Paris Parfait

Cinnabar and a Chinese restaurant

I photographed this Chinese restaurant near Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris, because its exterior reminded me of the cinnabar I bought in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Exterior decoration of the restaurant, with a bicycle reflected in the plate glass.

Hand-knotted cinnabar beads and bracelets and silk from Chinatown, San Francisco and from the Victoria & Albert Museum shop, London. I may wear the bracelets on occasion, but red is not my colour, much as I love it. So the cinnabar beads and tasseled necklace are part of a tableau featuring Chinese antique objects d' art. Does anyone remember the Estee Lauder fragrance "Cinnabar," which was heavy on spice notes and seemed very exotic?

Scroll down the page for three additional posts today.

Naturegirl in Paris

Anna and Glenn Hogan of Canada - the completely charming "Naturegirl" and "Natureboy" to friends and fellow bloggers - photographed Thursday evening after dinner at Le Petit Chatlet, Paris. Sadly, the photos of Anna and me were slightly out of focus. But we had a wonderful evening together and wish they didn't have to dash off to Rome, quite so soon!

Singing the blues

Walter Harris sings the blues - and love songs - on the Riverfront in Savannah, Ga. Rain or shine, Harris has been entertaining visitors to the popular Southern city for 20 years.

Questions continue about McCain's running mate

Update: As Hurricane Gustav heads for the Gulf Coast, so does John McCain, his wife Cindy and his new running mate Palin - along with Secret Service agents and a "select" press pool. Why? As we all remember, McCain spent Hurricane Katrina laughing over birthday cake with President Bush.

As Will Thomas of Talking Points Memo points out, "...neither McCain nor Palin offer any unique advantage to New Orleans with their presence -- they are not Southern politicians, they don't have any particularly useful contacts in the area and they aren't emergency responders. (Meanwhile, Obama will not travel to the region but has said he will use his fundraiser lists to coordinate volunteers once damage is assessed.) However, McCain could be particularly helpful from his Senate position, if he so chose.

"And if visiting a possible emergency site to "check on preparations" (as the campaign refers to it) doesn't bother you particularly, consider this line from Politico yesterday: "McCain was scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday but now may do so from the devastation zone if the storm hits the U.S. coast with the ferocity feared by forecasters."

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For those Republicans who think Sarah Palin's nomination as John McCain's running mate is some sort of consolation prize after Hillary Clinton didn't win the Democratic nomination, consider the vast differences between the two women.

As a woman named Christine emailed to CNN's Jack Cafferty, “I am a true-Bill-Hillary — a true-blue Hillary supporter, but I am sure — I’m sure Hillary did not mean to put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that a pro-life, pro-gun, homeschooling nobody from the frozen tundra of Alaska could slide in.”

Meanwhile, presidential scholars say Palin is probably the least experienced presidential candidate in modern history.

In the Washington Post, John Podesta, chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, writes:

"A potential vice president with the ideology of Dick Cheney and fewer qualifications than Dan Quayle should send arctic shivers up our spines.

"Vice presidents matter. In our history, nine have become president when the sitting commander in chief unexpectedly died or resigned. McCain, a 72-year-old cancer survivor, may be rolling the dice to grab a chunk of Hillary Clinton's voters, but he is asking all of us to gamble on Sarah Palin if she were to become president at a time of national crisis.

"McCain himself said this spring: "In all due respect he does not understand . . . the fundamental elements of national security and warfare." He could have been discussing his running mate. The former mayor of Wasilla, population 8,471, has no national security experience. She has been governor only two years. And her instincts on domestic and security policy are troubling.

"While we sit on only three percent of the world's oil reserves, Palin thinks we can drill our way out of our oil addiction by exploiting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. When we should be protecting the climate, she is suing the United States to prevent protections for polar bears threatened by global warming. When we need to clean up Washington, she is vocally defending Sen. Ted Stevens."

Here's Palin with disgraced Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Palin, curently under investigation for improperly firing a state employee, scrubbed another video - in which Stevens endorsed her for governor - from her website. Palin also added numerous comments to her Wikipedia entry, including "eye-popping integrity" and "most popular governor in America," quotes repeatedly used by one of McCain's female surrogates, appearing on CNN's Larry King Live. With every question King or James Carville asked about Palin's qualifications, the McCain defender used the same responses, over and over. Apparently, the Wikipedia entry was the only information she had about Palin.

Some interesting background about Palin's "executive" decisions involving a local dairy here.

Daily Kos has a list of 49 problems with Palin that have become apparent in just 35 hours. And the top two Alaskan newspapers have questioned Palin's qualifications for the job.

For more about Palin, read McCain puts politics above nation's security and McCain clutches at straws and comes up short.

Teen Vogue: Yes sir, that's my baby!

Please indulge the proud mom once again! That's my daughter Jordana Shalhoub (in the pink) and her SCAD design partner Ashlyn Kleber at their fashion show May 17th in Savannah. They are pictured surrounded by models wearing their designs, in the September issue of Teen Vogue (p. 118-19). In the first picture, Ruffian New York designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais admire details of a dress. Click photo to enlarge.

For more of their designs at SCAD, go here and here.

For three additional posts today, scroll down the page.

McCain puts politics above nation's security

...Of course John McCain also told Time magazine that Iraq is a "peaceful, stable country."

John McCain's top aide admits Sarah Palin isn't ready to lead the country; says McCain won't die in office. We're supposed to be reassured by the word of a man who said another 9/11 style of attack on America would help McCain's campaign? ( P.S. As a journalist, I have met more world leaders and visited more countries than Sarah Palin has. Does that make me qualified to be vice president? I think not!).

As Joe Conason writes in Salon, "It is hard to think of a more cynical and contemptuous political act this year than John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. Having served as governor of Alaska for less than two years -- and as mayor of a small town before that -- her qualifications for national office are minimal.

"Palin is the epitome of tokenism, exactly what conservative Republicans have always claimed to scorn, until today, as the politics of quotas and political correctness...

"But if Palin's résumé is limited, to put it politely, she possesses the only two qualities that McCain now seems to consider essential: She is a right-wing religious ideologue with female gender characteristics. Suddenly that is all anyone needs to qualify as a potential commander in chief of the world's most powerful military. We probably won't hear so much from now on about "experience" and "judgment," McCain's vaunted standard for the presidency until ... today. We certainly won't hear again about the "person most prepared to take my place," the phrase he has used more than once to describe his main criterion for a running mate.

"When CNN political correspondent Dana Bash interviewed McCain last April, she mentioned his joke that one of the two main tasks of the vice president is to check on the president's health every day, a job of particular importance in his case. What did he mean by that? It was just a humorous remark, he said. But when she pressed him further, McCain said: "I think about whether that person who I select would be most prepared to take my place. And that would be the key criteria [sic]."

"Sometime between then and now, a focus group must have told McCain and his handlers that the experience argument wasn't cutting against Barack Obama, that the nomination of Joe Biden as Obama's running mate had eviscerated it completely -- and that instead he and his consultants had better find a way to corral disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters, or forget about winning come November.

"Clearly nobody in the Republican camp is concerned that Palin would be clueless in a national security crisis, should a 72-year-old or older President McCain abruptly die or become disabled. Perhaps the GOP will have to mothball all those "Country First" banners along with the experience meme, because no candidate who puts the security of the nation above politics would ever contemplate this maneuver."

Dicen que no hablan las plantas

Blossom, Broughton Street, Savannah, Georgia.

