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Facing China
(Ret.) Lieutenant General William E. Odom:
In "The Struggle for Mastery in Asia" [November 2000], Aaron L. Friedberg offers a very textured and thoughtful analysis of the challenges facing the United States in Asia. In his view, the People's Republic of China (PRC) will emerge as the major threat to American interests there and will become, implicitly, the focal point of U.S. strategy not only in the region but in the world. One might dismiss such a view as nostalgia for the cold war, a time when the enemy was clear, but I do not. Indeed, Mr. Friedberg's treatment is an excellent starting point for thinking through U.S. strategy.
That said, his article puzzles me on several points. First, he fails to emphasize the huge advantages in power that the United States has in its competition with China. Second, he does not make Japan central to his analysis. In fact, "the struggle for mastery in Asia" is more likely to be a conflict between Japan and China. The question for the United States is which side to choose. It sided with China until 1949, with Japan thereafter, getting dramatically preferable results.
Mr. Friedberg believes that China can intimidate Japan, forcing it to be cooperative or at least neutral toward China. But given its enormous economic and technological advantages, Japan is more likely to rearm against China than to kowtow to it. Today, the gross domestic products (GDP) of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—all within the United States's formal and informal alliance structure in Asia—amount to many times that of China. The PRC cannot catch up in three or four decades even if it manages, in Mr. Friedberg's phrase, to "hang together." When the U.S. GDP is added to the total, then the deck is surely stacked against China. Moreover, the outcome of the game will be decided not in South and South-east Asia, regions to which Mr. Friedberg devotes too much attention, but in Northeast Asia, where power is concentrated.
Certainly Taiwan is a serious issue, and Mr. Friedberg rightly sees it as a possible catalyst for a U.S.-China conflict. If the U.S. adopts a foreign policy that gives Japan, not China, first priority, then the U.S. alliance system in the region will be positioned to confront China with overwhelming military advantages in a fight over Taiwan. Chinese military modernization cannot offset this in the near, or even distant, future.
Mr. Friedberg worries that U.S. leadership simply will not be up to implementing an effective strategy because business interests will force it to make concessions to China. Here he sounds a proper warning, and I hope his piece is widely read in American corporate boardrooms, where an excessively benign view of China dominates.
Hudson Institute
Washington D.C.
Henry S. Rowen:
Aaron L. Friedberg sees three kinds of challenges coming from China: economic, military, and political. The first he overstates. Of course China dangles access to its growing market in front of other governments, but he fails to note that it is not unique in linking politics to trade. For China to dump its large dollar reserves, as he suggests it might do, would mean threatening a global system on which it relies. Moreover, China is likely to become a capital importer at a time when access to American technology is highly rated.
I believe that Mr. Friedberg is right about the military challenge that China poses, but some of his rhetoric misleads, as when he asserts that the U.S. is "preponderant" in Asia. It is true that we can apply air and naval power more widely than can others, but China is not an adversary like Iraq in 1990 or Serbia in 1999. And it is useful to recall that not so long ago we lost a war in Vietnam; twenty years before that we settled for a stalemate in Korea; and five years before that we gave up trying to prevent a Communist takeover in China. We can affect some things, notably on the oceanic fringe of Asia, but this does not make us "preponderant."
An important aspect of the military challenge is timing. China's technological capacity is advancing, but Beijing has other priorities and is not investing heavily in its military. It has far to go to realize most of the capabilities Mr. Friedberg postulates—except in the realm of missiles. There, China has long been able to strike the U.S. with nuclear weapons and can easily offset our modest, proposed National Missile Defense system.
Mr. Friedberg also correctly observes that Chinese missile tests in the Taiwan Strait in 1995-96 heightened the perceived threat posed by missiles with nonnuclear warheads. Because of the short distances involved, China has many technical options, and it is unclear that Taiwan's acquisition of Theater Missile Defense would be very effective against them. There may be an opening for arms control to deal with this problem. An agreement by Taiwan not to deploy missile defenses if the mainland restricts the number of missiles deployed against it might be backed up by an ability (with U.S. help) to put such defenses quickly in place.
As for the political challenge, Mr. Friedberg plausibly describes a Chinese divide-and-conquer strategy that relies on placing obstacles in the way of concerted action by its victims. Nonetheless, some of China's neighbors have records of considerable robustness. Although, as Mr. Friedberg writes, a grand coalition against China is hard to imagine, to suggest that no defensive coalition among Asian nations could occur is an extreme assertion.
The big gap in Mr. Friedberg's story is Chinese domestic politics. Despite various kinds of repression, personal liberties have greatly increased for many people, and political ones will increase as well. Every country with income levels of the kind that China is likely to attain within two decades, including several countries in the Chinese cultural sphere, is rated at least "partly free" by Freedom House in its annual report. Although the path on which a developed China becomes a democracy might be troubled, when (not if) it happens, the observation that democracies tend not to fight each other will become relevant. Mr. Friedberg says that it is "conceivable" that a richer China may not become more benign, but the odds suggest that it will be.
Here timing is again crucial. Much the best solution to the division across the Taiwan Strait is for China to become politically pluralistic enough for a democratic Taiwan to rejoin it willingly. That, in fact, is the official Taiwan position. A more democratic China is coming, probably within a few decades, and given that prospect a conflict there would be an enormous tragedy.
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California
Michael Swaine:
I agree with Aaron L. Friedberg that a truly powerful and aggressive China could present unprecedented difficulties for the United States, given its size, dynamism, and extensive involvement in the international polity and economy. Indeed, my colleague Ashley Tellis and I have recently written a book, Interpreting China's Grand Strategy: Past, Present, and Future, that makes precisely this point. But I do not agree with him that the existing competitive aspects of the Sino-American relationship now constitute a nascent military rivalry for continental dominance.
We might reach this point in the not-too-distant future if analysts continue to mix accounts (some accurate, some not) of Beijing's current misbehavior and growing capabilities with hair-raising scenarios of future economic, military, and diplomatic subterfuge, as if the latter ineluctably follow from the former. This type of argumentation—which Mr. Friedberg employs repeatedly—could lead most ordinary observers to conclude, incorrectly, that an intense geostrategic rivalry is virtually inevitable, and to respond accordingly.
Though China would most likely desire to exercise preponderant power in Asia if the opportunity were to arise, it is by no means clear that it is pursuing this objective today. China's current security strategy is above all cautious, pragmatic, and primarily focused on the near term. Although China might eventually choose (or the U.S. might push it into) a more assertive course, it also might not so choose, especially if it democratizes.
To his credit, Mr. Friedberg states that China might "mellow with the passage of time," or be hampered by internal weakness, or that an assertive China might overplay its hand and provoke a response that could "block its ambitions." But such factors are merely mentioned in passing, as if they do not merit serious consideration. In truth, it is quite possible, perhaps even likely, that China will not acquire the capabilities or develop the focused intent to struggle with America for mastery in Asia. This possibility—and the consequent need for a U.S. policy that is designed both to encourage a cooperative China and to cope with a more assertive one—is one that Mr. Friedberg should have more fully acknowledged and assessed.
Santa Monica, California
Victor D. Cha:
Although Aaron L. Friedberg makes strong arguments forecasting an open Sino-American competition in Asia, he says that such an outcome is only plausible, not inevitable. Yet one cannot help thinking that, in his eyes, the competition is indeed inevitable.
What sort of Chinese behavior, one wonders, might avert the path of competitive relations with Washington? A list would most likely include Beijing's pursuit of full integration into the world economy; avid support of multilateral security dialogues; cultivation of more open relations with the rest of the Western world; help in curtailing Islamic fundamentalism; pressure on North Korea for peace on the Korean peninsula; the quest for better relations with India; and disavowal of any desire for regional or global hegemony. But would not these very measures be taken by Mr. Friedberg as "signposts" of a wider Chinese political strategy for winning friends and easing the U.S. out of the region?
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
Zalmay Khalilzad:
Aaron L. Friedberg believes that the current mix of cooperation and competition in the U.S. relationship with China is likely to evolve into a geopolitical competition for preeminence. His judgment is reasonable and cannot be dismissed by defense planners and strategists. But Mr. Friedberg's framework should not be the only one informing U.S. policy.
For one thing, he implies that the current Chinese regime and/or its likely successor will pursue regional hegemony. This is by no means inevitable. Given some plausible domestic changes in China, relations with the U.S. could become less competitive or more cooperative than they are today.
For another thing, Mr. Friedberg assumes that China will remain a stable nation. But if China fragments as a result of a sharp decline in its economy or a failed military effort against Taiwan, it would be in less of a position to challenge U.S. interests. A China with internal factions competing for legitimacy might well become less engaged internationally.
Although Mr. Friedberg does not recommend a particular approach for dealing with China, his framework implies that we should already be pursuing a containment strategy, seeking to slow China's economic and military rise. But that is not the only available course. The challenge before us is to use the current Chinese leadership's desire for economic development to induce it to promote a democratic transformation, while simultaneously hedging against the possibility that China will push for regional hegemony.
In cooperation with our allies, the Bush administration should pursue a mixed strategy, continuing to engage China economically but also constraining the growth of Chinese military power by reaching agreements with Israel, Russia, and others that will limit the transfer to China of military equipment and related technologies.
If China chooses to cooperate with the current international system and becomes democratic, this mixed policy could evolve into mutual accommodation and partnership. If China becomes a hostile power bent on regional domination, the U.S. posture could turn into containment. The former is very much to be preferred; whether the latter can be avoided is primarily up to China.
Arlington, Virginia
Dov Zakheim:
The title of Aaron L. Friedberg's essay, "The Struggle for Mastery in Asia," conveys a far more alarmist tone than does his conclusion. Mr. Friedberg is fundamentally correct to assert that "in several important respects a U.S.-PRC strategic competition is already under way," but whether, as he also asserts, "there is a good chance that it is only going to become more intense and open" is more problematical.
The nature of that competition, as Mr. Friedberg acknowledges, will very much depend on American behavior, a subject that he has deliberately not addressed. It will also depend on how far and how fast the Chinese economy can continue to grow. (If America's economy slows down, and Japan's does not revive, Chinese prospects will inevitably suffer as well.) And a great deal will also hinge on how Japan reacts to China's policies and, to a lesser extent, on the strength of a now relatively enfeebled Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Unless one assumes that Japan will remain mired in its current doldrums for decades, an increasingly assertive China could easily help to reinvigorate the Japanese-American alliance and solidify the American alliance with Korea. It could also frighten the ASEAN countries, notably Vietnam, into seeking more open American protection, as well as encouraging India to develop further its still nascent nuclear capabilities. Finally, it may cause Moscow to consider improving its ties to Washington.
In other words, Chinese aggressiveness could well unite its competitors and, as with 19th-century Germany, bring about the very strategic nightmare it most seeks to avoid: encirclement by a concordat of powerful, suspicious neighbors, all of them at least friendly with, if not allied to, the United States.
Systems Planning Corporation
Arlington, Virginia
Rajan Menon:
With few exceptions, American Sinologists are proponents of engagement. Draw China into a web of political and economic transactions, they argue, and with time Beijing will acquire a stake in managing, rather than challenging, the prevailing order in Asia and elsewhere. Indeed, in a classic case of what the social psychologist Irving Janis termed "groupthink," engagement has become the orthodoxy. The Chinese government, heir to a long and rich tradition of courting "barbarians," has, with great finesse and subtlety, encouraged the preaching of this gospel in the West—above all in the United States.
Though our Sinologists will therefore not like what Aaron L. Friedberg has to say, his essay deserves to be read widely precisely because it is an act of heresy. That said, however, there are aspects of his analysis with which I disagree. He glosses over—indeed, dismisses—the possibility of instability in China and, ironically, is in sync with most China specialists in this respect. But it is a plausible scenario nevertheless. He also makes the future too rosy for China's leaders in supposing that they will deploy an intricate, cunning "grand strategy" and that the other states of Asia will react in a manner that is malleable, obliging, and even pawn-like. Yet the balance-of-power process is never quite so kind to great powers on the move, and it is unlikely that China will be able to orchestrate events with precision.
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Richard J. Ellings:
Aaron L. Friedberg believes that the U.S. position in Asia is vulnerable and concludes that we need to begin to acknowledge the threat of China. But by anticipating a threat before it fully emerges the U.S. might exacerbate that threat through preparations that appear alarming.
Much can happen in the years ahead. China's fragile financial structure or corrupt political system could collapse, or its halting progress toward open markets could produce significant democratic reform. The competence of China's leadership to govern the vast country is highly suspect. Instead of a military rivalry between the United States and China, one can also imagine, at one extreme, chaos in China, or, at another, war between China and its neighbors, or, at still another, regional security buttressed through cooperative arrangements among more or less democratic states in the Asian Pacific.
While Mr. Friedberg seems to believe that economic coercion might be effective in trying to isolate China, this approach seems circumscribed in today's globally competitive environment. It would be better to devise a strategy that protects American interests while not rushing us into rivalry, that engages Chinese leaders and society, and encourages them to develop the rule of law and free markets while requiring China's acceptance of the rules associated with its participation in the world economy.
All the same, Aaron Friedberg is to be commended for understanding the possibilities of strategic competition and conflict with China. No nation, and certainly not the United States as global leader, can afford to neglect the rise of a power that might pose the principal threat to its vital interests. In his extraordinarily valuable essay, Mr. Friedberg raises in very sophisticated fashion nothing less than the major challenge before U.S. strategists in the new century.
National Bureau of Asian Research
Seattle, Washington
Alan Dupont:
Aaron L. Friedberg argues persuasively that the tensions between the U.S. and China are almost certain to increase in the decades ahead. But whether events will unfold in quite the manner he suggests is a moot point.
In the economic sphere, there is little doubt that China will seek to become less reliant on the U.S. and to leverage its expanding economic power to political and strategic advantage. But this is neither surprising nor unduly worrisome. The U.S. has long used its economic clout to advance its national interests, mostly in benign ways. Why should China be any different? Its revolutionary period has long since faded into history, and its economic relationship with the U.S. is more likely to be characterized by mutual interdependence than by destabilizing competition.
It is true that over the next twenty or thirty years China will develop a significant power-projection capability, especially at sea, enabling it for the first time to challenge U.S. military preponderance on the Asian littoral and to complicate life for the U.S. Navy in the Taiwan Strait. But the U.S. is vastly superior to China militarily and will not stand idly by as the Middle Kingdom proceeds to acquire the accoutrements of a major military power. In fact, many informed strategic analysts believe that the military gap between the two potential rivals could widen rather than narrow in favor of the United States, and the U.S. may continue to hold sway in the ocean reaches of the western Pacific for longer than Mr. Friedberg suggests.
In an age of globalization, the relative geographical remoteness of the U.S. from Asia matters far less than it once did, and certainly does not confer on China a decisive political and diplomatic advantage. On the contrary, as Mr. Friedberg acknowledges, a rising China will encourage Asian states to support a countervailing U.S. influence. That is why it is incumbent on the new administration to demonstrate a renewed strategic, diplomatic, and economic commitment to the region. For if regional states perceive that U.S. influence is in decline, they will become increasingly susceptible to China's blandishments, and the outcomes that Mr. Friedberg fears are more likely to come to pass.
Strategic and Defense Studies Center
Australian National University
Canberra, Australia
Michael O'Hanlon:
Some of Aaron L. Friedberg's readers may be prone to interpret his sobering essay as a call to arms against a new looming foe. Motivated by that worry, I would like to offer several reasons why Americans need not acutely fear the Chinese or single-mindedly pursue deterrence ahead of continued engagement with China.
First, China's ability to split the United States from its allies in East Asia, a specter Mr. Friedberg raises several times, is only remotely plausible. My distinct impression in dealing with policymakers and academics in Korea and Japan, for instance, is that China's veiled threats tend to strengthen America's Asian alliances rather than weaken them.
