Confidential document surfaces on attitudes and angst inside the Chinese Communist Party

One of the most important articles in years on the attitudes of the highest echelons of the CCP is here in the New York Times. Author Chris Buckley details the contents of "Document No. 9," which blasts “Western constitutional democracy” as well as “universal values” of human rights, Western-inspired notions of "media independence and civic participation," and other insidious ideas creeping into Chinese political discourse. 

Japan launches something that looks a lot like an aircraft carrier

Honestly, it isn't an aircraft carrier, and the Japanese say it's a "flat-topped destroyer." It can't launch fixed-wing aircraft, although it will carry fourteen helicopters.

Might come in handy for protecting Japan's assets in the South China Sea...