Sunday roundup

China's demand for labor doesn't favor education.

A Russian journalist takes a beating and keeps on writing.

I often link to Tom Friedman with a disclaimer, but there's no need when he writes about the Middle East. That's his genuine area of expertise, and he doesn't need to recycle the same ideas and platitudes.

Nixon found Jews aggressive and abrasive.

It's not easy (or safe) being gay in Africa.

It's especially intriguing to bandy about "elitist" as a slur when elitism has nothing to do with anything (specifically, bike lanes in DC and their alleged role in worsening traffic). Go ahead, jackass: take your business to the suburbs (because there's an absence of gridlock in Tyson's Corner??). The city won't miss you.

Gotta hand it to the Post for oversimplifying economic trends. Like much of the middle class, I won't be shopping at Tiffany's this holiday season, nor at Family Dollar (tho I did pop into a dollar store yesterday to get some superglue). I guess that makes us chopped socioeconomic liver.

I've held off on commenting on the debacle at the Portrait Gallery, but Frank Rich frames it so well that I don't have to do any work.

Americans have no monopoly on obesity.