http://soopermedia.blogspot.com/2008/10/exporting-of-diamonds-in-burma.html
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blood diamonds or rubies are the main source of revenue, supportive tool of despotic rulers of Africa and dictatorial rulers of Burma. Approximately 90% of world‘s exporting diamonds and gemstones is organized by the tyrannical regime of Myanmar and military rulers have undertaken about $750 million dollars, having gigantic profiteering shares in world s’ highest quality gemstones marketplace since 1964. The gem merchants of Bangkok display glossy wares with great pride, exporting all diamonds from Africa, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The reddish gemstones, “Blood diamonds” of Burma are well-renowned for their fantastic transparent look and reddish shades. The military dictatorship is involved in fundraising for their regime by totally dependence upon the exportation of the precious gemstones like sapphires, pearls, emeralds, topaz, jade etc. rubies of Myanmar has produced major source of income for the military rulers as almost 90% of world ‘s rubies are exported from Myanmar.
The worldwide indignation against the repressive attitude of the generals of Myanmar has encouraged the EU to disallow the trading of Myanmar s’ gemstones, one of the major exporter of diamonds in the world. US government is also under pressure to tighten a loophole on the current US sanctions which let the trading of precious stones of Burma. But the trading of Myanmar‘s gems has been continuing in its neighboring country, Thailand which has direct business deals with military junta of Burma. The citizens of Burma have been exploiting under the pressure of despotic rulers who are involved in sales of precious gems to support their dictatorial government. As the military rulers never feel any hesitation to shoot the protestors or uprising movement of the Buddhist monks who protest against repression and exploitation of Burmese dictatorship. Myanmar's generals have entire control over the exporting of diamonds since 1964 and they have been earning massive amount of income about $750 million. A large number of precious diamonds and gemstones are smuggled over the border into china and Thailand.
China, Thailand, Canada, France, the U.S.A, and Italy are the main bidders of blood diamonds of Burma and they are importing the largest part of gemstones of Myanmar to their countries. Though many times some trade sanctions are imposed upon Myanmar gemstones due to its uprising movement of public against their rulers ‘s repressive attitude but there is no use of such restrictions as the exporters of gemstones in Myanmar are running their business boastfully in spite of all such international trade ban. The defense ministry or military officers rule over Burma s’ gemstone trade dominantly and all major countries including china, India, Thailand, Singapore, America, Canada and France are scooping up Burmese diamond exportation. The government's Myanmar Gem Enterprise, Burmese Export Company has been developing its exporting business of gemstones with the ratio of 45% every year. The gem auctions are arranged by the military regime twice a year since 1964, having official hold on gem trade by Myanmar government. Blood Diamonds is a famous movie, depicting the repression, exploitation and brutal attitude of despotic rulers upon their common laymen by snatching away their precious asset without the proper payment to them.
This film is a true representation of tyranny and greediness of dictatorial regime of developing countries where the rulers are exploiting the public by having entire hold over the precious asset of the country. The perfect solution of deterring such brutal and tyranic attitude of Burmese government is to convince the international marketers not to buy Burmese gems which support the fund-raising campaigns to sustain military regime in the country. There should be some uprising protests with this slogans in international marketplace of gemstons, "The rubies from Burma are blood rubies. They are red with the blood of young people” and there is no need to support the military regime by buying Burmese gems as it is considers as human rights abuses." The dictatorship of Burma is very notorious for torturing political activists, exploiting the citizens and economic recession in the country as all army officers are engaged in filling their pockets with lucrative income, earned by precious gems sale. This violence and repressive behavior of Burma s’ leaders have stirred the intrernational human right s’ advocates, raising voice against such brutal repression by complete trade boycott with Burma.
Posted by Sooper Information Around The World at 10:23 PM
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Exporting of diamonds in Burma
Better Living Through Chemistry-opium -acetic anhydride-heroin
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20081015.aspx
October 15, 2008: The UN, NATO and the United States are cooperating to shut down Islamic terrorism in Afghanistan by taking away a major source of income; profits from the heroin trade. It's all a matter of upsetting the processing of the annual production of 10,000 tons of opium (worth about $45 a pound) to 1,300 tons of heroin (worth about $1,600 a pound). This requires 2,600 tons of acetic anhydride, an industrial chemical. This is a clear liquid that is flammable and poisonous if you inhale it. The key to crippling the Taliban money machine is intercepting the chemical needed to convert opium into heroin.
There is no legal use for acetic anhydride inside Afghanistan. With bribes and transportation costs, the drug gangs pay about $2,000 per ton to get it to Pakistan. Then it has to be smuggled into Afghanistan, by truck. There are a limited number of roads, with the border manned by guards who are accustomed to being bribed. There are several other chemicals needed to refine the opium (to morphine, then to heroin), but acetic anhydride is the hardest to get, and the one needed in the largest quantities. Smaller quantities of hydrochloric acid are also needed, but this is a more common industrial chemical. Pakistan drove the heroin trade out in the 1990s, in part, by interfering with the supply of acetic anhydride. While there was a market for opium, it was mainly local, and the large amount of opium available drove the price down. The real money was in heroin, where smaller, more valuable amounts, were easier to move out of the country to more lucrative markets in the Persian Gulf, Europe and North America.
Now, consider how heroin fits into the worldwide drug market. The most widely used drug is actually marijuana (and it's refined version, hashish). There are about 170 million users of these products worldwide. Many live in rural areas where marijuana grows wild and legal restrictions are not energetically enforced. But in many urban areas, marijuana is a major source of income for gangsters, and some terrorist groups. Not as profitable as cocaine and heroin, and harder to smuggle (because of the bulk), but it is still a major threat because it has such a large market.
More debilitating drugs like heroin and cocaine are more expensive, more potent and have less than 20 percent of the market of marijuana and hashish. Cocaine and heroin are more likely to disable users, including much higher risk of accidental death. The 30 million cocaine or heroin users (about 60 percent of them prefer the less debilitating cocaine) are actually dwarfed by the slightly larger number of addicts for synthetic drugs (everything from methamphetamine to Ecstasy and especially prescription drugs). But cocaine and heroin come from farm crops (coca for cocaine, poppies for heroin) that are very profitable for poor farmers in places like the South American highlands (coca) or Central Asia (Afghanistan at the moment). In both these places, the illegal crops account for the majority of the supply for that illegal drug on the planet. In the case of cocaine, the drug is largely produced by gangsters, with some help from political outlaws (mostly leftist groups). There is some terrorism, but it is all local.
The big danger is the heroin trade, where Islamic terrorists have partnered with tribe based drug gangs to produce most of the world's heroin. This is nothing new. For decades after World War II, most of the heroin came from the remote Burma (now Myanmar)-China border area. But both of those nations eventually cracked down on that business, and it moved to Pakistan for a while, but was forced, by a violent government reaction, across the border into Afghanistan. In both earlier cases, controlling the supply of acetic anhydride played a major role in crushing the heroin trade.
The Afghan government is reluctant to shut down the heroin trade, partly because many senior government officials are being bribed, and partly because it would cause more tribal warfare (most of the tribes oppose the heroin trade, and only a few of the Pushtun tribes in the south control most of the heroin production). Moreover, there is the likelihood that the poppy growing and heroin production would just move to another Central Asian nation. The Islamic terrorists would follow. So the problem really is to crush, or otherwise neutralize, the Taliban, al Qaeda and other Islamic radicals who are sustaining their violence via drug profits.
It is interesting that the two major illegal drugs are both produced in small regions, areas that are dominated by outlaw armies and a general absence of law and order. Illegal empires for illegal drugs, and it's been that way for quite a while. In Afghanistan, NATO and U.S. commanders have finally convinced their governments to go after the money; the heroin trade.
That means manufacturers and distributors of acetic anhydride will soon come under scrutiny, and pressure to control the supply of the chemical entering Afghanistan. The chemical enters Afghanistan from all neighboring countries, except Iran (which has a small army of troops on the border trying to keep out the opium and heroin that supplies several million local addicts.) The acetic anhydride is often bought in Europe or Russia, labeled as some other product, and sent on its way to Pakistan or one of the Central Asian neighbors of Afghanistan, where bribes or threats are used to get it into southern Afghanistan, where the processing labs are. This smuggling network is already under scrutiny, and soon it will be under major attack. And for the third time in the last few decades, the bulk of the heroin trade will be forced to find another home.
IFEX MEMBER WEBSITES IN TUNISIA AND BURMA UNDER ATTACK
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/97628/
The online news magazine Kalima, often touted as one of the only independent news sources in Tunisia, has suffered an attack that has completely destroyed its web content, reports the Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia (OLPEC). Meanwhile, the websites of IFEX member Mizzima News, a Burmese news agency in exile, has also been hacked.
Kalima's webmasters have been unable to access the site since 8 October. The site will now have to be completely rebuilt and uploaded.
Said Kalima editor-in-chief and OLPEC secretary-general Sihem Bensedrine, "The only people who would benefit from an attack on a website that is already inaccessible to Internet users in Tunisia are the security services."
"I would not rule out the possibility that this act was committed by the secret services, with the aid of hackers or pirates based in Tunisia or abroad," she added.
The attack comes three months after the site was re-launched as multimedia platform and archive.
Other independent sites have been the subject of similar attacks in the past. Tunisnews ( http://www.tunisnews.net ), which distributes a daily newsletter via email, was targeted in April. Judge Mokhtar Yahiaoui's blog ( http://tunisiawatch.rsfblog.org ) was attacked in November 2005.
Tunisian and foreign websites with a political or human rights focus have been censored in Tunisia for several years. The video-sharing sites Dailymotion and YouTube have also been the target of censors. The IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) is preparing a joint action on Kalima's case.
Meanwhile, the four websites of Mizzima News, an independent Burmese news agency based in New Delhi, India, were hacked on 1 October, making the sites intermittently inaccessible.
According to Mizzima News, the attackers used the vulnerability of poor-code websites in order to take control of the site. Mizzima's Canada-based hosting company suspended the sites on 9 October because they said the hacks might also harm other sites on the server. The sites only became fully functional on 14 October.
