En los últimos meses, la disputa generada por dos megaproyectos relacionados con el desarrollo de Punta Colonet –la mina para la obtención de titanio y hierro en el subsuelo marino y el puerto de altura, que la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) pretende licitar en los próximos meses– pone al descubierto una supuesta red de corrupción.

Según los planes de la SCT, la Bahía Colonet se convertirá en un gigantesco desarrollo con 10 muelles de 400 metros cada uno, suficientes para aceptar embarcaciones de gran calado. Con éste se busca controlar el tráfico de carga de la costa Pacífico y el tránsito de mercancías y energéticos.

El Congreso de Baja California no sólo canceló su apoyo al Desarrollo del Proyecto de Punta Colonet, sino que ya exige a la administración estatal que explique sus planes respecto del mismo. Bernardo Martínez, secretario de gobierno de Baja California, se limita a aclarar que la inversión en Colonet será superior a los 10 mil millones de dólares.

Mientras que, ante la prensa, Eugenio Elorduy asegura que se trata de un proyecto estratégico para el desarrollo de México. El gobernador indica que la inversión “busca beneficiar a las grandes mayorías y no a ciertos intereses que no están bien identificados”, en alusión al grupo Minero Lobos –encabezado por Gabriel Chávez–, que tras una investigación perdió la concesión de la mina.

Revocan concesión

El secretario general del gobierno estatal confirma que Gabriel Chávez Aguirre, Adolfo Rodríguez Haros y Sergio Saucedo Martínez perdieron las anuencias que habían obtenido para la extracción de metales en Punta Colonet, proyecto que se contraponía al del megapuerto de carga.

Bernardo Martínez precisa que el 9 de mayo pasado el gobierno federal inició los trámites de cancelación y dio un plazo de 60 días al Grupo Minero Lobos para que se inconformara contra dicho procedimiento.

Al no haber respuesta, las autoridades federales determinaron anular los permisos para la explotación de minerales en la zona sur del municipio de Ensenada. Con el título 225 mil 263, la concesión minera –que permitía la explotación de minerales metálicos (titanio)– fue la primera en su tipo, tras la reforma a la ley minera hecha en el sexenio de Vicente Fox.

Con ésta, el Grupo Minero Lobos podía explotar 32 mil hectáreas de costa, que coincidían con la zona donde se planificó un puerto del desarrollo de Punta Colonet, detenido éste durante dos años. En ese tiempo, la minera Lobos debió realizar estudios para confirmar el potencial del sitio concesionado, lo que, a decir del gobierno federal, nunca se hizo.

En 2005, la sociedad Baja California Puerto Enterprise (BCPE) –conformada por Grupo Minero Lobos y SSA Marine México– se dijo dispuesta a llegar a un acuerdo con la SCT, pero en agosto pasado dicha Secretaría publicó en el Diario Oficial de la Federación un decreto en el que establece que la zona concesionada será puerto de altura y cabotaje.

Por la contraposición de sus planes, SSA Marine y Hutchison Ports se enfrentan. La primera de ellas está asociada con Grupo Minero Lobos, para la explotación de minerales en la costa de Baja California, la segunda promueve con la SCT la creación de un puerto.

El interés de ambas es el manejo portuario de contenedores, dado el potencial comercial e industrial que alcanzaría la zona, ya que millas al norte, los puertos de Los Ángeles y Long Beach están ya saturados y la mercancía procedente de Asia busca otro punto de entrada al continente.

El exgobernador panista y excomisionado para Asuntos de la Frontera Norte, Ernesto Ruffo Appel, adquirió mil 315 hectáreas en Punta Colonet, por 3 millones de dólares, además de adquirir 10 mil hectáreas de terrenos planos a 270 kilómetros de Tijuana.

De acuerdo con una investigación del exdiputado priista, Jaime Martínez Veloz, los socios de Ruffo son el constructor Roberto Curiel Ortega, con quien fundó la empresa Puerto Colonet Infraestructura que busca controlar toda la construcción del nuevo embarcadero; Héctor Moisés Calderón, accionista de la inmobiliaria que vendió los terrenos, y Juan Manuel Chávez García. Con éstos creó la empresa Integradora Baja Aeropuerto, que adquirió 3 mil hectáreas para construir un aeropuerto internacional de carga.

El operador del puerto será Hutchinson Port Holdings, que opera actualmente los cuatro puertos más importantes de México: Veracruz, Manzanillo, Ensenada y Lázaro Cárdenas. Esta empresa pertenece a Li Ka Shing, uno de los hombres más ricos del mundo que comenzó con la especulación bursátil en Hong Kong.

El círculo de socios se cierra con Union Pacific, una de las empresas ferroviarias más importantes de Estados Unidos, que no sólo operaría toda la carga por tierra de Punta Colonet a Estados Unidos, sino que realizaría el trazo y colocación de vías ferroviarias en dos sentidos entre ese puerto y San Isidro, California.

