And in case no one’s noticing, Europe is in much worse shit than we thought. No, we haven’t seen any crisis yet. We’ve felt some trembles, but the earthquake is a ways ahead, probably post-election.

October 27, 2008 @ 10:52 pm | Comment

Melamine in eggs now! Once again proving that the CCP strategy of firing a few people, and paying off a few poor victims will never get the job done! Let’s go China, time to get angry and put pressure on those fools to try seriously considering reform. In the words of the great elf Dennis Kucinich “Wake up!” When you see that little label on your milk that says “中国免检产品”, it means exactly what it says and nothing else: no one even bothered to check whether it might poison you. Arrrrghhhhh…I’m going through milk withdrawal!

October 27, 2008 @ 11:01 pm | Comment

Yeah, and it came from melamine in the chicken feed.

McDonald’s sprays everything with sugar and/or salt. Here in China it’s melamine.

October 27, 2008 @ 11:11 pm | Comment

Richard – re the Torygraph link – I also noticed this earlier – and yes now (for the first time in this financial crisis) I am buying canned goods and an AK 47

October 27, 2008 @ 11:15 pm | Comment

Sorry I forgot the full stop, and this http://tiny.cc/HvOcT

October 27, 2008 @ 11:21 pm | Comment

Which is a better place “To Do Business”, China or Vietnam?

I heard that “NAM” is a great place “To Do Business”….

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=tSiQnYtYQ4k

October 27, 2008 @ 11:24 pm | Comment

One of those places that makes the “fake” revolutionary posters for sale over here, needs to do a print of this. Hate the idiocy it represents, but I love the art from that period…

October 27, 2008 @ 11:25 pm | Comment

Andy, there’s a great one of MichelIe “Maokin” here.

Whishkers, good to hear you agree we are on the verge of hand-to-hand combat! That link you gave is from an interview from 2001, in which all sorts of innuendo is peppered in with the slick copywriting. Meanwhile, what Obama says is sooooo innocuous. But heck, it’s ll they’ve got, so if you check out the wingnutosphere you’ll see they are tripping over themselves to label this the tide turner, the smoking gun that will down the Muslim traitor elitist Trotskyite quiche-eating half-French/half-Kenyan vote-fraud-enaboing child-molesting Arab. Lots of luck.

October 27, 2008 @ 11:36 pm | Comment

“OBAMAO”—-Doesn’t this mean “to pull out hair” in Chinese?

I guess that you could use it as the trademark for a wax product to remove hair from Western women’s legs?

October 27, 2008 @ 11:41 pm | Comment

Whish, here’s a comment on that video you linked to, cut/pasted from Pam Geller’s site linked above (to no avail; the nutters are flaying him alive); the whole thing:

Sigh. Obama is referring to the redistribution of wealth that was necessary between the time slavery ended and the time the civil rights movement got into full swing. In other words, this is a theoretical discussion mostly centered around the policies enacted over 40 to 140 years ago. As usual, the Republicans are the masters of “gotcha” via distortion and removal of context.

What you McCain folks don’t realize is that the wealth has been “redistributed” for years. It’s being taken away from future generations in the form of loans in order to fund a war based on lies. The Bush economy has spent money at a prolific rate, almost unrivaled in the history of the modern world. The debt is now 10.5 trillion dollars, people. That’s $35,000 dollars per head. Instead of taxing you, GW has simply run your credit card up to 35k without telling you. And guess what? There’s interest! YOUR CHILDREN WILL HAVE TO PAY THIS!

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

You’re funding wars with your Social Security and your children’s tax money. Why are you so angry that a small percentage of very wealthy individuals might go back to paying the same tax rates that they were paying 8 years ago? Why are you so eager to fall on your swords so that Exxon Mobile can keep huge profits while you just spend a few hundred dollars a month filling up your tank for an entire summer?

I’ve got to stop visiting these message boards. Please take the time to read facts instead of listening to lies and half truths spouted by people who can’t even spell at a 6th grade level.

P.S. The running yellow commentary in the video is completely misleading and outright wrong at times. It’s pretty amazing that you all are actually taking it as fact, when you can hear how off it is as you’re reading it. The best part of this Youtube clip is that the creator can’t even spell the words he or she is typing. (If your news source didn’t even take the time to use spell check on his Power Point production, he might be a little less than credible.)
—————————-

Back to Richard: Bad news, whish: Obama is the next president of the US. I remember in 1992 all the fear and horrors about what a Clinton presidency would do to America, too. Only it never happened. So just relax. We’re about to recover from the word administration in the entire history of the United States. Accept it.

October 27, 2008 @ 11:52 pm | Comment

Buck I think it is tuffer to do biz in Oz

http://tiny.cc/pc2pA

Richard – Many suggest that that McC’s views were formed by captivity years ago, and would like to hear his honest exposition of his political philosophy. When O’s is listed it is irrelevant. Really strange for “news” it was not on any of the bigger networks (e.g. CNN 11 pm. China time news) though it is clearly popular http://www.viralvideochart.com/

The copyrighting did not do not edit or change O’s words – choosing O will lead USA down a road which is unenviable http://tiny.cc/PgBd7 – trust me I’ve lived there.

