A man stands near drilling apparatus at the Vostok research camp in Antarctica (Click Image To Enlarge)
After drilling into Lake Vostok for over two decades, Russian scientists have confirmed that they reached the mysterious freshwater lake that was sealed beneath over two miles of Antarctic ice.
After decades of drilling, Russian scientists in the arctic have uncovered a rare piece of nature, an ancient lake buried thousands of feet under the ice. RT's Sean Thomas, toured the frozen continent exactly a year ago, and now explains what this discovery could mean.
Beneath the vast white landscape, Lake Vostok is the deepest and most isolated of Antarctica's subglacial lakes. Its size compares to Siberia's Lake Baikal or one of the Great Lakes, increasing the chance of biodiversity in its waters. Scientists estimate the body of water is roughly 1 million years old and supersaturated with oxygen, resembling no other known environment on Earth. John Priscu of Montana State University suspects that an oasis of life may lurk there, teeming around thermal vents.
A radar satellite image of the ice over Lake Vostok, a freshwater lake with a surface area of 14,000 square kilometres, that is under 4 kilometres of ice (Click Image To Enlarge)
Although reports on Lake Vostok came in Monday, the feat was not confirmed for two days. The Associated Press wrote Wednesday morning that according to a statement by Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, its team reached Lake Vostok on Sunday.
"The discovery has been avidly anticipated by scientists around the world, who hope that the lake, comparable in area to Lake Ontario, may contain microbial life and provide a clue in the search for life on other planets in similar conditions."
Click Image To Enlarge
According to Wired, Lake Vostok likely contains 50 times the amount of oxygen found in a typical freshwater lake. The conditions in the lake "are thought to be similar" to Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's Enceladus.
Despite the excitement surrounding the Russians' accomplishment, the project was not without environmental fears. The Washington Post explained that concerns exist that Lake Vostok"could be contaminated by the kerosene, Freon and other materials being used in the drilling."
"The lake water, rising up to 40 meters due to under-pressure in the crack, pushed the drilling liquid back onto the surface."
Russian scientists pose for group photo after their drill hole successfully reached Lake Vostok on February 5, 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)
Even with the concerns, the Russians' accomplishment at Lake Vostok has excited the scientific community. John Priscu, an Antarctic specialist at Montana State University, told The Washington Post,
"If they were successful, their efforts will transform the way we do science in Antarctica and provide us with an entirely new view of what exists under the vast Antarctic ice sheet."
The Russian operation is also significant because of the surface conditions which the scientists endured. The area above Lake Vostok is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. The lowest ever temperature on Earth, negative 128 degrees Fahrenheit (-82 C) was recorded there in 1983, according to the BBC.
COMMENTARY: This is an incredible feat and if the Russians are able to successfully retrieve water from Lake Vostok after all these millions of years, and discover living microbes, sea life or other forms of life, the 20 years they spent drilling, would all be worth it. We could end up discovering new species of life that existed in prehistoric times before Man walked on Earth.
But Russia must wait for the Antarctic summer to collect and study water samples, leaving the door open for U.S. and British missions to explore two other subglacial lakes and beat it to be the first to answer the question of whether life exists under the polar ice. Martin Siegert, head of the University of Edinburgh's School of Geosciences, said.
"This is scientific exploration, this is work that no one has ever done before. This is probably one of the last frontiers on our planet that remains largely unknown to us."
Siegert is leading a British expedition to explore Lake Ellsworth in West Antarctica in 2012-2013.
The British camp at the Lake Ellsworth drilling site as a team of British engineers have completed the first phase of a project to explore an ancient subglacial lake buried 1.8 miles beneath the ice in Antarctica (Click Image To Enlarge)
There's obvious cause for concern by British and American scientists that the Russians may release living microbes that may be harmful or dangerous to Man. Let's hope that the Russians don't fuck this up.
Courtesy of an article dated February 8, 2012 appearing in Huffington Post Green and an article dated February 9, 2012 appearing in The Guardian
Facebook Inc. is continuing its rapid pace of growth, with the social network doubling its revenue to $1.6 billion in the first half of 2011 from about $800 million a year earlier, said a person familiar with the matter.
Facebook's improving financial performance comes as speculation has swirled over its plans for an initial public offering. The company hasn't made any formal announcements around an IPO but has said it will begin disclosing financial information next April. Facebook's valuation has soared this year in the secondary market.
Erskine Bowles, at a Senate hearing this year, has joined Facebook's board. Bowles will serve as the CIA's "inside man" at Facebook, making sure Zuck does as he is told.
Separately, the company said Wednesday that it appointed Erskine Bowles, president emeritus of the University of North Carolina and a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, to its board of directors. Mr. Bowles is Facebook's second recent addition to its board, having brought on Netflix Inc. Chief Executive Reed Hastings in June. In total, Facebook now has seven board members, including Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg.
The revenue figures for privately held Facebook were earlier reported by Reuters.
Facebook's revenue has been driven by its online-advertising business, as big brands rush to the site to interact with consumers through display ads and fan pages. Facebook brand campaigns, or fan pages created by big companies to interact with their consumers, are up 104% from last year, according to a recent report by TBG Digital.
Facebook's world-wide ad revenue increased from $40 million in 2006 to close to $2 billion in 2010, and an estimated $4 billion in 2011 according to data compiled by eMarketer. Facebook's share of display-ad revenue in the U.S. is projected to grow to 17.7% in 2011, up from 12.2% share last year, according to eMarketer. The research firm projects that Facebook's ad revenue will be close to $6 billion by 2012.
Social gaming and the sale of virtual goods within games has also become an important part of Facebook's business. EMarketer estimates that social-gaming companies generated more than $500 million in revenue from selling virtual goods last year. As of July 1, Facebook requires game developers to accept payments through its virtual payment system, called Facebook Credits. Through credits, the company takes a 30% cut of all game-developer revenue.
COMMENTARY: This blog post was supposed to be about Facebook's mid-year 2011 revenues, but when I saw that Erskine Bowles had been appointed a new Facebook board member, it all came together for me. Here's why.
It is not surprising that Facebook would add a Washington insider to its board of directors. Bowles has served under two U.S. Presidents, Bill Clinton (Chief of Staff) and Barack Obama (co-chair National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform). He also happens to be a member of the board for Morgan Stanley, who will probably figure prominently in any future Facebook IPO.
Facebook is getting too big, too influential, too intrusive, so Bowles fits in quite nicely with the federal governments future plans. Here's how it works: Bowles became President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff in Janury 1997, taking over from former CIA director Leon Paneta who was Clinton's COS at the time. Do you see the connection now? Bowles will be the CIA's "inside man" at Facebook, covering the CIA's "back" so to speak, insuring the CIA's clandestine and information gathering activities proceed unimpeded.
Facebook doesn't sell or make anything that I know of. YOU are the product. Facebook is, quite simply, in the information gathering business. Essentially, they gather the most intimate details of information about YOU. In Mark Zuckerberg's own words, "privacy is no longer a social norm". He once said,
"It's incredible what members will reveal about themselves on Facebook, that they wouldn't anywhere else."
I view Facebook as the perfect spy disguised as a social network, that has secretly become an arm of the CIA, NSA and FBI, who have funded the social networking giant directly or indirectly through several venture capital firms who are just conduits for money. Mark Zuckerberg maybe the major stockholder, but he has very little to say about it now. Here's Zuck hobnobbing with President Obie and other Silicon Valley CEO's:
Click Image To Enlarge
That guy in the foreground (tongue sticking out) who is just behind Zuck is CIA spy Eric Schmidt who used to be Google's CEO. Eric is Google's Washington D.C. go-between guy now, and makes regular visits to Langley, VA.
To insure that the information about YOU flows to the CIA, the CIA secretly spent nearly $300 million of taxpayer dollars for a new 150,000 square data center for Facebook. Everytime you click that LIKE button, the CIA knows about it. Everytime you post a Wall post, the CIA knows about it. If you play Mafia Wars, the CIA knows about it. They know everything about you punkasses. Be careful who you friend on Facebook, he's probably a CIA spy.
If a previous minister of national defense of a big country started talking publicly about his belief that some UFOs are interplanetary vehicles carrying visitors to Earth, would you believe him or not?
Well, stepping up to the plate is the Honorable Paul Hellyer, a former deputy prime minister of Canada and the longest serving current member -- ahead of Prince Philip -- of the Queen's Privy Council, which is made up of "prominent Canadians appointed to advise the queen on issues of importance to the country."
In the above video recorded on April 2008 at X-Conference at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C., former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer, exposes the truth about a deliberate U.S. government cover-up of the existence of UFO's & extra-terrestrial beings.
As Canadian minister of national defense in 1963, Hellyer was responsible for integrating and unifying the Royal Canadian army, navy and air force into a single organization, the Canadian Armed Forces.
And yes, he is extremely outspoken about UFOs and alien visitors to Earth.
Hellyer told AOL News.
"Oh, I'm absolutely convinced of it. These things were not invented here. And I think people have to get accustomed to this new reality. We lived too long in a sense of isolation, thinking that Earth was the center of the cosmos, that we were the only species and, therefore, probably the most advanced. And when we come to the realization that we're not any of those things, then I think we should be aware of it, learn to live with it and certainly try to take advantage of anything that we can learn from visitors from anywhere."
Hellyer, 87, is also known for his activities involving world issues, including monetary reform, the Middle East and environmental concerns.
When Hellyer was Canada's minister of national defense, he says he never discussed UFOs with other high-ranking officials.
"I got periodic reports on sightings and I looked at them very casually, and it was decided that about 80 percent of them were natural phenomena of one sort or another, and the other 20 percent roughly were unexplained, and therefore unidentified. You know, this is the kind of thing that sometimes they don't tell politicians about, and I have no doubt that there were probably people in my employ who would have been more knowledgeable than I was at the time."
While spending last Thanksgiving north of Toronto, Hellyer and his wife spotted an unidentified flying object and recount what they saw.
"The two of us stood there transfixed for 20 minutes, looking up at this thing moving first in one direction, and then another. By process of elimination, we determined it wasn't a star or satellite and it wasn't the space station, so there was really no explanation for it other than it was, in fact, a UFO."
Hellyer's analytical mind raced as fast as the object he was looking at.
"It looked like a star, but it maneuvered in a way that stars don't. I must admit that when I saw this one, I wondered whether it was extraterrestrial or American. And I guess the thought that occurred to me was that if it is American, then they have learned some pretty big secrets about acceleration, because it accelerated at a pace that nothing I've ever known about that was built here is capable of."
