What's Been Going On in China?

Has anyone else noticed that China seems to be keeping itself out of the news lately? A lot of the talk of the big military threat has been subsided due to recent Russian actions. So lets take a look at what's been going on in China!

It seems that everyone loves the Olympics, except for the terrorists. "Chinese police broke up a terror plot targeting the Beijing Olympics...Terrorism experts say the threat is low given China's tight social controls, but warn that Beijing's counterterrorism capabilities are weak, especially in intelligence gathering and analysis." Olympic gambling experts say that China is also weak at the vast majority of the summer sports but are expected to medal in Table Tennis.

Meanwhile China is also going green, or trying to at least. Its great to see that a country that is starting to embrace free markets is also working to save the environment. Officials said, "the government will make full use of tax, fiscal and financial policies to push forward energy-saving and pollution-cutting goals." China is still paying people $72.55 a year to only have one child and punished those who have more than one to curb the overpopulation problem... so perhaps a similar system is in the works? Close down the old industrial plant and get a tax break on your company's new greener production line, but forget to turn the lights off when you leave the room and be severely beaten?

Your Government In Action...

$12 Billion a month. Thats the estimate for what the Iraq war is costing the U.S. taxpayers. Or so the authors of a new book claim in order to increase their sales. Is it true? How would I know, I'm not an economist! But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has done its own projections and comes in lower. But if we are spending all this money, shouldn't our economy be booming? The money is paying for goods and services, which means more jobs, right? Bueller?
And another thing... for whatever sexist reason, the U.S. military does not allow women to be in the front lines of combat. How is this fair? Why isn't anyone screaming discrimination? Lucky for them the insurgent fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan helps to nullify this barbaric ideology. Thats right, the insurgents are equal opportunity attackers and this allowed Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown of the 82nd Airborne Division to earn a Silver Star, the first Silver Star awarded to a woman since World War II. You go girl!

Lets just hope we don't shoot the wrong people!