Second, although it is historically true that great powers tend to compete, there is reason to hope that future relationships among the world's major countries will be more constructive and constrained than they have been in the past. The end of the era of colonialism has reduced the likelihood of future great-power competition over control of territory. The tremendous destructiveness of the world wars and the existence of nuclear weapons have sobered all attentive policymakers to the risks of major armed conflict. These historical lessons do not, alas, preclude the possibility of conflict over Taiwan, but they do tend to reduce the odds that China and the United States will embark on a more general geostrategic competition throughout Asia.
Third, China's military, while improving, is not nearly as good as it would have to be to challenge the United States in East Asia. Taiwan could handily defeat an attempted PRC invasion on its own for the foreseeable future. While it might need American help to break a Chinese naval blockade of the island, U.S. forces could handle such a mission confidently and comfortably at their current size. Although PRC military capabilities will improve over time, there is a strong argument to be made that China's political system is liberalizing much faster than its armed forces are improving, and that such liberalization will dramatically reduce the odds of conflict in the years ahead.
These observations, if true, do not obviate the importance of Mr. Friedberg's warning. But they should serve to remind Americans to think at least as hard about how to engage China as about how to deter, constrain, or defeat it.
Brookings Institution
Washington, D.C.
Paul S. Giarra:
Aaron L. Friedberg's signal service has been to clarify the outlines of a Sino-American competition that is difficult to win and harder to avoid. Hardliners appear to have won out in Beijing. Since 1949, the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait has been defined by the ability of the United States to dominate, and therefore deter, any Chinese attack against Taiwan, thus keeping the two antagonists apart, but new People's Liberation Army capabilities and doctrines are clearly designed to overcome this American-imposed stand-off. According to press reports, Chinese military planners now routinely envision fighting their American counterparts, and the Pentagon has begun to return the favor.
This preliminary indication of the state of strategic bilateral relations may not be definitive, and at this stage is by no means predictive, but in military terms the Sino-American competition will certainly present significant challenges to the United States, broadly parallel to those of the cold war. This does not mean simply picking up where we left off with the Soviet Union. Strategic circumstances have changed, China is very different from the Soviet Union—and the United States has greatly diminished prospects of leading a grand coalition against it. Bases and industrial infrastructure have been reduced along with force structure, in many cases more so, and alliances have relaxed their vigilant tension.
Japan will play a major role in how relations develop between China and the United States, by no means necessarily for the better. The slow but steady military normalization of Japan; differing American and Japanese interests and perspectives; Japan's perennial insecurity; the virtually complete American reliance upon tenuous bases in Japan; and the looming potential for conflict over Taiwan present challenges for which the U.S.-Japan alliance is ill-prepared. Proponents of playing the Japan card in our competition with China seriously misread Tokyo's ability or propensity to support American interests, strategies, and actions vis-à-vis China and elsewhere. To the contrary, without careful recalibration of the alliance, Japan could become not only an impediment but a liability.
Science Applications International
McLean, Virginia
James R. Lilley:
At last, a thoughtful scholar has described the realities of China with cold-blooded objectivity. Aaron L. Friedberg provides a persuasive answer to apologists who repeat ad nauseam that considering China a threat could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as well as to those who cannot mention Taiwan without attaching a pejorative suffix, as in the Taiwan "question," or "problem," or "dilemma," or even "albatross." These slick word games have contaminated American thinking about China. I hope Mr. Friedberg has put them to rest, although I frankly doubt it.
The evidence is overwhelming that China perceives the world as Mr. Friedberg describes it. China seeks to neutralize America's ability to project power by exploiting the vulnerability of our aircraft-carriers to missile attack, by undermining U.S. reliance on satellites for intelligence and communications, and by negating the ability of stealth bombers to avoid radar. China has also outspokenly acted to dismember the U.S. alliance structure by effectively playing on other nations' concerns about U.S. arrogance and "hegemonism." Using the leverage of a growing and powerful economy, China alternately practices the art of seducing and undercutting its principal rival, Japan.
What Mr. Friedberg's article misses is the powerful dynamic of Taiwanese trade and investment in China as a potential restraint on the mainland's more militant objectives. Sustaining economic growth, which is essential, especially in the tumultuous years ahead as China joins the World Trade Organization, depends more and more on Taiwan.
The volatility of Chinese domestic conditions, which Mr. Friedberg understands clearly, could well determine China's future approach to the world. He is correct that the business of China today is increasingly becoming business. I would only add that war can be bad for business.
American Enterprise Institute
Washington, D.C.
S. Enders Wimbush:
Aaron L. Friedberg is one of America's leading strategic thinkers, and his unsentimental assessment of the emerging China is a welcome rebuttal to some of the wishful thinking that has taken root in official U.S. foreign-policy circles. His evaluation of the coming—indeed, existing—competition with China is reminiscent of George F. Kennan's assessments more than a half-century ago of the emerging challenge from the Soviet Union. Kennan's intuitive sense of Soviet strategic culture and the Soviet leadership's longterm objectives ultimately came to be reflected in a winning U.S. strategy. Mr. Friedberg's sense of the emerging China deserves no less attention.
Mr. Friedberg bases his analysis of "the struggle for mastery in Asia" on three key assumptions that seem safe, although it would not be difficult to imagine that at least two of them could be false. Like Mr. Friedberg, I cannot conceive of a China that will forgo its ambitions of becoming a global power. I can, however, imagine a much more brittle China that could fracture along its prominent ethnic, economic, regional, environmental, and political fault-lines. Nevertheless, a brittle China—weak, chaotic and dangerously unpredictable, but still able to employ substantial military capabilities—could prove to be as formidable a competitor as a strong China.
The assumption that the U.S. will stay the course in Asia might also be wrong. At least, I doubt that we can simply assert this to be true with much confidence. The past decade or so of irresolute American military engagement in many parts of the world—Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans—raises strong doubts about the willingness of U.S. policymakers to enter any international competition that demands more than bombing from a safe altitude or firing cruise missiles at illusive terrorists. These doubts are likely to become more pronounced as the weapons of our opponents become more sophisticated and their understanding of our reluctance to take casualties leads them to create new and more deadly strategies.
Even if we assume that America will continue to have the will to project power in Asia over the next few decades, the question remains of where it will project that power from. The obvious answer is from Japan and Korea, but this "handful of local friends and allies," as Mr. Friedberg calls them, is already small, and persistent internal and external forces could buffet them in ways that will work to make it smaller still. We should be wary of assuming that Japan and Korea will always be there for us and that their strategic objectives will remain in concert with our own. Japan is at a turning point already as it tries to find some manageable synthesis of its own strategic ambitions and limitations. And if Korea unifies, it is difficult to imagine that U.S. troops will remain there in the face of almost certain opposition from large parts of the enlarged Korean population and from China.
The new administration needs to get serious about naming its opponents in Asia. Mr. Friedberg deserves our thanks for making that seem so obvious.
Science Applications International
McLean, Virginia
Aaron L. Friedberg
I am grateful for the many thoughtful responses to my essay. Rather than attempting to answer each letter in detail, I would like to address a number of recurrent themes.
China will change.
Several of my correspondents (including Messrs. Rowen, Swaine, Khalilzad, Menon, Ellings, O'Hanlon, and Wimbush) note that China could undergo fundamental domestic political change in the years ahead, perhaps becoming fragmented, chaotic, and weak or, alternatively, transforming itself into a functioning, stable democracy. In the first instance, China's leaders might be deprived of the ability to challenge the United States; in the second, they would presumably lack the inclination to do so.
I do not dismiss the possibility of serious unrest in China—although, for purposes of discussion, I did explicitly assume that the country would remain essentially intact over the next several decades. But what internal weakness might imply for external behavior is far from clear. As Enders Wimbush suggests, an unstable and unpredictable China could still pose serious problems for the United States. And there can be little doubt that a "failed" Chinese state would present its neighbors with enormous challenges: it could swamp them with refugees, cheap weapons, and pollutants, even if it no longer threatened to dominate them.
And what of a mellower, more democratic China?1 This is an outcome devoutly to be wished, of course, but one that does not seem likely to come quickly or without considerable upheaval. Regimes in transition from strict authoritarianism to greater political openness have historically been prone to bouts of aggressive nationalism. As China's elites compete more openly for power among themselves, and as they feel increasingly compelled to justify their continuing collective rule to the Chinese people, they may resort to antiforeign sentiment and even to external adventures as a means of mobilizing domestic support. Finally, it should be noted that, in its early stages, even a more fully democratic China could prove prickly, assertive, and difficult to deal with. Anyone who doubts this should consider the early history of the United States.
The balance of power will balance.
William E. Odom, Henry S. Rowen, Dov Zakheim, Rajan Menon, and Michael O'Hanlon all suggest that other Asian countries will join with the United States in order to offset China's rising power.
This is a strong possibility, and indeed there is evidence that it is already occurring. Continued movement in this direction cannot, however, be taken entirely for granted. The balance of power is not an automatic equilibrating mechanism. I agree with Alan Dupont that the willingness of other countries to cast in their lot with us will depend on their own estimation of our power, steadiness, and seriousness of purpose. How we act, and how well we counter Chinese efforts to raise doubts about our role, will be critical.
As both Paul S. Giarra and Mr. Wimbush suggest, moreover, the solidity and permanence of our most important regional alliances cannot simply be assumed. Japan is in the midst of wrenching economic, social, and political changes that could well have a dramatic impact on its foreign and defense policies. North and South Korea are likely again to become one country, and perhaps sooner rather than later. A reunified Korea could choose to stay aligned with the United States, but it might also shift toward a more neutral stance or even "tilt" toward China. The new Bush administration faces few tasks more important than preserving close ties to our two key democratic allies in Northeast Asia.
The Chinese military will continue to lag behind.
It is true that, in almost every respect, China's armed forces are today greatly inferior to those of the United States. But it would be dangerously complacent to assume that this will continue to be the case indefinitely. Although Beijing may have "other priorities," as Mr. Rowen asserts, it does not follow that it "is not investing heavily in its military." The exact scale of the expenditure may be a subject of debate, but there is little question that the PRC is devoting considerable resources to the various missions that I described in my article: building up theater ballistic missiles with which to intimidate its neighbors, strengthening its ability to strike directly at the United States, and acquiring the elements of an "anti-access" capability that could complicate and raise the costs of any American attempt to project power into the Western Pacific.
China may be decades away from building a force that could challenge the United States at any point on the globe, if it even wishes to do so. But it may not be nearly so far from building one that would enable it to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests and forces in East Asia. Taiwan is the most obvious sore spot and danger point here.
Whatever the objective balance of military power, there is also the ever-present danger of miscalculation. Instead of resting on our laurels, we should be closely tracking the Chinese military buildup and, equally important, gaining a better understanding of how China's leaders assess the prospects for a successful use of force. If we fail to attend adequately to these tasks we risk some very unpleasant surprises.
China's economic diplomacy is neither new nor worrisome.
Messrs. Rowen and Dupont both note that China is hardly unique in its efforts to use economic instruments for achieving strategic objectives. This is true, but it is also largely beside the point. The use of such instruments may not be an entirely new thing under the sun, but it is a new thing for China. The question is toward what ends, and how effectively, China will employ its newfound leverage.
As I suggested in my article, a fast-growing China may try to use its increasing weight to constrict America's influence in Asia, while at the same time reducing its own vulnerability to American economic pressures. Whether or not the Chinese will be able to carry this off remains to be seen. But the larger point is worth repeating: dealing with a strategic competitor that has significant economic cards to play will present new challenges to the United States.
James R. Lilley notes that its economic links with Taiwan may have a restraining influence on mainland China. This is an important point and one that is often lost in abstract, general discussions of the allegedly pacifying effects of global economic interdependence. But the situation prevailing across the Taiwan Strait also underlines the plausibility of international relationships that mix a measure of economic cooperation with a strong strain of strategic competition. This too is something foreign to our recent experience.
During the cold war, we became accustomed to the idea that the world could be divided cleanly into two camps: friends who were both our military allies and our principal trading partners, and foes with whom we competed militarily and traded hardly at all. Mixed relations, however, are far closer to the historical norm. To take one troubling example: prior to the outbreak of the World War I, Britain and Germany were among each other's most important trading partners. Dealing effectively with China will require us to broaden our conceptual categories, instead of trying, as we have been doing for the better part of the last decade, to deny the PRC's competitive behavior in order to squeeze it into the "friendly" box.
Rivalry is not inevitable, but our actions could help make it so.
Is an intense, open struggle for mastery in Asia inevitable? No, and I said so as clearly as I could at the beginning and again at the end of my essay. Although I believe that, especially in the military realm (and, in a more muted way, in the diplomatic and economic domains) a competition of sorts is already under way, I do not think it is somehow destined to accelerate or to blossom in all the ways that I speculate it could.
Might we, through our behavior, make an intense rivalry more likely? To one degree or another, Victor D. Cha, Zalmay Khalilzad, Dov Zakheim, Richard J. Ellings, and Michael O'Hanlon all worry about the possibility of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Treat China as an enemy, says the conventional wisdom, and it will become one.
There is something to this line of reasoning, though not, in my view, as much as is usually claimed. For one thing, there may be powerful internal forces—political, ideological, and bureaucratic—propelling China toward a more confrontational stance, regardless of how inoffensive and accommodating we try to be. China may become an enemy even if we redouble our efforts to treat it as a friend.
Also deserving closer scrutiny is the notion that only by taking a soft line can we discourage aggressive external behavior and promote desirable domestic change. The history of our dealings with the Soviet Union during the latter stages of the cold war would certainly suggest otherwise (although the two situations differ in many respects). To the current Chinese leadership, we need to make clear the futility of stepped-up competition (to say nothing of overt aggression), while at the same time making plain to the Chinese people the benefits of continuing economic and political liberalization.
It is for these reasons that I favor a mixed approach along the lines laid out by Mr. Khalilzad: continued trade and investment—albeit with renewed steps to slow China's efforts to acquire certain key technologies—combined with serious, sustained, and unchecked efforts to strengthen our alliances, improve our military capabilities, and maintain a balance of power in Asia that is favorable to our interests. Engagement, yes; but from a position of strength.
Is it possible, finally, that merely by talking and perhaps even by thinking about a full-blown Sino-American rivalry we may increase the probability of its actually coming to pass? This is the clear implication of Michael Swaine's letter. Mr. Swaine worries that "ordinary observers," unable to distinguish between descriptions of present reality and "hair-raising scenarios" of the future, will conclude that "an intense geostrategic rivalry is virtually inevitable, and . . . respond accordingly."
While I am flattered by the thought that my article could somehow change the course of history, I very much doubt that it, or a hundred more like it, will have any such effect. On the other hand, I am disturbed by the suggestion that we ought to avoid discussing unpleasant possibilities for fear that someone (presumably our political representatives and "ordinary" fellow citizens) might get the wrong idea. Acknowledging real dangers is a necessary first step to avoiding them, as well as to preparing to cope with them if they should nevertheless come to pass. Refusing or neglecting to do so, it seems to me, is a far more likely formula for disaster.
1 For an extended discussion of this theme, see Arthur Waldron's article, "A Free and Democratic China?," in the November 2000 COMMENTARY, as well as the correspondence on it beginning on page 12 of this issue—Ed.


