On Wed, 12 Apr 2006 00:23:46 +0000, egilsson-9@comcast.net wrote :
> Here's an interesting article I received that also figures in the powerful
China element in todays world.
>
>
> AMERICA: THE BUST ECONOMY?
>
> The USA’s national debt is increasing by $2.43 billion everyday. People
> expect the state debt to top the ten trillion dollar mark in the next few
> years. A special huge electronic display in New York which shows in real
> time the size of state debt will not be able to cope with such a high
> figure. In 1989 the national debt clock was placed in Times Square so that
> Americans could see how effectively their government was working. At the
> time the national debt stood at 2.7 trillion dollars. Yesterday at midday
> Moscow time the debt stood at $8 369 526 197 055.36. It even rose yesterday
> by $604 million. If the figures are to be believed, yesterday every
> American family bore a debt of almost $90 000. Developer Douglas Durst owns
> the clock and his father erected it. He hoped to make Americans understand
> the economy better. The clock worked fine for ten years but in the run up
> to the new millennium it crashed. In its final moments the clock read that
> the national debt was $5.7 trillion and that the family share of the debt
> was $74 000. Durst believed that such a level of debt would not last long
> and he was right. Within two years the debt had started to grow at an
> unprecedented rate. Durst pulled the plug on the clock in 2000, but it was
> switched back on in 2002 when debt started to once again increase. In 2004
> a new model replaced the original clock which was able to express the
> figure in a shortened term in the event that in the future the debt
> suddenly started to rise at an unthinkable rate. Now the figure on the
> clock goes up by $20 000 every second. So what is to be done? It is
> expensive being the “light of democracy” in Iraq and Afghanistan, keep
> revolutionaries at bay and to “teach” the rest of the world how to live
> their lives. Anton Struchenevsky, an analyst from management company Troika
> Dialog says, “Even when the state debt reaches the 10 trillion dollar mark,
> an economic crisis will not occur in the USA and the dollar will not crash.
> It is in the interests of the USA’s main creditor, China, to have a stable
> American currency and protect the American market.”
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
How to Win the War In Iraq.
How to Win the War In Iraq.
Re: [spiers] How to Win the War In Iraq.
Some of the assertions do sound unusual. As for me,
it's important to hear other perspectives. I may not
agree, but I need to know and learn other views.
Although I can't point to a specific instance(help
anyone), there are trade opportunities in poor
political decisions anywhere in the world. It seems
trade and politics are intertwined. Not knowing or
discussing politics puts me at a disadvantage in the
world of trade.
Anthony
--- Pete Holt
> John,
> Please provide some credible evidence for your
> following assertions:
>
> On the other hand, I believe the reason there has
> been no second attack
> after 9-11 in the United States is because the
> Chinese have forbidden it.
>
> This is nothing new, the prime reason for Nixon
> visiting China in 1972 was to ask the Chinese for a
> "decent interval" before Saigon fell to the
> communist forces, so the US would not look so bad
> when we quit Vietnam.
>
> China paid for US concessions with a washed-up
> puppet they had stashed in a spider-hole, a puppet
> the US already owned!
>
> I don't agree with either the Republican neocons or
> the Democratic liberals. But I think it is a very
> good thing for both you and us that you did not go
> into politics. It would be even better if you
> stayed as far as possible from the subject as your
> level of expertise is much below you knowledge of
> business. It is rudimentary at best and unrealistic
> in the extreme. Best left alone.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: John Spiers
> To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 12:54 PM
> Subject: [spiers] How to Win the War In Iraq.
>
>
> Folks,
>
> Since no one thinks we can win the war in Iraq,
> indeed, everyone is looking for the best way
> to lose, I think I should offer a way to win, a
> bit of public service on my part. Perhaps my
> specialty of small biz int'l trade can help out in
> this case.
>
> First, we'd have to define victory in Iraq, and
> apparently Iran as well shortly. Well, that is
> easy, victory is peace and prosperity in the
> region.
>
> As it stands now, we are mired in a conflict which
> the neocons explicitly promoted since 1998
> at the Project for a New American Century.
>
> http://www.newamericancentury.org/
>
> George Bush is no neocon, but he certainly hired
> them on to do his thinking and policy
> development. Just as Martin Luther King hired on
> New York experts in agitation and
> propaganda to advance his moribund civil rights
> movement, so the Bushes accepted the
> neocons offer to advance the Bush family
> interests.
