MONDAY, 31 AUGUST 2009 14:01 S.H.A.N.
After three days of heavy fighting, 27-29 August, the bulk of the anti-Naypyitaw Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the name given to their armed force by the Kokang, moved yesterday into China where they were disarmed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The biggest question raised by the fall of Qingsuihe (Chinshwehaw), opposite Namteuk (Namtit), where the Kokang’s strongest ally United Wa State Army (UWSA)’s 318th Division is headquartered, may be: What were the Wa doing when the Kokang were being attacked at Qingsuihe?
Peng Jiasheng At first, both the Wa and other sources reported that at least 500 UWSA fighters had been deployed to assist the embattled Kokang. However, on the 29 August evening, the Wa source told SHAN Qingsuihe had fallen, as the UWSA had decided only to make a stand along the Namting that forms as a boundary between Wa and Kokang territories in order to prevent any spillovers from the fighting.
What happened to the ‘all for one and one for all’ agreement reached earlier among the Wa, Kokang and Mongla? SHAN asked. But Panghsang has yet to answer the question, which has naturally prompted more questions:
• How strong is the Peace and Democracy Front (PDF), now that it has done practically nothing against the Burma Army’s attack on Kokang?
• Now that the UWSA has allowed Kokang its northern ally to go, is it ready to let go other allies, namely the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ in the west and Mongla aka National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA) too?
• Does it think the UWSA will be able to make a lone stand against the Burma Army, after its allies have gone?
• What was China’s role in the Kokang debacle? Has the UWSA been advised that the Burma Army will not be allowed to make further attacks against it and its remaining allies? Kokang’s deposed leader Peng Jiasheng has also voiced similar doubts in his special statement issued late in the evening of 28 August, a day before Qingsuihe’s fall:
• We have vowed that we would together overthrow the common enemy, the ruling military dictatorship clique. I request that we put our vow into practice starting today.
• If the Kokang force has been swallowed, the other allies armed forces will also be swallowed not long after. We therefore request you to counterattack the SPDC forces starting today.
Another big question arose when a report by a usually reliable source said that the mutiny in early August against Kokang’s supreme leader Peng Jiasheng was masterminded by a Liu Guoxi, a disgruntled member of the Kokang leadership, in cooperation with the deputy police of Burma.
With details lacking, SHAN as yet has no way to confirm the report, though Liu has been known in the past to be a colleague of Mong Hsala, the leader of now defunct Mongkoe Defense Army (MDA). MDA went into oblivion and its top leaders either jailed or executed in 2000 by the Burma Army during a mutiny against Mong Hsala.
Granted that the report is true, questions arise:
• Are there more Liu Guoxis among the ranks of the UWSA and its allied armies?
• Is the Burma Army in cahoots with them?
• Wei Xuegang, Commander of the UWSA’s Thai-border based 171st Military Region, is said to be close to Prime Minister Thein Sein. How close are they?
At present, the questions are hard to answer.
But investigations by the media and concerned agencies in the next few weeks will find whether the ideal goal of forming a grand alliance against the hated military regime is too late or can still be a dream come true.
shanland
Hope you had a relaxing weekend; I sure did. Last week we saw very low levels of volume as we usually do this time of year. I expect those low levels of volume to continue until after labor day; when I expect we will see many of the big players getting back in the game.
Because of these relatively low levels of volume I expect this week to be marked by up and down channeling of the markets within a certain range. While the week looks as though it should be pretty uneventful for the most part as far as earnings reports and other data; there is one big piece of data being released this week. On Friday we will see the employment report for August. The market estimates guess employers cut roughly another 225,000 jobs during the month of August. This would bring the nations unemployment rate up to 9.5%. Besides the jobless reports we will also see some indicators of levels of manufacturing data on Monday as well as August auto sales numbers (which will be very much inflated due to “Cash for Clunkers”; which is now over) on Tuesday.
This market is looking for some defining information which will give it some direction as to where it needs to go. Recent economic data has been constantly mixed, not only mixed but even contradicting. An example of that is in the last month we saw that new and existing home sales were both up. This should mean the economy and housing market is getting better right? However over the exact same time period delinquencies and foreclosures were up as well. This means things are getting worse; but how can things be getting better and worse at the same time? The markets simply don’t have enough data to know exactly which way they need to go right now. That is why as I have discussed in multiple updates lately; for now I am trading news and momentum. Last week I put stock alerts out for J. Crew (JCG), Dell (DELL), and Intel (INTC); all off good news and momentum. If you kept up with the blog and got in on those trades you made some nice profits last week.
