From alien tumors to dwindling rights, today is one helluva day for news stories. Here's your ADD news blast. Enjoy.
We come with cancer: A man underwent several hours of surgery to have a large tumor removed from his back, that apparently had tentacles, something doctors have never seen before, prompting the name "alien tumor." Scully, Moulder...we need you. (More on CNN.com)
Less rights, more patriotic: The House will vote today on extensions to the PATRIOT ACT, including allowing the FBI more leeway in wiretapping, access to library and other records (would really like to know what "other records" are), and drumroll please! Surveillance of "lone wolfs," i.e. people who have no connection with any terrorist organization...for example, me...I thought I felt like I'd lost something when I woke up this morning...huh, just more rights, par for the course. (More on democracynow.org)
Obama Inc.: Obama reached out to corporations today expressing his wishes to assist them in knocking down some irritating government barriers to their success...
"Now, another barrier government can remove—and I hear a lot about this from many of you—is a burdensome corporate tax code...
Which brings me to the last barriers we’re trying to remove, and those are outdated and unnecessary regulations. "
Yeah, fuck government regulations. Things work out so much better when we let corporations run rabid, inflate prices, knock down trade legislation...oh wait, no...that didn't work. For fuck's sake Obama, are you fucking kidding me?! I'm literally speechless. I'm sitting here staring at my keyboard wondering if there is any word in our vernacular that could express how fucking pissed I am...there isn't, so I'll move on. (More on democracynow.org)
Google power: Egyptian Google marketing executive, Wael Ghonim was released from a 12 day detention today, re-joining protestors at Tahrir square in Cairo. He is hailed as a key organizer in the online campaign against Mubarak that began the protests on January 25th. The internet has power, if wielded for things other than Farmville, porn and celebrity gossip. But fuck it, wacking off to the acquisition of a cyber farm is much more fun than starting a revolution...well, according to us Americans. (More on USAToday.com)
Paranoid DC: Washington DC lifted a 2 1/2 year ban on handguns, prompting more than 1,400 new registrations. The interesting fact: 90% of these new registrations were in the affluent neighbourhoods where crime is at an ALL TIME LOW. One man, who admitted he had never been a victim of a crime, said simply "You gotta be prepared." As a retired military man, he is. He now owns 2 revolvers, 2 semiautomatic pistols and a 12-gauge "combat assault shotgun." Hmmmm...are there fucking Zombies attacking Georgetown?! Did I miss that breaking news? Do the people living nearby him not also have the right to not live by a heavily armed loony tune claiming you gotta sleep with your eyes open? You're in fucking Georgetown. Since the handgun ban, crime has gone significantly down in the capital...oh, that's just a coincidence. Sargeant psycho will be ready and willing when those zombies come sneaking through his azaleas. Fucking christ. (More on Washingtonpost.com)
War-crafter: Chechen Warlord, Doku Umarov has claimed responsibility for the Moscow airport bombings, threatening more violence due to the "Russian crimes in the Caucasus." Caucasus and more specifically North Caucasus is a mountainous steppe region on the southern border of Russia whose history is marked with feuding clans and warring relations with Russia's government since Tsarist times. The region is mostly Muslim and Umarov has vowed "blood and tears" if Russia does not abandon and retreat from the North Caucasus region. His Jihad has two primary goals: to expel non-Muslims and implement sharia law, and to expand the jihad beyond the Caucasus. (More on Reuters.com)
Palin™: Sarah Palin is trying to trademark her name and that of her daughter, Bristol Palin. She was unfortunately denied due to the fact that she didn't sign her oh so special name on the forms. In her defense, I think it's still up for grabs whether she can read and write...maybe she could just sign an "X"...or hell, just put a target and crosshairs, that seems to be a trademark of hers already. (More on NYTimes.com)
Gluten free: China is experiencing and will continue to experience, a severe drought in the upcoming months, threatening not only drinking water for inhabitants and their livestock but also the wheat crop. China is the largest producer in the world of wheat - so grab some rolls while you can and start looking into some gluten-free options. You may need them. Also, while you're at it, build a bomb shelter and store some water - this fucked up international weather pattern can't bode well for any country or crop. (More on Washingtonpost.com)
Showing posts with label china. Show all posts
Showing posts with label china. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Fast blast: News 1.19.11
I'm introducing a new news update. Since there's oh so much shit going on in the world, it's difficult to decide on just one topic to cover. Erego, I'm going to do periodic fast blasts, where I give updates on several news stories from the day, from various sources, bullet point style.
