Did China Discover America?!

Above is the controversial map which allegedly provides proof that the Chinese eunuch-mariner, Admiral Zheng He, was the first to discover America and circumnavigate the world.

After a packed press conference, intrigue set-in when eminent lawyer Liu Gang made the sensational assertion that the map in his posession-- bought for $500 from a Shanghai dealer in 2001--is a treasure: a record of an alternative past historians dare not believe:

"When I [Liu] told friends that I was going to unveil the map, they told me I was crazy.... They told me I would start a war. On one side are only two men - Me and Menzies. On the other are 10,000 well-armed scholars. And behind them politicians. How, they said, could I expect to win?"

If true, the map is provides evidence that Admiral Zheng He not only set foot in America before 1418 --more than 74 years ahead of Christopher Columbus--but also navigated the waters around the north and south poles, Africa, the Mediterranean and Australia, as well as charting the northwest passage.

The claim is controversial indeed:

• It took dozens of western expeditions hundreds of years to map the globe in such detail, but Zheng's cartographers were said to have done it all in the space of just 13 years between 1405 and 1418.
  
  
• The accurate depiction of latitude and longtitude used techniques not developed in the west until more than 100 years later
  
  
• The map contains descrptions of the people and cultures encountered of the alleged voyage, including black-skinned Australian aborigines, "all naked and wearing bone articles around their waists, " Native Americans with skin "black-red and feathers wrapped around their heads and waists", and Peruvians who made human sacrifices.

Believing such a claim requires several leaps of faith:

1. The map - entitled a "general chart of the intergrated world" - is dated the 28th year of the Qian-long reign (1763) and inscribed with the name of Mo Yi-Tong, who claims it is a copy of a 1418 map.
   
   
2. Even if the spectography tests prove the paper and ink date to the 18th century, we must still take the word of Mo Yi-Tong, a long dead and unknown figure, that this is truly a copy of the map produced more than three hundred years earlier.
   
   
3. Chinese cartographers, historians and calligraphy experts seem more sceptical than western counterparts. They keenly point-out Mr Liu's map contains several anachronisms, including religious and geographic terms introduced to China by European missionaries in the 16th century.

Missing from the discourse is any mention of Viking-explorer Leif Ericson, who is probably tossing in his grave....

Read more: BBC News Link to "China Map Lays Claim to Americas"

My Dear Curious Minds

My sincere apologies for such a long interlude between blog entries. Please be assured it was not blog lethargy, but rather technical difficulties which prevented me from updating with new postings. However, given the curious demand and surprising readership, I do hope to post a redemptive, worthy entry as soon as possible. In the interim, thank you for your continued interest and encouragement. And, please, comment....it is the only way for a dialogue to emerge and meaningful discourse take shape.

Sincerely,
Kathryn

Not So Simple Media Lessons: Tact and Wisdom

From China to Denmark, Media Lessons

Please consider this commentary on the C.S. Monitor regarding the need for tact and wisdom while exercising freedom of expression.

Pointing to the examples of Google in China and the incendiary "Muhammad Cartoons" from Denmark--which "have more in common than 2.7 million search hits the phrase produced"--it is evident that such freedom demands the absolute maturity to use it wisely and responsibly. While the grave consequences were surely not anticipated, they were wholly avoidable. What response did the cartoonist expect from his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad? Controversy, perhaps, but violence and the burning of Danish flags and their embassy, certainly not. Was printing such a provocative cartoon the most productive way of making a commentary, creating discussion, encouraging a change in mindsets about the Muslim community as a whole which has felt the onslaught from both within and without? While the repercussions from this latest media faux-pas have escalated beyond control, at best it will *hopefully* serve to make both the media industry and individual journalists more accountable in their reporting and publishing.

Given such irresponsible behavior, it is no wonder media journalists in Turkey are under incredible surveillance and being brought before the state judicial system. Unfortunately in this case, it is for their responsible reporting.

New Species Found

Pictured to the right is the first known photograph of the Berlepsch's Six-Wired Bird of Paradise, first described by hunters in the 19th Century, taken during a recent expedition by a team of international scientists--from the US, Indonesia and Australia--surveying a region near the Foja Mountains in the Papua province in eastern Indonesia, which covers an area of more than a million hectares (two million acres) of forest, in which many new species of animals, plants, frogs, and butterflies were discovered, as well as a few thought to be extinct, such as the Goldeb-Mantled Tree Kangaroo. One of the scientists commented that some of the creatures the team came into contact with were remarkably unafraid of humans: two Long-Beaked Echidnas, primitive egg-laying mammals, allowed scientists to pick them up and bring them back to their camp to be studied. The team, originally organised by the US-based organization Conservation International together with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, hopes to return to the area within the next year. "We just scratched the surface. Anyone who goes there will come back with a mystery." First, they must present their findings their peers in the scientific community before the discoveries can be declared officially.

