Investing in China just grew murkier

Investing in China just grew murkier - CNN.com

Chinese stock investors monitor their share prices at a stock brokerage firm in Huaibei, east China's Anhui province on June 4, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• China now requires company permission before accessing detailed records
• Background checks on potential Chinese investments have been hindered
• Some say move is in response to hedge funds who are shorting Chinese companies

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Beijing has clamped down on information once publicly available on listed and state-owned companies, hurting the effort of Western investors and companies to gauge whether to invest in -- or short-sell -- Chinese firms.

First reported by the International Financial Law Review, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce now requires company permission before accessing records such as financial reports and shareholder information.

Companies that sell credit reports -- which give companies a quick read on the background of the firm they are considering doing business with -- have been hindered, said Peter Humphrey, managing director of ChinaWhys, an international business risk advisory firm in Beijing.

"They are restricted now. They cannot include personal identity information about individual shareholders or financial data from the last three years," he said. "There is a major impact as many companies consume thousands of these reports every year, and that kind of information is no longer there, and it is not possible to get a reliable credit rating on this or that business partner without knowing how it's performing financially and who owns it."

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Many believe the move may be in part a backlash against hedge funds like Muddy Waters Research, which prominently took down Chinese timber company Sino-Forest. The hedge fund has led similar short-selling crusade against other North American-listed Chinese firms such as including Focus Media, Rino International, China MediaExpress and Duoyuan Global Water, as CNNMoney reported. All were delisted after Muddy Waters' withering reports, with the exception of Focus Media.

But the information clampdown also comes at a sensitive time for Chinese leadership as it readies for its once-a-decade transfer of leadership at the top as President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who are both in their final year of office. Also in the backdrop is the public rise and fall of Bo Xilai, a rising star who was dismissed as Communist Party chief of Chongqing, the biggest metropolis in China. His right-hand man and former top cop Wang Lijun spectacularly sought refuge in an American consulate apparently fearing for his life and allegedly holding incriminating information on his old boss. His wife, Gu Kailai, is also being investigated on suspicion of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood in a "conflict over economic interests," according to state media.

Subsequent reports suggest Bo's family was worth millions of dollars through business dealings and powerful political connections.

Difficulties getting access to information on companies "began at the beginning of this year, and it became a lot worse after the Bo Xilai scandal," said Humphrey, who is founding president of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in Mainland China.

"The people offering due diligence services to multi-nationals considering relationships with Chinese companies are finding certain information to complete the picture is now missing when they are assessing a company for investment purposes," he said.

"This is a handicap to people investing in China right now. It is linked to the political atmosphere of this year's leadership transition period, which has made China more tense, and the gathering of legitimate business information more sensitive."

The move to limit public information on companies comes after the April arrest of 1,700 suspects in a widespread crackdown on the illegal selling of personal information, the Shanghai Daily reported, including an official in Baoding who sold large amounts registered company information.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp., which provides commercial information on businesses for credit checks, suspended its Shanghai-based market research company, Shanghai Roadway D&B Services Co., earlier this year after allegations after a Chinese report it illegally collected information on 150 million people, the Wall Street Journal reported.

end quote from:

Investing in China just grew murkier - CNN.com

 

European Downturn gains momentum

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Posted: Wed, Jul. 25, 2012, 1:44 PM

European economic downturn gathers pace

ROBERT BARR

The Associated Press

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Europe again wobbles at the edge

