China's Ambitious SPACE Plans - Passing U.S. by 2020?

China has big space plans that will make it the third major player behind the U.S. and Russia.

China is buildings its own space station - which will become operational in 2020 about the time the U.S. International Space Station is scheduled to retire. That would leave China with a brand news station on the "high ground" and the U.S. without any space platform!

Here is the link to the article with more details on China's space plans. It's clear that the U.S. needs to renew its space effort to stay ahead of the technology game in the coming decades. One thing is clear - SPACE is here to stay!

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/12/29/china-reveals-space-plans-through-2016/

Birthday Wish 2012 - A FLYING Car

Birthdays ought to be special, right?

I was hoping to receive my very first FLYING CAR today -- but Santa was a no show.

There really is one, but it costs a quarter million, which makes me a quarter million short. Here is the link to their site:

http://www.terrafugia.com/aircraft.html

I just spent over an hour each way for a Christmas dinner - traffic on 290 was shut down 2 lanes. We will DOUBLE in size in the next few years. It gained over 2 million in the last decade.

I WANT A FLYING CAR before I go NUTS from Houston traffic. That's my birthday wish again for 2012. LOL

But THEN I found this article that says the U.S. MILITARY has a RFQ for a "FLYING CAR" - COOL.

We are about to encounter the JETSONS age....This Fjet is ready for it!

China's Three Decades of Double Digit Growth Over?

Big changes are in the wind for China - and it will impact Europe and the U.S. It appears that China's miracle of three decades of double digit growth, averaging around 10% per years, is over.

Why? Part of it could be that it has reached that part of development that makes such high growth rates impossible - think of Germany and Japan after WWII, in which the construction boom finally ended as they reached developed status.

This development is risky for both China AND the U.S. China has managed to employ millions in export related manufacturing. Now those people will see a slowdown as wages have increased - reducing job prospects for the millions of Chinese in the country that have been immigrating into the cities for work.

Less work means more potential political turmoil, which China's leaders dread more than anything else.

It is possible that the slowdown could open up China to a "China Spring" as more people demand a voice in government to vent their frustration with falling housing markets and fewer jobs (Shanghai's housing prices are down 40%!)

For more details check out this article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-boom-ends-as-investment-exports-manufacturing-fall/2011/12/15/gIQAd2OkvO_story.html?hpid=z4

Iraq War Officially CLOSED Today - Did It Make a Difference?

Today is a significant date. After nearly 9 years of war in Iraq, the U.S. officially ended our involvement today - after nearly 4,500 service members were killed and over 150,000 Iraqis died.

Did it make a difference? I started the war as a TV terrorism analyst in Houston. It did eliminate Saddam Hussein as a dictator.

However, it also strengthened Iran's influence. Today the Shiites of Iran have great influence with the Shiite government of Iraq. People forget that in the 80's the U.S. supported Saddam in his war against Iran that lasted 8 years. Iraq was the keystone to keeping Iran from having too much influence in the Middle East. After the fall of Saddam Iran was free to pursue its nuclear program and to meddle in Iraq.

No Weapons of Mass Destruction were found. Iraq was not involved in 9/11. The cost: $1 Trillion dollars. Thousands of our troops came back with Post Traumatic Stress syndrome after having to serve multiple tours at huge cost to their family lives.

We could see a return to sectarian violence in Iraq - Muslim against Muslim as the old Sunni-Shiite rivalry begins anew. But that is their problem - not one where American lives should be put on the line.

We appreciate the sacrifices of our soldiers who served. Never again should they be put in harm's way without sufficient troops and a plan -- or body armor -- in the way the Iraq war started. The dismissal of the Iraqi army (with their weapons) by Paul Bremer started the insurgency that generated a hellacious scene of carnage from IED's, car bombs, truck bombs and assassinations. Both American troops and Iraqi civilians paid a high price for these mistakes.

So today we finally close a chapter on a long war that cost us huge amounts of blood and treasure. Let's hope it is a lesson when the next Congressman, Senator or Presidential candidate calls for yet another war - with Iran or any other country.

We should have learned that its much easier to get into these black holes than it is to get out.

China: World's High Tech Leader?

