Economic development updates

Helga Zepp-LaRouche interviewed on CGTN’s Asia Today

July 4, 2021by madeleine in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, World Land-Bridge updates, World war danger updates

Helga Zepp-LaRouche was interviewed by Zhong Shi today, the host of the “Asia Today” program on CGTN, as part of its lead coverage on the crisis in Afghanistan.

Zhong Shi: I want to now also bring in Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the president and founder of the Schiller Institute, a German-based political and economic think tank. Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche, welcome to the program. It’s a pleasure to have you on today.

The Pentagon says returning Bagram base to Afghan security forces was a key milestone in U.S. military withdrawal. Now, the question is, what type of milestone will this be for Afghanistan? How will this affect the country’s ability to fight against the Taliban?

Helga Zepp-LaRouche: I think it’s a very serious situation. There is the danger of civil war, not only between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban, but according to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who yesterday pointed to the fact that there are now ISIS forces massing in the north of Afghanistan. I think the danger is that the war will continue, this time with Afghans killing Afghans, so I think it does require some other approach. Something completely different than just withdrawing and leaving the place as it is.

Zhong: The world is now watching the situation unfold in Afghanistan. We know the Taliban certainly has been sweeping into districts as foreign troops go home. When the United States watches what is happening right now in Afghanistan, how would you characterize Joe Biden’s policy towards Afghanistan after U.S. forces leave? He certainly has promised continued support.

Zepp-LaRouche: Yes, I’m not so sure. Obviously, this is a quagmire. Twenty years of war and lost lives and lost money for nothing. I think that the withdrawal from Afghanistan has similar reasons like the United States reducing logistics in other parts of the Persian Gulf. It’s in part, in my view, this focus on the Pacific, on Russia, on China. So per se, it’s not an Afghanistan policy, but it’s more a policy led by geostrategic considerations. I think this is a path to disaster as well.

Look, Afghanistan in the last year, the opium production increased by 45%. Afghanistan produces 85% of the world’s opium production. If you just leave that, the Taliban will for sure increase that production as a way of financing their military operations. The deaths will be in the streets of the United States and Europe, of the many addicts. In Afghanistan, there are 3.5 million drug addicts, but that just shows that you need to have a completely different approach to solve this problem.

Militarily, Afghanistan cannot be won. That was proven by the Soviet Union trying to win for 10 years, now the United States and NATO for 20 years. I think it’s high time to rethink, that one needs to have a completely different approach than the continuation of the same.

Zhong: As you say, it would be 20 years of a war for nothing, if Afghanistan quickly descended back into chaos; into where it was before the war. Some fear that this is more likely to become a reality once foreign troops are gone. What do you think are the chances that this will happen? That Afghanistan will dive deeper into a civil war?

Zepp-LaRouche: As I said, if nothing is being done, it will be a nightmare. There will be more terrorism, which will spread not only in the region, but beyond. I think there must be a change in the approach. The only way there would be any hope to stabilize the situation is if you bring real economic development to Afghanistan, but also to the entire region, of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, all these countries which have been destroyed by the endless wars. This could be taken as one region, and one should understand that both the problem of terrorism, but also the problem of drugs, is one which should concern all the countries—the United States, Russia, China, Iran, India. They should all work together for an economic development perspective. One could extend the Belt and Road Initiative, the New Silk Road. The previous president, Karzai, saw that he sees the only hope for Afghanistan would be development. And the new name for peace is development, also in Afghanistan. So, my wish would be that this could become a subject of a UN Security Council special conference. President Putin has demanded, in any case, that the Permanent Five of the UN Security Council should meet. That would be one of the urgent items; how to prevent Afghanistan becoming a source of terrorism, drug trafficking, and just a nightmare for everybody. And how can you stop thinking in terms of geopolitical confrontation, and concentrate on the common aims of mankind? I think Afghanistan is one of these absolute crossroads—it is a crossroad—but also a crossroad in the history of mankind.