Trusted political and scientific sources whom Hellyer has talked to have suggested that the United States has developed new forms of energy at top-secret "black operation" installations, using reportedly extraterrestrial technology.
"That is my belief. I do not have proof of that, but I believe that they have developed energy sources, and publicly I'm saying that if they do not exist in commercial form, that extraterrestrials would certainly give us that information if we would ask them for it and stop shooting at them. Paul Hellyer's story is an important contribution to the literature of modern Western civilization. His experience in government, his interest in exopolitics and the issues of sustainability of civilization are significant areas of current discourse."
In the above video, Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, spoke at the Disclosure Conference held at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. Dr. Mitchell talks about what he knows about the Roswell UFO incident and existence of UFO's and extra-terrestrial lifeforms. There are two parts to the video.
While Hellyer believes -- as many people do -- in an ongoing cover-up of UFO information, there are those of equal or higher credentials who say otherwise. Case in point: retired Army Col. John Alexander -- another speaker at this week's International UFO Congress -- who acknowledges the reality of UFOs but says there has never been a cover-up of the facts and that UFO disclosure has already taken place over many decades.
In the above video uncovered by Grant Cameron & Neil Gould of former U.S. President Bill Clinton'a speech held at the Expolitics Conference on September 14, 2005, the former President answers questions regarding UFO's, Roswell and Area 51.
On the topic of disclosure of all facts relating to UFOs, Hellyer is pretty adamant.
"Basically, I'm a full-disclosure person. People keep talking about transparency and still not telling the truth, and this applies in various other areas as well as UFOs, and it's just about time that we started getting open with each other and trying to get along and live together."
If Hellyer was Canada's minister of defense today, would he be as up-front with his UFO beliefs?
He replied.
"I would probably be open-mouthed about it and I might get fired for it. I've always been pretty open and direct, so unless there was some reason which I can't conceive of, I wouldn't try to hide the existence of the extraterrestrials and their presence."
COMMENTARY: I suppose it's possible to have a wacked out, mental retard working at the highest levels of government. Hell yes, it is possible. We had George Bush running the U.S. government for eight years. He claimed he was in contact with God. Richard Nixon's suspicions of others bordered on lunacy. He even kept an "Enemy's List" and secretly recorded telephone conversations which eventually got him impeached. Lyndon Johnson did the same thing. Many of those recorded telephone conversations are finally being disclosed.
However, even at 87 years of age, I find Paul Hellyer quite sane, intelligent, frank, honest and very serious when he says that the U.S. has been deliberately covering up the truth about the existence of UFO's and extra-terrestrials for decades. What's even more astounding is that former Presidents, cabinet members, senator's and congressmen are completely "out-of-the-loop" about what the government knows about UFO's and extra-terrestrial beings and we are spending on so-called "black" projects. Everything is on a need to know basis. Sounds like a familiar story doesn't it?
In a blog post March 1, 2011, one of my earliest on the subject of UFO's and extraterrestrials, I profiled Paul Hellyer, who claimed that the U.S. is deliberately hiding the truth about the existence of UFO's and extraterrestrials, has back-engineered UFO craft and energy propulsion systems, and U.S. scientists and military personnel are coooperating with and working along side one or more species of extra-terrestrials to developed advanced weapons and other technologies that could provide mankind unlimited free energy sources and eliminate the damage to our environment from greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.
The year 2011 will be referred to as "The Year of the UFO", due to the sheer number of UFO sightings and number of witnesses to these sightings, including NASA astronauts, military and commercial pilots, military personnel, and even a few politicians, have reached epidemic proportions. The Mutual UFO Network or MUFON, which tracks and keeps accurate records of UFO sighting repots, reported that over 1,000 UFO sightings were reported in the month of August 2011. This is twice the usual number of 500.
In the old days you would see a lone UFO, typically saucer-shaped, and just a few witnesses to the sighting. Today, we are seeing fleets of UFO's some of them numbering in dozens, and sometimes accompanied by a larger UFO which is often been referred to as "The Mothership". Sightings have been reported everywhere, and witnesses to an individual sighting can number in the hundreds and even thousands. Witnesses have sighted UFO's in just about every continent, and some recognizable patterns are beginning to develop:
Commonly sighted UFO's appear to have a noticeable bright halo around their saucer-shaped perimeter. (Search YouTube under London UFO's, Mexico City UFO's, Hawaii UFO's, Fukushima UFO's, Chile UFO's, among just a few).
When UFO's appear at night, witnesses say they appear as a very bright star. The "Jerusalem UFO" is an excellent example. It was recorded by several different witnesses and videos are on YouTube and have been seen by thousands.
They fly at lower altitudes where they are clearly visible by the human eye.
They fly at high speeds, sometimes nearing 4,000 mph and often make crazy 90 degree turns that a regular military pilot could not perform.
A jumbo-sized "Mothership" often accompanies a group of UFO's.
They fly in waves or even formations of 3-5 UFO's, sometimes forming patterns like triangles. It is rare to see just one UFO.
Some UFO's have been known to hover over an area for several seconds to as long as 10-20 minutes.
They are appearing over large metropolitan areas, in broad daylight, and in greater frequency is if they purposely want to be seen.
The media has become more active in covering UFO sightings. The Jersualem UFO has caught worldwide media attention because it appeared over the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest spots for Jews, Christians and Muslims in the world. Some individuals are claiming it has a religious significance, but what that may be, remains to be seen.
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Everyday more highly creditable individuals are coming forward, many of them claiming they have seen UFO's and/or extra-terrestrials, and accusing the U.S. government of deliberately hiding the truth about UFO's and extra-terrestrials. Individuals within the government with inside knowledge of UFO's and extra-terrestrials claim that the truth is being withheld because it would cause panic.
Several nations (The U.K., Mexico, Belgium, The Netherlands, and several South American nations) have already began the serious process of releasing their classified records of UFO sightings and reports of extra-terrestrials. When government officials like Mr. Hellyer step forward, then you know its time our government came clean.
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Courtesy of an article dated February 25, 2011 appearing in The Huffington Post
The notorious character "Humongous" from the "The Road Warrior" film. Visions of the future economy. All he wanted was some gas for his chopper, so he took matters into his own hands.
The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting a revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Gerald Celente, the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is publisher of the Trends Journal which forecasts and analyzes business, socioeconomic, political, and other trends, and is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events which can send a chill down your spine.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an underdeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the greatdepression" said.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas... we're going to see a fundamental shift take place... putting food on the table is going to be more important than putting gifts under the Christmas tree."
Celente also said.
"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for."
He notes that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the sub-prime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others.
He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 per cent. The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defence report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super-rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean,
"The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest. The middle classes could become a revolutionary class."
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America. He said.
"There will be a revolution in this country. It ' s not going to come yet, but it's going to come down the line and we 're going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for i t: the takeover of Washington, D.C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen."
He goes on to give us a horrid look into the future of America.
"The first thing to do is organise with tax revolts. That's going to be the big one because people can't afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You're going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop."
"It's going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we're going to see many more."
"We're going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It's going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to."
"It's going to come as a shock and with it, there's going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people's minds weren't wrecked on all these modern drugs, over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be."
"So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody's comprehension."
The George Washington blog has compiled a list of quotes attesting to Celente's accuracy as a trend forecaster.
CNN Headline News:"When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente."
USA Today:"Gerald Celente has a knack for getting the zeitgeist right."
CNBC:"There's not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he's talking about."
The Wall Street Journal: "Those who take their predictions seriously ...consider. Gerald Celente and the Trends Research Institute."
The Atlantic Journal-Constitution:"Gerald Celente is always ahead of the curve on trends and uncannily on the mark ... he's one of the most accurate forecasters around."
The New York Times:"Mr. Celente tracks the world's social, economic and business trends for corporate clients."
48 Hours, CBS News:"Mr. Celente is a very intelligent guy. We are able to learn about trends from an authority."
The Detroit News:"Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing."
Chicago Tribune: "Gerald Celente forecast the 1987 stock market crash, 'green marketing,' and the boom in gourmet coffees."
The Los Angeles Times:"The Trends Research Institute is the Standard and Poor’s of Popular Culture."
New York Post: "If Nostradamus were alive today, he'd have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente."
So there you have it - hardly a nut job conspiracy theorist blowhard now is he? The price of not heeding his warnings will be far greater than the cost of preparing for the future now.
Storable food and gold are two good places to make a start.
COMMENTARY: Gerald Celente reminds me of a fast talking Atlantic City bookie, laying odds on the Super Bowl, than a professional trends expert and visionary, but you cannot deny the accuracy of many of his predictionssince he started in 1980.
You don't have to be a noted economist to make these predictions. The evidence of a U.S. financial collapse are all around us. I have written extensively on different aspects of the U.S. and world economies, including:
In a blog post dated July 6, 2011, titled "The Root Causes Behind Today's High Unemployment Situation, And Why This May Not Change Anytime Soon," I showed in great detail why unemployment will continue to remain high. This is a must read for any pessimists who believe we are out of the woods.
The symptoms are everywhere around you. In February 2011, I wrote about the impending Peak-Oil Crisis, a catastrophe we will all face because the demand for oil will exceed production (peak-oil). If you have noticed a rapid rise in the price of gas, that's what I am talking about.
The Arab Spring Revolutions which erupted in North Africa and Middle East saw the overthrow of long standing dictators in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, a bloddy revolution in Syria which continues to this day, and unrest and demonstrations in Jordan. All of these events have created further instability in the oil rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
Adding fuel to the fire is the refusal of Iran to end its illegal nuclear weapons program in defiance of the U.N. and AEIA inspectors and boycott resolutions, and threats to destroy Israel and further threats to the West that it could close the Straits of Hormuz, adds further tensions and instability to the free flow of oil from the Middle East to the rest of the world.
This is not just a U.S. problem, but it is global in scale. We all know about the financial collapse of several European countries, namely Greece, Spain, Portugal and now Italy, but major developed nations like Japanare on the brink of financial collapse. Standard & Poors recently reduced the credit ratings of France, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. This will make it doubly difficult for these countries to raise funds and pay their longterm sovereign debt when it comes due.