China is poised to take the world lead in technology. It now has the world's fastest supercomputer. Much has changed from my first trip to China in the early 80's when they had NOTHING. What a difference 30 years - and a plan -- can make.

"What scares competitors is that China has begun producing waves of amazing hardware engineers and software programmers, winning international competitions and beginning to dominate the best engineering programs in the United States. The University of California, Berkeley, is about to announce a deal to create an engineering campus in Shanghai, raising fears about transferring technology from one of the best American engineering schools."

And check this:
"Moreover, China is now the world’s second-largest venture capital market, growing to $7.6 billion from just $2.2 billion in 2005, while the American venture capital market has remained largely stagnant, according to Rebecca A. Fannin, author of the new book “Startup Asia” (Wiley)."

Meanwhile our Congress CUTS back on investments in technology, science, space, education, etc. Congress shortsightedness is dangerous and threatens our future tech lead.

Here is the link to the full WP article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/mitt-romneys-10000-mistake/2011/12/11/gIQA9aEQpO_blog.html?hpid=z2

Unless Next President Has MORE GLOBAL Expertise - Elect Obama

For America to have SUCCESS in the 21st Century, we have to have a GLOBALLY SMART PRESIDENT. Whether it is President Obama OR one of the challengers running for that supreme office, American voters must make a SMART CHOICE.

What is smart? Electing someone as President (or even for Congress) who has never been out of Frog Jump AR or Paint Brush TX or Minnesota when we face a global meltdown from Europe and high tech challenges from Asia? How smart is that America? Do you want to pick some turkey who thinks the Supreme Court has 8 judges or that poor people don't want jobs and opportunity? Or do you want someone who is fighting for the Middle Class to get fair and equal treatment with the richest Americans?

That is the most significant question Americans face in 2012. Picking the SMARTEST President with the Best GLOBAL PLAN for economic success in 2012 is the one and only thing AMERICANS (the 100%) CAN DO TO INSURE OUR FUTURE PROSPERITY.

Electing a Presidential candidate who has NO international experience would be like making you next pilot on a 747 flight someone who has never flown it before. In this real case our entire country citizens are the passengers!

Do we want "oops" or $10,000 bets on the future of ordinary Americans who aren't career politicians telling American what they want to hear instead of what they NEED to hear to win the 21st Century? Do you want a President who believes gays or poor are not as American as the rest of us, and deserving of the same rights?

If America does not correct the financial Tsunami left by the last administration (when the GOP was the majority passing but not paying for massive defense spending, Plan D, Iraq, Afghanistan, tax cuts, etc. America cannot win on inexperience nor can it win on more voodoo, snake oil economics. We did it under President Clinton, we can do it again. No other President in 30 years has balanced an American budget.

If Europe's Union blows up the U.S. economy will take a HUGE HIT because of our billions in exports to the biggest economy on the planet - the EU. Each $1 billion exports, generates 20,000 jobs according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Do you think someone from backwoods Minnesota or Paint Brush TX has a clue about creating more export jobs?

I started life as a Iowa farm kid. But I went to college and law school before traveling dozens of countries for the Fortune 500, and as an entrepreneur. I can tell you that anyone who has NOT been there is CLUELESS. I just went to Norway in May for the first time. I read book on it. I can tell you that despite my already having been in over 50 countries, I didn't have a clue about Norway until I got there - and spent a week traveling, seeing things and talking to ordinary people.

America went gone from No. 1 in 2000 to No. 9 in education in 2008! Foreigners are more qualified to fill the 3 million available, unfilled, $70,000+ high paying high tech jobs IN AMERICA because AMERICAN workers don't have those skills!

That should scare people. It should be a wake up call we need to "up our game" and technical skills to stay competitive in the 21st century global, space age economy. We can't compete by being the best burger flippers on the planet.

I hate to say it but I have more global expertise (and a global economy strategy) to be qualified to be President than most of not all of the current GOP contenders. Did any of them predict 9/11? I did - it's on video, on Youtube.

Don't believe me? Check out my bio and the videos on YouTube under "Fjet2020" and www.GlobalAmerican.org

Unless the GOP has a candidate with more international experience than myself to challenge President Obama, the election of 2012 has only one solution for our American future -- President Obama.