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Practical Peds: Homemade D10
The next patient is a sick metabolic kid, the kind you dread because you can never remember all those metabolic pathways from medical school. Citrullinemia, maple syrup urine disease, gluteric acidemia – it makes your eyes cross. Fortunately, there's one common denominator: they are all threatened when they are metabolically stressed because they go into a catabolic state and crank out whatever toxic metabolite they can't handle. Your goal is to stop catabolism and convert them to an anabolic state. How do you do that? D10 at about 1 and a half to twice maintenance while you look up their particular disorder and what else they are going to need. Fine, easy. So you ask the nurse for a bag of D10 and she says "we're fresh out of that" or "we don't have that here". Time for the home-grown approach. How do you make your own D10?
Take a liter bag of D5 and two amps of D50. Withdraw from the bag of D5 100cc, the volume that is in your two amps of D50 so you don't overfill and pop the bag. Now inject the two amps of D50 into the bag. Shaken, not stirred. Voila – you now have 10% dextrose.
You have actually just described how to make D9.5! Which is great! Unless an MD writes to give D10, in which case, it's now a med error, because you just made and gave D9.5, not D10. I only say this because I had a partner get burned in court because he did this with a bad outcome patient. Well, the lawyer was able to discredit his testimony by proving he didn't even know how to mix D10, or what concentration he actually mixed, which proved incompetence. SO, make sure the MD writes D9.5 if you do it this way so you're covered!
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ICBA Presents Emergency Hurricane Proposals
Nearly 50 recommendations would help community banks aid recovery
Nearly 50 recommendations would help community banks aid recovery
Washington, D.C. (Sept. 8, 2005) - The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) yesterday presented nearly 50 recommendations to Congress that would help banks assist their customers, including thousands of small businesses, stabilize and rebound financially as quickly as possible from the devastating damage Hurricane Katrina caused to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.
ICBA's emergency recommendations for Congress, the Administration and banking regulators are designed to ensure the continued flow of cash and payments throughout the hurricane-affected communities as well as assist community banks and their customers in the short-term recovery. Some of ICBA's proposals address the immediate financial challenges. Others focus on long-term recovery needs.
"More than 100 community banks in the areas affected by Katrina are taking extraordinary measures to open their offices and serve their customers, and their ongoing efforts will be vital to the financial recovery and rebuilding of these devastated areas," said Camden R. Fine, ICBA's president and CEO. "Congress and the federal government need to act quickly to help banks with the many difficult challenges they face. These recommendations will help do that."
ICBA submitted its recommendations to members of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee while participating in briefings addressing the needs of banks serving communities recovering from the hurricane.
"Community banks are essential to the immediate and long-term financial recovery efforts for all the communities affected by Hurricane Katrina," said Fine. "Federal lawmakers and regulators can and should take a number of actions to help these institutions put the residents and communities in the Gulf Coast region back on a sound financial footing."
A complete list of ICBA's recommendations is posted at www.icba.org/pressroom.