October 27, 2008 @ 11:53 pm | Comment

You type faster than me I lose

October 27, 2008 @ 11:54 pm | Comment

I am not particularly Pro McC ( I think if I were an American – I would be a Regan Democrat) – I just fear that O’s natural instincts, and background, supported by/ paid for by the more liberal (economic) left e.g. Nancy P etc. will lead America – which to me has rightly in the past been a beacon of hope on a hill down a very soggy path. Some would call it socialist (to my mind a boring epithet) but indicative of a weak, low growth environment that reduces the individuals drive.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:07 am | Comment

whish, Andrew Sullivan has a superb fisking of that idiotic (with all due respect) link you posted.

And let me add, the ultra-liberal Financial Times has just endorsed a candidate for the US presidency. Cool.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:08 am | Comment

Jezz I hate it when people say WADR

My last post for tonight and yes the above updated photo is funny

But the key (from your link and clear from O’s words in the video) is

“So Obama was arguing that the Constitution protects negative liberties and that the civil rights movement was too court-focused to make any difference in addressing income inequality, as opposed to formal constitutional rights.”

I disagree with the conclusion “So it seems to me that this statement is actually a conservative one about the limits of judicial activism.”

I heard and understood that O regretted that “the civil rights movement was too court-focused” BUT I still think O’s intent was that he still wanted/ regretted that they had not YET “address[ed] income inequality,” and that they would.

So MY conclusion is that O is/ or wished (a recent few year ago) to be redistributive, and he would PREFER to go beyond the constitution and fundamentally this position is NOT conservative.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:30 am | Comment

my second last post

October 28, 2008 @ 12:31 am | Comment

We hesitate to wish it on anyone, but we hope that Mr Obama gets the job.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:34 am | Comment

You got high again on this food safety “issue” ? At least once a month you’ll get high on this issue. This is like a woman’s period.

If you really want to talk about food safety. Most tap water in America is in worse quality than China’s. That is because the number of filtering stages is less than in China. Most filtering techniques are several generations behind than China’s. Around the New Jersey region, the groundwater has been polluted numerous times by the various nuclear power stations, since the early 90’s. THe heavy metal pollution near the great lakes area is about several times more severe than most areas in China. How dares to drink those water?

The tap water in California still has excessive arcenic levels. The smaller cities in America has even worse tap water. At least in China the big cities have safety guarantees on the tap water. The Algae incident in the Wuxi lake happens about once a month in the American city I live in. Yet most American newspapers don’t even report those.

China has different types battery recycling, started about 10 years ago. No such thing in America. America is a country on wheels, the amount of acucumlated battery pollution and motor oil pollution would take China several decades to reach.

Just look at what rich American eat and drink, and you know what I mean. Rich Americans all buy organic foods, whole foods, rare do they visit regular supermarkets. Because they are not stupid.

Average life span of Americans is lower than Hong Kong, lower than Japan, lower than several provinces in China. Cancer incident rates is higher than several provinces in China. Healthcare costs are several hundred times the cost of China, several times the cost of Japan.

Another thing is corn syrup, used in all bakeries, sweets, coca cola. This type of ingredient can only be ingested in the liver, causing obesity. For example HFCS lead to Diabetes, popcorns contain carcinogens. And I won’t even mention the amount of antibiotics in milk, eggs, beef, salmon sold in regular supermarkets. “Sudan Red” is illegal in China, yet completed approved by the FDA to be used in food. The amount of influence and lobbying by American food industry over FDA is beyond your imagination. Just watch “Fast Food Nation” documentary.

My favorite fruits, Liu Lian, Yang Tao, Lichee, Shiu Mi Peach, Shiu Jing Pear, I cannot find any of those in American supermarkets. In China, just water mellon alone I can find 10+ different types on the market. In America, how many types? In China, I can find 100+ types of different fresh vegetables on the market. In America, you walk into a supermarket, and you can count the amount of fresh vegetables with your fingers. And the vegetable counter is like 1/10 the size of the counter of canned goods…. What happend to vegetables in America? What about fresh fish, fresh seafood? When in American supermarkets have you seen live fish being sold?

At least food safety problems in China are exposed by the meida. In Americ, they are completed accepted by FDA, by the society. Why? Food Industry lobbying.

Just answer this question, why is America’s life expectancy lower than most industrial nations????

October 28, 2008 @ 1:38 am | Comment

Hey Hong Xing, I was missing you… Glad to see you again.

Now I encourage you to go out and buy a tasty Chinese melon.

