Heard from friend of Ivan living in China: Lots of native-born Chinese who were living in US since childhood are returning home. US losing luster? No, just wanting to come home. Must have good Mandarin to get ahead and this brainflow is helping to solve the lack of a good managerial class inside China. Price of living for a westerner is good in Shanghai and everything you want is within 150 meters of you. No complaints about the infrastructure and the telephones work. Much better than India in this regard.

Acupuncture helps IBS (irritable bowel syndrome, meaning stomach cramps). I’m a believer – I’ve had IBS for the past year and the acupuncture has helped during this summer where doctors and medicines haven’t. Also an elimination diet helped – you stop eating anything objectionable to a stomach for 2 weeks and then start putting things back in the diet one by one till you find out what bothers you. For me it’s fruit juices, particularly ones that aren’t natural. They have lots of sugar in them, tie up digestion and cause gas and bloating. These days they also have virtually no nutritional content in them either.

Individual Bankruptcies are down in America. My friend says this is because there is no real boom/bust cycle taking place; country is not as bad as it seems.

I think that Germany will cull together a coalition between Schroeder and the Christian Democrats by early November and that the euro will then recover.

My concern in America is that people are overextended in home debt and certain costs such as home heating oil and petrol will stretch people on budgets past the breaking point. Certainly consumer spending will drop. The result will be foreclosures, dumping real estate and recession. The NY Times this month (25 September) calculated the cost of renting versus owning and concluded that it now pays to be renting.

I was traveling while the news came of the rampage in Gaza following the Israeli pullout and didn’t see the pictures; the radio reports were enough to give me the picture. The conundrum – should the Israelis have (a) destroyed the synagogues taking it as a given that the Arab masses would be “savages” and desecrate them or should they have (b) “tested” the Arabs to see if this time would be different either (i) hoping that it would be different or (ii) not wanting to start from a default position that Arabs could only be counted on to act like savages, or (iii) that it wouldn’t be different and they could show the world that the Arabs were savages, or should they have (c) destroyed the synagogues because they were destroying everything else, the synagogues did not according to tradition and history retain any religious significance and it was essentially putting a red flag in front of a bull to leave them there when you know that the Arabs viewed the synagogues as a symbol of 40 years of hated occupation. You might guess that the government went with (b)(ii) under political pressure from the religious right wing who wanted a propaganda victory against all common sense. No doubt I was offended but let’s face it – most of the looters were not there trying to defile a synagogue aside from Hamasnik troublemakers, they were poor as hell and were there stripping anything they could find of value. I’m sure the Palestinian Authority didn’t benefit from having the masses also strip the greenhouses that a consortium of Jews and others put up $5 million to buy them that is supposed to help them create an economy. They didn’t have 100 soldiers there to guard anything and they just don’t have the firepower to control the people – only moral persuasion, and of course they don’t have that.

It is just too bad that the whole thing sucks – none of the masses will behave because they don’t believe that their leadership gives a whit for them. They think the Palestinian authority will just build themselves villas and screw the people. It doesn’t really matter what Israel does – until the Palestinians can figure this out for themselves, it ain’t gonna work. The bright spot is that Hamas went too far with its military parades and bombs going off and the people really don’t want this nonsense anymore and they are letting them know it in the Arabic press. 

I wanted to think that I could go with option (b)(ii), but went with option “c” because I know better.  It would be nice though to think that Jews could withdraw with some sense that the masses of Palestinian Arabs could figure out how to respect Jewish religious sites without having to try and erase every bit of Jewish presence among them as being distinct from an occupying enemy –  Jews have this gnawing feeling that Arabs feel that a Jew cannot possibly be tolerated in an Arab country and the way the Palestinians rampaged Gaza even destroying now-their property in the process sends this message straight across the bow. It is known that the Palestinians turned down all sorts of offers of international aid from Jews this year because they didn’t want to be associated with “tainted” money. The one project that was funded, the greenhouses – well, I’ll bet that was a great showcase for any investor aka sucker Jew or Arab that comes along and it is a no-brainer that people got burned seeing $5m go down the tubes in an hour and that investment will not follow. It got funded because the American coordinator for the area put his own money where his mouth was and nobody could turn him down. Between the irrational hatreds, the inability to control the chaotic masses, corruption and lack of rule of law, there is no basis for investment and economic development.

