Is Bush behind Chinese oil deal and Russian isolation?
August 29, 2008 by jim · Leave a Comment
Russia is facing increasing isolation!! What the hell do they care?
Yesterday, we heard that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.
“In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi on Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia. Putin said his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate — Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush — although he presented no evidence to back it up.” Putin accuses US of of orchestrating Georgia war.
It drives me shit house crazy that I agree with the “enemy”-
“As U.S. and Russian envoys exchanged sharp words on Thursday over Iraq and Kosovo at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Georgia, at which Russia found little support for its actions in the Caucasus.” US and Russia trade barbs over Iraq and Kosovo
What a surprise that Russia was lobbying Asian Nations for support against the US and just at the right time to make China stay on our side Iraq and China signed a $3 billion deal this week to develop a large Iraqi oil field:
“…the first major commercial oil contract here with a foreign company since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The 20-year agreement calls for the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. to begin producing 25,000 barrels of oil a day and gradually increase the output to 125,000 a day, said Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry.” Iraq and China sign $3 Billion oil contract
Knowing this should this surprise you?
“The United States said Thursday it is considering scrapping its civil nuclear agreement with Russia but there was no announcement at this time. The U.S. move came after Russia’s recognition of the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The United States has said the Russian recognition was “unacceptable.” US considers scrapping nuclear agreement with Russia
What the hell does all that tell you? I am happy to say that yes, China’s alliance may be bought but, I now believe they will ally with us, as I keep asserting, and go against Russia in this just developing Forever war to shape the world’s future. I reiterate- With Both sides so firmly entrenched in redrawing the map in Europe thanks to Bush imposing his will for oil- This is just another small piece in the Forever War Bush has guaranteed for our future. You see what he has done in the middle east for oil causing division and Russia and the US both arming them to the teeth to fight this Bush created future mess and it is coming to a head rapidly and at the perfect time for Bush to take total control of our facade of Democracy to prosecute the lie we are living!
Other Nations Today - the battles
August 12, 2008 by Gee Carol · 2 Comments
The world is watching as two very different kinds of competitions, violent and non-violent. In violent competition, also known as war, each side tries to kill its opponents. In non-violent competition, also known as sports, opponents try to win all the contests against the other side, without killing them. Proponents of sports and war both claim heroism and honor as results. Similarly in violent and non-violent competition, people win applause, medals and glory. In violent competition, however the acclaim is for killing the enemy, holding territory that the combatant did not own, and gaining control over the way the reality of the vanquished is described to the outside world. In non-violent competition, admiration is forthcoming for winning against the opponents, controlling the field of play, and gaining bragging rights with the folks back home. As might be apparent, I am not much of a sports fan, and I am deeply disturbed by our species’ proclivity for war.
A war between Russia and Georgia has occurred and a tremendous number of people died as a result. It seems that the U.S. is on the side of Georgia for whatever reason. According to The Financial Times, the situation appears to be quite serious. It always is when one side claims power over the other, concluding that the other side is not fit to live where they do. To quote the FT story:
The crisis could bring Moscow into confrontation with Washington, which backs Georgia.Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, said: “The United States calls for an immediate ceasefire to the armed conflict in Georgia’s region of South Ossetia. We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia’s territorial integrity, and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil.”
In Beijing, US president George W. Bush and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, both attending the Olympics opening ceremony, discussed the situation.
These days the competition between the Chinese and others is generally not life threatening, except perhaps for athletic health reasons. Some are having difficulty breathing the bad air. The Financial Times’ in-depth story begins with the geopolitical aspects. To quote:
China pulled off a diplomatic triumph on Friday, turning the Olympic opening ceremony from the low-key political event it has traditionally been into a spectacular visual display attended by a roll call of world leaders.Underlining China’s growing global presence, more than 50 presidents and prime ministers attended the lavishly choreographed ceremony in Beijing’s “bird’s nest” stadium. They included George W. Bush, the first US president to attend an opening ceremony outside the United States, Russia’s prime minister Vladimir Putin and Japan’s prime minister Yasuo Fukuda.
*”Beijing 2008: Are You Ready for McCommunism?” was the headline posted on Aug 7, 2008. from Truthdig *betmo asks, “If china is hybridizing communism and capitalism courtesy of America- what are we getting out of the deal? At least at this point the competition between the U.S. and China is almost wholly non-violent, a very good thing.