In a blog post dated January 7, 2012, I told you about passage and signing by President Obama, of the National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA (H.R. bill 1540), which effectively gives the President the power to use our military in purely civilian matters. Though the wording in the NDAA is itself torturous -- and there is a provision for a waiver from the Defense Secretary regarding mandatory military detentions -- the elasticity of words like "associated forces" and "supported" have left some civil libertarians worried that the U.S. military could be deployed domestically against people opposing future American wars against alleged "terrorists" or "terrorist states." In effect, this new NDAA law could lead to a police state, in which you could be detained as a "person of interest" or labeled as a "traitor" simply for demonstrating against future wars. You could be held for an indefinite period of time, denied rights of habeaus corpus and you would disappear into some detention camp never to be seen again. Does the U.S. government believe that civil law and order will collapse during a revolution? Why would the politicians pass such a devisive law and destroy your civil and legal rights under the U.S. Constitution unless they are planning for something?
Finally, in a blog post dated January 9, 2012 (reposted), I told you about the booming demand for underground "Apocalypse" bunkers by the rich and powerful. They are the so-called 1 percenters with the financial means to protect themselves in the event of a natural catastrophe, or maybe a revolution, perhaps? These wealthy individuals are well connected and are the largest doners and supporters to both major political parties. Why would they be willing to pay many thousands of dollars unless they knew something truly bad was about to happen? While the 99 percenters experience an all-out revolution, these rich and powerful individuals will live in absolute luxury and comfort in plush deep underground bunkers protected from the chaos above ground.
It does not surprise me then why Mr. Celente predicts a "violent revolution" and that "food will become more important than Christmas". There is a lot of anger out there. The roots for the emergence of a third party are already here. The Tea Party could emerge as that Third Party. The Tea Partyreflects a lot of that anger, although I don't agree with much of their radical politics, including their racism reflected in their personal hate for President Obama. The Occupy Wall Street movement has expanded across the country. Major demonstrations are planned in 2012 in many major cities.
Courtesy of an article dated January 30, 2011 appearing in Before It's News
President Obama bows to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Nuclear Security Summit in April 2010, after all they are our bank
The USS Gerald R. Ford was supposed to help secure another half century of American naval supremacy. The hulking aircraft carrier taking shape in a dry dock in Newport News, Va., is designed to carry a crew of 4,660 and a formidable arsenal of aircraft and weapons.
But an unforeseen problem cropped up between blueprint and expected delivery in 2015: China is building a new class of ballistic missiles designed to arc through the stratosphere and explode onto the deck of a U.S. carrier, killing sailors and crippling its flight deck.
WSJ's Nathan Hodge reports on a new fleet of Chinese ballistic missiles that can strike warships nearly 2,000 miles offshore and are intended to keep U.S. warships. AP Photo/Xinhua, Pu Haiyang
Since 1945, the U.S. has ruled the waters of the western Pacific, thanks in large part to a fleet of 97,000-ton carriers—each one "4.5 acres of mobile, sovereign U.S. territory," as the Navy puts it. For nearly all of those years, China had little choice but to watch American vessels ply the waters off its coast with impunity.
Now China is engaged in a major military buildup. Part of its plan is to force U.S. carriers to stay farther away from its shores, Chinese military analysts say. So the U.S. is adjusting its own game plan. Without either nation saying so, both are quietly engaged in a tit-for-tat military-technology race. At stake is the balance of power in a corner of the seas that its growing rapidly in importance.
Pentagon officials are reluctant to talk publicly about potential conflict with China. Unlike the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Beijing isn't an explicit enemy. During a visit to China last month, Michele Flournoy, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, told a top general in the People's Liberation Army that "the U.S. does not seek to contain China," and that "we do not view China as an adversary," she recalled in a later briefing.
Click Image To Enlarge
Nevertheless, U.S. military officials often talk about preparing for a conflict in the Pacific—without mentioning who they might be fighting. The situation resembles a Harry Potter novel in which the characters refuse to utter the name of their adversary, says Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think tank with close ties to the Pentagon. He says.
"You can't say China's a threat. You can't say China's a competitor."
China Unveils New "Carrier-Killer" Anti-Ship Ballistic Missle
Beijing's interest in developing anticarrier missiles is believed to date to the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1996. The Chinese government, hoping to dissuade voters in Taiwan from re-electing a president considered pro-independence, conducted a series of missile tests, firing weapons into the waters off the island. President Bill Clinton sent two carrier battle groups, signaling that Washington was ready to defend Taiwan—a strategic setback for China.
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China's state media has said its new missile, called the DF-21D, was built to strike a moving ship up to about 1,700 miles away. U.S. defense analysts say the missile is designed to thwart our defenses in two key ways:
Come in at an angle too high for U.S. defenses against sea-skimming cruise missiles.
Com in too low for defenses against other ballistic missiles.
Flight path of China's DF-21D ASBM (Click Image To Enlarge)
Even if U.S. systems were able to shoot down one or two, some experts say, China could overwhelm the defenses by targeting a carrier with several missiles at the same time.
As such, the new missile—China says it isn't currently deployed—could push U.S. carriers farther from Chinese shores, making it more difficult for American fighter jets to penetrate its airspace or to establish air superiority in a conflict near China's borders.
Comparative Range of China's DF-21D missle at 2700KM (Blue) and 1500KM (Yellow) ranges(Click Image To Enlarge)
U.S. Response To New China Threat
In response, our military is developing:
The Navy is testing long-range pilotless, drone aircraft that can hover 70,000 feet above aircraft carriers and allows fleet commanders to track suspicious vessels across vast expanses of sea. A prototype of the as-yet-unnamed drone, referred to as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) system, is in action with the Navy’s 5th Fleet in the Pacific and, according to one naval expert, could help keep tabs on any Iranian threats to shipping in the Persian Gulf.
The Air Force wants a fleet of pilotless bombers capable of cruising over vast stretches of the Pacific. The Air Force presently has an extensive arsenal of medium-range pilotless drones, including the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, and used in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Now on the Pentagon wish list is a proposed fleet of 80 to 100 nuclear-capable bombers that could operate with or without a pilot in the cockpit. Pentagon weapons acquisition chief Ashton Carter met separately with representatives of Northrop, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said. These companies are expected to vie for the estimated $55-billion contract that is expected to provide jobs and decades of work for Southern California’s aerospace industry.
China Also Presents A Cyberspace Threat
The gamesmanship extends into cyberspace. U.S. officials worry that, in the event of a conflict, China would try to attack the satellite networks that control drones, as well as military networks within the U.S. The outcome of any conflict, they believe, could turn in part on who can jam the other's electronics or hack their computer networks more quickly and effectively.
In May 26, 2011, at a recent press conference held by the Defense Ministry, Geng Yansheng, spokesman of China's Defense Ministry, explained the role of "China's Blue Team," a team of hackers created to twart cyberattacks. He said.
"At present, Internet safety has become an international issue. It not only affects our civil societies but also the military. China is also a victim of Internet attacks. Right now our Internet protection system is still relatively weak. Improving Internet safety is one of the most prominent tasks of our military training. The purpose of the "Cyber Blue Team" is to improve our ability to safeguard Internet security."
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The Defense Ministry also emphasized that the "Cyber Blue Team" are not hackers and that the International community should not misunderstand the purpose of it. "Cyber Blue Team" is just a nickname used within the military training routines and is not an actual unit within the PLA.
China's Cyber Blue Team busy hacking (Click Image To Enlarge)
Sizing up China's electronic-warfare capabilities is more difficult. China has invested heavily in cybertechnologies, and U.S. defense officials have said Chinese hackers, potentially working with some state support, have attacked American defense networks. China has repeatedly denied any state involvement.
How China Plans To Control The Seas Through "Anti-Access, Area Denial" Technologies
Throughout history, control of the seas has been a prerequisite for any country that wants to be considered a world power. China's military buildup has included a significant naval expansion. China now has 29 Song Class electric submarines armed with antiship cruise missiles, compared with just eight in 2002, according to Rand Corp., another think tank with ties to the military. In August, China conducted a sea trial of the "Varyag", its first aircraft carrier —a vessel that isn't yet fully operational.
At one time, military planners saw Taiwan as the main point of potential friction between China and the U.S. Today, there are more possible flash points. Tensions have grown between Japan and China over islands each nation claims in the East China Sea. Large quantities of oil and gas are believed to lie under the South China Sea, and China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other nations have been asserting conflicting territorial claims on it. Last year, Vietnam claimed China had harassed one of its research vessels, and China demanded that Vietnam halt oil-exploration activities in disputed waters.
A few years ago, the U.S. military might have responded to any flare-up by sending one or more of its 11 aircraft carriers to calm allies and deter Beijing. Now, the People's Liberation Army, in addition to the missiles it has under development, has submarines capable of attacking the most visible instrument of U.S. military power.
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Eric Heginbotham, who specializes in East Asian security at Rand says.
"This is a rapidly emerging development. As late as 1995 or 2000, the threat to carriers was really minimal. Now, it is fairly significant. There is a whole complex of new threats emerging."
The Chinese military embarked on a military modernization effort designed to blunt U.S. power in the Pacific by developing what U.S. military strategists dubbed "anti-access, area denial" technologies.
Adm. Gary Roughead, the recently retired U.S. chief of naval operations, last year said.
"Warfare is about anti-access. You could go back and look at the Pacific campaigns in World War II, [when] the Japanese were trying to deny us access into the western Pacific."
In 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao unveiled a new military doctrine calling for the armed forces to undertake "new historic missions" to safeguard China's "national interests." Chinese military officers and experts said those interests included securing international shipping lanes and access to foreign oil and safeguarding Chinese citizens working overseas.
At first, China's buildup was slow. Then some headline-grabbing advances set off alarms in Washington. In a 2007 test, China shot down one of its older weather satellites, demonstrating its ability to potentially destroy U.S. military satellites that enable warships and aircraft to communicate and to target bases on the Chinese mainland.
The Pentagon responded with a largely classified effort to protect U.S. satellites from weapons such as missiles or lasers. A year after China's antisatellite test, the U.S. demonstrated its own capabilities by blowing up a dead spy satellite with a modified ballistic-missile interceptor.
Last year, the arms race accelerated. In January, just hours before then U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sat down with Chinese President Hu to mend frayed relations, China conducted the first test flight of a new, radar-evading fighter jet. The plane, called the Chendu J-20 (see video below), might allow China to launch air attacks much farther afield—possibly as far as U.S. military bases in Japan and Guam.
The aircraft carrier China launched in August was built from a hull bought from Ukraine. The Pentagon expects China to begin working on its own version, which could become operational after 2015—not long after the USS Gerald R. Ford enters service.
