China cut's off supply of rare earth metals

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I think the moral of the story isn't whether china can be effective doing this, but that they're bent on and will stop at nothing to corner all our markets. We shouldn't be so aiding our competitor and potential enemy.


I think their strategy is to force manufacturing to relocate to china by export quota, so in the end when (not if) the slave wages catch up to other nations they'll still hold a competitive advantage.

Similar to our high tech export ban to certain countries (like china). The most efficient machines still can't be sold to china and that's why their NAND and DRAM prices are still higher than places like Japan, Taiwan, and US.

 

[Shannow]

Thing to watch is the pump and dump that happens regularly with alternate energy when traditional fuel gets "rare".

Marginal mines will come on stream with marginal profits, then it's easy to pull the rug out from under them, and destroy them.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
We should. Both them and Iraq could have financed their own war!


"their" war, I think you mis-spelled "your"

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
We should. Both them and Iraq could have financed their own war!


"their" war, I think you mis-spelled "your"


Whatever you need to call it to fit your beliefs is fine with me. I don't get hung up on labels. Those are simply tools used to manipulate us.

The point is their natural resources should be annexed by us and used to pay the multi-billion dollar price tag. Iraq has plenty of oil, Shell and the rest should have been right behind us. They rebuild and pump, then we give the infrastructure to the new government. They weren't selling oil anyway, we could have paid them a small commission!

 

[Kestas]

Question to our technical designers... isn't it at all possible to design hard drives and motors to operate without rare earth magnets?

I remember when there was a shortage of cobalt, metallurgists came up with equivalent replacement alloys that didn't need cobalt.

Also, Shannow made a good point. This is exactly what OPEC is doing with their oil pricing strategy. They price oil just high enough so alternate energies aren't economical, but high enough for maximum profit.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
The point is their natural resources should be annexed by us and used to pay the multi-billion dollar price tag. Iraq has plenty of oil, Shell and the rest should have been right behind us. They rebuild and pump, then we give the infrastructure to the new government. They weren't selling oil anyway, we could have paid them a small commission!


Why would they need to pay for a rebuild if they weren't bombed the brain out by a dictator that the bomber supported? Oh, it is their citizens' fault.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
The point is their natural resources should be annexed by us and used to pay the multi-billion dollar price tag. Iraq has plenty of oil, Shell and the rest should have been right behind us. They rebuild and pump, then we give the infrastructure to the new government. They weren't selling oil anyway, we could have paid them a small commission!


Why would they need to pay for a rebuild if they weren't bombed the brain out by a dictator that the bomber supported? Oh, it is their citizens' fault.


Typical comment. No one ever mentions the THOUSANDS of Iraqis that died every year their wonderful leader was in power. I suppose that was okay because it was ignored by our media?

If you'd remember the reality of the war instead of the political propaganda they were bombing their own wells. We could have easily rebuilt the infrastructure (we do that anyway but you won't see it on the 'doofus news') and pumped the oil at a profit, using it to pay for more improvements. When we leave, they get all the free infrastructure. No downside. We could have put a percentage aside for their future government.

It's not political, it's just smart. But if you get too ideological it probably sounds evil.

 

[Shannow]

No, it was WMD, deployable at 45 mins against us...the you us, and the rest of us us...maybe you don't remember Colon Powell telling is us that...but that was the sales pitch at the time.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Saddam PROVED he had WMD by USING THEM! Hello?

I bet the Kurds remember.

Man, you guys are easily led around here.

 

[Nick R]

Wow, didn't expect this thread to end up HERE.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Saddam PROVED he had WMD by USING THEM! Hello?

I bet the Kurds remember.

Man, you guys are easily led around here.


Hello!!! All the evidence of supporting the invasion was about NUCLEAR, not mustard gas.

Go read what Powell talked about in UN and all the "evidence" that it points to.


Oh, regarding to the "use their resource to rebuild their infrastructure". It is just giving the insurgence more fuel to flame the local hatred for us and the insurgence more support against us. I'm sure our accountants and their accounts have done enough math to prove that it is bad business.

You're a business owner, so you can probably do the math to know that infrastructure cost is little to nothing when compare to the military occupancy expense we spend over there, and what makes more sense: use their money to build infrastructure and get more road side bombing, casualty, and longer to get out there, or use our money to build the infrastructure and get less hatred and casualty, and get the heck out earlier.

 

[daves87rs]

OKAY...

Putting the subject back on track- I would not worry...China is not heading for those great times people think they will...the global recession will hit them the hardest...rare metals or not.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: daves87rs
OKAY...

Putting the subject back on track- I would not worry...China is not heading for those great times people think they will...the global recession will hit them the hardest...rare metals or not.


Yah, I saw the Time issue with the bubble on the cover. I have not read it but if Time says, it has to be true. They will never publish anything which is not true.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I have not read it but if Time says, it has to be true. They will never publish anything which is not true.


Man, that is a good one.