This way, you can get more info in less time so there's more time to go change the world.
Enjoy.
•Lieberman announces retirement: The Democratic turned independent turned Republican turned whatever the fuck he wants to be called has decided he's happy with what he's accomplished and won't be returning for another term in 2012. In 2000, he was Al Gore's running mate and 8 years later he ran across the aisle to support McCain - not my favorite guy in the world and certainly don't see eye to eye with him on everything, but his apparent ease at choosing his own values over his parties is a trend I'd like to see more of.
•Chinese President Hu visiting White House: In a seemingly more diplomatic and amicable meeting than the one in November, Hu and Obama hold a joint press conference discussing the two superpowers' diplomatic relationship. Obama said earlier today that this trip marks the foundation for the next 30 years of ties between the two countries. Of course, not to be outshone, Americas corporate interests (such as GE, Coca-Cola and Boeing) have made time with the presidents to discuss business deals with the US reaching more than $48 billion. Other topics on the table at tonight's state dinner include human rights, trade, currency and North Korea.
•Health Care bill up for repeal: The House will more than likely vote to repeal, the Senate won't. Either way, Obama will exercise his veto if it gets to him. Most Republicans have come to terms with the implausibility of a straight repeal but say they will try to cut funding to parts of the bill or eliminate specific provisions in the months ahead. Aka, Republicans will probably lose this battle, but they refuse to lose the fight in fucking you over. Democrats are always happy to help - welcome to your government :)
•Palin still on the war path: After suggestions that she should "sit down and shut up," Palin angrily contends that she won't. Unfortunately, even after her incendiary "blood libel" mishap and various other tweets, facebook posts and blogs, Palin's political career isn't dwindling as fast as respect for her is. She's a disaster, has no experience or real knowledge of national let alone international politics. However, her constituents represent the dangerous group of Americans who are exactly the same: not educated on social or political issues, don't care about international diplomacy, don't like change and cling to the rights they like and dismiss the ones that get in the way. If she gains a seat of any political power, our devolution as a country will take one giant leap closer to a deadly tail spin.
•Iran trigger happy with executions: Since the beginning of the year, Iran has executed 57 prisoners, averaging one every 8 hours. This is only the reported executions. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran suggests that particularly Kurdish activists are among the many unreported hangings. The reasons why this sudden surge of executions is unclear, but it can only be assumed that Iran wants to show muscle, and indifference to UN and other human rights organizations.
•Bolivia pushes to lift ban on coca: The leaves which are used to make cocaine are currently on the UN's list of banned substances. Bolivians are pushing to have that revoked, saying that the leaves have health benefits. Of course the US will oppose this move at revocation. In my humble opinion, if you legalized all drugs that can be snorted, sniffed, popped, injected, and smoked, you could open up a billion dollar industry that would ultimately reduce crime, increase jobs and income and scale back at least some of our dependence on corporate drug companies' poison.
This way, you can get more info in less time so there's more time to go change the world.
Enjoy.
•Lieberman announces retirement: The Democratic turned independent turned Republican turned whatever the fuck he wants to be called has decided he's happy with what he's accomplished and won't be returning for another term in 2012. In 2000, he was Al Gore's running mate and 8 years later he ran across the aisle to support McCain - not my favorite guy in the world and certainly don't see eye to eye with him on everything, but his apparent ease at choosing his own values over his parties is a trend I'd like to see more of.
•Chinese President Hu visiting White House: In a seemingly more diplomatic and amicable meeting than the one in November, Hu and Obama hold a joint press conference discussing the two superpowers' diplomatic relationship. Obama said earlier today that this trip marks the foundation for the next 30 years of ties between the two countries. Of course, not to be outshone, Americas corporate interests (such as GE, Coca-Cola and Boeing) have made time with the presidents to discuss business deals with the US reaching more than $48 billion. Other topics on the table at tonight's state dinner include human rights, trade, currency and North Korea.
•Health Care bill up for repeal: The House will more than likely vote to repeal, the Senate won't. Either way, Obama will exercise his veto if it gets to him. Most Republicans have come to terms with the implausibility of a straight repeal but say they will try to cut funding to parts of the bill or eliminate specific provisions in the months ahead. Aka, Republicans will probably lose this battle, but they refuse to lose the fight in fucking you over. Democrats are always happy to help - welcome to your government :)
•Palin still on the war path: After suggestions that she should "sit down and shut up," Palin angrily contends that she won't. Unfortunately, even after her incendiary "blood libel" mishap and various other tweets, facebook posts and blogs, Palin's political career isn't dwindling as fast as respect for her is. She's a disaster, has no experience or real knowledge of national let alone international politics. However, her constituents represent the dangerous group of Americans who are exactly the same: not educated on social or political issues, don't care about international diplomacy, don't like change and cling to the rights they like and dismiss the ones that get in the way. If she gains a seat of any political power, our devolution as a country will take one giant leap closer to a deadly tail spin.
