For those who are impatiently waiting my review of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie I present the following mini review in two simple lines.

Is it good? Yes.

Is it better than the all time franchise standard bearer, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? No.

Satisfied?

Seriously, that said, J.J. Abrams has managed the near impossible feat of crafting a movie that will please both diehard fans and complete neophytes. Those who have been following this blog for a while will undoubtedly realize what a huge Trekkie I am and though my bias towards the series has had me tooting the horn to promote this movie I must admit that I had a deep inherent fear that the end result would insult my intelligence or just plain pull my chain the wrong way. Please excuse the following jumbled up stream of consciousness review that follows. I usually let a movie percolate in my head for some time sorting through my thoughts before putting them down on a piece of paper, or in this case, Microsoft Word. In the interest of expediency I’m writing this particular review only a few hours after catching the May 7th, 7pm showing of the movie and if I sound as if I’m occasionally rambling or that it contains more typos or grammatical errors than usual I apologize in advance.

Without giving away a single spoiler all I can say is that diehard purist Trekkies who only obsess about Kirk’s safe combination or the angle and size of the Enterprise’s warp nacelles and spend hours debating the relative merits of the Prime Directive might be in for some major seismic shocks to the system. Frankly, Abrams and his creative writing team have concocted a surprisingly effective solution based on real scientific theory that gives them full creative license to basically discard and jettison huge chunks of Trek lore to make way for this new iteration. It is actually so simple it’s a wonder no one bothered to think about it or actually enact it before.

When the commercial spouts, “This is NOT your father’s Star Trek,” it’s not lying. This is in fact an alternate universe which has been forcibly created as a result of some major time travelling that changes the timeline Trekkies have known into this new creation. Yet it also means that the original timeline has not been destroyed at all and that everything we’ve grown up with as Trek history still exists and that all Abram’s is doing is shifting the perspective from the old timeline to the newly created one.

This simple explanation, obviously espoused during the film, should satisfy most fans who don’t really want to see 40 years of previous lore blown to bits by this move. As an aside I have to really recommend all Trekkies read the Countdown comic book prequel that was released before this movie written by Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman who both wrote the screenplay. It works as a bridge between the last film Star Trek Nemesis and ends literally seconds before this new movie begins. The comic provides the Next Generation crew an excellent send off and manages to fill in the gaps that lead straight into the opening shot right after the Paramount logo appears.

For myself all these changes turn out mostly for the better as they add a palpable sense of awe and suspense that would not be present if the filmmakers just decided to follow along with established Trek history. For those fans who demand nothing but pure adherence to canon this movie is going to be grating as just about everything you’ve learned about Kirk and Spock’s past has been altered.

My simple advice to all Trekkies is this – watch the movie and don’t worry about Kirk not being a Lieutenant on the USS Farragut. Chuck away the image of Captain Pike stuck in that silly plywood wheelchair with the blinking lights indicating a yes or a no. Conversely, wipe your brain of that silly notion that Spock had served with Pike for years before Kirk took over. Although we Trekkies that have followed the classic series for years have dreamed about these scenarios before the simple fact is that they are not present in Abrams’ version of things. If you can’t accept that and deem it heresy that this has been allowed to happen then the only piece of advice I can give is to just not watch the film as you’d end up seething about how things have supposedly changed for the worse.



To everyone else who are more open minded, Star Trek circa 2009 is a rip roaring science fiction spectacle full of innovative camera work, top notch visual effects, rousing soundtrack and most important of all, a pitch-perfect cast that recalls the original cast yet carves out their own paths. Set to a blisteringly paced cadence that never pauses for a breath J.J. Abram’s vision of Trek is stunning to behold. The movie itself clocks in at 126 minutes but it feels like a slim 90 precisely because Abram’s never lets up on the gas pedal. I sincerely cannot recall a recent movie that has had such an inherently fast pace as this film yet it never sinks to having an unending chain of action sequences that have unfortunately plagued many films of late (I’m looking at you Quantum of Solace!) that mask their wafer-thin plots with pointless fisticuffs or redundant chases.

The movie begins with a truly emotionally effective pre-title sequence much like those that occur during James Bond films albeit laced with a gripping subtext that brackets the action. A small Federation ship called the USS Kelvin is merrily cruising by a huge and surprisingly violently animated sun when out of nowhere a giant rift in space opens in front of her revealing a menacing monstrosity of a ship inspired by H.R. Geiger with tentacle arms and jagged edges. Before the Kelvin can properly react it comes under heavy fire pummelling the ship in seconds. As the attack ends a Romulan named Nero appears on screen demanding their surrender and orders the Kelvin’s Captain named Robau (Faran Tahir) to come over to his ship. Totally outgunned Robau gets into a shuttle and leaves command of the ship to his first officer, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth). Needless to say negotiations don’t go well and soon George Kirk finds himself in a no-win scenario so he orders everyone to abandon ship including his pregnant wife who is in the midst of child birth.

This 10-12 minute segment is stunning in simplicity basically showcasing the rather mournful birth of a major character that is buffeted by some truly heart-wrenching melodrama yet it works wonders as it sets the tone for the overall movie. Right from the opening shot of the camera lovingly panning over the Kelvin’s hull it is obvious that you’ve never seen Star Trek done like this before. Everything feels so fresh and dynamic that for this long time Trekkie it was initially disorienting watching the rapid-fire cuts, exorbitant use of lens flares and tight angles of both machinery and characters that never have been seen before in this franchise. Imagine if the cameraman from the Jason Bourne series showed up on the set and started filming and you’d only be beginning to get an idea of how the photography has changed. Previous Trek’s had a high degree of theatricality to them with a large amount of static camera work. Abram’s has ditched all that relying on steady cams with a high degree of wobble that make everything feel as if the audience is part of a news camera crew covering a major war. The only downside to this technique is that Abrams chooses not to include too many grand establishing shots content to use tight angles that are sometimes majorly disorienting.

Then there’s the actual sets themselves that scream new design with high tech being melded with surprisingly low tech – the bridge of the Kelvin and later the Enterprise is teaming with LCD displays and feature viewscreens with multiple HUDs and graphical overlays whereas the engineering rooms are jarringly filled with industrial tubes and pipes as if you were in a brewery. Joking aside, it is a brewery! Abrams and crew actually went to these places and filmed there and if there’s one sour note from the production design it’s that the two sets don’t really mesh well. It’s kind of hard to believe that key locations such as the bridge or sick bay look like futuristic locales but the poor engine room looks like the bowels of the Yamato circa World War 2. Then again this little nitpick in no way ruins the film as the action is incredibly hectic and you rarely get a chance to savour any location you’re in as Abrams keeps his camera constantly moving. On the other hand I really wish I had this on Blu-ray so I could pause and savour the intricately detailed sets and revel in the superlative effects work.

The first third of the film is a rather satisfying look into the early life of both Kirk and Spock and how the two grew up in totally different environments nicely labelled for newcomers as Iowa and Vulcan. Without a father, Kirk (Chris Pine) grows up as a rebellious James Dean whose only goal is girls and cheap thrills until a pivotal encounter with Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) inspires him to join Starfleet. Spock (Zachary Quinto) has a totally different set of issues being a half-breed of both Vulcan and Human blood his childhood is filled with constant taunting decrying his mixed heritage that not only comes from kids but the supreme council as well. This in turn spurs Spock to join Starfleet instead of the Vulcan science academy.

J.J. Abram’s movie is no doubt an origin yarn and although it manages to deftly showcase all the major characters the focus is firmly on the budding relationship between Kirk and Spock. Some online commentators have funnily labelled their friendship as the first “bromance” but that’s something I’d rather leave in the hands of those who write their own fanfiction. Regardless, the original angle in this movie is that both these characters initially detest one another and that the narrative thrust from that point on is merely about how they come to admire the other. Indeed, this is the heart of the tale and it plainly works. Without revealing too much the screenwriters have concocted situations that at first rend them apart but as events unfold the duo come to the realization that they need each other.

Diehard Trekkies will undoubtedly fawn over many sequences that pop up such as the famed Kobayashi Maru exam simulator which Kirk easily beats while munching leisurely on an apple harkening directly to the famous scene in Trek 2 where Shatner’s Kirk does exactly the same apple munching as he cockily tells those near him that he doesn’t believe in a no-win scenario. Each character is given his or her time to shine and it’s no mean feat that Abrams managed to shoehorn every one of them in giving them just enough screentime to establish their characters.



In fact it seems that Abrams and screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have gone out of their way to include as many fan oriented moments as possible almost as if they had a massive checklist of items to go through. Many people in the audience during my screening reacted emphatically as each showed up none more so than when the “guy in the red shirt” appeared eliciting reams of laughter and cat calling. Throw in a green Orion babe who thankfully is not a slave this time, the use of original sound effects, ejecting the warp core(s) and a bevy of easily recognizable catch phrases and it is obvious that this new behind the camera crew knows their lore. In fact both Orci and Kurtzman are fans themselves and it shows. When our beloved characters throw out a famous line you can’t help but smile that they’ve managed to incorporate it without bludgeoning it over your head. When Mccoy (Karl Urban) finally blurts, “I’m a doctor, not a physicist” everyone around me started to spontaneously cheer.

That said, whatever issues or reservations I previously had about this new cast are long gone. These young actors are the real deal nailing their characters with ease. The supporting cast all get their moments in the sun but huge kudos goes to Karl Urban who absolutely embodies the cantankerous Leonard McCoy to the T. Of all the new cast, Urban seems to be voodoo channelling the ghost of DeForest Kelley and comes off closest to the original actor. It almost makes you think that Kelley was his father as his mannerisms are bang on. I have no doubt that fans are most probably going to identify and warm to Urban the most. Simon Pegg as Scotty is a hoot although the script has him firmly in the token comic relief column. Still, he and Urban steal nearly all the scenes they are in which is no mean feat especially for Pegg who really doesn’t show up until the final third of the film. It should also come as no surprise that both Urban and Pegg are Trekkies in real life and seem to dial in immediately to what made those two characters tick.

Both Anton Yelchin as Checkov and John Cho as Sulu don’t get much screentime but I can see some audience members being a bit annoyed at Yelchin who really lays into a thick Russian accent that is almost always played for laughs whereas Cho focuses almost completely on Sulu’s physical proficiency with a blade. The easiest way to describe Yelchin would be to compare him to Wil Wheaton playing Wesley Crusher except with a Russian accent. John Cho doesn’t get much to do but his big fight scene with Kirk on a giant space drill is a hoot although JJ.Abram’s Star Wars roots undoubtedly pop up with Sulu’s version of a lightsaber. Still, it looks cool and that’s all that matters especially since it plays upon the image of George Takai’s glistening naked torso while brandishing a rapier in the original series.

The biggest booster in terms of screentime is undoubtedly Zoe Seldana’s Uhura who plays a surprisingly integral role in the emotional well-being of one of the main characters. To say more would spoil it but Seldana brings both her remarkably alluring image and a surprisingly heartfelt presence to the predominantly male cast. Think of her take on Uhura as a politically correct look at the modern woman who can easily take charge and assert herself on anyone regardless of age or gender. This is a professional who knows what she wants and pursues it with a vengeance.

I would be remiss not to mention the exceptional work of Bruce Greenwood as the Enterprise’s first Captain Christopher Pike. Whenever he’s on screen his considerable acting chops and authoritative demeanour cut an impressive figure and for once the filmmakers have to be applauded for actually showcasing other Starfleet Captains who aren’t total morons. It had become a bit of a joke especially with the later TV series and movies to see other fleet officers (remember Captain Harriman from Generations?) display a startling lack of command proficiency but both Pike and to a lesser extent the doomed Captain Robau of the USS Kelvin are exemplary leaders who instinctively know what to do even when confronted with dire straits. Whenever Greenwood is on screen you can almost watch in awe as he inspires the newer cast members to raise their game in order to play off him.