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N-Button Lite creates up to 16 widgets that float on your desktop to control external devices, send specified data, run applications, send http requests or send data lists. It supports Serial Port/ USB and Network connection between a PC and devices.
N-Button Lite makes it possible to control your devices without any programming!
N-Button Lite allows you to access the created widgets through web browser. You can control your devices from anywhere via internet with your computer, iPhone, iPad, Android tablet, Windows tablet as well as Linux and Mac.
- Select "Allow to Access through Browser" on N-Button Lite Manager shown as below.
Click "OK", you may see Windows Security Alert dialog. Click "Allow access".
You will see these widgets float on your desktop. Here is the sample widgets.
Now, you can view the created widgets by visiting the current computer's IP address and port number in any internet browser with computer, iPhone, iPad, Android tablet, Windows tablet as well as Linux and Mac.
View and control the created widgets from Google Chrome.
View and control the created widgets from Firefox.


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Video:How to Use a Chimney Charcoal Starterwith John Mitzewich
A simple-to-use chimney style charcoal starter is the cleanest, easiest, and most foolproof way to light charcoal for your grill. See how to a chimney charcoal starer and get started grilling with no fuss!See Transcript
Transcript:How to Use a Chimney Charcoal StarterHi, I'm Chef John Mitzewich for About.com. Today I'm going to show you how to use a chimney style charcoal starter -- my favorite way to start charcoal. I barbecue a lot, so I use this all the time.
Add Newspaper to BottomThese things last forever, I've had this one for 20 years. So this is your basic chimney style charcoal starter - very simple design. All you do is flip it over and in the bottom we're going to wad up 3 pieces of newspaper. It will be tempting to add more, but that's a mistake. The paper needs a little air in between to burn properly. It shouldn't be super-tight.
Fill With Charcoal BriquettesFlip it back over and fill with charcoal briquettes. One tip; use a good quality charcoal. Cheap charcoal will not work as well with this method.
Light With a Match on a GrillPlace it on the grill and use a match to light the paper. There are vents around the bottom, so put your match in there, in a few spots and it will ignite. The paper will burn up underneath the charcoal, and at first there will be lots of smoke, but don't worry. After a few minutes the newspaper will burn out and most of the smoke will disappear, except for a little bit coming out of the top of the chimney.
Wait for White-Hot CoalsThis is good, this means the coals on the bottom have ignited. The fire will slowly burn up though the chimney and this is what you are waiting for. After about 20 minutes you'll see flames coming out of the top, and you know you are almost done. As soon as the edges of the coals on top turn a little bit white, you are ready. How easy is that?
Dump Coals Into GrillDump it into your grill and you are ready to barbecue. Using this method you are going to have perfect coals every time. You do not need lighter fluid, you don't need the charcoal that has the lighter fluid in it -- this is the cleanest, easiest method to light charcoal there is. Anyway, I hope you give that a try. Enjoy
About videos are made available on an "as is" basis, subject to the User Agreement.