•Iran trigger happy with executions: Since the beginning of the year, Iran has executed 57 prisoners, averaging one every 8 hours. This is only the reported executions. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran suggests that particularly Kurdish activists are among the many unreported hangings. The reasons why this sudden surge of executions is unclear, but it can only be assumed that Iran wants to show muscle, and indifference to UN and other human rights organizations.
•Bolivia pushes to lift ban on coca: The leaves which are used to make cocaine are currently on the UN's list of banned substances. Bolivians are pushing to have that revoked, saying that the leaves have health benefits. Of course the US will oppose this move at revocation. In my humble opinion, if you legalized all drugs that can be snorted, sniffed, popped, injected, and smoked, you could open up a billion dollar industry that would ultimately reduce crime, increase jobs and income and scale back at least some of our dependence on corporate drug companies' poison.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
No, we’re the best, no, China, no.
So, the G20 summit is in full swing in South Korea - Obama has wandered up from his recent trip to Indonesia where he promised monetary and political support to the terrorists responsible for mass killings in the early 90s, in the name of fighting terrorism...but hey, he was happy to be in his old “stomping ground.”
Back to South Korea, where the other 18 countries pretty much just sit around a table drinking purified water, doodling and looking smaller and smaller behind their gilden penned name tags.
Economic warfare can be far more dangerous than the bang-bang, flag waving kind. If you didn't know it already, China owns us. According to the Federal Reserve in 2005: "At the end of 2005, China, with $820 billion in such assets, was the second-largest holder of U.S. debt after Japan, which held about $10 billion more." The thing is that Japan isn't growing by steroided leaps and bounds like China is. Their economy isn't just booming, it's explosive, which makes us very nervous.
At the summit, the US has already staged a complaint regarding the Chinese currency, the yuan, being kept at horrendously low rates, giving them more than just a leg up on exports and international trade. At the same time, China accuses us of further fucking with the global market with our Fed's recent promise of $600 billion gift to our struggling economy.
So, as per usual, we're holding a loaded gun demanding the other person put theirs down. But China doesn't really want to and who can blame them? Not only that, who the fuck would take economic advice from us? Many nations fear that their rapid rise to economic greatness will come with just as sharp of a downturn, spiraling us and the global economy into a black hole of monetary mayhem.
To fill out the background, essentially what China is doing is manipulating their currency so as to keep it as low as possible, attracting the attention of international buyers looking for imports from other countries. Say, for example, it's between us and them. If our little toy costs 50¢ to make and theirs costs 10¢, they're gonna pocket some extra cash and go with them, leaving our poor abandoned toys to rot in warehouses while their makers watch their houses get auctioned off...or some equally depressing story.
So, in order to fight back, we go to the summit, show some muscle and do exactly what they're doing back home. The sudden influx of $600 billion will weaken the currency to the point that trade competition with China will be much more viable, making them more pissed off and other countries more inclined to ask for some whisky instead of that purified water bullshit.
Time will tell how this pissing contest will play out, but I'd wager that since it's our nuts in a Chinese salad shooter, we'll have not much to say about whatever they want to do with their currency. China is already surpassing us on every front, from green energy to economy to education. Meanwhile we just wave our flag, put our fingers in our ears and shout "USA, USA, USA!"
Charming.
Back to South Korea, where the other 18 countries pretty much just sit around a table drinking purified water, doodling and looking smaller and smaller behind their gilden penned name tags.
Economic warfare can be far more dangerous than the bang-bang, flag waving kind. If you didn't know it already, China owns us. According to the Federal Reserve in 2005: "At the end of 2005, China, with $820 billion in such assets, was the second-largest holder of U.S. debt after Japan, which held about $10 billion more." The thing is that Japan isn't growing by steroided leaps and bounds like China is. Their economy isn't just booming, it's explosive, which makes us very nervous.
At the summit, the US has already staged a complaint regarding the Chinese currency, the yuan, being kept at horrendously low rates, giving them more than just a leg up on exports and international trade. At the same time, China accuses us of further fucking with the global market with our Fed's recent promise of $600 billion gift to our struggling economy.
