Pushing CHUSTIA: The China US Trade and Investment Agreement

Sean Miner doesn't reveal the name of the trade agreement he's suggesting the U.S. pursues with China, but it's name is CHUSTIA - The Comprehensive Bilateral China-US Trade and Investment Agreement.  You can learn all about it here, straight from the horse's mouth, in a presentation given by C. Fred Bergsten and Gary Clyde Hufbauer, coauthors with Sean Miner of the book, "Bridging the Pacific: Toward Free Trade and Investment Between China and the United States."

Bergsten mentions that job losses would be something like 150,00 per year for ten years in the United States, which he says will then be balanced by job growth in the industries with increased exports to China, most notably those in the services sector.  They refer to the job phenomenon as an "involuntary separation," but offer as a silver lining in their slideshow the fact that, "National economic benefits will reach $1.25 million in 2025 annually for each involuntarily separated worker."

The Peterson Institute for International Economics has a veritable roster of heavy hitting corporations, foundations, governmental types, and titans of finance and industry backing its research.  This is where real policy is created, Congress isn't even around half the time to pass this kind of legislation.  I mean, look at the TransPacific Partnership.  They want to give the Congress twenty hours to read the thing over before signing it.  Major international trade agreement - twenty hours.  And something like no revisions thrown into the deal, too.  Not to mention, there have been something like 800 special clearances granted for corporate and official access to reading the agreement.  But definitely not the Congress.  Why would you ever let the Congress read such an enormous trade deal like that?

Perhaps Bergsten and company envision one way the US might double its exports to China by 2025 is  by ramping up agricultural exports.  James Wolfensohn, ex-head of the World Bank was talking about this years ago, but his version of exports was allowing Chinese companies to start running large-scale agricultural operations in the U.S.

Like any of these broad trade deals, details and specifics are a must to understand what's being pushed and why.  Where are these trade negotiations removing Chinese barriers and why?  What U.S. economic sectors will experience the "involuntary displacement" Bergsten refers to and why?  Who, specifically, has earmarked funds for this research?  I'm sure some of these answers and more can be found here in the book.

CAN on T.V.

Experimental krautrock band from 1970's Deutschland, CAN, sharing a few observations of television and how much it sucks.  Enjoy.

 

9/11 Conspiracy Solved: Names, Connections, & Details Exposed!

 

(h/t AlienScientist on Youtube)

Biosphere - Sendai-1

Interesting note about this album, according to the Pitchfork review, "In early February, Biosphere's Geir Jenssen made an album inspired by the architecture and potential instability of Japan's nuclear power plants."  The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred only one month later in March of 2011.  

Max Richter - Last Days

Papercuts - The Void

Yann Tiersen @ Irving Plaza April 27, 2012

Saw Yann Tiersen last night at Irving Plaza in New York.  Based on my limited familiarity with his Goodbye Lenin soundtrack, I saw that he would be in the city for a show last night, so I made a point of going.  Being a musician and student of many different musical styles, it was great to see the synergy and brilliance of his full band compositions.  I didn't know whether it was going to be a solo act or a full show, so Wednesday night I Youtubed his live footage from 2012 and found the following video.  Needless to say, the music is deep, visceral and cerebral, and moving.  Excellent to see talent and creativity like this, versatile and expressive of the breadth of experience and emotion.  Great show, happy that I found his music and didn't miss seeing it live.  Check out the video below, and delve in his catalogue further.  New ablum Skyline released on ANTI- records this month (released last year in Europe).

Yann Tiersen - Summer 78, From the Goodbye Lenin! Soundtrack

Round of Applause for the Globalizers, Iran and Syria Sabre-Rattling, Dr. Graeme MacQueen's "The Fictional Basis for the War on Terror"

(note:  reading and watching the following should involve using one's prefrontal cortex)

Just wanted to take a moment to put my hands together and give the globalizers of the world a round of applause.  They have succeeded in their purpose to initiate unending repression and misery.  Let's give these fucks a round of applause.  And then, now, let's work to dismantle the repression, the misery  This is a process which involves acquainting yourself with difficult and complex ideas that will challenge preconceived notions.  I hope we are suited to deal with it.