Union Pacific tiene entre sus miembros del Consejo de Administración al expresidente Ernesto Zedillo, quien durante su administración privatizó el sistema ferroviario y puso en venta los derechos de vía.

El nuevo proyecto portuario busca sacar provecho de la saturación de los puertos californianos y del Tratado de Libre Comercio. Mientras que Long Beach y San Pedro tienen 27 terminales principales de carga y accesos ferroviarios fáciles, en Punta Colonet se instalarán 17, cifra que supera todos los puertos mexicanos.

Los dos puertos californianos manejan 40 por ciento de toda la carga que llega a Estados Unidos. El 80 por ciento de productos que llegan de Asia a América entran al mercado estadunidense por sus terminales. Pero están a su capacidad máxima.

Martínez Veloz asegura que 70 por ciento de todos los contenedores descargados en California llegan de acuerdo con las disposiciones del Programa de Seguridad de Contenedores, que es un puerto estadounidense creado para que la revisión de la carga sea en los países de embarque, facilitando así un comercio más expedito.

El puerto, casi un hecho

El Grupo Minero Lobos ha perdido los seis amparos que promovió para defender su concesión, asegura Bernardo Martínez. De acuerdo con el secretario de gobierno, la Consejería Jurídica de Presidencia ya emitió un dictamen que garantiza al municipio y al estado la viabilidad del proyecto portuario.

En conferencia de prensa, el presidente municipal de Ensenada, César Mancillas, indicó que los intereses del Grupo Minero Lobos no se pueden anteponer al proyecto más importante de los últimos 50 años. Agregó que en torno a Colonet hay muchos intereses y se trata de proteger que en el proceso no haya quienes antepongan estos intereses sobre los del bien público.

Ante estos hechos, BCPE propuso conceder dos terceras partes del espacio solicitado (2 mil 400 hectáreas) para que ahí se desarrolle el puerto de la SCT. Gabriel Chávez Aguilar, su director, dijo en conferencia de prensa que “nos interesa poder crear un polo de desarrollo integral. La zona puede ser explotada en lo mineral y en lo portuario”.

Agregó que “si hay otro proyecto como el que pretende la SCT podemos ceder las hectáreas para realizarlo, pero nosotros queremos contar con el derecho de operar un espigón, donde se puedan atracar hasta nueve barcos”.

Conflicto de intereses

Ernesto Ruffo Appel advierte que ante la falta de claridad en el megaproyecto de Punta Colonet, varios puertos de la costa oeste de Estados Unidos y Canadá han empezado a ampliar sus instalaciones.

Los costos seguramente serán más altos, pero si no hay alternativas, los barcos irán a descargar ahí en enero de 2011, señala. Agrega que el tema de Colonet tiene su propio dinamismo, basado en la congestión de contenedores en los puertos de Los Ángeles y Long Beach, donde para diciembre de 2010 será imposible mover más contenedores, tras un crecimiento anual sostenido de 8 por ciento.

Ruffo Appel reconoce que promueve, “con mucho entusiasmo”, el proyecto de Punta Colonet, pero no por sus propios intereses, sino “porque es un lugar de características ideales: aunque hay otros lugares con profundidad en el lecho marino, no tienen los espacios para crecer ni la posibilidad de una conexión por ferrocarril”.

El pasado 8 de agosto Bahía Colonet se habilitó con carácter de puerto en navegación de altura y cabotaje y se espera que su licitación se dé en los próximos días.

Asunto bilateral

Estados Unidos ya nombró un representante para iniciar las negociaciones entre ese gobierno y la Unidad Jurídica de la administración de México.

La administración estadunidense presentó una propuesta para desarrollar el puerto. Se trata de numerosas puntualizaciones de carácter jurídico y técnico, dijo el alcalde de Ensenada, que involucran recursos, participaciones e inversión pública y privada.

De acuerdo con Mancillas, se analiza cómo será el desarrollo urbano del poblado y se pretende llegar a acuerdos para no afectar a terceros, en especial a los propietarios de la tierra, por lo que está en diálogos con los ejidatarios, quienes llamaron la atención de los funcionarios cuando brindaron su apoyo a la postura asumida por la Legislatura de Baja California, que negó la anuencia al megaproyecto para la construcción de un puerto de altura.

Los ejidatarios

Jesús Lara Aguirre, representante de alrededor de 650 ejidatarios de las comunidades que forman parte del núcleo urbano de Punta Colonet, asegura que, al igual que el Congreso del estado, tampoco conocen el proyecto. Denuncia que, incluso, han sido ignorados hasta por las autoridades del gobierno estatal en sus demandas de información de primera mano sobre lo que se pretende hacer en esa región del municipio de Ensenada.

