Our Changing Globe » China

Who Won The Chinese Peace Prize?

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:38:29 +0000

www.huffingtonpost.com11/15/11

China's on-again, off-again answer to the Nobel Peace Prize is back this year, and more outlandish than ever. The China International Peace Research Center announced the winner today: Russian premier and returning …

Putin Wins Chinese Peace Prize for His Gentle Invasion of Chechnya

gawker.com11/15/11

Thankfully, the China International Peace Studies Center has stepped forward to bestow its prestigious Confucius Peace Prize on Putin for the "iron hand and toughness" he peacefully displayed in his invasion of Chechnya.

Just four days after telling many distinguished dinner guests at a dinner in Moscow that Russia could destroy the U.S. in half an hour or less, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was named the latest winner of the Chinese peace prize that is intended as a counterweight to Stockholm’s Nobel Prize.

It should be noted that,

Arafat.

Obama.

Al Gore Jnr.

Mohamed ElBaradei !!

And Jimmy Carter.

all received the Swedish prize which means that the Chinese list is no more stupid than the Nobel one!

The organizers behind the Chinese prize told news agencies on Tuesday (November 15, 2011) that Mr. Putin was chosen to receive the Confucius Peace Prize at a December 9, ceremony in Beijing, which is just one day before the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.

The Chinese Award?

The Chinese award was quickly launched last year after imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo was chosen for the Nobel, which incensed the Chinese.

And to make things even worse, or better, depending on your point if view, the first person picked for the Chinese prize, former Taiwan vice president Lien Chan, failed to appear last year to collect his award, which reportedly comes with about $15,000 in cash.

Besides Putin, this year’s shortlist included:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

What peace did she try to bring about?

Many German businesses are still heavily trading with Iran.

South African President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma was charged with rape in 2005, and acquitted under very bizarre circumstances.

He also fought a long legal battle over allegations of racketeering and corruption.

He has been married five times, and has at least twenty children.

And did the Anti-Israel Durban 1,2,3 conferences which were held in S. Africa somehow add to world peace?

Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan?

He and his son Kojo left the UN surrounded by the stench of corruption.

And Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.

Of the Chinese list, I guess this would make the most sense, but I can personally think of many people that have done more to promote world peace in the last year than Gates.

Can you?

Ties Between China And Israel Get Even Stronger

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:11:30 +0000

Israel & China To Improve Military Ties To Tackle “Threats …

China should be careful. Israel is a cancer. Muslims brought down the first superpower (USSR), and is bringing down the second one through the same guerilla means (USA). If China creates to much of a commitment to Israel …

Publish Date: 09/04/2011 10:58

http://www.monitorserver.org/israel-china-to-improve-military-ties-to-tackle-threats-challenges/

Israel and China: Mutual Opportunism | Occupied Palestine | فلسطين

The Chinese chief of staff's visit to Israel on August 14 gave rise to speculation about the nature of the relationship between the two countries: its scope, limits, as well its impact on the Middle East region, particularly its effect …

Publish Date: 09/07/2011 8:07

http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/israel-and-china-mutual-opportunism/

Relations between Israel and China have always been strong because the Chinese hold Jews in very high esteem because of their incredibly high degree of success in so many fields.

Just check out the huge number of Nobel Prizes that have been won by such a small (12 million Jewish) group of people.

The very strong ties that already exist in the high-tech field are now set to increase and are likely to include closer defense and security ties, in addition to already very advanced academic exchanges.

And Carice Witte, who is the executive director of Sino-Israel Global Network and Academic Leadership (SIGNAL) says that academic exchanges with China carry more weight than they do with many other countries because academics play an important role in advising the government.

*SIGNAL attended Israel’s Herzlya conferences, and is actively involved in the Sichuan University’s Israel program.

So What’s New?

Israel once sold over half a billion dollars of weapons to China on a yearly basis, but that was before the US pressured Israel to halt those ties in the late 1990s.

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited China last June, and that was the first visit by an Israeli defense minister in over a decade

And earlier that month, Admiral Wu Shengli of the People’s Liberation Army Navy visited Israel.

Two weeks ago, Sichuan International Studies University (SISU) announced the launch of China’s first ever Israel studies program.

