http://news.yahoo.com/china-russia-hold-east-china-sea-naval-drills-034401763.html China-Russia to hold East China Sea naval drills BEIJING (AP) China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the East China Sea later this month, amid regional tensions over island groups and airspace. Hey, gang, we know the Chinese government loves their "signals". This is a clear "signal" it sides with Russia. Especially since the West takes Japan and other nations' side regarding overlapping territorial claims with the Chinese. Good Going Obama / Kerry. NOT They have positioned the West against two giants rather than be a friend to at least one giant. Heads up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. "The group includes several Central Asian countries, is dominated by Beijing and Moscow and aims to promote regional cooperation and check U.S. influence." I do hope the Shanghai Cooperation Organization make some alliances in Latin America. Really. Moi View attachment 26989
We are observing "containment of the United States of America" . Indeed, Obama's administration is nearsighted and pretty inept in foreign affairs.
This is just the latest example of cooperation between Russia and China. They 'reset' their relationship some time ago. Also, they have been working to erode the US Dollar's hegemony, bypassing it in trade with each other. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ On July 16, 2001 the presidents of Russia and China signed a Treaty for Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation in Moscow. This treaty is the first such agreement between these two Eurasian powers since Mao Tse-tung signed a treaty with Joseph Stalin of the U.S.S.R. in 1950, four months before the outbreak of the Korean War. That treaty had been driven by anti-Western sentiments. The motivations behind this new treaty are much more complex and involve serious geopolitical, military, and economic considerations. In a sense, this treaty is a logical product of the improvement in Sino-Russian relations that began under the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and continued under Boris Yeltsin. The treaty should signal to the Western world that a major geopolitical shift may be taking place in the Eurasian balance of power, with serious implications for the United States and its alliances. The 2001 Russia-China treaty covers five important areas of cooperation: Joint actions to offset a perceived U.S. hegemonism; Demarcation of the two countries' long-disputed 4,300 km border; Arms sales and technology transfers; Energy and raw materials supply; The rise of militant Islam in Central Asia. h
Another item: China and Russia have agreed to allow their currencies to trade against each other in spot inter-bank markets. The motive is to "promote the bilateral trade between China and Russia, facilitate the cross-border trade settlement of [the yuan], and meet the needs of economic entities to reduce the conversion cost," according to Chinese officials. This latest move -- a continuation in a series of efforts by both countries to move away from U.S. dollar usage in international trade -- further threatens the dollar's reserve currency status. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/8542...rop-dollar.htm
Another item. Maybe time to start connecting the dots? ~~~~~~~~~~~~ China is at the center of a move to end the Dollar's reign as world's reserve currency. To say that this has negative implications for us would be the Mother of All Understatements. While we have spent the last decade invading countries and racking up debt like there's no tomorrow, we have left ourselves vulnerable to this type of usurpation. China, who has been one of our leading benefactors, appears to have been only feeding us debt which has made us weaker and now it's time to roll out he grand plan. I started a thread last year on how we are fighting wars for petrodollars in an effort to protect the USD's status as world's reserve. Some of the items there hinted at these latest developments. http://www.politicalforum.com/curren...r-warfare.html It looks like this has all been for naught. How will be combat China, Russia and others doing what we have gone to war with lesser countries over? A couple of recent news items: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Sept. 11, Pastor Lindsey Williams, former minister to the global oil companies during the building of the Alaskan pipeline, announced the most significant event to affect the U.S. dollar since its inception as a currency. For the first time since the 1970's, when Henry Kissenger forged a trade agreement with the Royal house of Saud to sell oil using only U.S. dollars, China announced its intention to bypass the dollar for global oil customers and began selling the commodity using their own currency. Lindsey Williams: "The most significant day in the history of the American dollar, since its inception, happened on Thursday, Sept. 6. On that day, something took place that is going to affect your life, your family, your dinner table more than you can possibly imagine." "On Thursday, Sept. 6... just a few days ago, China made the official announcement. China said on that day, our banking system is ready, all of our communication systems are ready, all of the transfer systems are ready, and as of that day, Thursday, Sept. 