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Sunday, March 12, 2017

Prophets/Genesis/Terraforming Mars, Seek Menu, and More

Obvious continuation from my previous other posts with regards to prophets/pre-cogs:
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/03/prophetspre-cogsstargate-program-8.html
- according to current theories dipole structure and magnetic field which protects Earth is basically a consequence of dynamo theory which states revolves around a fluid, semi-viscous, molten/hot, liquid core of iron/nickel which spins. This creates a magnetic field. Get the gate technology I've been mentioning to work and things will be easier with regards to terraforming planets... Once you perfect it, you just stream plasma from stars over the exterior of the planet itself? Else use the gate to drop explosives inside Mars to re-ignite the core which will allow it regain an ionosphere like Earth once more. Or else set up a gate to open a tunnel between that and a star of some sort (a 'black hole' type arrangement. My guess is that at some point if our science/mathematics is good enough we can warp material coming into a black hole to arbitrary places all over the Universe?) to heat up the core to the point at which it starts to 'run' and generate a self sustaining magnetic field around the planet once more (a single gate arrangement is also possible but I find it difficult to believe that we'll reach this point in the near future). Getting shield strength correct is obviously the difficult problem. Best option may be to try this on something smaller (like the moon or a 'planetesimal') first? If things get 'too hot' we simply gate/teleport in nitrogen/water/ice from another planet/moon/object (this technique can be used for anything I guess to re-stablish the planet?)? Those who are thinking that simple explosives will work don't get it. The problem is that it has to bore deep into the core before igniting several thousand kilometers of solidish metal before we can re-create a suitable magnetic field (the only other way is to pound the surface with explosives or a meteorite until the seemingly plentiful magnetic material on the surface forms a new outer layer of the atmosphere). Moreover, standard 'Earth technology' probably can't re-ignite a core of that particular size?
earth's magnetic field
Beyond this, the similarities between Earth and Mars’ internal composition ends. Here on Earth, the core is entirely fluid, made up of molten metal and is in constant motion. The rotation of Earth’s inner core spins in a direction different from the outer core and the interaction of the two is what gives Earth it’s magnetic field. This in turn protects the surface of our planet from harmful solar radiation.

The Martian core, by contrast, is largely solid and does not move. As a result, the planet lacks a magnetic field and is constantly bombarded by radiation. It is speculated that this is one of the reasons why the surface has become lifeless in recent eons, despite the evidence of liquid, flowing water at one time.
Estimates for the temperature of the outer core are about 3,000–4,500 K (2,730–4,230 °C; 4,940–7,640 °F) in its outer regions and 4,000–8,000 K (3,730–7,730 °C; 6,740–13,940 °F) near the inner core.[2] Evidence for a fluid outer core includes observations from seismology which shows that seismic shear-waves are not transmitted through the outer core.[3] Because of its high temperature, modeling work has shown that the outer core is a low viscosity fluid that convects turbulently.[2] Eddy currents in the nickel iron fluid of the outer core are believed to influence the Earth's magnetic field. The average magnetic field strength in the Earth's outer core was measured to be 2.5 millitesla, 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface.[4][5] The outer core is not under enough pressure to be solid, so it is liquid even though it has a composition similar to that of the inner core. Sulfur and oxygen could also be present in the outer core.[6]

