Will Feeding China's 1.3 Billion People Result In The Rest Of The World Going Hungry?

A typical Chinese style banquet in a banquet hall. Wikipedia

Appetite For Destruction -- Damien Ma and William Adams, Foreign Policy

Why feeding China's 1.3 billion people could leave the rest of the world hungry.

On Aug. 20, the Australian mining giant BHP Billiton announced that it will pump nearly $3 billion into developing a deposit of Canadian potash, a mineral used in the manufacture of fertilizer destined for farms fields across the world. And in late September, Chinese pork producer Shuanghui officially purchased Smithfield Foods in the largest Chinese acquisition ever made in the United States. The companies' investments are both decisions that speak to a vote of confidence in global food consumption growth over the next decade -- and nowhere will bellies be filling up faster than in China.

For three decades, resource-intensive manufacturing fueled China's spectacular economic rise. By 2012, the country was consuming nearly half of the world's coal and producing 46 percent of its steel, 43 percent of its aluminum, and about 60 percent of its cement. The Chinese economy has slowed in 2013 in part because of the government's recognition that such a resource-intensive growth model has become unsustainable. As a result, Beijing is trying to rebalance away from exports and investments and toward domestic consumption. Companies like BHP Billiton are betting that China's rebalancing will spur rapid growth in demand for food and the inputs needed to produce it. The underlying economic logic -- China as demand driver -- is the same, but it reflects the resource scarcity that is starting to replace maintenance of rapid growth as China's foremost economic challenge.

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My Comment: When I first visited China (mid 1980s) .... the basic Chinese diet was rice, some fish, and maybe some pork. In today's China .... everyone wants to eat grain/beef/chicken meals .... they basically want to eat the western diet.

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Mao's Red Book Makes A Return To China

Mao's Little Red Book To Get Revamp -- The Guardian

New version of Quotations from Chairman Mao, the world's second most published book, to hit Chinese shelves in November

It will not be especially little, and the cover will be only partly red. But a new version of the world's second most published book is due to appear on Chinese shelves, decades after it fell from favour with the end of Maoism.

The re-emergence of Quotations from Chairman Mao – better known as the Little Red Book – comes amid an official revival of the era's rhetoric. China's leader, Xi Jinping, has embraced Maoist terminology and concepts, launching a "mass line rectification campaign" and this week even presiding over a televised self-criticism session.

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Update: Mao's 'Little Red Book' to Be Reprinted -- Breitbart

WNU Editor: If you want to waste an hour of your life .... Mao's Little Red Book can be read here. As to what are Chinese students being taught today .... their focus is now on this book.

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US begins war on Syria as early as Thursday officials say

 

The guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/27/320762/us-war-on-syria-as-early-as-thursday/

Senior American officials say the United States has planned to launch missile strikes against Syria “as early as Thursday” in order to punish Damascus over the alleged use of chemical weapons.

The unnamed officials told NBC News on Tuesday that the “three days” of strikes would be limited in scope, and aimed at “sending a message to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad rather than degrading his military capabilities.”

On Monday night, four US warships were deployed in the Mediterranean within cruise missile range of Syria.

American defense officials said if the US wants to send a message to Assad, the most likely military action would be a Tomahawk missile strike, launched from a ship in the Mediterranean.

The US military has beefed up equipment during the past weeks. Several nuclear-powered submarines are reportedly in the water near Syria, also cruise-missile equipped.

The report came one day after US Secretary of State John Kerry accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on Tuesday accused Kerry of lying about the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, challenging Washington and its allies to provide evidence.

This is while the UN inspectors are still in Syria to investigate the chemical weapons attacks and they are not scheduled to leave the country until Sunday.

Russia and China have both warned against a US-led military intervention in Syria. Moscow says a military action would have "catastrophic consequences" for the entire region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron in a telephone call Monday that there was no evidence that an attack had taken place or who was responsible.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Monday that the use of force without a U.N. mandate would violate international law.
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West, Arab leaders reach ‘consensus’ on Syria attack

 

 

The British Royal Navy's helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious is deployed to the Mediterranean, on August 25, 2013

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/27/320745/west-arabs-reach-consensus-on-syria/

Western and Arab military leaders have reached a “consensus” on military intervention in Syria over accusations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, a Jordanian security official told German news agency, DPA.

“It was decided that should the international community be forced to act in Syria, the most responsible and sustainable response would be limited missile strikes,” the official said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday following a meeting held in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The military leaders led by Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey agreed to prepare for the strike as early as this week, the official added.

Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said UK armed forces are devising contingency plans for military action against the Arab country over the alleged use of chemical weapons.

The UK has been reportedly sending warplanes and military transporters to its airbase in Cyprus, situated near Syria.

US defense officials also say several navy destroyers have been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to be used against Syria upon an order of President Barack Obama.

“[The destroyers] are in position if needed, but they, to my knowledge, have received no tasking to this point, and that would come obviously from the White House,” an American military official said on condition of anonymity.

 

On August 21, the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that 1,300 people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.

However, the Syrian government categorically rejected the baseless claim, and announced later that the chemical attack had been actually carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation.