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See what other travelers think about our hotel. By incorporating Tripadvisor onto our page, it is now easier for guests to both review and research their trip, worldwide. On this page you will find reviews on Radisson Blu Badischer Hof Hotel, Baden-Baden and how our guests have rated us. We hope you will find the reviews helpful when planning your next trip with us. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, we look forward to welcoming you!
Radisson Blu Badischer Hof Hotel, Baden-Baden –
Lange Straße 47 – 76530 – Baden-Baden – Germany –
Phone +49 (7221) 9340
48.76515 8.236474


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Welcome to ColoradoBiz Exclusives and
, your go-to source for great insights, tips, how-tos and advice from more than 600 top Colorado business professionals.
Today in
When you're married to work -- literally
Business partners married to each other and parents – how do you do it? That question is asked of every spouse partner in business ownership. The logistics of keeping 50 employees straight, in addition to maintaining customer volumes, plus keeping an organized home life with children, caregivers, animals and schedules is daunting -- but not impossible. There are keys to success for spouse-partners in business.
By Erin Gibbs
What you need to know now about ICD-10
It's coming — one of the most significant changes to the health care industry in recent history — and it isn't the ACA. ICD is a global standardization tool for health conditions used by medical providers, health administrators, researchers and insurance companies. This increase in codes will help better specify diseases and health conditions during diagnosis and processing. If health care providers are not using ICD-10 codes after the Oct. 1 deadline, they risk having claims rejected by insurance companies.
By Steve Tutwiler
Aerospace set to soar
At the close of World War II, Colorado quietly but surely emerged as a hub for America's aerospace industry. Colorado was selected as the site for what is now the U.S. military's Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker. Planners selected the site based on the state's inland location and the Rockies' super-hard granite. Today, Cheyenne Mountain plays a central role in the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
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We returned July 17 from two weeks in Ecuador (7-day cruise + time in Quito). I've started posting about our trip. Here's the first post in the series -- http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-darwin-footsteps.html. All of the posts will be in the July 2012 archive in the sidebar. Bear with me as work often interferes with processing photos to get the blog posted.
Feel free to comment
Recent Activity
- Announcements:
- Umbria Writers Needed
by Emily_D | Posted on Jul 16, 15 at 03:13 PM
- Writers Need for New Zealand Guide
by Emily_D | Posted on Jul 15, 15 at 03:11 PM
- 1 Brazil Tourist Safety tip request
- 2 Accessibility to Igassu Falls
- 3 Galapagos with/Natural Habitat Adventures?
- 4 Rio Water Quality
- 5 Machu Picchu in January
- 6 I Didn't Get Killed in Rio: Our Travels in Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador
- 7 Two day stay in Lima
- 8 Best beach town for Jan- Feb trip
- 9 Cities near santiago chile?
- 10 Iguazu logistics and rental car?
- 11 Leftover Argentine Pesos - where to sell?
- 12 Van from Cusco to Ollantaytambo
- 13 June travel in the Galapagos, Andean Ecuador, and Machu Picchu
- 14 Uyuni Salar Tour Company
- 15 Trip Evacuation Insurance for the Galapagos
- 16 Travelers insurance in Patagonia - need it?
- 17 Huayna Picchu Vs. Machu Picchu Mountain?
- 18 60 day Trip to South America
- 19 3 week itinerary for Peru
- 20 Ups and downs of our trip to Peru--from Machu Picchu to LIM airport floor
- 21 Buenos Aires
- 22 Buenos Aires with bad knee
- 23 Hotels in Argentina
- 24 Patagonia August 29 - September 7
- 25 Help! No Idea Where to Go.
Galapagos with Pre-Cruise in Quito
We returned July 17 from two weeks in Ecuador (7-day cruise + time in Quito). I've started posting about our trip. Here's the first post in the series -- http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-darwin-footsteps.html. All of the posts will be in the July 2012 archive in the sidebar. Bear with me as work often interferes with processing photos to get the blog posted.
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Great timing. Very helpful to a friend of mine.
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Leaving for similar trip in 4 weeks. Can't wait to hear abut yours.
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I'll try to keep up the pace and get to the Galapagos portion soon; but mainland Ecuador is equally fascinating IMHO. Our first day exploring the highlands outside Quito is posted in two parts:
Part I: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/straddling-middle-of-world.html
Part II: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-afternoon-is-even-better.html
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eenusa - I have just read your Part 1 and 1 blogs and they're wonderful. Don't worry about hurrying to the Galapagos yet!
We will be in Quito for 3 nights, Bellavista Cloud Forest for 3 days and then Galapagos cruise for 6 days. So, I'm interested in ALL that you did when you were there.
Did you get to Papallacta?
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No, we didn't get to Papallacta. It was on our 'perhaps' list for our first day, but our flight was delayed and we didn't get into Quito until 1:30a and didn't get to bed until 3:00a ... so we opted to stay in town and do the hop-on hop-off bus instead. There are so many places we wanted to go to, or spend more time, that we definitely have to plan a mainland-only trip back to Ecuador.
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How was the "Hop on HOp Off" bus? Worth it? Any trouble figuring out where you were?
Another question - What was the cost of the private guide and did you just tell him where you wanted to go ? Did you set this up before you got to Ecuador?
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The hop on-hop off bus was nice -- as long as you consider it a means for getting your bearings and don't expect it to be an in-depth tour. We didn't hop off as many times as we might have done because we got a late start due to the travel delays getting into Quito. We had no problems figuring out where we were and the narration on the bus was good. (If you haven't seen them ... I do have several postings from our HO-HO day in the blog -- one is general experience; the rest focus on our hop-offs. All are in the July 2012 archive.)
The guide was $120/day, but the price depends on what you want to do, distances covered, etc. I contacted him about 6 mos. in advance -- I'm an early planner. I had an idea of what we wanted to do, but asked for suggestions and then tweaked the itineraries on his list to meet our needs/wants/interests. As this was our first trip to Ecuador, we left the itineraries a bit more general to cover more ground, rather than focus on just one thing -- like a hike at a specific location.
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Part I of Day 2 -- http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/south-to-cotopaxi.html
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Part II of Day 2 concludes our time on our own before our Celebrity Xpedition package. We would love to go back and spend more time on the mainland of Ecuador; we had a fantastic time.
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eenusa - Keep up the good work. Your pictures are wonderful and your writing informative and funny.
Could you please tell me how to get in touch with your guide?
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eenusa - Keep up the good work. Your pictures are wonderful and your writing informative and funny.
Could you please tell me how to get in touch with your guide?
Oh yes, and how did you deal with the altitude? Any problems?
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You can reach Lincoln at lincolnjabra at hotmail dotcom. Bear in mind that he might be out with clients and may not be able to respond immediately. Say hi from Erin & Mui.
Altitude did not present a problem and I'm glad that we didn't have to use Diamox this time (although we did use it in Peru). The hotel did not have coca tea, so didn't use that this time either. Essentially, we took our first couple of days easy, slowed our walking pace down, ate light, abstained from alcoholic drinks, and drank plenty of water. We took our Camelbaks and used those everywhere for hydration (except the Old City). We filled the Camelbaks with bottled water and dropped a couple of Gatorade-like tablets for flavor and to replenish electrolytes.
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Part I of the Celebrity tour is up on the blog -- http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/quito-city-tour-with-celebrity.html
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Great details for those who might wish to follow in your footsteps. Lovely waterfall so close to Otavalo.
Will be interested in your cruise with the new rules in place.
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atravelynn ... a couple more posts from Quito, and then I promise to get onto the Galapagos.
I imagine that for those who have been, there might have been a noticeable difference, but for us it was a really great trip. 7 days is short, though ... wish it had been 10 days.
Here's part 2 of our Celebrity City Tour -- http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/quito-from-monasterio-to-palacio-de_7.html
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eenusa - Wondering how the weather was when you went into the countryside outside of Quito. Was it raining at all, or misty? If so, how did that impact what you could do or see?
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We were very lucky with the weather; mostly comfortable temps and plenty of sunshine and usually a light breeze to keep the sun's heating effect at bay. Had clouds threaten rain a few times, but only really had some sprinkles at Lake Cuicocho (a little impact on photography). Temps were downright cold at Cotopaxi at 4500 m - wind coming off the glacier, but we were prepared with our layers. It was brutally hot at the Mitad del Mundo; mostly because there was no breeze to cool things off; and no shade unless you go into the buildings. And if you go up the TeleferiQo in Quito, it can be cold up there.
Layers is key; and always carry plenty of water.
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This brings the Celebrity City tour to a close .. http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/quito-straddling-equator-or-not.html
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Thanks for the report--and your pics are beautiful. I am planning a December trip and found your report on activities around Quito informative!
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Thanks, schlegal1 ... always good to hear the information is useful to others.
And now, we finally get to the Galapagos ... http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/getting-to-isla-baltra.html.
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Thanks, schlegal1 ... always good to hear the information is useful to others.
And now, we finally get to the Galapagos ... http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/getting-to-isla-baltra.html.
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Read your new entry. Thanks. It's really going to help us when we go through this same thing in 3 weeks (although we will not be on the Celebrity Xpedition but a small boat - 16 passengers).
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For anyone interested, video/photos from around the Celebrity Xpedition.
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Waiting with held breath for the Galapagos cruise - once you're on the water. Although, part of me doesn't want to read all - I want some surprises when we do this.
BTW - What was the tipping like in Quito? What about on the boat? Certain money amount per day/pp or a %?
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Didn't do much in Quito that required tipping, but on the one occasion we ate out, we just rounded up the bill. The Xpedition is all inclusive, so no tipping there either.
And here's the first afternoon on the water ... no landing.
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First part of first landing ... Santiago Island ... http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/santiago-puerto-egas.html
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Great pictures. I've got to show them to my husband who is a birder.
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Loving this. We are doing this trip in early November so much appreciated.
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Finally -- the snorkeling/beach time for our morning excursion at Puerto Egas
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Your link didn't work for me. Here's another try: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/santiago-puerto-egas-snorkeling-beach.html
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I went to the link and it did say "no longer here" or something like that. So, I just clicked on "Home" and I got your snorkeling pix and video. Really nice.
So the water was cold, eh? Yes, I figured we'd have to rent a wet suit from our boat.
Looks like you were in very shallow water when videotaping the sea lion. True? What about the fish? We just bought an underwater Panasonic camera - takes video and stills. I wondered how I would be able to take pictures/video and also snorkel at the same time without choking/jerking the camera around. Tried it out in our friend's pool this past weekend. It was tough.
How'd you do it?
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Sorry about the broken link; the same one worked on a different site, so not sure what the problem was; glad you found the post anyway.
The sea lion had just entered the water from the beach, so it was shallow water. I spoke to hubby, and he said the depth where he went out to and saw the fish was maybe 10-15 feet. You see more if you leave the immediate beach area.
The Canon S95 my husband used has an underwater casing that adds bulk to it, which makes it easier to manage in the water. You'll notice that he doesn't zoom, pan, etc. when he's videotaping underwater; he just rides the currents and tapes what's in front of him. He took a lot of footage and you're seeing the parts that he deemed best ... editing is essential
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These two links are for the afternoon landing at Rabida Island
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eenusa - Thanks for all your help and patience with answering my many questions.
Your pictures and commentary are wonderful.
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A couple of parts for Isabela Island ...
Elizabeth Bay: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/isabela-elizabeth-bay-by-panga.html
Deepwater Snorkel: http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/isabela-deepwater-snorkel.html
Caleta Tagus (Part I): http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2012/07/isabela-caleta-tagus-by-panga.html (the land portion of this will be in the next post).
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Part II of Caleta Tagus
Next landing at Sullivan Bay, Santiago Island ... this was a fascinating morning ... in particular our short walk on the lava flow.
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Haven't had a chance to post links recently, but I am continuing to make headway with the trip ... if anyone is interested still interested, just go to my blog at http://2totravel.blogspot.com and check out the entries in the July 2012 archive in the sidebar.
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Hold down Control (PC) or Command (Mac) key + mouseclick to select more than one option
|Avg. Dinner Entrée
|Greater than $25
|$18.01 - $25
|$12.01 - $18
|$7.01 - $12
|Less than $7
Posted by Anonymous on 11/01/2010
I love adore LOVE and did i mention LOVE this place!.. I get my lunch delievered daily! Great turn around time, great delivery guys (my favorite) and the food is healthy and amazing!! Not to mention the smoothies are delish!.. Definitely a 5 out of 5 for overall greatness!
Posted by Veggie Warrior on 10/05/2010
Green Symphony is an oasis in the the midst of the over fried over salted garbage pile that passes for lunch in midtown. Thank you for providing delicious healthy vegetarian food and drinks!
Posted by lifelong_vegan on 06/15/2010
I love love love love love this place!!!
Posted by Chelsea on 03/17/2010
I was recommended to this place by a friend of mine, who also works in the area. There aren't too many options in the area for healthy & quick food, so this was a great gem! They had many options so I went with a little of a few different things. I was very satisfied with all of them. I recommed the mushrooms, turkey salad, chicken curry, & butternut squash! I paid $6 for my food (by weight) and thought it was a decent price for the quality of food in such a tourist-y area (Times Square). Great for lunch! Tomorrow I'll try their smoothies!
Posted by murua on 02/15/2010
I'm vegan, mostly raw, and could never find anywhere to eat lunch or get a juice in midtown that wasn't trendy and/or overpriced. This place is incredible! It feels like my neighborhood health food store and is well stocked with beverages, natural energy bars, sandwiches, a full juice bar, and an incredible salad bar with hot and cold dishes like quinoa, kale salad, avocado and tomato salad, and ethnic dishes. They even have homemade baked goods at the counter, some gluten-free. I just ate my first lunch here and the salad bar items were fresh and delicious, the staff friendly. and the prices extremely reasonable. If everything was organic this place would be perfect. The best choice in midtown BY FAR!
Posted by Eringgg on 01/22/2010
I found this place on Menupages when I was looking for something healthy and fast in Midtown. Green Symphony was goth, and the dumplings in their bowl/combo things are ridiculous. I was totally satisfied for very little money, and it wasn't just some boring old sandwich.
Posted by anonymous on 10/22/2009
Being a vegetarian working in Midtown I have a LOT of difficulty finding lunch options. How many salads can one woman eat?!! Green Symphony is a tiny little place I wouldn't even have noticed. I found the listing for it here on Menu Pages and I am so glad I did. Not only are there plenty of vegetarian options that are not salad (though they also have delicious salads if that's your thing), but the prices are so reasonable you'd swear you weren't in Midtown. I got a veggie burger wrap (vegan), a cup of coffee and an organic fig bar and it came to $7.50, which is actually less than a salad in most of the places around here. Even if you eat meat I would still recommend this place. Fresh ingredients, great price!


