Largest Holder of US Debt Next To The US Social Security System Is China

China -- Our Silent Partner.   I thought I was the fist one to coin the phrase in this context, "Our Silent Partner" but a quick Google search shows I'm not alone.  However, it seems exceedingly strange to me that our media pays such scant attention to China.  No I don't just mean news stories of Obama's trip to ASEAN member nations or the conflict over Taiwan or Korea or even over our trade conflict.  I find it exceedingly strange that we don't solicit Chinese opinions on every other mundane topic in the public consciousness.  I fear we insult them by our total lack of interest about who they are.

As much as I am reluctant to admit it we can't wipe our butts without using a Chinese product.  No...wait...that might be the one and only product they don't make for us.  I stand corrected.  


What the Chinese think and what they do, and feel and what their opinions are about world affairs should be front and center in our minds and in the American conscience.


Have you ever picked up a product Walmart, Kmart, Target, Lowes, or Home Depot  or virtually any store, except maybe the Made In America Store and wondered exactly, where in China it was made?  No?  I have and I imagine, with some embarrassment, trying to explain to some 50 year old Chinese assembly line factory working making 3000 Yuan a month why we buy the crap we buy from them.  I'm talking about the Toys and Dollar Store crap we buy.  

What must these people think sitting on an assembly line, day in and day out making little injection molded plastic birds that balance on your index finger?  I wonder if they ever dream of following one of those little plastic birds from their factory in Guangzhou Provence to the ultimate consumer in Walls, Mississippi or to a convenience store in up state New York?  If they could do that, what would they think?  Would they care?  Do they care?  I don't know but I think we should.


Don't get me wrong I can defend our other purchases.  The quality is OK and the products pretty much work as advertised.  I don't begrudge the Chinese making products and profits.  I wish them luck.  But I wish we hadn't totally abandoned our domestic  industrial capacity, and capabilities but we have.  And now as an American consumer there is noting to be done about it. 


We can thank our politicians and our unions for where we are.  But ultimately the responsibility as the voting public was ours and we failed to keep our eye on the ball.


There is nothing we can do about the fact that the Chinese make all our "stuff".  But there is something we can do about our ignorance about the Chinese people and there is something we can do about our callous disregard for their opinion's and ideas.  Our arrogance astounds me and our educational system and our media has failed us in this regard.  Education and a flood of information on China should be front and center in America.


More on this topic to follow.

Anniversary of the Great Obama Flu Scare of 2009

Influenza Flu Virus Structure

As flu season rolls around again are we hearing any reminders of the foolishness or the cost of the Obama administrations panic of 2009?  Actually I think you're only hearing about it here at Naam Bplah.


Back in 2009, during the Halycon days of Obama's first "action under fire" he was aided and abetted by none other than the New York Times with inaccurate and plainly concocted stories about the number of dead and ill and alarming predictions of dire consequences to come.  None of these predictions came to pass.

The subsequent GAO Report tried to put the best face on the profligate waste of taxpayers money with these highly speculative numbers: 

"The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that there were as many as 89 million U.S. cases of H1N1influenza from April 2009 to April 2010.  CDC estimated that these cases led to as many as 403,000 hospitalizations and 18,300 deaths during that

period, with a disproportionate number of children affected as compared to typical influenza seasons."    

These numbers constitute a pandemic?


But just to play devils' advocate let's assume for a moment that 200 Million taxpayers actually got flu shots for a total cost of  6  billion dollars.  ($6,000,000,000 divided by 200,000,000 is approximately $30.00 for every man, woman and child in the United States.)  Some might argue that $30.00 isn't a bad trade off to avoid the predicted apocalyptic result that would occur from doing nothing.   Personally,  I wouldn't.  I think the cost is still too high.  Besides I don't remember my flu shot being free.  I  paid for mine.  How about you?

The GAO report also tells us,  "the WHO declared that the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic ended on August 10, 2010."  It's not clear how it ended, with a bang or a whimper or they just got tired of reporting on it after the 6 billion was spent.

 The GAO report goes on to tell us; "HHS had $6.15 billion available from the 2009 supplemental appropriation to spend on pandemic influenza activities. Specifically, the Congress appropriated $1.85 billion immediately to HHS in June 2009, shortly after WHO declared the start of the pandemic. The Congress also appropriated up to $5.80 billion in additional contingent funding. These contingent funds would only be available in the amounts designated by the President, in written notices to the Congress, as emergency funds required to address

critical needs related to emerging influenza viruses. In July and September of 2009, the President notified the Congress of the need for additional funding, and accordingly, $4.54 billion of the contingent funds became available to HHS. From this $4.54 billion, HHS transferred about $241 million to other departments, which left about $4.30 billion available for HHS.28 As of December 2010, the remaining $1.259 billion from the contingent fund was not designated by the President as required to  address critical needs related to emerging influenza viruses; however, these funds were rescinded under the fiscal year 2011 continuing appropriations act."