“Tuvimos que llevar nuestra gente hasta Mexicali. Los representantes de los ejidos fuimos a visitar al presidente de la mesa directiva del Congreso local, Ricardo Magaña Mosqueda. Nosotros somos los dueños de la tierra, miembros de esas cuatro comunidades, por eso el diputado Magaña, que es panista, se enojó. Él vio la injusticia de que nos quieran jugar, la manera en que nos quieren agandallar, especulando con nuestras tierras, sin saber nosotros qué van a hacer, ni cómo nos van a pagar lo justo. ¿Nos van a desplazar, qué van a hacer con nosotros? Nos ofrecen mucho progreso, pero nos tienen a oscuras. Tuvimos que hacernos presentes en el Congreso para que se acuerden que existimos”, dice.

Los frentes de playa que involucran al puerto Colonet son propiedad de los ejidos 27 de Enero, Villa Morelos, Gustavo Díaz Ordaz y Héroes de Chapultepec, que tienen propiedad desde el farallón, donde se ubica la primera señal de la SCT.

Los ejidatarios, acostumbrados a vivir sin intervención gubernamental, acuden ahora a las autoridades, porque algunos promotores, mediante engaños, han intentado por distintas vías, apropiarse de sus predios.

Según se prevé, el ejido Villa Morelos podría ser el más afectado, ya que se ubica al centro y a los lados de la desembocadura del arroyo San Rafael, y es posible que parte de los terrenos se excaven e inunden durante la construcción. Cabe la posibilidad, incluso, de que por sus tierras circule el ferrocarril que deberá integrarse al puerto para llevar la mercancía hasta Yuma, Arizona.

Los ejidatarios han recibido a distintos emisarios, quienes buscan comprarles terrenos. Algunos se vendieron, por desconocimiento, en cinco dólares el metro cuadrado. Ahora, los corredores de bienes raíces de México y Estados Unidos ofrecen hasta 25 dólares por metro cuadrado.

Según Lara Aguirre, los ejidatarios están a favor de un proyecto como el que se habla, ya que representaría una oportunidad para propiciar el desarrollo de la economía de esa zona.

Indica que aquí aumenta el problema de rentabilidad en la actividad agrícola; sin embargo, advierte que “estamos exigiendo que también haya transparencia en todo esto y sería muy lamentable que por falta de coordinación entre autoridades y de comunicación con la comunidad, vaya a frustrarse la realización de un proyecto de esa naturaleza”.

“No entendemos –añade– por qué las autoridades tienen tanto trabajo en transparentar las cosas”. Ni siquiera el gobernador ha atendido sus solicitudes de audiencia, en lugar de ello envió al secretario de Desarrollo Económico, Sergio Tagliapietra a entrevistarse con ellos, “pero ésta fue sólo una visita de cortesía, porque el funcionario no dio explicación alguna”.

Lara Aguirre dice que, “como dueños de la tierra, queremos saber lo que está ocurriendo”. Advierte que las cuatro comunidades ejidales rechazarán el plan maestro de Desarrollo Urbano de Punta Colonet, que supuestamente está en elaboración, en caso de que no sean tomados en cuenta.

Los ejidatarios temen un intento de expropiación por parte del gobierno federal para beneficiar a los concesionarios, por lo que han establecido un frente común para evitar ser despojados. Ellos desean formar parte del desarrollo que por décadas les ha sido vedado, y piden a los gobiernos estatal, municipal y federal transparentar el proceso del Puerto de Colonet.

http://www.bcalifornia.contralinea.com.mx/archivo/2007/septiembre/htm/Punta_Colonet_negocio.htm

El dos de septiembre se publicaron en D.O.F. las bases para la licitación del Puerto Punta Colonet, el ganador se dará a conocer el 30 de agosto del 2009.

The other day I was listening to a financial podcast where a female caller asked the host how to get out of debt. He responded by asking her how many jobs she and her husband were working and if the total hours worked added up to 60 hours a week. It wasn’t an insult. It was pragmatic advice on how to truly get ahead.

The commentator suggested that they both take a second job each for six months and put all money from the second job towards paying off debt. Fear has gripped the minds of many, and the headlines aren’t helping us at all as we see a new “expert” tell us each day that things are going to get even worse, and much worse than the last guy said they would be.

So, let’s put aside the newspaper and look at some real people who were so radical and inspirational that, in some cases, even Hollywood took notice. Not all heroes have their lives written about in books or turned into blockbuster movies, so we have included some everyday champions, and would love to hear who your heroes are in the comments. We will publish the best examples in an upcoming reader’s choice article, so let us know about your own story or someone you’ve known or been inspired by.

Chris Gardner shows us the importance of self-discipline and perseverance even in the face of worsening conditions. Shame or embarrassment often accompany financial hardship, and can cause paralysis and apathy, where even something as simple as picking up a phone to pursue a sale becomes an impossible task. The big problem here is that a month spent in the dumps mentally can cause things to worsen almost exponentially. So, Gardner shows us who we can be in the face of adversity. But how did he do it?

