Dyspraxic fundamentalist: The Chinese Economy

Dyspraxicfundamentalist- Worldview: The Chinese Economy

A good look at where China is at, and where it can go from here. Essentially, China has peaked with the manufacturing industry, and the workers are starting to demand more payment. As such, they are loosing the edge on costs that made them a big economy.

Protesters bewildered by lack of comrades.

Salt Lake Tribune "By the time the war protesters began their march Saturday morning in Salt Lake City, only about 50 people had gathered. Their numbers had swelled to about 200 by noon - and that was with a little high-tech help from a marcher who text-messaged friends to join him. ... One of the biggest protests was in San Francisco, for decades a hub of anti-war sentiment. Police there estimated the crowd gathered outside City Hall at about 6,000 people. Many chanted slogans opposing Bush, and most appeared to hail from a distinctly grayer demographic than that of other protest events.
''There are not enough young people here,'' said Paul Perchonock, 61, a physician. ''They don't see themselves as having a stake.''
...
In Washington, a relatively small crowd of about 300 gathered at the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Dick Cheney lives, and marched to Dupont Circle. Debbie Boch, 52, a restaurant manager from Denver, said she and two friends bought plane tickets to Washington two months ago, before the demonstration had been planned. It was the fifth protest march she had attended since the war began, she said,and among the smallest.
''It's very disappointing, especially in Washington, D.C.,'' she said. ''You think this is the place where people come to make things happen. I'm just not sure why there aren't more people here today.'' "

Finally, a fair and balanced article from outside of Fox News.

There's no reason to be concerned about the elections this year. Not only do the liberals not have a plan, they are unreceptive to reality. And it's also the old people doing the protesting, who's defining years in life were protesting vietnam. For them, this is natural.

"I'm just not sure why there aren't more people here today."
Because it is only a very very small minority of the nation that agrees with you.

New York Times. 'Nuf said.

My Way News: "The New York Times said on Saturday it had identified the wrong man as the hooded prisoner standing on a box in a photograph that came to symbolize U.S. military abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
...
'The Times did not adequately research Mr. Qaissi's insistence that he was the man in the photograph,' The Times said in an editor's note accompanying a front page story on the misidentification.

'A more thorough examination of previous articles in The Times and other newspapers would have shown that in 2004 military investigators named another man as the one on the box, raising suspicions about Mr. Qaissi's claim,' it said.

The Times, one of the most respected U.S. newspapers, was stung in 2003 when former reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated and plagiarized dozens of articles. Last year, the resignation of star reporter Judith Miller amid questions about her reporting in the run-up to the Iraq war further damaged the paper's standing."

And to add isult to injury, this today:
""An article in The Metro Section on March 8 profiled Donna Fenton, identifying her as a 37-year-old victim of Hurricane Katrina who had fled Biloxi, Miss., and who was frustrated in efforts to get federal aid as she and her children remained as emergency residents of a hotel in Queens.

"Yesterday, the New York police arrested Ms. Fenton, charging her with several counts of welfare fraud and grand larceny. Prosecutors in Brooklyn say she was not a Katrina victim, never lived in Biloxi and had improperly received thousands of dollars in government aid. Ms. Fenton has pleaded not guilty.

"For its profile, The Times did not conduct adequate interviews or public record checks to verify Ms. Fenton's account, including her claim that she had lived in Biloxi. Such checks would have uncovered a fraud conviction and raised serious questions about the truthfulness of her account.""

An excellent display of proper journalism, to be sure.

The State of Fear: Genetically Modified Foods

Ever since Genetically Modified foods were introduced in the early 90's, there has been a LOT of hysteria, panic, and widespread disenfranchise. Much of this was started by fringe activist environmental groups, like this overview, and this about wheat.
Many of the claims revolve around things like

1. They harm the environment
2. Harmful to Humans
3. Doesn't help 3rd world countries like regular crops
   
4. Not natural, thus less nutritious.

1. Harm the environment:
One of the main benefits of both selective breeding and GMing foods is a resistance to disease/pestilence. With the standard crop of today, waves and waves of both airborne and groundbased pesticides required to sustain the growth. While these are not harmful to humans unless used in massive dosages, they have been the cause of concern for many years. The Genetically Modified foods however, have an innate immunity to these problems. In reality, while GM foods are less expensive, they also add less to the environment.