Source: BBC News, New Species Found in Papua "Eden"

Sentenced to a Public Hanging for Self-Defense

An Iranian court sentenced Nazanin, 18, to death by public hanging after the teenage attempted-rape victim weepingly confessed to unintentionally killing one of the three assailants who had attacked both her and her niece. The state-run daily Etemaad reported that the pair, along with their boyfriends, were spending time together in a park west of the Iranian capital in March 2005 when three men began to assault them with stones. After their boyfriends deserted them (quickly escaping on their motorbikes), the two young women were left to fend for themselves, and no one else came to their rescue. Nazanin, merely 17 at the time of the incident, described how the men pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and attempted to rape them, at which point she took-out a knife from her pocket. She stabbed one of the men in the hand, and in the girls' escape, stabbed one of the men in the chest as they continued to pursue them. Although women have become accustomed to carrying knives--given the rise of attacks and rapes--they are not permitted to defend themselves or carry such weapons in self-defense.

The European Union and international human rights groups have been pressuring Iran to stop executing those under age 18, and the UN General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing the practice of executing minors in Iran. According to Iranian law, a boy can be executed from the age of 15, and a girl from the age of 9. However, execution is carried out when the offender is over 18 years-old. At least 81 people were executed in Iran last year, according to an Associated French Press tally of press reports and witnesses. Amnesty International says that at least 159 people were executed in Iran in 2004.

For more details, please visit the articles posted on the following websites:

• Middle East Times
• News 24, World News
• Amnesty Internation Announcement on faithfreedom.org
• Iran Focus News
  

And for Perfect Attendance, Johnny Gets... a Car?!

In last week's Presidential State of the Union Address George Bush included the No Child Left Behind Act as an important initiative maintaining America's competitive economic and technological edge:

In a dynamic world economy, we are seeing new competitors, like China and India, and this creates uncertainty, which makes it easier to feed people's fears.... Tonight I will set out a better path: an agenda for a nation that competes with confidence; an agenda that will raise standards of living and generate new jobs. Americans should not fear our economic future, because we intend to shape it.... Keeping America competitive begins with keeping our economy growing. And our economy grows when Americans have more of their own money to spend, save, and invest.

The American people are receptive and have taken this to heart. In schools across the nation, children and parents have new incentives for model attendance: money. Depending on the record of attendance, children may be granted $25 and in other cases, to entice parents, there is a months' rent, cars, ipods, and DVD players. Of course, the response has been stupendous in rural and lower income districts. In the more robust areas of the country, the attitude is quite different; as Miss Viggiani comments, "It's $25. I mean almost nobody cares."

It seems from a very young age these children are being able to partake in the Presidential plan for the country and learn to save, invest, and contribute to the economy. On the other, the carrot on the end of the stick method is a bit disheartening. It does not solve why school attendance is inconsistent. Are children bored? Is the curriculum wanting? Is there no passion communicated in the learning process? This scheme may assist in the short-term, but over all more profound questions need to be asked and addressed instead of meeting attendance quotas for a bigger budget.

For more information please visit And for Perfect Attendance, Johnny Gets... a Car by Pam Belluck of the New York Times.

Scandal in Scandinavia

Over the past few months, scandals have overtaken Scandinavian headlines, particularly in Denmark-- a country often praised for its socially progressive and unified populous. Now the Danes find themselves challenged to show forth the progressive ideals they so pride themselves on. Like the whole of Scandinavia, Denmark is a homogenous community and their scope of interaction and experience with other nations and cultures has been limited. Recent demographic fluctuations and the rise of immigrant populations--specifically Muslim populations-- in Europe have challenged and infringed upon their comfortable status quo.

In the wake of such changes across the entirety of Europe, will Scandinavia be inclusive and capable of modelling to others their exceptionally progressive attitudes and values? This is a question the Queen of Denmark put forward months ago; unfortunately, she was criticized for making such statements--what else is a Queen to do if not offer a voice of encouragement and reason to her countrymen? It comes then as no surprise that the focus of controversy has been in the land of the Danes. Cartoons grossly depicting Muslims, a Member of Parliament referring to Muslims as cancerous growths, and now another caricature, this time portraying the Prophet Muhammad, have created an egregious situation indeed.