Here’s a slide show that will show you where it comes from. From the beautiful country side of China. Grown in a natural and very healthy environment. Using the best of the best fertilizers and sprinkled with fresh bottled water.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/27/what.matters.huai/index.html

Take a moment and check carefully the belly scars. It will remind you about how healthy the food is here, and how you’ll feel when you get stomach cancer when you turn 45. Enjoy your last 10 years. But don’t forget, boil the water before drinking, I heard it can remove Lead Contaminants.

Sure, your Melons are beautiful, they even glow in the dark!

http://www.wri.org/publication/content/7833

“Liver and stomach cancers in China are caused in part by water pollution. China has the highest liver and stomach cancer death rates in the world. Liver and stomach cancers are 3-7 times higher in polluted rural areas of China (such as Shanxi province or the Shenfu irrigation area near Shenyang in Liaoning Province) compared to cleaner areas.”

Hmmmm, tasty.

Off to go buy some fruits now…

October 28, 2008 @ 2:07 am | Comment

Oh, and by the way, the “fresh” vegetables and fruits in China, in my opinion, taste like shit.

At first I was amazed by the availability of the “fresh” food here. Until I went back to my home country and tasted again the food there. Since I came back, I can clearly tell what is the difference. There is just no flavor, everything is freaking fade. No wonder why all the food taste is masked with so much spices and sauces here. It’s the only way to make it reach your stomach and accept it as “food”.

My wife used to hate salad. Back home, I made one with fresh vegetables, she loved it. I wonder why…

Recently I’ve decided to try the Bio products, since it’s new trend here in China. And after many years, I’ve finally found again what a cucumber or tomato should taste like.

My conclusion: Bio food here tastes like non bio food tastes in my home country. Non Bio food tastes like something else that I did not even know existed.

Back home, to be honest, I cannot tell the difference between Bio and non Bio food, but here, it’s a no brainer (recent discovery).

My new rule is: I don’t eat Chinese food (I hate the taste anyways) and I am now trying to educate my wife about all the dangers linked to eating “fresh” food here. So I am now happy to pay ridiculous prices for imported food (everything) and feel more safe in the land of deception.

Freaking joke.

October 28, 2008 @ 2:38 am | Comment

“Obamao” just doesn’t work – nor does “Chairman Obama”.

But I think the poster is great. Vote for Obama and he will get things done Mao style! Sure a few million may die along the way, but the United States will emerge stronger than ever under his leadership!!

Apart from such nonsense scaremongering, I suppose there is always a more legitimate concern about what might happen if one party controlled Congress (with a supermajority) and the White House. That can be opposed by saying that it enables government to “get things done” more easily. I don’t know what has happened to America previously when a party has had so much control, so I won’t try to argue it either way.

At the very least I will say that I hope US 2008 won’t be the equivalent of 1997 for the UK – no one could wish another Tony Blair on the world….

October 28, 2008 @ 2:44 am | Comment

@Raj

That’s rough. Tony Blair is a great man, a great orator and most of all has a heart.If you don’t think so… where was the opposition? That’s right! They were completely incompetent tits.

October 28, 2008 @ 5:58 am | Comment

Just so everybody knows, Red Star posted the exact same comment, word for word, here. This is at least the third time he’s used it.

October 28, 2008 @ 8:26 am | Comment

Worse than *who* thought?

Whishkers, are you Eastern European? Where can you get an AK-47 in Europe?

Pamela “Atlas” is quite a twit, but the poster art is cute. Obama is quite an orator, but is probably also a stealth Marxist, despite Lisa’s despair that he’s not progressive enough. That’s actually not really meant to be an epithet, it’s just one of the strains of American politics.

I actually don’t care if a Marxist is president, as long as ALL the branches of government aren’t lined up together. Great mischief is usually done when there’s no opposition (witness the R’s dominance til 2006). One of the great things about the Clinton administration was the gridlock: government couldn’t screw things up as easily as usual.

October 28, 2008 @ 10:54 am | Comment

I looked up the antonym for socialist, which it turns out no surprise to be capitalist. So I am thinking “Is Barack Obama a socialist?” Then I think well he wrote a couple of books and made a couple of million dollars and he is a lawyer, he has never said anything about redistributing his own wealth so seems like a capitalist to me.

As far as being a marxist goes, seems rather silly. Accusing obama and democrats of being marxists is the same as calling mccain and palin fascists. I am sure mccain is not a fascist. I am sure palin really does not know what the word means, she just makes baseless insults that she does not even understand about her opponents because she is a politician and she likes the accolades and cheers of the crowds.

It is hard not to respond to a question like “Is Obama a marxist?” by saying “What are you stupid?” But the best response “I don’t know! Is Palin a Fascist?”

October 28, 2008 @ 11:34 am | Comment

he has never said anything about redistributing his own wealth so seems like a capitalist to me

What, are you stupid? Nobody EVER wants their own wealth distributed. Aside from the fact that you apparently don’t know what fascist means, you’ve missed the point. And you’d have to go back to several of my previous posts, which I’m not going to re-type, regarding O’s past associates, colleagues, mentors and so on.

