The Chinese Are Worried

The following is a post about the economy and hopefully sufficiently devoid of partisan interpretation.

Wen, the current Chinese Primier, states "Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried. I would like to call on the United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets."

President Obama is rightfully assuring the Chinese that their investment in America is safe "There's a reason why even in the midst of this economic crisis you've seen actual increases in investment flows here into the United States. I think it's a recognition that the stability not only of our economic system, but also our political system, is extraordinary. I think that not just the Chinese government, but every investor, can have absolute confidence in the soundness of investments in the United States."

Of course, the Chinese are not worried about the US defaulting on any loans. It would be disastrous for the US if the US didn't honor its debts. What the Chinese are actually worried about is the printing of money that is not backed by equivalent creation of wealth (i.e., manufacturing, services, home building, and the like). If the US simply prints what it cannot borrow (which is bound to happen), the value of the dollar will plummet and the Chinese will be paid back with a greatly devalued dollar. The Chinese are between a rock and a hard space. If they don't loan more money, the US will print the money and ship it off to China to service our debt. If they do lend more money, their risk is increased if the dollar tanks (which seems unavoidable at this point).

All this hand wringing could be avoided if we had an economy that was producing more wealth to back up the printing of money. So I ask, how should the government act to boost the economy?

Reagan and a Democrat congress cut taxes in the 80's and the economy was very dynamic in the 90's because of this (benefiting Clinton tremendously). So this course has been demonstrated to work. We are now trying a new course: higher taxes and higher government spending. Will it work? We don't know yet, but this was the exact thing that happened during the Great Depression. So history seems to indicate that such a strategy does not work. However, times are different, maybe this time around the result will be different, but I for one am not counting on it.

Mom's Weekly Message

Dear Children,

Yesterday, we were invited to my sister, Josiane, for dinner. She is an excellent cook and we had a wonderful meal. My other sister, Claudine, was there and I had talked to Monique earlier. It was a good day. The drive to her house we went by Namur, my native town, and I was a bit melancholy seeing it one last time.
Tomorrow, we are invited to have dinner at our old Bishop's.
This Tuesday, we will have President Robert Oaks of the Europe West Area in the office for an official visit of the mission. We will meet again for a Zone Conference with all the 90 French speaking missionaries this coming Friday. I am in charge of the Lunch and it should be easy because we will only have sandwiches, fruits, dessert and drinks. There is more to buy but it is not a big deal. It should be fun to see many missionaries that we have not seen in a while.
Friday, our replacement will arrive for good but will let us stay in our apartment until Monday. Then, we will spend the night at the Mission President's home and take the TGV to Paris the next afternoon and be on our way home. As a reminder, we take the flight 0171 direct to SLC on the 25th and hope to get the flight to St. George at 2:55PM arriving in St. George at 4:13PM. If we cannot get that flight, we will get the next that arrives 2 hours later. We will not have a cell phone with us until we start a new plan and get new phones. All the phone numbers that you had for us are not good anymore. We will have to restart our Internet also. I hope that everything will go fast to able us to communicate with you.
I am fighting a cold again but there is so much to do that I don't have the time to rest.
Tomorrow, Dad is going to Amsterdam to make an inventory of the apartment that he is closing and give the keys back to the owner. Everything should go smoothly and there is no physical work involved. It is a day that he will enjoy because he likes being on the road much better than to work in the office. As for me, it will be a very busy day. Just the way I like them!

Next Saturday should be very busy because we will be in the middle of preparing our suitcases and deep cleaning the apartment. We will have dinner at Teresa's that day and we certainly will treasure our time with the family.
I think that is about all for today.

Take good care of yourselves. You are in our daily prayers.
We love you.

Love,
Mom

Brian's visit to Washington,D.C.

Here is a fun photo of Brian, Amy and Kim from Sunday March 8th 2009.

Sunstone and Mormon thought

Do any of you subscribe to or read Sunstone magazine?