American military planners are even more worried about the modernization of China's submarine fleet. The newer vessels can stay submerged longer and operate more quietly than China's earlier versions. In 2006, a Chinese Song class submarine appeared in the midst of a group of American ships, undetected until it rose to the surface.
China's Type-094 Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN) is now under construction
China's Song Class Type-039 and 041 electric submarines (SS) carry cruise missiles
China's technological advances have been accompanied by a shift in rhetoric by parts of its military. Hawkish Chinese military officers and analysts have long accused the U.S. of trying to contain China within the "first island chain" that includes Japan and the Philippines, both of which have mutual defense treaties with the U.S., and Taiwan, which the U.S. is bound by law to help defend. They now talk about pushing the U.S. back as far as Hawaii and enabling China's navy to operate freely in the western Pacific, the Indian Ocean and beyond.
Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, one of China's most outspoken military commentators, told a conference in September.
"The U.S. has four major allies within the first island chain, and is trying to starve the Chinese dragon into a Chinese worm."
The Pentagon Conducts War Games
China's beefed up military still is a long way from having the muscle to defeat the U.S. Navy head-to-head. For now, U.S. officials say, the Chinese strategy is to delay the arrival of U.S. military forces long enough to take control of contested islands or waters.
Publicly, Pentagon leaders such as Mr. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said the U.S. would like to cultivate closer military-to-military ties with China.
Privately, China has been the focus of planning. In 2008, the U.S. military held a series of war games, called Pacific Vision, which tested its ability to counter a "near-peer competitor" in the Pacific. That phrase is widely understood within the military to be shorthand for China.
Retired Air Force Gen. Carrol "Howie" Chandler, who helped conduct the war games says.
"My whole impetus was to look at the whole western Pacific. And it was no secret that the Chinese were making investments to overcome our advantages in the Pacific."
Those games tested the ability of the U.S. to exercise air power in the region, both from land bases and from aircraft carriers. People familiar with the exercises say they informed strategic thinking about potential conflict with China. A formal game plan, called AirSea Battle, now is in the works to develop better ways to fight in the Pacific and to counter China's new weapons, Pentagon officials say.
U.S. Navy Developing New Weapons And Expanding Bases
The Navy is developing new weapons for its aircraft carriers and new aircraft to fly off them. On the new Ford carrier, the catapult that launches jets off the deck will be electromagnetic, not steam-powered, allowing for quicker takeoffs.
The carrier-capable drones under development, which will allow U.S. carriers to be effective when farther offshore, are considered a breakthrough. Rear Adm. William Shannon, who heads the Navy's office for unmanned aircraft and strike weapons, compared the drone's debut flight last year to a pioneering flight by Eugene Ely, who made the first successful landing on a naval vessel in 1911. "I look at this demonstration flight…as ushering us into the second 100 years of naval aviation," he said.
The Air Force wants a longer-range bomber for use over the Pacific. Navy and Air Force fighter jets have relatively short ranges. Without midair refueling, today's carrier planes have an effective range of about 575 miles.
China's subs, fighter planes and guided missiles will likely force carriers to stay farther than that from its coast, U.S. military strategists say.
Andrew Hoehn, a vice president at Rand says.
"The ability to operate from long distances will be fundamental to our future strategy in the Pacific. You have to have a long-range bomber. In terms of Air Force priorities, I cannot think of a larger one."
The U.S. also is considering new land bases to disperse its forces throughout the region. President Barack Obama recently announced the U.S. would use new bases in Australia, including a major port in Darwin. Many of the bases aren't expected to have a permanent American presence, but in the event of a conflict, the U.S. would be able to base aircraft there.
In light of China's military advances and shrinking U.S. defense budgets, some U.S. military officers have begun wondering whether the time has come to rethink the nation's strategic reliance on aircraft carriers like the USS Ford. A successful attack on a carrier could jeopardize the lives of as many as 5,000 sailors—more than all the troops killed in action in Iraq.
Navy Captain Henry Hendrix and retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Noel Williams wrote in an article in the naval journal Proceedings last year.
"The Gerald R. Ford is just the first of her class. She should also be the last."
COMMENTARY: In two blog posts dated February 7, 2011, July 16, 2011 and November 8, 2011 and have extensively covered the new cyberspace threat posted by China, including the U.S. USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM and its Chinese counterpart "Blue Cyber Team." In 2011, President Barack Obama established cyberattack rules of engagement and could respond to such an attack by an attack of its own, including the use of military weapons.
China has just finished test flying its new Chendu J-20 stealth fighter jet, so not much is known about the new Chinese stealth fighter specifications and capabilities, but it is believed that the America's F-22 and new F-35 stealth fighters are more than a match. However, the J-20's stealth capabilities, larger armament payload and longer range could present a serious threat U.S. bases in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
China's navy is growing rapidly, and includes submarines (both conventional and nuclear), surface combat ships, coastal warfare, amphibious warfare and minewarfare vessels. U.S. military experts estimate there are approximately 63 submarines in its fleet, of which 10 are nuclear. They include two classes of nuclear attack submarines (SSN)--Type 091 and 093. China also has two classes of nuclear ballistic missle submarines (SSBN)--Type 092 and 093. China is also building a newer, larger nuclear ballistic missle submarine (SSBN), the Type 095. Here's an estimate of China's latest naval inventory.
China's Naval Inventory
The following chart may help explain why the U.S. Naval Pacific Fleet is supporting Taiwan and patrolling the East and South China Seas.
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Obama's bow to China's President not withstanding, the U.S. is not sitting on its butt while China ramps up its military. We have the largest naval fleet of any country, largest air force, largest nuclear arsenal, both day (F-22 and F-35) and night stealth fighters (F-117), and stealth bombers (B-2).
The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined, including China's. The U.S. Navy also has the world's largest carrier fleet, with 11 in service, one under construction (two planned), and one in reserve. The service had 328,516 personnel on active duty and 101,689 in the Navy Reserve in January 2011. It operates 286 ships in active service and more than 3,700 aircraft.
Our nuclear submarine fleet numbers 71, giving us a 7-to-1 superiority in nuclear submarines. We have 12 super aircraft carriers to China's lone "little" aircraft carrier. The U.S. is also developing a fleet of very fast Littoral ships that can operate off costal waters and can be used in different missions, an electronic rail gun that can shoot a projectile 100 miles with precise accuracy (and shoot down China's DF-21 carrier-killer missile), and we are working on numerous secret aircraft and military weapons systems that very few people know about.
The U.S. also has the world's largest, and most sophisticated fleet of unmanned drones, many of them being used in combat over the skys of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The U.S. is now testing two unmanned, long-range, nuclear-capable bombers. When completed, that bomber fleet will number 80-100.
Obama's bow to China's president not withstanding, the U.S. is not intimidated by China, and I don't see us losing our mastery of the seas anytime soon. We will just have to learn to co-exist. Do you honestly believe they would jeopardize their entire economy, risk a war and everything they have built, over the little island of Taiwan? China also holds over $1 trillion of U.S. debt and I am sure they would like to be paid at some time.
The New World Order, Ruling Class or Illuminati, as it is commonly referred IS real. They go back to the Middle Ages. They have been associated with the occult even belief in Lucifer or The Devil. They are at the top of the food chain and control EVERYTHING. Everybody thinks that the Big Corporations, Politicians and Military Industrial Complex are the rulers, but they are just merely the tools to concentrate power at the top.
The Politicians are controlled by the Illuminati through their financial support, favors and even bribery. Washington lobby groups dominate Washington, D.C. The Big Corporations, through their global business activities provide the capital to acquire and control the vast majority of global worth. The Top 137 corporations control 40% of the world's wealth.
The Politicians and The Big Corporations both report to the Military Industrial Complex which is where the "muscle" of the Illuminati resides. The Illuminati are the equivalent of the Boss of Bosses or top Don of a Sicilian family. The Military Industrial Complex are equivalent to the Bosses of La Familia or Mafia. The various branches of the military are the Under Bosses, and then there are the soldiers.
The Military Industrial Complex consists of the U.S. military and heads of the CIA, NSA and FBI and "The Greys." YES, extra-terrestrials are involved indirectly, and they take great pleasure in watching over everything. They are the ultimate beneficiaries. They have unlimited power, and their technology is millions of years ahead of us, and they could destroy the Earth if they wanted, but they need us, so they don't care if there is a power struggle for supremacy among us humans.
Image of a Grey Alien, circa 1955
The Greys are a dying species of extra-terrestrials who travelled to Earth and colonized it thousands of years ago, and through genetic experimentations of human DNA developed Modern Man. Trust me, it was not Divine intervention like it says in the Holy Bible.
In the 1950's, The Greys entered into a secret pact with the Eisenhower administration. According to that Pact, the U.S. government would provide The Greys with access to a certain number of humans so they could conduct DNA experiments to replicate their species by combining both Grey and Human DNA. In exchange, The Greys were to provide us with certain advanced technologies.
A few unscrupulous Illuminati individuals within the U.S. government saw an opportunity to exploit the alien technology to consolidate power, wealth and control over the masses on Earth. The Greys really don't care. We are their form of entertainment. In fact, they love harvesting our souls. They get off in capturing the soul as it leaves the human body upon death, and use it like an aphrodisiac. In effect, they get off on US.
The Big Corporations controls the Corporate Media and Global Banking. It is the job of the Corporate Media to spread disinformation and propaganda that has divided the masses. I am sure that you will agree that this has worked perfectly.
Global Banking provides the financial resources so that the Big Corporations can successfully carry out their evil commercial activities throughout the world and create more wealth for the Illuminati.
The Politicans control the Government and Courts. The Government creates the laws and regulations to control the masses. The Courts are the enforcers for the politicians. They punish the masses if they don't stay in line.
Below is a simplified organizational chart showing the Ruling Class or Illuminati at the top with the other organizations and entities just described below them:
The Illuminati has the following pecking order or power rank which is illustrated in the graphic below:
British Monarchy a.k.a." The Royals" which is headed by Her Highness Queen Elizabeth II.
Israel who control most of the banking industry and Wall Street.
Welf Relations.
The Freemasonry a.k.a. The Masons.
Catholic Church.
The Illuminati or Ruling Class
I know some "British Subjects" are going to scream blasphemy for mentioning Queen Elizabeth at the head of the Illuminati, but the decision was an obvious one. The Illuminati needed natural succession at the top, and The Royals fit that description perfectly. They are of royal blood, respected worldwide and there is logical order of succession. Next in line in order of succession is Prince Charles. Even President Barack Obama and the First Lady bow to Queen Elizabeth.
