Zen Traveler Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 3 minutes ago, Zen Traveler said: Unless other countries were relying on your signature. Again, not all deals are the same and that topic is too big for this thread. 4 minutes ago, dwilawyer said: Seperate issue. See? Water is a commodity where as in the new age in which we live our word/signature is just a leap of faith and considered "politics." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 23 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said: Nothing lasts forever. A little negotiating to bring deals up to modern standards ought not to be ipso facto a bad thing. We broke/ended our Treaty with Taiwan to provide them with a defense against China. You studied the case in law school, Goldwater v. Carter when the POTUS unilaterally cancelled the treaty without congressional approval. Was and is the leading case on the "political question" doctrine. Travis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 2 minutes ago, Zen Traveler said: See? Water is a commodity where as in the new age in which we live our word/signature is just a leap of faith and considered "politics." Water isn't a commodity, yet. Ever had to pay for a glass of water in a restaurant? Ever had to pay extra to take a shower at a hotel? When you do, it will be a commodity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 No, tap water is not safe in China. Even in the big cities like Beijing, the water itself might be free of contaminants but the plumbing in the city is old and therefore drinking the tap water is not safe, or using tap water for brushing your teeth. Most hotels will provide bottled water or a kettle to boil water. Even the smallest of the small guesthouse will have a kettle for you or a thermos with boiled water, use it! You should use boiled or bottled water for brushing your teeth, make sure you remind the kids! Fruits washed with tap water should be peeled just to be on the safe side. Ice cubes are also not safe since they could have been made with tap water. Unless you are at a reputable establishment with Western standards, I would stay away from ice cubes and stick with chilled bottled/canned drinks. Bottled water is available everywhere, make sure the water bottles are sealed. There have been cases of unscrupulous vendors re-filling the bottles with tap water and selling them to unsuspecting tourists. Also remind kids not to fill their water bottles with tap water, since they might be used to doing that at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 15 minutes ago, dwilawyer said: Water isn't a commodity, yet. Ever had to pay for a glass of water in a restaurant? Ever had to pay extra to take a shower at a hotel? When you do, it will be a commodity. The article on water in China reminded me, water, in frozen square form, can be a commodity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 My wife worked in Nanchang for eight years at a large university. She had an apartment on campus, and they provided her with five gallon bottles of water and a dispenser. It was a part of the deal for her housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 10 hours ago, dwilawyer said: Can you waste water? It cycles back sooner or later. It is only a problem when it is in short supply in an area and everyone wants to keep their lawns green, swimming pools full, and a pristine golf course. Or to grow crops. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 even for tap water you guys pay more than you think already, unless you are skipping out of your taxes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 41 minutes ago, oldtimer said: Or to grow crops. Well yeah, then there is that. Funny how you forget that something like 50 to 80 percent of water is used to grow food (depending on the area). 2 hours ago, Marvel said: My wife worked in Nanchang for eight years at a large university. She had an apartment on campus, and they provided her with five gallon bottles of water and a dispenser. It was a part of the deal for her housing. Did she say anything about the working conditions, human rights? Like a lot of things it may be just keep your head down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 44 minutes ago, oldtimer said: even for tap water you guys pay more than you think already, unless you are skipping out of your taxes... That may be, but it still isn't priced anything like it would be if, and when, it became a commodity. EDIT, I'm I was completely wrong, in Texas at times we purchase up to 30% of our water on open market at up to $3000 an acre foot. (I'm more familar with California water costs.). https://watermarkets.us/tag/texas-water-prices/ The price graph on surface water is what I was talking about, being at zero at times. This is because of large federal and state projects that were funded and paid for 50 or 75 years ago. Now local areas need to figure out water for themselves. Desalination, the alternative to buying water, and that cost runs about $2,500 an acre foot. Pure clean water from the tap, at a nominal delivery charge, though not a legal right, is the expectation in the US. It appears, for now, that a lot of this is going to be weather dependant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 On 10/10/2018 at 10:46 AM, dwilawyer said: Well yeah, then there is that. Funny how you forget that something like 50 to 80 percent of water is used to grow food (depending on the area). Did she say anything about the working conditions, human rights? Like a lot of things it may be just keep your head down. She (and me after visiting), attended church in the apartments of other foreign teachers. Four of the teachers were Catholic priests, one of whom had been teaching there since Nixon made inroads. This particular priest was from Northern Ireland, and his order sent him there with the hopes that it would loosen up. It hadn't. One of them was from Germany (same order), and he had a Chinese national stop him one day to tell him they knew what he was doing with the meetings in his apartment. They were all there to work as teachers first and foremost. There was one from the U.S., one from the Republic of Ireland and the others I already mentioned. The last few months my wife was there she would tell her students about Hong Kong, telling them it wasn't part of China (it is, but it is a S.A.R.). They would argue, and then she would ask if it was a part of China, why do you need a passport to go