We haven’t seen a ton of news coming out this weekend which caught my eye for long enough to make me want to buy. One thing I did notice which I want to watch tomorrow is General Motors announced it is starting up a 50-50 joint operation in China. This news very well could make the stock jump tomorrow. I don’t like this as a long term trade because the other half of the 50-50 joint operation is a government owned Chinese company; and there is simply to much unknown there. However short term I think we could definitely see some action with this one. GM is now trading under the stock ticker (MTLQQ).
Be sure to check back before the opening bell every morning to get my insights as to what is driving the market, and what will be making us money. I’m in the game to make the big bucks, I hope you are too!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
TODAYS TOP AND LATEST MOST VIEWED NEWS,
Good Morning,Arisekola, Otedola, Alex Ibru visit EFCC
AFRICA NEWS LINKS EFCC’s Debt Recovery Now N44.5bn Sacked bank chiefs fail to meet bail conditions Inside the detention camp of EFCC, the new home of ex-bank chiefs Sanusi Promises Double Digit Growth No plan to sell banks yet – Sanusi Atedo Peterside: How Soludo Concealed Banks’ Rot
Kennedy Memorial and Burial Schedule
Obama to deliver Kennedy eulogy-President Obama will eulogize Senator Edward Kennedy on the final day of memorials for a towering political figure, whose death has been treated like the passing of royalty. Full Article Video
BUSINESS NEWS Coca-Cola Shuts Ota Plant Bharti offers $13.1bn for 49% of MTN Nigeria reassures Ghana of supply of crude oil Oyo demolishes Bodija Market, displaces 15,000 traders, residents Consumer spending up, but morale at 4-month low Full Article Video
Couple deny California abduction A man and his wife deny abducting California woman Jaycee Lee Dugard when she was a child and holding her 18 years.
MOST VIEWED LINKS Consumer spending up, but morale at 4-month low Full Article Video Germany signals capitulation to GM in Opel talks Tengzhong may finalize Hummer deal next week: source
China’s CIC wealth fund muscles up as markets recover Anger as Gaddafi’s son claims deal was made over Megrahi release
Questions arise over how kidnapper went undetected
Woman’s 911 call helps convict her killer Disc jockey DJ AM found dead in New York Thousands flee Myanmar for China Nude model arrested in art museum
SPORTS
Shevchenko opts to leave Chelsea Wenger angry over Eduardo charge Bayern Munich seal Robben signing Uefa warning over clubs’ spending
MAJOR NEWS LINK [NG] GUARDIAN
[NG] THIS DAY
[NG] PUNCH
[NG]BUSINESS DAY
[NG] TELL MAGAZINE
[NG] M2 MARKETING MANAGEMENT
[U.K.] DAILY MAIL
[U.K.] DAILY MIRRORDAILY RECORD
[U.K.] EVENING STANDARD
[U.K.] EXPRESS
[U.K.] GUARDIAN
[U.K.] INDEPENDENT
[U.K.] LONDON PAPER
[U.K.] NEWS OF THE WORLD
[U.K.] SUN
[U.K.] TELEGRAPH
[U.K.] TIMES
NEWSWEEK
BUSINESS WEEK
BLOOMBERG
BUSINESS WIRE
DOW JONES
FORTUNES
INDO-ASIAN
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC WIRE
EMIRATES TODAY
WORLD FRONT PAGES
FINANCIAL TIMES
ABCNEWS
FORBES
FOXNEWS
NY POST
NY TIME
HELLO!
Femi Akinwunmi (PUBLISHER) projectmanagers@femiakinwunmi.com 08075395200 OR 08098777140
Hope you had a very good week. However it went, weekend outings, leisure and reminiscing will surely make up and prepare you for another long week. According to news reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday recovered N19 billion from a few of the listed debtors but what we cannot confirm is if the ttotal amount was paid up or promised as we have always seen……..
TODAYS TOP NEWS Guaranty Financial files Chapter 11 Lawyer: Man poisoned his wife for love Newsweek: How Mandela’s legacy hurts S. Africa NKorean Arms Shipment to Iran Seized by Emirates… Interception comes at sensitive time… UPDATE: Kidnapped woman hidden in CA backyard for 18 years… Mega Millions lottery jackpot at 1/3 of a billion dollars… Man kills himself before jury’s ‘not guilty’ verdict… Woman finds cabbie is a kidney match
What exactly is globalization? As described by the Levin Institute, “Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology.” (Globalization101) Many people in the world, especially those in power see globalization as a way to spread “freedom” to the more unfortunate peoples of the world. But with such thinking, people never come to realize the detrimental effects of globalization. Attempting to entrench one’s own ideals onto another with force and pressure destroys a society that cannot adapt to such changing circumstances. Take for example, the Mayans and the Aztecs. The Spanish originally came to South America hunting for gold and other treasure, but unfortunately, they at the same time killed off a complete civilization that had no chance of adapting to steel weapons and gun powder. Such a mysterious culture vanished off the face of the planet, and many cultures today are also at risk of having the same thing happen to them. The immense western ideals of freedom and free speech are at the moment trampling on cultures around the world. Why do the people of Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda rebel against America and the rest of the western world? Simply because Afghanistan cannot handle the internalization of western influence. (Al Qaeda’s Hypocrisy: The Globalization of Terrorism) Many cultures and countries wish to expand and evolve at their own rate, with their own ideals and their own consequences. Yet, the western world does not allow them to do this, and so they rebel and consequently, have their own culture die at a fast pace because the western culture takes over.
