Apologies to those who have heard this one from me before, but I once had the good fortune to be among a small audience Christopher Hitchens gave a talk to. It was 2006, Shanghai, the Foreign Correspondents club. Hitchens walked in–half nervous, half bravado–with a bottle of scotch and a pack of cigarettes. He poured …
Author Archives: Rootless
On Pakistan
Just got finished reading an excellent essay by Bill Keller (who has transitioned nicely from NY times Executive Editor to a writer again) on the extremely complex US/Pakistani relationship. I’ve posted a few times about that relationship, and argued many times with Rindy–on the blog, by email, over drinks, we may have even text-argued about …
Tax-shelters, off-shore companies and other dodges
Just got finished reading a story in the NY Times about Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder fortune. It might be easy to read the story and find a lot to dislike about Lauder, his great (inherited) wealth and the use of byzantine schemes to reduce his tax burden make him an easy target. …
Honest Graft
Anyone catch 60 Minutes last night? The segment on how people in Congress can engage in insider trading and it is totally legal was shocking to me. Steve Kroft’s questions to Nancy Pelosi during a news conference (she refused, as did all those in Congress that have been alleged to have profited from inside information, …
China and double-standards
The Dalai Lama typically tries to steer clear of caustic remarks towards the Chinese government. His official position is to advocate for meaningful autonomy within the state of China rather than pushing for a sovereign state. And he generally adheres to this and tries not inflame the Chinese, who are very quick to freak out …
“Spiritual but not religious”
It’s pretty sad to think that the world could soon be without Christopher Hitchens. One of the great intellectuals of our time, he is gravely ill with cancer. I once heard him speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Shanghai, he spent the evening blasting holes in the idea of God and religion while sipping …