000webhost

Web hosting

Thursday, April 28, 2016

More PSYOPS, Random Thoughts, and More

- look at the social engineering and mind control experiments of days past and it's blatantly obvious that marketing and propaganda plays a huge role in society in nowadays. Core to things is the belief that a small group of people are somehow best placed and qualified to 'lead' the rest of society (one of the great ironies here is that I recently saw a graph which stated that on average SAT performance was better among the Asian population than black, hispanic, or white population. Shouldn't that mean by definition that the ruling class should be 'Asian'? Some of the history behind some of this is just rediculous at times) because they're too dumb to know otherwise. They need to be deceived for the overall benefit of society. You don't need to influence an entire group. You just need to influence enough people to be able to create a 'tipping point'. What's clear is that there is no such thing as democracy now. Every single society that exists now exists as a pseudo democracy if these techniques are in wide spread use (which they seem to be)
Edward Bernays - Architect of the Consumer Mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkohEoc69og
Five Basic Methods of Mind Control and Manipulation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxxXLx10fos
NOAM CHOMSKY LECTURE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2dJ0iBhTcA
Noam Chomsky - Manufacturing Consent - People's Tribune Radio (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Oc3UVEQHM
Noam Chomsky Speech from 'Manufacturing Consent' (short version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USn4ZLvLPNs
Michael Cross
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3XJz3ZkzIW5sjpaaX3pp2Q
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Gladwell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tipping_Point
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/cia-running-defamation-campaign-against-putin/ri652
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird
https://www.metabunk.org/debunked-the-cia-owns-everyone-of-any-significance-in-the-major-media.t158/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Colby
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/10/16/cia-owns-everyone-significance-major-media/
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/10/27/myth-free-press
http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-blocks-apple-itunes-and-ibook-stores-after-launch-of-ten-years-20160423-godgyz.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-regulator-reprimands-15-publishers-false-reports-xinhua-063139819--finance.html?ref=gs
http://www.zdnet.com/article/china-finally-hitting-us-where-it-hurts-in-nsa-spying-aftermath/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/snowden-seeks-legal-guarantee-to-receive-prize-in-norway/2016/04/21/e4e9459e-07ea-11e6-bfed-ef65dff5970d_story.html
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/16/04/16/1458242/snowden-predicts-global-iphone-hack-records-song?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
https://warisboring.com/video-games-can-be-a-powerful-force-for-propaganda-983d48da702b?source=latest---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_outcomes_in_the_United_States_by_race_and_other_classifications#Income_and_class
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/16/460983/Protests-blast-big-money-in-US-politics/
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/15/460963/US-Iran-nuclear-deal-sanctions-JCPOA
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/16/460968/United-Nations-Zeid-Raad-Al-Hussein-human-rights-election-Trump/
- one of the interesting things for me is that just how advanced and pervasive some of the PSYOPS operations have become (whether through accident or design) and how the thoughts of so few have influenced society en-masse. I previously wondered whether it was possible that our education system was somehow rigged to produce those who were somewhat conservative and that it was more about filtering those who were more suitable for society rather than being based on raw talent alone. What seems clear is that there have been many others who have wondered (and have evidence) that this is actually the case. Let's say we control who can the education system; media propagation, concentration, and messaging; allocation of capital; and so on we can effectively control who goes to which particular parts of society and what they basically think. In this context it's very difficult to figure out how progress is possible? Curtailing thought is self-defeating almost. Think about innovaiton and periods of scientific history. For a long time we thought that Earth was the centre of the Universe, that it was flat, that tha atom was basically it, etc... and we came up with rediculous theories to 'prove' our dogma. I wonder how long it'll be before we realise that this is also the case here? For me, the ruling class would have legitimacy in using these mechanisms if things were going particularly well but ask yourself are they? Look at some of the decisions that many of them have made over the years when others have consistently warned them
How Media Manipulates Our Values and Perception.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPRnOpHRgDU
Corporate Attack on Education, Chomsky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbMP-cy1INA
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=edward+bernays+architect+of+the+consumer+mind
Edward Bernays: Architect of the Consumer Mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkohEoc69og
Edward Bernays - Advertising, Engineering of Consent, Marketing, Public Relations (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdo-SBcA5as
The Invention of Public Relations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBEclayBCdc
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=edward+bernays
Noam Chomsky 'Who Controls the Message' (Full)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdxOEGzTdJI
http://www.psychpage.com/learning/library/intell/biased.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_in_Mental_Testing
http://wilderdom.com/personality/intelligenceCulturalBias.html
http://www.realclearscience.com/lists/5_pop_psychology_myths/iq_tests_biased.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/q6gs8/how_are_iq_tests_considered_racially_biased
- one of the things that are clear is that by making it very difficult to get a job at what is classified as a 'top firm' then you can achieve a semblance of control over whoever it is your hiring. Big assumption is that the education system acts like a sort of filtration system and then human resourcing. This includes behaviour. If we assume that this is deliberate (to create better citizen behaviour) then we can extrapolate this to recruitment as well. Fundamentally, the question being asked is 'are you going to rock the boat?' By making the perks good and life difficult you achieve greater control over your subject. Watch the way officer/agent recruitment is handled in the security services and the way it is being used in the real world and you'll realise that the lines are really blurring. However, the more you listen to everything about some of the 'prestige firms' and the more 'normal' they appear
'How to Get a Job at the Big 4 - Amazon, Facebook, Google & Microsoft' by Sean Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJZCUhxNCv8
Job Won! - An Insider Look on Getting Hired Fast and Advancing Your Career
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8d12DBYYk
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/04/hybrid-warfare-more-psyops-and-more.html 
John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, Proxy Wars & Those Behind Them
A CIA Whistleblower Speaks (w_ John Kiriakou)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQZGD1d9aeI
A Sea of Blood - John Kiriakou on Reality Asserts Itself (6_10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLYqlR0kP9w
Ex CIA agent John Kiriakou jailed for speaking against waterboarding   Baltimore Post Examiner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8tUetLWC54
Ex-CIA Officer John Kiriakou - 'The Government Turned Me Into a Dissident'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaiyVMRGE0M
How I Joined the CIA - John Kiriakou on Reality Asserts Itself (2_10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mabclbi5Dp4
SILENCED - Whistleblower Documentary w. Thomas Andrew Drake, Jesselyn Raddack + James Spione
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ZeqS49pkM
Splendour Forum 2015 - Keynote John Kiriakou (Friday July 24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXpClkw38CY
War on Whistleblowers (ft. Edward Snowden & David Carr) 2015 • FULL DOCUMENTARY • BRAVE NEW FILMS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWBQGVc2kq8
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/04/hybrid-warfare-more-psyops-and-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theories-understanding.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/02/shadow-government-key-players-and-more.html
- due to the pervasive nature of PSYOPS and propaganda nowadays very rarely are people able to see the 'full picture'. If you knew the complete truth behind most things you'd be much more likely to hold a more neutral position. Do background on any topic you might imagine that is clear cut in this world. It may shock you that there's often a very reasonable case for the other side as well. The worrying part is that the truth often has very deep historical roots that most people aren't aware of or don't care about. The funny feeling I have is that people in the West are aware of this and are attempting to maintain the 'World Order' as is for this very reason or just want to maintain the 'status quo' because they want to run things. People behind the mass mind control/PSYOP movement believe that it is vital to maintain civil cohesion though
John Pilger   Breaking the Silence  Truth and Lies in the War on Terror
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX-vSbnGReo
John Pilger - The Truth Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2aSpaRu2Fk
Going Underground - John Pilger talks Gaza, Ukraine & Western media bias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41YTAZHIWN8
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/11/israelipalestinian-conflict-counter.html
Going Underground Special - John Pilger on Paris, ISIS and Media Propaganda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLnjlx8zVRE
John Pilger - The Mexicans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBir4P7e7k
John Pilger - Cambodia - Return to Year Zero [1993]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PxpXf-6sY
John Pilger - Vietnam - The Quiet Mutiny [1970]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-eVbJbgUpE
John Pilger - Obama and Empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXL998q7skI
John Pilger - The New Rulers Of The World [2001]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uW1qJoWYPg
MUST-SEE interview with John Pilger - USA, UK and France gave birth to ISIS monster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_XwwMokHg
Freeway Rick Ross x Alex Jones Interview (CIA, Gary Webb, Cocaine and Moor)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7nlSKEtjWs
Gary Webb on C.I.A. Trafficking of Cocaine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dHqP9wc3k
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imitation_Game
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/04/hybrid-warfare-more-psyops-and-more.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/03/psychological-warfaremind-control-more.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/proxy-wars-and-provocations-relations-between-russia-and-the-us-are-chilling-a6997526.html
Military force “on the table” in relation to Russia, US commander says
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/04/23/nato-a23.html
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Towards_A_%27Google_World_Order%27%3F/50666/0/38/38/Y/M.html
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/24/462230/US-tyranny-imperialism/
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/24/462278/US-Syria-Iran-Russia
https://www.rt.com/news/340745-north-korea-nuclear-us-drills/
http://russia-insider.com/en/history/real-reason-us-dropped-bomb-japan/ri9141
http://russia-insider.com/en/zbigniew-brzezinsky-downsizes-imperial-ambitions/ri14037
http://russia-insider.com/en/revenge-vikings-iceland-will-create-its-own-money/ri14036
time.com/4306179/china-religion-freedom-xi-jinping-muslim-christian-xinjiang-buddhist-tibet/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/340828-president-hillary-russia-american-relations/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/340766-libertarians-gary-johnson-presidential-race/
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/25/462410/EU-United-States-of-Europe-deceleration-Britain-EU-Army-German-Dutch/
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/25/462418/Iran-Leader-South-Africa-Imperialism-Glenn/
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/south-china-sea-the-fight-china-will-take-to-the-brink-of-war-20160425-goe3zi.html
- the problem with such abundant use of PSYOPS and propaganda throughout the world people can get caught up in their own story. They may never be able to see the other sides perspective
http://www.watoday.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/60-minutes-tara-browns-comments-were-wrong-and-she-should-count-herself-lucky-20160424-goe14p.html
- one of the things alluded to in Bernays work is that if news is entertainment no matter how rediculous people will still listen. Something which is said of both US and Russian PSYOPS
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/60-minutes-put-entertainment-before-journalism-in-lebanon-professor-says-20160414-go6on5.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-2016-negative-gearing-reduced-to-schoolboy-debating-20160425-goe5f1.html
- after a while you have a gut feeling about what operations are in play. The only question is whether or not they're crazy enough to believe in it. For instance, you wonder though whether or not the reason why people are encouraged to be super thin and diet is actually a PSYOP which is designed to reduce global resource consumption? Let's say that proof of God is is non-existent or incomplete but the powers that be think that blanket surveillance over everything is a way to keep a check on things since most people have faith in 'God' and his teachings? If we look at the concept of universal free values and democracy more cynically then basically we see what the conspiracy theorists and rivals of the US/West are talking about. It could also be used as a means of subverting their values and ultimately freeing up new markets and achieving greater harmony. It comes at an obvious cost. People's faith in their religion. For instance, US/Western norms with regards to feminism and Islam are completely dia-metrically opposed. It makes sense that many people in the Middle-East are so wary of the US/West. Honestly, if people want to live under those particular set of rules shouldn't it be their choice? If the US/West really want people to live under our set of rules why not just offer all of them citizenship or support them 'all the way'? This is why the conspiracy theorists go into overdrive with regards to it being used to open up new markets perhaps?
http://www.mintpressnews.com/215837-2/215837/
https://theintercept.com/2016/04/21/listen-to-an-fbi-honeypot-on-the-job/
https://soundcloud.com/firstlookmedia/02-02-2016-ci-d-call-2-01
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/john-f-kerry-and-the-vietnam-war-continue-to-be-intertwined/2016/04/26/cedadee2-0890-11e6-a12f-ea5aed7958dc_story.html
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/340391-us-benefits-taliban-terrorists/
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/24/asia/china-xi-jinping-analysis/
http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-election/gap-between-rich-and-poor-worse-than-ever-bernie-sanders-tells-vatican-conference-20160415-go7u4z.html
https://www.rt.com/news/339672-iraqi-youth-usa-enemy-poll/
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/egypts-regeni-crisis-repercussions-european-hypocrisy-65956835
- over time, you basically figure out that deterrence is effectively the adult's version of a game of 'chicken'
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-scs-training-idUSKCN0XE0GZ
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/17/461201/China-Brunei-Malaysia-Philippines-Vietnam-Tian/
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-russias-edge-electronic-warfare-could-ground-the-us-air-15932
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/revealed-inside-the-us-navys-mighty-ford-class-carriers-15923
- as stated in my last post, it's blatantly obvious that old Cold War rivals still the same perspectives. What I (and probably heaps of others) wonder about is who would win if basically the world shut were to basically split off into the same hemispheres of old. For some strange reason, I don't think it would be as clear cut this time. Debt loads in many parts of the world are so bad that it's basically acting as a limiter on economic growth. In which case, I don't think that technically there could be a 'winner' in this race. It would be a case who comes less worse off. At the moment globalisation sort of keeps things in check such as US shale maintaining a cap on oil prices and cheap steel from China keeping a check on steel prices. If we seal each other off and then we could have absolute mayhem if governments aren't able to figure out alternate arrangements. As in the leadup to the previous World Wars such co-operation makes conflict less likely but also more likely depending on the individual circumstances
BCFA - Professor ROBERT LEGVOLD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWQFC0t-eZE
Professor Robert Legvold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_XuxyLTPeA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/25/462527/US-Russia-Obama-EU-sanctions-Zolotarev/
http://www.smh.com.au/business/china-theyre-just-not-that-into-us-any-more-20160415-go770m.html
http://russia-insider.com/en/obama-requests-military-support-possible-war-against-russia/ri14043
https://next.ft.com/content/9d285120-088d-11e6-a623-b84d06a39ec2
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/putins-aide-americas-business-new-world-war/ri13692
https://www.rt.com/news/339796-russia-existential-threat-poland/
https://www.rt.com/business/339734-russian-stock-market-mobius/
http://www.watoday.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/was-that-a-threat-the-message-given-to-malcolm-turnbull-on-his-visit-to-china-20160415-go7s3k.html
http://www.smh.com.au/world/top-officials-from-china-and-us-hit-the-south-china-sea-20160415-go7vax.html
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/malcolm-turnbulls-election-pitch-stamped-made-in-china-20160415-go7jt3.html
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-praises-chinas-economic-miracle-urges-more-openness-20160414-go6anu.html
http://www.smh.com.au/world/cubans-relive-obamas-visit-with-offline-internet-20160416-go7yhv.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/world/europe/russias-separate-piece-sets-off-alarms-about-a-cold-war-revival.html?_r=0
http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-stocks-fall-on-monday-april-18-2016-4
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-talks-china-finance-links-071016796.html
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/where-trump-is-right-on-china--it-s-dumping-steel-193103355.html
https://www.rt.com/business/339990-doha-oil-freeze-novak/
https://www.rt.com/news/331545-su-35-deployed-latakia/
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/undercurrents-affecting-submarine-decision-20160418-go8q2n.html
https://www.rt.com/politics/340158-most-russians-regret-ussr-has/
https://www.rt.com/news/326666-putin-ukraine-soviet-union-turkey/
https://www.rt.com/news/328473-world-balance-russian-interests-putin/
https://www.rt.com/politics/340062-top-russian-investigator-proposes-internet/
http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-retrofitting-its-heavy-cruisers-carrier-killers-21st-century/ri13459
https://russiandefpolicy.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/for-nakhimovs-price/
http://russia-insider.com/en/military/how-and-why-russia-launched-its-cruise-missiles-against-isis/ri10315
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/11/europe/russia-opposition-ilya-yashin/
http://globalnews.ca/news/2217219/few-jobs-and-little-hope-but-rural-russia-sticks-with-putin/
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/sunday-review/why-russians-hate-america-again.html?_r=0
https://www.rt.com/news/227423-us-russia-cold-war/
https://www.rt.com/politics/340501-gorbachev-urges-west-to-stop/
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-could-build-nuclear-plants-for-south-china-sea-report-1398316
http://www.smh.com.au/world/911-court-row-reveals-saudis-and-americans-trapped-in-a-most-unhappy-marriage-20160422-gocmzm.html
Death sentence for Chinese computer technician accused of espionage
https://intelnews.org/2016/04/20/01-1889/
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/nwo-plan-dismantle-russia/ri13604
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/poland/1995-01-01/plan-europe-how-expand-nato
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/you-want-war-russia-ready-war/ri11882
National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski famously called “The Grand Chessboard"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski
http://russia-insider.com/en/military_politics_ukraine_opinion/2014/11/10/08-50-10pm/top_spymaster_explains_how_russian
