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Strategies & Market Trends : Strictly: Drilling II -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yogizuna who wrote (22639)	12/3/2002 9:46:30 PM
From: Roebear	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 36161

Washington Post > > November 26, 2002 > > Pg. 29 > > My Heart On The Line > > By Frank Schaeffer > > Before my son became a Marine, I never thought much about > >who was defending me. Now when I read of the war on terrorism or the > coming > >conflict in Iraq, it cuts to my heart. When I see a picture of a member > of > >our military who has been killed, I read his or her name very carefully. > >Sometimes I cry. > > In 1999, when the barrel-chested Marine recruiter showed > up > >in dress blues and bedazzled my son John, I did not stand in the way. > John > >was headstrong, and he seemed to understand these stern, clean men with > >straight backs and flawless uniforms. I did not. I live on the > >Volvo-driving, higher education-worshiping North Shore of Boston. I write > > >novels for a living. I have never served in the military. > > It had been hard enough sending my two older children off > to > >Georgetown and New York University. John's enlisting was unexpected, so > >deeply unsettling. I did not relish the prospect of answering the > question > >"So where is John going to college?" from the parents who were itching to > > >tell me all about how their son or daughter was going to Harvard. At the > >private high school John attended, no other students were going into the > >military. > > "But aren't the Marines terribly Southern?" asked one > >perplexed mother while standing next to me at the brunch following > >graduation. "What a waste, he was such a good student," said another > >parent. > >One parent (a professor at a nearby and rather famous university) spoke > up > >at a school meeting and suggested that the school should "carefully > >evaluate > >what went wrong." > > When John graduated from three months of boot camp on > Parris > >Island, 3,000 parents and friends were on the parade deck stands. We > >parents > >and our Marines not only were of many races but also were representative > of > >many economic classes. Many were poor. Some arrived crammed in the backs > of > >pickups, others by bus. John told me that a lot of parents could not > afford > >the trip. > > We in the audience were white and Native American. We were > > >Hispanic, Arab and African American and Asian. We were former Marines > >wearing the scars of battle, or at least baseball caps emblazoned with > >battles' names. We were Southern whites from Nashville and skinheads from > > >New Jersey, black kids from Cleveland wearing ghetto rags and white > ex-cons > >with ham-hock forearms defaced by jailhouse tattoos. We would not have > been > >mistaken for the educated and well-heeled parents gathered on the lawns > of > >John's private school a half-year before. > > After graduation one new Marine told John, "Before I was a > > >Marine, if I had ever seen you on my block I would've probably killed you > > >just because you were standing there." This was a serious statement from > >one > >of John's good friends, an African American ex-gang member from Detroit > >who, > >as John said, "would die for me now, just like I'd die for him." > > My son has connected me to my country in a way that I was > >too selfish and insular to experience before. I feel closer to the > waitress > >at our local diner than to some of my oldest friends. She has two sons in > > >the Corps. They are facing the same dangers as my boy. When the guy who > >fixes my car asks me how John is doing, I know he means it. His younger > >brother is in the Navy. > > Why were I and the other parents at my son's private > school > >so surprised by his choice? During World War II, the sons and daughters > of > >the most powerful and educated families did their bit. If the immorality > of > >the Vietnam War was the only reason those lucky enough to go to college > >dodged the draft, why did we not encourage our children to volunteer for > >military service once that war was done? > > Have we wealthy and educated Americans all become > pacifists? > >Is the world a safe place? Or have we just gotten used to having somebody > > >else defend us? What is the future of our democracy when the sons and > >daughters of the janitors at our elite universities are far more likely > to > >be put in harm's way than are any of the students whose dorms their > parents > >clean? > > I feel shame because it took my son's joining the Marine > >Corps to make me take notice of who is defending me. I feel hope because > >perhaps my son is part of a future "greatest generation." As the storm > >clouds of war gather, at least I know that I can look the men and women > in > >uniform in the eye. My son is one of them. He is the best I have to > offer. > >He is my heart. > > Frank Schaeffer is a writer. His latest book, co-written > >with his son, Marine Cpl. John Schaeffer, is "Keeping Faith: A Father-Son > > >Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps." He will answer > >questions about this article in a Live Online discussion at 1 p.m. today > at > >www.washingtonpost.com.

To: Yogizuna who wrote (22639)	12/4/2002 11:46:10 AM
From: isopatch	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 36161

Yogi. Sino-Japanese currency dust up certainly one of the drivers for this most recent gold rally and very likely will continue to be in the future. Competitive devaluations are the game. Iso <Shiokawa gives world currencies the shakes By John Garnaut, December 4 2002 World currencies were thrown yesterday into the turbulence that seems to trail Japan's finance minister, Masajuro Shiokawa, causing the Chinese foreign ministry to threaten currency retaliation. The yen slumped to ¥125 against the US dollar, down from ¥122 since the weekend, as markets grew increasingly concerned that Mr Shiokawa's comments might have been seriously intended. Over the weekend he said: "The yen may be too high considering Japan's ability. The dollar should be about ¥150 to ¥160 when calculating from a global standpoint." National Australia Bank market strategist Michael Jansen said: "What we've seen is a deliberate policy in Japan to weaken the currency and it's causing a lot of stress to everyone else." The US Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, appeared to acquiesce to Japan's devaluation program, but his East Asian counterparts were staggered. Kong Quan, chief spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said: "We hope the Japanese Government takes a responsible attitude toward the devaluation of the yen. We should be on the alert because the fall in the yen could lead to the depreciation of other Asian currencies one by one. Whenever such things happen, it is bad for Japan and all of Asia, and is detrimental to the recovery of the entire world economy." China has consistently pegged its currency at 8.3 yuan to the dollar, but Mr Kong's statement threatens to lower the peg, rather than abandon it, in favour of export-competitive currency devaluations. Carrying the world's second largest trade surplus and its largest foreign direct investment inflow, the Bank of China is forced to consistently buy vast amounts of foreign currency to prevent the yuan from appreciating. The dollar hit a large air pocket in the early hours of yesterday together with the euro, before stabilising at US55.88c.> smh.com.au