China’s Defense Ministry quoted Ehud Barak as saying during his visit.

"The Israeli side values the development of military exchanges and cooperation with China and wishes to work together with our Chinese friends to raise military-to-military relations to a new level".

The Econmic Field

In the economic sphere, ties are showing signs of deepening as well. Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry just signed a pact with the National Development and Reform Commission, which will enable Israeli officials to cooperate and consult closely with China’s top economic-planning body.

And state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently reached the second stage of a competition to set up a joint venture factory in China to build executive jets with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

Is There More?

"Yes".

There are scores of other smaller events that also attest to deepening relations.

Last December, a delegation of Likud Party officials led by Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein met with their Communist Party peers in China and this fall, the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Institute’s Center for Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) will host Chinese scholars on regional geopolitics.

How Big Is The Present Trade Between The Two Countries?

Trade has been growing enormously, expanding by 28% in the first quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2010, but $1.28 billion in the first quarter is still relativley small with China taking just 4% of Israeli exports.

Supposed experts say however that that figure belies trade that reaches China through third countries, and also the extent of research and development cooperation.

What Is The History Of The Relationship?

The two countries formally established diplomatic relations in 1992, which is nearly half a century after the two states were founded.

Defense ties actually flourished before that however, because shrouded in secrecy, and according to the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Israel’s defense sales to China were estimated at about $5.7 billion between 1984 and 1994.

How Does The US Figure Into This?

Israel won a $1.2 billion deal to sell Beijing an early airborne radar system and drones but Washington blocked it in 1999 and Israel paid $300 million in compensation to the Chinese.

Prevented from carrying out military deals in the years that followed, Israel and China embarked on expanded cooperation in civilian technology.

Israel contributed the innovation and China the manufacturing.

Private Planes And Non-Military Sales

The IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) has yet to successfully beat out Canada’s Bombardier, as well as America’s Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft: but serious plans are underway to do just that.

A joint China/Israel operation is underway at a joint venture production plant with AVIC slated to be based in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. While the joint venture is for civilian aircraft, both IAI and AVIC are principally defense aeronautics companies.

Following a serious spat between Washington and Jerusalem which was caused by Israel’s intention to build Phalcon airborne radar aircraft and to upgrade Harpy drones, Jerusalem promised not to sell China defense technology or anything that might have dual military-civilian applications.

But somewhat surprisingly, the Calcalist (Israel’s version of the The Economist) economic daily reported several days ago that Washington has approved IAI’s bid.

Minorities And Relations With Diaspora Communities

Whereas Chinese/Israeli cooperation was initially limited to technology and innovation, China’s interest in Israel has now expanded to learning from Israel about dealing with minorities and relations with Diaspora communities.

The Chinese are said to have “great respect” for Israel’s handling of relations with Jewish communities abroad and would like to form similar ties with overseas Chinese.

They are also said to be similarly impressed with how the Jews and Israel have succeeded in educating the world about their history, in particular the Holocaust and would like to memorialize the Nanjing massacre with the same kind of power and impact that the Jewish people have done memorializing their history.

"The Nanjing massacre", refers to the mass murder and rape that occurred after the Japanese captured Nanjing in 1937.

Both China and Israel Are Looking Ahead

Observers say that China’s growing interest in Israel goes hand in hand with its emergence as a major world power and stress that it has a growing interest in regional stability in the Middle East, and sees Israel as a critical player.

And the Israeli business community and government are fully aware that China will most likely be the world’s leading economy within 4-5 years.

It takes two to tango, and Israel and China seem to be in lock-step right now.

China Has A Much Lower Credit Rating Than The US

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:09:44 +0000

Moody's Review China's Credit Rating, Overseas Investment …

www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk11/8/11

HIGHLIGHTS FROM CHINA About ARC China ARC China is a Shanghai-based investment manager focused on investments in consumption-driven, entrepreneur-owned small and medium sized enterprises in China's Tier II and Tier III …

China cuts bank reserve ratio by 50 bps | Bramesh's Technical …

www.brameshtechanalysis.com11/30/11

In a major rating action review of as many as 37 banks globally, S&P has incidentally upgraded two Chinese banks – Bank of China and China Construction Bank. A credit rating is generally considered as a tool to measure an …

A PDF of The Ratings Of Various Countries By The Credit Agencies Is Available For Download

Government officials in China are berating the U.S. because of the Standard & Poor’s downgrade to AA+ and Guan Jianzhong, chairman of Dagong Global Credit Rating, says the U.S. dollar is,

"Gradually being discarded by the world", adding that the “process will be irreversible".