Israel is next in line in the Illuminati pecking order. They are the business leaders, power brokers and bankers of the world. They also control the media (from newspapers to the Internet). Facebook is a front for the CIA, FBI and NSA. I warned you about this in a previous blog post. Do you notice that every American presidential candidate goes before the prominent Jewish Organizations like the National Jewish Democratic Council to make sure the next president will support Israel? That's not a coincidence.
Next is the Welf Relations which stems from the House of Welf. The House of Welf (historically rendered in English, Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century. The original House of Welf Family Tree is below:
In its modern context, Welf Relations now includes the hundreds of descendants of the House of Welf who live today. They consider their membership in the Illuminati a blood right.
The Freemasonry are next in the pecking order. Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. You can recognize a Freemason by the symbol of a square and compass and letter "G" in the middle. Some say the "G" stands for God or Guild. Some say its the symbol for the human penis.
Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million. Very few Freemasons are in the Illuminati, but the top guys probably are. The fraternity is administratively organized into independent Grand Lodges, each of which governs its own jurisdiction. There are over a quarter of a million under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England and just under two million in the United States.
The heads of the Roman Catholic Church is the last in the pecking order of the Illuminati. This includes Pope Benedict XVI and the College of Cardinals. The Cardinals are princes of the Church appointed by the Pope, who are ordained senior bishops. As a whole, the College of Cardinals advises the Pope, and those cardinals under the age of 80 at the death of a Pope elect his successor. There are now a total of 193 Cardinals, of whom 112 are aged under 80. Of the voting-age cardinals, 64 were appointed by Pope John Paul II, and 28 by Pope Benedict XVI.
BTW, the Roman Catholic Church, was duped by The Greys. Jesus was never born of a Virgin Mary and he never rose from the dead. He was "invented" by those evil Greys, and the rest is history. The Roman Catholic Church provides the people something the Illuminati cannot or won't: HOPE. It's perfect, the Greys get a great kick out of it. But, the Church is now worried that they maybe exposed and be out of the religion business. I mentioned this to you in a previous blog post when The scientists from Vatican met with the scientists from NASA and 20 or so top-level scientists because they want to know if ET is for real. Ha, ha, ha. I got a kick out of that one. Naturally, they've been given assurances that ET does not exist.
The Royals and The Committee of 300 make the important decisions for the Illuminati. They represent the wealthiest, most powerful and influential individuals in the World, not necessarily the most well known or even wealthy. None of them would ever admit they are a member of The Committee of 300 or Illuminati. The Committe of 300 include a Who's Who of Americans, British and Europeans. Famous Americans who are members of The Comittee of 300 include Senator John Kerry, Senator Joe Lieberman, former Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Al Gore (consolation prize for losing the Presidency to that idiot son George W Bush), investor Warren Buffet, former President Bill Clinton, Former President George H.W. Bush, Microsoft executives Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, The Rockefeller's, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner and others. Political affiliations do not matter within the Illuminati. Everybody is pals, some of them even swop their wives to seal a deal, then they laugh and do high-fives afterwards.
The ultimate goal of the Illuminati is to own everything, and judging from the concentration of wealth among developed nations throughout the world, it's working. Eventually they will have total control of the working class. Their ultimate plan is to keep the poor as poor as possible, eliminate the middle class, and increase their numbers at the top so they own quite literally everything.
I know what you are thinking: The Illuminati does not exist and this is all bullshit. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I may even be a member of the Illuminati, and you would never know it, because I would never admit it.
North Korea displayed the body of ruler Kim Jong Il in a glass coffin surrounded by red flowers Tuesday, and his young heir was one of the first to pay respects — a strong indication that a smooth leadership transition was under way.
As the country mourned for a second day with high-level visits to Kim's body at a memorial palace and public gatherings of weeping citizens, state media fed a budding personality cult around his youngest known son and anointed heir, Kim Jong Un, hailing him as a "lighthouse of hope."
Kim's body was wrapped in red cloth and surrounded by blossoms of his namesake flowers, red "kimjongilia." As solemn music played, Kim Jong Un — believed to be in his late 20s — entered the hall to view his father's bier, surrounded by military honor guards. He observed a moment of solemn silence, then circled the bier, followed by other officials.
Kim Jung Un (fourth from right) bows to his deceased father
Outside one of the capital's main performance centers, mourners carried wreaths and flowers toward a portrait of Kim Jong Il. Groups were allowed to grieve in front of the portrait for a few minutes at a time.
U Son Hui, a Pyongyang resident, told The Associated Press.
"We will change today's sorrow into strength and courage and work harder for a powerful and prosperous nation, as our general wanted, under the leadership of the new General Kim Jong Un."
The announcement Monday of Kim's death over the weekend raised acute concerns in the region over the possibility of a power struggle between the untested son and rivals, in a country pursuing nuclear weapons and known for its unpredictability and secrecy.
Mourners cry as they meet the body of North Korean leader Kim Jong il
But there have been no signs of unrest or discord in Pyongyang's somber streets.
With the country in an 11-day period of official mourning, flags were flown at half-staff at all military units, factories, businesses, farms and public buildings. The streets of Pyongyang were quiet, but throngs of people gathered at landmarks honoring Kim.
Kim's bier was decorated by a wreath from Kim Jong Un along with various medals and orders. The body was laid out in the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, a mausoleum where the embalmed body of Kim's father — national founder Kim Il Sung — has been on display in a glass sarcophagus since his death in 1994.
The Dictator: Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong Il, the dictator who used fear and isolation to maintain power in North Korea and his nuclear weapons to menace his neighbors and threaten the U.S., has died, North Korean state television reported early Monday.
His death opens a new and potentially dangerous period of transition and instability for North Korea and northeast Asia. Mr. Kim in September 2010 tapped the youngest of his three sons, Kim Jong Eun, to succeed him, and North Korean state television on Monday said the younger Mr. Kim will lead the country.
North Korea's transition of power will be closely watched by the world as the country prepares for leadership under Kim Jong Eun. The WSJ's Deborah Kan and Seoul reporter Evan Ramstad discuss what this could mean for stability in the secretive nation.
Mr. Kim, who was 69 or 70 years old, according to varying accounts, died during a train ride on Saturday, a weeping television announcer said. He was believed to have been in ill health since suffering a stroke in 2008, and North Korean media said he experienced an "advanced acute myorcardial infarction," or heart attack.
South Korean shares tumbled along with other Asian markets in early trading Monday on concerns about potential instability in the region. South Korea's Kospi Composite down 3.1% in late-morning trading after initially dropping 4.4%. South Korea's currency, the won, fell sharply against the dollar.
Asia Today: North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong Il has died according to North Korean TV reports. The WSJ's Deborah Kan and reporter Alex Frangos talk about what this means for the secretive nation.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said late Sunday that the administration is "closely monitoring" reports of Mr. Kim's death, that President Barack Obama had been notified and that U.S. officials are in close touch with South Korea and Japan.
"We remain committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies," Mr. Carney said.
South Korea put its military on "high alert" and President Lee Myung-bak convened a meeting of the national security council after the news of Mr. Kim's death, the Associated Press reported.
The son of North Korea's founder, Kim Jong Il ruled the reclusive country for nearly two decades. See highlights from his life and career in this timeline. (Click Image To View Interactive Chart)
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called an emergency meeting of his National Security group to assess the situation. Japan has been among the countries most worried about North Korea's military ambitions and nuclear tests.
Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said on the way into the session on Monday.
"I've issued instructions (to the defense ministry) to do everything to establish an alert, monitoring stance."
Meanwhile, roughly 20 minutes before its daily noon newscast, state broadcaster China Central Television broke in with a special report on Mr. Kim's death. It was a three-minute bare-bones account that echoed the facts from North Korea's official media, plus a chronology of the major events of his life, intercut with stock footage. Several minutes later, it aired the program again.
The state-run Xinhua news agency offered a similar just-the-facts report.
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Kim Jong-il Rises To Power
Mr. Kim took power after the death in July 1994 of his father, Kim Il Sung, who founded North Korea in 1948. The country, a declining communist industrial power when he took control, fell into abject poverty under his rule. However, Mr. Kim continued to command attention and relevance in the world by building nuclear weapons and selling other arms.
He staked his legitimacy on his father's 46-year rule. Kim Jong Il never called himself president of North Korea. Instead, he bestowed on his father after death the title of "eternal president," while he took lesser titles such as chairman of national defense and general secretary of the main political party.
Mr. Kim suffered a stroke-like illness in August 2008 and was incapacitated for two months, forcing him to begin to groom a successor.
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The Successor: Kim Jong Eun
In 2009, reports surfaced that Mr. Kim had chosen Kim Jong Eun to carry on the family's regime. Those reports were confirmed in September 2010, when Mr. Kim appointed his son, who is believed to be 27 or 28 years old, a four-star general in the North Korean military and to high-level posts in the ruling political party.
In October 2010, his first public image was released by North Korean state media, showing a striking resemblance to his father and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the North Korean founder.
Since the public appointment, Kim Jong Eun has frequently been seen following his ailing father on "on-spot" inspections.
"We must fight with greater resolve to overcome today's crisis, behind comrade Kim Jung Eun's leadership, for another great victory for the Juche revolution," an announcer on North Korean state television said in announcing the elder Mr. Kim's death. Juche is North Korea's state ideology, which emphasizes independence and self-determination.
Kim Jong Il, far right, and Kim Jong Eun, third from right, salute while watching a military parade in September.
Although a succession plan has been laid out, conditions aren't as favorable as they were in 1994 for continuing the family's control. North Korea is much poorer and less stable now. A famine from 1995 to 1997 killed two million to three million North Koreans, aid agencies estimate, and sowed distrust in the government. North Koreans have learned more about the outside world in recent years, thanks to increasing use of cellphones and availability of DVDs.
What Kim Jong-il's Death Means To Rest of World
The potential for instability in North Korea poses difficulties for the rest of the world because the country in recent years made significant progress in the development of nuclear weapons. It conducted tests of nuclear explosives in 2006 and 2009 and is believed to possess a small number of nuclear bombs, though none that can be transported by missiles.
For its neighbors South Korea and China, Mr. Kim's death brings an additional risk: the prospect for a greater outflow of North Koreans into their countries if instability occurs.
When Mr. Kim came to power in 1994, North Korea was still trying to recover from the collapse of its economic sponsor, the Soviet Union. Famine overtook the country, but Mr. Kim relied on his father's formula for controlling North Korea's roughly 24 million people.