I did forget to include in my previous comment, though, that I doubt he will govern as a Marxist. A bit of “redistributive justice” here and there, maybe, but it will quickly become apparent that when the public finally said “out with the Bushies”, it didn’t necessarily mean “in with the Bolshies!”

October 28, 2008 @ 11:53 am | Comment

With “card check” to abolish the secret ballot in unionization elections, the “fairness doctrine” to shut Rush Limbaugh up, and a shiny a new security agency, “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the U.S. military (Obama quote), it seems that the Democrats have decided not lose any more elections, assuming they do gain full control of the federal government after this one.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:29 pm | Comment

The fresh tomatoes we used to buy in Jiangxi actually tasted really, really good. Much better than supermarket ones in the UK. The green food / organic labels in China are basically a scam. Anyone can get the label if they bribe the right person. I’d only trust internationally recognised organic symbols.

And when DH told me about the eggs last night I almost burst into tears.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:30 pm | Comment

The article entitled “Europe on the brink of currency crisis meltdown” is very scary. But how do we know that it is true?

Of course, the currency sell off/meltdown is real, but how do we know that the fear driving this phenomenon is based upon reality any more than the invasion of Iraq was driven by a fear that Sadaam had WMD?

Maybe we’re just being manipulated…again….?

October 28, 2008 @ 12:46 pm | Comment

Buck

Bretton Woods II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_II

On September 26, 2008, French, and current European Union president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said, “we must rethink the financial system from scratch, as at Bretton Woods.”

On October 13, 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said world leaders must meet to agree to a new economic system. “We must have a new Bretton Woods, building a new international financial architecture for the years ahead.”

Global Imbalances, Bretton Woods II, and Euroland’s Role in All This

http://www.levy.org/download.aspx?file=wp_486.pdf&pubid=873

Approaching the issue of mounting global imbalances through the angle of the “Bretton Woods II hypothesis” (BWII), this paper sets out to investigate Euroland’s role in particular. It is argued that popular preoccupations with the UnitedStates’s “twin-deficit” and China’s “beggar-thy-neighbor” (renminbi undervaluation) only scratch the surface of what really are the consequences of a rather complex set of causes and developments. Systemic deficiencies in the global monetary order that induce the developing world to run current account
surpluses and accumulate dollar reserves is one factor.

October 28, 2008 @ 12:57 pm | Comment

Bao,

I have no doubt that the global trading system is all messed up and requires restructuring. China’s foreign exchange policy and trade policies are basically a longterm attack on the US and designed to suck the US dry. Foreign exchange backs up in China, and US jobs move overseas.

But, Warren Buffet is now buying stocks, which suggests that he thinks that the crisis is somewhat overstated. Also, we’d still be tiptoing through the tulips if Paulson had bailed out Lehman. Finally, the responses to the crisis almost seem designed to aggravate it. It all suggests that the crisis is being exaggerated for some devious purpose.

October 28, 2008 @ 1:12 pm | Comment

As I stated before, what we are seeing now is probably the counter-attack from the US (the economic war started a couple of years ago, when China threatened to liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries).

In my opinion, you are right about what you previously said: Fear. Control by fear is what we are witnessing again. Scare people, and they will beg you to take away their personal freedom in exchange of a false sense of security.

Only this time, people will beg for a new financial order. Taming the opposition by controlling the mass. I promise you that nobody will ever listen to anybody questioning the financial reform that will follow this crisis.

October 28, 2008 @ 1:25 pm | Comment

“But in comparison to the U.S. dollar, the euro’s lack of a fiscal backing and related financial system shortcomings, such as the absence of a lender-of-last-resort for Euroland and nonexistence of a Euroland Treasury bill traded in a deep and liquid market, are rather serious systemic deficiencies, too. Not only do these shortcomings handicap the euro’s potential global role, they also dilute the euro’s supposed function as a protection shield against external disturbances.”

So, basically, they just screwed the Euro, and next they’ll screw the US dollar so there won’t be any option other than to go to a single currency, or 3 separate currencies? Mr. Spock says: “Fascinating.”
Meanwhile, they’ve got this guy named Obama who’ll support a larger governmental role in the economy, which means…well…a pseudo-Chinese model.

October 28, 2008 @ 1:27 pm | Comment

Well, if Warren Buffet is buying stocks, that’s good enough for me. Crisis wasn’t that big a deal after all.

We’ll see how exaggerated it was soon enough – but only after election day.

(Meanwhile, are you reading the papers about all the banks in Western Europe that are now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy because of loans to their Eastern neighbors, like Russia and Romania? We haven’t even scratched the surface yet.)

October 28, 2008 @ 1:41 pm | Comment

What do I do with the 9 eggs left in the refrigerator?

Take them out of the fridge and place them in a warm, safe place. After one month retrieve the eggs, take them to a high place and start throwing.