Dicen que no hablan las plantas, ni las fuentes, ni los pájaros,
ni el nda consus rumores, ni con su brillo los astros.
Lo dicen; pero no es cierto, pues siempre cuado yo paso
de mi murmuran y exclaman

Ahhi va la loca sonando
con l eterna primavera de la vida y de los campos,
y ya ben pronto, bien pronto, tendra los cabellos canos
y ve temblado, aterida, que cubre la escarcha el prado. - Rosalia de Castro

They say that the plants do not speak, nor the brooks, nor the birds,
nor the waves with their roar, nor with their brillance, the stars,
So they say: but one cannot be sure, for always, when I go by,
they whisper about me and say...

...Ah, there goes the madwoman, dreaming
of the everlasting springtide of life and the fields
and yet soon, very soon, her har will be gray
and trembling, frozen, she sees that the frost is upon the grass.

Labor Day weekend

As Labor Day weekend begins in the US, be careful with the fireworks, so a real firetruck isn't necessary.(Vintage firetruck, Vancouver).

Waterskiing is always popular in the summer heat.

Maybe you plan to stay home and watch scary movies. (Souvenir shop, Savannah).

...Or perhaps telling ghost stories...

...or a game of cards around the campfire is your idea of fun.

Maybe you'd prefer a little jazz and mint juleps? (Zinc cutouts fronting stairwell leading to jazz club, Savannah).

Don't eat too many of these caramel apples (River Street Sweets, Savannah). Hmmm, maybe a small bag of candy wouldn't hurt...

Trying on vintage prom dresses could be a hoot (@ Home Vintage General, Savannah).

Maybe you're staying home, working on your humble abode...(Home awaiting restoration, Savannah).

Whatever you do, try to avoid situations requiring fingerprints. (Vintage fingerprint kit, @ Home Vintage General, Savannah).

McCain clutches at straws and comes up short

John McCain's curious pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate really has to make one wonder about his judgment. Palin - a governor for only two years - previously was the mayor of a town of less than 8,000 people. She already is embroiled in a scandal in her home state. And just last month she said she didn't understand what a vice-president does.

In an interview with Larry Kudlow of CNBC, Palin said, “[A]s for that V.P. talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that V.P .slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

What about McCain's oft-repeated "experience" claim in this election? Well that flies right out the window with Palin. Can you imagine if McCain - now 72, having survived cancer - were president and she was suddenly called upon to lead the country? What does she know about foreign affairs or even Washington, for that matter? I would think there are many Republican politicians who are better-qualified vice-presidential candidates, including Kay Bailey Hutchinson. For that matter, most of us would be more qualified to be vice-president than Sarah Palin.

Does McCain really think the lingering few Clinton supporters and independents who haven't been won over by Obama would vote for him, simply because his vice-presidential pick is a woman? How deluded is the man?

Palin, a mother of five, is also a creationist, so maybe McCain thinks he's appeasing certain elements of his party. But he's obviously not considering the good of the country, otherwise he would never put such an unqualified person's name forward for an important office with critical responsibilities.

Yes, we can. Starting now.

Photo courtesy of Obama for America.

Remarks of Sen. Barack Obama, "The American Promise," Democratic Convention, Thursday, August 28, 2008,
Denver, Colorado.

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation:

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey and especially the one who traveled the farthest distance, a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia – I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart – that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women – students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments – a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

Time to unite

Clock, Farmers' Market, Ferry Building, Embarcadero, San Francisco.

"No way, no how, no McCain!" Thank you, Hillary, for an impassioned speech. On Tuesday Sen. Clinton reminded die-hard supporters that what's more important than personal feelings is fighting for what's best for our country. "I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years. Those are the reasons I ran for president. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too," she said.

"John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatise social security. And in 2008, he still thinks it is okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work," she reminded delegates.

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton formally nominated Barack Obama. "With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let’s declare together, in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our President. Madame Secretary, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules and suspend the further conduct of the roll cal vote — all votes cast by the delegates will be counted — and I move Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be elected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democtaric party for President of the United States.”

I stayed up until 3:45 this morning to watch Bill Clinton address the convention and was not disappointed. His spirited speech - preceded by a five-minute standing ovation - reminded me of the Bill Clinton I know and admire. "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power," he said. "Look at the example the Republicans have set. In this decade, American workers have consistently given us rising productivity. That means, year after year, they work harder and produce more.

"Now, what did they get in return? Declining wages, less than one-fourth as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage," Clinton said.

"They (Republicans) took us from record surpluses to an exploding debt; from over 22 million new jobs to just 5 million; from increasing working families’ incomes to nearly $7,500 a year to a decline of more than $2,000 a year; from almost 8 million Americans lifted out of poverty to more than 5.5 million driven into poverty and millions more losing their health insurance.

"Now, in spite of all this evidence, their candidate is actually promising more of the same. Think about it: more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy; more Band-Aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured; more going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.

"They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more!" Cinton said.

Kerry and Biden remind voters of key issues

John Kerry made an absolutely brilliant speech, contrasting McCain's constantly-changing positions to Obama's measured choices. He talked about why Americans can't afford four more years of Republican bad decisions and failed policies. Read the transcript here.

Vice-presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden also made a powerful speech. Biden spoke of the need for change; of a government that addresses the needs of all its citizens, rather than favouring the privileged few. He said he's "never seen a time when Washington has seen so many people knocked down and not helped them get back up."

And on Tuesday, Sen. Bob Casey reminded convention delegates that “John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 95% of the time. That’s not a maverick. That’s a sidekick.”

“The Bush-McCain Republicans inherited the strongest economy in history and drove it into a ditch. They cut taxes on the wealthiest of us and passed the pain to the least of us. They ran up the debt gave huge subsidies to oil companies and now they’re asking for four more years? How about four more months,” Casey said.

Only 68 days until the election. We've already seen John McCain embrace Rovian-style politics. Sadly, rather than talk about the problems facing our country, he appears prepared to do and say anything - even if untrue - to try to cast doubt about his opponent. What I doubt is McCain's ability to lead; he can't even keep his facts straight and needs geography lessons. Further, it's alarming how in this campaign he's reversed his positions on nearly every issue that as a senator he endorsed - including an immigration bill he wrote!

Let's get busy. We've got the important work of winning an election!

A summer afternoon in Paris

Boys with birds, Notre Dame, Paris.

In the small park opposite the Hotel de Ville, this chain-smoking gentleman brings a bag of breadcrumbs and holds them - one by one - in the air. Birds flock to him. Click photo to enlarge for detail of the two sparrows on his hand and another en route. I had only my small pocket camera with me, which is limited in capturing movement.

Local musicians on the Ile Saint-Louis.

Bicycle with child's seat near Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Jewel-tone dahlias, Ile Saint-Louis.

Art nouveau sign, corner cafe, Boulevard Saint-Germain. Notice the red geraniums in a window-box?

17th-century building with the slanted foundation and leaded windows to prove it, Ile Saint-Louis.

Courtyard entrance, Ile Saint-Louis. Standing inside the courtyard are visiting Canadian friends Anna and Glenn, with whom I had lunch and spent a lovely afternoon. You may know Anna as the delightful blogger Naturegirl. We are having dinner together later in the week and will take more photos.

Grand design.

Hearts on fire.

An empty doorway midway through renovation.

Exposed wood on the same doorway. I like the effect created by remnants of various paint colours.

Grapes on a vine, local greengrocers.

Too many choices of cheese, shot through the vitrine of the local fromagerie. My friend Karyn once lived in a bijoux apartment three stories above this cheese shop. In the summertime, the aroma wafted through the building, despite the building owner's efforts to minimise the problem.

P.S. Almost anyone who's traveled has an airline horror story. But this one's hard to beat. (Hat tip to Americablog). And now United Airlines has the nerve to consider charging passengers for food on international flights! The words hubris, greed and incompetent management come to mind.