there? Then she would start talking about the Quighurs. I told her she needed to be careful or she might not get to leave China. . I told her she needed to be careful or she might not get to leave China. There was no sense of private property... if someone higher up wanted your building, they would simply take a bulldozer to it and build something newer that they could rent for more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 5 hours ago, dwilawyer said: weather dependant. Back to the crux of de gama's point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 10, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 10, 2018 11 minutes ago, Marvel said: She (and me after visiting), attended church in the apartments of other foreign teachers. Four of the teachers were Catholic priests, one of whom had been teaching there since Nixon made inroads. This particular priest was from Northern Ireland, and his order sent him there with the hopes that it would loosen up. It hadn't. One of them was from Germany (same order), and he had a Chinese national stop him one day to tell him they knew what he was doing with the meetings in his apartment. They were all there to work as teachers first and foremost. There was one from the U.S., one from the Republic of Ireland and the others I already mentioned. The last few months my wife was there she would tell her students about Hong Kong, telling them it wasn't part of China (it is, but is is a S.A.R.). They would argue, and then she would aks if it was a part of China, why do you need a passport to go there? Then she would start talking about the Quighurs. I told her she needed to be careful or she might not get to leave China. . I told her she needed to be careful or she might not get to leave China. There was no sense of private property... if someone higher up wanted your building, they would simply take a bulldozer to it and build something newer that they could rent for more money. Wow. That echoes the landscape in the books I have been reading recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted October 11, 2018 Author Share Posted October 11, 2018 6 hours ago, Marvel said: The last few months my wife was there she would tell her students about Hong Kong, telling them it wasn't part of China (it is, but is is a S.A.R.). They would argue, and then she would aks if it was a part of China, why do you need a passport to go there? Then she would start talking about the Quighurs. I told her she needed to be careful or she might not get to leave China. . I told her she needed to be careful or she might not get to leave China. There was no sense of private property... if someone higher up wanted your building, they would simply take a bulldozer to it and build something newer that they could rent for more money. Right! I hear the same sort of stuff from one of my friends, and it bewilders me. I can't imagine a civilized society that would even come close to tolerating such blatant takings; yet, these are the stories they tell. It's like hearing what it must be like to live in hell. Just utter arbitrariness by officials, who are ironically educating the same masses it abuses - and the cycle goes on. I can't imagine how it manages to perpetuate. It just doesn't even compute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 25 minutes ago, Jeff Matthews said: Just utter arbitrariness by officials, who are ironically educating the same masses it abuses - and the cycle goes on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 A couple of pics of the campus in Nanchang. This campus went from zero to 20k students in about five years. Although they look more like high school students, they are in a university. They ae like teens here, listening to music, hanging out with friends and almost zero knowledge of politics/government or what goes on in the world (like many here, too). Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted October 11, 2018 Moderators Share Posted October 11, 2018 3 hours ago, Marvel said: A couple of pics of the campus in Nanchang. This campus went from zero to 20k students in about five years. Although they look more like high school students, they are in a university. They ae like teens here, listening to music, hanging out with friends and almost zero knowledge of politics/government or what goes on in the world (like many here, too). Bruce But they have an internet firewall right? One day, if they do become interested, they cannot gain easy access to outside information is that right? This is the reason they cannot travel to HK, Macau, and certainly not Taiwan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted October 12, 2018 Author Share Posted October 12, 2018 9 hours ago, dwilawyer said: But they have an internet firewall right? One day, if they do become interested, they cannot gain easy access to outside information is that right? This is the reason they cannot travel to HK, Macau, and certainly not Taiwan? But I heard many Chinese citizens have VPN's to get around that. I also heard the government has found some way to make it harder for people with VPN's. I don't know where the state of this cat-and-mouse game is at the moment. Nonetheless, I don't think life in America, etc. is too much of a secret there. Apparently, though, talking about it makes the government nervous, and consequently the nervous, authoritarian government makes the citizens nervous to talk about it. Paranoia strikes deep, both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 On 10/7/2018 at 1:04 PM, Jeff Matthews said: I'm not trying to start a political debate, but this is a rather big developing story that isn't quite mainstream yet but has potential to dominate headlines in the not-so-distant future. Rather than debate politics here, I just thought some of you might like to know what's going on. What is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 On 10/7/2018 at 1:04 PM, Jeff Matthews said: I'm not trying to start a political debate, but this is a rather big developing story that isn't quite mainstream yet but has potential to dominate headlines in the not-so-distant future. Whew! The link above came back but I thought the Chinese had pulled a fast one.....That said, can we talk about the current big developing story that is mainstream about the guy they killed and disremembered in the Saudi consulate in Turkey? 😲 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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