First, he had someone (or something) that he cared about more than himself–his son–who was completely dependent on him. A child who cannot fend for himself is often the source of motivation for exceptional action, and in this case he didn’t even have time to flinch or think much of his own wants because he had to simply meet basic survival needs. As he had already poured their life savings into buying a portable bone density scanner franchise, he kept making sales appointments after being repeatedly rejected. When his last machine was stolen, he seemingly had nowhere to turn. After taking a free internship at Dean Witter Reynolds, he set out with such a strong drive to survive that it is almost impossible to imagine anyone tackling any business with his discipline without succeeding. If you have seen the movie based on his life “Pursuit of Happyness,” surely you remember the diligence displayed in his cold-calling - he didn’t even put the phone down to hang up so that he could dial the next call immediately.

Mint Tip: Your income is the engine of your finances. If you own your own business or are in a sales role, give yourself a small attainable goal to implement today. It could be as simple as calling everyone on your list whose name starts with the letter A. If you are out of work and discouraged, do as Gardner did and try to find an internship at a company with a lot of growth potential. Don’t be afraid to take a temp job. You never know when your future might already be staring you in the face.

2. Elon Bomani

Elon Bomani found herself penniless and living in a homeless shelter with a small child after her husband emptied her checking account and they divorced. Luckily, she had perfect credit and was able to obtain $100,000 worth of credit cards to start her own businesses and purchase a home with zero down.

Now, certainly taking out $100,000 in debt and buying a home with 100% financing as she did might not sound like an ideal solution. The lesson comes from learning how she first eliminated miscellaneous debt and later turned that debt to her advantage.

Bomani never was a spendthrift (which is how she managed to have such good credit in the first place) and instead of using credit to buy extravagant items for herself, she used it to invest and grow wealth. There’s no question she took a risk and even though now might not seem like the best time to start a new business, her example shows that sometimes a little discomfort might be just what you need to get out from under. It’s never too late to reeducate yourself.

3. Li Ka-shing
Li Ka-shing is the epitome of the self-made man. His family fled China during the Japanese invasion of 1940 and went to live with his wealthy uncle in Hong Kong. His father passed away shortly after the move and a few short years later, he was forced to drop out of school to take responsibility for the family at age 15. Working at a plastic factory for 16 hours a day he acquired the knowledge necessary to start his own factory and eventually became one of the largest suppliers of plastic flowers in the world. The wealth earned from the plastic factory allowed him to take advantage of a decline in property values in the 1960s and begin purchasing land.

He named his company Cheung Kong after the Yangtze River to reflect his belief in the value of synergy. He is now a billionaire and ranks #11 on the Forbes Billionaires List. So, again, we have an example of how the shake-up of the family unit calls people to a level of self-sacrifice they otherwise wouldn’t have achieved. In a recent commencement speech he offered some of the wisdom of his experiences:

“So what is the secret I want to share? It is something I call the hubris index, an internal and on-going process of weighing and measuring the size and affect of our ego. The hubris index governs not only our attitude, but also our behavior. Are we excessively proud and boastful? Do we fail to listen to people that tell us we’re wrong? Do we refuse to get feedback about the outcome of our acts and decisions? And are we lax in planning in advance for possible problems, consequences, and corrective measures? The humble heart,” says the wise man, is the beginning of all knowledge. It is the pathway to enlightenment, spiritual growth, service, and a life lived with joy.”

I have found myself in hard times with a resistance to take on a job that I thought was beneath me, and stubbornly stayed on a path that wasn’t working. In those times, it is difficult to look at someone else’s success and tempting to think of them as lucky or more blessed, but remember these words from one of the richest men in the world - “No, I wasn’t lucky. I worked hard to achieve the goals I set for myself.”

Mint Tip: You have to start somewhere. One of Kay-shing’s key steps on his path to wealth was having enough cash on hand to purchase his own factory when lease expenses went up, which led directly to his impressive real-estate investment portfolio. In your case, this could translate to cutting some fat from your monthly expenses and setting aside the difference in savings each month. If your plan is to buy a home in the next few years, make sure your credit is in good shape. Go to either freecreditreport.com or transunion.com to get the three bureau reports with credit scores. In addition, you can go to listclassaction.com if you are a US Resident to receive six months of free credit monitoring.

4. Deann Alsaker

It’s sometimes hard to relate to the story of a billionaire because it seems so out-of-reach. But those billionaires all started from a quest for survival. Just like Deann Alsaker. Alsaker’s husband worked at a garbage company and noticed that people were throwing out perfectly good clothing. Instead of sending that clothing to a landfill, she saw an opportunity to recycle those items and turn a small profit. She also found a community program called Family Assets for Independence Minnesota (FAIM) to help lower income residents of Minnesota save money for a home, school, or business.

Tragically, her business was completely destroyed by a fire in 2004. Looking back, she told the Star Tribune, “The fire was a real blow, but you learn what you need to do to keep going, and then you do it.”