China’s Credit Rating

Fitch gives China an A+ which is their fourth highest rating.

Moody’s gives China an Aa3 which is there third highest ranking.

S&P lists China’s debt rating as AA-, which is the fourth highest level, due to its “sizable” contingent liabilities in its banking system.

Debt to GDP

China’s debt-to-GDP ratio is not only worse than the United State’s ratio, it’s probably worse than Portugal’s, and Portugal is close to bankruptcy.

Despite Moody’s Investors Service saying last month that China’s local debt was understated by hundreds of billions of dollars, the People’s Daily said S&P’s downgrade of the U.S.’s credit rating,

"Sounded the alarm bell for the dollar-denominated global monetary system".

Some Points To Ponder

China has come to own an estimated $1.16 trillion in U.S. debt, by printing excessive Yuans which holds down the currency’s value, making its exports dirt cheap, and it then it uses that extra printed currency to buy U.S. debt.

China likes to say its debt-to-GDP ratio is 17% but the respected Beijing-based research firm Dragonomics says it’s in fact 89% of GDP, which if true would make it worse than Portugal’s which is 83% of GDP.

Stephen Green, who is China economist at Standard Chartered Bank, reckons China’s total debt, including contingent liabilities, is 77% of GDP.

Moody’s said last month that China’s local government debt is understated and might be 3.5 trillion yuan ($540 billion), bigger than its state auditor has estimated,

China’s central bank alone holds an estimated $1.16 trillion in debt, and the government has already increased credit in the system to a reported 200% of GDP.

The eurozone’s problems have kept the euro on a very questionable footing, with the European Central Bank keeping it strong by raising interest rates.

Japan’s massive debts, which are the largest in the world, have kept the yen on an unsound footing.

Strong U.S. defense of Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates make it in their interests to protect the dollar.

Who Will Be The Dominant Powers In 2050?

Michael Redbourn — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:16:18 +0000

The US Russia-China Geo-political Strategy | Sikh Archives

www.sikharchives.com12/16/11

After going from defeat to defeat on the periphery of world power and not satisfied with running treasury-busting deficits in pursuit of empire building against economically weak countries, Obama has embraced a policy of encirclement … We will then analyze the rationale for military escalation against Russia and China as part of a new offensive moving beyond the Arab world ( Syria , Libya ) and in the face of the declining economic position of the EU and the US in the …

U.S. experts said the People's Liberation Army and courage by …

www.9abc.net12/16/11

China's economic growth rate of 9%, the United States is suffering from paralysis of the economic recession and political problems. U.S. opinion polls continue to show most Americans believe that China is the world's dominant economic power. Pew Research Center found that in 22 countries among the 15 … on an outdated view of national power the formation of delusions. If anyone think that China will overtake the United States, that at least three errors were committed – the one. …

China? India? Or will the West Just Scrape though?

Two Very Different Views

Citigroup and HSBC recently issued two very different analyses about who will rule the world in 2050 with one concluding that the West can just hang onto its lead, whilst the other suggests that it might become just another not-so-relevant voice in global affairs.

Citigroup

Citigroup’s Willem Buiter offers the following projections:

The Muslim powerhouse of Indonesia will match the combined GDP’s of Germany, France, Italy and Britain by mid-century.

The combined economies of China and India (Chindia) will be four times as large as the United States’s, which would restore the historic order of Asian dominance, before Europe’s navies entered the scene in the 16th Century.

Africa will at last emerge from its long string of disappointments to take the baton as the fastest growing region, clocking up a 7.5% increase a year over the next two decades.

Does The Above Seem Feasible?

Yes, because it would not require miracles of any kind for it to occur.

Catch-up countries merely need, law and governance, open markets, and to then let the "convergence theory" do the work for them, in order to keep their reforms on track;

*Convergence theory claims that people in crowds express existing beliefs and values i.e. a mob’s reaction is the rational product of widespread popular feeling.

