ibankcoin | Steven Cohen, Professor of Russian studies at Princeton and NYU (an
obvious Russian spy) was besides himself tonight, in sheer disbelief
over the with hunt of gigantic nothing-burgers that are being used to
assault the Presidency of Donald Trump.
He declared, “today, I would say (the greatest threat to national
security) is this assault on President Trump. Let’s be clear what he’s
being accused of is treason. This has never happened in America, that we
had a Russian agent in the White House. Cohen believes Flynn did
nothing wrong by talking to the Russian ambassador, describing it as
‘his job’ to do so.
He then illuminated the indelible fact that there is a 4th branch of
government, the intelligence community, who have been meddling in
American foreign affairs, obstructing the other 3 branches of
government.
“In 2016, President Obama worked out a deal with Russian
President Putin for military cooperation in Syria. He said he was gonna
share intelligence with Russia, just like Trump and the Russians were
supposed to do the other day. Our department of defense said it wouldn’t
share intelligence. And a few days later, they killed Syrian soldiers,
violating the agreement, and that was the end of that. So, we can ask,
who is making our foreign policy in Washington today?”
Professor Cohen added, “you and I have to ask a subversive question,
are there really three branches of government, or is there a 4th branch
of government? These intel services. What we know, as a fact, is that
Obama tried, not very hard but he tried for a military alliance with
Putin, in Syria, against terrorism and it was sabotaged by the
department of defense and its allies in the intelligence services.”
wikipedia |Systema (Система, literally meaning The System) is a Russian martial art.[1]
Training includes, but is not limited to: hand-to-hand combat,
grappling, knife fighting, and firearms training. Training involves
drills and sparring without set kata.
In Systema, the body has to be free of tensions, filled with endurance,
flexibility, effortless movement, and explosive potential; the "spirit"
or psychological state has to be calm, free of anger, irritation, fear,
self-pity, delusion, and pride.[2]
Systema focuses on breathing, relaxation, and fluidity of movement,
as well as utilizing an attacker's momentum against him and controlling
the six body levers (elbows, neck, knees, waist, ankles, and shoulders)
through pressure point
application, striking, and weapon applications. As a discipline, it is
becoming more and more popular among police and security forces and it
is taught by several practitioners inside and outside Russia.
wikipedia | The Russian girya (ги́ря, a loanword from Persian غران girān "heavy") was a type of metal weight, primarily used to weigh crops, in the 18th century. The use of such weights by circus strongmen is recorded for the 19th century. They began to be used for recreational and competition strength athletics in Russia and Europe in the late 19th century. The birth of competitive kettlebell lifting or girevoy sport
(гиревой спорт) is dated to 1885, with the foundation of the founding
year of the "Circle for Amateur Athlethics" (Кружок любителей атлетики).[2]
Russian kettlebells (Russian: ги́ри giri, singular ги́ря girya) are traditionally measured in weight by pood, corresponding to 16.38 kilograms (36.1 lb).[3] The English term kettle bell has been in use since the early 20th century.[4]
Similar weights used in Classical Greece were the haltere, comparable to the modern kettlebell in terms of movements. Another comparable instrument was used by Shaolin monks in China.
NYTimes | China,
India and Russia were among the countries most affected by the
ransomware attack, according to the Moscow-based computer security firm
Kaspersky Lab. The three countries are also big sources of pirated
software. A study last year by BSA, a trade association of software vendors,
found that in China, the share of unlicensed software reached 70
percent in 2015. Russia, with a rate of 64 percent, and India, with 58
percent, were close behind.
Zhu
Huanjie, who is studying network engineering in the city of Hangzhou,
blamed a number of ills for the spread of the attack, like the lack of
security on school networks. But he said piracy was also a factor. Many
users, he said, did not update their software to get the latest safety
features because of a fear that their copies would be damaged or locked,
while universities offered only older, pirated versions.
“Most
of the schools are now all using pirate software, including operation
system and professional software,” he said, adding: “In China, the
Windows that most people are using is still pirated. This is just the
way it is.”
On
Monday, some Chinese institutions were still moving to clean out
computer systems jammed by the attack, which initially struck on Friday
and spread across the world.