Eurozone crisis saves Germany tens of billions

Spanish fears; German confidence

Europe rattled by fears

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LONDON - Any hopes for recovery for Europe's faltering economies suffered a series of blows Wednesday following the latest round of bad news from the debt-ridden region.
Official figures showed Britain, which does not use the euro and has Europe's third-largest economy, slipped deeper into recession as the government pressed on with tax hikes and spending cuts to reduce debt.
Meanwhile, surveys showed demand for loans remained weak across the 17-country eurozone, suggesting no economic recovery is imminent, and business confidence continued to fall in Germany, Europe's largest economy and its pillar of growth , so far.
Conditions remained tense in Spain, where the government's borrowing rates hovered at unsustainable levels, threatening to force it to seek outside help to finance its debt.
Wednesday's news showed that the economic crisis is gathering pace and spreading , not only among the weak eurozone states like Spain, but also in bigger economies like Germany and outside the currency zone, in the U.K.
Financial markets, which had been rattled earlier in the week by problems in Spain, were largely steady. While Germany's DAX rose 0.3 percent, Britain's FTSE fell almost 0.1 percent. The euro made up for only some of the previous days' losses, trading 0.8 percent higher at $1.2158.
BRITISH RECESSION
The biggest shock of the day came from the U.K.'s second quarter GDP figures, which showed economic output shrank by 0.7 percent in the April-June quarter, compared with the previous three months. That was far worse than the 0.2 percent decline economists had expected.
The figures have heaped pressure on the U.K. government to ease up on its tough austerity approach. The Conservative-led coalition government came to power two years ago pledging to focus on deficit reduction. Now many, particularly the opposition Labour Party, think the approach has been heavy handed and is choking the life out of the economy.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund said Prime Minister David Cameron's government would have to ease up on budget-cutting if the economy fails to rebound strongly. The IMF cut its forecast for U.K. growth this year to 0.2 percent from 0.8 percent. After today's data, several analysts expect it to contract by as much as 0.5 percent.
British Treasury chief George Osborne blamed the economy's problems on debts run up by the previous Labour government and the impact of the eurozone crisis.
"We all know the country has deep-rooted economic problems and these disappointing figures confirm that," Osborne said.
SPAIN
The biggest concern in the eurozone is whether Spain will need a sovereign bailout. That threat remained alive on Wednesday.
The country's borrowing rates in bond markets have soared amid fears about its ability to keep a handle on its debts. The interest rate on its benchmark ten-year bond spiked another 0.11 percentage points to 7.65 percent in the first hour of trading Wednesday, before easing back to 7.37 percent.
A rate above 7 percent is deemed untenable over a period of months , Spain has been suffering it for several weeks. Should Madrid find it too expensive to raise money from bond markets at such rates, it would have to ask for an international bailout like those sought by Greece, Ireland or Portugal.
Spain denies it will need financial rescue for its public finances, but many investors think it's only a matter of time.
The prospect of bailing out Spain , the eurozone's fourth-largest economy , is worrisome for Europe because the cost would put a massive strain on its existing emergency funds.
In June, eurozone countries agreed to lend Spain up to (EURO)100 billion ($121 billion) to save those of its banks that are laden with soured investments following a property sector collapse in 2008.
Officials hoped the bailout loans would help Spain's government. But the deal only intensified concerns about Spain's debt levels, since the government will have to repay those loans if the banks cannot.
To solve that problem, eurozone ministers agreed to give the loans directly to the Spanish banks , but only after a Europe-wide banking regulator is set up. That could take months, if not years. France and Spain said this step should be sped up and completed by the end of the year.
"The swift implementation of the financial assistance program is essential to restore confidence and recreate conditions for growth," French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici and Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said in a joint statement after talks in Paris on Wednesday.
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
Concerns over the economy and job losses are weighing down on demand for loans from business and consumers in the eurozone, according to latest figures from the ECB.
In the past six months, the ECB has cut interest rates to record lows and given banks massive amounts of cheap loans. But even when loans are available, firms and households are too worried about the future to borrow, according to the ECB's quarterly lending survey of senior loan officers at 130 banks.
Banks saw also saw a strong decline in demand for loans for consumers for durable goods , big-ticket items that last for several years, such as cars and home appliances.
Many countries in the eurozone are in recession as they grapple with their debts. Even Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is showing increasing signs of slowing down.
GERMANY
Business confidence in Germany fell further than expected in July, according to the influential Ifo institute. Its confidence index fell for the third consecutive month, from 105.2 in June to 103.3 points in July , the lowest level since March last year.
Germany so far has been relatively unaffected by the debt troubles rocking the rest of Europe. Its economy has enjoyed two years of strong growth, helped by strong exports and increasingly robust domestic demand.
However, with concern mounting about Spain's financial troubles and new questions over Greece's future in the eurozone, Germany could be hit on two fronts: declining demand for its goods from abroad and demands for more money to keep the eurozone afloat.
FRANCE
The economic uncertainty is slamming big companies such as carmakers.
PSA Peugeot Citroen, the maker of two-thirds of France's cars, reported a first-half loss of (EURO)819 million ($990 million) on Wednesday, blaming the deepening recession in many markets in Europe. The company's share price has more than halved since March.
To help companies like Peugeot, the French government on Wednesday unveiled a plan to turn the auto sector around by helping it develop and sell environmentally-friendly vehicles.
It is uncertain, however, how much the plan will help in the face of a global economic downturn.
The French government will increase the rebates French consumers receive for buying an electric or hybrid car. It expects to pay out around (EURO)500 million ($600 million) in such rebates next year.
It will also offer several hundred millions of euros of incentives to carmakers and their suppliers that invest in green technology or create new jobs. Much of the money for those incentives, however, comes from funds already budgeted that are being redeployed.
,,,
Ciaran Giles in Madrid, David McHugh in Frankfurt, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris contributed to this report.

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The Tick

I heard my wife Shriek from the other room in the den. So, I walked in to see what was the matter. She was very upset because there was a tick walking on her Computer keyboard to her Imac there. I calmly put a piece of paper for the tick to crawl onto and then I walked to the bathroom and flushed the tick down the toilet. In other circumstances if the tick had bit someone like me or another member of my family I likely would have squashed the tick to relieve it of some of its karma from biting a human and so giving it a better rebirth somewhere by so doing. But, I didn't feel it deserved to be squashed and instead just flushed it down the toilet.

I guess one of our dogs, (probably our Corgi) had picked it up on the long walk up a coastal mountain trail yesterday and it had somehow jumped onto my wife's computer at some point. So, though it scared my wife pretty bad because still has memories of one spring when our daughter was a baby when we found 18 ticks between the four of us including on my then older daughter who was about 7 to 10 years of age. Ever since then ticks have really creeped her out partly because of potential lyme disease. Also, one of our God daughters got lyme disease from a tick in high school even though she is okay now. But at that time it made her joints swell up and caused her a lot of problems for a few  years. She recently had a baby and both mother and daughter are fine.

So, I guess I understand why my wife was so freaked out. It's just that my father taught me to remain calm no matter what when there is an emergency. Someone has to always be cool headed enough to survive any emergency for the rest of the people in the family. And since my Dad has been gone since 1985 the responsibility to always remain calm no matter what now falls to me. But sometimes that is a lot of weight to carry. Luckily, this was an easy time to deal with even though I never like to kill anything.

