“Russia and China were the only permanent Security Council members opposing the draft, reminding others that it was not their place to intervene in another country’s domestic affairs.”

Under international law, it’s illegal. Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said

In response, US envoy Susan Rice said she was “disgusted” by vetoes “prop(ping) up desperate dictators.” French ambassador Gerard Araud said “history will judge (Assad supporters) harshly.”

Sun Feb 5, 2012 5:31AM GMT
The United States has criticized Russia and China for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution on Syria calling for Syrian President Bashar al Assad to resign and hand over power to opposition leaders.

“The United States is disgusted that a couple of members of this Council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice claimed.

"For months, this council has been held hostage by a couple of members," Rice added.

Russia and China were the only members of the UN council that rejected the anti-Syria resolution, endorsed by the US and its Arab allies. Russia and China had vetoed a similar resolution on Syria in October.

It was the two countries’ second use of their security council vetoes to shield the Syrian leader from UN condemnation since the uprising against his rule began last year, and came despite worldwide outrage at the slaughter of up to 330 people in Homs during the previous night.

The five hour shelling of the rebellious city’s civilian population, in which 99 women and children were reportedly among those killed, was the worst single act of violence in the 11 month-long uprising.

Russia said it could not support a resolution backing an Arab League plan for a swift transition of power and elections. It was understood to have demanded a last-minute change dropping a call, already agreed by Syria in November, for tanks and artillery to be withdrawn from the streets.

FOX news is now reporting an actual timeline for the up coming attack on Iran by Israel. America is backing it.

Panetta concerned Israel months from striking Iran

It is also widely known that Israel sought clearance from Secretary of Defense Gates to bomb Iran in July 2008 and were turned away. Any future attack by Israel will clearly suggest U.S. permission, whether it is given in fact or not. David E. Sanger, “U.S. Rejected Aid for Israeli Raid on Iranian Nuclear Site,” The New York Times, January 11, 2009.

The United Nations Security Council has just voted on a draft resolution concerning the ongoing violence in Syria.

Of the voting members, Russia and China were the only ones to vote against the draft, but as permanent members of the UNSC they both hold veto power, and the resolution has not been passed as a result.

The news follows days of heated political debates in the UNSC, with many members supporting a Western-backed draft calling for foreign nations to put an end to what some called the “Syrian killing machine.”

Russia and China were the only permanent Security Council members opposing the draft, reminding others that it was not their place to intervene in another country's domestic affairs.

Dark times lie ahead for the U.S. dollar as its future as the world's reserve currency looks to be in great jeopardy. For more than 50 years the U.S. dollar has been the chief monetary instrument used by the nations of the world to facilitate trade involving commodities such as petroleum, manufactured products, and gold. But the times are changing and many of these nations, with China at the forefront, are finalizing trade agreements that utilize only their own currencies.

Stephen Lendman, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Slowly things are coming to a head. America, Israel, rogue NATO partners, and regional despot allies are itching for a fight with Syria. Russia and China stand firmly opposed...

Andre Evans
Activist Post

As awareness of genetically modified food and the dangers associated increase, actions are being taken to eliminate the issue entirely.

With countries destroying their GMO crops, scientists showing the facts, and individuals voicing their discontent on the matter, there is a large and growing contingent across countries that are taking action to preserve the integrity of our food supply. China is the latest nation to take a stand against GMO crops.

China recently suspended the distribution of genetically modified rice within its commercial food supplies...

"People seem crazy about gold, snatching it up more like a cheap cabbage than such a precious metal," it quotes Beijing resident Miao Miao.

The value of sales at two of Beijing's top gold retailers, Caibai and Guohua, reportedly hit 600 million Yuan ($95.28 million) – a 49.7% rise on last year's sales, almost 50% increase in purchases!The gold price in Dollars meantime rose around 25% over the same period.

Have you ever watched a football game or a basketball game where one team dominates the other team so badly that calling it a "blowout" would be a huge understatement? Well, that is what China is doing to the United States. China is absolutely destroying America on the global economic stage.

The potential for East-West conflict over Iran is that Russia and China have both given strong indications of being on Iran's side. With China, there is this report. The level of Chinese support goes beyond words and economic sanctions. It goes to military aid and prospective military support. Several high-level officials in Russia have criticized sanctions as well as any attack in quite strong language, suggesting "catastrophe" and unknown but large ramifications. The West's sanctions are backfiring already as Iran arranges oil sales in non-dollar currencies. They are backfiring by creating support for Iran among states outside of Europe and the U.S.