Though it is not known who is behind the attacks, Mizzima's technical staff said they found the main attempt to have originated from Russia, with cooperation from other hackers in Germany, France and India.
Mizzima is unable to confirm whether the attack was the work of the Burmese military junta, which has banned Mizzima's websites inside the country - although web users can still access the sites by bypassing the government's Internet filtering systems using proxy servers.
"This kind of well-organised attack can't be done by individuals, but is instead the disguised actions of an institution, most probably in this case the military regime," said Sein Win, Mizzima's managing editor.
This is not the first time that the websites of Mizzima as well as other Burmese media groups in exile have been attacked. In July, the Burmese websites of Mizzima News and the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma were hacked, rendering them inaccessible for several days.
Similarly, on 24 September, two days before the first anniversary of last year's monk-led protests in Burma, the sites of Democratic Voice of Burma and two Burmese news agencies in exile in Thailand, "The Irrawaddy" and "New Era Journal", were targeted.
Visit these links:
- OLPEC: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/97591/
- Mizzima News: http://tinyurl.com/4rgdvq
(15 October 2008)
Businesses wary in Cambodia,Thais urged to leave as border clash erupts
http://www.bangkokpost.com/161008_Business/16Oct2008_biz31.php
POST REPORTERS
Thai businesses have put their Cambodian operations on full alert after troops of both countries exchanged gunfire and rocket fire along the border near the disputed Preah Vihear temple, leaving at least one soldier dead.
Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat yesterday urged Thai nationals in Cambodia to leave at once, and said the military had an evacuation plan if needed.
Leading companies including Siam Cement, Siam Commercial Bank and the CP Group have put their Cambodian offices on high alert in case tensions worsen.
Pramon Sutivong, the chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said many businesses have already ordered their staff to leave the country.
He said tourism and the border trade would likely be affected by the conflict, adding to the already poor sentiment in the country.
"It's too early to talk about the impact from the incident. It all depends on whether the violence intensifies and tensions are prolonged," Mr Pramon said.
The International Court of Justice awarded jurisdiction of the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but disputes flared anew earlier this year over land near the ruins.
Santi Vilassakdanont, the chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said it was contacting member companies for updates on the situation.
He expressed hope for a quick and peaceful resolution, noting that past incidents, while affecting border trade, rarely affected Thai businesses operating deeper in Cambodia.
"I hope the Foreign Ministry will be able to negotiate and solve the conflict. Bilateral conflicts are not new, they've been going on forever. I think we can find a compromise," Mr Santi said.
The last serious incident between the two countries came in 2003, when Cambodian rioters burned the Thai embassy and businesses in Phnom Penh. They were outraged by comments erroneously attributed to a Thai actress that the Angkor ruins belonged to Thailand.
Siam Cement, the country's largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday evacuated all 20 of its Thai executives from the country.
"Our staff's safety comes first. We booked plane tickets for all Thai staff as soon as we heard about the situation," said Matana Leongnarktongdee, SCG corporate communication director.
SCG has $130 million worth of business interests in the country, including Kampot Cement Co, located 148 km southwest of Phnom Penh and producing one million tonnes of cement per year. The group's Cementhai SCT (Cambodia) trading firm sells CPAC concrete products in the capital.
The Thai telecom company Samart Corp tightened security in Cambodia and put its staff on alert for evacuation.
Samart president Watchai Vilailuck said Cambodian authorities themselves had raised the threat level to between yellow and red, indicating the seriousness of the situation. Cambodia maintains a three-level warning scale for foreign investors, with red being the most serious.
Samart operates three joint ventures in Cambodia: Cambodia Air Traffic, which oversees air traffic control in the country; Kampot Power Plant, a power supplier to SCG's cement plant; and a museum.
Mr Watchai said Samart employed 10 Thai executives in Cambodia.
"Business is still normal, but we are monitoring the situation closely. We're ready to move in if the situation gets worse," he said.
A CP Group spokesman said the agribusiness giant had yet to withdraw its 27 Thai staff but asked them to stay in touch with the embassy in Phnom Penh.
Siam Commercial Bank also said operations at its four branches in the country remained normal.
"Our branches were open as normal, although business transactions were down," said Ongorn Abhakorn Na Ayuthaya, an SCB executive vice-president. The bank has branches in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville under the name Cambodian Commercial Bank.
Thai officials and businessmen said that while most business ventures were unlikely to be disrupted, small businesses and traders along the border would certainly suffer.
According to the Foreign Trade Department, Thai exports to Cambodia totalled 33 billion baht for the year to August, up 58.7% from the same period last year. Imports were up 157% to 2.06 billion baht.
Key Thai exports to Cambodia include fuel oil, sugar, motorcycles, automobiles and machines, while imports include maize, iron, aluminium poles and copper. Thailand ranks third among Cambodia's trading partners, after Vietnam and China, and is also the third-largest foreign investor in the country after Korea and Japan.
But official trade statistics do not capture an additional 30 billion baht in border trade each year.
Niyom Waiyaratchapanich, the chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce committee on neighbouring country trade promotion, called on all parties to end the conflict quickly.
"If it is prolonged and intensifies with a nationalistic tone, then Thai businesses in Cambodia will be seriously affected," he said.
Mr Niyom said that given the tensions, bilateral trade was expected to miss the target of 60 billion baht for the year.
"Thai investment projects will probably be most affected. We think contract farming projects by Thai companies will likely be delayed by the conflict."
The CP Group had earlier announced plans to support a two-million-rai contract farming programme for maize. Smaller companies also have contract farming agreements for maize, cassava and soybeans with Cambodian farmers.
"We's afraid that [Cambodian farmers] won't be able to bring in their crops to the country," Mr Niyom said.
Executives of Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways said flights between the two countries were operating normally.
"At the moment, our flight operations remain unchanged and our records show no sign of a drop in passengers with 70% of seats filled," said Krittaphon Chantalitanon, THAI's director for Thailand, Indochina and Burma.
THAI operates two flights a day between Bangkok and Phnom Penh. Bangkok Airways has two daily flights between the two capitals and five flights between Bangkok and Siem Reap.
Saving Lives in the Forgotten War Zones of Burma
http://www.christianfreedom.org/cfi-news/1-latest-news/292-saving-lives-in-the-forgotten-war-zones-of-burma.html
CFI News
Written by CFI Field Staff
Wednesday, 15 October 2008 18:21
MAE SOT, THAILAND -- It took five days for the medics to carry Saw Eh Pley to the clinic in Baw Peh Village, Burma. In this part of the Burmese jungle, medical care is hard to find.
Ethnic Karen men, women, and children will walk -- or be carried -- for days and weeks to reach one of Christian Freedom International’s field clinics in Burma’s forgotten war zones. CFI’s clinics in Karen occupied areas treat hundreds each month with life-saving medicine and care.
Local Karen refer to the CFI clinics as “Freedom Hospitals.” The make-shift, bamboo clinics stand as beacons of hope in places where hope is difficult to find.
Naw Beh Say Paw, 24, is a Karen medic at the CFI “Freedom” clinic in Baw Peh Village. “The oppressed Karen people of Burma need our help,” said Naw Beh Say Paw. “Many die from malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea, malnutrition, gunshot wounds, and landmines.”
Today Saw Eh Pley is fortunate. The medicine he needs for his malaria is carefully administered by the CFI medics.
“I joined with CFI health workers at Freedom 2 Hospital,” explained Naw Beh Say Paw. “As I am a medic for this Freedom Hospital, I try my best to look after the patients. As CFI love us and support us with medicine and help our people I too will try my very best in the future to work for CFI and my Karen people.”
“CFI helps us by giving us monthly support of foods, medicine and whatever needs the medics and patients have,” said Naw Beh Say Paw. “CFI also provides medicine and training for the backpack teams.”
CFI is a major provider of vital medicine to the persecuted Karen and Karenni people of Burma. CFI has also pioneered the effort of delivering medical aid to those living life on the run in Burmese jungles through a “backpack medic” program. CFI’s backpack medics risk their own lives to bring healing -- and hope -- to hundreds of suffering Karen and Karenni men, women, and children who are too sick or injured to travel to a field hospital.
The military junta of Burma maintains a policy of horrific human rights violations against its own people. Especially targeted are the mostly Christian Karen, Karenni, and Chin.
Burma, called Myanmar by current military dictatorship, has one of the most repressive governments in the world. The regime known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) seized power in September 1988 after harshly suppressing massive pro-democracy demonstrations. The SPDC maintains a policy of brutal repression and violent restraint on all opposition. Tens of thousands of Karen, Karenni, and Chin have been displaced from their homes by the junta.
Hunger haunts 33 countries
http://www.yehey.com/news/Article.aspx?id=226715
Manila Standard
15 October 2008 | 11:00 PM
A group has listed the Philippines as one of 33 countries with a serious hunger problem along with Myanmar, Timor Leste, Vietnam and Indonesia, but most of which are in the African continent.
The global hunger index in the Philippines is at 14.0 this year, which means the problem is serious or with an index of 10 to 19, the International Food Policy Research Institute says in its 2008 Global Hunger Index report.
The index runs from zero to 100, and the higher it is, the higher the hunger problem.
The institute says the hunger problem is alarming or very alarming in Africa.
The group calculated the hunger index based on the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population, the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five, and the mortality rate of children under five.
About 18 percent of the population was considered undernourished in the Philippines in 2002 to 2004, 20.7 percent of children were underweight in 2001 to 2006, and the mortality rate of children under five years was 3.2 percent in 2006, the group says.
It says that since the most recent data used were for 2006, the hunger index offers a picture of the past, not the present.
“This global hunger index report therefore does not reflect recent increases in food and energy prices,” the group says.
A third of all the countries surveyed, including the Philippines, suffered violent or non-violent protest from January 2007 to June 2008 as a result of food price surges, the group says.
The food protests in the Philippines were non-violent, but not those that happened in Bangladesh, Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Haiti, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Senegal and South Africa.