Sculptural ladder of locks

Iron sculpture, Ile Saint-Louis, Paris.

Today on the Ile Saint-Louis, I saw this iron sculpture in an art gallery vitrine. My first thought was that the sculptural ladder could be made of locks and keys from six of John McCain's houses. Probably the artist had something else in mind, but all art is subjective, right? And these days, the American people are continually subjected to McCain's excuses for being unable to answer basic questions and understand world geography. Pretty pathetic, really. Rather like former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani's political campaign "platform" of "Noun, verb, 9/11," as Joe Biden once commented.

Les lumières

Photographing these chandeliers at Macy's in San Francisco cost a small fortune. I tried to photograph them from the Union Square main entrance, but had only my small pocket camera with me. This meant my daughter Jordana and I were forced to take the escalator to the next level, so I could have a closer view. Naturally, this sent us off to explore what was behind the partition. Lo and behold, a dazzling array of shoes encompassed practically the entire floor! Then there was that fabulous silk-knit dress that folds small enough to fit into a 5"x7" envelope - perfect for travel. Ahem...well worth the diversion, we agreed, as we left the store carrying extra parcels.

Lanterns and a skylight at Ghiradelli Square, where we met a very talented artist. More about him in an upcoming post.

California Street portico, with hanging lanterns reflecting the influence of early Spanish settlers.

Street lamps in Chinatown. Go here for photos of lanterns galore in Chinatown.

Maison de bonheur

Maison de bonheur, Church Street, San Francisco.

How could this "Painted Lady" not be a house of happiness, when adorned in bright colours, accented with lovely floral murals? For a story about more houses, go here.

An excerpt from Paulo Coelho's book Like the Flowing River:

"William Blake said, "What is now proved was once only imagined." And because of this we have the airplane, space flights and the computer on which I am writing this. In Lewis Carroll's masterpiece Alice through the Looking Glass, there is a dialogue between Alice and the White Queen, who has just said something utterly unbelievable.

"I can't believe that!" said Alice. "Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath and shut your eyes." Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

"Life is constantly telling us: 'Believe!' Believing that a miracle could happen at any moment is necessary for our happiness, but also for our protection and to justify our existence. In today's world, many people think it is impossible to do away with poverty, to bring about a just society and to lessen the religious tension that appears to be growing with each day."

Heartstrings and typefaces

Vintage violin, hand-stitched book of sonatas and 19th-century walking sticks, Anges et Demons, Cunault, France, July 2008.

When editing a batch of photos for a book project, this one reminded me of another era... A time when some romantic soul might have scrawled a note of longing and left it for an admirer to find. In that spirit, the haiku popped into my head and I "wrote" it across the photograph with "Satisfaction" script. My IT guy in Florida tells me you won't be able to see the script, unless you have the same font installed on your computer. But no matter how the words appear on your screen, the intent is the same.

Moonlight sonata
Be still this force of longing;
heartstrings out of tune.

If you're a regular reader, you already know about my passion for old typeface letters and printer's cabinets. I blame it on my newspaper days, when the smell of printer's ink infused the air with the promise of constantly-evolving news and excitement. In those days to "stop the presses" was an expensive proposition. Sadly, much of the romance once associated with newspaper publishing has wafted away - along with the smell of printer's ink - as technology has improved. Paradoxically, the quality of newspaper content has declined. More and more advertisers are embracing online publications, forcing newspapers to reduce their editorial staff.

The internet has boosted development of new typefaces used for website design and advertising. This year I was thrilled to find a website that offers unique typefaces, many with interesting stories behind their design. Based in Cambridge, Mass., My Fonts has 62,506 fonts and new ones created monthly. With so many terrific choices, I dare you to pick just one!

Friday frisson

Dragonflies, Chinatown, San Francisco.

Good morning! It's Friday. Do you know how many houses you have?

Sen. Barack Obama, speaking Thursday at a Town Hall meeting:

"But the fact of the matter is that John McCain is offering more of the same. He said a while back that he thought that we had made great progress economically during the years that George Bush has been in office. Now, that raised some eyebrows. Great progress economically. Who is he talking to? And it turns out that you get a sense of who he's talking to because some of you saw the Saddleback Forum with Rick Warren. He was asked, well, who do you consider rich? And he thought about it for a second, I don't know. Maybe if you make $5 million. $5 million, then you're rich. Which means, I guess, if you're only making $3 million a year then you're middle class. I guess that's what he meant.

"His top economic adviser said the other day that Americans should stop complaining; they’ve become a nation of whiners. That all these economic problems everybody is talking about is just a mental recession. And if you would just change your mind, everything would be okay. Somebody’s been laid off, their plant’s closed and gone to Mexico or China, change your mind. It’s all good. Then, yesterday, he was asked again, what do you think about the economy? He says, Well, I think the economy is fundamentally strong; said the economy is fundamentally strong. Now, this puzzled me. I was confused as to what he meant.

"But then there was another interview – this is yesterday, same day – where somebody asked John McCain, how many houses do you have? And he said, I’m not sure. I’ll have to check with my staff. True quote. I’m not sure. I’ll have to check with my staff. So they asked his staff, and he said, at least four. At least four. Now, think about that. I guess if you think that being rich means you’ve got to make $5 million and if you don’t know how many houses you have, then it’s not surprising that you might think the economy was fundamentally strong. But if you’re like me, and you’ve got one house, or you are like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don’t lose their home, you might have a different perspective. And by the way, the answer is John McCain has seven homes.

"So there’s just a fundamental gap of understanding between John McCain’s world and what people are going through every single day here in America. And you don’t have to be – you don’t have to be a Nobel Prize Laureate economist. You just have to have a little bit of a sense of what ordinary people are going through to understand that we can’t afford eight more years or four more years or one more year of the same failed economic policies that George Bush has put in place."

As USAToday points out when discussing McCain's 12 properties: "McCain, who has portrayed Obama as an elitist, is the son and grandson of admirals. The Associated Press estimates his wife, a beer heiress, is worth $100 million. Obama was raised by a single mother who relied at times on food stamps and went to top schools on scholarships and loans. His income has increased from book sales since he spoke at the 2004 Democratic convention."

McCain's foreign policy judgment questioned

Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent write in the Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas) that McCain's foreign policy experience might be lengthier than Obama's, but McCain's own judgment is "alarmingly bad." An excerpt:

"...McCain’s own prognostications on Iraq have repeatedly been off the mark. He was not prescient about the course of the war: As senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee prior to the invasion, McCain predicted Iraq would be a quick and easy victory, and even told MSNBC he had "no doubt" U.S. troops "will be welcomed as liberators."

"There have been recent episodes in which McCain has missed even the most basic facts about foreign policy. During a recent CNN interview, McCain said the surge of U.S. forces, which began in the spring of 2007, led to the Sunni Awakening — which started in early autumn of 2006, months before the surge was even announced.

"Despite McCain’s multiple trips to Iraq, he still manages to mangle facts on the ground. As a member of a senatorial delegation visiting Iraq this year, he erroneously accused Iran of aiding al Qaeda and suffered the embarrassment of an on-camera correction by his friend and fellow hawk, Sen. Joe Lieberman, that Tehran was aiding "Shiite extremists," not the Sunni zealots of al Qaeda. Yet, during a Senate hearing a few weeks later, McCain committed a similar gaffe. He asked Gen. David Petraeus to confirm that al Qaeda was far more than "an obscure sect of the Shiites," and then, apparently catching himself, added, "or Sunnis or anybody else."