With a bit of luck you’ll hit HongXing and all will be well (Provived, of course, that the boorish twit isn’t recuperating in hospital after the ladies have given him a thorough lesson in the differences between getting high and menstruation).

October 28, 2008 @ 1:52 pm | Comment

Hong Xing is somewhere in America eating Texas BBQ and learning how to do macrame.

October 28, 2008 @ 1:57 pm | Comment

Then, I hope you’ve got a good arm.

October 28, 2008 @ 2:43 pm | Comment

One World, One Money! (remembers me something)

http://www.forcingchange.org/one_world_one_money_without_endnotes

1998: “…the transition to a single currency for the entire world could come with a speed that might surprise many. The world might easily move from having almost 200 currencies today to having one within a decade, and twenty-five years from now, historians would wonder why it took so long to eliminate the Babel of currencies which existed in the twentieth century.” — Bryan Taylor, Chief Economist at Global Financial Data.

2001: “When VISA was founded twenty-five years ago, the founders saw the world as needing a Single Global Currency for exchange. Everything we’ve done from a global perspective has been about trying to put one piece in place after another to fulfill that global vision.” — Sarah Perry, Director of VISA’s Strategic Investment Program.

2004: “…if the global market economy is to thrive over the decades ahead, a global currency seems the logical concomitant.” — Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for the Financial Times, former senior economist at the World Bank.

October 28, 2008 @ 3:18 pm | Comment

rich

That’s rough. Tony Blair is a great man, a great orator and most of all has a heart.

No, he was one of those boys at school who wanted to be popular so hung out with the “cool” kids. He was a fake and a liar. And his wife had the arrogance to say he was just like Churchill. That I think was the biggest reason he went to war – he thought foreign policy would provide his “legacy” after he lost interest in domestic reform. Well it did. So rather than go down in history as a PM who had an unprecedented ability to change his country and squandered it, he will now go down as a PM who had an unprecedented ability to change his country, squandered it and instead took us into two wars – one on a complete lie (WMD when it was about regime change).

If you don’t think so… where was the opposition? That’s right! They were completely incompetent tits.

So if there is poor opposition it means the incumbants are good? That isn’t logical. If anything it shows why Blair stayed in office – the opposition couldn’t get their act together. However, after the 2001 election his ratings (and that of the Labour Party) started to fall. In 2005 he won a majority with one of the lowest shares of the vote that we’ve ever seen. Even before Gordon Broon became PM the party was falling behind the Conservatives. Not that I think that Gordo is an improvement, but I don’t believe that Blair would have rode on to victory in 2010.

October 28, 2008 @ 7:23 pm | Comment

Bao,

I don’t foresee a single currency anytime soon. Here is why.

Let us say we have an economic situation in which say Japan is in recession and the US is booming. What currently happens is that the Yen declines, and that boosts exports to the US. This helps growth in Japan and dampens inflation in the US due to the booming growth there. Of course if the circumstances are reversed the US dollar declines vs the Yen. With a single currency, this adjustment cannot happen and would make the recession worse in Japan.

So how does a single currency work in all the states of the US or in all the countries of the EU? If there is a recession in Alabama and a boom in Florida, two things happen. Some workers move Alabama to Florida. Also the federal govt uses taxes raised in Florida to fund various programs in Alabama like unemployment payments, infrastructure etc. These mitigate the recession in Alabama even though its currency (dollar) cannot decline relative to that of Florida. The same goes for the EU because of labor mobility and transfer payments.

In short for a single currency to work well we need labor mobility and sharing of tax revenues. Or in other words we need a political union or world government first. I cannot imagine in the foreseeable future US taxpayers paying unemployment payments to Japanese or EU citizens (let alone Chinese or Indian citizens) or vice versa.

October 29, 2008 @ 12:32 am | Comment

Well sam when it begins to rain I enough sense to go inside. So that would undercut your line of attack regarding my basic problem solving abilities. Correct me if I am wrong but is not one of the key tenets of fascism nationalization of industry? How about the TARP! I bet Sarah would love to wear a black armband and do some goose stepping. Still if a reporter can ask Biden “Is Obama a marxist” to maintain fairness and balance one must also ask “Would not Sarah look great in an SS or Gestapo uniform?”

Regarding monetary policy, I recall reading that many south american countries pegged their currency to the US dollar which exacerbated their own financial crises that occured awhile back.

Sam when will we find out all the details of Sarah’s relationship with our most recent convicted felon, the Honorable Senator Stevens? Prior relationships are important. The Senator Stevens and Governor Palin daily professional relationship is much more recent and has more depth and relevancy to government and leadership and character then Obama’s association with Ayers. Also it goes to the heart of her claims to being a reformer.

October 29, 2008 @ 2:02 am | Comment

http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12498109&source=features_box_main

The economist has an article trying to make a point about the significance of John McCain being a Rat. I wonder if Hitler was a Rat also or if Mao was an Ox like Obama?

