China's Two Face Policy

China, China, China. With over 5 millenniums years worth of experience in the political arts, yet the lesson seems lost again about saying one thing and doing another. The Peoples Republic of China's political wunderkinds are having a collective communist mind melt over being exposed in a Pentagon report to Congress detailing their military aims and growing capabilities. China wants a more flowery emphasis placed on their economic prosperity and growing private sector. In light of their boom and owning the loan papers on a multitude of US debt, China is making a loud case to increase their role in the International monetary Fund (IMF). Popcorn & MRE's all around, this is going to take armies of diplomats to hash out between two nuclear superpowers with space satellites. (Reuters)

After 5 Chinese ships hemmed in a US warship, USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea, plowed through A Tibet-belongs-to China annex anniversary without the number killed last year by the military and rolled over the Dalai Lama's freedom rhetoric, more joint military exercises with Russia, obligatory perennial warnings to Taiwan & an interfering USA that they will backup a One China policy at the point of really big guns and missiles, now with the cyber warfare the Canadians caught from deep inside the land of one time zone happening to 1295 computers in over 100 countries, pulling the camouflage over a hypersensitive world's eyes is tough to brazen out. Canada's report from The Information Warfare Monitor, "Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network" does not attribute the malware directly to the Chinese state. The US military already had suspicous hacker activity attributed to the Chinese at the Pentagon almost eighteen months ago. Those magisterial moments during the 2008 Olympics are over. It leaves China unencumbered by world community threats to showcase its military might on center stage. Only the US military preemptively released their annual assessment on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Dalai Lama's office raised suspicions about being hacked.

Computers -- including machines at NATO, governments and embassies -- are infected with software that lets attackers gain complete control of them, according to the reports. One was issued by the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies in conjunction with the Ottawa, Canada-based think tank The SecDev Group; the second came from the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

Researchers have dubbed the network GhostNet. The network can not only search a computer but see and hear the people using it, according to the Canadian report.

"GhostNet is capable of taking full control of infected computers, including searching and downloading specific files, and covertly operating attached devices, including microphones and web cameras," the report says. (Internet map - portion)

Tuesday, President Obama leaves Washington DC for the G-20 Summit hosted in a protest-ready and poorer London after already having words with China's Ambassador to the US over US Naval ships in international waters. The Chinese ambassador made sure the press knew there were concerns about the US currency amidst a global crisis. Warfare, cyber and otherwise, is definitely practiced economically. China is spreading the wealth around and making more inroads and cyber tracks in the Western Hemisphere. France & China have a frosty relationship after President Sarkozy took a meeting with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Meanwhile, Thailand is pretty pissed about their computers while Austrailia is defending its ties at home with China. This summit will be like a giant Hollywood party where people were married to each other, divorced and married former friends while everybody is ensuring all is truly cordial because the cameras are on.

President Hu Jintao will warmly greet President Obama. The pictures will be pretty and the words carefully chosen to convey maximum strength on both sides as they speak as if at a tennis match. China will hear about the lack of government safety control in their manufacturing and food production environments, the US will get slammed over the health of the Dollar, return serve on the artificial price pegging of the Yuan with a volley back on the stupidity of Iraq, followed by the human rights issues in Burma and Darfur with pointed questions about China's designs on Latin America, followed by talks about climate change with the US saying new rules. And that's just Secretary Hillary Clinton's part in the meeting. President Obama will hear much mutterings on the scale and scope of the US military industrial complex's sales of armaments and delivery systems. China claims they are nowhere near able to keep up on that military scale. Um, yeah... just the end user better hope they have some quality control in the stuff they get from a booming China.



Mixing modernity with the mastery of the ancient eastern tradition makes for compelling reading about China's geopolitical growth spurts. Ralph D. Sawyer chronicles the inside political gamesmanships Chinese generals do on each other and other nonconventional means of projecting military might. China is not adverse to using every tool at their command and this China expert shows us how many means and methods they have already used in The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China.

