tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post1256824783782371222..comments2024-03-28T01:33:22.764-04:00Comments on The DiploMad 2.0: Back in La-La Land and a RepriseDiploMadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-49657810698148129332012-12-01T16:44:04.445-05:002012-12-01T16:44:04.445-05:00@Israel attack Iran
I've followed the shale g...@Israel attack Iran<br /><br />I've followed the shale gas revolution as a retirement investment. I'm not an expert and my opinion is only my due diligence which may be very faulty. There is concern that shale gas recovery is overstated as road to energy independence as well decline is incredibly rapid and capital expenditure in shale gas areas are high. There is lots of hype going regarding that sector. <br /><br />Nothing, but nothing, is as good as easily and cheaply accessed oil in politically safe places and they are far and few to find. <br /><br />Our "Progessive"(I'm at a loss at what to call them anymore) Overlords and their libtard science challenged followers want to burn to the ground carbon based energy by whatever means they can. Watch for every roadblock they can thow at any success in the technology or the profit of fracking. Pennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08179466916477423331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-5716636156671103532012-11-30T01:04:19.413-05:002012-11-30T01:04:19.413-05:00Welcome back to LotusLand. Great post on China. Mu...Welcome back to LotusLand. Great post on China. Much more on target I think, than Mr Friedman at the NYT, and the folks at Stratfor. Passing it along to Belmont Club. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-91043765938129634422012-11-29T17:36:40.884-05:002012-11-29T17:36:40.884-05:00I too think US declinism is quite overstated. I r...I too think US declinism is quite overstated. I really think the shale gas revolution is a game changer, and that we are already seeing a rebirth of US manufacturing!Israel attack Iranhttp://www.war-in-middle-east.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-52581632356369840292012-11-29T08:35:29.277-05:002012-11-29T08:35:29.277-05:00Off topic, but have you seen this? http://www.can...Off topic, but have you seen this? http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/51346Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-64338703264849566292012-11-29T06:43:53.016-05:002012-11-29T06:43:53.016-05:00Lew,
Wonderful to read your comments again after ...Lew,<br /><br />Wonderful to read your comments again after all these years. Just got back from Rome and realizing that worrying about the Republic is rather pointless. Things change and empires decline. Twenty-five hundred years later, the second-rate power is still a pretty wonderful place to visit.<br /><br />R. RobertoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-55161427953896902772012-11-29T06:04:14.792-05:002012-11-29T06:04:14.792-05:00Since you mention the "breakaway" provin...Since you mention the "breakaway" province of Taiwan, I started my career as an English teacher and p/t preacher (Calvinist--not Mormon, since people will invariably think that) there. For the record, I believe that whether Taiwan calls itself the rump of the Republic of China founded in 1911, a new nation of Taiwan, Great Liuqiu, Dongning, or even Charlie, it deserves international recognition (now that I'm out of the State Department, I can say that out loud).<br /><br />Taiwan can be a rough place for a foreigner to live, too--albeit largely because it's very crowded and the water is still bad. Further, while they're very nice to you if you at least know Mandarin (and it helps if you have tried to learn something of one of the local dialects), I learned from some less self-disciplined fellow Lao Wai (佬外)that the police and judges have a presumption in favor of their own in case you get in a bar fight or get into a conflict with a racist neighbor. Further, things can be very rough for the crowds of SE Asian guest workers living there. <br /><br />While flying over there the last time to visit the in-laws, I watched a film dealing with the life of a Vietnamese bride in Taiwan. The film treated her sympathetically, but a major subtext was that she ultimately adapted to the local life. That's probably good advice for anyone who lives as an immigrant in another culture.<br /><br />Last of all, back in the early '90's, when I was in Guangzhou, and the wounds of Tiananmen were still raw, my wife's being from Taiwan was something positive to most of the ordinary people we met on the street--although they tended to be shocked at her high-quality Mandarin (ordinary Southerners aren't supposed to know it well). However, the tribalism of Chinese society came out every time we dealt with another Hakka-speaker in a store or while traveling; we got far better treatment.Kephahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00999385775493831638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-49168824726705682742012-11-28T09:39:20.094-05:002012-11-28T09:39:20.094-05:00I second that motion!I second that motion!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-55092223280711321872012-11-28T06:24:31.510-05:002012-11-28T06:24:31.510-05:00The chinese monetary situation reminds me slightly...The chinese monetary situation reminds me slightly of Spain in 1500s' to 1700s'. How an influx of money (or gold and silver) can destroy a closed classed ridden society. Have fun in Cali., remember, Liberals are always there we they need us!Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-13666720739400443912012-11-27T21:21:40.399-05:002012-11-27T21:21:40.399-05:00Great comment, thanks. You should write a blog abo...Great comment, thanks. You should write a blog about China.DiploMadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-35025472144897748192012-11-27T21:20:26.751-05:002012-11-27T21:20:26.751-05:00Mr. Diplomad,
I sure would like to hear your comm...Mr. Diplomad,<br /><br />I sure would like to hear your comments on this from the Canada Free Press.<br /><br />http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/51346<br /><br />sbAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-45890447632742513412012-11-27T20:47:52.850-05:002012-11-27T20:47:52.850-05:00Dip, I served as vice consul in Guangzhou for two ...Dip, I served as vice consul in Guangzhou for two years, and have a few observations, albeit dated. Also, Chinese is my other language.<br /><br />China has some serious social tensions at work. I bought my [oversized] bagels and pizza crusts from a colony of Uighur migrants, and did I ever get some juicy cables from them (even if they spoke Chinese worse than I did). Only later did I discover that the place was a No Go zone for the local constabulary, and the local Tang Ren (or Tong Yan, as the Cantonese preferred to call themselves) thought of the Uighurs as, I suppose, your average Great Russian thought of the Chechens. Some even described conditions in "Sharki Turkistan" as a "Guerrilla war".<br /><br />Also, in the countryside, especially where everyone in a village was related to everyone else, health officers who were a little too zealous to enforce the one-child policy sometimes "disappeared" while on their rounds. The county magistrates (Xian Zhang 县长)would assure all and sundry that they "followed the center" on the one-child policy, but also reported that their counties had abnormal rates of multiple births, with the different fetuses developing at different rates. Hence, the people did have a way of "negotiating" with the authorities. <br /><br />While in Guangzhou, I discovered that a county from which my wife descends was the de facto fief of smuggling gangs. Oddly enough, those same Hakka folk smuggled themselves into Taiwan back in the days when the Qing emperors tried to limit settlement on that island.<br /><br />Finally, I noticed something straight out of Bancroft's _Moral Basis of a Backward Society_--people tended not to trust those outside the family or tribal circle.<br /><br />And, despite all you've heard about the great strides in education made in the PRC, I found that a lot of people from the southern provinces still can't speak Mandarin--including youngish folks. It was a bear for the immigrant visa processors when someone's brother or bride appeared from the depths of rural Zhejiang or Jiangxi (we were pretty well covered, though, for the dialects of Guangdong and Fujian).<br /><br />However, I wouldn't put it past official China to try something drastic in the Taiwan Strait or South China Sea. I'm sure they think America is a weak, foolish pushover now that we've elected Obama twice.<br /><br /><br />Kephahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00999385775493831638noreply@blogger.com