Let’s return to this point known as Judenrein – Jewish free, something the Nazis insisted upon and which Jews believe Arabs also desire.  It’s important to deal with this because it is an impediment to reconciliation in a place on the world map where people are fated to interact with each other. Unless I’m missing something, Israelis didn’t destroy all the Arab mosques after 1948. One that I know of is right across from the Intercontinental hotel near Jaffa  – there is a big one occupying prime oceanfront property and it is left standing and lit up in green at night although I’m not sure it is being used. Beyond Israel, Al-Qaida seems to reserve special torture for anyone Jewish, regardless of whether or not they have a tie to Israel. People in Iraq taken hostage report that the kidnappers interrogate them trying to find out if they are Jewish. Daniel Pearl’s killers are another case in point. There is just some sort of irrational hatred of Jews out there among fundamentalist Moslems and it is really an impediment. True, the Jews have the same thing going among its radicals (and Israel cannot claim to have been 100% angelic with mosques in its midst either) but ours are a small minority and are on the losing end of history and the majority as the Gaza withdrawal shows. Can the Moslems World reign in its fringe? 

The Jewish religious camp has a big soul-search to do this High Holiday season. Convinced that God was on their side and that He would somehow save them from this Gaza withdrawal, they have to deal with the fact that it actually happened. All these teenagers were traumatized and manipulated and given a bunch of ideas that led them to believe the world would come to an end if they withdrew. That to me was the biggest crime – people used their unprosecutable children as a shield for their own adult illegal purposes. False Messiahs came and went and the only thing their leaders can do is invent excuses and diversions, such as that God punished America with Hurricane Katrina because Bush supported Sharon’s withdrawal. Sharon is firmly in control and the attempt to humiliate him at his party conference only backfired – you could see him smiling as he went off the stage (and I wouldn’t be surprised if his camp did it) – the police investigation to find the culprits is going nowhere.

Of course, who remembers Gaza anymore, now that Sharon and Netanyahu are involved in the war of the microphones? Netanyahu lost of a lot of credibility with this maneuver and, during the past month, many donors have taken heed of what was written in Global Thoughts a month ago about his low standing among the leadership abroad and reduced contributions to him. Sharon might be better off leaving the Likud and starting his own party but I’m not close enough to things to be able to stand on this point. What is clear is that the Likud party is corrupt, rotten to its core and needs to be completely revamped. If not for Sharon’s son Omri making lots of backroom deals and promising all sorts of jobs and contracts to the party’s central committee members last week, Sharon would have been voted down. This is not a healthy basis for a prime minister of a democratic country to remain in office and it is part of what is wrong with Israel today. A man who has a real mandate from the majority of the population should not have to make deals with 100 party hacks to survive in office.

Turkey – Let’s face it; they’re never going to get EEC membership, at least not in this generation. Any one country can veto it and numbers in such countries as Austria are running 70-80% against admitting them. The EEC should come up with some kind of face-saver such as partnership instead of membership and see if that works with the Turks. 

Iran and US foreign policy – Quietly the Americans seem to be reaching some kind of backroom deals with Iran. One sign of this during the past month is that the Americans dropped their support for warrants for Iranians involved in a bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina a number of years ago and basically undermined the prosecution of these people. About 100 people were killed in the bombing and this was a big deal; the previous president of Argentina had been covering up the investigation after being bribed and the current president was letting the investigation proceed. Overall, despite the public announcements of the Bush administration and the recent tour in the middle east of their lady ambassador at large, the reality is that the Americans are still making deals with dictatorships throughout the world. Libya has not changed domestically even though investments are going in; the Saudis are doing their thing and Pakistan is a riddle. Condi’s foreign policy is more pragmatic perhaps but the reasons for people to be cynical about US motives are no less apparent.