It is a magazine with no official ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a magazine that publishes articles relevant to Mormonism from a variety of perspectives.  

It seems that nearly all of its contributors are LDS and write from perspectives of faith.

It is well written, intellectually challenging, and respectful of faith in general and of the LDS

faith.  

Years ago, I read it regularly and attended its symposiums here in Salt Lake City although its symposiums are held across the nation with the most recent one being in Seattle and the next one taking place in Independence, MO.

   

Interesting Requests from high level visitors

We recently had three high level visitors to the embassy. Below are three scenarios of their requests/needs or doings while here. I am going to let you guess of these three high level visits which one each scenario belongs to. Although they are not all that outrageous...they are just odd or interesting requests I think. The candidates are Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and a Senator from Florida...(sorry the name escapes me...not helpful I know)

1. Here for one day to visit the European union and Nato and had a hotel stay of one night. Left from Washington DC and went back to Washington DC. One of Leonardo's employees came running into his office with a request for 8 photo frames to be purchased for the hotel room. Leonardo asks what they need with 8 photo frames for the hotel room for. Well, their staff e-mail them 8 family photos that they want in their hotel room for the one night stay. They want them to print up the photos, frame them and have them sitting in the hotel room when they get there that eveing. (Like one can't travel with one modest photo of your family in your own luggage...this request is just odd) This one also wore make-up...maybe not so unusual if they will be in the lights with cameras flashing all over them...but interesing.

2. This person travels with 14 suitecases. (Maybe not too outrageous...but interesting fact) This one also wears make-up.

3. This person requested 8 oreo cookies to be left on a plate by their bedside in their hotel room. Not unusual at all I guess....who doesn't like oreo cookies as a bed time snack?

Can you guess who fits which scenario?

What would your unusual requests be if you were their boots?
Mine would be a need for extra pillow in my room....that's about it. I would travel with my own family photo in my luggage. And yes....I too wear make-up.

The Gutenberg Project

If you are looking for a book to read, especially a classic, there is no need to pay money for it.
The Gutenberg Project has over 27,000 books online for free. These are works that have been released to the public domain, so these books can be downloaded legally. There are over 100,ooo books on other affiliated sites as well. You can read them on your computer or you can download them into your smart phone or PDA and read them on the road. There are books available in all major languages and in many minor languages, including audio book versions in various languages.

We won a trip!

Debbie won an all expense paid trip through her Corporate Travel Agency for a 10 day tour of Costa Rica for two. So, Debbie and I will be leaving March 30th through April 8th as our belated Honeymoon. We have scheduled fishing, ziplining through the jungle canopy, tour of a volcano, turtle beach (bunches of turtles), among other activities. It should be a ton of fun and a real extravagant vacation. We are so looking forward to it. Yeah!

I don't post often, but...

I don't post often but as I read the Ensign this month (March, 2009) I was intrigued by what I read. I don't mean offense to Obama but it seems that giving so much money that we dont have away is creating slaves of our citizens. Here is the reference that I agreed with:

Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of “helping people,” as opposed to “helping people help themselves.” Our efforts must always be directed toward making able-bodied people self-reliant.

Gullible Gulls
I clipped the following article from the Reader’s Digest some time ago. It reads:

“In our friendly neighbor city of St. Augustine great flocks of sea gulls are starving amid plenty. Fishing is still good, but the gulls don’t know how to fish. For generations they have depended on the shrimp fleet to toss them scraps from the nets. Now the fleet has moved. …

“The shrimpers had created a Welfare State for the … sea gulls. The big birds never bothered to learn how to fish for themselves and they never taught their children to fish. Instead they led their little ones to the shrimp nets.

“Now the sea gulls, the fine free birds that almost symbolize liberty itself, are starving to death because they gave in to the ‘something for nothing’ lure! They sacrificed their independence for a handout.

