Such a Long Journey

Would you still roll?
If we couldn't see the sun risin off the shore of Thailand
Would you ride then?
If I wasn't droppin'?
--Jay Z

We went on a killer boat cruise to Bottle Beach and a waterfall frequented by the King of Thailand...Also did some snorkeling (sp?) off the coast and checked out some cool corral.

A couple of things caught my eye today:

Japan faces 58 bil. yen tab for interceptor

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The United States has asked Japan to contribute 58 billion yen toward a joint missile defense development project expected to begin in fiscal 2006, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Sunday.

The U.S. government estimates it will spend a total of 545 million dollars (about 58.3 billion yen) on the project by fiscal 2011 and it has requested Japan make an equal contribution.

The level of resentment towards Bush and by extension, Koizumi, over the Iraqi war is so high in Japan, that an announcement like this will probably lead to more voter dissatisfaction with the Japanese leadership. The Japanese electorate hates many of the ties to the US and hates Bush. This won't help.

Israel apologizes to U.S. over China arms sale

By Megan Goldin

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel publicly apologized to the United States on Sunday over arms exports to China that have drawn criticism from Washington and strained U.S.-Israeli security ties.

"It is impossible to hide the crisis between Israel and the United States with regard to the security industries. We are doing everything possible to put it behind us," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said on Israel Radio.

Israel is of course the backdoor that makes the EU arms sales to China strategically unimportant. What China really needed was a political victory. The interesting bit here, is that Israel is willing to screw over one of its biggest allies for trade with China.

It's a pattern of course, just as allies traded diplomatic relations with Taiwan for China, now they are selling out the US for the rising eastern power.

Just a interesting trend. Australia and Israel won't be the last.