Damascus later allowed UN chemical weapons inspectors to the site of the chemical weapons attack near the Syrian capital on Monday, when they began taking samples from the victims.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the outbreak of the violence.

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Iran warns against military intervention in Syria

 

 

This file photo shows Takfiri militants operating in Syria

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/27/320733/iran-warns-against-attack-on-syria/

 

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has warned against the dire consequences of a potential foreign military intervention in Syria.

 

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi said a potential military offensive against Syria will entail dangerous and dire consequences, which will impact the whole Middle East.

The Iranian official also censured Western countries for their double standards regarding the ongoing crisis in Syria, saying, “Wherever the terrorists serve Western interests, they (Western powers) support these groups.”

Araqchi said there are documents indicating that the Takfiri militants in Syria had carried out the recent chemical attacks in the country.

The Russian government has presented the documents to the United Nations Security Council, he said.

On August 23, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon was positioning military forces as part of “contingency options” provided to US President Barack Obama regarding Syria.

Hagel made the comments after the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed on August 21 that 1,300 people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.

However, Damascus categorically rejected the baseless claim, and announced later that the chemical attack had actually been carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation.

Araqchi said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a victim of chemical arms, condemns the use of such weapons by any side.”

Visits by Omani leader and UN official to Iran

Commenting on the recent visit by Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Araqchi said Tehran and Muscat discussed the expansion of bilateral ties and cooperation in the fields of energy, economy and culture during the trip.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed any connection between the Omani ruler’s trip to Tehran and that of UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, saying the two visits had different goals.

The Omani ruler arrived in Tehran at the head of a high-ranking delegation on a three-day official visit on Sunday as the first head of state to visit Iran since President Hassan Rouhani took office on August 4, 2013.

Feltman also visited Tehran on Monday to discuss regional issues, including the crisis in Syria, with Iranian officials.

Iran-Britain relations

Responding to a question regarding the possibility of the resumption of Iran-UK ties, Araqchi reiterated that reestablishing the relations between the two countries required time and expert negotiations.

He further emphasized that it must become evident that the British approach toward Iran has been changed.

Even under such circumstances, the resumption of the ties must be decided by Iran's Majlis, the foreign ministry spokesman added.

Nuclear negotiations

Araqchi said Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has made it clear that no one is to retreat from the rights of the Iranian nation with respect to the country’s nuclear energy program.

“What is important,” he said, “is entering the negotiations with new approaches, based on a win-win interaction that would result in acceptable outcomes for the Iranian nation.”

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Obama reportedly considering two-day strike on Syria

 

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/us-syria-strike-chemical-060/

 

White House officials say the United States may launch a limited military strike on Syria as early as this Thursday as the intelligence community prepares to release a report justifying action and allies are rallied.

Senior officials in the Obama administration told the Washington Post for an article published on Tuesday that the White House is weighing a limited strike on Syria and said on condition of anonymity that “We’re actively looking at the various legal angles that would inform a decision.”

According to the Post, the likely response from Washington would be a sea-to-land strike from the Mediterranean that would last no longer than two days and would not be directed towards targets where the chemical weapons arsenal is believed to be stored.

But while an attack is all but imminent and will likely be launched from warships already mobilized in the Mediterranean by the week’s end, public support in the US has teetered towards nil as of late. The Obama administration says there is undeniable proof that chemical weapons were used on civilians outside of Damascus on August 21, but a five-day-long Reuters poll taken during that time concluded only nine percent of Americans favor intervention.
 

 

An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on August 26, 2013 allegedly shows a UN inspectors (C) visiting a hospital in the Damascus suburb of Moadamiyet al-Sham. (AFP Photo)

 

Notwithstanding that lack of support, US Secretary of State John Kerry hinted Monday at a response which will jolt Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ideally worsen the odds that his regime will implement chemical warheads again.

Despite insistence from Assad and allies in Russia that the Syrian government is not guilty of using chemical weapons, Sec. Kerry said during a press conference on Monday that “our understanding of what has already happened in Syria is grounded in facts, informed by conscious and guided by common sense.” Kerry called Assad’s reported attempt to cover-up the alleged use of chemical weapons “cynical” and said, “President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.”

One day earlier, Sec. Kerry admitted that Pres. Obama was considering his options with regards to a strike and was to meet with lawmakers in Congress as well as with international leaders. According to the Post article, however, the president may forego getting approval from Capitol Hill and will instead rely on striking Syria due to “undeniable,” as the White House puts it, war crimes.

“The administration has said that it will follow international law in shaping its response,” Karen DeYoung and Anne Gearan wrote for the Post, adding, “But much of international law is untested, and administration lawyers are also examining possible legal justifications based on a violation of international prohibitions on chemical weapons use, or on an appeal for assistance from a neighboring nation such as Turkey.” Additionally, the US has already received assurance of support from Britain, France and Turkey.
 

 

(FILE PHOTO) The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) (L) and the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on their way to the Mediterranean Sea. (AFP Photo / Jamie Cosby)

 

According to senior administration officials who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, Pres. Obama met with his national security team this past weekend and has ordered that a declassified intelligence report showing the rationale for any attack on Syria be released before it occurs.

