With a population of 1,321,851,888 China is a giant who menaces the world with its power; or so the popular perception goes.

The truth is that China is pathetic.

1994 a 6.4 earthquake hits LA 72 people die

2008 a 7.9 earthquake hits China 60,000 people die

WHY

Because unlike the US, which is a real super power, the government there has the money to invest in quake proofing its buildings against such an event.

China, which is a paper tiger super power, does not have the money or inclination to do so because it is a backwards dictatorship.

China has no aircraft carriers, no nuclear missile subs and its longest range rocket cannot even reach the US. It threatens its neighbours, especially Taiwain, every now and again to look fierce, but in truth, it is a regional power at best and a poor one at that.

China is more to be pitied than feared.

From his own website

Richard is a Politics and Philosophy graduate of University College Dublin where he was Research Fellow in 2006. Prior to this he worked in politics in Washington DC, before heading up a small Irish policy group, the Freedom Institute.

A regular commentator in the broadcast media, Richard also publishes with Magill magazine. In 2007, he began work with Joint Force Quarterly, a publication of the US Department of Defense's National Defense University, as a reviewer.

Maybe its just my inbuilt neutrality but should the Chief Political Commentator for the Irish Daily Mail really be working for a foreign government? I mean he actually works for the US's Dept of Defence in their National Defence University!

Also I know the Mail is a UK paper but (a) its supposed to be covering Irish News (b) Waghorne is working for the US and not even the UK government.

Also he loves President Bush, unlike 70+% of Americans and thinks Ireland is far too left wing. He wants to see a big shift to the right.

Interview from Disillusioned Lefty's

What popular political myth would you like to dispel?
Two perhaps, one important than other more trivial. I don't think Ireland has what could reasonably be termed as a 'right-wing', 'free-market', or 'conservative' government. To my mind the case against the current crowd is rightly made from the 'right' of where they are, not the left, quibbles with 'right' and 'left' as terms notwithstanding.

The second myth is the one that George Bush is a bit of an idiot. Hardly the most crucial of myths to dispel, but the man does hold degrees from Yale and Harvard, with better grades than quite a few of his political opponents. Bush critics would do everyone, not least themselves, a favour if they stuck to the guy's policies and ideas rather than the caricatures.

How far to the Right can Ireland go in the next decade?
Intellectually and as a movement, very far indeed, not least because the 'right' in Ireland remains currently lacks focus and confidence so there's ground to gain. My worry is that people under thirty tend to take economic success as a bit of a given and don't always recognize that prudent policy choices are essential for more of the same. There will be a reaction soon enough to the recent shift to the left and the resurgence of the unions as jobs and growth start to disappear. I see the right cohering a lot in the next few years, but the country as a whole moving appreciably to the left in the short-term.

You did some work with CATO in Washington; tell us a little about that (hilarious anecdotes are accepted and, in fact, encouraged).
I was working on Social Security privitization, which got depressing as it was and is going nowhere fast. Washington, though, is an amazing town. I'd go for my morning run on the National Mall and just wonder at the beauty and history of it all. You can't get away from the history. The Vietnam Memorial covered with family flowers to lost ones on Fathers' Day is an enduring memory, as is speaking with wounded soldiers back from Iraq. I'd talk about meeting the President, but it was only the very briefest of handshakes, so there's not much to say. He does come across much better in person than on TV, though even his supporters would admit that that's not saying much.

Richard's politics are not my cup of tea but taking a job with the US Dept of Defence conflicts completely with his job as a reporter. Who's agenda is Richard pushing? His own..........our someone else's?

Creepy! or should that be SPOOKY?

In an interview in the latest edition of Hot Press magazine, Mr Cannon (who? Oh, Yeah the new PD leader) is asked about religion and replies: "I would be bordering on the agnostic."

"Anybody with any kind of analytical mind would question that set of beliefs," he said. Though we not sure if he meant PD policy or the teachings of Jesus Christ.

He continues "I have a very analytical and logical mind. I came to the conclusion that I am not certain whether God exists or not."

He does not state whether is as sure about the future of his party as he is about God.

Despite this doubt has also been a member of his church choir for 30 years, ie a bit like being in the PDs, you're in the party but not sure if you should be.