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russian-emigres-are-russias-worst-bashers/ri13998
http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-blocks-apple-itunes-and-ibook-stores-after-launch-of-ten-years-20160423-godgyz.html
http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/04/23/11/26/aust-moves-to-limit-china-steel-oversupply
China official says film 'The Martian' shows Americans want space cooperation
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-space-idUSKCN0XJ1C2
http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/return-cold-war-russia-15898
http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/how-china-sees-world-order-15846
https://www.rt.com/news/340745-north-korea-nuclear-us-drills/
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/new-ideological-struggle-what-russia-offers-world/ri14054
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/26/world/asia/china-foreign-ngo-law.html?_r=0
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/04/26/475634042/for-journalists-in-russia-no-one-really-knows-what-is-allowed
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/was-that-a-threat-the-message-given-to-malcolm-turnbull-on-his-visit-to-china-20160415-go7s3k.html
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-bow-kyiv-new-leader-suspends-debt-demands-court-hearings-/27692005.html
http://thediplomat.com/2016/04/why-did-russias-pivot-to-asia-fail/
https://www.rt.com/business/340321-yukos-court-russia-favor/
- read between the lines and it's blatantly obvious that capitalism is failing us at multiple levels (we've lost that balance between screwing each other over and taking care of one another). They basically maintain the maintain the status quo because they can't see another way, that's the way they prefer it, etc... Examine the world and what it feels like is that the periods between boom/busts are compressing, that debt interest is taking up a larger proportion of overall required spending and the only way to escape it is to forgive debt, bail-in, etc... Those at the top are slowly falling like dominoes. The Japanese, Europeans, US, China, etc... Each time they seem to come up with a more desperate measure to re-spark global growth though. Look at certain charts it seems inevitable that Asia will be the world's future power and not the West into the future. Their share of world GDP is just growing almost in the complete opposite direction of the West and has been for several decades. The core promise of capitalism (the power of the individual) is also it's greatest flaw. There's no mechanism to keep allocation of capital in check except via rules and regulations (which are easier to break with greater wealth and power as has been shown by the Panama papers). With things the way they now work Multinational/Transnational Companies (MNC/TNC) are effectively acting as agents of the state by employing people, aiding with security difficulties (whether to do with insurance, salary, intelligence, etc...). It feels like we're reverting to feudalism through stealth
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/31409011/asian-banks-bad-debt-pile-highest-since-global-financial-crisis/
http://russia-insider.com/en/revenge-vikings-iceland-will-create-its-own-money/ri14036
http://russia-insider.com/en/zbigniew-brzezinsky-downsizes-imperial-ambitions/ri14037
http://www.indexmundi.com/world/gdp_real_growth_rate.html
https://www.conference-board.org/data/globaloutlook/
http://www.statista.com/statistics/273951/growth-of-the-global-gross-domestic-product-gdp/
http://www.worldeconomics.com/papers/Global%20Growth%20Monitor_7c66ffca-ff86-4e4c-979d-7c5d7a22ef21.paper
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-how-malcolm-turnbulls-doorstop-drew-attention-to-the-housing-affordability-crisis-20160424-godsj0.html
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/bank-bosses-slam-inquiry/news-story/32e5999fe6d2b278f31e4c499f786c70
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/fullscale-cash-crisis-in-oil-sector-20160424-godvuc.html
https://www.rt.com/news/340760-ttip-fail-german-minister/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism
http://time.com/4306179/china-religion-freedom-xi-jinping-muslim-christian-xinjiang-buddhist-tibet/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/04/25/juan-mata-footballers-earn-an-obscene-amount-and-live-in-bubble/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bhs-spokesman-confirms-store-is-going-into-administration-reports-a6999331.html
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/apr/25/bhs-collapse-consumers-guide-retailer-administration
http://www.blacklistednews.com/The_Conspiracy_Theorists_Were_Right%3A_Mega_Bank_Admits_to_Rigging_Global_Gold_and_Silver_Markets/50484/0/38/38/Y/M.html
http://www.investing.com/analysis/continued-financial-market-deterioration-impacts-gold-eagle-sales-in-a-b-200126094
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-new-cold-war-economic-crisis-and-more.html
- is it possible for capitalism to work in a sealed system? Not convinced. There's no way to force re-distribution of wealth (especially within the context of globalisation where there are so many stakeholders involved and so many 'interests' are crossed over). Once someone has hoarded something (due to property laws and imperfect taxation) that's often it. You could say that through inflation and by allowing financial institutions to lend and use people's savings/assets as collatoral for investment this is what facilitates re-distribution but as we've seen with excessive leverage and so much competition it's very difficult to get an edge in the investment game. As the number of players increases, the spreads minimise. The only guarantee is that we focus more on the 'revenue first' model rather than 'invest and hope/Castle in the Air theory' model. However, since this model is less likely to generate outsize returns we need globalisation/lower taxes in order to increase the amount of possible growth per unit of work. Hence, our present circumstances where we seem to be headed back towards modern Feudalism
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/04/hybrid-warfare-more-psyops-and-more.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/little-to-fear-and-perhaps-something-to-gain-from-deflation-shock-20160427-gog5gw.html
http://www.watoday.com.au/business/markets/iron-ore-spike-driven-by-chinese-cabbies-as-speculation-gets-out-of-hand-20160427-gofwgq.html
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3059005/the-new-world-order-is-ruled-by-global-corporations-and-megacities-not-countries?partner=rss
http://russia-insider.com/en/zbigniew-brzezinsky-downsizes-imperial-ambitions/ri14037
http://russia-insider.com/en/exceptional-america-universally-right-america/ri13863
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_opinion/2014/10/31/03-42-10am/putins_valdai_speech_adults_lesson_world
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/27/the-us-empire-is-in-decline/
http://russia-insider.com/en/americas-dangerous-imperial-overstretch/ri13937
http://theconversation.com/russia-a-global-energy-powerhouse-thats-much-more-than-a-petro-state-57766
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/04/14/when-will-russia-break/
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/04/14/why-computers-may-never-replace-human-spies/
http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-says-enhanced-usphilippine-military-ties-invoke-cold-war-mentality-20160415-go71m1.html
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/g8-epoch-over/ri13892
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-23/end-us-dollar-geopolitical-moves-obliterate-us-petrodollar-hegemony
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/heres-how-we-got-here-a-short-primer-on-the-history-of-the-petrodollar_02232016
Is This The End Of The U.S Dollar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGVXad7rx4A
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/fullscale-cash-crisis-in-oil-sector-20160424-godvuc.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/confrontation-with-china-over-steel-production-may-be-hard-to-avoid-20160422-goddbh.html
https://www.rt.com/news/340760-ttip-fail-german-minister/
http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/us-on-wrong-track-on-chinese-currency-20160411-go3yxs
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/vladimi-putin-russia-unmoved-by-offshore-revelations
http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/kelly-odwyer-battles-entrepreneurial-brain-drain-to-united-states-20160413-go55pr.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/04/china_and_russia_combined_now_at_military_spending_parity_with_us.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/13/the-end-of-the-american-empire/
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/25/the-great-ponzi-scheme-of-the-global-economy/
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/12/europe-takes-aim-at-tax-deals-for-multinationals.html
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/09/us-wealth-gap-a-bigger-problem-than-growth-harvard-survey.html
- whether or not US/West is in decline or not I think it's fundamentally rediculous that the world would/could not survive without them. As long as other countries play their part stability can be maintained. It just feels like some people want to 'lead' for the sake of leading
- the fundamental problem with any enclosed social system is that you don't gain everything you could gain from each and every individual (whether right or left wing model). Left wing models make it more difficult for the individual to maximise their potential for both themselves as well as the group overall. Right wing models are looking more and more like left wing models because of greater centralisation of power in private enterprise (though they serve their purpose in employment, keeping a check on inflation, bringing reduced costs to rural areas, etc...) and they inherently seem to rely more heavily on ability to navigate a political system/hierarchy. It's not as much about talent, experience, and hard work anymore. Closed systems (whether by choice or accident) means that certain societies are heavily reliant on their security services to keep pace with the rest of the world. If they can't buy it, USSR, North Koreans, Iranians, et al... they need to steal it. Defense is particularly critical for them because (whether the rest of the world intends them harm or not) they will almost always be behind the eight ball unless they have 'truly great scientists' on their side
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-iran-insight-idUSKCN0XN15Z
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-may-have-secretly-tested-ballistic-missile-tech-with-space-launch/
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/01/politics/stealth-patent-lawsuit-zoltek/
- any anti-West block composed of Russia, China, etc... will be formidable. They are a huge single block despite attempts by the US/West to divide them, contain them, etc... Look at their co-operation in defense and some of their advances over the past decade (especially in China's case)
http://www.wnd.com/2015/07/russian-creeping-annexation-gobbling-up-u-s-ally/
http://russia-insider.com/en/cost-war-eastern-ukraine-two-years-later/ri13912
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/long-haul-moscow-beijing-ties-move-higher-level/ri13984
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/brics-under-attack-western-banks-governments-launch-full-spectrum-assault-russia/ri14006
http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-china-are-developing-ways-counter-us-economic-warfare/ri13925
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_opinion/2014/10/31/03-42-10am/putins_valdai_speech_adults_lesson_world
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_ukraine_opinion_media_watch/2014/09/27/11-02-30am/former_president_czech_republic_useu
http://russia-insider.com/en/military/russia-uss-equal-military-technology/ri9358
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-23/soldiers-undergo-intensive-training-before-iraq-deployment/7352536?google_editors_picks=true
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/isis-entire-suburbs-wired-to-blow-in-booby-trap-campaign/news-story/614dc7e94166ab0158371a2ac5c2403a?nk=7e3d0810fb1172e1313e6e777adb8b1a-1461415342
http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/300803/Arabs-taking-U-S-national-security-hostage
http://www.9news.com.au/world/2016/04/17/10/01/taliban-uses-ied-to-blow-up-afghan-helicopter
Xi expects new chapter in aerospace development
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-04/24/c_135307674.htm
http://www.financialexpress.com/article/lifestyle/science/nasa-set-to-build-an-array-of-new-x-planes/242247/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/10/defense-podcasts-mh17-background-jsf.html
- one problem that is acknowleged by Russians is corruption. If you watch their media (in it's entirity and not just parts) it sometimes doesn't seem all that 'contained/restrained' as some Western outlets might lead you to believe... Moreover, if you understand how censorship works in the West then you'll understand why they see us as being hypocritical. Somewhat similar in perspective with China and both Russia and China get frustrated when they're called out on this. If you have enough backgruond you know that the US elections was basically going to be a Trump and Clinton race right from the beginning...
http://www.smh.com.au/world/choreographed-television-russia-asks-vladimir-putin-answers-20160415-go71wn.html
Putin annual Q&A session 2016 (FULL VIDEO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iYmnDDvPdo
Putin annual media Q&A marathon 2015 (FULL PRESSER)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7fsXGWiuDc
Putin's annual Q&A session 2014 (FULL VIDEO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PyEspLz8UQ
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=putin+annual+q+and+a
http://www.smh.com.au/world/hillary-clinton-won-new-york-but-her-image-is-under-water-20160420-goaxvw.html
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/22/461939/Bernie-Sanders-New-York-Hillary-Clinton/
BCFA - Professor ROBERT LEGVOLD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWQFC0t-eZE
http://www.amazon.com/Petrostate-Putin-Power-New-Russia/dp/0195398637
http://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Fortune-Battle-Power-Russia/dp/0674066472
http://www.amazon.com/Return-Cold-War-Robert-Legvold/dp/1509501894
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-eurasianmiddle-east-geo-politics_74.html
http://www.chinatoday.com/
https://www.rt.com/politics/340336-duma-takes-first-step-to/
Propaganda-Behind Big Media-WE are BEING LIED to in a BIG WAY by the TV! TURN IT OFF!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKjKaeOZ57Q
- deliberate attempts to crack down on investigative journalism? When you really think about it some of the stuff that the political class classify as being in the 'national interest' they aren't really???
Gary Webb on C.I.A. Trafficking of Cocaine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dHqP9wc3k
Freeway Rick Ross x Alex Jones Interview (CIA, Gary Webb, Cocaine and Moor)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7nlSKEtjWs
The Murder of Gary Webb Investigative Reporter and the Cover Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfK6EHo7ELA
- as in the last post, you're sometimes left wondering why we take the chance sometimes. For instance, hip hop culture clearly lauds criminal behaviour. Even criminals sometimes wonder about this. Is it because we can't create enough decent jobs to help everyone? cheap labour? population control? eugenics? etc...
Freeway Rick Ross x Alex Jones Interview (CIA, Gary Webb, Cocaine and Moor)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7nlSKEtjWs
Kill The Messenger - Mike Levine & Gary Webb -  The Big White Lie + Dark Alliance= CIA drug cartel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG8XNFPBPUs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_labor_in_the_United_States
http://www.blacklistednews.com/The_Entire_Status_Quo_Is_a_Fraud/50478/0/38/38/Y/M.html
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/15/half_truth_hillary_finally_exposed_this_was_the_debate_where_bernie_sanders_changed_the_democratic_party_for_good/
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/ethics-forgotten-amid-culture-of-greed-and-code-of-silence-20160414-go6uli.html
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/15/460924/Daniel-Patrick-Welch-US-super-predator-empire/
http://www.smh.com.au/national/scott-morrison-to-share-australian-christian-lobby-stage-with-antigay-extremists-20160415-go7k3e.html
http://fijisun.com.fj/2016/04/23/fiji-has-created-a-more-equal-society/
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/smartphone-apps/how-aussie-16yearold-ben-pasternak-became-ceo-of-his-own-startup-flogg-inc-20160414-go674s.html
- by using consumerism and sex as core aspects of society younger people are loading up and on credit and getting pregnant younger which turns them into debt slaves. Since that doesnt often doesn't allow them enough time to figure out a way to develop enteprenurial skills that forces them into whatever jobs they can get (whether legitimate or not). Accident or design?
- the irony is that in spite of what we may say most of our social systems favour those who basically sacrifice their soul on the way up. Can we change it otherwise? In terms of hierarchy we're favouring those who fight best rather than those who are best suited to the circumstances that they will face in their job. It means that anyone/everyone can fight for whatever they want but it also means that those may be best suited may be locked out of the system for whatever reason. In theory this sounds great but in reality there's a huge problem. In an average work environment you don't have a clue what's going to be up ahead of you, to the side of you, etc... Moreover, if this is the case in any hierarchal setting it means that the decision from up above may be inevitably compromised (though this is supposedly overcome through better communication in modern environments) and everyone is forced to work harder not smarter. Imagine this in terms of our overall society. How many comprimises have we made? How much economic growth are we actually losing? Is it actually possible to build a full proof system? It makes you wonder whether or not we should be looking at alternative social systems as well as looking at how to fix current problems short and long term
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-how-malcolm-turnbulls-doorstop-drew-attention-to-the-housing-affordability-crisis-20160424-godsj0.html
http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty1139.htm
http://www.afr.com/news/world/chinas-economic-stimulus-gives-malcolm-turnbull-a-budget-boost-20160419-go9qgf
https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/332958-intellectual-level-british-leadership/
https://www.rt.com/usa/340313-obama-saudi-pages-classified/
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/the-world-is-too-pc-canterbury-bulldogs-captain-james-graham-minds-his-manners-20160420-goax9g.html
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/manly-prop-liam-knight-sprayed-aerogard-in-his-mouth-after-being-arrested-for-drink-driving-20160420-goazgf.html
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/kim-beazley-takes-a-tumble-on-stage-after-speech-blasting-trump-20160420-gobax5.html
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/340207-rousseff-brazil-impeachment-regime/
https://news.vice.com/article/ungass-portugal-what-happened-after-decriminalization-drugs-weed-to-heroin
http://www.smh.com.au/world/singapore-slams-calls-for-soft-approach-to-drugs-at-un-meeting-20160420-gobfqv.html
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/mounting-international-resistance-us-drug-war-strategy-15807
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/31377804/brazils-rousseff-ex-guerrilla-in-fight-for-political-life/
- if you know enough about modern economics you'll realise that a lot of it is just pure giberish now. A lot of people don't realise how unstable this is. I think there needs to be some thought go into 'intelligent globalisation' which maximises employment and local utilisation locally while using large local entities to maintain control of inflation and using external elements only sparingly. It will allow
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/14/japan-us-agree-not-to-devalue-currencies-amid-sharp-yen-rise.html
Keiser Report - Most Destructive Force in the Universe (E901)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvRYIU4PJ54
Keiser Report - Systemic Nature of Corruption (E903)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6u-lEbLLt8
http://russia-insider.com/en/no-russians-are-not-spending-50-their-income-food/ri13990
http://russia-insider.com/en/our-choice-between-empire-abroad-or-democracy-home/ri13951
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/federal-budget/how-76-profitable-companies-left-australian-taxpayers-56-billion-out-of-pocket-20160419-goa6o2.html?google_editors_picks=true
http://www.afr.com/news/world/cubas-fidel-castro-tells-communist-party-he-is-close-to-end-20160420-goaoi1
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/asic-good-cop-bad-cop-keystone-cop-20160421-gocfrg.html
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/new-ideological-struggle-what-russia-offers-world/ri14054
http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/0393330338
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Random_Walk_Down_Wall_Street
- given all of the above it's no wonder a lot of people are cynical of the US/West. Freedom within the context of modern democratic society seems over stated