Prestigious research institutions like Tsinghua University were
affected, as were major companies like China Telecom and Hainan
Airlines.
China’s
securities regulator said it had taken down its network to try to
ensure it would not be affected, and the country’s banking regulator
warned lenders to be cautious when dealing with the malicious software,
which locked users out of their computers and demanded payment to allow
them back in.
Police
stations and local security offices reported problems on social media,
while students at universities reported being locked out of final thesis
papers. Electronic payment systems at gas stations run by the state oil
giant PetroChina were cut off for much of the weekend. Over all,
according to the official state television broadcaster, about 40,000
institutions were hit. Separately, the Chinese security company Qihoo
360 reported that computers at more than 29,000 organizations had been
infected.
If
those behind the ransomware attack profited from the hacking, they may
have figured out how to do something that has been beyond Microsoft:
making money from Windows in China. Microsoft and other Western
companies have complained for years that a large majority of the
computers running their software are using pirated versions.
Telegraph |Vladimir
Putin has blamed the US for causing the global cyber attack. He said
Russia had "nothing to do" with the cyber attack, adding that the US had
indirectly caused it by creating the Microsoft hack in the first place.
"Malware created by intelligence agencies can backfire on its creators," said Putin, speaking to media in Beijing.
He added that the attack didn't cause any significant damage to
Russia. Russian security firm Kaspersky said hospitals, police and
railroad transport had been affected in the country. Another report
suggested Russia was one of the worst hit locations.
Putin said:
As regards the source of these threats, I believe that the leadership
of Microsoft have announced this plainly, that the initial source of
the virus is the intelligence services of the United States.
Once they're let out of the lamp, genies of this kind, especially
those created by intelligence services, can later do damage to their
authors and creators.
So this question should be discussed immediately on a serious
political level and a defence needs to be worked out from such
phenomena.
nbcnews | President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday targeting
the federal government's notorious vulnerability to cyber threats,
mandating one set of standards and making the heads of each government
agency responsible for security.
"The United States invented the internet and
we need to better use it," Tom Bossert, Trump's homeland security
adviser, said at a briefing on the order for reporters. "There will
always be risk, and we need to address that risk."
The new order puts responsibility for cybersecurity squarely on the
shoulders of the director of every federal agency, making it more
difficult for executives to pass the buck to their information
technology staffs every time a new breach is discovered.
"Risk management decisions made by agency
heads can affect the risk to the executive branch as a whole," according
to the order. "Effective risk management requires agency heads to lead
integrated teams of senior executives with expertise in IT, security,
budgeting, acquisition, law, privacy and human resources."
Drafts of the order have been widely circulated for months, but the
version Trump signed Thursday includes a major and unexpected
initiative: moving as much of the government's cyberdefense system to
"the cloud" as possible.
That provision effectively establishes a single structure centralizing all federal IT networks.
"We've got to move to the cloud and try to
protect ourselves instead of fracturing our security posture," Bossert
said, adding: "If we don't move to shared services, we have 190 agencies
all trying to develop their own defenses against advanced collection
efforts."
Specifically, the order directs all federal
agencies to adopt cybersecurity policies drawn up by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology — policies that were issued years
ago but that the government itself has never adopted.
"From this point forward, departments and agencies shall practice what we preach," Bossert said.
Microsoft | This attack demonstrates the degree to
which cybersecurity has become a shared responsibility between tech
companies and customers. The fact that so many computers remained
vulnerable two months after the release of a patch illustrates this
aspect. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, there is simply no
way for customers to protect themselves against threats unless they
update their systems. Otherwise they’re literally fighting the problems
of the present with tools from the past. This attack is a powerful
reminder that information technology basics like keeping computers
current and patched are a high responsibility for everyone, and it’s
something every top executive should support.
At the same time, we have a clear understanding of the complexity and
diversity of today’s IT infrastructure, and how updates can be a
formidable practical challenge for many customers. Today, we use robust
testing and analytics to enable rapid updates into IT infrastructure,
and we are dedicated to developing further steps to help ensure security
updates are applied immediately to all IT environments.