2. Harmful to humans
While the FDA does not inspect the foods for human health problems, the farms are required to ensure that they are safe for human consumption. Regular foods are not inspected either, and the companies ensure the safety of the current crops.

3. 3rd world countries won't accept it.
An example of a GM food helping out poor nations is found in Golden Rice. Finalized and grown in 2000, it is the traditional white rice, enriched with vitamin A. It is given away free to farmers in the poor nations. Greenpeace opposed it initially because it didn't have enough vitamin A, alough they continued their opposition after the amount was increase, due to a blanket opposition to GM foods. Many countries accept it, both because its free, and requires a minimum of chemicals to grow effectively.

4. Not natural, thus less nutritious.
The exact opposite is true, as these foods are engineered to be both more nutritious and better tasting. More fruits and vegetables are available year round, providing more opportunities for good nutrition.


Why the spread of this fear?
There are several reasons, and several groups that are behind it. The majority of it comes honest citizens who out of ignorance of what the GM foods actually are. Much of the rest comes from socialist/fascist environmental groups, who's main purpose in life appears to be the slander of large corporations.
On the honest citizen side of things, its just fear of the unknown, and being driven to an irrational fear by the environmental groups. This is excusable, but rather unfortunate. Much of the food you buy in a normal supermarket is probably GMed, but you eat it regardless of the fear.
With the environmental groups however, it is a different story. Not only is their main purpose one of willfully misleading people, (Forest destruction, global warming, pesticides, ect.). With the GM issue, the fearmongering is to damage the large farms, like ADM. I believe their main contention is that the farmland is taken, and they want it to be reverted to its natural state of chaos.

Operation Swarmer

International Herald Tribune: "U.S.-led forces pressed on Friday with an offensive against suspected guerrilla targets near the north-central town of Samarra, witnesses said.
...
U.S. military officials said Thursday that the operation, involving 50 helicopters, was the biggest 'air assault' since a similar airlift across Iraq just after the war in late April 2003. That operation was also conducted by the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

A U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, said that U.S.-led forces were searching a 10- mile-by-10-mile, or 16-kilometer- square, area for guerrillas and that no casualties had been reported by American or Iraqi forces.

He said that 50 people had been detained and 30 remained in custody. The U.S. military usually describes insurgents as 'terrorists,' so Iraqis netted in the raids could have just been ordinary farmers from rural areas near Samarra.

This operation is not an invasion, and the media have overreacted. The operation aims to search and control the area and launch raids against some suspected places," he [Iraqi defence ministry spokesman, General Salih Sarhan] said."

US Casualties: 0
Iraqi Casualties: 0
Terrorist Casualties: 80

Sounds good.

The State of Fear

In Honor of this being the 400th post in the War Against Ignorance, we are starting a new series entitled The State of Fear. These will be posted periodically, about once a week.

A lot of topics will be covered, including

• Genetically modified food
• Global Warming/The environment
  
• Arabian nations
• The Red Dragon: China
• Avian Flu
• Radiation
• The Federal Deficit
• The Draft
• 'Super bugs'

So, the first up will be an extremely well written, well illustrated, and well backed up speech by Michael Crichton, mainly about environmental fears. In addition to showing what fears are blown out of proportion, we'll take a look at why they are, and for what purpose.

I welcome debate on these issues, and look forward to a battle in the arena of ideas.

Stay 'tooned!

Regenerate Our culture

Regenerate Our Culture opens up in about 5 minutes, at least where I live. Or, if they aren't crazy and aren't staying up like I am, it will open in the morning.