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Good Call on finding him not guilty, it's too bad Mr. Bennett gave the actual culprit immunity
As a firearms trainer and L.E.O.S.A Certified in the State of MA. I can only give my opinion, but I'll do so as a father of three. Knowing how powerful a particular firearm is and knowing that my children could not handle the recoil of said firearm, I would never encourage or goad my child into firing said firearm. I know grown men who couldn't handle a fully automatic 9mm Uzi at full throtle. Now I'm not saying that Mr. Fleury bears no responsibility, as the person in charge he should have been aware of everyone that was shooting on the line and should have stepped in regardless of what the Dr. wanted. I personally would have said "No Way' but it's too late for that now. The Father however, now he should be sitting right next to Mr. Fleury for his irresponsibility in letting his son fire such a powerful firearm. Only My Opinion
Honestyrose, that picture is of the 32 year old female assailant. LOL
Good Observation Proud Right Wing
Even though I'm not a practicing Catholic at the moment I did grow up in the Catholic Faith and did lose alot of faith with the Church after all the abuse can out. There is so many comments basically calling Fr. Scahill a heretic, well Jesus was considered a heretic as well. I think it's about time that a priest stands up and denounces the practice of covering up sexual abuse in the faith that he clearly loves so much. I am sure that it will be just a matter of time before other "good" and "Christian" priests will stand up and join him in his public outcry for reform.
Johnac thanks for the nice comment
I am an NRA Certified Instructor and I'm also a father of 3, there is no way in hell that I would ever put a micro uzi in the hands of one of my children until they were old enough AND strong enough to handle that particular firearm. I have had the opportunity to fire that firearm myself and it does have a great recoil. Ultimatley the Instructor side of me teaches my children safe firearm handling but the father in me dictates what type and power of firearms my kids use at the gun club. there has to be a level of common sense and in this tragic instance the father left his common sense at home.
I Live in the Agawam/Feeding Hills section and I can tell you that there are alot of things that happen in this town that doesn't reach the Republican, we try to take care of our own trash and not alert the whole world as to our troubles, keeps the dregs of society out. LOL