What is mentioned with a grain of salt in the GAO report is that of over 240 million dollars that HHS transferred to other departments and organizations to fight this "Pandemic" no one bothered to follow up or find out how the money was spent, if it was effective or on what it was ultimately spent.


All of this waste was BS  (Before Solyndra) and seems like chump change by comparison I suppose and hardly worth reporting  To me it still seems like a crime.

"HHS reported that it transferred about $241.20 million to the Department of Defense,Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State, and Department of Agriculture. Since

HHS spent the majority of the 2009 supplemental appropriation, we did not determine howthe $241 million transferred to these other departments was spent by them. We did not independently verify the amount of money that was transferred. The 2009 supplementalappropriation requires that all funds transferred to these other departments go toward purposes related to preparing for or responding to an influenza pandemic."

Remember the $30.00 a head calculation I provided earlier in this article?  Well I was being generous.  Later in the GAO report we find the following: 

"The states, in turn, placed orders for their allocated doses and determined which providers should receive the vaccine. CDC estimated that from October 2009 through May 2010, 27 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 6 months (about 81 million people) was vaccinated against H1N1 influenza..."

If we accept HHS numbers, CDC numbers and figures from the States, all of which have a vested interest in cooking the books, we come up with  a cost of approximately $76.00 per head. ($6,150,000,000 divided by 81,000,000 =  $76.00 for every man, woman and child actually inoculated in 2009.

Bangkok Post, The Nation, Asia Today and Other Liberal Asian Publishers of Tripe Coordinate All Out Attack on Ying Luck Shinawatra's Administration

The Thai news agencies and liberal Australian Bangkok correspondents like "Asia Today's" Bob Horn are crying foul and reporting that Thaksin is the most "divisive" leader in Thai history.  Here.  The question is most "divisive" to whom?  When you garner more votes in more provinces than any other leader in Thai history how is that divisive?  When your sister overwhelming wins election to Prime Minister by incredibly large margins in an election stacked against her how is that divisive?   

Super Highway to Bangkok.  The View Thaksin soon will see on his way home.

All the Bangkok based writers make sure to stress Thaksin's "fugitive" status and then the international press; pick up the same phrases  and misinformation and biased opinions and incessantly repeat an modulate the story to appeal to their own sycophantic tastes.  They fail to mention the courts that made him a fugitive were allied with the opposition party and that the fraud charges had little to no substance.

The Nation would like to make "a mountain over a mole hill" over this issue in yet another attempt to disparage the Ying Luck administration here just as they have tried to do with their screaming headline, "Govt takes dangerous path". Here Will they never stop? Have they no decency?  Give this administration an opportunity to govern without being besieged and incessantly attacked. Where was their outrage when the Democrats were in power?

There use to be a tradition in Thai Politics for the old prime minister to bow out politely from expressing opinions on the current administrations day to day operations of the government. It's a pity Khun Abhisit won't follow this tradition and keep his mouth shut instead of trying to undermine the current government as he does here.  He lost the election by a wide margin. He should go away and keep his own counsel. How many years did he have to improve the levees and the infrastructure of the country to mitigate the flooding? But his government did NOTHING! And now he has the gall and effrontery to try to tell the current government what to do? How hypocritical is that?

2011 Chiang Mai, Thailand International Balloon Festival November 25

We will be attending the worlds most awesome Hot Air Balloon Festival this year at  Chiang Mai, Thailand. You can see it here. Chiang Mai Balloon Festival   This annual festival is being organized by the Earth Wind and Fire company here.  Please check out their website.  They not only organize this festival they produce many fine products for our Armed Forces.  Focusing on Soldier support and survivability systems.  The scope of their products is not limited to just soldier hydration systems but encompasses many other product lines which are better described at their own web site.

The balloon's will be staging at the Prince Royal College just across the street from Chiang Mai, International School and just a hop, skip and a jump from this author's house, or "Moo Bahn" as the say over here.  Needless to say you need to stay tuned to see some awe inspiring photos in about two weeks.

A list of the festivals sponsors can be found below.

Another Nail in the Coffin of CO2 Induced Global Warming

On a recommendation from our friends over at Powerline I'm linking to a new article Here by Doctor Tim Ball which puts another big nail in the coffin of the anthropomorphic climate change argument.  