Other guest stars such as Ben Cross as Sarek and a surprisingly effective Winona Ryder as Spock’s mom, Amanda round out the superlative cast. Then there’s Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime. What can I say that hasn’t been said before? Much like Sir Alec Guiness’ turn as Obi-Wan in the original Star Wars trilogy, Nimoy arrives and easily commands each scene he is involved in. However, this is clearly an aged Spock nearing the end of his days with an even higher maturity level (if that is possible) than previously seen and Nimoy makes this Spock into a wise sage yet you can see the added sparkle in his eye when he comes face to face with young Kirk or the pained expression of mournful sorrow flush over his visage after he witnesses a cataclysmic event. Although his inclusion might seem like nothing more than a throwaway bone to us diehard fans Nimoy was quite correct in stating that this role plays an important part in the narrative. In fact, what transpires in the movie is a direct result of Spock Prime’s actions in the future that lead to both him and Nero being sucked back in time into this new alternate universe.

That brings us undoubtedly and most crucially to both Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. It should come as no surprise that if these two weren’t convincing than the movie would plainly not work. Happily, they both completely nail it. Quinto absolutely shines as Spock with a skilful portrayal of a more unhinged version of everyone’s most popular Vulcan. His task in some ways is even greater than Pine’s precisely because he’s up against Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime – the differences are plain to see but Quinto’s take on the character is a wonder to behold filled with more angst and internal turmoil than I’d ever expected to see. This Spock is clearly a conflicted individual who fights almost daily between his cool Vulcan logic and hot-blooded human passions and Quinto conveys this through skilful manipulation of subtle facial ticks and body language that suggest his ongoing struggle. With a piercing stare that straddles the razor’s edge between outward cool and inner frustration Quinto makes the character a joy to watch especially when presented with the film’s biggest shocks of which I will not reveal. It is safe to say that Quinto’s Spock goes through a bevy of emotional, heart-pounding u-turns that Nimoy’s version never had to, at least not all at once. Yet it is precisely this internal confusion that makes this young Spock so incredibly sympathetic and I’m sure audiences will agree.

Conversely, the relatively unknown Chris Pine embodies everything we’ve come to love about James Tiberius Kirk without Shatner’s overblown body language or unique vocal cadence. When Pine won the role he immediately went to watch previous episodes for inspiration but thankfully Abrams had the foresight to realize that to mimic Shatner was folly and would send the movie into a haphazard SNL type mimicry that would torpedo whatever atmosphere they were trying to achieve. William Shatner is William Shatner and there’s no point even trying to ape “the man.” Instead, Pine dials back the ham and focuses instead on making his Kirk a rebellious James Dean with a touch of Han Solo’s roguish charm. This is a Kirk that is rudderless without a coherent goal in life who yearns for something more but doesn’t know exactly yet where to channel his energy. Even after his fateful meeting with Captain Pike and his entry into Starfleet Academy he’s still chasing skirt and being overtly cocky and boisterous.

Thankfully, as the 2nd act begins Pine begins down the path to resembling the best Kirk traits often seen in Shatner’s take. While still resolute with his convictions he begins to realize that he needs to use the crew around him and foster their considerable talents and soon settles into the position of leadership that is his birthright. Surprisingly, Pine’s Kirk is the recipient of a lot of witty abuse by the screenwriters who play up the character’s cockiness level yet proceed to constantly deflate it by involving him in numerous pratfalls the most obvious example being McCoy’s hilarious plan to smuggle Kirk onto the Enterprise that leads to Kirk drooling like a dog, being blind in one eye, slurred speech and enlarged hands that plays up the campiness level to the nines. It’s a good thing though that Abrams has impeccable comic timing and never lets any of the jokes overstay their welcome as it would detract from the coming emotional heft.

On the technical front there’s no doubt that every last cent from the $150 million dollar budget has made it on screen. Not since Star Trek The Motion Picture has a Trek film looked so darned delicious replete with expansive sets and jaw-dropping CG this is a visual tour de force that will leave audiences breathless. I don’t necessarily hate CG but it really distracts when it is not done well. Here it’s absolutely seamless with numerous transitions between the sets and the sprawling space exteriors that are awe inspiring. Many have heard this before but I’ll say it again – this film is epic in all aspects from sweeping vistas showing futuristic San Francisco to the Coruscant inspired Vulcan that goes one better by actually having buildings hanging like stalactites. The art design is simply stunning.

Purists will probably blanch at the new USS Enterprise, she of newly muscular nacelles and a rather flattened secondary hull but I’m sold. Although I love Classic Trek it would have been folly to just ram the old model into today’s high-tech CG as it would have looked wholly out of place. This new Enterprise just screams power and the first time you see it Abrams even has the right idea to hug her lines as a shuttle flies over her hull. I’m not so sure about the size but it seems gigantic when on screen easily dwarfing other Federation ships. Yes, we do see a new space dock and other ships as well which is a nice treat that I was not expecting and the only downside being that I wish we saw more. What we get evokes the scene from Starship Troopers as the fleet set out to attack the bug planet of Klandathu. A high degree of kudos has to go to, of all things, the sound effect department which has used real science whenever possible such as during several highly realistic sequences that specifically feature the lack of sound in a vacuum. Take the well advertised space jump which has Kirk, Sulu and obligatory red shirt cadet jumping out of a moving shuttle into the atmosphere in an attempt to land on a small drilling platform hovering over a planet. When the trio leave the shuttle there’s a loud whoosh of escaping air followed by dead silence as they plummet toward the surface. As they get closer and closer and into the planetary air the sound effects begin to ramp up as air resistance kicks in until it’s howling like a raging tornado. Cool stuff.

Sticking with sound, long time J.J. Abrams collaborator Michael Giacchino takes over the musical reigns and churns out a remarkably Jerry Goldsmith inspired score that ranks up there with the best of all Trek soundtracks. Giacchino sticks to a relatively inspiring tune for Kirk but it’s his take on Spock that is the highlight here as I never thought anyone would use a Chinese erhu instrument (think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) to denote the air of Vulcan spiritualism. The two themes serve as further justification showcasing the differences in personality between Kirk and Spock with such opposite ends of the musical spectrum.

So what prevents this movie from overtaking or even matching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? Technically the new film is without equal but the one major ingredient that it lacks is a large dose of gravitas. This is not the fault of either the screenwriters or Abrams but it’s just not fair to compare what is essentially the new crew’s maiden voyage to that of one taking place after decades of camaraderie. What the new crew achieves in such a short time span is amazing and sets the ground work for the inevitable sequels but in terms of resonance it’s plainly lacking the incredible nuance and maturity found in Nicholas Meyer’s movie that also runs through the best of the original series. Perhaps the next J.J. Abram’s movie can start tackling deeper plots that elicit more emotional response than pure exhilaration during action sequences or loud laughs at the numerous jokes. The film’s pre-title sequence comes closest to evoking deep gut-wrenching emotions but even that can’t hold a candle to the way in which a major character passes on in Trek 2.

Conversely, with such a high emphasis on Kirk, Spock and the other five core characters there’s little time to develop Eric Bana’s Nero who comes across as nothing more than a snarling lout with a giant grudge. He’s no Ricardo Montalban as Khan and thus doesn’t present Kirk with a truly equal adversary leaving Nero as nothing more than a plot device to keep the movie moving forward. It’s not that Bana can’t act as he’s actually very commanding when on screen but he’s just not given enough screentime to establish more than his basic motivation – yet another reason I recommend fans read Countdown as Nero is much better fleshed out and understood if one knew his back-story. Still, requiring the audience to read a comic book before the movie is lazy filmmaking and I have seen that many in attendance at the screening were perplexed as to Nero’s motivation. Those who have read the comic will appreciate more what Eric Bana pulls off but for everyone else they are going to be scratching their heads wondering how he became so full of hate with a singular thirst for revenge.

Indeed, when the movie finally gets around to the major expository sequence told with panache through a Vulcan mind meld it’s actually too dense and compacted than it needs to be as it basically compresses the entire Countdown comic storyline that spans four issues into a scant five minute flashback. My wife did not grasp what was being shown and I have no doubt others in the audience are going to experience brain spasms as it spins a yarn full of technobabble featuring super novas, red matter, old Spock, Nero, Romulus, black holes and time travel. It’s never a good thing to leave the audience adrift at sea without a life preserver but this sequence is just not plotted out well enough for neophytes to follow along.

Abrams and the new Trek team behind the scenes have honed their focus into presenting a summer popcorn movie with a high degree of action and wit and although the way he brings the crew together evokes great “geekgasms” the usual Trek political allegories and grandiose morality tales are shunted to the background. That’s to be expected as this is supposed to be a movie that appeals to a large swath of the population that has no prior knowledge of the show but I sincerely hope Abrams brings in these larger themes in subsequent installments.

However, all that said the one area where this new Trek hits the most potholes is in its plot that relies heavily on sheer coincidence. Some might argue that Abrams is merely highlighting the fact that forces of destiny are at play that clearly dictate that even though the timeline has been altered that these people were meant to meet and become the crew we love the fact remains that large parts of the movie hinge on seemingly random twists of fate that, at times, will make you raise a Vulcan eyebrow in disbelief. Having key characters meet on desolated ice planets that resemble Hoth from the Empire Strikes Back by stumbling into one another is really stretching credibility and there are also a few visual cues that seem out of place such as a character looking at the sky and watching a planet self destruct even though it is light years away. Didn’t the science team bring up this point with the filmmakers that you shouldn’t be able to see this phenomenon? Also, I might sound like I’m nitpicking here but unless someone didn’t send me a memo I never realized that transporters had a HUGE range so that you could conceivably beam someone from Earth to Saturn in one shot. I don’t seem to remember it being THAT far a distance.

Then again, this movie runs on such high-octane energy that it basically steamrolls over whatever little niggling issues it has. While classic Trek movies featuring Shatner and Nimoy centered on the never ending theme of growing old and showcased adult life this movie revels in its youthful exuberance. With movies tending to trend dark and explore the deep recesses of the human condition ala Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Abram’s Trek does the polar opposite by accentuating the positives that Trek has been so well known for. This is a stirring rendition of Gene Roddenberry’s utopic future where humanity has conquered the stars not with a sword but with the soul and Abrams does everything in his power to keep this focus. Humanity might be flawed but it is our ability to overcome our inherent prejudice that gives us a leg up on what evil lurks outside the preverbal window.

If I had to make a tonal comparison I’d have to say that Abram’s Trek feels much more in line with Raiders of the Lost Ark which had one of the most balanced and engaging combinations of pure unadulterated fun and humour coupled with barnstorming action sequences. That is not to say that this new Trek is devoid of touching moments as there are indeed many, a few actually shocking to say the least but the overall mood is one of pure boyish charm and optimism that it elevates the entire movie with feel good buoyancy.

In the end J.J. Abrams and his talented crew are to be applauded for basically rebooting Trek and making it relevant again. While I never truly downright hated the Star Trek Voyager or Enterprise TV shows nor even Star Trek Nemesis the writing was on the wall as the franchise slowly sank into an unending pit of mediocrity. It was actually infuriating for this Trek fan to watch the series spiral down and get stuck beholden to its own ponderous lore that stifled whatever creativity had flourished during both the original series and the Next Generation.



Abram’s Trek, with all its gnarly new gadgetry and clean high-tech design is exactly the boost in the arm that is required to re-energize this creaky old franchise. With a new look, capably young cast and a new creative focus from the filmmakers this new Trek is poised to explode the box office. That said, I know I promised the blog readers here my box office analysis and I apologize for not writing it sooner but I’ll be cautiously optimistic and incredibly elated if it somewhat follows Batman Begin’s trajectory but opens a bit higher – so for the record I’ll predict a $65 million opening weekly with a 3.5x multiplier bringing the total to a $227.5 million final gross. Anything more is cake. Of course, anything less than $150 million will probably make Paramount cry.

