Posts by fulltimestudent

4

I wonder what D.Trump thinks of this order, placed with a Chinese company by Chicago transport

by fulltimestudent in

its interesting to watch these shenagins, isn't it?

the order was for: .

846 7000-series rail cars from csr sifang america jv, which submitted the lowest bid, chicago transport authority said in a statement on its website thursday.

fulltimestudent

Its interesting to watch these shenagins, isn't it? The order was for:

846 7000-series rail cars from CSR Sifang America JV, which submitted the lowest bid, Chicago Transport Authority said in a statement on its website Thursday. Prototypes for an initial order for 400 train cars are due in 2019 and expected to go into a service a year later after tests. As part of its winning bid, CSR Sifang will also invest $40 million to build a rail assembly facility in Chicago. ...
... The deal is China’s second in the U.S., following the one China CNR Corp. won in October 2014 worth $567 million to supply trains for Boston’s subway system."

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/chicago-hands-china-1-3-billion-order-for-new-urban-train-cars

12

A useful MacDonald's advert in Taiwan teaching tolerance attacked by religious bigots

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqlfpbfiuly

fulltimestudent

GrreatTeacher : People who think they don't know any homosexuals shouldn't be so sure. I think it's more likely that everyone knows a homosexual, they just don't know that they are gay.
Being in the closet is still a thing.

Smile! yes, absolutely! Especially so since research is indicating that homophobes who shout the loudest are likely fighting against their own feelings.

And homophobia makes an interesting closet.

13

The changing world - The Chinese in the west.

by fulltimestudent in

i was hosing the garden at the front of our apartments earlier this morning, and this large gang (20-30 people) of elderly chinese went past, picking up rubbish in the street.

it suddenly clicked that this was 'clean-up australia' day.

what interested me was the involvement of this group of elderly chinese, and i assume that this is likely happening across sydney in all the many suburbs that have become 'chinese' in the last 35 years.

fulltimestudent

Bonsai : It would be a smart investment to study Chinese. I originally came to Asia to study Chinese, but fell in love with Japan. Now I'm starting to wonder whether or not I should have stuck with Chinese.

Well, maybe? Surely it all depends on your goals. IS all your effort solely for making money? (Reading your posts, I do not get that impression).

If you want to, or need to, and think you have the ability, the possibility of making money does exist. But, I think the competition could be horrendous. And that is at all levels. Particularly as the next few hundred million Chinese become urbanised. But in that situation opportunities are there to be seized by the astute.

As it is, Japanese culture, as a variant of East Asian culture, is also fascinating. Are you living a satisfying life? Then maybe the path chosen was the right path.

I could imagine living a 'rich' life, in a small Japanese village located in the foothills of the mountains or somewhere near the ocean.

56

Why Faith is Self-Defeating

by cofty in

the god of christian theism values faith.. "without faith it is impossible to please god, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists" - heb.11.

faith and evidence are inversely proportional - the more evidence there is that god exists the less faith you need in that proposition and vice-versa.. so how can a christian criticise any other faith-based belief?

for example they can protest that all the evidence is against the claims of scientology, but that just means that scientologists require more faith than christians.

fulltimestudent

But then there's Romans 10:17:

New American Standard Bible
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

And when Paul wrote those words, the only 'word' of Christ was verbal.

Although, the KJV and a few other translations are slightly different.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Therefore faith is from the hearing ear, and the hearing ear is from the word of God.

And at that point in time, that surely meant the OT.

But, I guess, the point is the same - faith follows something heard. It does not, in Judeao-Christian theology, exist prior to the "hearing' of the message.

So the old AId book became very adventurous and claimed, "Faith is based on concrete evidence."

Although,

"Kierkegaard (is claimed to have) said that faith without doubt is simply credulity, the will to believe too readily, especially without adequate evidence, and that “in Doubt can Faith begin.” All people involved in spiritual practice, of whatever persuasion, must confront doubt at one time or another, and find a way beyond it to belief, however temporary. But “faith is not equivalent to mere belief. Faith is the condition of ultimate confidence that we have the capacity to follow the path of doubt to its end. And courage.”

In the end, that harmonises with the wisdom advice of Zheng Yi, (about 1000 years ago) who taught that:

"A student must first of all learn to doubt."

12

A useful MacDonald's advert in Taiwan teaching tolerance attacked by religious bigots

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqlfpbfiuly

fulltimestudent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqLFpbFiulY

13

The changing world - The Chinese in the west.

by fulltimestudent in

i was hosing the garden at the front of our apartments earlier this morning, and this large gang (20-30 people) of elderly chinese went past, picking up rubbish in the street.

it suddenly clicked that this was 'clean-up australia' day.

what interested me was the involvement of this group of elderly chinese, and i assume that this is likely happening across sydney in all the many suburbs that have become 'chinese' in the last 35 years.

fulltimestudent

joey jojo : Many Chinese families can trace their heritage back to the day's of the Australian gold rushes which means they were here long before many European families.

