Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, International, Opinion, U.S.

Cold War between China & U.S. began 2005

“If the United States would not allow CNOOC to purchase Unocal, will not itself guarantee China a steady energy supply and opposes Chinese purchases of Iranian oil and gas, how can China survive?”-Zhang Guobao, former vice chairman National Development and Reform Commission

In 2005 China tried to buy California based Unocal.  The attempt was blocked by the U.S. government.

Before anybody in the U.S. says “good, we don’t want foreigners taking over our oil”, guess what?  Too late, ever hear of BP?  British Petroleum has been slowly taking over U.S. oil companies since 1998 (ever wondered what happened to AMOCO, or ARCO, or Castrol? They all owned by BP now).  At least the Chinese have a track record of spending money big time, for other projects, in the countries they move into, BP does not come close.

On top of that, China has been allowed to take over smaller U.S. companies, why not the oil companies?  Is it because BP can’t handle the competition?  Officially our government says it’s about National Security.  You mean letting a limey, red coat, mortal enemy of the founders of the United States, British company take over U.S. oil companies is not a National Security threat?

In 2007 Zhang Guobao issued a warning to the United States, saying the blocking of their purchase of Unocal “will have many after effects.” Can you say ‘get your game on!’  Remember China is our largest creditor, we owe them big time for financing our financially inept, elected officials deficit spending.

China has already retaliated by not allowing Coca-Cola to take over a Chinese beverage company in 2009.  Then again, Atlanta, Georgia based, Coca-Cola was so arrogant that they didn’t think it necessary to lobby Chinese politicians (something they do all the time here in the U.S.).

Several attempts by U.S. companies, to take over Chinese companies, have been squashed.  But remember when China tried to buy GM’s Hummer brand?  That fell through, because of the Chinese government.  It seems that the Chinese government has decided that not only are they going to block U.S. companies from moving into China, but they are going to block any Chinese company from investing in the U.S.  Sounds like an economic war. All they need to do now is start dumping U.S. bonds, and we’re toast.

Many U.S. media still claim that the United States is the biggest customer for China, wrong.  In the last decade, the Chinese have been moving their consumer market eggs into different baskets (wise move).  They’re invested big time in Latin America, blowing the United States away, another reason why Obama’s trip to Latin America was a total waste.  Australia has become such a big supplier of crops to China, that their economy is going gang busters as well.  In fact, when you look at most of the countries that are not being affected by the global recession, they all have one common factor; China is invested big time with their economies!

By the way, remember that big announcement Obama made when he went to China in 2009?  Even Chinese officials claimed it would end the U.S. recession.  What happened?

In January 2011, it was announced that the U.S. and China agreed to a $45 billion trade deal.  Obama lauded the deal saying it would support (not create) 235,000 jobs.  But there’s a catch.  Obama, and members of Congress said the deal was contingent upon China addressing certain ‘human rights’ issues.

“We also know this: history shows that societies are more harmonious, nations are more successful and the world is more just when the rights and responsibilities of all nations and all peoples are upheld — including the universal rights of every human being.”-President Barack Obama

“…raised our strong, ongoing concerns with reports of human rights violations in China, including the denial of religious freedom and the use of coercive abortion…”-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio

“While we appreciate those words, the United States will watch the actions of the Chinese government to make sure that they meet the words that were spoken in the White House yesterday.”-Robert Gibbs, White House Spokesman

I believe the reason why the U.S. economy is still struggling is because the U.S. don’t wanna play with China anymore, and China don’t wanna play with the U.S., it’s all just Nuevo Cold War rhetoric now.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Obama’s Latin America trip wasted

Under Bush Jr, the United States lost two ambassadors in South America.  The Obama administration has lost another, bringing the total to three.

Those countries are Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela. So President Obama’s recent trip to Latin America did little to mend relations.

Even U.S. ally Columbia, is leaning towards Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

Looks like the U.S. just doesn’t get Latin America.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

More WikiLeaks documents on how the U.S. views Ecuador & how Wachovia Bank became a spy

“We are concerned that Iran will try to undertake transactions related to the proliferation of weapons, evading the provisions of Security Council of the United Nations.”-U.S. Embassy cable 226556, September 2009.

The latest documents released by WikiLeaks shows the U.S. fearful of Ecuadorian ties to Iran, and that the U.S. considered Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa as emotionally immature.  This was after he threw out two U.S. diplomats in 2009.

He also accused one of the diplomats, Mark Sullivan, as doubling as the head of CIA operations in Ecuador.

The leaked documents also show concern about the ideological unity of President Correa, and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

In regards to Iran, dozens of documents show that the United States is obsessed with Ecuador’s efforts to establish strong ties with Iran, including deals with Iran’s Central Bank.  The fear is so great that, in February 2010, U.S. officials got Wachovia Bank, which is the largest trade financier in Ecuador, to spy on any of its customers that might be doing transactions with Iran.

 

Fukushima, U.S.