An unfair fight for renewable energies

This article by the former Governor if California is worth publishing in its entirety:

"An unfair fight for renewable energies

By Arnold Schwarzenegger, Published: December 4

More energy from the sun hits Earth in one hour than all the energy consumed on our planet in an entire year.

In those terms, it is absurd that our federal government spends tens of billions of dollars annually subsidizing the oil industry, which pulls diminishing resources from underground, while the industry focused above ground on wind, solar and other renewable energies is derided in Washington.

Federal support for development of new energy sources is lower today than at any other point in U.S. history, and our government is forcing the ­clean-energy sector into a competitive disadvantage. To bring true competition to the energy market, ensure our national security and create jobs here rather than in China or elsewhere, we must level the playing field for renewable energies. In this presidential primary, Americans need to hear where the candidates stand on this critical issue.

Don’t get me wrong — we should not demonize fossil fuels. For more than 200 years, the United States has rightly invested in developing new sources of energy. From the land grants for timber and coal in the 1800s to the tax expenditures for oil and gas in the early 20th century to the investment in developing nuclear energy, support for energy innovation has always helped drive America’s growth.

Renewable energies, however, have not been treated the same way. When the oil, gas and nuclear industries were forming, federal support for those energies totaled as much as 1 percent of federal spending. Subsidies available to the renewables industry today are just one-tenth of 1 percent.

If our goal is to encourage competition in the energy marketplace, then the conversation in Congress shouldn’t be about attacking green energy or cutting all oil subsidies. The conversation should be about leveling the playing field so that renewables are bound by the same rules as fossil fuels. We must make it a national priority to clear the red tape and bureaucracy that puts renewables at a disadvantage. If the candidates running for president believe in energy independence as a matter of national security — regardless of whether they agree with the science behind climate change — then the issue of investing in renewable energies must be front and center in the campaign.

Instead of a simplistic and misleading one-word argument against green energy — Solyndra! — I’d like to hear from the candidates that government shouldn’t pick winners, as it clearly has with our lopsided subsidies. Instead of talking about one terrible green investment or, for that matter, any of the investments in fossil fuels that have cost billions, I’d like to hear them talk about how to make sure we properly vet all our investments to get a good return for the American people.

Federal investment is critical to the success of the renewable energy industry. That’s not a new idea. The same was true for coal, which would not have been economically feasible without tax exemptions and incentives. It was also true for offshore oil drilling, which was deemed unprofitable without royalty waivers and favorable packaging of federal leases.

Imagine what the renewables industry would look like if the federal government leveled the playing field and showed the same dedication we have in California. Our green sector is the brightest spot in California’s economy, having grown 10 times faster than any other business sector since 2005. Today, one in every four jobs in the U.S. solar industry is in California. One-third of U.S. clean-tech venture capital flows into our state. Nurturing the green-tech sector was the right thing for me to do as governor, and it is the right thing for the federal government to do.

I know from experience that it is frustrating for states to wait for the federal government to take action. Around the world, countries await treaties and international consensus. The United Nations convention on climate change is taking place in Durban, South Africa. The U.N. leadership on this subject has been great, but I don’t think we should just wait around. That’s why I am focusing on sub-national work; states, provinces and regions have shown that the time for action is now.

What our nation needs — for our economy, our national security and our environment — is more than a treaty signed by dignitaries. We need a level field on which the United States allows renewable energies to develop by the same rules as oil. If we can get there, the bountiful clean energy above our planet’s surface will compete well with the oil beneath it."

The writer is the former governor of California.

Seven Days to Defuse European Financial Bomb Before It Hits U.S.

Global American Series

Seven Days to Defuse European Financial Bomb Before It Hits U.S.

Just as the U.S. economy gets some good news with unemployment dropping from 9% to 8.6%, all our hard-won economic gains could be lost in coming days if Europe’s economy implodes –and according to experts that is exactly where it is headed. No one in the world has enough money to fix Europe if it happens.

If Europe goes down it will take down the U.S. economy with it, throwing us back into recession. In other words we could be a week away from a European Financial Bomb Hitting the US Economy.