So, as per usual, we're holding a loaded gun demanding the other person put theirs down. But China doesn't really want to and who can blame them? Not only that, who the fuck would take economic advice from us? Many nations fear that their rapid rise to economic greatness will come with just as sharp of a downturn, spiraling us and the global economy into a black hole of monetary mayhem.
To fill out the background, essentially what China is doing is manipulating their currency so as to keep it as low as possible, attracting the attention of international buyers looking for imports from other countries. Say, for example, it's between us and them. If our little toy costs 50¢ to make and theirs costs 10¢, they're gonna pocket some extra cash and go with them, leaving our poor abandoned toys to rot in warehouses while their makers watch their houses get auctioned off...or some equally depressing story.
So, in order to fight back, we go to the summit, show some muscle and do exactly what they're doing back home. The sudden influx of $600 billion will weaken the currency to the point that trade competition with China will be much more viable, making them more pissed off and other countries more inclined to ask for some whisky instead of that purified water bullshit.
Time will tell how this pissing contest will play out, but I'd wager that since it's our nuts in a Chinese salad shooter, we'll have not much to say about whatever they want to do with their currency. China is already surpassing us on every front, from green energy to economy to education. Meanwhile we just wave our flag, put our fingers in our ears and shout "USA, USA, USA!"
Charming.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
G(aga)8
I went to check the news as per usual on a few different sites and was amazed to see that there was little to no mention of the G8/G20 summit in Canada this weekend. However, I know that Lady Gaga is having trouble with her driver and that her and Obama are in a facebook war. Fascinating...
Not to give props to our former kingdom, but BBC was the only news site that had a front page mention of it. Considering that this summit comprises of the worlds 8 biggest economies (except for the biggest, China) and the G20 which is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors overseeing the world economy, I'd think major news organizations would give just two more shits about that than Gaga's employee problems. But I guess she looks hotter in a machine gun bra than Obama would...
As far as what is going on at the G8/G20 summit, so far it's been a lot of Big Brother condemnation of what other countries are doing wrong, a playground pow-wow between the big kids about what the little kids should be doing. For example, the North Korea/South Korea ship incident, the North Korean and Iranian arms development, and suggesting that the Gaza situation is unsustainable.
Well, having an erection for a day is also unsustainable but what does that have to do with the price of rice? Interestingly enough, this seems to me to be regurgitation of earlier arguments just with more big wigs in a different place. We are sticking our nose in other peoples business while simultaneously doing nothing about it. We shove Afghanistan and Iraq under the rug as if they're the embarrasing stepchildren and focus on the countries we haven't started wars with yet.
The G20 summit is another can of worms being that you have 19 different countries and then the EU that sit there and argue about how to unfuck the current economic situation. It reminds me a bit of when I was in Switzerland and was asking a French man and a German for directions, having no idea what they were saying or who was right...needless to say, I got lost and tried again with a happily found Brit. Unfortunately, I don't think the same strategy will work at the G8/G20 summit. Decisions need to be made and we can't afford to get lost and hope for the best.
It also doesn't do to sit and discuss who did what wrong when you're involved in two wars and have an arsenal of nuclear weapons. Leaders lead best by example. As always, talking is cheap, actions are not. Best of luck in Canada everyone.
Not to give props to our former kingdom, but BBC was the only news site that had a front page mention of it. Considering that this summit comprises of the worlds 8 biggest economies (except for the biggest, China) and the G20 which is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors overseeing the world economy, I'd think major news organizations would give just two more shits about that than Gaga's employee problems. But I guess she looks hotter in a machine gun bra than Obama would...
As far as what is going on at the G8/G20 summit, so far it's been a lot of Big Brother condemnation of what other countries are doing wrong, a playground pow-wow between the big kids about what the little kids should be doing. For example, the North Korea/South Korea ship incident, the North Korean and Iranian arms development, and suggesting that the Gaza situation is unsustainable.
Well, having an erection for a day is also unsustainable but what does that have to do with the price of rice? Interestingly enough, this seems to me to be regurgitation of earlier arguments just with more big wigs in a different place. We are sticking our nose in other peoples business while simultaneously doing nothing about it. We shove Afghanistan and Iraq under the rug as if they're the embarrasing stepchildren and focus on the countries we haven't started wars with yet.
