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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rolla Coasta who wrote (10945)	11/2/2006 12:16:09 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217820

Recommendation: accumulate gold ft.com Taiwan set for new clash with Beijing By Kathrin Hille in Taipei Published: November 1 2006 17:32 \| Last updated: November 2 2006 02:02 Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s president, has suggested his country could “freeze” its current constitution and adopt a new one, a move likely to re-ignite tensions with China. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Chen said that defining the scope of Taiwan’s sovereignty and territory was “extremely serious, complicated and sensitive, but also extremely important”. ADVERTISEMENT The remarks indicate that Mr Chen intends to challenge Beijing further before he steps down in May 2008. China retains a threat of war against the self-ruled island in case it formalises its de-facto independence. Past moves by Taiwan to amend its constitution – in place since 1947 – have provoked stern warnings from Beijing. Altering Taiwan’s constitution would be difficult since any change would require a three-fourths majority in the opposition-dominated parliament. A change would also require approval by at least 50 per cent of the electorate in a referendum. However, Mr Chen pledged to put constitutional change at the centre of the agenda for his remaining time in office. “I must pursue three big movements [including pushing for] a new constitution which truly fits Taiwan,” he said. Mr Chen’s comments indicate he could adopt a more audacious course in strengthening Taiwan’s separation from China before he steps down, an approach which would unsettle cross-Strait relations after more than two years of relative quiet. Mr Chen triggered warnings from China and the US in late 2003 and again in early 2004 when he first proposed a new constitution and pushed for Taiwan’s first island-wide referendum. His remarks appear designed to regain support among Taiwanese nationalist voters, a group his ruling party badly needs to win over before a series of forthcoming elections. Taiwan’s current “Republic of China” constitution refers to the country’s territory only as “existing national boundaries” rather than spelling out precisely what comprises the national territory. However, since it was written in China after the second world war for all of China, it is widely understood to refer to the then Chinese territory, which stretched as far as Mongolia. Mr Chen said Taiwan should discuss the idea of a “Second Republic” – a concept raised by one of his former pro-independence advisers – to free the country of what he called an “absurd and unrealistic” definition of sovereignty, without openly provoking China. “[Under this concept] the current constitution would be frozen, and a new Taiwan constitution would be written,” he said. “Freezing the [Republic of China] constitution also means keeping some kind of a link to the [old] ROC constitution and not cutting it off completely.” The preamble to a new constitution could address the territory of Taiwan, but the relevant sections of the old constitution defining the territory would not be touched, thus avoiding a change to the status quo, Mr Chen said. The ideas discussed by Mr Chen represent ways technically to honour his previous commitments not to declare Taiwanese independence. But the president made clear that he feels no more than formally bound by these commitments: “We are not breaking these commitments. But Taiwan still wants to continue to walk down our own path of democracy, of freedom, of human rights, and of peace.” Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

To: Rolla Coasta who wrote (10945)	11/2/2006 12:19:50 AM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217820

... and accumulate gold with gusto, for the hedge fund - FED axis is now spinning with the tyranny of the military/industrial complex http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4b07e5a6-69da-11db-952e-0000779e2340.html Little-known contractor bids for army deal By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington Published: November 1 2006 22:27 \| Last updated: November 2 2006 02:45 A little-known contractor whose hedge-fund parent last month appointed John Snow, former US treasury secretary, as its chairman is leading a strong push to win a multi-billion dollar military contract currently held by Halliburton. IAP Worldwide Services – owned by Cerberus Capital Management, the New York-based hedge fund – is making what is being seen as a serious bid to win a chunk of a huge defence contract to provide logistical support to US troops in the field. If it succeeds, the bid would transform IAP – once a relatively small government contractor with 5,000 employees and never regarded as a significant player before its 2004 takeover by Cerberus – into one of the most powerful and politically connected groups in the booming industry of providing food, shelter and support to the US army. It would also increase the political attention on the role in the public sector of hedge funds such as Cerberus, which also counts Dan Quayle, former US vice-president, as chairman of its international business. Loren Thompson, a defence consultant, said that while it was not unusual for financial investors – such as Carlyle – to buy properties based on a backlog of already-booked contracts, Cerberus appeared to have invested heavily on a bet that it could transform IAP into a vehicle that could win contracts in the future. That view is underscored by Cerberus’s lobbying records, which show it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last year lobbying lawmakers on “issues related to government oversight” of logistics contracts. The US army decided this summer to strip Halliburton of its exclusive hold over the omnibus contract – known as Logcap – following widespread allegations that the Texas oil services group had wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on contracts to provide support in Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision reflected a widely-held view that the contract, estimated to have cost the government $7bn last year, was too large to be handled by a single company. Halliburton is the biggest contractor in Iraq. The army is expected to select three companies this year to compete for future Logcap task orders, and a fourth to monitor the other groups’ performance. Defence experts said IAP was not considered a major force in military contracting but the fact that its “team” bid included powerful defence industry names, including Lockheed Martin, bolstered its chances of success. IAP could also be helped by the fact that some of the company’s top executives are former officials at KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary. Cerberus did not respond to a request for comment. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

To: Rolla Coasta who wrote (10945)	11/2/2006 12:22:25 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 217820

<<Should Alberta becomes a nation, gold could head south >> Canada is falling apart right before our eyes. Trade CAD for gold, by and by, just took on new urgency. Now, imagine the day when California and Texas elect to referendum the matter of independence. Told you, the state goes the way of its money.

To: Rolla Coasta who wrote (10945)	11/2/2006 12:29:19 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 217820

Whoa, just finished reading your referenced article, and regarding what you wrote, in bold yet, <<Mark my words Should Alberta becomes a nation, gold could head south & stay there for a long long time>> ... surely you meant NORTH!? as the federal government first try to finance a redistribution via printing and spending, and then undertake to finance a soft war by printing and spending. Note the common strands of ideas, that of 'printing and spending'.