"McCain apparently is not even certain about Iraq’s geographic location. He recently referred to a nonexistent "Iraq-Pakistan border." (The two countries are separated by more than 800 miles of Iranian territory.)

"Far worse than such embarrassing factual errors, though, have been his shockingly careless — and at times tasteless and insensitive — off-the-cuff comments on various topics. His flip statement about keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for a hundred years is probably the least serious verbal blunder in an ever-mounting total. Leaving aside the key point that fractious Iraq is nothing like stable South Korea (McCain’s model for an extended troop presence), his comment was still damaging because it ignored the probable reaction in the Muslim world. Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups repeatedly charge that the U.S. is determined to undermine their civilization and act as an imperial hegemon in their region. McCain’s "100 years in Iraq" banner gives those allegations credibility and puts moderate Muslims on the defensive.

"But that comment was well-thought-out compared to some others. McCain’s "joke" at an April 2007 campaign stop, in which he sang "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of a Beach Boys song, was beyond tasteless. This month, he again offended basic sensibilities when he joked that despite the imposition of economic sanctions, America’s unimpeded sale of cigarettes to Iran might be a good thing because "maybe that’s a way of killing ’em."

"At best, the senator has a warped sense of humor. But such gaffes also betray a disturbing lack of judgment.
Foreign policy is serious business, and America needs a president who carefully considers his comments rather than shoots from the hip. The world is always watching and listening, and such thoughtless remarks can do tremendous damage to America’s already tattered reputation.

"McCain’s record shows clearly that he is a verbal loose cannon, and would be a clear and present danger in the Oval Office."

Ted Galen Carpenter is vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington. Malou Innocent is a Cato Institute foreign policy analyst.

Two San Francisco icons

The Transamerica Pyramid (left) and The Sentinental Building, home to award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope postproduction facilities, as well as to Zap Zoetrope Aubry Productions. Although in this photo the buildings appear side by side, they are actually a considerable distance apart. The nine-story 1930s flatiron building, an historic landmark at 916 Kearny Street, borders North Beach and Chinatown. It also houses Coppola's Cafe Zoetrope.

Amidst fast-paced growth, traditions remain

Atrium, China. Photos by Marie-Claire-Holmes.

An abstract view of a city skyline.

Putting up bamboo scaffolding.

Watching the world go by...

Modes of transport in an incongruous setting.

A bicycle parked by congratulatory floral arrangements at a new business.

Mother and child - on a scooter and pushing a stroller.

The ever-present pedicabs.

Waiting for the train.

Conversation amidst the rubble at an abandoned building site.

A village street.

Transporting a chair on a bicycle!

A smiling shopkeeper.

Decorative door knockers.

This is the sixth in a series of portraits of China.

The winning name

French military hat made famous in the film "Casablanca." No, it's not the same hat!

Tonight my chef - just before whipping up some spicy chicken curry - drew a reader's name from the hat. And the winner of the summer reading giveaway is Kristen of Sticking to the Point! I will mail her a copy of Catherine Sanderson's book Petite Anglais.

Next month I will have another giveaway to kick off fall, my favourite season. Thank you all for your concerned comments and emails. The burned spots on my head are healing, my headache subsided and finally there is hot water! Hallelujah!

Hope all is right in your corner of the world. In any event, you might want to check out The Happiness Project. Its concepts are simple, but significant in helping lift one's mood a shade or two closer to sunshine. Also, you may enjoy watching this brief video The Years Are Short.

Food for thought: The writer Lillian Hellman believed it was "a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or time or fortune, but just yourself that kept things from you." In her best-selling book Something More, Sarah Ban Breathnach reminds us life's biggest risk is "settling for playing it safe."

So let's all do ourselves a favour and veer slightly off course this week. Even a tiny step or two outside our realm of "normal" may help realise dreams that for too long have remained dormant. Worth a try, don't you think?

In Afghanistan, alarm as crisis worsens

Portrait of boys in Gardez, Afghanistan by Marianne Elliot. A former human rights advocate in Afghanistan, Elliot says the photo reminds her that Afghan children are "full of hope, potential and goodness." Elliot's evocative photographs of Afghanistan currently are on exhibit in Wellington, New Zealand.

France is reeling from the death of ten soldiers ambushed in Afghanistan. The French troops - who recently took control of the Kabul regional command - were involved in a battle that began Monday in Sarobi, about 30 miles from Kabul.

French defense officials told reporters about 100 soldiers - from France, the US and Afghanistan - were on a reconnaissance mission Monday - Afghanistan's Independence Day - when bad road conditions forced them to stop. A group of French soldiers went on foot to check the terrain. Nine were killed by Taleban fighters in "an ambush of extreme violence," French president Nicolas Sarkozy said. A tenth French soldier died when his vehicle overturned on the road.

Another 21 soldiers caught in the ambush were injured by gunfire and shrapnel from shells and rockets. The deaths are thought to be the heaviest loss suffered by the French military since 58 paratroopers were killed in 1983 in Beirut.

An Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC the troops were ambushed from several directions by heavily-armed Taleban and al-Qaeda forces. The fighting continued for 24 hours, with reinforcements called to airlift troops to safety. The deaths came amid warnings that insurgents are closing in on Kabul.

In a brief trip today to Afghanistan, Sarkozy visited the mortuary at the French camp, then talked with injured soldiers involved in the fighting. The soldiers, after receiving emergency treatment, headed home today in a medically-equipped aircraft. They will receive further care at military hospitals near Paris.

Sarkozy also met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "The cause is just, it is the honour of France and its armies to defend it," Sarkozy said. Karzai said the deteriorating security situation in the country could be “attributed directly to our lack of attention, the allies and all of us, to the sanctuaries, to the training grounds, to the financial resources, of terrorists and the Taliban."

Brandon Friedman writes in Vet Voice that the war in Iraq--at its most violent peak--was never as dangerous for our troops as Afghanistan now is." In the past ten weeks, three American soldiers have been captured and killed. Nine more American soldiers were killed when their outpost was overrun by Taliban militants. Then on Tuesday, the French soldiers were slaughtered in an ambush. Around the same time, Afghan insurgents launched a coordinated attack on a major U.S. base, Friedman said.

In Khost, south-eastern Afghanistan, up to 30 militants tried to storm an American base, hours after a suicide car bomber struck at the front gate, killing ten civilians working at Camp Salerno. Among the insurgents were suicide bombers, trying to break into the camp and kill as many NATO soldiers as possible. Last week three International Rescue Committee aid workers, along with their Afghan driver, were killed in an ambush in Logar province, south of Kabul.

"The fatality rate in Afghanistan during the past 10 weeks would be equivalent to 353 deaths in Iraq at the same time--a rate not even seen during the bloody crescendo of 2007," Friedman notes. "This is a crisis."

As Thomas Schaller writes in Salon, "While John McCain is busy with offering flashy "Gates of Hell" pledges about bringing Osama bin Laden to justice, Afghanistan is getting out of control -- again."

And all the campaign rhetoric in America can't refute that cold hard fact.

One fun store

I am mad for paper, journals, old books and crafts combining the three. The window of this delightful San Francisco store fills the bill, with mobiles fashioned from old books and papers.

Market Street reflected in the vitrine.

Documents rolled up and collected in chicken wire.

Wouldn't it be fun to have this model train at home? Just think of the possibilities - display cabinet; drinks bar; a catchall for books, CDs and DVDs or artists' supplies; a sound system; a plant stand...

A paper lampshade resembles a globe on an old wooden base, while a large vintage clock adds style to almost any home or office decor.

Could you guess that the purveyor of such imaginative displays and whimsical merchandise is Anthropologie? I'm afraid I left the store with multiple shopping bags and a much lighter wallet!