Iran at war with US

BREITBART.COM - "'Tehran has been responsible for at least some of the increasing lethality of anti-coalition attacks by providing Shia militia with the capability to build improvised explosive devices in Iraq,' Bush said in a speech.

He cited recent congressional testimony from John Negroponte, the US director of national intelligence.

Bush also charged that 'some of the most powerful IEDs we are seeing in Iraq today include components that came from Iran.'

'Coalition forces have seized IEDs and components that were clearly produced in Iran. Such actions, along with Iran's support for terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, are increasingly isolating Iran,' he said.
....
The US military has said in the past that advanced roadside bombs with shaped armor-penetrating explosives and sophisticated triggering devices have been turning up in Iraq.

US military intelligence sources said the weapons have been traced to Iran's Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directly accused the Islamic government in Tehran for the first time of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard into Iraq to make trouble."

Suprise suprise... They ain't insurgents. There terrorists, with the backing of a forign power.

Jerks heckle funeral

BREITBART.COM - : "Five women sang and danced as they held up signs saying 'thank God for dead soldiers' at the funeral of an army sergeant who was killed by an Iraqi bomb.

For them, it was the perfect way to spread God's word: America was being punished for tolerating homosexuality.

For the hundreds of flag waving bikers who came to this small town in Michigan Saturday to shield the soldier's family, it was disgusting.

'That could be me in that church,' said Jackie Sandler whose son Keith is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

The fringe group of fire and brimstone Baptists from Kansas has been courting controversy for more than 15 years, traveling the country with their hateful signs and slogans.

The Westboro Baptist Church first gained national notoriety when they picked the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming student who was murdered in 1998 for being gay."

That is most definatly not right...
Sick, making a funeral a politcal stunting ground. Lets see who else does this... Democrat party? Welstone memorial? Correta King funeral? Which of these three has more significance? Which will be recieving more coverage?

Free speech protected? That can't be right...

Anti-Castro Sign at Ballgame Causes Stir: "While Cuba played the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic, a spectator in the stands raised a sign saying: 'Down with Fidel,' sparking an international incident that escalated Friday with the velocity of a major league fastball.

The image of the man holding the sign behind home plate was beamed live Thursday night to millions of TV viewers; including those in Cuba. The top Cuban official at the game at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan rushed to confront the man.

Puerto Rican police quickly intervened and took the Cuban official _ Angel Iglesias, vice president of Cuba's National Institute of Sports to a nearby police station where they lectured him about free speech.

'We explained to him that here the constitutional right to free expression exists and that it is not a crime,' police Col. Adalberto Mercado was quoted as saying in El Nuevo Dia, a San Juan daily."

This cracked me up! Castro's commie officialls are so upset because 1 man, just 1 man in a sea of tens of thousands, exersised his free speach at a baseball game! Amazing what one candle can accomplish!
In other news, the cuba baseball team THRASHED the dutch badly, 11-2

Where did they dig up that old fossil...

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: "When wandering through a hunter's market in Laos, Robert Timmins of the Wildlife Conservation Society happened upon a previously unknown rodent. Called kha-nyou by locals--or rock rat--the long-whiskered and furry-tailed rodent was reputed to favor certain limestone terrain. Western scientists named it Laonastes aenigmamus or stone-dwelling enigmatic mouse--partially because a live specimen has never been collected--and thought the rock rat represented a new family of mammals. But new research reported in today's Science proves that Laonastes actually represents a fossil come to life.

Paleontologist Mary Dawson of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and her team immediately recognized the strange rodent as a living member of a family thought to have been extinct for at least 11 million years"

How much do we really know about our planet? Do we know enough to make proclomations of extinction on numerous species on a yearly basis? Or to go stark raving mad about global warming? Or to 'scientifically' determine the origins of the universe?
No, because we're human, have been around for abour 6000 years, and been recording everything for the past 300 years.