While only nine percent of the respondents polled in the Reuters survey between August 19 and 23 said they want the White House to respond to Assad’s reported use of chemical weapons immediately, 25 percent said they would favor intervention if the US concludes with certainty that those warheads were illegally used. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from earlier in the month found that 30.2 percent of Americans would support intervention if Assad is linked to using chemical weapons.

Sec. Kerry said the indiscriminate slaughter of women and children apparently being carried out by the Assad regime constitutes a “moral obscenity.”


 

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North Korea declares state of war with South

 

North Koreans including soldiers attend a rally in support of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's order to put its missile units on standby in preparation for a possible war against the U.S. and South Korea, in Pyongyang March 29, 2013.(Reuters / KCNA)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/north-korea-vicious-cycle-russia-072/

North Korea has entered a “state of war” against its Southern neighbor, stating that from now on any issues between the two countries will be resolved in a "wartime manner."

“From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly,” a special statement by the country’s top military command reads, according to the KCNA state news agency.

“The situation in the Korean Peninsula, which is neither peace nor war, has come to an end,” the statement says.

However, technically, the two Koreas are still in state of war since a peace treaty after the 1950-53 conflict had never been signed.

With North Korea placing its ballistic arsenal on high alert targeting American bases and the US tenaciously increasing military presence in the region, the whole situation risks “spiraling out of control” soon, warned Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

Both North Korea and the US bear responsibility for the recent substantial escalation of tensions, Lavrov said on Friday, calling on “all sides not to flex their military muscle.”

"We are concerned that alongside the adequate, collective reaction of the UN Security Council, unilateral action is being taken around North Korea that is increasing military activity,”Lavrov added, apparently referring to US plans to boost missile defense against the North, the joint US-South Korean contingency planin the event of an attack as well as their recent military drills.

In a noteworthy contrast to all the previous war games, this time American B-2 bombers flew over 10,000 kilometers to stage a mock bombing of Korean soil, in a move that US officials confirmed to be unprecedented.

Following this “reckless provocation” North Korean military command held an urgent overnight meeting during which the state’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un signed a decree placing the Strategic Rocket Force on standby.

“The situation could simply get out of control,” Sergey Lavrov told journalists on Friday, calling for a resumption of a six-party discussion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal within the framework of country’s international obligations

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovmeeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kozhara in Moscow.(RIA Novosti / Vladimir Pesnya)

While N. Korea has firmly pledged to “settle accounts with the US imperialists” and “mercilessly strike the US mainland, their stronghold, their military bases” in case of any further provocations, US officials seemingly do not consider the threat to be as real as the democratic republic is trying to present it to be.

The threats towards the US are only hurting North Korea itself as well as its people, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday.

“The bellicose rhetoric emanating from North Korea only deepens that nation's isolation,” Earnest said, adding that North’s unconditional renouncement of nuclear arms is the only clear path to resolve the situation.

Despite all the tensions, the United States is capable of defending its interests in the region, Earnest added.

Propaganda or serious threat?

Military experts agree that North Korea is at least several years from building a nuclear warhead or a missile capable of reaching the mainland US, which makes the threats, at this point, groundless.

However, a detailed plan of a nuclear strike on the US mainland can be clearly seen behind the North Korean leader on photos published in national newspaper. Such a demonstration of nuclear capabilities is likely aimed at an internal audience, in support of the idea of “sweeping away the US aggressors.”

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un discussing the strike plan with North Korean officers during an urgent operation meeting at the Supreme Command in an undisclosed location (AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNS)

Nevertheless, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel admitted on Thursday that “every provocative, bellicose word and action” of Kim Jong-un has to be taken seriously.

Earlier this month Washington decided to address North Korea's faster-than-anticipated progress in nuclear weapons development, announcing that the US will have 14 missile interceptors up and running by 2017, even abandoning a key part of its Eastern European missile defense plan in order to curb the threat from North Korea.

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China to purchase fighter jets, submarines from Russia: Report

 

A Russian Su-35S fighter jet

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/25/295127/china-to-buy-jets-subs-from-russia/

China is set to purchase two dozen fighter jets and four submarines from Russia, Chinese state media say.

The deal to buy the Su-35 fighters and Lada-class submarines was signed before the recent visit by President Xi Jinping to Moscow, the Chinese newspaper People’s Daily cited state television on Monday.

According to the report, it is the first time in a decade that Beijing purchases “large military technological equipment” from Moscow.

China’s military expansion comes amid its dispute with Japan over a chain of uninhabited islands claimed by both countries in the East China Sea.

“The Su-35 fighters can effectively reduce pressure on China's air defense before Chinese-made stealth fighters come online,” the report said.

Two of the submarines will reportedly be built in Russia, with the other two to be built in China. The value for the agreement, however, was not mentioned in the report.

Moscow and Beijing are also expected to work together in the field of military technology, which includes building S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missiles, 117S large thrust engines, IL-476 large transport aircraft and IL-78 aerial tankers, according to the report.

However, China's Defense Ministry has not commented on the report yet.

The Chinese president paid a three-day visit to Moscow from Friday to Sunday. He held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during his first foreign trip since becoming president earlier in March.

The two sides reportedly signed about 30 deals in the energy sector and other areas during Xi’s stay.