Musical interlude

Two young musicians play enchanting melodies on the Chinese zither in San Francisco. When my daughter Jordana and I were in Chinatown last month, we noticed the lovely, soothing background music in at least two stores. We decided it was much more conducive to shopping than loud, driving, heavy bass-infused Top-of-the-Charts tunes.

The man behind the facade

San Francisco vitrine, which sadly reminded me not of childhood games, but of the underhanded political games being played in the American presidential election.

Updates here, here and here.

Want to know more about the real John McCain? Read this excerpt from Frank Rich's brilliant article Sunday in The New York Times (italics emphasis mine):

"..What is widely known is the skin-deep, out-of-date McCain image. As this fairy tale has it, the hero who survived the Hanoi Hilton has stood up as rebelliously in Washington as he did to his Vietnamese captors. He strenuously opposed the execution of the Iraq war; he slammed the president’s response to Katrina; he fought the “agents of intolerance” of the religious right; he crusaded against the G.O.P. House leader Tom DeLay, the criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff and their coterie of influence-peddlers.

"With the exception of McCain’s imprisonment in Vietnam, every aspect of this profile in courage is inaccurate or defunct.

"McCain never called for Donald Rumsfeld to be fired and didn’t start criticizing the war plan until late August 2003, nearly four months after “Mission Accomplished.” By then the growing insurgency was undeniable. On the day Hurricane Katrina hit, McCain laughed it up with the oblivious president at a birthday photo-op in Arizona. McCain didn’t get to New Orleans for another six months and didn’t sharply express public criticism of the Bush response to the calamity until this April, when he traveled to the Gulf Coast in desperate search of election-year pageantry surrounding him with black extras.

"McCain long ago embraced the right’s agents of intolerance, even spending months courting the Rev. John Hagee, whose fringe views about Roman Catholics and the Holocaust were known to anyone who can use the Internet. (Once the McCain campaign discovered YouTube, it ditched Hagee.) On Monday McCain is scheduled to appear at an Atlanta fund-raiser being promoted by Ralph Reed, who is not only the former aide de camp to one of the agents of intolerance McCain once vilified (Pat Robertson) but is also the former Abramoff acolyte showcased in McCain’s own Senate investigation of Indian casino lobbying.

"Though the McCain campaign announced a new no-lobbyists policy three months after The Washington Post’s February report that lobbyists were “essentially running” the whole operation, the fact remains that McCain’s top officials and fund-raisers have past financial ties to nearly every domestic and foreign flashpoint, from Fannie Mae to Blackwater to Ahmad Chalabi to the government of Georgia. No sooner does McCain flip-flop on oil drilling than a bevy of Hess Oil family members and executives, not to mention a lowly Hess office manager and his wife, each give a maximum $28,500 to the Republican Party.

While reporters at The Post and The New York Times have been vetting McCain, many others give him a free pass. Their default cliché is to present him as the Old Faithful everyone already knows. They routinely salute his “independence,” his “maverick image” and his “renegade reputation” — as the hackneyed script was reiterated by Karl Rove in a Wall Street Journal op-ed column last week. At Talking Points Memo, the essential blog vigilantly pursuing the McCain revelations often ignored elsewhere, Josh Marshall accurately observes that the Republican candidate is “graded on a curve.”

Most Americans still don’t know, as Marshall writes, that on the campaign trail “McCain frequently forgets key elements of policies, gets countries’ names wrong, forgets things he’s said only hours or days before and is frequently just confused.” Most Americans still don’t know it is precisely for this reason that the McCain campaign has now shut down the press’s previously unfettered access to the candidate on the Straight Talk Express.

Summer reading and a giveaway

Vitrines in a San Francisco jewelry store.

Three book recommendations for these last weeks of summer:

A Place in My Country by Ian Walthew - I have a confession to make. I was invited to a book-signing for Ian in Paris and had emailed him, saying I'd be there. He wrote back and said I could bring a friend. Then I came down with a virus and thought it best not to expose the party-goers. Not only did I miss meeting Ian, I didn't get a signed copy of his book. So I did the next best thing and ordered the book online. I read it and was knocked out by his writing.

This is the review that first made me want to read A Place in My Country:

"Ian Walthew was a newspaper executive with a career that took him round the world, who one day did a mad thing. He saw a for-sale sign on a cottage in the Cotswolds, bought it, resigned and moved in. For the first few weeks he just lay on the grass in a daze. Then he started talking to his neighbours and digging into the rich history of this beautiful part of England. Out of his inquiries grew this affecting and inspiring memoir. What sets it apart from others of its ilk is the author’s enviable immunity to cliché and his determination to love his homeland better than he used to. His elegiac account of relearning how to be an Englishman should be required reading for anyone who claims to know or love this country." - Melissa Katsoulis, Financial Times

My clever blogging friend Helen (Antipo Deesse) has written a terrific review of A Place in My Country and posted it on Amazon. I'm sure she won't mind if I quote an excerpt:

"The author’s story of two journeys – his own, and that of the English countryside – has resulted in an eye-opening book that is extremely satisfying for this reader on two different levels: namely a personal, emotive one and also intellectually, dealing as it does, with the serious problems facing farmers in the UK today.

"My personal enjoyment springs from the fact that the book is a cracking good read. Walthew’s search for a rural dream is shot through with a glittering, humorous thread, but also overlaid with a cloak of sadness, caused by the loss, in childhood, of his father and brother and his yearning to remember them."

"...Walthew is a master of metaphor and a true wordsmith. His sentences are long and complex, but perfectly balanced... He evokes the glorious wildlife and vegetation of the English countryside beautifully, with sentiment but not mawkishness... His repeated use of the moon as a leitmotif confers a pearly sheen of melancholy over many scenes. An almost unbearably poignant memory concerns his older brother protecting a hoard of sweets for both boys to share..."

"Some of his imagery is pure poetry: “A scintillation of memory from behind the curtain of night” and “Is the present a moon-cast shadow of the past?” A “basin full of shattered stone and rotting wood” evokes violence and despair. I will certainly enjoy the re-reading of it as much as the first one. Walthew is to be congratulated for having succeeded in the aim of taking his readers to a world of “breathless beauty, full of devilment, humour and rich untold histories.”

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloan Crosley - "As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during the day." From that first sentence, the witty and wise essays of Crosley captivate and entertain. The writer Jonathan Ames called Crosley" a 21st-century Dorothy Parker." Reading this book, I wouldn't disagree.

Petite Anglais by Catherine Sanderson - A deeply-personal memoir by blogger Catherine Sanderson. The book explores Sanderson's life in Paris and her unexpected romance with a reader - for whom she left her partner.

One has to admire Sanderson for writing so bluntly about her private life. I was surprised the book does not explore the story about Sanderson being sacked from her administrative job, after her accounting firm employer discovered her blog. The ensuing publicity about her being fired, then winning an employment tribunal appeal resulted in a book deal. But the book, like her blog, focuses on Sanderson's love life and the challenges of raising a bilingual child in Paris.

Sanderson's book is well-written and entertaining and contains some touching, as well as hilarious passages. She also isn't afraid to let herself be seen in a less-than-flattering light and deserves credit for not glossing over difficult choices. A great weekend read.

As an aside, I was taken aback by Sanderson's relevation that she sometimes embellishes her blog posts for dramatic effect. In a blog with the writer's personal life as the focus, one would imagine readers expect the truth, rather than a fictionalised version of it. Sanderson writes in her book that she came to regard "Petite Anglais" as a character outside herself. Of course that makes her writing no less appreciated by her many readers.

