Friday, January 29, 2010

Orientalizmi sot: a është orientalizmi i saidit kritikë e vlefshme për analiza në botën e globalizuar?

Gëzim SELACI

Përmbledhje Kjo ese argumenton se në botën në të cilën kufijtë kulturorë ndërmjet popujve po zbehen, kritika e Edward Said-it e orientalizmit e humb aftësinë të analizojë marrëdhëniet ndërmjet ‘Perëndimit’ dhe ‘Lindjes’. Megjithatë, ka disa implikime praktike të diskursit orientalist që akoma mbesin të gjalla në nivele qeveritare, institucione të sigurisë dhe media.

HYRJE

Qëllimi i kësaj eseje është që të tregojë se si koncepti i orientalizmit i zhvilluar nga Saidi është definuar ngushtë në kuptim të gjeografisë dhe është tepër përzgjedhës duke përjashtuar kështu studiues të rëndësishëm orientalistë gjermanë, francezë dhe britanikë. Andaj, ai koncept mund të kritikohet edhe në kohën kur është dhënë për herë të parë, lëre më në epokën e globalizimit shoqëror dhe kulturor. Megjithatë, ai shpjegon me sukses një pjesë të diskursit perëndimor që ndriçon mënyrën se si oksidenti ka ‘krijuar’ orientin pas periudhës së iluminizmit dhe akoma mbetet aktual në mesin e autorëve që përkrahin tezat e ‘përplasjes së qytetërimeve’ dhe ‘fundit të Historisë’, si dhe në politikën ndërkombëtare, veçanërisht në politikën e jashtme të SHBA në raport me ‘botën e tretë’, e dukshme sidomos pas 11 shtatorit 2001. Eseja gjithashtu diskuton relevancën e kritikës së Saidit në kohën bashkëkohore që po dëshmon ngritjen e shteteve të Lindjes, domethënë Kinës dhe Indisë. Ngritja e këtyre dy shteteve i ka kontribuar zhvendosjes së kufijve të imagjinuar ndërmjet Oksidentit dhe Orientit, duke e bërë kështu Lindjen—përkundër asaj që thotë Orientlizmi—jo vetëm subjekt, por lojtar në marrëdhëniet ndërkombëtare dhe politikën globale.

Kjo ese është e ndarë në tre pjesë. Pjesa e parë e esesë do të diskutojë argumentin e Saidit në veprën e tij Orientalism (Orientalizmi). Pjesa e dytë do të diskutojë të metat apo dobësitë dhe kritikat kryesore të ‘orientalizmit’ siç e definon Saidi, në dritën e kritikave të Bernard Lewis, historian dhe specialist i Lindjes së Mesme, dhe Robert Irwin, specialist i historisë dhe kulturës së Lindjes së Mesme. Pjesa e tretë analizon implikimet kulturore dhe politike të ‘orientalizmit’ në marrëdhëniet mes ‘Perëndimit’ dhe ‘Lindjes’ në përgjithësi, dhe veçanërisht ndërmjet SHBA dhe Lindjes së Mesme.

Lexo artikullin e plotë KËTU.

Botuar te: “URA” Revistë kulturore-shkencore për studime orientale

[Via http://gselaci.wordpress.com]

And So It Begins... The Sleeping Giant Has Awoken

China mulls setting up military base in Pakistan Saibal Dasgupta, TNN, 28 January 2010, 07:58pm IST

BEIJING: China has signaled it wants to go the US way and set up military bases in overseas locations that would possibly include Pakistan. The obvious purpose would be to exert pressure on India as well as counter US influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“(So) it is baseless to say that we will not set up any military bases in future because we have never sent troops abroad,” an article published on Thursday at a Chinese government website said. “It is our right,” the article said and went on to suggest that it would be done in the neighborhood, possibly Pakistan.

“As for the military aspect, we should be able to conduct the retaliatory attack within the country or at the neighboring area of our potential enemies. We should also be able to put pressure on the potential enemies’ overseas interests,” it said.

China is now ready to step into the Chess match of World Domination. I would take these comments as threats… my 2¢

[Via http://iquestionauthority.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The 10 and 10 rule: Bad news for U.S. and China alike

The preferred exercise Davos so far is hand-wringing.

Concern over the future of the economy and finger pointing over what went wrong have dominated the first day’s discussions. There’s even an emerging buzz expression to capture the fears of the financierati. It is “10 and 10,” and refers to the unhealthy combination of 10% unemployment in the United States with 10% economic growth in China. The two conditions are mutually exclusive, goes the concern, because continued economic weakness in the U.S., with the attendant cuts in consumption, inevitably will weigh on the growth of export-driven China.

Raghuram Rajan, a finance professor at the University of Chicago articulated the 10 and 10 worry at a morning session of the conference. The goal at Davos is to look forward and to make suggestions for improving the world. But the financial world remains fixated on its problems of the past three years. Famously bearish economist Nouriel Roubini sees a continued weak economy, particularly among the industrial powers. He predicts a continued credit crunch in the U.S. in the second half of the year, when fiscal stimulus runs out, making things worse. Roubini flagged another concern, global sovereign debt crises.

The gloomy outlook was global. Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, called growth outside China the biggest threat to the global economy, echoing the 10/10 worry. (He also claimed that keeping the Chinese currency stable is good for China and good for the world, given the volatility of global currency markets. Barney Frank, the influential U.S. congressman, quipped: “Could you keep it stable a little higher?”

An interesting strand to the worrying is the perceived disconnect between the financial experts and the public. “We cannot grow our way out of this,” said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economist. “The public isn’t prepared.” Frank, chairman of the House Finance Committee, has some thoughts on what the public ought to be prepared for: higher taxes. That is, rich Americans. “I think every American here should pay more taxes than they do,” he said, arguing that there’s no rational argument for someone making $1 million a year to pay taxes at the marginal tax rate of 36% compared with the previous rate of 39%.

For those looking for some good cheer, the private equity industry obliged. David Rubinstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, optimistically noted that none of the massive buyouts that occurred from 2004 to 2007 had gone bankrupt and that some would turn into solid investments. (Arif Maqvi, an investor in the United Arab Emirates, perceptively noted that none of these investments had gone bankrupt yet.) Sharing the stage with Roubini, Rubinstein noted that professional investors like himself tend to look more to what governments are doing than what economists are saying. He said the most attractive place to invest now is in emerging markets like China, India and Brazil, whose economies didn’t decline as much as the West’s and are recovering more quickly. In the U.S. he sees opportunities in energy as well as health care, no matter what happens in Washington, given that aging baby boomers will need more hip replacements, assisted living facilities and the like.

Now that’s cheerful, right?

[Via http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com]

Client Manager ( In China)

Role:

-Build sales pipelines for specific overseas markets and solutions

-Identify, follow through with and maintain an ongoing relationship with prospective clients

- Identify and follow up on legitimate sales opportunities, providing a consultative and value-added approach to develop client relationships

- Work as main point of contact for accounts both before and after contract signing

-Work closely with the marketing team as well as technical developers to create, deliver and negotiate service proposals.

Requirements:

-Two or more years of experience in corporate client communication role. Experience in IT Services or sourcing to overseas clients will be considered an advantage.

-Ability to communicate effectively in English (Oral and Written). Ability to speak in Chinese would be an advantage.

Email claressas.2005@gmail.com

Skype ID : Email me.

[Via http://localoverseasjob.wordpress.com]

Monday, January 25, 2010

Coal mine flooding kills 7 in Ningxia

YINCHUAN: Seven people were confirmed dead in a coal mine flooding in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Sunday morning, local authorities said.  Rescuers recovered all the bodies by 2:45 am Sunday, and relatives of each victims received 300,000 yuan (US$44,000) in compensation, said the Xiao Lei, head of the Wuzhou City Work Safety Bureau. The flooding occurred at about 9 am Friday in a township-owned Longneng Coal Mining Co, when 13 miners were working underground. Five managed to escape, and one was rescued. Police had held the mine owner for investigation, Xiao said. Work safety and police officials are investigating the cause of the accident.

*

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-01/24/content_9367911.htm

[Via http://coalmountain.wordpress.com]

Seven Sold Out Chinese Shows Canceled in Hong Kong

By Wu Xue’er & Matthew Robertson, Epoch Times Staff, Jan. 24, 2010-

Shen Yun Performing Arts, warmly received in more than 100 cities worldwide so far, is effectively being denied entry by the Hong Kong authorities just days before seven sold-out shows were to begin.

Shen Yun performs traditional Chinese dance and music—so traditional that it is not welcome by the communist regime in mainland China.

Shen Yun has been canceled in Hong Kong, local organizers announced at noon on Jan. 23, citing the refusal of Hong Kong authorities to issue visas to seven key production staff. The 7,000 residents of this world financial center who held tickets to the much-anticipated premier of Shen Yun will have to wait.

Six days before the show’s debut on Jan. 27, Hong Kong’s Immigration Department informed the company that seven production staff would be denied entry. Later, one of the staff members was given oral permission to enter after the organizing team made repeated entreaties for a re-evaluation.

Visa Trouble, or Political Interference?

Ostensibly the visas were canceled because, according to the authorities, it was not necessary to bring in expatriate staff to fill the roles. Hong Kong public figures have criticized the decision, claiming that it was actually a result of political pressure from Beijing.

Shen Yun’s artists include practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned and persecuted in China, and its performances include artistic representations of Chinese citizens standing up to end the persecution. Supporters say the sensitivity of the subject for mainland Chinese authorities is behind the refusal.

Although presenters applied for the visas on Oct. 13, 2009, the denials came only a week before the opening show. Hon. Albert Ho Chun-yan, legislative council member and chairman of the Democratic Party (Hong Kong), believes the last minute denials were intentional and politically motivated.

According to Ho, the Immigration Department may be acting under pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to prevent Shen Yun from performing in Hong Kong. Ho suspects that the authorities’ strategy was to stall the visa approval process for as long as possible and then deny the visas of key staff.

A press release from Shen Yun Performing Arts says they had “clearly explained” to Hong Kong authorities that the production members were an integral part of the show.