Darwin Invited to Church

Charles Darwin turns some people of faith into an evolutionary guide from humble worshipers to frothing at the mouth illogical ranters.  It is a sight to be hold and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life studied the Darwin phenomenon.  Now many Churches are gathering in England to have a rational discussion on Darwin's thought leadership.  Be ever mindful that Darwin has creationist Islamic critics of natural selection as well. Enter Turkey's contribution, Harun Yahya.  It is interesting that the famed abolitionist and naturalist's birthday is the same as the 16th president of the United States born ina log cabin.  this religious confab in Oxford, England is a birthday celebration of sorts with 150 years having sped by since one of Darwin's seminal works, Origin of Species, hit the nineteenth century book world.

Science and religion have been combatants in every single arena. Science relies on the observable and proof of concept.  The fact that evolution remains a "theory" gave many a small opening to create such laughable oxymoronic constructs as intelligent design.  It took the Catholic Church 400 years to mumble out an apology to Galileo about the earth's orbit.  Darwin is now the central organizing theme for the Church to explore and appreciate a Darwinian perspective.  Lots of popcorn and lay off the salt, many people's blood pressure will rise just at the thought of this symposium.  Churches involved in this want to prove they are not strict members of the flat earth society, but more enlightened and willing to embrace discussion of Darwin's scientific genius. 

Reverend Tim Stead said: "It impacts on our entire understanding of the world."

"One of our aims in holding this conference is to go some way towards redressing the impression that some of the general public have that Christians are anti-science and anti-Darwin."

"This is a chance to set the record straight and to explore how it is possible for faith to sit alongside Darwin's views," he said.

The Church of England is figuring out how to put Darwin on thier official website after some less than flattering remarks through the decades form thier eminent leaders.  Unrepenatant atheists use Darwin as propaganda to promote their agenda that believers are deluded.  It doesn't help that literal-minded Creationists stubbornly stick to the mantra of the earth only being 6,000 years old.  Darwin considered himself agnostic after the soul destroying loss of his daughter Annie followed by another son lost to scarlet fever.

Charles Darwin was a prodigious writer of scholarly journals and a multitude of snail mail.  Few authors can claim that they have four books that are epics and mark epochs in scientific thought.  Here in one volume are the four stellar works of Darwin in From so Simple A Beginning: Darins Four Great Books: Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, the Descent of Man and The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals.

Contemporary Middle East Art Show

Ramin Haerizadeh

What an attention grabbing, interesting collection of contemporary art emanating from the art inspired people of the Middle East and old world Persia. That's nothing new as art has held an ancient pride of place from the birthplace of Three Faiths. The Saatchi Gallery compiled a wide range of artists using an assortment of mediums involving the head, heart and hands of artiste and audience. The political or the profane are not held in abeyance as the freedom of expressions include a beautiful rendering of a deplorable West Bank checkpoint that illustrates what both sides endure and see differently. Charles Saatchi pulled artists with ancestral roots from Arabia and Persia, but domiciled all over the globe, for "Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East", the almost five month showing in Britain. (Qalandia by Wafa Hourani)

British collector Charles Saatchi has filled his new gallery with over 80 paintings, sculptures and installations from the Middle Ea st representing a vibrant art scene that he hopes will challenge people's assumptions about the region.

The works, gathered over the last four years by the Baghdad-born impresario, touch on sensitive topics. They depict the horror of conflicts past and present, explore suppressed sexuality and examine awoman's place in the Muslim world.