As heat is transferred outward toward the mantle, the net trend is for the inner boundary of the liquid region to freeze, causing the solid inner core to grow. This growth rate is estimated to be 1 mm per year.[7]
Temperature Center (modeled): 1.57×107 K[1]
Photosphere (effective): 5,772 K[1]
Corona: ≈ 5×106 K
- get the 'gate technology' working life and manipulation of matter and time changes drastically. For instance, we can get planets terraformed and ready for life in a number of days instead of years... The obvious problem is the initial step of gettings things going using the basic gating/teleporting technology (I've outlined the basic science in other posts but will try to get more down down the line?)
- much of humanity seems to believe that somehow robots and machines are somehow superior to biological lifeforms but in reality they are just as flawed (if not more). A robot or machine has no empathy or remorse for taking someone's job or livelihood. It can not 'think' therefore it will never know what to do in a situation that arises in front of it that it has never faced or has been programmed to deal with?
- that said, biological organisms have their own own flaws. If you understand how simply 'giving in' to your needs can change you're perspective neurochemistry and re-wire your brain completely you'll understand that there needs to be limits put into place to somehow to deal with it. The obvious ways are to change 'your way of life' (such as diet, how and what you think, etc...). Also, could be called a 'religion'? In the case of biological organisms, the means mechanisms to control your appetite (if all of this is honestly done by a 'God' of some sort you have to say congratulations. This is really well thought through...)
- if our alien friends are real (assuming that they are) then the design of their spacecraft makes much more sense. Notice how they aren't 'massive' and yet they can go FTL. They either have super high energy density capabilities or they've figured out the FTL capability. Notice how they glow almost like a plasma? If it does this by creating a drive that I've outlined here and previously then basically all they need is enough power to create open up a 'wormhole' so that they can re-direct plasma from a star or another inter-stellar object. That negates the need for a huge starship to achieve inter-stellar travel. Moreover, since the object is shaped as a 'saucer' we can use inertia to produce artificial gravity by maintaining suitable acceleration
- it's obvious that the future that is currently envisaged by the present 'global elite' isn't much different from that envisaged in 'Psycho Pass'. There's obviously a big difference between this one and the one outlined here
- one of the things that I'm wondering about many of the Holy Scriptures is whether or not they're incorrect, flawed, interpreted incorrectly, or else they're simply dealing with an 'alternate forms'? For those who have experienced an 'out of body experience' (whether through accident, choice, silliness, etc...) the 'Lights of Pentecost', resurrection, and telepathy type/style miracles will all make much more sense to them. If they are actually manipulating/dealing with their alternate forms and haven't figured out how to bring things back across to 'this side' then it could make more sense? It's like some monks/scientists have used that 'other place/space' as a playground/place to work...
- the problem with pre-cogs/prophetic ability is that it doesn't actually tell you how things should line up? It will tell you will be so to a certain extent it's utility is limited/curtailed?
- one of the interesting things about all of the religions (look at the Old Testament/Torah (look up tales of Jehovah), Quran (Surah 11), etc...) is that they seem to imply that when they abandon the ways of God they seem to veer of course and life becomes significantly more difficult for them. This helps to explain many things including the nature of good and evil?
- I don't think much of the public really understands some of the shenanigans that the security services get up to... Without genuine inter-stellar/FTL capability you can't overcome the 'charity paradox' (see in my other posts, http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/03/prophetspre-cogsstargate-program-8.html) issue and the shenanigans will likely continue
Byer: We are the sin eaters. It means that we take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us, so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible, and absolutely necessary. 
 The Bourne Legacy (2012) 
- my guess is that mankind may have missed something along the way and we should have achieved inter-stellar/FTL capability earlier in the timeline? At this point the 'charity paradox' would have been overcome and the issue of resource allocation, fairness, etc... should go out the window. The need for the 'Alphas/psychopaths' will go out the window. Whether through Intelligent Design and/or Evolution thereafter it will be those are better balanced will be able to progress through society (combined with complete control of 'time and space' (like the strongest of the 'enhanced') injustice may possibly disappear?). At this point 'prosperity gospel' will make more sense?
- Quantum Entanglement and Tunneling (QET) co-ordinates are the obvious problem for 'Heaven' (if it's real). My guess is that is if you read the Holy Scriptures (and have a firm grasp of it) it will somehow trigger something in certain people which we can translate into mathematical/physical phenomena which we can use to 'navigate' to where we need/want? We need a 'firm lock' (faith) on the position for obvious reasons... Can't warp there without proper co-ordinates. It will also help us to ascertain where 'Heaven' actually is physically. Physically on top of us, another dimension, etc... People will need to know their respective religions to figure this out?
- 'Heaven' can not be a physically part of this Universe (if it exists)? If those pre-cogs/prophets behind that are correct it's in a completely different dimension (or a boundary layer keeps us separate?). Moreover, read the accounts of the birth of the Universe (such as 'Genesis') and it soon becomes clear that there are enormous problems if you try to create the physical Universe that we live while you are a part of it. You can not create the physical Universe from a 'primordial soup' without being separated/shielded from it. It's irrelevant what came before it (we may figure this out in time) but it seems obvious that without rules to govern it (science) a lot of what happened thereafter would not have been possible. It's very difficult to craft everything from matter without establishing a set of rules that govern them. A good example of this is the following. If the manner in which two physical elements were arbitrary then it would be difficult to construct anything let alone an entire Universe
- if I'm correct (and God is real) then if the current trend of humanity (it's 'waywardness') continues over the rest over the Universe (once humanity achieves FTL capability) there may be a point where there will be a 'roadblock' placed in front of them. Like on Earth you will have 'difficulties' that will be extremely difficult to deal with (if not insurmountable)
- everyone of these guys knows that irrespective of their abilities they may need the help of others (whether it's backup from the others who are 'enhanced' or just other people whether they may be really talented or not) to get certain things done...
- if you understand how QET based technology works and how it may look a lot like 'telepathic' healing/medicine? The worry is that some of the other pre-cogs/prophets may have simply mis-interpreted something?
- the importance of 'faith' within the religions exists to maintain focus on the 'true prophets' who bring knowledge which may be useful to humanity. It has ended up manifesting itself in strange/diabolical ways of measuring/establishing faith and huge problems. My assumption is that shouldn't wait for them. You just keep on chipping away at problems but know at the back of your mind that when and if required there will be others (such as pre-cogs/prophets, angels, etc...) will come along to help a bit more. The thing with the others is that they may be 'enhanced' but they might not have complete control over all abilities (or they may have highly specific abilities) and by taking 'human form' they may lose particular knowledge. The work of the others will help them to determine what direction their work should take. It will simply make things easier/faster for everyone...
- if you think about the science from 'up above' it works really well. I honestly don't know whether it's Intelligent Design, evolution, etc... but all I know is that things seem to 'fit together'. The 'cycle of life' (birth, life, death, etc...). The obvious reason why any 'Supreme Being' would force 'ageing' and a choice between 'good/Heaven' and 'evil/Hell' upon us is to 'test us'? Learning by doing. How do we act if we don't know the difference between good and bad if never see the face of both?
yin yang
The principle of Yin and Yang is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture in general dating from the third century BCE or even earlier. This principle is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example female-male, dark-light and old-young. The two opposites attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has at its core an element of the other (represented by the small dots). Neither pole is superior to the other and, as an increase in one brings a corresponding decrease in the other, a correct balance between the two poles must be reached in order to achieve harmony.