U.S. nuke experts barred from Japanese Prime Minister’s office!

“The Japan-U.S. alliance could collapse, completely contrary to [the recent trend of] being strengthened.”-Nagashima Akihisa, Democratic Party of Japan House of Representatives

The Daily Yomiuri is reporting that from the beginning, U.S. offers of help with the nuke crisis at Fukushima Daiichi, were given the cold shoulder by Japan’s government.

On 12 March, the U.S. ambassador made several calls to Prime Minister Kan’s office, asking him to allow nuclear experts from the U.S. to be involved with the decision making in the Prime Minister’s cabinet.  The answer was no.

U.S. officials pointed out that their B5B measures could offer fast response to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster.  B5B was developed after the 9/11/2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.  It is designed to provide fast response to any attack on a U.S. nuclear plant, with one of the objectives to provide continuous electrical power to the plants.

Lack of electrical power at the Fukushima Daiichi plant accelerated the disaster. So far the worst case scenario, created by U.S. officials, seems to be playing out.  The real reason why the U.S. imposed a much larger evacuation zone, than the Japanese government, was because U.S. analyst said things were going to get worse.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, repeatedly told Japanese officials that they should NOT let Tokyo Electric Power Company handle the situation.  He even threatened to have all U.S. citizens evacuated from Japan, not just military families.

Supposedly an official with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, when visiting TEPCo headquarters on 18 March, asked who was really in charge of Japan’s government.

Apparently, it is only after the Japanese government thought it would lose support of the United States, that it got serious about Fukushima Daiichi.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Toyota expects more production problems

“Output reduction in Japan and overseas will most likely continue until September.”-Kohei Takahasi, JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Tokyo

Toyota expects to lose 35,000 vehicles from the North American shut down, and that’s spread over five days.  The problem is that, because of continued nuclear power issues, it looks like parts supply is not going to improve anytime soon.

Almost 70 percent of the Toyota vehicles sold in the U.S., are put together in North America, but, about 85 percent of the parts and materials come from Japan.

The North American car market is important for Toyota, making up about 60% of their profits.

On April 8, Citigroup downgraded Toyota stock to ‘sell’.  Citigroup said the downgrade was because Toyota has not addressed the problems created by the lack of electrical power in Japan.  It’s clear the lack of power in Japan will go on for longer than expected.

 

International, U.S.

Egyptians want U.S. backed military leaders out

Egyptians want the Military leaders out of government.  The military took over after weeks of protest forced long time President Hosni Mubarak to leave.

It just so happened that Egyptian military leaders were in Washington D.C. at the time the protests started.  They helped convince Mubarak to leave, and quickly took over.

Many protesters say that the military rulers are refusing to prosecute Mubarak, and his supporters.  They also think the military is still working with the former government.  Strangely the military says these new protesters are those pro-Mubarak thugs that attacked the anti-Mubarak demonstrators back in February.

So far, in this latest protest, two people have been killed, and 11 wounded by the military and police.

U.S.

Big Fire in Big Texas, Flooding up north in North Dakota, Iowa ripped by Tornadoes, get ready for another wacky weather year

Texas is dealing with unusually dry and windy weather for this time of year, and several fires.  One fire has already burned 71,000 acres, and is out of control.

Up north, North Dakota and Minnesota are dealing with a flooding Red River, thanks to wet weather.  “This is a ferocious river. We have to continue to be careful.”-Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota

The National Weather Service reported tornado sightings by storm chasers and spotters in at least 11 towns and cities in Iowa on Saturday night.  At least three tornadoes caused major damage.  One Iowa county is now dealing with fuel fires caused by the tornadoes.  Their main concern is the high winds could blow the fires out of control.

International, U.S.

NATO shoots down Rebel MiG 23 over Libya

NATO admits they shot down a Libyan rebel MiG 23.  This is causing more problems between rebels and NATO.  NATO has bombed rebel ground troops several times now.

NATO says the downing of the rebel aircraft shows that they are enforcing the UN “no-fly zone”.  NATO says the no-fly zone applies to any Libyan aircraft.

The reason for NATO suddenly attacking a rebel aircraft, could be that the Libyan government has complained that rebel helicopters are being allowed to fly, despite the UN resolution stating that ALL military aircraft would be shot down by the coalition.

International, U.S.

African Union says Libyan government accepts ceasfire, African Union asks NATO to honor ceasfire

“We have completed our mission with the brother leader, and the brother leader’s delegation has accepted the road map as presented by us.”-South African President Jacob Zuma

African Union officials say Moammar Gadhafi accepted their “road map” for a cease-fire with rebels, and will meet with rebel leaders on Monday, April 11.

South African President Zuma also asked NATO to stop their airstrikes, to honor the ceasefire.  Details will not be released until after the Libyan government, and Libyan rebels meet.

Most member countries of the African Union opposed UNSCR 1973, and are upset that Western leaders did not consult with them about attacking one of their African Union members (Libya).