For someone like Alsaker that was just a momentary setup. Not only did she recoup her losses but she rose from the ashes to become a major contributor to a number of charitable causes—from providing rags for bedding at animal shelters to supplying clothing to developing nations. In 2006, Deann was awarded the Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Award by WomenVenture in St. Paul, Minnesota for her perseverance and entrepreneurship.

5. Bill Clinton

While watching Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, I remembered how much his childhood shaped who he is today. His father was killed in a car accident before he was born. And his mother made the difficult choice to leave her children with their grandparents while she studied to be a nurse.

His grandparents sold goods to people of all races and from all walks of life, and demonstrated concepts of public service to Clinton. In an interview with CBS News, he described his stepfather, Roger Clinton, as an abusive father who was also an alcoholic. “I think the fact that I was born without a father, and that I spent a lifetime trying to put together a picture of one also had a lot to do with how I turned out,” he said. “Good and not so good. But I think on balance, more good than bad.”

He pursued his passion and took to memorizing the words of people who inspired him such as John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Much like Elon Bomani and many others who have overcome adversity to succeed, his intense devotion to furthering his knowledge gave him a foundation of wisdom to draw from. He also worked hard to obtain scholarships at every level of his education. He is admittedly far from perfect, but he is a strong example of the classic American Dream in which a man or woman from a broken home can rise to the most powerful position of leadership in the world through perseverance and commitment.

Mint Tip: When you are just trying to put food on the table, the cost of education can seem out of reach. Consider doing as Clinton did and take advantage of resources that can help you find scholarships such as www.fastweb.com. If the process of researching and applying for them seems overwhelming, give yourself a small, attainable goal such as “today I am going to apply for one scholarship no matter what. Don’t worry about finding the perfect one, just help yourself with a small action step, which helps you get started on the item that you have procrastinated on or avoided for months or even years.

Many of you probably have a similar story of a parent, grandparent, friend or neighbor, and we would love to hear what they have done to be extraordinary and make a better life for their children. You might not think that your story is comparable but whatever the step was that got the ball rolling in the right direction, a month without cable, downsizing to a smaller house, or sharing one family car instead of three–please share your story with your fellow readers, and you just might trigger something in their imagination that puts them on a similar escape trajectory.

A woman walks past a sign featuring a fist holding U.S. dollars in central Beijing on Nov. 27, 2006. Photographer: Natalie Behring/Bloomberg News

Last Updated: 12:31am BST 26/08/2008 -- Rule changes for commercial banks are acting as cover for exchange rate intervention, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard China has resorted to stealth intervention in the currency markets to amass US dollars, using indirect means to hold down the yuan and ease the pain for its struggling exporters as the global slowdown engulfs the economy.

* -- 'A Bundesbank study found 40 cents of every dollar spent by eurozone countries on oil imports comes back again one way or another. The figure for the US is just 10 cents.'

Beijing, dollar, reserves, stealth, exchange rate intervention, China, currency markets, yuan, exporters, global slowdown, economy, HSBC, dollar reserves, proxies, Beijing, reserve requirement, PBOC, Daniel Hui, foreign debt, 'hot money', explosive dollar rebound, OECD nations, Dollar Index, Federal Reserve, eurozone, the China effect, Simon Derrick, PMI, Hong Kong, clothing, footwear, furniture, Pearl River Delta, National Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai stock market, Li Ka-shing, Hutchison, Speculators, global credit crisis, Lehman Brothers, housing slump, Guangzhou, vicious cycle

The crisis is turning Li 'very conservative about acquisitions', he told reporters here yesterday while announcing the results of his companies Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd.

The US housing slump has triggered more than US$500 billion in credit- market losses for banks globally and led to the collapse and sale of Bear Stearns Cos, the fifth-largest US securities firm.

Mr Li, Asia's richest man according to Forbes magazine, controls companies that operate businesses including retail, real estate, container ports and energy in 57 countries.

'Mr Li's views tend to be accurate,' said Castor Pang, a strategist at Sun Hung Kai Securities Ltd here.

'Looking ahead, signs of a US economic slowdown will become even more obvious. Asia has a high correlation with the US, so market performances will likely get worse.'

Sometimes called 'superman' by Hong Kong's media for his investing skill, Mr Li arrived here from mainland China in 1940 and built his Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd into Hong Kong's second-biggest developer by market value from a company he founded in 1950 to make plastic flowers.

Mr Li's comments echo those of Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, who said 'the worst is yet to come in the US'.

Credit-market turmoil has driven the US into a recession and may topple some of the nation's biggest banks, Mr Rogoff, a Harvard University professor of economics, said in an interview in Singapore on Aug 19.

'The financial sector needs to shrink,' Mr Rogoff said. 'I don't think simply having a couple of medium- sized banks and a couple of small banks going under is going to do the job.'

Hong Kong will be shielded to some extent because of China's economic outlook, Mr Li said.