Sam? I think this is your area of expertise. Please enlighten us stupids.

October 29, 2008 @ 2:12 am | Comment

“Or in other words we need a political union or world government first.”

I think you answer contains, well, the possible answer. But this is what I am wondering right now, could it be the inverse ? That somehow introducing a worldwide currency right now (if feasible) contribute to push the concept later on, of a world wide government ?

Could you invert your logic and find an answer to this ? For now, I agree with you, it would not make sense and would not be the right chronological steps.

October 29, 2008 @ 3:38 am | Comment

Bao,

I agree with you that there are many advantages to some sort of world wide political union. Any problem where the costs accrue to individual countries while the benefits accrue to the world as a whole is ideally solved by a world govt. Examples are global warming, nuclear non-proliferation etc.

I am very pessimistic that this would happen in the next few decades. Building a multi-ethnic political union is generally very hard. It usually requires a common external enemy to unite against. Unless we discover menacing aliens in Mars, it is unlikely people are come together to form a political union.

Also having a single currency before having a political union is putting the cart before the horse. It would make the financial system very unstable (remember we used to have fixed exchange rates a few decades ago, and they didn’t last), and financial crises more frequent. There are lower risk ways to encourage global unification, like labor mobility.

October 29, 2008 @ 5:37 am | Comment

Abusing the system, since it’s an open thread…

One last post about how to blog in a stylish way!!!

I was curious to learn how to post links without the ugly zillions letters links that nobody wants to click, and also motivated by some recent questions from users such as how to put text in italic. In FF, I simply clicked page source and searched one hyper link from a previous post from Richard and found the answer. A further Google search confirmed this, and more! Quite cool.

It’s punchy, it’s trendy, and it will make you more cool (It also can enlarge some body parts I’ve heard).

Now I go to bed, to enjoy my 2 hours of sleep.

But jokes aside, it’s very useful.

MT

I agree with you, what I am posting is not some kind of preaching, I am just exposing trends, I do not believe in any of those so far, I am just exploring them. That was my meaning when I was asking you to come up with a theory about how such an approach (putting the cart before the horse) could work. I do not have the answer.

I will reply you tomorrow, I really have to go to bed now…

October 29, 2008 @ 5:48 am | Comment

Bao, congratz man! Welcome to 1996!!! Next thing you know you’ll be leet and claiming anyone else who code html (LOL) using anything other than Notepad is a luser hack.

Bravo!

October 29, 2008 @ 9:36 am | Comment

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/28/melamine.china.eggs/index.html

Amazing how the quotes from two Chinese consumers seemed to ignore the basic problem of food safety. The only way things will change is if the people demand it. Safe food is fundamental to a country’s prosperity. Even in a totalitarian regime when people are pushed to the limit they can push back. I hope that there will be a massive outcry on the part of Chinese consumers everywhere for real, effective safeguards on food and food production.

October 29, 2008 @ 9:57 am | Comment

Correct me if I am wrong but is not one of the key tenets of fascism nationalization of industry?

That would be wrong. In most fascist states, the party and industry are deeply in bed with one another. The state suppresses labor activity, imprisons activists, hands out sweetheart contracts, evicts citizens from land industry wants, and so forth, and industry bankrolls the power of the fascist party. The deal is that industry stays out of politics, and the state does not regulate industry. See specific examples for variations on this theme. Fascists never nationalize industry; they are bankrolled by it to prevent the evils of Communism.

Michael

October 29, 2008 @ 6:16 pm | Comment

Michael is quite right. Hitler and the Krupp family and the Siemens clan were cozy. Nationalization of industry was one of the key communist threats that helped moved many Germans into the Nazi camp (most Germans, by far, were attracted to Naziism not for its anti-Semitic platforms – most parties had those – but its economic platform and promise to shred the Treaty of Versailles).

October 29, 2008 @ 6:37 pm | Comment

I posted this on the “China spend, spend” topic, but since it is very relevent to much of today’s situation, I will post it here again, so that more people could see it.

http://shs.ndrc.gov.cn/yg/

If you do care about China’s healthcare system reform, go to the above website, read the whole draft, and make constructive suggestions.

Healthcare reform has been one of the most important topic discussed today, it concerns not only with the health of Chinese people, but will also affect the whole economic situation, especially consumer spending.

So, this is your chance to make a difference.

October 29, 2008 @ 8:25 pm | Comment

Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: It’s Credit Cards

“Senator Christopher Dodd has shockingly predicted that public anger at banks’ refusal to disperse credit could lead to a “revolution,” while another analyst says government intervention could mean banks are cut out of the loop entirely.”

“If it turns out that they are hoarding, you’ll have a revolution on your hands. People will be so livid and furious that their tax money is going to line their pockets instead of doing the right thing. There will be hell to pay,”

When I am starting to find references to indie sources on a site that Richard endorsed in the past, this can only mean one thing (and God knows I am always right in my analysis): the world is coming to an end!!! 😉

In another thread, I was calling for a revolution if the election would once again end up being stolen by the Republicans, but it seems it might come from somewhere else after all.