This same force of globalization is spreading rapidly throughout the world. This sort of globalization is not the same archaic movement of conquering countries and their people. This force of globalization is more technologically based. Through the media with news outlets and television shows, movies and music, popular brands of sodas such as Pepsi or Coca Cola, and even through clothing. (The Globalization Website – Issues) Though many argue that globalization is very beneficial to the world, they do not look at their claims often enough to realize the loopholes in their arguments. It is true that globalization can create ties between treacherous countries and create greater pathways to proper communication. And communication is something that is not used that greatly between foreign countries, unlike violence, as it has been for thousands of years.
Globalization is not new to the world. It is merely expanded over the past many centuries. One such moment of globalization was the Silk Road across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Merchants have been buying and selling merchandise for many years that has created prosperity and friendly relations for many people. Merchants today are big CEO’s of multi-million dollar companies that trade internationally. Unfortunately, these modern merchants are more forceful and apathetic to economic and environmental concerns around the world; they pave their way with force in order to further expand their reach of power and trade. Such globalization creates detrimental affects at the places it reaches. For example, if a simple country is attempting to boost their own economy from a downtrodden state, they will try to get out of the situation creating their own companies. But when a market giant like Wal-Mart steps in, the economic condition turns for the worst. Jobs are then used to support Wal-Mart, at minimum wage, rather than supporting companies that are created, led, and based in their own country. Corporate giants like Wal-Mart increase in size every year, and this is at the expense of valuable cultures, local enterprises, and the common people. This is the way I see it and henceforth, it provides me enough evidence to say that globalization is indeed, not for the best.
Because of globalization, developed nations such as Canada have outsourced white collar jobs almost completely to developing nations such as China. Well recognized and high paying jobs such as scientists, computer engineers and programmers, and accountants have lost their jobs due to outsourcing to places where the cost is much cheaper. The Canadian people see this happening everyday; with a change in government policy and economic demand and supply, proper jobs where decent education and hard work is required are being sold off to places like China or India where governments and businesses find that they can save tremendous money by doing so (Nelson 7). By doing this, it is only stealing away jobs from people who deserve them. Hence, many companies such as local GM car manufacturing companies are being shut down and many small businesses that are trying to compete with corporate giants find that they cannot due to outsourcing; which they are unable to do. Another detrimental effect caused by globalization that is very well known throughout the world is child and POW (prisoners of war) labour. Manufacturing jobs such as the making of cars, furniture, clothing, sports equipment, computers, and imported foods are being taken are being thrust upon children and POW. They are being forced to work for less than $11 a month, where hours can range from 12 to 16 hours of work a day, with not one day of rest. (Edmonds 1) This is especially horrible for children, where their childhood is being corrupted in order to manufacture good materials and work with machines where there is absolutely no safety standards set in order to protect them. Children from the ages of 5 to 15 are exploited in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and many other countries around the world. (Edmonds 1) Because of no instruction on how to produce goods properly and to protect themselves from the harm of factory machines, children and POW end up losing limbs and are exposed to toxic chemicals that are extremely harmful to the respiratory system. If such a thing happens, they are simply thrown out of the factories because their productivity has decreased substantially, and the factory owners simply hire new workers; which are never low in supply.
The world is a tough environment and competition is practically everywhere. Now, in terms of evolution, competition between people is good for the survival of the species. But with technology nowadays and human reliance on it, evolution within mankind is practically non-existent. When globalization was just starting out and before it became what it is today, jobs were very secure and competition for those jobs was very rare. This is not the case today. Because of globalization and technological advancements in the information age, competition has exponentially increased. Most people cannot go a single day of their lives without feeling insecure about their jobs and how they would feed, clothe, and shelter themselves and their family if they lost their jobs. As said above, jobs are being outsourced and hard working men and women are being laid off in order for corporate companies to reduce their costs. Good sums of salaries and wages are being cut because of outsourcing. (Nelson 7) At the same time, the rich are getting richer, and the poor are becoming poorer. (Kentor 435-46) Unlike the story of Robin Hood, such a case is practically impossible in this day and age. Corporate companies are ruling with an iron fist, stronger than that of the government and countries like the United States of America are speedily introducing capitalism to the rest of the world. A political system such as capitalism is allowing corporations to take more from the people and give them less back. These same corporations are now using their power to influence political decisions from elections to governing laws. (Nelson 7) Hence, not only can they choose who deserves the right to govern, they can now even dictate where and what people buy. This can be seen by carefully inspecting companies and brands such as Sony and Samsung. These same companies deploy new brands that make people think that they are made by small independent companies from the common man and woman, when in actuality, they are a smaller brand from a larger brand; meant to force the consumer to unknowingly buy from the major brand in the end.