“Our production staff are highly trained in Shen Yun’s specific artistic requirements, which are exceptionally technical and detailed. They cannot be replaced and the show cannot go on without them,” the release said. The positions included lighting, sound effects, and a backdrop technician……. (more details from The Epochtimes)

[Via http://chinaview.wordpress.com]

Friday, January 22, 2010

Twitter!!!

Is this the first post on the internet about Twitter?  No.  Is it even kind of early.  No.  Will it be the last post about Twitter.  NO!!!  I don’t even want to assume that anyone potentially looking at Rashan’s World doesn’t know what Twitter is, so I won’t waste our time by going into that.  The question that I’m looking to address here, is about the negativity or positivity of Twitter.  It’s definitely up in the air.  Twitter has been out for a minute now, and only building up more and more strength as it goes.  When I first heard of Twitter, none of my friends were on it, and I thought it was a cool idea, so I brought it up to everyone, and was not met with too much excitement.  But now, pretty much everybody has it, even if they don’t use it at all (Kody, Ashley Rose).  My girlfriend, Ashley Rose isn’t on it right now because she’s currently in China where they keep pretty much any sort of social networking, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. ON LOCK!  I think that Twitter can be a stupid idea, if you’re just arbitrarily tweeting about whatever uninteresting thing you’re doing at the moment.  For example…JOHN DOE is “on the toilet!”  Unnecessary.  Twitter is at its best when really used to keep in touch with friends, building something, or working towards some sort of goal.  And the more interesting the person, for the most part, the more interesting the Tweetage.  I have an account, and am working towards actually being good at it, and hitting it up at least once per day.  If you’re not on, then I actually do recommend getting an account, its free, and can be pretty cool, some celebrities are really funny.  A good one is Chad Ochocinco!  And if you’re on and you like Rashan’s World…then follow me!!!!!!

[Via http://rashansworld.com]

Rewind: A Look Back at January 21, 2010



We share a lot of information each day! We are going to capture some of our favorites here each day and highlight our favorite interactions each day with the hope that you’ll find great new people on twitter to connect with.

Here are some of our favorite tweets from today.

Most Popular

Battle for A Senate Seat Determined by a GOP Tweet http://ow.ly/Ys80

Justice Department: $675K Verdict For File-Sharing Is Constitutional http://ow.ly/16orUe

News

RT @mediacorpdrtv: Toyota Recalls 2.3M US Vehicleshttp://ow.ly/Z8WW

Hillary Clinton: China Should Investigate Google Attacks – http://ow.ly/ZeZV

Ad Campaigns

NAD Recommends MillerCoors Alter Taste-Protection Claims: CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — So it turns out Miller Lite’s “ne…http://ow.ly/ZbPH

Marketing, Branding & Advertising

Brands Who Want to Connect Must Cross Boundaries:http://ow.ly/ZbQ9

Super Bowl Host Stadium Gets Naming Rights Deal: CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Here’s an unusual way to grab some Super S…http://ow.ly/ZbSI

Starbucks Quarterly Profit More Than Triples to $242 Million: http://ow.ly/ZbRr

Microsoft May Lose More of Facebook’s Advertising Businesshttp://ow.ly/ZaQm

iPhone & Android now account for 81% of US smartphone Web ads – (via @erickschonfeld @ClarkF) http://ow.ly/Zf3R

Tech

Amazon Cracks Open the Kindle http://ow.ly/ZbZE

Google Offers Higher-Res Collection of Haiti Satellite Imagery http://ow.ly/16odJH

Online Marketing, SEO, SEM, PPC

Google CEO: We’re Hugely Optimistic About the Internet -http://bit.ly/7W9BDJ

Social Media News

Facebook Breaking Ground on Our First Custom Data Center – We have come a long way from our roots in a Harvard dorm… http://ow.ly/16ogVr

Bill Gates Explodes Onto The Social Media Scene http://ow.ly/ZevB

YouTube Launches Music Video Suggestion Tool - http://ow.ly/ZeYY

Foursquare BlackBerry Client Launches to the Public – http://ow.ly/Zf0J

How to Build Conversations in Social Media Using the 3 P’s from @webworkerdaily http://ow.ly/Zc1a

Facebook to Launch Dashboard for Your Games and Apps [PIC]http://ow.ly/ZcuS

RT @HowellMarketing 10 Ways to Benefit More From Social Media in 2010 /via @valeomarketing http://ow.ly/ZbKo

Mobile Marketing & Apps

Google Has High Hopes for Display, Mobile Advertising in ‘10: NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Google turned in a strong fo…http://ow.ly/ZbPb

Sooner or Later, Facebook Will Launch Its Own Phone: Facebook easily has the brand equity to launch its own phone…http://ow.ly/ZbQK

Nat Geo Adds World Atlas App, More Coming http://ow.ly/16osUw

AdMob: Apple may break its tie with Nokia for world dominationhttp://ow.ly/Zcfq

Five Mobile Trends For 2010: Advertising is not what it was ten years ago. The past decade has seen the advent of …http://ow.ly/ZbR9

U.S. Army Gets an iPhone App -http://ow.ly/ZeTp

Videos

Video Insider: Flash: The Death Of HTML – Quick question for all you power-marketers out there: Is Fla…http://ow.ly/16odII

Here’s The Situation: Little Jersey Shore Is a Big Online Hit [VIDEO] – http://ow.ly/ZeVc

NBC Pulls Web Clips of Conan’s Most Expensive Bit Ever [VIDEO] - http://ow.ly/Zf1x

Social Good

Charities fight for piece of $5 million prize on Facebook http://ow.ly/ZaEO #socialgood #facebook

Support The Locals

RT @debjohanning: @EvansMediaGroup Yes, it’s in downtown#Lawrence. Come out for the anniversary #ltwup tweetup next week! www.ltwup.com

RT @jeffisageek: Happy Birthday to@vivid13

RT @markvanbaale RT @JennBailey Let’s do lunch! #SMCKC luncheon at WilJennys 1/27 http://bit.ly/6iTCHi

RT @thesandbar Get out of the gloomy weather and pretend it’s sunny and warm instead. $2 tropical drinks all day & night!

Hmm…

I Gave My 3 Year Old an iPhone: Have I Created a Monster?http://ow.ly/Zc3F

Just Plain Funny

RT @jeffreyhartmann: @EvansMediaGroup I still have memories of this Bill Gates story, a problem I wish I had: http://ow.ly/Zf66

Stats & Case Studies

Stats: More than 60% of North American marketers have used iPhone apps as a marketing channel - http://ow.ly/Zf2T

Stats: 36% of North American retailers say they will offer mobile coupons by the end of 2010 #eDaily http://ow.ly/Zf3n

RT Recognition for our Favorite Twitter Rockstars

Thank you to the follow for following @EvansMediaGroup and RT’ing our content.

@shannonholato @johnqcreative @StephinVegas @edwinvillafane @HowellMarketing

@PaperTrace @bettervideo @debjohanning @debdobson @vivid13 @correlationist

@laurenrubin @gpritchard @JohnnysTavernPV @sarasocialmedia @michellelamar

@skywax @foundationmedia @mediacorpdrtv



[Via http://evansmediagroup.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Google delays Android handsets in China

NEWS

Google delays Android handsets in China

By Kathrin Hille, FT.com

January 20, 2010 6:38 a.m. EST

turner-cnn

Beijing, China (FT) — Google’s standoff with the Chinese government over hacking has claimed its first casualties outside the U.S. Internet company itself, with the delay to the launches of two Android-based mobile handsets in the country.

The launch of the two handsets, developed with Samsung and Motorola for China Unicom, the country’s second-largest mobile operator, had been postponed, Google China said.

The move indicates that the Android-based platform — the open source mobile operating system designed by Google to allow developers to build customized handsets — is likely to suffer from the company’s warning to pull out of China.

Industry analysts said Samsung’s GT-i6500U and Motorola’s XT701 were scheduled to launch for China Unicom on Wednesday. The Samsung handset would have carried Google’s logo and both devices would have run Google applications, industry sources said.

The news came as China’s foreign ministry said Google was not above China’s laws, which leaves scant hope for talks that the U.S. company has said it wants to conduct with Beijing over how its China business operates.

“Foreign firms in China should respect China’s laws and regulations, and respect China’s public customs and traditions, and assume the corresponding social responsibilities, and of course Google is no exception,” said Ma Zhaoxu, foreign ministry spokesman.

Smartphone makers have piled into China, the world’s largest mobile phone market with more than 700M subscribers, in recent months. The launch of third-generation mobile services last year triggered a fight for high-end subscribers between the three main Chinese network operators. The iPhone was officially launched late last year through China Unicom, the second-largest operator. Blackberry also stepped up its engagement in China through alliances with China Mobile and China Telecom, the smallest operator.

Several handset vendors have already launched Android phones there. China Mobile, the country’s leading mobile operator, has also developed the OPhone, a highly customized platform that is in turn built on Android software.

Analysts said Google’s conflict with Beijing was unlikely to have much impact on China Mobile’s OPhone. “The Ophone has replaced G-mail [and] Google search content with [China Mobile Communications Corp's] applications, so OPhone has no connections with the content related upheaval,” said Flora Wu, handset analyst at BDA, a Beijing-based telecoms consultancy.

However, the Android ecosystem could suffer in the longer term if Google’s departure from China hurts Chinese vendors’ confidence of releasing Android-based phones, she added.

“It was Google who suddenly stopped this in the tracks,” pointed out one person working on the project.

Samsung in Beijing said it was no longer clear whether the launch would take place and redirected requests for comment to China Unicom.

China Unicom did not reply to requests for comment.

Motorola could not immediately be reached for comment.

© The Financial Times Limited 2010

© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Share

[Via http://dominicstoughton.wordpress.com]

The Places I've Been: Dandong

I’d like to profile a few of the smaller places I’ve been in China, places that you’ve probably not heard about.  Today, I want to start with a small city in the north-eastern province of Liaoning, called Dandong.  I traveled to Dandong during my first trip to China, in the winter of 2007, and I returned the following winter with my family when they came from Canada to visit.