Joey, I'm not sure how deep your interest is in the this topic. But you may find Eric Roll's ( a dinky di Aussie) books informative. Most particularly his, "Sojourners: Flowers and the Wide Sea." In that book, Rolls demonstrates that Chineselikely 'discovered' Australia long before the Dutch or the Brits. Chinese ships had been sailing around the Indonesian archipelago for centuries, so it is extremely unlikely that they never reached our northern shores.

And, as you say, the discovery of gold in Australia, brought many Chinese to the goldfields (among the many other nationalities. On the evidence presented in Eric Roll' books , the Chinese however were the best organised. They brought with them seeds, seedlings, and baby pigs, and within weeks of arriving on a goldfield they were producing their own food. They were meticulous in finding alluvial gold. The European and American diggers were only interested in finding nuggets, but the Chinese dug over inch of their claims and washed the soil and found lots of smaller pieces. It was likely that meticulous technique that caused 'western' miners to be jealous of the Chinese and caused some of the unrest such as the Lambing Flats riots.

A JW connection to that time:

A one-time Circuit overseer, by the name of Farleigh James, was a descendent of one of those nineteenth century Chinese miners. His grandfather (I think) by the name of Hung Fee (from south China) discovered some gold in the area around Bright in Victoria, bought a small inn in Bright and married a half Chinese girl from Bendigo. Their descendents, who anglicised their names to Humphrey, still live in the Wangaratta area. My good XJW friend was married to his daughter, but was divorced by his wife, when he was disfellowshipped.

8

How the Churches got the ‘End of the World’ wrong in 1492.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in 1453 constantinople (also known as byzantium), the last remnant of the once mighty roman empire was a christian island in an islamic sea.

the city had been seriously weakened during the holy fourth crusade (1202-04), when fellow christians of the catholic brand had besieged the city, captured it, and savagely sacked it.. ( who needs enemies when you have christian friends?).

a miniature of the siege, artist unknown.

fulltimestudent

Why did they get it wrong? It can be suggested that they read, but do not understand.

They could read in Luke 21 of the signs (of the end), just as we did. But they (and us) failed to read carefully.

Read it again (from the New Jerusalem Bible)

25 'There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the turmoil of the ocean and its waves;
26 men fainting away with terror and fear at what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.
27 And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.'
29 And he told them a parable, 'Look at the fig tree and indeed every tree.
30 As soon as you see them bud, you can see for yourselves that summer is now near.
31 So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place.

This prophesy, made by Jesus failed. He imagined that he was about to fulfill the messianic prophesies and free Israel from the yoke of unbelievers. He was deluded, and paid the penalty with his life,

If there is ever an end to the world, it will not be as a result of Jesus prophecy.

8

How the Churches got the ‘End of the World’ wrong in 1492.

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in 1453 constantinople (also known as byzantium), the last remnant of the once mighty roman empire was a christian island in an islamic sea.

the city had been seriously weakened during the holy fourth crusade (1202-04), when fellow christians of the catholic brand had besieged the city, captured it, and savagely sacked it.. ( who needs enemies when you have christian friends?).

a miniature of the siege, artist unknown.

fulltimestudent

In 1453 Constantinople (also known as Byzantium), the last remnant of the once mighty Roman Empire was a Christian Island in an Islamic sea. The city had been seriously weakened during the holy Fourth Crusade (1202-04), when fellow Christians of the Catholic brand had besieged the city, captured it, and savagely sacked it.

( Who needs enemies when you have Christian friends?)

A miniature of the siege, Artist unknown. (from Wikimedia)

During the next 200 years, Constantinople hung on. Pleas for assistance to the Royal courts of Europe went unheeded and finally in 1453, Islamic armies were triumphant. When the news reached Rome, Christians cried in the streets. And, in Russia, where Orthodox Christianity also prevailed it was seen as marking the imminent end of the world.

Modern representation of the 21 year old Muslim General Mehmed II and the Ottoman Army approaching Constantinople with a giant CANNON, by Fausto Zonaro

There were long-standing Orthodox prophecies that predicted the return of Jesus and the last judgement at the start of the eighth millennium. Based on the Byzantine calendar that was also used in Russia, it all seemed be crystal clear.

Based on their Biblical understanding, that creation occurred 5508 years before Christ, it was calculated that the return of Jesus and the Last Judgement would occur on September 1, 1492.

(Not so different to Freddy's effort is it)

And like Freddy's effort, the end did not come. Why?

13

The changing world - The Chinese in the west.

by fulltimestudent in

i was hosing the garden at the front of our apartments earlier this morning, and this large gang (20-30 people) of elderly chinese went past, picking up rubbish in the street.

it suddenly clicked that this was 'clean-up australia' day.

what interested me was the involvement of this group of elderly chinese, and i assume that this is likely happening across sydney in all the many suburbs that have become 'chinese' in the last 35 years.

fulltimestudent

karter : F.T.S seems you have done your homework well. The fact that the Chinese are investing in N.Z flat out has an up and a down side.

karter, its not too hard to find information these days. The web holds an enormous amount of information already. Ten minutes will usually allow you to check whether what you are thinking is well-founded or not.