The group says 969 million people in the world live on less than $1 a day and 17 percent of those live on less than $0.50 a day. The world has made slow progress in reducing food insecurity since 1990, with dramatic differences among regions and countries, it says.
The report was released at a time of dramatic changes in world food markets, with high food prices threatening the food security of millions of vulnerable households.
This is the third year that the International Food Policy Research Institute has calculated the multi-dimensional measure of global hunger.
The group says combating the food crisis will require more food aid for poor people; much greater investment in agriculture, especially the small farm sector; and more investment in social protection programs and social sectors like education and health.
The group is also pushing reforms to create a fair world trading system; changes to bio-fuel policies; measures to calm global food markets; better data collection and improved monitoring of the food and nutrition situation; and more support for non-governmental organizations that work on behalf of poor people in developing countries. -- Roderick T. dela Cruz
Global markets tumble; Japan calls for more U.S. action
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081016/ts_nm/us_financial5_19
By Tony Munroe
Thu Oct 16, 2:44 AM ET
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Japan said Washington may need to pump more cash into its banks to restore investors' confidence as fears of looming recession sent share markets into a tailspin after U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned of tough times ahead.
Shrugging-off recent optimism about massive government efforts to prop up the global financial system, investors fled from stocks, commodities and other risky assets to the relative safety of cash. Stocks in Tokyo dropped 11 percent.
The biggest monthly decline in U.S. retail sales in more than three years added to the gloom, with the price of oil falling to a 13-month low below $73 on fears of a collapse in demand.
Signs of looming recession were all around.
In Japan, a Reuters poll showed manufacturing business sentiment hit a 6-year low this month, in yet another signal the world's second-biggest economy was headed for a downturn.
In Brussels, European Union leaders will call for a EU-wide crisis response center and urged global partners to reform the financial system at a summit this year, according to a draft statement.
"This is the end of the beginning. We are going from a situation in which the banks were the main actors in the crisis to a situation where the real economies will be next," Marino Valensise, chief investment officer of Baring Asset Management, said in Hong Kong.
Shares in global miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton lost 16 and 13 percent, respectively, after base metal prices fell overnight and Rio warned of slowing Chinese demand for commodities because of the financial crisis.
Third-quarter earnings reports that began trickling in reflected the damage.
Swiss bank UBS, the European lender hardest hit by the subprime mortgage meltdown, eked out a small profit and became the latest bank to raise capital with a 6 billion franc ($5.3 billion) injection from the government.
Among U.S. banks least hurt by the crisis so far, JPMorgan Chase said its profit plunged 84 percent, while Wells Fargo & Co posted a 25 percent drop in earnings.
SIGNIFICANT THREAT
Asian stocks outside of Japan dropped nearly 8 percent after Wall Street suffered its worst one-day percentage declines since the stock market crash of 1987. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 7.87 percent, and the S&P 500 index lost 9 percent.
Europe's big stock markets were forecast by bookmakers to open lower by between 4.4 percent and 5.9 percent.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Thursday the selloff showed that investors believe the U.S. bank bailout plan may not be enough. A day earlier he said that a meeting of global financial leaders to address the crisis would be pointless without a fresh commitment to inject funds into banks.
"The markets are selling off stocks because investors still think the steps by U.S. authorities are not sufficient," he said.
Bernanke warned that credit market turmoil posed a "significant threat" to an already weak economy.
"By restricting flows of credit to households, businesses, and state and local governments, the turmoil in financial markets and the funding pressures on financial firms pose a significant threat to economic growth," Bernanke said.
Suggesting Federal Reserve's openness to further interest-rate cuts, Bernanke said concerns about inflation were diminishing. He said it would take time to restore normal flows of credit.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, which has clamped down on short-selling in response to violent swings in the market, late on Wednesday said big investors will be required to disclose their short positions under a new interim rule.
France, Germany and Britain called for leaders of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries to gather next month with the heads of emerging economies to consider a radical overhaul of the world's 60-year-old financial architecture.
The White House said G8 leaders were expected to meet this year on the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.
Governments around the world have pledged $3.2 trillion in emergency measures -- roughly an equivalent to the economic output of Germany or China -- including taking stakes in banks to help them stabilize, rallying world markets on Monday and Tuesday.
But optimism quickly gave way to fears that government intervention would not save major economies from recession.
"Last week people were panicking over the financial system, nobody really knew what would happen. But now it's the real economy," said Takashi Ushio, head of investment strategy at Marusan Securities in Tokyo.
GLOOMY OUTLOOK FROM FED
Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said latest readings on the U.S. economy have become more downbeat and the impact of a recent emergency interest rate cut had been "overwhelmed" by escalating mistrust among financial institutions unwilling to lend to one another.
The U.S. housing market has yet to hit bottom, and inventories of unsold homes are likely to remain high, Kohn said. It was probable the economy would remain "subpar" well into next year, gradually improving in late 2009 and 2010, he said.
As stocks around the world plunged, the dollar and safe haven assets such as gold and short term U.S. treasuries rose.
The U.S. government said retail sales fell 1.2 percent in September, the biggest monthly decline in three years, and wholesale prices slipped 0.4 percent.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus around the world; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
World worries as China growth slows
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/stories/200810/s2392302.htm
Updated Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:50pm AEST
As the credit crisis has spread over the past year, China has been viewed as an island of calm in the sea of financial turmoil. Its economy was seen as providing an export safety net for commodity suppliers like Australia. Now with its turbo charged growth slowing, how long can China hold out against the rapidly turning economic tide?
SNOWDON : Less than a week ago, Australia's Prime Minister was reassuring Australians the economy was well placed to withstand the financial crisis because of two main factors, the strength of the local well regulated banks and the strength of China. The surprise release of a seven billion US dollar economic stimulus package on Tuesday was a clear sign how quickly the ground has shifted. Kevin Rudd says the Government is preparing for a worsening of the storm.
That includes much slower growth in China. Bob Broadfoot is the Managing Director of the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy.
BROADFOOT: There's not an economy in the world unless its cut itself off like Burma that's going to be unscathed.
SNOWDON: Some economist are forecasting just 8 per cent growth for China next year, down from 12 last year. China too is taking action. Authorities have cut interest rates twice in a month. Policies that tried to limit the amount of hot money flowing into capital works have been partially reversed to boost investment. Yet businesses are closing, jobs are disappearing, house prices are falling, the stock market has lost half its value this year. Professor Zhang Jun, Director of the China Centre for Economic Studies at Fudan University says east coast companies are already suffering as exports shrink. 50% of toy manufacturers for example have closed this year, a combination of product recalls and lower demand.
ZHANG: And I'm sure we're going to see the beginning of industrial restructuring in factories especially in the export sector.
SNOWDON: China and the world is hoping domestic demand will fill the gap, a shift of profound proportions says Professor Zhang.
ZHANG: It is definitely going to produce a profound impact on the macro economy of China and on the global economy as well. Because the global economy definitely needs a shift in the large amount of demand from America, from Europe and onto Asian emerging markets. I think China is going to play a very important role.
SNOWDON : It's true the financial system has been protected from the global turmoil because it remains partially closed to the world. It also means more reforms are most likely to be put on hold. And in a sign China doesn't want to be caught unprepared, a new committee is being set up to monitor financial developments overseas and adjust economic policies. Confidence is especially low in housing and capital markets, and government action is needed to kick start them says Professor Zhang Jun
ZHANG: So we need to revital the capital market and the housing market to keep people's confidence in the Chinese economy because temporarily its been so bad you know its been declining very rapidly.
SNOWDON: Relying on a surge in domestic demand might be difficult. The government has a lot of money to spend on its big infrastructure projects. But the Chinese people are less keen to spend their money .especially in uncertain times, .they're the world's best savers, putting away 40 to 50 % of earnings. Plus the average annual income is also still only around 15-hundred US dollars.
BROADFOOT: They are the government's top priority right now. Its no longer fighting inflation That's what it can do to promote a more stable global economy
environment it to try and promote more growth in Chian So I think they'll be doing what they can to stimulate it at home.
SNOWDON : Bob Broadfoot sees real trouble ahead in China's housing market. He says a bubble is ready to burst, plus rising stockpiles of unsold cars and household goods like refrigerators spell bad news for commodities...and their suppliers like Australia. Definitely, .the change in demand in China at this particular point in the global environment will be a factor to cause those prices to nosedive in the next six months.
Myanmar lifts ban on some goods trading in border areas
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/16/content_10203455.htm
www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-16 11:50:53
YANGON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has lifted ban on some goods trading in the country's border areas with neighboring countries under a new policy of liberalizing the border trade, the local weekly 7-Day reported Thursday, quoting the Ministry of Commerce.
Of the 32 items of export goods prohibited before, rubber, sesame, sugarcane, rice, garlic, onion, chili, turmeric have been re-granted for trading across border.
Of the banned import goods previously, apple, pear, grape, cherry, sweet tamarind, palm have been permitted again for buying in, with sweet honey orange being limited to import only during non-harvesting season.
According to official figures, agricultural produces were Myanmar's second largest exports (1.14 billion U.S. dollars) after natural gas in the fiscal year 2007-08. The others are gem products, forest products and marine products.
Myanmar exported most to Asian countries and regions, having border trade with such neighboring countries as Thailand, China, India and Bangladesh.
Myanmar's foreign trade in 2007-08 stood at 8.851 billion U.S. dollars, of which the exports accounted for 6.043 billion dollars with agricultural produces contributing 18.8 percent of the total, while the imports represented 2.818 billion dollars registering a trade surplus of 3.225 billion dollars, statistics showed.
Of Myanmar's 11 leading exporting countries and region during the fiscal year, Thailand topped the list with 2.673 billion U.S. dollars, followed by India (719.45 million dollars), China's Hong Kong (649.43 million dollars), China (509.19 million dollars), Singapore (401 million dollars) and Japan (186.21 million dollars).
Myanmar's main export goods are natural gas, agricultural, marine, forestry and gem products, while its key import goods are machinery, crude oil, edible oil, pharmaceutical products, cement, fertilizer and consumers goods.