Timeline:

30 Sept: Danish paper publishes cartoons

20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM

10 Jan: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons

26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador

30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology

31 Jan: Danish paper apologises

1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons

Denmark is just one example of many. Immigration, which has often been a contentious issue in the United States, has become increasingly problematic in Europe and come to the fore of recent political campaigns and elections, whether in Britain, Denmark, Sweden, or France, to name but a few. The onslaught of failing states and political instability in both Africa and the Middle East has forced many peoples and families to seek asylum elsewhere--most conveniently in Europe. However, racism and prejudice aggravated by the fear of terrorism, and the quandary of what to do with a rising majority of traditionally religious Muslim immigrants into pridefully secular European countries/populations, in tandem with the frustration of first-generation immigrant youth finding themselves estranged between two cultures and deprived of the equal social and legal status needed to access educational opportunities and gainful employment is severe. To be fair, Europe's unemployment rate, especially among youth, has been incessant, but the situation is only amplified for those of immigrant and minority backgrounds. Unemployment in Europe, the frustrations of youth, and the place of religion in general are issues truly challenging the European peoples and continent, and for many years, but with these new currents they can no longer be swept aside, under the rug. Yet, such problems seem to point to the inability of the current configuration of the state apparatus to cope with the domestic as well as international challenges which are aggrevaited by the rise of fanaticism, materialism, and shifting demographic patterns; sadly, the European Union is not doing much better...or rather all is silent on that front...

President Bush, echoing a Presidential Address given to the Philadelphia World Affairs Council on 12 December 2005, stated in his 31 January 2006 State of the Union Address: "In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting—yet it ends in danger and decline." And, "to confront the great issues before us, we must act in a sprit of goodwill and respect for one another." This is a watershed moment not only for America, whose founding President in his farewell address endorsed fierce isolationism, but for all nations. No one can afford to be passive or idle.

For Scandinavian countries, such as Denmark, diversity and socio-economic extremes are quite foreign. From it's inception, America, unlike Europe, has dealt with diversity of culture, creed, incomes, etc.... It is a country of immigrants, a country which was forced to confront religious plurality, racism, and other social issues throughout its history. It continues to be challenged, but at each impass, learns to be inclusive and more appreciative of its diverse population. President Bush, in his address to the World Affairs Council correlated America's strength and advantage with its diversity: of people, experience, thought, religion, and talents.

Most of Europe's interaction with diverse cultures and peoples has not been at home, or domestic, but rather on foreign territory and imposed by colonialism. Now, it is seriously confronted with diversity at its front door. It has yet to appreciate its own natural diversity, though none can deny Europe has made exceeding strides: it is not the Europe of the 20th century.While most likely, in the short-term, the agitation will continue and worsen, in the long term, the people and countries of Europe will have to go past the facade of a diverse and unified European Union, embody equality and truly appreciate diversity. This pressure and fire provides an equal, though different challenge, to minority cultures and peoples within Europe, especially Muslims. Attitudes on both sides need to change, and close-minded fundamentalist mentalities as well as exclusivist ideals--whether secualr or religious--will serve no one.

The clairvoyant letters of Shoghi Effendi and the statements of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (offered over 80 years ago) respectively come to mind:

… [T]he Western Hemisphere [is] now entering is a step fraught with possibilities such as no mind can adequately envisage. Its challenge is overwhelming and its potentialities unfathomable…. The hatreds that inflame, the rivalries that agitate, the controversies that confuse, the miseries that afflict, these races, nations and classes are bitter and of long standing. The influence and fanaticism, whether ecclesiastical or political, of potentially hostile organizations, firmly entrenched within their ancestral strongholds, are formidable.

... The issue of paramount importance in the world today is international peace. The European continent is like an arsenal, a storehouse of explosives ready for ignition, and one spark will set the whole of Europe aflame….

Unless this tide of hatred, racism, and prejudice are quelled, Paris aflame is only the beginning….

To read more, please visit the following links to articles from:

• The Brussels Journal
• Guardian Unlimited
• BBC News Coverage Online

Update [07.02.2006]: For fresh insights please reference the following blog entry, "Anti-Islamic Comics in Denmark", by my pal Omeed Rameshni.