Dandong is a pretty small city by Chinese standards, but it does have a few notable aspects that make it worth visiting.  Likely what attracts most travelers here is its proximity to North Korea; it is situated directly across the Yalu River from the city of Sinŭiju, in Kim Jong-Il’s hermit kingdom.  Korean food is plentiful here, as is Korean-Chinese culture, and many of the Korean-Chinese who live here have family across the river in North Korea.

On the Chinese bank of the Yalu you can buy a variety of North Korean novelties, such as currency, or pay one or two RMB to peer across the river through a telescope for a few minutes (there’s nothing really to see except a run-down ferris wheel.)  Though, if that isn’t close enough for you, you can pay a bit more and hop in a speedboat which will take you on a 10 minute ride across the river and back.

The closest I got to North Korea.

The city saw some of the destruction of the Korean War, and there is a museum here commemorating it (from the Chinese Communist perspective, of course.)  It’s called the Museum to Commemorate U.S. Aggression, but despite the name, it is worth visiting to see some of the war-time artifacts that have been preserved.

Some American army badges and medals, taken from prisoners of war.

During the war, the United States (“accidentally”) bombed the bridge spreading the Yalu between the two countries.  The Chinese side was rebuilt, however the North Koreans didn’t bother, resulting in a bridge to nowhere that is now a tourist site.  The newer Chinese-Korean Friendship Bridge was built beside it, though, which probably doesn’t see a whole lot of traffic.

The bridge to nowhere.

The river does freeze, but it’s pretty well guarded, and few would dare to walk across in either direction.  A friend visited Dandong in 2008 and claims (an armed) North Korean soldier walked across to talk to him and his Chinese friends at a more isolated spot, and asked for food or money.  I think they obliged him.

In addition to the Korean kitsch, there is some Chinese history here.   The Ming Dynasty began its extension of the Great Wall from Dandong, and part of it has been restored for tourists.

The Great Wall at Tiger Mountain.

I took my family here in December of 2008, and it was icy and steep.  It is located a few kilometers out of town on Tiger Mountain, so you need to take a small bus to get there (Chinese buses are always fun… more on that later.)  It just dropped people off, though, and I never was able to find out if it came back at any time.  Fortunately, a passing car was willing to stop for us and take us back to the city.  A very small car, which somehow my parents, sister and myself crammed into, much to their amusement.

It’s worth checking out, if only for a day or two. Plenty of places to go hiking, great Korean food, and a view that is unique.

[Via http://stephensmart.wordpress.com]

Monday, January 18, 2010

Google China starts the year with a bang

January is supposed to be a quiet month but, in my experience at least, it rarely is. Already, we’ve seen Kraft make the rather curious move of calling in post-merger counsel for a merger that may not happen. And, from what I understand, London 2012 last week held presentations for its global PR business.

Interesting stories, but nothing quite compares to the Google China imbroglio. PRWeek Global has analysed the PR issues at play here, finding a sensitive and multi-faceted scenario which will affect Google, other foreign tech brands in China, and the country’s own homegrown players.

That, of course, is just one way of looking at Google’s rather remarkable decision to potentially call a halt to its China presence. In truth, there are so many angles at play here, it is hard to imagine another media story from Asia topping this one this year.

There are many who believe Google has only made this decision because its China operation has rarely looked like toppling the savvy market leader, Baidu.

Perhaps. But Google is hardly an abject failure in the mainland. It counts around 35% of the search market. Not earth-shattering for a company that routinely clocks up double that proportion in other countries – but for a foreign internet brand, these are respectable figures. Of course, it shouldn’t be forgotten – as Shaun Rein points out – that Google entered China as the market leader, only to be overtaken by the considerably more nimble Baidu.

There have also been plenty of attempts to second-guess Google’s decision – putting it down to the company’s famously elastic ‘don’t be evil’ motto. I’m inclined to take Google at face value – it simply can’t provide the product it wants to in China. At a certain point, that becomes a significant operational issue for a company that places so much value in its reputation.

Meanwhile, other issues come to mind – which I have not really seen explored fully yet. What does this mean for Google’s Chinese partners, for example? Sina runs Google’s search on its homepage, while China Mobile uses Android and Google Search for its smartphone range.

Analysts are unimpressed. The sheer scale of China’s internet market, makes any decision to pullout hard to quantify in financial terms. How will Google’s move affect the maturity of China’s search advertising market, though? The company has brought some much needed standards and transparency to the environment. Its absence cannot bode well for marketers and their agencies.

Then there are questions over how China reacts to such a public snub. The country’s charm offensive has made steady progress in recent years, but re-examination of its widespread media controls cannot help. Particularly coming so soon after a Copenhagen performance that attracted plenty of criticism.

The US may have downplayed Google’s threat, but this will also have implications for its ongoing relationship with China. Whether it also attracts the attention of the WTO, which has already tried to clamp down on China’s media restrictions, is another matter.

[Via http://streetmedia.wordpress.com]

Google Threatens to Exit China

In mid-December, Google detected a sophisticated cyber attack on its corporate infrastructure.

Further investigation revealed that Google was among a number of Silicon Valley businesses and entities–from the finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–that fell under siege. The attackers may have succeeded in the theft of intellectual property, in the form of corporate data and software source codes.

Additionally, Google discovered that dozens of Gmail accounts belonging to Chinese human rights activists appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These activists were based in China, as well as Europe and the US. The search-engine giant suspected these attacks originated from China.

From the Official Google Blog:

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China.

We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all.

We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

According to the NY Times, Google executives have privately fretted for years that the company’s decision to censor the search results on google.cn, to filter out topics banned by Chinese censors, was out of sync with the company’s official motto, “Don’t be evil.”

[Via http://animalcules.wordpress.com]

Friday, January 15, 2010

Anyone Talking About The Shiny Stuff?

In the past few days, the news headlines have been dominated by financials and technology.  First, there are new taxes being proposed on financial firms.  We bailed them out and now it’s payback time.  At least, that seems to be the attitude in Washington.  No more too big to fail.  Then, we have earnings.  Several financial firms are reporting their earnings in the next few days.  JP Morgan kicked it off this morning.  As a group, financials have performed pretty well this year.  But, besides financials, technology have also been the talk of the town.  Smartphones were extremely popular for Christmas gifts and with Windows 7 causing a technology upgrade, these stocks have done very well also. Then, we get word that Google wants to pull out of China because they are concerned about the Chinese government hacking into their systems.  Other American companies admit the same but have been too scared to say anything in fear of losing business in China.  All of this news in the financial & tech industries has caused investors to forget about some of the sectors that dominated the front page in 2009.

Gold, which was up about 25% last year, is off to a good start in 2010 as well but isn’t getting the headlines and I believe it’s on the verge of a big move.  The dollar, which had a nice run late in the year has given back almost half of its gains but it’s not newsworthy anymore apparently.  I think it’s still very relevant as are interest rates and gold will certainly be a mover in 2010.

You can see from the picture above that gold has been making higher lows for some time but has just recently been making lower highs as well.  Something will give and I think it will be soon, just like sugar late last year.  With the stock market overbought in the short-term, investors may look to re-allocate to another asset class and gold could be it.  I’m bullish on lots of different metals but I wanted to highlight gold since I get so many questions about gold generally.

[Via http://keggerss.wordpress.com]

Google, China, Hillary, and Roswell

Is this a great country or what?  While doing some research on Google, China, and Hillary Clinton (who had dinner with Google’s CEO last week and performed very credibly as his mouthpiece this week), I came across a tidbit I just can’t keep to myself.  The Paradigm Research Group (PRG), which pesters the federal government to release files on Roswell, NM so we don’t have to, has been demanding the release of files relating to a previous assault on the Clintons for release of Roswell-related files, back in the mid-1990s.

Got that?  PRG put its Open Letter to Hillary Clinton on the web in April 2008, and reported afterward that Google apparently manipulated its search engine to prevent the Open Letter from coming up at the top of a Google search (on, if you were wondering, “open letter to Hillary Clinton”).  Read PRG’s argument for yourself if you want to form an opinion; neutrality reigns here.

Things get more fascinating if you pursue a few links, however.  Here’s something you don’t see every day.  There’s a whole bunch here.  Who knew?  Our Secretary of State is being pursued relentlessly for what some indefatigable theorists out there think she knows about UFOs.

That is so cool.

Here I was, just wondering why Secretary Clinton was so Hillary-on-the-spot with her vocal support of Google’s recent China gambit, and this glinting gemstone comes to light.  I still haven’t fully formed an opinion on the original, pedestrian question as to the whys of Google’s move and the State Department’s unusually prompt and specific endorsement of it.  I don’t attribute things like this to Trilateral Commission conspiracies or even back-room baksheesh, so my thinking is that the Obama administration is looking for bargaining chips with China.

As a number of commentators have, with straight faces, pointed out, Obama is becoming disappointed with the unsatisfactory results of his charm-and-appeasement offensive with Beijing.  At the behest of union supporters, Congressional Democrats authorized a big tariff on tires imported from China in September, and Obama has appeared to be trying to use calibration of that tariff in a carrot-and-stick approach throughout the fall, to get China onboard with sanctions against Iran.  Also as a nod to the unions, Obama filed a complaint against China with the WTO, in the summer of 2009.  The complaint alleges that China is hoarding raw materials, with the effect of price manipulation in world markets.  (Half a dozen other nations, including, most recently, Canada, have joined the complaint.)

With all this positive energy in the trade realm, it shouldn’t surprise us that China’s position is that we’re full of it, and China’s going to do what she has to do.  The US and the EU have been urging Beijing to let the yen rise – to revalue it – for weeks now, and the Chinese are having none of that.  A low yen keeps their exports relatively cheap and attractive, and penalizes competitors.  Earlier this week, an official who administers China’s sovereign wealth fund, in a speech to an academic audience that made ripples through the financial columns around the world, asserted that China is in a position now to affect the value of the US dollar (in effect, to exercise a veto in managing its float), and predicted that it would rise in 2010 while the yen would remain soft.

Unlike Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, the Chinese don’t go around letting fly with the verbal inanities with no appreciation of their impact.  Any such statement would have been premeditated, even if the timing was not pre-vetted.  The Chinese official later clarified that he was offering a personal opinion in an academic environment, but in fact, his comments confirmed existing suspicions abroad rather than being actually surprising.