Another funny thing is how the article is written. Is this really a rodent that spontaneously generated to form a rodent, supposedly 11 million years after it was extinct? No, the species. been around all this time, and it is not a fosssil come to life.
Nice find, now we have another rodent to add to the list of the living. :D

Abortion changes in Tennessee?

KATU 2 - Portland, Oregon: "'The resolution is an all-out attack on the women of Tennessee and seeks to rob women of their right to make choices about their own health, safety and personal welfare,' said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee."

With that regarding the legislation, and considering the source, this is AWSOME.

"The state Senate on Thursday passed a proposal to amend the Tennessee Constitution so that it doesn't guarantee a woman's right to an abortion."

Yes! Starting with the states, we're on t he right path.

Iran Rattles Sabers, Rd. IV.

News From The Associated Press: "Iran threatened the United States with 'harm and pain' Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear program.

'The United States has the power to cause harm and pain,' Iran said a statement meant for delivery at the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board meeting in Vienna on Iran's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment."
"But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll.""

So Iran pretty much says 'Bring it!' to the world, in the middle of diplomatic relation no less. A similar circumstance: A chiwawa going through the trash, and a St. Bernard finding him. Chiwawa goes bonkers barking. But who could cause the most damage?

Regenerate our Culture

The most effective changes start from the ground up, the grass roots efforts.
One organization starting from the ground up, with the young up and coming generation of bloggers, and it's called 'Regenerate our Culture'. It launches in 8 days, and is a blog ring, combined with a podcast, and a new magazine, written by the best of the bloggers.

South Dakota: Abortion banned

My Way News: "PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday that would ban most abortions in South Dakota, a law he acknowledged would be tied up in court for years while the state challenges the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
...
The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest.
...
'In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society. The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them,' Rounds said in the statement.
...
Abortion opponents already are offering money to help the state pay legal bills for the anticipated court challenge, Rounds has said. Lawmakers said an anonymous donor has pledged $1 million to defend the ban, and the Legislature set up a special account to accept donations for legal fees."

Yes!! 1 small step for a nation, huge step for South Dakota. This will be in the courts for several years, but should be passed by the US Supream court. And perhaps in the midst of that, we'll have another Bush justice on the court.

We covered the start of this story here.

Iran Rattles sabers, Round III

FOXNews.com - : "VIENNA, Austria — Iran threatened to start full-scale uranium enrichment if members of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency press for U.N. Security Council action over Tehran's nuclear program at a meeting that opened Monday.

A top U.S. diplomat, meanwhile, said there was an urgent need to confront Iran's 'clear and unrelenting drive' for nuclear weapons.

Iran 'must be made aware that if it continues down the path of international isolation, there will be tangible and painful consequences,' John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board was not likely to discuss the Iran issue until Tuesday or Wednesday, but delegates said that whatever step the council might take would stop far short of sanctions."

Nice. So Iran doesn't give a bag of sand what the IAEA does, and will continue with the nuke program either way.
Danged terrorists. The council is with them, as they just sit on the sidelines and watch as the nation that has all but declared war on Isreal arms itself with the most destructive weapons on the planet.

Terrorist whines about having to eat

BBC NEWS | Americas | Guantanamo man tells of 'torture': "Fawzi al-Odah said hunger strikers were strapped to a chair and force-fed through a tube three times a day. Mr Odah, who has been held at the base since 2002, was one of 84 inmates at Guantanamo who went on hunger strike in December. Just four are still refusing food. Through his lawyer, Mr Odah described his treatment during his hunger strike. 'First they took my comfort items away from me. You know, my blanket, my towel, my long pants, then my shoes. I was put in isolation for 10 days. 'They came in and read out an order. It said if you refuse to eat, we will put you on the chair [for force feeding].' He told how detainees were given 'formulas' to force them to empty their bowels and were strapped to a metal chair three times

The US has said it is holding Mr Odah because he is a dangerous "enemy combatant", who traveled through Afghanistan with the Taliban, fired AK-47 rifles while at an al-Qaeda training camp and fought against US and coalition forces."