But then there are things like ticks, rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, Recluse spiders and various other things that one cannot ordinarily allow to live in proximity with other humans. So, though I don't like killing things there are some things that just have to go and so I have to be the one to do it because there is no one else here (unless my son is visiting) who is like this.

The government Created the Internet through DARPA

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA created the internet as a way to defend against nuclear war. The idea was to have about 100 mainframe computers in the U.S. in various cities in order to have mass redundancy. This redundancy (100 copies of the same information) would allow the government to function even if 1 or more cities were permanently gone in a nuclear holocaust.So, for example, even if 99 of the largest cities in the U.S. were permanently destroyed by nuclear blasts as long as you had 1 of these computers still functioning, all the information needed by the U.S. Government to keep on functioning would still exist and then in whatever cities remained the infrastructure could be rebuild from the existing information.

However, then universities liked the idea of some of the elements of this system and began communicating which created something like Email or Text messages between scientific research facilities in major U.S. research university facilities. Then this expanded eventually between all research facilities worldwide that wanted to share information between scientists and researchers.

At this point Steven Jobs was building the first Apple computer with STeve Wozniak and Bill Gates bought a program from a company in Pacific Grove, California that he turned into MS DOS which evolved slowly into windows programs. This combination of events eventually created the internet from here into what it is today. But without government research to create DARPANET to protect the U.S. from nuclear attack none of the rest could have happened.

So, I guess it could be said that the U.S. government created the basic elements for the Internet to exist and then universities and then private enterprise and the public buying into the Internet did the rest.

At a certain point I was one of the earlier people to use the Internet. I believe at that time (in the early 90s) it started out with Netscape and Yahoo. At first that was all there was to surf on the Internet and then you were either using an IBM or IBM clone or you were using an Apple product at that time. Since it was less expensive at that time I bought an IBM Clone AT in Silicon Valley direct from a manufacturer as well as an Epson printer. I think both of them together at that time cost somewhere between $2500 to $3000  for both of them at that time. It was difficult at the time for most people who weren't techies to master MS DOS or Netscape or Yahoo and I was one of the first people I knew who could actually do it at the time because I had had a background in college in programming languages like COBOL, FORTRAN, and I also taught my kids the BASIC language so they could write their own game programs on the TRS-80 from Radio Shack that I bought for $800 in 1978. So, since I started working with IBM mainframe computers and punch card peripheral equipment starting in 1966 when I was 18 I watched all this happen in real time. And since the microchip wasn't publicly at least invented until the early 1970s and since RAM or random Access memory wasn't available also to the public until the 1970s at the earliest it wasn't possible to create micro computers (home PC's) until both these events create RAM and computer chips cheap enough for the public to afford to buy before the Internet became a practical reality for anyone.

$23.7 billion proposal for Delta Water project in California

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The Most spiritually gifted person my wife ever met

The most spiritually gifted person my wife ever met was born in 1888 and was a teacher in the midwest and was the best friend of her grandmother who was a Christian Scientist. However, in this context it also might be important to know that my wife's Dad became an Atheist because of his mother's trying to heal him from a serious disease with positive thinking. However, luckily his father returned from being a traveling salesman in time to save his son before he died and got him the best doctors he could which saved his life even though he lost part of his hearing as a result.

So, one day when my wife's father and family were visiting his grandmother's best friend who by that time was living with his grandmother and both were in their 80s, my wife and her mother and her father went to visit her grandmother and her friend. Her friend said, "Hi" to my wife's father and said, "I knew you were coming because I dreamt about you being here today.", even though the trip was spontaneous and no warning at all of them coming had been given. My wife's father laughed it off just the way men were taught to do who were gentlemen in that era which was very Victorian in nature. So, even if you didn't share the spiritual beliefs of the other person you found a way to accept and include them into your reality no matter what as a gentleman.

She was saying that this person was like this all the time. As I thought about this I remembered all the people like this that I met in my parents religion who mostly were very well off who also thought like this too that were in their 70s and 80s during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s while I was growing up and coming into manhood (I was 21 in 1969).

Then I thought about how pragmatic I was taught to be in my dealings with everyone as a man. In other words I ALWAYS changed how I spoke about things in every situation based upon what a person's belief system was and is like a Chameleon. However, I met many many women especially that did not do this and constantly talked to everyone in the same way and so were thought to be sort of "touched" by God as they called it then. But women were given a lot more leeway in how they could be than they are given now in the modern world. And I think in some ways we are all the worse for it even though women have now become more like men in every way and like men they now have the same rights as men and now die of mostly all the same things as men always did now too.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that spiritually gifted people if they were women in polite safe company would make it known that they were spiritually gifted and you would be amazed at how they were and what they said if you also were in the know about such things.

However now, almost anything is likely to happen. People might say nothing and be incredibly gifted, or you might meet someone who has psychological problems who will lie about gifts as a power trip on others, or you might experience almost anything at any time from anyone.

The biggest change regarding all this was the 1960s when people started taking halucinogenics. Before that time the average person was more sane than now. They might have been a lot more up tight and rigid but the average person just generally tended to be more sane and to know who they were even if they were very rigid. So, even though life in some ways might get physically dangerous more in the past because of people's differences that they would fight to the death in public about before about 1965 or so, there was less craziness in the world in some ways too because of the rigidity and form that everyone was in then in that culture.