Fast food restaurants (or so they still call themselves) are shipping away from North America to developing nations in order to increase business. Companies such as McDonalds and Pizza Hut are setting up all over the world and are forcing bad diet habits onto them as well. (The Globalization Website – Issues) We have seen the detrimental effects of bad diet through fast food in North America, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Obesity is greatly prevalent from fast food restaurants and many developing nations are now relying on such food as part of their daily caloric intake. By creating bad eating habits and diets, globalization is certainly shortening the lifespan of many human beings around the world. Corporations are destroying the environment by setting up factories and other industries that release toxic pollutants into the air. These pollutants are much more easily handled in North America, but in developing countries, it is much harder to do so. Places like China and India have the worst pollution regulation with practically no laws setting the standard of how to not release pollutants into the air and destroy the global environment. Arguably, the greatest cause of globalization has to be the media and very recently, the Internet. Bad influences from North America with violence and sexual activity are being spread to countries where cultures tend to avoid these taboos. Cultures around the world are being hammered with propaganda and conflicting images through television and movies. The Internet has allowed hate groups and terrorist groups to openly communicate with each other and recruit individuals for their causes with hate speeches and other ways. The media is a vice that is destroying valuable cultures and traditions in the world in order for them to only bow down to the public western society. (The Globalization Website – Issues)
The purpose of this essay is not to say that globalization should be stopped in its tracks completely. I only exclaim that globalization should not nose its way into the rest of the world and force cultures that are vulnerable to change to try and adapt in cases where they cannot. Globalization is very beneficial to the world, as it allows communication between people from different races and countries to mingle between each other and learn about each other. This is a method that creates peace, because from communication, people can learn to understand each other and get along. But western ideology should not trample on people’s thoughts and sacred beliefs, as that is the opposite of peace. The environment is currently suffering due to corporate giants wasting away fossil fuels and destroying important natural landmarks in the world. Cultures such as the Inuit who live on seals as their main diet, are now being threatened due to the polar ice caps melting and seal hunters hunting hundreds of thousands of baby seals a year. (About the Canadian Seal Hunt) If the world was simply to ask cultures and nations if they would like to participate in the phenomenon that is globalization, rebels who take a violent stance against globalization may not do so. Another terrorist act such as 9/11 may never happen again. To reduce the detrimental effects of globalization, the world must retain manners and coincidentally, look before it leaps. If globalization grows at the rapid rate it is now, valuable cultures and history will be lost just as the Aztecs and Mayans once did.
A Chinese kung fu artist who tows cars and cuts paper with her braided hair has given up her crowning glory to officially become a Buddhist nun.
Zhang Tingting completely shaved off the hair that she says has “kung fu power” and extraordinary strength so that she can enter a temple as a nun.
“I really always wanted to cut my hair off, but I couldn’t because of the performances. But this time I’ve given it up for good,” Zhang told Reuters. “It feels great.”
The 52-year-old artist has performed across China for decades, after taking up martial arts when she was 17. She began living the life of a nun two years ago.
Before bidding her meter-long braid farewell, she pulled six passenger cars some 50 meters (164 ft) through a Beijing suburb, then repeated the feat with ten cars, for about 30 meters, in her hometown of Kaifeng, Henan Province.
Although Zhang and her plait are now permanently separated, the hair has been preserved. Authorities are considering sending it on a pilgrimage to sacred Buddhist sites in Tibet, or displaying it in a local museum.
The Guinness World Record for the heaviest single vehicle to have been pulled by a person’s hair is held by He Jianma from China, who dragged an 8.28-tonne bus 30 meters this May.
When does a rising power become a threat? There is seldom a single moment. A century ago, AngloGerman antagonism was still a relatively new phenomenon; an alliance between the two empires seemed plausible as late as 1899. Likewise, the United States took time to identify Japan as a serious rival in the Pacific region; it was not until the 1930s that relations really soured. In both cases, the perception of a strategic threat was slow to grow. But grow it did—and ultimately it led to war. Could the same be happening to the United States and China today? Are we imperceptibly but inexorably slipping from cooperation to competition?