- the Pentagon's so called 'Arsenal Plane' and Russia's modernisation of it's Kirov cruiser are interesting especially if you consider it in the context of Russian hybrid warfare where small drones are basically all the time everywhere with follow up artillery and mortar fire not long thereafter
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/bombing-isis-b-52s-big-waste-15913
https://warisboring.com/let-s-be-real-blasting-islamic-state-with-b-52s-is-overdoing-it-a-little-b48e4764d519#.xqjdtmlif
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a20565/russia-hypersonic-missiles-battlecruisers/
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/russias-kirov-class-battlecruiser-fleet-is-expanding-an-1763392754
https://au.news.yahoo.com/technology/a/31425930/russian-woman-tests-terminator-suit-in-amazing-weapons-test-video/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_armoured_cruiser_Admiral_Nakhimov
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/hi-tech-russian-robot-soldier-7808599

- if you haven't heard about the fuss about the US and Russia there's some interesting video of them (and their equipment) going head to head out there
http://warisboring.com/articles/holy-crap-watch-these-russian-aircraft-buzz-an-american-destroyer/
http://warisboring.com/articles/sloppy-russian-fighter-pilot-nearly-collides-with-u-s-spy-plane/
http://warisboring.com/articles/what-a-t-90-tank-looks-like-after-being-hit-with-a-tow-missile/
Eucom MediaOps
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjsCRh3ym2AVZY4_Yqd2PQ

- I think the focus should be around capability rather than cost. Cost is too arbitraty. Imagine if production of equipment or labour is extremely cheap in one country but they can more than fulfil their committment to a defense treaty. Making up the gap would entail massive loss on civil society for a result that may provoke an arms race rather than stabilty
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/15/news/nato-spending-countries/index.html?section=money_news_international
http://www.businessinsider.com/george-friedman-says-nato-is-an-illusion-2016-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=referral
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-it-is-like-in-russias-exclave-on-the-baltic-2016-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=referral

- perhaps a sliding scale of workload as we get older? Gets more people into the workforce and keeps people working at peak efficacy?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/working-parttime-is-healthiest-for-the-over40s/news-story/4af80ac1c598cd0002e32eb8cb3691e4?nk=0d54209b073783bbdc2a64ed3da70f9c-1460993275

Quotes in the recent media:
- And there is the bigger picture, that no member of the anti-IS coalition can be seen telling the Iraqis what to do, given the bad memories from when the US took control of the country between 2003 and 2009.

“We’re conscious it’s them who’ve got the most recent experience fighting Daesh,” says Colonel Keating.

“They won’t tolerate us lecturing them about our expertise. We try and cycle their experience (of war) into our training, to see what they need.”

While there has been some initial reluctance to listen to the foreigners, the Iraqis have good reason to come to Taji: they are issued with new, US-issued weapons, ballistic armour and equipment before heading back to the battlefield.

“We are not here to make a New Zealand or Australian army,” says Taji’s boss trainer, Australia’s Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Hammett, but to help the Iraqis negotiate and survive the bombs which are hidden “like the minefields of old”.

They encircle Mosul, in the country’s north, which is the next big battle stage and present a greater challenge than chemical weapons.

“They have killed an immense number of people,” he says.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/isis-entire-suburbs-wired-to-blow-in-booby-trap-campaign/news-story/614dc7e94166ab0158371a2ac5c2403a?nk=7e3d0810fb1172e1313e6e777adb8b1a-1461415342
- In this interview Patrushev gives insight into what Russia’s intelligence agencies are telling the Kremlin.  Thus we learn that Russian intelligence:

1. Did not expect Yanukovych to fall because of the Maidan protests;

2. Did however warn the Kremlin long ago that a pro-Western coup in Ukraine was only a question of time because of massive US subversion in the country.

We also get an idea of how Russian intelligence sees the world.

According to its view US hostility to Russia is an unvarying “constant” because Russia, irrespective of its system of government, resists US policies aimed at achieving world hegemony and because the US wants to control Russia’s immense natural resources in order to seal its hegemony.

Russia’s ties to China and India and the emergence of the BRICS bloc have merely provoked the US to intensify its campaign against Russia.  Events such as the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the rebellion in Chechnya in the 1990s, the Georgian attack on South Ossetia in 2008 and the February coup this year in Ukraine, are all simply manifestations of US policies targeted at Russia.
http://russia-insider.com/en/military_politics_ukraine_opinion/2014/11/10/08-50-10pm/top_spymaster_explains_how_russian
- Unlike Russian emigrants, ordinary Americans or professionals treat Russia with great respect. They even report that some Russians have special talents.

Unfortunately, even Americans who are friendly toward Russians, still don’t trust Russia. For example, it is thought to be normal in the West that Great Britain and France consider their former colonies to be an area of continuing interest, but the recovery of Russia’s influence in the former Soviet area is treated not just as dangerous, but also inadmissible.

Americans don’t mind Russia becoming an economically developed country but all its efforts to become a geopolitical superpower (even at a regional level) are considered a threat to the security of Western civilization.

This attitude is mostly connected to the fact that the Cold War left a bigger imprint on the American consciousness than on the Soviet people.  This  can be explained: While Soviet propaganda discouraged the thought that American soldiers could invade Soviet territory, the idea of a ‘Red’ invasion was often discussed in the US. They even rehearsed Soviet nuclear attacks in American schools. Children were supposed to hide themselves under their desks at their teachers’ command.  

American mistrust of Russia was fueled by American Sovietologists. After the collapse of the USSR, their financing was considerably reduced, and in order to save at least some of the ‘streams of money’, Russian experts were  forced to artificially inflate the idea of danger and the unpredictability of the Kremlin. “Unfortunately, our activity is completely politicized. My advice to you if you want to work in the US: don’t forget about anti-Russian policy”, - an American political analyst told me.     