There’s a lot of jockeying for position erupting out there.  As the nations glare at each other over trade and currency policy, China has also announced a major change in her security policy:  she will now embrace the concept of national missile defense, rather than insisting on mutual assured destruction as the basis of global security.  I suggested reasons for that here.

There was also an unseemly rush by Russia and China to sign fresh aid and cooperation agreements with Yemen in the week after the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt.  They have decades of arms sales, bribery, and influence purchasing invested in Yemen, and if the US increases our footprint there it will represent a significant and unprecedented event, from the standpoint of the geographic distribution of clients in the region.  Yemen’s not “ours,” Yemen’s “theirs.”  They don’t have to be Soviet Communists to read a map and care about where the best footholds are in the Middle East; they just have to be Russia and China.  It would be downright stupid to assume they are incapable of seeing, as quickly as we have or faster, what we are likely to think we need to do in Yemen – and they will be standing there with suitcases full of cash and container ships full of weapons, ready to maneuver around every enlargement of our objectives and operations.

So we come to Google’s move with China.  The business press thinks Secretary Clinton was briefed on this move last week, during her dinner with CEO Eric Schmidt.  The fanfare with which Google has gone about this suggests to me that Clinton was at least positive, and very likely encouraging.  Industry pundits have pointed out that it would have been more typical for Google – or any other big internet services company – to do this quietly, and leave both Google and China room to maneuver, save face, and reach an agreement.  Google’s inveterate willingness to operate in this accommodating manner makes the take-it-or-leave-it posture of the 12 January announcement out of character, at the very least.

The uncompromising Google statement, and Clinton’s synchronous endorsement, look from here like the result of more than prior agreement.  They look like the seizing of an opportunity already sought – independently – by the State Department, to put China in a position to want to bargain.

How this would be done using the Google threat is the subject of much conjecture around the blogosphere.  A number of analysts suggest that the US might make the case to the WTO that government censorship is a restraint-of-trade issue, and file a pathbreaking complaint against China.  They cite Clinton’s upcoming 21 January speech, on technology policy as an issue of international relations, and postulate that her on-cue support of Google’s complaints against Beijing is connected to the overall posture that will be outlined then.

All of that remains to be seen, of course.  I’m not convinced that the Obama administration will do as well at hardball bargaining as the Chinese, at least not when the realm of operations at issue is the internet.  Since the internet-governing body ICANN ceased reporting to the US Department of Commerce last fall, China’s options for branching out and basically creating her own top-level domain(s) and protocols have been institutionalized – instead of it being an act of deliberate isolation, China (and anyone else) can do a lot now that there is no longer an a priori institutional prejudice against.  (There is a good and accessible summary here of some key consequences from the 2009 shake-up of ICANN, its governing rules, and its relationship with the US DOC.)

ICANN also reports now solely and ultimately to its Government Advisory Committee, on which any nation that wants representation can have it.  The GAC’s December conference notes are somewhat humorous for the hint they give of the bureaucratic impediments that lie in store for the makers of internet rules, now that there is no US DOC in the picture to break ties and impose efficiency.  ICANN’s professionals are all still at work, but there’s no official “big dog” overseeing concepts and implementation from the very top echelon now – and the nations on the GAC have already figured out they don’t agree on everything.

In an evolving situation like this, the government of China will be far less constrained than the US government is by the obligation to guarantee regularity for its people’s access to a functioning internet.  There would be visceral resistance on all sides to upsetting a status quo that is so deeply embedded in everyone’s commercial life – but the outer wall is already breached, simply by the fact that ICANN and the GAC have avowedly shifted to a new basis of operations that is not subject to the final review of the US DOC any more.  It’s no longer an official hurdle, for China to propose to do something the US doesn’t approve of in the most basic level of internet operations; indeed, on ICANN’s new basis for operations, accommodating the wishes of all users is explicitly to be prioritized.

If Obama tries to strong-arm China over the internet, it’s at least as possible that China will begin setting up her own proprietary infrastructure, and making business with China contingent on subscribing to it, as that she will knuckle to US pressure.  In fact, if I were China, I’d see this as an excellent opportunity – a costly one, to be sure, and one to be watched and prepared for, and only seized under certain conditions.  But the conditions could very well emerge in the next few years.

It is not in the US national interest to promote the emergence of those conditions.  It will be harder, not easier, to manage our relations with China on multiple levels, if Beijing starts claiming a list of inconvenient multilateralist privileges under the new, improved ICANN governance.  Nothing the Obama administration has done so far has suggested that it is motivated strongly by concerns about freedom of speech, religion, or association; Obama’s comments about internet freedom in China were tepid and weasel-worded.  Hillary Clinton seems more likely to be endorsing the Google complaint as a pretext for ratcheting up diplomatic disputes with China – and that is a dangerous game.

Again, we will see where this all goes.  I hope the Obama administration is not manufacturing dispute actions against China as a way of racking up bargaining chips.  That would be Chicago politics, or Hugo Chavez’s “Bolivarian” foreign policy, and the opposite of statesmanship.  Whatever we do in this regard, we will find that Beijing will play harder ball than Washington has the latitude to.  Going on a “technology policy” crusade, assuming Hillary Clinton fulfills the promise of next week’s speech, comes out of the blue for the American people and our expectations about Obama’s priorities – if this is a deliberate maneuver, it’s a serious question whether Obama can really manage the consequences his administration would be inviting.

But at least we’ve got that Hillary-and-the-UFOs connection out in the open now.

[Via http://theoptimisticconservative.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

2018 - deadline for Taiwan invasion?

Recently, I’ve noticed some “big shrimps” on Chinese bbs mention that China is likely to invade Taiwan by 2018. We can all guess the reasonings, but will China be able to improve enough by then to make this possible?



I will just go through a list of projects related air force and navy that should be ready by 2018.



Varyag being moved to dry dock near the Dalian shipyards in late April 2009.

Aircraft Carrier – The symbol of super power status. According to all reports, it seems China will start with Varyag as the training carrier (and possibly attack helo carrier in the future) and then build 2 CATOBAR carrier by 2018. These 2 will be the first generation of Chinese carriers. From all reports, the suppliers have already supplied most of the parts. They are just waiting for the construction to start in the new Changxin shipyard. By 2015, we might see these carriers being launched and conducting sea tests. So, the next question is what kind of aerial fleet will support them.

J-11B

J-11 Naval – Currently, China is working a twin-seated version of flankers based on su-30mkk called J-11BS. So, converting J-11B into a multi-role strike platform like F-15E. Needless to say, this flanker will have higher payload and longer range than the existing J-11B. The radar will be more multi-roled. It might get a powerful AESA radar when it is ready. The weapons on this plane will include all of the latest Chinese weapons like PL-12, PL-8B, KD-88, YJ-91, YJ-83K, LS-500, LS-6, FT series and next generation weapons like more SGBs, new SRAAM and LRAAM. This was chosen as the naval fighter ahead of J-10 due to PLAN’s requirements for more multirole capability + longer range. With the help they are getting from the Ukrainian. This might be ready to go by early next decade and fly off the Varyag.

J-10

Twin-Engined “J-10″ – This possibility has been discussed for a long time and maybe J-10 is not a good name for it. But it seems that CAC has a project (that will sort of compete with 5th generation fighter) that will build a heavy fighter (although smaller than flankers) based on a lot of aerodynamic lessons from J-10. This fighter is supposed to be very stealthy, be able to supercruise without afterburners, have the latest avionics like AESA radar, built in IRST, more advanced EW suite and such. There are some talk that this might end up as the second generation of naval fighters, but that’s still a long time from now. The air force version should be ready by around 2012 (the upgraded Taihang engine should be available by then), but a possible naval version would come at a later date (possibly ready for the first indigenous carriers, > 2015).

Y-7

Y-7 AEW – We have also seen pictures of Y-7 AEW. Knowing the success of Y-8 surveillence projects, I think the hardest part might be getting Y-7s to be able to fly off the indigenous CATOBAR carriers. This is another project that doesn’t need to be fielded before 2015.

Now, for the rest of the fleet.



095 – We’ve seen 093 pictures coming out and it has surprised many with more Western similarities than Russian features. 095’s reactor vessel is supposed to be finished by 2010. So, the construction of 095 should start by early 2010s and be finished and commissioned between 2016-2018 (using 093’s path). I think the goal of this submarine is to match Virginia, but whether that can be achieved is another story. Of course in the mean time, I would expect more 093s to be built to possibly 8?



096 – A new generation SSBN – not much details have come out, I’d suspect 094s would still handle majority of the action for the next decade. The number that I’ve typically seen speculated for 094 is 4 to 6.



SSGN – There has been some talk of SSGN development, but the progress of this is unknown.



052D/… – It looks like 052C was stopped for a few years due to JiangNan relocation + sorting out all the issues on 052B/C. But the new generation 052D is suppose to start construction in early 2008 in Changxin. We could easily see production of 2 or more per year until there are enough to replace the Ludas. Of course, each iteration will be slightly better than the previous one.

054 series – This is the lo-end of the combination. Future 054s should be using CODOG rather than CODAD propulsion according to what Richard Fisher’s article talked about. Whether the number of air defense missiles and ASW suite will change or not is not known at this point. We know that once they decide on producing 054s, they can build them very fast (more than 4 per year). So, it’s quite possible we will have 30 054s by 2018.



Conventional Submarines – The mass production of Yuan (039A) has recently started. It’s hard to see that this will continue more than the mass production run of 3rd variants of Song. So, we might see 10 Yuan at most. Although, I think China will soon be developing a class of conventional submarine to match U-214, Scorpene and Amur. I’m guessing Oyashio and Collins are still in a league of their own. Either way, this new class will most likely endure a long initial production process like Song did before mass production. Although judging from Song’s production of 4 per year (at its height), it shouldn’t be long before Yuan or this new diesel class replace all the Mings plus earlier Song class submarines.