In this article Dr Ball disproves, resoundingly, the theory that man made or caused CO2 emissions are the culprit behind global warming or climate change.   It's a good read.  I highly recommend it for a full understanding of the issue.


What I intend to do here over the next few months is build a library of the latest scientific evidence which demonstrates that Climate Change at best is a hoax and at worse a diabolical attempt by our political elites to transfer more wealth and power from the developed nations to the developing and to line their pockets with the proceeds of fees and taxes on carbon emissions.  Stay tuned.


Some of the developing nations have actually enough cheek to begin charging for carbon emissions already.  When you book  a flight on Thai Royal Airlines these days your presented with this option.

On the live screen the, Offsetting your carbon emissions "please click" is flashing red.  I can only assume when you go to that screen your offered the option of contributing x amount to off set the carbon emissions caused by  the flight your about to take.  I'd love to see the formula for that calculation and I wonder who's pocket the money goes into?  We will follow up on this one.

Bangkok Post Invokes President Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" Quote

In an obvious and sophomoric attempt to pillory Prime Minister Ying Luck Shinawatra the Bangkok Post invokes President Reagan's Brandenberg Gate,  "Tear down this Wall". command.

The full article can be found here.  The Post, in this case is referring to a wall of sandbags holding back flood waters near the old Don Muang airport.  


The Post is mouth piece of the  Bangkok Elite who hate and despise the democratically elected Prime Minister, Ying Luck Shinawatra as they did her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra .  


The Elite have been hounding her since she took office and have been using the flood as a tool to undermine her administration.  At the same time these "liberal democrats" have been calling into question her leadership skills because she is a woman.    She has been under a ceaseless assault since early October of this year.  What would they have had her do?  She has only been in office a relatively short time.   Given that just after she took office the flood waters were coming and the condition of the levees and damn's were, "what they are". What could she have done differently?   Doesn't the former administration of Aphisit Wetchachiwa bear any responsibility? The time do "do something" constructive about flooding, the time you have an opportunity to make significant infrastructure improvements is years, not days or weeks before a flood. I'd say the current administration has made herculean efforts to protect it's citizenry with sandbags and barricades and emergency food and water. This isn't Bangladesh. 

Admittedly mistakes have been made and yes in some cases local officials could have acted sooner and in some cases people in power have acted in their own self interests. Your going to have those events and circumstances in any government and in any crisis environment.  But this is not the time to undermine the Thai government.  The people need a government they can believe in and a government that is strong.   As reported by AP news here Thailand's kings health is possibly deteriorting.  The forces that are causing this unrest and dissatisfaction with the current government should think twice about the long term impact of their actions. 

President Obama's Asian "Charm Offensive"

Reuters is reporting Here that President Obama is headed to Aisa on a charm offensive.
A "Charm Offensive" are they serious?  I knew Chris Matthews felt a "thrill going up his leg" but do you really think the Chinese will have the same reaction as Mr Matthews?   Our nation is going through the worst economic crisis in modern time and the president is taking off for two weeks; to watch Basketball in San Deigo, play golf in Hawaii, visit with old friends in Indonesia, pray at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, play a few more rounds of golf, then on to China where he hopes Hu will take notice of his charm and not call in our markers.  The only thing that is going to "power the recovery" is if Obama isn't re-elected. 

Reuters, Jack Shafer Backhanded Support for Herman Cain

Jack Shafer editor for Salon and contributor for Reuters

Presidential Candidate Herman Cain

Reuters, commentator, Mr. Jack Shafer offered up the left's version of a mea culpa article on Herman Cain here.  But if this is impartial journalism, who needs a lynch mob?  The way Mr. Cain has been treated by the press is deplorable and Shafer's article doesn't really address this reprehensible behavior on the part of his colleagues.  Shafer bends over backwards to establish he still feels Cain is or probably could be, at a minimum, guilty of "something".  He's not quite sure what, maybe he's guilty of being a "creep"?  Shafer's idea of impartiality and being an objective journalist is to say he's  "...open to the possibility that (Cain) he’s no rampaging sexual monster. " That's all?  That's really big of of him.   Mr. Shafer certainly doesn't suffer from probity or from being objective.  But we've come to expect this type of behavior from the left.  This article by Shafer is an obvious and pathetic attempt to lift himself "above the fray".   I'm convinced Mr. Shafer thinks he really is being objective and unbiased in writing this article.  That is how divorced the left has become from reality.  Mr. Cain has never even been accused of sexual harassment and yet Mr Shafer jumps easily from the initial claims in Politico of "inappropriate behavior" to "sexual harassment" early in his article and then continues to modulate and repeat the phrase until in the end the reader assumes Cain has been charged with "sexual harassment".  But where was Shafer on Clinton and the semen stained dress of Monica Lewinsky?  Mr Shafer has a history of attacking anyone who would dare to tell the truth.  Unfortunately, Mr. Shafer doesn't know the truth or understand the meaning of  objective journalism. Instead of attacking Herman Cain, Matt Drudge and Marvin Kalb he might want to take a few lessons from them.