Finally, mistrust of the West in relation to Russia has old historical roots, appearing long before the formation of the USSR. As  Rudyard Kipling said ironically: “A Russian is attractive, being the most Western among those Eastern; but if he claims to be the most Eastern among the Western, it is intolerable”.  
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russian-emigres-are-russias-worst-bashers/ri13998
- Many American experts, in particular former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, assert that there are vast territories “under Moscow’s power” that it is incapable of exploiting and which therefore “do not serve the interests of all humanity”. Assertions continue to be heard about the “unfair” distribution of natural resources and the need to ensure so-called “free access” to them for other states.

The Americans are convinced that people must be thinking in similar terms in many other states, particularly those neighbouring on Russia, and that in the future they will, as is nowadays the custom, form “coalitions” to support the corresponding claims on our country. As in the case of Ukraine, it is proposed to resolve problems at Russia’s expense but without taking its interests into account.
http://russia-insider.com/en/military_politics_ukraine_opinion/2014/11/10/08-50-10pm/top_spymaster_explains_how_russian
- Jarre stresses the track is not an expression of anti-Americanism. “I am a lover of America because it’s a place where you can say anything. It’s important to remember that Edward Snowden couldn’t have been Chinese or Russian.”

He also adds that the criticism of Snowden as a traitor for revealing protected secrets is off-point. “He sacrificed himself, like an American soldier. To me, that’s a true patriot. What I can say, in a very objective way, is he is very in love with his country.”

Jarre’s own motivation for working with Snowden was partly personal, as his mother was heavily involved in the resistance against the Nazi occupation of France during the 1940s.

“What I’ve heard a lot of Americans say about Snowden is exactly, word for word, what people said about the French resistance,” warns Jarre. “That they’re troublemakers and [are] putting our children in danger. If the French resistance didn’t sacrifice themselves, World War II would not have ended the way it did.”
http://nypost.com/2016/04/22/yes-edward-snowden-is-now-an-edm-star/
- HONG KONG/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Bad debts at Asian banks have climbed to their highest since the global financial crisis and the trend will likely worsen as regional economies battle against China's slowdown and volatile oil and commodities prices, a Reuters data analysis shows.

The bad loans pile at 74 major listed Asian banks, excluding Indian and Japanese banks, reached $171 billion (119 billion pounds) at the end of 2015, the survey of banks showed, the highest since at least 2008. Non-performing loans (NPLs) jumped 28 percent from a year earlier, nearly twice the growth in 2013.

Indian and Japanese banks were not included as their fiscal year ends in March.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/31409011/asian-banks-bad-debt-pile-highest-since-global-financial-crisis/
- Most recently, Hillary has called for a “tougher response to Russia on Syria and Ukraine.” Never mind that, under international law, Russia’s Syria campaign has been legal, while America’s is not, Hillary believes Putin must be “punished” for intervening there. "I have been, I remain convinced that we need a concerted effort to really up the costs on Russia and in particular on Putin. I think we have not done enough," she remarked at the Brookings Institution.

Notwithstanding Russia's position as the planet's second strongest military power, American neocons simply cannot fathom any kind of partnership or equality with the Kremlin. But it’s not only about Russia; they can’t countenance other European countries acting independently either. The vitriol directed at France and Germany for opposing the illegal 2004 invasion of Iraq is proof of that. The blatant interference in Britain’s EU referendum is further evidence.

Next year, we are likely to have a Hillary Clinton government in America, squaring off against a Putin administration in Moscow. Unlike now, when Obama overrules extremist voices, Clinton will enthusiastically promote their ideas, no matter how imprudent. To quote Bachman Turner Overdrive, if you think relations between Washington and Moscow are bad now, well, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/340828-president-hillary-russia-american-relations/
- The United States was once the world's leading wheat exporter, but now is losing its position to Russia and Canada due a stronger dollar, stagnant yields, rising competition and climate change.

According to analysts, exports of wheat may drop 9.3 percent to 21.1 million metric tons in the season ending May 31, the lowest since 1972.

“We’re no longer going to lead in volume every year,” said Alan Tracy, president of US Wheat Associates told Bloomberg, adding that an increase in global wheat trade was the only hope for the country.

Nearly forty percent of the US crop goes for export, according to the Department of Agriculture. The acreage for winter wheat fell to its second-lowest since 1913.

As US wheat is no longer the leader in global markets, American farmers are changing to corn and soybeans.

Russia is now the world’s leading wheat exporter and is monopolizing Middle East markets, which were once the preserve of America.

Russia will harvest 62.5 million metric tons of wheat in 2016, the most in eight years, according the Moscow-based Institute for Agriculture Market Studies (IKAR). Exports from the Black Sea area rose to $185 a ton last week, the highest since December. Prices increased 3.9 percent from a five-year low set in February and March, reports IKAR.

“Crop conditions currently are good, especially in the southern district,” said Olivier Bouillet from Paris-based consulting company Agritel.

The richer harvest from Russia might compensate for the drop in Ukraine, where output may fall about nine percent to 7.2 million tons.
https://www.rt.com/business/340621-russia-tops-us-wheat/
- “We Russians say that the circus has left the city but some clowns stayed,” he said. “It is like a comic show which goes on and on.”

“We don’t have to take Obama’s words as his own words because he doesn’t have much thoughts of his own; it is certain lobbies speaking through Obama,” he explained.

The analyst said there are lobbies in the US that desperately need the sanctions against Russia to stay in place, because that way they can replace Russia as a major supplier of goods to Europe.

Russia has been targeted by a series of sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union for allegations that Moscow is arming and supporting pro-Russian forces fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin, however, has strongly rejected the accusations.

The sanctions target the Russian energy, banking and military sectors. Moscow has also imposed tit-for-tat sanctions against the EU.

 However, Zolotarev said the sanctions that ban exports to Russia will have no effect on the country as it does not depend on American and European goods anymore.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/25/462527/US-Russia-Obama-EU-sanctions-Zolotarev/
- Russian electronic-warfare powerhouse KRET—Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies—has started testing a powerful new ground-based jamming system that could cut the crucial data-links that enable the United States military to conduct operations around the world. The system is designed to be used in conjunction with advanced Russian-built air defense systems like the S-300V4 and S-400 to disrupt air operations.

According to a company source—who spoke to the Moscow-based TASS news agency— the system consists of multiple separate jamming modules that are capable of attacking a command and control system at extended ranges using complex digital signals. The system is also capable of attacking multiple types of systems simultaneously. “Multichannel stations that ensure simultaneous inhibition of various avionics systems have been created,” the Russian defense industry source told TASS.

The new system—the designation of which TASS did not report—is designed to be seamlessly integrated with air defense systems. “It conducts real-time automated exchange of data on the actions of the aerospace grouping for purposes of centralized target assignment,” the source told TASS.

The new Russian electronic warfare system is also designed to be highly resilient—featuring multiple dispersed nodes. “Their energy, frequency and intellectual resources are distributed in an optimal way. In addition, all the modules are equipped with individual defense sets because they are the prime targets for enemy’s attack,” KRET’s first deputy director general Igor Nasenkov told TASS.
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-russias-edge-electronic-warfare-could-ground-the-us-air-15932
- In comparison with other federal employees, whistleblowers working in the military or national security agencies must meet a higher burden of proof to win their cases. Of the more than 1,000 whistleblower complaints that are filed each year with the Pentagon’s inspector general, about 97 percent are dismissed, or categorized as “unsubstantiated,” records show. For three separate complaints to be upheld against a single officer is almost unheard of.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/04/25/commander-of-bin-laden-raid-blasts-senate-for-disrespecting-military-leaders/?tid=pm_world_pop_b
- In a move ridiculed by hawkish opponents in the US Congress and privately by some coalition partners, pilots dropped pamphlets before bombing trucks ferrying illicit oil around Syria for the IS group.

The IDF has for years warned occupants of buildings suspected of housing Hamas weapons to get out by "roof knocking."

The technique has drawn sharp criticism. Observers say occupants are sometimes killed in the warning strike, or even run up to their rooftops to see what happened -- only to be killed in the follow-up strike.
http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-sends-warning-shot-in-iraq-via-hellfire-missile-1399800
- Fighter or attack aircraft type, Average cost per flight hour, 2008–2012 (CY $):
F-22A Raptor - $68,362
F-15C Eagle - $41,921
F-15E Strike Eagle - $32,094
F-16C Fighting Falcon - $22,514
A-10C Thunderbolt II (Warthog) - $17,716
MQ-9A Reaper - $4,762

The F-15s, and particularly the older -C models, are expensive to fly simply because they’re old. The -C model F-16s aren’t just smaller, they’re generally newer too. The A-10Cs were built Republic tough, and were recently refurbished. The MQ-9As, however, are in a whole different category. Perhaps that’s why, as Reuters reported last week, drones have accounted this year for over 61 percent of all aerial weapons launched by the USAF over Afghanistan. In 2015, drones accounted for 56 percent; in 2011, the figure was just 5 percent.

Where does the F-35A fit in? It’s too early to tell, but Bogdan's office reported in February that the modest fleet of F-35s so far were costing about $42,200 to fly per hour. That’s already far less than the F-22A. As the fleet grows, and the Air Force becomes more accustomed to operating it, the average costs should drop considerably. Using common assumptions, the program office estimates that the long-term cost per flight hour of the F-35As will be much less than that of the F-22As, but still rather more than that of the F-16Cs that it will replace:

Fighter aircraft type, Estimated future cost per flight hour (FY'15 $):
F-35A Lightning II - $32,554
F-16C Fighting Falcon - $25,541

None of these numbers are new; what’s new is just the enthusiasm for buying the plane with the highest numbers. Fielding a plane (the F-35A) whose support will cost a quarter more than the plane (the F-16C) it’s replacing, while the budget outlook is at best flat in real terms, is questionably affordable. What’s worse is going back to buy more of a plane (the F-22A) whose support will cost twice again as much.
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-real-reason-the-us-air-force-wont-build-new-f-22-raptors-15920

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Hybrid Warfare, More PSYOPS, and More