Myanmar's principal crops are paddy, beans and pulses, oil crops, cotton, sugarcane and culinary crops.
Editor: Xia
Myanmar plans Taninthayi, sees Yeywa two-thirds complete
http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=130&storyCode=2051219
15 October 2008
The Government of Myanmar has signed an agreement for the development of the Taninthayi hydro power plant, and said that the Yeywa scheme is two-thirds complete.
The Ministry of Electric Power No 1 signed an agreement with two firms, Italian-Thai Development Public Co and Wind Fall Energy Services, to develop the 600MW Taninthayi plant.
The Ministry has also reported that the 790MW Yeywa project on the Myitnge river is almost 66% complete overall, and the RCC dam construction is 96% finished.
Concrete placement for the 134m high dam, which will have a volume of approximately 2.4Mm3, is being done by China's Gezhouba Water and Power. Work began in February 2006 and a year ago more than 60% of the structure had been placed.
Voting in Myanmar and Other Oddities
http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=14315
The people of Myanmar (formerly Burma) are rarely allowed to vote, unless it's in a rigged election. So I've been watching with some interest throughout the campaign season as the U.S. Embassy has urged American residents there to be full participants in the U.S. presidential race.
The embassy has organized parties at the "American Club" — a posh colonial-style retreat in the Yangon suburbs — to watch the presidential (and, yes, vice-presidential) debates. The last one is happening soon, and the latest embassy "Warden Message" also urges Americans to cast their ballot at an old-school voting booth in the newly built embassy compound.
I don't recall similar measures from the American embassy when I was living in the Czech Republic during the 2000 presidential race. But it's no secret that the American government — particularly the Bush administration — are critics of the Myanmar junta. Is all of this a way of sticking it to the ruling generals, by reminding the locals that they don't share the same democratic rights as Americans?
Why do I care? I lived in Yangon for seven months in 2006, working under censorship at The Myanmar Times. And since I've lately been channeling my international experience for WW, I'm pasting below an email I received today from the U.S. Embassy in Yangon (which the State Department still insists on calling by its old colonial name, Rangoon).
FROM: ConsularRangoo@state.gov
Dear Registered American Citizens,
Given the interest in last Wednesday's Presidential debate, the U.S. Embassy's Consular Section is pleased to announce a taped viewing of the 3rd and final Presidential debate between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama at the American Club this Thursday, October 16th. The taped debate will begin at 6:00 p.m.
As a reminder, we will be conducting a "voting" day at the Embassy on October 17th, complete with a traditional voting booth. American citizens may come into the Embassy between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to complete their ballot and leave it at the Embassy for mailing on Monday, October 20th. You can also come to the Embassy on Monday morning, no later than 11:00 a.m. to cast your vote. All completed ballots should be mailed no later than October 20th in order for them to arrive in time to be counted for the election.
If we have not received your absentee ballot, you may use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot form, which the Consular section can provide. For more information on absentee voting, please see the information below.
Sincerely,
Warden Message: Final Reminder to VOTE!
American citizens should vote now in the November 4, 2008 presidential and general elections. If you registered to vote and requested an absentee ballot by your state's deadline, you should have already received your state absentee ballot. Please return your marked ballot now!
Ballot hasn't arrived?
If your ballot has not arrived, use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB). The FWAB serves as an emergency ballot for voters who registered in time but fail to receive an official ballot from local election officials. The FWAB is available at www.fvap.gov or from any U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
If your regular state ballot arrives after you have mailed the FWAB, complete and mail the state ballot as well.
Returning your ballot
Voted ballots and FWABs may be mailed to your local voting officials in the United States through first-class international mail or from any U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Last-minute voters should consider using an express courier company to deliver their ballots. A few states also accept completed ballots by fax or e-mail.
Questions?
The Voting Assistance Officer at the Embassy in Rangoon is available to answer questions about absentee voting. To contact the Voting Assistance Officer, call 536-509 extension 4240 or send an e-mail to Voterangoon@state.gov.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
ဒုိ ့သမုိင္းကုိ ------ဒုိ ့ပဲေရးရမယ္-BY-ကုိေန၀န္း ၊၊
ဒုိ ့သမုိင္းကုိ ------ဒုိ ့ပဲေရးရမယ္
ဆရာတုိ ့့ေရး ……
တခါတေလ စာဖတ္ရင္းနဲ ့ စာေရးခ်င္တဲ့စိတ္က ေပၚေတာ့လာတယ္။ ပ်င္းတဲ့စိတ္ဘက္က မ်ားေတာ့ မေရးျဖစ္ျပန္ဘူး ။
အခု ပ်င္းတဲ့စိတ္ေလး ဖယ္ၿပီးေရးလုိက္ဦ္းမယ္။
ေရးရမယ့္ အေၾကာင္းလုိ ့လည္းထင္တယ္၊ကုိယ္ကေတာ့ အျပည့္အ၀ကုိ
ေထာက္ခံတယ္ အားလည္းေပးတယ္။အမ်ားတကာကုိလည္း ေထာက္ခံအားေပး
ေစျခင္းတယ္။
ေရးမွာက ျမန္မာျပည္ႏုိင္ငံေရး အေၾကာင္းပါပဲ။
အဲတခုေတာ့ ႀကိဳေျပာပါရေစ၊ ကုိယ္ေရးတာက ျပည္သူတေယာက္အေနနဲ႔ ျမင္တာ ၾကားတာ ႀကံဳတာေတြအေပၚကေန ေရးတာပါ ၊
သိလြန္း တတ္လြန္းလုိ ့မဟုတ္ပါဘူး။
ဒီလုိ …..
အခုUNမွာ စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရကုိ တရား၀င္အစုိးရ မဟုတ္ေၾကာင္း၊ ျမန္မာလူထုကုိ ကုိယ္စားမျပဳေၾကာင္း၊ ဒါေၾကာင့္ UNမွာရွိတဲ့ စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရရဲ ့ ကုိယ္စားလွယ္ေနရာကုိ ဖယ္ရွားဖုိ ့အတြက္ ျပည္ပကုိေရာက္ေနတဲ့ ၉၀ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲ အႏုိင္ရ အမတ္မ်ားကလုပ္ေနၾကတယ္၊ ဒါတကယ့္္ကုိ လုပ္သင့္လုပ္ရမယ့္ အလုပ္ပဲ၊ ကုိယ္တုိ ့ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံဟာ ၁၉၆၂ ခုႏွစ္က စ,လုိ ့တရားမ၀င္တဲ့ စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရေတြ အဆက္ဆက္ အုပ္ခ်ဳပ္လာတာ ကေန႔အထိပဲ။
ဒီစစ္အာဏာရွင္္အစုိးရေတြဟာ တရား၀င္အစုိးရမဟုတ္တာ လူတုိင္းကသိၾကေပမယ့္၊
အခုလုိမ်ိဳး UN မွာတရား၀င္ ႏုိင္ငံတကာကုိ တင္ျပႏုိင္ျခင္းက ပထမဆုံးပဲ ၊ ဒီလုိတင္ျပႏုိင္ျခင္းကလည္း စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစိုးရက သူတုိ ့ကုိယ္တုိင္ လုပ္ေပးခဲ့တဲ့ ၉၀ ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲမွာ ျပည္သူမ်ားက တခဲနက္
ေရြးခ်ယ္ေပးထားလို႔ အႏိုင္ရကုိယ္စားလွယ္မ်ားထဲက တခ်ိဳ ့ ျပည္ပကုိေရာက္
လာႏုိင္တဲ့ အတြက္ေၾကာင့္လည္း ျဖစ္္တယ္။
ျပည္တြင္းကေန ဒီလုိမ်ိဳးလုပ္ႏုိင္ဖို ့ဆုိတာ အေတာ္ကုိ မလြယ္တဲ့ကိစၥ မဟုတ္လား။
UNက ဒီကိစၥတင္ျပတဲ့အေပၚ လက္ခံၿပီး ေဆြးေႏြးခဲ့ အဆင့္ကုိုေရာက္တယ္ အ
တုိင္းအတာ တခုအထိေတာ့ ေအာင္ျမင္ ထိေရာက္သြားခဲတယ္ အခ်က္အ
လက္ မျပည့္စုံေသးတဲ့ အတြက္ အပယ္ခံခဲ့ရတာက တပုိင္းေပါ့၊
ေနာက္တႀကိမ္ က်ရင္ အခုတေခါက္ရဲ ့လုိအပ္တဲ့ဟာေတြကုိျပည့္
စုံေအာင္ျပင္ဆင္ၿပီး တင္သြင္းႏုိင္ခဲ့ရင္ေတာ ့အက်ိဳးရလာဒ္ေတြၿဖစ္ေပၚလာပါလိမ့္မယ္။
ဒီလုိျဖစ္ေအာင္ အခုဒီကိစၥလုပ္ေနၾကတဲ့ လူႀကီးေတြကုိ ကုိယ္တုိ ့ေတြ
၀ုိင္းရံဖုိ ့လုိအပ္တယ္၊ကုိယ္တတ္ႏုိင္တဲ့ဟာ ျဖည့္ဆည္းေပးဖုိ ့လုိ
တယ္ ။
ဒါမွာပဲ စစ္အာဏာရွင္္အုပ္စုက အမ်ိဳးသားရင့္ၾကားေစ့ အေျခခံျဖစ္တဲ့ ေတြ ့ဆုံ ့ေဆြးေႏြးေရးဘက္ကုုိ ဦးလွည့္လာမယ္။
စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရဟာ ဘယ္တုန္းကမွ တရား၀င္ အစုိးရမဟုတ္ခဲ့ဘူး၊
စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရဟာ ဘယ္တုန္းကမွ ရဟန္းျပည္သူေက်ာင္းသားမ်ား၏
ဆႏၵ သေဘာထားမ်ားကုိ အေလး္မထားခဲ့ဘူး၊
စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရဟာ ဘယ္တုန္းကမွ တရားဥပေဒကုိ ေလးစားလုိက္နာရ
မွန္းမသိခဲ့ဘူး၊
စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရဟာ ဘယ္တုန္းကမွ တုိင္းရင္းသားျပည္သူမ်ားတြက္ ေကာင္းက်ိဳးမ်ားကုိ မေဆာင္ရြက္ခဲ့ဘူး၊
ဒါေၾကာင့္ စစ္အာဏာရွင္အစုိးရဟာ ဒုိ ့တေတြကုိ အုပ္ခ်ဳပ္ရမယ့္ အစုိးရမ်ိဳး မဟုတ္ဘူး၊
သမုိင္းေပးတာ၀န္ တရပ္ အေနနဲ ့ဒုိ ့ျပည္သူေတြက ဒီစစ္အာဏာရွင္ေတြကုိ
ဒုိ ့တုိင္းျပည္ကေန ဖယ္ရွားပစ္ရမယ္။
၉၀ေရြးေကာက္ပြဲအႏုိင္ရ အမတ္မ်ားရဲ ့UN ကေန အခု ေဆာင္
ရြက္မႈမ်ား အေပၚ အေလးထားပူးေပါင္းေဆာင္ရြက္ျခင္းေထာက္ခံအားေပးျခင္းျျဖင့္ ဒုိ ့ရဲဲ ့သမုိင္းမွတ္ေက်ာက္ကုိ တင္ၾကပါစုိ ့ ။
ကုိေန၀န္း ၊၊
Flow of Capital to China Slows Sharply
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122400533456933005.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
BEIJING -- Capital flows into China have slowed sharply and even reversed in recent months, according to official data that reflect how the financial crisis has disheartened investors and disrupted banks in this fast-growing nation.
