Inside the Asylum

Elections have recently been held for the UN Human Rights Council.

The members of the Council are elected by a secret ballot in the General Assembly and must receive at least 97 votes of the Assembly's 192 countries. Members serve for a period of three years... In 2007, the Council established a UPR to assess human rights situations in all 192 member states of the United Nations every four years.

Elected were:

Cameroon, China, Djibouti, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, Russia Federation, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, Belgium, Norway and the United States

Amongst other things worth noting, council rules forbid any country from serving for more than 2 consecutive 3-year terms, which bars China from standing again in 2012.
[Update] In a completely unrelated matter:

A former student leader of China's 1989 pro-democracy movement has been arrested on fraud charges... The arrest of Zhou Yongjun... comes after months in secret detention following his return from the United States. He was charged with fraud by police in his home city of Suining in southwest Sichuan province, said his brother, Zhou Lin who said he did not know the specifics behind the accusation, nor when his brother could have committed fraud in China, given his long residence in the United States... "He's been under secret detention for a long time, since he tried to enter China last year," said Zhang, speaking from California, where the couple live. "At first he was accused of spying and political crimes, but now they have switched to this financial fraud accusation." After years in detention, Zhou fled to the United States in 1993. When he tried to return to China in 1998, he was sentenced to three years of "reeducation through labor" and returned to the United States in 2002. When he again tried to enter mainland China in September last year, he was detained when he tried to cross over from Hong Kong said his family.

Even the ancient Chinese knew what it meant to Go John Galt.

Confucius said, "When the ruler is correct, his will is put into effect without the need for official orders. When the ruler's person is not correct, he will not be obeyed no matter how many orders he issues." Analects XIII.6

Interpretation: Confucianism, amongst other things, is extremely averse to having too many laws. In fact, an ideal state will have no laws at all. The ideal ruler will lead by example, and others will be guided by this. There is plenty of criticism of Confucianism in the west, but we would be a lot better off if this concept was widely applied. When treasury officials don't pay their taxes, isn't it inevitable that the common people will do whatever they can to avoid it too?
[Another Instalink!] Welcome ... and don't forget to have a look around. You could, for example, use the categories to explore things like: further posts on "Wisdom that Confucius Taught" or "Wisdom of Heinlein" or just check out the "Weird" category for some head scratching material.
[Further clarification] Wisdom that Confucius Taught Part 3 further clarifies the Confucian attitude towards good governance.

Time for another game of name that president (and no cheating and using google until you've made your guess).
Which president said the following? (I've edited it to remove details that make the source too obvious, and no following this link either to the source.)

"This place has now become—as never before —the great testing place of Western courage and will. I hear it said that it is militarily untenable... Any dangerous spot is tenable if men—brave men—will make it so. We do not want to fight—but we have fought before. And others in earlier times have made the same dangerous mistake of assuming that the West was too selfish and too soft and too divided to resist invasion of freedom in other lands. We shall always be prepared to discuss international problems with any and all nations that are willing to talk, and listen, with reason but we cannot negotiate with those who say, 'What's mine is mine and what's yours is negotiable.' "

North Korean News reports about recent talks with Zimbabwe:

At the talks Mugabe said that he boundlessly reveres President Kim Il Sung who rendered full support and encouragement to the Zimbabwean people's struggle for national liberation and their building of a new society. Congratulating the DPRK [North Korea] on its achievements... he said that these are giving confidence and courage to the Zimbabweans.

I'd love to make some witty comment here, but I'm at a loss. Zimbabwe is inspired by the example of North Korea. I think I've slipped into a parallel universe or something.