>
> The interesting part is the Chinese welcomed the
> neocons offer as well. A United States as
> the focus of all Moslem rage, present and future,
> takes the heat off the Chinese, who have an
> even more pressing Moslem insurgency problem.
>
> Just as in what the Americans call the Vietnam
> war, and what the Vietnamese call the
> American war, the Chinese are now providing
> crucial intelligence and technological ability to
> insurgents in Iraq. On the other hand, I believe
> the reason there has been no second attack
> after 9-11 in the United States is because the
> Chinese have forbidden it. From the Chinese
> point of view, the situation in the world is
> excellent, and it must not be upset.
>
> This is nothing new, the prime reason for Nixon
> visiting China in 1972 was to ask the
> Chinese for a "decent interval" before Saigon fell
> to the communist forces, so the US would
> not look so bad when we quit Vietnam.
>
> In 2003, while the efforts in Iraq were stumbling,
> the US death toll for the "cakewalk" was
> approaching 500 souls, morale was dropping, and
> Americans began to question our
> involvement in iraq. At the same time Taiwan was
> making independence noises. Here is a
> news summary from those days:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/eqpah
>
> Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Washington from
> December 8 to 12 of that year, and
> gained many concessions from the US side. Three
> days after Premier Wen returned to Beijing,
> December 14 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured,
> giving the neocons a big boost. China
> paid for US concessions with a washed-up puppet
> they had stashed in a spider-hole, a
> puppet the US already owned! I am not criticizing
> the Chinese, I just wish we elected
> politicians half as smart as the Chinese
> politicians. We have people that smart, they just
> will
> not go into government.
>
> The neocons are trotskyites, and believe all
> disasters can serve their interests. Seymour
> Hersh has an article in the New Yorker laying out
> the situation today, and notes the window
> of opportunity for peace is now.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/hyfsf
>
> One point the article makes is:
>
> "... that ElBaradei's overriding concern is that
> the Iranian leaders "want confrontation,
> just like the neocons on the other side"-in
> Washington."
>
> Exactly.
>
> Hersh also makes the point that in regards to the
> use of a nuclear strike by the USA on Iran,
> many top generals are talking about resigning.
> This not a surprise, in fact, it is quite
> common they do indeed resign. When the elder
> President Bush wanted to invade Panama
> illegally the US general in charge refused to go
> along so he was cashiered. When Clinton
> wanted to invade the Balkans, the general in
> charge refused so Clinton replaced him with an
> Arkansas boy, Wesley Clark.
>
> When the neocons prepared for invading Iraq,
> Generals Zinni, Shinseki and other active
> officers, and quite a few retired, argued against
> it. The active officers were replaced with
> more compliant officers, like Gen. Tommy Franks, a
> Texas boy, with a curious resume.
>
> The general directly responsible for the Abu
> Ghraib prison torture fiasco was a reserve
> colonel promoted to general for the task, in spite
> of the fact she had been busted for
> shoplifting perfume at a PX previously. This is
> the quality of the generals the neocons can
> atttract. After Abu Ghraib, the US Army had
> trouble reaching recruitment targets. After Abu
> Ghraib, the terrorists had trouble training all
> the new recruits.
>
> The president can only nominate who becomes
> general, the congress confirms the
> nominations, or rejects the nomination. It is a
> pity our politicians do not support the troops
> in Iraq by requiring they be led by our first rate
> generals, and accept 2nd and 3rd rate
> generals in war. It is a pity that although
> officers can resign, the poor soldiers are obliged
> to
> fight regardless of who leads them.
>
> So, how to win the war in Iraq, as defined as
> peace and prosperity? Bring back our first string
> generals. The ones who can win the war. Of
> course, they won't work for the neocons, so it
> will require a regime-change in the USA, the
> impeachment of Geo Bush, and a clearing out of
> the executive branch. Talk has begun on this
> point, and really, is a mere impeachment too
> high of a price to pay for peace in the middle
> east? Go Russ Feingold!
>
> Elections won't work, since the democrats have
> promised they will be more of the same. Even
> when the democrats sweep congress this fall,
> nothing will change. With both Cheney and
> Bush impeached, the House of Representatives would
> have to produce a president, as
> provided by the constitution. A very messy
> process, much closer to the US citizens, will
> produce a better president. The struggle would be
> a small thing compared to peace in the
> middle east.