- the obvious thing is that I'd like to with Mars is to re-populate the planet with animal life and other organisms but there are major problems if things aren't done properly. The core needs to be re-ignited 'properly'. If animals are transplanted over their internal sensors will be thrown off entirely (lots of animals (not just migratory birds) which rely on an internal magnetoscope for navigation). We can speed things up by creating a 'time bubble' around the entire planet using the same gate style technology that I've been outlining (else just transport individual animals via a gate on site?)? Everything inside of that 'time bubble' will operate at a higher speed. Everything outside of that bubble will operate at it's current speed. The obvious implications of creating of 'time bubbles' is that what may look like thousands of years transpiring on a planet will actually be days to someone outside of that planet
migratory birds internal compass
Magnetoreception is present in bacteria, arthropods, molluscs and members of all major taxonomic groups of vertebrates.[1] Humans are not thought to have a magnetic sense, but there is a protein (a cryptochrome) in the eye which could serve this function.[2]
- since information (and likely objects) can obviously travel back in time we know that the future (from the present) can be impacted. The obvious issue is whether or not 'time branches' or whether it's a single stream? Logic tells you that it should only occur in a 'single stream' to make the process of 'ascension' make any sense? My guess though is that even if someone 'tampers' with our past then we wouldn't know it? Like Quantum Entanglement and Tunneling (QET) then it would update all relevant bits and pieces simultaneously. Anyone, inside of that particular space/time bubble would be unaware that things had been altered. Only people outside of that space/time bubble would be aware
- the ability to manipulate time and the possibility that there is a God and 'Intelligent Design' obviously brings in to play issues regarding non-linear time. This helps to explain gaps in the 'fossil record', why evidence of certain events in the Holy Scriptures doesn't seem to exist (if true), etc... If they're bringing objects back and forth through time then what will happen is that everything will look out of kilter. Moreover, with 'human science' the way it currently is there is no adequate mechanism whereby to measure the age of any object that has been 'manipulated'. All mechanisms through which to measure time by current science are invalid (carbon dating, nuclear decay, etc...)?
- it's clear that most of the guys lower down the chain can at least see through time and space at will. The obvious question is manipulating time and space at will though. I suspect that may only be possible for those higher up the hierarchy?
- pre-cog/prophet (QET) issue has to occur at sub-atomic level else it would continuously react/interact with with substances/objects around people/animals/objects
- if you think like someone who is 'ascended/transcended' then everything in the Holy Scriptures will make more sense. The warnings in the Holy Scriptures with regards to not 'playing with life' were likely put there as warnings because humanity had not reached the point whereby they understood enough to deal with what they were seeing
- you read through some of the Holy Scriptures and it's almost like God (and the others) made the Universe for run (if he exists)?
- religious polymaths who are pre-cogs/prophets will make better/faster progress on deciphering/decoding all of it. My guess is that it's a mix of real, fake, and other content now which makes it incredibly difficult to reconcile and make sense of
- if I'm reading things correctly, then humanity is several thousand years behind where it should be in regards to the process of ascension?
- I'm thinking that the Holy Scriptures are God's journal, that he and the others who are from 'up above' are basically humans who figured out a way to 'ascend'? The Holy Scriptures may actually be a journal and for those who are 'enhanced' it will be a manual/mnemonics that can be used to help them get things done while 'down here' and to everyone else down here to achieve transcendence/ascendance
- as I said previously, think like a lazy man. Let's say there is a God? What's more efficient? His science (we'll just call it 'God's science')or 'human science'? For me, it's clearly his science? It's the ultimate lazy/smart man's science. Imagine instead of building a home you could grow homes. Each home could be as you wished but all were slightly different. They were all slightly different because of localised resource deficiencies and they only grow to a finite point which means that other things can grow as well. Extrapolate to plants and animals and things make more sense. You don't need to do work, you just let it flow. No arbitrary rules/regulations that you come up after the things have happened (after all, the critical flaw in societal management seems to be monetary/economic. Get rid of this flaw and everything else sort of falls into place? The Marxists-Leninists were partially right?). They just happen and you just enjoy the fruits of your labour? It also helps us deal with the resource consumption problem. If the science is correct and the human population growth rate can be kept in check then things should fall into place? Prior to that though humanity must hit 'transcendence'. Consume within reason so that no matter how much is thrown at them they won't become greedier (this partly comes down to neuroscience,  http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/neuroscience-in-psyops-world-order.html ) and end up destroying themselves and one another? https://www.rt.com/news/375650-nazi-auschwitz-camp-list/ http://pamiec.pl/pa/form/r48758554236407,ALSCHEWSKI.html
- there's also an interesting anomaly with 'God's science'. Look at how all objects around our ecosystem are basically in 'rough balance'. A single plant grows to a particular size/point but it never proceeds past that particular point. That way other plants/animals each gets their adequate share. Even if particular plants/animals die off the entire system/ecosystem never dies off
- change the definition of what 'life' means and things look very different. Think of evolution of life thus: reactive elements as a form of extremely primitive life, single cell organisms as the next layer up, animals next, humans/aliens as the next, with 'ascended beings' (God, angels, etc...) at the top of the chain. If everything was via 'Intelligent Design' then when you examine the periodic table then things will suddenly make a bit more sense. You can not control chemical reactions and create life without elements of different reactivity and mechanisms through which to control the rate at which they occur as well as how to stop certain elements from reacting with one another. Without this particular design you can not have our present Universe 
- another way to resurrect the dead is to bring back alternate version of people. There are huge problems with this though (such as altering the present). My guess is that creating a bridge between Heaven and Earth is the simplest way which will avoid 'time travel' anomalies. My guess is that since the pre-cogs/prophets can at least warp through time and space then at some point down the line we'll figure out how to control time as well but will avoid it for some of the reasons I've mentioned above
- the issue of 'time travel' opens up some interesting possibilities. If we can create a link between current position and current time on Earth with current position and future time on Earth then if we simply take back food that has been planted in the present from the future then technically our food problems are solved. However, obviously future self will be deprived of their food so they have to travel further into their future to avoid this problem. Obviously, this loop can leads to significant problems so we should try to avoid this style of time travel at all. The easiest way is to perfect the 'gating technology' that I've been mentioning and then use it to create 'time bubbles' around arbitrary objects (such as food). You warp the food into the future so that it grows 'effectively instantaneously' (genetic engineering to change metabolism is also possible but also frustrating). Else, just do it the old fashioned way by dedicating space (such as parts of planets or even entire planets to food)
UN: World facing greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945
- like has been experienced preivously, my guess is that those who are best served to complete the projects are likely to be religious polymaths who are 'enhanced' themselves. The key is that they are curious and cynical but not so much that they make their work impossible. If those from up above are 'ascended humans' who figured things out long ago it's obvious that that our science has a long way to go before things finally 'match up' between what the religion (and de-facto pre-cogs/prophets) have said and what the science says
- just out or curiosity, I'm interested what the record for one of the pre-cogs/prophets is for something that is most miraculous? 1x10^-?