Finally, this attack provides yet another example of why the
stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem. This is
an emerging pattern in 2017. We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the
CIA show up on WikiLeaks, and now this vulnerability stolen from the
NSA has affected customers around the world. Repeatedly, exploits in the
hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused
widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons
would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.
And this most recent attack represents a completely unintended but
disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity
threats in the world today – nation-state action and organized criminal
action.
The governments of the world should treat this attack as a wake-up
call. They need to take a different approach and adhere in cyberspace to
the same rules applied to weapons in the physical world. We need
governments to consider the damage to civilians that comes from hoarding
these vulnerabilities and the use of these exploits. This is one reason
we called in February for a new “Digital Geneva Convention”
to govern these issues, including a new requirement for governments to
report vulnerabilities to vendors, rather than stockpile, sell, or
exploit them. And it’s why we’ve pledged our support for defending every
customer everywhere in the face of cyberattacks, regardless of their
nationality. This weekend, whether it’s in London, New York, Moscow,
Delhi, Sao Paulo, or Beijing, we’re putting this principle into action
and working with customers around the world.
We’ve documented that the intelligence services intentionally create digital vulnerabilities, then intentionally leave them open … leaving us exposed and insecure.
Washington’s Blog asked the highest level NSA whistleblower ever* – Bill Binney – what he thinks of the attacks.
Binney told us:
This is what I called short sighted finite thinking on the part of the Intelligence Community managers.
This is also what I called (for some years now) a swindle of the tax
payers. First, they find or create weaknesses then they don’t fix these
weaknesses so we are all vulnerable to attack.
Then, when attacks occur, they say they need more money for cyber security — a total swindle!!! [Indeed.]
This is only the second swindle of the public. The first was terror
efforts by saying we need to collect everything to stop terror — another
lie. They said that because to collect everything takes lots and lots
of money.
Then, when the terror attack occurs, they say they need more money,
people and data to stop terror. Another swindle from the start. [The war
on terror is a “self-licking ice cream cone”, because it creates many more terrorists than it stops.]
And, finally, the latest swindle “THE RUSSIANS DID IT.” This is an
effort to start a new cold war which means another bigger swindle of US
tax payers.
For cyber security, I would suggest the president order NSA, CIA and
any others to fix the cyber problems they know about; then, maybe we
will start to have some cyber security.
The bottom line is that our intelligence services should start concentrating on actually defendingus, rather than focusing their resources on offensive mischief.
theduran | A widespread computer virus attack known as ‘WannaCry’ has been
compromising computers with obsolete operating systems across the world.
This should be the opening sentence of just about every article on this
subject, but unfortunately it is not.
The virus does not attack modern computer operating systems, it is
designed to attack the Windows XP operating system that is so old, it
was likely used in offices in the World Trade Center prior to September
11 2001, when the buildings collapsed. Windows XP was first released on
25 August, 2001.
Furthermore, early vulnerabilities in modern Windows systems were
almost instantly patched up by Microsoft as per the fact that such
operating systems are constantly updated.
The obsolete XP system is simply out of the loop.
A child born on the release date of Windows XP is now on the verge of his or her 17th birthday. Feeling old yet?
The fact of the matter is that governments and businesses around the
world should not only feel old, they should feel humiliated and
disgraced.
With the amount of money governments tax individuals and private
entities, it is beyond belief that government organisations ranging from
some computers in the Russian Interior Ministry to virtually all computers in Britain’s National Health Service,
should be using an operating system so obsolete that its manufacturer,
Microsoft, no longer supports it and hasn’t done for some time.
arstechnica | A highly virulent new strain of self-replicating ransomware shut down
computers all over the world, in part by appropriating a National
Security Agency exploit that was publicly released last month by the
mysterious group calling itself Shadow Brokers.
Wcry is reportedly causing disruptions at banks, hospitals,
telecommunications services, train stations, and other mission-critical
organizations in multiple countries, including the UK, Spain, Germany,
and Turkey. FedEx, the UK government's National Health Service, and
Spanish telecom Telefonica have all been hit. The Spanish CERT has called it
a "massive ransomware attack" that is encrypting all the files of
entire networks and spreading laterally through organizations.
