I think a life in Art is excellent and it is good to have 2 foci:
.the expression of art in pure form
.the expression of skill in a way that dovetails with society/occupation and good reward
This does not mean that one becomes a can of Coke.
These two foci are not oppositional especially if approached with open mind and at bright fresh age.
The world is always changing.
The book 'Artist of the Floating World' by Kazuo Ishiguro is well worth reading.
I will send you a copy when you are in Brisbane and I have an address for you. Kazuo is the best living writer of the English Language and the simplicity is remarkable.
His other books are very hard.
"Artist..." is how the world is always changing and with it changes values and meanings etc.
The artist is the 'awareness' of the changes.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Friday, 21 January 2011
DEMONSTRATIONS IN BANGKOK 23 & 25th January 2011
Demonstrations Planned in Bangkok on January 23 and January 25, 2011
This message alerts U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Thailand that the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (aka UDD, or the "red-shirts") plans to hold a demonstration in Bangkok on Sunday, January 23. Scheduled from approximately 1:00 pm to midnight, the demonstration is to begin at the Rajaprasong area (around Central World) and move to the Democracy Monument.
Streets surrounding the Rajaprasong intersection are expected to be filled with approximately 5,000-10,000 people in all directions. Many participants are expected to park their vehicles on the sides of Rajadamri and Ploenchit roads, impeding traffic throughout the area. Central World and Siam Paragon may also be affected and close early. As many as 20,000 people may participate in the activities around the Democracy Monument. We strongly suggest that you avoid these areas throughout the afternoon and evening of January 23, 2011.
Additionally, on Tuesday, January 25, the People's Alliance for Democracy (aka PAD, or the "yellow-shirts") plans to hold a demonstration in Bangkok. About 2,000 to 3,000 people are expected to pass from around Makkawan Rangsan Bridge onto Rajdamnern Road near the Government House, and finally gather at the Royal Plaza (King Rama V Monument). We strongly suggest that you avoid this area throughout the day and evening since the timing of demonstration is still undetermined.
We are not aware of any general, specific, or implied threat to U.S. citizens or U.S. interests throughout this period. However, even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence with little or no warning. As a precaution, you should avoid areas that may be targeted for demonstrations. Monitor local media to keep updated with the latest information about demonstrations and areas to avoid. Stay alert, and be cognizant of any unattended packages/bags in public/crowded places. Report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement personnel.
This message alerts U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Thailand that the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (aka UDD, or the "red-shirts") plans to hold a demonstration in Bangkok on Sunday, January 23. Scheduled from approximately 1:00 pm to midnight, the demonstration is to begin at the Rajaprasong area (around Central World) and move to the Democracy Monument.
Streets surrounding the Rajaprasong intersection are expected to be filled with approximately 5,000-10,000 people in all directions. Many participants are expected to park their vehicles on the sides of Rajadamri and Ploenchit roads, impeding traffic throughout the area. Central World and Siam Paragon may also be affected and close early. As many as 20,000 people may participate in the activities around the Democracy Monument. We strongly suggest that you avoid these areas throughout the afternoon and evening of January 23, 2011.
Additionally, on Tuesday, January 25, the People's Alliance for Democracy (aka PAD, or the "yellow-shirts") plans to hold a demonstration in Bangkok. About 2,000 to 3,000 people are expected to pass from around Makkawan Rangsan Bridge onto Rajdamnern Road near the Government House, and finally gather at the Royal Plaza (King Rama V Monument). We strongly suggest that you avoid this area throughout the day and evening since the timing of demonstration is still undetermined.
We are not aware of any general, specific, or implied threat to U.S. citizens or U.S. interests throughout this period. However, even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence with little or no warning. As a precaution, you should avoid areas that may be targeted for demonstrations. Monitor local media to keep updated with the latest information about demonstrations and areas to avoid. Stay alert, and be cognizant of any unattended packages/bags in public/crowded places. Report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement personnel.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Queensland Flood Cost
The Federal Govt will cover 75% of the total costs related to the Queensland floods. That's the role of the Federal Government, and it delivers. Meanwhile the Qld Govt keeps massively over estimating the cost, and calling out for donations; and it will collect as much money as it can from good donor-folk and control-release it so that it's not being 'ripped off' whereas in truth, and as usual, the Qld Govt is doing the ripping, and storing most away to support itself and a few friends later on. Money is power. The rain and the tears don't change a thing.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government, of all the State and Territory Governments in Australia, is probably best known for never investing in the safety of its people in any real way. It's as if there is a very strong mindset within Government and the Departments to NOT invest.