The United States is at risk because the 27-member European Union (EU), a region with 500 million citizens, produces an economy almost as large as the United States and China combined It is one of our largest export markets – exports that create jobs here in the USA that could be lost if Europe does not get its problems solved.
In 2010, 22.5 percent, or $412 billion worth, of U.S. exports in goods and services went to the European Union. Since the Department of Commerce estimates that each $1 billion in exports creates 20,000 U.S. jobs, that means over 8 million American jobs are in the line if Europe goes down!

What is their problem? Europe is caught in a trap of their own making when it went from a Eurozone in which each country had its own currency to a Eurozone that has a single currency, the Euro, the common currency of 16 EU members.

Why is that a problem? Because under the old European system if a country spent too much and got into trouble, its country currency could be devalued against other currencies and that would fix it. For example, if Greece spent too much (as it did) the Drachma would be devalued, and because it was suddenly cheaper, it could attract a flood of tourists and its exports would be cheaper and more competitive. You can’t do that when everyone has the same currency, the Euro, so Greece and Germany can’t adjust their currency value as needed. It’s a currency trap.

For example, in the U.S. if Texas gets it budget out of whack (which it has) and runs a deficit, it cannot devalue its “dollar” currency and benefit. Instead, it has relied on U.S. stimulus money to cover its deficit – just as Greece has had Euro loans to cover its Euro deficits. So, what happens if Texas and Greece refuse to put their budget house in order? Texas is finding it has to deal with its structural deficit now that the federal stimulus funds are no longer available to cover its shortfall. Greece is in the same boat.

There is agreement between the two biggest European players, France and Germany, that the flaws in the single currency system are systemic. They require a major redesign of institutions and agreements. Secondly, there is an acceptance that the Eurozone is moving beyond a monetary union to a fiscal union, with much greater central control over taxing and spending.

The problem is that “fixing” these problems requires agreements among dozens of countries and their voters. Worse yet, time is not on their side. Who would control each nation’s budget and spending? In America we have one Congress and President doing that, not 27 different legislatures and heads of state, each with their own idea ofwha t to do.

Now what happens?

As Nobel winning economist, Paul Krugman, has pointed out, “Although Europe’s leaders continue to insist that the problem is too much spending in debtor nations, the real problem is too little spending in Europe as a whole. And their efforts to fix matters by demanding ever harsher austerity have played a major role in making the situation worse.” In other words budget cuts have cut jobs not created them, leading to riots and unrest.

Krugman points out that the Europeans responded to the inevitable, recession-driven rise in deficits by demanding that all governments — not just those of the debtor nations — slash spending and raise taxes. Warnings that this would deepen the slump were waved away. “The idea that austerity measures could trigger stagnation is incorrect,” declared Jean-Claude Trichet, then the president of the European Central Bank.

“The combination of austerity-for-all and a central bank morbidly obsessed with inflation makes it essentially impossible for indebted countries to escape from their debt trap and is, therefore, a recipe for widespread debt defaults, bank runs and general financial collapse.”

Krugman states that the U.S. “ we desperately need expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to support the economy as these debtors struggle back to financial health. Yet, as in Europe, public discourse is dominated by deficit scolds and inflation obsessives.”

In other words both Europe and the U.S. have been repeating the mistakes of 1937 under FDR, when the government worried about rising deficits caused by government work programs to get the economy moving out of the depression -- and embarked on cutting budgets in an austerity move and tried to balance the budget. The result? Premature austerity cuts put the U.S. right back into a recession. We didn’t recover from the downturn until we embarked on the major spending required to support WWII.

The bottom line? Europe made a huge mistake with the single currency, but it can’t ditch it without causing major disaster. We can do little to keep Europe from stumbling as it goes back to the drawing board to create a 21st Century system that stabilizes the European Union. The only thing we can do is to avoid falling into the same austerity trap ourselves.

Either way it points out how vulnerable all of us are in a global economy when bad decisions made thousands of miles from our borders can impact the job you have today and tomorrow. Let’s not make things worse by making the same mistakes that history has taught us to avoid.

But from the sound of the Presidential candidates, it appears that we are heading for the same economic cliff as the Europeans…

Michael Fjetland
Global American Series
www.GlobAmerican.org
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10 Days To Defuse Euro Economic Bomb Before It Hits U.S.

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