U.S. Economy Sinking into an Asian Quagmire.

• Confucius say:"Chinese dragon eat American eagle and spit out bones and feathers.".*
• press eagle for story
  No one wants to come to my party anymore.They say I am on the way out. Markets slump after Lehman crisisInvestors around the world left reeling by the failure of Lehman Brothers and the shock sale of Merrill Lynch 91 comments

Full coverage of the Wall Street crisis}&lpos={trail}{1}"> Full coverage of the Wall Street cris

DOES THE WORD GREED AND STUPIDITY MEAN ANYTHING TO THESE OVER -EDUCATED IDIOTS RUNNING FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OR THE GOVERNMENT FOR THAT MATTER. DO THE WORDS SIMPLICITY AND COMMON SENSE ACTUALLY HAVE A PLACE IN THEIR VOCABULARY? PROBABLY NOT, CONSIDERING THE HUGE FINANCIAL BLUNDERS THEY HAVE GOTTEN INTO, OF WHICH WILL HAVE LONG TERM EFFECTS ON ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS. IT APPEARS THAT ALL OF US ARE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR THE MISTAKES MADE BY A MINORITY OF INEPT INDIVIDUALS. WHAT A WARM AND FUZZY FEELING I NOW HAVE IN MY HEART FOR THEM (NOT). WHY NOT PUT THE HARD WORKING MIDDLE CLASS IN CHARGE. I BET ALL OF US COLLECTIVELY TO DO A HELL OF A BETTER JOB THAN SOME OF THESE IVY LEAGUE EDUCATED IDIOTS.

Continued Growth of Chinese FDI in America: If the U.S. economy continues to falter, expect Chinese investments in the U.S. to increase. The weaker the U.S. economy becomes, the greater Americans will be ambivalent, torn between the need for jobs and the fear that Americans are going to end up “working for the Chinese.” Also expect the usual political scrutiny and sturm und drang should these investments be attempted in sensitive sectors like security and energy. The United States has asked China to participate in the drafting of voluntary international “best practices” for sovereign wealth funds to be coordinated by the International Monetary Fund.^[17]

"The U.S. was always No. 1 and assumed it would be No. 1 and acted accordingly," says Doug Rediker, a former investment banker and a co-director of the Global Strategic Finance Initiative at the New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "Now other nations are catching up. There are competitors fighting for market share in every industry. The U.S. is under pressure."

Consider the sinking value of the dollar: The greenback is still the world's reserve currency, but its continuing erosion carries a symbolic value, telling the world that the U.S. doesn't have its financial house in order. At home, that means higher prices for food and fuel; it also means more-expensive vacations for Americans traveling abroad.

The incredible shrinking dollar has also made America a great place for Europeans -- wielding their strong euros and pounds -- to go on cheap shopping sprees, swamping our department stores and designer boutiques to pick up bargains. The U.S., once an elite shopping destination, is becoming their giant outlet mall. And what about Detroit's once-vaunted role as an auto industry leader? That has been diminished by more-nimble global competitors. Companies such as Japan's Toyota are threatening the once-indomitable General Motors with more-stylish design and advanced engineering. While GM was turning out gas-guzzling: read on

Continued from page 1

SUVs and Hummers, Toyota got on the green bandwagon early with hybrids and other fuel-efficient cars, and is now reaping the rewards as gas prices soar. Meanwhile, Wall Street faces rivals in cities such as London, which is attracting so many international banks and companies to its booming stock and capital markets that it now claims to be the new center for global business and finance -- a title disputed, of course, by New York City boosters.

Still, argues Michael Charlton, the chief executive of Think London, the city's official foreign-direct-investment agency, "It is a valid claim that London is the world financial capital because its status is based on its international credentials and because we trade so successfully internationally." Is London the next global capital?

Even New York's pre-eminent position as the center of the booming global art market is being challenged -- again by London, a city that once shunned contemporary art. Nowadays, London's galleries and auction houses are crowded with new collectors, including many newly rich Russians, clamoring for the work of blue-chip artists.

Taken together, some say, the evidence suggests the U.S. might be heading into a twilight phase -- one in which it is ceding to other nations its usual claim to superlatives and leadership as well as its adventurous, cutting-edge spirit. A spate of recent books has explored this development, including Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World." Among the examples he cites: The world's tallest building is in Taipei, Taiwan; the largest publicly traded company is in China; India will soon have the world's biggest oil refinery; and Macau has overtaken Las Vegas in gambling revenue. Map: Global markets on the rise

The reality is a bit more complex, but we do now live in a multipolar world, and we had better get used to it. Forget the superpower rivalry between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, as well as the brief time in which the U.S. was the only superpower. Forget the time when there was no Airbus, only Boeing and Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas.

Today the centers of power, finance and trade have realigned into three heavyweight blocks: the U.S., the European Union and Asia, with the last dominated by China and India, boasting massive populations and rapidly developing economies. Each group is looking out for its own interests and using its might to influence economic policy and world affairs.

So where does that leave the U.S.?

Rediker, of the New America Foundation, says the U.S. is still a major player in the global economy and isn't likely to become a second-tier nation anytime soon. But, he adds, it's time to recognize that "it's also not the only player, and as such, can't dictate terms to the

Continued from page 2

rest of the world."

In the short term, that shift in thinking might not cut prices at the pump or in grocery stores, or restore strength in the dollar. But it could become part of a wider strategy on how the U.S. can deal with the world's evolving economic structure and encourage business leaders to adopt a broader, bolder outlook to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

Despite the challenges and gloomy outlook fostered by the credit crunch and subprime mortgage mess, many believe the U.S. economy remains both formidable and resilient, with deep reserves of talent, entrepreneurship and continuing investment in research and development.