The G20 summit is another can of worms being that you have 19 different countries and then the EU that sit there and argue about how to unfuck the current economic situation. It reminds me a bit of when I was in Switzerland and was asking a French man and a German for directions, having no idea what they were saying or who was right...needless to say, I got lost and tried again with a happily found Brit. Unfortunately, I don't think the same strategy will work at the G8/G20 summit. Decisions need to be made and we can't afford to get lost and hope for the best.
It also doesn't do to sit and discuss who did what wrong when you're involved in two wars and have an arsenal of nuclear weapons. Leaders lead best by example. As always, talking is cheap, actions are not. Best of luck in Canada everyone.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The rise of the rest
If you're like me, you'll go out on 4th of July with sparklers, sing a few patriotic songs, eat some bbq and feel proud to be American. Like I tell all my friends overseas, I love my country, just not what it's become.
Looking back on what brought us to today, looking forward to $6 trillion debt over the next ten years, debt is the key word.
Since the 1980s, Americans have spent money that they didn't have, bringing us to the current statistic that the average household now has an astounding 13 credit cards with an average debt of $120,000. Going up the step ladder, we see that politicians urged them to carry out the American dream, as they themselves borrowed using imaginary money gained from future taxes and lottery earnings. At the top, the federal government makes the average shopaholic look like a miser. Considering that today, the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of room, the only thing the feds are doing to combat that is to install an expanded clock, like fixing traffic issues by expanding a highway. Sorry, won't cut it.
Now, here's where the interesting parts come in. Who were we borrowing money from? If we, from top to bottom, left to right were a nation of moochers and debtors, who put up the cash?
Well, here's the title of my post: the rise of the rest.
China currently owns $2 trillion worth of foreign currency reserves, most of it being U.S. dollars. China has an IOU slip from us, holding more than 10% of our outstanding debt. China spends $40 billion a year on sending money abroad. Like a little kid getting allowance, we grab the cash, run outside and spend it on whatever toys we can find first. But we have to grow up. Eight other nations are climbing up the rungs as we sit here, arrogantly clutching the "city upon a hill" ideal while we spend money to support our American dream.
That has to change. Like I press in all my posts, the easiest place to start a chain reaction of change is by doing it yourself. I don't mean to take blame off the state or federal governments, because after all, they owe way more than $120,000. However, they're looking to repay their debt with our money. They're covering their tracks with our footprints and we have to be the ones to stand up and say no.
The world doesn't look at us like the big brother, superpower anymore. We're losing touch with reality and it starts very much with economic faults. Stop spending and make sure Washington does too. Bailouts, wars, frivolous spending has got to stop. It's time to worry about the people, you know, like the constitution says: OF the people, FOR the people and BY the people.
Looking back on what brought us to today, looking forward to $6 trillion debt over the next ten years, debt is the key word.
Since the 1980s, Americans have spent money that they didn't have, bringing us to the current statistic that the average household now has an astounding 13 credit cards with an average debt of $120,000. Going up the step ladder, we see that politicians urged them to carry out the American dream, as they themselves borrowed using imaginary money gained from future taxes and lottery earnings. At the top, the federal government makes the average shopaholic look like a miser. Considering that today, the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of room, the only thing the feds are doing to combat that is to install an expanded clock, like fixing traffic issues by expanding a highway. Sorry, won't cut it.
Now, here's where the interesting parts come in. Who were we borrowing money from? If we, from top to bottom, left to right were a nation of moochers and debtors, who put up the cash?
Well, here's the title of my post: the rise of the rest.
China currently owns $2 trillion worth of foreign currency reserves, most of it being U.S. dollars. China has an IOU slip from us, holding more than 10% of our outstanding debt. China spends $40 billion a year on sending money abroad. Like a little kid getting allowance, we grab the cash, run outside and spend it on whatever toys we can find first. But we have to grow up. Eight other nations are climbing up the rungs as we sit here, arrogantly clutching the "city upon a hill" ideal while we spend money to support our American dream.
That has to change. Like I press in all my posts, the easiest place to start a chain reaction of change is by doing it yourself. I don't mean to take blame off the state or federal governments, because after all, they owe way more than $120,000. However, they're looking to repay their debt with our money. They're covering their tracks with our footprints and we have to be the ones to stand up and say no.
The world doesn't look at us like the big brother, superpower anymore. We're losing touch with reality and it starts very much with economic faults. Stop spending and make sure Washington does too. Bailouts, wars, frivolous spending has got to stop. It's time to worry about the people, you know, like the constitution says: OF the people, FOR the people and BY the people.
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