Random Stuff:
- recently Seek changed their website such that you could no longer browse via standard hyperlinks and had to resort to a klunky menu based navigation mechanism. This script is designed to get around that particular problem. Just run it to create a new Seek menu just like the old one that is relevant for ICT workers. Else, just use the relevant files which were created by me in this package. You can download it here:
seek_menu-1.03.tar.gz
- don't know what to make of what they do now?
CrossTalk - Vault 7
- if you watch foreign affairs/relations for long enough you just think what the heck?
- sometimes it feels like they're almost trying to blow apart the EU now?
Germany and France endorse multi-speed Europe
- latest in the ICT world
- latest stuff in science world
- latest stuff in defense
KFX Thread
- latest in geo-politics

Random Quotes:
- An unidentified unmanned aircraft violated Israeli airspace over the Golan Heights on Sunday. Neither two Patriot missiles, nor one air-to-air missile fired from an Israeli fighter reportedly managed to take down the mystery UAV that retreated into Syria.

The drone was reportedly spotted by Israeli air defenses as it was approaching Israeli airspace.

“Moments ago two Patriot air defense missiles were fired towards a drone which infiltrated Israeli airspace from Syria,” the military said in a statement on Sunday.

An Israeli fighter jet was scrambled that bolted after the intruder and fired an air-to-air missile at it – also failing to hit the target, which flew back into Syrian airspace it had come from. The drone penetrated four kilometers into Israeli airspace, Haaretz reported.

The launches reportedly triggered air raid alarms across northern Israel.
- Bloomberg gave the trivial answer first thing this morning in a piece titled 'Why SoftBank Is Spending $32 Billion on U.K. Chip Designer ARM", which concluded the following: "Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son sees ARM’s future in being inside the legion of products that are becoming internet-connected, from street lamps to air conditioners, washing machines to drones -- so-called “internet of things" devices."

Perhaps. However, a more provocative explanation has emerged courtesy of SouthBay Research, which when looking at the same deal, asks if China (yes China) "just acquired the most important company in the world? "

Here is SouthBay's explanation why:

ARM Holdings (ARMH) holds the keys to the future of electronics  That's not hyberbole.

Not only does ARMH dominate the world of mobile devices, it is rapidly penetrating all electronics: from consumer electronics to the computer network.
- Researchers working in the Netherlands have developed an atomic-scale rewritable data-storage device capable of packing 500 terabits onto a single square inch. Incredibly, that’s enough to store every book written by humans on a surface the size of a postage stamp. Holy shit.

It is as if we have invented the atomic scale printing press.

This atomic hard drive, developed by Sander Otte and his colleagues at Delft University, features a storage density that’s 500 times larger than state-of-the-art hard disk drives. At 500 terabits per square inch, it has the potential to store the entire contents of the US Library of Congress in a 0.1-mm wide cube. The new system, described in the latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology, still requires considerable work before it’s ready for prime time, but it’s an important proof-of-principle that lays the groundwork for the development of useable atomic-scale data storage devices.

This isn’t the first time scientists have positioned individual atoms at will. Researchers have been moving atoms using scanning tunneling microscopes since the early 1990s, but current methods are tedious and show, requiring tremendous patience and persistence. The new system, while still a bit slow, is a huge improvement in user friendliness. 
- On the night of March 5, 2011, at the height of the Egyptian revolution of 2011, a group of pro-democracy protesters stormed and ransacked the office of Egypt’s security service.

Inside the offices, the protesters found a strange document: an agreement between the regime of the dictator Hosni Mubarak and the UK surveillance tech company Gamma International to provide spyware known as FinFisher to the country’s spies for a 5-month trial.

The release of that document marked the first time most of the world heard of FinFisher. In the months and years ahead, FinFisher, along with its Italian competitor Hacking Team, would become the poster children for a new kind of surveillance, and a new kind of government contractors. Gone were the days of spies dressed in suits and sunglasses, tailing suspects across cities. Now, the best way for a government to spy on a target was ready-made malicious computer software created by those two companies.