The Australian problem (which may or may not be similar to the NZ situation ) is that Australians could never provide enough capital to cover development of the country. Originally, in the British heyday, the Brits provided the money needed for Australian development. But a day came after WW1, but more particularly after WW2, when the Brits were broke.

I'm old enough to remember the fuss in Australia, when British assets were sold to American companies. These days most profitable Australian brands (like Kraft, Arnotts etc) are in American hands. Doesn't make much difference at a daily life level to Australians, does it? I once worked for a large company that pioneered commercial refrigeration in Aust. (under the brand name Amatice). When WW2 came, some government bright spark said to the company, you must make ambulances for the army - so they did. Somewhere in the govt. bureaucracy some public servant noted that local refrigeration manufacture had ceased. I guess memo's got passed around and eventually an American company, Kelvinator, was invited to set up a factory in Australia. By the end of the war, Kelvinator was well established and Amatice never got back the market it used to have.

The Japanese were buying lots of things in the 1970's and 1980's and ruffling American feathers ( do you remember the movie, Rising Sun with Sean Connery?). Wonder just how that trend had the brakes put on it?

BTW, Wherever I've been in China, I can always find a McDonalds, or a KFC or a Starbucks. All the top American Hotel brands are there. China is America's General Motors largest marker in the world. That is they sell more cars in China than in the USA.

http://media.gm.com/media/cn/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/cn/en/2015/Oct/1012_sales.html

and take 90 seconds out of your busy life and watch this video, which tells of the local spin-offs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_qQAeWDUaw

Did you know that under the Free Trade Agreement recently concluded between Australian and China, most Australian businesses are free to go and open a business in China. Medical services and Old Age care are among the business types particularly encouraged. I wonder how many Aussies are going to take the risk?

13

The changing world - The Chinese in the west.

by fulltimestudent in

i was hosing the garden at the front of our apartments earlier this morning, and this large gang (20-30 people) of elderly chinese went past, picking up rubbish in the street.

it suddenly clicked that this was 'clean-up australia' day.

what interested me was the involvement of this group of elderly chinese, and i assume that this is likely happening across sydney in all the many suburbs that have become 'chinese' in the last 35 years.

fulltimestudent

karter : here in NZ the Chinese will take us over with out letting off a round .
They are buying everything they can,Setting up their own dairy factory's making milk formula to send back home.

There are two ways to look at this Karter, one is the way expressed above. The other way is illustrated by the sale of a New Zealand owned Australian Company to a privately owned Australian registered company, owned by a Chinese citizen.

Complicated isn't it?

The company, the Van Dieman Land company owns 25 large dairy farms in Tasmania. The last owner was New Plymouth Municipality in New Zealand (that sounds like socialism, doesn't it? But NZ does have a lot of co-operatives - just like China).

I'm guessing that the sale was prompted by the fact that Van Dieman Land made a loss of $8,000,000 in 2013, so the New Plymouth Municipality must have decided to sell. The largest offer for VDL, came from Moon Lake Investments, owned as described above. The second biggest bidder asked the Aussie government to prevent the sale, the Aust. govt responded that VDL had been started by foreigners ( a group of London merchants) and had always been in foreign hands.

But, would it have been right for the Aust. government to prevent the NZ owners making the extra money that Moon Lake offered, and made them accept less money?

The new owners plan to invest $100 million in new facilities, money that the former NZ owners apparently did not plan to spend. So in different ways Australia will be better off, as suppliers, builders, engineers etc receive orders for their goods and services as that one hundred million is spent.

Another perspective. One of NZ's largest dairy companies - Fonterra, is a part owner of Shijiahuang Sanli, a large Chinese milk product supplier. Presumably that places Fonterra in a position to benefit when their share of Chinese profits are repatriated to NZ. Do you want to say that is a bad thing?

New Zealand has a population of less than 5,000,000. China now has (I calculate) about 600 million people whose lives approximate our western lives. Their diet converges toward ours. Think about that 600 million. It equates to having a market equal to two USAs.

There is not enough dairy farmland in NZ (or, Australia) to provide dairy products for that sized population. And there are more customers coming, as China continues to urbanise, whether in cities or large towns with population of 500,000. The Chinese government is planning to totally eliminate rural poverty by 2025. Not too far in the future, NZ dairy farmers will have access to a market not of 600 million but of 1300 million.

But you will have competitors, one of the largest dairy farms in the world is being built in the steppes area of North China. Chinese businessmen are working in joint ventures with Russian businessmen planning similar projects across Russia ( a move placed on fast forward when Europe decided to ban the exports of dairy products to Russia over the Ukraine problems).

In the meantime, large and small businesses in NZ will benefit from the $210 million that Yashili International Holdings (I presume that's the project) is planning to spend in building the new dairy processing plant mentioned in your above post.

BTW, if my information is correct, a part owner in Yashili International Holdings, is an American owned company, Carlyle Group.

Globalisation is complex, is it not?