>
> With a completely new administration, devoid of
> the neocons, the hardliners overseas will not
> be as persuasive in their home countries.
> Further, the first rate generals are smart enough to
>
> threaten to withdraw US forces leaving the Chinese
> to step in and fill the void. Just as the
> USA fell into its own trap in the middle east, we
> can
=== message truncated ===
Mexican Immigration issues
I've seen some of the immigration demonstrations/marching in the
Seattle area. I was trying to think of opportunities. Like importing
Mexican goods for Mexicans in the US...maybe? How does the flight of
Mexicans impact international trade?
I'm for "legal" immigration. I think it is great for the US.
However, I think Mexico is the real looser. Mexico is being drained of
their most driven populous. People who have the initiative and "risk
taking" to travel far and risk much for a better way of life. The very
populous who, if left in Mexico, maybe able to collectively provide the
initiative to lift the country out of abject poverty. Why is Mexico, a
country rich in so many ways, still hobbled economically? I'm sure it
is a combination of things, but maybe start with political reforms?
By the way, my wife is an immigrant; a German. She came to the US on
J1 visa to work for a German owned company in the US. We met, we
married, and then we went through INS hell. I screwed up the INS
interrogation. I forgot some of the movies we saw together. I
couldn't remember what color her toothbrush was. And then the real red
flag raiser...my wife kept her last name. I was threatened with going
to jail for marrying a foreigner just to get her a green card. My wife
was threatened with deportation. The INS investigated my family and
friends. They even went to my employer asking questions. Desperate, I
hired a lawyer. I remember the lawyer told my wife and I to shut up.
To immediately stop talking to the INS. He then turned the tables,
started threatening the INS in ways only lawyers know. Within a few
weeks, my wife's resident alien application was approved. That was 17
years ago. I still get a knot in my stomach thinking about it. We are
still happily married, and my wife is still a happy GERMAN citizen.
Anthony
Warehouses
Re: [spiers] Warehouses
On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 17:11:53 -0000, "hanasatta"
> Hello,
>
> My name is Hana Satta and I am currently researching the cost of
> warehouses in the US. If you have imported goods and have stored them
> in warehouses, where have they been?
***Well, the distribution channel is the warehouse...so the goods have been in
boats or planes
and trucks, etc, something you learn how to handle, under the title of
"logistics" after you
know what you are going to import, and from where. Your customsbroker is the
one to fill in
the details.***
Also, how have you arranged the
> goods to be transported back to you or your customers?
***Public warehouses will cover this for you, but your customers pay for freight
from your
warehosue top their stores, so they specifiy how they want their orders shipped
to them.***
John
How to Win the War In Iraq.
Re: How to Win the War In Iraq.
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "Pete Holt"
>
> John,
> Please provide some credible evidence for your following assertions:
>
> On the other hand, I believe the reason there has been no second attack
> after 9-11 in the United States is because the Chinese have forbidden it.
***Credible evidence that I believe this? You'll have to take my word I believe
this.***
> This is nothing new, the prime reason for Nixon visiting China in 1972 was to
ask
the Chinese for a "decent interval" before Saigon fell to the communist forces,
so the
US would not look so bad when we quit Vietnam.
***this is nothing new, and you can take Nixon's and Kissinger's word for it,
since
they are on tape and in written memos saying just that... CSPAN had a panel
discussion on this very phrase and the documents backing it up last week.***
>
> China paid for US concessions with a washed-up puppet they had stashed in a
spider-hole, a puppet the US already owned!
>
***What part? China got concessions, China paid for concessions? China
bird-dogged
Saddam Hussein? Pure conjecture on my part, with a view to making sense of
rather
nonsensical events.***
> I don't agree with either the Republican neocons or the Democratic liberals.
But I
think it is a very good thing for both you and us that you did not go into
politics. It
would be even better if you stayed as far as possible from the subject as your
level of
expertise is much below you knowledge of business. It is rudimentary at best
and
unrealistic in the extreme. Best left alone.
>
***Say, you think I could get elected? Well, I've made clear before that even I
think it
is a bad idea for me to go into politics, what with what private mischief I
would
advance given the powerful leverage politicians get today. But you alarm me,
anything worthwhile I've got to say about biz I learned from others, so I am 3rd
rate
at best on the topic, a mere reseller of other's ideas..., so... my knowledge of
politics
must be risible indeed!