Even now, the main push of the Government is to seek donations and support from the Federal Government and good minded people rtaher than use any of the $1.2billion it has on hand specifically for disaster relief.
The Queensland Govt on the other hand was happy to invest $250 million in burying CO2 emissions from the coal industry even though this idea doesn't work and has been abandoned. It was poorly researched but did support the coal industry for a few years pretending there was something really good about coal in a time of public outcry regarding pollution global warming etc. So, the investment served its publicity purpose, but was a total disservice to the Qld people. There are quite a few similar and recent failures of Government in Qld...but these are not well-intentioned errors, but rather strong support for various international companies, the price being paid by the people in terms of tax, and loss of life and property eventuating from the Govt's unwillingness to invest in good infrastructure in a State well known for its wild weather and tremendous droughts and floods.
At the same time it is a Government of massive incompetence where all problems are dealt with by protecting higher officials within the organisation itself rather than renovating the system that keeps delivering poor services; so the Govt actually can't learn, can't investigate its own weaknesses. It supports a bullying silence rather than enquiry.
Imagine a Government that spends hundreds of millions on a payroll system for its employees; a system that was not trialled effectively, and doesnt actually work. The outcome: the need to spend hundreds of millions to fix the problem and the only way to find the money to do so, is to discontinue the employment of large numbers of people the payroll system was put in place to actually pay. That's the Queensland Government. No one is to blame. the Chiefs are well protected, and the people suffer through a level of incompetence and indeed bullying that is quite remarkable and would be offensive in a Developing Nation, let alone in something that purports to be part of a First World Nation.
The first thing the Qld Govt did, in regards to the recent and ongoing flooding, was to launch publicity campaigns seeking funds rather than quickly using held monies to deal with the situation. They are still doing this now. I'm sure they will release some funds in the run up to the next election with an expensive publicity campaign noting the stoic brave Queensland people facing up to natural adversity, the great tragedy and loss, and the reliability of the empathetic, compassionate Government at the same time. This is what they always do where in fact the Government and its Department Heads are really best seen as maintaining malevolent negligence in regards to the needs of the people for decades. Recent flood events just add to the long-term mishandling of an economy and the real distain for the society itself.
As for the Australian Government, it's recent capitulation the the Mining Companies (who don't want to have to pay any tax at all), means Australia continues on its lessening revenue path towards a degrading of social infrastructure on the national level; with the only beneficiaries being Boards of Directors in England and the USA, and the Australian Government Ministers themselves.
It is a remarkable situation in which a weak Government, so scared of taxing the super-profits of mining companies at all, allows its own 'governance' role in the economy and in the society to weaken further to a point where all services, all infrastructure, all social planning must be cut back for the long, long term. The benefit? The current weak Government stays in power for maybe two years but only by being more powerless each day and only by leaving the nation's future in the hands of foreign businessmen.
It indicates a Government bereft of policy and of social responsibility not leading at all but rather hiding, only to emerge from time to time and saying 'Oh things will be tough for everyone for awhile; the economy is collapsing in terms of our ability to provide hospitals, schools, pensions and infrastructure well into the next decade, but the mining companies, we are pleased to say, are doing extremely well...and beyond their wildest dreams of avarice.'
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Friday, 14 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
Thailand: The Red shirts are back in Bangkok. The Great Struggle between the Old Elite and the New Elite, Old Capitalism versus New capitalism, using the poor as the Blunt Weapon.
What Does China Think?
I will have to dig out the PLA list on China Threats and Counter-Balances. There's a whole list of well-researched methodologies in dealing with American aggression in particular. One is called, humorously, 'Lawfare' where International Law is used as a real weapon. Another is Real Power where military might is circumvented by popular opinion..and this is what happens when the US continually invades foreign countries for very bizarre reasons...this kind of enterprise actually weakens US power in the World Popular Mind (which is very important) without the Chinese having to do anything except watch...and lend them money, which also weakens US power. There's also Trade Warfare, Drug Warfare, Terror Warfare etc.
Its a fascinating list. You can find it in Mark Leonard's great little think-tank book What Does China Think? Well balanced, concise, and well worth reading.
In dealing with American superior military might, the Chinese are not seeking to spend that much money, like the USSR tried to do. Instead they only focus on the weakest parts of the American military might and then concentrate on being the best at that part. This is far more economical and provides a situation where the Americans, to 'keep up', have to re-invest billions in their weakest links all the time. This is a 'non-parallel' way of dealing with immense abiding hegemonic threat.
