"“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” "


Chinese premier Wen Jiabao 12th March 2009


""We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd like to do our best to preserve that system."


Timothy Geithner US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.1/3/2009

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Vani - The Golden Land of Colchis


"Wine, Worship and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani," on view Dec. 1 through Feb. 24, 2008 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, presents spectacular gold, silver, ceramic vessels, jewelry, Greek bronze sculpture, Greek and Colchian coins, and Greek glassware. Together these objects provide a rich and informative view of the ancient land of Colchis and its principal sanctuary city, Vani, a town in the Imereti region of western Georgia.

A silver belt from Colchis 4th Century BC from the Georgian National Museum at Tblisi - a slideshow introduces the exhibition at the above link ..if you can't make it to Washington.

Recent post by Lord Patel here.Vani - The Land of the Golden Fleece

"You were in the land that had invented wine. Your workers had been busy smelting iron when other nations were still stuck in the Bronze Age. You could choose between luxury goods imported from your showy Persian neighbors to the east or from the Greek aesthetes who lived farther west. Since Colchis was famous in antiquity for gold and precious metal -- it's where the Greek hero Jason went to grab the legendary Golden Fleece -- you'd be wearing gold-spangled robes while pouring and drinking your famous Colchian wine from gold or silver vessels."

Read more of Wapo Review. also more here

Dec. 1-Feb. 24:
10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Daily (Closed Christmas Day)
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery - Smithsonian Institution
1050 Independence Ave. SW Washington, DC
Information: 202-633-1000 Price: Free

You might like to visit the Georgian Ambasadorial website and read about the exhibition and also ...



How ..."One of the priority tasks of Georgia's foreign and security policy is a full integration into the Euro-Atlantic community, which will enable our country not only to insure its security but also to contribute its own share to strengthening of peace and stability in the world. We keep right on target for democratic development and are willing to assist other countries too in the democratization processes, to which the establishment of peace and stability is one of the essential prerequisites.

Of great importance, in this context, is the participation of Georgia's armed forces in international peace operations. Since 1999 Georgian peacekeepers have been engaged actively in an effort to protect peace and stability in various regions of the world, within NATO-led and Anti-terrorist Coalition’s operations.

With this involvement in international peace operations, Georgian military units get the benefit of experience in interacting with the NATO member and partner states, which brings them in a closer alignment with the standards applying in the NATO member states.

The first peace operation Georgia was involved in was the NATO-led operation in Kosovo (KFOR)."

Naturally now that nasty old Mr Putin has shoved up the price of gas they are keen to display their anti-communist values and Washington is delighted to help in any way ...

Wonderful thing diplomacy.

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