Philip Pan weighs in on China's transition to capitalism at TPMCafe, suggesting that the country would be better off if the changes were led by the communist party, which has shown exceptional resilience to violence and upheaval in its nearly 60-year old history.

Fresh back from Beijing, Jennifer 8. Lee notes that the Chinese pulled out all the stops for the Olympics: "Easy flowing traffic, lack of migrant workers (who are like the Mexicans of China), and happy shiny volunteers who speak English everywhere. Even the weather cleared up for a few days last week."