The virally spreading worm was ultimately stopped when a researcher who uses the Twitter handle MalwareTech and works for security firm Kryptos Logic
took control of a domain name that was hard-coded into the
self-replicating exploit. The domain registration, which occurred around
6 AM California time, was a major stroke of good luck, because it was
possible only because the attackers had failed to obtain the address
first.
The address appeared to serve as a sort of kill switch the attackers
could use to terminate the campaign. MalwareTech's registration had the
effect of ending the attacks that had started earlier Friday morning in
other parts of the world. As a result, the number of infection
detections plateaued dramatically in the hours following the
registration. It had no effect on WCry infections that were initiated
through earlier campaigns.
WaPo | It is true, as I pointed out in a Post op-ed in October,
that Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, after her tarmac meeting with
Bill Clinton, had left a vacuum by neither formally recusing herself nor
exercising supervision over the case. But the remedy for that was for
Comey to present his factual findings to the deputy attorney general,
not to exercise the prosecutorial power himself on a matter of such
grave importance.
Until Comey’s testimony last week,
I had assumed that Lynch had authorized Comey to act unilaterally. It
is now clear that the department’s leadership was sandbagged. I know of
no former senior Justice Department official — Democrat or Republican —
who does not view Comey’s conduct in July to have been a grave
usurpation of authority.
Comey’s
basic misjudgment boxed him in, compelling him to take increasingly
controversial actions giving the impression that the FBI was enmeshed in
politics. Once Comey staked out a position in July, he had no choice on
the near-eve of the election but to reopen the investigation when new
evidence materialized. Regrettably, however, this performance made Comey
himself the issue, placing him on center stage in public political
discourse and causing him to lose credibility on both sides of the
aisle. It was widely recognized that Comey’s job was in jeopardy
regardless of who won the election.
It is not surprising that
Trump would be inclined to make a fresh start at the bureau and would
consult with the leadership of the Justice Department about whether
Comey should remain. Those deliberations could not begin in earnest
until the new deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, to whom Comey
would report, was confirmed and in a position to assess Comey and his
performance. No matter how far along the president was in his own
thinking, Rosenstein’s assessment is cogent and vindicates the
president’s decision.
Rosenstein made clear in his memorandum
that he was concerned not so much with Comey’s past arrogation of
power, as astonishing as it was, but rather with his ongoing refusal to
acknowledge his errors. I do not dispute that Comey sincerely believes
he acted properly in the best interests of the country. But at the same
time, I think it is quite understandable that the administration would
not want an FBI director who did not recognize established limits on his
powers.
It is telling that none of the president’s critics are
challenging the decision on the merits. None argue that Comey’s
performance warranted keeping him on as director. Instead, they are
attacking the president’s motives, claiming the president acted to
neuter the investigation into Russia’s role in the election.
The
notion that the integrity of this investigation depends on Comey’s
presence just does not hold water. Contrary to the critics’ talking
points, Comey was not “in charge” of the investigation.
Sputniknews | In his recent Davos speech, Kissinger reiterated that the global order the US and EU were familiar with is fading away.
"One of the key problems of our period is that
the international order with which we were familiar is disintegrating
in some respects, and that new elements from Asia and the developing
world are entering it," Kissinger pointed out Friday.
In light of this, it is no surprise that Kissinger sees Trump's approach toward Russia largely as a step in the right direction.
Kissinger as Trump's 'Informal Foreign Policy Adviser'
Citing information obtained by Western European intelligence
from Trump's transition team, the German newspaper wrote in late
December that Kissinger has repeatedly met with Trump in the past couple
of months and that the White House is likely to go for "constructive
cooperation" with the Kremlin.
In early January 2017, citing officials with Trump's transition team, Eli Lake of Bloomberg disclosed
that since the election, the veteran diplomat has been counselling
incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his team, citing
officials with Trump's transition team.
But that's half the story. According to Lake, it was Kissinger who
urged Trump to nominate Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and
recommended his former assistant K.T. McFarland to be Flynn's deputy.