Let's reflect on little reported facts, thought.  There's no telling how deep the rabbit hole goes, but the Pentagon has been planning to initiate regime change throughout Middle East since at least 9/11.  For the uninitiated, Iran and Syria have always been part of this plan.  Here's General Wesley Clark making it clear this has been the plan since day one, whenever that might have (truly) been:

 

It's troubling, right?  Hopefully this information isn't new.  But, you also could just be shutting out this information and rationalizing it somehow.  This will not work, in the end.

9/11 is the coup.  This fact cannot be dealt with any other way.  The stench permeates throughout several governments (U.S., Saudi Arabia, Israel, Pakistan) and government agencies, the mainstream media, and among many investors (record United Airlines put options pre-9/11).  Please watch below Dr. Graeme MacQueen's presentation at Harvard on "The Fictional Basis for the War on Terror":

I write about these things because they are of grave importance.  I hope people will wake up to these facts and also that the information culture will improve soon, because the alternative has dire implications. 

Deepak Chopra on Leading @Google, Observations

I have noted the failure of leadership in this country.  I have pointed to propagandized institutions and culture.  I have indicated that we live in a post-modern dystopia.  The question has been, what do we do about this?  Deepak Chopra offers his perspective on how power resides in individuals to "be the change they want to see in the world," and he touches on many other subjects like biological evolution, leadership qualities, consciousness, and universal characteristics of life in this field of existence.  Good questions asked by Google employees, too.  It's a given that Google employees are smart, but it's reassuring to see that first question relates to the failure of leadership in this country.

Let's take stock of 2012.  Over 7 billion people on the planet, and growing.  This has dramatically changed the dynamics of both society and ecology and will continue to do so.  The challenge we are experiencing is reconciling the polluting, repressive, failed neoliberal model with a more inclusive and sustainable system.  This begins with individuals, but we can't do it alone, first of all, and we also need to learn, listen, and talk with one another about how we have to go about this.  If it seems like we are living in a post-modern dystopia, let's do something about it, yes?  Divisions are one thing, but it's the acceptance of these divisions to prevent unity that is a personal choice.  In 2012, we are realizing that the assumptions we have made about the world are only that, assumptions, and there is absolutely no guarantee they are true.  Like Dr. Chopra says in his presentation, the human body is based on processes rather than functions.  So it is with life, that process trumps function, which is why we are collectively confirming the fact that meaningful work takes priority over neoserfdom, why organic is better than conventional, and why we need to go out and "play", like Deepak suggests is fundamental to human development.  Watch the video below for the entire presentation.

Andrew Breitbart Dies: Natural or Unnatural Causes?

The question of whether Andrew Breitbart has died of natural or unnatural causes gets to the heart of the current media climate.  Many people scoff at the mere idea that he might have been killed, but this mentality just comes across as being close-minded and willfully ignorant.  Politically motivated assassinations are a fact of history, yet it seems we suffer from a historical amnesia today, choosing to believe that things are different now, there are no secrets, everyone is always trying to tell the truth.  Things are not different, though.  Breitbart may well have been murdered, even though I cannot say and am not taking a judgment.  However, I am open to the fact that this may be the case.  Immediately, however, I become a conspiracy theorist in today's climate of hyper-sensitized, uber-PCness.  In any death like this, autopsies, medical examinations, and, perhaps, investigations yield the results, not immediate press releases or media corporations.  It is a forfeiture of one's intellect and reason to dismiss the distasteful notion of suspicious activity.  But, this is the environment we operate in today.  Maybe it's because such views threaten one's ability to continue operating in whatever work environment they find themselves in.  Maybe people avoid discussing and exploring unpleasant truths because the personal troubles it causes.  Obviously, there are psychological walls being constructed.  Let's take those walls down.

MSM Blackout of Ron Paul Continues

It's amazing, watching the events unfold in this country.  After all the subjection to the nastiness of nascent fascism in the United States, the mainstream media blackout of Ron Paul is all the more disheartening.  I suppose it isn't much of a surprise that the MSM has chosen to blackout coverage of Ron Paul, given their allegiance to the stewards of fascism and empire, but allowing the implications of this blackout to sink in is akin to hearing the death knell of the country (if it hasn't already been rung tenfold times).  What ever happened to integrity?  How have so many people forfeited themselves over to an authoritarian mindset?  It's really disheartening, but maybe I shouldn't let shattered illusions be an impediment to dealing with the fact that fighting against what's happening in this country is not easy, free, or short-term. 