The inflow shift is part of the dramatic turnaround in China's economic situation in the past few months. Earlier this year, China's currency was surging against the dollar, helping to draw tens of billions of investor dollars into the country. Policy makers fretted about whether the speculative inflows were large enough to destabilize the financial system.
Now, the Chinese currency, the yuan, has barely budged against the dollar for two months, leading many investors to unwind bets on its continued appreciation. The property market and export sector, key drivers of recent growth, seem to be deteriorating rapidly. Investors have noticed.
On Tuesday, China's central bank published figures showing its foreign-exchanges reserves -- the world's largest -- rising to $1.906 trillion at the end of September from $1.809 trillion at the end of June. But the pace of increases has slowed and the new funds seem to trail what trade and corporate investment are bringing into the country.
"I think it's pretty certain that we are seeing an outflow of capital at this stage," said Glenn Maguire, Asia economist for Société Générale in Hong Kong. However, he said, "what we are seeing is an unwinding of the hot money flows that occurred earlier in the year, rather than outright capital flight."
The new figures suggest China saw very limited, if any, inflows of speculative capital -- sometimes called "hot money" -- in July and August. And analysts estimate that anywhere from $10 billion to $25 billion left the country in September, just as the financial crisis intensified.
China's banks remain flush with cash even amid the strains affecting other nations' financial systems. Few signs exist of a credit crunch. China's large trade surpluses -- which hit a monthly record of $29.37 billion in September -- continue to push large quantities of dollars into the financial system.
Officials say they are sanguine. "The impact of this crisis on China is limited and controllable. We are confident we can maintain the stability of China's financial markets." Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday in a telephone conversation with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, according to a statement by China's foreign ministry.
Part of the slowdown in reserve accumulation is likely due to the recent rally of the dollar. Since China's reserves are reported in dollars, the value of its nondollar holdings has been shrinking. But currency moves don't explain all of the changes, and there were unusual strains in China's markets in September.
"This outflow likely reflected foreign financial institutions attempting to repatriate capital and hoard dollar liquidity in the midst of the credit crisis," said Logan Wright of Stone & McCarthy Research Associates in Beijing.
Even if it has slowed, the continued increase in China's foreign-exchange reserves is welcome news for the U.S. at the moment. It indicates Chinese demand remains for the Treasury debt that is being used to finance efforts to rescue the financial system. While there has been grumbling within China about the low returns on that investment, many observers don't expect the reserves to be switched away from the U.S. on a large scale.
"China is losing a bit of money investing in U.S. Treasurys, given the dollar is depreciating in a long-term trend," Erh-fei Liu, Merrill Lynch's China chairman, said in Beijing. The alternative is worse, he said: "If China stops buying Treasurys, the U.S. will stop importing from China, and that'll hurt China demand and that'll be a loss-loss situation for both countries."
Write to Andrew Batson at andrew.batson@wsj.com
Japan’s National Security in Question: Nuclear Deterrence
http://www.thenewargument.com/?p=393
October 13, 2008
The Bush administration removed North Korea, the isolated country ruled by an erratic leader playing with fire(arms), from its blacklist last weekend. Recently elected Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has opposed the United States’ decision, as Pyongyang’s abductions of Japanese citizens are unresolved. However, he admitted yesterday that he understood why the United States removed North Korea from its list of terrorists “considering it would be better to do something about (the nuclear issue) than not doing anything.”.
Why isn’t Japan taking a solid stance against the United States’ lenient reaction to North Korea? Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world—isn’t it time for it to form its own militia and obtain its own nuclear weapon?
The debate on whether it is in Japan’s national interest to obtain nuclear weapons and anti-ballistic missiles has erupted once again in reaction to North Korea’s eccentric behavior. This has been a reoccurring phenomenon in Japan after North Korea’s first nuclear test in October of 2006, which put the balance of power in Asia in question and raised previously unprecedented concerns about and Japan’s reliance on the United States for security. To nuclearize or not to nuclearize… that is the question.
There are more reasons and benefits for Japan to not go nuclear than to add itself to the list of nuclear states. The majority of Japanese citizens see themselves already protected by U.S.’s nuclear umbrella over Japan. Furthermore, Japan faces many factors that limit it from exercising the full potential of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) that deter them from going nuclear.
First, Japan is an important country that has signed and ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). By pulling out of the treaty as North Korea did in early 2003, Japan’s credibility as a peaceful, respected nation will suffer. Japan cannot allow itself to be lowered to the same standards as the rogue state.
Secondly, the consideration of Japan building a nuclear arsenal strikes a nerve for Japanese citizens, for of course, Japan is the sole country in the world which has experienced the horrors that nuclear weapons can inflict. Should such a nation pull down the blinds on the disasters history demonstrated and create the monster which brought so much pain to its own people? A decision to own nuclear weapons will be hypocritical and would bend the laws of order—Japan will throw away its dignity, and its symbolic implications will likely spur other nations to create their own WMD. Eventually, Japan’s constitutional promise of “aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order” by “forever renouncing war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” will be broken.
Furthermore, Japan cannot practice MAD theory because of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki devastations it experienced. The country vowed never to point their guns to another country again—let alone WMD. Ethical issues that arise from this debate often surpass any reasoning that supports the nuclear armament of Japan. This is reflected in the the Japanese constitutional law’s famous article 9, which cites that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained”, and that “the right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.” It is clear that under the current constitution, attaining nuclear bombs is out of the question. This is why Japan relies solely on the protection provided by the U.S.’s nuclear umbrella.
Some argue that the Japanese constitution is outdated and should be changed to allow Japan to own their own militia for their own protection, as the previous Japanese Prime Minster, Shinzo Abe advocated. But the Japanese have experienced the luxury of living in peace— getting away with just providing financial support while other countries sacrificed lives and provided military support. Japan has been taking a back seat for the past 60 years, and a large number of Japanese citizens have grown rather fond of the seat.
Japan is quite possibly the only country that can pull this off—not owning a military, but remaining secure. All it needs to do for nuclear deterrence is occasionally allow U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarines through the ports of Japan to subtly notify the rest of the world (especially North Korea) that the protective umbrella is open at all times. It just means that U.S.-Japan alliance is essential for Japan’s national security.
Japan’s foreign policy regarding nuclear deterrence is therefore quite simple: all Japan needs to do is to demonstrate the strong diplomatic relations with the United States. And as Japan is one of the United States’ most dependable and trusted ally in Asia, this alliance is here to stay. Considering Japan’s history, the current constitutional status, and the people’s emotional state, this is the ultimate peaceful form of nuclear deterrence that only Japan can slip by with. The only thing Japan has left to do is to hope that Kim Jong Il is not so capricious that he tests the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Japan central bank ups dollar credits for banks
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_CENTRAL_BANK_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's central bank said Tuesday it had expanded the scope of its agreement with the U.S. Federal Reserve, allowing it to provide more cash to financial institutions to keep money markets operating smoothly.
The Bank of Japan said it had revised a dollar-yen swap agreement with the Federal Reserve and will now offer an unlimited amount of dollars to banks and other financial institutions operating in Japan. The previous limit was US$120 billion.
The BOJ also left its main short-term interest rate unchanged at 0.5 percent.
The announcement brings Japan's central bank in line with its global peers. On Monday, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank jointly announced they would also provide unlimited short-term dollar funding.
The moves are part of an effort by the global central banks to keep cash flowing in money markets by providing a steady source of dollars.
The BOJ had said previously it was considering the move. It also revised margin and interest rates, all "with the aim of ensuring stability in financial markets," according to a statement.
Japan's central bank made the announcement after an emergency meeting Tuesday night.
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Has Japan suffered a diplomatic defeat?
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081015TDY03104.htm
Hiroshi Yumoto and Takeo Miyazaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
The United States' removal of North Korea from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism--symbolically significant but with little immediate impact on Washington-Pyongyang relations--has come as a major psychological blow to Japan. People both inside and outside the government have said the delisting is tantamount to a "diplomatic defeat" for Japan, brought about in part by a domestic political vacuum.
===
Criticism mounting
"I was extremely shocked [by the U.S. decision to remove North Korea from the blacklist], as Japan would never agree to such a move," Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said in Washington on Saturday.
Nakagawa's remark came during talks Saturday with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank heads, who had convened to address the global financial market crisis.
According to Nakagawa's close aides who accompanied him on his U.S. trip, the minister was keen to voice strong unease over the decision on behalf of the Japanese families whose relatives were abducted by North Korea.