October 30, 2008 @ 12:43 am | Comment

Since this is an open thread and it’s the perfect occasion to spread my weirdness (thank you Richard for this magnanimous act toward the small people, wishing to express their voices), I’d like to bring to the attention of the fine readers lurking here another major crisis to come: The Eco Crunch.

“September 23 this year marks an unfortunate milestone: the day humanity will have used all the resources nature will generate this year, according to Global Footprint Network data. Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.

Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources — like trees and fish — continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.”

I really wonder what it means in the current global context. And what could be a real and honest solution compared to what the future promises us.

Since it’s starting to pick up steam in the media, and that now the mass can understand a bit more what it means, maybe it’s time to start thinking about it.

Ron Paul is a man of the world, not a man for the US. And this is very sad. If only the whole world could vote in the upcoming election… If anybody in the US has one ounce of common sense, please vote for him (won’t happen, I know).

I really wonder if Palin will wear a red scarf or new shoes tomorrow… Silly me, it will be front page tomorrow!!! I should have known.

October 30, 2008 @ 2:19 am | Comment

Thank you for deleting my posts… You site is very suspicious. Honey Trap ? Maybe…

October 30, 2008 @ 2:34 am | Comment

Sorry for the last paranoid post… But I think VPN’s are not friendly to your blog. I get a lot of funky behaviors… Disappearing posts, etc. Don’t wonder too much if your site is heavily monitored…

October 30, 2008 @ 2:40 am | Comment

The usual lag = Time to review the comment and see if it’s acceptable… GOTCHA!!!!!!

October 30, 2008 @ 3:15 am | Comment

By who ? Who knows…

Ok, enough for tonight, time to go to bed and get deported tomorrow.

October 30, 2008 @ 3:16 am | Comment

Bao, none of your comments were deleted but I am tired of your comment spam and am going to ask you to leave, okay?

October 30, 2008 @ 7:06 am | Comment

What does Kondratiev theory augur for our current economic predicament?

Wouldn’t the theory suggest that we’re in an economic trough which typically precedes a major WAR?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondratiev_wave

October 30, 2008 @ 9:16 am | Comment

Our “civilization” is collapsing as a result of our exponential growth. Our planet and the ecosystems services, which for eons we have taken for granted, are not growing; our demands are!

Visited the site another poster had linked to: “The collapse would be caused by a combination of failing ecosystems, human-enhanced environmental catastrophes; failing infrastructure; food, water and fuel shortages; infectious disease; war, civil conflict and other dynamics. Following the first phase of collapse, massive waves of human migration from the affected areas create a domino effect that causes the collapse of the remaining population centers shortly after.”

http://edro.wordpress.com/collapsing-cities/

October 30, 2008 @ 9:21 am | Comment

I just have to respectfully disagree at least partially, since fascists in germany and italy pretty much failed to achieve whatever it was they thought they were attempting to achieve. Taking over industry to force industry to serve the state is a fundamental aspect of fascism. The relationship between krupp and nazi germany was more than a “cozy” industrialist in bed with a dictator. The nazi did intend to make industry tool to serve their ideal of a “state”. The Italian and German fascists did fail in the end. I really don’t care to argue the differences between marxism, fascism, socialism, and capitalism. Marxism as theory was not about nationalization of industry. Fascism did expound making economics and industry serve the nation state. Nationalization of industry is a fundamental tenet of fascism, but your can argue amongst yourselves about that all you want. Krupp and others got in bed with the nazi’s early so that may have allowed them to operate sympiotically, but the nazi’s did take over and nationalize private companies, not all, but they did do that. Also their goal was not to distribute wealth equally amongst all the workers such as in marxism, but to make industry function efficiently to serve the needs of the state, which was not necessarily serving the needs of the people.

You grad poli-sci people can fight it out your selves. Because fascism and marxism pretty much failed to achieve what they claim to be trying to achieve.

My only issue is to label Obama a Marxist is a ludicrous as calling McCain a Fascist.

Heil Sarah!

October 30, 2008 @ 9:54 am | Comment

In fascism the state controls the economy, industry and the workers. The workers are to work efficiently to achieve the goals of the nation state.

In marxism the workers take over the factory.

The nazi’s believed the ubermensch should continue to control the workers and run the factory. What they did not like about socialism, marxsism, and communism is the idea of equality or making the state or factory serve the workers.

Hitler was happy to work hand in hand with other ubermensch such as krupp, but I am sure he believed krupp and his factories were to efficiently serve his needs for his nation state. The fascists did not think for a moment that the needs of the workers were important or that it was the job of the state to support industry.

The fascists did shutdown factories that did not serve their needs or were not useful for achieving their goals. Industry was nationalized to the extent that it was to serve a national plan as established by the state.

