Koppel v. Federer

I lost a bet on the Wimbledon finals match between Nadal and Federer. It was a great match and, indeed, as McEnroe repeatedly exclaimed for over four hours, Nadal can generate incredible power with his backhand even in awkward positions.

While both of them have been nursing sore hammies this past week, I’ve been thinking about the brunch I have to cook MJ this weekend as payout on the bet. I’m thinking poached eggs on a small bed of greens, country style hash browns, with Canadian bacon or apple sausage, and a small stack of silver dollar buttermilk pancakes with Vermont maple syrup . . . all wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla. It will be the ultimato breakfasto burrito.

Oh yeah, she wanted fruit so maybe I’ll make a little mango salsa with a dollop of mascarpone as a binding agent to put a few more O’s into “goooodness.”

Actually, I have something better in mind. But I’ll forego discussions of food to write down some thoughts on a recent Ted Koppel interview with Charlie Rose on his new documentary series called, “The People’s Republic of Capitalism.”


When I think of China, I tend to think in terms of scale. China’s history with its tides of political turmoil, its population, and soon its energy consumption, dwarfs every correlating US data point.

As a result, there’s gaping difference in perspective in terms of policy making. Because policy makers in China want to create a larger middle class, they started putting mechanisms in place to create huge urban centers to draw rural inhabitants to factories taking a page from US’s industrial revolution.

What’s pretty cool is the emphasis on educating the factory workers’ children and getting them acquainted with computers. 50 years from now these kids will be the new tech savvy talent pool driving China’s economy. China’s effectively leapfrogging historical development stages. Policy making thinking 50 years ahead is sort of a novelty in American politics. Our energy policy and social security are but two examples.

Another point to ponder is the idea that capitalism and democracy may not necessarily go hand in hand.

Also, interesting to note from the interview was that this is the only US war that has ever been fought without raising taxes and we’ve been paying for the war by issuing bonds. And China’s essentially financing the Iraq war since it holds over a trillion dollars in US notes. I hadn’t thought about the war from a tax burden perspective.

We’re at war yet so removed. Having a draft forces us to confront the realities of war. Remove even the financial burden of supporting the war as the Bush administration has done and, unless we know somebody fighting, we’re left with just the media and storytelling of stranger’s accounts there to provide emotional connections to what is going on in Iraq.