"Kissinger is one of the few people in Trump's
orbit who can get him on the phone whenever he wants, according to one
transition adviser," Lake noted.
theautomaticearth | Take a step back and oversee the picture, and you’ll find that Trump
is not the biggest threat to American democracy, the media are. They
have a job but they stopped doing it. They have turned to smearing,
something neither the NYT nor the WaPo should ever have stooped to, but
did.
Democracy is not primarily under threat from what one party does, or
the other, or a third one, it is under threat because parties have
withdrawn themselves into their respective echo chambers from which no
dialogue with other parties is possible, or even tolerated.
None of this is to say that there will be no revelations about some
ties between some Russian entities or persons and some Trump-related
ones. Such ties are entirely possible, and certainly on the business
front. Whether that has had any influence on the American presidential
election is a whole other story though. And jumping to conclusions
because it serves your political purposes is, to put it mildly, not
helping.
The problem is that so much has been said and printed on the topic
that was unsubstantiated, that if actual ties are proven, that news will
be blurred by what was insinuated before. You made your bed, guys.
A lot of sources today talk about how Trump was reportedly frustrated
with the constant focus on the alleged Russia ties, but assuming those
allegations are not true, and remember nothing has been proven after a
year of echo-chambering, isn’t it at least a little understandable that
he would be?
Comey was already compromised from 10 different angles, and many
wanted him gone, though not necessarily at the same time. The same
Democrats, and their media, who now scream murder because he was fired,
fell over themselves clamoring for his resignation for months. That does
not constitute an opinion, it’s the opposite of one: you can’t change
your view of someone as important as the FBI director every day and
twice on Sundays without losing credibility.
And yes, many Republicans played similar games. It’s the kind of game
that has become acceptable in the Washington swamp and the media that
report on it. And many of them also protest yesterday’s decision.
Ostensibly, it all has to do not with the fact that Comey was fired, but
with the timing. Which in turn would be linked to the fact that the FBI
is investigating Trump.
But what’s the logic there? That firing Comey would halt that
investigation? Why would that be true? Why would a replacement director
do that? Don’t FBI agents count for anything? And isn’t the present
investigation itself supposed to be proof that there is proof and/or
strong suspicion of that alleged link between Russia and the Trump
election victory? Wouldn’t those agents revolt if a new director threw
that away with the bathwater?
Since we still run on ‘innocent until proven guilty’, perhaps it’s a
thought to hold back a little, but given what we’ve seen since, say,
early 2016, that doesn’t look like an option anymore. The trenches have
been dug.
These are troubled times, but the trouble is not necessarily where
you might think it is. America has an undeniable political crisis, and a
severe one, but that’s not the only crisis.
theatlantic | The Russians clearly understood what the visit and its timing meant,
which is why it was so prominently covered by the Kremlin media. The man
investigating Russian meddling in the election had just been fired by
the man whose campaign was under investigation. Which to the Russians
meant Trump essentially agreed with their reaction to the alleged
election interference—as Lavrov put it in his American press conference:
“Guys, you cannot be serious.” It is why he praised this administration
for being “business-like” and for “wanting to make deals,” which in
Russian has a few other shades of meaning. The word Lavrov used was dogovarivatsya,
meaning to come to an understanding and come to agreements; it’s a key
word both in Russian business and politics. At its heart is ruthless
pragmatic compromise. There is no room for feelings and values, and
certainly not for law. Only for interests and nebulous, subjective
notions of fairness. “For us, fairness is above the law, including
international law,” one Russian close to the Kremlin told me. “When it’s
advantageous for us to appeal to the law, we do it. When it’s not, we
ignore it.” It is why Lavrov said that he welcomed these talks with an
administration who wanted to dogovarivatsya, people “who were free of the dogmatism of the Obama administration.”
It
was all too perfect, starting with the idea of having Tillerson meet
with Putin in the Kremlin—which created an obvious opportunity for
Lavrov to reciprocate by meeting Trump in the White House—and ending
with the choice of music piped in to the American journalists waiting for Lavrov’s presser (“All I’m asking is for a little respect.”)
publicpool | The White House summoned the press pool just after 11:20 a.m. for
what some had assumed would be a spray of President Trump's meeting with
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Pool was ushered into the
Oval Office at 11:26 a.m., but Trump was instead seated beside former
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The meeting with Kissinger was not
on Trump's public schedule today.