At the same time China is getting much better at shooting down satellites than the Americans like; so even though the US is stretched economically, they must now invest in better and far more expensive sentinels in space....always understanding that no one in their right mind would go to war with China. This is the problem within contemporary US aggression patterns since being hauled over the coals by Vietnam. Ever since that lesson, the US only go to war with countries that have been weakened enough so that they cant fight back. China is strong and getting much stronger and they can fight back.
Its a fascinating list. You can find it in Mark Leonard's great little think-tank book What Does China Think? Well balanced, concise, and well worth reading.
In dealing with American superior military might, the Chinese are not seeking to spend that much money, like the USSR tried to do. Instead they only focus on the weakest parts of the American military might and then concentrate on being the best at that part. This is far more economical and provides a situation where the Americans, to 'keep up', have to re-invest billions in their weakest links all the time. This is a 'non-parallel' way of dealing with immense abiding hegemonic threat.
At the same time China is getting much better at shooting down satellites than the Americans like; so even though the US is stretched economically, they must now invest in better and far more expensive sentinels in space....always understanding that no one in their right mind would go to war with China. This is the problem within contemporary US aggression patterns since being hauled over the coals by Vietnam. Ever since that lesson, the US only go to war with countries that have been weakened enough so that they cant fight back. China is strong and getting much stronger and they can fight back.
The USA in Asia
You can see the simple patterning of American Hegemony in Asia pretty clearly.
In terms of Taiwan: If Taiwan were to either become an Independent State or Reunified with the Mainland, for America the result would be exactly the same: They would have no reason to be there; thus they must continue to inspire fear and a great degree of hatred, and supply weapons.
In Terms of South Korea: If South Korea wished to reunify with the North (and many South Koreans do) it would be America who would lose out on having power over the South. So, the North must be continually provoked and told what to do not only by America but by the lap-dog community that is attached to the US. North Korea has a bad 'royal' government, for sure, but so does Saudi Arabia, Jordan and any number of American friends.
In terms of Japan: The recent Japanese PM came to power, by popular vote, promising to remove the US military bases from Okinawa. The result? He had to resign in dishonour simply because the Japanese government doesn't have the power to do that in its own democratic country. In the wake of his resignation, the Japanese have become instantly terrified of China as a direct result of US influence within Japan.
This is the operational matrix of US of America as a dark, abiding,hegemonic entity. Its meaning in Asia, and its economic profit, can only be sustained through the generation of fear, hatred and instability. This is who they are and this is what the US represents.
The rise of an assertive and empowered China represents a long necessary balance and a different and more peaceful future.
.
In terms of Taiwan: If Taiwan were to either become an Independent State or Reunified with the Mainland, for America the result would be exactly the same: They would have no reason to be there; thus they must continue to inspire fear and a great degree of hatred, and supply weapons.
In Terms of South Korea: If South Korea wished to reunify with the North (and many South Koreans do) it would be America who would lose out on having power over the South. So, the North must be continually provoked and told what to do not only by America but by the lap-dog community that is attached to the US. North Korea has a bad 'royal' government, for sure, but so does Saudi Arabia, Jordan and any number of American friends.
In terms of Japan: The recent Japanese PM came to power, by popular vote, promising to remove the US military bases from Okinawa. The result? He had to resign in dishonour simply because the Japanese government doesn't have the power to do that in its own democratic country. In the wake of his resignation, the Japanese have become instantly terrified of China as a direct result of US influence within Japan.
This is the operational matrix of US of America as a dark, abiding,hegemonic entity. Its meaning in Asia, and its economic profit, can only be sustained through the generation of fear, hatred and instability. This is who they are and this is what the US represents.
The rise of an assertive and empowered China represents a long necessary balance and a different and more peaceful future.
.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
From CNN : Smoking in China
Beijing (CNN) -- When I first came to China 39 years ago, airlines distributed cigarettes free of charge during flights. Hotel rooms were invariably furnished with free packs of cigarettes. At meetings and conferences, filter-tipped cigarettes were standard features on the podium alongside writing pads, pencils and ashtrays. Non-smoking cars were unheard of on trains.
Today, smoking remains a stubborn habit because it is an integral part of Chinese social life. Offering a cigarette is a common way to greet someone, a handy ice-breaker especially in awkward situations (I myself used to do that until I quit smoking 30 years ago).
More than 300 million people in China are regular smokers, most of them men, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in 2009-2010. Increasingly, large numbers of women and teenagers have also taken up the habit.
The survey, jointly conducted by the China Center for Disease Control, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, shows that seven out of 10 adults reported being exposed to secondhand smoke in a typical week.