Box office prognostications aside, this is a masterfully crafted summer popcorn film that should please both diehard fans while bring in legions of new ones. Forget all the small inconsistencies or changes to past Trek lore and instead revel in the sheer delight of this new vision of Gene Roddenberry’s future of mankind. With one fell swoop, J.J. Abrams has plotted a course for the future and for the first time in years the future is bright. It would be sappy to end with Spock’s customary Vulcan salute so I’ll instead just say – the human adventure is just beginning.

***1/2 out of ****

2009, USA, 126 Minutes, PG-13, Paramount Pictures
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Screenplay by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Produced by Damon Lindelof & J.J. Abrams
Executive Producer: Bryan Burk, Jeffrey Chernov, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Original Music by Michael Giacchino
Cinematography by Daniel Mindel
Film Editing by Maryann Brandon & Mary Jo Markey
Casting by April Webster & Alyssa Weisberg
Production Design by Scott Chambliss

James T. Kirk: Chris Pine
Spock: Zachary Quinto
Spock Prime: Leonard Nimoy
Nero: Eric Bana
Capt. Christopher Pike: Bruce Greenwood
Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: Karl Urban
Nyota Uhura: Zoe Saldana
Scotty: Simon Pegg
Hikaru Sulu: John Cho
Pavel Chekov: Anton Yelchin
Sarek: Ben Cross
Amanda Grayson: Winona Ryder
George Kirk: Chris Hemsworth
Winona Kirk: Jennifer Morrison
Gaila: Rachel Nichols
Captain Robau: Faran Tahir
Ayel: Clifton Collins Jr.
Officer Pitts: Antonio Elias

© 2009 The Galactic Pillow

Koi Pond smacks me of that old acronym, WYSIWUG. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that an application named Koi Pond is specifically about a small pond inhabited by fish. Imagine my surprise if it featured giant transforming robots and pachinko machines? Regardless, Koi Pond is most definitely, “What You See Is What You Get.” I find it odd that I have penned numerous reviews on games for just about every console imaginable yet this is the first time I’ve had to focus on....a screensaver. Yes, that’s exactly what Koi Pond is. Those expecting some dextrous fish racing better look elsewhere.

This was one of the first applications I ever bought for my iPhone and I knew precisely what I was getting – a quick display of some of the iPhone’s graphical prowess. The developer has managed to create an app that is both pleasing to the eye and ear and though no one is going to be fooled that they are staring at a real live pond, the graphical fidelity and attention to detail is impressive.

Koi Pond is all about Zen and provides a relaxing atmosphere both visually and aurally. The app showcases an overhead view of a simulated koi pond, replete with stone floor and floating lily pads of different shapes and sizes. The view itself is locked meaning you can’t zoom, rotate, or move the camera vertically or horizontally. Amongst the lily pads swim numerous fish, each of which is nicely animated with many frames of movement. Tails and fins sway realistically as each fish navigates independently through the environment.

Adding to the scene are some nicely done shadow effects that come from both the fish and the lily pads and more importantly, the rippling surface water that shimmers throughout the scene. Although this is basically an advanced screensaver there are interactive elements included, most prescient being the water which takes advantage of the touch screen controls. Using your finger, or fingers, each light touch of the screen simulates a ripple effect, much like throwing a rock into water. If this is done near a fish they realistically react by getting frightened and quickly swimming away.

If you hold your finger down on the touch screen for an extended period of time it will attract the fish to congregate right below and virtually pretend to nibble at your appendage making your phone rumble in the process. Shaking the phone itself causes fish food to randomly be dropped into the pond which the fish can devour. It’s not exactly gaming but it does its best to simulate a real koi pond environment.

The advanced options can be accessed by pressing the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Here you can change the colour of the water with four presets: blue, green, brown and dark green. Other options include increasing or decreasing the number of fish and lily pads present or enabling or disabling the variety of sound effects such as birds chirping, gusts of wind, frogs and flies. Also included is a toggle between night and day as well as a volume control slider. As an extra feature, the lily pads can be dragged to any location you want on the screen with a simple touch and pull motion.

The sound effects are quite pleasing and the customization options giving you control of which ones to hear are welcomed although they sound incredibly tinny through the iPhone’s external speaker forcing you to wear earphones. For a screensaver that doesn’t really make much sense unless you just want to sit back and relax to the ambient noise. This however, is not the application’s fault but it’s too bad that earphones are needed to fully appreciate the work done by the developer.

Real koi ponds can cost thousands of dollars and are basically impossible to have outdoors in cold weather climates such as Canada making them a rare commodity for the rich who have the ability to just move them indoors. This application costs only $0.99 which makes it a fair deal although its only purpose is purely aesthetical. I’m not sure iPhone users will want to purchase many screensaver style applications but Koi Pond has immense polish and a pleasing demeanour. As an additional bonus, the developer, The Blimp Pilots, seem to be constantly upgrading and adding functionality to this app which deserves even more kudos.

*** out of ****

Developer: The Blimp Pilots
Version: 2.2.1.
Size: 4.4 MB

© 2009 The Galactic Pillow

Now this is how you build buzz. While I’m still not quite ready to go into a greater box office analysis of the upcoming summer movie season I have to give props to Paramount for mounting a steadily unfurling marketing campaign that has fired on all cylinders for their May tentpole movie. Of course, I’m talking about Star Trek. What did you expect? In hindsight the decision by Paramount brass to move the film out of its initial release date last Christmas day to the more competitive summer season now seems to have paid off in spades. While we still won’t know how well it will perform there’s no doubt that buzz is building in ways I have not seen since last year.

Flashback to the winter of 2007 and the prevailing box office prognostications were calling for Indiana Jones 4: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to easily win the May box office crown. Cinephiles were still clamouring for The Dark Knight to emerge as the #1 film of the summer but for Indy to come close. Then as the months rolled by into spring 2008 potential audience perception started to rapidly shift as surveys and box office pundits began to notice a huge surge in popularity in the superhero film Iron Man which had a strong marketing campaign that managed to capture the zeitgeist at precisely the right time. By the time the summer season opened it was clear that buzz was on Iron Man’s side bolstered obviously by the fact that the film actually delivered the goods. In the end Iron Man beat out Indy 4 to claim #2 for the summer and The Dark Knight did indeed reign supreme with a gargantuan domestic gross second to James Cameron’s epic romance, Titanic (without taking into account inflation).

Looking at the release schedule for this May it doesn’t initially look like it will equal last year as both Iron Man and Indy 4 opened in the same month both going on to gross over $300 million each. This time around we’re presented with a bevy of films all of which are cursed with significant stumbling blocks that could potentially torpedo the final gross. Regardless, the prevailing winds have initially placed strong bets on X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Night At The Museum 2 as being the two films that have the greatest upside. I’ll be posting my predictions for May in a few weeks but I must say that there’s a reason why I also wait so late till I release them – things change. As puerile and obvious as that might sound it’s something to hold true as events of the last few weeks have thought us.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine has hit turbulence like never before due to an ill-timed and highly illegal leak of an early cut of the film that has done nothing but fuel the Internet speculation that 20th Century Fox has a potentially less than desired film at hand. I for one hope they pull it off as I have no desire to watch any movie go up in flames but this bad news does not help in their quest to change audience perception. There’s no question the opening gross will be affected since at last count it has been downloaded over one million times so far which is a staggering number of potential customers lost. Still, it’s not all bad as most mainstream moviegoers will not have bothered to even notice that it was available to download but the risk is still there that the negative response from those who have seen it will taint others to not run out and see it right away as they wait for better word of mouth from friends or colleagues.

It also didn’t help Fox’s image when one of their freelance writers went and released a highly detailed review of the cut on Fox’s own website basically admitting that he watched the illegal copy. I have no idea what was going on in his mind but surely it was not firing on all cylinders as his blatant admission of guilt led Fox to basically lay him off and deleting his article from their website. This was the right move and although it sent a signal to the public that it was following the law it ended up as more egg on Fox’s face with some netizens even calling this whole debacle as being completely planned by Fox to drum up hype for the film. This is as absurd a theory as I’ve ever heard as this leak was clearly illegal not to mention that it has done nothing but exacerbate the initial view that the film was clearly not up to snuff. Hype or no hype, you don’t want negative observations or reviews to leak out so early before your premiere.

Juxtapose that with Paramount which has waged a brilliant marketing campaign to win over both diehard fans and the mainstream viewers with its Star Trek reboot. The trailers have been epic and well received highlighting not only the origin aspects of the story but the new cast and crew in an action adventure spectacle. Some fans might be turned off with the rock and roll commercials emphasizing the action but it has no doubt succeeded in educating the audience that something cool is coming soon -- just look at the newest TV ad that boldly proclaims, "This is not your father's Star Trek."

Then there’s the premiere. For all intents and purposes Paramount is rolling out Star Trek much like they’d do with a potential Oscar nominated film. No, I don’t suggest that Trek is gunning for the Best Picture statuette (although that would be cool!) but the way they are releasing it certainly parallels those smaller “serious” contenders. Simply put, if you want WOM (word of mouth) to spread while hedging your bet by being too aggressive and going straight to a wide release in thousands of cinemas the best tactic is to let it premiere in key cities like New York, Los Angeles, or Toronto on one of two screens and let audiences take over. Even though there aren’t many total people going to a few cinemas what you really intend is for them to latch onto the film and start the WOM chain slowly churning as they tell their friends, family and colleagues about how good it was. You’d be surprised just how quickly this process can work as these films begin to build steam in a snowball effect. As WOM spreads as to how great the film is it draws more and more people to the cinemas until it hits a critical moment when the company decides to release it in more cinemas.

You don’t have to look very far for examples of successful releases that went this route. Just look at last year’s Slumdog Millionaire. It opened last November 12, 2008 in only 10 theatres and managed to make $360,018. However, audiences loved and the rest is as they say history as it started on its slow climb up the charts as the company added more and more screens. At last check it was sitting at $140,751,191 domestic gross.

Of course, this strategy doesn’t work all the time but it’s almost never used for a big blockbuster summer release like Star Trek. Now I wish it were exactly following this trend but it’s not quite the same in that the film is not actually being released to the public to see but it is going to be rolling out to a whole spate of worldwide premieres (included to US forces in Kuwait this past weekend) over the coming weeks in order to build buzz and it all started with one of the biggest bait and switches I’ve had the opportunity to see or read about in some time.

Paramount announced that the film’s worldwide premiere was to be in Sydney Australia on Tuesday, April 7. The media gathered there along with the cast including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana and of course director J.J. Abrams. Across the globe at the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Austin, Texas Paramount and a few co-hosts such as Harry Knowles of Aintitcool.com were getting prepared to mark the occasion with a special screening of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan with a special treat of showing 10 minutes of never seen footage from the new movie. On hand were the new film’s screenwriters Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman as well as producer Damon Lindelof who were there to present the movie to the audience.

The film began but after the opening credits the film reel basically died and melted and the movie stopped prompting the audience to get mildly upset. As they waited for the projector to be fixed Orci and Kurtzman got on stage in an effort to entertain the audience during the apparent faux pas but then from out of nowhere Leonard Nimoy popped up to massive applause and basically asked the crowd if they wanted to see more than 10 minutes of footage – like say, the entire movie perhaps? Yes, although all the dignitaries and media were in Sydney those lucky fans in Austin Texas got to watch the true world premiere a few hours before the showing in Australia. This had all been carefully staged and planned before hand and what appeared to be a botched screening of Star Trek 2 ended up being the World premiere of the new film.

The response after the credits rolled up? Near universal praise and adulation. Talk about getting your marketing right.

There’s a general rule of thumb that most moviergoers probably don’t pay attention to. If a company feels that a movie is not going to do well or ended up basically “sucking” they will do anything to prevent that knowledge leaking before it premieres. In a classic case of protecting themselves from harm they will not screen the movie for critics before it is released to the public. This is a sheer sign that the company knows it has a stinker on its hands and is in full damage control mode in order to achieve and gain as much money as it can before the nasty WOM sets in as initial moviegoers rip into the film and tell others to avoid it at all costs.