We live in a completely crazy culture now where people are afraid to pick up hitchikers because they might be crazy and kill them and this is primarily because of the drug culture which started in the middle to late 1960s and 1970s depending upon where you lived in the U.S.

So, unless you are somewhat gifted yourself it is difficult to separate the truly gifted from the downright insane in this world. But, if you are patient it is definitely worth the time. Because how else are you going to become enlightened and save the human race from extinction sometime during the next 500 to 1000 years?

64% in Drought: U.S. in largest Drought in 50 years

This is the largest drought in 50 years with 64% of the U.S. now in drought. Extreme heat for several weeks in the nations midsection all the way into the south is making things much worse. Here is an example of some midwest temperatures today in Fahrenheit: 104 in North Platte, 102 in Dodge city, 102 in Kansas city, 106 in St. Louis, 98 in Oklahoma city, 98 in Louisville, 95 in Memphis. Traffic is Slowing or stopping on the Mississippi River because of not enough water to move barges. In Vicksburg, Mississippi the water level is  21 feet lower than normal for this time of year and in Memphis it is 17 feet lower than normal. If the river completely closes it has a negative economic affect of a loss of $290 million dollars a day as long as the Mississippi River is closed. Much of the corn and wheat crop is lost because of no rain at the right times also in the midwest and mid south of the U.S. It reminds me a lot of the Australian Drought of 2006:

Australia suffers worst drought in 1000 years | World news | The ...

The drought both in the U.S. now and in Australia in 2006 were and are very bad news for the world economy. Many people look to the stock market and see it as a bell weather. But if I look back at the most elementary causes of the big problems that hit in 2007 and 2008 until now I see the real culprit as all the droughts worldwide, the worse  so far for growing all grains and grain prices was the 2006 drought in Australia. This one drought is partly responsible for reducing global grain and food supplies from 120% to 130% of world needs down to below 100% of world needs at that time. When this happened then the panic in the poor of the world not being able to afford enough food to eat reverberated up into the middle class and wealthy around the world at that time. This also is one of the primary causes of the Arab Spring movement that brought down the governments of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and now Syria and others.  When the panic reached up into the Upper class people around the world, they started to make bad choices and decisions and I think this more than anything resulted in the "The Great Recession" worldwide. However, as this drought hits the U.S.  this could have an even more serious food effect worldwide than what happened in Australia. It won't affect the U.S. that much because we are a rich country. But, what will happen when the U.S. population(in order to survive our lost grain crops nationwide) buys food other countries need to live to survive and drives up prices for food in poor countries where people can't afford even to eat? This then creates crime for people to be able to survive in those countries unless there is donated food that keeps them alive from some source. This in turn will destabilize more governments around the world just like the Arab Spring has done. And if you look at Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria and others imagine now this happening in 10 or 20 more countries at random around the globe. What we may be seeing is the desertification of many countries which is one of the signs of Global Warming. So, likely Canada, Alaska, and eventually the North Pole might look good to many more people worldwide. And in Asia, Siberia might look pretty good soon if this kind of thing continues.

If it walks like a Duck

The old saying of common sense historically is: "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it is usually a duck". What people mean by this is that if you isolate the elements of anything and some of the main elements are there no matter how unlikely it seems to be that it usually is that.

I have had to deal with this in my life in regard to UFO experiences. Of course, my father believed in these experiences because of meeting Adamski in the 1950s. And my Dad in his church knew a lot of other people who had had experiences with UFOs along the way.

However, as a child I went along with this kind of thinking because I actually met many people who had had UFO experiences that I could actually talk to. However, many of you might have lived more sheltered lives where it was inappropriate to speak of such things for a variety of reasons. Now millions and millions of people around the world have had various kinds of experiences with UFOs.

My thoughts at this point after all the experiences in my life is that I presently believe that most UFOs are from the future and are people who likely are our descendents. So, basically what they are doing is protecting their future from being destroyed. And they do this by protecting time which allows them to be born in the future so they can live.

So, no matter what we might want in the present if we don't allow them to be born they might change time back to what they want because their technology is likely 1000s of times superior to what we have now. This is my present thought about all this.

If you asked me about time travel and what is my present concept of whether it exists right now and always has here on earth I would have to tell you truthfully that there is less than a 1% chance and that is being generous that time travel doesn't exist and hasn't always existed here on earth.

Here is the faultless logic that MIT Students adhere to as well as me, "If Time travel has been invented in any galaxy in the Space Time we presently live in past, present or future then the likelihood that time travel is here, has always now been here and will always be here is around 99%". Perfect Logic. And any of you who have studied logic know the basic truth of this statement.

War Reaches Aleppo

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Ancient Aleppo Echoes With Gunfire as War Reaches Its Cobbled Streets

Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

WAR REACHES ALEPPO Syrians fled the streets in fear as insurgents and government forces fought in the ancient city. More Photos »

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

Published: July 24, 2012

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BEIRUT, Lebanon — The clamorous heart of Aleppo, the ancient city with its cobbled streets and mazy bazaars, fell silent on Tuesday as residents there and across Syria’s sprawling commercial capital fled the streets and cowered indoors, dreading the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire and the echoing roar of government helicopters.

