How Beijing Sees Us
By Michael H. Hunt
1-16-12

What is China going to do? Now that our Middle East wars are winding down, this question has fixated the U.S. policy community and policy commentators. Even aspirants for high political office feel compelled to have an answer. Will a rising China accommodate to international norms and institutions or try to reshape or undermine them? Is Beijing predisposed to cooperate with countries along its long land and maritime border, or will it seek domination? Are the Chinese bent on displacing the United States as number one internationally, or will they limit their aspirations the better to focus on domestic affairs?

While everybody has an opinion, no one has a compelling answer. And with good reason. China’s Communist leaders make their decisions behind closed doors so outsiders are necessarily left in the dark. In any case, leaders at the top may not have a shared, coherent notion of the path ahead. And even if they do, their plans—like all plans—are hostage to contingent events.

If the future is fuzzy, the past is not. A substantial historical literature offers solidly grounded insight on how Chinese officials and commentators have viewed the United States from the nineteenth century to the 1970s. (The single most helpful work is David Arkush and Leo Lee’s Land without Ghosts; for other relevant works see the bibliographical essay in the forthcoming Arc of Empire: American Wars in Asia from the Philippines to Vietnam.) Let me suggest three conclusions drawn from my reading of that literature. Each is pertinent to any attempt to interpret recent developments and predict the future.

More: http://hnn.us/articles/how-beijing-sees-us

The final insight is that, at every turn, Chinese observers and leaders have failed to penetrate the cultural and ideological sources of American action in Asia. The chances are good that our motives will continue to puzzle them.

Perry unwinds at the shooting range
January 13, 2012 3:34 PM
By Rebecca Kaplan

RIDGELAND, S.C. - Running for president is a grueling business. There are early alarms for morning TV shows, late night fundraising calls and a full day of events in between. Candidates need an outlet for relaxation to help keep them focused.

For Rick Perry, that outlet could be found at the Palmetto State Armory here, where he made a late-morning stop to fire off a few (extremely accurate) rounds at a target.

After spending about 15 minutes in the range, Perry showed off his target to reporters with the holes closely clustered in the head and chest. He fired two guns, a 9-mm Ruger SR-9 and an AR-15 manufactured by the Palmetto State Armory.

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Was he picturing one of his opponents? The world will never know. When reporter Jay Root from the Texas Tribune asked whose face was on the target in his mind, Perry simply responded, "not you."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57358907-503544/perry-unwinds-at-the-shooting-range/

S.C. Company Sells Engraved “You Lie” Component For AR-15 Rifle
by Corey Hutchins, January 11th, 2011 04:07pm

A South Carolina gun and accessories company is selling semi-automatic rifle components inscribed with “You lie” – a tribute to the infamous words of 2nd District Republican Congressman Joe Wilson when he shouted at President Barack Obama during a congressional speech about national health care reform in the fall of 2009.

“Palmetto State Armory would like to honor our esteemed congressman Joe Wilson with the release of our new ‘You Lie’ AR-15 lower receiver,” reads a portion of the company’s website.

The product “is neither endorsed nor affiliated with Joe Wilson or his campaign,” according to a line of text at the bottom of the page. A picture of Wilson holding a rifle and standing in the company's gun shop appears on the same page. The company offers the components, marked “MULTI to accommodate most builds,” for $99.95 apiece.

“Only 999 of these will be produced, get yours before they are gone!” the website reads.

http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=1992209084141467&act=post&pid=11861101110850039