Conversely, a film company will never screen a movie long before its release date unless it is extremely confident that it has a major hit on its hands. With Star Trek premiering 31 days before its release date this is a telltale sign that Paramount is ecstatic about the film. It’s scheduled worldwide screenings that will take place between now and the release date are icing on the cake and reinforce the view that Paramount knows it has a quality title and is aggressively promoting it now in order to get the word out that the film is excellent.

This bait and switch certainly had a high built in risk factor. Star Trek 2 is regarded as the best Trek movie ever as well as being one of the best science fiction films of all time. To lure an audience that is there precisely to watch such a film and then switch it for the new one took a lot of gumption as there’s an inherent fear present that the new film will not come close to matching the old. Imagine going to see a newly restored print of Citizen Kane and instead getting it switched with Citizen Kane 2: Electric Boogaloo. Well, judging from the people who were present they have nothing to worry about as buzz is reaching a fevered pitch that can only help the film as it opens the week after Wolverine.

As buzz begins to build Paramount hopes to duplicate Iron Man’s success and although time will tell if it manages to get anywhere close to that film’s $ $318,412,101 domestic / $263,618,427 foreign gross here’s hoping J.J. Abrams’ reboot will usher in a new era of Trek movies. As for Paramount things are looking rosy with three of the biggest summer releases in Star Trek, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

© 2009 The Galactic Pillow

Pirate slang aside, after a couple of political posts it’s time for a change of pace as I veer back to entertainment and movies in general. Looking at the above picture you can’t help but notice Hugh Jackman is raging mad with steely intensity almost as if he’s about to skewer someone with his pair of razor sharp claws. I have a hunch I know just who he is intending to enact physical violence on. If you didn’t already know 20th Century Fox is reeling from an obviously unsupported leak to the Internet of an unfinished print of their summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Yes, you heard that right. The entire rough cut of the movie is illegally available on the net about an entire month before its premiere. This is not some amateur camcorder recording but an almost DVD quality pristine cut of the upcoming film.

Fox executives are livid that this has occurred and with good reason as the movie is their tentpole summer blockbuster and this breach of security will no doubt impact the final gross. This is no laughing matter and they have already called the FBI for assistance. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is also a film which diehard comic book fans have been following for a while now but much of the buzz surrounding the production has been lukewarm at best making potential moviegoers guarded as to its overall quality. This leak will do nothing but exacerbate the situation. In the highly competitive summer movie season a potential blockbuster with an enormous production budget cannot afford these types of stumbles and this leak could be potentially damaging in its ability to generate enough money to cover costs.

This is not the first time a high profile leak has occurred as it happened recently with Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith as well as Ang Lee’s Hulk. Star Wars went on to gross $380 million USD in the US alone but the Hulk did not even make enough to cover its estimated budget of $130 Million USD. Of course, the biggest factor to a film’s success is the WOM, better known as word of mouth. If the public enjoys it they’ll tell their friends and the movie will play well for a longer period of time. Conversely, if their opinions are negative it will cause others to avoid it like the bubonic plague. WOM can actually be mathematically calculated and anyone who follows box office predictions and trends will tell you that after the first weekend most prognosticators will be able to figure out the movie’s final gross within a few percentage points. After two weekends and that final estimate is almost a lock.

However, this is not a post about WOM but about the movie leak which proves piracy of any sort is rampant just about anywhere in the world. This sort of action be it undertaken by a lone culprit or group of people is obviously against the law but it also shows absolutely no regard to the vast cast and crew that has been working months on the project in order to deliver the best product possible. It doesn’t matter if the film is any good but this action is an affront to all those people who poured their sweat and tears into this film in order to bring it to the silver screen so it could be enjoyed by the public.

Whatever the motivations are behind this leak there’s no justification for this action. That said, I have no doubt that peer-to-peer sites are strained to the limit as people attempt to download the print to their computers. This is one of those situations that you run into in ethics class 101. If you spot a dropped wallet filled with cash in the middle of a shopping mall, what do you do? What would your reaction be if you were walking down a street and a laptop fell off the back of the truck?

The answer is of course, up to each individual. We all have to face our demons at some point and eventually be judged by a higher power – if you do believe in one. Regardless, even if you don’t it’s still a question of morality. Do you download Wolverine and watch it knowing it is illegal and is a rough cut or do you wait for the pristine finished product to be shown in a cinema?

I’ve always been a cinephile all my life as I just plain love watching movies. When I was in high school my friends and I made it a point to see as many movies as possible. It didn’t usually matter who was in it or what was it about we just reveled in the act of going to the cinema. Nowadays, I rarely venture out to the cinema unless it is something I truly have a strong interest in. If not, I’ll just stay at home and watch it on DVD or Blu-Ray when it is released months later. However, as good as recent Plasma and Flatscreen LCDs have become I truly believe that the only place to get the true cinematic experience is in a proper theatre.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was one of those films that I was leaning to see mainly based on my previous experience watching the three previous X-men movies. I must admit that once I heard of this leak my first impression was akin to, “Where do I watch this?” This was followed by a period of quiet meditation as I realized that it really wasn’t worth it as this is the type of loud summer blockbuster best experienced in a darkened cinema with blasting THX or Dolby sound systems. My moral center won over and I went on my merry way doing something else content with the knowledge that I would be watching a superior product in less than a month.

Whatever your taste in movies, this sort of piracy is just unacceptable and though I have no doubt that many are downloading this as I speak the comments I’ve read on many forums just boggle the mind. I actually don’t care if someone is frank and comes right out and doesn’t hide behind mirrors by saying they’ve gone and downloaded it because they just can’t wait even though they know it is wrong. I might not approve but at least the commenter is flatly telling the truth about their actions. In their case the inner demon won but they don’t try in any way to justify their illegal download past the point that they just need to see it immediately to satiate their desire.

The ones which really irk me are those who throw out the rather obtuse excuse that since 20th Century Fox and the filmmakers are already making millions of dollars that that fact alone gives them justification for illegally downloading the film precisely so that they can watch for free and deny the corporation any money.

This is inherently a broken argument that functions as nothing more than false reassurance to the person making the comment who suddenly pictures themselves as some sort of rebel standing up to corporate America in protest. In reality, they are only deluding themselves into placing justification onto an illegal action.

There are others who claim that they are using this as a learning tool as this leaked release is suppose to be a rough cut replete with missing or unfinished special effects, editing marks with timers, and a placeholder soundtrack. 20th Century Fox has also revealed that it is missing a sizable chunk of footage that amounts to over ten minutes that was filmed as part of recent reshoots in February. While ten minutes might not seem like much it’s more than enough to make huge differences in the narrative that might drastically alter or enhance what you find in this leaked copy.

While I understand that a cut such as this one can aid film students or cinephiles in general to appreciate the actual filmmaking and editing process it is still not a valid justification to download the illegal release. Those who are looking for such a tool or view into the editing process can hope that it is included in the eventual DVD/Blu-Ray release along with director and or cast commentary. If Fox decides to release the film to the home market with none of these special features it might be lamentable or a missed opportunity but that decision lies with them not the consumer and certainly not by those who have pirated this film.

Fox’s biggest nightmare is bad WOM and judging from the comments floating around the net by those who have actually downloaded and watched the copy the reaction is leaning negative. I would take that with a grain of salt as I have a hunch that many of these commentators are people who were previously predisposed to “hating” the movie based solely on previous bad press. It’s not usually a good sign to be doing extensive reshoots so close to the launch date but there have been many cases where it has managed to fix key scenes or enhance exposition to flesh things out. Watching such a rough cut of the movie is akin to stealing a writer’s manuscript that is nowhere close to being a final draft as there are so many variables that could change that fundamentally alter the end result.

As an analogy whenever I look at high price athletes in the major US sports of football, basketball, baseball or hockey I sometimes blanch whenever I hear what they are making but I accept it precisely because I can’t fault a player for negotiating a contract that pays them exactly that high amount. If an owner gives the thumbs up to the contract then all the more power to the athlete and his agent for a successful negotiation. Now, I do think that athletes get paid way too much but as long as the owners want to I have no objection since they all can manage their own money without consulting me. I wish they did but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. If they want to spend those millions on a player then so be it. However, I’m not going to protest by running up to the stadium and stealing their gate receipts, or the zamboni that clears the ice, or brandishing a large crowbar in a vain effort to cap someone’s knee. In short, if I don’t want them to get my money I’m not going to resort to illegal means to deny them their profit. I’ll just spend my cash on another form of entertainment.

In the end, it’s not my place to chastise people. Everyone can make their own decisions about this issue but how would you react if you had spent half a year working long hours on a product and had it stolen from you mere weeks before it was put on sale? If you download the movie it’s not like I’m going to get on my soapbox and throw profanity at you but whatever your decision please don’t try to justify it as some sort of protest against corporate America. If you think they don’t deserve the money then just don’t go and see it in the cinema. If you want to save money just wait for the home release. You can protest with your wallet by not spending money on their product but that in no way gives you the right to embark in illegal activities.

© 2009 The Galactic Pillow

Thanks for all the responses I’ve gotten on my last posting! I’ll let Kakashi from the Japanese anime Naruto give the thumbs up! It took a lot of time to write but I’m satisfied with how it turned out. Excuse me for replying in a post instead of in the comment thread but I ended up writing a reply that’s a bit too large to post in the comment field.

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Taru,

Thanks for your comments about my blog. I’m glad you are visiting my site and I hope you’ll continue to come often! As you can guess I write about anything on my mind although it’s usually something to do with Star Trek, video games or movies. I don’t usually launch into politics unless something has been brewing in my head for a while.

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Evie,

Yeah, it might seem kind of weird reading something that links Veronica Mars, recent history and a large dose of economics and geo politics but I can get longwinded sometimes! I think you are bang on when you say there’s always a “feeling out” period and some sort of inherent underlying prejudice that some people feel when they are presented with cultures, people or situations that seem foreign to them. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing since it boils down to the fear of the unknown. The only way to get around it is to try and temper these feelings and discover the other person or event that is going on around you. Information is power and most of the time once you confront it you’ll realize that most people around the world have many things in common. Like good old Shylock said in The Merchant of Venice, we’re all basically the same.

Sometimes it is disheartening to listen, mainly to politicians, wax on with a brusque “us versus them” mentality. Democrats will phrase their speeches to highlight differences between them and the Republicans that show themselves to always be morally superior and righteous whereas their opponents would ruin the country. The reverse is also true as well as Republicans are no different. The language of politics tends to run along these lines where one side is always right and the other always wrong. You can see this phenomenon everyday if you listen to news programs and of course, it is out in full force during any election period.

Unfortunately, this kind of rhetoric makes its way into global politics as well thus America was always good and the USSR was always bad. You can bet that someone living in Moscow during the Cold War would feel totally the opposite was true. People just can’t help but end up defining themselves in opposition with someone else. It doesn’t matter if it is class, creed, religion or political leaning but it seems that many will always compare themselves to others and make the assumption that they are on the right side every time.

This is a human flaw that needs to be tempered with something as easy as what you said by trying your hardest to understand someone else’s point of view.

As for China they have obviously gone through the “century of humiliation” much of it attributed to foreign intervention but obviously some of it is self-inflicted. However, to move forward one has to forgive the sins of the past and move on. If one gets locked into an infinite loop of paybacks it’s going to be a disaster. Just look at the Middle East for example.

China is most definitely on the rise and how it deals with its new found clout is going to be the defining story of our lives for the next fifty or so odd years. They have much to be proud about such as the biggest movement of people in history out of the poverty line. Still, there’s much more work to be done but these things take time. As someone living in a middle power country we can only hope that as China rises it doesn’t embark on an abusive and intrusive foreign policy that does little but make everyone else think they are doing nothing but bullying countries around.

As for the USA, it is not like Rome is burning here unlike what some commentators have said recently. It is merely going through a cycle whereby its power is waning when compared to China. The US is still the biggest economy in the world with much political capital. It just needs to choose its foreign policy more wisely in order to not provoke the world into thinking it is ignoring everyone and embarking on needless unilateral action. Even if China manages to surpass the US in GDP, the standard of living in the US will be far superior based solely on the population difference between both nations. That is, unless China keeps expanding till it reaches the same income level per household that the US currently enjoys. In that case the Chinese economy would end up 2-3 times larger than the US. Even then, this is not the end of the world as hopefully China doesn’t abuse its power.

