JERALYN MERRITT IS GUEST-BLOGGING FOR ERIC ALTERMAN — and she’s posting it from Shanghai en route back to the states. Her guest-blogging is excellent: reportage on China’s changed stance relating to AIDS, and some nice comments about the left/right connection where civil liberties are concerned — but if she can guest-blog from Shanghai, what’s got Alterman so busy that he can’t show up?

I’m guessing it’s either a root canal, or a chance to spend the day with Bruce.

UPDATE: Closer to the former than the latter, apparently: Alterman emails that he’s sick as a dog but sparing us the gross details. I appreciate that. Whenever Lileks writes about having the flu, I don’t feel right myself for the next hour or so.