Early in July, I was reading Petite Anglais at a Paris hairdresser's. A young woman asked me when the book is coming out in French, as she'd heard about Sanderson's story and was anxious to read the book. Obviously, the book has widespread appeal.

The giveaway

As Random House very kindly sent me an American edition of Petite Anglais - after I'd already bought the UK version at WH Smith in Paris - I have an extra copy. Please leave a comment and on Wednesday, I'll pick a name from a hat and mail the book to the winner.

Don't try this at home

Update Sunday afternoon: When you have no hot water for four days and the gardien finally shows up to fix it - but can't, saying the electrician will have to try - do not, repeat DO NOT pour a recently-boiled kettle of water over your head, when washing your hair. This will result in painful burns to the scalp, neck and shoulders. If this should happen to you - while considering whether or not to dash to the emergency room at the hospital conveniently located around the corner - pour Body Shop's Aloe Calming Toner over the affected area, then apply an ice pack to the top of your head. Take two aspirin and keep the ice pack on your head until the pain becomes bearable. It is hoped that next time, a cooler head prevails. Sigh.

Lanterns in Chinatown

A Chinese dragon adorns a bronze lock on iron gates painted red in San Francisco's Chinatown.

A 1920s decorative building in Chinatown.

Red lanterns are strung between buildings and across streets in Chinatown.

Three flags fly at the top of this building and a bird flies nearby.

Red lanterns and a banner strung across Grant Street.

Even the street lights in San Francisco's Chinatown resemble lanterns.

Strings of lanterns extend the length of the building housing the Peking Bazaar.

Lanterns adorn this building on a side street.

I wonder if this monastery's placement over a bank is considered lucky.

These lanterns incorporate the lotus flower. Chinese botanists once believed that the lotus flowered and bore fruit at the same time, symbolizing the ability to transcend time. The lotus remains a popular symbol in Chinese folk custom. Pictures showing fat dancing babies holding lotus leaves or flowers are purchased in the hope that several boys will be born in succession (the Chinese word for lotus sounds the same as a word meaning "one after another"). Since lotus leaves in pond water protect the goldfish under them, the lotus also symbolizes abundance.

P.S. Was disturbed to read this story. In George Bush's America, teachers need to carry guns in schools? That opens up so many possible scenarios - none of them good - that the mind boggles.

In the best light

More portraits of China by Marie-Claire Holmes.

Shrouded in the mist.

Bridge over a canal.

On the horizon, the Great Wall of China.

Towers stationed along the Great Wall.

The Great Wall viewed from a distance.

This is the fifth in a series of posts about China, which is currently hosting the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Hold the phone!

Phone booths in China. Photo by Marie-Claire Holmes.

News stories currently inflaming the media and blogosphere:

A bill before the House of Representatives would allow photos of flag-draped American caskets arriving on American soil.

McCain attempts to influence conflict

Vladimir Putin's war enablers George Bush and Dick Cheney are taken to task in Salon. And why oh why are they trying to stir up the Cold War again? Don't we have enough problems in Iraq and Afghanistan?

I find it highly suspect that John McCain and his lobbyist advisers (paid by the Georgian government) are talking daily to the Georgian president. And McCain's even sent his surrogates including Joe (once a Democrat) Leiberman and Lindsay Graham to Georgia - for what purpose and at taxpayers' expense?

As Josh Marshall writes in Talking Points Memo: McCain "... really has gone considerably beyond what's ever been considered appropriate or acceptable for a presidential candidate. He's worked at fairly evident cross-purposes with the president of his own party. He's been in several times a day phone contact with one of the key players in the drama. He's dispatching his own faux diplomatic delegations to the scene..."

Update Friday night: Josh Marshall has an update on McCain's bizarre comportment, as he appears to forget the US currently is involved in two wars:

"My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression," McCain said.

"Let's run-down the list," Marshall writes. "Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, followed by the US expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Collapse of Yugoslavia and subsequent wars of aggression between successor states. US invasion of Afghanistan. US invasion of Iraq. There are a slew of other examples of serious international crises over the last 16-18 years.

"One of the great threats we face is the personal sense of grandiosity of the lead foreign hands who shape the course of our role in the world. Not national grandiosity, but personal grandiosity. Because if you're a foreign policy hand or political leader your own quest for greatness is constrained by whether or not you live in times of grand historical events.

"There's a lot of this nonsense floating around today by pampered commentators who want to find a new world historical conflict to write bracing commentary about before we're done with the one from last week. But John McCain might be president in six months. And whether it's his own shaky judgment, temperament or just the desire to find a campaign issue, this loose cannon is a real threat to this country."

Meanwhile, a Russian writer says the real story about the conflict isn't being reported, at least not in the United States.

Campaign rhetoric discredited

In Time magazine, Joe Klein decries the rubbish being espoused by the McCain campaign and its supporters:

"...Back in the day, John McCain was the sort of politician who would stand first in line to call out this sort of swill. (As, I'm sure Barack Obama or John Kerry would do, if some hate-crazed, money-grubbing left-winger published a book claiming that McCain had been successfully brainwashed in Vietnam--as Kerry did indeed do when a group of spurious Bush-backing Vietnam vets tried to claim exactly that about McCain during the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina.)

"But we're not seeing those sorts of claims being made about McCain this year...because Democrats tend not to do that sort of thing. They are the sorts of claims that Republicans--Bush Republicans--make. They range from the blatantly extra-curricular, like Corsi's book, to the official McCain-sanctioned introduction made by Joe Lieberman--of all people--yesterday: that Obama doesn't "put America first."

"There is no excuse for what the McCain campaign is doing on the "putting America first" front. There is no way to balance it, or explain it other than as evidence of a severe character defect on the part of the candidate who allows it to be used. There is a straight up argument to be had in this election: McCain has a vastly different view from Obama about foreign policy, taxation, health care, government action...you name it...Apparently, though, McCain isn't confident that conservative policies and personal experience can win, given the ruinous state of the nation after eight years of Bush. So he has made a fateful decision: he has personally impugned Obama's patriotism and allows his surrogates to continue to do that. By doing so, he has allied himself with those who smeared him, his wife, his daughter Bridget, in 2000. Those tactics won George Bush a primary--and a nomination. But they proved a form of slow-acting spiritual poison, rotting the core of the Bush presidency. We'll see if the public decides to acquiesce in sleaze in 2008, and what sort of presidency--what sort of country--that will produce."

Book slammed for lies, innuendo

Meanwhile, Barack Obama's campaign fights back against Jerome Corsi's slanderous book Obama Nation. The Obama campaign website's "Unfit for Publication" corrects Corsi's distortions and untruths. The book was published by professional Republican campaign operative Mary Matalin's imprint and Corsi is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist who also played a significant role in the Swift-Boat campaign against Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. And Media Matters debunks Corsi's dubious claims point-by-point. As Media Matters spokesman Paul Waldman remarked in an interview with CNN's Larry King, "slime between the pages of a book is still slime."

This YouTube video made by a non-professional says it all.

And Joe Conason writes a pre-election memo to Hillary Clinton.

Join us for Blog Action Day 2008

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

In 2007, I participated in Blog Action Day's environmental theme. This year it's poverty. Won't you join me and thousands of other bloggers on Wednesday, October 15th as we write and/or talk about poverty and its possible solutions? Register your blog here.

Plan A

"Plan A" painted on the bridge crossing the River Seine to Saint Cloud.

Plan A doesn't seem to be working. The washing machine won't drain water from the rinse cycle and has flooded the kitchen twice; the hot water tank is producing only tepid water and I've developed 13 small red dots on my hands and ankles. The pharmacist didn't have a clue, so I looked up my symptoms on the internet. It appears it might be petechiae, small blood hemorrages beneath the skin. Of course my doctor, like much of the population of Paris, is on holiday. And tomorrow is a public holiday in France. Anyone seen Plan B?