Even General Motors is trying to change: It has vowed to design an electric car and have it on the road by 2010.

"We should not underestimate the ability of the U.S. economy to transform itself," says Mauro Guillen, a professor of international management at The Wharton School in Philadelphia. "It has one of the most flexible economies and continues to be a magnet for the best and the brightest." Although the nation is at a crossroads in many respects, Guillen adds, "The U.S. will weather the storm."

Published July 2, 2008

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video of Iraq war incident.

To see this story with its related links
on the guardian.co.uk site, go to
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/sep/11/endgame.iraq

more American Atrocities and more and more and more....

Since few of my viewers are ignorant, selfish and gullible, this does not mean You (I hope.) I am so disgusted, not just with the U.S. administration but increasingly with the ignorant, selfish mass of Americans, who seem to believe the B.S. propaganda of the U.S. government agencies and much of the media. The truth is, America invades other countries with less justification than the Nazis had in their rape of Europe. The intensity of maiming and deaths of innocent people by U.S. bombing is comparable to the Nazi atrocities. The mass of Americans just don't seem to care. The armed struggle against American invaders (with the few misguided others) by the inhabitants is quite understandable. Murders and atrocities by Afghan and Iraqi forces of resistance are to be deplored. However the initial invasions by an insane U.S. government caused most of the trouble to follow..(Ric). The solution: GET OUT OF THESE COUNTRIES NOW.Then maybe the world might start to respect Americans again. « View all web results for cell phone images american bombing afghanistan

"When we're elected, big boy, I'll show ya how we do it in Alaska"

************************************************************************************** Who says I have been hiding? I have been home in Rihadh in my brother's mansion, where President Bush visited many times. The Americans do not want to find me, because I have so much information that could damage the business consortium of my Bin Laden family and the American oil interests. Insh'allah!

U.S. a Third World Country. Or Just Third Rate?

• 

Can collector trundles along with his impressive hoard HOME | FULL REPORT (pdf) | Acknowledgements | Executive Summary | I. Trends in the Criminalization of Homelessness | II. Criminalization Measures Violate Constitutional Rights | III. Criminalization Measures Violate Human Rights Norms | IV. Constructive Alternatives to Criminalization | V. T op 20 Meanest Cities | VI. Meanest Cities’ Narratives | VII. Other Cities’ Narratives | VIII. CASES: Challenges to Restrictions on Sleeping, Camping, Sitting or Storing Property in Public Place [FEDERAL] [STATE] | Challenges to Anti-Begging, Anti-Soliciting and Anti-Peddling Laws | Challenges to Vagrancy, Loitering and Curfew Laws | Challenges to Restrictions on Feedings | Miscellaneous | IX. Prohibited Conduct Chart | X. APPENDIX:Survey Questions | Sample Know Your Rights Card | Sources for City Narratives |

• The Guardian, JUST WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR?
• Article history

Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.

These are some of the startling conclusions from a major new report which attempts to explain why the world's number-one economy has slipped to 12th place - from 2nd in 1990- in terms of human development.

The American Human Development Report, which applies rankings of health, education and income to the US, paints a surprising picture of a country that spends well over $5bn each day on healthcare - more per person than any other country.

The report, Measure of America, was funded by Oxfam America, the Conrad Hilton Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. It shows each of the 11 countries that rank higher than the US in human development has a lower per-capita income.

Those countries score better on the health and knowledge indices that make up the overall human development index (HDI), which is calculated each year by the United Nations Development Programme.

And each has achieved better outcomes in areas such as infant mortality and longevity, with less spending per head.

Japanese, for example, can expect to outlive Americans, on average, by more than four years. In fact, citizens of Israel, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica, South Korea and every western European and Nordic country save one can expect to live longer than Americans.

There are also wider differences, the report shows. The average Asian woman, for example, lives for almost 89 years, while African-American women live until 76. For men of the same groups, the difference is 14 years.

One of the main problems faced by the US, says the report, is that one in six Americans, or about 47 million people, are not covered by health insurance and so have limited access to healthcare.

As a result, the US is ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in terms of infants surviving to age one. The US infant mortality rate is on a par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US could match top-ranked Sweden, about 20,000 more American babies a year would live to their first birthday.

"Human development is concerned with what I take to be the basic development idea: namely, advancing the richness of human life, rather than the richness of the economy in which human beings live, which is only a part of it," said the Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, who developed the HDI in 1990.

"We get in this report ... an evaluation of what the limitations of human development are in the US but also ... how the relative place of America has been slipping in comparison with other countries over recent years."

The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.

In fact, the report shows that 15% of American children - 10.7 million - live in families with incomes of less than $1,500 per month.

It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.

And while in much of Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia, levels of enrolment of three and four-year-olds in pre-school are running at about 75%, in the US it is little more than 50%.

The report not only highlights the differences between the US and other countries, it also picks up on the huge discrepancies between states, the country's 436 congressional districts and between ethnic groups.

"The Measure of America reveals huge gaps among some groups in our country to access opportunity and reach their potential," said the report's co-author, Sarah Burd-Sharps. "Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living.

"For example, the state human development index shows that people in last-ranked Mississippi are living 30 years behind those in first-ranked Connecticut."

Inequality remains stark. The richest fifth of Americans earn on average $168,170 a year, almost 15 times the average of the lowest fifth, who make do with $11,352.

The US is far behind many other countries in the support given to working families, particularly in terms of family leave, sick leave and childcare. The country has no federally mandated maternity leave.

The US also ranks first among the 30 rich countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of the number of people in prison, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the total population.

It has 5% of the world's people but 24% of its prisoners.