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Syrians watched television on Tuesday in an underground shelter in Al-Bueda, near Homs. Residents have built their own shelters underneath their houses. More Photos »

Except for the helicopters, the government disappeared, said residents reached by telephone. There was no army and no traffic police, and all state employees were ordered to stay home, warned via official television broadcasts that they would be targeted by the rebel street fighters infiltrating central neighborhoods.

“People are still in shock that this is happening — they thought it would be limited to one neighborhood, but it is growing in size to other neighborhoods,” said Fadi Salem, an academic visiting his family. “They are scared of chaos and lawlessness more than anything else.”

Residents said there were clashes not just between the government and the insurgents, but also between rival militias from the countryside fighting for control of individual streets in at least one southern neighborhood. In a central old quarter, one man said a friend had warned him not to visit because young gunmen had established a checkpoint to rob car passengers.

Damascus and Aleppo had been the two significant holdouts in the fighting that has gradually engulfed the rest of Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. But now the whole country is inflamed. Guerrillas from the loosely affiliated Free Syrian Army launched major assaults in both cities via sympathetic, anti-regime neighborhoods in the two cities, which vie for the title of the oldest urban centers on earth.

Much is at stake. Whoever controls the two jewels-in-the-crown controls Syria.

In Damascus and its surroundings, a frontal assault on the rebels by some of the government’s most elite soldiers starting late last week largely smashed the toeholds they had claimed, although skirmishing continued to flare on Monday. Syrian television broadcast photographs of government soldiers kicking down doors and hauling off suspected insurgents on the city’s outskirts.

Fighting in Aleppo, on the other hand, first limited to Saleheddin, a poor, southern neighborhood, has widened as more rebel fighters spread through the city, said residents and activists.

“I am not sure if they are trying to take over neighborhoods or just to create the impression that they are everywhere,” said Mr. Salem. So far they have claimed to control neighborhoods, or at least streets, where the poor Sunni Muslim majority is most likely to give them succor, he said.

But in Aleppo, as in Damascus, the rebels will probably have to fade back into the countryside once the government mounts a major offensive. They will have made their point, however, that no place is immune.

“The government is trying to regain the initiative from the rebels,” said Jeff White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who has been studying the military situation in Syria. “The government forces have not been able to do this easily, despite their numbers and use of heavy weapons.”

Free Syrian Army elements, he said in an e-mail, “are defeating some offensive actions, seizing government positions and facilities, and making road movement more difficult.”

Other analysts said the government seemed to be favoring standoff techniques, like using the helicopters in Aleppo, to avoid casualties.

“They are using this tactic because they are desperately afraid of using up too many of their most loyal troops in an urban assault,” said W. Andrew Terrill, a Middle East specialist at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa.

In Washington, the secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking as though the Syrian insurgency’s momentum was now unstoppable, said its territorial gains might be leveraged into safe havens. “We have to work closely with the opposition,” she told reporters, “because more and more territory is being taken and it will, eventually, result in a safe haven inside Syria, which will then provide a base for further actions by the opposition.”

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Dalal Mawad and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting.
End quote from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/25/world/middleeast/use-of-warplanes-is-reported-in-syrian-conflict.html?_r=1

One look at the boys face in the top photo in this article tells the whole story of just how terrified the people are in Aleppo now of the changes coming. Hopefully, there will come a time after Assad falls when United Nations or NATO or other groups of nations troops can stabilize the area to prevent further massacres of Sunnis, Alawites, Christians or Kurds or other minority groups. (even though Sunnis are the numerical majority in Syria).

Also, here is a repeat quote from the second page (if you click next page above it will take you there). I think this quote bears repeating:

With so many men running around with guns, it was impossible to identify the good guys, residents said. “It is just so hard to figure who is F.S.A. and who is a thug,” said one 25-year-old woman reached via Skype. “In brief, I am just terrified.” 

IMF says China's economy reached 'soft landing'

IMF says China's economy reached 'soft landing'

The Associated Press

Posted:   07/24/2012 08:26:03 PM PDT

SHANGHAI—The International Monetary Fund says China has achieved a "soft landing" in its economic slowdown, though more sweeping reforms are needed to ensure healthy growth in the longer term. In a report released Wednesday, the IMF praised China's leaders for adjusting policies to help counter the malaise plaguing the global economy that has also slowed robust growth in China and other emerging nations.
The report followed IMF consultations with Beijing.
It notes that China has reduced some imbalances in the economy, such as its once huge trade surplus, and brought inflation under control. But it pointed to risks from excessive bank lending and urged more effective regulation to ensure financial stability.

end quote from:
IMF says China's economy reached 'soft landing'

If this is really true this is very good news for the global economy. It is possible that this will somewhat mitigate the problems in Greece, Spain, Italy, as well as the war problems in Syria which the whole world is very worried about affecting future oil prices if it spreads throughout the middle east in a sectarian way.

3 Miles

There is a trail up a mountain along the coast of northern California that my son and I like to walk periodically. We have to drive about 10 miles to get there but it is inland enough so the coastal fog (high fog or low fog or both) during the summer is most of the time cleared by the early afternoon and if it is coming in that deep. Even though it is the least favorite of all the things about where I live (summer fog)( But without it everything wouldn't stay as green and there wouldn't be redwood trees here in northern California without it either. Because some trees and plants get as much or more moisture from the high and low fog and the fact that things don't dry out so much when there isn't that much direct sun on them. For example, many springs and small brooks are still running this late this year which is a little unusual considering we didn't get our normal amount of rain this year. But the last two years were way above average for rainfall so that is probably why.