071 and helo carriers – The first 071 is already in sea test. It looks like the displacement of 071 is over 20K tonnes and can carry about 2 Z-8s in the hangar + 2 or 3 on the helipad. A lot of people have been disappointed by what they view as inadequate air defense. But realistically speaking, LPDs really don’t need that much air defense. Also, it’s likely that future 071s will have some SAM launchers. Once they’ve sorted out all the problems in the design, we will probably see 1 being built per year. And we will likely see 5 to 10 071s by 2018 and they will probably be instrumental in any invasion attempt. At the same time, a helo carrier design is definitely being worked on. From PLA’s fascination with Western systems, I would guess it would go for something similar around the displacement of the WASP class. It would most likely field a combination of Z-8, helix, new 10 tonne helo, Z-15 naval and Z-10 naval. Although, I think it would be interesting to see whether China develops something like V-22 and/or VSTOL aircraft. I’ve definitely seen plans for this. As for numbers, I guess 2 or 3 by 2018? With 071 and aircraft carrier already in the work, PLAN don’t have that much resource left.



022 – We have seen these FACs come out at an extremely fast rate. By my calculation, their production should be finished in the next 5 years and form the basis of coastal defense for years to come. The number can go anywhere from 60 to 100.



Corvette- Although we haven’t seen any ships of this class come out, it’s clear that China will need something like this for ASW duties and such. In between 022 and 054 series, there exists a need for something that is between 1500 and 2000 tonnes in displacement. We’ve seen a SWATH ship coming out recently possibly as an intelligence ship and equipping with a Chinese equivalent of SURTASS, but that should not eliminate this requirement.



Supporting fleet – We’ve seen other ships coming out recently like Medical ship, replenishment ships, new MCM ships (like 804, 805), Yuanwang and such. These are not noticed, but they would definitely support any long distance expedition or invasion against Taiwan. It seems from these past development that China is not neglecting these supporting units.



For the remaining air force related ones:

J-XX

J-XX – This is the code word given in the west on the 5th generation PLAAF jet. The project is believed to be carried out by SAC. Although, it probably is a combined effort between SAC and CAC. The twin-engined J-10 is supposed to be developed to counter F-35 and be able to defend on home soil against F-22. Whereas the aim of J-XX is to be on par with F-22. So when will this be ready? With the recent work on avionics, I don’t think developing a word class avionics system will be the most difficult part. So, the two biggest problem are stealth and engine. Can China develop the necessary stealth technology to make J-XX as invisible as F-22. That remains to be seen, but work on the recent PLAN ships and even up close pictures of J-10’s intake provide confidence for J-XX. The engine will most likely start off with an upgraded version of Taihang with a T/W ratio of 9 to 10 (The version with 9 is suppose to come out with twin-engined J-10) and then switch over to the much talked about WS-15. WS-15 seems to be ready by 2015-2018, so I would say that J-XX will probably join service at around that time.

J-11B

J-11BS/J-10 mod – The remaining influential part of the air force will probably consist of J-11BS (China’s Su-34/F-15E) and the “stealthy” J-10. The stealthy J-10 supposedly has just test flied recently. It will have much better avionics, lower RCS and eventually use better engine than the current J-10. It will definitely be holding down the fort until twin-engined J-10 comes along. I suspect that due to its cheaper cost as a single engined fighter, it will be procured even when J-XX and twin-engined “J-10″ are established in the force.

AAMs/Engines – Timelines for engines seem to be 2008 for WS-13 (since it already is in the midst of long duration testing), 2010 or earlier for the higher thrusted WS-12 (which unlike WS-13 is apparently not a copy of RD-93), 2010 for the T/W ratio = 9 WS-10, 2014 for T/W ratio > 10 WS-10 and 2017 for WS-15. As for AAM, there seems to be a need for a 5th generation SRAAM, a modern LRAAM in the mode of KS-172 and continuous upgrade to PL-12. Past interviews have mentionned that these projects are well under way.



PLAAF IL-76

Large Transport – The demise of the IL-76 has untold number of consequences for PLA. The most notable ones are lack of airframes for KJ-2000 and large transport. There are other ones too. PLA at the moment is forced to use Y-8 as the platform to test out all of its new surveillence platforms. Some of which may make more sense on a large transport like the proposed 60 tonne aircraft under development. Other than large AWACS, other uses for the large transport includes refueller, ABL platform and E-8 Jstars like surveillence aircraft. Even with Antonov’s help, it probably won’t be ready until the middle of next decade. Even then, production will be slow. So, it looks like PLA will have a tonne of trouble with IL-76 situation until then. I would put this as one of the biggest trouble spot for any invasion attempt.

Z-10

Attack Helicopter – It looks like Z-10 is almost ready to join service. Even domestic engines for Z-10 are close to being ready. Although due to the cost, Z-10 may not be fielded in large numbers.

Support Helicopter – Right now, Z-8F and Z-9 are the other two main helicopters in service with PLA. HC-120 seems to have cornered the trainer helo market. Mi-26 will be inducted in some numbers to offer its 20 tonne of payload. Mi-17 will be continuously purchased due to its low cost and good performance/reliability (better cost/performance ratio than Z-8F). The 10 tonne helicopter and Z-15 should both be ready by the beginning of the next decade. The 10 tonne helicopter would be an idea naval helicopter platform to replace helix, whereas Z-15 naval could be used for frigates. By 2018, I would expect both of these platforms to be equipped in sufficient numbers to resolve China’s problems with transport and naval helicopter.



In general, many of the major ticket items we know about are finishing from 2012 to 2016. It’s part of China’s drive to further close its gap with US military. Whether or not the platforms will be developed on time and the performance/training on these platforms will decide the future conflict.

Source: China Defence Blog

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

Despite What Confucius Says...

April 29, 2007

Confucius says, “Nowadays for a man to be filial means no more than that he is able to provide his parents with food. Even hounds and horses are, in some way, provided with food. If a man shows no reverence, where is the difference?” Filial piety has long been a standard tradition and custom amongst the Chinese. Embedded in their minds by ancient Chinese philosophers, it is strictly understood that children must care for their elders or parents with unconditional love and respect. Unlike the American tendency for parents to live separately when the child has grown into adults, Chinese families believe in the idea of having three generations under one roof: the grandparents, the parents and the children.

Ever since I was young, I have been raised by my parents as well as my grandparents. Although my mother immigrated to the United States, she applied for a visa for her parents to reside here. Almost every morning as I left for school, I bade goodbye to my grandmother while she was participating in her daily routine of the Tai Chi martial art. I rode in the backseat as my father drove his mother-in-law to the local Chinese herbalist almost every week to examine her health. When my grandmother occasionally heads back to China, she returns to the home of her eldest son.  My mother constantly reminds me of my filial duty, “You can’t even cook or peel an apple with a knife! How do you expect to feed or care for me when I’m old? When I was your age, I was already preparing all the meals in my household!”

This filial duty that Chinese families so earnestly believe in was reflected in China’s population. My grandmother tells me, “There was an expression: The more children, the greater your fortune.” With the teaching of Chinese philosophers such as Confucius, the population of China thrived on the birth of children. However, this old Chinese way of thought soon clashed with Communist China’s hopes to develop a prosperous, wealthy, economically advanced nation.

China, encompassing one-fifth of the world’s population with over 1.3 billion, has wrestled with its own traditional past in an attempt to control the rapidly, increasing population. As the Chinese government constantly reminds its people, the state is unable to feed, shelter and support such an overwhelming population. The massive abundance of people is a major cause of the malnourished, starving, and poverty-stricken populous of China. In addition, not only is the state unable to support the people, but in turn, the people are unable to contribute to the prosperity of the state. In fact, the overcrowded population became a weight that dragged down the country’s potential for success.

At the beginning of the Communist reign in 1949 established by Mao Zedong, a large population was commended and encouraged. As Mao states, “It is a very good thing that China has a big population. Even if China’s population multiplies many times, she is fully capable of finding a solution; the solution is production…Under the leadership of the Communist Party, as long as there are people, every kind of miracle can be performed” (Aird 20). However, he soon reinstated his claim when officials reported multiple food shortages and famines erupting across the country and in 1956, he instructed that the Ministry of Public Health begin promoting birth control policies (Aird, 21). This was the beginning of a series of campaigns China launched to implement its birth control restriction.

At first, the policies were not as strictly enforced and merely encouraged. As the population began to rapidly rise, the state began to realize that its tactics were not strong enough. Soon after, the Second Campaign began. During this time, the a separate government branch called the National Family Planning Committee was established and stricter policies were enforced; Only a maximum of two children was allowed per family with two or three years between them and a third child was only considered on extreme conditions. At the same time, intrauterine devices (IUD) and safer abortion techniques were adopted. Intrauterine devices are metal contraptions inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. Both of these methods helped the government promote the limitation of births in China.

In 1969, the Third Campaign was launched after Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. It was then that the two children per family limit was imposed and provincial quotas were established. Each province and its local authorities must abide by these quotas while applying the birth rate policies. If they reached the quotas, then that province was considered progressive and was rewarded. Otherwise, the area was criticized and received no benefits from the government (Aird 26-28). The slogan at the time was “later, longer, fewer”; they promoted later marriages, longer spacing and fewer children (Kane 169). In 1979, when statistics indicated that the population had increased almost 330 million in the past twenty years and showed no signs of slowing, the Chinese government launched the One-Child Policy (Kane 74, 86) which has continued to this day.

The One-Child Policy is a law enforced by the State Family Planning Bureau that regulates family sizes, late marriage, child-bearing and the spacing of children (Hesketh, Lu, Xing). In the documentary, Woman of the Yellow Earth, family planning officials are depicted issuing marriage certificates to Li Fei and Ma Ling, establishing their estimated date of their first child’s birth, as well as strictly enforcing the rural policies on family size. Despite its name, it does not entirely enforce one-child per family in every area of China. It is in fact, intricately complicated with distinct laws and quotas for each province written according to the demographics. In the more densely populated cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, only one child is allowed per family. If the family has more than one child, the family will be fined an incredible sum of money oftentimes as large as fifty percent or more of their income.

“I had a friend of mine; his brother was fined more than a million Yuan (equivalent to an estimated 18,000 USD) because his wife had a second daughter. In some other areas, you can be jailed. Otherwise you will just be fined very heavily. If you can’t pay, they will take away your property or home,” my father recounts.

If the family refuses to pay these fines, then the government will not provide the children with benefits of the state and the second child will not receive recognition as a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. If the family is unable to pay the fine, then the government will take a piece of property as compensation. There are only four exceptions to the one-child policy:

1) In the case of a second marriage, if either partner has not had a child.