That is the entire article...

Stephen Lendman, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

On January 28, Arab League monitors suspended operations in Syria. In early February, they'll decide whether to end them altogether. League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby blamed Assad for "resort(ing) to escalating the military option in complete violation of (his) commitments."

In fact, he's contesting a Western-generated insurgency...

The National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, one of the leading opposition groups, remains adamant that foreign military intervention would make an already deteriorating situation even worse.

This lack of unity among opposition factions has hampered the growing calls for direct UN involvement. Russia and China, however, remain firmly opposed to a resolution that would leave the door open to foreign military intervention.

Don Debar, anti-war activist and journalist talks to RT suggesting the latest UN Security Council resolution does not uphold the right of the Syrian people to choose their own leadership.

Despite the new round of US and EU sanctions on Iran, India has said it would do what ever it takes to buy the Iranian oil. Finding a replacement on such a large scale is difficult as Iranian oil contributes to about 12 percent of India's oil imports.

China has criticized the European Union's new unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran as blind pressure and unconstructive.

President Obama reiterated his committment to cutting down on military spending and trimming the armed forces. But U.S. professor Paul Sheldon Foote says his pledge is at odds with Washington's foreign policy goals.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had a big day today. Defying expectations, they posted record revenues and earnings in the first quarter of 2012. This is an amazing feat in spite of a global recession which has particularly hit the US middle class.

Apple posted revenues of $46.33B and a net profit of $13.06B for the quarter representing $13.87 earnings per share. They were able to generate $16B in cash equivalents totaling $37.9B for the year. Apple currently has on hand almost $100 Billion in cash ($97.6B) which would make it the 58th largest economy in the world!

Obviously, fans of Apple and unchecked capitalism everywhere should be proud! Unfortunately, what bodes well for Apple may not bode well for the planet.

For the record, I do not feel that it is completely fair to pick on Apple alone. Apple is one product of a broken system that rewards short term thinking and lack of true innovation, does not penalize excessive waste of planetary resources and treats humans as slave labor.

Just about any other technology company, clothing company, kitchenware company etc. will provide a similar example. Apple just tends to exemplify every facet of what is wrong with society.

The EU has delivered on its threat to ban the import of crude oil from Iran, in response to its nuclear programme. The latest round of sanctions prohibits any new oil contracts, while allowing for existing deals to run until July. But Tehran is apparently finding ways to keep business pumping. Reports say Iran will keep supplying one of its biggest customers - India - but will get payment in gold instead of dollars.

Since World War II, the United States has enjoyed the status of having the world’s reserve currency. After the war, the largest industrial nations got together in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to work out rules for commercial and financial relations. Each nation adopted a monetary policy which tied its currency to the US dollar. At the time, US dollars were convertible to gold on demand, making for a sound currency and system.

In the late 60?s, the costs of the Vietnam war were escalating and France was worried that the US would not be able to cover their debts. French President Charles DeGaulle began converting their US debt into gold. This depleted the US Treasury and in 1971, President Nixon declared “force majeure” and essentially defaulted on US debt. This was done by ending the convertibility of US dollars to gold thus making the US dollar a fiat currency.

Nile Bowie, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

For a nation who has historically subordinated itself to larger powers, Australia’s Labour-led foreign policy shows little divergence away from being wholly complicit to American full spectrum dominance in the region...

Jewish visitors to China often receive a snap greeting when they reveal their religion: “Very smart, very clever, and very good at business,” the Chinese person says. Last year’s Google Zeitgeist China rankings listed “why are Jews excellent?” in fourth place in the “why” questions category, just behind “why should I enter the party” and above “why should I get married?” (Google didn’t publish a "why" category in Mandarin this year.) And the apparent affection for Jewishness has led to a surprising trend in publishing over the last few years: books purporting to reveal the business secrets of the Talmud that capitalize on the widespread impression among Chinese that attributes of Judaism lead to success in the financial arts.

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Geopolitical developments continue at a pace that likely makes most peoples’ heads spin, and for good reason.

With the situation in Syria, the push for war with Iran and the global growth of NATO control, it appears we are in truly volatile and historic times...

(Reuters) - Russia will offer Washington no explanation for arms deliveries to Syria and together with China will prevent the U.N. Security Council from approving any military intervention in the conflict-torn nation, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Using his annual news conference to draw lines in the sand on Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said veto-holding Security Council members Russia and China would stand firm against foreign intervention.

"We will insist - and we have an understanding with our Chinese colleagues that this is our common position - that these fundamental points be retained in any decision that may be taken by the U.N. Security Council," Lavrov said.

