Today, there are several compilations both on News Junkie Canada and on Frost Hits the Rhubarb. I believe much of this information is important. It would behoove people to read carefully.
Jolly Roger better flag for Canada Steamship Lines
Formerly, CSL was owned by Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin; it is now owned his sons. A "must read" article.
On land, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has proven himself to be an artful dodger whenever the $100 million in government kickbacks to Liberal-friendly communication agencies is on the discussion table.
At sea, Martin, through the company he founded, has been something of a latter day pirate.
Canada Steamship Lines may have been turned over to Martin’s sons last year, but . . . .
Not ready for primetime -- China on the world stage -- "Significant response quickly loses luster"
BEIJING China's new and growing influence in Asia, which some analysts say has come at the expense of the United States, is showing its limits as the aspiring superpower plays an active but secondary role in responding to the tsunami disaster. [. . . . ]
The Chinese response is significant by even the recent standards of its inward-looking history. But it is also a reminder that the world's most populous country is far from being the dominant power in Asia.
Last weekend, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced that China would donate more than $62 million, one of its largest ever pledges of international relief aid. But that figure was quickly eclipsed when the United States increased its pledge to $350 million and Japan followed with a $500 million donation.
[. . . . ] Meanwhile, China has increased its donations to nations like Vietnam, Indonesia and Burma as part of its effort to raise its profile in the region. China is also believed to donate tens of millions of dollars in annual aid to help prop up its ally and neighbor, North Korea. [. . . . ]
Perhaps China has other uses for its surplus cash? Follow the money and the global networks.
YUKOS has announced its intention to supply 280,000 tons oil to China in January, Russian Railways Vice President Salman Babayev told journalists. According to him, LUKoil plans to supply 240,000 tons to the region. Sibneft will transport 30,000 tons more.
As for the transportation of Russian oil to China in 2005, Russian Railways President Gennady Fadeyev announced that about 10m tons of oil would be supplied, as the Chinese railway infrastructure cannot make the transportation of larger amount of oil possible. Therefore, oil supplies to China will be boosted to 30m tons by 2007-08.
Industry watchers say that China is interested in stable oil supplies from Russia. China has always been acquiring Russian oil assets. Chinese companies wanted to take part in the auction of Slavneft, but they abandoned this idea later. Some experts say that they were granted guarantees of the stability of railroad oil supplies and the construction of a pipeline linking Russia to China instead.
Vice President of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Zhou Jiping met Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller on December 7, 2004, to discuss Russia’s oil supplies on the Chinese market and Gazprom’s market expansion. [. . . . ]
CALGARY - Proponents of the Alaska Highway Pipeline Project are stepping up pressure on Ottawa to strip Calgary-based pipeline builder, TransCanada Corp., of its claimed right to construct the bulk of the US$20-billion natural gas line.
[. . . . ] BP Canada spearheads the Canadian lobbying effort for Alaska gas producers planning the massive project: BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips Co.
Working together with a second pipe builder, Enbridge Inc., BP is trying to convince Ottawa to lay out a new regulatory process for assessing the portion of the line (two-thirds of the total) that would pass through Canada.
[. . . . ] An act of Parliament, dating back to the 1970s, gives TransCanada the right to build the Canadian portion of the proposed gas line, and already lays out a regulatory process to follow.
"If Ottawa were to set out a new regulatory process, it would basically be saying, 'We aren't going to recognize TransCanada's rights as they exist under the [Northern Pipeline Act],' " said another source close to matter. [. . . . ]
Check the networks associated with each group and you will know the answer -- IMHO.
China Petrochemical Corporation, or Sinopec, the biggest oil refiner in China, is in talks with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK) and its controlling shareholder Li Ka-shing to buy all or part of their controlling stake in Canada's Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.T), reports the South China Morning Post, quoting a Sinopec source.
An acquisition wouldn't only give Sinopec access to Husky's oil and natural gas reserves, but could provide the access that Sinopec has been seeking into Alberta province's massive Athabasca oil sands. [. . . . ]
China bids for Canadian oil giant from tycoon Li Ka-Shing
[. . . . ] The Globe and Mail newspaper said in a front page report that Beijing wants to buy the Calgary-based firm through one of its state-owned energy companies PetroChina, as it tries to fuel its booming economy.
[. . . . ] Husky is Canada's fourth largest oil and gas concern, and is the operator of the new White Rose offshore exploitation project off the coast of eastern Newfoundland.
Note: Newfoundland is mentioned. There are articles by Licia Corbella on Newfoundland and oil, Paul Martin and the flag flap in the Calgary Sun. Eventually, I'll post the links.
[. . . . ] A delegation of Chinese experts visited the western province of Alberta, the epicentre, of the Canadian oil and gas industry earlier this year to visit firms, including Husky, involved in extracting bitumen which can be used in asphalt and other compounds.