Smoking is estimated to kill more than one million Chinese a year. They die from chronic respiratory ailments like tuberculosis and emphysema, and from cancers affecting the lungs, mouth, liver and stomach.
Another report by Chinese and international experts led by China CDC deputy director Yang Gonghuan and Tsinghua professor Hu Angang projects that the deaths attributable to tobacco in China will rise to 3.5 million per year by 2030.
"That is an astounding number given that we know how to prevent tobacco-attributable death and disease," says Dr. Sarah England, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative Officer in China.
Campaigning against tobacco use has always been an uphill battle.
A smoke after a meal is still customary, as indicated in the popular saying, "a smoke after dinner is better than life after death." Cigarettes are favored gifts to get things done or expedited.
Chain-smoking national leaders may have given smoking undeserved respectability. Chairman Mao was a heavy smoker, though he died at age 82. Deng Xiaoping, who preferred Panda cigarettes, died at 92.
Because many Chinese celebrities -- artists and athletes -- smoke in public, some Chinese associate wealth and sophistication with puffing a cigarette.
Tobacco is big business in China. Companies produce and sell more than 400 cigarette brands in the country, ranging from the high-end Zhonghua and Double Happiness to cheaper brands like Little Panda and Yellow Pagoda.
The tobacco industry has been so profitable it was able to pay the government $75.13 billion in taxes in 2009, said Zhang Xiulian, spokesman of the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau.
Unlike some other countries, China does not require cigarette packaging to carry any warning about health hazards. "The tobacco industry's obstruction is the fundamental cause of ineffective tobacco control," says the report coauthored by Yang and Hu.
In recent years, the Chinese government has banned tobacco companies from public advertising and from sponsoring sports and cultural events. It has also launched education campaigns in schools and in local media.
Five years ago this week, China officially became a party to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention Tobacco Control. So far, China's scorecard is poor.
"There is still a huge gap between the existing domestic laws and regulations and the FCTC's requirements, and the implementation and enforcement of existing laws are poor and ineffective," says the report by Yang and Hu.
"Numerous public misconceptions remain about the health hazards of smoking and secondhand smoke. Mainstream society considers smoking an accepted behavior and smoking remains popular."
The Chinese government has recently decreed a ban on smoking in all public places, workplaces and on public transportation.
However, the All-China Women's Federation appears unimpressed.
"The government has not taken enough measures to restrict smoking in public areas. It is not just a question of weak regulations but also weak implementation," says a statement from the federation, a quasi-government group that lobbies for women's rights and has 40 million members.
In fact, the ban on smoking in restaurants, pubs, coffee shops and karaoke bars has largely been ignored. The government is said to have deployed 100,000 inspectors nationwide to enforce the ban, but the fines (about $1.40 per offense) are too low to make a difference.
"I come home from bars smelling like smoke," says Feliz Lopez, a non-smoking 20-year-old college student visiting from New York. "Restaurants and bars assume patrons smoke so there are ashtrays on tables, and there is no distinction between smoking and non-smoking sections."
Experts acknowledge it is hard to curb tobacco use. But England is certain China can do it.
"We have seen both developed and developing countries from New Zealand to Uruguay implement highly effective tobacco control plans, bring down the smoking rates and save lives," she says. "With political will, it is entirely feasible to stop the tobacco epidemic in China through interventions."
Today, smoking remains a stubborn habit because it is an integral part of Chinese social life. Offering a cigarette is a common way to greet someone, a handy ice-breaker especially in awkward situations (I myself used to do that until I quit smoking 30 years ago).
More than 300 million people in China are regular smokers, most of them men, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in 2009-2010. Increasingly, large numbers of women and teenagers have also taken up the habit.
The survey, jointly conducted by the China Center for Disease Control, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, shows that seven out of 10 adults reported being exposed to secondhand smoke in a typical week.
Smoking is estimated to kill more than one million Chinese a year. They die from chronic respiratory ailments like tuberculosis and emphysema, and from cancers affecting the lungs, mouth, liver and stomach.
Another report by Chinese and international experts led by China CDC deputy director Yang Gonghuan and Tsinghua professor Hu Angang projects that the deaths attributable to tobacco in China will rise to 3.5 million per year by 2030.
"That is an astounding number given that we know how to prevent tobacco-attributable death and disease," says Dr. Sarah England, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative Officer in China.
Campaigning against tobacco use has always been an uphill battle.
A smoke after a meal is still customary, as indicated in the popular saying, "a smoke after dinner is better than life after death." Cigarettes are favored gifts to get things done or expedited.