Corporations, development and neoliberalism violently destroy the lives, livelihoods and lands of groups who offer globalized society an alternative. These groups of people genuinely strive for communal well-being and true ecological sustainability: yet they face ethnic cleansing. Their annihilation will prevent them from disseminating their wisdom. These are the original occupy movement: these are indigenous tribal peoples. Their ancestors have overseen the creation of some of the richest, diverse ecosystems in the world, not yet plundered on behalf of the power elite.

Paul Craig Roberts
Activist Post

Since my January 11 column and the news alert posted on January 14, more confirmation that Washington is moving the world toward a dangerous war has appeared...

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post

Nearly half of all pharmaceutical drugs within the United States were not only produced overseas, but a shocking 81% of the 3,765 foreign factories have never been inspected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Of these mystery drug factories, many are unregulated and stationed in China.

To top it all off, the percentage climbs even higher when looking at the active ingredients for pharmaceuticals. About 80% of these active ingredients are created overseas...

A grim Ministry of Defense bulletin issued to Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev today states that President Hu has “agreed in principal” that the only way to stop the West’s aggression led by the United States is through “direct and immediate military action” and that the Chinese leader has ordered his Naval Forces to “prepare for warfare.”

Hu’s call for war joins Chinese Rear Admiral and prominent military commentator Zhang Zhaozhong who, likewise, warned this past week that: “China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a Third World War,” and Russian General Nikolai Makarov who grimly stated last week: “I do not rule out local and regional armed conflicts developing into a large-scale war, including using nuclear weapons.”

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Events continue to progress at blinding speed and only seem to be getting increasingly dangerous.

While the United States has been building up a considerable military presence in the Persian Gulf region for years, this effort seems to have accelerated in recent weeks and months .

The Pentagon is now shifting a great deal of military assets into the vicinity of the Persian Gulf under the guise of a contingency plan, while continuing to deny that it means a buildup to war...

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

The push for foreign intervention in Syria has been going on for quite a while now and never seems to relent in ferocity. I have been writing about this issue for months now, so if you would like to get a strong background on this topic I highly recommend you scroll down to the end of the article to find a list of related reading materials.

Despite the large conglomeration of Western nations and allied nations in the Arab League’s relentless full-court press, some countries continue to resist this effort.

The most glaring example is, of course, Russia...

By Wayne Madsen

President Obama has recently approved a new Pentagon anti-China military plan for Asia, one that primarily targets China and North Korea. With the U.S. shifting its focus to Asia from the Middle East and Afghanistan, look for more sandals to fly in Indonesia and the theme getting picked up across Indonesia, Malaysia, and other nations in the region. Soros has found a new theme and it is not the rose of Georgia, the lotus of Egypt, or the tulip of Kyrgyzstan, but the unclean sandal of Indonesia.

China and India are catapulting to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join as partners in a Hawaii telescope that will be the world’s largest when it’s built later this decade.

China and India will pay a share of the construction cost - expected to top $1 billion - for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time. It’s the first advanced telescope in which either nation has been a partner.

While Pakistan reeled under a major political crisis set off by a controversial interview given by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to a Chinese state- run daily, the "scoop" was "blacked" out here.

Mystery shrouds the report, which could perhaps be the first international scoop for the country's media.

Gilani's much quoted interview to People's Daily Online run by the Communist Party of China, (CPC) was not seen online or in print media in China, media officials here said.

There are more FEMALE serving soliders in China than the ENTIRE US population. Get your head around that?

Okay, now lets add on the Russians, Iranians and Pakistan. Is war with Iran really worth it?

By David Malone
I think the stand-off with Iran in the Straits of Hormuz over sanctions is as much to do with the moves to replace the dollar as anything else. The standoff is as much with China and its allies as it is specifically with Iran. The US is testing China’s nerve and the solidity of its network of bilateral currency settlement agreements. We are seeing military power deployed to counter economic power. I think the US will lose. Depending on the nature of its loss we could see a precipitate decline in the standing of the dollar as global reserve currency.

Spy agency's latest job opening gives preference to candidates with command of Chinese, Persian

Do you speak Chinese? If so, Israel's Mossad needs you.

Recently, the spy agency put up a job posting on its website for a strategic researcher. The post will require the suitable candidate to formulate and analyze intelligence assessments, write position papers and draft updates and recommendations for the benefit of policy-makers.

