First, I want to point out that you are pushing the limits to where I will not converse with you further, both with your sniping in this article as well as the cracks in the SciFi list. I have real things to do in the world and don't need to waste my time on someone who is going to pull an attitude and jump to rash judgements. I don't know if you think I was trying to pick on you before or something but I can assure you I was not. I was just calling it as I see it.

So let me answer one of your last questions first. I am neither liberal nor conservative, I am independent, and that applies to religion as well as politics. I serve only one goal and that is the future of our species and I really don't care what agenda a certain party, government or religion is pursuing except in the context of what it means to humanity. Implying anything else is just looking for an arguement.

>But doesn't the flow of capital from rich nations to poor nations help create a more egalitarian world? People in China are better off today than they were during their long period of isolation.

On the surface this would seem the case, however, the methods taken to obtain the material for trade are extremely disasterous. Every Pac Rim country has had huge systems of exploitation of natural resources that are causing massive problems in the region, and the two biggest, China and Japan are often behind the problems in the other smaller countries that they have convinced to supply them with resources one way or another.

Also, you need to realize that Hong Kong is the showpiece of China. What you see and experience there is not the reality for the rest of the country.

I will also not argue about the US and what it does wrong, which I am sure we would largely agree on, neither do I condone the purchasing policies of Walmart with regard to buying the cheapest supplies regardless of their long term impact. However the blame for that still rests on the american consumer who demands such things. If they were more commited to quality and low environmental impact as well as the issues of human treatment then Walmart would change.

The sleeper comment comes from long time experience with companies and nations that claim to change. People hold onto hidden agendas a lot longer than you might think.

As for fear mongering and whether it is substanciated or not would depend on how much you pay attention to the facts that come from the rest of the world around you and the comments made quite recently by top chinese officials.

So watch the snide personal attacks or I will make a few observations of my own about what your attitude indicates your motives are. It's great that you love where you live but you have to look at both the good and the bad and China is not the tame lion it is making itself out to be and there are chinese who are not happy about it either and when not repressed have made it known via the press and internet as well.

The chinese are as real a threat as they have ever been and they are still interfering in other nations and are part of the problems of the world. For example they have indicated fairly strongly that they not only have many of the backpack nukes that used to belong to the former soviet union but that many of them, originally between 200 and 300, are already on US soil. Check the recent material relative to who will own Hong Kong in the future.

This problem is also amplified by the sheer number of people it has. If the average chinese person became even 1/4 as wasteful as some americans are the global damage would be 4-8 times greater.

China has also been violating it's own ban on untest GM rice by distributing large quantities of it through it's so called university research programs and there is plenty of testimony by chinese people and university staff to support that as well.

China is instrumental in supplying material to dangerous entities around the world without concern for the safety and well being of other nations and a good search of recent news articles from around the world will prove it. So once again that proves that they are still doing what they have been doing since at least the early sixties. Several south american countries are also more involved with the terrorist nations than people are lead to believe. Those countries have long standing ties to China as well.

Terrorism is not a stand alone option, it is backed by nations, and china has been and still is one of them. There is plenty of documentation even from non-US sources to prove it. When Chinese made AKs less than 6 months old are in the hands of terrorists there is only one way that happens, with the help of the government.

You can find all of this on the net if you look around. This is all from stuff I have found within the last 6 months.

>BTW: Whatcha askin' for your swamp land? ;)

Well actually I do have a few acres of very nice wetland, and I'm serious, but it is in Ohio, not Florida. I am looking for roughly 90K for it because it is all wetland meadow loaded with Marsh Mallow, Elderberry, Willow, Raspberry, and other flowering and edible plants, and it has to stay that way on the deed and into the future. There is also about 2 acres of farmland and a 3 BR house and yard with it has all been managing organicly for 6 years and fallow for about 5 before that. A family of four can live a very nice organic lifestyle on it if they are so inclined.

If you know dwarf snow peas, and that they grow about 24" high on the bush, then you will equally surprised to note that on this land I have grown them to where they were reaching over top of a six foot high snow fence and that my melon plants were over 24' wide. It has proven an excellent test bed for proving my methods.

So that said, the tone of any reply will determine if there will be any further conversation. It's your ball.