"Our sense of the Middle East is so dominated by reports of war, the tensions and the troubles," said Rebecca Wilson, the gallery's head of development. (Untitled Art from Shadi Ghadirian)

From prostitutes to praying women in ethereal white tinfoil, aptly named ghosts, which is a three dimensional echo from another culture. On a much smaller exhibition scale it is somewhat reminiscent of the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang in Shaanxi Province, China with neatly aligned rows and a rhythmic repetitive use of material. The show opens Friday 30 January with a scheduled close on 6 May, 2009. There is a illustration book - 208 pages, available through the Saatchi Gallery that captures the art and include biographical sketches of some of the artists. Kader Attia's contribution is the Ghost display. (Pictured WshhWshh from Nadia Ayari)

Beirut Cautchouc is a Beirut floor mat map by Marwan Rechmaoui

(Photo Courtesy Reuters: Toby Melville)

Tala Madani

Since it is art, criticism to follow should be a hotbed of controversy. First, because many of the artists are Iranian while others live in a more westernized flamboyant habitat like Dubai. The art scene is seeing a number of means for Middle Eastern artworks to arrive on the stage. Qatar opened a spectacular edifice, Museum of Islamic Art, with the building itself as the first piece of art from the Chinese American architect, IM Pei.



The ever artful and always interesting author on Arabic art and architecture, daab, brings the beauty of interiors to life in the book, Arabian Design. Forms and function and the influences from the past show up in very modern building or contemporary pieces of artwork throughout the Middle East.

England Claims Giving Birth to Champagne

England & France have needed European marriage counseling since the Dark Ages. France famously touts its epicurean delights while thumbing their noses at the oxymoron of an Escoffier English chef. Bangers and mash or fish and chips versus haute cuisine croissants and flambéed Crêpes Suzette. The crux of the latest battle du jour is the birthplace of sparkling wine, champagne. Dom Pèrignon is effervescing in friarly indignation in his grave right now after being asked to come up with a way to make the wine bottles stop exploding in the abbey wine 'cellar'.

Champagne merits special stemware for events that warrant hors d'oeuvres as it is a regal drink of bubbly celebration or splashing the side of a newly launched cruiseliner. France has whole regions of the countryside named Champagne from the medieval period or large swaths of land dedicated to maintaining its pure-blood/wine grape lineage. The most famous names of Champagne began in the 18th century, Taittinger (1734), Moët et Chandon (1743) and Vueve Clicquot (1772). Out of a late summer rain cloud comes this cider-making English bloke from Somerset with a differing provenance of a 1632 Royal Society wine enthusiast who preceded Dom whose cuvée pedigree lasts. En garde.

Mr Crowden, from Chard in Somerset, researched Merret for his book on the history of cider called Ciderland.

He believes that the popularity of sparkling wines began when British cider-makers added sugar to acidic French white wine and then learnt how to control the resulting secondary fermentation. The sugar caused secondary fermentation in the bottle, which created sparkling wines.

Merrett also invented the thick green bottle strong enough to contain the pressure of secondary fermentation. French wine-makers had been plagued by the problem of unintended fermentation, which could cause whole cellars of their fragile bottles to explode. By learning to control it they were able to create sparkling wine by design rather than accident.

Heavens to murgatroy and exploding bottles and French minds everywhere. The plot thickens because the premise is based on a book release occurring with the week along with a presentation to today's English Royal Society citing the glass to contain the rowdy bubbly was also Merret's invention. This peer review could turn itself into another over the channel blood feud between the Saxons and the Normans. The French do not have a sense of humour about champagne - at all. There are laws and no, I am not kidding.

In 1941, the Comite Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) was founded to protect the champagne market. Yep, right in the middle of WWII, champagne interests superseded Panzer divisions breaking into the country. In 1891, the Treaty of Madrid, made it clear that only sparkling wine produced in certain areas meeting specific standards could use the name champagne. World War I participants affirmed that ruling in the Treaty of Versailles. these words were legend in France and not usable elsewhere: méthode champenoise or champagne method. That's why this new theory is going to come under a cultural assault or a walk of roses from vintners and other interested parties the world over. Switzerland had a town named Champagne and they agreed to lose the name in 2004. I'd say get your popcorn, but that is so plebian to wash down with champagne from Champagne.

The new enfant terrible of champagne books, Ciderland is from the Somerset chap, James Crowden. For those seeking a tour de fource in the sparkling beverage's royal lineage need look no further than the well researched 4000 Champagnes from neutral Swedish expert author , Richard Juhlin.

Enjoy your French bubbly, oui?