- the tactics of anti-West groups and states make no sense until you delve a bit deeper. Basically, they're all saying the same thing. If you don't co-operate with the West you're in trouble but if you do co-operate with the West you still lose because of your loss of autonomy. The reason why South America/Ecuador is supportive of Assange is basically because he's opened up about the fact that the US can and will deal with any one (dictators, mass murderers, etc...) as long you're willing to play by their rules (speculation that if you don't you may wind up dead). Hybrid warfare tactics make much more sense in the now. Most opposition countries/actors know that they can't go head to head with the US but they can muddy the game and play around the edges. By resorting to such tactics there is never any reason to provoke a genuine hot war but they gain the exact same things that they would otherwise without engaging in such strategies. What's clear is that we already engage in hybrid warfare and have done so for a long while. The only difference is that now we've put a label on it. Think about the way we use the media and sanctions/tarrifs to get other countries to do what we want them to
John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, Proxy Wars & Those Behind Them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O66UKjCwmTw
Hybrid war - hybrid response (NATO Review)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ferbM4hqkUA
Dirty Game - The Proxy War - Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GI9XtdAil4
Mideast Proxy Wars - The Role of Non-State Actors in International Security
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y662c3Fqvhs
The New World Order of Global Warfare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtLABW149Ss
Russian Military Hybrid Warfare Campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFtKWmHrjsw
Irregular Warfare, Hybrid Threats, and the Future Role of Ground Forces - Keynote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ZM3CfWh1I
Spy Wars - Gerald Bull (2010) Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7gZLXh-I8Y
The New World Order of Global Warfare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtLABW149Ss
Inside Story - What triggered the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNw1Ka05PM4
Documentary_ The New Great Game - How US Domination in Middle East Has Declined
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWBV2Mn7NyM
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/governmentandlaw/fl/The-Sino-Soviet-Split.htm
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/05/politics/china-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-wants-sell-advanced-fighter-214700285.html
https://www.rt.com/usa/338983-cia-skincare-dna-collection/
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbulls-300000-lunch-taxpayers-slugged-for-china-party-20160408-go1sie.html
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/taiwans-best-option-deterring-china-anti-access-area-denial-15719
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-lethal-military-vs-americas-third-offset-who-wins-15717
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-stop-china-dominating-the-south-china-sea-15732
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/obama-must-lift-the-fog-drone-war-15714
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/fatally-flawed-president-obamas-shocking-drone-strikes-15733
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/putin-just-made-most-important-speech-his-career-west-should-listen-more-closely/ri722
http://russia-insider.com/en/tv_politics_media_watch_society/2014/11/07/01-12-06pm/why_you_should_never_watch_rt_--_ever
http://russia-insider.com/en/its-happening-iran-india-dump-petrodollar-settle-oil-payments-rupees/ri12083
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/saudi-arabia-has-lost-asia-russia-now-chinas-biggest-oil-partner/ri12611
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/hybrid-war-palmyra-panama/ri13800
http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korea-unveils-engine-for-missile-capable-of-striking-as-far-us-20160409-go2f8f.html
http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/security/72273-massive-linux-botnet-finally-taken-down.html
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/10/459985/US-planning-first-strike-China/
https://www.rt.com/news/339082-russia-new-foreign-policy-multipolar/
https://www.rt.com/business/338911-russian-alibaba-platform-created/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/339039-plutonium-us-russia-deal-panama/
- if you understand the nature of the intelligence profession it produces people who are good at hybrid warfare which is the reason why there is regular of cadre of them becoming involved in politics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush (CIA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pompeo (CIA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clapper (DIA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin (KGB)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Ivanov (KGB)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Andropov (KGB)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Al-Kadhimi (NIS)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Naryshkin (SVR)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Younger (MI6)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Courtney (MI5)
In 2009 Stewart appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arguing that Obama's strategy on Afghanistan was 'trying to do the impossible'. He suggested, in an argument that he would later expand in his TED Talk, that a heavy American military footprint would be counterproductive, alienating Afghans, and that it would be better to reduce the size of the American Army in Afghanistan. This smaller force, he suggested, would be able to handle al-Qaeda, while helping achieve the West's long-term objectives in the country.[28] His ideas were rejected by Senators, including future Secretary of State John Kerry.[28]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rory_Stewart (MI6)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Ashdown (MI6)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wilkie (ONA)
spies who became politicians
https://theconversation.com/rory-stewart-spies-have-a-long-history-of-becoming-politicians-119114
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_espionage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War_espionage
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/04/things-spies-have-stolen-random-stuff.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-happened-to-escaped-nazis-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2020/02/cybersecurity-attack-background.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-occupy-movement-veterans-for-peace.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/12/shale-oil-some-us-intelligencedefense.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/12/us-drone-warfare-program-financial.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/12/some-counter-terrorism-defense.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/11/middle-easternafricanasian-background.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/04/hybrid-warfare-more-psyops-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/03/psychological-warfaremind-control-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/12/us-drone-warfare-program-financial.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/11/china-background-economic-warfare-and.html
- same techniques can be used for Russian as well as Western propaganda. Pattern, frequency, bias, and timing analysis are most common techniques to identifying common point of origin
How to defeat Kremlin disinformation campaign (1. 3. 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGJ4QMkqpoI
http://inform.nu/Articles/Vol9/v9p213-223Hutchinson64.pdf
http://www.afr.com/technology/web/security/interview-transcriptformer-head-of-the-nsa-and-commander-of-the-us-cyber-command-general-keith-alexander-20140507-itzhw
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12609.htm
http://fas.org/spp/military/docops/usaf/2025/v3c3/v3c3-3.htm
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/12/understanding-propaganda-us-anti-war.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theories-understanding.html
- the Russians (and Chinese to an extent) clearly think from a 'systems perspective'. It doesn't become obvious who is supporting who until you dig a little bit (any side). They sound conspiratorial (sometimes completely crazy) because if two things push towards a certain goal then they are working together (even if they are working completely independently)
https://www.rt.com/politics/338800-putin-asks-reporters-to-prevent/
https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/338885-panama-papers-interpretation-west/
https://www.rt.com/uk/338756-cameron-shielded-offshore-trusts/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/338782-us-tax-havens-panama-papers/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/338709-funding-cia-panama-papers/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/panama-papers-putins-cellist-friend-says-invests-musicians-145359126.html
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/07/459545/US-advising-banks-to-avoid-Iran-bans--/
- the Western perspective of wariness with regards to Russia and former Soviet States makes much more sense if you delve further into the background of some defectors. It's very obvious that there is still somewhat of a 'Cold War' mentality across the board and in some areas we are definitely still looking at the same plan (either side). All that's really happened is that they've just changed the schedule and tactics a little bit though the aim remains the same. PSYOPS actually offers the perfect way to maintain a 'soft wall'
Moldova summons Russian ambassador after reports Moldovans being recruited to Russian army
http://tass.ru/en/politics/866707
https://static.squarespace.com/static/538f6712e4b0c1af61fbb317/t/53d27f17e4b0498d331ad768/1406304023526/MrPutin.pdf
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2013/2/06-putin-hill-gaddy/20130206_mr_putin_transcript_corrected.pdf
THE TALENTED MR. PUTIN.pdf
https://archive.org/details/pdfy-eqe6gv5eD-bhRaAv
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-57-no-4/the-man-without-a-face-the-unlikely-rise-of-vladimir-putin-and-mr-putin-operative-in-the-kremlin.html
https://www.rt.com/uk/339128-uk-submarines-deployed-arctic/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_the_United_States_in_the_Vietnam_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Mexico_relations
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/04/russian-weapon-could-tip-balance-middle-east/110533/?oref=d-dontmiss
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-oualaalou/the-west-is-oblivious-to-putin_b_9553792.html
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/it-time-america-quit-nato-15615
http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2016/03/29/analysis-chinese-way-war/82370100/
http://www.defensenews.com/story/military/election/2016/03/29/cnas-flournoy-national-security-candidates/82375032/
https://www.rt.com/politics/official-word/334413-lavrov-russia-west-cooperation/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/337620-hillary-clinton-google-aljazeera-syria/
http://fortune.com/2016/03/28/google-china-firewall/
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Russia-Intends-to-Create-Helicopter-Center-in-Cuba-20160330-0004.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cuba-capitalism-economy-entrepreneur-socialist-communist-1.3509852
- it's clear that in spite of organisations such as NATO and the EU there is basically a higher tier which involves the English speaking nations. They've tried to bridge the gap with English speaking outlets but there's clearly another area where they've tried to bridge the gap and that is in education. It's clear that to a certain extent at low to mid levels education doesn't make much sense. If you're reasonably bright you would have realised that what we learn year on year at low to mid levels doesn't change that much. It's only in the latter years of your education at university/college that you really need to absorb large amounts of information. What's interesting for me (and others) has always been the fact that it's not so much about learning the material as it is about passing an exam. From a social engineering perspective this is master stroke (if deliberate). It ensures that those who are more likely to do to what they are told progress (think about the structure of exams now. They're not about exploring ideas. They're mostly short question/answer tests where you're asked only to explore a particular paradigm) while (even brilliant) outliers are less likely to. Moreover, given dominance of Anglo-American colleges/universities in world rankings it ensures that they take the best talent, trains them in a way that is best suited for their own purposes, helps them progress in the world, etc... Obviously, to other nations it looks like the US and China have 'stacked the deck'. It's blatantly obvious they (and others) are using economic espionage en-masse
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/is-malcolm-turnbull-up-to-scratch-20160408-go1klv.html
http://www.thebull.com.au/articles/a/59296-sri-lanka-asks-china-for-equity,-debt-swap.html
John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, Proxy Wars & Those Behind Them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O66UKjCwmTw
- dig deep enough and it seems clear that politicians are just cogs in a larger machine. What's scary is that it feels like some of them are under-prepared and they're under constant pressure to deliver which can make the problem worse. At times, it's difficult to believe that some of these people are running the world. I look at some electoral candidates and I wonder whether or not there is a 'best choice' at times. Whether or not that this is just what's left over. Whether or not we should change the system to make it more attractive for possibly more suitable candidates
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter press conference at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFKc5fsHDw8
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/minister-who-malcolm-turnbulls-team-struggles-for-public-profile-20160407-go0e2v.html
Launch of Coalition Broadband Policy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2QUvcShNzg
- whatever their status (good, dumb, evil, etc...) through sheer strength the US have been able to bring a semblance of order to the US/Western world?
Documentary_ The New Great Game - How US Domination in Middle East Has Declined
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWBV2Mn7NyM
How America Became a Superpower - Money, Power, Wealth, Influence (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWFCETSDPc
- as a neutral you have to laugh a bit. The Chinese have basically taken the best of capitalism/democracy and integrated into their own framework. For me, it sort of puts paid to the theory that democracy of particular structures automatically leads to greater prosperity. I recently watched a documentary recently about China which basically had them re-purposing an entire factory employing thousands of workers over the space of several weeks (in the context of a bubble this would have meant the impact upon the company's bottom line would have been negligible at best). That said, as I've stated previously hierarchal systems with bad leadership is is much more catastrophic owing to a lack of checks and balances
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-steel-capacity-1-13-042546888.html
http://russia-insider.com/en/germany/bbc-putin-its-not-ussr-he-hankers-after-its-east-germany/ri5089
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russias-had-enough-no-more-business-usual-us-eu/ri12548
http://www.smh.com.au/world/singapores-pm-lee-hsien-loong-at-war-with-sister-over-lee-kuan-yew-commemorations-20160410-go345y.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/xi-jinping-china-background-and-more.html
- one of the obvious things is that opponents of the US/West have done a SWOT analysis of us and them and hybrid warfare offers them the perfect avenue for them to win because it plays to their strengths and our weaknesses. The lines are completely blurred. If the US/West comes under sustained hybrid warfare we're in a lot of trouble because our military is based entirely on the concept of professional volunteers operating a particular set of 'rules' which means that you generally don't have the numbers to efficiently counter them nor do you have a adequate training for your troops. Either way, you need them to disperse back into the community and to maintain a level of capability should a concerted attack come in. The other thing that is obvious is that they've connected the dots with regards to use of technology. They've resorted to using COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) equipment (such as smartphones for maps and the Internet for information) to fill the gap in their capabilities. An obvious way for me to defend against hybrid warfare is bringing in highly flexible, talented officers and staff (military and intelligence space) who have the ability and chance to think on their feet. Disperse them widely among the community (if possible) to help organise groups to blunt the impact of any possible attack and if possible push back. By the time you've come up with a plan to defeat the previous technique your opposition would have shifted. The most difficult part is that most of the time you only really step up your vigilance when something happens. High end equipment such as stealth bombers and fighters are helpful and cut off one avenue of attack. This is basically guerilla warfare on a state level
Russian Military Hybrid Warfare Campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFtKWmHrjsw
Hezbollah,  Ukrainian Rebels, and ISIS - Are Hybrid Superguerrillas the Future of War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWEd5a8FaVE
Harriman Center - Frozen Conflicts Twenty Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union. Panel 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyWg2ZHHCOQ
Harriman Center - Frozen Conflicts Twenty Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union. Panel 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvPXJ6ORIk
Harriman Center - Frozen Conflicts Twenty Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union. Panel 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS51FJzOxtg
Helsinki Commission Briefing - 'Prospects for Unfreezing Moldova's Frozen Conflict in Transnistria'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6zJP7E42eQ
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/two-killed-as-a-jeep-crashes-into-a-fighter-jet-1768337034
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2016/03/31/israel-russia-brass-continue-coordinate-over-crowded-skies-syria/82485908/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-ariel-cohen-/russia-is-not-nine-feet-t_b_9595130.html
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/338123-information-war-media-rt-sputnik-uk/
https://www.rt.com/news/338205-stupidity-hurts-rohrabacher-russia/