Obama Proposes to Lower Corporate Tax Rate to 28%, Forgets His China Policy

Obama has proposed lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%.  I admire the notion that lowering the tax rate will draw more businesses to conduct their operations in the United States, but again I have to point to the "China price" trumping his proposal.  The major corporations prefer low-tax, low-regulation, low-wage countries, such as China, for conducting their operations.  These types of countries offer the easiest, and most ethically questionable, way to generate higher profits.  Leave the pollution there, don't care for the community's health and wellness, and outsource responsibility.  This is the typical business model of major corporations.

How is this relevant to Obama's proposal?  The real problem lies in the institutionalization of poor ethics, which has driven investment into the countries where the rules can be broken for a relatively cheap price or where there are few rules at all.  It's simple - the major corporations based in the United States and Europe have chosen to operate in and exploit other countries because everything is cheaper.  Therefore, Obama wants to kick down the high corporate tax a few notches, but all the policies that drive corporations to other countries in the first place remain.  Forget the loopholes that allow the major corporations to skirt that 35% tax rate in the first place.

China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.  Just look at the trade statistics since the accession:

source:  https://www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html

The numbers are pretty clear.  Exponential growth.  China's production has literally exploded since the WTO accession in 2001.  I should probably find the direct policies affecting the trade, with quotas and eliminations of foreign investment laws, but anyway we look at it, the United States is the big player in the Chinese trade relationship.  The U.S. is also the home of the major proponents of getting China into the WTO.  The saying goes, a tiger can't change it's stripes.  If Obama really wants businesses to return production and manufacturing to the U.S., he's going to have to address his China policy, which doesn't stray in the least from his predecessors.  Also, the tax rate for American imports in China is 25%, and the tax rate for Chinese imports in the U.S. is 2.5%.  Explain that little fact away with the coming tax debate, Obama.

The Ire of "Obamanots in Denial"

Whatever you do when talking politics with Obamanots in denial, beware that you will be subjected to hormonal and emotional attacks on your integrity that require excessive amounts of patience and salt to counter.  You will be lambasted with litmus tests on your support for LGBT rights, taxing the rich, being a racist, being a white male power-man, or abortion, all the while any discussion of pertinent issues of say, imperial overstretch, corporate malfeasance, or extreme hypocrisy (a la Larry Summers, Tim Geithner, or Michael Taylor...i.e. corporate revolving door).  One thing that's striking about Obamanots in denial is how narrowly focused on social issues they are.  It's like they were living under a rock for the past three years.  They're just incredibly happy to have campaign oriented conversations about nothing that relates to the dismal state of the country's trade deficit, the foreclosure scandal, or any other realpolitik issue.  Obamanots in denial, if there is one thing you're good at, it's cheerleading.  Maybe you should channel that energy into Billy or Sue's little league game where the losers are winners, too. 

Cowed, Dogged, and Penned

Do you hear that, that deafening silence?  The quiet and unrecognized passing of honor, of dignity, of principles long ago replaced.  Principles of liberty and universal rights, replaced by authoritarianism and corporate personhood.  How is it that justice is served so unequally, lies told so brazenly, and rights trammeled so wantonly?  In the process of awakening to the omnipresent grief and sorrow we now find ourselves submerged in, appeals to the great and the good have taken primary residence in the face of interminable uncertainty.  Show me the man who knows how to navigate this world, with answers to the eternal mysteries.  Where is the righteous indignation at the usurpation of freedom?  No, for, all that remains, is silence.  We have been cowed, dogged, penned - like industrially farmed animals commodified and proffered by an iron fist.

The passage of days in the United States, expending and compromising the true self, for external necessities of consumerism, subjugation to the corporation, and the ever quaint niceties of jockeying with wannabe aristocrats.  Problem is, "Crtl+P" Bernank is printing most people's wealth into oblivion.  It's like Mao is about to come and take all our silverware and pots and pans, the little that we have, and smelt it into worthless steal.  The sociopathic, demonic men laying claim to our humanity, our earth, and our future profit from the activities of destruction, but we have reached a fulcrum point.  It is obvious the system is crumbling, yet we are fighting against the emergence of a worse reality.  I don't know the answers.  All I know is that controlled perceptions mask the activities of conspiratorial power mongers, and it's a late stage in the game to be so acquiescent to their multitudinous, suppressive dictates.