*Victory for Developing Nations! WTO Talks Collapsed a couple of weeks ago (7/31/08), is posted at AfterDowningStreet. Global competition for food is also very serious business. And it is a possible cause for war in areas where there is not enough to go around. Wouldn’t it be so much better if the developed nations fought for upholding the rights of starving people to food? World trade is not a guarantee that have-not nations will benefit. To quote:
Developing nations stood up to the U.S. and E.U. in this week’s WTO Doha Negotiations, refusing to sacrifice food security measures in the midst of the global spike in food prices. Around the world nations are questioning the development gains from trade liberalization.
*U.S. Africa Aid Is Increasingly Military (7/18/08).” As I have said before the military is about fighting to win, even if it means killing. War may be an efficient method for imposing one’s will over the other. But is it the only way? And why appropriate funds to the military for what is supposed to be done in the name of peace and fighting for the rights of others? To quote:
U.S. aid to Africa is becoming increasingly militarized, resulting in skewed priorities and less attention to longer-term development projects that could lead to greater stability across the continent, according to a report released Thursday by the advocacy group Refugees International.
The report warns that the planned U.S. Africa Command, designed to boost America’s image and prevent terrorism, is allowing the Defense Department to usurp funds traditionally directed by the State Department and U.S. aid agencies.
. . . Africom in part aims to better integrate U.S. efforts in Africa by coordinating military activities with the State Department and other agencies, but “the State Department is being overwhelmed by the Pentagon,” Malan said.
That concern was also raised in a Government Accountability Office report on Africom released this week. The report noted that Africom, which is to have about 1,300 employees, has had difficulty integrating 13 staff members from the State Department and other agencies.
In China the Olympics could not have happened under Mao. Going against Mao could get one killed. But today we pick our battles. China won the right to be where GE manufactures its compact fluorescent light bulbs. Our workers lose; do the Chinese workers win? Putin is up and then Putin is down. “Win some, lose some,” he might say, but he has not said that at all. Putin or Medvedev — or both — are in the mood for war/winning. Into whose eyes can Mr. Bush look now? What a mess!
*Hat tip to “betmo” for several of the above links.
(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)
My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.
Technorati tags: news news and politics war olympics china russia competition
Reality Check
August 10, 2008 by Fran · 2 Comments
While all the focus on the Olympics emerges in Beijing China, I thought I’d take a glance at current happenings in Tibet.
New report reveals intensified crackdown in Tibet as Olympics opens
International Campaign for Tibet
August 5th, 2008
“Despite its promotion of a ‘peaceful Olympics’, China has intensified its crackdown on Tibet this week following the most significant uprising in nearly 50 years. The wave of mainly peaceful protests against the Chinese government that has swept across Tibet since March 10 is a result of more than half a century of Communist Party misrule, revealing the breakdown of Beijing’s Tibet policy at a time when China seeks to convey an image of pre-Olympics harmony.
In order to hide its repression in Tibet, China has virtually sealed off the entire plateau - despite promising increasing openness in the buildup to the Olympics - and imposed a news blackout. A new report published by the International Campaign for Tibet, ‘Tibet at a Turning Point: the Spring Uprising and China’s New Crackdown’ (http://www.savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1344) provides evidence gathered at great risk of:
The ‘disappearance’ and detention of hundreds of Tibetans, including monks, nuns and schoolchildren, who are treated with extreme brutality in custody
Unarmed peaceful protestors who have been shot dead, and names of those who have died following torture in prison or as a result of suicide due to despair over the crackdown or being made to denounce the Dalai Lama
More than 125 protests across the Tibetan plateau - the overwhelming majority non-violent. Tibetans have risked their lives to demonstrate that the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, represents Tibetan interests, and not the Chinese state
Sweeping new measures to purge monasteries of monks and ban worship in the wake of the protests, revealing a systematic new attack on Tibetan Buddhism led by Chinese leader Hu Jintao that is reminiscent of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution
Mary Beth Markey, Vice President for Advocacy for the International Campaign for Tibet, says: “Hu Jintao’s leadership appears to have chosen no other means than force and intimidation to restore control in Tibet, and has imposed a brutal crackdown that owes more to the political extremism and paranoia of the Maoist era than to a 21st century would-be superpower. As a matter of urgency, world leaders attending the Olympics must publicly express concern in Beijing about the crackdown in Tibet and the hardline policies that led to the spring uprising.”