At least I don't have to worry about coming home to find it partially-submerged under water, like this houseboat!

That's the life boat floating on top of the sunken houseboat, along with deck furniture and a child's bicycle.

The houseboat remains moored to the shore.

A chest of drawers and child's high chair floating are revealed by a collapsed roof.

These Paris peniches look a little more stable. One even has a deck to await visitors.

A new twist on water-skiing - instead of skis, giant rubber inner-tubes!

A tranquil view of La Defense, the busy hub of Paris business.

More portraits of China

Less than a thousand of these old homes edging the city remain, after skyscrapers have taken over the area. All photos by Marie-Claire Holmes.

Old and new in a constant state of flux.

An Art Deco look to this modern building. Note the cranes in the background. According to a recent BBC report, more than half the world's cranes are currently in China.

More high-rises vie for attention.

Shoppers in the rain.

Children play games in a doorway.

A game of Mah-jongg.

Clothes drying next to a business.

Plants - including lucky jade - line this balcony.

Boats and houses.

Performing a traditional fan dance.

More traditional performers.

This is the fourth in a series of pieces about modern China. Scroll down the page for Parts I, II and III.

Some thoughts on China

Man riding a bicycle carrying supplies in China. Photo by Marie-Claire Holmes.

On Monday, I began publishing a series of photographs chronicling everyday life in China. As the country is currently in the spotlight as Olympics host, I think it's good to put a more human face on the distorted image we in the West see from afar.

It is evident from comments about the first part of the series, that a lot of anger is directed against China. I, too, have wondered what the International Olympic Committee was thinking when they awarded the games to China - not so much because of China's abysmal human rights record, but because of the country's poor air quality and pollution levels.

The environmental consequences of China's growth are considerable. Some 26 percent of the water in China's largest rivers is so polluted, the rivers "have lost the capacity for basic ecological function," according to Pan Yue, deputy head of China's State Environmental Protection Agency. Yue was quoted in a July 24, 2007 Financial Times article by Jamil Aderlini and Mure Dickie.

I have written before on these pages that I do not believe sports and politics should mix. If we stop awarding Olympic games to countries because of their record of human rights abuses, there would be few countries left in the running - including my own country the United States, with its Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay abuses, among others.

I think it is usually a mistake to paint the government and the people with the same brush. The Chinese people are not the same as the Chinese government - just as the American people are not the same as the incompetent Bush administration. (But in the latter case, the people elected him, you might argue. Yes, many people voted for George Bush, but I would suggest that most were ill-informed or simply sleep-walking. And after eight years of calamity and disaster, many Bush supporters now regret their vote).

In contrast, the Chinese people have had little choice about their government. For centuries, they have suffered harsh conditions of daily life, with limited rights and freedoms. While they now enjoy more rights to work, own property, start businesses and - to a limited extent - worship as they please, government control remains firm. Freedom of the press, including the Internet, is an ongoing battle in China.

The Chinese government's untenable positions, not only about the human rights of its own people, but those of Tibet are simply wrong. The government has far to go, before meeting standards advocated by human rights groups like Amnesty International.

"The greatest problem China faces going forward is not that its government is incurably evil; it is the risk that its government will lose the ability to hold things together - a problem that encompasses, but goes well beyond spiraling decentralization," notes Fareed Zakaria in his book The Post-American World. "China's pace of change is exposing the weaknesses of its Communist Party and state bureaucracy. For several years, the government's monopoly on power allowed it to make massive reforms quickly. It could direct people and resources where needed. But one product of its decisions is economic, social and political turmoil and the insular and hierarchical structure of the party makes it less competent to navigate these waters."

Made in China

I personally am appalled at how so many Western manufacturers have abrogated the quality of too many goods by sending them to China for production. But it's the Western manufacturers who decide to accept the materials of inferior quality, because they are cheaper. It's their fault the goods available on department store shelves are not what they once were, in terms of quality. The Chinese simply follow the companies' orders, when producing goods.

For instance, Nine West once produced stylish shoes of good quality for reasonable prices. Most of their designs were manufactured in Brazil. Those shoes looked nice and proved durable; I still have a few pairs that I wear from time to time. But these days, if you take a look at Nine West shoes, you'll notice the majority are made in China, of cheap, inferior materials. The owners of that company have decided to sacrifice quality to quantity, while keeping their prices fairly steady. I find that unacceptable, so I no longer buy Nine West shoes.

Of course Nine West is only one of thousands of companies who've made similar decisions to continue competing in a volatile global marketplace. It's up to us as consumers to refuse to buy these inferior products. It's also up to us to view every person as an individual with his or her own beliefs, rather than assign blame to ordinary citizens for a government's wrong-headed actions.

This is the third in a series of pieces about China.

Shopping, food and produce in China

An indoor shopping mall. All photos of China by Marie-Claire Holmes.

Sports shoes galore - no comment on the quality or the knock-off designs.

A new business, with the traditional bouquets wishing for prosperity and fortune.

Ready to cook.

Fruit and vegetable markets are open, even at night.

Carefully-arranged fruit at another stall.

A fruit smoothie stand.

Selling sweets.

A one-dish meal.

Selling ears of corn.

A family effort.

Baskets of produce.

A covered market.

A vendor holds up her baby.

The butcher.

Carrefour supermarket, which in this photo, looks remarkably similar to the ones in France.

Bagging rice. Check back Wednesday for Part III of the China series.

Portraits of modern China

This is the first of a series of portraits of modern China, currently the scene of the Olympic Games. All photos are by Marie-Claire Holmes.

Check back Tuesday for another side to life in China.

In memoriam: Mahmoud Darwish 1941-2008

Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian poet of conscience, has died at 67, following heart surgery in Houston. Darwish used the power of his pen to highlight the Palestinian cause. He was harshly critical of infighting by various Palestinian factions, saying their actions lessened the prospects of a Palestinian state.

"He started out as a poet of resistance and then he became a poet of conscience,"  Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi told the Associated Press. "He embodied the best in Palestinians... even though he became iconic, he never lost his sense of humanity. We have lost part of our essence, the essence of the Palestinian being."

The poet Naomi Shihab Nye said "Darwish is the Essential Breath of the Palestinian people, the eloquent witness of exile and belonging..."

Darwish's prize-winning poetry has been translated into more than 20 languages. Last month in San Francisco I bought his book The Butterfly's Burden, translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah. I found it impossible to choose just one poem for today's post:

"We store our sorrows in our jars, lest
the soldiers see them and celebrate the seige...
We store them for other seasons,
for a memory,
for something that might surprise us on the road.
But when life becomes normal
we'll grieve like others over personal matters
that bigger headlines had kept hidden,
when we didn't notice the hemorrhage of small wounds in us.
Tomorrow when the place heals
we'll feel its side effects."

And another...

"On the morning that will follow this siege
a girl will walk to her love
in an ornate shirt and ashen pants,
transparent in spirit like apricots
in March: Today is all ours,
all of it, my love, don't be too late
lest a raven alight on my shoulder...
And she'll bite an apple waiting for hope
waiting for a lover who,
perhaps, might not arrive."

A photo project comes to video

Won't you indulge me for a moment and watch this video produced in conjunction with a book project in Paris? My friend Julie in San Francisco deserves kudos for making the video - while she had a fever - using my photographs of Paris and London department store vitrines.