Till then, I highly encourage anyone to travel. Not just to China but everywhere else in the world. By travel I mean out of the country you reside in. You’ll be surprised at what you find especially if you don’t join a tour and make a habit of going off from the beaten path. I’m sure it will enhance your perspective and give you insight to other cultures.

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CaitlynA,

Thanks for the clarification on the “Law of The Sea.” Looking back I think when I wrote that it “doesn’t go into much detail as to what is allowed to travel in the zone” didn’t come out exactly as I intended. You are correct in what the law states that it is supposed to support navigation rights by any shipping through a country’s EEZ including military vessels.

I do think though that this incident is a great indicator of China’s neophyte status as a military power. The problem being that both the US and Russia are veteran hands at playing these “wargames” evinced by their constant manoeuvring during the Cold War where each side shadowed the other in a daily attempt to test both hardware and military prowess of their crews. That is over forty years of experience not only in naval jostling but in other arms of the military.

After the dissolution of the USSR, Russia entered a period of decline as they could not upkeep their enormous military spending leading to them radically scaling back such activities and only having a few submarines and other assets actually deploying to sea.

However, even though that was the case the US has always kept up their military preparedness and their sortie rate has not largely declined.

Now we have an ascendant China with a spanking new Navy that has close to zero experience in such matters and who obviously has little insight into Cold War machinations that went on between the USSR and the US save for whatever they read. They are only beginning to revamp their command and control systems as well as actually pen their new military doctrines.

As such, when a US military surveillance plane or ship ventures anywhere close to their key installations they are embarking on a knee jerk reaction to immediately deny access to foreign military assets. In short, they are acting like a kid who is protecting his or her new toys by lashing out with physical harassment instead of calmly analyzing the situation and playing along. It was hard to keep secrets in the Cold War era and I doubt it is any easier now.

If they had the deep operational knowledge and tactics gained by the Russians and Americans for wargaming during the Cold War they’d probably realize that it would be better to leave those assets alone or shadow them everywhere and reciprocate in kind by doing exactly what you said by sending their own subs and surveillance trawlers to peep at American installations.

However, I really do think that the dynamic this time around is incredibly much more tangled and complex than when it was merely just the US versus the USSR. Back then you could argue it was as simple as who wielded the biggest and best military and in turn who managed to influence other nations to follow their political ideology. This time around China is a much different beast who is competing not to spread ideology but pure market capitalism – something that the US previously thought it had mastery over. Add in the fact that China is so linked to the US economy and owns a massive chunk of its debt, the US suddenly finds that it is befuddled as to how to meet this challenge. Some would say that America outspent the USSR and forced them to keep pace and when they couldn’t, the bottom fell out of their economy. That is not going to work this time at all.

Like Evie said and I as well in my blog I have my doubts how the US will react if a similar vessel to the Impeccable is sent by the Chinese to survey and snoop around any major American naval installation. It is not that I doubt that the US will decide to leave them be much like they allowed the Soviets to but I wonder if such an event would spur all the wrong types of patriotic furor if it were reported on let’s say CBS, FOX, ABC or NBC.

Part of the point that I was trying to get at in my blog is that communication is of utmost importance when feeling out another country or culture that is foreign to us, yet I find that a huge section of the press might be willing to spin a story like that into something that it shouldn’t. For instance, I have visions of how the American population will react if the prime time news leads with “Chinese Spy Ship Sitting off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia.”

Now I can understand why you might not like the word “spy” but even if you use something tamer like probe, investigate, analyze, or peep, it all boils down to the same basic fact that the ship is there to collect useful military intel. Whether it is there mapping the ocean floor or merely acting as a listening post to eavesdrop the fundamental mission is one of espionage. If the US news leads with a story like this, the reaction is going to be the same as the Chinese one was to the Impeccable minus the harassment of course. Much like the Chinese people must feel offended or insulted that an American ship is doing this, I posit that the US people will react the same way due to the underlying current of negative reactions to China in general.

This goes back to my initial point and something Evie remarked on, that people just have an inherent fear of the unknown. I have no doubt this sort of mission by the Impeccable or any other similar vessel from any other country happens all around the world as everyone is intent on peeping at other nations to probe their military capabilities. The issue arises if it makes front page news. While you and I and most other people could probably shrug that these wargames are going on every day it just does not play well to most people who will react negatively if they hear another country is actively engaged in these activities so close to their coast.

While the American public might not “hate” China much like the way they demonized the USSR, I think most will agree that they do not have an overall favourable impression of the country. Surprisingly, based on polls recently conducted in China they have a much more favourable view of the US than the US has of China.

What I am driving at here is that this incident is betraying a larger geopolitical issue for China and the US beyond the law. Of course, if China wants to be successful and enter into a relationship with the rest of the world, it is eventually going to have to straighten up and agree to follow international law. Just look at the enormous problem they have with pirate/copied merchandise that infringes on copyrights left right and center. Once they begin to clean things up I hope popular opinion will begin to swing a bit more positively. Certainly other issues such as lead paint and toxic baby formula do nothing but reinforce the negative but every country has gone through similar problems and only over time does the proper QA and government regulation kick in to better protect the consumer.

Now, China has indeed ratified this particular law so I suppose one can look at it and basically say that they are crying wolf during this incident with no legal backbone to support their claim but that brings up the salient point that strikes at the very heart of this law. How is it enforced? To my knowledge the UN has no hand in enforcing this law and that it is up to the individual states to basically work it out amongst themselves. This strikes me as one of those odd situations that run along the lines of, “Who polices the police?” In both 2001 and 2009 even though if you read that the Chinese were in error the result appears to be a loss of face to the US as they are seen to be capitulating and not pressing the issue further.

Like any issue that becomes politicized there are numerous threads running through any decision undertaken by any government. A cynic would say that most countries would follow these laws but those who are powerful enough (say, the US, China, Russia) merely use them at their own whims since they can “get away with it” with relative impunity.

Of course, this is what makes people around the world even angrier when they see actions by major players that openly bend, warp, misread, or plainly ignore such rules and laws. Growing up we all learn to never break the law but as adults we see it all the time around us. We all hope that everyone plays by the rules but as history shows, any major power is in this game for themselves.

Like I said, I’m a dreamer who hopes that people grow up and work together in harmony. Yes, it sounds like hippy flower power sometimes but it is the truth. My intent with this article is merely to show that cooperation and communication usually will lessen angst and the inherent fear people have of other cultures or things they do not know. China is ascending but their rise and America’s relative decline are not events that should be feared as long as cooperation and appreciation are placed at the forefront.

There are of course many obstacles to such a relationship, with one always being the military rights and exercises of any country that by definition are primarily meant to defend. Incidents like this, which involve the murky topic of espionage (some would say being proactive defense) are always going to happen but they do nothing but raise tensions and inflame a high degree of patriotic protectionism from both participants. Smaller countries look at something like this and throw their hands up in frustration as rules and laws are constantly being “bent” to suit a political goal. Surfing around the net one gets the impression that this incident is “playing” the way it is merely because the Impeccable is a military vessel on a probing mission. If China harassed a civilian freighter or fishing trawler than it would probably have been relegated to the back page of the news or never even been broadcasted.

I really don’t see that China is backpedalling or retreating on the issue but that is more a result of it quietly going by the wayside precisely because the US government is not pushing it further due to other political reasons. I remember the earlier incident in 2001 caused a massive stink that lasted months but this time the fracas has been left to quietly slip off into the news nether as economic issues dominate the relationship between the two countries. If this had taken place say three of four years ago I have no doubt that the Americans would be much more engaged to show the world that China is acting in a reckless manner but President Obama is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

If he decides to press the Chinese or spend an inordinate amount of time railing against their apparent disregard for the law he is going to shoot himself in the foot precisely because he needs China to keep investing in US Government Bonds to help finance his stimulus package. If he decides to bring the case to the UN, he is left with the unenviable position of defending a law that his country has not even ratified as well as throwing political mud at China which he cannot afford to do so at this point in time. It’s not a stretch to assume that the Chinese government would retaliate through the economic bat or other area which would cause the US grief.

In short, even if China wantonly stretched the limit of the law, the US is in no position to make them accountable. You will remember even back in 2001 that in the end the US had to back down and even send a written letter of apology to the Chinese government over the death of their fighter pilot. This is a fundamental issue to US-China relations and it is quickly becoming clear that military incidents cannot be solved through military means. To do so is quite frankly incomprehensible as both are armed to the teeth. Thus, we are left with the diplomatic route and I am sure there is much going on behind the scenes in both countries to try and avoid such incidents from reoccurring.

Indeed, after the incident one positive reaction has been the call by many American military personnel to renew and enhance military dialogue between China and the US. An increase in military exchanges will undoubtedly help to clear up any misgivings each side has about the other and hopefully a cordial relationship can begin to grow between two militaries that seem in direct opposition to one another. China is bent on a massive naval build-up, in part due to their stunning loss of face when Bill Clinton sent part of the US Pacific fleet near Taiwan just as China was rattling the sabre in an effort to influence the Taiwanese elections. China quickly realized that it had inferior forces to deter and deny American access to that area of the world and embarked on its current increase in naval assets.

The Americans are sure to know this and obviously don’t want to see their firm grip as masters of the Pacific Ocean evaporate or be jeopardized by a growing Chinese navy. Still, military leaders obviously think and develop strategies to neutralize their opponents. This time it is no different and any sort of information that might give your own side an advantage over the other is just plain common sense even if by doing so you need to bend the law to your own advantage.

Even in today’s news coming out of the G20 taking place in London we are hopefully beginning to see some promising signs of a more robust China-US cooperation with the creation of the “economic dialogue” group and Obama’s acceptance of a trip to China later this year. Obviously, both countries are going to go about their military business separately but any sort of framework for a comprehensive treaty between these countries will do much to dispel any misgivings they might have about the other and hopefully cut down the risk of another ‘Impeccable incident’ from occurring.

China’s rise is going to be filled with numerous bumps in the road and obeying international law is obviously one of them. However, I think this is indicative of any growing country, especially one that has suddenly made a quantum leap from regional defense to the potential for global power projection. Although hawks might attempt to boost US military spending or embark on a Cold War mentality, I believe that Obama as constrained as he is by economics is on the right track by opening up more avenues for meaningful dialogue. By drawing China into International institutions and showing them the benefits, it will do much to help them in the future in both economic and military policy.

Anyways, I’ve rambled on enough. Thanks again for your insight to the “Law of the Sea.” It is obvious you have much knowledge about the issue at hand. I’ll go back later to my earlier post and revise it to include some of my thoughts from above and let’s all hope that in the years to come the G2 US-China relationship grows into one of mutual trust and understanding.

© 2009 The Galactic Pillow

One of my favourite television series in recent years has been Veronica Mars. Watching Kristen Bell playing the title character, a cross between Nancy Drew’s sleuthing prowess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s quick wit and sarcasm, solve a slew of mysteries was just plain engagingly amusing. There’s an episode during its third and final season (Episode 12: There’s Got to Be a Morning After Pill) where Veronica is lying in bed with her fingers entwined with her lover, Logan, which really struck an emotional chord. The duo had suffered a continuously destructive on again off again relationship over the past few years, alternating between bouts of intense passion followed by equally fiery temper. Though it was obvious that both Veronica and Logan had deep emotional bonds with the other the relationship was always much too temperamental to last. As they shared a moment of quiet respite a lyrical but melancholy alternative rock song wafted through the speakers capturing the essence of their turbulent relationship.