6, any nation in the world that wishes from this point on, to buy, sell, or trade crude oil, can do using the Chinese currency, not the American dollar. This announcement by China is one of the most significant sea changes in the global economic and monetary systems, but was barely reported on due to its announcement taking place during the Democratic convention last week. The ramifications of this new action are vast, and could very well be the catalyst that brings down the dollar as the global reserve currency, and change the entire landscape of how the world purchases energy. http://www.examiner.com/article/doll...oil-using-yuan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the real conflict -- between international central bankers versus "free" Russia and China. We are a LONG way from seeing a serious challenge to the reserve-currency status of the U. S. Dollar, but the opening skirmishes have already started in earnest and can be seen clearly in this Ukraine affair. The East China Sea affair, largely ignored by the hyperliberal Left "news" media, has been building in intensity and importance over the past year, and that, plus all the maneuvering in Eastern Europe will be "ripening", along with very predictable "other" developments between Russia and, oh, IRAN, for instance. We have allowed a shallow, simple-minded socialist nothingness and the other myopic morons in his regime to put us into positions of dangerous, costly exposure throughout the world. True, it began with "W" Bush, but is far worse today because Obama has done next to nothing to make anything better. We are still heavily involved in Iraq, and, at last count, there were approximately 15,000 "personnel" attached to the U. S. Embassy in Baghdad. More are going: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/us-usa-iraq-security-idUSBREA3O1YZ20140425 Obama's commitment to Afghanistan mires us in this giant heroin production factory until the year 2024! http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/02-6 And, the East China Sea will prove to be a very volatile point of confrontation between the U. S., China, Japan, South Korea, and others: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sheilaasmith/2014/02/05/an-east-china-sea-update/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/27/brzezinski-east-china-sea_n_4667910.html http://aparc.stanford.edu/events/dangerous_waters_china_and_japan_in_the_east_china_sea/ Obama's big "Asia trip" was an abject failure, accomplishing nothing except for Obama to rant on his opinion about the racism of the owner of a pro basketball team! (Yeah, THIS is what 51% of us re-elected to the highest office in the land). In short, Obama accomplished nothing: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/04/29/obama-asia-trip-tired-president-sends-dangerous-message/ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-04/30/content_17475141.htm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/24/obama-japan-trade-deal_n_5209384.html And we're stuck with this nothingness in the White House until noon on January 20, 2017! How much do you think can go straight into the ditch between now and then...?
Pollycy, you and I would probably disagree on the rate of challenge to the USD. I see our meddling in Ukraine not as a sign of ballsiness, but one of desperation in an attempt to destabilize Russia. In addition to that, Hagel was in Mongolia earlier in April signing a new agreement there, calling Mongolia a 'stabilizing' force in the region. From my view, we are further down the road of the dollar's erosion than is apparent. One thing for sure.....being $20 Trillion in debt is no place to be as this all goes down.
I would say that this is a dangerous misunderstanding promoted by some media outlets, because even if Republicans win the Presidency next time, they will just continue to do the same things. The real power players behind the throne are the corporations, the Pentagon, and the intelligence agencies. They use the standard street gang like policies that nations have been using for several thousand years. Since they are doing what is traditional, they are obviously sincere and well meaning. They just aren't solving the problems in reality. As a detail, imagine what must have happened with President Obama, and what probably often happens with new Presidents. President Obama was never a top general or top intelligence agency administrator. Therefore, when he/they entered office, the top military and intelligence staff will start snowing them with lots of secret information. If the President is thinking of doing anything different from Pentagon and intelligence agency plans, the experts will give him lots of secret information which seems to prove the the President that his idea won't work. Then, the experts give the President lots of secret information and historical precedents seeming to show him that the plans by the military and intelligence agencies will work. The President might be led to believe that during the conversation, the military and intelligence agency plans are ideas he came up with himself. The corporations especially come into the picture with the military industrial complex the General-and-President Eisenhower warned America about. However, throughout history, part of government policy has been to protect a nation's businesses.