I'd like to divert your attention - yet again - to this hilarious blog. Olivier Magny writes about Parisians with the authority and wit that only a Frenchman can manage - without being reviled! If you've ever spent much time in Paris, chances are you'll delight in Olivier's astute observations.

8.8.08 - One very lucky day?

A sign in Chinatown, San Francisco.

In Chinese numerology, 8 is associated with the symbol meaning infinity (an 8 turned 90 degrees), which is why the Summer Olympics are scheduled to open at 8:08:08 p.m. tonight (8/8/08) in Beijing. In Cantonese, the number 8 八 is considered to invite sudden fortune, prosperity, power, manifestation and material accomplishment. The number 888 is believed to mean three times the prosperity.

The Chinese concept of numerology is based on the I Ching and mystical traditions. The Chinese are very superstitious about numbers and carefully choose telephone numbers, house numbers, car number plates and anything else involving numbers. Much emphasis on number significance is based on the phonetic sound of that number. The numbers 6, 8 and 9 are considered lucky numbers, as their homophones have favourable meanings.

In Cantonese, the yin number 8 reads as ‘fa,’ which means making a great fortune in the near future. Hotels, airlines and businesses have sums of the number 8 in their telephone numbers, as these supposedly carry a good omen or blessing for the ‘prosperity’ of the enterprises. Telecommunication companies and car registration authorities have unwritten rules to charge extra for each number ‘8’ on telephone numbers or license plates.

Of course, whether or not this day heralds a spate of luck for the Olympian athletes in smog-filled Beijing remains to be seen.

One unlucky day

It was one unlucky day when the Bush administration started its deliberate propaganda campaign for war. Read Thomas Frank's catalogue of outrage here.

New evidence suggests George Bush and Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to forge a document claiming Saddam Hussein was trying to build nuclear weapons and working with al-Qaida. Not only immoral, but criminal behaviour from our nation's leaders...

And this news spells out just how incompetent our current leaders are. The Iraqis expect an $80 billion oil surplus - yet we're going bankrupt pouring our resources and money into Iraq??!! It doesn't take a mathematical genuis to determine that something is wrong with this equation.

A young career begins to blossom

Peonies, some waiting to bloom; others bursting forth. Paris, July 2008.

You know how it is when a career begins to blossom: a little recognition, the search for direction, a first job. A fever pitch of excitement and a growing sense of possibility; apprehension and nerves. Determination and enthusiasm overriding that tiny frisson of fear.

Today my daughter Jordana travels from Savannah to Philadelphia. After visiting me in San Francisco, she's had only a few days to pack up her apartment, rent a van and take care of the thousand little details necessary when moving from one city to another.

While her new job starts Monday, a hoped-for apartment won't be available until September. Temporarily, she'll be staying in a VRBO studio apartment. It is hoped that in another six weeks, the basics of home and hearth will become a bit more settled and her real adventures will begin.

Meanwhile, Jordana is thrilled to be included in the September issue of Teen Vogue magazine. Since I can't imagine that many of my readers are part of the Teen Vogue demographic, if you happen to be at a newsstand or bookstore and see the September issue, turn to page 118. You'll see Jordana, her SCAD partner Ashlyn and some of their designs for Ruffian, New York. Jordana's coat also appears in South magazine (click through photos to view). Yes, proud mom here.

Chinatown

Chinatown, San Francisco. I like the juxtaposition of cultures in the first image and the reflection of modern office buildings in the restaurant window (photo below). These photos were taken last week, when my daughter Jordana and I spent an afternoon walking through Chinatown, browsing for cinnabar bracelets and silk. I have many more San Francisco photos to post, but for three days, have been experiencing problems trying to load pictures via Typepad. It is hoped the problem soon will be resolved.

In the frustration of trying to blog despite technological glitches, I noticed that "Blogging butterflies in San Francisco," when viewed via the Firefox browser shows the text wrapping perfectly around the photos. But when viewed in Internet Explorer, there's a gaping hole between the copy and one photo. Sigh. You'd think by now these platforms would mesh in a uniform manner. Onwards and upwards!

Blogging butterflies in San Francisco

On July 20, the irrepressible gypsy Alex and I hosted a brunch at Samovar Yerba Buena. We were thrilled that such an eclectic group of fascinating, inspiring women - all accomplished writers, artists and photographers - turned up for tea and conversation. They included Christine Mason Miller, Marianne Elliot, Liz Kalloch, Jen Leman and Odette, Kelly Rae Roberts, Jen Gray, Andrea Scher, Stefanie Renee, Tracey Clark, Julie Michelle, Susan Creamer, Mati Rose McDonough and Kate.

Alex de Souza and Christine Mason Miller, whose book Ordinary Sparkling Moments will be published this month.

Jen Gray taking a photo. For a gorgeous photo of Jen, check out Andrea's photo from the Shutter Sisters photo walk Saturday through Chinatown. And Andrea's photo of Alex "lost in wonder" is also beautiful.

Marianne Elliot (left) and Jen Leman. Marianne has just started a new job with an international human rights organisation in New Zealand. Her portraits of Afghanistan currently are on exhibit in New Zealand.

Jen Leman brought her friend Odette from Rwanda and what incredible stories they have to tell!

You can read more on Jen's blog, see her heartfelt art and photos and order Odette's book here.

Tracey Clark (left), Kelly Rae Roberts
and Marianne. Kelly Rae showed us an advance copy of her new book Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings, due out this month.

Liz Kalloch traded art with Christine. She'd had two of Christine's paintings at home, trying to decide which to keep. I took one look at the painting she'd brought back, from Christine's Cuba series. It struck a chord about what's happening in my life right now, so I asked Christine if I could buy the painting. Luckily, she agreed! Serendipity at work!

Photo at left of Liz Kalloch and right, Stefanie Renee.

Our time together flew too fast. We were so busy chatting, didn't have time to take many photos. Alas, with some guests at the other end of the table, Alex and I didn't have the chance to say much more than hello and goodbye.

But I did get to spend more time with Alex, Susan and Julie in San Francisco and with Marianne in Rockridge.

Marianne and I spent a lovely afternoon together, discussing the Middle East, mutual friends, human rights, politics, photography, friendship and our personal lives. She sent me home with prints of several of her stunning photographs from Afghanistan.

Alex, Julie and I had dinner together at Andalu and one of Alex's beautiful photos came home with me. Julie and I had lunch together and spent one afternoon working on a joint project. Another night, we had dinner together with Jordana and attended The Pandora Experiment, Christian Cagigal's astonishing magic show currently at the Exit Theatre. Our mutual friend Anjie, aka Ms. Studio Wellspring, unexpectedly became the center of attention. Read her account of the performance here.

My last night in town, I had dinner with Julie and Anjie at Trattoria Contadina, my favourite Italian restaurant in North Beach. On the way, Anjie took us on a scary ride in her lemon yellow Mini, tearing up and down some of the steepest hills in San Francisco. My heart was in my throat!

Julie (left) and the glowing mother-to-be Anjie are pictured on a cold windy evening in San Francisco. The sign in Italian above the restaurant door loosely translates to "Leave your problems at the door. Enjoy your meal."

Susan and I had dinner together two nights and she showed me some tricks about my new camera. It was nice seeing her in San Francisco, as usually we get together in Paris.

I got to spend most of a sunny Saturday with the fantastic firecracker Amber and her charming aunt, strolling the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building and having lunch and shopping at Embarcadero. We bought scarves and a stylish pair of palazzo trousers for Amber's aunt's upcoming trip to Europe.

ALL of these women from across the globe are even more fabulous than they appear on their blogs! I've been overwhelmed and enriched by their wonderful friendship, encouragement, support and inspiration. It's difficult to imagine that without our respective blogs, we might never have met.