But the question posed still stands, how to bring peace and prosperity? You
must
have something superior to which to compare my musings, what might that be? Or,
is there a person you know of, given the job as president, would make things
better?
John
Warehouses
Hello,
My name is Hana Satta and I am currently researching the cost of
warehouses in the US. If you have imported goods and have stored them
in warehouses, where have they been? Also, how have you arranged the
goods to be transported back to you or your customers?
Thanks!
Hana Satta
legal self-medication
Folks,
A recitation of the health benefits of smoking, a popular method for ingesting
the beneficial
drug nicotine, soon to be criminal.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/brimelow1.html
John
Monday, April 10, 2006
Finding a Designer
Re: [spiers] Finding a Designer
Similar type of question - looking for a jewellery/handicrafts designer in
Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to points below, anything extra ? Thanks.
John Spiers
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 21:19:44 -0000, "danglynn2002"
wrote
:
> I was wondering about the best way to locate a designer in my area.
> I'm in western Mass. I have an appointment book idea I need help
> designing. Any ideas?
1. People you know.
2. The art schools. (make it a contest with a $100 prize and you'll get 50
designs).
3. REad the names of hot appointment book designers in the trade rags.
4. Check out the patent gazettes for designers in that field.
John
Compete on Design!
www.johnspiers.com
How to Win the War In Iraq.
Re: [spiers] How to Win the War In Iraq.
John,
Please provide some credible evidence for your following assertions:
On the other hand, I believe the reason there has been no second attack
after 9-11 in the United States is because the Chinese have forbidden it.
This is nothing new, the prime reason for Nixon visiting China in 1972 was to
ask the Chinese for a "decent interval" before Saigon fell to the communist
forces, so the US would not look so bad when we quit Vietnam.
China paid for US concessions with a washed-up puppet they had stashed in a
spider-hole, a puppet the US already owned!
I don't agree with either the Republican neocons or the Democratic liberals.
But I think it is a very good thing for both you and us that you did not go into
politics. It would be even better if you stayed as far as possible from the
subject as your level of expertise is much below you knowledge of business. It
is rudimentary at best and unrealistic in the extreme. Best left alone.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Spiers
To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 12:54 PM
Subject: [spiers] How to Win the War In Iraq.
Folks,
Since no one thinks we can win the war in Iraq, indeed, everyone is looking
for the best way
to lose, I think I should offer a way to win, a bit of public service on my
part. Perhaps my
specialty of small biz int'l trade can help out in this case.
First, we'd have to define victory in Iraq, and apparently Iran as well
shortly. Well, that is
easy, victory is peace and prosperity in the region.
As it stands now, we are mired in a conflict which the neocons explicitly
promoted since 1998
at the Project for a New American Century.
http://www.newamericancentury.org/
George Bush is no neocon, but he certainly hired them on to do his thinking
and policy
development. Just as Martin Luther King hired on New York experts in
agitation and
propaganda to advance his moribund civil rights movement, so the Bushes
accepted the
neocons offer to advance the Bush family interests.
The interesting part is the Chinese welcomed the neocons offer as well. A
United States as
the focus of all Moslem rage, present and future, takes the heat off the
Chinese, who have an
even more pressing Moslem insurgency problem.
Just as in what the Americans call the Vietnam war, and what the Vietnamese
call the
American war, the Chinese are now providing crucial intelligence and
technological ability to
insurgents in Iraq. On the other hand, I believe the reason there has been no
second attack
after 9-11 in the United States is because the Chinese have forbidden it.
From the Chinese
point of view, the situation in the world is excellent, and it must not be
upset.
This is nothing new, the prime reason for Nixon visiting China in 1972 was to
ask the
Chinese for a "decent interval" before Saigon fell to the communist forces, so
the US would
not look so bad when we quit Vietnam.
In 2003, while the efforts in Iraq were stumbling, the US death toll for the
"cakewalk" was
approaching 500 souls, morale was dropping, and Americans began to question
our
involvement in iraq. At the same time Taiwan was making independence noises.
Here is a
news summary from those days:
http://tinyurl.com/eqpah
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Washington from December 8 to 12 of that
year, and
gained many concessions from the US side. Three days after Premier Wen
returned to Beijing,
December 14 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured, giving the neocons a big boost.
