The recession is really damaging to national self confidence: 44% of Americans now believe that China is the world’s leading economic power, as opposed to the 27% who (correctly) believe that it is the United States. Compare those latest Pew poll stats from those from February 2008, when 41% identified the US as the leading nation (with 30% identifying China).
James Fallow of the Atlantic, however, refutes these beliefs with some hard facts -- namely that despite China’s awe-inspiring rise, it's still not a superpower. China still lags in global brands, scientific innovation, and living standards. Almost no one in the United States is a peasant farmer. Most people in China are. Nearly everyone in America has indoor plumbing. Most people in China don't. Japan has one-tenth as many people as China, yet its economy is larger -- the second largest in the world. America's is of course largest of all, three times larger than Japan's and about four times larger than China's. Name 20 large American corporations that do business worldwide. Without trying, you can probably name 50. Try to name even 10 from China.
Ouch. Harsh, perhaps, but we think Fallow has a point - China is still the place to watch, and may yet become the world’s leading economic power, but it still has some way to go in terms of development.
Friday, December 10, 2010
CHINA TODAY
China is today the next global leader next to America. With trade surpluses rising to ends which nobody can think of and them buying our treasuries as if they were water it scary their prospects in life and what they actually want to do when it comes to the future. This picture is of a traffic jam in China, why am i showing this? Well when was the last time you even saw Manhattan look remotely like this? The fact is it doesnt, and never will because although we are the most busiest city in the world maybe, our population will never be a match for china. For every car in the US there are 4 in China. This is one thought that should not cross our minds in the coming future.
What does this all mean? It means we as Americans need to cut our debt to a bare minimum allowing ourselves to save money for the long run and invest into area which bring a guaranteed income into our own homes so that our futures are secure and we do not end up working like horses until we die. We need to do this invest for our own personal gain and so as a country America can stand up on its own again for the reason it was made. We need to start using a better education system, we need to adapt to the money we have as cash not credit. Until we stop using credit for everything we buy from countries like China, America will never be the great any more and we will eventually loose our title of the worlds super power. Save for the rainy days while enjoying the sunny ones modestly or else this China or maybe even another country will continue to grow until they become the America we were in the 70s. Great times I believe.
What does this all mean? It means we as Americans need to cut our debt to a bare minimum allowing ourselves to save money for the long run and invest into area which bring a guaranteed income into our own homes so that our futures are secure and we do not end up working like horses until we die. We need to do this invest for our own personal gain and so as a country America can stand up on its own again for the reason it was made. We need to start using a better education system, we need to adapt to the money we have as cash not credit. Until we stop using credit for everything we buy from countries like China, America will never be the great any more and we will eventually loose our title of the worlds super power. Save for the rainy days while enjoying the sunny ones modestly or else this China or maybe even another country will continue to grow until they become the America we were in the 70s. Great times I believe.
South Koreas Worst Naval "War"
A South Korean warship was destroyed by an elite North Korean suicide squad of 'human torpedoes' on the express orders of the regime's leader, Kim Jong-il, according to military intelligence reports. The attack on the 1,220-ton Cheonan, which sank on March 26 with the loss of 46 of its 104 crew, was carried out in retaliation for a skirmish between warships of the two nations' navies in November of last year, South Korea claims. The South Korean government has refused to comment officially on the reports but Defence Minister Kim Tae Young told a parliamentary session that the military believed that the sinking was a deliberate act by North Korea. Officials in military intelligence say they warned the government earlier this year that North Korea was preparing a suicide-squad submarine attack on a South Korean ship.
What is going on in Korea?
Truce talks began in July 1951, but the fighting continued until July 1953, when the negotiations at last bore fruit and the conflict ended in a cease-fire agreement.
Unlike after its previous wars, the United States did not fully and immediately demobilize after the fighting subsided in Korea. Production and spending continued at a relatively high level. In this respect, the Korean War was the most important event in the history of the Cold War, and, indeed, was a watershed in American military history. After this war, the United States embarked on the first long-term peacetime program of military and industrial preparedness. No longer would the country virtually disarm after a war; instead, it would promote the concept of readiness. No longer was the question whether or not to produce, but what to produce and how much.
In comparison to the naval forces engaged in World War II, Korea was a small war. At no time were more than four large carriers in action at the same time. Yet in the 3 years of war, Navy and Marine aircraft flew 276,000 combat sorties, dropped 177,000 tons of bombs and expended 272,000 rockets. This was within 7,000 sorties of their World War II totals in all theaters and bettered the bomb tonnage by 74,000 tons, and the number of rockets by 60,000.