Yes, I agree with you. China alone could suddenly dump more than a trillion dollars onto the international markers, which would crash the dollar. If China wanted to, she could end the dollar as the world's reserve economy at any time, including next week. However, I would guess that China doesn't want to do that until she has the Yuan all set up to take the place of the dollar. There is a lot of administrative work involved with setting up and being the world's reserve currency
It's upsetting because I don't think Russia completely trusts China, and rightfully so. I like the U.S. now arming Mongolia. One of the intents of Russia was to form a Eurasian Union with Germany which would extend from Spain to its Eastern most port, and this might be what the U.S. wants to keep from happening. Anyway our State Department makes me sick to my stomach. Listen to the lies our under Sec. of State Stengel said about RT: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From assertions that peaceful protesters hired snipers (sorry Mr. Stengel, but isn't that what the foreign secretary of Estonia said in his phone call to Ashton) to repeated allegations that Kiev is beset by violence, fascism and anti-Semitism, (hmmm, so the videos with the Nazi thugs are all fake, not to mention setting the police on fire) these are lies falsely presented as news. Consider the way RT manipulated a leaked telephone call involving former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Through selective editing, the network made it appear that Tymoshenko advocated violence against Russia. (Uhhh! I think Yulia apologized) Or the constant reference to any Ukrainian opposed to a Russian takeover of the country as a "terrorist." (Oh, and here I thought the pro Russian protesters were the ones called terrorists) Or the unquestioning repetition of the ludicrous assertion last week that the United States has invested $5 billion in regime change in Ukraine. (Oh then Nuland wasn't handing out cookies and paying the protesters. I guess they were all trust funders like our occupy Wall Streeters) These are not facts, and they are not opinions. They are false claims, and when propaganda poses as news it creates real dangers and gives a green light to violence. (so then your assertions about RT are not false ) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here's a nice article on what he said: http://consortiumnews.com/2014/05/01/whos-the-propagandist-us-or-rt/
Many in the know are surprised and have been for years now that our crazy system has endured for as long as it has. We have managed, manipulated markets being used to try and prop it all up. 2008 was a sign of how sick our system really is, though, and now we're waiting for the repercussions to be truly felt. The "solution" so far has been oodles of money printing and a marked increase in the debt burden, not a correction of the free market and a return to market fundamentals, which is what we need if we're to have any real recovery. We can't export our industry and support every poor household and failed bank or business with government subsidies indefinitely and without significant impact on our standard of living. All they're doing with this printing and manipulation is delaying the inevitable, and making the problem worse in the process. Kicking the can, I've heard it called. Makes sense - it's like a hot potato. No one wants to be stuck holding it.
We really did it now. We had Japan pressuring Russia economically over Ukraine, and now Russia is joining its navy with China over the Senkaku Islands. BRAVO Obama! You did it again. (Hmmm! Maybe you are the antichrist?).
If there is world war, the economies of the major nations will be so damaged that there will be high probability that we won't be able to solve the problem of drug resistant diseases and newly emerging diseases, which will lead to a massive die -off of most humans. I will probably recover but at the moment I have a continual heartbeat irregularity which is causing me to partly pass out. If it doesn't get better, please pull together all my indeas on the message board to see whether some of them might be interesting to you.
I wish you well! I only feel bad that I don't have any advice to give you. I had cancer last year, and even though I avoid doctors like the plague, I have to say that my doctor did save my life. Bladder cancer is very hard to detect, and she did have me go for a test. The specialist later on tried to get me to see an oncologist but I refused. With all my digestive problems and chemical imbalances, all I needed was to undergo something like chemotherapy and I'd be dead; and that wouldn't be good, because I wouldn't be able to annoy everyone on the forum? I prefer sticking to a diet of organic vegetables and vegetable drinks, as well as cheese and meats from grass fed animals, and so far so good.