The International Campaign for Tibet is also pressing leaders to seek from Beijing a full accounting of the more than one thousand Tibetans whose status following the spring demonstrations in Tibet is unknown.”
So if things seem strangely calm in China, regarding Tibet, it is oppression & iron fist rule that are making it so.
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In other news Prezzzident Bush gave the Chinese a verbal whupping about human rights violations & pollution.
Please? They must have thought they were being Punk’d.
I noticed they gave Bush a crappy seat up in the bleachers, or “nosebleed” section, he does not appear to be in the cushy VIP seating area. Bush was having to use binoculars to see the opening ceremony! Is this the Chinese way of saying “take your opinions & criticism & shove it”?
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Kudos to the creative concepts of the opening ceremonies….
It was beautiful & dreamlike with cultural ties, and innovative ideas.
I watch the Olympics with the spirit of the international unity at the heart of the gathering.
The idea that China is hosting the Olympics is questionable as the list of negatives is long- human rights, even air quality issues. I am choosing to cut through all the negative elements, and tune in to the original intent.
ARTIFICIAL SPECTACLE…
August 4, 2008 by Big Fella · 11 Comments
…CAN NEVER STAND IN FOR REAL LIFE.
Putting on Airs
NASA Photo of China's Air Pollution as seen from space.
When we had the Olympic Track & Field trials here for 10 days last month, the municipality worked with surrounding grass seed farmers, and made an arrangement that there would be no field burning during that time, so as to support the athletes, to provide good quality air to breathe. A fine idea– but why just for this showcase event? Are we to assume the people who live here year round are not worthy of breathing clean air?
After grass seed farmers harvest the seed, they then torch the remaining grass to clean & clear it for the next harvest. We could have a beautiful, blue sky, clear, sunny day & all of the sudden huge billowing clouds of black smoke come pouring across the sky.
A similar scenario is about to happen in China for the Olympics as well. China has some of the worst pollution on the planet. They will be shutting down factories, limiting car use, and have additional factories further away on standby to shut down, if need be to address air quality issues.
The UK Guardian reports:
“As it gears up to host the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing has been awarded an unwelcome new accolade: the air pollution capital of the world.
Satellite data has revealed that the city is one of the worst environmental victims of China’s spectacular economic growth, which has brought with it air pollution levels that are blamed for more than 400,000 premature deaths a year.
Beijing July 24th
According to the European Space Agency, Beijing and its neighbouring north-east Chinese provinces have the planet’s worst levels of nitrogen dioxide, which can cause fatal damage to the lungs.
A recently published study, conducted by the Chinese Academy on Environmental Planning, blamed air pollution for 411,000 premature deaths - mostly from lung and heart-related diseases - in 2003. It said that a third of China’s urban residents were exposed to harmful levels of pollution. More than 100 million people live in cities, such as Beijing, where the air is considered “very dangerous”.
The political implications are also becoming more apparent. Health concerns, particularly regarding cancer and birth defects thought to be caused by chemical factories, have been a major factor in a recent wave of protests. Conservation groups say acid rain falls on a third of China’s territory and 70% of rivers and lakes are so full of toxins they can no longer be used for drinking water.”
The Wall Street Journal has posted a Beijing Air Pollution Widget, put out by the China Ministry of Environmental Protection. The photos above are 4 days after the air pollution restrictions were implemented.
There is some question as to the interpretation of the API , or air pollution index.
For example today’s index was listed as 113, or according to the Ministry, slightly polluted.
The air quality titles used by the widget (based on chinese labels) are misleading. Anything above an API of 50 should be called unhealthy, as it would be (for example) a violation of the maximum allowable daily concentrations. And even an API below 50 is not necessarily safe. For example, just to get down to usual NYC levels (not an especially clean city), it would have to read API= 20 or below.
Note also, that, as the Chinese API goes above 50, the equivalent pollution PM10 concentrations go up twice as fast, so API=75 is double the pollution at API-50!
Some athletes are using masks to avoid breathing in the foul air. One team has opted to stay out of Beijing- missing the Opening ceremonies, and will only go to Beijing for their events. Other athletes are being offered masks, some are unsure if they would wear a mask in competition. A dubious honor, China is about to surpass the world’s biggest polluter– the USA.
Crossposted at Ramblings.
Nepal police arrest over 500 Tibetan protestors.
All of whom are women. From the VOA writeup:
Police in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu say they have detained more than 560 Tibetan protesters Sunday, all of them women.
