Which nations do Americans like most -- and least? Gallup finds some surprises

In an amazing public opinion turnaround, Americans now think most positively about North Korea and Iran and most negatively about onetime friends and close allies Canada and Britain.

It seems that under the Democratic administration of President Obama, Americans are increasingly attracted toward the types of disconnected regimes with aloof, distant leaders who party often and give endless speeches about understanding the people's concerns while allowing serious economic problems to fester.

They break political promises and disregard ordinary citizens' concerns about, say, spending priorities to impose more of their government regulations and centrist policies on grandiose public projects costing billions.

A new Gallup opinion survey finds, in fact, that ... oh, no. Wait. Oh, look at that. We had the Gallup opinion graph upside down.

It's really the other way around: Americans think most favorably about the tuque-wearing neighbors who live up there in the attic of North America and have been so generously sharing their winter storms this year.

And the Yanks also feel quite good about that cute little island nation across the....

Ticket pic of week: Year of the Rabbit off to rough start for this guy

Uh, little help here.

Hello?

Anybody there?

Who

needs

a cup?

Could

somebody

get

this

thing

off

my face

please?

This Beijing bunny was a little too curious.

But he's fine now.

And so much wiser about the dangers of urban life.

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Ticket video of the week: Jesse gets down to work

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Ng Han Guan /Associated Press

Chinese pianist Lang Lang puzzled his White House song about defeating U.S. military 'jackals' offends

Lang Lang.

Gee, those Americans are really touchy.

Who would have thought that a Chinese pianist entertaining at the Obama White House state dinner last week to promote Chinese-American friendship with Chinese President Hu Jintao could possibly offend anyone by tickling the old ivories with a favorite song about the Chinese People's Liberation Army enduring great hardships but finally killing sufficient enemy troops to win a 1952 Korean War battle against American soldiers?

What's to be offended by such a musical choice unless, perhaps, you're not a Chinese Korean War vet?

The 28-year-old Chinese pianist Lang Lang says he wanted to "bridge cultures" using music. He attempted to explain his musical choice by saying: "It has been a favorite of mine since I was a child," adding, "It was selected for no other reason than for the beauty of its melody."

For sure.

The music comes from a 1956 Chinese movie, "Battle on Shanggangling Mountain," about the heroic people's army following the instructions of the beloved leader and, despite setbacks, becoming victorious in the 1952 Battle of Triangle Hill during the Korean War.

Which, btw, 58 years later still has just a ceasefire, no peace treaty.

A spokesman for the Obama White House says any suggestion that it's an insult to play a patriotic Chinese song that refers to American troops as "jackals" in the U.S. president's house is "just flat wrong."

Good luck selling that one in Wisconsin come Wednesday's presidential trip to Manitowoc.

Our sharp-eyed colleague Paul Richter notes that a Chinese blogger has posted a comment about the song's performance, saying playing it before the U.S. president was "deeply meaningful." But, he adds, "I don't know if the Americans can understand. Ha ha."

As it happens, Lang Lang is scheduled to perform Tuesday evening with the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, Calif. So, that would seem to preclude a heroic encore during the president's State of the Union Address to Congress.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Joshua Roberts / Bloomberg (The Obamas greet President Hu at the White House State Dinner, Jan. 19, 2011); Getty Images (Lang Lang).

Late-night's best: Oprah, Hu, Obama and Regis

As The Ticket's 57,000+ Twitter followers here and 6,500 Facebook fans here know, we regularly share our daily picks of the late-night jokes of interest, usually before broadcast each night. Here's the usual Monday morning collection from the previous week:

Leno: China President Hu spent two days in Chicago. By Rahm Emanuel standards, Hu's a resident now and can run for mayor too.

Leno: Chinese President Hu at his White House state dinner gave President Obama amazing gifts -- bootleg DVDs of ‘The Green Hornet’ and ‘Little Fockers.’

Letterman: China's President Hu visiting the U.S. and White House. Says if he likes....

State dinner menu for the Obama Hu soiree

State dinner menu.

The White House wanted an American style dinner for its third state dinner in two years. But no cheeseburgers or Philly cheeseteaks for President Obama tonight. However, because the American president is such a pie guy, the state dinner menu did include pie (though only apple, not the six kinds of the Obamas had for Thanksgiving--Details here).

(BTW, here's the complete guest list of who made the party cut, with numerous guest fashion photos. No Salahis, but a couple of Republicans did get in.)

In honor of visiting China President Hu Jintao the White House planned the following state dinner menu:

D'Anjou Pear Salad with Farmstead Goat Cheese, fennel, black walnuts and white balsamic vinegar.