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Mountaineers to Dance With Delaware
NEWWARK, Del. – The No. 11-seeded West Virginia women's basketball team will face sixth-seeded Delaware at 12:15 p.m., this Sunday, March 24 on its home court.
The teams will face off in front of a 5,000-seat sold out crowd at the Bob Carpenter Center.
"I think that the community and the fans at Delaware have been incredible," Delaware coach Tina Martin said. "They have embraced women's basketball here in Delaware. I expect it to be electric and for everyone to be into every play. The Bob Carpenter Center is a great venue for women's basketball. There have been games here where I thought the roof was going to come off."
"I definitely think our road games have helped us out this year in terms of preparation of playing on the road in front of sold out crowds," WVU senior Ayana Dunning said. "To play in front of a home court and have excited fans for the other team; we know what it's like to have our backs against the wall and the Big 12 has prepared us for what we have to face tomorrow."
Making its ninth NCAA tournament appearance in program history, the Mountaineers (17-13) have made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament five times under coach Mike Carey and seven times in the history of the program.
WVU will take on a No. 15/16-ranked Delaware team who has won 30-of-33 games and has three-time Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year Elena Delle Donne. Delle Donne leads UD, averaging 25.3 points per game, the second-highest scoring average in the nation.
The Blue Hens advance to the NCAA tournament after winning their conference tournament for the second consecutive year. Delaware completed its second straight perfect season through the CAA, extending its school-record season win streak to 25 games, upping its overall win streak to 42 consecutive over conference opponents and clinching their second straight 30-win season.
Playing on its home court, Delaware is 13-2 in the Bob Carpenter Center with a 62-56 loss to Georgetown in the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 11 and a 69-53 loss at the hands of then-No. 9/8 Maryland on Dec. 20.
"First of all, we are thrilled to be back in the NCAA tournament," Martin said. "It's been an amazing ride for our team. I also want to welcome the other teams to the tournament. We are really looking forward to the game tomorrow and we will be playing a very good West Virginia team."
Delaware takes care of the ball, limiting its turnovers to only 11.8 per game, the fourth-lowest turnover average in the nation, which will be necessary to be successful against WVU because the Mountaineers are aggressive in the passing lanes, averaging 10.3 steals per game.
"The coaches have been preparing us to set good screens and use them correctly. We have to do the little things to get open offensively," Delle Donne explained. "Hopefully, we can use their aggressiveness against them and possibly get them in foul trouble."
The Blue Hens are similar to the Mountaineers in that both teams share a defensive mindset. Delaware limits opponents to only 51.2 points per game, the eighth-lowest scoring average nationally, while WVU limits its opposition to 60.6 points per game. Part of the defensive efforts come in guarding the three as UD limits opponents to 27.2 percent from beyond the arc and WVU holds opponents to 27 percent. From the field WVU limits teams to 38.5 percent shooting, while Delaware limits its opposition to 33.8 percent.
Also a member of the CAA All-Defensive Team, senior Delle Donne leads the team with 63 blocks and matches senior forward Danielle Parker as the rebounding leader with 8.5 boards per game each. Standing at 6-foot-5, Delle Donne enters Sunday's game four rebounds away from 1,000 for her career and aids the Blue Hens as the leading shooter with 49.8 percent (240-of-482) from the field and 49.0 percent (153-of-166) from beyond the arc.
Second Team All-CAA honoree Lauren Carra is the only other player scoring in double figures with 11.1 points per game on 40.2 percent (125-of-311) shooting from the field and 33.1 percent (42-of-127) from 3-point range. Kayla Miller leads the team with 108 assists, while limiting turnovers to only 49 for a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio.
On the offensive end, WVU averages 5.5 threes per game, shooting 30.9 percent, while Delaware averages 4.3 a game, shooting 34.7 percent.
The Mountaineers are led in scoring by junior All-Big 12 First Teamer Christal Caldwell with 13.2 points per game on 34.7 percent shooting from the field and 36.1 percent from 3-point range. Senior Ayana Dunning, who earned honorable mention honors in the league, averages 10.0 points per game and is West Virginia's leading rebounder with 6.1 per outing.
Taylor Palmer rounds out the top three scorers with 9.8 points per game, including 60 threes. Sophomore starter Averee Fields averages 8.0 points per game and is the second-leading rebounder with 5.0 boards per game. True freshman Bria Holmes offers a spark off the bench with 5.9 points per game.
The Mountaineers enter Saturday's game after falling to the No. 3-seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Quarterfinals. West Virginia found itself with a 19-point halftime lead, but Oklahoma used a 40-point second-half surge to come from behind, handing the Mountaineers a 65-64 early exit. Since their last loss, however, the Mountaineers have continued to prepare for postseason play.
"That wasn't the way we wanted to end our season," coach Mike Carey said. "We were hoping postseason was going to come. These girls have handled it very well—better than I do. They do a good job of focusing on the next task. I've been very proud of these players this year—win or lose. Of all the things we've gone through with changing leagues, the travel and all that; I've been very proud of them because it's tough."
The winner of Sunday's West Virginia-Delaware matchup will advance to face the winner of Sunday's No. 3-seed North Carolina vs. No. 14-seed Albany matchup on Tuesday, March 26. Sunday's games will air live nationally on ESPN2 with breakaway coverage, however fans can watch the entire game without interruption on ESPN3.com.
West Virginia Mountaineers, WVU, Delaware Blue Hens, NCAA women's basketball tournament
Big 12 Media Days: Dave Wannstedt
Big 12 Media Days: Karl Jospeh
Men's Basketball: Bahamas Preview
Womens Soccer: Kadeisha Buchanan Press Conference
Big 12 Media Days: Dana Holgorsen
Women's Soccer: Amanda Hill and Mocha


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Michael Ray Renfro
Position: WR
Height: 6-0 Weight: 184 lbs.
Born: June 19, 1955 in Fort Worth, TX
High School: Arlington Heights
College: TCU (school history) (Renfro college stats)
Drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 4th round (98th overall) of the 1978 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 36 (2610th overall since 1950)
Other SR Links: College Football at Sports-Reference.com
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Burlington Bowl & Recreation Center
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Manchester City v West Ham
Key Battle: Yaya Toure comes up against Mo Diame in an interesting battle between two driving midfielders of similar stature.
Player to Watch: Carlos Tevez plays against his former team and really the one side he felt at home at during his time in England.
Talking Point: Neither side have a great deal to play for although City still aren't guaranteed a Champions League spot and need to keep up the distance between themselves and the chasing pack.
Prediction: 1-1
Everton v Fulham
Key Battle: Marouane Fellaini will surely be deployed in attack after being played further back last time out, and will have an intriguing battle up against Fulham's Eno, who looked combative against Arsenal.
Player to Watch: Leighton Baines is Everton's key creative outlet and he can cause havoc for the Fulham defence.
Talking Point: David Moyes gave up the battle for a top four spot last week after defeat to Sunderland, but they will be sure to keep going until the end.
Prediction: 3-0
Southampton v West Brom
Key Battle: Gaston Ramirez is a wonderfully gifted playmaker who will be closely marked by Claudio Yacob in this encounter.
Player to Watch: Rickie Lambert continues to impress in his debut campaign at this level and West Brom must be careful of him.
Talking Point: Another dead rubber in effect between two teams who can look back with fondness on their best seasons for many a year.
Prediction: 1-0
Stoke v Norwich
Key Battle: Two teams battling to stay up, this could be a battle of two impressive goalkeepers – Asmir Begovic for Stoke and Mark Bunn for the visitors.
Player to Watch: Is there a player to watch in a battle between the league's two most lifeless teams? If so it is surely Robert Snodgrass, Norwich's most creative outlet.
Talking Point: These are two teams who are naturally cautious and inclined to defend. You feel that the winner will stay up but it could well be goalless.
Prediction: 0-0
Wigan v Tottenham
Key Battle: Gareth Bale is fit again and firing for Tottenham, and it will be interesting to see how Emmerson Boyce copes with the Spurs man's rampaging runs.
Player to Watch: Arouna Kone is the most likely player to breach a resolute Tottenham defence for Wigan.
Talking Point: Wigan have outplayed Manchester City and West Ham of late without picking up a point, and their good performances should continue, but can they cope with the Tottenham counter attack?
Prediction: 2-2
Newcastle v Liverpool
Key Battle: Daniel Sturridge was brilliant against Chelsea last week and he can cause major problems for Newcastle's star defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.
Player to Watch: Yohan Cabaye is Newcastle's key man and if on form he can help the home side to three vital points.
Talking Point: Just how will Liverpool cope with Luis Suarez after his suspension? Can they breach the Newcastle defence?
Prediction: 1-0
Reading v QPR
Key Battle: Two teams already destined for the drop see Nigel Adkins and Harry Redknapp face off in the battle to escape culpability for their respective side's inevitable relegation.
Player to Watch: Loic Remy has been QPR's star of the miserable second half of the season, and he can at least give them something to shout about here.
Talking Point: Both sides may well be relegated by Monday night and they can help secure their relegation with a draw. The visitors may nick it though.
Prediction: 0-1
Chelsea v Swansea
Key Battle: Fernando Torres on one side, Michu on the other. This game epitomises the ludicrous over spending of the modern game.
Player to Watch: Juan Mata, as usual, is the man Chelsea rely upon. If he plays well, so do they. If he doesn't, they don't either.
Talking Point: Chelsea need the points for their top four charge and will want revenge on Swansea for their Capital One Cup defeat to the Welsh side.
Prediction: 2-0.
Arsenal v Manchester United
Key Battle: Robin van Persie comes face to face with his former employers and possibly his old friend Thomas Vermaelen.
Player to Watch: Santi Cazorla will probably see plenty of the ball and his creative influence is key for Arsenal.
Talking Point: United have the title wrapped up so may lack a bit of motivation on Sunday, but these are always big games and they will hope to inflict another blow on Arsenal's top four hopes.
Prediction: 0-0
Aston Villa v Sunderland
Key Battle: Stephane Sessegnon has been fantastic of late for Sunderland, and Karim el Ahmadi must marshal him well to contain his threat.
Player to Watch: Christian Benteke is Villa's big threat and Sunderland must find a way to stop him if they wish to avoid defeat.
Talking Point: Sunderland are all but safe now but Villa need the points desperately and this game is crucial for their survival hopes.
Prediction: 2-0


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Submission + - Pitivi Video Editor surpasses 50% crowdfunding goal, releases version 0.94
Submission + - MediaGoblin 0.7.0 "Time Traveler's Delight" released
Submission + - MediaGoblin and FSF successfully raise funds for federation, privacy features
Submission + - MediaGoblin devs: "Mad about government censorship? Do something about it."
Submission + - MediaGoblin and the FSF run campaign for privacy and federation on the web
Submission + - GNU MediaGoblin 0.5.0 "Goblin Force" released
Submission + - How to block the NSA from your friends list->
That's why this Slate article makes the case for a mass migration to decentralized, free software social networks, which are much more robust to spying and interference. On top of that, these systems respect your freedom as a software user (or developer), and they're less likely to pepper you with obnoxious advertisements.
Link to Original Source
Submission + - MediaGoblin 0.4.0 released, supports document uploads
Submission + - OpenStreetMap in 3D via WebGL->
If your neighbourhood is currently still flat and you like to improve it:
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Rhythos: a FOSS RPG Builder using Liberated Pixel Cup assets->
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Conservancy running campaign to write better accounting software for nonprofits-> 1 1
Link to Original Source
Submission + - RMS urges W3C to reject DRM in HTML5 on principle->
[...] the W3C cannot prevent companies from grafting DRM onto HTML. They do this through nonfree plug-ins such as Flash, and with nonfree Javascript code, thus showing that we need control over the Javascript code we run and over the C code we run. However, where the W3C stands is tremendously important for the battle to eliminate DRM. On a practical level, standardizing DRM would make it more convenient, in a very shallow sense. This could influence people who think only of short-term convenience to think of DRM as acceptable, which could in turn encourage more sites to use DRM. On the political level, making room for DRM in the specifications of the World Wide Web would constitute an endorsement in principle of DRM by the W3C. Standardization by the W3C could facilitate DRM that is harder for users to break than DRM implemented in Javascript code. If the DRM is implemented in the operating system, this could result in distribution of works that can't be played at all on a free operating system such as GNU/Linux.
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Google begins blocking 3rd party Jabber invites supposedly to combat spam-> 1 1
Link to Original Source


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If the game freezes, just click inside it (games can get unresponsive if you click elsewhere on the page).
Droids invaded city .Anybody dont know where they came from but they are
controling everything in the city .You must eleminate droids and take control
back in the city .
You must collect energy cells ,armor cells and upgrade cells.
Pink cells are upgrade cells and you can upgrade your weapon with them.
A S D W to move
Mouse to Shoot
You will meet different type of droids .They attack suddenly so you must be careful .
Dont forget to upgrade your weapon .


