The Ball Bounces Banned In Beijing!!!

              Image via CrunchBase

I was unable to access the Blogger server in Shanghai. Kept getting a cannot access message. Apparently China has blocked Blogger (but, inexplicably, not Wordpress) since 2009.

This shakes the Ball Bounces to the core. To think that there is this vast swath of humanity -- the Chinese -- who are unable to access this blog. Oh, the humanity! (I've also noticed that an awful lot of them can't speak English, so maybe it's a moot point.)

I haven't been able to approve any comments for the past few days.  I'm getting caught up now, and will be back in the game soon.

Maybe I should flee to Wordpress.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.

Did You Know That...

China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of products as diverse as cellphones, large wind turbines and guided missiles. 

(and thus has a potential strangle-hold over western manufacturing if not western economies)?

With US debt growing and that debt largely owed to China, China/USA could hit a tipping-point where they reverse roles as the dominant vs. secondary world economic power.

Then what?

Related articles

• Rare Earth Embargos and Supply Problems (nextbigfuture.com)
• China reins in rare earth exports (ft.com)
• China Pledges Rare-Earth Supply as Users Abroad Say Prices Soar (businessweek.com)
• China Plans to Withhold More of Rare Earth Elements: US In Deep Trouble (247wallst.com)
• China Plans Further Reductions in Mineral Exports (nytimes.com)
• China Halts Shipments to U.S. of Tech-Crucial Minerals (livescience.com)
• Pele Mountain Resources: Rare Earth Elements May Be A Key To Its Future and Yours (prnewswire.com)