Take a look at the uprisings in many Arab countries right now!

Sustained growth prospects in per capita incomes across the world have not been as favourable as they are today for a long long time, possibly in human history.

Global growth is expected to quicken.

And GDP should quadruple again from $73 trillion to $378 trillion by 2050 (measured in constant US dollars).

Will Any Western Economy Defy The Odds?

Britain is expected to scrape through, and will just hold on as the world’s 10th biggest economy in 2050 and it will even overtake the US in per capita terms.

How Could That Be?

Britain has now slipped to 25th in reading, 28th in maths, and 16th in science in the Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) rankings.

Whereas Shanghai’s school district takes top prize across all three, ahead of Korea and Finland.

So Where’s The UK’s Hidden Strength?

The UK faces a less disastrous aging crisis than much of Europe because of its unrivaled leadership in unwed teenage pregnancies.

HSBC

Th HSBC’s report also sketches an era of unparalleled prosperity:

China overtakes the US, but only just, but then loses momentum.

China and America (Chimerica) and not Chindia, form the G2, and it towers over all others in the global condominium.

Americans prosper with a fertility rate of 2.1, which is high enough to shield them from the sort of demographic collapse that’s closing in on Asia and Europe.

Beijing and Shanghai are 1.0, Korea is 1.1, Singapore 1.2, Germany 1.3, Poland 1.3, Italy 1.4 and Russia 1.4.

Americans remain three times richer than the Chinese in 2050.

The US economy still outstrips India by two-and-a-half times.

So Which Report Is Right?

Both studies rely on the theories of Harvard economist Robert Barro, but they differ on how easy it is to handle population collapse, and the great unknown is the effect of rapid ageing on creativity.

China’s workforce will peak in absolute terms in just four years, and while the population keeps growing until the tipping point in the mid 2020s, it is ageing very fast.

Zhuoyan Mao from Beijing’s Institute for Family Planning said China’s fertility rate had been below replacement level for almost twenty years, “Population momentum turned negative over a decade ago in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Liaoning, but the countryside is catching up and the decline speed in rural areas is faster".

*Hence warnings by Chinese demographers that there may soon be an epidemic of suicides, as the elderly step out on the ice to relieve society’s burden.

China’s one-child policy is obviously no longer needed, (but for some reason which is unknown to us is still in force), since its fertility rate is collapsing anyway for the same reasons that it collapsed in Japan and Korea:

Affluence.

Women’s education.

Later pregnancies that stretch generations.

In-law duties.

Costly housing.

*Shanghai’s local authorities have been encouraging couples to have a second child since 2009.

China is depleting the non-renewable aquifers of its northern plains at an alarming place, and faces a separate water crisis from receding Himalayan glaciers, and eco-damage of 13.5% of GDP each year outstrips China’s growth rate of 10%.

What neither report deals with however is that the US is deemed for bankruptcy in 2020 and might even be bankrupt already!

Does The U.S. Need To See Itself Differently?

Michael Redbourn — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:38:08 +0000

Is William Blum Right About Obama? « NO Hegemony!

nohegemony.wordpress.com11/2/11

When Barack Obama was elected, I was tepidly curious about what Blum would write about my new president. Like most African Americans, I was profoundly goo goo over the reality of having someone with African blood in his …

Author comment- America's return to Asia: Old hegemony or new

www.asiaalone.com11/29/11

The Obama administration has energetically re-engaged Asia when, facing many domestic challenges, a post-crisis America might easily have turned inwards. An engaged America is better than an isolated one. But Asians …

Following WW2 the United States found itself in a position of global dominance and that dominance has lasted for more than sixty years, during which time America remained a hegemony.

But What Is A Hegemony Responsible For?

Militarily, a hegemony is responsible for stabilizing key regions and guarding the global arenas.

Economically, it must offer public goods by opening its domestic market to other states, supplying liquidity to the world economy, and provide the reserve currency.

A hegemony is supposed to solve international crises, not cause them. It is supposed to be the lender of last resort, not the biggest borrower.

Does the U.S. Still Meet The Above Criteria?

Sadly or not, the answer is most likely, "No".