Happy Birthday U.S. Marine Corps

Happy Birthday US Marine Corps.  236 Years and Going Strong.  Hoo Rah!

Just for fun here's another video of the Battle of Leyet Gulf where my grandmother was an assistant to Gen. MacArthur, (after the battle.) 

Here's a great Marine Corp Joke borrowed from Sgt Grit's Grunt web site

NEVER ASK A GUNNY...
Richard Mullins

A young Marine officer was in a serious car accident, but the only visible permanent injury was to both of his ears, which were amputated. Since he wasn't physically impaired he remained in the Marine and eventually rose to the rank of General. He was however, very sensitive about his appearance. One day the General was interviewing three Marines for his personal aide. The first was an aviator, and it was a great interview. At the end of the interview the General asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?"

The young officer answered,"Why yes, sir. I couldn't help but notice that you have no ears." The general got very angry at the lack of tact and threw him out.

The second interview was with a femaleLieutenant, and she was even better. The General asked her the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" She replied, "Well, sir, you have no ears." The General threw her out also.

The third interview was with a Marine Gunny. He was articulate, looked extremely sharp and seemed to know more than the two officers combined (surprise).

The General wanted this guy, and went ahead with the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?"

To his surprise, the Gunny said, "Yes sir, you wear contact lenses."

The General was very impressed and thought, what an incredibly observant Gunny, and he didn't mention my ears. "And how do you know that I wear contacts?" The General asked.

The sharp-witted Gunny replied, "Well, sir, it's pretty hard to wear glasses with no freaking ears."

Posted by Sgt Grit Staff

Despite Foreign Intervention Thai Baht Expected to Fall

Most financial commentators are predicting a increase in the value of the Thai Bhat due to a recent influx of foreign investment.  While it is true foreign investors have propped up the Baht this past week by pouring almost $200 Million into Thai equities, this is going to do nothing more than provide a temporary respite for the falling value of the Baht. 

Bangkok Skyline under ominous phsycial and financial storm clouds.  

As I predicted in my previous post on this subject we at Naam Bplah expect to see the Baht hit 38 to 45 to the USD within the next 18 months.  This is based not only on the economic impact due to the current flooding but on our analysis of it's long term impact on industrial and agricultural output.    

The Sheikh and his entourage pass by a Bangkok fruit vendor

Naam Bplah's Bangkok foreign correspondent, Nanak discussing micro economics with two Thai Street Vendors

Bangkok''s State of the Art Mass Transportation System

When we look at the serious implications of the disruption of industrial output, long term agricultural impacts, coupled with increasing political instability and the precarious and uncertain state of other aspects of Thailand's national identity we feel our analysis and predictions are in line and could even exceed the economic crisis in 1997.

Shoulder to Shoulder with Pakistan Not Our American Benefactors

As reported initially in Politico and repeated with glee in the New York Times, Major General Peter Fuller was fired by Hillary Clinton and President Obama for calling a spade a spade.  For speaking honestly and truthfully.  When told by Politico that Afganistan President Hamad Karzai stated that Afganistan would defend and aid Pakistan if Pakistan was attacked by the USA, Fuller responded, "Why don't you just poke me in the eye with a needle!  You've got to be kidding me."  "I'm sorry we just gave you 11.6 Billion USD and now your telling me, I don't really care?"   


The New York Times and Politico both actually report that General Alan made the decision to relieve General Fuller of his command.  If you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell you.  


Everyone seems to agree that What General Fuller said was true.  Karzai, is erratic, inarticulate and ungrateful for US assistance.  No one denies that fact, not the army, not Politico or The New York Times.  But I guess our generals are not suppose to speak the truth.


Since I have a family member at risk in Afghanistan I have been researching our Military's operational policies on a big picture basis and on a micro level trying to understand current operational tactics techniques and procedures (TTP).    Probably the most articulate writer on our Afghanistan policies is, Diana West author of the best selling book, The Death of the Grown Up   In one of Diana's more recent weekly blogs she writes,  You don't win hearts and minds by losing your own.   Diana concludes this blog with the following paragraph describing Maj Jim Gant's implementation of his "One Tribe at a Time" concept.

