your awareness is this excellent review by Dan Abbott, master of the enduring and insightful blog, tdaxp.com where he holds court on what he dubs High-minded, fanatically malthusian perspectives.

Dan reviewed Henry Kissinger's new book On China  where he nailed what I think is the true role that this book will play in educating future generations about diplomacy and foreign relations. Dan begins:

Henry Kissinger is the famous American diplomat. His new book, On China, is a fine history of the “Central State” focusing on the late Qing and early Communist periods. On China is destined to be assigned reading in graduate schools for years, because of its fine application of “realist” thinking to the survival of a strong country facing a multitude of high-tech strategic rivals. On China is clearly aimed at the informed political class: professional analysts, thoughtful policy professionals, and opinion makers. The narrative of On China appears to be distorted, either because of Kissinger’s focus on his own time period, his keen insight on what to clarify on what to clarify and what to obfuscate, or both. This is most notable in his incorrect depiction of Deng Xiaoping‘s political standing, as well as the near- complete absence of discussion of the KMT or the contemporary Communist Party.

Dan continues by inserting his insight, supported by excerpts that bear witness to buttress his opinion of the books true purpose.

On China‘s a good book. Kissinger, deservedly, has a very high reputation. So I truly wonder if the problems and omissions in On China are by accident or design. For instance, in the epilogue Kissinger writes:

In all of China’s extravagant history, there was no precedent for how to participate in a global order, whether in concert with — or in opposition to — another superpower.

But this is simply wrong! China and Russia are both successor states to the Mongol Horde. Russia was the first state that China recognized as “sovereign.” Russia had a de facto embassy in Beijing for centuries before any other westerners were even allowed to live in the city. Kissinger even explicitly refers to the history of the three-way continental politics between Russia, Turkestan, and China in in a footnote:

The story of Qing expansion in “inner Asia” under a series of exceptionally able Emperors is related in rich detail in Peter Perdue, China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2005).

So what’s going on?

You will have to click the link and read the whole post to find out.
On China by Henry Kissinger Review

Hand in hand with the diplomatic lessons above, comes reasons to make sure our foreign policy toolbox is fully equipped.
Tensions Rise in South China Sea-from Information Dissemination

And from Thomas PM Barnett:
The New Rules: For U.S., the Long War Shifts Back to the Persian Gulf

Now to raise your blood pressure. Good friend and fellow blogger /kanani Fong posted this on her blog Kitchen Dispatch" about a recent incident that until Friday, was kept quietly swept under the radar by handlers and what will soon be an embarrassed Houston Police Department.

Patti LaBelle

LaThug standing over cadet King (in yellow)

Kanani's post comments on the breaking story about how the aged former diva Patti LaBelle had her goons beat up a West Point cadet who had the unfortunate luck to stand  to near LaBelle's luggage as he talked on a cell phone with his brother. Kanani begins with this short explanation of how it went down.

Two months ago, the man in the yellow was innocuously talking on the phone at the Bush International Airport in Houston trying to locate his ride. Unfortunately, he happened to stand too close to Patti LaBelle's luggage. According to reports, she rolled down the window and directed her bodyguards to take care of the guy.

They did. Richard King, age 23 and a West Point Cadet ended up bloodied, with a concussion and in the hospital. Immediately, while King was on the ground, staggering around and a lone valiant hero in a white cowboy hat was trying to help him, the Houston Police were asking for autographs while LaBelle appeased them with photo ops.

It seems that the young cadet left the academy, who declined to comment. However, Kanani has this observation.

While they didn't know King was a West Point Cadet, someone in their PR camp knew they could dish up enough crap and get him thrown out. Hence, King will now deploy as an enlisted soldier. He is welcome to "re-apply" after his deployment is ended, and finish out his final year. To that I say absolute Bullshit.

Read the whole post and watch the video and see what you think.
Patti LaBelle: LaThugs Beat Up West Point Cadet