Zhong: This is more of a pressing issue by the day. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, we appreciate your analysis today; thank you so much for taking the opportunity to talk to us.

To Go To Mars, We Need Nuclear-Powered Rockets

February 26, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General updates, Space updates

NPR Gets It Right, for Once: To Go To Mars, We Need Nuclear-Powered Rockets

Feb. 25, 2021 (EIRNS)—National Public Radio reported yesterday on comments by Roger Myers, an independent aerospace consultant and co-chair of a panel convened by the National Academies to study nuclear propulsion. “If we decide to send humans to Mars, nuclear propulsion is likely to be central to that journey,” Myers stated. A new report just issued by Myers and colleagues says that spending by NASA is “going to have to be ramped up significantly if we’re going to hit 2039” for a nuclear-based mission.

NPR explained, “The idea of using nuclear reactors for propulsion dates back to the earliest days of the U.S. space program. In the 1950s and 1960s, scientists with what was then called the Atomic Energy Commission developed a series of nuclear rockets. The program was conducted in collaboration for NASA and developed working prototypes. But it was cancelled in the early 1970s, after it became clear the missions for which it was needed, to travel to Mars and the Moon, were unlikely to go forward.

“Nuclear-powered rockets are needed both to minimize the travel time to Mars, as well as to reduce the amount of time astronauts would have to stay there before being able to return. Under normal fuels,” astronauts would be required to stay on Mars for 500 days while waiting for a planetary alignment that would let them get back to Earth using as little propellant as possible. Nuclear power, by contrast, could allow the mission to be completed with less fuel and in a shorter amount of time. Because of the extra thrust provided by nuclear rocket motors, astronauts would be able to take a shortcut back to Earth by spiraling around the Sun and Venus. The mission would also mean a shorter first stay on Mars of only about a month, as opposed to 500 days.”

Beethoven: Sparks of Joy!

February 26, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Daily Beethoven — Sparks of Joy, Music updates, Space updates

Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — Wonder and human ingenuity got us to Mars, and this Beethoven song reflects upon such human qualities.

The ongoing exploration of Mars by scientists of three nations leads one to ponder the true nature of mankind and our exciting prospects for the future.
One of Beethoven’s most beautiful songs is Abendlied unterm gerstirnten Himmel (Evening Song Under a Starry Sky), which describes the effect on the soul of gazing into the night sky and contemplating the immensity of creation. In the first strophe, the thousands of stars in the night sky make the soul feel immense, lifting it out of the dust. In the second strophe, the soul feels as if it is looking “zurück ins Vaterland” (back into the fatherland), while in the next two strophes the soul soars heavenward, finally reaching “Meine Leiden schönen Lohn” (the beautiful reward of my suffering).
It’s sung here by Peter Schreier, with text in Spanish, English, and German. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]

Beasley Calls on Branson, Musk, and Bezos for $6 Billion To End Starvation

June 30, 2021by madeleine in Agriculture, General, General updates, Healthcare, World Food Program

Over the weekend, World Food Program Director David Beasley sent out a tweet, reiterating his frequent call on billionaires to step up to meet the $6 billion more needed this year to roll back hunger and prevent starvation. But this time he named names. He included in his tweet the June 26 CNN video story, “Bezos vs. Branson: Billionaires Battle Over Being First in Space.” Beasley tweeted June 26:
“Hey, Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, so excited to see you compete on who gets to space first! BUT, I would love to see you TEAM up together to save the 41 million people who are about to starve this year on Earth! It only takes $6 billion. We can solve this quickly!”

The financial worth of these three, according to Global Citizen: Branson, $6.3 billion; Musk, $165.9 billion; and Bezos $192.6 billion.