2) If the child is born severely deformed or disabled to the point where life expectancy is shortened.

3) If the father is employed in dangerous premises such as mining.

4) If both parents are only children (Zhu).

Thankfully, twins, triplets, quadruplets and such are not penalized and are given the same benefits as only children.

Regardless of the many policies implemented amongst the urban dwellers, many people living in the city find that having only one child is preferable. Living expenses and space is quite sparse and the enrollment in school is expensive thus parents feel less of a strain and financial burden with a single child to support.

Despite 70% of China’s population living in the rural areas, the more widespread population distribution and a necessary demand for labor allow a limit of two children per family. The rules are also more flexible than the city. If the first child born is female, then the couple is allowed another birth (Zhu). This is mainly decided on the fact that males are stronger than females and thus can provide more of a labor force than females. In this case, economic and societal factors are taken into account and given some relaxation in the strict policy.

In Women of the Yellow Earth, the mother Bai had given birth to a third child and the local authorities had begun to enforce the policies on her through fines, urges to sterilize and seizure of property. She explains,

“It won’t be easy to get [my third child] a resident permit. Unless she’s registered we won’t be given land. I’ll have be sterilized in any case. When [the family planning officials] come, you have to get it done. If you refuse, they ask for money. Once you get sterilized you get a refund. Otherwise, that’s the end of your money. If you keep refusing they demand more money. If you have no money they argue. They take the furniture. They use every method they know.”

The grandfather boldly states, “In a family of five, you must hold the spoon tight and you must plough twice as hard.” All actions are taken to prevent the family from having a third child. Eventually, Bai’s family is threatened. She gives up the baby for adoption and undergoes a rather informal surgery for sterilization. In this documentary filmed in 1995, the enforcement of the two children policy in rural areas is as strong as it has always been since the 1980s.

Various arguments from international authorities claimed that China had used coercive, persuasive and inhumane methods to enforce their laws. However, there had been a letter from the State Planning Committee in 1980 forbidding the use of coercion to implement the policies. Despite the warnings, many local authorities, or cadres, rigorously enforced the commandments of the One-Child Policy through methods on the brim of coercion. At the peak of Chinese enforcement of the policy in 1983, in fear of another baby boom, a program began stating that it would “require sterilization of one partner of every couple that had two or more children and the prompt abortion of all unauthorized pregnancies and in addition, woman of childbearing age with one-child must be fitted with IUDs” (Aird 32).  As a result of the program, 20.3% of urban woman underwent sterilization and 39% received IUDs. In comparison, 25% of rural woman were sterilized and 50% received IUDs (Kane 180).

A surgeon in the documentary retells her story, “We do a lot of sterilizations, I.U.D insertions and abortions. Between 1989 and 1992, we did sterilizations in large batches. We went down to the villages. We’d do 30 to 40 a day.” Many of these women did not want to receive these operations and this caused much controversy over the morality and practicality of the operations.

However, another surgeon explains, “People used to fear this operation. Most have it willingly, some have it unwillingly. They have to have it because of policy. Chinese believe used to believe that more children meant greater prosperity, just like Chairman Mao said,” She laughs, “But now that has changed.” Both the surgeon and the patient have different perspectives on the issue. Whereas the patient fears the sterilization and family planning officials, the surgeon emphasizes with the Chinese government, justifying their actions.

Another reason for authorities to accuse the Chinese government of coercion is the incentive they planted in the people’s minds. Each province was granted promotions, praise and rewards if they abided by the family-planning rules and fulfilled quotas. In addition, the companies within the district are also evaluated with family-planning policies in mind. In the book, A Mother’s Ordeal, by Steven W. Mosher, Chi An, a former family-planning official, moved to America with her husband on a temporary basis and accidentally becomes pregnant with a second child. Chinese authorities and her official begin to contact her by mail warning her of the persecution that would ensue if she returned to China:

“Right now the Liaoning Truck Factory is working on a major, government-sponsored expansion. We have successfully passed all the necessary evaluations and reviews. But if our birth control program allows even a single second birth, our factory will not be permitted to advance. All of the strenuous efforts of our fifteen thousand employees towards this goal will have been in vain. Moreover, our whole factory will be disqualified from any production contests, and the bonuses and benefits of all employees will be negatively affected. From the factory director, to the department heads to the cadres in charge of the birth planning program, we will all be punished” (308).

The Chinese government passed strict regulations and laws, supporting those who obeyed and punishing those who were unable to abide by the restrictions with financial burdens.

The creation of the One-Child Policy stirred a panic amongst many couples. Chinese families have often celebrated in the birth of sons and silently cursed the birth of daughters. One woman’s experience is recounted,

“… she told Mrs. Hsu what had happened to her baby daughters: the first was alive, and also the third; but the second had been strangled at birth by the husband and also the fifth and sixth; the seventh had been born in a bad year, a year of famine when her belly stuck to her skin at her spine, and the husband had smashed her skull in with his axe; at the eighth female child the husband had been so angry that he had hurled it against a wall; the ninth was a year old and had been given away to a neighbor and now here was something in her belly… oh let it be a son, a male child” (Kane 154).

Unlike sons, daughters are married into their husband’s family unable to carry on the family name. In addition, at the time, daughters were unable to support their families after being married into another one. It was believed that sons brought more prosperity to the family than a daughter. Today, the son-daughter debate exists more than ever, especially in the rural areas of China where a son would be more valuable than a daughter. In the urban areas, sex selective abortions occurred. As a result of this preference, infanticide, or the murder of infants, began to emerge from its past.

In their wish to have a healthy child or son, families began to abandon female children. Unfortunately, many of these unwanted female infants are found on doorsteps or streets and end up in adoption agencies and welfare institutes. Fortunately, there exist many American couples willing and eager to adopt Chinese infants. In fact, there are many international adoption agencies that help these abandoned babies find loving families.

When I was 10, my family and I went to China to visit relatives. I remembered staring across the street from the White Swan Hotel to see a large tourist group of white Americans all clutching diaper bags and pushing Asian babies in carriages while a Chinese lady at the head of the group pointed and demonstrated. Later on in life, I stumbled across a website full of personal stories and accounts of American woman who had adopted babies from the Guangdong province. Surprisingly, many of the blogs noted that they resided in the White Swan Hotel during their stay and included many pictures of their adopted babies in the hotel itself.

So many Americans have shown an interest in adopting Asian babies that today there have been reports of infants being kidnapped from their families to be sold to adoption agencies. Poverty-stricken, rural families also see baby-trafficking as a solution to their financial problems and may even sell their children if they are unable to support them.

During the same trip in China, I remember my mother telling me to carefully look after my sister because she could be abducted. At the time, I questioned the seriousness of her warning. My father recounts his own personal encounter with this situation, “I had six brothers and sisters. When I was younger, we were incredibly poor. I was the youngest sibling and someone offered to buy me from my mother. If they had sold me, it would ease the financial situation. However, at the time, my mother loved me too much because I was a cute kid and she declined in the end. I think… if I had been a daughter instead of a son, I would definitely have been sold off.”

In an effort to prevent this problem in China, in 2002, the government announced the Law on Population and Family Planning, which is a series of laws which include: banning the discrimination of female infants and their mothers, efforts to improve woman’s rights in all aspects as well as efforts to promote sex education and research on new family planning methods. In addition to these, the law also enacted the banning of ultrasounds for sex determination and issued propaganda stating that girls are good. This new effort from the Chinese government seeks to ease the son-daughter issue.

A more personal issue is that of the psychological effects the One-Child Policy instills in parental minds. Being allowed only one child for the remainder of their lives, the parents become prone to cherishing as well as spoiling the child rotten. ADD. On the other hand, some parents have the opposite reaction: pressuring their only child to achieve success in all aspects. Education has become a high priority in many Chinese families as it is costly as well as competitive. Every family wishes their child to succeed in academics in order to provide promising comfort and stability in the future. This creates a large load of pressure upon the child.

My grandmother recently told me of the pressure her grandson in China has to endure once he received admission to a prestigious high school. “He told me over the phone, ‘Grandma, I only get 5 hours of sleep a day. When I come back from school at 5 pm, I have to help with the preparation of dinner, hang the laundry out, and then after dinner, I still have to wash dishes because Grandpa cooked the food! And then after that, I still have hours of homework to do…’” Along with the filial duties required of him there was also strenuous pressure to do well in his top-notch school as well. The One-Child Policy has also created what is known today as the One-Two-Four problem. If all the families are only allowed to have one child, that one child in the future will have to care for two parents as well as four grandparents creating a large burden.

With the Chinese government’s harsh, strict methods in enforcing its laws, change in the last 25 years since the emergence of the One-Child Policy is noticeable preventing almost 250 to 300 million births. The total fertility rate, which is defined as the mean number of children born per woman, decreased from 2.9 in 1979 to 1.7 in 2004. Currently, although China has no intentions of lifting the policy, they do have plans to relax it. Some future plans include allowing a second childbirth after 5 years, eliminating local birth quotas that regulate the dates of childbirth and allowing couples to choose their own form of contraception (Hesketh, Lu, Xing).

Despite the former steel hands of authority, the Chinese government has attempted to alleviate the burden of the One-Child Policy by gradually releasing its chokehold on birth control. The One-Child Policy affects all generations, all parents, child and grandparents, government authorities and their citizens; however, if there is a compromise and compliance within the state, the Chinese goal for prosperity, wealth and success may just become attainable. As Confucius says, “It is difficult to be a ruler, and it is not easy to be a subject either. If the ruler understands the difficulty of being a ruler, then is this not almost a case of saying leading the state to prosperity?”

Aird, John S. Slaughter of the Innocents. Washington D.C.: The AEI P, 1990.

“China Turns One-Child Policy Into Law.” Center for Reproductive Rights. 27 Apr. 2007 .

Confucius. The Analects. Trans. D C. Lau. England: Penquin Books, 1979.

Hesketh, Therese, Li Lu, and Zhu W. Xing. The Effect of China’s One-Child Policy After 25 Years. Massachusetts Medical Society. The New England Journal of Medicine, 2005. 29 Apr. 2007 .