Chain-smoking national leaders may have given smoking undeserved respectability. Chairman Mao was a heavy smoker, though he died at age 82. Deng Xiaoping, who preferred Panda cigarettes, died at 92.
Because many Chinese celebrities -- artists and athletes -- smoke in public, some Chinese associate wealth and sophistication with puffing a cigarette.
Tobacco is big business in China. Companies produce and sell more than 400 cigarette brands in the country, ranging from the high-end Zhonghua and Double Happiness to cheaper brands like Little Panda and Yellow Pagoda.
The tobacco industry has been so profitable it was able to pay the government $75.13 billion in taxes in 2009, said Zhang Xiulian, spokesman of the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau.
Unlike some other countries, China does not require cigarette packaging to carry any warning about health hazards. "The tobacco industry's obstruction is the fundamental cause of ineffective tobacco control," says the report coauthored by Yang and Hu.
In recent years, the Chinese government has banned tobacco companies from public advertising and from sponsoring sports and cultural events. It has also launched education campaigns in schools and in local media.
Five years ago this week, China officially became a party to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention Tobacco Control. So far, China's scorecard is poor.
"There is still a huge gap between the existing domestic laws and regulations and the FCTC's requirements, and the implementation and enforcement of existing laws are poor and ineffective," says the report by Yang and Hu.
"Numerous public misconceptions remain about the health hazards of smoking and secondhand smoke. Mainstream society considers smoking an accepted behavior and smoking remains popular."
The Chinese government has recently decreed a ban on smoking in all public places, workplaces and on public transportation.
However, the All-China Women's Federation appears unimpressed.
"The government has not taken enough measures to restrict smoking in public areas. It is not just a question of weak regulations but also weak implementation," says a statement from the federation, a quasi-government group that lobbies for women's rights and has 40 million members.
In fact, the ban on smoking in restaurants, pubs, coffee shops and karaoke bars has largely been ignored. The government is said to have deployed 100,000 inspectors nationwide to enforce the ban, but the fines (about $1.40 per offense) are too low to make a difference.
"I come home from bars smelling like smoke," says Feliz Lopez, a non-smoking 20-year-old college student visiting from New York. "Restaurants and bars assume patrons smoke so there are ashtrays on tables, and there is no distinction between smoking and non-smoking sections."
Experts acknowledge it is hard to curb tobacco use. But England is certain China can do it.
"We have seen both developed and developing countries from New Zealand to Uruguay implement highly effective tobacco control plans, bring down the smoking rates and save lives," she says. "With political will, it is entirely feasible to stop the tobacco epidemic in China through interventions."
Has Wikileaks Cost Lives? Has US Actions Cost Lives?
I note that the US Government is seeking to use force Twitter to provide lots of information on lots of people who have been in contact with Wikileaks...
The US Government asks: Has Wikileaks cost lives? Such an interesting question for a Government to ask when it continues to imprison, torture and kill innocent people beyond the dreams of any islamist-christian fundamentalist madman.
USA: "We must be vigilant in protecting ourselves from any responsibility in what we do. Truth is not our Truth."
The US Government asks: Has Wikileaks cost lives? Such an interesting question for a Government to ask when it continues to imprison, torture and kill innocent people beyond the dreams of any islamist-christian fundamentalist madman.
USA: "We must be vigilant in protecting ourselves from any responsibility in what we do. Truth is not our Truth."
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Understanding Australia
I think that one of the things I found hard to understand, returning to Australia from Asia is this: So much of Asia is preparing for and dealing with huge populations and diverse economies but Australia isn't; and it won't need to.
There is enough stuff to dig up, export, basic unimproved minerals etc, for decades to come. The problems here more relate to an ageing basically homogenous population and, as always, the huge costs of the distances between cities/settlements. No great problems, no great challenges, no great pressure to innovate or pursue a new definition; no population pressures, not much suffering...and it won't change. It's understandable.
I was surprised, upon returning here, how many old people there were...people my age and older, compared to anywhere in Asia...and how many very large, fat people; but this is what happens in all First World countries I think. Mildly overweight people generally live longer than slim people anyway.
It's an uncrowded country and no one here much wants that to change. There is great anger whenever anyone suggests Australia should have a larger population now or in 30 years time, and there is the usual xenophobia about Asians and Arabs in particular. This great fear; as always unfounded, yet persistent now for more than 150 years does not vary. I think it's because Australia doesn't have any neighbours on the border...there is just the ocean. The Ocean Continent...so there has never been any need to interact much with anyone, or to solve problems...because there have been no problems with the ocean.
