4th anniversary of Xinjiang riots

Over 200 people in Xinjiang died in ethnic rioting four years ago today. The Chinese state media is trying to paint a very different picture today-- one of ethnic harmony.

And apparently, I'm not alone in observing how the Western media sees the region. Here is my Tweet from last Monday:

Breaking: Western media just replaced tired term "restive" to describe Xinjiang with soon-to-be tired term "volatile". @henrykszad
— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) June 30, 2013

And here is the first sentence of an article from The Atlantic two days ago:

"China's westernmost province, Xinjiang (technically an "autonomous region"), seldom appears in the Western media without the word "volatile" or "restive" attached to it...."

CHP cars

I'm really not a fan of the Explorer cruiser. I have not seen one in the wild yet. The older cars are fascinating. That they had no power steering is nuts!

Air Force One lands at NASCAR race

Reagan, 1984, Pepsi 400, Daytona.

2 Live Crew's Banned In the USA

Happy Fourth! Up with freedom! Down with the PMRC!

Subaru Leone ad

The Snowden saga continues

I know all of you geopolitics geeks have found this captivating.

First of all, I am very impressed with Kerry's State Department for its effectiveness in shutting down almost every avenue of escape for Snowden. Personally, I was ambivalent about Ecuador's Correa before. I thought he was smart because he has an academic/technocratic background, but a little too chummy with Hugo Chavez. But this clip makes him look like a total weasel. I mean, it's fine to not grant Snowden asylum, but the way he responded just makes him look like a shady used car salesman backing out on a warranty.

And this total show of disrespect to Bolivia's leader is unacceptable. France, et al. would never have re-routed a plane carrying Chile's Pinera or Argentina's Fernandez. Poor, poor Bolivia.

List of countries where Snowden applied for asylum

Last night, before this list came out, I was working on a list of countries he might have applied to. I came up with around nine. But here is the official list.

• Austria
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• China 
• Cuba
• Ecuador
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Iceland
• India
• Italy
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• Nicaragua
• Norway
• Poland
• Russia (application withdrawn)
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Venezuela

I don't know what kind of crazy pressure the U.S. is putting on Ecuador, but it seems to be working. I'm going to guess he's going to end up in Nicaragua.

Update 1: Austria, Finland, India, Ireland, Norway, Poland, and Spain have said "no".

Update 2: Brazil said "no".

Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn video

Lukas, for the extra $20,000, you get 800 ft-lbs of torque and exhaust braking!

My first press car/truck?

I am about to submit my preferences. They are the Fiat 500L, Fiat 500e, Chrysler 300 SRT8, and the Ram 3500 Laramie Longhorn Crew Cab 4x4.

CCTV coverage of Xinjiang violence