In the years following that fateful ransacking, researchers at Citizen Lab, a digital watchdog at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, uncovered several cases where FinFisher and Hacking Team’s spyware was used by repressive regimes to spy on dissidents, human rights activists and journalists. The researchers even mapped their once-secret clients, revealing the global reach of this new kind of spyware.
- That boycott was a mistake. But that was politics impinging on sport. This is a sporting principle, grave and self-contained. It would be no easier, nor less divisive. Some would go, some would not, some would have no say. Some would go to make a point, some stay home to make a point. When great moral issues bump into geopolitics, sometimes it just becomes too hard, as Australia's campaigning candidate to become UN general secretary would attest.

It won't happen.
- What is the likely outcome of a conventional war waged against U.S. cities? Do we wish to find out? And once it begins where is the firewall against an all-out nuclear exchange? Where are the neocons and the rest of the U.S. foreign policy elite taking us?

Certainly the damage would begin with Eurasia, but Americans would do well to worry that great swarms of chickens might come home to roost in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. This is no longer the Twentieth Century.

    For some the scenarios above might seem unduly alarmist. You might doubt that the U.S. elite would be capable of consciously unleashing such a vast bloodletting. For those, it is useful to recall the words of President Harry S. Truman, who said in 1941, when he was still a Senator and before the U.S. had entered WWII: “If we see that Germany is winning the war, we ought to help Russia; and if that Russia is winning, we ought to help Germany, and in that way let them kill as many as possible. . . .”

Is that not what happened? People of Eurasia, beware.
- Of his time as an NSA analyst, directing the work of others, Snowden recalled a moment when he and his colleagues began to have severe ethical doubts. Snowden said 18 to 22-year-old analysts were suddenly "thrust into a position of extraordinary responsibility, where they now have access to all your private records. In the course of their daily work, they stumble across something that is completely unrelated in any sort of necessary sense—for example, an intimate nude photo of someone in a sexually compromising situation. But they're extremely attractive. So what do they do? They turn around in their chair and they show a co-worker ... and sooner or later this person's whole life has been seen by all of these other people." As Snowden observed it, this behavior was routine, happening "probably every two months," but was never reported, being considered among "the fringe benefits of surveillance positions."[71]
- An NSA mission statement titled "SIGINT Strategy 2012-2016" affirmed that the NSA plans for continued expansion of surveillance activities. Their stated goal was to "dramatically increase mastery of the global network" and "acquire the capabilities to gather intelligence on anyone, anytime, anywhere."[151] Leaked slides revealed in Greenwald's book No Place to Hide, released in May 2014, showed that the NSA's stated objective was to "Collect it All," "Process it All," "Exploit it All," "Partner it All," "Sniff it All" and "Know it All."[152]

Snowden stated in a January 2014 interview with German television that the NSA does not limit its data collection to national security issues, accusing the agency of conducting industrial espionage. Using the example of German company Siemens, he stated, "If there's information at Siemens that's beneficial to US national interests—even if it doesn't have anything to do with national security—then they'll take that information nevertheless."[153] In the wake of Snowden's revelations and in response to an inquiry from the Left Party, Germany's domestic security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) investigated and found no "concrete evidence" that the U.S. conducted economic or industrial espionage in Germany.[154]

In February 2014, during testimony to the European Union, Snowden said of the remaining "undisclosed programs": "I will leave the public interest determinations as to which of these may be safely disclosed to responsible journalists in coordination with government stakeholders."[155]

In March 2014, documents disclosed by Glenn Greenwald writing for The Intercept showed the NSA, in cooperation with the GCHQ, has plans to infect millions of computers with malware using a program called "Turbine."[156] Revelations included information about "QUANTUMHAND," a program through which the NSA set up a fake Facebook server to intercept connections.[156]

According to a report in The Washington Post in July 2014, relying on information furnished by Snowden, 90% of those placed under surveillance in the U.S. are ordinary Americans, and are not the intended targets. The newspaper said it had examined documents including emails, message texts, and online accounts, that support the claim.[157]

In an August 2014 interview, Snowden for the first time disclosed a cyberwarfare program in the works, codenamed MonsterMind. The program would "automate the process of hunting for the beginnings of a foreign cyberattack". The software would constantly look for traffic patterns indicating known or suspected attacks. What sets MonsterMind apart was that it would add a "unique new capability: instead of simply detecting and killing the malware at the point of entry, MonsterMind would automatically fire back, with no human involvement". Snowden expressed concern that often initial attacks are routed through computers in innocent third countries. "These attacks can be spoofed. You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia. And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?"[16]
- Kobe Bryant seems to have more time to think, now that he’s retired from the NBA.

The Lakers legend has come up with some advice to offer a younger version of himself on the brink of signing his first contract back in 1996 — and he shared it Wednesday in a piece he wrote for the Players’ Tribune.

“Dear 17-year-old self,” Bryant began. “When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, and you may think it’s a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further.

“I said INVEST.

“I did not say GIVE.”

Bryant explains that buying material things for loved ones really doesn’t benefit anyone.

“You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world — and that was extremely selfish of you,” Bryant wrote.

“While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.”

He added: “Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will eventually go.

“I’m writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and so that you don’t have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning them off of the addiction that you facilitated. That addiction only leads to anger, resentment and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.

“As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.”