Poached Maine lobster with orange glaze carrots and black trumpet mushrooms, served with a Dumol Chardonnay Russian River 2008

Lemon Sorbet

Dry-aged rib eye with buttermilk crisp onions, double-stuffed potatoes and creamed spinach, accompanied by Quilceda Creek Cabernet Columbia Valley 2005.

Old-fashioned apple pie with vanilla ice cream, served with Poet's Leap Riesling Botrytis 2008.

Do you think everyone was hungry again an hour later?

-- Andrew Malcolm

Now for the real dessert: Just click here to follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle now. Use the ReTweet buttons below to share this item with family and friends.

Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images (Hu speaks at tonight's state dinner menu).

The Obama-Hu state dinner: Who made the guest list cut? No Salahis but a few Republicans sneaked in

Here's the White House guest list for those expected to attend tonight's state dinner for China President Hu Jintao, the third hosted by the Chicago Democrats:

PRESIDENT and MRS. OBAMA

HIS EXCELLENCY HU JINTAO

The Honorable Madeleine Albright, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Alice Albright

Ms. Christiane Amanpour, ABC News, New York, NY
Mr. James Rubin

The Honorable David Axelrod, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor
Mrs. Susan Axelrod

Mr. Jeffrey Bader, National Security Council
Ms. Rohini Talalla

The Honorable Elizabeth Bagley, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Kevin Frawley

Mr. Steven Ballmer, Microsoft, Redmond, WA
Mrs. Connie Ballmer

Ms. Bette Bao Lord, New York, NY
The Honorable Winston Lord

Mrs. Denise Bauer, Belvedere Tiburon, CA

The Honorable Howard Berman, Representative from California
      Mrs. Janis Berman
           
Vice President Joseph....

The Obama-Hu summit: 'A spirit of cooperation that is also friendly competition'

"We want to sell you all kinds of stuff"--President Obama to China's Hu Jintao

News conference text of Presidents Obama and Hu, as provided by the White House

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon.  It is my pleasure to welcome President Hu to the White House and to return the hospitality that he showed when I visited China last year.  This is our eighth meeting.  Together we’ve shown that the United States and China, when we cooperate, can receive substantial benefits.  

The positive, constructive, cooperative U.S.-China relationship is good for the United States. We just had a very good meeting with the business leaders from both our countries. They pointed out that China is one of the top markets for American exports. 

We’re now exporting more than $100 billion a year in goods and services to China, which supports more than half a million American jobs. In fact, our exports to China are growing nearly twice as fast as our exports to the rest of the world, making it a key part of my goal of doubling American exports and keeping America competitive in the 21st century.

Cooperation between our countries is also good for China. China’s extraordinary economic....

Obama-Hu White House summit today, but Americans not so sure about this friendly China stuff

Big state doings at the White House today.

China's President Hu Jintao is still in town, and President Obama is laying on all the ceremonial trappings for the head of America's largest creditor nation. They're even bringing out Joe Biden's wife, Jill, to greet him.

And another one of those expensive-gowned Obama state dinners tonight for the Chinese leader. Will the Salahis try again? And will dignitaries be hungry again a half-hour after they eat?

There's a phony official welcoming ceremony set for the White House this morning; the presidents had dinner and spent most of the evening together there Tuesday. All kinds of meetings all day among diplomats and business people, including a prestigious private meeting between the two presidents in the Oval Office with a media visit. Whoo, big stuff, symbolically speaking. (And yes, Joe will be allowed into that one too.)

Obama watchers will recall that Britain's then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown wasn't important ....

Here's a Chinese shovel to go with Hu Jintao's state visit to Obama's White House

China's President Hu Jintao makes a state visit to the White House on Tuesday on a journey that the Obama administration is hyping to the max. So it must be important.

Jay Leno has revealed that the Chinese leader has no intention of foreclosing on all of its loans to the U.S., on this trip anyway. So the official visit will probably go smoothly.

Obama hosts a private closed dinner tonight at the White House for Hu. First,....

Ticket pic of the week: Hey, pandas need to play too

No, they don't just sit around all the time chewing on bamboo.

All right, we admit it. We're a sucker for bears, especially teddy bears. Or lookalike teddy bears.

These guys are romping in the snow in China.

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Ticket photo of the week: Very patriotic. Also quite cold!

Ticket pic of the week: His mother thought he was cute

Ticket video of the week: Jesse gets down to work

-- Andrew Malcolm

Click here to follow The Ticket via Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons below to share any item with family and friends.

Photo credit: Zhao Jianqiang / Associated Press