Unprecedented Support for Nuclear Power in Sweden

June 30, 2021by madeleine in Economic development updates, Environmentalism updates, General updates, Green New Deal, Power & Energy

A new survey has shown unprecedented support for nuclear power in Sweden, this is despite a referendum in 1980 mandating an eventual total exit and closure of nuclear power stations. A new study by pollster Novus revealed that 46 percent of respondents agreed that nuclear power should be expanded if necessary, which is up from only 28 percent in 2017. While 31 percent believe that while it should not necessarily be expanded, existing nuclear power plants should remain in use. By contrast only 14 percent wanted to phase out nuclear power. Support for Nuclear power is higher then support for wind and solar combined.

“That answer is higher than the other two together. This has never happened before”, Mattias Lantz, a researcher at Uppsala University and chairman of the Analysis Group, said according to an article in Sputniknews.

It also showed that almost six out of ten still think that nuclear power can be a means of meeting climate goals.

Men, the elderly, and Moderate or Sweden Democrat voters tend to be the most positive about new reactors. By contrast, women, those with lower incomes, and Social Democrat voters tend to be in favor of decommissioning nuclear power. Even more interesting is the trend that younger people are now tending to be more positive about nuclear power despite, or maybe because of, the antics of juvenile delinquent Greta Thunberg.

Lantz attributed the change to the surfacing of shortcomings of the power grid systems in southern Sweden as well as the fact that the liberal-conservative Moderates, the Christian Democrats, and the national-conservative Sweden Democrats have raised the need for nuclear power.

Gabon Made To Mortgage Its Future for `Carbon Credits’

June 29, 2021by madeleine in Environmentalism updates, Finance, General, Green New Deal, Power & Energy

The otherwise nondescript nation of Gabon made history last week as the first African country to “get paid” to preserve its rainforest. At the end of an arduous, four-year process of “conforming,” on June 24, the Norwegian government distributed a $17 million payment, with the fantastic sum of $150 million still in the wind. The payment was allocated under the UN-initiated Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). While not technically a part of UN Climate czar Mark Carney’s over-hyped “climate offset” scheme, this deal provides a window into the process, and will likely serve as a model.

In June of 2017, under the CAFI program, the nation of Gabon signed a Letter of Intent with the nation of Norway, and the Multi Partner Trust Fund of the United Nations Development Program, under which Gabon would agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below the 2005 level, as well as agree to perform a series of “milestones”– which ultimately saw Gabon creating 13 “national parks”– effectively locking up the vast majority of its land area, prohibiting logging and other access to resources. Only at the end of the long process would Gabon get paid. That final “millstone” was passed in 2019, with an announcement at the Climate Action Summit in New York. For all its efforts and sacrifices, Gabon would receive $150 million over the next 10 years (assuming continued compliance). Last Thursday’s $17 million payment was the first evidence that its years of sacrifice would amount to anything at all.

First established in 2015, the CAFI brought together European governments, specifically Norway, France, Germany and the UK, along with six central African (rainforest) countries, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central Africa republic, Cameroon, and both “Congos.” The “rationale” behind CAFI was the reduction of carbon emissions. The year before had seen Norway sign a deal promising $150 million to Liberia, a model which CAFI then extended across the mid-section of the entire continent. In 2019, timed with the signing of Gabon in New York, a similar deal worth $65 million — between France and the Republic of Congo — was announced in Paris. There are likely similar efforts afoot in South America and the Indo-Pacific, the other “rainforest regions” of the world, which need to be investigated.

However, the idea that Africa needs to {reduce} its carbon emissions is farcical on the face of it, something which is slowly dawning on African leaders, as more and more evidence of this type of exploitation emerges. Africa’s total greenhouse gas emissions are 4% of the global total, yet CAFI used that global mantra to convince these six LNI (Low National Income) countries to mortgage their future with the promise of mere pennies.

The other hidden force at play here is the elusive “carbon market.” Norway, which now “owns” the Gabonese forests for the next ten years, now has an amount of carbon offset equivalent to 3X the national output of the entire United Kingdom. (The Gabon deal is celebrated for “setting a floor price of carbon” at $10 per certified ton.) Could Norway, for example– at some date in the future– put this “asset” (or a derivative based on it) up for sale, to be bought by a carbon-belching airline or steel foundry? If they did, and got a higher price for it, would Gabon see any of the profits?

