CONFUCIUS SAY BANISH AVATAR NOW!

It seems some things never change in communist China. The state has produced a full length documentary picture depicting the life of Confucius and didn't want anything getting in the way of showing it to the masses.

What has gotten in the way? Avatar of course. The American blockbuster, has proved wildly popular with moviegoers in China. However, the non-3D version will be pulled in the next few days from the majority of Chinese theaters.

Only now, with this startling issue with "Avatar" did I hear that China Limits the number of foreign films permitted to be shown in the country to 20 per year. The New York Times reported that Chinese officials often ban any foreign films deemed unfriendly to the Communist Party. I think we expected that.

Who knew it would be a runaway hit in China the same as it is here in the states. Having said that, the authorities say it's dominated the movie market too long and smothers local Chinese competition. Imagine a sentence like that coming from the Chinese with their export history.

This would be a good time for these officials to consider their words. If, on the rare occasion that an American product, like a blockbuster film is to be restricted from showing in China, perhaps America should consider consuming less of their products in return. Judging by the crowds of sheep buying everything at WalMart, you wont see that anytime soon, but it's fun to imagine.

Chinese officials were apparently curbing the run of “Avatar” because they wanted to protect the box office returns of domestic films and since “Avatar” had already run longer than the typical 10 days allowed for foreign films they felt it should be limited. Could the authorities be worried that the subject matter in the movie may be hinting on a story line that might be uncomfortable to the State? Hmmm.

For those who worry that sanctions will be placed on Chinese goods in the near future, don't worry. We don't make anything here in the USA anymore. Most of it comes from communist China. Without it, Americans would have to just lay down and give up.

CHINESE STEEL: US WORKERS SUFFER

China is dumping cheap steel in this country at prices far below fair market value. How is this possible? Through enormous energy subsidies funded by the US and the WTO. That’s how.

China’s unfair trade practices simply devastate American industry as they target sector after sector. But, once again, those cheap Chinese exports to this country are having their desired affect on the American worker.

According to a new report commissioned by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), the Chinese government has exponentially boosted its steel output over the last three years through massive, trade-distorting energy subsidies. I know. You’re shocked! Steel production requires enormous amounts of energy, like supplies of thermal and coking coal, electricity, and natural gas. This keeps the already low labor and production costs below anything we could imagine at home.

China has identified steel as a strategic industry and is now the largest producer and consumer of steel in the world. Accounting for 40 percent of the global market, China is the largest steel exporter in the world and is directly responsible for the loss of 2 million US jobs since it joined the WTO in 2006.

The energy subsidies to the Chinese steel companies reached $16 Billion last year. Your tax dollars at work. The steel China is producing is loaded with flaws which aren’t discovered until it is used in American bridges and buildings. The new bridge on Chandler Drive in Kingston (pictured right)? Yep, Chinese steel. Erected by the lowest bidder for NY State and using the cheapest materials to increase profits. Projected lifespan of 80 years, but realistically...40.

China shipped 5.4 million tons of steel to the U.S. in 2006 and not one ounce was checked for quality standards.

I would ask that our government stop buying Chinese steel, aiding in the downward production here, and stop throwing US tax dollars in subsidies to the competition.

Hey, lets go a step further and demand that our individual municipalities limit our purchases of steel and everything else to US made products, that is, if they still exist.

There's nothing manufactured at the US factory pictured left.

American Made Products and/or Services Made in USA

made in usa, american made, made in america

US PORTS EXPORTS IMPORT INSPECTIONS

Remember the rush to secure and inspect cargo after 9-11? We watched helplessly as the wheels of our federal government turned ever so slowly. The issue of US taxpayers being exposed to nuclear or biological threat was merely a whisper when compared to the demands of the special interests and prompt distribution of consumer goods.

Well, we have inched closer to a solution. The Department of Homeland Security has contracted OSI Systems Inc. to support the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office's data-fusion program. This program works to improve existing nuclear threat detection techniques. Like an upgrade to the shaky manual inspection process we have currently.

We still inspect and clear a mere fraction of the millions of cargo crates that come into this country yearly. DHS has never been fully funded or managed for the daunting task of mass cargo inspections. Now there’s a chance.OSI Systems is a developer of security and inspections; Rapiscan Systems is the division that handles what DHS is looking for. Taxpayers are kicking out $1.5 million for this contract. Feel better yet?

Through the development of X-ray and neutron based inspection methods, Rapiscan expects to deploy a better nuclear threat detection system for Screening. Making the apparatus larger and more reliable will speed things up at our ports. This will make the inspections less of a selective hit-or-miss procedure.

Of course there is always a down side. The advancement of this company and the increased output of production has prompted their manufacturing to move…guess where? Suzhou, China.

Located approximately 50 miles east of Shanghai, This facility will initially be focused on developing and manufacturing healthcare products for the emerging markets but the broad intent is to increase the production of the port inspection apparatus for the US.

We couldn’t offer OSI any tax breaks to manufacture here in this country? Of course not. Remember the special interest groups pushing for consumer goods distribution? Where are they making the most money? Cheap labor in China. Nice to see our government working for the US worker again.

OSI Systems, Inc. - Worldwide provider of security and inspection systems, med

UNARMED IN AFGHANISTAN

If you were sent to defend a foreign country against Al Qaeda forces, wouldn’t you want weapons and ammunition? Well, our young soldiers are struggling without ‘em.

Since 2006, the Afghan government has been dependent on American military support against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.



Most of the ammunition has come from an upstart company in Florida called AEY Inc. Get this…our government awarded a $300 million contract to this company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur. Just who handles these arms deals?

Since January of 2008, the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging, according to American and Afghan officials. Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc made in the early 70’s.



The US State Department and NATO have determined these munitions to be unreliable and obsolete, and should have been destroyed years ago.

This Kid even created a shell company which is already on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking. So who is responsible?


The New York Times reported that these arms were manufactured in China, which is a violation of American law. The company's president, Efraim E. Diveroli, was also secretly recorded in a conversation that suggested corruption in his company's purchase of more than 100 million aging rounds in Albania.

Hundreds of Hudson Valley men & women are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and else-where to manage conflicts that threaten US interests. You would think that our own government would do a little research first. I bet our new Landlord DATAbase would do better.

If AEY Inc. is found in violation of the contract the company will be permanently barred from doing business with the U.S. government. The House Oversight Committee is currently reviewing this in hearings all this week.

I met this young man at the Midtown Center the day the troops came home last month. He told me of his training and where he hoped to be posted. Which makes the question local. When we send a local reserves cadet into harms way (pictured right) shouldn't he be prepared with all the means to protect himself?