It was the all female demonstration against China’s crackdown in Tibet since violence erupted in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in March.
Since then, Tibetan exiles have taken part in anti-China protests nearly every day. Nepal is home to about 20,000 Tibetan refugees.
Power to the people…Buddha please keep them safe.
Beyond Beijing..
April 9, 2008 by Dusty · 6 Comments
For Enigma at WaterGate Summer. Hugs, from Dusty 
We can protest without fear..the monks in Tibet and Burma..not so much.
Olympic torch arrives under heavy security in San Francisco
April 9, 2008 by Dusty · Leave a Comment
Story here. A few versions of the Olympic rings that China might want to consider:
China tries to do damage control in Tibet uprising
March 23, 2008 by Dusty · Leave a Comment
The government of China, who has tossed all media from Tibet, is trying now to spin a little damage control on what is happening in Tibet. A torchbearer for the 08 Olympics, to be held in China, has withdrawn in protest of China’s actions in Tibet. Who exactly is to blame for the unrest in Tibet:
Why the Dalai Lama of course! At least that is the way the Chinese media is spinning it. From the AP writeup linked above:
“The Dalai clique is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions to Tibet independence,” it said.
The attacks on the Dalai Lama have been aimed at further demonizing him in the eyes of the Chinese public, which strongly supports the Olympics. The Dalai Lama, who advocates nonviolence and denies being behind the March 14 riots in Lhasa, asserted Sunday that he has supported China’s hosting of the summer Games.
China blocks YouTube after Tibet protests posted.
March 17, 2008 by Dusty · Leave a Comment
It is getting heavy-duty in China and Tibet. Protests are spreading like a California wildfire and they are being filmed and posted on YouTube. China has now blocked access to the popular video site in a vain attempt to keep everyone under their thumb in the dark about the actions taking place in Tibet and around the world in solidarity with the citizens and monks of Tibet. Roughly 210 million Internet users reside in China, by their own government reports. One such video is
Reports are surfacing that at least 80 protesters have been killed in Tibet by Chinese government forces. Other reports have Chinese government agents going house to house and arresting individuals in their homes. These reports can not be verified since China does not allow outside journalists access to Tibet, per a CBC news article.Crossposted at UnCapitalist Journal
China cracks down in Tibet as protests spread.
From AP:
BEIJING (AP) - Violence in Tibet spilled over into neighboring provinces Sunday where Tibetan protesters defied a Chinese government crackdown. The Dalai Lama warned Tibet faced “cultural genocide” and appealed to the world for help.
Protests against Chinese rule of Tibet were reported in neighboring Sichuan and Qinghai provinces and also in western Gansu province. All are home to sizable Tibetan populations.
Compassion
March 16, 2008 by Fran · 3 Comments
Two monks were talking, one said he was in danger.
What danger?, asked the other monk.
I was in danger of losing my compassion for the people of China.
The monk who spoke of the danger, had spent the last 20 years in a Chinese prison.
The other monk he was speaking with, was the Dalai Lama, who said this statement was profound to him.
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I have hung another strand of prayer flags today, as a prayer for the people of Tibet, China, and all the world, that we may all find compassion.
There has been trouble in Lhasa, Tibet. The official news is 10 people have been killed in protests. Others have reported 70 to 100 killed, and 1000 imprisoned. The BBC reports the protests are Tibetans demanding the release of prisoners.
May strength and compassion prevail, and the path of non violence be the chosen path.
Fevered Reality~
I have a low grade flu~ so what to write, beyond grumbling about a fever, body aches and bad nightmares?
Pakistan looks like a bad thing waiting to happen, yet on Friday I hear the good news Bhutto is released from house arrest and elections~ if we can trust President Pervez Musharraf words ~ will be held in February. Burma continues to be a nightmare of unknown proportions, though word slowly leaks out of death and imprisonment of 1000’s. The state of ‘emergency” continues in former Soviet Georgia, while we wonder if this is a sign of an “old Russia” type threat, in India a twin is separated form her twin and now with the usual 4 limbs is given a chance at a “normal life”. Meanwhile Turkey, troops clashing with Kurdish rebels ,okays plans to build nuclear power plants. And in Venezuela Chavez calls the opposition “fascist’s” as he clamors for more power. Somalia, Congo, Uganda~ all not on “Best vacation” lists, unless you’re a mercenary.