China's foreign minister Li Zhaoxing earlier this year encouraged Chinese state firms to seek investments in Canada, especially in the resources and exploratory sectors. [. . . . ]
Rigzone: Singapore Management University -- "SMU launches new school of Information Systems Management" -- "SMU receives S$19.5 million from Li Ka Shing"
Note that this was reported in Rigzone, news of the oil/gas rig zone.
Singapore Management University (SMU) in November announced the formation of its fourth school, the School of Information Systems Management (SISM). The new school will specialise in information technology (IT) as well as business management, and will be the first in Singapore to offer a bachelor degree in these combined disciplines. The school has been set up in response to the changing needs of the region’s digital economy.
[. . . . ] The industry and government Focus Groups advising SMU on the SISM curriculum have indicated that these changing human resource requirements will demand diverse IT-business management and thinking skills. They clearly identified a need for increased problem solving ability, integration skills, regional and global knowledge, self-reliance and innovation. [. . . . ]
SMU receives S$19.5 million from Li Ka Shing
Record donation . . . . Dr Li Ka Shing . . . . has donated a significant $19.5 million to SMU. The donation, made through the Li Ka Shing Foundation and his Hutchison Whampoa Group, . . . marks an unprecedented move of collaboration between SMU and Hong Kong & Mainland China.
[. . . . ] The other S$4.5 million will support up to eight endowed scholarships a year
for undergraduates from the Asian region, particularly from Hong Kong and mainland China . . .
[. . . . SMU] serving as the gateway to a vast resource of information, whilst the scholarships will foster intellectual excellence and attract the finest students to SMU as students prepare for success in the global business environment through a better understanding of their neighbours and building of partnerships with regional and international players. [. . . . ]
Do you suppose there was more afoot than a "gift" from Li Ka-Shing? What else is planned with China? China has long term plans and so does Li Ka-Shing.
Think of the outsourcing of North American companies, of China involved in buying in North American industries through various avenues, who benefits? Who will get the jobs? Why have so many Chinese come to Canada to university, particularly to the computer science faculties/departments and to "learn English"? Why do you suppose there has been such a push to bring Chinese immigrants to Canada that even Frank McKenna, soon to be Ambassador to the US, has suggested the Maritimes need more Chinese immigration. Why would he suggest this? What are his networks? Who would benefit?
Is China going to pay the salaries and provide similar benefits to workers in China or in Southeast Asia as are provided in the West? It is not and won't be for a long time.
And you will lose your jobs to outsourcing to China and your resources and resource industries will be taken over by an authoritarian regime and its middlemen. Canada's Prime Minister, other MPs and Ministers, et cetera will facilitate this and your jobs moving abroad.
Who benefits?
Outsourcing: Time Magazine -- another perspective
Outsourcing: Time Magazine -- another perspective Time, Jyoti Thottam, (With reporting by Barbara Kiviat/New York, Sara Rajan/New Delhi, Cathy Booth Thomas/Dallas and Karen Tumulty/Washington ) Feb. 23, 04
As the debate about exporting work from America dominates the presidential campaign, voters need to separate myth from reality. A TIME guide to how we got here—and why short-term pain might translate into long-term gain.
[. . . . ] Sharma's Indian-American team, tethered by a broadband connection, gets his product in front of customers faster and cheaper. "As a business, you have to stay competitive," he says. "If we don't do it, our competitors will, and they're going to blow us away."
But Sharma's sharp analysis loses its edge when he thinks about what decisions like his will mean someday for his children, a 2-year-old daughter and another on the way.
"As a father, my reaction is different than my reaction as a CEO," he says. [. . . . ]
[. . . . ]
Subheadings:
* FROM MEXICO TO INDIA: HOW DID WE GET THERE? . . . .
* WHY SO FAST? . . . .
* GETTING LEFT BEHIND . . . .
* WHOM WILL OUTSOURCING AFFECT NEXT? . . . .
* CAN AMERICANS LEARN TO LOVE OUTSOURCING? . . . .
* SHOULD OUTSOURCING BE CONTROLLED? . . . .
It may make economic sense--for those who make money for it and maybe even long term--but I still don't care. I care about family, neighbours, community, country and I know of a lot of "short term" pain which has not resulted in "long term" gain -- but then, I do not have the perspective of a businessman nor of those politicians and their hangers on of whom I have written for the last while. I would rather take less if the result would be that almost all Canadians could work and earn enough to support families and a decent life. Now, you know why I am not in business.
Does anyone have any solutions that do not result in the degree of unemployment, underemployment and despondency we see around us? Are we insufficiently entrepreneurial? Have we become unable to help ourselves? Has government done us a great disservice by acting as though all must be done through government? My assessment of that last one is that it helps only those who travel on the governing party's coattails--after the favoured few get all they can handle.