Golden Sceptre & Pig Offerings Welcome New King

Across 500 miles (800 kilometers) of warm South Pacific waters boasting 169 islands is the archipelago under the dominion of a newly annointed King of Tonga. Only 36 of the islands are inhabited with nearby neighbors to the South in Samoa. Closer still to Fiji, where a dictator has seized control. After the fall of Hawaii's Queen Liliuokalani, Tonga remains the only surviving monarchy in the Pacific islands. Like Ethiopia, Tonga is one of the few nations never to have been a colony of Empire-hungry western nations.

Tourists know them as the Friendly Islands because a colonizer, Captain James Cook, did make a stop there during the Tu'i Tonga's or chief's receipt of first fruits during the 'inasi festival. Nobody better to share the celebratory royal pig with as the celebrations continue with 1400 specially invited guests. It is easy to miss that the prior monarch made bad economic decisions, fueling an internal debate for a more democratic form of representation amidst the beauty of the island and gentle spirits of the people. Civil service strikes and protests have erupted outside the king's colorful gates at the resplendent palace, demanding democracy.

After the current king's abdication, the western educated Oxford scholar and Crown Prince will become their 23rd monarch, King George Tupou V, on 1 August. He is an avid Anglophile after sending much of his formative years in the United Kingdom, eschewing local tailors for the Savile Row set to show off during the festivities of rugby, parades, customary fireworks, coronation balls and a concert upon ascension to the throne. A number of members of dynastic European and Asian royalty shall attend. Not sure if they will be partaking of the drinks made with narcotics though.

The King is 60 years young as he wears traditional dress and participates in a royal kava ceremony to formally welcome him as Tu'i Kanokupolu.

At a Christian coronation ceremony on Friday, King George will swear before God to perform his duties as the king and will be formally enthroned. The throne itself, a handsome gilt chair made in China, arrived in the kingdom last week on a specially chartered DHL plane.

In Tongan culture, the presentation of kava to a person acknowledges his authority. The presentation to the king was a lavish choreographed ritual in which the kava roots were hacked off, pounded with stones, mixed with water and presented to him by a female member of the royal family. Offerings of tapa cloth and food were set before the monarch.
More than 70 pigs, which had been gutted and stuffed with banana leaves, were laid out on wooden biers. Ceremonial provisions of yam, taro and tinned food were put on the grass in containers woven from leaves and later distributed to local people.

A feature of the ceremony is its flaunting of strict protocol. Because no Tongan may walk in front of a king he was accompanied by an elaborately dressed Fijian guard who wielded a spear to drive off evil spirits. There was also an arranged dispute between his two principal ceremonial assistants. And after one of the pigs had been ceremonially cut up, a Japanese diplomat who is a friend of the king presented him with the flesh as no Tongan may touch the monarch's food.

Tonga culture is fascinating. The monocle wearing King is pledging to not to have absolute control by gingerly moving towards a more democratic and representative government. We shall see.

For the traveler, Samoan Islands & Tonga from Paul Smitz gets one up to speed quickly on the local customs and rich cultural kava history.

Happy 90th Birthday Nelson Mandela, Madiba

Lawyer, 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner, African National Congress warrior, President of South Africa, prisoner, Madiba all are factual monikers of a fierce freedom fighter celebrating his 9oth year upon Earth. Twenty seven of his years were spent imprisoned in the harsh conditions of Robben Island, aka Mandela University, until his release in 1990. Nelson Mandela comes from a storied African royal line and waged a revolution on behalf of all. From fighting the oppressive racist colonial system of apartheid to convicted prisoner 46664 at the former leper colony to Truth And Reconciliation as president of South Africa is the arc of a tremendous story on behalf of humankind. Friend of Kings, Queens, Oprah & Noami, The Elders, soccer fans, Oliver Tambo & Walter Sisulu, Bill & Hillary Clinton, former archbishop Desmond Tutu, Winne Madikizela-Mandela his second wife and mother of his children plus a host of other people well known and those not.