Hong Kong's negative real interest rates are keeping the housing market stable and real estate 'has always been a big part of the economy here', Mr Li said.

China, the world's fastest growing major economy, will see its economy continue to grow above 8 per cent 'in the next few years', Mr Li said.

China's CSI 300 Index is down 54 per cent this year, the most among 88 major benchmark indexes tracked by Bloomberg, because of concern measures to cool inflation will damp both profit and economic growth. - Bloomberg

Source : Business Times - 22 Aug 2008

Nevertheless, I ackowledge the influence of secret societies like the Masons in the founding of this Republic as well as the existence of such plutocrat fraternities as Yale's Skull and Bones Society and the Trilateral Commission. Back in college, I read Richard J. Barnet's seminal 1976 book, Global Reach: The Power of Multinationals.

Still, I had never heard of the Bilderberg Club until a few days ago, when the same friend who told me about the secret plan to introduce the amero mentioned it.

"What's that?" I asked. And she replied, "You know, the 100 or so businessmen and political leaders who pull the strings of the world's economy."

I've done a little research since then and it appears that the Bilderberg Club is primarily a translantic organization. I hope they've widened their mandate and invited Ratan Tata and Li Ka-Shing to become members because the times, they are a changin'. India and China are rising economic stars.

I thought it would be fun to run the chart of the Bilderberg Club, which according to the Wiki, first met on May 29, 1954, in the Netherlands. You can see the chart here, courtesy of Astrodienst. I've set the chart for 9 a.m. because that's when conferences usually start.

With a stellium of Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, and South Node in Cancer opposing Mars and the North Node in Capricorn, this chart has strong connections to the U.S. chart, whichever one you use. I like the Sibley chart, which you can see here, courtesy of AstroDataBank. The U.S. chart has Venus/Jupiter/Sun/Mercury in Cancer, opposed by Pluto in Capricorn.

The Venus/Jupiter of the U.S. chart closely mirrors the Venus/Jupiter of the Bilderberg chart. So what? Well, both charts are going to be challenged by Pluto, which returns to Capricorn on Nov. 26, 2008. You may recall that Pluto dipped a toe into Capricorn earlier this year. Another aspect that both charts are experiencing is the transit of beneficial Jupiter through Capricorn in 2008.

The presence of Jupiter gives U.S. leaders and Bilderberg Club members great flexibility in dealing with financial problems. This includes expansive measures such as keeping the Federal Reserve's discount window open to investment banks until January, 2009 (the deadline was originally mid-September) and asking Congress to give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a blank check to restore investor confidence in the troubled mortgage lenders.

But once Jupiter enters Aquarius on Jan. 17, 2009, that protection disappears. It will be time for a restructuring of both the U.S. and the Bilderberg Club as transiting Pluto in Capricorn opposes Venus and Jupiter in Cancer in both charts. Things get really extreme with the so-called cardinal climax, a T-square involving Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto in the early degrees of cardinal signs. Ray Merriman explains it here.

What's really interesting is that the Cancer lineups in both the U.S. and Bilderberg Club charts form the final point of a grand cross (the T-square is Saturn in Libra opposing Uranus in Aries, squaring Pluto in Capricorn). Maybe that's when we'll see a merger between the dollar and the euro. (The amero is supposed to replace the U.S. and Canadian dollars and the Mexican peso.) Cue spooky music!

One potential hitch to the New World Order conspiracy: The U.S. Uranus in Gemini sits exactly on the Bilderberg Club's Sun. Perhaps revolutionary (Uranus) elements in the U.S. thwart some of the Bilderberg Club's intentions (Sun).

I'm hoping that Jude at Jude's Threshold, who has written a lot about the New World Order and the plutocrats who have been planning it, will weigh in on this chart when she's done toasting the nuptials of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi.

I guess the last of the rice and confetti has been swept up at Jude's Threshold, because Jude has posted a dynamite commentary on the Bilderberg Club. You can read it here. Thanks a million, Jude!

Fuente: http://coleccion.educ.ar/coleccion/CD5/contenidos/img/docente/sugeridas/perpectiva-img-5.jpg

Las donaciones altruistas, hasta hace poco, eran criticables y mal vistas en China. De hecho, el partido comunista tenía la idea de que estas podrían buscar el cariño del pueblo con intereses partidistas. Ahora, la situación es completamente distinta. A finales del 2007, este país obtuvo 1,369 donativos, de los cuales una tercera parte fueron del sector privado. Si bien la mayoría de estas donaciones, en estos últimos años, han estado enfocadas a intereses muy particulares, poco a poco se marca una tendencia en dónde el interés primordial son las causas sociales.

Antes de que el comunismo llegara, ese país ya poseía una cultura en donde la nobleza otorgaba un sentido de obligación hacia el pueblo. Durante siglos, los ricos daban a los pobres refugio y comida, ya que la idea del altruismo obliga a la gente a pasar su tiempo inspirando a otros hacia buenas causas (concepto que se conoce bajo el nombre de Jiaohua).