POTUS, wearing a dark suit and red striped tie, said he met with Kissinger to talk "about Russia and various other matters."
"We're
talking about Syria and I think that we're going to do very well with
respect to Syria and things are happening that are really, really,
really positive," Trump added. "We're going to stop the killing and the
death."
POTUS then said he had a "very, very good meeting" with FM
Lavrov. He said both sides want to end "the killing -- the horrible,
horrible killing in Syria as soon as possible and everybody is working
toward that end."
The Lavrov meeting was closed to the press and
the only visual account we have of it thus far is via handout photos
from the Russian government.
Those images show Trump also met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Trump
circled back and said it was "an honor" to discuss the issues with
Kissinger because "he's been a friend of mine for a long time."
bloomberg | Sergei Lavrov's official job is foreign minister of Russia, but his
visit to Washington Wednesday won't be remembered for any diplomatic
breakthrough -- just for Lavrov's dripping irony and skill at provoking
adversaries. Lavrov's style, which mirrors that of his boss, Vladimir
Putin, is often criticized as unfit for a diplomat. But I'd argue that
Lavrov knows exactly what he's doing and that the medium is the message
here.
In Washington, Lavrov feigned astonishment for a U.S.
reporter who asked about Tuesday's firing of Federal Bureau of
Investigation chief James Comey: "Was he fired? You're kidding! You're
kidding!"
He also smuggled a photographer from the state-owned news agency,
TASS, into his meeting with President Donald Trump as his official
photographer. TASS immediately published photos of Trump beaming at his
Russian visitors, Lavrov and Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, who are
obviously delighted by the reception. With the U.S. press kept out,
these happy photos from their Russian propaganda source created an
uproar.
Sarcasm, provocation, a desire to throw interlocutors off
balance always bubble just below the surface of Lavrov's communications.
He regularly stuns Western conversation partners with crude or
offensive comments.
At a recent meeting of North Atlantic Treaty
Organization ministers, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson quipped,
"You cannot tango with Lavrov because he's not allowed to dance that
one." He meant that President Vladimir Putin determined policy in Russia
and Lavrov wouldn't be authorized to make deals. "My mother used to
tell me: always be a good boy, don't ever dance with other boys," the
Russian foreign minister responded.
In this, Lavrov's style mirrors that of his boss. In 2006, Putin memorably told Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to say hi to then-president Moshe Katsav,
accused of raping and sexually harassing women: "He turned out to be a
strong man, raped 10 women. I never would have expected it of him. He
has surprised us all, we all envy him." The Kremlin, whose communication
was a little more self-conscious back then, had to explain that Putin
didn't condone rape and that his words were meant as a hard-to-translate
joke.
Putin's crude jokes are often written off as a product of his
childhood on the streets of St. Petersburg. He's only as polished as an
intelligence officer who served in the former East Germany needed to
be. Lavrov, however, is a highly professional diplomat. He knows the
protocol, speaks three languages besides Russian, and is sophisticated
in his tastes and interests. Even his verse, while not touched by genius, is competent and far less embarrassing than the poetic efforts of many other Russian officials.
Lavrov
knows well how his remarks sound to Western ears. He is also aware that
sarcasm and taunts are often considered unprofessional and seen as a
sign of bad manners in the English-speaking world, especially in the
U.S. And yet he keeps saying things that would have gotten any Western
diplomat fired, playing out barbed comedy routines and engaging in
practical jokes worthy of a college student.
His style is the message: Russians won't play by others'
rules, it says. But this isn't about touting Russia's size and its
nuclear arsenal; it's more of a mischievous enticement, a dare.
Putin's
Russia has allied itself with Western populist forces, whose stand
against political correctness and the constant self-censorship that
comes with it constitutes a strong voter appeal. During the election
campaign in the U.S. last year, I was told many times that Trump's
penchant for uncensored speech was his most attractive quality. The
Dutch say the same of Geert Wilders, the French of Marine Le Pen. The
freedom to say whatever one wants without wondering if it could be
construed as misogynist, racist, homophobic or offensive in a myriad
other ways is, to many voters, a bonus.