The country is destroying itself outside your window
Hear the pulsing machines breaking down
See the buildings crumble to the ground
- “Western Meadowlark”, Brown Recluse Sings

Veronica’s rocky bond with Logan is a perfect metaphor for global events that are happening daily all around us which are beginning to shape the future of the world as we head deeper into the 21st century. The one constant in the universe is change, which applies to every facet of our lives. Listening to this particular song by itself is actually depressing as, Veronica Mars the TV show not withstanding it seems to be about a country in the process of seemingly self-destructing right before our eyes. In fact, it’s happening as we speak and indeed has been going on for many decades already. That country is the United States of America and it is under siege from all sides of the geopolitical spectrum. Countries and empires rise and fall and rise again and all of us living at this present moment are privy to the biggest political tectonic shift since the United States emerged as the de facto superpower after the end of World War II. With its land unscathed by two World Wars and a roaring industrial backbone, America was well positioned to take the leadership role especially as the former pre-war powers like the United Kingdom and France were mired in mountains of debt and had their economies in tatters.

Of course, we all know how this played out over the next forty years as America jostled with the Soviet Bear during the Cold War era, eventually triumphing in December 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). I remembered watching at home as events unfolded especially as the Berlin Wall came crumbling down in 1989 and exulting to myself that the evil empire had lost and democracy had prevailed. Then again, I was young and didn’t fully comprehend the entire context of the event and only now can I look back and realize that nothing ever seems so black and white.

Growing up, the West was always the force of good and stood for everything that was right with the World whereas the Communist countries of the Warsaw Pact were merely the enemy, brainwashed by years of propaganda made by an inherently evil and corrupt political system. If only it were so easy to define. Preconceptions and assumptions are dangerous traits to have that can only be overcome with an open mind and heart. Yes, that sounds mawkishly sentimental but like so many things in life, sometimes the biggest clichés are true. Nowadays we can look back at the Cold War era and realize that people living under the Soviet umbrella were the same as any of us living here in the West and recall Shakespeare’s oft quoted line from The Merchant of Venice where Shylock proclaims:

"I am a Jew/ Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs/ dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with/ the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject/ to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means/ warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer/ as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?/ If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you/ poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" -Shylock, II.i.58. (1.)

Like I alluded to in my earlier "The Times They Are-A-Changing – The Final Frontier" post, everyone on this blue rock spinning in space better learn to get along with one another or else we’ll end up as nothing more than a footnote in time in the entire history of the Universe. It might be naive to think that such a thing could happen but would you rather sit back and throw your hands up and surrender to your primal cynicism that people will inherently never get along with one another? It might take much personal fortitude and a willingness to change one’s perspective towards others but in the end the only way to bridge gaps between cultures is to immerse yourself in them. No one is forcing you to learn their language, although that would really be a huge step, but anyone can attempt to do simple things such as try their cuisine or investigate and educate yourself on their beliefs and history. To not do any of these things and to merely criticize shows nothing but utter contempt and a wholly misguided haughty attitude of morality.

All that being said we most definitely live in interesting times and for readers of this blog I implore you to discover what is going on in the global arena right now as you read this very entry. America’s global influence and stature is on the decline, a product of some truly odd and downright destructive foreign policy decisions and a wobbly economy based on over-extended credit lines and rapidly insolvent banks. Whatever political capital it had gained after the Second World War and the Cold War victory has rapidly vaporized especially under the watch of the 43rd President, George W. Bush who, managed to somehow earn the dubious honour of getting the country entangled in two unpopular wars as well as preside over a ballooning national deficit.

When Bush took office on January 20, 2001 the national debt stood at a $5.727 trillion dollars. On the day he handed power over to the 44th President Barrack Obama it stood at a staggering $10.626 trillion dollars. (2) In a research poll released right before Obama took over the Presidency, it was found that only 2 out of 21 countries with large economies had an overall favourable view of the US as most pointedly criticized America’s foreign policy as being the biggest stumbling block to global relations. (3)

Not only is the US mired with massive debt and a less than stellar global reputation, as most people not living under a rock know the world has been plunged into a crippling recession due largely in part to a plethora of toxic housing loans made by American banks that have sent reverberations throughout the world economy. America isn’t just sneezing it’s been diagnosed with a bad case of the flu (hopefully not a terminal case of the stupids as well) and as the economy went into the tank it managed to bring the entire world with it leaving the inherently bad impression that the current financial mess has been wholly created by bad US monetary policy. For sure, the US is limping around on a gimp leg these days but a cursory glance at her global position at the head of the table shows that she is indeed under considerable duress from the superpower to be. The days of unilateral action by the US and a unipolar world are coming to a close.

Roughly 52 years ago in 1957 a major series of events that would later be termed the Suez Crisis was rocking the Middle East. After Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal a trio of countries UK, France and Israel embarked on a military offensive that eventually led to Israel controlling the Sinai Peninsula. The United States under Dwight D. Eisenhower did not support the military intervention and aggressively argued with his allies against such a campaign. When they did not back down Eisenhower forced them to capitulate and impose a cease-fire by politically blackmailing the then British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden with the threat of dumping a huge chunk of America’s Pound Sterling Bond holdings which, the USA had accumulated after the Second World War to help the UK rebuild as well as pay off her massive debt that had accrued during the war years.

If Eisenhower sold the bonds it would have started a substantial devaluation of the Pound and basically bankrupt the UK overnight as it would not have been able to even pay for imported food and produce. The UK capitulated to Eisenhower’s demands and the military invasion was halted. From this moment in history till today, the UK has never ventured out again on its own on such a scale to impose military clout without the staunch backing of the United States. It is precisely this event that many historians allude to as the final nail in Britain’s empire and marks the transition to America and the Soviet Union as being the next world superpowers.

Flash forward to March 13, 2009 a date that might have significant future repercussions. Those who love political science will no doubt realize that sometimes the course of history can be changed in a blink of an eye and in this case a scenario eerily similar to those that happened in 1957 is playing out before our eyes albeit without the presence of a single weapon of military might. Instead of Eisenhower playing a dangerous game of brinksmanship from Washington to influence the British Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street, this time it was Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addressing reporters after the annual session of the National People's Congress had ended. Mild mannered as always, Wen Jiabao threw out what appeared to be a nasty fastball aimed directly at newly elected US President Barrack Obama by proclaiming:

“We lent such huge fund to the United States and of course we're concerned about the security of our assets and, to speak truthfully, I am a little bit worried…

China is indeed the largest creditor of the United States, which is the world's biggest economy. We are extremely interested in developments in the U.S. economy.”

- Wen Jiabao, March 13 2009.

To the innocent bystander it sounded like nothing more than a simple observation but it not only reverberated right through every global financial market it rumbled straight to the Oval office. Much like Eisenhower did many years ago, Wen Jiabao was partaking in a high stakes poker match with the American President, openly challenging him that things are going to be very different in the years to come. To calm things down, in a totally unprecedented move two days later President Obama himself replied to Wen’s musings highlighting just how important the China-US relationship has become:

"Not just the Chinese government, but every investor can have absolute confidence in the soundness of investments in the United States.” Barrack Obama, March 15, 2009.

Simply put, China owns a large chunk of American debt. By most guesstimates China owns over $1 Trillion in American Bonds making her the largest creditor with Japan coming in second. As China has risen since Deng Xiaoping opened up the country to market reform it has sought a safe haven to park its growing trade surpluses and found it by investing in American debt. Over the years, especially as America’s trade deficit has ballooned with China, this figure kept growing and growing until the present where it has become the major creditor to the rapidly insolvent American economy. Now that the US is in a deep recession Obama truly needs China to keep investing in American debt to help fund his newly proposed stimulus package. In short, he wants China to foot the bill. Without China it would be incredibly hard for the rest of the world to soak up the massive cost of Obama’s plan with most thinking that it would be nigh impossible.

The problem for Wen Jiabao is that he fears a massive devaluation of the American dollar is on the horizon since the only way for Obama to meet his plan is to print more money. Any economist worth his or her salt knows that when a country prints more money that its inherent value will decrease. Print too much and it will drastically devalue in worth. For China, that would be disastrous as its $1 Trillion Bond holdings will drop dramatically as the Greenback plunges. Wen’s comments are meant to put Obama and the US on probation that China will stop investing in American Bond holdings if the government doesn’t address the need for proper government spending.

Of course, the nightmare scenario for all involved is clear much like British Prime Minister Eden faced all those years ago. If China dumps all her US holdings the Greenback will devalue and drop like a rock causing the country to slip further into a depression and basically bankrupting the nation. Informed people will realize though that this is M.A.D. Not mad, as in insane, although it certainly borders on that but M.A.D. as in Mutually Assured Destruction, a coined phrase left-over from the Cold War which relates to nuclear war. The concept boils down to the simple fact that the US and the Soviet Union never would embark on a nuclear war since it would mean the total destruction of both of them and indeed the world thus there would be no winners.

For all intents and purposes, China is currently linked to the hip of the US economy as it relies on the Americans to buy the bulk of Chinese export goods. If the US economy were to truly go into the tank especially if China sold her Bond holdings it would decimate the Chinese economy as well thus ensuring that M.A.D. came to pass. A shot is never fired but both the American and Chinese economies would be in shambles if the Greenback devalued overnight. This is the inherent problem with the Chinese economy that, at the moment, places so much emphasis on exports especially to the US. The problem for the US is that the government and its citizens have been living in credit denial for too many years. Instead of saving money for a rainy day the average American citizen spends more than they own relying on easy credit to boost their spending and standard of living. If you want to look at it in a different light, every American citizen owes thousands of dollars to the Chinese government who is subsidizing their exorbitant lifestyle. This cannot go on forever. The Chinese will eventually slow down their purchasing of US Bonds whereas the American citizens have to realize to live within their means. To think otherwise is sheer idiocy.

But what about 20 years from now? This is the American nightmare on the horizon, especially if people don’t realize that the soaring national debt is not something to ignore and be laughed at. Watching people walk by the national debt clock and not care about it is mindboggling. Much like a family who finds itself in debt and has to find any which way to cut back and pay it the US government is firmly in the same boat. As long as the Chinese economy relies on Americans to buy the bulk of its exports it will not seek to destabilize the status quo but if it manages to diversify and expand local high tech industries and find new trading partners the future is bleak if the US keeps on the path of no fiscal reform. If China truly decouples from America and achieves total production and financial independence then it can wield a bat much bigger than Eisenhower ever dreamed off. In twenty years time if China continues on its massive growth spurt it will overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy and it will have “won” without firing a single shot by figuratively owning the US debt.

Then again, can’t we all just get along? The US government and President Obama have to realize that past this massive stimulus the number one priority is not Iraq or Afghanistan but the soaring debt. This stimulus will plunge the country greater into debt and a coherent and concise plan has to be put in place that will gradually bring the budget under control much like Bill Clinton achieved during his years in the oval office. Let there be no mistake, you can’t just cut fat. The government wastes money for sure and many programs might have to be scaled back or outright dumped but all this comes at a price, namely increased taxes. Now no one likes to pay more tax but would you rather bankrupt your country and handicap future generations to a lower lifestyle? It’s human nature to protect oneself but surely anyone can see that their children and by extension their grandchildren will suffer from wanton and uncontrolled spending practices.

China is rising and the US is falling in relative terms, this much is certain. Obviously, having two superpowers butt heads will lead to tension and miscommunication but the world cannot afford to watch these powers play petty politics as the global economic outlook is so dire. This is not the time for protectionism to rear its ugly head or for dimwitted politicians who only care about their re-election chances or dwell on rampant patriotism. Frankly put, we’re all in this together and there’s no more important geopolitical relationship than the one that is forming between the current Superpower and the heir apparent.

Ever since I was in high school the prevalent wisdom has always been that the next Superpower was going to be China. Back then it seemed like nothing more than simple lip service as the USSR still reigned as the West’s greatest rival. Although China was growing, the late 70s and early 80s were all about Japan. Some people in the West saw Japan’s rise as a harbinger of US demise as people frantically proclaimed that Japan would soon be the greatest economy on Earth. People scrambled to learn the Japanese language and business techniques figuring that it was a matter of time till they overtook the US.