FREE NELSON
MANDELA!!! was a battle cry in both the United States and in South Africa. Collegiate protests helped force mega multinational companies home based in the USA divest in South Africa. Before he died of AIDS, humanitarian and tennis star Arthur Ashe protested outside the South African embassy and was arrested at an anti apartheid rally in 1985 making a poignant plea on behalf of ridding South Africa of the evils of apartheid. As Africa suffers with stigmas orphans and a prodigious lack of resources to fight AIDS, Nelson Mandela's humanitarian foundation has taken up the cause even as he lost his own son to the disease early in 2005.

Born on July 18, 1918 the man of experiences has a Birthday Message to everyone. He along with his wife, Graça Machel, are celebrating in his home filled with exuberant grandchildren today in Qunu, South Africa. Nelson Mandela's presents include busts, books with amazing illustrations - the one I love and treasure is Mandela - and wall portraits from famous artists of him. All were tributes to him. No matter the year, Nelson Mandela sports the coolest patterned shirts on the planet! An artist for his statue in Parliament Square, famous for protests by the People, in London near Westminster Abbey and Big Ben has him wearing one of his iconic shirts. Ninety years young and still the height of hip.

"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to conquer poverty," Mandela said.

"I am sure for many people that is their wish," he said. "I also havethat wish that I spent more time (with my family). But I don't regret it."

"This is my property. When I am here, I feel I own something," he said.

In Johannesburg, children celebrated with birthday cake at the offices of the foundation Mandela founded after stepping down as president in 1999, and his African National Congress unfurled giant banners featuring his image at its downtown headquarters.

In 1994 as he was sworn in as South Africa's president Nelson Mandela was 77 years young. It is also his tenth wedding anniversary to Graça making it a joyous occasion on several accounts. She is married to a world icon who is beloved. Nelson Mandela has forgiven those who trespassed against him in a graceful and public way. Nelson Mandela's enormous legacy will burnish always, just for that heroic act alone.

Nelson Mandela's autobigraphical work of immense worth, tremendous insights and of literary note is the acclaimed
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by the wonder of the world himself. Nelson and my father make me proud! Madiba magic!

Shakespeare Robbery Drama

Culturally, 1998 was the year of Potter Magic, Mullets, and presidential monuments to Monica. Shakespeare, aka the Bard, had an admirer who after his death made 750 copies First Folio editions in 1623, with one of the rare surviving editions that wound its way to a bookshelf in England's Durham University in 1998. For centuries, it resided alongside other pedigreed books read by generations of readers. One ostensible modern reader having a terrible winter of discontent, stole seven of the books in 1998, including William Shakespeare's folio, now valued at £15 million pounds or in American dollars, $30 million.

Then, book appears, exported to America like the Beatles. The current, latest or hoodwinked black market book buyer or original thief decided that he needed the book's DNA verified. He appreciated that certain Americans are well versed in all things Shakespearean and they can be found in the most unlikely places bearing the name of the bard. The truly valuable, last of the folios remaining in the world was taken in to Washington DC, to the Folger Shakespeare Library to ask a cough, innocent, cough, question of whether it twas the real thing. Librarians asked to keep the treasured folio to run a few tests which included a yelp to the FBI and placing the piece, now evidence, reverentially in essentially a refrigerated room for books to preserve it rather than next to all the drug evidence. An international quest began.

"There was something about it that felt a little off to us," said Garland Scott, director of external relations at the Folger Shakespeare Library, one of the world's leading centers of Shakespearean research.

A 51-year-old man was arrested in the English town of Washington on Thursday and was being questioned Friday.

It could not immediately be determined whether the man in custody is the man who visited the Folger.

A compulsive thief obviously has not followed the historical debasing of the current value of the US dollar, nor the advents in technology or just basic gumshoe principles. The local constables show up to a generic orderly modest home of a middle-aged book dealer in a working class neighborhood in the town of Washington, near Tye with a silver Ferrarri in the driveway, Armani suits in the closet and towering stacks of antique books. Now the book purchaser/dealer/thief claims it was a great buy in Cuba and he is an international businessman. So now the perfect place to insert said thief was not holding his manhood cheap line.