Anyway, my older dog is about 70 pounds and a long hair German Shepard and Australian Shepard mix. His coloration looks a lot like a long hair German Shepard but his ears and tail and rear legs look a lot like an Australian Shepard and his coat is as smooth as silk (which means he blows coat year 'round around the house too) in addition to being incredibly soft. But now, in addition to being the nicest and smartest dog I've ever known. (Sometimes even smarter than some humans at times) he is now getting pretty old at 14. I took him with my son and my daughter's corgi who is now about 6 or 8 years old and she was fine last time on this hike but my German Shepard Aussie Shepard Mix was messed up for about 3 days last time he went on this hike.

So, I left him home and though he wasn't happy he knew whatever it was I was thinking of him by not taking him. So, even though he looked lonely I think he knew (because he is incredibly intelligent for a dog(Understands about 300 words and commands) what I was doing. So, my son and I took only my daughter's Corgi with us this time. And because of the heat in the 80s she was panting like I had never heard her before. Luckily at the top near the lake or pond there was a spring that the California Parks Service had put several faucets on for dogs and horses to drink from and higher up there was a place for humans to drink from and to refill their canteens or bottles of water they might be carrying. So, the Corgi Drank and I refilled my water bottle and my son did his as well.

However, the Corgi was panting like I had never heard her before because of the heat. I kept stopping in the shade for her because I didn't want her to collapse and have to carry her down the mountain. But we all made it home safely. As I was feeding both dogs tonight the Corgi I put in with my wife as she was doing business because she couldn't eat in front of my German Shepard Aussie Shepard mix because even though she is a love doggie, he is a food doggie (a lot like a guy) and will sneak her food if he can get away with it. So, I have to protect her food because she is such a finicky eater. So, when I looked a little later she was sleeping with all four feet straight in the air like she has since she was a puppy when she is really tired on her back.

So, even though she made it all the way up and back the very steep trail I'm really glad I didn't take my older dog because it might have killed him at this point.

Later, when my family and I went out to a restaurant after the meal I stood up and felt my legs might come off at first after this very steep hike up to the mountain lake with my son and my daughter's Corgi.

Soyrizo

If you like Chorizo but want to have it meatless because you are vegetarian or just want less fat from meat in it there is another choice called "Soyrizo"  which is a meatless Soy chorizo. I discovered this recently because I love Chorizo with Scrambled eggs. So, I found the brand name Soyrizo which I really like and you might too. Also, Soyrizo is Vegan.

In about March I believe I discovered Portland Ketchup made by Portlandia foods at McMinnamins restaurant in McMinnville, Oregon and also in Portland, Oregon.  So if you want a really great tasting vegan ketchup you can order a case at:
www. portlandiafoods.com    if you are interested. My son and I have already ordered two cases of it and have already gone through a case of the stuff since April. It is like eating vine ripened tomatoes with nothing but naturally gluten free, organic ingredients and it is completely vegan.

When I ordered a vegeburger in McMinnville in March I noticed that it came with Tater Tots (sort of like hash brown potatoes in little thumb sized tots) that are finger food that can be dipped in ketchup (or whatever you wish). My son and I and wife and daughters all loved the flavor of this very fresh and alive tasting ketchup. So when we came home to the California coast we ordered our first case of it from Oregon.

Note: Though Textured Soy protein in all forms is a good replacement for meat it also can be constipating if you eat too much of it at one time so it is good to make sure you are eating apples or something else like Metamucil if you are going to eat very much soy protein. Soy protein has a similar effect to eating cheese in regard to staying regular so be careful if you aren't used to eating it.

Public hearing for NY sugary drink ban

Public hearing set on proposed NY sugary drink ban

Business/Finance

Public hearing set on proposed NY sugary drink ban

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A 7-Eleven Big Gulp drink is seen in this undated file photo. (KABC Photo)

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new york, business/finance

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  SAMANTHA GROSS Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - July 24, 2012 (WPVI) -- Whether they think the mayor is combating obesity or infringing on their rights, New Yorkers are scheduled to get their say on a proposed ban on large sugary drinks served at restaurants, movie theaters and other eateries.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that "sugary drink consumption is a key driver of the obesity epidemic," and an estimated 5,800 New Yorkers will die this year because they're obese or overweight.
Meanwhile, about an hour later more than 100 people gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest the proposed ban.

end quote from:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/business&id=8747008

If you have watched the "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart you likely have watched his antics regarding his view on this. He thinks this is ridiculous but others are worried about the high fructose corn syrup in sugary drinks making people obese and killing them to the point where statistically they expect 5,800 New Yorkers to die this year because of being obese or overweight. And one of the things that is leading to this is all processed foods that have high fructose Corn syrup added to them as a cheap but addictive sweetener. So, if you are trying to stay alive please look at the ingredients label of what you are buying. And to add to the misery likely the corn used is genetically engineered and is recognized as a pesticide because of the genetic manipulation of the corn kernels by companies like Monsanto.