Gant's big idea is to insert small teams like his own into other tribes. "They must be able to `go native,'" Gant writes, and "steadily integrate themselves into tribal life and customs." As my reader might say: Great, just great.

Whether Gant's plan for special forces is fully implemented, one thing is as clear as a Joint Chief on a rug: You don't have to be fighting for Sitting Bull to see the horizon through the other's eyes. But that's not how you win hearts and minds; it's how you lose your own."

I'm afraid the US Army leadership is losing it's way again just as they did during the middle and end of the Vietnam war.  Just because an idea is new and "innovative" like Major Gant's.   doesn't mean it's a good idea or that it's not going to get allot of good soldiers killed.

Continued Flooding in Thailand's Major Industrial Areas Wreaks Havoc On Thai and ASEAN Economy, Report by China's CCTV News

I just updated this today, March 10, 2012.  The original video I posted here was missing as it appears China closed their YouTube Account and is posting things on their own servers now.  (That could be a whole new post here at Naam Bplah.  We'll have to do some more research into this issue.  However, I've recovered the video and reposted it.  If you have an interest in Thailand I highly recommend this news clip from our "friends"  (I say that lightly) in China.  However,  this is a fairly comprehensive report on the damage and challenges Thailand will face over the next two or three years.  I suspect we will see a dramatic drop in the value of the Thai Baht from it's current exchange rate of 30 Baht to the USD to possibly 40 to 45 Baht to the dollar.  What is revealing is that back in October 2011 when we were predicting a very sour Thai economy, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and others were much more optimistic. 

Hookah Smoking Spreading Like Wild Fire Across America or Beware of Turks Bearing Gifts

Since the United States has existed our soldiers through their training or experiences abroad have brought back to America more than they left with.   Through the introduction of new habits and attitudes they have changed the face of this Nation and consequently it's habits.  We owe the new popularity of Hookah smoking, in part, to the war in Iraq and conflicts in other Western Asian countries.  

Smoking a Hookah in Iraq

Probably the best article and most comprehensive statistic on the subject of Hookah smoking is by the American Lung Assoication and can be found here.  However, having said that please realize that the American Lung Association has become fanatical about second hand smoking and has also lost sight of our constitutional right to do any damn thing we want to our bodies.  If they had things their way they would outlaw smoking.  No.  But wait.  If they outlaw smoking who will pay taxes on cigarettes to support socialized medicine in America?  But I digress.  At any rate treat the ALA facts and figures with a healthy amount of skepticism 


By anyone's calculation Hookah smoking has taken off like a  Nebraska wild fire spreading across the great plains of American culture by people predominantly under 30.  This transformation from cigarette smoking to Hookah smoking has occurred primarily since the Iraq war.

Soldiers in Iraq lighting up.  As far as I can determine this photo originally came from Narghile Blogspot.   My apologies to the original photographer as I haven' been able to determine who that is.

Probably the best and most entertaining web blog I've found for the aficionados of Hookah smoking can be found at the The Hookah Lounge.  Another popular site is Hookah Kings. The most politically bizzare Hookah site I've found is, Narghile Blogspot.  This website attacks the anti Hookah organizations and is a strong support of Gaddift and claims the US is responsible for over one million deaths in Lybia.    Hookah Hookah is a very big site with a clickable Google type map with locations of Hookah Bars all across the USA.  Probably very useful to Hookah Smokers country wide.


Earlier examples of soldiers in America being introduced to various drug habits and bringing these habits home can be found in this excellent article Higher and Higher by Peter Brush .  The article by Brush is a straight forward narrative accounting of what happened.  It is riviting.   I'm assuming the author borrowed the title from the Jackie Wilson classic, Your Love Keeps Taking Me "Higher and Higher" which was adopted as an almost cult song by the soldiers in Vietnam as was  Purple Haze by Jimmy Hendrix. 

Sharing a pipe with friends.  This is a common scene across America Today

In my youth is would have been assumed there was not tobacco in the device.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company's "Responsibility Project" Blog Here has an interesting article called 

The Hidden Harms of Hookahs.

I give you the NOT SO HIDDEN HARMS.  
Lack of O2 to brain.  This is what causes your "buzzed" feeling.  Wait until you have a stroke...it's a very similar feeling except you start slurring your words and pissing in your pants and begin to drown on your own saliva because you can't swallow.  If your lucky you die, if not your life is changed forever.  Smoking a Hookah is a fun thing to do I'm sure.   But do you want to take the risk that a tiny blood vessel brain might not be up to the stress your putting your body under?  As they say in Thailand, "Up to you!"