so, what did you think of China?

"In decades at the Post, this is the first event I've covered at which I was certain that the main point of the exercise was to co-opt the Western media, including NBC, with a splendidly pretty, sparsely attended, completely controlled sports event inside a quasi-military compound. We had little alternative but to be a conduit for happy-Olympics, progressive-China propaganda. I suspect it worked."

[full article, "They Made the Buses Run On Time" here]

Living in Vietnam, I gotta word up this article. I've seen first-hand Vietnamese reluctance to over-step bureaucracy or "chain of command." Our situation is much milder, however, because China is what Vietnam would be if the government were more efficient, had a better grasp of technology, and could funnel their resources and energy correctly. Which is a bit scary.