Baby Books and Things – Despite our repeated requests at maternity stores not to be put on mailing lists, they are all doing just that. My advice is to give out a phony address because we are getting stuff every day now. For good reasons, people shouldn’t be getting all this junk mail till after they’ve actually had their baby. We have 3 books on the shelf right now that are being read: What to Expect when you’re Expecting, which reads like an encyclopedia of ailments you could be having (and will have after you read it); The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy (actually a bit more practical) and Pregnancy Sucks for Men – or when your little miracle makes you miserable. They have all sorts of wacky titles available to tempt you on these subjects. Karen gets an e-mail newsletter that each week tells you what is happening to little boo-boo as it gestates. So far so good; 3 more months to go.

September Trip Notes:

We were supposed to be in Europe this month but because of the pregnancy, we decided instead to do some of the best of America, sticking to a few tried and tested cities and spots.

Washington, DC as Lazy and Off-the-Beaten-Track Tourists: After about 50 business visits between us, we spent about 2 days here as tourists. Hays Adam Hotel in DC is a top hotel with great location across from the White House and near 3 of the 4 metro lines. Rooms on the 8th floor have best view of the White House or go up on the roof if you can particularly in early evening. Nice room decor and they give you real good quality slippers as take-aways. Rooms are a bit small but you are paying for primo real estate here and the staff is uniformly friendly. Breakfast room is particularly pretty. We arrived in our room to see a helicopter landing at the White House. Air and Space Museum has a great gift shop; I bought my nephew a junior space astronaut uniform. Street intersections now have timers that count down seconds for pedestrians. Metro signs tell you when the next train is coming. At the zoo, the pandas are there from about 7am to 5pm. Right now only Dad is there; the mom visits occasionally and Baby will come out for viewing by year’s end (right now you can see him on a webcam on the zoo’s website). Dad doesn’t even know he has a son. Little boo-boo is 2 months old and 7.5 pounds at this writing and will gain 50% of its size during its first year. We were there for 2 hours and came around 3 times hoping to see Dad; he just eats and sleeps a lot and occasionally plays with a ball and climbs up and down a tree. In my next life, I should come back as a panda. You get a million dollars worth of real estate rent-free and people bring you everything you want. Lafayette Park at sunset is a pretty walk-a-round and offers a nice view of the White House. Kinkheads is a top fish restaurant in DC near George Washington University but we didn’t like it (menu was too much things we didn’t want and they don’t accommodate you at all there) and ate instead at the hotel which was very good. For over 5 years my favorite tuna sandwich is the panini at Gelatissimo in the food court of the Reagan Office Building Trade Center made with a great toasted panini bread, tuna, lemon sauce and olives. Spy Museum is a fun new museum and has a shop with cute items. We spent 2 hours in the museum. Consider getting advance tickets via Ticketmaster. Very interactive and entertaining. New memorials include the World War II and the FDR. “Nora” is a good dinner place in the Dupont area about a 15 minute walk from Dupont Circle; they offer organic foods and a good number of vege and fish dishes. As you might guess, it attracts more Democrats than Republicans. We were looking for some off the track DC since we have been here a lot and we wanted to see Hillwood, a house and garden museum near the zoo, but beware as they are closed on Mondays. DC Tour guide with car for individual travel is David Marshall at 703.578.6993. We didn’t use him for this trip but when Karen’s mother visited earlier this year and he was very good.

Chicago – 1:30 flight time to Chicago from DC. First time I flew United without complaints. We are here for 3 days. World-famous Charlie Trotters restaurant for dinner (must book weeks in advance). 8 course vegetarian tasting menu costs only about $20 less than the regular tasting menu; you are paying for labor, not food and you eat from a fixed price tasting menu. They also have a non-alcoholic beverage tasting menu. We were a party of 3 who all thought it was one of the best meals we’ve had in a restaurant. This place lives up to its reputation. Service is also in the extraordinary category and they are very accommodating here (for instance substituting the type of cheese for something OK to a pregnant women). What they do that is different is to match up various kinds of ingredients and food items and make them sing, such as cucumber sorbet. We had a kitchen tour; they have 15 people working the kitchen feeding about 100 people a night and making everything absolutely to order and super-fresh. The show, and it is a show, costs about $150 a head for the vege dinner including tax and tip. 