These are the questions currently weighing down the heads of Mark Carney and friends in Davos, Switzerland. The weight may yet draw them down to Hell.

China Brings Its Space Vision to Hong Kong

June 25, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Space updates

China Brings Its Space Vision to Hong Kong

June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–A half-dozen leaders of the Chinese space program, including 88-year- old Qi Faren, the father of the Shenzhou program, descended on Hong Kong on June 23 to spend several days visiting Hong Kong universities and secondary schools to present the opportunities space has to offer to young Hong Kongers. This is the first major visit of a Chinese delegation to Hong Kong since the outbreak of COVID, and the effect was very powerful. Everywhere there were packed rooms. Most moving was the two-hour presentation by Qi Faren, who entered the Chinese defense establishment in 1957. Speaking without notes or a PowerPoint for two hours, and with times and dates engraved in his brain, he outlined China’s vision for space, from the historical experience of space in Chinese astronomy and poetry to the present period with the building of a Chinese space station. Qi talked about the spirit of the “two bombs and one star” program, the early attempt in incredibly difficult economic circumstances, for China to begin to again become a world power by building an atomic bomb in 1964, a hydrogen bomb in 1967, and launching China’s first satellite in 1970.

Qi, together with many of the elders in the space community, like Sun Jiadong, Ouyang Ziyuan, and others, had come out of this early program. And what was it that motivated them? Qi asked. It was “love of the motherland.” Qi explained that he was born in Dalian in 1933 and Dalian, like Taiwan and Korea, were all occupied by Japan at that time. “When I was young, I was bullied by Japanese kids, I gathered in the playground every day when I was in elementary school, bowed to Tokyo three times, and then practiced the bayonet. “If the War of Resistance Against Japan does not win,” he told himself, ” I will have to be in the Imperial Army, and China will be lost. But with the victory of liberation, I can now ‘Glimpse the Great Aerospace Era’,” Qi said. [the name of the Hong Kong foray].

He said the younger generation has no experience of this history, so patriotism must be promoted through education. He said that the noblest love, the greatest love, is patriotism. This provides the energy for overcoming difficulties for reaching your greatest potential. “In peacetime, everyone is patriotic as long as they do their job well. Everyone can do this, and the country can be strong. The dream of being a powerful country needs to be implemented in our business and our jobs,” he said. Qi’s lecture was met with applause that lasted a long time in the huge venue. The talk was also live-streamed on several sites, including a WeChat site which had 5,000 viewers.

Hu Hao, the designer of the third stage of China’s space program, gave a thorough presentation of the technology of the space program, noting that many people were needed to further develop China’s work in space. He was peppered with questions, including, how does one become an astronaut, what will we find in space, what kind of science experiments will be undertaken, etc. Hu also talked about mining on the Moon and the importance of Helium-3 for a future fusion energy program.

At the end of the week there will be a major exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention Center with space paraphernalia and Moon rocks.

Wang Yi Chairs Meet of Belt & Road Countries in the Asia Pacific Region

June 25, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, New Silk Road / BRI updates, World Land-Bridge updates

Wang Yi Chairs Meeting of Belt and Road Countries in the Asia Pacific Region

June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–On June 23, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a high-level video conference on international cooperation in the Belt and Road Asia-Pacific region. The theme of the conference was “Strengthening Anti-epidemic Cooperation and Promoting Economic Recovery.” The participants included Colombian President Duque and deputy prime ministers, foreign ministers, and other political leaders from 29 other countries, as well as the UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN ESCAP Secretary-General Ali Shahba.

President Xi sent a letter to the participants, in which he underlined the successes of the BRI and the importance of its work in dealing with the COVID epidemic. He said that China was creating a new development paradigm which, through the interconnectivity of the BRI, would help create more market opportunities, investment opportunities, and growth opportunities for BRI partners.

