Monthly Archives: July 2013

China remains the place you want to have some of your money invested

"China’s announced plan is to move 400 million rural residents into urban cities over the next decade. That’s 40 million people a year, the equivalent of filling up New York City five times annually. That’s a trend … and a very big trend, at that, when you consider the demands that puts on everything from concrete and steel needed to build the necessary infrastructure (apartments, roads, schools, hospitals, shopping centers), to restaurants, supermarkets, housing – the list is nearly endless. China, as well, is moving toward freer financial markets. That, too, is a trend that will create substantial profits for investors." Continue reading →

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South Korean court orders Japanese steel company to pay for forced labor in WWII

"A South Korean court on Wednesday ordered a Japanese steel giant to pay compensation over forced wartime labour in what was described as the first ruling of its kind, a report said. The decision marked the latest chapter in a 16-year legal battle launched by four South Koreans, now aged in their eighties and nineties, who were drafted to work for the predecessor of Nippon Steel before World War II. The forced labour issue and wartime sexual slavery remain key points of contention between Seoul and Tokyo after Japan’s brutal colonisation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945." Continue reading →

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Japan says it faces increasing threats from China, North Korea

"Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea, a defense ministry report said on Tuesday, as ruling politicians call for the military to beef up its ability to respond to such threats. The report, the first since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office vowing to boost Japan's defenses, was likely to prompt a sharp response from Beijing, whose ties with Tokyo are strained by a territorial row. China is also upset by remarks from Abe suggesting he wants to cast Tokyo's wartime history in a less apologetic tone." Continue reading →

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Japanese Troops Storm California Beach as Marine Power Eyed

"A thousand Japanese troops have been learning how to recapture territory in the face of enemy fire. While the shoreline may be California, the skills they are building could one day be used closer to home. The two-week 'Dawn Blitz' joint drills in June saw a Japanese Self-Defense Force ship launching a hovercraft designed to carry troops and heavy weaponry that roared onto the beach. The operations reflect the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s interest in developing a Marine corps to counter what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government says are Chinese attempts to change the status quo in maritime disputes." Continue reading →

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Japan Resorts To Teenage Girls In Short Skirts To Get Their Stocks Up

"To get an idea of how Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is faring in his quest to lift his country out of two decades of stagnation, look no further than the skirts of the girl group Machikado Keiki Japan. The band, whose name translates roughly as 'street corner economic conditions', became a bellwether for the health of the world's third biggest economy earlier this year when they promised to shorten their skirts every time the country's stock market made significant gains. Their debut single, Abeno Mix – complete with unlikely singalong references to quantitative easing and construction bonds – takes its cue from Abenomics." Continue reading →

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Monetary Mavens Talk, Talk, Talk

"The thrust of central banking coverage is one that emphasizes high finance, complicated terminology and impressive circumstances. The reality is that the tools are very limited and the choices are, well ... simplistic. Either a central bank prints money or it doesn't. Either it sets interest rates high or low. Officials can choose various targets but essentially, 'targeting' doesn't change the basic mechanism: more money or less, higher interest rates or lower ones. It's very simple and the amount of time, energy and mainstream media coverage lavished on these rudimentary – and primitive – decisions is incredible." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMonetary Mavens Talk, Talk, Talk

Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…

"Deny a young person work and you deny him a career. Deny him a career and you deny him a way to support a family. Deny him a family life, and who knows what happens? In China, the 'bare branches' – young men who couldn't find wives – started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851 and 1868, cost 100,000 dead and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today's young people accept their lot... and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces... rampage down Wall Street... and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…

Breakfast with Pussy Riot

"This morning I had the opportunity to meet, along with several other journalists, with two members of Russian punk collective Pussy Riot at the Washington offices of Human Rights First. They are in Washington meeting with members of congress, State Department staffers, and NGO officials. It's an odd sort of publicity tour. For security reasons, 'Fara' and 'Shaiba,' who appeared to be in their 20s, did not provide their real names, did not allow themselves to be photographed without their trademark balaclavas, and refused to discuss details about their backgrounds or travel itinerary." Continue reading →

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Woolwich murder: Younger brother of Michael Adebolajo ‘was paid thousands to spy in Middle East’

"The younger brother of one of the men accused of murdering Drummer Lee Rigby was paid thousands of pounds by MI6 as part of spying operations in the Middle East, The Mail on Sunday has discovered. Jeremiah Adebolajo, who uses the name Abul Jaleel, was also asked to help ‘turn’ his brother, Michael, to work for MI5, who were already aware of Michael’s close links to extremist groups. Police and security services are under huge pressure to explain what they know about Adebolajo and his alleged accomplice, Michael Adebowale. Despite warnings stretching back ten years, Michael Adebolajo is said to have been considered ‘low risk’ by MI5." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoolwich murder: Younger brother of Michael Adebolajo ‘was paid thousands to spy in Middle East’

Fred Reed: Ain’t Nobody Gonna Like It

"Watching the Zimmerman trial, I wonder whether we may not be in for big trouble. Racial hostility is much higher in the United States than it is allowed to appear. In the Twittersphere there is much traffic from blacks, saying that if Zimmerman walks, they will kill him themselves, riot, or kill random whites. On many sites around the web, whites of a sort not found on NPR are saying, 'Bring it on.' This is not your granny’s recipe for domestic tranquility. Let’s not kid ourselves. Race underlies almost everything in this country that spends half its time denouncing racism. This is true of trials, and particularly true of show trials." Continue reading →

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