Harold Bloom is a Shakespearean scholar with a penchant for upbraiding the riff raff for not knowing enough about William S nor lauding the intelligentsia for not understanding Shakespeare's influence on the western literary canon. Bloom believes Shakespeare gave people personalities. The erudite and somewhat cranky professor wrote an entire work on the intriguing and imminently debatable topic, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.

Williams Wins Wimbledon

Laughing - of course one of the near six feet tall Williamses won The Championships, Wimbledon, as two opponent sisters served their way into the history books for one to emerge the victor for the Ladies Singles title. Venus, newly turned 28, took Serena, 26, in two sets, 7-5 6-4, for the Ladies finals as Mom looked on and Dad fled the country. Dad is a complete wreck when he watches his daughters square off against each other. As the remaining parent at the world's biggest tennis recital Momma Williams stayed diplomatic and clapped after every serve and volley, no matter what. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club sports a Grand Slam event where the world's best come for just under two weeks to flatten the grass at centre court with hundred mile an hour swings at a complimentary lime green ball.

It was Venus' first win over her younger sibling in a Grand Slam final
since the 2001 U.S. Open, and evened their career record at 8-8.

Venus came from 3-1 down in the first set to turn around the match,
breaking Serena four times while dropping her own serve twice in a
final of high quality despite the wind.

Venus broke to finish the match, with Serena hitting a backhand wide on
the second match point. The sisters embraced at the net, and Venus kept
her celebrations in check as she twirled and waved to the Centre Court
crowd.

The rule is everybody wears white - no matter how creatively flamboyant the fashion forward Williams sisters get, it has to be white when accepting the Venus Rose Water dish trophy from the Duke of Kent. Venus is a fashion icon designing from her firm, V Star Interiors; Tavis Smiley's PBS set and the athlete's apartments for NYC's bid for the 2012 Olympics which London landed. Venus has a deal with Steve & Barry's for her own fashion line EleVen. My sister gave me some quality hoodies from their that I absolutely treasure. They seem to be a beacon as Sarah Jessica Parker also has a contract with them. Maybe they can do Venus's wedding dress as she announced her engagement in early January to Hank Kuehne, a professional golfer.

Venus is nobody's shrinking violet. She took on the pruny old boys establishment of tennis and demanded in the name of Billie Jean King pay equality for winning tournaments. They dismissed her and Venus returned with a blazing backhand well written editorial that persuaded then prime minster Tony Blair to see it her way. In 2007, she made the same as Roger Federer. Pretty amazing for a kid who learned on the barely adequate courts of Compton, California and is turning into a champion of business, fashion and Grand Slams.

This was back to back Wimbledon wins for Venus, who last year fought back from near defeat in earlier rounds to win the tournament as the lowest rank seed ever. She smashed her own record in that regard. Looks like Venus is going to move up in the ranks before the start of the US Open which is on a hard surface perfect for a power game, but its in New York at its hottest and muggiest. Serena may want to weigh in on how she feels about her own chances at beating big sis. She's done it before.

A Williams' tennis Battle Royale at the All England Club had a different result in 2003. Serena landed the giant gold embossed plated hardware. Press folks from all over the world were deflated as the sibling rivalry did not take the direction of a MOM - she touched me in the back seat and that's why she has a bloody nose, variety. When they were younger, the girls would cry when one beat the other. Now they have a ton of trophies and plates to prove that they are the best, even against each other.

Living near each other in Florida and with a shred history, Venus and Serena Williams worked with Hilary Beard to scribe their story. From hardscrabble beginnings, learning to play on courts strwen with broken beer bottles comes the heart of the female championship and Olympic gold medal winners in Venus and Serena: Serving From the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving and Winning.

Out today is the amazing Venus in pictures. British photog Koto Bolofo presents Koto Bolofo: Venus Williams with Patrick Remy as editor.