You can see the same kind of Mentality with the UK...and also with the USA who only have Canada and Mexico to have 'issues' with. None of these cultures know much about resolving problems with neighbours, per se.
It may well be a defining thing about UK and USA culture...the absence of negotiation in so many areas over so many hundreds of years, so there is no particular skill development; thus in its absence is an odd chimera of 'Independence' and what is defined 'Freedom'...not by any struggle, innovation and effort but just conferred by geographical reality.
It can't be a criticism, and it's not. At the same time a city like Sydney has just about the most ethnically diverse 4-million-people-urban population on earth, and all or most doing reasonably well.
China Rising
I know I tend to go on about it, but I do find China's Rise so remarkable. Sure it's been accellerated in the past few years, relatively, simply due to the various financial collapsing dominoes in the West... but then you can't blame China for being wise and financially conservative, and careful. This is hardly a sign of aggression; it is in fact a sign of thwe opposite...a certain stoic and steady track forward.
What I see with China Rising is the most remarkable arrival of Dominant Culture, outstripping in size and power and impact everything that has come before, including the Romans, British, American empires. The Chinese 'Empire' is travelling faster and investing more in its own future, in its infrastructure, in its people, industries, education, etc and in its relationships, especially with its 16 border neighbours, than any power on Earth has ever done.
Whilst being a significant player within Globalisation, per se, it is also the leading and only Alternate to the US-Euro Globalisation 'system' and will outstrip it as time goes by.
The China Model, the Walled World Model, will dominate as time goes by and without invading and blowing up and pillaging other sovereign nations and in this way alone is a far superior model for human growth and development than any we have seen on Earth to date.
Also what is rising is not Chinese Communism at all...what is rising is Confucianism, as a thought-action discipline and as a social-system, for the first time outside the mainland.
I think the impact of both Zhonguo's Rise and the Rise of Confucianism, world wide, will provide the largest change to all human systems on Earth and will have a much greater impact and last far longer than any before it.
I think that we do live in remarkable times, to witness this unstoppable rise. It will be mostly beneficial to China, of course, as it should be; at the same time, we, on the fringe of this massive change, will do well enough to trade fairly and peacefully.
What I see with China Rising is the most remarkable arrival of Dominant Culture, outstripping in size and power and impact everything that has come before, including the Romans, British, American empires. The Chinese 'Empire' is travelling faster and investing more in its own future, in its infrastructure, in its people, industries, education, etc and in its relationships, especially with its 16 border neighbours, than any power on Earth has ever done.
Whilst being a significant player within Globalisation, per se, it is also the leading and only Alternate to the US-Euro Globalisation 'system' and will outstrip it as time goes by.
The China Model, the Walled World Model, will dominate as time goes by and without invading and blowing up and pillaging other sovereign nations and in this way alone is a far superior model for human growth and development than any we have seen on Earth to date.
Also what is rising is not Chinese Communism at all...what is rising is Confucianism, as a thought-action discipline and as a social-system, for the first time outside the mainland.
I think the impact of both Zhonguo's Rise and the Rise of Confucianism, world wide, will provide the largest change to all human systems on Earth and will have a much greater impact and last far longer than any before it.
I think that we do live in remarkable times, to witness this unstoppable rise. It will be mostly beneficial to China, of course, as it should be; at the same time, we, on the fringe of this massive change, will do well enough to trade fairly and peacefully.
Visit to China February 2011
We will be visiting Schezuan Province in China in February for New Year Celebrations and visiting the municipality of ChongQing, with its population of 38.4 million. A city-municipality slioghtly larger than the Australian island of Tasmania...which, I guess, means it's a big city.
Very Very Fast Train, Beijing-Shanghai
Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Rail
The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway will be put into operation by the middle of June this year, Chinese Railways Minister Liu Zhijun said at a conference Tuesday.
The high-speed link connecting the country's two most important cities will open ahead of its original schedule, previously set in 2012.
The construction of the 1,318-km railway was started in April 2008 with total investment estimated at 220.9 billion yuan (around 32.5 billion U.S. dollars).
The railway is expected to cut travel time between Beijing, China's capital in the north, and Shanghai, the country's economic center in the east, to less than five hours, compared with the current 10-hour rail journey.
On Dec. 3, 2010, a China-made CRH380A train set a new speed record of 486.1 km per hour on a test run on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway.
Also at the conference, Liu said the combined length of China's operating high-speed railways had reached 8,358 km by the end of 2010.
