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“Future War with China”?: New US Bomber Aimed at China?
-[General Gary North, commander of the US Pacific Air Force] has hinted at one of the roles the new bombers might play in any future war with China. He said the key to defeating the new J-20 fighter would be to prevent it ever taking off from its mainland bases. Bombers might be used to attack Chinese airfields in the early hours of a conflict.
$3.7 billion. That’s how much the US Air Force proposes to spend over the next five years developing a new, stealthy, long-range, manned bomber likely specifically intended to penetrate Chinese air defences. The plan, included in the Obama administration’ s 2012 budget, could lead to the production of around 100 new bombers by the mid-2020s — and could significantly tip the Pacific balance of power.
Last week’s bomber announcement marked the continued escalation of the arms race between the United States and China. Since early 2010, China has debuted a new stealth fighter prototype (the Chengdu J-20), brought ballistic anti-ship missiles into service and at least temporarily matched the US in Read more…
IMF says weaker dollar would help global growth
AFP – The International Monetary Fund called for a weaker dollar to help the United States reduce its deficits with the rest of the world and rebalance the global economy, in a report released Wednesday.
In the report prepared for a Group of 20 finance chiefs meeting last week, the IMF said that its calculations showed the dollar remains “on the strong side” of medium-term fundamentals, while the euro and the Japanese yen were “broadly in line” and several Asian currencies, including China, were undervalued.
To address global imbalances, the G20 should allow the dollar to Read more…
Russia, Iran to Ink Medical Isotope Export Deal
An agreement is being finalized for Russia to export medical isotopes to Iran, the Russian state-owned nuclear firm Rosatom announced yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 22).
Israeli President Shimon Peres delivers a speech in Madrid today. Peres said the passage of two Iranian navy ships through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea showcased the potential threat of a nuclear-armed Iran (Javier Soriano/Getty Images).
A spokesman for the organization did not elaborate on the timing of the anticipated signing, RIA Novosti reported. Tehran’s need for molybdenum 99 and iodine 131 was addressed in talks between Iranian officials and Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko (RIA Novosti, Feb. 22).
The deal would involve transfers of each isotope from Russia to Iran every week, Interfax reported.
Under a 2009 bid put forward by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran would have exchanged 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium for material to fuel a medical isotope production reactor in Tehran. The Middle Eastern state ultimately rejected the plan worked out with France, Russia and the United States, which was aimed in part at deferring Iran’s ability to produce sufficient weapon material for a bomb long enough to more fully address U.S. and European concerns about Iranian enrichment activities. Tehran has insisted its atomic ambitions are strictly peaceful.
Iran since December has two rounds of talks with Germany and permanent U.N. Security Council member states Read more…
**ALERT*** FAKE Silver Coins/Bars/Ingots ARE on the market in U.S.!
**ALERT** FAKE Silver Coins/Bars/Ingots ARE on the market in U.S.!
I had posted about how Tungsten is up 70% in the last year and inserted a video showing fake gold and a video with David Morgan of Silver-Investor discussing fake gold and silver. Last week during the interview David Morgan did with me, he talked about fake gold and silver possibly being on the market, besides other information about it. He also said in the interview, if there will be any fake silver coins they will fake the old coins and not new ones. WOW – he got that one exactly right!
Gold has been a given in regards to possibly being fake due to the price of it! It is well worth an organization (ie: Fed, govt) to fake besides the price, they are pretending there is much more gold than there really is.
With silver, the cost of faking it compared to the cost of the metal itself has Read more…
Russia to Impose Internet Controls Like China?
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| Russian Prime Minister Igor Sechin |
David Makarewicz, Contributing Writer
Activist Post
In a Wall Street Journal interview, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has publicly accused Google executives of causing the Egyptian revolution by manipulating the energies of the people. Although he did not specifically address Internet freedom in Russia, these statements may signal growing concern among Russian hardliners about the Internet’s role in global unrest.
The Russian government does not control the Internet the way it controls other forms of media. However, analysts say there are close allies of Putin who would like to impose controls similar to China’s in order to silence the criticism of the Russian Read more…
If Libyan unrest spreads, gas could reach $5
Gary Strauss on Feb. 21, 2011 USA Today News
If political unrest in Libya spreads to other oil-rich countries and the ensuing chaos disrupts crude oil production, gas prices could hit $5 a gallon by peak summer driving season, industry analysts say.
Benchmark crude oil prices soared Monday, rising about 6% to $95.39 a barrel for April contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange as violence and a military crackdown spread in Libya, the first major oil-producer hit by a burgeoning anti-government movement. The increased violence prompted BP and Norway’s Statoil to pull oil workers from the besieged country.
“If this thing escalates and there’s a good chance that there’d be a shift in supplies, $5 gas isn’t out of the question,” says Darin Newsom, senior analyst at Read more…
Cables show China used debt holdings to press US
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| © AFP/File |
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Leaked diplomatic cables vividly show China’s willingness to translate its massive holdings of US debt into political influence on issues ranging from Taiwan’s sovereignty to Washington’s financial policy.
China’s clout — gleaned from its nearly $900 billion stack of US debt — has been widely commented on in the United States, but sensitive cables show just how much influence Beijing has and how keen Washington is to address its rival’s concerns.
An October 2008 cable, released by WikiLeaks, showed a senior Chinese official linking questions about much-needed Chinese investment to sensitive Read more…
Population, Food, Oil … Collision?
World population and growth
Factoring the net birth minus death rate in the world each year, the annual increase to world population is about 75 million people. The current world population is about 6,900,000,000, or 6.9 billion.
Annually, we add to the planet the equivalent population of any of the following scenarios,
- New York City (9 of them!)
- Los Angeles (20 of them!)
- Chicago (27 of them!)
- San Francisco (94 of them!)
- Boston (117 of them!)
- Unites States of America (25 percent of the country!)
When you think about it, this is a startling number. And that’s in just one Read more…
N.Korean Regime Worried About Arab Uprisings
The North Korean authorities are apparently on full alert as news trickles in about pro-democracy protests in the Middle East despite an official blackout. According to a source, security agents have banned all gatherings, especially of university students, as news spreads about the public revolts in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Arab world.
The source added that partitions have been removed in restaurants across the country, and security agents break up even small gatherings in open-air markets.
“This is the first time I saw even partitions removed from restaurants in North Korea,” a recent defector said. Students in Pyongyang have begun Read more…
Oil climbs on escalated Libya tensions
SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : World oil prices advanced further in Asian trade Monday as political tensions spread to more countries including major oil producer Libya.
Light sweet crude for March delivery, which will expire Tuesday, was seen trading at $87.37 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while April delivery jumped to $91.35 a barrel.
In London, Brent crude for April delivery was at $103.54 a barrel.
Analysts said the black gold is likely to advance further during the day Benchmark on worries of oil supply disruptions as unrests over authoritarian governments in the Middle East escalate to more countries.
Concerns over Middle East oil supplies helped prices recover from early weakness after China raised its banks’ reserve requirements last Friday for the second time this year to combat rising inflation.
According to China’s National Development and Reform Commission, gasoline and diesel prices will go up 350 yuan per ton starting Read more…
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