Unlike after its previous wars, the United States did not fully and immediately demobilize after the fighting subsided in Korea. Production and spending continued at a relatively high level. In this respect, the Korean War was the most important event in the history of the Cold War, and, indeed, was a watershed in American military history. After this war, the United States embarked on the first long-term peacetime program of military and industrial preparedness. No longer would the country virtually disarm after a war; instead, it would promote the concept of readiness. No longer was the question whether or not to produce, but what to produce and how much.
In comparison to the naval forces engaged in World War II, Korea was a small war. At no time were more than four large carriers in action at the same time. Yet in the 3 years of war, Navy and Marine aircraft flew 276,000 combat sorties, dropped 177,000 tons of bombs and expended 272,000 rockets. This was within 7,000 sorties of their World War II totals in all theaters and bettered the bomb tonnage by 74,000 tons, and the number of rockets by 60,000.
Iran and Nuclear Intellegence
Iranian officials have been talking with the United States and other countries trying to put the brakes on Tehran's nuclear program. On Sunday, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Iran is now producing its own yellowcake and is self-sufficient in the nuclear fuel cycle. What is yellowcake? What does it do and why does it matter?
Yellowcake is the lifeline of any civilian and military nuclear program. The powdery, often yellow substance is uranium ore concentrate that comes from processed, mined uranium ore. Yellowcake is used to produce enriched uranium which is the fuel for nuclear power plants that generate electricity. Uranium enriched at levels between 70 to 90% can be used to build a nuclear bomb. Producing yellowcake is an achievement for Iran because theoretically it will now be able to bypass strict U.N. sanctions that ban Iran from importing yellowcake from other countries.
Why does Iran want nuclear power?Iran says it has a right to have a civilian nuclear program and enrich uranium for peaceful purposes as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Those who are suspicious about Iran's nuclear program wonder why Iran needs nuclear energy when it has among the world's largest reserves of oil and natural gas. Iran says nuclear power will free up more of its oil to export and that's more money for their struggling economy.
Yellowcake is the lifeline of any civilian and military nuclear program. The powdery, often yellow substance is uranium ore concentrate that comes from processed, mined uranium ore. Yellowcake is used to produce enriched uranium which is the fuel for nuclear power plants that generate electricity. Uranium enriched at levels between 70 to 90% can be used to build a nuclear bomb. Producing yellowcake is an achievement for Iran because theoretically it will now be able to bypass strict U.N. sanctions that ban Iran from importing yellowcake from other countries.
Why does Iran want nuclear power?Iran says it has a right to have a civilian nuclear program and enrich uranium for peaceful purposes as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Those who are suspicious about Iran's nuclear program wonder why Iran needs nuclear energy when it has among the world's largest reserves of oil and natural gas. Iran says nuclear power will free up more of its oil to export and that's more money for their struggling economy.
Monday, December 6, 2010
What Have I Learned?
I discovered that blogging is a time consuming hobby. And once you start, you can’t stop for a length of time or you’ll lose any audience you built up. I also learned that rushing to complete an entry is a mistake. Looking back, I can see the difference between posts where I took my time and where I rushed. Plus, good ideas don’t grow on trees. We really have to become observers of the world around us for our material.
That there are so many blogs out there designed to make money. And I've found a few that are little more than "samplers"...they just lift stuff from others and recirculate it. I write as a release...and I'm finding some friends along the way which has been a bonus. I never knew blogging was about making money...I'm so naive... I thought people want to spread their ideas. Not get paid for playing the devils advocate. This really upset me because I did not know blogging had this side to it.
If I had to do it all over agian, I would do it exactly the same way I did it now. Nothing would be different. I do not write for my audience whether it be one person or a hundred I wrote what I felt. It is hard to find something in life where not only can you vent, but throw your ideas into the world and get constructive critism. This blog has taught me a lot and I realized there is more to my thoughts than just keeping them within myself. I will most certainly contiue this blog because it allows me to be me without a specific deadline, no lines and rules like an essay, and endless boundries like so many of the classes I take right now. I am free to think the way that I want when I want to. To me this is the greatest type of education, self-realization.
That there are so many blogs out there designed to make money. And I've found a few that are little more than "samplers"...they just lift stuff from others and recirculate it. I write as a release...and I'm finding some friends along the way which has been a bonus. I never knew blogging was about making money...I'm so naive... I thought people want to spread their ideas. Not get paid for playing the devils advocate. This really upset me because I did not know blogging had this side to it.
If I had to do it all over agian, I would do it exactly the same way I did it now. Nothing would be different. I do not write for my audience whether it be one person or a hundred I wrote what I felt. It is hard to find something in life where not only can you vent, but throw your ideas into the world and get constructive critism. This blog has taught me a lot and I realized there is more to my thoughts than just keeping them within myself. I will most certainly contiue this blog because it allows me to be me without a specific deadline, no lines and rules like an essay, and endless boundries like so many of the classes I take right now. I am free to think the way that I want when I want to. To me this is the greatest type of education, self-realization.
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