“A lot of people are like that, too. They see nothing wrong in picking delectable scraps from the tax nets of the U.S. Government’s ‘shrimp fleet.’ But what will happen when the Government runs out of goods? What about our children of generations to come?

“Let’s not be gullible gulls. We … must preserve our talents of self-sufficiency, our genius for creating things for ourselves, our sense of thrift and our true love of independence.”2

The practice of coveting and receiving unearned benefits has now become so fixed in our society that even men of wealth, possessing the means to produce more wealth, are expecting the government to guarantee them a profit. Elections often turn on what the candidates promise to do for voters from government funds. This practice, if universally accepted and implemented in any society, will make slaves of its citizens.
We cannot afford to become wards of the government, even if we have a legal right to do so. It requires too great a sacrifice of self-respect and political, temporal, and spiritual independence.

In some countries it is extremely difficult to separate earned from unearned benefits. However, the principle is the same in all countries: We should strive to become self-reliant and not depend on others for our existence.

Governments are not the only guilty parties. We fear many parents are making “gullible gulls” out of their children with their permissiveness and their doling out of family resources. In fact, the actions of parents in this area can be more devastating than any government program.

Bishops and other priesthood leaders can be guilty of making “gullible gulls” out of their ward members. Some members become financially or emotionally dependent on their bishops. A dole is a dole whatever its source. All of our Church and family actions should be directed toward making our children and members self-reliant. We can’t always control government programs, but we can control our own homes and congregations. If we will teach these principles and live them, we can do much to counter the negative effects which may exist in government programs in any country.

We know there are some who, for reasons beyond their control, cannot become self-reliant. President Henry D. Moyle had these people in mind when he said:

“This great principle does not deny to the needy nor to the poor the assistance they should have. The wholly incapacitated, the aged, the sickly are cared for with all tenderness, but every able-bodied person is enjoined to do his utmost for himself to avoid dependence, if his own efforts can make such a course possible; to look upon adversity as temporary; to combine his faith in his own ability with honest toil. …

“We believe [that] seldom [do circumstances arise in which] men of rigorous faith, genuine courage, and unfaltering determination, with the love of independence burning in their hearts, and pride in their own accomplishments, cannot surmount the obstacles that lie in their paths.”3

I may be wrong but I think Republicans feel that people should work for what they get and Democrats feel that people have the right to get what others have worked to get. Somebody please set me straight if I am wrong.

Whoops! Wrong Button!

I am still laughing at the silly gimmicks of the Obama administration.
In this case, Secretary Clinton gives her Russian counterpart a button marked "Reset" to indicate the administration's desire to 'reset' our relationship with Russia, but the Russian word does not mean 'reset.' It means 'overcharge.'
---
Later that evening Clinton is reported to have called Obama and said "Dang it Barrack! You gave me the taxpayer button!!!"

Mom's Weekly Message

Dear Children,

Last Sunday, we welcomed the Kirkman's, the couple that will replace us in the office. There was an empty missionary apartment available for them so it worked out very well. They were amazed of the traffic here in Brussels. I know that they will do well in their new assignment. They had to return to The Netherlands but will be back on the 20th.

Dad has closed another apartment but it was in Mons, Belgium and he had 4 strong Elders to empty it.

This coming Tuesday, he will go to Valenciennes, St.Quentin then Boulogne-sur-Mer (France) the same day. He will not have to leave as early as he did when he went to The Netherlands because it is not as far, and that is nice.

On the 17th, we will meet with Elder Robert Oaks, President of the Europe West Area, with the Zone Leaders and on the 20th with all the French speaking missionaries. It should be a very inspiring experience.

I have started emptying the cupboards and drawers. We are ready to have 3 more boxes shipped. I got some stuff (mostly clothes) from my Mom, so I have more to send home. Time is really going by very fast.

We just came back from a talent show at the International School where Teresa was performing. She plays a duet called “Capitain” from Sousa and did an excellent job. I think that it was the best talent of the whole show.