Kane, Penny. The Second Billion. Australia: Penquin Books, 1987.

Mosher, Steven W. A Mother’s Ordeal. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.

Stuy, Brian. “Research China: Finding Ads, Orphanage City DVDs, Photos and More Research by Brian Stuy.” Research-China. 14 Apr. 2007. 29 Apr. 2007 .

Women of the Yellow Earth. Dir. John Bulmer. Videocassette. BBC Television, 1995.

Zhu, W X. “The One Child Family Policy.” Health Unlimited (2003). 29 Apr. 2007 .

[Via http://corawu.wordpress.com]

Monday, January 11, 2010

Links of the Day, January 11

It’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day! Tell someone who doesn’t know about the 27 million people trapped in modern slavery. And then do something about it!

Check out these awesome pics to start out your week/day:

0107pod16.jpg

And then enjoy this cover from Cathy Nguyen and Andrew Garcia:

News

  • Whistler’s homeless are being relocated ahead of the Winter Olympics.
  • The oldest known Hebrew script has been deciphered. Find out what it says here.
  • Colt McCoy shows grace and faith in the face of defeat:

Human trafficking

  • China claims to have freed over 10,000 victims of human trafficking in the last year.

Immigration

  • A new report comes out: immigration reform will ease economic decline.

Miscellaneous

  • NBC’s Bryan Williams: why Jon Stewart is good for the news.
  • GOOD covers the H&M saga.
  • For the Angelenos, the fake freeway sign that became a real public service.
  • Oh, the places you’ll go … The NY Times lists 31 places to go in 2010.
  • As a fantasy geek myself, I can appreciate this from what’s fast becoming one of my favorite blogs, YOMYOMF ("You offend me, you offend my family"): "Fantasy gone wrong."
  • Some fascinating facts about sneezing.
  • Some secrets about London!

[Via http://jbarnabas.wordpress.com]

History of Sake(Nihonshu)

Sake or saké (pronounced /ˈsɑːkiː/ or /ˈsɑːkeɪ/ in English and [sake]  (listen) in Japanese) is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice.

This beverage is called sake in English, but in Japanese, sake (酒) or o-sake (お酒) refers to alcoholic drinks in general. The Japanese term for this specific beverage is Nihonshu (日本酒), meaning “Japanese sake”.

The History

The origins of sake are unclear; however, the earliest written reference to use of alcohol in Japan is recorded in the Book of Wei, of the Records of Three Kingdoms. This 3rd century Chinese text speaks of the Japanese drinking and dancing. Sake is also mentioned several times in the Kojiki, Japan’s first written history, compiled in 712. People used sake for spiritual functions because people who had it got a fever.

 The first alcoholic drink in Japan may have been kuchikami no sake (“mouth-chewed sake”), which is made by chewing nuts or grains and spitting them into a pot. The enzymes from the saliva allow the starches to saccharify (convert to sugar), and then ferment. This method was also used by Native Americans (see cauim, chicha and pulque), and inscriptions from the 14th century BC mention Chinese millet wine (小米酒,xiǎo mǐ jǐu) being made the same way.Though there are various opinions in the start of sake, ancient sake was a basically sticky state of the paste as “neri sake” that remained in Izumo and Hakata now.

Regardless, by the Asuka period, true sake – made from rice, water, and kōji mold (麹, Aspergillus oryzae) – was the dominant alcohol. In the Heian period, sake began to be used for religious ceremony and people seldom drank it. Sake production was a government monopoly for a long time, but in the 10th century, temples and shrines began to brew sake, and they became the main centers of production for the next 500 years. The Tamon-in Diary, written by abbots of Tamon-in temple from 1478 to 1618, records many details of brewing in the temple. The diary shows that pasteurization and the process of adding ingredients to the main fermentation mash in three stages were established practices by this time. In the 16th century, technique of distillation was introduced into the Kyushu district from Ryukyu, and started brewing shochu called “Imo – sake,” sold at the central market in Kyoto. And, powerful daimyos imported various liquors and wine from Europe, China, and Korea.

See the brewing process and read more history at Wikepedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake

[Via http://multiculturalcookingnetwork.wordpress.com]

Friday, January 8, 2010

Will Targeting Reforms In China With The Yuan Work?

Ever since former Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, began his strategic dialog with China, the de facto consensus in Washington and in Europe has been to pressure China to appreciate the yuan. On the face of it, it seems an absurd thing to ask of China, which cannot afford a stronger yuan. However, a closer look reveals the method to the madness behind the consensus in the West, which is turning out to be as discredited as the Washington Consensus before it.

The expectation among the G7 countries appears to be to commit China to reforms by committing it to a stronger pegged exchange rate, because to sustain the higher rate, the rest of the G8 is expecting that China will be forced to reform. That China ought to reform is true, but is exchange rate a viable instrument to trigger Chinese reforms must be a question for serious consideration.

Exchange rates, fixed or floating, of any country are strongly linked to the country’s economic fundamentals. They are indicators of how robust the underlying economy is. The capacity of the country’s economic and political systems to efficiently allocate resources to raise its economic output and hence its standard of living constitute its economic fundamentals. Targeting the exchange rate of the Chinese currency to improve its economic fundamentals is the equivalent of targeting symptoms to cure the underlying disease.

If one were to assume that China consents to a higher fixed exchange rate for the yuan, it must increase the pace of its domestic reforms to match the higher rate so as not to collapse. And doing so could be in the interest of China in the present circumstances if it is to avoid inflation, a credit bubble or undue asset appreciation. Still, from the Chinese perspective, China may not want to commit ex ante to a higher exchange rate for the yuan without knowing if its reforms will succeed, even if it were to increase their pace for other reasons because a natural consequence of successful reforms is a stronger exchange rate, whether that be China or the United States. Simply put, China may not want to put the cart before the horse and is wisely discarding the unrest in Washington which, in the name of Washington Consensus, had done the same in the ‘90s before the Asian crisis with other countries not just in Asia, but in Latin America and Europe ― from the U.K to Russia ― spanning the breadth of Europe.

The United States should not predicate its budgets or China policy on the capacity of the Chinese or other foreigners to send their savings into U.S financial assets.  It is best if China is urged to diversify its domestic investments across domestic sectors and industries to absorb the liquidity to raise its level of employment and domestic consumption and work on creating a social safety net and a more robust banking sector to reduce its level of domestic savings and to direct savings toward more gainful domestic investments to reduce its reliance on exports.

China must also prepare to face competition from its colleagues on the G20 for resource acquisitions in foreign markets in the immediate term, supported by the lending programs of international organizations and private donors, especially in oil, as the world secures its short term supplies of energy while it expects to transition out of it in the long term. The scarce non-Chinese oil in the world’s energy markets is better allocated to less oil rich economies of the world than it is to China. The same rule should also apply to the United States and Canada.

The nations of the world with at least adequate domestic oil supplies in the short run must rely on their own resources, because there is not much room for conservation or hoarding in a world of steeply rising energy demand and hence, inflation if the energy prices of 2006-2007 are any indication. China is rich in oil, gas and coal and must correlate its development and growth to first what it can domestically source. Trade in other commodities would follow the potential growth of the world’s largest economies per these constraints on energy, assuming that no country would want to either conserve or hoard other minerals which it can first domestically source.

Chinese pace of reforms under such an international arrangement of resource consumption to avoid conflicts over mutual accusations of resource grabs on the part of the large economies of the world and to raise both the allocative and technical efficiency of scarce natural resources to increase the longevity of domestic natural resource endowments would then dictate the evolution of China’s economy and its exchange rate, because the true constraint on production and hence output and growth of any country is its natural resource endowment. It may, in the end, even determine the contours of geopolitics of the rest of the world, similar to that of the European Union, as smaller countries pool resources and markets to develop their economies.

The greatest risk to China is the internal tension over the political sustainability of its one-party rule. These tensions should in and of themselves be sufficient to determine the pace of Chinese reforms as China and the Greater China region, comprising of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mongolia attempts to integrate better, and as the G7 foreign direct investment gradually diversifies out of China to foster the dependence of the country on its own consumption and to create a better global value chain in production to more equitably distribute the benefits of globalization across all the major trading partners of any country to help China consummate its compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations (noting duly that Russia has not been admitted yet).

[Via http://ctamirisa.wordpress.com]

GREENS - ELECTRICITY IS A MUST

GREENS

Once an electric engineer commented:

All these people who oppose dams cannot endure power cut even for five minutes! They will not walk for half k.m. to catch the train. They all want cars. All their cries are false and insincere.

Is he not right?

We cannot live without electricity even for a day. Railways need it . Industries thrive on electricity.

A giant wheel can be connected to a small one. When it moves even slowly, it can produce a large quantity of electricity, like the wind mill you see in Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu. All idle people may be given wages under NREG to work the wheel. The power generated may be enough for a small village.

 The milk sache is so handy. The nylon rope, plastic combs etc. we accept , while demanding (on paper) ban on plastics.

China is trying to convert poppy cultivation fields in Afghanistan into copper mines. Is it not a good idea?

If we stop mining, the minerals will lie underground, useless for all time.

Even your tea cup uses clay.

We must sincerely answer these questions.

[Via http://waterfriend.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Four Points China by Sheraton

Name : Four Points China by Sheraton Language/Tools used : html, css, javascript, jquery Year Built : 2009 Team Size : 1 Built in : Blue Singapore Interactive Marketing Pte., Ltd. Description : A website built for Sheraton Four Points localization in China

Four Points by Sheraton

[Via http://coolheartblog.wordpress.com]

Happy 2010!

Pangzi

I have not been a very good blogger. Tsk tsk.

2009 was a very pleasant year. Let’s cross fingers for an even better 2010 to come.

A big snow storm 3 days ago crippled Beijing and since then, the temperature has dipped (CNN reported negative 20 Celsius!). It’s not very encouraging to know that when you go out, you’ll need to face the blasts of Siberian wind. It chills you to the bones. I dug up the above picture today while sifting through some movie set stuff. Looking at it reminds me of the beautiful grassland and warmer times. Literally.