China
paid for US concessions with a washed-up puppet they had stashed in a
spider-hole, a
puppet the US already owned! I am not criticizing the Chinese, I just wish we
elected
politicians half as smart as the Chinese politicians. We have people that
smart, they just will
not go into government.
The neocons are trotskyites, and believe all disasters can serve their
interests. Seymour
Hersh has an article in the New Yorker laying out the situation today, and
notes the window
of opportunity for peace is now.
http://tinyurl.com/hyfsf
One point the article makes is:
"... that ElBaradei's overriding concern is that the Iranian leaders "want
confrontation,
just like the neocons on the other side"-in Washington."
Exactly.
Hersh also makes the point that in regards to the use of a nuclear strike by
the USA on Iran,
many top generals are talking about resigning. This not a surprise, in fact,
it is quite
common they do indeed resign. When the elder President Bush wanted to invade
Panama
illegally the US general in charge refused to go along so he was cashiered.
When Clinton
wanted to invade the Balkans, the general in charge refused so Clinton
replaced him with an
Arkansas boy, Wesley Clark.
When the neocons prepared for invading Iraq, Generals Zinni, Shinseki and
other active
officers, and quite a few retired, argued against it. The active officers
were replaced with
more compliant officers, like Gen. Tommy Franks, a Texas boy, with a curious
resume.
The general directly responsible for the Abu Ghraib prison torture fiasco was
a reserve
colonel promoted to general for the task, in spite of the fact she had been
busted for
shoplifting perfume at a PX previously. This is the quality of the generals
the neocons can
atttract. After Abu Ghraib, the US Army had trouble reaching recruitment
targets. After Abu
Ghraib, the terrorists had trouble training all the new recruits.
The president can only nominate who becomes general, the congress confirms the
nominations, or rejects the nomination. It is a pity our politicians do not
support the troops
in Iraq by requiring they be led by our first rate generals, and accept 2nd
and 3rd rate
generals in war. It is a pity that although officers can resign, the poor
soldiers are obliged to
fight regardless of who leads them.
So, how to win the war in Iraq, as defined as peace and prosperity? Bring
back our first string
generals. The ones who can win the war. Of course, they won't work for the
neocons, so it
will require a regime-change in the USA, the impeachment of Geo Bush, and a
clearing out of
the executive branch. Talk has begun on this point, and really, is a mere
impeachment too
high of a price to pay for peace in the middle east? Go Russ Feingold!
Elections won't work, since the democrats have promised they will be more of
the same. Even
when the democrats sweep congress this fall, nothing will change. With both
Cheney and
Bush impeached, the House of Representatives would have to produce a
president, as
provided by the constitution. A very messy process, much closer to the US
citizens, will
produce a better president. The struggle would be a small thing compared to
peace in the
middle east.
With a completely new administration, devoid of the neocons, the hardliners
overseas will not
be as persuasive in their home countries. Further, the first rate generals
are smart enough to
threaten to withdraw US forces leaving the Chinese to step in and fill the
void. Just as the
USA fell into its own trap in the middle east, we can let the Chinese fall
into their own. The
last thing the Chinese want is for the US to withdraw from the middle east.
I think our first rate generals know that our unwillingness to fight will
force all parties to sit
and negotiate a settlement, a diplomatic solution. No sane general wants a
war. Our first rate
generals would provide a credible threat to the Chinese that we want peace.
Once the diplomats reach an accord, we small business international traders
can step in and
provide the front lines of peace and prosperity: trade. Iranian teens will be
watching
Bollywood videos on Chinese TVs beamed over US satellite networks, while we
finally get the
best rugs, pistachios and pomengranate juice in the world. Paul Wolfowitz
will be pumping
gas in Indiana while some tall bearded fellow in Eugene Oregon will be
repeating 50 times a
night, "Welcome to Applebee's, my name is Osama, and I'll be your waiter
tonight."
John
Compete on Design!
www.johnspiers.com
New Subject
Re: [spiers] New Subject
Get samples only, bring them to the stores you'd hope to see sell these items,
and then ask
them if they would buy if you got in this biz. Listen to their replies VERY
carefully.
I sold Xinjiang carpets 25 years ago, very good stuff. But deal;ing with
Xinjiang direct will be a
challenge.