This is standard big-power politics as practiced since time immemorial. The aim is a secure and stable balance of power. Weaker countries combine to repel domination by stronger countries. This doesn't imply any fundamental sympathy between China and Russia. They are alike in fearing the US. On other issues, they may be independent or opposed. Their cooperation is limited by their priorities. China and Russia are both too bent on growth and power to submit themselves to an alliance. The proper response of the US is to court both China and Russia independently, offering incentives for friendship with us in order to weaken Sino-Russian cooperation. But our big-talking President has blundered into a hostility toward Russia he has nether the means nor the will to pursue to an end. Being toothless, he should have shut his mouth rather than splitting with Russia. No, I'm not saying we should condone Russian Nazism in Ukraine or Syria. I'm saying that words must be consistent with deeds for an effective foreign policy. If we can't follow up, we should shut up. A question is why China and Russia would combine against the US when our present government is as supine and feeble as any in memory. Who believes that Obama would ever do more than scold and apply "sanctions" against either China or Russia? The answer may be one liberals are reluctant to hear: a foreign policy of weakness and ingratiation may not lead to reciprocity by former enemies; it may encourage aggression by others who see they can do so with little cost. Current events seem to back deterrence over ingratiation.
Too much war. Someone is profiting. Wanna stop it? Bring back the draft ! People stopped American involvement in Vietnam, Not Politicians. I admire Clinton for getting out of Somalia although there was too much involvement in "Yugoslavia". It is time to let Europeans and shoulder their part of the load. Japan too. If they wanna be "laissez faire", it is their part of the globe. We can reach long distances when we have to. The "Go To War" mentality of Obama/Kerry, with Red Lines and Economic Sanctions has NOT extended FREEDOM to anyone. Just turmoil, deaths, civil wars, etc. It is about Multi National, Inc. profits and their corralled markets. We need to agree on a Non Aligned Zone, including Poland and the Old Soviet Republics, Eastern Europe. Currently, everything the Russkies are doing makes perfect sense to me, from their point of view. The lack of logic is on the part of the West and the instigation of all the unrest. Moi Non Interventionist No
Moi, you are exactly right. Brining back the draft would be the best cure of endless "policing the world". Why do we need to keep military bases and troops far away in so many places? Germany, South Korea and Japan can easily take care about their defense.
Moi, when I was 5 years old, my Communist Party member grandparents told me how our foreign policy was dictated by the imperatives of Capital. (They never said what dictated the foreign policy of their Holy Soviet Union.) Here you are, almost 60 years later, peddling the same piffle. Obama & Co. see themselves as moral beacons, who do what they do on principle and for the common people. No matter how disastrous their policies, they see them in that rosy light. So do most other US leaders. Now there are different, and sometimes contending, factions of the US people, and each has its own agenda. It's easy to mischaracterize agendas with which you disagree as being driven by venial and venal concerns, but that's no more than partisan name-calling. If we want to know what's going on, we have to look deeper. So please retire the Marxist fulmination. It was already boring in the 1950s.
The most serious problem is that a large factor in this seems to be animal territoriality instincts in people. Territoriality is an instinct that includes large numbers of land animals and even some fish. An instinct that widespread and that old is very strong, although not as strong as something like the instincts involved with sexual activities. Things like the Olympic games were invented to try to channel territoriality into harmless activities. Those things have certainly done some good, but they haven't been enough. It almost seems like we need some kind of universal psychotherapy for everyone to control the territoriality instinct. However, there isn't a body of research on curing the natural tendencies to support wars, so even if this is possible, we need to start at the beginning and build a knowledge base. Then, there is a problem that most people probably wouldn't want therapy to help them control their natural territoriality instincts to fight against enemies. I don't think that reinstituting the draft would do it. Throughout history, nations which have had a draft have nevertheless had a public that supports going to war. That it helped create an anti-war movement once in America doesn't mean that it would work again. The anti-war movement did catch government policymakers by surprise. They then slowly built up American tolerance to war by having a series of tiny wars, and then working up to larger ones. If we get into a world war, government policymakers no doubt have plans on how to keep the public in support of the war this time.
USA leaders are bathing in their own stupidity. They did not notice profound changes in the world and remain frozen in cold war mentality. Our country is a corporation controlled form of democracy, not far all. Money is speech and corporations are people, according to our supreme court. Such country cannot be leader of the world.
