I went to the dentist last week for a routine cleaning. Settling into the dental chair, the contrast between what I saw around me in Dr. Carver’s office and what The Velvet Rocket staff observed in a North Korean dental office during our recent visit there, prompted me to decide that I would not wish … Continue reading
Yeats wrote The Second Coming in 1919 at the end of World War I. The poem uses Christian imagery, but it is about the Europe that existed at the end of World War I and what was to follow rather than about religion… It is just as apt in describing Syria or other such bloody … Continue reading
Below is a partial list of the rebel groups that are fighting Assad and by default Hezbollah, Iran and Russia inside Syria… In almost any conflict, the name of the game is “size, money and momentum,” with ideology a distant fourth. For the anti-Assad fighters in Syria, this reality is no different and right now, … Continue reading
One of the famous traffic girls of North Korea: Although they are primarily associated with Pyongyang, they actually have traffic police in other cities across North Korea. However, it is in Pyongyang that the traffic girls are truly an institution (and a fine one at that). The “traffic girl” is a popular image in North … Continue reading
A beggar at the Kashgar Night Market: Yes, don’t fret, I gave the beggar some money… When approaching the area, one can usually hear Kashgar’s Night Market before they can see it. Granted, we were visiting during Ramadan and so activity was particularly boisterous at sunset when the fast was broken, but I have it … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 