Total length of high-speed railways would reach 13,000 km by 2011, and 16,000 km by 2015, Liu said.
China plans to invest 700 billion yuan for the construction of railways this year, Liu said.
He said the total length of China's railways had reached 91,000 km by 2010, and the railways would reach 120,000 km in five years.
In 2010, 1.68 billion passenger journeys were conducted through the nation's railways, up 9.9 percent year on year. The railways had also transported 3.63 billion tonnes of goods, up 9.3 percent.
The high-speed link connecting the country's two most important cities will open ahead of its original schedule, previously set in 2012.
The construction of the 1,318-km railway was started in April 2008 with total investment estimated at 220.9 billion yuan (around 32.5 billion U.S. dollars).
The railway is expected to cut travel time between Beijing, China's capital in the north, and Shanghai, the country's economic center in the east, to less than five hours, compared with the current 10-hour rail journey.
On Dec. 3, 2010, a China-made CRH380A train set a new speed record of 486.1 km per hour on a test run on the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway.
Also at the conference, Liu said the combined length of China's operating high-speed railways had reached 8,358 km by the end of 2010.
Total length of high-speed railways would reach 13,000 km by 2011, and 16,000 km by 2015, Liu said.
China plans to invest 700 billion yuan for the construction of railways this year, Liu said.
He said the total length of China's railways had reached 91,000 km by 2010, and the railways would reach 120,000 km in five years.
In 2010, 1.68 billion passenger journeys were conducted through the nation's railways, up 9.9 percent year on year. The railways had also transported 3.63 billion tonnes of goods, up 9.3 percent.
CHINA President to visit USA President for Official State Visit
Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a state visit to the United States from Jan. 18 to 21 at the invitation of U.S. President Barack Obama, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei announced Friday.
RABBIT YEAR
Thursday, 6 January 2011
New Links between Thailand and China
China to build $1.5 bn trading centre in Thailand
BEIJING, January 6, 2011 (AFP) - China will build a "commercial city" in Thailand worth $1.5 billion that will allow traders to re-export Chinese-made goods and avoid costly tariffs, state media said Thursday.
More than 70,000 Chinese traders are expected to operate in the China City Complex in Bangkok, helping them miss levies on products shipped directly from China, the China Daily said, citing officials involved in the development.
The 700,000-square-metre (7.5 million square foot) centre -- equivalent to 100 football pitches -- will resemble the world's largest wholesale market for small products in the city of Yiwu in eastern China, the report said.
Construction of the centre will begin on January 18 and is expected to be finished by 2013, it added.
"Apart from the business opportunities in Thailand, Chinese exporters can also promote their products to developed markets such as the European Union and the United States through this project," Yang Fangshu, chairman of the ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Promotion Centre, was quoted as saying.
China signed a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian countries including Thailand in January 2010 which reduced or removed tariffs on traded goods.
Export-driven China has seen its trade surplus with the rest of the world balloon in recent years, reaching $196.1 billion in 2009 and triggering rows with trading partners who complain their shelves are been flooded with cheap Chinese-made products.
China was targeted in a record 127 cases brought by trading nations in 2009, the report said, without providing details.
The country's trade surplus likely topped $190 billion in 2010, a commerce ministry official said recently. China is due to release full-year trade data next week.
There have been a series of trade spats between China and its key trading partners, the United States and Europe, from chicken products and modems to steel fasteners and China's yuan exchange rate policy.
Washington has led a chorus of complaints that China's exchange rate controls have made the country's exports artificially cheap and given its manufacturers an unfair advantage.
BEIJING, January 6, 2011 (AFP) - China will build a "commercial city" in Thailand worth $1.5 billion that will allow traders to re-export Chinese-made goods and avoid costly tariffs, state media said Thursday.
More than 70,000 Chinese traders are expected to operate in the China City Complex in Bangkok, helping them miss levies on products shipped directly from China, the China Daily said, citing officials involved in the development.
The 700,000-square-metre (7.5 million square foot) centre -- equivalent to 100 football pitches -- will resemble the world's largest wholesale market for small products in the city of Yiwu in eastern China, the report said.
Construction of the centre will begin on January 18 and is expected to be finished by 2013, it added.
"Apart from the business opportunities in Thailand, Chinese exporters can also promote their products to developed markets such as the European Union and the United States through this project," Yang Fangshu, chairman of the ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Promotion Centre, was quoted as saying.
China signed a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian countries including Thailand in January 2010 which reduced or removed tariffs on traded goods.
