China’s propaganda mandarins are experimenting with a new policy to manage their message in the age of the internet: reporting the news as it happens. This marks an important shift for the ruling Communist Party, accustomed to deciding what will be reported and when.

It is not easy to realize how strange it is when you live in an existing system, but when you have the chance to talk with people from other countries, you realize the huge difference. I enjoyed my talk with my great friends tonight, and we talked about the Resident Permit (Hokou) system in China. To be honest, I didn't feel it too strange before I explained it with my own mouth.

China has plenty of reasons to be twitchy over a more active Russia. Its energy interests run counter to Russia's in Central Asia. China has long opposed the arguments that Russia is advancing to defend its actions in Georgia. Russian power in the Far East could hamper China's attempts to dominate, or at least lead, the region. And the two share a long history of conflict and competition.

A dissection of David Brooks' recent critique of the Chinese 'corpocracy'. Brooks says the best path to wealth is joining the Communist Party. Josh says that's so 1997.