Our hotel is the Peninsula, one of 7 in the world, and the one in Chicago is consistently rated in the top 5 hotels of the entire US. It really is, with superb food and beverage, service, public spaces and rooms and a very pretty indoor pool and spa at the top level. This hotel has primo location. We had a corner room with beautiful views over the Water Tower, Magnificent Mile shopping district and Lake Michigan. The bathroom was very strong with big windows overlooking the city and the bathtub had a TV and 2-line speakerphone. We are noticing a trend toward bathtubs without jacuzzis; presumably people don’t really want them. Newer hotels have standing showers too, but this is not yet really standard. The hotel’s coffee shop called Petite Gourmet at street level was excellent for breakfast and lunch (and food to take to the airplane) and the lobby offered great food for dinner and late-night; food in this hotel is the best hotel food we’ve had in the US for a city hotel and anything you order for one person is big enough to split for two which they happily do. They play live music often in the lobby which is so tall in the ceiling that you figure it was built a century ago but in fact it was built a decade ago. They don’t make them like they used to, except when they do. 

At the Art Institute is a special exhibit on Toulouse Le Trec, an artist who died at 39 and before then painted the lower side of life in the Montmarte district. It offers a contrast to the more traditional aristocratic view of European art one normally sees. Chicago’s downtown is being revitalized by the new Millennium Park and the nearby Cultural Center has a beautiful interior that should be seen. We really like Chicago for its good food, open spaces, architecture, shopping (the shopping district has everything from Nordstrom to Neiman Marcus within a few blocks of each other, both chains not present in Manhattan, and the selection in the department stores is also better than Manhattan) and hotels. Your dollar also goes a bit further here. Gino’s East is still a good lunch bet for their deep dish pizza but expect to wait 45 minutes for it to be baked (they no longer offer “Your Money Back if you’ve had a Better Pizza” and nobody has worked there long enough to remember it). That restaurant has moved a bit further away from the center of town but it is a 10 minute walk from Michigan Avenue on Ontario Street. Cannoli was very fresh and creamy desert obviously home made. Navy Pier is a nice place for a sunset stroll. Second City Comedy show is not bad but not great.  We took a double-decker bus tour and a boat tour to tour the city and its architecture; the boat tour sells out so buy in advance but the First Lady company which is run by a not for profit organization has a telephone line for concierges to use and this is a good thing to know because you can’t call them. It rained during our boat tour but it was still worthwhile; Chicago is good even when the weather is bad, the mark of a good city. Ghiradelli’s Ice Cream is at the Water Tower; I still like my Godiva better even from the freezer. Federated is buying out Marshall Fields and it will become Macy’s, despite the public outcry over the 155 year old flagship store on State Street. The Drake Hotel is run by Hilton and is 4 star. Offers good lake views. John Hancock Tower observatory is best for viewing city. Kingston Mines is a good blues club with 2 stages with acts going on one after another. The fun starts at about 9:30 at night. O’Hare airport is quite busy but security check wasn’t more than 10 minutes at lunch hour. 