Sounds like Bryant might have learned these lessons the hard way.
- “There are big differences between American engineers and those trained in Russia,'' said Shkolnik. "American engineers are incredibly effective in what they do, and it usually takes two or three Russian engineers to replace one American. However, Russians have a broader view of things, which has to do with their education; at least in my time it did. They are capable of achieving goals with a minimum of resources.”
http://russia-insider.com/en/science-tech/russian-engineer-invents-revolutionary-new-combustion-engine/ri15746
The US wasted $10 billion on missile defense projects which were doomed for failure from the beginning, due to a lack of analysis, a report by the Los Angeles Times says. Aside from the astronomical costs, the failures appear to also threaten US security.

America’s maritime based X-Band Radar (SBX) was hailed by the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) as having the potential to become the most powerful radar of its kind in the world.

Henry A. Obering III, a retired director of the Missile Defense Agency, said at a Senate hearing in April 2007 that “if we place it in Chesapeake Bay, we could actually discriminate and track a baseball-sized object over San Francisco.”

However, despite all the hype, the SBX proved to be a flop and an expensive one at that. A report by the Los Angeles Timesrevealed the project eventually cost $2.2 billion and was doomed to fail from the very beginning, due to insufficient early testing. The system, which was supposed to have been operational in 2005, is now lying idle in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 

The failure of the SBX was just the tip of the iceberg. It was one of four projects which were abandoned and caused embarrassment for the MDA, while they ended up costing the US tax payer $10 billion.

The SBX, which is a floating radar system, was designed to spot incoming missiles and track them through space, while it would also guide rocket interceptors to eliminate the threat. The project was so advanced that it could tell the difference between actual missiles and decoy rockets.

The problem with the sea-based radar was its field of vision (25 degrees compared to 90 and 120 degrees of conventional radars) cannot be relied upon to track a number of incoming missiles at the same time.

“Although it can powerfully magnify distant objects, its field of vision is so narrow that it would be of little use against what experts consider the likeliest attack: a stream of missiles interspersed with decoys,” the report says. 
- The top brass of US Strategic Command acknowledges that hypersonic glide weapons developed by other countries are a serious challenge to Washington’s defense capabilities.

The concerns were voiced during a Space and Missile Defense Symposium that was hosted in the US state of Alabama earlier this week, Defense News reports. 

It is “becoming increasingly more difficult” for the US to track down and tackle the foreign hyper-glide vehicles, Admiral Cecil Haney, chief of US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) said as quoted by the media outlet. “Hyper-glide vehicle technology can complicate our sensing and our defensive approaches,” he added.

Hyperglide vehicle’s (HGV), also known as boost gliders, are unmanned weapons that are launched by ballistic missiles. After separating from the rocket, they follow their own track path, reaching speeds of at least Mach 5 (five times faster than the speed of the sound) or more.

HGV’s can “potentially glide over distances approaching ten thousand kilometers,” while hitting their targets “with accuracies down to a few meters,” according to Forbes.

During the summit, Haney admitted that most of the US Defense capabilities are not designed to deal with these threats, which have different flight schemes in the air, compared to conventional missiles.

One of the key problems voiced by the US military was limited detection capabilities of HGV’s because of their extreme high altitude, reaching into the atmosphere, as well as a very short approaching time to target.

“Reduced shooter-to-target timeline is our greatest problem because of how we do our command-and-control as well as how do we integrate our systems to be able to engage on fast-moving targets,” US Army Acquisition Chief Katrina McFarland stated.
- Drones developed by The Ripper Group and Chinese developer JTT Technology are to be tested by Surf Life Saving NSW as means of driving sharks away from swimmers.

The specially-developed drones can drop “shark shield bombs” into the water where they emit electric pulses. They can also drop a flotation device that activates when it hits water and can be used to support swimmers in trouble, or drop a defibrillator in difficult to reach areas.

Australian company, The Ripper Group, was set up by high-profile publisher, local entrepreneur and Life Member of Surf Life Saving Australia, Kevin Weldon, to develop the drones for use on Australian beaches.

The drones use artificial intelligence developed by University of Technology Sydney researchers to track sharks and RealSense aviation technology to prevent collisions with other drones/aircraft.

The drones can land automatically without a pilot.

Surf Life Saving NSW will test the drones on the state’s north coast and plans are afoot to follow-up successful tests with further trials on Sydney beaches.

The drones are likely to be deployed nationwide by the end of the year if trials in NSW are successful.
- Guy Verhofstadt, the man appointed by the European Parliament to negotiate Brexit talks, has been talking frankly about how difficult he plans to make Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Business Insider reported last week how Verhofstadt would be an unpopular choice for Brexit negotiator with pro-Leave British politicians due to his well-publicised opposition to Brexit.

He has also asserted on multiple occasions that the EU would not grant Britain an exit deal which would allow the country to enjoy single market access and opt-out from the free movement of people.

This is the type of Brexit deal both Theresa May and foreign secretary Boris Johnson have reportedly been eyeing up.

Just to make his position on Brexit even clearer, the former Belgian prime minister and so-called staunch federalist posted tweets on Tuesday morning which will have Brexiteers even more worried.
- Instead of storming the sangar directly after the last bomb had hit its target, it has taken government forces reportedly between 30 and 60 minutes to do this, as several accounts confirmed. The reasons was – according to various commanders and despite direct radio contact between the A-29 pilot and a commander on the ground – an apparent lack of coordination, with no one knowing at first, which of the many different forces (Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Police Special Forces, Afghan National Civil Order Police, Afghan Local Police or the vigilantes fighting alongside them) should storm the place. In any event, by the time government forces made their move on the sangar, insurgent reinforcement had already re-manned the bunker and subsequently fended off the attack. The opportunity was lost and as of 23rd of August the sangar of Kandavon was still in the hands of the insurgents.