America no longer seems able to win wars, and not only is its economy in the pits but it’s now predicted that the interest on its debts will equal its total income by 20120 meaning it will effectively be bankrupt.

So What Happened?

Many would claim that much of America’s decline can be attributed to its own self-defeating policies and although that’s true in part it’s also because other countries such as China, India, and Russia are in the ascent.

When Will China’s Economy Overtake America’s?

China’s economy is growing much more rapidly than the United States’ and leading economic forecasters predict that it will overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy, measured by overall GDP, sometime around 2020.

In 2008, China already passed the U.S. as the world’s leading manufacturing nation, and that’s a title the United States had enjoyed for over a century, and this year China will displace Japan as the world’s second-largest economy.

Weaknesses in the fundamentals of the American economy have been accumulating for more than three decades and the collapse of its economic system leading in turn to the loss of its global preeminence were forecast in the 1980s by many people including, David Calleo, Paul Kennedy, Robert Gilpin, Samuel Huntington, and James Chace.

So What’s To Be Done?

America’s leaders need to adjust to the new world order, but there is so far little sign that they are about to do so.

The foreign policies of individual countries are shaped by the ideas that their leaders hold about them, and perhaps more than most, America’s foreign policy is the product of such ideas.

Why Is It So Hard For U.S. Leaders To Adapt To Reality?

America’s leaders still believe in exceptionalism (being different from the norm) and that belief dates back to the Puritans.

The U.S. is different, better, and morally superior to the rest of the world.

An Example Of U.S. Thinking

Around forty five years ago, Edmund Stillman and William Pfaff wrote that;

"The United States is a model for the world and America’s wants and values are universal".

Which is something that George W. Bush harped on repeatedly.

Good Versus Evil

The above assumptions invest American foreign policy with a tendency to see the world in terms of good versus evil.

And because the U.S. looks through this prism, it believes it has the obligation to prevail in this global struggle, and such thinking is delusional.

The End Game

When you are big, strong, and powerful, you can afford to make the same dumb mistakes over and over again, but when your power declines, you will begin to pay a price for repeating your mistakes.

A Look At Obama’s 2009 Foreign Policy

Michael Redbourn — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:11:48 +0000

Alienate Friends But Don’t Convince Your Enemies

Obama’s More Obvious Foreign Policy Failures

Following his inauguration, Obama was fast out of the traps and began alienating U.S. allies almost immediately!

He started with America’s closest and strongest ally first by ordering a bust of Winston Churchill returned to the U.K. because the Brits supposedly tortured his grandfather in Africa in the 50s. In case the Brits didn’t get the message he compared the British Empire to South Africa’s apartheid regime and also to the former Soviet Union.

He then attempted to bully Israel and achieved nothing accept driving a wedge between the U.S. and its second closest ally.

Seemingly undeterred he moved on to the Russians and carefully prepared the way by stabbing two other allies in the back, namely the Czech Republic and Poland who had agreed to having U.S. missiles in their countries.

He did however manage to make Putin and Medvedev laugh all the way to the bank by suggesting that they clamp down on corruption, and didn’t even get a thank you for canceling the missile deployment on their borders, and it seems likely that he got snubbed by members of the Duma.

It’s claimed on some websites that the footage was doctored, but the explanation given as to how it was done only half explains it.

Obama then strove to win Muslim admiration, and not only failed but embarrassed the majority of Americans by literally bowing and scraping.

Obama then offered Iran serious negotiations and carrots but they had little time for him since they were too busy torturing, raping and killing demonstrators, and building new underground nuclear facilities. Obama’s reaction to the atrocities was to voice his appreciation for the “robust debate” that was taking place.

And last but not least, the Chinese smothered domestic coverage of a presidential visit but did give the world the spectacle of the American commander in chief getting a talking-to about fiscal responsibility from a Communist chieftain. The Chinese then sent a delegation to the U.S. and much to the surprise of those meeting them, the Chinese wanted to know who was going to finance Obama’s intended Health Bill.

Not So Wonderful Copenhagen

Two additional humiliations then occurred in Copenhagen, the first when the Olympic Committee delivered the bad news that the president’s effort to play hometown booster had failed utterly, before he even landed back in the U.S. and the second when the Chinese, Indians and Brazilians gave him very short shrift during the supposed Global Warming talks.

