China is to have its first-ever sex theme park, to be called “Love Land”. For a traditional country, the development seems quite radical. The purpose of the park, located in Chongquing province, is to educate people about sex. The park’s manager explains:
“We are building the park for the …
The New York Times features an article today by Andrew E. Kramer concerning Russia’s gas worries. Kramer explains that as gas prices (not to be confused with oil prices) fall, Russia’s state-run gas company Gazprom will suffer. The main reason is because Gazprom is contractually obligated to purchase …
The New York Times this week has featured Op-Ed contributions discussing the weakness of the American Dollar and its potential fall as the world’s major reserve currency. The only obvious choice for a successor to the Dollar is the Chinese renminbi, as argued by Nouriel Roubini. As Roubini …
One of the under-the-radar news stories these past several weeks has been mysterious indirect negotiations between American and Iranian officials regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. The Iranian nuclear program is worrisome to most western powers not because it would provide Iran with an alternative power source, but because if Tehran were …
This weekend Russia unveiled its new missile defense system as part of a military parade to celebrate Victory Day (WWII) in Moscow. Put on show around Red Square was the S-400 missile defense system, which many in Russia consider to be a counterweight to American Patriot missiles. President …
Check out this article (thanks to Robert Nolan for sending it along) about Goldman Sachs’ latest report on the shift of global economic power towards the East.
This week saw another confrontation between the US and China over Beijing’s growing naval power and what appears to be Washington’s attempts to retain control of the dominance to which it has grown accustomed in the East and South China Seas. On Sunday 2 Chinese fishing vessels reportedly
Yesterday I wrote about US Secretary of State Clinton’s statements from last week explaining her concern that China, Russia and Iran are seeking to gain influence in Latin America. One example of Iran’s growing clout in the region was this week’s planned trip by President Ahmadinejad …
Obama’s appearance at the 5th Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago 2 weeks ago was largely viewed as a diplomatic coup. There, the American President reassured his neighbors to the south that the US wants to work as a productive “partner”. No discussion was brought up concerning China’s …
Swine flu is all the rage in the press these days it seems. And Mexico is suffering. The entire country has been placed under a virtual economic shut down as public assemblies have been banned and many open areas quarantined. Exports are now looked at with caution and US trade …
Scoreboard on Central Asian energy:
Russia: 0
Europe: +2
Turkmenistan: +10
Euraisanet reported on Friday that Russia maintained a huge loss to its energy portfolio at a recent two-day energy security conference in Ashgabad, Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan, a very energy rich Central Asian dictatorship and former Soviet republic, is undoubtedly close to Moscow …
Central Asia has taken center stage this week in series of military maneuveres and developments. In a broad way, these developments can be seen as evidence of larger posturing between Russia (and to a lesser extent, China) on one hand and NATO and the US on the other.
First, on Saturday, …
This weekend US President Barack Obama was the center of attention at the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Obama even eclipsed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s entrance with, according to the Associated Press, “thundering applause and a few whoops” from the heads …
China’s Xinhua news service reported today that on Monday China Radio International announced that a group of dolphins prevented pirates from attacking a group of Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden.
This bizarre event was minor compared to the major story coming out of Beijing today: …
One of the untold stories in the headlines during the past few months is that the price of oil has climbed. Recent reports have shown oil at $61 a barrel in the 4th quarter, definitely higher than the $30 reached in 2008. Many financial analysts contribute the rise in price …