Well, we know how that turned out as the Japanese miracle hit a brick wall to which it has never recovered. While Japan was stuck in stagflation and went through multiple recessionary periods in the 90s the rest of the world ploughed ahead at full speed and nowadays you’ll not hear even one economist shout that Japan is going to be the next power. Indeed, things are so dire in Japan right now as its economy is contracting at a ridiculously higher percentage than the US. The newest numbers out of Tokyo put the Japanese GDP as contracting at a disastrous annual rate of around 6% and many economists point out that it could plunge significantly more.

So what about China? Will it keep chugging on or will it hit an economic brick wall like Japan did? If I had a crystal ball I would make billions but unfortunately, like everyone else, you can only guess. What we do know is simple math and that even in this economic crisis China continues to grow albeit at a lower 6-8% rate. Millions are unemployed adding strain to the population and increasing the likelihood of social unrest but at the same time China, due to its political system, has an array of weapons that no country, including the US, has at her disposal. While the US is drowning in debt, China is the most solvent country on Earth with an estimated reserve of over $2 Trillion USD. Its banks have not been hit hard by the housing downturn in the States and are controlled by the central government which has ordered bank managers to open the taps and let the cash flow. While credit streams remain tight in the West, Chinese banks are swamping the citizens with easy loans to get the money flowing into the economy. Of course, many of these loans might come back to haunt them in the future but for right now they are having the intended effect of boosting the economy.

China has the 2nd biggest stimulus package in terms of dollar value at approximately 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion USD) but it’s a whopping 2.1% of total GDP from 2008-2010 and is contributing more than even Obama’s massive plan that clocks in only at 1.6% during the same period. Other G20 countries have undertaken even smaller stimulus plans which show a giant divide in economic practices amongst the key industrial countries.

Stimulus Plans by Country (4)


While the Democrats and Republicans spar over minute details and pork barrel politics, the Chinese central government worked quickly by dispersing the stimulus funds and it looks like it is having its intended effect as the money is trickling down into the Chinese economy. Early indicators look promising and most economists are now predicting that China will be the first country to “bottom out” and thus be the first to recover from this global mess. China’s PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) is definitely on the upswing and though it is still contracting, the rate has steadily subsided.

China’s PMI (5)


A PMI score below 50 indicates that the manufacturing sector is in contraction while anything above 50 shows growth. Looking at the above data one can easily see that though China’s key manufacturing sector is hurting that the trend is significantly upwards with it almost hitting the break even mark in February. Most experts now predict that March numbers will show that the sector has gone over the hump and is beginning to expand once again.

China’s automotive sector has also finally leapt over the US in January 2009 to become the world’s biggest auto market, a feat no one expected would happen for many years if the economic crash did not occur. Although overall sales were down in January, China managed to capture the pole position due to a huge drop in car sales in the USA but February brought even better news to the Chinese market as it managed to grow an astounding 24.7% from a year earlier due to China’s stimulus plan which cut the purchase tax on cars with small engines from 10% to 5%.

While the American government struggles with what to do with Detroit’s big three (GM, Ford, Chrysler) their Chinese counterparts have made it one of the ten key sectors targeted by their enormous stimulus shot in the arm. Not only did they lower the tax rate but they created and implemented a plan to lend out an additional 5 billion Yuan ($731 million USD) to all farmers buying minivans or autos with small 1.3 litre engines in an effort to spur growth. Not satisfied with that, Beijing is also pouring an estimated 10 billion Yuan ($1.4 Billion USD) to local carmakers to upgrade their technology and develop eco-friendly cars for the future. The abject contrast between the state of the Chinese economy versus the American couldn’t be starker when looking at these key industries. While the US debates pouring money into battered Detroit carmakers just to keep them from going under, it is mindboggling to watch from afar as China is on the opposite path to modernizing and expanding their product lines to compete with future trends.

Much of GM’s future lies in the potential success of their hybrid Volt car that runs on a combination of gas and battery power that promises to revolutionize the market, or so they hope. As eco-friendly as it seems the manufactures suggested price is a dazzling $40,000 which puts it into a higher range than needed. If government subsidies kick in they hope to bring that down to the mid 30s but with a nebulous launch date and GM bleeding around $5 million an hour (!) there’s no way to properly predict what will happen to the once mighty company.



Compare that to China’s BYD car company which no one but the most ardent automotive fan would have heard of before. BYD stands for Build Your Dreams and in December 2008 they stunned the world by unveiling at the Detroit Auto Show their own new battery technology that promised that by 2011 their new car would be able to run on a single charge up to 250 miles totally obliterating the Volt’s 40 mile per charge lifespan. Now, it all could be a bunch of smoke and mirrors and many cynics saw this as a pipe dream but someone didn’t think so. You might have heard of him. His name is Warren Buffett and he immediately invested 150 million Pounds into the company to purchase a 10% controlling interest. With the huge Chinese government subsidies going into R&D for eco-drive cars, BYD’s dream car might not be as vapourware as most think. If it comes anywhere close to even half the 250 miles per charge range it would still outlast the Volt by over three times the distance. We don’t even have to wait till 2011 to see their progress as BYD has already released their first hybrid car, the F3DM, at the end of 2008 into the Chinese market and while it won’t have the 250 mile per charge range it’s already tested to go 62 miles per charge which is already more than GM’s Volt. And the cost? A more affordable $21k USD.

GM might have invented the car but can Chinese car makers truly make the leap into the International market while also leading the way in eco-friendly models? The jury is still out but it’s no longer as farfetched as it seemed to be only a short half year ago.

As the G20 gets ready to meet in London a short time from now, there’s no doubt that global eyes will firmly be on the newly minted G2 – the US and China. Other countries will still have their say but it’s now absolutely imperative that US President Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao get on the same page and realize the enormity of the task at hand. For all intents and purposes China is the number two economy in the world now and though the numbers might still place Japan at that spot her inability to deal with any sort of meaningful global economic leadership places that onus directly on Beijing’s doorstep. China’s exports were down sharply in January (-17.5%) and February (-25.7%) but nothing compared to Japan which is in complete freefall, plunging 45.7% in January alone from the year before and an even sharper 49.4% in February. Japan’s auto sector is being hit hard with shipments plummeting 64% leading most economists to figure that Japan’s economy will contract almost 6% for 2009. Just doing simple math will tell you that if China grows 6-8% and Japan contracts 6% that it won’t take many more years for China to outstrip her Asian counterpart.

While the Olympic Games in Beijing were China’s coming out party, this economic crisis has given China a gigantic opportunity to take center stage and how it deals with the new limelight will shape world history for years to come. The question everyone has to ask now is how do you react to this? China’s strategy until now revolved firmly around Deng Xiaoping who once said:

“Keep a cool head and maintain a low profile. Never take the lead - but aim to do something big.”

China has always been content to lay low and stay in the background letting other nations stomp around on the world stage but this time the dragon is stirring as Hu Jintao seems to be manoeuvring his country into a position of strength by openly flexing China’s muscle. Premier Wen Jiabao’s March 13th speech was just the beginning. Just last week, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China's central bank, released a new essay calling for a new global reserve currency to replace the American dollar. Typically, the strongest economy on the planet becomes the de facto reserve currency. This use to be the Pound Sterling which gave way to the American Dollar. Although China is not even close to supplanting the US it’s certainly causing a ripple amongst economic think-tanks and finance ministers around the globe who feel that the greenback is vulnerable.

Make no mistake, China is not trying to suddenly topple the American dollar and replace it with the Chinese Yuan, at least not right now, but it’s a political move to both show the world that a new alternative is rising and highlight the inherent danger of the American government’s continual need to print more of its own currency to pay their way out of the mess they created. China is also trying to bolster its own stature amongst world forums and organizations like the IMF whose voting percentages have not been balanced by the rise of emerging economies. Basically, the bigger your economy and the more SDR’s you own the more percentage of voting rights you are awarded in the IMF. Thus the US alone has around 17% of the total vote.

IMF Voting Percentages (6)


Zhou Xiaochaun indeed brought forth an old idea to make the IMF’s SDR (Special Drawing Rights) the reserve currency that is in turn made up of a basket of world currencies. Even if the idea is shot down it’s apparent that China’s government is not at all happy with the way the US has run the world’s economy into the tank and many nations have already stood up and expressed support for a new global currency including Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and even a recent UN panel of experts.

China’s SDR gambit is sure to fail but it’s merely a sign of an increasingly confident nation and masks the bevy of deals behind the scenes which are truly building the groundwork for a future move to the Yuan’s ascendancy to supplant the USD as the de facto reserve currency. These things take time, almost moving at a glacial pace. Even though the US GDP outstripped England at the end of the 19th century it wasn’t until the end of World War II that the USD began to supplant the Pound as the global reserve currency, a time period of almost 100 years. The same fundamental shift is beginning to happen today as the Yuan gains prominence but it will entail many years of mutual co-existence with the USD as nations invest in both currencies.

More importantly one needs only to look at some of China’s recent deals to see where the tables are turning as China weans itself off USD and onto its own denomination. Watching China’s increasing reliance on currency swaps is the strongest signal that China is diversifying its portfolio especially since they all center on the Yuan. Since December 2008 China has concluded the following currency swaps, which do nothing but benefit Beijing and enhance the Yuan as the rising currency against the USD.

China’s Recent Currency Swaps (7)


1 Chinese yuan = 0.146351 U.S. dollars

What these swaps boil down to is that it enables these countries to pay for Chinese goods and services in Yuan instead of USD and more importantly its success will serve only to highlight to other countries that agreements like this are beneficial as the US economy stumbles and remains insolvent. Like any good investor it’s not exactly a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket and countries will begin to use the Yuan as a secondary currency to the USD. China is not only looking at its own backyard as evinced by its swaps with Argentina and Belarus and it is going to be interesting as it expands these programs around the world to see whom they are targeting. Like it took the USD almost a century to supplant the Pound, these moves are a harbinger to come as China asserts itself against the US.

Currency swaps are only one area where China is beginning to change the global dynamic. While the world has been stunned by the financial crisis into a period of hoarding whatever capital they have on hand China’s state enterprises are shopping like it’s Christmas spending billions of dollars in global companies that are resource based. In fact, China’s rise in commodity spending and deals is making those prices rise even though Europe and the US are cutting back in this sector. China is acting like a kid in a candy store, buying up or investing in foreign companies while their market value is dirt cheap – think worldwide fire sale here.

These market investments are truly global as in the last six months alone China has completed or is about to complete deals with Australia, Brazil, France, Iran, Russia and Venezuela. These are not minor deals but are long-term investments that will provide a steady flow of future raw materials to the Middle Kingdom. The deal in Brazil was a $10 Billion USD investment in the oil company Petrobas to provide 100,000 barrels of oil per day for the next 10 years. In Russia, China has poured in approximately $25 Billion USD to Rosneft and Transneft in return for 300,000 barrels per day for 20 years. Clearly, this is a new phase in Chinese acquisitions that is beginning to mirror Japan’s expansionist phase in the early 80s that saw them gobble up foreign companies.

Speeches and essays on the turgidly boring and less sexy topic of monetary policy might make headlines buried somewhere deep in the business section but they rarely top prime time news. This is no surprise as the labyrinthine world of global finance is as exciting to the public as watching a cross-country race between two snails. However, some more overt moves by China definitely showcase her growing clout.

Rewind to April 1, 2001 a scant few months after George W. Bush took over the office of the President as a foreign policy flashpoint flared up between the US and China focused on a mid-air crash between a Chinese fighter jet and an American surveillance aircraft resulting in the death of the Chinese pilot and forcing the American plane to make an emergency landing on the Chinese island of Hainan. The Chinese government summarily detained the 24-member crew as they basically went through the spy plane with a fine toothcomb in order to discover whatever technology they could. Obviously, tensions between the two countries escalated as both sides accused the other of breaking various laws but in the end the American plane and crew were returned after the US agreed to send a letter of apology for the incident.