Afghanistan – To Do Or Not To Do

The decision to reinforce U.S. military in Afghanistan came after an excruciating and almost year long hesitation and dithering that undermined the confidence of our fighting men and allies, and stating that the U.S. would start pulling out after 18 months pleased the Taliban no end and seriously weakened any resolve that anti-Taliban tribes might have had.

France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy perhaps asked the most worrying question, “Est-il faible?” (Is he weak?) and if the answer appears “Yes”, a year from now then the U.S. and the free world will be in deep trouble.

Have There Been Foreign Policy Successes?

I have simply described some of Obama’s obvious foreign policy failures, but he may have had successes too, and if I have overlooked them then please post a comment and they will be published.

And the same goes for any failures that I may have overlooked.

Cap And Trade = Redistribution Of Wealth

Michael Redbourn — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:22:26 +0000

The Dark Side Of Cap And Trade

Like many others, I hadn’t really taken a good look at what Cap And Trade really is, until the onset of the negotiations in Copenhagen, but the more that I now look into it, the more horrified I am.

What Is Cap And Trade?

The stated idea behind Cap And Trade is the control of pollution (CO2 – greenhouse gas); with its end goal being the reduction of the overall pollution by a nation, region, or industry.

So What’s Wrong With That?

What’s wrong with it, is that it would cost the industrialized nations billions of dollars to move the pollution from one part of the globe to another!

The Mechanics Of Cap And Trade

1) A government would decide on how much pollution its country would be allowed, and then set a cap at that level.

2) Companies within that country would then be issued credits which would allow them to pollute up to the amount of the cap.

3) The amount of pollution that the company would be allowed to create would be based upon how large the company was and what industry it was in.

4) Companies that produced pollution below their cap, would then be allowed to sell their credits to ones that exceeded it.

So the intention is that the industrial world would pay the underdeveloped world huge sums of money for doing nothing at all, and you can easily imagine the bureaucracy and corruption that would occur if this nonsense were ever to come into being.

The flawed idea behind Cap And Trade is that companies that were penalized would work hard to reduce their pollution, and even though the technology is presently not available and won’t be in the foreseeable future, Obama is promising that the U.S. will reduce its pollution by 80%, which would take it back to levels that existed before the industrial revolution.

What Would The Near Term Effects Be?

The bill that was recently passed by congress (Waxman-Markey), and is now fortunately stalled in the Senate was hastily and badly written and would:

1) Drive up the price of energy.

2) Deter American job creation and send jobs overseas.

3) Make it far harder for the U.S. to exit the ongoing economic crisis.

Since the U.S. operates an overwhelmingly carbon-based economy, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would end up regulating almost everything, and every company that emitted more than 250 tons of CO2 a year would fall under EPA control, meaning over a million building complexes, hospitals, plants, schools, businesses and related enterprises.

The Third World Has Tried This Before

The so called developing nations have long been the majority in the UN and in the early 80s they called for a "New International Economic Order" (NIEO) whose demand was to simply transfer fantastic amounts of wealth from the industrialized West to the Third World.

The stated reasons were "equality and compensation", a "redistribution of wealth which was owed the third world because of colonialism".

The reason that the idea went nowhere was because Reagan and Thatcher were in power, and they effectively said, "Get up off your asses and work, like the rest of us".

Most of us would more than likely be willing to do rational things to safeguard the environment, but the entire concept of perpetrators and victims breaks down when it comes to global warming because countries collude in pollution.

Does China Have The Largest Carbon Footprint?

It would be more correct to say, "China is the place where the world’s carbon footprint is presently located".

If China’s factories presently emit such a large amount of pollution (CO2 and greenhouse gasses), it is because it is manufacturing things for the west, and the west is therefore less polluted because of it.

If China were forced to produce less because of the high cost of buying credits, then the countries in the presently underdeveloped world would then start to manufacture, thereby causing more pollution in their locales.

The source of pollution would simply have moved from one location to another, but the industrialized world would be paying billions of dollars to have its sources of revenue taken away.

America Needs To Regain Its Independence

Michael Redbourn — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:28:57 +0000

Even though the U.S. has the world’s largest military,

and the biggest GDP,

(the EU is not a county)

it is:

1) Pleading with Russia to help with Iran.

