Biden Verbose, Obtuse In Praise Of Public Speaking

As someone who teaches public speaking I constantly marvel at the ineptitude of many well-known speakers. The current Vice President of the United States is a good example. Joe Biden continues to embarrass  himself and our nation with his inability to be brief, coherent or sensible. And this does not even count his numerous gaffes, inappropriate comments, inaccuracies and outright buffoonery.
In China at Sichuan University Biden answered a simple question from a student about the importance of  public speaking with a long-winded 863 word answer that included a rambling, incoherent 68 word sentence on the value of brevity.
And all this came on the heels of a 4.600 word speech.
Whew! This man is a pathetic windbag.

BTW: Here is the final part of Biden's answer. Read it and see if you can figure out what he's saying:

"And so language, the ability not only to master the ability to put your ideas into words succinctly on a platform to communicate ideas to your own people, it is even more impressive when you have the capacity to do that and communicate your ideas, especially as future business and political and moral leaders of the world in the language of the people to whom you are speaking."

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Christie, Guadagno Welcome New China Trade

Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno recently hosted Secretary Zhao Hongzhu and a Zhejiang Province delegation for two days of events as part of the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the New Jersey-Zhejiang Province Sister-State Agreement. To celebrate this milestone, both states yesterday co-hosted a trade and investment business-to-business symposium at William Patterson University in Passaic County. The Symposium included a plenary session, with remarks by the Lt. Governor and Secretary Zhao, followed by direct bilateral business-to-business sessions for companies.

The Christie Administration hosted a welcome luncheon at Kean University for Secretary Zhao and the visiting dignitaries. The luncheon was followed by the 30th Anniversary Celebration Ceremony for the re-dedication of the State-Province Agreement between New Jersey and the Province of Zhejiang, during which Governor Christie signed a proclamation marking July 21, 2011 “Zhejiang Day” in New Jersey.

“It is an honor to welcome Secretary Zhao and his delegation to New Jersey. Zhejiang Province is home to thousands of flagship Chinese and multinational companies and its industrial strengths are similar to the strengths in New Jersey”, said Governor Christie. “The re-dedication of our Memorandum of Understanding will help further link foreign business to our region and provide new growth opportunities for our businesses and universities.”

The original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Governor Brendon Byrne in May 1981 to support bilateral trade and link foreign businesses to our region and provide outreach opportunities for New Jersey-based companies to spur business growth. The re-dedication of the MOU, to be signed today between the State of New Jersey and the Province of Zhejiang, strengthens the efforts to pursue common goals in relation to developing economic relations, encouraging industrial innovation and fostering cultural and educational exchanges and collaborations.

“This ongoing and healthy relationship between our states will expand New Jersey’s ability to create jobs and revenue through global trade and build our ties with the Zhejiang Province and the larger Chinese market overall,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno, who also serves as Secretary of State. “Through these efforts to promote cooperation and encourage cultural and educational exchanges, New Jersey will be in an even better position to attract foreign direct investment to the state and increase export opportunities for our companies.”

In total, the new MOUs represent more than one billion dollars of new investment in the State of New Jersey, including a Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement between EffiSolar Energy LLC, and Zhejiang Guoguang Science Technology Co., Ltd., to build a solar power station in New Jersey. The investment stands to bring approximately 100 permanent jobs and at least 1,500 construction jobs to New Jersey.

The original agreement has afforded New Jersey’s universities with opportunities to establish educational ties. Zhejiang universities have enjoyed sister-university agreements with Kean University since 1998 and with William Paterson University since 2004. These agreements are for a number of joint-degree programs and student and faculty exchange programs, and have generated significant investment into the institutions. The two universities will also sign agreements today at the ceremony. Kean University will enter an agreement with Hangzhou Normal University for a faculty and student exchange, while William Paterson University and the University of Technology will sign an agreement to establish the Zhejiang University of Technology Overseas Students Training Center at William Paterson University.

New Jersey and China have historically benefited from a strong trade and investment relationship. In 2010, New Jersey’s exports to China grew by 31 percent, making it the State’s seventh largest trading partner. For the past decade, China has been the number one trading partner for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, providing about 30 percent of the Port’s traffic volume. Additionally, more than 100 Chinese companies are located in New Jersey, including top-tier Fortune Global 500 entities such as the China Ocean Shipping Co. America Inc. (COSCO), Minmetals, Inc., China Construction and Bao Steel. Furthermore, New Jersey is home to two Zhejiang pharmaceutical companies that are invested in New Jersey – Huahai Pharma and Hisun Parma.

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Chinese Arrest Christians Worshiping On Easter

The French News Agency (AFP) reports that Christians have been arrested in China after trying to hold Easter services yesterday.
Here's an excerpt:

Up to 30 members of a Chinese evangelical church were arrested on Sunday for trying to hold an Easter service in defiance of the officially atheist government, a member of the clergy said.
A large number of police began to gather early Sunday in the Zhongguancun area of Beijing where the Shouwang Church had said it would hold an outdoor service to mark the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
"Between 20 and 30 followers were taken away by police," senior pastor Jin Tianming told AFP by telephone from his home, where he is under house arrest. He said there were several police officers posted outside the building.
He added that the members of the congregation who were arrested had been taken to different police stations and that none had so far been released.
Jin had said before the planned gathering that the church considered Easter an important occasion and would stick to its decision to hold a service.