John
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 20:54:43 EDT, JockoChurch@aol.com wrote :
> John
>
> I completed your instruction almost two years ago. I read some of the
> e-mail to and from you, but I haven't ventured off on my own, yet. However,
> recently an offer came my way, from a Uygur I met in Kashgar, Xinjiang
Province,
> China. The offer is to represent this young man and sell the crafts he
> wants to sell in the US, i.e, carpets, local knives, etc.
>
> What advice do you have for me? Any comment on the demand for exotic
> Chinese carpets (not made in Beijing for the tourist trade) ?
>
> V/r
>
> John Church
Finding a Designer
Re: Finding a Designer
I had an idea for a ceramic tile design. I posted an ad for a free
lance artist willing to work on a royalty basis on craigslist.org and
had over 150 responses the 1st week. And the ad was Free! My idea
didn't pan out though. Check it out and see if your city is on the
list. I think craigslist.org started in San Francisco but has spread
to many other cities.
Anthony
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "danglynn2002"
>
> I was wondering about the best way to locate a designer in my area.
> I'm in western Mass. I have an appointment book idea I need help
> designing. Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan
Finding a Designer
Re: [spiers] Finding a Designer
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 21:19:44 -0000, "danglynn2002"
wrote
:
> I was wondering about the best way to locate a designer in my area.
> I'm in western Mass. I have an appointment book idea I need help
> designing. Any ideas?
1. People you know.
2. The art schools. (make it a contest with a $100 prize and you'll get 50
designs).
3. Read the names of hot appointment book designers in the trade rags.
4. Check out the patent gazettes for designers in that field.
John
New Subject
John
I completed your instruction almost two years ago. I read some of the
e-mail to and from you, but I haven't ventured off on my own, yet. However,
recently an offer came my way, from a Uygur I met in Kashgar, Xinjiang
Province,
China. The offer is to represent this young man and sell the crafts he
wants to sell in the US, i.e, carpets, local knives, etc.
What advice do you have for me? Any comment on the demand for exotic
Chinese carpets (not made in Beijing for the tourist trade) ?
V/r
John Church
How to Win the War In Iraq.
Folks,
Since no one thinks we can win the war in Iraq, indeed, everyone is looking for
the best way
to lose, I think I should offer a way to win, a bit of public service on my
part. Perhaps my
specialty of small biz int'l trade can help out in this case.
First, we'd have to define victory in Iraq, and apparently Iran as well shortly.
Well, that is
easy, victory is peace and prosperity in the region.
As it stands now, we are mired in a conflict which the neocons explicitly
promoted since 1998
at the Project for a New American Century.
http://www.newamericancentury.org/
George Bush is no neocon, but he certainly hired them on to do his thinking and
policy
development. Just as Martin Luther King hired on New York experts in agitation
and
propaganda to advance his moribund civil rights movement, so the Bushes accepted
the
neocons offer to advance the Bush family interests.
The interesting part is the Chinese welcomed the neocons offer as well. A
United States as
the focus of all Moslem rage, present and future, takes the heat off the
Chinese, who have an
even more pressing Moslem insurgency problem.
Just as in what the Americans call the Vietnam war, and what the Vietnamese call
the
American war, the Chinese are now providing crucial intelligence and
technological ability to
insurgents in Iraq. On the other hand, I believe the reason there has been no
second attack
after 9-11 in the United States is because the Chinese have forbidden it. From
the Chinese
point of view, the situation in the world is excellent, and it must not be
upset.
This is nothing new, the prime reason for Nixon visiting China in 1972 was to
ask the
Chinese for a "decent interval" before Saigon fell to the communist forces, so
the US would
not look so bad when we quit Vietnam.
In 2003, while the efforts in Iraq were stumbling, the US death toll for the
"cakewalk" was
approaching 500 souls, morale was dropping, and Americans began to question our
involvement in iraq. At the same time Taiwan was making independence noises.
Here is a
news summary from those days:
http://tinyurl.com/eqpah
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Washington from December 8 to 12 of that
year, and
gained many concessions from the US side. Three days after Premier Wen returned
to Beijing,
December 14 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured, giving the neocons a big boost.
