Rex Murphy, an unreconstructed Newfoundlander, writes bitingly on how someone forgot to tell the Chinese that they must not buy seal meat and skins from Canada. Into the bargain, Murphy says that we (meaning western society in general) “are apologizing ourselves into impotence and irrelevancy over many of our greatest successes, while more confident — even ruthless — powers such as China are emerging brisk with the determination to develop as fast and as far as they can.”