- one of the things I've been wondering is that given the nature of the MKULTRA experiments is whether or not their is somewhat of an 'imprinting factor'. In the original experiments it was found that those who had suffered early childhood trauma (images and videos of people or animals in distress were the ones most commonly referred to) were more susceptible to manipulation and hypnosis. Think carefully about this, if children are being exposed to more and more of this at an earlier age it means that as a group we are fundamentally more susceptible to mind control techniques, propaganda, PSYOPS en-masse. For me if this is true, it makes much more sense why we have social stability in spite of the fact that income inequality is now right up there when compared to other times in human history. I remember hearing stories about Soviet intelligence saying that the media could also be used to distract citizens in spite of other difficulties. Look at our media today. Much of it is garbage. It attracts a lot of attention but it doesn't really/genuinely make us happier, make our world a better place, add much to the discussion, etc... (think carefully about this. If you didn't know anything about football would the AFL Grand Final mean anything to you? Would Australia's relationship with the US or China make any difference? The only reason why you think it's important is because someone is telling you and there is a difference between being informed and being propagandised) Think cynically about things and you look at certain media and the world looks very strange. 'Masha and the Bear' incorporate a Panda and and a Bear. Both animals which are commonly associated with China and Russia. In this particular cartoon both animals act as a guardian for the child. In the West, cartoons often feature superheroes to take care of people but often with a strong US/Western slant to it. If the children can be imprinted to believe in the state then it's much less likely that they'll erupt in a revolution no matter how bad things get later on in life
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=masha+and+the+bear
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/339114-indigenous-australia-pilger-utopia/
http://truthstreammedia.com/2015/05/12/two-major-psy-ops-documents-you-must-read/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/07/python-decompilation-max4live.html
- refer back to the previous post on the MKULTRA/Mind Control/Enhanced Interrogation experiments and it seems clear that if I am correct you don't need a 'breakdown' phase to 're-pattern' children. That means that the in most cases the cartoons and childrens programs that many children watch may have a subtle 'imprinting/patterning' function as well. Think about Russia currently and the use of a 'Bear' and a 'Panda' character in one of their cartoons, 'Skippy the Kangaroo' in an Australian production, and countless US action heroes that are shown to children at ever increasingly younger ages. In each case, an animal or character that is commonly associated with a particular country (Bear for Russia, Panda for China, Kangaroo for Australia, etc...) is regarded as a hero or guardian. If this is deliberate then I'm very curious how much of an impact it has later on in life...
Masha and The Bear - Compilation 1 (3 episodes in English)
thttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmBKGTMmaF8
Masha and The Bear - Compilation 2 (3 episodes in English) NEW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQSocyz_Rs
Masha and The Bear - Compilation 3 (3 episodes in English) NEW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1et4mfnffg
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/03/psychological-warfaremind-control-more.html
- people keep saying that the Russian PSYOP effort makes no sense. It does, but only if you understand it in a wider context. If you look down a in the next few points and know about about MKULTRA then you know that we're basically in 'breakdown' phase. The point is to muddle things. This phase will take an extended period of time but the main point is to highlight that the US/West are hypocritical. That's it. The next phase is the process of recruitment (they may not even bother with this because this may be enough or else they will not bother with this current generation and leave that for the next generation). Once you understand that then it makes much more sense
- the anti-West perspective makes much more sense if you understand the overall picture. If you look at the broad picture (and the numbers are true) then basically the difference between the West and otherwise have diminished drastically. It's very difficult to classify that some opponents of the West are 'evil' now. What makes it murkier are some of the programs that have been progressively brought to public light over the years. What's also clear is that since the US/West have made intermingled defense and intelligence with financial operations and the sheer size of the operation is now so huge it has made it very difficult to keep things genuinely secret. To this end, what some commentators have been stating is that the point is not as much to paint the US/West in a bad light but to break people down. To make them see that the difference is now so small that the only difference now is basically where everyone fits into the overall world order. Since everyone is susceptible to the roughly the same things it's the same thing as attempting to achieving agent recruitment in bulk. The steps are to de-moralise/breakdown, re-frame/influence, and then to get us to move on with a new world order.... If you find any of the following videos a bit difficult to understand then try using a graphic equaliser with increased bass and lower treble settings
Rafaf Brzeski - Information and disinformation warfare in hybrid warfare [ENG]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsQ_6PxW26w
How to defeat Kremlin disinformation campaign (1. 3. 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGJ4QMkqpoI
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/339039-plutonium-us-russia-deal-panama/
http://www.itnews.com.au/news/us-govt-to-spend-billions-replacing-insecure-old-it-418035?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=editors_picks&google_editors_picks=true
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_spying
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dod/espionage_whyhappens.pdf
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Binh_Nguyen_CLOUD_AND_INTERNET_SECURITY?id=5JlWBQAAQBAJ, p.223
https://www.rt.com/usa/339146-us-officer-espionage-prostitution/
- think very carefully about the nature of the marketing behind Apple and Google in particular of late. Both have clean white imaging and other references to believe in the company's relative innocence. Both are known to aide the US government based on WikiLeaks documentation. It would not surprise me if the marketing were deliberate and part of a PSYOPS operation to clean up the image of US IT companies. The only problem is that they've both been caught (Google ditched their "Don't Be Evil" moniker last year apparently based on what I heard). If WikiLeaks is being used by Russian intelligence (as some have speculated) then the more the US tries to bury things the worse they'll look
- the reason why some states have been breaching our financial firms doesn't make sense unless you think about it a bit. Think about the nature of HFT, arbitrage, hedge fund trading, and how it maintains relationships between variables. For each financial instrument and quantity there is an equal and opposite instrument that is supposed to be able to balance/hedge things out. However, there's a clear problem here. If the algorithms used to predict the future are based on the past you're basically in a self fulfilling prophecy loop. Moreover, if there algorithms core to our financial system which bias it towards particular companies or countries then it makes sense why states target the financial operations of other states especially if they are merely designed fronts/money printing presses for intelligence services. Other aspects of the world financial order make more sense if you understand further background as well (if you're slightly conspiratorial). Think about the Milgram experiment. It told us that we're willing to comply with orders in spite of the problems it may cause others. That means that if we shift labour towards other countries we're still willing to put up with things if the PSYOPS are good enough. It also helps to control inflation provided particular boundaries are respected with regards to currency (hence, currencies tend to trade within bands of one another). It also means that countries specialise in areas in order to maximise profits. They can't control demand but they can control supply. If everyone plays within the rules some will benefit a lot while others benefit a bit as well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimenter_%28film%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420293/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_model
http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi
http://www.quora.com/Why-is-capitalism-superior-to-socialism
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/11/five-arrested-in-insider-trading-hacking-scheme-fbi.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-espionage-idUSKCN0WB2NM
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-dowjones-dataprotection-idUKKCN0SA2IS20151017
https://www.rt.com/business/339189-hedge-funds-russian-ruble/
- the nature of deterrence and Mutually Assurred Destruction (MAD) means that there's always an equivalent program on either side of the fence. It would not surprise me in the least if the Russians and Chinese had at least scale model versions of our latest technology working in their labs. The ultimate difference is how effective or crude/subtle their implementations are. The greatest difficulty that exists with comparing things is that a lot of information out there is junk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BGM-71_TOW
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire-guided_missile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M133_Kornet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-114_Hellfire
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/03/29/458081/NATO-U2-planes-Russia-Spying-Breedlove
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myasishchev_M-55
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-next-two-submarine-projects-feature-some-very-exotic-15618
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-deadly-tu-160-bomber-vs-americas-b-1-who-wins-15626
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/09/13/ending-the-continuing-stream-of-americas-secret-shadow-government-psyops/
http://truthstreammedia.com/2015/05/12/two-major-psy-ops-documents-you-must-read/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Le_Bon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Trotter
Conan O'Brien Fully Exposes Mainstream Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh_Kx7UKndI
Secret Cold War Planes of America and Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6w6wfRVOgQ
- literally billions of dollars are spent on PSYOPS by the usual suspects. Watch media from opponents/rivals and it's almost like a complete mirror of what is happening on the other side. In spite of the fact that there has been research into this and work on writing un-biased media almost no one plays by the rules. Once you have enough background it becomes much more obvious what operations are in play and the whole world looks very, very strange. With all the dis-information out there it can be very confusing though and sometimes you may never be able to clear things up no matter which side you may be on. The other thing which will confound you is why some material is classified, others not, levels of classification, relevance to national security, etc...
The Riga Conference 2015 - 'INSIDE THE PROPAGANDA WAR CHANNELING INFLUENCE'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHEuFdl97Ho
DIGITAL AGE-How Do Spies Really Play the 'Great Game'-Fred Hitz. Nov 6, 2004
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnpEefbQuQs
Russian Expansion - A Reality or Fiction - A Conversation with Elmar Brok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QquNSmB8Ws
http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2014/09/how-russia-revolutionizing-information-warfare/93635/?oref=d-dontmiss
https://www.rt.com/news/337335-russia-anglo-saxon-media-war/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/335983-disinformation-murphy-portman-propaganda/
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/05/not_a_dumb_blonde.html
https://www.rt.com/
http://www.presstv.ir/
http://www.reuters.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda
http://www.conservapedia.com/Examples_of_Bias_in_Wikipedia
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/articles/measuring-the-power-of-protests-propaganda-and-religion
http://qz.com/644588/the-only-way-facebook-enters-china-is-as-a-tool-of-the-government/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_interest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information
http://www.defensenews.com/story/military/2016/04/02/air-force-squandered-millions-dollars-excess-c-130j-parts-ig-says/82526048/
http://russia-insider.com/en/brookings-claims-panama-papers-are-putin-blackmail-us-officials/ri13842
http://russia-insider.com/en/top-german-politician-tells-ash-carter-go-fck-himself-finally/ri8261
http://russia-insider.com/en/history/nato-would-probably-lose-war-against-russia/ri1596
http://russia-insider.com/en/military/polish-government-rocked-resignation-generals-tensions-russia-build/ri13189
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/04/russia-blocks-u-n-report-linking-alleged-sudanese-war-criminal-to-gold-profiteering/
Ukrainian diaspora losing media war against Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSiKo8nzqWU
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/12/understanding-propaganda-us-anti-war.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theories-understanding.html
- one of the things that is obvious about rivals and enemies of their US is their fascination about how they got there. They look at the system and basically think it's somewhat of a sham. What's also very obvious is that they look at aspects of capitalism and see it as a disaster waiting to happen. Think of the way we currently deal with debt. We basically print money and grow our way out of our pothole. The problem is that in any centralised or comprimised system if there is corruption and talent is not allowed or given an opportunity you have lower growth. So you have to resort to more desperate measures such as 'hybrid warfare'. I said earlier that we've basically just put a label on it recently but it's a clear evolution from actual combat on the battlefield to combat in other spheres such as PSYOPS, finance, intelligence, etc... Defense is not as much about actually going to combat as it is about demonstrating that you can destroy your enemy without having to go to battle. Hence, what seems like the constant and incessant defense drills. They're there basically to intimidate your enemy into doing whatever you want. The trouble with China and Russia is that they're nuclear. Moreover, you need a plausible reason to go to war against them. Hybrid warfare is the perfect battleground for them and other anti-Western states and actors as long as they never step over the line that could provoke genuine conflict. They get what they want and there is no actual proper war
America's Rise to Superpower Status - 20th Century Economic, Military History (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQa6jOBtic
Saudi Arabia vs Yemen = USA vs IRAN - Proxy War for Middle East Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN4sUF_URDE
Putin - Russia would attack NATO only in mad person’s dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc4qnvGxF1U
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/mar/28/private-health-insurance-labor-attacks-size-of-premium-rises
http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/7eleven-ethnically-selected-franchisees-who-were-lured-with-cheap-loans-20160328-gnshr6.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-vulnerable-to-debt-crisis-says-forbes-20160327-gns1jn.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3510227/More-THREE-QUARTERS-Sydney-buyers-reach-affordability-getting-worse-year.html
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/japan-looks-kickstart-fintech-revolution-031939101.html
https://news.yahoo.com/china-reward-cinemas-favoring-local-films-over-hollywood-060508428.html
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/we-need-to-scrap-the-100-note-because-theyre-mainly-used-in-illegal-activity-20160328-gns3ba.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-vulnerable-to-debt-crisis-says-forbes-20160327-gns1jn.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/targets-21-million-profit-fudge-smacks-of-desperation-20160411-go3pww.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-energy-banking-idUSKCN0X80D2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Soviet_and_Eastern_Bloc_defectors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Western_Bloc_defectors
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-from-russia-with-love-why-the-kremlin-backs-donald-trump-2193614
https://news.yahoo.com/n-korea-video-depicts-imagined-submarine-attack-washington-051743930.html
https://beta.finance.yahoo.com/news/china-keeps-buying-american-companies-191030864.html
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/aiib-head-says-bank-shouldnt-be-hot-spot-for-us-china-frictions
https://news.yahoo.com/china-sets-industry-group-internet-finance-075819256.html
http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-yorkbased-chinese-activist-says-beijing-officials-abducted-his-family-20160326-gnrg8u.html
http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2016/03/25/china-seen-threat-flournoy-paper/82253534/
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-energy-banking-idUSKCN0X80D2
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-11/ukraine-prime-minister-yatsenyuk-resigns/7314798
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/28/donald-trump-nato-very-obsolete/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/only-map-see-know-donald-150707573.html
http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2016/03/25/china-seen-threat-flournoy-paper/82253534/
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/27/world/europe/ap-eu-serbia-marches.html?_r=0
- the core fundamental problem behind much of this is that the US/West come across as hyprocrites. In fact, most countries are hypocrites. Put into perspective. US non-signatories of Kyoto climate change protocol, supporters of nuclear non-proliferation but have one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals, supporters of terrorism at times (when that is the least worst option), invasions of multiple coutries without international approval; Australia with East Timor and handling of refugee problem in spite of being supposed upholders of human rights; China with South China Seas in spite of them proclaiming they will peacefully rise; Russia with their relationships with former Soviet states; Israel with handling of Palestine; UK with regards to the Falklands, Assange; Iran with regards to it's nuclear program. No country is 'clean'
- everything makes much more sense if you think about the 'least worse option'
Türkkaya Ataöv - Contemporary Hybrid Warfare and What to Do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrqCDLZIEp4
http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2016/03/25/china-seen-threat-flournoy-paper/82253534/
http://mashable.com/2016/03/28/cia-prisoners-naked-photographs/
https://www.rt.com/news/337508-argentina-territorial-waters-falklands/
http://www.smh.com.au/world/nuclear-trump-comments-risk-an-arms-race-in-asia-20160328-gnso5y.html
http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-1/who-are-the-ahsanis.html
http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-1/getting-the-story.html
http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2016/the-bribe-factory/day-1/the-company-that-bribed-the-world.html
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/337867-philip-hammond-russia-threat/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/337783-uk-falkland-islands-un/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/337743-italy-russia-cooperation-terrorism/
https://www.rt.com/politics/337850-empty-words-senior-russian-mp/
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/east-timor-takes-australia-to-un-over-sea-border-20160411-go39tl.html
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/panama-papers-leak-exposes-how-vladimir-putin-xi-jinpings-friends-hide-money-20160403-gnxfil.html
https://www.rt.com/news/338272-assad-west-dishonest-policy/
https://www.rt.com/news/338268-german-intelligence-israel-us/
https://www.rt.com/news/338276-cia-plan-topple-assad/
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/panama-papers-explainer-what-you-need-to-know-20160403-gnxg2e.html
http://www.smh.com.au/national/just-pay-your-fines-australian-govt-tells-foreign-diplomats-20160411-go3h0g.html