Export-driven China has seen its trade surplus with the rest of the world balloon in recent years, reaching $196.1 billion in 2009 and triggering rows with trading partners who complain their shelves are been flooded with cheap Chinese-made products.
China was targeted in a record 127 cases brought by trading nations in 2009, the report said, without providing details.
The country's trade surplus likely topped $190 billion in 2010, a commerce ministry official said recently. China is due to release full-year trade data next week.
There have been a series of trade spats between China and its key trading partners, the United States and Europe, from chicken products and modems to steel fasteners and China's yuan exchange rate policy.
Washington has led a chorus of complaints that China's exchange rate controls have made the country's exports artificially cheap and given its manufacturers an unfair advantage.
Korea: Clowns, Brothers.
Haha. South Korea has rejected the North Korean offer to talk unconditionally until certain conditions are met... although one would think that talking is the only thing that can decide conditionality, per se.
Clowns.
Brothers.
1:Have a fight with each other.
2:Survive it.
3:Settle eventually for peace without gain, without bringing in 'your friends'. That's all that can happen.
4: It's your fight.
5: It's a family matter.
When Korea was divided it was done so to bring the best benefit to the USA and the USSR, using the UN, as dark hegemonic 'deities'.
Korea was the only real victim of this massive atrocity of barbarian control.
60 years on, its time for one Korea again.
Clowns.
Brothers.
1:Have a fight with each other.
2:Survive it.
3:Settle eventually for peace without gain, without bringing in 'your friends'. That's all that can happen.
4: It's your fight.
5: It's a family matter.
When Korea was divided it was done so to bring the best benefit to the USA and the USSR, using the UN, as dark hegemonic 'deities'.
Korea was the only real victim of this massive atrocity of barbarian control.
60 years on, its time for one Korea again.
Available Wisdom from Confucius and Shakespeare re Korea and other things
Both the Koreas have a long history of shamanism, confucianism, quite a load of Catholicism in the missionary times, and both are avid researchers of Western Thought as well. They have everything they need to find a solution with each other and neither are mad, despite what the Americans say for their own quite sick hegemonic purposes.
"...In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of". Analects of Confucius.
"If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear? " Confucius
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.
- William Shakespeare
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
- William Shakespeare
...The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief.
- William Shakespeare
He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.
- William Shakespeare
"...In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of". Analects of Confucius.
"If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear? " Confucius
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough.
- William Shakespeare
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
- William Shakespeare
...The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief.
- William Shakespeare
He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.
- William Shakespeare
South Korea refuses talks with North Korea_ CNN, & comment
South Korea has dismissed an apparent offer from North Korea of unconditional talks to ease tensions.
An official at the Unification Ministry in Seoul said it was not a serious proposal for dialogue, adding the offer was part of a propaganda campaign.
The US has also responded coolly, saying the North must first indicate it is serious about ending its provocations.
US envoy Stephen Bosworth is in China on a round of regional talks.
The visit by Mr Bosworth - America's top official on North Korea - is part of a fresh round of diplomacy on the issue.
_____________________
North and South areas of the One Korea continue to be belligerent brothers each expecting Great Forces to come to their rescue whilst still provoking and sometimes killing each other. They should be left alone to work things out in the way they know how. It wouldn't take them long and it is THEIR business.
I'm pretty sure if they were left to their own fate they'd work things out one way or another pretty quickly...and knowing it was just up to them, well, this may even bring about the necessity for peace. If neither side can win, then war is far too expensive.
An official at the Unification Ministry in Seoul said it was not a serious proposal for dialogue, adding the offer was part of a propaganda campaign.
The US has also responded coolly, saying the North must first indicate it is serious about ending its provocations.
US envoy Stephen Bosworth is in China on a round of regional talks.
The visit by Mr Bosworth - America's top official on North Korea - is part of a fresh round of diplomacy on the issue.
_____________________
North and South areas of the One Korea continue to be belligerent brothers each expecting Great Forces to come to their rescue whilst still provoking and sometimes killing each other. They should be left alone to work things out in the way they know how. It wouldn't take them long and it is THEIR business.
I'm pretty sure if they were left to their own fate they'd work things out one way or another pretty quickly...and knowing it was just up to them, well, this may even bring about the necessity for peace. If neither side can win, then war is far too expensive.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Monday, 3 January 2011
新年快樂!!
☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ NEW YEAR ☆ 2011 新年快樂!!
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆ 萬事如意
╔╗╔╦══╦═╦═╦╗╔╗ ★ ★ ★
║╚╝║══║═║═║╚╝║ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ NEW YEAR ☆ 2011 新年快樂!!
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆ 萬事如意
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