Syrian jets bomb Aleppo

Syrian jets bomb Aleppo

Syrians look at a burnt tank belonging to government forces in Aleppo province on July 19, 2012. UPI File/Khaled Tallawy 

License photo

Published: July 24, 2012 at 1:34 PM

DAMASCUS, Syria, July 24 (UPI) -- Syria's military sent fighter jets to bomb parts of Aleppo Tuesday where fighting has raged for six days.
The BBC said the government launched the attack as fierce fighting was reported near the historic Old City and the commercial center seized by rebels.
Local Co-ordination Committees reported 20 dead in Aleppo, 13 in a prison revolt, the BBC said. A similar revolt was reported in Homs. Elsewhere 60 deaths were reported.
Three people were hurt attempting to cross from Syria into Iraq when Syrian forces began shelling on the Syrian side at the Boukamal crossing over the Euphrates River. The U.N. refugee agency estimates 10,000 Iraqi refugees have fled Syria in the last week.
Earlier, Israel Radio reported chemical weapons being moved to airports in border areas.
"According to our information, the regime began moving its stocks of weapons of mass destruction several months ago -- with the goal of putting pressure on the region and the international community," a Syrian Free Army statement quoted by Israel Radio said.
The announcement by the rebel group came a day after Syria openly admitted it had chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
Syria's Foreign Ministry accused media outlets of "deliberately taking out of context" statements made by ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi, who said Syria's WMD will not be used against Syrian civilians, only against foreign invaders.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the goal of Makdissi's press conference was "to respond to a methodical media campaign" against Syria.
U.S. officials have said Syria, one of eight nations that did not sign the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, has perhaps the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the Middle East, including lethal mustard gas and nerve agents, some of which likely have been loaded onto Soviet-type Scud tactical ballistic missiles and artillery shells, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
U.S. President Barack Obama said Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime would be held accountable if it uses such weapons.
Makdissi rebuffed an Arab League call Monday for Assad to step down in return for "safe passage" for him and his family and for opposition forces to set up a transitional national unity government.
"If the Arab nations who met in Doha [the Qatari capital] were honest about wanting to stop the bloodshed they would have stopped supplying arms and stopped their instigation and propaganda," Makdissi said. "All their statements are hypocritical."
Qatar and Saudi Arabia support the rebels.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/07/24/Syrian-jets-bomb-Aleppo/UPI-68401343111400/#ixzz21ZFjTl54

The two headlines of "Syrian Jets bombing Aleppo" and the headlines of "Syria Moves it's chemical Weapons to the borders are very distressing. First of all, Aleppo is the biggest city in Syria so if military jets were bombing a place for example, like New York City, you can imagine the carnage that something like that would cause.

In regard to moving it's chemical weapons to border airports this could mean almost anything and countries like Israel and all countries in Europe, the Middle east, the U.S. etc are taking this very seriously and mobilizing their armies through NATO and other means to deal with this problem. Likely security elements of all governments are moving or are already in place to deal with this extreme security  problem and preparing to invade areas with chemical weapons on a moments notice to protect the world from these weapons getting into terrorists or other bad elements hands and having these weapons proliferate around the world at this time as the Assad Government falls.

The other problem is that one can expect a lot of massacres of Alawite's because they have been massacring Sunnis for over a year or more once the Assad government falls. This will be very difficult for the world to deal with to watch the massacre of Alawite's and other minorities in Syria by the majority Sunnis who have been massacred during the past year or so.

Buying Wheat Grass

In the organic section of our local Save Mart supermarket there is something put out now by "The Natural  Trading Company". What they do is to put sprouting wheat grass seeds in 4inch by 4 inch plastic containers. This is very convenient for people like myself who have wheat grass juicers. So, when I cut off about 8 inches tall one of these wheat grass containers I get about 1 ounce or 2 of wheat grass juice if I juice it myself. The advantage to buying one of these it is is alive and then you can either water it and put it in the sun to keep it growing like I do or you can juice it right then so you get all the present aliveness into your system. So, I just thought I would mention it because I think it is a great idea. Also, I'm experimenting to see if the two 4 by 4 plastic containers that I already cut and got wheat grass juice from will grow to give me a second cutting by watering the  wheat grass and putting it out into the sun. So far it has grown another few inches in the past few days.

However, the one thing you might want to also think of is wheat grass gets a lot of its nutrients from whatever soil it is grown in. So, when I grow wheat grass from scratch I buy potting soil from someplace like Orchard supply or another garden outfit so it has soil to grow in.

Because the ones they sell at Save Mart in the organic section are only sprouts by themselves without soil. But I suppose if you wanted to you could transplant these 4inch by 4 inch plastic containers of wheat grass sprouts into soil. Here they are about $1.99 a piece for one of these or so. So, it is something to think about if you like to grow your own wheat grass for juicing.

Also, Jamba Juice (the fruit juice and smoothie business chain) in California (and other places?) you can get 1 oz to 2 oz. of wheat grass juice with an orange slice chaser any day as well if you want wheat grass juice to tune up your biological system. Also, at Jamba Juice you could get a fruit juice smoothie (your choice of flavors and fruits) and have one or two shots of protein (whey or soy) put in and that would be a meal in itself if you are dieting for health or to lose weight or both.

If you don't already own a juicer this would be one way to begin a diet like this by replacing one meal a day with something that might make you both feel better and begin to lose weight.