- one of the things you'll realise is that once you look deep enough virtually all of the major countries have plans on what to do military should their interests be challenged. Listen carefully to the tone of many of the officials involved in China, Russia, United States, etc... They want everyone else to be contained but they want to be able to do anything they want. It's almost inevitable that the known major players will have difficulties with one another. The only question is how they will react
Asia's New Great Game - The Coming Conflict in Asia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m7YI_EoPLA
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/another-gfc-likely-to-push-australia-into-recession-ross-garnaut-20160413-go5ac3.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/09/24/china-manages-capitalism-for-its-own-gain-this-explains-how/
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/japan-stakes-its-future-on-a-robot-revolution-20150913-gjlqkg.html
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/17/364718523/an-in-depth-look-at-the-u-s-cyber-war-the-military-alliance-and-its-pitfalls
- some of the Russian propaganda is actually really funny because it's an obvious lie (even Russians admit to this). However, I am reasonaly certain that they are somewhat accurate with regards to the availablity aspect of the JSF. The trials are saying ~50% availability (actual audit reports not media reports). The B-2 and F-22 also have around 60-70% availability. My guess is that we're looking at around 75% availability at most. Moreover, actual running costs just like a lot of other equipment is likely to be similar and there will be ongoing teething problems that will need to be dealt with. The only reason why the establishment are saying that it will cost less is so that we don't call for cuts to the program. I don't think it really matters though if you're honest about this. People would rather not have their home countries invaded
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/land/army/2016/04/07/army-chief-sounds-alarm-military-high-risk/82763640/
http://russia-insider.com/en/military/2014/11/04/02-05-14pm/latest_russian_fighter_jet_blows_americas_away
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/04/dont-let-pentagon-become-next-enron/127309/?oref=d-skybox
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/08/congress-pentagon-budget/
http://warisboring.com/articles/how-not-to-audit-the-pentagon/
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/show-daily/afa/2015/09/11/us-air-force-b-2-upgrades-new-huey-risk-under-cr/72065848/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/11/how-wasteful-is-us-dod-how.html
- another thing which you'll hear is that capitalism will be used as a noose to hang the US/West around the neck. You don't need to know experiments or collect any data to understand this. Just think a little bit. Think about the nature of the 'Cold War'. The world were basically split off into two separate social and economic systems in the ultimate human experiment. They were effectively placing bets on centralisation versus de-centralisation though and basically the entire world has become the USSR. Through high centralisation of power and corruption we've ensured that those who are less better suited to achieve power have achieved power. Politicians are under prepared for their portfolios because the system fundamentally rewards negativity. It rewards those who are able to achieve power not those who are able to achieve the best results. Moreover, this is aided by the media who sensationalise any mistake that politicians or other leaders of society make. You have the security services who are sometimes used to clamp down on those who may possibly push forward alternative views that may be better but aren't. Moreovoer, democracy self serving in a way because basically everyone wants things to be better not worse but since we have politicians who are generally working with 'least worse' options constantly you've effectively created a doom loop type situation. China, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc... has proven that high centralisation with good decision making is actually better than a more free type democracy for economic growth but exacerbates problems in the other direction as well. Think about the nature of capitalism as well. Two objects virtually identical are valued differently owing to the differing circumstances in their lives. However, spreads (price differentials) reduce as more and more actors discover that is an average/mean price that they should be paying (possible through globalisation). Now that the spreads have reduced the globe is effectively facing the same problem that the USSR was facing. Like it or not we now have somewhat of a 'socialist/managed' world economy. The spreads have narrowed as a consequence of globlisation but that was required to keep a cap on inflation (and wealthier people don't want to re-distribute wealth). Hence, the reason why people have been encourage to borrow more and more to borrow and why financial institutions were leveraged to crazy levels (30-40 times in Europe/US) taking bets on various financial instruments (and which led to the GFC). The system itself is 'flawed' or at least has certain limitations which means that almost always there will have to be those amongst us who are 'haves' while many others are 'have nots'...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-09/budget-will-not-be-about-a-fistful-of-dollars:-malcolm-turnbull/7313442
http://www.afr.com/news/world/asia/party-infighting-undermines-democracy-in-korea-20160410-go2qv7
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/bhp-rio-ironores-next-big-threat-looms-in-chinas-junkyards-20160413-go54s9.html
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-has-government-policy-impacted-the-aussie-economy--003145598.html
http://www.smh.com.au/world/chinas-national-peoples-congress-a-handy-guide-20160314-gniw4h.html
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/global-markets-now-treat-australia-as-an-economic-colony-of-china-20160120-gma39b.html
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/2016/01/19/report-chinese-soldiers-linked-us-military-hacking-case/79032426/
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-policy-germany-idUSKCN0X81GF
http://www.smh.com.au/world/chinas-patriots-among-us-beijing-pulls-new-lever-of-influence-in-australia-20160412-go4vv0.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Soviet_states
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_economy_of_the_Soviet_Union
Keiser Report - ‘Bankism’, oil prices and US election insanity (E856 feat. Gerald Celente)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROM52ibmpw
- if you know anything about the USSR you would know that they had a heap of economic analysts (the same is true of the US with their intelligence agencies). It was a systemic aspect of their economy owing to it's centralisation. I find it highly unlikely that they wouldn't know this. If watching any foreign media you also need to put their PSYOP operations here into perspective and what they've been doing in the financial world
http://www.state.gov/s/inr/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_intelligence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Intelligence_and_Research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Security_Service
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Service_%28Russia%29
Keiser Report - Bankers and miracles (E884)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qy8bhu0oGE
Keiser Report - ‘Bankism’, oil prices and US election insanity (E856 feat. Gerald Celente)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROM52ibmpw
Keiser Report - Economics of Crime & Stupidity (E896)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGlwlwzzXcc
Keiser Report -  Fools in Charge (E895)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHBZWRewhNI
Keiser Report - Global Housing Bubbles (Episode 883)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_juHR5uodjU
- it's clear that to a certain extent at low to mid levels education doesn't make much sense. If you're reasonably bright you would have realised that what we learn year on year at low to mid levels doesn't change that much. It's only in the latter years of your education at university/college that you really need to absorb large amounts of information. What's interesting for me (and others) has always been the fact that it's not so much about learning the material as it is about passing an exam. From a social engineering perspective this is master stroke (if deliberate). It ensures that those who are more likely to do to what they are told progress (think about the structure of exams now. They're not about exploring ideas. They're mostly short question/answer tests where you're asked only to explore a particular paradigm. Moreover, it has been proven that a lot of tests are biased towards particular groups. For instance, IQ groups tend to favour white people and not africans) while (even brilliant) outliers are less likely to. Moreover, given dominance of Anglo-American colleges/universities in world rankings it ensures that they take the best talent, trains them in a way that is best suited for their own purposes, helps them progress in the world, etc... That's why certain people from certain backgrounds never seem to be able to progress no matter how hard they work while others life is basically a walk in the park. The deck is stacked in their favour right from the start and every one of them effectively becomes a 'Manchurian Candidate'. Since centralisation (and corrupt relations between donors and institutions) means that education curriculums is more determined by 'market conditions' and donors it means that the system effectively remains corrupted and cogs in the overall machine never see the overall system for what it is (perhaps that's the point because that is the 'least worse' option we have?)
John Pilger - The New Rulers Of The World [2001]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uW1qJoWYPg
John Pilger - Obama and Empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXL998q7skI
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/12/460326/Calls-for-World-Bank-loans-at-crisis-level/
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/11/460292/Boeing-Iran-US-plane-JCPOA/
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/08/459714/Brazil-grand-pact-Rousseff-impeachment/
http://www.theage.com.au/world/no-one-can-be-condemned-forever-pope-calls-for-compassionate-church-open-to-imperfect-catholics-20160408-go29uh.html
http://www.smh.com.au/world/militarys-iron-grip-on-thaistyle-democracy-20160406-gnzher.html
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/grattan-institute-urges-reining-in-of-overly-generous-student-loans-scheme-20160328-gns68f.html
http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/waleed-aly-questions-why-begging-is-illegal-on-the-project-20160328-gnsmgp.html
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/wyatt-roy-grilled-on-startup-funding-on-qa-the-money-doesnt-match-the-words-mate-20160329-gnsna2.html
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/medical-marijuana-legalisation-could-be-worth-100-million-plus-research-finds-20160328-gnsbj8.html
http://www.theage.com.au/national/this-is-why-finland-has-the-best-schools-20160324-gnqv9l.html
http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/03/30/government-considering--state-income-tax-.html
https://www.rt.com/usa/339252-democracy-spring-key-demands/
- one of the flaws of democracies is also one it's greatest aspects. The choice to be able to do anything you want in spite of what others may believe or may say. For instance, you may be limited physically but aspire to be a professional athelete or you may be limited mentally but aspire to be an academic. There is a massive flaw here though. Watch a game of football and watch those who are less technically gifted play amongst those who are more technically gifted. It automatically means that they have to resort to 'dirty' tactics in order to remain competitive. It's at these moments that you always wonder whether or not there are those amongst us who are meant to be engineers, others labourers, others doctors, others entrepreneurs, others politicians, etc... Would the world be better off? Would we have greater prosperity if those who were best equipped were always placed into areas where they would best serve society and they were always given the best opportunity to do so? To a certain extent this was tested during the 'Cold War' but one can also say that it's simply a matter of execution?
- the great difficulty here is that research has proven that hierarchy produces higher levels of certain 'feel good' hormones. Hierarchies are fundamental to human nature. Hence, it's almost addictive for some people to take command, belittle others, etc... no matter what the circumstances. It's a lust that some will find almost impossible to control and it's this which leads to complete and total corruption of social systems because if you've had enough experience in life you know that if your rival decides to take a particular path to a advantage you almost always have to as well no matter how corrupt it may be
The Value of Drug Addiction Research - Michael Nader at TEDxWakeForestU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeOQchrFMu4
What you need to know about internet addiction _ Dr. Kimberly Young _ TEDxBuffalo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOSYmLER664
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/03/psychological-warfaremind-control-more.html
- nature itself offers a better economic system than the one that we've devised. It literally takes out temptation by not allowing for it. Think about animals. They have to struggle each day to survive. In humanity's capitalism every single person strives to work hard enough to retire. Resentment builds because the opportunities to achieve this are more about luck and cronyism rather than hard work and talent a lot of the time though. Socialism/communism's greatest flaw was that it relied on brutality to hold people in line. If people were slotted into their the exact correct position within society that they are best suited to and have an aptitude for then they win and so does the overall group. If we forget about arbitrary measures such as 'market pricing' and think about the laws of nature then we are now rewarded for working harder and smarter. For instance, if you build a machine that does something 15 times more efficiently then another one are you paid 15 times more. According to arbitary 'market pricing' you can get paid absolutely anything but it's unlikely to be exactly 15 times. Science and nature also works on the basis of supply and demand as well but since everything is based on need the overall system never collapses which is unlike modern capitalism. In modern capitalism people are rewarded for others getting sick. In nature, life is rewarded. If others are happy and healthy then they serve a purpose as part of an overall ecosystem. In modern capitalism you're rewarded for lying. In fact, the notion of arbitary 'market pricing' calls for it. You can't do that in nature. A specific amount of oil results in a particular amount of energy when used in a particular fashion no matter what. How do you deal with inflation in nature though or and the supply/demand issue. Think carefully. In this system ingenuity is rewarded. If you can use steam power or solar power to achieve the same thing then it ultimately doesn't matter. In modern capitalism there are disincentives for pursuing space travel because mineral prices would collapse once we bring back back materials. In this system it rewards it. When combined with non-interest banking (called for in some religions) it means that the those lending as well as borrowing must share the risk/reward which means that the lender is incentivised not to lend carelessly. Risk management is inherent to the system itself. Nature and science forming the basis for economics could be interesting way forward... The obvious problem is that this will only work up until a certain point. Imagine someone creates something diabolically intelligent. Nobody would be able to afford it. A real implementation would likely take a bit from market as well as scientific economics...
http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/a-kind-of-creeping-euthanasia-needless-early-deaths-among-mentally-ill-cost-the-economy-15-billion-a-year-20160408-go1nnc.html
http://qz.com/644152/yanis-varoufakis-on-his-plan-to-save-the-eu-with-julian-assange-and-slavoj-zizek/
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/30/edward-snowden-noam-chomsky-glenn-greenwald-a-conversation-on-privacy/
- our science, globalisation, everything about it facilitates a lot of nightname scenarious. Think about disease and high speed transportation. In an instant disease can spread from one part of the world to another. Think about greed and globilisation. By rewarding greed and growth we make people want to purchase a large quantity of a single product/service which means that it will inevitably result in resource exhaustion in at least a limited form. It doesn't make the best use of whatever is around which is the exact opposite of the science of nature
http://russia-insider.com/en/noam-chomsky-idea-media-which-does-not-repeat-us-propaganda-intolerable-american-leaders/5975
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-20/secretary-state-hire-hillary-clinton-made-millions-foreign-donors-exchange-favors
http://russia-insider.com/en/what-does-putin-want-major-analysis-rostislav-ishchenko-must-read/6001
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/booming-housing-market-increasingly-a-target-for-drug-money-launderers-say-police-20160122-gmc6ad.html
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/humans-will-cause-disaster-on-earth-must-escape-to-stars-stephen-hawking-warns-20160119-gm9lna.html
- one of the obvious things that the Chinese are attempting to do is to highlight how their nationals also aide their government. Though what exactly they do is being kept quiet for now
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Le_Bon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Trotter
- one of the people involved is Jack Ma, head of Alibaba. Not stereotypical background. Genuinely worked his way up really. Understands rejection. 100% trained by Chinese/internally. Chinese perspective makes more sense. Europe had the same problem if the technology is US centric you don't know about other alternatives commerce wise. Difficult to get finance. Understands Chinese system. Is wary of Chinese system (media censorship, authority, etc...). Openly admits he helps government at times but doesn't ask for money. Socialist ideal. Thinks that people thinking that he is crazy is good because it means that the playing field is available for himself. Alibaba a bridge to sell nuts, cherries, fish from rest of world to China. Had no connections growing up. In Chinese films heroes often due but US movies they live. May go back to teaching one day. Has remained grounded in spite of his success
Jack Ma Davos Interview_ I was rejected from Harvard 10 times! 马云达沃斯演讲_我被哈佛拒绝了十次
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5BKaDCda_0
- reverse belief customer first rather than shareholder. Alibaba is essentially a bridge. Not good background/relationships. Failure before success. Like government believes in bringing stability through prosperity. Success in China normally with connections or family that is already wealthy. celebrity appeal/side aspect of his life. Sings at concerts and runs mass weddings for his employees to keep them happy. Makes sense since he got his money from the customer. In the US things tend to be in reverse with venture capitalists taking a leap of faith to help build a company. It's more about doing what you want rather than what the customer wants?
Jack Ma - On 60 minutes
- if you ever have any doubts about whether look at what life is like on both sides of the fence. If you still can't get your bearings think about if you're on the wrong side and think about what they will do to you if they have a chance. That's why the US and Israel to maintain a military edge. Without the intimidation factor provided by their miltary there would almost certainly come under attack (for reasons that are fair and unfair)