Minister Wang underlined the many successes of the Belt and Road in bringing development to the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that 140 partners have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. Cumulative trade between China and its BRI partners has exceeded 9.2 trillion U.S. dollars, and the cumulative direct investment of Chinese companies in countries along the route has exceeded 130 billion U.S. dollars. “The ‘Belt and Road’ has truly become the world’s widest and largest international cooperation platform,” Wang said. He also noted that there were no political conditions or ideological bias attached to Belt and Road membership, making a clear distinction between BRI and the Biden/G7 “Build Back Better World” boondoggle.

The meeting reached agreement on a 6-point program. The Members positively praised the progress of BRI cooperation; called on the international community to work together to overcome the problems engendered by the pandemic; called for greater cooperation in the development of vaccines and making them available to the world as a whole; placed “green development” in a prominent position in BRI infrastructure development; supported greater cross-border movement of goods and people and the promotion of trade and investment liberalization; accelerated the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

President Xi Talks With China Space Station Crew From Beijing Aerospace Center

June 24, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in China, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Space updates

President Xi Talks With the Space Station Crew From the Beijing Aerospace Center

June 22 – President Xi Jinping went to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center to speak with the three astronauts on the Tianhe module of the Chinese Space Station. “How are you doing?” he asked. “And is everybody healthy?” Major General Nie Haisheng, the 57-year old commander of the mission, replied that they were all doing well. “This is my third space mission. I work and live in Tianhe, and the conditions are getting better and better. Now we have a permanent home operating in orbit, and we are proud of our great Party and motherland,” said Nie.

Nie came from a poor family in the then drought-ridden portion of Hubei province. He had eight siblings and sometimes had to wear some of his sister’s flowery clothes to school, and took a terrible ribbing from his classmates for that. He was known, however, as the “king of mathematics” and although he almost had to leave middle school to go to work when his father died, one of his teachers saw to it that he could stay in school and that the tuition would be waived. Tang Hongbo, the youngest of the three was on his first venture in space, said that he was happy that he could have a video talk with his parents while at the station. “Our home in space is very cozy and comfortable, and we have full confidence in completing the upcoming tasks,” said Tang.

Xi said he was delighted to learn that the astronauts were in good condition and that their work was progressing smoothly. “The construction of the space station is a milestone in China’s space industry, which will make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity,” said Xi. You are the first astronauts stationed in the core module Tianhe and will stay in space for three months,” Xi said during the video call. “We all care about you very much.”

El Salvador Government: Responsible for Clean Water, Decent Hospitals

June 24, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Agriculture, Economic development updates, El Salvador, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Healthcare, Healthcare

El Salvador Asserts Government Responsibility for Clean Water, Decent Hospitals

June 23, 2021 (EIRNS)—Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent a draft Water Bill to the National Assembly on June 19, which declares affordable access to clean water to be a human right, which it is the government’s responsibility to secure. Given the fact that the government’s “New Ideas” party has a majority in the Assembly, the bill could pass within 90 days. The bill’s Article I asserts the crucial principle:

“Article 1. The human right to water and sanitation is the right of all people to have sufficient, healthy, safe, acceptable, clean water available to them, accessible in amount, quality, continuity and coverage at an affordable price.

“The State, in all its basic authorities and institutions of Government has the obligation and paramount responsibility to guarantee, without any discrimination whatsoever among persons, the effective enjoyment of the human right to potable water and sanitation for its population, for which purpose it must adopt all policies, legislation and measures which lead to the full realization of this right.”

It is no wonder that most Salvadorans are now more optimistic about their future than they have been for decades. The Bukele government at the same time is celebrating the arrival of enough new, modern hospital beds to replace 50% of the existing beds in the country’s public hospitals. Those new beds are already being distributed around the country. The other 50% of old beds will be replaced in the second phase. Pictures of the existing decrepit beds, many dating back to the 1950’s, are sickening. As President Bukele pointed out: these beds have been used during 10 governments—not counting the coups d’etat.

Page 34 of 57First...«333435 »...Last