October 30, 2008 @ 10:08 am | Comment

Weren’t the neocons once Marxists?

And didn’t Hayek show that Marxists have a psychological predisposition to turn to fascism?

October 30, 2008 @ 12:06 pm | Comment

Will do, will do Richard…

And thank you again for your understanding…

But…

I think you are pulling the trigger very quickly on me… Am I insulting anyone on a daily basis, aside from making sarcastic / ironic comments from time to time (btw, it’s called humor), and learning how to comment on blogs? Am I copy pasting my comments from other blogs or thread just to prove my point?

I think you are harsh and not very inclusive to welcome new people with different point of views in your discussions.

How many times have you seen somebody posting something stupid, or making a mistake and then apologizing publicly for doing so?

If you only want to hear what pleases you, then make your blog private and password protected, stop whining about it while acting like a lighter version of Jin Jin and Cha Cha on your own Blog.

My comments ARE getting some feedback (not a lot, but still), and they are on topic most of the time. Did you notice that most of my comments are related to your posts? I am not just blindly spamming on your site, I am just elaborating on subjects you bring to the table.

I’ve been reading you for many years now, and I highly respect you and your thinking. You think I am a clown, that’s fine, but please do not just dismiss me and show me the door because I’m being clumsy sometimes.

Peace.

October 30, 2008 @ 11:57 pm | Comment

Buck

Yes, this is exactly what I am fearing as well. War on a global scale, unprecedented scale. There are many possible scenarios possible, but war would probably be the easiest and most socially accepted exit route in order to deal with some “annoyances (overpopulation)”.

I know I sound like an alarmist, but believe me, before a couple of months ago, I’ve never WATCH or READ a single thing about all these doom’s day scenarios. And you know what ? This is exactly what is alarming me, because I feel that if it’s reaching me, somehow, it means it’s penetrating some personal layers of stubbornness, comfortable life, no questions asked, etc. I see my self as a simple voice, daring to express it on a public space, but I am convinced many are thinking about it as well.

I think we are all exposed to that. Whatever our life and our positions, social status, there is an underlying trend that rings the alarm bell somehow right now. This is no hippie stuff from the 60’s, it’s in our face on a daily basis.

I hate myself everyday because I feel ashamed to fall into this stupid conspiracy trap. But I can’t help, it’s just everywhere now.

One need to be careful to trace a line between obsession and reality.

I am almost 40 now. You would think that by this time, I’d be over this kind of childish thinking. But it’s just growing stronger and stronger the more I see the world evolving. Been there done that as we say.

If anybody would see me in real life, I am what you would call: The usual Joe. Nothing more.

October 31, 2008 @ 1:17 am | Comment

Bao,

I’m starting to worry about the level of anxiety that’s appearing in society due to the financial/economic turmoil. It’s starting to have a subtle aggravating effect on people. People are becoming more irritable, less tolerant, more unstable. People are starting to tell other people to “shut up!” and are grabbing as much as they can. But it’s surreal as there’s this veneer of normal, business-as-usual.

I wouldn’t worry if I knew that we had a sound, democratic system in place that was genuinely concerned about the people’s welfare. But, I’m concerned that we’re dealing with a Shadow Government in the US, and that some of these people are off-their-rockers. There are still people living in tents in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Look at the boobs in the US Congress. Do you really believe that these morons exercise effective oversight of the massive US national security state? No f…cking way! Those dumbasses didn’t even read the Patriot Act before they passed it.

The WAR has already started. They dropped the bomb when they destroyed Lehman Brothers to set off the financial crisis. They could do anything. And since it’s a Shadow Government there’s no accountability. Shit!

Our system (particularly our educational system) produces people who excel at manipulating information. It does not produce ethical or wise people. In fact, it may discourage ethics and favour the psychopathic personality. Corporate structures over time tend to become dominated by psychopaths surrounded by people promoted on the basis of nepotism and their ability to curry favor. It’s a recipe for disaster. A wholesale systemic failure which ends in a fascistic power grab. Shit!

October 31, 2008 @ 5:48 am | Comment

Bao,

I hear ya man. I feel the same way. You are not alone. It’s not us that’s crazy… It’s THE WORLD!
Don’t let the conspiracies get in the way of your life, (it’s kind hard when ultimately it’s screwing with the WORLD), try hard to live your life, but make sure to keep your eyes open.

As for the Neo-con thing, I read somewhere that the Neo-Cons look up to some Nazi philosopher dude. I will dig it up for you later if time permits.

October 31, 2008 @ 6:22 am | Comment

Now everyone is talking about the American economy and eclections, nice to read something different. Eugene

October 31, 2008 @ 7:34 am | Comment

Apparently one would need to eat 300 eggs in one day to get sick…Although scientists don’t know what are the long term effects of eating small quantities of melamine for an extended period…

October 31, 2008 @ 12:47 pm | Comment