Iran, Oman-Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia-Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Libya-China
Worth a Look: Hand-Held Ideographic Translation
02 China, 04 Education, 08 Wild Cards, Augmented Reality, IO Sense-Making, Mobile, Real Time, Tools
Where Does the Money Go?
01 Brazil, 02 China, 03 Economy, 06 Russia, 08 Wild Cards, Budgets & Funding, Government, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth
The Top Ten Foreign Holders of U.s. Debt in November 2009:
Country Amount
China, Mainland $789.6 billion
Japan $757.3 billion
U.K. $277.5 billion
Oil Exporters $187.7 billion
(including Ecuador,
Venezuela, Indonesia,
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates,
Algeria, Gabon, Libya,
and Nigeria)
Caribbean Banking Centers $179.8 billion
(includes the Bahamas,
Bermuda, Cayman Islands,
Netherlands Antilles,
Panama, and British Virgin Islands)
Brazil $157.1 billion
Hong Kong $146.2 billion
Russia $128.1 billion
Luxembourg $91.7 billion
Taiwan $78.4 billion
Source: Department of the Treasury/Federal Reserve Board as reported in CRS report The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Signifcance, Feb. 3, 2010. http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL31590_20100203.pdf.
NIGHTWATCH Extract: China Moves In on North Korea
02 China, 02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Government, StrategyNorth Korea-China: North Korea will develop the islet of Hwanggumpyong on the Yalu River Delta linking Sinuiju with the Chinese city of Dandong as a special economic zone in cooperation with Chinese businessmen, Chosun Ilbo reported 18 January. North Korean Cabinet already approved a law on the development that will be announced in March or April.
Comment: This is another example of Chinese business tutelage for North Korea. All other special economic zones have either failed for lack of investors or been troubled by North Korean government meddling. In the last category are the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast and the Kaesong joint industrial park, north of Panmunjom.
One would surmise that a joint venture with the Chinese would be relieved of the unpredictability of North Korean leadership whims, which have undermined the profitability of the joint ventures with the South Koreans. More importantly, every Chinese economic lifeline tossed into the North Korean economic morass is a burden on China and a restraint on North Korea.
The Chinese are moving slowly, but steadily based on their understanding of the magnitude of North Korean economic mismanagement. Thus far, they appear to be helping North Korean enterprises that have prospects of profitability, such as textiles, and Chinese enterprises that benefit from North Korean geography, such as ports and infrastructure on the Sea of Japan.
North Korea never has been self-reliant and its condition of dependency on the global economy has steadily deepened under Kim Chong-il. The Chinese appear determined to salvage what they can and rebuild the rest of North Korea in a different, more sustainable direction, slowly, by converting some North Korean activities into extensions of China's economy.
Phi Beta Iota: The Chinese are out-thinking and out-maneuvering the USA on all fronts, and in a fascinating twist, may be egging the USA on to the same military-industrial death march that led to the end of the Soviet Union. The above development should be studied in relation to WASHINGTON RULES: US-Korea-China-NK NAFTA. In both instances, leaders are making strategic moves for reasons they consider valid, but that have nothing to do with the well-being of their respective publics.
WASHINGTON RULES: US-Korea-China-NK NAFTA
01 Agriculture, 02 China, 02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Methods & Process
A project of Americans for Free and Fair Trade
Dear Citizen:
Barack Obama is pushing a NAFTA-Style Korea Free Trade agreement that would undermine America's sovereignty, laws and economy. This deal would:
- Allow foreign corporations to drag the U.S. before U.N. and World Bank tribunals to enforce special trade privileges and to demand compensations from the U.S. Treasury.
- Undermine states rights with hundreds of state laws and regulations subject to review and alteration.
- Kill almost 160,000 jobs in the U.S.
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1. Add your organization's name to our coalition letter (attached)
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Thank you for your commitment to authentic free trade!
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Americans for Free and Fair Trade
Project Site: StopUSKoreaNAFTA.org
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Below the Line: Top Ten Reasons KORUS is Not Free or Fair Trade
Continue reading “WASHINGTON RULES: US-Korea-China-NK NAFTA”
Journal: Defense Theatrics & One-Two Star Flag Agonizing?
02 China, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, History, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence, Policy, Strategy, Threats
Worth a look….coincides with what Chuck Spinney has been saying.
Defense Budget Debate:
SAME OLD GAME: JUST NEW PLAYERS
January 13, 2011 Harry C. Blaney III
Rethinking National Security
(Center for International Policy)
Among the first security issues of the year is the release of information about China’s military capabilities and the recent release of the U.S. defense budget request, which is not coincidental . Each year, when key decisions are made about the coming annual DOD budget, we see media reports about China’s new potential and physical military ambitions and weapons programs. They arise from statements by U.S. military commanders, anonymous Pentagon sources and conservative think tank pundits. The intent is to create a “boogeyman,” to depict the Chinese as nine feet tall and America as a “Lilliputian.”
I remember this same bizarre scenario took place during the Cold War. At that time, I had a bit of responsibility from time to time looking at these issues and especially the bureaucratic warfare between the military establishment and the intelligence community analysts who had to provide assessments about how far the Soviets were ahead of America and who in reality were behind us. The interagency fights were often fierce with billions of dollars at stake along with real command over new resources, programs and especially planes and ships – whether needed or not. There was the prospect of a nice rich job in the defense industry if your program won out.
Today, the kabuki is not much different but the reality of today’s security challenges is dramatically different in substantive ways.
Continue reading “Journal: Defense Theatrics & One-Two Star Flag Agonizing?”
Chinese View of Internet + Internet of Things = Wise Earth aka World Brain and Global Game
02 China, Advanced Cyber/IO, Commercial Intelligence, Communities of Practice, Earth Intelligence, Geospatial, Key Players, Maps, Methods & Process, Policies, Real Time, ThreatsGeoWeb and the “Internet of Things”
In a recent trip to China, I discovered something of the direction of the national policy of that country towards the development of the Internet. In a speech in Wuxi, the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao spoke of the drive to build the “internet of things” and provided the interesting equation:
Internet + Internet of Things = Wisdom of the Earth
The parallels between this statement of policy and the GeoWeb are striking. The GeoWeb has been viewed from a vareity of perspectives, a few of these are:
- As the integration of all business processes that deal with the physical world, i.e. that deal with our understanding of, and action in/on, the physical world.
- As a Web of interconnected documents that describe the physical world.
- As a Web of systems by which we control and manage our actions and interact with the physical world.
- As a planetary accounting system that helps us all understand the “state of things” at the local, regional, and global level – whether that be the state of arctic polar bear habitat, or that of crowding in the city of Mumbai.
- As a sort of Digital Nervous System for the planet that alerts us to changes in the state of our world.