The Chinese president also met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, becoming the first foreign head of state to visit the Russian armed forces' control center.

 

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2013 - What's in Store? (Op-Ed)

 

By: Adrian Salbuchi

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/2013-global-politics-trends-150/

World Government stepping onto sovereign Nation-States, puppet politicians unable to cope with social challenges, chaos in the Middle East and ever increasing global crises – all this awaits us in 2013. Is it time for ‘We the People’ to wake up?

More violence in the Middle East; increased protests and commotion on the streets of Europe and America; a banking/debt crisis spinning faster and faster out of control with panicky governments running to save the bankers and kill the workers. That’s 2012’s legacy, so… thank God it’s (almost) over!

But – barring the Mayan Prophecies coming true, which is most unlikely – regrettably 2013 threatens us with even darker clouds on its horizon.

­We’re not into “predictions” or futurism, however understanding what really makes this world tick allows rational projections of tendencies on the basis of concrete facts. That can serve to give us an idea of what’s in store for 2013, so we can better prepare for what’s coming our way.

Let’s look at half a dozen Key Issues:

Where’s the pilot?

Glaringly visible on today’s global political stage is that leaders in just about every country are unable to tackle and solve the overwhelming swarm of growing crises and challenges affecting society; at least not in the West. Whether it’s political, social or military conflict; increasing ecological threats; on-going financial and economic collapse; mass cultural and intellectual dumbing-down; or obscene government corruption, everywhere you look things seem to be taking a turn for the worse.

Even the leaders of powerful countries as the United States, Britain and the European Union fail dismally when addressing these crises highlighting their mediocrity, lack of vision and creativity. This becomes more obvious when comparing today’s leaders with those of yesteryear.

Take France, for instance: having given the world a true statesman like Charles de Gaulle, today they’re run by political midgets like Hollande and Sarkozy. Worse still is the US, which had a great president like John F Kennedy but today is misgoverned by puppets like Bush junior and Obama. Even Britain, Italy and Germany once led by inspirational figures like Churchill, De Gaspari and Adenauer, today can only muster grey mediocrities like Blair, Cameron, Berlusconi, Monti or Merkel.

Is it all just coincidence, or does it reflect a monolithic political system that ensures that not the best and brightest, but the worst and dimmest rise to become presidents and prime ministers?

Is this the result of the Global Power Masters’ preferred system of control over entire nations through “money-powered democracy”? This is in stark contrast with what “We the People” are clamouring for in every country. In fact, “We the People” have instinct and are neither stupid nor cowardly. Unfortunately though, their political leaders for the most part are.

Is there a “superior will” making sure that growing national problems remain unresolved, and get worse and worse as presidents and prime ministers come and go?

Is it just “bad financial judgment” that’s made all national debts with the Mega-banker Over-world balloon way out of control? Just bad luck that pension funds are massively broke and health systems are in shambles?

Just bad luck that; Orwell-like, peace-making has turned into warmongering?

Is it just bad luck that basic human decency, ethics and solidarity are scorned by that moral cesspool known as the “entertainment industry”, which is the prime driver or the dumbing-down of populations everywhere?

We don’t think so…

Is all of this a way of telling the world in no uncertain terms just who’s really in charge, by “proving” that Sovereign Nation-States can no longer cope, and “a thing of the past” to be thrown into the dustbin of history? That certainly ties in with the Global Power Masters’ fundamental long-term objective geared on dissolving the nations of the world so their power can be sucked up into the coming World Government organisations?

But look again: it’s not Nation-States that are failing, but rather the “democratically elected” politicians who run them! Let’s not thrown the baby away with the bath water…!

World Government needs to do away with sovereign Nation-States because they’re the only social institution that can hold the Global Corporate and Mega-banker Over-world in check. In fact, the Sovereign Nation-State is the Over-world’s Public Enemy No. 1!

Back in 1974, the Elite think-tank Council on Foreign Relation’s journal “Foreign Affairs” suggested that “the house of world order will have to be built from the bottom up… It will look like a great "booming, buzzing confusion," …but an end run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish much more than the old-fashioned frontal assault.” That was written over 38 years ago… Now that’s what I call long-range planning!

So, get ready: 2013 will bring ever increasing crises as all Nation-States are weakened more and more. In Orwellian newspeak, this is “democracy”. However, “We the People” are waking up to the fact that such a “democracy” is nothing but a prison of the mind.

In 2013 more people will be asking themselves “Where’s the pilot?” They will want to know who’s really running this ghastly global show. You can bet your bottom dollar that “the pilot” is definitely not in the White House, or the Palais d'Elysee, or 10 Downing Street. Clearly, we need new pilots!

United States of America

Had Republican candidate Mitt Romney won November’s presidential elections, today we’d be in global doldrums on a range of important issues. The Global Power Masters would have had to wait until Romney is inaugurated in late January 2013, and then give him the privileged “100 days’ honeymoon” as new White House tenant, before they actually began pressing and coaxing him to do their bidding. That would have given the world four, maybe five, months’ respite.

However, Romney lost the elections, and Barack Obama will be president four more years. No waiting; no honeymoon.