Shi Zhegronge, a sus 45 años, está plenamente consciente de que no se puede pensar en filantropía si no se tiene ni para las comidas de los próximos días. Él es uno de tantos emprendedores que en sus inicios no tuvo tiempo para pensar en labor social, pero desde que su compañía, Suntech Power, en Diciembre de 2005 llegó a la bolsa de valores de Nueva York y ahora tiene un valor de 2.9 billones de dólares, las cosas han cambiado. Shi ha donado ya 2 millones a  Yangshong en China, su pueblo natal, para infraestructura y otros proyectos; 5 millones a la organización de cambio climático de Al Gore; y, 2 millones para el Sydney Theatre Co. con la intención de instalar paneles solares.

Dentro del grupo de personas que están causando impacto con su sentido altruista en este país, podemos encontrar a Lee Shau Kee que con sus 19 billones ha gastado 43 millones capacitando personal de áreas de la salud. Li Ka-Shing, por su lado, con un valor de 26.5 billones ya habla de donar un tercio de su fortuna para mejorar su país. Yang Huiyan, junto con su padre Yeung Kwok Keung donaron el año pasado 32 millones, convirtiéndose con esto en los filántropos con mayor impacto en su país.

Para pensar en grande, hay que ser grande. La gente está más que nunca preocupada sobre el cómo gasta su dinero y en qué lo hace, y esto no es privativo de China. Algunos conocen la pobreza en carne propia. Aparentemente cuando se tiene la certeza de qué está sucediendo con el mundo, se tiene la confianza de donar y ser caritativos sin miedo a que el producto de su trabajo se vea mal encausado. El objetico es que cada donativo llegue a cumplir su meta y mejore la calidad de vida para otros.

Cuando una compañía tiene ventas anuales de 1.35 billones, y crece a un ritmo de 125%, su principal interés debería ser el desarrollo integral de su entorno. El dinero maneja al mundo, pero ahora quienes lo posean tendrá en sus manos grandes decisiones. Dentro de los próximos años, emprendedores como Shi podrán  impactar al mundo en la manera que mejor les parezca. Afortunadamente hay un eco que resuena en los rincones del planeta y que habla sobre conciencia social.

"Two-thirds of the 1,125 billionaires on our list are self-made, having built their immense empires from scratch. While earning a billion bucks is admirable under any circumstances, some billionaires have overcome especially daunting odds en route to their fabulous wealth. From academic struggles and family tragedies to substance abuse and extreme poverty, these modern-day Horatio Algers have lived a capitalist fairy tale."

--Devon Pendleton

But here's what Facebook CFO Gideon Yu told me: Facebook has had 4 rounds of equity capital financing and two rounds of debt financing. Here are its investors:

Microsoft: $240 million
Li Ka-shing: $120 million
Group of individual investors: $15 million

Before that Yu says Facebook raised another $37.5 million from a "B" round venture investment from Accel Partners and a "C" round investment from Greylock Partners and Meritech Capital Partners.

$12.5 million came from Accel Partners in May 2005. And in April 2006 $25 million came from Greylock Partners, Meritech Capital Partners and Facebook’s existing investors Accel Partners and Peter Thiel also participated. Lastly, published reports have said that in late 2004 Peter Thiel invested $500,000 in angel money in Facebook.

That comes out to a grand total of $413 million. Add in the $100 million it got from TriplePoint at that brings you to $513 million. But that still does not include the first round of debt financing. I don't know how much that was for.

Here's what I think:

1. This was a smart business decision: Even if Facebook could raise more money at a $15 billion valuation, it makes economic sense to use some minimal form of debt financing to pay for capex. It's reflects the company's maturation process. As my story shows, more and more startups are beginning to take advantage of debt financing. Moreover, as Lee points out, even at a discounted $5 billion valuation, $100 million in debt would give Facebook a paltry 2% debt-to-equity ratio. That hardly puts the company in risky territory even if the economy gets worse.

2. As crazy as this sounds, I think Facebook would have a decent shot at raising more money at a valuation at or close to $15 billion. Does that mean I believe Facebook is worth that much? No. But Facebook's valuation doesn't depend on my opinion. It's based on the marketplace's opinion. And already, two of the most successful business enterprises in the world (Microsoft and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing) have ponied up large slugs of capital at a $15 billion valuation.

There's dumb money, smart money and strategic money. And Facebook was shrewd enough and successful enough to take the strategic capital. Microsoft has helped Facebook generate advertising revenue while it gets its own ad business going, while Li Ka-Shing will open many doors for the company in Asia.

Both of these players invested in the company at a valuation that most people couldn't stomach because they believe they can generate more value on the asset compared to other entities that don't bring as much strategic value to the table (and because they can afford to lose $100 million or more). This is exactly why News Corp paid a massive premium for Dow Jones. Is Dow Jones worth $5 billion? Probably not to anyone except Rupert Murdoch. Only time will tell if these moves were brilliant or boneheaded. But there is perverse logic at work here.

