China

Maryland-born author Carol Peacock describes living conditions in the poorest Chinese orphanages with a dispassionate eye. Her new novel, "Red Thread Sisters," describes playgrounds strewn with old tires and a caste system that divides children perceived to be adoptable from those judged by orphanage officials as less appealing. The novel depicts children so eager for their own clothes that they wear multiple gift outfits at once. In the book, young children routinely perform such adult chores as feeding babies and scrubbing kitchen floors.

Had Vice President Joe Biden behaved toward Sarah Palin in their 2008 debate the way he behaved toward Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan in their debate last Thursday, he might have been denounced as a patronizing misogynist. In his debate with Mr. Ryan, the vice president was merely a jerk. Interrupting while someone is trying to make a point is an old debate tactic intended to throw your opponent off-balance and distract observers from what is being said. By some counts, Mr. Biden interrupted Mr. Ryan more than 80 times and moderator Martha Raddatz broke in at least 50 times, mostly interrupting Mr. Ryan.

The debates, starting Wednesday night, are Mitt Romney's last chance to turn around his campaign. He must communicate what he has failed to convey so far: his vision to give Americans a better life and deal with tough challenges, like the financial meltdown and the Arab Spring, that are unforeseeable when presidents are chosen. Mr. Romney made his fortune in private equity. To most Americans, the benefits of such activities are much more difficult to grasp than the work of, say, Steve Jobs.

Welcome back, everyone, to the Emmy-winning "Amazing Race. " And a special hello to our host, the Emmy-denied Phil, with his fabulous pointing finger and arched Eyebrow of Foreshadowing. Since this is the first episode, we are overwhelmed with teams and the names of the people on those teams. We have two Robs, two Jameses plus one Jaymes, an Abbie, Amy, and Abba, and twins named Natalie and Natalya. Can even a veteran recapper such as myself keep them straight? Well, yes, yes I can, because I cheat.

I can predict a few things with virtual certainty. For instance, in the upcoming presidential debates, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will try to outdo each other in condemning China's economic practices. Their positions will be virtually identical in taking a harder line against China. But I predict further that 12 months after the election, regardless of who's president, not a thing will have changed. That's because it's all electioneering and grandstanding. Especially during election season, many issues are in fact never articulated coherently, even when we're expected to be motivated by them.

China and Japan are making a mountain of a molehill in their territorial dispute over a group of tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku (in Japan) or the Diaoyu (in China). Whatever their name, they're basically just a bunch of rocks sticking out of the water; the largest is less than two miles square. Yet they've become the flash point for an increasingly shrill confrontation between Asia's two economic giants that has threatened to disrupt their $340 billion trade relationship and even prompted talk of war. Both sides have dispatched naval vessels to the area.

A persistent drizzle that occasionally morphed into a driving rain helped China retain its bikini parade crown Saturday, as only 325 women – out of the thousand-plus needed — answered Ocean City 's call to stage its own parade of world-record proportions. Still, spirits were high during the parade, which ran from the Princess Royale on 91st Street north to the Carousel Resort Hotel, a total of some 25 blocks. The weather even cooperated at least a bit when the rain let up just in time for the start at 3:15 p.m. Scores of bikini-clad infants, girls and women, ranging in age from a few weeks to well into their 60s, began the march from beneath U.S. and Maryland flags, cheering and showing off their best beach struts.

THURSDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS MLB Atlanta@Washington (T) MASN9 a.m. Orioles@Texas (T) MASN12:30 Angels@Boston MLB7 LLWS Mexico vs. Panama ESPN4 California vs. Texas ESPN28 MiLB Syracuse@Gwinnett TCN7 Cycling USA Pro Challenge, Stage 4 NBCSP4 NFL pre. Miami@Carolina (T) NFL10 a.m. Seattle@Denver (T) NFL1 Oakland@Arizona (T) NFL4 Jacksonville@Ravens 7, 11, CSN7:30 Arizona@Tennessee ESPN8 Green Bay@Cincinnati (T)

Although Americans wish to focus on the anemic economy and upcoming election, the wider world may intervene. Competing claims over sovereignty in the waters around China - the East China Sea and the South China Sea - threaten to transform from rhetoric into military conflict. Territorial issues have became embroiled in partisan politics within many countries in the region, as leaders seek to bolster their domestic positions by taking a tough stand on issues related to national pride.

This weekend's world record attempt in Ocean City will really need to bring on the bikinis. By the thousands. The centerpiece of the town's first-ever Uptown Bash set for this weekend is a bikini parade where O.C. planned to break a record set by Panama City Beach this spring. That would have required about 450 women marching in their two-piece best. Easy peasy, right? Not so fast. Just this week the town learned that China had broken Panama City's record earlier this month by parading 1,085 bikini-clad women in Huludao City in the Liaoning Province.