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|Petr Janda <elekktretterr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
|Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:48:00 +1100
> In short, I can push whatever into upstream and pkgsrc, but I have to be > 100% sure that it's right thing to do and doesn'tr break anything. That I cannot do, maybe the code could be altered to take into account both mtime and ctime (mtime || ctime)? That way we could at least gurantee that its not gonna break the platforms we cant test. Petr


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Running On
Marathoners' continuing saga.
Posts by Author
Three Weeks, Only Three Runs
I've managed three runs in the last three weeks. BOOOOOOO. I can't even believe that's the truth, but there it is. Yesterday, while running my neighborhood, it was a feeling of pure gratitude. Grateful I hadn't forgotten how to tie my laces, grateful the sun was shining and the air was warm, and grateful that […] [Read More]


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"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
John Quincy Adams
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Philanthropy at the University of Northern Iowa includes alumni and friends from all walks of life—not only in Iowa but in every state in the nation. What unites us all is our passion for UNI and a dedication to see our students excel.
You are invited to join others in making a lasting impact on UNI students through a planned gift. These types of charitable arrangements let you support us far into the future while also providing tax and other benefits to you. Use the tools and resources on this site to uncover the option that works best for you. Contact us with any questions.
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August 1, 2015
Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Like Judge Worthington, the Tafts were also engaged in public and political service. Robert was a United States Senator from 1939 to 1953 and Charles was a longtime member of the Cincinnati City Council, in addition to serving as mayor of the city from 1955 to 1957.
The firm came to have not only local prominence, but national stature as well. The firm's labor department led by J. Mack Swigert was instrumental in helping Senator Taft draft and pass 1947's ground-breaking Taft-Hartley Act despite President Harry S. Truman's veto.
Today, with more than 375 attorneys and legal professionals Taft is more vibrant and more engaged in a wider range of work than ever before—with clients, both individual and corporate, whose needs for legal services range from local to international in scope. Recent clients include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Recently, the firm has added practices in Japan and China, as well as growing our Cincinnati headquarters to establish three additional Ohio offices in Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland; and added offices in Indianapolis, Indiana; Northern Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; and Beijing China.
Yet with the ongoing history and growth, the focus at Taft remains firm: To provide clients, both large and small, with legal advice and services that meet the highest possible standards.


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Ace singer Sonu Nigam's mother Shobha Nigam passed away today. She was suffering from illness for a long time and today she breathed her last. She was on medication for a year. Sonu's good friend and fellow singer Kailash Kher tweeted, "sonu nigam bhaiya's mother is no more, God pls keep h
X Factor India - X Factor India Season-1 Episode 24 - Full Episode - 5th Aug, 2011
This special episode decides the Final 5 of X Factor India. The first one to enter the Final 5 is Seema Jha, followed by Nirmitee, Geet Sagar and Sajda Sisters. Deewana Group and Kartar Singh are left in the bottom two to meet each other in the face-off round. Judge Gurus express their sorrow to see Deewana Group in the bottom two. Kartar Singh performs on 'Raat Ke Humsafar' sung by Mohd Rafi. Deewana Group presents a well coordinated 'Teri Jawani Badi Mast Mast Hai'. It seemed like a one sided competition and Kartar Singh gets eliminated. The episode features Latest Bollywood Hits. Saleem Merchant gives a surprise visit to the stage and performs 'Ae Khuda' on Piano. Suleman Merchant also joins his brother and partner Salim Merchant and they perform 'Aiwai Aiwai'. Nirmitee comes up with yet another entertaining performance on 'Munni Badnam Hui'. They completely blast the stage with their act which maintained the class between the masses. Salim & Suleman Merchant join them on stage and beat box on a jam of 'Chance Pe Dance'. The next contestant to hit the stage with his rocking performance on 'Sinbad The Sailor' and ended with 'Tum Ho To'. Deewana Group enters the stage with their performance on 'Humka Peeni Hai'. They performed this song earlier in the Bootcamp Round Day 2 in the recording studio too. This time they are better and the platform is bigger. They not only sing but also perform it theatrically as if the stage is meant only for them. Their act makes them stand ...
salim merchant
Latest Bollywood News
- Watch the different kinds of 'bhais' in 'Welcome Back' new trailer
- Amitabh Bachchan shoots ad film with Kangana; calls her "wonderful"
- Snapshots: Shahrukh, Kajol return from Bulgaria
- Karan Johar, Gauri Khan and others groove to 'Baby Doll' and 'Chitiya Kalaiya'
- Salman's sister Arpita celebrates first birthday post marriage


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Tasmania's dairy industry... On the moooooooove
Agribusiness Bulletin
The Tasmanian dairy industry is the state's largest rural industry, with agriculture overall contributing around a third of the state's private sector income and providing around 20% of jobs. It is estimated that farm gate revenue for 2013-14 will be $400 million, approaching one third of the total value of Tasmanian's agricultural commodities. Tasmanian's 437 dairy farms will produce approximately 775 million litres of milk, just short of the record achieved in 2011-12, which represents around eight percent of national production.
Tasmanian domestic consumption accounts for only ten per cent of annual milk production, resulting in the industry being export oriented with four major processors delivering cheese, butter, yoghurt and milk powders through established supply chains. Over the last decade there has been an emergence of smaller farm based and specialty processors who have been successful in establishing niche value added products in local and interstate markets.
Recent investment by processors has seen processing capacity expand to 1,150 million litres per annum. This has been a tremendous vote of confidence in Tasmania's ability to produce high quality cost competitive milk into the future however creates some obvious challenges. The Tasmanian Dairy Industry Strategic Plan 2011–2015 estimates that milk production next year will be 860 million litres (up 28% since 2010), leaving scope for a further 290 million litres before existing capacity becomes fully utilised. Despite overall excess processing capacity, managing the spring-peak remains a key industry challenge and could result in further investment in processing capacity.
Dairy farming is a complex business with biological constraints enforcing longer leads for growth than some other agricultural industries, whether for expansion of existing farms or establishment of new farms. Industry commenters suggest there is scope to increase production by some 350 million litres in the next five years. So where will the additional milk come from? Farm numbers are not expected to change materially (published estimates are 430 farms), so the answer lies in productivity gains; more milk per cow and more milk per farm:
- An additional 150 million litres per annum through increased carrying capacity and / or expanded area of dairy farm land supporting an incremental 29,500 cows
- An additional 200 million litres per annum from an incremental 38,000 cows brought into production.
The overall investment requirement to achieve the additional 350 million litres per annum could also benefit employment, the community and regional economies:
- In total, an estimated additional 67,500 cows (the current herd numbers around 150,000 cows)
- On-farm investment of $600 million, including around $100 million for cows
- An increased gross value of farm milk income of $140 million per year
- 550 new jobs across the dairy industry, of which more than 80% would be on-farm
- New dairy service opportunities for adjacent sectors and the broader dairy value chain, including expansion in agistment, heifer rearing and fodder production sectors
- An additional 27,000 hectares committed to dairy including areas surrounding the Midlands Irrigation Scheme, for example.
In response, DairyTas has worked with the processors, industry partners and State and Commonwealth governments to develop the Into Dairy project. The project is a three year $1.7 million program of initiatives aimed at assisting the industry to meet that target, and building existing industry programs.
The project provides financial support to dairy farmers wishing to grow (through the Planning for Growth Program) and to Tasmanian landowners wanting to test the feasibility of establishing a new dairy (through Planning for Conversion Program) with the completion of a dairy conversion plan. Skills attraction will involve initiatives to develop local skills and also to attract experienced managers, sharefarmers and staff to Tasmania. More information on the Into Dairy project, its major initiatives and assistance program can be found at Into Dairy.
Word on the investment opportunities in the Tasmania Dairy industry is out and fund managers, corporate and private investors are showing increasing interest. One of the main portals for industry and investor information is the Into Dairy website Into Dairy.
Tasmania is an attractive place to investment in dairy farming due to:
- Established markets for selling Tasmanian dairy products into the world's two fastest growing dairy markets – China and India
- In an international context, Australia has an enviable reputation in food safety, stable political environment and clean, green reputation
- Competitive dairy production systems based on low-cost pasture and management systems
- Tasmania has adequate natural resources to support the proposed growth of 350 million per annum
- Expanding irrigation infrastructure – the Tasmanian and Commonwealth Governments have committed significant funds to major irrigation expansion to provide cost competitive, high surety water
- A history of innovation adopting technology, investment and increasing scale has resulted in Tasmania achieving an average annual rate of growth of almost three per cent over the last decade. Tasmania is Australia's fastest growing dairy sector.
So, there is much to celebrate and look forward to in the Tasmanian dairy industry. We are pleased to be part of the story.
To read more articles on Agribusiness and get the latest industry news, register for our Agribusiness Bulletin.
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