Time is of the essence and Big Brother Bwana is already shouting orders at Boy Obama demanding him to move… and fast! The Big Bosses in AIPAC, Wall Street, Tel-Aviv, Goldman Sachs, the FED, JPMorganChase, and the Lodges have lots of plans for the US… Obama had been dragging his feet on certain issues: Time to act!

But one may even wonder whether Obama’s staying “at the helm” might be so he oversees “Mission Transformation”: the controlled collapse of the US. Will Obama turn out to be America’s Mikhail Gorbachev?

Over a decade ago, Russian Ministry of Foreign Relations academic Igor Panarin pointed to the coming dismemberment of the US due to growing internal political, social and cultural centrifugal forces, overcoming the increasingly weak centripetal forces holding America together.

Right now, we see secessionist movements in just about every state in the US. Texas, North & South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio have gathered the 25,000 petition signatures needed to make it mandatory for the Federal Government to address their request.

By the end of the 1980’s, the 'Powers That Be' decided it was time for “Globalisation” to go into full gear: a chaotic, horizontal, transitory and transitional process that has greatly weakened national sovereignties. But they needed to liquidate the then formidable Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that was getting in their way. That was Mikhail Gorbachev’s job and he certainly played his role magnificently even if power brokers in New York and London like him far more than citizens in Moscow or St Petersburg.

Now the Global Power Masters are wrapping up “Globalisation” and moving on towards something far more ambitious: outright World Government which, contrary to globalisation, will be vertical, authoritarian, disciplined and highly centralised. To achieve this new stage, they now need for the other superpower nation-state to go into the waste bin of history. Soon they won’t need a powerful America.

In fact, a powerful US is a potential danger to them because, whilst so far their trillions have ensured the White House always stays in "friendly hands” – Reagan, Bush Senior, Clinton, Bush junior, Obama – can you imagine what would happen if a True Patriot were to make it to the Oval Office? Someone who would say “Enough with the FED!”, “Enough with unrestricted and irrational support for Israel!”, “Enough engineering chaos in Libya, Afghanistan, Mali, Syria, Egypt, Latin America!”

So – yes! – Perhaps our American Gorbachev’s true mission is to kick-off the controlled demise of the US.

War and more war in the Middle East

From the Global Master’s viewpoint, the more chaos the better. The more Libya’s and Syria’s, the better; and the more Egypt-style social chaos, the better; all massively fed by their multimedia PsyWar. Why? Because, irrespective of whether things turn out “well” or “not so well” for them in Palestine, Syria, Iran or Egypt, they always make headway on one permanent overriding objective: weakening Nation-States. In addition, this all ties in with a key Fundamentalist Zionism goal in the region: the destruction of Iran.

In addition, all this “experience” renders useful lessons, knowledge, “case studies” and rules of engagement for designing future “Springs” in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, even the US.

Stay tuned: this may be coming in 2013 to a country near you.

Israel’s bad temper

As we all know when Israel gets up in a bad mood, they cheer up by going into Palestinian-bashing mode, knowing Big Brother Homer will look the other way. That just occurred in Gaza, as it did in 2009; as it did in Southern Lebanon in 2006.

Now we’ll see a lull as Benjamin Netanyahu campaigns for re-election in January 2013, which may be why he’s pushed aside his embarrassing extreme right-wing ally and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. This may be linked to trying to accommodate – not Obama – but the American military, which is growing increasingly weary of America’s imperial overdrive and resource stretch, as a consequence of fighting too many of Israel’s proxy wars.

John Kerry and Chuck Nagel will probably become Obama´s new secretaries of State and Defence. Both are friendly towards Israel, however not irrationally fanatic, which is what Israel and AIPAC demand. This explains the Jerusalem Post’s 17th December article pointing out that both are “hardly Israel’s preferred choices”.

Fiscal cliff

Like the naked Emperor that no one dared to point that interesting fact out to him, the truth is that the American Emperor is nakedly broke, as is the UK. Now, when weak countries like Argentina, México, Thailand or Iceland collapse, they painfully discover that their local currencies (or lack thereof in the cases of Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland) are backed by nothing. That’s when chaos marches in and the locals suffer all sorts of dreadful economic and social hardship, as seen on TV decade after decade.

When the US, UK or EU go broke, however, they still have an ace up their sleeves: their currencies – Dollar, Pound or Euro – are backed by their formidable, powerful and hugely expensive military forces. In practice, those currencies are backed by supersonic stealth bombers, drones, aircraft carriers, Tomahawks, Blackhawks and public (and private!) armies of highly trained and vicious troops.

But if worse comes to worse, they can always tap into their “Final Solution”; their “Samson Option” so to speak: unleash World War Three in which case who’ll care about the collapse of the Dollar, or the banks, or social upheavals even in New York or London.

World War Three means forcefully fleeing forwards. The Global Power Masters know this only too well: “we pulled this off with the first and second world wars… and it worked!” they seem to say.

Might this be one of 2013’s wild cards?

Watch out with Russia and China

Particularly now that Vladimir Putin is really back in town, Russia is clearly showing that it’s not for turning its back on traditional ally Syria; even less on Iran.
Not so much out of principle, but for defence and survival. If Syria and Iran fall to the US/UK/Israeli hegemon, who do you think is next? And those NATO missiles in Poland, what are they there for?