2) Cozying up to Gadhafi and Chavez.

3) Ignoring pleas for help from Iranians that want to overthrow a savage regime.

4) Staying silent about China’s human rights abuses.

5) Leaning on Israel.

Why is America doing all of the above and much more too?

Because it is has not developed its plentiful energy resources, and is therefore becoming increasingly dependent on outside loans and oil with every tic of the clock.

The United States is running a projected $2 trillion annual deficit, while adding to an existing $11 trillion national debt, meaning that America is getting poorer, whilst its enemies are getting richer.

Russia is now the world’s second largest oil exporter, and it’s cash rich and just waiting for a new energy crisis to hit, after which it will attempt to regain much of its former influence.

Iran, Libya and Venezuela are all major oil exporters, so it’s lunatic leaders are allowed to verbally attack the United States in New York from the UN platform, and whilst Obama warmly hugs Chavez, he treats Netanyahu as if he has swine flu.

China is America’s largest foreign creditor, financing its growing budget shortfalls at an increasing rate of interest, and it now believes it has the right to question the U.S. as to how it intends to finance the proposed health bill.

America Needs To Develop Its Oil And Coal Resources

Obama is correct to encourage the development of alternative energy sources, and in wanting to curb America’s imports of oil which would not only bring down the global price of oil, but also lessen its dependence on rogue regimes, but much time will be needed to reach a new age of non-carbon fuels

America therefore needs to better exploit its existing oil and coal ,and recent large finds in North Dakota, Alaska, California, and off the Gulf Coast suggest that America could fairly easily win back its independence, and end the need to fawn and cringe before countries that hate it.

Can America Spend Its Way Out Of Deficits?

Michael Redbourn — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:50:05 +0000

Obama Is Out Of His Depth And Drowning

It’s becoming clearer every day that more and more Americans believe that the Obama administration is trying to do too much too fast, and that much of what the administration wants to do, is not want the majority wants it to do.

American’s attitudes and behavior have changed significantly over the last two years, and the consumer culture of buy more now and pay for it later, which historically drove the U.S. economy is fast being replaced by one of pay off debts and save more.

A Rasmussen poll dated September 21, shows that;

a) 39% believe that cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term should be Obama’s number one priority.

b) 27% rate health care reform as the most important issue.

c) 15% put their emphasis on development of new sources of energy.

d) 14% believe that ensuring that every child has access to a complete and competitive education should get the most attention.

The Administration apparently has little interest in giving the majority of Americans what they want, which is what democracy is all about, and is determined to ram its mostly extremist left wing policies down a more and more unwilling America’s throat.

What Don’t The Majority Of Americans Agree With?

1) The Stimulus Package.

2) Health Care

3) Cap On Trade

4) Cash For Clunkers

5) Afghanistan

6) Iran

7) The Betrayal Of Poland And The Czech Republic.

N.B. #6 will most likely start and arms race, and we might even see Japan developing nuclear weapons within a few months. If allies can no longer depend on the U.S. then they’d better start protecting themselves and who can argue with that?!

Not bad for a new kid on the block, and his latest move which was to add a 35% tariff on tires from China has not only upset the Chinese, which America depends on right now, but will most likely trigger a global trade war, and all to please a union.

Is Obama Out Of His Depth?

You can almost hear the glug, glug, glugs!

So Back To The Deficit – And The Administration’s Solution

The U.S. deficit quadrupled from $459 billion in 2008 to $1.85 trillion in 2009 and it has gone from 3.2% of gross domestic product to 13.1%. which is twice the post-World War II record of 6% in 1983 under President Reagan.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the deficit will run for a decade and will exceed $1.2 trillion in 2019.

If they’re right, and it will probably be worse, by 2019, the United States will have almost doubled its national debt which will be over $17 trillion.

And it might be better not to even look at what happens after 2019, because 2019 is when the peak wave of baby boomers move into their retirement years, and when costs will soar for the major entitlements, namely Social Security and Medicare.

If Obama and his Czars don’t understand the implications of the above, then maybe they should read what the, Government Accountability Office estimates, "That by 2040, interest payments will absorb 30% of all revenues, and entitlements will consume the rest, leaving nothing for defense, education or veterans’ pensions"!