Beijing—Pakistan and China have vowed to strengthen their comprehensive and all-dimensional relationship, especially in the defense sector. Conveying their strong solidarity with Pakistan, Chinese civilian and military leaders have told the visiting Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, that China will always stand by its close and trusted strategic partner - Pakistan. China has started its calendar of high level visits in 2012 with the visit of General Kayani. Chinese media has especially highlighted the importance of the visit in the backdrop of recent regional and international developments.

by Jack JC

Luckily for US citizens, not everything is getting outsourced. There are some US companies, such as Georgia Chopsticks LLC, who have seen opportunities in durable goods manufacturing and now provide reputable exportable US made product to offshore countries. These entrepreneurs should be commended and encouraged by local populations and governments in the absence of any recognizable federal support; their ratio of job creation is very high compared to the actual jobs created in their factories, or those created by government bail outs.

The cold war in the Middle East has the dangerous potential of igniting into a broader war involving the core of Eurasia that would envelop the globe in disaster.

Anthony Gucciardi
Activist Post

A Chinese man infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus died on Saturday, marking China’s first case of the disease in humans in 18 months.

The news comes just days after the United States government frantically acted to block the full publishing of research that successfully mutated the H5N1 virus to be highly contagious...

A political analyst says Russia and China consider a US military action on Iran as an attack on their own borders and a threat to their own national security.

“The US is assuming that Russia or China will not respond militarily, but they've been wrong before,” Shamus Cooke wrote on the Global Research website.

Cooke explained that when former US president George W. Bush gave the green light to the then President of Georgia Mikheil Saakahvili to attack South Ossetia in 2008, “Russia surprised everyone by responding militarily and crushing Georgia's invasion.”

“Attacking Syria and/or Iran opens the door to a wider regional or even international war,” Cooke stressed.

“We have trumped the mil­i­tary by seiz­ing the role of chief ex­e­cu­tioner with a rapidly ex­pand­ing drone em­pire. After decades of pas­sion­ately deny­ing its for­ays into as­sas­si­na­tion, the CIA now preens over them. The CIA is mostly tasked with killing for­eign­ers but not shirk­ing elim­i­na­tion of U.S. cit­i­zens. We have thus em­barked on a new era” opined Alex Cockburn from the left.

China has declared its intent to send a man to the moon, aiming to become the first nation to reach the lunar surface since the last American mission in 1972.

The year 2011 has been a tough one for Sino-United States ties. And 2012 does not look like it's going to be a good year either, with a presidential election year in the United States. For both the Democratic and Republican parties, bashing the Chinese economic, military and freedom-averse menace will probably be a campaign-trail staple.

Lunch-pail issues - protectionism and the undervalued yuan - will focus disapproving US eyes.

Tensions will also be exacerbated by the Barack Obama administration's "return to Asia" - a return to proactive containment of China - and the temptation to apply dangerous and destabilizing new doctrine, preventive diplomacy, to China.

The potential for friction certainly exists.

China and Japan have unveiled plans to promote direct exchange of their currencies in a bid to cut costs for companies and boost bilateral trade.

The deal will allow firms to convert the Chinese and Japanese currencies directly into each other.

Currently businesses in both countries need to buy US dollars before converting them into the desired currency, adding extra costs.

It is the latest step by China as it seeks a more global role for the yuan.

"Given the huge size of the trade volume between Asia's two biggest economies, this agreement is much more significant than any other pacts China has signed with other nations," Ren Xianfang of IHS Global Insight was quoted as saying by the Bloomberg news agency.

A picture worth a thousand words..

"China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War"

The yuan closed up against the dollar on Monday after hitting an all-time high in intraday trading, guided by a stronger mid-point by the People's Bank of China, and looks set for an over-4-percent appreciation for 2011, traders said.

Pakistan has its eyes on the east for future partnerships, with the President now firming-up the country's friendship with China. This, after a rocky year with the United States, where ties have been all but severed - from the raid to kill Osama bin Laden without informing Islamabad, to last month's deadly drone attack.

How could the U.S. behave so recklessly, not realize it was responsible for the atomic arms race and for allowing and even moving others to obtain the bomb?

Answers to both these questions expose an almost purposeful U.S. policy to drive others to obtain the “doomsday explosive” and, if we concede the Islamic Republic is developing a bomb, give meaning to Iran’s determination to develop a nuclear weapon.

A simple proposition can deaden that determination, and not only for Iran; the world’s major powers can give any nation that entertains a “first strike” a rethink – do it and get demolished.

By Dan Lieberman

I felt like this when Tony Blair was Prime Minister..

What was intended to be a demonstration of power turned into the most costly boomerang in history, in both blood and treasure.