So bottom line: I would venture that Facebook has a good chance at raising more money from another strategic-type investor at that seemingly irrational valuation--especially if it keeps growing its business and starts to figure out how to monetize social networks.

To my friend and mentor, to have a dream is like to breath. When we breath, the oxygen will carry the blood cells to every departments of our body so that each and every organ will respond to its master. The next thing he makes me remember is that a dream remains only a dream if we don't take the necessary actions to achieve it.

My friend (at 33) is also a perfect example of a successful entrepreneur who rose from rags to riches. Almost seeing it all after finishing high-school he explained to me that in life, everyone will go their own path and each path has its own test of wits. The thing is never let your emotions get to you. It is very hard he says, to control your emotions when the going gets tough but at the end of the day the winner is always the one that can handle their emotions perfectly.

Having a dream is not just as simple as setting it but living by it. It involves going through the hardship of planning, execution, and re-alignment. Go through all the details of your plan, learn it by hard, know it at your finger tips. I can attest that many successful man shares the same thoughts too. Another great story which I will be writing soon is Mr. Li Ka Shing (Worlds Top 11riches).

To go through every details in the process is knowing how much you want it realized. Every thing has a starting point. Every big thing is made out of small actions. To summed up what he is trying to convey I have put it in these words:

"Take the first step of your journey now and you will reach your destination sooner."

Set your dreams today. What is stopping you? A dream can be small or can be big. There is no limitation to it. According to the secrets which i have seen it so many times, and practicing it I tend to believe that setting a dream is important.

I will continue my friend's story from time to time as I continue to seek the essence of his success.

Li said during a Hutchison Whampoa earnings conference call on Thursday that he was upping his previous $60 million investment, made last November and which gave him 0.4% of the company. But he didn't say by how much, and clearly no one thought to ask him. Reuters has now run down a number.

What does Li hope to get for his $120 million? One clue comes from what he said on Thursday, that he saw some synergy between Facebook and the 3G services of Hutch's mobile phone business. That makes some sense given that China has 465 million mobile phone users but only 172 million Web ones.

And while Facebook is having a hard time figuring out how to make money out of all the users of its Web site, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to make money off IM and SMS mobile phone services. Just look at Tencent/QQ. In 2007, at $523 million, it had four times Facebook's revenue, with a fifth of that coming from mobile services. Tencent also reported a $224 million operating profit last year. Facebook lost $50 million.

Li has a head that is both old and wise. If he can crack the China market for Facebook that $15 billion valuation on Zuckerberg's site won't look quite so mind-boggling.

Li talked about his Facebook investment on an earnings call for Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa this morning, where he is chairman. MarketWatch reported that Li is willing to invest even more because "we could have some synergy between the 3G services of Hutchison and Facebook, so the customers could use Facebook on mobile phones."

Hutchison, which provides 3G service in Asia, Europe and the Middle East under the 3 brand, has lost more than $16 billion since 2002 building out 3G networks. In fact Hutchison today reported that its 3G services turned cash-flow positive for the first time in 2007, with 17.6 million subscribers worldwide and total sales of HK$ 59.91 billion ($7.7 billion). However, it still reported a net loss of $2.31 billion on 3G services.

An alliance with Facebook might be a way to pump up the brand a bit more. Actually, this looks remarkably similar to Microsoft's reason for investing in Facebook. And who wouldn't put a $15 billion valuation on sex appeal?

I've been to Zhuhai, and the first thought that strikes the casual visitor to that affluent, bicycle-less city is: Here is a place exhibiting an astonishing lack of urgency to acquire more air-borne particles.

Some bleeding-heart, tree hugging liberals might say the same about Lantau, but in this as in so many other things our government stands firm: Lantau has been lagging behind in the air-borne particles-stakes for too long.

The dull-brown pall hanging over young family paradise Tung Chung aside, the island just doesn't have enough trucks spewing out emissions from illegal diesel bought in places like, yes, Zhuhai.

So it's HK government to the rescue.

Now all Lantau dwellers will be able to enjoy the kind of air, noise and traffic density that is the birthright of everyone else in Hong Kong. Hooray.

Although the project still hasn't been put out to tender and although the government isn't confident that any one company will take it on (what, Cheung Kong Holdings turning down an opportunity to create jobs for the boys entirely paid for by the HK tax payer?) - when the environmental assessment is all in the box, (no prizes for guessing the result there) the job can go ahead.

So it will cost some $1,300 for a truck driver to pay the bridge toll one way, according to the figures our economists have tentatively put out. So what? As one can see from the Western Tunnel, the more it costs to drive through it, the more people will clamour to do so and the more we will have solved our traffic problems.

But if, like Disneyland, this new white elephant should be a case of "Build it and they will stay away in droves," at least we can count on our government to foot the bill.