China, in turn, just named Xi Jinping as new Communist Party Secretary General and soon-to be President. Depending on a wide array of interests and goals, China shrewdly works together with Russia, Iran, India, Latin America or Africa; even with historical foe, Japan.

The Chinese know what they want and need in the medium and long terms. Maybe that’s why they seem paradoxical and difficult to fathom to us short-term thinking Westerners.

Long terms planners at the Pentagon and Western think-tanks, however, know this and they’re preparing for war. So, 2013 will see Russia, China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Brazil, South Africa move closer together to tackle common goals and confront common threats.

As the Western geopolitical serpent tries to tighten its hold on planet Earth, time is not on their side: key Castles and Bishops will move on the Global Grand Chessboard. Watch China and Russia….

Adrian Salbuchi for RT

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The International Banking Cartel

Source: Press TV (YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OU9AGUv4lk

A look at the International Banking Cartel led by the Bank for International Settlement (in Basel, Switzerland) known as the bank of central banks (58 central banks) and The US Federal reserve System. Also a look at banking tycoons: from the Rothschild family in Europe to JP Morgan and others in the US. How banks not only control governments but also appoint politicians through huge campaign donations. Governments at the service of the major banks, the best example: the Obama administration and the history's biggest bail out of the same institutions that caused the Great Recession.

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New man at helm Xi Jinping elected to lead China

 

The new head of China's Communist Party, Xi Jinping (AFP Photo/Feng Li)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/china-new-leader-xi-734/

Xi Jinping has been elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and will also now be the country’s commander-in-chief, making him de facto leader of the world’s most populous country.

­He was confirmed to be China's paramount leader for the next 10 years as the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China came to an end. The Politburo of the Communist Party selected Xi and other members of the new seven-man Standing Committee, the highest authority in the party, on Thursday.

Xi has also been named chairman of the Central Military Commission, putting China’s military under his control.

In his acceptance speech, Xi admitted that the Communist Party has its problems with corruption, detachment from the people and bureaucratic tendencies among some of its members.

He pledged to address these issues by working “with all the comrades in the party to uphold the principle that the party should supervise its own conduct and run itself with strict discipline."

He also praised the people of China, saying that their “desire for a better life is what we shall fight for” and that ''If we unite as one people, there is no difficulty we cannot overcome.''

"It is the people who have created history, and it is the people who are true heroes. The people are the source of our strength," Xi said.

The new leader replaces Hu Jintao, under whose administration China saw a decade of extraordinary growth despite the global financial crisis.

Xi was first unofficially slated to take this position five years ago during the previous congress of the CCP. He’s been a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo since 2007.

Son of the late communist elder Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping is part of the "princeling" generation – offspring of the figures who played key roles in bringing the Communist Party into power in 1949.

Like many other young educated Chinese, he was sent to live in the countryside to live and work alongside peasants during Chairman Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.

Xi is believed to be a pragmatic and skilled politician capable of finding consensus among different factions in the party. Like his predecessor, he is expected to continue opening China’s economy to market reforms while maintaining tight grasp on political sphere.

The six other members of the newly-elected committee are Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, and Zhang Gaoli.

The new Chinese leadership will gradually take over responsibility for the country over the next several months. Hu Jintao's presidency will formally end at the annual parliamentary session in March 2013.

 

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China and Russia are Acquiring Gold Dumping US Dollars

 

By: Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Source: Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/central-banks-are-acquiring-gold-dumping-us-dollars/22672

There is evidence that central banks in several regions of the World are building up their gold reserves. What is published are the official purchases.

A large part of these Central Bank purchases of gold bullion are not disclosed. They are undertaken through third party contracting companies, with utmost discretion.

US dollar holdings and US dollar denominated debt instruments are in effect being traded in for gold, which in turn puts pressure on the US dollar.

In turn, both China and Russia have boosted domestic production of gold, a large share of which is being purchased by their central banks:

It has long been assumed that China is surreptitiously building up its gold reserves through buying local production. Russia is another major gold miner where the Central bank has been purchasing gold from another state entity, Gokhran, which is the marketing arm and central repository for the country’s mined gold production. Now it has been reported by Bloomberg that the Venezuelan Central Bank director, Jose Khan, has said that country will boost its gold reserves through purchasing more than half the gold produced from its rapidly growing domestic gold mining industry.

In Russia, for example, Gokhran sold some 30 tonnes of gold to the Central Bank in an internal accounting exercise late last year. In part, so it was said at the time, the direct sale was made rather than placing the metal on the open market and perhaps adversely affecting the gold price.

China is currently the world’s largest gold producer and last year it confirmed it had raised its own Central Bank gold holdings by more than 450 tones over the previous six years. Mineweb.com – The world’s premier mining and mining investment website Venezuela taking own gold production into Central Bank reserves – GOLD NEWS | Mineweb

The 450 tons figure corresponds to an increase in the gold reserves of the central bank from 600 tons in 2003 to 1054 tons in 2009. If we go by official statements, China’s gold reserves are increasing by approximately 10 percent per annum.