However, rather than acknowledging that, at least this time, the failure lay solely with the ground forces, the commanders in Raghistan chose to complain about the lack of sufficient, timely air support.
- Another aspect of these attacks was that they seemed to be aimed at finding out the extent of a network's defences. There were more vectors involved, meaning that the targets had to counter with differing defences.

"This means that the companies have to use everything they've got to defend themselves. They can't hold anything back. They're forced to demonstrate their defence capabilities for the attacker," he wrote.

Schneier said he could not provide details as the information had been given to him on the promise of secrecy, but added that what he was hearing was consistent with what had been reported by Verizon in its second quarter report on DDoS trends: "in Q2 2016, attacks continued to become more frequent, persistent, and complex."

And finally, he said, one company had told him that it had experienced a number of probing attacks in addition to the DDoS attacks: the ability to change Internet routes and addresses was being tested and also the time between attack and response.

Schneier's conclusion? "Someone is extensively testing the core defensive capabilities of the companies that provide critical Internet services."

He said while there had been speculation as to the source, nobody really knew. Only the National Security Agency, which had more surveillance of the Internet backbone than all other players combined, would have a better idea. However, unless the US decided to create an international incident by naming names, there would be no attribution.
- "I want journalists, publishers and authors to be paid fairly for their work, whether it is made in studios or living rooms, whether it is disseminated offline or online, whether it is published via a copying machine or commercially hyperlinked on the web," said the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker during his annual ‘State of the Union’ address.

According to the European Commission, YouTube and other sites such as Dailymotion would have an “obligation to deploy effective means such as technology to automatically detect songs or audiovisual works.”

UK Music, the body which represents the British music industry, said this week that YouTube, the most popular music site in the UK, was still not paying artists enough for their music.
- A global Gmail outage that began at 1.16am AEST this morning has affected millions of users across the world.

Nine hours later, at 10.45am AEST, the company was still claiming that the service had been restored for "some users" as it did four times earlier after the initial announcement of the breakdown of the service.

The first message at 1.16am said there were indications that the issue only affected Google for Work Gmail users.

Subsequent messages did not clarify whether this was correct or not.
- The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Tuesday that it launched multiple attacks against Daesh terrorists in Syria during last week.

It said US warplanes may have targeted civilians in their strikes near the cities of Raqqah, Dayr al-Zawr, and Shaddadah.

Bennett said this is not surprising, but “it is an indicator of the desperation that’s beginning to emerge from the Obama administration there, rushing as fast as they can to erase the evidence of their own complicity and financing and training of the ISIS (Daesh) mercenaries.”

Daesh terrorists left “Saudi Arabia and various parts of the North African and Persian Gulf country Wahhabi Takfiri Salafist countries,” he said, adding “they all went into Syria on the checks and dollars and chips and planes and Humvees that the United States and Great Britain provided.”

Now, “the US senses the world opinion being turned against it with regards to its interventionism, its policies of militant interventionism beginning to blow back on them,” he noted.

He went on to say that “the United States is taking a quick desperate action to try to obliterate the evidence and destroy everything that may be linked back to them.”

“The United States is trying desperately to save face, trying to salvage what reputation that it may have left in the Middle East,” he added.

Daesh terrorists still control parts of Iraq and Syria. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.

US warplanes have been conducting airstrikes against Daesh in Iraq since August 2014. Some Western states have also participated in some of the strikes in Iraq.

Since September 2014, the US and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.
- For his own part, Zhirinovsky has done a great deal to foster a reputation as a loud and boisterous populist who speaks on behalf of the Russian nation and people, even when the things he says are precisely what many people, at home or abroad, do not want to hear. Zhirinovsky infamously promised voters in 1991 that if he were elected, free vodka would be distributed to all. Similarly, he once remarked, during a political rally inside a Moscow department store, that if he were made president, underwear would be freely available.[19] Zhirinovsky has on several occasions become involved in altercations with other politicians and debate opponents. As a candidate, he also took part in the 2000 and 2008 presidential elections, promising a "police state",[16] and to institute summary executions. A BBC documentary from 1995 showed Zhirinovsky telling the crowd at a campaign rally: "Help us, and you'll never have to vote again! I'm not saying, "Vote for us and maybe in 20 years' time somebody will do something". No, these will be the last elections! The last ones!".[20] While some commentators call Zhirinovsky a fascist, or a neo-fascist,[3][4][5] some others dismiss him as a mere "clown"[21][22][23] and as the Kremlin's willing political tool to neutralize the right-wing voter potential – and, for a time being, also as a radical "bogeyman" for the West.[16]
- At the next BRICS summit in Goa next month, some of these geopolitical intricacies will be quietly discussed behind closed doors. BRICS may be in disarray, with Brazil under regime change, Russia under sanctions and India flirting with the US. But BRICS remains committed to serious institutional moves, such as the New Development Bank (NDB), the push towards trading in their own currencies and a multi-pronged politico/economic drive towards a multipolar world.

This drive is graphically in effect when we examine one of the key – unreported - Eurasian integration stories; the symbiosis between India and Iran. Delhi counts on Tehran to up its game as an economy propelled by natural gas as well as profiting in the long run from the perfect – Persian - gateway to Central Asian markets.

The key hub of course is the port of Chabahan. The highlight of a Modi visit to Tehran four months ago was a Chabahar contract between India Ports Global Private Limited and Arya Banader of Iran. That’s about “development and operation for 10 years of two terminals and 5 berths with cargo handling”.