Flash forward to March 8, 2009 and in an incident eerily similar to that which greeted Bush, another military confrontation occurred just shortly after Obama took office this time involving the US spy ship USS Impeccable which was sailing approximately 70 miles away from the Chinese navy port on Hainan Island that was harassed by a few Chinese fishing trawlers. At face value these two incidents might seem to do nothing but raise suspicion on the Chinese actions but considering that they take place only 70 miles away from China’s major southern naval base and the picture becomes clear.

To put it in simple terms, China sees a range of 200 miles from its coastline as sovereign Chinese territory and uses the UN “Law of The Sea” treaty as its justification. The problem is that the treaty merely states that an “Exclusive Economic Zone” exists 200 miles from the coastline and doesn’t go into much detail as to what is allowed to travel in the zone. The Chinese government reads that it means no foreign military vessel should breach the zone whereas other countries do not. Of course, this is all moot since the US hasn’t signed onto the treaty in the first place. Who is right and who is wrong is a murky question best left to lawyers who can get into the nitty gritty but let’s frame this argument in another way -- How would the US react if China sent either a sophisticated spy plane or vessel to monitor the US navy only 70 miles from Pearl Harbor or the west coast of California?

Dull discussions on fiscal and monetary policy send people straight to sleep but a military incident gets their adrenalin flowing like a good Hollywood blockbuster.



As Chinese naval ships join the international forces off the Gulf of Aden, the first global dispatch of China’s navy in over 600 years, to protect shipping from pirates to open calls to start building indigenous aircraft carriers, China’s military is expanding at an enormous rate, so much so that members of the American military industrial complex are beginning to get seriously worried. Not since the Cold War and the Soviet Union has an adversary managed to even come close to America’s military might. Since the collapse of the Iron Curtain, America has enjoyed unfettered military global dominance but most historians and indeed citizens from around the world are probably dismayed that instead of being a compassionate stakeholder and restrained global police man, the policies of right-wingers such as George W. Bush have plunged America into two disastrous wars and greatly diminished its moral standing. It is no surprise that America’s aggressive foreign policy has irked many nations and bares its roots in the “Manifest Destiny” historical belief that the US was destined and indeed blessed by God to colonize America from the East to West Coast. It seems some politicians have morphed this to even include the rest of the world as well.

With America focused on the war on terror and bogged down in two theatres of operation, the Chinese have been steadily modernizing their military with sweeping reforms that touch all three major segments of the army, navy and air force. Some Americans are astounded that though China remains far back of the US in all aspects of military power it is catching up at a much higher rate than previously expected. I doubt there’s any expert out there that would say that China is on even grounds with the US but what China lacks in tech it makes up in sheer numbers. That is not to say it would win but China is basically the only nation on Earth which is modernizing with the specific goal to thwart, deny or delay American forces in case of a conflict. Nations are obviously weary of a rapidly modernized Chinese military which will undoubtedly tip the balance of power in the Pacific in the years to come.

With a huge naval base on Hainan Island (akin to Pearl Harbor) that gives it easy access to the South China Sea to its rapidly growing fleet of modern surface warships and both nuclear and diesel submarines, China is embarking on a massive military build-up to counter American sea dominance. Add in a few aircraft carriers and you have the makings of an effective blue water battle group, which can project Chinese power far away from China’s coast. Throw in the ability to hit satellites, a huge cyber warfare department, the development of a true 5th generation fighter that includes stealth technology, an ambitious ASBM program designed specifically to take out carriers and the soon to be completed GPS system of its own and it’s no wonder that the world is watching with anxious eyes. Don’t forget the planned moon-landing that is scheduled to happen anywhere between 2015-2020. Whatever mission China has in store for its growing military muscle there’s no doubt that it will result in a tectonic shift in geopolitics. Whatever the future entails it is imperative that the US and Chinese military counterparts create and open meaningful lines of dialogue in order to prevent accidental incidents from occurring and raising tensions between the two nations.

Top Military Expenditures by Country (8)


China’s political, economic and political might is growing in leaps and bounds. How it uses its newfound power is something everyone should keep an eye on. As we move from a unipolar world to a multipolar one which might encompass Russia and eventually India, these are certainly interesting times to be sure.

“Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

As for the average global citizen this fundamental shift of power from Washington to Beijing is making many have sleepless nights wondering how this will affect their life. For me, this inherent fear is none the more prevalent when reading numerous comments on various Internet news articles which do nothing but cause me utter grief as I shake my head wondering if everyone in the world is so close-minded, racist and moronic as they seem. These are not words I use carelessly but sometimes reading comments from all sides of the political spectrum is just incredibly infuriating. Everyone has a different point of view. This is totally expected and indeed should be a sign of a robust discussion on any topic but once it veers into outright lies, jeers, rampant patriotism or demagoguery then it’s time to step back and do some old-fashioned chastising.

No matter your point of view there’s no reason to resort to playground name calling or outright racism and I find that many posters are just plain bullies who have a distinctly narrow view of the world. They only know what is around them and have never tried to expand their boundaries by truly learning other cultures or venturing past the town limits. This sort of sheltered mentality that refuses to discover the world leads to wanton disrespect and even basic understanding of your fellow man. Reading a comment like, “Death to all yellow chinks!” or “All Americans are stupid-ass motherfu***rs who think they rule the universe!” is NOT helpful in the least. Come on people, we live on this same blasted rock in space and we can do better than let simple prejudice rule over us.

China is not going anywhere and neither is the USA. Times might be bad but fear of each other should ease not increase during these trying times. This is hard, as we’ve all been pre-programmed to think suspiciously of things and people we don’t know but really let’s at least make an attempt. Reading a Chinese blogger launch into an acidic invective against the crumbling US infrastructure and way of life but discovering that they had never set foot outside of Shanghai is as convincing an argument as saying that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Conversely, going over an American posting that evil Chinese communists will never amount to anything since the US can bomb them back to the Stone Age does nothing but highlight the incredibly moronic lack of insight into such a ridiculously uninformed statement – the poster doesn’t realize that a conflict with another nuclear nation will lead to M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction).

Change is tough but it comes from within with a desire to expand one’s horizons and see things from another perspective. Can we do it? To take a line out of Obama’s playbook, “Yes we can.” Since the G2 is going to be the biggest story of the coming decades it’s about time that both Chinese and American citizens educate themselves about one another and see the inherent pitfalls and successes that both countries can offer the world.

I am a dreamer and like I said in my previous, “The Times They Are-A-Changing” post I truly wish people will see the world as a singular entity and realize that only by working together can we achieve true greatness. If that sounds like some silly televangelist preaching then so be it. Perhaps I have had more opportunities in my life to see other cultures but I find that incredibly fascinating. I have gone all over the US and also China as well visiting many towns and cities for differing reasons and like good old Shylock, it’s not hard to say that everyone is alike with the same core wants and needs.

I am reminded of many images that I have ingrained in my mind during my trip to China that have given me a perspective on the truly massive change that the country is going through but always tempered by the equally gigantic work that has to be done to bring the bulk of the country out of the poverty line. I remember driving from Beijing to the Great Wall, a trip which lasted about 70-90 minutes and watching in awe as I witnessed a new highway being built along the entire stretch of road all at once. Living here in the West it’s more common to see roads built section by section but to watch an entire highway popping up along the 70-90 minute drive was jaw-dropping. Walking through Beijing’s undeniably shirt-drenching streets in mid August you couldn’t turn your head in any direction and not see a ton of construction cranes peppering the skyline. The skyline itself is almost totally changed since I was there in 1998. I don’t even remember Beijing’s CBD (Central Business District) as being anything more than low level buildings but now it’s filled with glittering steel and modern architecture.

Juxtapose those sights to the one I saw in the ancient capital of Xian when I asked why so many dishevelled and downtrodden people were lined up at the side of the road doing nothing by sitting down, seemingly dazed or staring blankly at the surroundings. This sea of people went on for a block and it turned out that they were migrant workers who had arrived in the city trying to find work but had as yet failed to secure employment.

Another time I was in Nanning, a major city in Guangxi province in the south. I had checked in to a massive five star hotel with opulent marble floors and ornate trappings that would be the envy of any hotel in New York, Tokyo, or London. Then again, right across the street was a row of run down shop houses and shanties and the pavements were filled with cracked concrete belying their ragged condition. As I watched weathered citizens milling about with bare feet, their skin a sinewy leather from staying out amongst the harsh sunlight and tropical climate for too long, a stunning leggy Chinese woman dressed to the nines in a couture red dress, five inch heels and trendy sunglasses sauntered into my view along with her husband/friend decked out in something like an Armani suit. If ever there was a contrast between the old and the new China, this was it.

During these depressed economic times it is easy to turn cynical and wonder just what hardships lie around the corner. As the financial news worsens, unemployment skyrockets, frustrations and anxiety are ought to rise. Still, the world is not ending anytime soon. Listening to the expert economists, political analysts and other gurus drone on that society as we know it is ending is just plain irresponsible fear mongering. No doubt there are tons of challenges ahead but we’ll all chug along and persevere. The world is undergoing one of those massive shifts in power politics and China’s ascendency to reclaim the prominence it lost is going to be the story of the next half century.

"Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world." Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon once warned about China. He was right. The 20th century was American. The 21st may or may not be the Chinese century but if we’ve learned anything from the past few months it is that China is back and she’s gunning to reclaim her lost #1 status.

Veronica Mars, the television show finished after a brief three seasons as ratings were too low for the network to renew it. As the last episode played out it showed our nubile and perky young heroine brazenly plough forward in her goal to expose a nefarious shadowy organization called The Castle that had collected dirt on many powerful members of society. She succeeds but in doing so her complete stubbornness and tunnel vision mentality cause her father, the Sheriff, to break the law and destroy evidence that could send her to jail. Upset at her actions, the final shot is of her walking away from the camera as pouring rains pummels her as she heads forward to an uncertain future.

What has come to pass can never be changed unless someone manages to invent a spiffy new time machine that looks like a DeLorean. Until then, pardon the pun, but America’s bull-in-a-china-shop mentality has left her in the current predicament with crumbling global clout, massive debt and a truly negative image of a power who has overstepped its authority with wanton disregard for the rest of the world. Now, critics are emerging almost daily chastising the US for many of its past deeds and some of these voices are rising from within lamenting how such a great nation managed to squander away its massive political capital. There’s still time to fix these problems but they are going to take much pain and tough decisions that are anathema to your common politician. However, it surely can right the ship but that’s up to President Obama to brood over as waiting much longer for true reform is going to plunge the US further into a hole it might never crawl out of. Much like Veronica Mars trudging through a torrential downpour after ruining her father’s career, the future of the US appears bleak but there’s always a ray of hope.

Watching the American Empire gradually wane and China rise to fill the void might be akin to seeing a battered and worn boxer attempt to get into the ring for one last bout, not content to let the whippersnapper newcomer take the center stage and steal the spotlight. Empires on their decline are prone to be at their most dangerous as they attempt to do anything to retain their relevance. However, change is unavoidable.

As the G20 meets in London this week the only message I can hope for is that both Obama and Hu Jintao realize the unique opportunity that history has provided for them to forge a comprehensive bond between these two nations to not only solve the crisis but bring both countries closer together. It is okay to offer differing opinions but we all need the G2 to work because if they don’t and more radical and opinionated politicians take over on both sides the Earth is going to be in for a world of hurt.



The country is destroying itself outside your window
Hear the pulsing machines breaking down
See the buildings crumble to the ground

You, perched on the edge of your comfortable bed
Like a beautiful songbird
Singing tender songs
Of melancholy hearts
All love and lost

Drowning at the horror
Drowning at the horror
With honey dripping from your open mouth
It's funny how you buried all the doubt

Your cooing warble cover other sounds

- “Western Meadowlark”, Brown Recluse Sings

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1. William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” - II.i.58
2. Source: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/NPGateway
3. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE50I2OH20090119
4. Source: Associated Press
5. Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/29500179
6. Source: IMF (http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/memdir/members.htm#2)
7. Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
8. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

© 2009 The Galactic Pillow