North Korean Embassy staff in Beijing lower their national flag on Monday to mourn Kim Jong Il's death.
He limited their access to information, ability to travel and earn wealth. And he maintained a system of gulag-like prison camps, massive in scale and horrific in condition, to instill fear.
China eventually took over as North Korea's main benefactor. Prodded by Beijing, Mr. Kim experimented with economic liberalization in 2002 by allowing some markets to form. But by 2008, Mr. Kim grew fearful that economic freedoms were eroding the power of his regime. He ordered crackdowns that included a confiscation of private savings in late 2009.
Mr. Kim also resisted efforts by China, the U.S. and other countries to persuade him to give up the nuclear-weapons research that his father started in the 1970s. The research climaxed in October 2006 when North Korea first tested a half-megaton nuclear device. It tested a more powerful nuclear explosive in May 2009, leading to stiff sanctions by the United Nations Security Council that further damaged the economy.
In 2010, North Korea revealed progress in turning enriched uranium into a source of fuel for nuclear weapons, further aggravating other countries.
This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Nov. 2 via the Tokyo-based Korean News Service shows Kim Jong Il inspecting Korean People's Army unit 789.
Over the past year, Mr. Kim repeatedly reached out to China for more economic and security assistance and lashed out at the three countries long considered to be North Korea's main enemies: South Korea, Japan and the U.S.
COMMENTARY: Yesterday, when I heard the news that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il had died from a heart attack I knew I had to pay my respects with a stupendous blog post.
Like most Americans, we knew very little about Kim Jong Il, other than what we read about him in the newspapers or seen on television. So, I view this as a great opportunity to educate myself and you on the little midget dictator.
Official North Korean Announcement of Kim Jong-il's Death
Thanks to Google Translator, here's the original news release that was run by the state run North Korean newspaper @uriminzokkiri via Twitter announcing the death of Kim Jong Il, and translated into English using Google Translator:
"(December 19, Pyongyang KCNA) -
12:00 o'clock today, the great Leader of Korea Kim Jong-il by comrades want casually demise was a great press release was issued doe.
Lt's General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Democratic People's Republic of KPA lt's Defense Committee, who is the commander in chief, the Great Leader Kim Jong-il was a boy you like the death of his comrades facing the county ten million hyeongeon now is in the grip of grief that can not be.
Perform the transition from a socialist powerful nation-building feats ever open phase, and the revolution of Korea overlapping challenges and triumphantly through the ordeal, and at a time when Kim Jong -minded sport he died of the WPK and the revolution is the maximum loss of 70 million Koreans, liberal world Most of the people is a great sorrow.
Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, including height, enshrined in many places in the great President Kim Il Sung statue of a comment bibun Among the nation's parents have lost a great citizen come to the locked gakgyecheung Kim moknotah comrades are singing ohyeol breaks down.
They wash with tears pouring nyeom also without making the pain of loss and sorrow that is struggling with.
"Even if only some time ago with the development of the country Thriving happy life of the people than the fire in order to be energetic activity Burley pontoon Announcing the Great General, that he believed that lest we are not alone. "
"Our country does not she, sir you, sir, leaving the leadership of the revolution, sir, love leaves us only one who thought that life is nice, do not you."
Chest pain and sorrow slicing the sky just like to sit down this vision, people more firmly in the hearts of every one always trying to get somewhere and rakgwan confidence of victory, is the tragic vow.
KPA Military Jeongilguk (Male, 43 years old):
"We follow the leadership of Comrade eun sad turn today's crisis with strength and courage win the naemyeo subject of the revolution to win even more great new haegal eoksege will struggle."
Who work in Cabinet heoseongcheol (Male, 55 years old), the "eun-minded than his revelation of our revolution today raeil must prevail," he stressed."
NOTE: Neat translation, isn't it. What a crappy translator Google has, but I am sure you can figure it out.
North Korea Mourns Kim's Death
The news of the North Korea's leader death has put the 24-million population on the verge of insanity, hyped up by unceasing TV broadcast of mass mourning throughout the country. North Korea's national flag is flying at half-mast today on every flagpole in the country.
Now that's what I call a whole lot of crying. Kim Jong-il's son Uen has big shoes to fill.
North Korea's New Leader: Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-Il's successor is his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. It's time to meet the most powerful twenty-something in the world: an enigmatic basketball fanatic and four-star general with a bad case of fat cheeks and an itchy trigger finger.
In some ways, Kim Jong-un is just your normal millenial: After a stint away at school in 1998, he moved back home with his parents. Although in Kim's case the school was a Swiss boarding school, and his time back home was spent studying at North Korea's premier military academy and being groomed to succeed his father. Kim Jong-il apparently chose Kim Jong-un to succeed him over his two older brothers because they're seen as too soft and irresponsible to lead.
Unlike most people his age (including his nephew) Kim Jong-un is definitely not on Facebook. Kim has been kept so tightly under wraps—he was enrolled at his Swiss boarding school under a fake identity—that the world didn't really know what he looked like until he was "unveiled" at a military parade last year, a newly-minted four star general.
Kim Jong-Un likes to pass the time playing basketball and video games, and launching sudden military strikes against South Korea. It's thought that Kim Jong-un coordinated the bombardment of a South Korean island and the sinking of a South Korean warship last year to prove his military prowess and cement his role as the Great Successor. But he's not all business: F ormer classmates told the Washington PostKim was obsessed with basketball, had a stash of expensive Nikes and "spent hours doing meticulous pencil drawings of Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan." His taste for consumer goods has survived: Last year, a train full of televisions and watches thought to be gifts for Kim was derailed on its way way from China.
According to a former cook of Kim Jong-Il's who goes by the name Kenji Fujimoto:
"Dressed in a military outfit, the young Jong-Un glared at me with a menacing look when we shook hands."
The first time they met, Fujimoto wrote in Kim Jong-Il's Chef:
"I can never forget the look in his eyes which seemed to be saying, 'This one is a despicable Japanese.'"
Kim Jong-un, like his father, is a serious chubster. Maybe he bulked up like Robert De Niro inRaging Bull to look more like his fat grandfather, North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung, whom he's reportedly purposely styling himself after right down to the flat-top hairstyle. Or maybe it's some unspoken rule among North Korea's regimes that all its leaders have to be exceptionally rotund, to underscore the the millions of its citizens who have starved in famines.
Looks like Jim Jung-un is a real work of art thanks to dad. Any kid that can move from civilian to four-star general, that is just plain impressive.
President Obama better not count on peace talks with this vicious, cold-blooded, and mean-spirited chubby dictator any time soon.
The North Korean Military
North Korea has the fourth largest military in the world with 1.1 million military personnel, behind China (2.25 million), U.S. (1.55 million) and India (1.35 million). South Korea's military ranks #6 with 687,000 personnel in uniform. North Korea i a military state without equal. On a per-capita basis, North Korea has more people in the active military than any other country by a wide margin.
North Korea's annual military budget in 2009 was only $5 billion, compared to $24.5 billion spent by South Korea, and the $800 billion spent by the U.S. Most of North Korea's armaments are supplied by the Russia and People's Republic of China, but are outdated.
Click Image To Enlarge
North Korea is superior to South Korea in the following aspects of their military:
No of Active Military Personnel: 1.1 million versus 687,000
Reserve Military Personnel: 4.7 million versus 4.5 million
Main Battle Tanks: 3,500+ versus 2,750
Artillery Pieces: 17,900+ versus 10,774
Air Force Fighters and Attack Aircraft: 540 versus 467 (But So Korea has the more modern aircraft supplied by the U.S.)
South Korea has a big lead in surface naval warships (47 versus 8), but lags behind North Korea in patrol craft (329 versus 79), submarines (63 versus 13) and small landing craft (224 versus 36).
North Korea's nuclear bomb program is super-secret, but according to the U.S. and IAEA nuclear experts, the country has sufficient weapons grade uranium to producce between 2 to 3 nuclear bombs and is it is developing long-range ballistic missles to deliver nuclear warheads to Alaska and even Hawaii. A rogue nation like North Korea, with a nuclear arsenal, run by a much younger dictator like Kim Jong Uen means a big problem for decades to come.
Communist countries are known for their huge military parades. This video celebrates the 75th anniversary of the ruling North Korean party and shows its military forces on display. North Korean forces have a very odd way of marching, which has got to hurt after a while.
North Korea Is A Tourist Paradise
North Korea is apparently a very popular tourist destination, if you are not from the West. If you are from China or Russia, no problem. North Korea is a great place to visit, but get used to frequent blackouts in your hotel.
Click Image To Enlarge
But, North Korea is a crazy fucking country.
Click Image To Enlarge
Courtesy of an article dated December 19, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal, an article dated December 19, 2011 appearing in Gawker
"President Obie, sir, we've got an all-out cyberattack from the Chinese in progress. I need your okay for a counter-attack."
WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies have pinpointed many of the Chinese groups responsible for cyberspying in the U.S., and most are sponsored by the Chinese military, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation.
Armed with this information, the U.S. has begun to lay the groundwork to confront China more directly about cyberspying. Two weeks ago, U.S. officials met with Chinese counterparts and warned China about the diplomatic consequences of economic spying, according to one person familiar with the meeting.
U.S. Air Force personnel work in the Air Force Space Command Network Operations & Security Center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado in a July 2010 file photo.
The Chinese cyberspying campaign stems largely from a dozen groups connected to China's People's Liberation Army and a half-dozen nonmilitary groups connected to organizations like universities, said those who were briefed on the investigation. Two other groups play a significant role, though investigators haven't determined whether they are connected to the military.
In many cases, the National Security Agency (See my blog post dated April 28, 2011) has determined the identities of individuals working in these groups, which is a critical development that provides the U.S. the option of confronting the Chinese government more directly about the activity or responding with a counterattack, according to former officials briefed on the effort.
James Lewis, a cybersecurity specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who frequently advises the Obama administration said.
"It's actually a small number of groups that do most of the PLA's dirty work. NSA is pretty confident of their ability to attribute [cyberespionage] to this set of actors."
In early November, the U.S. chief of counterintelligence issued a report that was unusually blunt in accusing China of being the world's "most active and persistent" perpetrator of economic spying. Lawmakers have also become more vocal in calling out China for its widening campaign of cyberespionage.
Still, diplomatic considerations may limit the U.S. interest in taking a more confrontational approach because some U.S. officials are wary of angering China, the largest holder of U.S. debt.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
"Chinese law clearly prohibits hacking and that the Chinese government cracks down on such behavior and actively participates in international cooperation."