China has risen to now be the largest gold producing nation in the world at around 270 tonnes. The amount bought in by the government initially looks like 90 tonnes per annum or just under, 2 tonnes a week. Before 2003 the announcement by the Chinese central bank that gold reserves had been doubled to 600 tonnes, accounted for similar purchases before that date. Why so small an amount you may well ask? We think local and national issues clouded the central bank’s view as it was the government that bought the gold since 2003 and have now placed it on the central bank’s Balance Sheet. So we would conclude that the government has ensured central bank gold purchasing must continue. “How will Chinese Central Bank Gold Buying affect the Gold Price short & Long-Term?” by Julian Phillips. FSO Editorial 05/07/2009

Russia

Russia’s Central bank holdings are in excess of 20 million troy ounces (January 2010)

 

Russia’s Central Bank reserves have increased markedly in recent years. The RCB reported in May 2010 purchasing 34.2 tons of gold in a single month. Russian Central Bank Gold Purchases Soar In May – China Too? | The Daily Gold

The diagram below shows a significant increase in monthly purchases by the the RCB since June 2009.

 

Central Banks in the Middle East are also building up their gold reserves, while reducing their dollar forex holding.

Gold reserves of GCC states is less than 5 percent:

Dubai International Financial Centre Authority economists released a report yesterday calling for local countries to build gold reserves, according to The National.

Despite a high interest in gold, GCC states maintain less than 5 percent of their total reserves in gold. Compared to the ECB, which holds 25 percent of reserves in gold, that leaves a lot of room for growth. http://www.businessinsider.com/gcc-boost-gold-holdings-2010-12#ixzz18FEqpTy3

GCC states should boost their foreign reserve holdings of gold to help shield their billions of dollars of assets from turbulence in global currency markets, say economists at the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA).

Diversifying more of their reserves from US dollars to the yellow metal would help to offer central banks in the region higher investment returns, said Dr Nasser Saidi, the chief economist of DIFCA, and Dr Fabio Scacciavillani, the director of macroeconomics and statistics at the authority.

“When you have a great deal of economic uncertainty, going into paper assets, whatever they may be – stocks, bonds, other types of equity – is not attractive,” said Dr Saidi. “That makes gold more attractive.”

Declines in the dollar during recent months have dented the value of GCC oil revenues, which are predominantly weighted in the greenback. GCC urged to boost gold reserves

According to a report in People`s Daily;

The latest rankings of gold reserves show that, as of mid-December, the United States remains the top country and the Chinese mainland is ranked sixth with 1,054 tons of reserves, the World Gold Council announced recently.

Russia climbed to eighth place because its gold reserves increased by 167.5 tons since December 2009. The top ten in 2010 remains the same compared to the rankings of the same period of last year. And Saudi Arabia squeezed to the top 20.

Developing countries and regions, including Saudi Arabia and South Africa, have become the main force driving the gold reserve increase. … .

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European central bank are the major gold sellers, and the IMF’s gold reserves decreased by 158.6 tons. (China’s gold reserves rank 6th worldwide – People’s Daily Online

It should be understood that actual purchases of physical gold are not the only factor in explaining the movement of gold prices. The gold market is marked by organized speculation by large scale financial institutions.

The gold market is characterised by numerous paper instruments, gold index funds, gold certificates, OTC gold derivatives (including options, swaps and forwards), which play a strong role, particularly in short-term movement of gold prices. The recent increase and subsequent decline of gold prices are the result of manipulation by powerful financial actors.

 

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China to pass US as top economic superpower by 2016

 

In this picture taken on June 21, 2012 shows workers building a car on the Geely Motors assembly line in Cixi, 50km from Ningbo in China's Zhejiang province. (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/usa/news/china-us-economic-economy-373/

America’s days of economic dominance aren’t over just yet, but one international thinktank says it might come sooner than once thought. According to one group, China will have the biggest world economy by 2016.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) out of Paris writes in a new report that China will be the world’s leading nation in terms of economy in just four years’ time, with other BRICs nations likely to usurp the current top dogs during the next few decades as well.

“The next 50 years will see major changes in country shares in world GDP,” the OECD report released this week reads. “On the basis of 2005 purchasing power parities (PPPs), China is projected to surpass the Euro Area in a year or so and the United States in a few more years, to become the largest economy in the world, and India is projected to surpass Japan in the next year or two and the Euro area in about 20 years.”

Additionally, the OECD predicts that China and India will together have a GDP that will beat out that of the G7 nations by as early as 2025, and by 2060 they expect Indian to out-perform the US on its own.

"As the largest and fastest-growing emerging countries fully assume a more prominent place in the global economy, we will face new challenges to ensure a prosperous and sustainable world for all. Education and productivity will be the main drivers of future growth, and should be policy priorities worldwide," said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria adds in an accompanying statement published with the report.

Asa Johansson, senior economist at the OECD, says, "It is quite a shift in the balance of economic power we are going to see in the future." According to projections published in the report, the United States’ share of the global gross domestic product will shrink to 18 percent in 2030, then 17 percent three decades later. Currently, the US is responsible for nearly a quarter, but by 2060, India is expected to have a slightly larger economy, generation 18 percent of the world’s GDP, as Japan and the Euro zone lose influence in international finances.

