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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldworldnet who wrote (556861)	3/28/2004 1:42:13 PM
From: redfish	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

I'll be watching the Oscars for the first time since I was a kid, it's going to be a blast. The big studios will put on a full court press against it, members of the academy will equally love and hate it. They'll look desparately for something else to vote for. I think there will probably be an organized campaign to vote for something else. I think Maia Morgenstern (played Mary) is a shoe-in for best supporting actress. Since she's not American, they will vote for her. Jim Caviezel will get nominated for best actor, but he is actually pretty devout (won't do any kind of sex scene in a movie), so they'll hold that against him and he won't win. "Our SeeThePassion.com campaign is growing! We all helped make Phase one successful - the movie is opening in 2800 theaters on 4000 screens. NOW - the campaign shifts to make this movie the most successful (most seen) movie of all time and to urge Hollywood to award the movie some Oscars. After seeing the film, please leave your reflections and vote if you think The Passion of the Christ deserves any Oscars®. The battle to strive for clean entertainment is now on. Obviously this is not why Mel Gibson made this film, but this film should not be denied fair consideration due to religious bigotry. We do not want other producers to be discouraged from making great family films for fear of exclusion by their peers in Hollywood." seethepassion.com

To: goldworldnet who wrote (556861)	3/28/2004 1:45:47 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

I hear it might also get to play in parts of the Arab world as well... FOX reported that one of the Kuwaiti royals recommended that it be allowed to screen there because 'it shows the crimes the Jews committed against Christ....' Wonder if Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc., take the same stance?

To: goldworldnet who wrote (556861)	3/28/2004 2:01:45 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Chinese price pressures: Last year, China consumed 40% of the world's cement, 7% of the world's total consumption of crude oil (surpassing Japan as the #1 importer of oil), 31% of global coal, 30% of iron ore, 27% of steel products, and 25% of aluminum. The pressure on scrap metal prices, copper, tin and zinc are clear. This is from an economy that is much less than 10% of the world's GDP. Early this month, a report hit my desk pointing out the huge problems in shipping being created by the hunger of China for materials to build its growth. At Beilun port near Shanghai, one of China's major iron ore import terminals, ships must wait for up to a month to berth and offload. China is expected to import 180 million tons of iron ore this year, up about 21% from last year. They need it for its steel, construction and auto industries. But it is not just in China that long shipping lines are developing. At ports in India, ships must wait for as long as 30 days to pick up iron ore on the way to China. In the Reuters report, industry experts estimate that as much as 25% of the world's bulk shipping capacity is now tied up in port waiting lines. This can be expensive, as leases on these ships run $100,000 per day. This bottleneck in shipping is making already high prices for commodities, grains and soybeans even worse. According to a Cazenove report, last year China accounted for 70% of the global increase in seaborne dry bulk trade. Container freight rates rose about 30% last year and are expected to rise another 10% this year. The Baltic Dry Index, a benchmark for freight rates of dry cargoes such as ores and grains, jumped more than 170% last year. Want to build some ships to take off the strain? It will be 2008 before you can get delivery and forget about a firm quote, as who knows what the price of steel and energy will be? As fast as China is building infrastructure, they are still behind the curve. There is only 60% of the needed rail network capacity for moving coal from the port areas into the interior. Last year, China grew officially at 9.1%. Private estimates are closer to 12%. Such growth is unsustainable, if for no other reason than infrastructure cannot keep up with the growth demand. China at 4.4% of world GDP overtook Britain at the end of 2003 calendar year, and will pass France by the end of 2004 or early 2005. Sometime on or around 2010, it will overtake Germany; and between 2015-2020 it is expected to overtake Japan to become the world's second largest economy. All other things being equal, China would need to grow its GDP at 3 % per year faster than the USA for some 65 years to catch the world's number one. An improving exchange rate against the $US would, of course, shorten this period. (Source: www.Onlineopinion.com.au) you can count on an improving exchange rate over the next few decades.