He said.
"Accusations that China participates in such hacking, or that the Chinese government is behind it, are totally ungrounded."
Chinese officials regularly dispute U.S. allegations of cyberspying, saying they are the victims, not the perpetrators, of cybercrime and cyberespionage. An NSA spokeswoman declined to comment.
Identifying adversaries has been difficult because it is easy to fake identities and locations in cyberspace. An inability to tie cyberspying activities with precision to a certain actor has in the past limited the U.S.'s ability to respond because it's hard to retaliate or confront an unidentified adversary.
The U.S. government, led by the National Security Agency, has tracked the growing Chinese cyberspying campaign against the U.S. for decades. Past government efforts have had exotic names like "Titan Rain," and "Byzantine Hades."
More recently, NSA and other intelligence agencies have made significant advances in attributing cyberattacks to specific sources—mostly in China's People's Liberation Army—by combining cyberforensics with ongoing intelligence collection through electronic and human spying, Mr. Lewis said.
The U.S. investigation of China's activities is the latest round of spy-versus-spy in cyberspace.
On April 29, 2001, a Chinese jet fighter accidentally collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance (spy) plane patrolling off the Chinese coast near Hainan Island. The incident setoff a dangerous confrontation between the U.S. and China. Luckily, 'cooler heads prevailed' and the U.S. plane and its crew were released finally released.
The activity breaks down into cyberspying efforts by 20 groups with different attack styles that are responsible for most of the cybertheft of U.S. secrets, said the people briefed on the investigation. U.S. intelligence officials have given different classified code names to each group.
U.S. intelligence officials can identify different groups based on a variety of indicators. Those characteristics include the type of cyberattack software they use, different Internet addresses they employ when stealing data, and how attacks are carried out against different targets. In addition to U.S. government agencies, major targets of these groups include U.S. defense contractors, according to former officials.
A Chinese state TV report alludes to attacks on websites in the U.S.
Collectively, these groups employ hundreds of people, according to former officials briefed on the effort. That number is believed to be small compared to the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 censors the Chinese government is believed to employ to patrol the Internet.
The Chinese government is believed to have been behind a number of recent major cyberbreak-ins, including multiple hacks of Google Inc. and the EMC Corp.'s RSA unit, which makes the numerical tokens used by millions of corporate employees to access their network.
A cyberattack revealed this year on Lockheed Martin Corp. is also believed to have been traced to China, and the Chinese are believed to have been responsible for an infiltration a few years ago of the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter weapons program, which is also managed by Lockheed.
The counterintelligence report released last month predicted that China's espionage efforts will continue to grow.
COMMENTARY: In a blog post dated November 6, 2011, I described to you in great detail the "undeclared" cyberwar that exists between China and the U.S.
There are no jet fighter attacks, intercontinental ballistic missles, special forces on the ground, or shots fired, but in every sense of the word, there is a real war between the U.S. and China.
This is a different kind of war, a clandestine electronic war, between the world's two greatest economic and military powers. Most Americans and Chinese citizens are not even aware that this war exists until they read about it in the newspapers or see it on the evening television news.
Neither side will ever openly admit that their secure sytems networks were ever compromised or broken into, or secrets stolen.
This new form of warfare does use military missles, great naval armadas or air fleets, but uses powerful computers, sophisticated spy and viral software, and some of the brightest hackers in the world.
Let's look at the American and Chinese Cyber Forces.
USCYBERCOM - THE U.S. FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
In a blog post dated February 7, 2011, I profiled America's cyberwar first line of defense: USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM.
The federal government department entrusted with the job of protecting America against cyber attacks is the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM or CYBERCOM).
On June 23, 2009, the Secretary of Defense directed the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) to establish USCYBERCOM. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was achieved on May 21, 2010.
Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, and Joint Chiefs of Staff of the the four branches of the U.S. Military salute the establishment of USSTRATCOM and USCYBERCOMMAND on May 21, 2010
The mission of USCYBERCOM is to plan, coordinate, integrate, synchronize, and conduct activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.
USCYBERCOM combines the Department’s full spectrum of cyberspace operations and plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes, and conducts activities to:
Lead day-to-day defense and protection of Department of Defense (DoD) information networks,
Coordinate DoD operations providing support to military missions;.
Direct the operations and defense of specified DoD information networks.
Prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations.
The command is charged with pulling together existing cyberspace resources, creating synergy that does not currently exist and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the information security environment.
USCYBERCOM centralizes command of cyberspace operations, strengthen DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrate and bolster DoD’s cyber expertise. Consequently, USCYBERCOM improves DoD’s capabilities to ensure resilient, reliable information and communication networks, counter cyberspace threats, and assure access to cyberspace. USCYBERCOM’s efforts also support the Armed Services’ ability to confidently conduct high-tempo, effective operations as well as protect command and control systems and the cyberspace infrastructure supporting weapons system platforms from disruptions, intrusions and attacks.
USCYBERCOM is a sub-unified command subordinate to USSTRATCOM. Service Elements include the four key branches of the U.S. military:
U.S. Army – Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER)
U.S. Air Force – 24th USAF
U.S. Navy – Fleet Cyber Command (FLTCYBERCOM)
U.S. Marine Corp – Marine Forces Cyber Command (MARFORCYBER)
CYBER BLUE TEAM - CHINA'S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
In a blog post dated July 16, 2011, I profiled China's cyberwar first line of defense: CYBER BLUE TEAM.
China's Blue Cyber Team busy hacking somebody's network
China's military has set up an elite Internet security task force tasked with fending off cyber attacks, state media reported May 27, denying that the initiative is intended to create a "hacker army."
China's Defense Ministry revealed for the first time in May that it had formed a 30-strong cyber defense unit, called the "Blue Army," but insisted that it was for defensive purposes only.
On May 27, 2011, China's Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng announces the formation of China's Cyber Blue Team
The People's Liberation Army has reportedly invested tens of millions of dollars in the project, which is sure to ring alarm bells around the world among governments and businesses wary of Beijing's intentions.
The Global Times quoted China's defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng as telling a rare briefing this week.
"Cyber attacks have become an international problem affecting both civilian and military areas. China is relatively weak in cyber-security and has often been targeted. This temporary program is aimed at improving our defenses against such attacks."
The 30-member "Cyber Blue Team" - the core of the PLA's cyber force - has been organized under the Guangdong military command in the country's south and will carry out "cyber-warfare drills", the newspaper said.
China's Cyber Capabilities (Click Image To Enlarge)
The Cyber Blue Team is based in Jinan, China where there are 12 Universities and a high tech zone and boast 6 million people. It’s also the headquarter of the PLA. The squad is aimed at carrying out attacks on other countries Internet.
Li Li, a military expert at the National Defense University said,
“China’s Online Blue Army is currently at its fledging period."
Zhang Shaozhong, a military expert from the PLA adds.
“Just like the army and air forces, the ‘online blue army' is a historical necessity."
The reason is very simple. Teng Jianqun, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said.
“We must adapt to the new types of warfare in the information era. The ‘online blue army’ is of great strategic significance to China’s economic development and social stability.”
The United States, Australia, Germany and other Western nations have long alleged that hackers inside China are carrying out a wide-range of cyberattacks on government and corporate computer systems worldwide.
But in a commentary, the Global Times hit out at "some foreign media" for interpreting the program as a breeding ground for a "hacker army" said.
"China's capability is often exaggerated. Without substantiated evidence, it is often depicted by overseas media as the culprit for cyberattacks on the US and Europe. China needs to develop its strong cyber defense strength. Otherwise, it would remain at the mercy of others."
China's military has received annual double-digit increases in its budget over much of the last two decades as it tries to develop a more modern force capable of winning increasingly high-tech wars.
In 2007, the Pentagon raised concerns about a successful Chinese ballistic missile test strike on a satellite. That weapon could be used to knock out the high-tech communications of its enemies.
U.S. computer firm McAfee said in February that hackers from China have also infiltrated the computer networks of global oil companies and stole financial documents on bidding plans and other confidential information.
According to US diplomatic cables obtained and published by WikiLeaks, the United States believes that China's leadership has directed hacking campaigns against U.S. Internet giant Google and Western governments.
In one cable, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it learned from "a Chinese contact" that the Politburo had led years of hacking into computers of the United States, its allies and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
WHO's WINNING THE CYBERWAR?
USCYBERCOM and China's Blue Cyber Team are very new cyber organizations. Both organizations carry out and defend against cyber attacks. Both were established with the goal of defending their their military organizations against cyber attacks, from each other, rogue nations, cyber terrorist groups bent on compromising their defense systems. It's very difficult to ascertain which country is winning the cyber wars since neither the U.S. or China military will publicly acknowledge every single cyber attack and what was compromised. The following lists major cyber attacks committed by the Chinese against the U.S. and its allies against the U.S. military, government agencies and embassies between 1999 and 2009.
Click Image To Enlarge
US Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said that in a March 2011 attack and other breaches, hackers had taken information on "our most sensitive systems". The admission came as the Pentagon rolled out a strategy for strengthening US cyber capabilities and addressing threats and attacks in cyberspace.
In a speech at National Defense University in Washington, Mr Lynn said about 24,000 files containing Pentagon data were stolen from a defence industry computer network in March, marking one of the largest cyber attacks in US history.
CYBER ATTACKS RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
At the end of October 2011, there was a Wall Street Journal story reporting that the US government had decided that certain types of cyber attacks originating from another country can constitute an act of war, and therefore could trigger a "traditional" military response from the US. from the US.
As one military official in the WSJ article stated it:
"If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks."
Well, today there is a long AP story that says that Preident Barack Obama signed executive orders about a month ago outlining when and how US military commanders can employ cyber capabilities to mount cyber attacks or conduct espionage against other countries.
Defense officials and security experts told the AP that:
"The orders detail when the military must seek presidential approval for a specific cyber assault on an enemy and weave cyber capabilities into U.S. war fighting strategy."
The executive orders act in a similar fashion as operational theater rules of engagement. The AP story states, for example, that:
"Under the new Pentagon guidelines, it would be unacceptable to deliberately route a cyberattack through another country if that nation has not given permission - much like U.S. fighter jets need permission to fly through another nation's airspace."
The full set of cyberwar guidelines have not been announced, but the US Department of Defense is expected to do so soon.
CIVILIAN ORGANIZATION CYBERATTACKS
Cyber attacks against both US and Chinese civilian organizations occur almost on a daily basis.