We have a Dutch and a French Assistant who tell us about the miracles happening in their lives. I love to hear their stories and feel the Spirit. It is that special spirit that I miss when we are not on a mission.

I am eager to see the family but in the meanwhile I am still very busy at the office during the week. It should slow down after the 20th when Sister Kirkman will take over. Dad’s replacement is a handyman and his wife has been working in an office before.

It is hard to believe that we are now so close from being home. Dad is counting the days and is almost “trunky”. He is ready to go home.

Know that I love you.

Love, Mom

Awakening a sleeping bear? Nah...

Alan posted a blog entry on Alan's Window to the World regarding the Democratic attention being devoted to Rush Limbaugh.

Here is the strategy that I perceive behind the scene.  The Republican Party is struggling to identify leadership (not to mention a clear direction), a leader or two who can articulate a direction after a disastrous election cycle.  Is it McCain?  The governor from Louisiana?  Boener?  Palin?  Romney? Will the leadership go to moderate Republicans?  Extremist right wing nuts (Ron Paul or evangelical Mormon baiter Huckabee)?   Newt Gingrinch?  Even Huntsman is said to be positioning himself as a darkhorse for 2012.   The recent CPAC conference showed what the extreme right thinks but it made moderate Republicans nervous.  

This confusion and Republican introspection offers a great opportunity to use an old political ploy used by both parties often:  label your opponent before it can define/redefine itself.  In attempting to claim that Rush Limbaugh is the de facto leader of the the Republican Party, the Democratic Party is doing nothing the Republican Party has not often done.  

If the perception (thus political reality) can be created that Rush Limbaugh is the new leader of the conservative movement and the Republican Party itself, the conservative movement will be stuck with an unsavory character as a principle representative who will be unable to attract voters beyond ditto heads and the base.  It is well known that neither party can win with its base alone, moderates and independents hold the real power.  

The Democrats are just trying to label the Republican Party as the party of right wing wackos and Rush Limbaugh is too dumb (actually more likely too arrogant and self-centered to care) to see he is being played.  

Good Orator or not....

Everyone claims that Obama is such a good orator...and he is with his teleprompters, but take them away and he is like me.....(not so impressive). See what the press is saying about his annoying teleprompters.

Brad Pitt and Speaker Pelosi

These two characters alone have a tendency to say stupid things, but bring them together and we have stupidity squared.

PITT: Thank you. Thank you. I just want to say thank you to the speaker for opening up her doors for us to come in and discuss the rebuilding effort, the current rebuilding effort going on in New Orleans and how we can expand this idea of affordability and sustainability because we think we have a model that works.
Thank you.
PELOSI: You might be interested in knowing, Mr. Clyburn and I were just hearing a little bit. We're going to hear more now, but Mr. Clyburn is the head of our Katrina Task Force. So he's led us delegations down to the Gulf Coast area many times.
And we were listening with great satisfaction to the fact that not are [sic] these homes -- wonderful homes for these families -- not are [sic] they built to a green standard, but they have a utility bill of under $10 a month.
PITT: It's possible.
PELOSI: It's possible to have a utility bill under $10 a month.
---
ALAN: Yes, it's possible, if you have a single light bulb that you turn on for a few hours a day.
---
I think these two people are so out of touch that they don't know what the common citizen pays for utilities. Consider Pelosi's vineyard estate in California (using non-union labor) and Brad Pitt's $70 million pad in France. Green standard indeed. Green standard is for the working class, but elites can't be bothered by such things. Their large estates probably cost $10 a minute in utilities.

Obama will sign spending bill despite earmarks

See....Every President does it. They make promises and break them....he's no different than the rest. If he refused earmarks for the economic stimulus plan, why can't he refuse them in his budget...like he campaigned for?

I don't get it

Aren't our people hurting for money? Isn't the country in large deficit? Why then are we spending $900 millions on reconstruction in Gaza? Beat me! I don't think that we can "buy" the Palestinians. M.