in the spirit of national unity engendered by the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps the single most important document in human history, in which the God fearing natives of America declared their autonomy from the decadent, 18th century incarnation of sodom and gehmorrah then known as the "british empire," i want to try to understand why it is that so many of you hate us, our allies (particularly israel), and our way of life. that doesn't mean i'll like it, but in order to deal with ignorance, one first has to identify its source.

inside, what i'll be doing this fourth of july and a picture of my favorite firework display in recent memory.

So without further ado, here's my account of getting the hell out of Beijing to enjoy Chinese New Year in the sticks with Very.