- XLR to USB converters actually work surprisingly well when compared to some audio interfaces
http://recordinghacks.com/2009/07/04/usb-interface-review-icicle-micportpro-micmate-x2u/
https://www.editorskeys.com/xlr-to-usb-interface/

- I find it very difficult to fathom how they can get some of this wrong sometimes. My guess is that they were simply over-ambitious. If they wanted a deployable system back then they could have had them but it would have had limited capabilities
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/04/10/what-is-squad-x-and-how-much-will-it-change-the-u-s-army/

- you can actually extract data from Polar Loop devices from software other than that provided by Polar apparently
https://github.com/pcolby/bipolar
Some quotes in the recent media:
- Government Investment Needed To Achieve $85M F-35
18 Mar 2016 Graham Warwick

"With three-quarters of industry funding to improve the affordability of the F-35 already committed to projects, Lockheed Martin estimates the savings will reduce aircraft flyaway cost by $1.7 million from production Lot 10 onwards. Additional funds are expected to save another $1 million per aircraft....

...Blueprint projects have already reduced cost by $260,000 per aircraft with Lot 8 now in production, Babione says, and savings are projected to increase to $1.1 million in Lot 9, $1.7 million in Lot 10 and around $2.8 million from Lot 11 onwards once all the industry-funded projects are completed.

Examples of cost reductions provided by Lockheed include:

• Robotic mold-in-place stealth coatings over inlet bumps - $6,000/aircraft for $742,000 invested
• Automated canopy transparency thermoforming - $3,500/aircraft for $666,000 invested
• Closed-volume molding of wing tips and tailplane edges - $10,000/aircraft for $493,000 invested
• Right-sized aluminum bulkhead forgings (F-35A) - $65,000/aircraft for $652,000 invested
• Cryogenic machining to extend tool life - $4,000/aircraft for $119,000 invested
• Laser surface preparation for nut-plate bonding - $15,000/aircraft for $800,000 invested
• Near-net forging for tailhook component (F-35C) - $30,400/aircraft for $298,000 invested
• 3-D printed titanium canopy bowframe – ~$10,000/aircraft for $342,000 invested
• Rudder spar manufacturing improvement – ~$65,000/aircraft for $360,200 invested
• Convert intake chine to machined part – ~$37,000/aircraft for $4.6 million invested"
http://aviationweek.com/defense/government-investment-needed-achieve-85m-f-35
- Confronted with a plunge in its stock markets last year, China's central bank swiftly reached out to the US Federal Reserve, asking it to share its play book for dealing with Wall Street's "Black Monday" crash of 1987.

The request came in a July 27 email from a People's Bank of China official with a subject line: "Your urgent assistance is greatly appreciated!"

In a message to a senior Fed staffer, the PBOC's New York-based chief representative for the Americas, Song Xiangyan, pointed to the day's 8.5 per cent drop in Chinese stocks and said "my Governor would like to draw from your good experience".

It is not known whether the PBOC had contacted the Fed to deal with previous incidents of market turmoil. The Chinese central bank and the Fed had no comment when reached by Reuters.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/china-sought-feds-help-as-equities-plunged-20160321-gnnspq.html
- "I do think it’s a different world today, and I don’t think we should be nation-building anymore," Trump said. "I think it’s proven not to work, and we have a different country than we did then. We have $19 trillion in debt. We’re sitting, probably, on a bubble. And it’s a bubble that if it breaks, it’s going to be very nasty. I just think we have to rebuild our country."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-reveals-foreign-policy-team-in-meeting-with-the-washington-post/?postshare=1961458585271741&tid=ss_tw
- GSM antennas should be located at a minimum distance of 500 meters from schools, hospitals, orphanages, and homes for the elderly, according to a draft bill adopted by the Senate.

The Chamber of Deputies, which still needs to vote the project, has the final say.

The Communications Ministry, however, has warned that covering Bucharest with mobile signal would become impossible if the bill were approved, reports local Profit.ro.

The MP Diana Tusa, who initiated the bill, said that the law would protect citizens from being exposed to electromagnetic fields. However, the bill doesn’t say that GSM antennas shouldn’t be installed in residential areas.
http://www.romania-insider.com/bill-gsm-antennas-located-at-500m-away-from-schools-hospitals/167379/
- Tricks with interest rates and government deficits are vital short-term tools to keep economies from slumping into recession or worse. But they do not generate growth in the longer run. Politicians need to make structural reforms to stimulate investment and jobs. In Japan, in the EU, in Britain, even in the US, this is proving too hard.

Australia is one of the few bright exceptions to the grim global outlook, but if it wants to avoid joining the dismal roll call it must get on with structural reform.

Commendably, the Turnbull government last week toughened competition policy  and now promises to campaign to make  Australia's third- biggest industry, construction, a positive contributor to productivity growth instead of a hotbed of union thuggery. It has three big trade liberalisation agreements under way and more under negotiation.

But these are only a beginning. Turnbull promised Australia "economic leadership" and he is starting to show it. Unless Australia wants to go through the looking glass into extreme measures  as the world drags it down, his government will have to continue in its newfound purpose.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/why-banks-may-start-dropping-money-from-the-sky-20160321-gnnbm4.html
- I relate this experience as a warning and to interrupt a distraction that has consumed so many of us. The founder of modern propaganda, Edward Bernays, described this phenomenon as "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the habits and opinions" of democratic societies. He called it an "invisible government".

How many people are aware that a world war has begun? At present, it is a war of propaganda, of lies and distraction, but this can change instantaneously with the first mistaken order, the first missile.
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/336785-world-war-break-silence/
- A joint online sales platform would attract both businesses and developing economies.

“That will allow 80 percent of the world’s enterprises, 80 percent of the countries and 80 percent of the young people to unlock potential. You can sell goods not only in your neighborhood, but all over the world,” said Jack Ma.

Ma said he opposes any trade sanctions. “I think it’s commerce that represents human rights and freedoms,” said Ma, adding that trade is currently a tool used in global political conflicts.
https://www.rt.com/business/336857-alibaba-world-trade-platform/
- Wash-day blues may become a thing of the past. A team of Melbourne scientists is developing a revolutionary generation of self-cleaning textiles that degrade stains and grime when exposed to light.

The breakthrough technology relies on nano-scale materials, less than a billionth of a metre in size, which can be grown in the laboratory and then implanted in a wide range of textiles, including clothing, bed linen, curtains and furniture fabrics.

    We are seeking interest from industrial partners to take these new fabrics to the market.
    Rajesh Ramanathan, RMIT.

"Our world-first work paves the way to a brave new world of nano-enhanced textiles that can spontaneously clean themselves of anything from tomato sauce marks and wine stains to stale sweat by simply placing them under a light bulb or exposing them to sunlight," said team leader Rajesh Ramanathan of RMIT.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/selfcleaning-clothes-a-step-closer-after-nanomaterial-breakthrough-20160323-gnphpm.html
- Beijing: The exposure of an extensive criminal ring responsible for the proliferation of suspect vaccines through the healthcare system across dozens of provinces has sparked widespread anger and alarm in China, prompting Premier Li Keqiang to call for a thorough investigation.

China's Food and Drug Administration on Monday ordered local authorities across the nation to help trace the more than 2 million problem vaccine doses, prompting public outcry from anxious parents in a country where trust in China's public health regulators is threadbare due to frequent food-safety scandals, including in 2008 when melamine was found added to infant formula, causing six infant deaths and at least 300,000 to fall ill.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fear-and-anger-as-china-hunts-for-dangerous-vaccines-20160322-gnoush.html
- The Russian economy is adjusting to a new low oil price environment, the country's deputy prime minister told CNBC on Wednesday, adding that a weak ruble will help it to export more to China and Europe and stabilize the economy.

Arkady Dvorkovich said the chemical and pharmaceutical industries were growing and the agricultural sector was helping to drive the economy forward. Last year, Russia increased its agricultural exports to China by 25 percent, he said.

"We hope (oil) prices will be more or less around today's level," Dvorkovich said, adding he saw downsides as well as upsides. "The energy market is still volatile, oil is hard to predict." A lot would depend on how China would develop over the next few months and Europe's migration crisis was also a risk to the economy, he said.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/23/russia-growing-low-ruble-will-help-deputy-pm.html
- According to a press release from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, researchers have crafted “an innovative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can stay on station beneath the water, then launch into the air to perform a variety of missions.”

While such research seems to be in a very early state, such news is a promising development, for sure. If—and this is a big if—such a UAV could be scaled into something larger and adapted with an offensive role in mind, like being able to deploy out of a submarine torpedo tube or vertical launch tube, carry sensors and some sort of weapons load, the U.S. Navy would have a platform that can perform surveillance and go on the attack from distance. Such a platform could go a long way in negating the challenges U.S. submarines could face in the years to come. In fact, U.S. subs could really become underwater flattops that could conduct surveillance and attack from the air and in the water—two-domain flattops, if you will.
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/get-ready-china-tech-breakthrough-could-turn-us-subs-15566
- China has enough policy tools to ensure a stable economic performance, Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday at a forum in Boao on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

Li said that high-speed economic growth rates are not sustainable, so the government will pay more attention to the quality and efficiency of economic growth.

He said China's debt ratio is not high, pointing to a debt-GDP ratio of 17 percent.

He also reiterated that China would not devalue the yuan exchange rate to boost exports as it would not help Chinese firms become more competitive, adding that the government would continue to reduce overcapacity in steel, coal and other sectors while helping develop smaller private enterprises.
China aims to strike balance as economy transitions

He said China will "use market tools" to create new job opportunities to offset the impact of jobs destroyed by industrial overcapacity reductions.

China's economy got off to a good and stable start in 2016, he said, encouraging observers to consider the economy "as a whole."

He added that employment was stable, although different regions and industries showed different performances, but said that the country had policies in place to strengthen growth.

He pointed out that consumption is growing at double-digit rates, and that there is more room to develop western and central regions in China.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/23/china-premier-says-mainland-can-ensure-stable-economy.html
- "As soon as the markets realize that the Fed and the ECB are out of ammunition, it's over," Stockman said. "I think we're in an extremely unsafe world — we've never been here before."

The proof of that uncertainty can be found in Asia, he said. Japan, China and South Korea all saw exports drop by double digits in the first two months of a years.

"The world economy is drifting into recession and we are not decoupled," said Stockman. "We are not exempt."

The S&P 500 has staged a massive 13 percent comeback since February's low but Stockman said broad swings are nothing but the beginning of a long and burdensome bear market.

"We're still in no man's land. We've had a dead cat bounce. It's been strong," Stockman said. "The only thing left is to bury the cat!"

Stockman's target on the S&P 500 is 1,300, a 37 percent drop from Tuesday's open.

"Global deflation is going to turn into a recession worldwide," said Stockman. "They're out of ammo to deal with it."
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/22/as-soon-as-this-happens-its-over-for-stocks-stockman.html
- Mark Zuckerbeg’s charm offensive in China won’t let up. Over the past few days the Facebook founder and CEO published a controversial photo of himself jogging in smoggy Beijing, and met in person with China’s Minister of Propaganda—an unprecedented move for a foreign business owner. This follows his twenty-minute speech in Mandarin and meetings with Xi Jinping and China’s internet czar last year.

Zuckerberg’s goal, of course, is to bring Facebook to China, which has been blocked by Beijing since 2009. Adding just half of China’s 668 million internet users to Facebook would increase the social network’s total by 20%—and create a lucrative new market for advertising and publishing.
http://qz.com/644588/the-only-way-facebook-enters-china-is-as-a-tool-of-the-government/
- In addition to Russia, the US, China, and India have all experimented with hypersonic missiles, and the US and China plan to have operational prototypes in testing by 2020, STRATFOR reports.

The proliferation of hypersonic missiles will be an absolute game-changer for missile defense systems around the world. As it stands, most missile defense is geared towards detecting and stopping ballistic missiles.

As hypersonic missiles gain traction, missile defense systems may have to turn to light-speed, high-powered lasers, like the HEL MD, to counter missiles flying at 5 or 6 times the speed of sound.
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-testing-hypersonic-missiles-for-worlds-largest-surface-combatant-ship-2016-3?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=referral

Saving Money (without Sacrificing), Random Stuff, and More

- use price matching when you can to get an extra discount. Note, a lot of companies advertise low prices just to get you through the door. ...