Comparison of Major Asian City Home Prices November 30, 2010
Posted by hslu in China, Economics, Taiwan.add a comment
AB, or is it ABC? November 30, 2010
Posted by hslu in China, Economics, Global Affair, jobs.Tags: Airbus, Boeing, Boeing 737, C919, Comac, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China
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A stands for Airbus.
B, of course, is Boeing.
In a few year, AB will have a new competition and it is Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or Comac.
And what kind of airplane does Comac make? The answer is C919, a 160-seat single aisle air plane.
For many decades, Boeing’s 737 single aisle air plane has been the the bread and butter of Boeing.
But, unfortunately for Boeing and Airbus, C919 is formidable competition because the single aisle airplane market is yours to lose.
Here are a few more details of C919:
- Detailed design to be completed in 2012,
- Maiden flight in 2014,
- On the market in 2014,
- Fuel consumption is 12 – 15% of that of similar planes,
- Carbon emissions reduced by 50 %.
Hmm…, how many US jobs will be lost in this industry and its deep and wide supply chains?
Chinese supercomputer the fastest in the world November 29, 2010
Posted by hslu in China, Computer, Economics, Global Affair, Health Insurance, iPhone, Islam, jobs, Military, Obama, Politics.Tags: Federal budget deficits, national debt, Tianhe-1A, Trade deficits, 天河一号
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Slowly but surely, China is over-taking US in many areas.
There are no plants in the US making socks, shirts or shoes. Toys are mostly made in foreign countries, including China. GM went down the drain but was pulled out by the government using our money. Ford stayed alive but is burdened with a huge pension and health care liabilities. North Carolina still has a few dying furniture manufactures. Steel mills in the US have gone to foreign countries as well. iPhone and iEverything are almost all made in China.No one makes TV, monitors, DVDs, Blue ray players, etc. in the US.
The US used to have monopoly on supercomputer but it also fell by the way side and the new champion is none other than a Chinese made 天河一号, “Tianhe-1A,” which means “Milky Way” in Mandarin. Petroleum technologies have mostly transferred to China during the past ten years. Tallest buildings are no longer showing up in the America.
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/china-dethrones-us-with-worlds-fastest-supercomputer/19692996
What’s left in the US that China or India has little hope of catching up in the near future?
- Fighter jets, smart bombs, super tanks, and air carriers,
- Commercial airplanes,
- Number of nuclear missiles,
- Innovations on medicine and medical instruments. But these will be put to death by ObamaCare in no time,
- Innovations on software
- Football teams,
- Aerospace technologies but the gap is narrowing,
- Wheat, corns, and some ag products,
- Muslim haters,
- Graduate schools on science, technology and law. The MBAs from the US business schools but they have messed up the entire financial system of the world,
- Number of lawyers,
- Federal budget deficits and national debt,
- Trade deficits,
- Barrels of crude oil import from foreign countries,
- And I am sure there are others that I didn’t think of right now.
But the point is that it further demonstrate the downhill ride that the United States is enjoying in the past several years.
Is anyone thinking about immigrating to China? Or India, for that matter.
How about a 20% cut instead? November 29, 2010
Posted by hslu in Economics, jobs, Military, Obama, Politics.Tags: Obama
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Originally it was 1.4% pay raise for all federal workers as proposed by Obama in the midst of 0% raise for all social security recipients 2 years in a row.
http://wethepeopleusa.ning.com/forum/topics/obama-is-giving-a-14-salary
Now it was no raise for 2 years as reported by the AP.
Citing deficit, Obama to freeze federal worker pay
Last I heard, the federal deficits for 2011 is $1.3 trillion. The flip flop Obama’s $5 billion cut in federal labor cost, or 0.38%, is less than the rounding error.
How about a 20% cut in salary for all federal employees and a 20% drop in number of employees on top of a across the-board 20% cut in contractors.The $700+ billion defense budget should be cut as well. The United States does not need 10 air carriers (plus multiple supply and protection ships for each) and the United States does not need so many foreign stations either while millions in America suffer on a daily basis.
The private sector had a nearly 10% unemployment rate and a 17+% U6 unemployment rate. Yet the federal work force had increased in recent years and they have enjoyed raises unheard of in private sectors, except at the banking firms and Wall Street giants.