Last year, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission predict that China’s yuan, or renminbi, could become the main reserve currency for the world economy within the next decade if it continues to rise up over the US dollar.

“Chinese economic dominance is more imminent and more broad-based – encompassing output, trade and currency – than is currently recognized,” economist Arvind Subramanian wrote last year. "By 2030, this dominance could resemble that of the United States in the 1970s and the United Kingdom around 1870. And this economic dominance will in turn elevate the renminbi to premier reserve currency status much sooner than currently expected.”

 

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Wide trade deficit hits Japan

 

Massive protests across China and attacks on Japanese companies and factories prompted Tokyo to shut down its auto business in China temporarily in September

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/22/268093/wide-trade-deficit-hits-japan/

Officials in the world’s third economic heavy-weight, Japan, have announced that a wide trade deficit hit the country in September amid the global economic slowdown and the state’s territorial row with its longtime trade partner China.

Japan's monthly trade deficit was USD 7 billion and bigger than a deficit of about USD 3.7 billion a year earlier, the Japanese Finance Ministry said on Monday.

The deficit for September was the worst figure in more than 30 years for Japan, as demand for Japanese products, including chemicals, cars, medical products and computer parts reduced.

Overall exports in September totaled USD 68.7 billion with a more-than-10-percent fall.

The imports also rose 4 percent from a year earlier to USD 75.9 billion, particularly for additional oil and other fuels needed for power generation following the nuclear reactors’ shutdown across the country.

The territorial dispute with China led to a 14-percent decline in China’s demand for Japanese cars and other products as well.

Massive protests across China and attacks on Japanese companies and factories prompted Tokyo to shut down its auto business in China temporarily in September following a refreshed row between the two states over disputed islands.

Tensions heightened between Tokyo and Beijing after Japan signed a deal on September 11 to buy three of the disputed islands in the East China Sea from their private Japanese owner in line with plans to nationalize the archipelago

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China ‘sharpens response’, starts military exercises near disputed islands

 

Chinese marine surveillance ship. (AFP Photo / Japan Coast Guard)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/china-islands-chinese-vessels-771/

The Chinese navy is set to begin joint military exercises on Friday in the East China Sea. The exercises will take place on the doorstep of the islands at the heart of the recent tensions between Japan and the mainland.

­The exercises were announced on Thursday, and will include vessels from the Chinese fishing agency and maritime surveillance. China’s Xinhua news agency reported that a total of 11 navy vessels and eight naval aircraft will participate in the maneuvers, “improving coordination between the navy and administrative patrol vessels and sharpening their response to emergencies in missions to safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime interests,” according to a Chinese navy statement.

The latest round of saber-rattling comes amid high tensions in the East China Sea following the Japanese acquisition of several disputed islands in September. The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have long been administered by the Japanese, but are claimed by China, as well as Taiwan.

After the Japanese government purchased the islands from a private owner on September 5, tensions in the region escalated dramatically. Chinese and Taiwanese flotillas immediately set sail for the islands, only to be pummeled by Japanese water cannons.

Xinhua also quoted the Chinese fleet statement as saying that fishing patrol vessels in the area had been “stalked, harassed and even intentionally interfered with by foreign vessels, greatly challenging their duties.”

Chinese fishing boats have repeatedly claimed territorial fishing rights in the region.

Adding weight to the conflict over the uninhabited islands are the suspected large natural gas reserves in the surrounding waters.

 

A Japan Coast Guard vessel (R) sprays water against Taiwanese fishing boats, while a Taiwanese coast guard ship (L) also sprays water in the East China Sea near Senkaku islands as known in Japanese or Diaoyu Islands in Chinese on September 25, 2012. (AFP Photo / AFP Photo / Yomiuri Shimbun)

Exercises ‘legitimate’, economics in play

Japanese TV channel Fuji TV first reported that Chinese vessels were maneuvering towards the disputed islands on Tuesday, and that Japanese military surveillance aircraft had been dispatched to monitor them, citing government sources. In response, China’s Ministry of Defense issued a statement stating the "Chinese navy vessels' routine training and navigation in the waters in question is justified and legitimate."

If the Chinese ships attempt to breach Japanese-controlled waters, it would inflame a situation which is unstable at best. The past month has seen violent anti-Japan demonstrations across China, while several Japanese companies and manufacturers have hoisted anchor, closing their stores and factories on the mainland in response.

Dr. Joseph Gerson, an expert in Asia-Pacific affairs and programs director at the American Friends Service Committee, told RT that although the islands remain a dangerous flashpoint for the two nations, the importance of China-Japan economic ties may outweigh the consequences of full-scale war.

“They’re both competitors and partners in trade,” he said. “During the last crisis over these islands, the Chinese, at least for a period of time, embargoed the sale and trade of rare earth, which is essential to Japan’s high-tech economy. At the same time, China needs Japanese investment, so a war would cost both, and I think that’s one reason why it didn’t happen,”Gerson said.

Gerson added that while the situation had calmed somewhat after a short period on the brink of crisis, it could still “flare up at any time that it meets the interest of political leaders seeking to manipulate the situation.”

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