Greenbrier Resort, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia – The nearest airport is Lewisburg, WV about 15 minutes away but there are few nonstops from anywhere to that airport. A good alternative is Roanoke, Virginia which is a scenic and easy 90 minute drive away. We paid roughly $150 for 5 days car rental, less than a taxi transfer would have cost. From Chicago, it’s 1:15 to Roanoke and from Roanoke to New York is 1:40 flying time. Greenbrier is a very pretty 6,500 acre resort which is quite huge. It has at least 3 masters level golf courses and you could stay there for 4 days, never leave the property and never even see half of it. A great place to do lots of nothing. Quite WASPY but elegant – 26 US presidents have stayed there, many of them vacationing. Such unusually well-behaved children; little tottlers at high tea using tongs to pick out their little finger pastries and talking in the shuttle bus whether they ride horses British or Western style. One lady at dinner had her hair in a Mrs. Conehead-type style (Saturday Night Live fans from the 70's will get this joke).  In an age of chain-run hotels, this one is still independent and owned by the CSX Railroad. It shows – all the food is fresh right down to the french fries, milk shakes and pizza at the pool; they have 22 pastry chefs working 2 shifts of 11 each. This hotel has 1,800 employees, over 200 of which have been there over 25 years. At dinner, they have 4 fresh-baked breads to choose from. Service is very personal and friendly. If the kitchen is closed, someone goes and speaks to the chef and gets you what you want. We toured the grounds and learned about the secret bunker the US government built beneath the hotel to house Congress in the event of nuclear war. It stayed secret for about 30 years until the story got out in the 90's. Every afternoon there is high tea with a classical music concert in the lobby. The pianist and violinist duo have been there for 20 years, and they also play during dinner. The lounge act was excellent and there is nightly dancing after dinner. The singer, Jane Powell, bills herself as the Chocolate Goddess of Love. Shopping arcades on the property offer very interesting items not found elsewhere. My wife said I was lucky she was pregnant or else she’d have bought stuff to wear. The new craze is these infinity pools that have views to kill and no end in sight. There is also an 8-lane bowling alley, a 300-seat movie theater showing movies each night, a spa, off-road driving school, horse and buggy rides and you can rent a golf cart to shuttle around the golf courses. Then there are lots of other things such as falconry, shooting, and horseback riding, beyond tennis and golf. There is a main house and several rows of cottages. We stayed in the Spring Row about 7 minutes walk from the main house and we were very happy we did even though it is a bit of a walk to get there. These rooms also have a parlor, front porch, and are very private with nobody walking by you. The decorating is more interesting and they have charm and scenic views. Take a cottage close to the end such as Spring Row 33. You can always call for a shuttle to take you anywhere and there is a shuttle constantly going around the property. 

At this hotel, rooms come with breakfast and dinner. There are numerous choices for lunch, which is extra. Dinner is available in several venues but the best is the main dining room, a very regal spot with many chandeliers and portraits of dead people from one and two centuries ago. We found food there to be as good as any dining room in Europe with enough fish and vege choices to keep us happy and the deserts were excellent. They are very accommodating which is good since almost everything here is listed on the menu as coming with some kind of pig or shellffish product on the side. For instance, we had the vege entree split as a starter course. Interesting to note though that they cook all the different foods in different places so if you order fish you are getting food from a station that cooked only that fish that night. We took a tour of the kitchen and got the low down from one of the executive chefs. There is a gourmet shop with twice daily cooking demonstrations. The spa is very pricey but supposed to be one of America’s best and it seemed very much on the level to me. The bathtubs in the rooms are smartly designed to fill up quickly and not waste lots of water. The decorating was done by the Dorothy Draper company; her style of over-the-top color and chince was popular in the 40's and lives on at the Greenbrier. It takes a bit of getting used to – you get like 15 colors in each room. The rooms and especially the cottages are designed in this style – ours looked like a doll house. The book “1,000 Places to see before you die” listed this style as Psychadelic Buckingham Palace.

In the bookstore we found “Death is no excuse...A Southern Ladies Guide on How to make the Perfect Funeral.” A museum tells you of the resort’s history. In the 1850's, the “Billing, Cooing and Wooing Society” pooled the money of local towns to send the most eligible daughters to Greenbrier to meet men. After the Civil War, northern men were admitted to such resorts after being shunned because the war had killed off so many southern men that such people were necessary evils for their daughters. 

I was worried that we might be bored here but in fact it was a very relaxing end to our trip that offered good value for money, and the weather at this time of year was very cooperative – I don’t know how it is earlier in the summer. The views from our cottage were pretty overlooking the mountain range and it is also very nice to just sit on your front porch and look at the leaves on the trees and the stars in the sky and wonder why.

For pictures of this trip, click here.