The federal government deserve a 15 to 20% cut in work force and an equal amount cut in salary as well.
La Limeña November 29, 2010
Posted by hslu in Restaurants.Tags: Casillero del Diablo 2008 Melot, ceviche mixto, deep fried whole flounder, flan, La Limeña, Lenguado Frito, Lomo Saltado, Rockville MD, sarsa criolla, Tamales de Maiz
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A few days ago when we walked out of a near by Chinese restaurant on a Saturday afternoon, we saw a group of people coming out of a restaurant smiling and happy. I peeked into the restaurant and a lady of the group said to me:”This is the best Peruvian restaurant in town.”
I immediately took note of that comment because they were Latinos and I noticed that the name of the restaurant is La Limeña.
Well, we had a chance to try it out and we liked it.
The restaurant had simple decoration but pleasant. The waiters were very friendly and attentive. The service was prompt and not intrusive. I had a very good first impression of this place.
We had a bottle of Casillero del Diablo 2008 Melot from Chile for less than $20. It was a very good deal and the wine was very drinkable. However, since we couldn’t finish the whole bottle we asked the restaurant if we could take the rest of the wine home. The waiter said that it would be no problem only if he was the one who bought the bottle to our car.
We ordered ceviche mixto for $12.95, a seafood appetizer, including fresh shrimp, scallops and slices of fish, served in a lime juice. It was refreshing and a wonderful way to start our meal.
We also had Tamales de Maiz because I like Talmales of any kind.
For entrees we had Lenguado Frito which was deep fried whole flounder served with fried yucca and sarsa criolla. Although the fish was slightly over cooked, it was fresh and very tasty. I didn’t care for the deep fried yucca because it was too filling but we finished the whole fish quickly.
Lomo Saltado was beef strip sauteed in olive oil, onion, tomatoes, and spices served on a bed of french fries and a side of rice. It was a good hearty meal and tasted like a home made dish than a production from a kitchen of three-star celebrity chef.
La Limena also has sopas, salads, chicken, sandwiches, a collection of side dishes and rotisserie chicken. These dishes had to wait until the next time.
When it came to dessert, we had to order their flan. The sauce was savory; the flan was smooth and tender. The temperature was just right. The portion was adequate but could be bigger if I was allowed to be greedy.
We liked La Limeña very much because it was just liked what the menu said:
Where Tradition and Great Taste come together.
I might also add this to the end:
“At a great price.”
You should go and it was worth the drive from Northern Virginia.
Michaels Noodles Restaurant – 小金華 November 29, 2010
Posted by hslu in Restaurants.Tags: 花生小魚, 青島啤酒, Michaels Noodles Restaurant, 八寶飯, 小金華, 干煎牛柳
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Bao and I took Mom and Dad out to dinner for Dad’s birthday on Tuesday last week. He wanted to try a restaurant he hasn’t been before. I picked Michaels Noodles Restaurant 小金華 “xiao3 jin1 hua2” in Rockville, Maryland on the west side of I-270.
We ordered 青島啤酒 “qing1 dao3 pi2 jiu3” or Qingdao beer for the occasion. We also had 四小菜﹐ 四主菜﹐ 二主食 and 一甜點.
Our 下酒小菜 “xia4 jiu3 xiao3 cai4” were:
- 涼拌黃瓜 “liang2 ban4 huang2 gua1:” Slightly spicy and good. But it could be better.
- 雪菜百頁毛豆 “xue3 cai4 bai3 ye4 mao2 dou4:” Very fresh and light in taste. The way it should be. Even Mom liked it..
- 素雞: “su4 ji1” or literally vegetable chicken. It is made from soy bean milk the way cheese is made from milk. It was almost as good as what we used to have at now closed Oriental Regency. It needs to be cooked a bit longer. The sauce was very good though.
- 花生小魚: Crispy, light, not greasy and fluffy. Perfectly done!
四主菜
- 干煎牛柳 “gan1 jian1 niu2 liu3”: Beef medallions marinated then deep-fried. It was tender and nicely done. Ba liked it and took the left over home.