My dietician about 1 year ago told me that one of the best ways to start out in the morning was with a protein drink with one scoop of either whey protein or soy protein combined with either milk, orange juice or whatever fruits you want to add in like strawberries, blueberries, bananas, or whatever. That along with 1 or 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter only on it should last you until lunchtime. This prevents low blood sugar cascades like I dealt with a lot from my 40s on from not eating anything until 2 to 4 in the afternoon which was something I did most of the time I could get away with it from about age 9. However, in my 40s I started not being able to do this anymore because of getting low blood sugar cascades because of then undiagnosed hypothyroid condition. But this finally was diagnosed when I was 58 and I now take Armour Thyroid from Canada by a doctors prescription which has no side effects at all which is why I like it.

Note: you can buy wheat Grass seed at most health food stores that will sprout into Wheat Grass. It is important to get wheat grass seed that hasn't been killed by radiation or something to preserve it or just for cooking or something like that. Ask your health food store which seed grows wheat Grass and if they don't have it ask them to order you some wherever you live. You might have a minimum order or 5 or 10 pounds but that might last you 6 months to a year even if you are growing one or two flats of wheat grass year around to juice.

This is my method for growing wheat grass in organic potting soil. I take the cardboard flat that my dogs dog food cans come in that I buy by the flat. Then I take a white clean Garbage bag out of it's container and put the flat into the garbage bag. Then I tie the ends of the garbage bag so the cardboard flat stays in there. Then I get some organic potting soil that is okay to use for vegetables to grow (and also sprouts) from a place like Orchard supply or other garden supply store. then I put in about 1 to 2 inches of organic potting soil. Then I cover the soil with solid wheat grass seeds. The reason I have every square inch of soil covered with seeds is that sometimes some don't sprout and this way you will have a really thick growth of seeds. The flats I use are about 1 foot to 15 inches wide and at least 2 feet long. Once I have seeds on the soil in the covered flat I take a white or brown new paper towel and lay it over all the seeds. Then I put water lightly over the top of the paper towel until it is completely soaked but I really don't necessarily want the soil wet yet. And every morning when I first get up I soak the towel again. If it is a particularly dry day sometimes I soak the paper towel midway through the day as well.

The first 3 days you take a paper bag and keep all the seeds and potting soil in the dark which mimics when they are under the ground which is their normal sprouting sequence. After three to four days of them being in the dark you can carefully put them into the sun. However, you don't want to burn them so be careful during the summertime or if they are in the sun in a sunny windowsill indoors or something like that. So, watch what the sun does to them the first day. If it is a cloudy day sometimes at first that actually can be better. But remember, sun hits the sprouts through the clouds even on a cloudy day. It only has to be daylight, or even under a non-fluorescent lamp like an Incandescent and they are getting good light. (Humans need non-fluorescent lights to be healthy too) just like plants do.

So, by repeating wetting the towel until the sprouts are about 2 to 3 inches tall and have taken over the soil and made it one piece then you can if you want take off the towels indoors. But outdoors you want to take off the towels in the sun by the 4th day so they can grow and make chlorophyll  from the sunlight so you can juice them and take the clorophyll into your body as liquid energy. For me, Wheat grass juice is also a coffee replacement only without the coffee crash afterwards. However, if you are not used to drinking it you might have to get over being nauseated when first starting to drink it every day. However, as it detoxifies your body and you get on a better diet it will start to seem more like a natural coffee that energizes without any coffee crash afterwards. In other words in the ideal, Wheat grass juice is "natural liquid healthy energy".

Also, I don't usually cut my wheat grass sprouts with a really sharp serrated knife until they are 8 to 12 inches tall. And under ideal circumstances you might get 2 8 to 12 inch cuttings but the first cuttings taste the best. It usually takes about 2 weeks to grow 8 to 12 inches. So, however much wheat grass you want to consume you might want to make more than one flat. I usually make one flat and then wait one week for it to get going and then make another flat. If I keep doing this every week or so I can always have at least 1 to 2 ounces of wheat Grass every day from my juicer. You can buy an electric but I kind of prefer a hand crank one because it sort of reminds me of all the hand crank cherry pitters and apple corers  and peelers from the late 1800s and early 1900s that I used to own for fun and for  canning in the 1980s with my 2nd wife.

Miracle Stainless Steel Manual Wheatgrass Juicer - Model MJ445

SKU: SSMJ

In Stock

The Miracle Juicer is a sturdy stainless steel manual wheatgrass juicer that offers strength, efficiency and easy cleanup. It's a great choice for people who rely on a daily dose of wheat grass juice. Free Ground Shipping.

 

Price $169.95 Sale Price $149.95 Qty

Secure Online Ordering

 

end quote from Amazon.com

The above one is what I have that is all stainless steel and easy to clean and really hard to break. But I also saw something like this one only it looks like a lot more plastic for about 49.95

However, I have never used that one so I really know nothing about it. Also, there are electric ones too of all sorts and sizes. The above one usually comes with a reverse thread front cap which you have to get used to and a nylon white gripper for taking it off if it gets too tight. Also, the one I got also has a green plastic plunger to push down on the screw portion that presses the juice out of the wheat grass. The rest of the grass extrudes out eventually through the hole in the front cap as you turn the crank.