Couple of thoughts after reading the article:
1. Why the heck are they not eating? They bored with life, and deciding they just are going to starve themselves to death? The MRE's that we serve our soldiers not good enough?

2. Most prisons in the world, you'd be begging for food, or food that tastes somewhat different from concrete. The US prisons, we won't let you not eat. I suppose we're trying to Americanize them, so they'll be like the average slightly-heavy American. Hehe. I suppose looking like the infidel would be torture.

3. How did the BBC get this interview? Apparently, John Manel for the BBC has access to the camp. Sound like a place where torture takes place? And who is taking this case to court? Apparently, Tom Wilner. Sound like a denial of civil liberty?
Decidedly treasonous, defending a sworn enemy of the US.

4. Comfort items... Yeah. Having your blankie taken away from you for a few days is real rough. Shouldn't have been training to kill US civilians, and you shouldn't have been firing AK-47 rounds at the US soldiers Without a uniform on.

5. When you complain about having your knees ache, maybe you should think about how Nick felt when he was beheaded by your buddies. When you think that you have a life without hope, maybe you should think of the women in the culture you were supporting, the ones who can have their fingers cut off for having their nails painted.
One line cracks me up though: "I have trouble urinating and having bowel movements." Earlier in the article, he was complaining about having to take pills to help with that.

Geesh. If we don't feed them, we're in trouble. If we do feed them, we're in trouble. They don't know what they want.

Antartica is melting. The end is near.

Independent Online Edition > Environment: "The first satellite study of the continent's ice inventory has revealed that Antarctica is releasing around 35 cubic miles of water into the sea each year.

This is equivalent to an increase in global sea level of about 0.4mm a year. This would account for between 20 and 50 per cent of the average rise seen each year for the past century."

Yippie! The ice sheets are melting! Now we have to rethink our assesment of global warming! The oceans rose 0.04cm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Head for the hills, californa will soon be off the map.

The method that they measured the total ice mass with is pretty darn spectacular. Using 2 satilites, they measuered the "changes in the gravitational pull of the continent". Pardon me, but don't other masses in the area affect gravity? Like perhaps erosion of the seabed to other areas, or a mass migration of penguins trying to escape the drastically escelating tempuratures?

This story, and pretty much the entire joke of global warming is rubbish.

Taliban Officer attends Ivy League school

Why A Taliban At Yale? | NewsBusters.org: "Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi has been granted special student status and the state department has awarded him entry into the United States on a student visa. This is an interesting turn of events for a person who could just as easily have ended up as a guest of the United States in a cell at Guantanamo Bay.

Prior to his arrival as a student, Rahmatullah had been imprisoned at Bagram Air Base. He had been a member of the Taliban government, serving both in Afghanistan and in the United States as Second Foreign Secretary and Ambassador-at-Large.
...
Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi is said to have a fourth grade education and has passed a high school equivalency examination. He does speak acceptable English. This, however, does not meet any of the requirements Yale has listed for its International Students accepted for Special Programs.
...
These requirements may have been met by Rahmatullah, but they are never even brought to question in the Times article. Another unanswered question is how a former member of a now non-existent government can cover the $31,460 Yale tuition and fees and $9,540 room and board costs."

Dude, how the heck does something like this happen? This spot could, and should have been filled by an american student who acctually earned the right to attend, and is not some blasted political correctness attendie, who can desiminate hate and religions and gender bigotry on campus.

Petrol Terrorists free hostage

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World News - Texan Hostage Released by Nigerian Militants: "WARRI, Nigeria — Militants released six foreign oil workers, including a diabetic Texan celebrating his 69th birthday Wednesday, taken captive last month to press fighters' demands for a greater share of oil revenues generated in this restive southern state.

But three other hostages — two Americans and a Briton — were kept by militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. A militant spokesman said all 'low-value' hostages taken Feb. 18 had been freed."

They're still holding on to a couple of other people, but these guys don't behead people when they're finished with them.