This is also the third time in about a month that I haven’t been feeling so hot (the first time was an ulcer in my throat and now I think it’s mild bronchites!). Between that and the cold, I’ve pretty much barricaded myself indoor. Not necessarily a bad thing considering that January is awards application season… Good luck to everyone applying to any kind of photo award this year!

[Via http://sheilazhao.wordpress.com]

Monday, January 4, 2010

Three Countries Hit By Earthquakes

These are the news from CNN:

A pair of earthquakes hit Solomon Islands Monday morning, and another struck the Philippines, according to the U.S. Geological Service.

One quake, with a magnitude of 5.3, hit the Philippines at 5:38 a.m. (4:38 p.m. Sunday ET), near the eastern-most island of Mindanao, the agency reported.

The Solomon Islands experienced a 6.3-magnitude quake at 8:48 a.m. (4:48 p.m. Sunday ET), and another 7.2-magnitude tremor hit less than an hour later.

The quake shook Tajikistan’s mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan province about 7:15 a.m. local time.

The 20,000 people were left homeless in the villages of Rog and Gishkon, where 1,050 mud dwellings were destroyed, according Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.

The U.S. Geological Survey classified the quake as a magnitude 5.3. It was centered 80 km (50 miles) north of Korough, Tajikistan, and was about 44.5 km (27.7 miles) below the Earth’s surface, the USGS said.

Earthquake is a disaster. Earthquake can kill many people and animals. If a strong earthquake happen in the sea it can cause a tsunami. Tsunami is also a disaster and can kill many people and animals. A lot of tsunami happened in Japan. Japan is in Asia, in the western Pacific Ocean. Solomon Islands is near Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean. The Philippines is in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. Tajikistan is in Central Asia near Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.

[Via http://ahmadalikarim.wordpress.com]

Friday, January 1, 2010

Chinese demolition men accidentally create the leaning tower of Liuzhou

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So far so good: The building in Liuzhou, southern China, seconds before the planned demolition

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We’re still ok: The initial blast successfully breaks the building into two parts

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That’s not looking so great: Half of the building tumbles sideways in a cloud of dust

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Best laid plans: The other half of the building remains standing – but leaning precariously to the side

But disaster is narrowly averted when the demolition goes wrong.

Instead of crumbling into a contained heap of rubble, half of the building crashes sideways to the ground, narrowly averting disaster.

Even more alarmingly, the other half is left still standing – but leaning precariously to the side.

Not quite as planned: Another view catches the moment half the building goes down while the other half remains leaning

Not quite as planned: Another view catches the moment half the building goes down while the other half remains leaning

Shoppers in Liuzhou appear unperturbed by the dangerously leaning building

Shoppers in Liuzhou carry on, unperturbed by the dangerously leaning building.

The demolition failed due to technical reasons, the China Daily reported. Experts had intended for the building to break in to two parts – but the rest of the experiment had, clearly, gone awry.

bron: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

[Via http://wocview.wordpress.com]

Predictions for January and February 2010!

I predict the extreme cold will will be relatively mild.

The Cowboys will be a surprise team in the NFC playoffs, and the Colts will dominate the AFC. These two teams will play each other in the Super Bowl. The Lakers and Yankees will win the Championships again.

The Tea Party will significantly grow.

The Tiger Woods scandal will start to fade away in January, and be almost fogotten by February.

More January and February predictions to come.

Late 2010: The Republican party will have signicant gains in the 2010 Congressional Elections, but the major story is that the Democrats will retain both chambers of Congress.

Mid 2011: Amnesty will be passed, and all of the illegal aliens will be given US citizenship.

2012: Troops will be withdrawn from Iraq, for political reasons.

2013: China and Japan will dump the U.S. dollar.

2014: Troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan, for fiscal and political reasons.

Marijuana will be legalized in the US.

2015: The US will be in an Economic Depression.

Whites will be a minority in Florida, Maryland, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Georgia sometime this decade-if not by this year. North Carolina, Viriginia, New Jersey, New York and Arizona will closely follow.

2016: America will have been forced to withdraw all troops from East Asia-including Korea and Japan. China has grown in geopolitical influence.

The U.S. dollar falls to irrelevancy. The European Union celebrates, but the Euro collapses in 2017. 

Aggressive Hispanics force Whites  and Blacks out of the American Southwest and South Florida. South Florida will at least be a de facto separate state from Central and North Florida.

Hispanics will also try to force Whites out of Central Florida.

2017: The European Union is an official police state, and the national governments are marginalized into effective inactivity.

2019: The official government of Mexico will be changed, by this point. I am not sure if sooner, or how. But either, the Mexican elites transform the government OR the Mexican Drug Cartels will pull off the upset and overthrow the Mexican government. A compromise, is that Southern Mexico breaks off, and Northern and Central Mexico transform (in government structure) under the White Mexican elites.

2020: I have heard reports that you can no longer use the restroom on domestic flights, and must stay seated for the last hour of international/overseas flights. And new x-ray scanners are on the way, to look at people’s naked bodies! Yes, people say those who see are separated, but this is temporary. Once people accept this, the new move will allow welfare employees to directly oggle other men’s wives! My point is that the US will be an official police state at this point. The United States will never be a meaningful Democratic Repulic again! Rights and political representation will go out the window. This will all happen by 2020.

Due to the Depression and even police state in the US, China’s economy will be larger than America’s.

2021: America will be unable to afford the military bases in the World, with the exception of the Middle East and Europe. The former bases will be closed.

2023: China opens a Naval miltary base on the coast of Central California or near Seattle, with the consent of the US federal government.

2024: China will annex Taiwan.

With coordinated attacks by Muslims, the European Union actually collapses, and the nation states are back in charge. The Europeans have finally woken up to Islam.

2025: The US relucantly withdraws from its last international military base, due to fiscal reasons. It can no longer afford it. Even Europe and the Middle East lose US military bases.

The War in Europe-between Christianity and Islam-officially starts.

China’s military will be officially stronger than America’s.

2026: China becomes the strongest foreign influence in Australia. China persuades Australian politicians to mass immigrate the Chinese.

The Balkans will be completely conquered by Islam. Greece will be under Islamic rule, by 2030.

2027: China builds a military base in Australia.

2028: There will be Hispanic and Black guerilla groups formed in America-similar to the Mexican Drug Cartels.

2030: There is a secessionist movement in American Southwest and an infant one (by Blacks) in the Mississippi Delta.

Whites will be a minority in America.

China starts a program to force settlers into Australia. The Australian government cannot resist, and by the middle of the decade, China transports millions into Australia.By the late 2030’s, China officially conquers Australia as a colony. The events in the 2030’s may succeed a war between the US & Australia as allies vs. China. America will be unable to defend Australia.

With the help of the Asian residents, China will displace White Australians from power. It will terrible to be a White Australian in the 2030’s. The Chinese will oppress you, and take all of the White women from you!

The Muslims officially conquer France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of the United Kingdom.

2033: The US will actually have to let go of Hawaii-a new independent nation, friendly to China.

2034: The US will have to let go of Alaska, as America can no longer afford to retain it.

Turkey, Algeria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia may intervene-and help the Muslims conquering Europe.

2035: South Florida and Puerto Rico will have seceded; former at least from the official state of Florida.

2036: If there is truly a Christian spirit in Europe, European Christians will start to change the cirumstances.

2038: South Florida will be a new nation.

2040: With Chinese help, the American Southwest is a separate nation. The Hispanics will use this as a base to conquer the rest of the country.

Without a European Christian spirit: Islam will officially conquer most of Western Europe  (including Germany). All of Western Europe will be conquered by Islam, by the mid-2040’s.

2041: The Chinese will start taking action the Australian Aborigines, following the implementation of White eradication.

Mid-2040’s: The Blacks, if not Hispanics will secede the American Southeast as a non-White ethnostate-again, with Chinese help. Latin American countries will also help.

Late 2040’s to Early 2050’s: With a renewed Christian Spirit, assuming the Islam conquer all scenario doesn’t happen, Christians will reconquer West Europe. Scandinavia, Ireland,  the United Kingdom, then France and Germany. Then the Netherlands and Belgium will be reconquered by Christians, if not by non-Muslims in the two coutnries.

Christianity may reconquer Europe, but Europe will lose its racial integrity. Europe will become an officially non-White Continent-like the US and Canada will be.

2049: With a surging economy and military, China will procure Eastern Siberia as a colony.

2050: Canada is offically conquered by the non-Whites (hint: they are not indigeneous to Canada). Genocide is committed against Whites and Oranges (Canadian Indians).

2055: With concentrated action, Northwest America is annexed into the Hispanic Southwest ethnostate.

2060: With concentrated action, the totalitarian Mid-West and Northeast will be annexed into the Southeast Hispanic Nation.

2060: China annexes Central Russia, after taking Eastern Russia (known as Eastern Siberia).

Argentina and Chile are conquered by the Browns (indigeneous Hispanics)

2060’s: Whites are drastically reduced to a hated and dying minority in North America. Their birthrate is in the negatives-while the deathrate skyrockets. Some Whites emigrate to Europe, but most will be forced to stay and watch their White daughters merge with the Brown and Yellow genepools. White American males will never be able to find a White female mate.

2070: The Hispanics think about inheriting all of North America. But the deal they didn’t notice was that the Chinese got Canada, the American Northwest, Midwest, and possibly the Northeast. There is nothing the Hispanics can do, to expel the Chinese-much to their dismay, after allying with them. The Chinese may eventually even take the American Southeast.

2070’s: The Chinese, trying to procure Western Russia, go to war with the Muslims in the region.

2080: China wins West Russia, and commits “genocide” against the Caucasian Muslims.

2090: China conquers Eastern Europe, and mass transports the Chinese settlers over Russia and Eastern Europe. The same might happen in the White part of the Middle East.

2100: China conquers all of Europe. All of the White countries (except in South America) are conquered by China, and White males lose access to their women. They are reserved for Chinese men.

In North America, Whites and Oranges will very be close to permanent extinction. Reds from the Southeast will be very close behind. Eventually, these racial groups will be virtually extinct, permanently.

The new power of the World will be the Chinese. There will likely be a war between the Yellow Asians and Muslims, after Whites and the US & Canadians fade into extinction.

[Via http://steveintheswamps.wordpress.com]