The Obama administration’s seemingly crazy answer to the problem, is to spend much more money that it doesn’t have in the hope that the Chinese, Japanese and others will continue to bail it out, which of course they won’t.

A recent Chinese delegation to the U.S. surprised Congressman who thought that the Chinese had come to talk about trade, which was not the reason.

They asked about Health Reform, and when asked, "What do you want to know about it?’, the reply was, "Who’s going to pay for it?", which caused a shockwave, because the Chinese had never questioned internal U.S. policies before.

Seems like China isn’t ready to fund Obama’s health care to the tune of $1 trillion plus, on top of the $2 trillion that they’re already owed, and who can blame them.

The bottom line is, that most of Main Street believes than the U.S. government must do what it is doing, reduce its debts and tighten its belt, and if the Administration doesn’t listen then it will be taught a strong and growing lesson next year.

Americans have recently learned that too much mortgage debt on their homes, and too much credit card debt means that you end up getting buried, or drowned, and it now seems that politicians must play catch-up and understand it too!

If they don’t then the U.S. is looking at,

1) Skyrocketing interest rates.

2) A crash in the value of the dollar.

3) A dramatic erosion of America’s financial standing.

4) Even higher deficits.

5) Higher taxes.

Only 35% of Americans now say that the U.S. is heading in the right direction, 59% say they are angrier now than under Bush, and 67% say that they could do a better job on the economy than Congress.

And given the facts, one would have to agree with them!

Updated – 09/23/09 6:53 AM EDT

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll asked respondents, "Would you prefer to see next year’s elections result in a Congress controlled by Democrats or a Congress controlled by Republicans?".

The result?

48% said they would prefer Democrats in control, and 45% said Republicans, and that three-point Democratic lead is down from seven points lead in July and nine points from April.

In June 2008, the Democrats held a massive 19-point lead held over Republicans, so in less than a year and a half, the Democratic margin has fallen from 19 points to 3!

Obama Seeks What Europe And China Gave Up On

Michael Redbourn — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:39:14 +0000

“Thanks”, or “no thanks” to Obamanomics, the U.S. is now losing its competitive edge with Europe, to say nothing of China and a whole list of other countries.

China has been moving in the direction of free-market capitalism for many years, and the benefits of the move have been spectacular.

China now has a two trillion dollar trade surplus, and it’s now America’s principal banker.

With every day that passes. the U.S. is more fiscally reliant on China, and it continually begs the Chinese to go on supporting it.

In the short run, the Chinese will, but the interest rate will have to be much higher and in the long run, they probably won’t.

According to Fortune magazine’s latest list;

a) The number of U.S. companies in the world’s top 500 fell to the lowest level ever.

b) More Chinese firms than ever made the list.

c) Thirty-seven Chinese companies now rank in the top 500, including nine new entries.

d) The number of U.S. firms fell to 140, which is the lowest total since Fortune began the list in 1995.

e) China surpassed the United States as the world’s biggest automaker in the first half of 2009. American sales were 4.8million vs. China’s 6.1 million which is a huge difference.

How Did China Do It?

a) China has no capital-gains tax and only a 15 to 20% corporate tax.

b) The United State intends to raise its cap-gains tax rate to 20% percent, and also increase its top personal tax rates.

Investment flows to its most profitable destination, provided it has a stable currency, but it can be moved with a couple of mouse clicks and Bush’s last year and Obama’s first several months have made the U.S. a turnoff when it comes to investment.

The highest taxes in the U.S. look likely to be around 50%, but in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) they’re 42%!

If health care is nationalized which seem more and more unlikely at the time of writing it will consume around 15% of the U.S.’s economy and the energy proposals, another 15%.

As I write this;

a) Dow Jones stocks are down 8%

b) China’s stocks are up 71%

c) The world index is up 4%

d) Emerging markets are up 25%

Investment risk and work effort, are sadly no longer seen as rewarding, or as things worthy of pursuing in the U.S. and the increasing bureaucratic red tape and the current government’s policies on taxes, spending and regulation are causing the United States to lose more and more of its competitiveness in the global race for capital, prosperity and growth.