Interested China observers with a spare moment...

...should join Dan Harris's LinkedIn group called China Law Blog (also an excellent blog). I just received my confirmation and read through four of the five topics, which were filled with illuminating and intelligent responses the likes of which you just don't get from most blogs (this thread about Western attitudes towards China, for instance).

Many of the group members are lawyers who, like (good) journalists, are genuinely interested in the country and are worse than prostitutes. The only difference is they don't have a public forum to air insights and share their wisdom, which really deserve a wider readership. (Not to say a lot of them don't have blogs, but if I started listing them here, I'd have to start a new blogroll.)

The top thread, as of now, is about Akmal Shaikh, and while I don't think it's appropriate for me to quote liberally from group postings, I will pass along this link (via Dan Harris), which is a veteran lawyer's (Stan Abrams) opinion about the situation. Be forewarned though, once you get started you might lose a good chunk of your day to blog surfing. (Incidentally, a good reason to sign up for the LinkedIn group now rather than later: if you get too far behind, it'll take that much longer to catch up -- and you'll want to.)

Now you'll excuse me as I leave to ring in the new year with a Kansas City ribeye. Other cities may do steak better, but not in my opinion.