Click here to read more on this story.

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Shame On Bob Dylan!

I thought I'd never say this, but: Shame on Bob Dylan!
There, I've said it.
A long, long time ago I used to be a Dylan fan. He was the voice of a generation and he produced our distintive anthems, including "The Times They Are A-Changin" and "Blowin In The Wind."
But now, performing in China, Dylan apparently allowed himself to be censored and those songs were left out of  his performance. It's sort of like Sinatra not singing "My Way" or Bennett not singing "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" or Liza not singing "Cabaret" or Springsteen not singing "Glory Days."  It's unthinkable.
And this, too: Why is Bob Dylan still performing? His voice sounds like he gargles with broken glass and you can barely understand his words. He's all beat up and far, far removed from his prime.
Anyway, here's an excerpt from the Los Angeles Times:

At a time when many other American performers have been banned from China, Bob Dylan was allowed to play Wednesday night in Beijing, but with a program that omitted Dylan's most famous ballads of dissent.
Conspicuously absent from the program at the Workers' Gymnasium were "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Blowin' in the Wind." Dylan's set list had to be sanctioned beforehand by the Ministry of Culture, which in its formal invitation decreed that he would have to "conduct the performance strictly according to the approved program."
Still, the 69-year-old musician, clad in a white panama hat and drainpipe trousers, sung and strummed before a welcoming crowd of 6,000. He worked his way through a repertoire that included "Tangled up in Blue" and "Simple Twist of Fate."

Click here for more on this story.

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Is China Ready To Dump The Dollar?

There's an ominous story out of China.
A story that does not bode well for the dollar.
And if the dollar falls as the international currency standard, America will face economic calamity the likes of which it has not seen.
Here's an excerpt of a revealing story from Yahoo News and Reuters: 

Dollar dominance is sowing the seeds of financial turmoil, and the solution is to promote new reserve currencies, a Chinese government economist said in a paper published on the eve of a G20 meeting about how to reform the global monetary system. Although not an official policy statement, the paper by Xu Hongcai, a department deputy director at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, offered a window onto the domestic pressures bearing on Beijing to move away from a dollar-centric global economy. . . .
Xu's paper, "Reform of the international monetary system under the G20 framework," was published in Chinese on the center's website this week (www.cciee.org.cn).
"Nations around the world have no way of restricting dollar issuance by the Federal Reserve. The current international monetary system lacks both stability and fairness," Xu wrote.

This bears close watching.
Click here for more.

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Video: Secrets Of The Silk Road!

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Seems Lang Lang Dissed America At White House

That big, expensive, elaborate, red-carpet State Dinner that the Obama's gave for the President of China continues to produce fallout.
Now it seems that Chinese-born pianist Lang Lang  may have dissed America as he tickled the ivories in the East Room.
Here's a portion of a revealing report from the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Lang was invited to perform along with a number of U.S. jazz musicians. . . . [After] Mr. Lang said it was a “great honor” to be playing, he proceeded to perform a solo piece, which he introduced as a “Chinese song called ‘My Motherland.’”
As Chinese netizens have pointed out, “My Motherland” is the theme song for a famous anti-U.S. movie about the Korean War from 1956, titled “Battle on Shangganling Mountain.”
The performance has set the Chinese web abuzz—and more than a few people are convinced it wasn’t an accident.
Both the Sina and Sohu news portals reposted an article that they attributed to the Beijing Evening News, with the headline: “Lang Lang Played ‘My Motherland’ at White House, Flaunting National Power.”
“Those American folks very much enjoyed it and were totally infatuated with the melody!!! The U.S. is truly stupid!!” wrote a user named You’re In My Memory on Sina’s micro-blogging site.

Click here to read more.

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Rolling Out the "Red" Carpet

So after a day filled with tense moments regarding China's human rights record and a couple of rounds of economic hardball regarding trade and currency, why did the Obama administration go all out with a lavish, VIP-laden state dinner packed with 225 guests ranging from captains of industry and movie stars for President Hu Jintao?

I'll give you 895.6 billion reasons. According to the Treasury Department, that's the dollar amount of U.S. bonds that China owns. That makes them the leading foreign holder of U.S. debt.

And let's look at the lopsided import/export relationship, shall we? According to the U.S.-China Business Council, in 2009 the U.S. imported $296.4 billion in goods from China, as opposed as exporting only $69.6 billion. The top imports range from electrical equipment to apparel to toys.

China is now an economic super power. U.S. stimulus funds are finding their way overseas as opposed to American pockets. And the only reason so many unemployed are surviving is that China is funding the much-needed extensions.

So the poached Maine lobster, rib eye with buttermilk crisp onions, and double-stuffed potatoes are all part of the political dance. Whether or not this is kissing up to the "landlord" or taking a page from Sun Tzu remains to be seen.

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Top Republicans Won't Attend China State Dinner

House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t attend the black-tie event at the White House. That's the state dinner that President Obama will host for Chinese President Hu Jintao. 
Click here to read more about this development.

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Video: How The Obama Stole Christmas (Almost)

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Is This What Our Future Looks Like?

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