Post-Soviet Russians have
relished their freedom to say whatever they want, to be sarcastic, crude
and informal, to be provocative and thus project confidence. Cursing in
the workplace, a lack of respect for propriety and protocol, an absence
of linguistic and ideological constraints were prizes to a society that
had just cast off the Communist straitjacket.
QZ | Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger may be in his nineties, but
he’s continuing to play a key, globe-spanning role in one of the most
substantive foreign policy negotiations of the US presidency so far.
Kissinger, who brokered a ground-breaking detente between the US and
China’s Communist Party’s in 1972, has served a valued go-between for
the two nations for more than four decades, earning him the nickname of
“old friend of the Chinese people.” It’s privilege he has shared with at least 600 people, although Kissinger may be the living person who has held the nickname the longest.
As recently as December, when then US president-elect Donald Trump
threatened upheaval between the world’s most powerful nations, by
accepting a congratulatory call from Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen, Kissinger was already in Beijing
with Chinese president Xi Jinping, reassuring him that “overall, we
hope to see the China-US relationship moving ahead in a sustained and
stable manner.” (A Bloomberg report suggested that Xi may have turned to the venerable diplomat
to better understand Trump, telling Kissinger he was “all ears”
regarding what he had to say about the future of US-China relations.)
Kissinger met with the incoming Trump administration soon after the
election, and helped to connect Chinese politicians with the US
president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Washington Post reports—connections that ultimately led to this week’s meeting.
In doing so, he’s opened up a now familiar controversy in the US—who does Kissinger work for, exactly, and whose side is he on?
Kissinger is “representing China’s interests and trying to influence
American foreign policy,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs
lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonpartisan group that advocates for
citizens’ rights in Congress. “That crosses the threshold for FARA,” he
said, referring to the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
WaPo | For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.
Putin
should come to realize that, whatever his grievances, a policy of
military impositions would produce another Cold War. For its part, the
United States needs to avoid treating Russia as an aberrant to be
patiently taught rules of conduct established by Washington. Putin is a
serious strategist — on the premises of Russian history. Understanding
U.S. values and psychology are not his strong suits. Nor has
understanding Russian history and psychology been a strong point of U.S.
policymakers.
Leaders of all sides should
return to examining outcomes, not compete in posturing. Here is my
notion of an outcome compatible with the values and security interests
of all sides:
1. Ukraine should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations, including with Europe.
2. Ukraine should not join NATO, a position I took seven years ago, when it last came up.
3.
Ukraine should be free to create any government compatible with the
expressed will of its people. Wise Ukrainian leaders would then opt for a
policy of reconciliation between the various parts of their country.
Internationally, they should pursue a posture comparable to that of
Finland. That nation leaves no doubt about its fierce independence and
cooperates with the West in most fields but carefully avoids
institutional hostility toward Russia.
4. It is incompatible with the rules of the
existing world order for Russia to annex Crimea. But it should be
possible to put Crimea’s relationship to Ukraine on a less fraught
basis. To that end, Russia would recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty over
Crimea. Ukraine should reinforce Crimea’s autonomy in elections held in
the presence of international observers. The process would include
removing any ambiguities about the status of the Black Sea Fleet at
Sevastopol.
These are principles, not
prescriptions. People familiar with the region will know that not all of
them will be palatable to all parties. The test is not absolute
satisfaction but balanced dissatisfaction. If some solution based on
these or comparable elements is not achieved, the drift toward
confrontation will accelerate. The time for that will come soon enough.
libertyblitzkrieg | Which brings me to the final and most important part of this piece.
The entire Comey firing saga could go in several directions, but an
increasingly likely outcome is the one I don’t see being discussed
anywhere. First we need to ask ourselves, what’s likely to happen next?