China
paid for US concessions with a washed-up puppet they had stashed in a
spider-hole, a
puppet the US already owned! I am not criticizing the Chinese, I just wish we
elected
politicians half as smart as the Chinese politicians. We have people that
smart, they just will
not go into government.
The neocons are trotskyites, and believe all disasters can serve their
interests. Seymour
Hersh has an article in the New Yorker laying out the situation today, and notes
the window
of opportunity for peace is now.
http://tinyurl.com/hyfsf
One point the article makes is:
"... that ElBaradei’s overriding concern is that the Iranian leaders “want
confrontation,
just like the neocons on the other side”—in Washington."
Exactly.
Hersh also makes the point that in regards to the use of a nuclear strike by the
USA on Iran,
many top generals are talking about resigning. This not a surprise, in fact, it
is quite
common they do indeed resign. When the elder President Bush wanted to invade
Panama
illegally the US general in charge refused to go along so he was cashiered. When
Clinton
wanted to invade the Balkans, the general in charge refused so Clinton replaced
him with an
Arkansas boy, Wesley Clark.
When the neocons prepared for invading Iraq, Generals Zinni, Shinseki and other
active
officers, and quite a few retired, argued against it. The active officers were
replaced with
more compliant officers, like Gen. Tommy Franks, a Texas boy, with a curious
resume.
The general directly responsible for the Abu Ghraib prison torture fiasco was a
reserve
colonel promoted to general for the task, in spite of the fact she had been
busted for
shoplifting perfume at a PX previously. This is the quality of the generals the
neocons can
atttract. After Abu Ghraib, the US Army had trouble reaching recruitment
targets. After Abu
Ghraib, the terrorists had trouble training all the new recruits.
The president can only nominate who becomes general, the congress confirms the
nominations, or rejects the nomination. It is a pity our politicians do not
support the troops
in Iraq by requiring they be led by our first rate generals, and accept 2nd and
3rd rate
generals in war. It is a pity that although officers can resign, the poor
soldiers are obliged to
fight regardless of who leads them.
So, how to win the war in Iraq, as defined as peace and prosperity? Bring back
our first string
generals. The ones who can win the war. Of course, they won't work for the
neocons, so it
will require a regime-change in the USA, the impeachment of Geo Bush, and a
clearing out of
the executive branch. Talk has begun on this point, and really, is a mere
impeachment too
high of a price to pay for peace in the middle east? Go Russ Feingold!
Elections won't work, since the democrats have promised they will be more of the
same. Even
when the democrats sweep congress this fall, nothing will change. With both
Cheney and
Bush impeached, the House of Representatives would have to produce a president,
as
provided by the constitution. A very messy process, much closer to the US
citizens, will
produce a better president. The struggle would be a small thing compared to
peace in the
middle east.
With a completely new administration, devoid of the neocons, the hardliners
overseas will not
be as persuasive in their home countries. Further, the first rate generals are
smart enough to
threaten to withdraw US forces leaving the Chinese to step in and fill the void.
Just as the
USA fell into its own trap in the middle east, we can let the Chinese fall into
their own. The
last thing the Chinese want is for the US to withdraw from the middle east.
I think our first rate generals know that our unwillingness to fight will force
all parties to sit
and negotiate a settlement, a diplomatic solution. No sane general wants a war.
Our first rate
generals would provide a credible threat to the Chinese that we want peace.
Once the diplomats reach an accord, we small business international traders can
step in and
provide the front lines of peace and prosperity: trade. Iranian teens will be
watching
Bollywood videos on Chinese TVs beamed over US satellite networks, while we
finally get the
best rugs, pistachios and pomengranate juice in the world. Paul Wolfowitz will
be pumping
gas in Indiana while some tall bearded fellow in Eugene Oregon will be repeating
50 times a
night, "Welcome to Applebee's, my name is Osama, and I'll be your waiter
tonight."
John
Finding a Designer
I was wondering about the best way to locate a designer in my area.
I'm in western Mass. I have an appointment book idea I need help
designing. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Dan
Sunday, April 9, 2006
LA Times Article, How piracy helps Microsoft....
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-micropiracy9apr09,0,414067.story?
track=tottext
The article makes the argument that countries who pirate MS Windows
eventually become cash paying customers and thereby helps MS. In
fact, one of the pundits likens it to a drug dealer that gives away
the first dose for free. Once you start using the product, you'll
keep using it. Can you make the same argument for any product?
Anthony