So the Yanks are going home. Apart from the thousands of their servicemen and women whose lifeblood they are leaving in the sands of Iraq, and the tens of thousands too maimed or otherwise damaged to make it back to home and hearth. And minus the trillion-plus of dollars in treasure they have expended on destroying an Arab country (which may have lost a million souls and seen three millions off into exile), fanning the flames of fanaticism, making Iran more powerful, and unleashing a wave of sectarianism throughout the Muslim world.

by George Galloway

After going from defeat to defeat on the periphery of world power and not satisfied with running treasury-busting deficits in pursuit of empire building against economically weak countries, Obama has embraced a policy of encirclement and provocations against China, the world’s second largest economy and the US’s most important creditor, and Russia, the European Union’s principle oil and gas provider and the world’s second most powerful nuclear weapons power.

Satellite Pictures Of The Empty Chinese Cities Where Home Prices Are Crashing

After suffering major military and political defeats in bloody ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, failing to buttress long-standing clients in Yemen, Egypt and Tunisia and witnessing the disintegration of puppet regimes in Somalia and South Sudan, the Obama regime has learned nothing: Instead he has turned toward greater military confrontation with global powers, namely Russia and China. Obama has adopted a provocative offensive military strategy right on the frontiers of both China and Russia .

Israel runs one of the world’s most aggressive and damaging espionage networks against the U.S.

One senior American diplomat explains that inside the State Department “everybody knows that Israel spies on us. When someone is caught, they’re ‘punished’ by being promoted.”

Many analysts feel that the United States-Israel military assistance entanglement – what we give, sell, and especially what is stolen – is an unaffordable and unjustifiable burden on every American citizen.

Imagine the young Airman joystick in hand, and his commander at Nellis trying to capture images of any collection of buildings, gas stations, or old tires in the desert, then use these images to convince the world that the site in the photo was an Iranian nuclear weapons facility, but suddenly the Stealth drone has a mind of its own and is off mission. Surprise, Surprise, Surprise: to quote Gomer Pyle. This secret spy mission to create photographic proof of Iranian nuclear intentions has gone horribly wrong.

China is the country of origin for many, many of the semiconductors used by the US Military; it was most likely that China provided the hardware with the secret backdoor that allowed the Iranians to seize control of the Stealth drone while the drone was on a secret CIA mission over Iran. Working together, they captured a state of the art US Military stealth aircraft.

What this means to all US Military personnel serving anywhere in the world? It means that control of any electronics system in any type of platform, can be seized and used against the military that launched it.

The philosophical undercurrents of Chinese society has always been reverence to the past,societal duty based on position, and a desire for social harmony.

Although fiercely resistant to territorial incursions, the Chinese use force as a last resort. They have a high regard for education, artistic ability, and wisdom. Churchill once said “Beware the sleeping dragon, for when she wakes the earth will shake”. With a society that can be melded together like no other, a leadership style that conveys a long political tenure with a high education, and a cultural philosophy that places non interference in external affairs with a cultural business sense, China is in a strong position to make Churchill’s words prophetic.

Put simply, every year since 2005, more than 50% of China's GDP has consisted of construction-related spending. The law of diminishing marginal returns says this simply cannot continue.

One alarming indicator is that the Chinese renminbi has traded down to the lower limit of its strictly controlled trading band for SEVEN TRADING SESSIONS IN A ROW.

This suggests that there is more money leaving China than being earned from overseas trade or invested there. The exchange rate may be only one simple indicator, but it's a great barometer for what is going on: China is not going to be the savior of the global economy, but rather another casualty.

For a few decades now, the Communist Party in China has had an implicit social and political contract with the Chinese populous for decades, which goes something like:

"We will deliver economic growth and improvements in your material living standards. You will meekly do as you are told, refrain from dissent, work hard, save a huge percentage of your money, and ignore obvious corruption."

While nearly everyone in China has benefited to some degree under this current "system," the wheels are definitely starting to come off. Official GDP numbers are now slowing, real estate prices are falling, and inflation is quickening.

When Budgets Cuts Slice Your Own Throat

This counterfeit and ‘unusually sourced’ Defense Department parts problem has been with us a long time.

As a cost savings measure during the Clinton Defense Department budget reductions there began an ‘off the shelf’ lowest cost procurement program, primarily for replacement parts. It did not take long for fake parts to begin entering the supply chain, and then become a flood.

With all the money we spend on ‘security’, to leave your electronics supply chain wide open for infiltration like this…there are hardly words to describe it.