"YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AS DAZZLING AS YOUR SUBJECTS"

Sunday, February 28, 2010

THE BITTERSWEET LEAVE-TAKING OF MICHELLE BACHELET OF CHILE?

THE BITTERSWEET
LEAVE-TAKING OF
MICHELLE BACHELET?

PRESIDENT
MICHELLE BACHELET
OF CHILE

An 80% approval rating and an 8.8
magnitude earthquake to manage
days before her term expires and
the constitution forbids her to succeed herself.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

CHINA THEN & NOW: GUANGZHOU (CANTON) WALKOVER


CHINA THEN & NOW:
GUANGZHOU


CANTON (GUANGZHOU), 
GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA,
WALKOVER IN 1981

THEN:

Guangdong province was "ONE STEP AHEAD,"
wrote Ezra Vogel.

AND NOW:

According to the New York Times,
"Defying Global Slump, China Has Labor Shortage" --
and one of the places it has hit is Guangzhou (Canton),
the capital of Guangdong.

One of a series

To be published in


Friday, February 26, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

KHRUSHCHEV'S "SECRET SPEECH": FEBRUARY 25, 1956


OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV 
FEBRUARY 25, 1956 


THE MEMORIAL TO 
NIKITA SERGEYEVICH KHRUSHCHEV 
NOVODEVICHY CEMETERY 
MOSCOW 1984 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

AUSTRALIA: KEVIN RUDD & THE "PERMANENT ALERT"

AUSTRALIA: KEVIN RUDD &
THE "PERMANENT ALERT"


A DIVERSIONARY TACTIC?

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD
RELEASES A WHITE PAPER ON TERRORISM

The BBC reports that Rudd "has warned that his 
country is now under a permanent and increased 
threat of militant attack."

Some Australian media see the Prime Minister as trying to divert attention from his domestic difficulties.

In any event, what is known is that there are plans "to 
fingerprint and face-scan visitors from 10 high-risk 
countries" -- which ones, however, not immediately 
specified.

Monday, February 22, 2010

BACK IN THE USSR, AGAIN: MOSCOW 1984

BACK IN THE USSR, AGAIN
MOSCOW COUPLE & BILLBOARD, 1984

"THE CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union):
OUR POLICY IS PEACE AND CONSTRUCTION,"
reads the billboard.

One of a series
To be published in


Sunday, February 21, 2010

Saturday, February 20, 2010

MONUMENT VALLEY


MONUMENT VALLEY


ON THE NAVAJO RESERVATION
(ARIZONA-UTAH)
NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS AREA

Monument Valley II here

Friday, February 19, 2010

AND THE SPARKS FLEW: ZHENGZHOU, CHINA, THEN

AND THE SPARKS FLEW


LATHE OPERATOR
ZHENGZHOU, CHINA, 1981

One in a Series

CHINA THEN AND NOW

To be published in

HERE BE GIANTS

Thursday, February 18, 2010

AND THE BAND PLAYED ON: LIMA, PERU

AND THE BAND PLAYED ON


THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE

CELEBRATING APEC 2008
LIMA, PERU


Wednesday, February 17, 2010

LENIN AGAIN: SOVIET MANAGEMENT AT SEA

LENIN AGAIN


SOVIET MANAGEMENT AT SEA
CAPTAIN OF A FLOATING FISH FACTORY
ON THE SEA OKHOTSK
OFF SAKHALIN (RUSSIA), USSR, 1990

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

LOS ALAMOS PASS IN THE SNOW: IN HONOR OF FEBRUARY 16


NEW MEXICO
"LAND OF ENCHANTMENT"
IN HONOR OF FEBRUARY 16


LOS ALAMOS PASS 
IN THE SNOW

More New Mexico here 

Monday, February 15, 2010

JAMES R. SCHLESINGER TURNS EIGHTY-ONE

JAMES SCHLESINGER
b. February 15, 1929


JAMES R. SCHLESINGER
BACK AT HARVARD
March 14, 2007

Harvard-trained economist turned national security specialist;
CIA Director; Secretary of Defense;
(first) Secretary of Energy
(under Nixon-Ford-Carter) --
wielding a slide rule when I first photographed him,
in Washington, D.C.


Sunday, February 14, 2010

Saturday, February 13, 2010

CHINA THEN AND NOW: SHANGHAI CLINIC

CHINA THEN AND NOW


THEN:

A CLINIC IN A SHANGHAI WORKERS'
APARTMENT COMPLEX, 1981

One of a Series

To be published in



NOW:

The Los Angeles TIMES reports that "In China, shift
to privatized healthcare brings long lines and frustration"

Friday, February 12, 2010

MERKEL, "MUTTI," AND NOT-THE-MARK


MERKEL, "MUTTI," AND 
NOT-THE-MARK 


ANGELA MERKEL ON THE MOVE 

What to do about bearing gifts to the Greeks, especially when your own economy has unexpectedly slipped a bit? Chancellor Angela Merkel has to decide. 

German public opinion seems to be against anything smacking of a bailout. The New York Times has already run a headline proclaiming that "Germany, Forced to Buoy Greece, Rues Euro Shift." It is we-told-you-so time bemoaning the loss of the "beloved Deutschmark" (Financial Times). Yet what is to become of the European project "beloved" of former Chancellors? 

Will Merkel be Mutti (Mom) or Catherine the Great

(For a photograph of Angela Merkel and George W. Bush holding hands, see here.) 


Thursday, February 11, 2010

BILL CLINTON HOSPITALIZED


BILL CLINTON 


BILL CLINTON IN DAYS OF YORE -- 
TO WIT, 
1988 & THE DEMOCRATIC 
NATIONAL CONVENTION 

For more on the original heart work, look here in the postings for September 3-6, 2004 


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG OF SINGAPORE (b. February 10, 1952)

LEE HSIEN LOONG
b. February 10, 1952

THIRD PRIME MINISTER OF SINGAPORE
August 12, 2004-Present

Son of Current Minister Mentor
(and First Prime Minister of Singapore,
June 3, 1959-November 28, 1990)
LEE KUAN YEW

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

HELEN THOMAS TAKES ON BARACK OBAMA

HELEN THOMAS
TAKES ON BARACK OBAMA

HELEN THOMAS
IN HER UPI
WHITE HOUSE OFFICE 
BACK IN THE DAY 

Howard Kurtz points out in today's Washington Post that Hearts 
columnist (and long-time UPI reporter) Helen Thomas has
challenged President Obama's attempt to duck his most
knowledgeable questioners by avoiding White House press
conferences. Kurtz quotes Thomas as saying that the president
has "gone an obscenely long time, not holding one."

And then there is Ms. Thomas's recent column's stark opening 
assertion: "President Barack Obama does have a foreign policy.  It’s called war.

THE PACK TURNS ON HELEN THOMAS, here