There’s way more; development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and essential road/rail links from Iran to Afghanistan and further into Central Asia. India will then have direct access to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. It does not hurt that Delhi and Kabul are already strategic partners.

Chabahar is only 500 km east of the ultra-strategic Strait of Hormuz.

In the near future, we might as well see a configuration where the Indian Navy has the right to use Chabahar while the Chinese Navy has the right to use Gwadar, in Pakistan, only 150 km by sea east of Chabahar. Nothing that BRICS dialogue – or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – could not keep on smooth sailing mode.

For Iran, this is a certified “win-win” game. Iran not only will be connected to the Chinese One Belt, One Road (OBOR); but it will also solidify yet another trade/transportation corridor in Eurasia; the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) between the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. Key INSTC members happen to be Iran, India and… Russia. Talk about, once again, the interpenetration of BRICS and the SCO.

The Big Picture ahead under Modi’s long term planning does not look like Delhi subjected to the role of flagrant vassal of Washington. India needs certified stability with all key players – from the US to China, considering the master plan is to lift 1.3 billion Indians close to the living standards of middle-class Chinese.

China had a head start. India may take up to 2050 to do it. Meanwhile, it’s not to India’s interests to actively join any US policy of China containment or encirclement, be it “pivot” or “rebalance”. It’s more like India, in a Gandhian way, will be practicing the fine art of nonviolent, forceful neutrality.
- They banned Pornhub in Russia – but I live in Belarus, thank God!
...
Dmitry Medvedev ordered the creation of a domestic substitute for foreign Pornhub.
- Milley—whose service along with the Marine Corps most directly faces off against America’s enemies—did not shy away from describing the consequences of sending units that are not fully prepared into battle against a near-peer threat. “The butcher’s bill is paid in the blood of American soldiers for unready forces,” Milley said. “We have a long history of that— Kasserine Pass, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Tarawa, Task Force Smith in the Korean War. It goes all the way back to Bull Run—Lincoln thought he was going to fight a war for 90 days. Wars are often thought to be short when they begin—they’re not. They’re often thought to cost less than they end up costing and they end up with outcomes and take turns you never know. It’s a dangerous thing.”

The best way to prepare for conflict is to deter the enemy so that it does not come to war, Milley said. But if war does break out, the best way to fight it is by winning quickly and decisively. “The best thing I know off is to ensure you have forces that are sized, trained, manned and equipped and very, very capable to first prevent the war from starting to begin with, and then once it starts, to win and win fast and win decisively,” Milley said. “That’s the most humane thing to do when you’re engaged in combat. Otherwise, you’re expending lives.”
- Moscow could simply overwhelm Kiev if the Kremlin genuinely thought its national security interests were at stake. Even then, Russia would likely not want to occupy Ukraine—rather, the Kremlin would destroy Kiev’s capability to wage war, Saradzhyan said. In any case, the point is likely mute because Ukrainian forces wouldn’t have materially improved to a point where they might be able to pose any real challenge to the Kremlin before the end of the year—which is the window for a Russian invasion, Saradzhyan said.

Russia would have to genuinely believe that its vital national interests were at stake in order to go war. One action the West could take to provoke a genuine military conflict with Moscow would be to try to cut Russia off from the global financial system. “As a Russian minister said, exclusion from SWIFT would amount to a declaration of war on Russia,” Saradzhyan said.
- After analyzing the positions of other players in the new Great Game, we can argue that the skeptics proclaiming Russian policy towards Central Asia to be doomed are wrong. Still, Russia’s success is not guaranteed. The Central Asian republics might not have been the ones looking forward to a Soviet Union collapse, but their leaders had no problem becoming absolute rulers of their newly independent domains, able to counterbalance Russia’s effort to return to dominant positions. (Especially when Russia was not seriously trying to regain its dominance during the first post-Soviet decade.) One of the factors in this success was the fact that Central Asian, Russian and, for that matter, almost all post-Soviet leaders shared a common background. Their political careers were determined by the common experience of rising through the ranks of Soviet bureaucracy. They had common language, attitudes and mentality. Their modus operandi for dealing with Gorbachev—and, later, Yeltsin—could be depicted as cooperation, but nevertheless involved severing ties with Russia.

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, a former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, was the master of that policy: while pretending to be a representative of eastern Ukraine, and a politician friendly to Moscow, he significantly diminished Russia’s influence in Ukraine. Islam Karimov also knew how not to be openly hostile to Moscow and still gain space for maneuvering in a direction that was not necessarily pro-Russian. The epoch is changing for Russia’s relations with Central Asia in general, and Uzbekistan in particular. There are no guarantees that new leaders will be or pretend to be pro-Russian, and the chances are high they will not. But it will cost them significant effort to retain power in turbulent times. And in this situation, Russia might again become their partner of choice.

Moscow has a great deal to offer: security and energy cooperation, its labor market and education for the Central Asian population, trade, and investments—and all this not from charitable generosity, but because of the economic and security interests Russia has in the region. The forms that this cooperation takes are varied, from bilateral projects to the full-scale economic integration of the Eurasian Economic Union. As time goes by, this cooperation is determined less by the nostalgia for the common country of the past, and more by clearly understood interests and a realpolitik approach.

Dodgy Job Contract Clauses, Random Stuff, and More

- in this post we'll be going through dodgy job contract clauses. Ironically, many of which are actually unlawful and unenforceable on c...