Calls for a special prosecutor and independent investigation into
Trump-Russia collusion are likely to get louder and louder. Given the
timing of the firing, I support this and I think there’s a good chance
it’ll happen. I hope it does happen, as we really do need to put an end
to all the speculation and hysteria one way or the other, once and for
all. But here’s where it gets really interesting…
If Trump really did coordinate with the Russian government to affect
the U.S. election and indisputable evidence emerges, it will be an
enormous scandal and he will likely be removed from office. Personally, I
don’t think such evidence exists because I don’t think such collusion
happened, but I support an independent investigation. On the other hand,
what might happen if Trump didn’t collude with Russia?
Here’s where Trump legitimately has a chance to destroy the
Democratic Party once and for all. The Democrats have already been
putting all their eggs in the Russia conspiracy theory basket, and this
focus on Russia as opposed to jobs, healthcare, student loans, debt
slavery etc., has made the American public think the Democratic Party is more out of touch
than both Trump and the GOP. Given that’s where things stand today,
imagine what’ll happen to the party and its leaders if they start
spending 100% of their time pursuing this lead and then nothing comes
up? What then?
I’ll tell you what happens. The Democratic Party, as useless as it is
today, will completely evaporate as a serious political opposition
force in America. This is because it appears all of its handful of 2020
hopefuls seem to be completely hyperventilating and losing their minds
about Comey’s dismissal and asserting that it represents proof Trump
colluded with Russia.
Imagine if Trump
is cleared by an independent investigation? These Dems will look like
complete imbeciles with horrible judgement who wasted the nation’s time
while tens of millions of Americans struggled to make ends meet. This
will destroy the party and lead to an easy Trump win in 2020. This is a
potentially lethal trap for Democrats and they seem to be falling for it
in unison.
opendemocracy | Vulnerable employment, with workers experiencing high levels of
precariousness, is a global phenomenon. The ILO projects global growth
in vulnerable forms of employment to grow by 11 million a year. The impacts of this are being felt across developed, emerging and developing countries.
In the UK, much concern about the changing labour market has been
framed in terms of the shift in risk that has occurred between employers
and individuals. The gig economy is often used to epitomise the
imbalance in power between those controlling the technology, and those
carrying out the tasks:
However, this shift of risk reaches far beyond Uber drivers and
millennials on bicycles. It can be seen in the use of contracted, agency
and temporary staff and in the unpredictability of zero and minimum
hours contracts of those working for supermarkets, in warehouses, in
social care and in universities.
The impact of this on people’s lives is exacerbated by a parallel
transfer of risk in the systems set up to support those who are
unemployed or in low paid work. At the same time as work has become less
predictable, the safety net has become less springy and with bigger
holes.
This shift can be seen in cuts to social security, in the changes and
increasing conditionality that universal credit brings, in the way jobs
are measured and impact on poverty is not. It is seen in adult learning
and the introduction of adult learner loans. It is also seen in a
childcare sector that does not have the capacity to offer care to those
with unpredictable or non-standard hours, even though those are the jobs
increasingly likely to be available for those on low pay.
Two by Stan Getz: Focus and Voices
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Note: Each video links to the first selection in a play-list that links to
the whole album, one cut after the other.
*Focus*
Wikipedia:
*Focus* is a...
Celebrating 113 years of Mama Rosa McCauley Parks
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*February 4, 1913 -- February 4, 2026*
*Some notes: The life of the courageous activist Mama Rosa McCauley Parks*
Mama Rosa's grandfather Sylvester Ed...
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Comet 3I/Atlas is on its way out on a hyberbolic course to, I don't know
where. I do know that 1I/Oumuamua is heading for the constellation Pegasus,
and ...
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This year marks the 90th anniversary of the launch of the Spanish Civil
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close study...
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Lately, the Holy Spirit is in the air. Emotional energy is swirling out of
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Covid-19 Preys Upon The Elderly And The Obese
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sciencemag | This spring, after days of flulike symptoms and fever, a man
arrived at the emergency room at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
He ...
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(Damn, has it been THAT long? I don't even know which prompts to use to
post this)
SeeNew
Can't get on your site because you've gone 'invite only'?
Man, ...
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With the profligate racism of the Chumph Cartel, I don’t imagine any of
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the mill ...