China reported that in 2010 year its government websites experienced a 68 percent increase in cyber attacks.
The Chinese government has been accused of sponsoring cyber attacks against major companies like Google and Yahoo as well as governments around the world.
A report released by the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China (CNCERT/CC) found that a total of 35,000 Chinese websites, including 4,635 government sites, were hit by hackers in 2010.
Attacks on China's non-government websites actually decreased 22 percent in 2010, while attacks on government websites had increased nearly 70 percent.
The report also found that roughly 60 percent of ministerial-level websites have potential security risks.
McAfee, a cybersecurity company owned by Intel, announced on August 4, 2011, that it uncovered a wide-ranging, global cyber attack that impacted 72 organizations.
The U.S. cannot afford to let its guard down for a single second. We are fighting a very devious and invisible enemy, who can strike at any moment. We don't know where they will strike. It could be a miltiary installation, our power grid system, national air traffic control system, the Federal Reserve Bank or Facebook's data center in Washington state.
We do know that China's Cyber Blue Team and individual Chinese cyber criminals mean business and we have to be on the alert at all times. If this is the way tomorrow's wars will be fought we must be ready, and prepared to pay whatever it takes to insure our national security.
I am happy to hear that USCYBERCOM has identified China's cyber culprits including the individual PLA units, names of the individuals or groups involved. We need to lower the hammer, and just let them have it with an all-out, bent for leather, cyberattack of our own, and let them know "whose their daddy".
BEIJING—Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. said Friday it plans to scale back its business in Iran, where the company provides services to government-controlled telecom operators, in the wake of reports that Iranian police were using mobile network technology to trace and arrest dissidents.
Shenzhen-based Huawei will "voluntarily restrict its business development there by no longer seeking new customers and limiting its business activities with existing customers," according to a statement on the company's website. It said the company was making the move due to "increasingly complex situation in Iran," but did not elaborate.
The Wall Street Journal reported in October that as Western companies pulled back from the Iranian market in the wake of the crackdowns, Huawei won more contracts in the country. Iranian human-rights organizations outside Iran say there are dozens of documented cases in which dissidents were traced and arrested through the government's ability to track the location of their cellphones.
WSJ's Steve Stecklow has the story of Chinese telecom firm Huawei, which dominates Iran's government-controlled mobile industry. Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Huawei's move marks the first time a Chinese company has decided to scale back its business in Iran, increasing pressure on the country, according to Mark Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Iran is under global sanctions for allegations it is developing a nuclear weapons program. Iran has denied this.
Mr. Wallace said.
"This is a significant milestone. For the first time a major Chinese business is pulling back from Iran in the face of mounting international scorn for Iran's brutal regime."
Huawei said it plans to continue servicing its existing Iranian contracts. The company statement said.
"For communications networks that have been delivered or are under delivery to customers, Huawei will continue to provide necessary services to ensure communications for Iran's citizens."
The Journal reported on Oct. 27 that Huawei had recently signed a contract to install equipment for a system at Iran's largest mobile-phone operator that allows police to track people based on the locations of their cellphones, according to interviews with telecom employees both in Iran and abroad, and corporate bidding documents reviewed by the newspaper. The company also has provided support for similar services at Iran's second-largest mobile-phone provider. Huawei noted that nearly all countries require police access to cell networks, including the U.S.
The Iranian government had stepped up surveillance of its citizens with the help of foreign technology after a bloody crackdown by authorities on antigovernment protests following a controversial election in 2009.
Huawei's announcement could help the company boost its image in the U.S., where Huawei executives complain the company has been unfairly restricted in the market, despite having forged partnerships with major operators across Europe and the Middle East, and in Canada, and rising quickly over the last several years to become the world's second largest provider of telecommunications equipment, after Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson.
U.S. regulators have blocked Huawei's bids on major telecommunications infrastructure projects as well as acquisitions of American companies over security concerns, and the White House and Congress have both recently launched investigations into national security threats posed by foreign telecommunications firms, particularly worries that equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies into U.S. systems could potentially be used to track or intercept communications.
Founded in 1987, closely held Huawei said earlier this year that it expects revenue to grow 10% in 2011 to reach $31 billion, slower than the 24% growth it saw in 2010, in part because of blocks on its expansion into the U.S.
COMMENTARY: In a blog article dated October 27, 2011, I profiled China's wireless telecomm giant Huawei Technologies and their zeal to land a contract to upgrade Iran's wireless telecommunications infrastructure.
Huawei has operated in Iran's telecommunications industry since 1999, according to China's embassy in Tehran. Prior to Iran's political unrest in 2009, Huawei was already a major supplier to Iran's mobile-phone networks, along with Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG, according to MTN Irancell documents.
In 2008, the Iranian government began soliciting bids for location-based services for the largest mobile operator, TCI's Mobile Communication Co. of Iran, or MCCI. A copy of the bidding requirements, reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, says the contractor "shall support and deliver offline and real-time lawful interception." It also states that for "public security," the service must allow "tracking a specified phone/subscriber on map."
According to a Huawei Technologies manager in Tehran, the company signed a contract in 2011 to provide equipment for location-based services to MCCI in the south of Iran and is now ramping up hiring for the project.
Huawei's decision to scale back business in the Islamic Republic of Iran is a public relations ploy and nothing else. It is has already landed a huge contract with MCCI, Iran's largest wireless carrier, so "scaling back" business is strictly for public consumption. Huawei continues support existing Iranian customers and staffup in order to comply with its MCCI contract to provided managed services. That's not scaling back.
Huawei knew what it was bidding on, it met Iran's requirements, and is now having "contractor's remorse." It's something of a joke, wouldn't you say. It suddently realizes that doing business with a rogue nation like Iran is bad for business, and could affect its bidding in other countries.
The U.S. has already blocked Huawei from bidding on any contracts in the U.S. or making any acquisitions. But, what Huawei should do, if it had any corporate ethics or values at all, is pull its operations out of Iran completely to demonstrate its outrage for Iran's violent crackdown on political dissedents and solidarity with the demonstrators.
After Salman Rushdie’s profile was mistakenly deactivated, he called Facebook a ‘bunch of morons.’ Then the author threatened a Twitter defection after being forced to go by ‘Ahmed.’ Brian Ries on who won out.
For a few hours on Monday morning, Salman Rushdie had just about had it with Facebook.
The social media site had detected a profile over the weekend—his Facebook profile—that it had mistakenly determined was fraudulent. So, without warning, Facebook flipped its switch, digitally executing Rushdie’s profile and removing it from the site. To get it reactivated, he was told, he would have to send a photograph of his passport, thereby proving his identity as the real Salman Rushdie, the Indian-British author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, and not a fraud. But when he did as instructed, his profile emerged from its Facebook purgatory with a problem.
Click Image To View Salman "Ahmed" Rushdie's Facebook Profile
“Facebook deactivated my account because they thought I wasn’t me. Now they insist I call myself by the first name I have never used. What a bunch of morons.”
That rarely used first name, Ahmed, is what’s printed on his passport. Salman, technically speaking, is his middle name. And a post about “name standards” on Facebook’s Help Center—which the company on Monday acknowledged is a bit dated and then quickly updated after a query by The Daily Beast—suggested that middle names simply aren’t allowed.
“Facebook is a community where people use their real identities. We require everyone to provide their real first and last names so you always know who you’re connecting with.”
But what, Rushdie took to Twitter to wonder, if the one you’re connecting with isn’t known by their first name at all?
“Or, if F. Scott Fitzgerald was on #Facebook, would they force him to be Francis Fitzgerald? What about F. Murray Abraham?”
Salman Rushdie's Twitter page:
Click Above Image To Visit Salman Rushdie's Twitter Page
Others agreed. The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal wondered.
“What is the point of forcing Salman Rushdie to go by Ahmed Rushdie? How does this benefit the social web?”
When reached Monday afternoon, a company spokesperson told The Daily Beast it does permit users to identify by their middle and last names. Rushdie’s profile suspension, and resulting name change, was all a mistake.
The spokesperson said in an official announcement.
“This action was taken in error and Mr. Rushdie’s account has been reactivated with the correct name. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
That inconvenience was almost Facebook’s—Rushdie nearly took his presence elsewhere. He wrote in a post earlier in the day, before inviting readers to follow him on Twitter—Facebook’s on-again-off-again competitor.
“As I don’t and will never recognize myself as ‘Ahmed Rushdie’ I will be reducing FB activities to just about zero and cutting back my list of friends to actual friends or at least acquaintances, just to keep in touch. I’m done.”
But later Monday, once Facebook had reinstated the profile as “Salman Rushdie,” the author made a triumphant return. He posted on his profile.
“Victory! Goodbye Ahmed, get back into the passport where you belong. Salman returns.”
And with that return, a confirmation: Facebook users, middle names are A-OK in Zuckerville.
COMMENTARY: It's most unfortunate to see Facebook make an ass of themselves over your name. Everybody knows who Salman Rushdie is. Zuck should personally apologize to Salman for treating him with such outrageous disrespect. A lot of celebrities use different names. Lady Gaga has a real name. So by Facebook's rules she should be asked to change her Facebook name to Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.
Twenty years ago, novelist Salman Rushdie was a wanted man with a million pound bounty on his head. His novel, The Satanic Verses, had sparked riots across the Muslim world. The ailing religious leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, had invoked a little-known religious opinion - a fatwa - and effectively sentenced Rushdie to death. Never before had a novel created an international diplomatic crisis on such a scale, and never before had a foreign Government publicly called for the killing of a private citizen of another country.
The following film documentary looks back on the extraordinary events which followed the publication of the book and the ten year campaign to get the fatwa lifted. Interviews with Rushdie's friends and family and testimony from leaders of Britain's Muslim community and the Government reveal the inside story of the affair. Rushdie himself was forced into hiding for nearly ten years.
British columnist Christopher Hitchens discusses Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' and the famous fatwa.
Here's an interview with Salman Rushdie and his response to the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa:
Anybody with the balls to imply that the Prophet Mohammed is evil or even Satanic, then have the Ayatollah Khomeini personally call a 'fatwa' for his assassination, can be my Twitter friend anytime. You should've been knighted by the Queen.
In conclusion, I would like to say:
Dear Mr. Salmen Rushdie.
Fuck Facebook. Welcome to Twitter. The only true democratic social network. I hope that we can follow each other. Here's my Twitter page. Yours truly,
@turk5555.
Courtesy of an article dated November 14, 2011 appearing in The Daily Beast
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