Takeo Hiranuma, an independent who previously served as economy, trade and industry minister and currently heads a suprapartisan Diet members league to seek a resolution to the abductions, said to reporters in Honjo, Saitama Prefecture, on Sunday, "[The government] must resolutely pass on its message [to the United States]."
Acting President Naoto Kan of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan lambasted the government the same day at a press conference in Tokyo, saying, "The government's lack of a solid diplomatic strategy [on the abduction issue] has resulted in the U.S. decision to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in an extraordinarily untimely fashion."
Apparently in response to these opinions, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, concurrently in charge of the abduction issue, said, "We believe all those people concerned about the abductees are deeply anxious [about the U.S. delisting]."
The chief government spokesman added, "The government is determined that the abduction issue will not be swept under the carpet."
Prime Minister Taro Aso and the Foreign Ministry, for their part, have said the U.S. decision was anticipated and that the delisting will not adversely impact Tokyo's efforts to settle the abduction issue.
However, while U.S. President George W. Bush was pondering the best time to announce the delisting following the White House's completion of procedures in August to obtain congressional approval for the decision, Tokyo failed to prompt Bush to press Japan's stand on the problem.
This was primarily due to domestic political turmoil in Japan in the wake of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's abrupt announcement to step down in September.
But the new incumbent, Aso, apparently had no leeway to focus on the abduction issue immediately after assuming the top government post, as he reportedly was busy laying the ground to dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election immediately after the formation of his Cabinet.
===
Sanctions vs assistance
The government must continue pursuing a resolution of the abduction issue. However, given Tokyo's increasingly weak hand, applying economic and financial sanctions against North Korea to prompt action from Pyongyang might prove difficult.
The government's basic stand of seeking a "comprehensive solution to North Korea's abduction, nuclear and missile problems prior to a full-fledged normalization of relations" between Tokyo and Pyongyang, has not changed.
The policy of extending economic aid to North Korea as envisioned for the final stage of the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions "only in the event of the abduction issue being brought to a solution" has remained similarly unaltered.
During the six-party talks, however, it was agreed that North Korea would be provided with a package of energy assistance measures once the current second phase of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is completed.
But at a meeting in July of chief negotiators to the six-party talks, Japan said it would only participate in the assistance package "if the conditions for doing so are met."
The energy aid issue is a double-edged sword for this country: It could act as leverage to pressurize Pyongyang into addressing the abductions, but it also could force Tokyo into a corner over the abduction issue.
In light of the decision to remove North Korea from the blacklist, the bulk of the international community might tilt in favor of a conciliatory approach toward Pyongyang. If this comes to pass, pressure likely will be brought to bear on Japan to play a part in the energy assistance package as early as possible.
When the international community boosts assistance to North Korea, Japan's unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang, such as a ban on North Korean-registered vessels entering Japanese ports, will be enervated.
Tokyo's sanctions are designed to be partially lifted when North Korea acts on a promise to reinvestigate the abduction cases, something it has repeatedly postponed.
If the international community softens its stance toward Pyongyang, the North will be less inclined to launch a reinvestigation in exchange for a "carrot" from Japan. Even if North Korea launches a new probe, there is no way of knowing if it will abide by its promise, having already received "assistance" from the United States.
Aso, known for his hard-line stance on North Korea, is reportedly apprehensive about adopting a weak position toward Pyongyang in light of the looming general election. Under these circumstances, Aso's administration likely will be hard pushed to find an effective way to cope with the situation.
(Oct. 15, 2008)
Asean Will Remain Low Priority For U.S
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=364421
BANGKOK, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Whether Barack Obama or John McCain becomes the next US President, Asean has to accept the fact that it will remain a low priority in the world super power's foreign policy despite the two candidates' past links to the region, a Thai-US Think-Tank Summit was told today.
Manu Bhaskaran of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said his view was based on the changing nature of economies and political scenarios between the US and the 10-member Asean, as well as the depleting resources that the former could deploy to the region.
"My view is sober but we have to accept the fact that we are not their (US) highest priority but what we are asking are rational favours. Instead of ad hoc assistance, as well as investments coming down in recent years, the US can help by investing in areas like infrastructures," he said during a session on "US-Asean Relations with a New White House and Congress".
Bhaskaran said the US was becoming less and less relevant to Asean in terms of trade, citing Thailand's export to the country, which dropped by half and accounts for only 10 per cent in the last 10 years while foreign direct investment to the region was way below Japan and the Europe.
"Not only are the direct ties weakening, the US is also falling in many areas, such as there is no Free Trade Agreement with Asean. With the financial crisis in the US which will affect employment and the people, the attitude towards foreign policy would also change and the next Congress, which could be under Democrats, will look inward and favour protectionism," he said.
McCain, the Republican candidate, was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam war while his Democrat rival, Obama, grew up in Indonesia.
Bhaskaran said that despite the current shortcomings, the US should focus more attention on Asean and take a leaf from China which had huge interest around the world but never neglected the region and was always represented by its prime minister and foreign minister at the annual Asean Summit.
"We are low priority, unless one Asean country embarks on a nuclear programme or block the Straits of Melaka (jokingly). It's important that the US focus on a few things with their limited resources," he said.
Peter Manikas, Asia Programmes Director at the National Democratic Institute, said both Obama and McCain did not touch on Asean during their ongoing campaigns as their focus was more on conflict areas like Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Iraq and Afghanistan will drain resources from other parts of the world. Obama had said that he would cut foreign aid...it's most vulnerable and always the first victim of fiscal policy," he added.
Dr Catharin Dalpino, Director of Thai Studies Programme at Georgetown University, said it was good that the region had no prominent place in both candidates' campaign trails as it would be difficult for them to keep to any promise made once in office.
However, she said ,the new administration would be facing several key issues related to US-Asean ties, particularly whether to sign the Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) and whether to seek entry into the East Asia Summit (EAS).
As to dissatisfaction over the lack of participation of high-ranking US government officials in Asean-related meetings, Dr Dalpino said the Asia Pacific Cooperation (Apec) Summit to be hosted by Singapore in 2009 could be a good platform for the new US President to engage closely with the region, including making official visits to member countries during the period.
Asia Foundation vice-chairman Dr Harry Harding said that while the financial crisis in the US could further affect its engagement in the region, the diverse political structure would also continue to pose a problem for its relations with Asean.
"It's a question of how the US wants to engage and maintain balanced ties with each Asean country that has its own political structure. For instance, the question of Myanmar...if the US signs the treaty, is it in any way accepting the legitimacy of the Myanmar government?
"And if the US seeks membership in EAS, what price do we have to pay and what is the benefit? said Harding.
-- BERNAMA
Thai Woodworking Industry Exploits Burma Migrants
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0810/S00300.htm
Wednesday, 15 October 2008, 11:29 am
Press Release: International Trade Union Confederation
International Trade Union Confederation
ITUC OnLine
178/131008
Spotlight Interview with Htat Khoung (AWU, Burma)
Undocumented Burmese Migrant Woodworkers Are Exploited in the Thai Woodworking Industry
Htat Khoung, aged 26, is an undocumented Burmese (ethnic Arakan) woodworker in Mae Sot, Thailand. As Secretary of the Arakan Workers’ Union (AWU), which is affiliated to the Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), he is fighting to improve exploitative working conditions for thousands of undocumented Burmese workers in the Mae Sot border area, which is home to an estimated 350,000 Burmese refugees and exiles.
He denounces, as one example, the working conditions in the Taiwanese factory “V.C.”, which exports throughout South East Asia and Japan.
What sort of problems are workers facing in the wood and furniture factories in the Mae Sot area?
We left our country because we couldn’t find work. We arrived here illegally and the owner of the factory is aware of this, so he takes the opportunity of breaking our labour rights. He knows the economic condition of our country is not good and he knows that he can pay us the lowest wages possible because we are illegal.
Actually they don’t consider us to be human beings. They order us to do whatever they want. Sometimes when we are working, they sexually harass the women workers. Sometimes they beat us. And when the owner sees that a worker is not working, he shouts and uses very bad language.
Please tell us more about this intimidation
In one factory in Chanburi (an industrial area of Mae Sot), the owner shot dead a worker who wouldn’t listen to him. In other factories workers are handcuffed, arrested and jailed by police after being falsely accused of theft. Some owners hire street fighters to beat workers.
Last year, two sisters at the Ban Thiyai knitting factory went to the owner and resigned. The next day they went back to the factory to take their belongings. The owner followed them down the road in his car and tried to run them over. The sisters ran into a field to escape. The owner got out of his car and chased them and then started to beat them. He was trying to kill them. But another worker saw what was going on and shouted out. The sisters escaped. Otherwise they would have been killed.
Please tell us about health and safety conditions in the workplace
We get nothing for protection. In the cutting section when the workers cut a piece of wood, they have a mask covering their noses, but because of the machine’s vibration, wood particles get into their eyes and sometimes they cut their fingers because they do not have gloves.
When they go to the owner with a cut finger, the owner blames them and says they are not working carefully. When the workers ask for protective gear, the owner says he is ready to pay Thai Bhatt 280 (around US$9) compensation. The money is the same whether you cut one finger or four. Workers have no choice: we have to work there.
Is it true that the “V.C” factory, which is located on the outskirts of Mae Sot and employs up to 2000 undocumented Burmese migrants( depending on the number of orders in the books), exports its furniture products? Have you ever seen any foreign buyers at the factory?
Yes, it’s true. Here, some English-speaking foreigners, Chinese and Thai, including Americans, come to the factory before exporting. They only look for the production quality. They never ask about the workers’ conditions.
Is there child labour at the factory?
Yes. Children also work in the factory because the parents get their wages on the basis of the quantity produced by each worker. If they work without children, they get only Thai Bhatt 60 a day (about US$2). This money is not enough to live on, so they have to take their children with them to work. Some of the children are only eight- or nine-years-old.
How difficult is it to organise and form trade unions in the factories?
It is very difficult and dangerous. In almost all the factories all the owners do the same thing. The owner does not allow the worker to join any organisation outside the factory, as he is afraid that the worker will come to know about workers rights. If the worker knows his rights, then the owners believe they will have less profit.