- 蒜苗雙臘 “suan4 miao2 suang1 la4:” Fresh leek tips stir-fried with Chinese sausage 香腸 and dried pork called 臘肉. I thought this dish was over cooked a little bit. I liked the leek green and not over cooked. The portion was good but I thought the dish had too much meat.
- 南乳扣肉: Bao ordered this because we have never tried it before. The meat wasn’t as tender as it should be and I’ll order 梅菜扣肉 next time instead. 南乳 is also called 豆腐乳 which is made from twice-fermented soft bean curd. If you like blue cheese, you’ll probably like 豆腐乳 which is an acquired taste.
- 韭菜花豆腐皮 “jiu3 cai4 hua1 dou4 fu3 pi2: Chinese chive stir-fried with pork and bean curd skins. Bean curd skins are the layer of skins on top of soy bean milk. It has very high protein content and can be very tasty if it is properly prepared. Mom likes 豆腐皮 because it is soft and easy to chew. Some 韭菜花 was tough though.
For 二主食 “zhu3 shi2,” we had:
- 鍋貼: On par with A&J’s or slightly better. A&J’s is called 半畝園 “ban4 mu3 yuan2” or half-acre garden.
- 素蒸餃: Theirs are better than A&J’s. Not greasy and very tasty. The skin is thin and does not stick to the teeth at all.
Our 一甜點 was:
- 八寶飯 “ba1 bao3 fang4”: 100 times better than any off-the-menu 八寶飯 we had at other Chinese restaurant in the greater Washington Metropolitan area. Good ingredients with soft and juicy sweet rice.
We managed to finish about half the food and took the rest of them home.
The small restaurant (65 seats) is clean and nicely decorated with Chinese calligraphy and Chinese paintings.
The restaurant has regularly been on the list of Top 100 Bargain Restaurants on Washingtonian in the metro area and Tom’s favorites on the Post.
The Downfall of the United States November 28, 2010
Posted by hslu in Economics, Global Affair, jobs, Obama, Politics.Tags: Downfall of the United States, FORTUNE, Michael Elliott, Obama
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Michael Elliott of FORTUNE asked in a recent article these questions:
“But will the American middle class ever again be massively more prosperous than that in other countries, and will the U.S. have the dominance it once had in scientific and technological discovery?”
His answer to these questions were: No, and no.
He also suggested that the United States should “Get over it.”
Is this not the “Downfall of the United States” I talked about in the following blog?
https://hslu.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=477&action=edit
The sad true about this is that, along with a weaker United States, there is a huge amount of wealth transfer out of America that has no hope to reverse any time soon.
What’s worse about the whole thing is that Obama is gladly helping out the transformation. He thinks that the US has had its glory days and he had traveled around the world apologizing for the pain it has inflicted upon people of other countries.
His wish is about to come true and he still has two more years to make it worse for all Americans.
Another customer of mine got laid off in August November 19, 2010
Posted by hslu in Economics, jobs.Tags: recession
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He got a 38% cut in salary before he was let go in August, 2010. He said to me that he simply couldn’t pull enough business into his company and that was the end of his career.
Now he is the executive chef of a catering company operated by his friend. The secret is that he hasn’t done any cooking for the past ten year or so. Many of their stuff came from Costco and the margin was good.
Do you feel safer in flight? November 19, 2010
Posted by hslu in Global Affair, Islam.Tags: enhanced pad-downs, TSA
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The number of TSA employees have increased from 16,000 to roughly 65,000. But do you feel safer with them shuffling trays back and forth at airports?
Should you feel even safer with the enhanced pad-downs by them TSA employees?
Why can they use little common sense and pay a little more attention to Muslims instead of 80 year old grandma and little kids?
Political correctness, of course. TSA cares more about political correctness than efficiency or our safety in the not-too-friendly sky.
One question to you all TSA employees: what percentage of the enhanced pad-downs actually improve flight safety?
Well, this is our tax money at work.
GM Stocks, anyone? November 19, 2010
Posted by hslu in China, Economics, Global Affair.Tags: GM, GM IPO, Trade deficit
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Well, the Chinese government likes it because 18% of the GM IPO were bought by them.
At $35 a share, the IPO generated about $20 billion and the Chinese government’s share was $3.6 billion, about 13% of of US’s trade deficit with China in August, 2010.
xiaohua 