Is there any smuggling of wood over the border from Burma?
Yes, there is a connection between Burma and Thailand for trade. There is a driver who brings the wood from Burma, for which he gets his commission. The wood is brought in a container from the other (Burmese) side. Some bosses have connections with the police. Many times they bribe the police. When the police get their money, they allow anything to happen. They only want money, so they allow wood to be smuggled – no problem.
How do you see the future for Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot?
We came here because of the bad policies of our government and the bad economic situation. Here, the factory owners exploit our workers. Sometimes they don’t get any money for their work. Sometimes the workers lose their lives. Young workers’ lives are ruined. Some girls are sent to brothels. Some workers are murdered out in the fields.
All of us workers have no security. In Thailand we live a life of fear. We are afraid of the employers, the police and the street thugs. We are afraid of being robbed in the street. We don’t dare to even hit a Thai dog. If we hit a dog, they’ll shoot us. A dog is valued more than us. Therefore, we have no security, not here, nor in our own country. We are like orphans. We daren’t even show our face in a crowd. The police look down on us. We are a lost generation.
In the future we need two things. We need freedom in our Burmese homeland, and we need a strong union. These things will protect our workers.
Interview and pictures David Browne
See also Spotlight Interview with Burmese migrant fishermen (Burma/Indonesia), “Abandoned/Runaway Burmese Migrant Fishermen”.
http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article2456
ENDS
The ITUC represents 168 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. http://www.ituc-csi.org http://www.youtube.com/ITUCCSI
Asean+3 to set up standby liquidity fund
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=131434
Manila - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and partners Japan, China and South Korea agreed to set up a regional standby liquidity fund to deal with the global economic woes, according to Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
She said the World Bank confirmed that it will initially contribute $10 billion to the fund, in a bid to prevent the global economic crisis from damaging the East Asian economy.
"The facility can be used to purchase what the bankers call toxic assets and recapitalise troubled financial institutions and private companies," the president said.
Asean includes Thailand, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. (Agencies)
Where writers work under fear of arrest
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/27310/where-writers-work-under-fear-arrest
Wed, 15 Oct 2008
Opinion
Penelope Todd highlights the plight of dissident writers in Myanmar (Burma).
It's a year since the monks marched in Myanmar (Burma), leading protests against the military government's removal of fuel subsidies, which doubled the price and put the daily bus fare beyond the reach of most citizens.
Cyclone Nargis has come and gone, as has the daily news from that country.
Only now and then does it strike me how fortunate I am in New Zealand to be able to read, write and do pretty much anything I please.
I don't need to stifle impulses towards learning, discussing anything under the sun and being who I am. It's not so in Myanmar.
One of the privileges of attending writers' residencies overseas in recent years has been to meet those taking brief stints away from the tricky ambience of their own countries.
I met Hnin Se last year in Iowa where we were participants on the three-month International Writers Programme. At home in Myanmar, Hnin Se's journalistic and allegorical writings had all been self-censored or encrypted before they passed under the scrutiny of (and were altered by) government censors.
They were further censored according to her publishers' justifiable caution.
In Iowa, Hnin Se's warm smile and gentle manner quickly won her friends - friendships cemented by shared stories and the tears, suppressed at home, which now fell almost daily.
Tears of relief at being in a peaceful place, of fear for her friends and family, of insomnia, and sorrow for her country, as news came in over September/October of the monk-led demonstrations, then of colleagues, comrades and friends imprisoned and tortured.
Hnin Se's apparently fragile frame is deceptive.
She was imprisoned, herself, for a year in 1991, after she distributed poems protesting the Government's refusal to let opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize, travel to Oslo.
Hnin Se was arrested and sent to Insein, spending the first months on death row.
While in Iowa, she was warned from Myanmar not to come home when the programme ended in November. She was likely to be arrested at the airport, before she had a chance to take her two young children in her arms. She wavered and waited, but in December went home.
There her work as a journalist soon dried up, as any but government publications found it too risky to carry on.
She busied herself, unpaid, working for three monk-administered primary schools, each catering for hundreds of students whose families can't afford the fees for government-run schools.
Unfortunately, her four fellow organisers had been imprisoned so she carried on alone, knowing she was under surveillance and could be arrested at any time.
Writing this article, I've tried to hunt out the online chats we've exchanged since Iowa, but Hnin Se has had to delete them behind us in ongoing efforts to fox government vigilance.
In early May came Cyclone Nargis.
Hnin Se's first letter from Yangon (Rangoon), where she lives, talked about the numbers of people dead or lost and of damage to her house: "Only boiling rice and salt but not enough. We also didn't have clean water and enough food but better than victims".
Each day, she and her husband loaded their car with donated food to drive out into the flood zone and further by boat. She sent me photographs of bodies still floating days after they had drowned.
Months after the cyclone, this work is not finished, the Government having all but abandoned its token efforts to give aid.
New Zealand Pen Inc, the international arm of the Society of Authors, is writing letters of protest to the Myanmar Government on behalf of two writers imprisoned in June this year in Yangon.
From the NZ Pen Writers in Prison newsletter: "Zargana, leading comedian, poet and opposition activist, was arrested on the evening of June 4, 2008, after police raided his home in Yangon. Some linked his arrest with his private relief efforts to deliver aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis"
Zaw Thet Htwe, journalist, was arrested on June 13, 2008, while visiting his sick mother in the town of Minbu, central Burma, and transferred to an interrogation centre in Yangon ...
"Thet Htwe had been working with comedian Zargana and other leading Burmese figures to deliver aid and support to the victims of Cyclone Nargis."
If found guilty they face up to 15 years in prison.
To understand what is happening to Hnin Se these days, I try to read between the lines of her emails.
I find myself replying in curt leaden code that I hope will cause no offence.
Her story may be found, among others, in the August 25 New Yorker online: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/08/25/080825fafactpacker
Penelope Todd is a Dunedin writer.
Brisk trade in tiger parts in Myanmar, says WWF
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jJCPo4DoPLtif0eYrnAmbhwQsuPw
Young vendors sorting out their wares
Brisk trade in tiger parts in Myanmar, says WWF
PARIS (AFP) — Skins, claws and bones from at least 1,158 tigers and other protected big cats have been spotted in open markets in Myanmar during surveys conducted over the last 18 years, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report.
More than half came from five species banned from international trade, among them four species listed at threatened with extinction.
The tally included more than 100 tigers, whose numbers in the wild have dwindled to a few thousand worldwide, according to conservation experts.
"This can only be the tip of the iceberg," said Chris Shepherd, who coordinated the investigation carried out by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network supported by WWF.
"The cats were openly displayed for sale and the dealers quite frank about the illegality of the trade, which suggests a serious lack of law enforcement," he said in a statement.
Three of four markets monitored in a dozen surveys -- the most recent in late 2006 -- are located on borders with China and Thailand, with prices quoted in Chinese yuan, Thai baht and US dollars.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is plagued with corruption, and was ranked in September as one of the world's two most corrupt nations by watchdog group Transparency International.
Yangon is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and thus is legally bound by its provisions.
"The sale of endangered cat parts ... is an appalling and brazen violation of the law in Myanmar and should not be tolerated," said Susan Lieberman, director of the WWF's wildlife programme.
"Most of these species have very low population numbers and will not be able to withstand the amount of poaching that is feeding this trade."
Parts of rare mammals -- especially the penis and bones -- are used in traditional Chinese medicine to enhance sexual potency or health.
Four of the big cats whose parts were for sale figure on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List as threatened with extinction: the tiger, the clouded leopard, the marbled cat and the Asiatic golden cat.
Along with a fifth, the leopard, they are all banned from international trade by CITES.
While most of the specimens from these five species were found in surveys during the 1990s, more than 120 turned up after 2000, showing that the illegal trade is still going strong, the report concluded.
Hosted by Copyright © 2008 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
An Air of Halitosis
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/5228/an-air-of-halitosis/
An Air of Halitosis
If bad breath is in the air and it belongs to you, your digestion system may be trying to tell you something about your general health. Read on to find out what halitosis can mean and how to freshen your breath.
Causes of Halitosis
The gums and the mouth are an extension of the digestive system, and according to traditional Chinese medicine, they represent the condition of the stomach.
Emotions play a role, as well. Excess anger, frustration, and worry can disturb the digestive rhythms, causing food to stagnate and ferment and contributing to bacteria overgrowth and bad breath. Certain foods such as garlic and onion contain volatile oils and sulfur compounds that give off their unpleasant odor.
Diet Do's and Don'ts for Clearing Up Bad Breath
Do's: To prevent bad breath and the gum diseases that cause bad breath, eat a varied diet that includes plenty of fresh fruits, leafy vegetables, organic lean meats, and whole grains. Also change the way you eat. Chew each bite well, eat more meals with smaller portions throughout the day, and never skip a meal. Drinking lots of room temperature water is also helpful.
Don'ts: Avoid sugars, refined processed foods, and highly acidic foods. Alcohol, coffee, as well as hot, spicy and greasy foods produce bad breath. Carbonated drinks and sour acidic foods should be avoided because they can cause imbalances in the oral pH balance and damage the teeth.
Remedies to Combat Bad Breath
Nothing replaces brushing teeth on a regular basis as a preventive for gum disease. Always brush before and after meals and before and after sleep. Rinse thoroughly and use mouthwash, warm salt water, or diluted food grade hydrogen peroxide as an antibacterial mouth rinse.
Drink green tea often; it is a great antibacterial and can cleanse the oral cavity and helps reduce fermentation.
Make your own mouthwash by mixing equal parts of sage, peppermint, and mint oils in a glass of lukewarm water. Stir well and use it to rinse your mouth.
Folic acid as mouthwash and in capsules has been shown to prevent and heal gum disease, which causes bad breath. As mouthwash use 0.1 percent solution; as capsules take four mg daily.
Chlorophyll (found in alfalfa) combats bad breath by helping clear toxins from the body.
Acidophilus replenishes the "friendly" bacteria in the colon. And by aiding digestion, it may also prevent bad breath.
Chew on or drink a tea made from anise, cloves, fennel, and parsley. These are helpful herbs for eliminating bad breath. Other good herbal treatments for gum disease include bloodroot, caraway, Echinacea, sage oil, peppermint, menthol, and myrrh.
I hope this advice gives you a fresh perspective on breath! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.
May you live long, live strong, and live happy!
-Dr. Mao
Apples: The Live Longer Fruit
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/15960/apples-the-live-longer-fruit/
By Dr. Maoshing Ni Provided by: Dr. Mao's Secrets of Longevity
Apples: The Live Longer Fruit
The beginning of autumn means that we're entering apple season, which will be a time of cider, desserts, and the crisp, wholesome goodness of the fruit freshly picked from your local orchard. Apples have been a staple of healthy eating for many years, and the often-repeated line of an apple a day keeping the doctor away is far from a myth. Apples really do have a wonderful variety of nutritional benefits, and are a tasty addition to any diet of good health and longevity.
Of all of the fruits we eat, apples are the best source of pectin, a natural fiber that has several health benefits. Apples also contain phytochemicals, quercetin, tannins, and antioxidants, all of which have different healthy properties. Below is a list of the top five benefits of making apples a standard part of your daily diet.
1. Apples improve the bowels. Pectin is a source of dietary fiber and a very handy nutrient to have in one's diet. While it is also found in citrus fruits, plums, and other fruits, apples have the highest concentration of them all. Pectin works to increase the stool's volume and resistance of fluids and is therefore helpful in treating constipation, diarrhea, and generally improving the health of the bowels. Studies have also found that apple pectin reduces the incidence of colon tumors, and that has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
2. Apples lower cholesterol. A study on nutrition and heart disease found that eating three apples a day for three months can help you to drop your cholesterol by at least 20 points. How does this happen? Apple pectin, that miraculous source of dietary fiber, helps to draw bad LDL cholesterol out of the system. Not only that, but the antioxidant quercetin that is found in apples inhibits the LDL cholesterol from even accumulating in the body's bloodstream. When it comes to lowering one's cholesterol, apples provide a cocktail of nutritional benefits that are hard to pass up.
3. Apples reduce the risk of cancer. Apples do not stop at merely preventing colon cancer. The high amounts of quercetin, other flavonoids, and phytochemicals found in this fruit deliver potent antioxidant activity to all who eat an apple, and with that inhibit the actions of free radicals. In addition, the phytochemicals may act against carcinogens, which will likewise help to prevent cancer. This means that apple eating prevents cancer of the prostate and lung, as well as other parts of the body.
4. Apples slow the aging process. There may have been many generations of explorers that sought the fountain of youth, but all they had to do was fight the daily stresses of life with a tasty apple! The phytochemicals that come from the bright colors you find in the skins of your favorite apple variety, along with aiding the apple's ability to lower cholesterol and fight cancer, also inhibits the onset of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other conditions that lead to potentially debilitating situations in old age.
5. Apples help to prevent hair loss. If keeping a full head of hair will help you to age more gracefully, then chow down on some apples. Chinese medicine considers hair loss to be a sign of a depleted kidney essence, and apples are on the list of fruits and vegetables that will help you to restore this essence and nourish the blood that flows to your hair follicles.
I hope you eat your apples, and that you really do keep the doctors away. As always, I encourage you to share your own favorite longevity foods and other tips with me.
May you live long, live strong, and live happy!
-Dr. Mao
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Secrets That Restaurants Don't Want You To Know
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/13623/secrets-that-restaurants-dont-want-you-to-know/
Restaurants have one major purpose: to stuff you with as much food as they possibly can. If they do that, they achieve their primary business goal, which is to lighten your wallet.
But while they’re doing that, they’re also using their best marketing tricks, craftiest numerical switcheroos, and most dastardly dietary stratagems to swap unhealthy, cheap ingredients for more expensive, wholesome ones. The result: bloated bottom lines — for their budgets, and for their customers. But we don’t want to let that happen to you, which is why we’ve spent the last two years researching all the ways restaurants try to sabotage your food choices.
Below you’ll find a sampling of the fruits of our long labor: some of the new secrets the restaurant-chain gang doesn’t want you to know. They’re only a few of the many ways restaurants fatten up their customers for the sales slaughter. Heed the warnings and you (and your family) can make it through the drive-thru alive.
1. Baskin-Robbins doesn't want you to know that.....
Sometimes a drink can have fruit in the title, but not in the cup. For instance, the top four ingredients in its Blue Raspberry Fruit Blast were Sierra Mist soda, water, sugar, and corn syrup. Since we first called the company out on this fruitless horror, Baskin-Robbins discontinued the Blue Raspberry Fruit Blast. The company also began listing all nutrition and ingredient information online. We call that progress.
If you’re looking for a real fruit smoothie, visit Jamba Juice. Just remember to check those calorie counts, so you don’t over-indulge.
2. Papa John's doesn't want you to know that...
Unlike rival chains such as Domino's, it has made little effort to introduce healthier options. After we goaded them on their slow pace of innovation, Papa John's did introduce whole grain wheat crust pizzas last May. Now, if only Papa would toss a thin-crust version into the mix and alter the recipe for sides like cheesesticks, which are loaded down with more than 2,900 milligrams of sodium!
3. Fuddruckers doesn't want you to know...
The fat content of its 1-pound burgers. We contacted our local Fuddruckers restaurant and were told that the nutritional information was available on the chain's Web site (it's not). The corporate office later responded that providing such information would be "very extensive and timely." We're pretty sure he meant "very expensive and time-consuming." How's that for a Freudian slip?
4. Panera Bread doesn't want you to know that...
The synthetic food colorings in its pastries have been linked to irritability, restlessness, and sleep disturbances in children. And British researchers found that artificial food colorings and preservatives in the diets of 3-year-olds caused an increase in hyperactive behavior. The same ingredients appear in fast-food items like mayonnaise, M&M Blizzards, and McDonald's shakes.
On Panera's Web site, you can track down calories, fat, sugar, and other nutritional numbers. If you look hard enough you'll find ingredient lists, too — and note that a few items still contain artificial coloring. Disappointing. If you want to cut out the artificial stuff entirely, head over to Chipotle: The restaurant uses no artificial colorings or flavorings. Just make sure you saw their burritos, which can have more than 1,000 calories, in half.
5. Chevy's Fresh Mex doesn't want you to know ...
How its tortillas stack up nutritionally. The chain says it provides "nutritional information regarding calories, fat, protein & carbohydrates for some of our most popular items" — the chicken, steak, and shrimp fajitas, for example — on its Web site. But the numbers provided don't include the tortilla: an essential component typically bloated with fat and carbs. When we called a New York Chevy’s for more information, a server told us he couldn't find that info on the in-house menu, either, which would seem to be a violation of New York city regulations. He did direct us to the same misleading nutritional information on the company's Web site. Gee, thanks.
6. Applebee’s, IHOP, Olive Garden, Outback, Red Lobster, and T.G.I. Friday’s don’t want you to know ...
The nutritional impact of their dishes. Despite the fact that we continued to pester each company, they all were mum about their nutritional information. So we had it nutritionally analyzed on our own. We may not be in this fix for long, however. New York City regulations that went into effect in July require all restaurants with 15 or more branches nationally to post calorie counts on their menus.
After tracking down every last dish, we can see what they were hiding: At Friday’s, no fewer than nine sandwiches and 10 appetizers topple the 1,000-calorie barrier; at IHOP, the “healthiest” entrée-size salad has a staggering 1,050 calories; and at Outback, even a simple order of salmon will wipe out 75% of your day’s caloric allotment.
For more restaurant industry secrets that will freak the weight right off of you, check out these other dubious restaurant secrets that are being hidden from you!
And lose weight in record time by staying away from the unhealthiest drinks in America! They can be responsible for causing you to gain a few pounds of fat — a month!
And now that you’re aware of the danger, do us all a favor: if you notice other big fat restaurant lies, let us know. Likewise, if you’ve found ways to cut through the fast-food jungle without getting eaten, let us know that, too. When it comes to the battle of the restaurant bulge, we’re all in this together.
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Worst 'Healthy' Drinks - And What You Should Drink Instead
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/16232/worst-healthy-drinksand-what-you-should-drink-instead/
Staying hydrated can be great for your body. Drink enough of the right liquids and your mood will improve, your focus will sharpen, your heart will beat stronger, and you’ll be less likely to suffer from headaches and fatigue. All that, plus if you pick the right potions, you’ll receive beneficial nutrients, antioxidants and protein as a chaser.
Bottoms up, right? Not so fast. Some bottles are better than others, as you’re about to learn. Too many Americans are problem drinkers — and I’m not talking about bourbon for breakfast. As a nation, we love high-sugar, high-calorie drinks like sodas and smoothies; a whopping 21 percent of American’s calorie intake comes from drinks, and that’s an increase of 150 calories since 1977. The big-bottom line: Half of that caloric payload comes from sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, fruit punch, and other sweet drinks.
The sad part is: Nobody actually needs any of those calories. Water — by the glass and in the foods you eat — should be plenty to top your tank. But if you find it kind of bland, we hear you. That’s why we’re slapping warning labels on the big-calorie guzzlers, and pointing you toward the thirst-quenchers that won’t make you fat.
Cheers.
Iced Coffee
Drink This
Dunkin’ Donuts Caramel Crème Iced Latte (16 oz)
260 calories
9 g fat
40 g sugars
Not That
Starbucks 2% Iced Dulce de Leche Latte (16 oz)
420 calories
16 g fat
52 g sugars
In the hierarchy of espresso drinks, lattes sit squarely at the bottom. That's because they're more milk than java, and are susceptible to huge pumps of sugar syrup from eager-to-please baristas. A macchiato gives the same caffeine kick for a tiny fraction of the caloric cost by swapping out the excess steamed milk for a crown of frothed milk. It's a simple but meaningful switch for caffeine junkies looking for a healthier fix. For other easy foods swaps for effortless weight loss — without ever having to diet again — try these fabulous fifteen.
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