Wednesday 22 October 2014
Two teen activists gunned down in Libya Photo, courtesy of AFP (with thanks): This file photo shows Libyan activist Tawfik Bensaud (C) attending a gathering in the Eastern town of Al-Bayda. Tawfik was killed, along with a friend, late September 19, by unknown gunmen as they were driving home in Libya's eastern coastal city of Benghazi.
. . . The Libyan city of Benghazi was rocked by a series of targeted killings on Thursday and Friday night, leaving 10 people dead including officials, journalists and activists. Among the slain were 18-year-old Tawfik Bensaud and 17-year-old Sami El-Kawafi, both activists. Bensaud and El-Kawafi were reportedly shot and killed by a group of men while driving through central Benghazi on Friday. The identity of the shooters is not known, but many blame the attacks on armed groups operating in Benghazi. Bensaud, a blogger, was considered one of the country's prominent youth voices calling for a civil movement. Many took to social media to discuss the killings
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, MP; Canadian Member of Parliament for Mount Royal. Former Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada, 2003 – 2006; in re: shootings this morning at the War Memorial, in the Canadian Parliament, in the mall in Ottawa. Just before we arrived at Parliament, someone had murdered a guard at our War memorial; the gunman then made his way swiftly to Parliament, entered the main, central block into the Hall of Honor – fortunately, all MPs were in their caucus rooms just then. Gunman was then killed in an exchange of fire with a security guard; not clear if others were still in the bldg. Only now, at 9P Eastern, are we allowed to clear Security. Have been in my office for the last eleven hours. Have established enhanced security in many places across Canada. The PM: Canada will not be intimidated, terrorized, or permit assaults on the cradle of our democracy All three parties spoke jointly on the matter, of their commitment to maintaining our democratic way of life. . . . A series of attacks apparently by takfiri jihadists. Today we were about to institute enhanced security , have ID'd 90 persons likely to go to or return from a terrorist theater. Monday's attack was in fact a jihadist already under surveillance. The PM did characterize the events today as terrorist acts, associated them with what happened two days ago and with ISIS. Ultimate challenge is to maintain a free society under these circumstances; Canada is wholly committed to ensuring that parliament remains the centr of our democracy I commend the brave Canadian security guards. This has been a wake-up call for us – esp anent preventative approaches.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Charles Burton, professor at Brock University, in re: the Communist Party's Fourth Plenum . Classic clash between a liberal democracy and a Leninist regime. . . . Zhou Yungkang; Ling Jiwah; Hu has stated that he means to make his anticorruption campaign permanent. Ling is among ht next for the chopping block. How long can this sustain? Officials thought this was just another campaign, eventually could go back to biz as usual. Not. Officials are unable to live on their salaries so all must trade power for money.
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-communists-rule-of-law-20141019-story.html#page=1 &the SCMP article pasted below.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 1, Block B: Bhuchung Tsering, vice president of International Campaign for Tibet, in re: Occupied Tibet, which Mao moved his armies into as soon as possibly in the Fifties; is denied the ability to practice its culture or religion. There's an unusual crackdown now on ht Tibet-India border: total submission is the goal. Closure of the border, more security, esp to prevent Tibetans from escaping to freedom; also more intimidation and terror. Criminalization of self-immolation, including family members of those who’ve done that. Fewer people can leave. Chinese govt also wants to prevent Tibetans' from carrying information out. In September, two instances of self-immolation in Northeastern Tibet. Tehre still exist some channels, but Chinese authorities are working to cut all connections between: Tibetans inside and both Tibetans and others outside and Tibetans in China. Because Xi Jinping's father enjoyed a favorable relationship with Tibetans, everybody hoped that Xi would be amiable and reasonable – but no such luck As Chinese brutality increases, after five decades of oppression, Tibetans are becoming ever more resistant . HH the Dalai Lama has said the evil wind can blow, but it cannot blow out the flame of truth. China can invade Tibet, but cannot digest it.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 1, Block D: Hotel Mars, episode n. Mike Snyder, head of R&D at Made in Space.us (which last month put the first 3D printer in space on the ISS); in re: Put raw material into the 3D printer and out come the objects you need. Polymers in a test; will produce some tools and basic objects, intending to reduce the risk for next year. Hold it in place in zero gravity? Operates inside a box. Microgravity destabilizes, so we tested in [hypersonic jets?]. Learned how to stabilize and control the thermal factors. . . . Continual printing while you're vibrating and shaking; woks in zero Gs. In space, natural convection (hot air rising) doesn’t exist; have to rely on force convection, Also, envt is prone to perturbation. On Earth, shocks absorbed. Using ABS plastic; printer is modular so you can swap out parts, feedstock, extruders. Goal is to push colonization out in space and we think 3D printing is [an essential factor} and highly efficient. Learn that 80% of what's thrown out is parts that can be replaced; 30%of that is polymer-based. Can also use almost any material – metal, ceramic, even forms of wood. Huge potential to apply that work to space. Space station can accommodate two printers at once. One going up next is commercial-quality.
Hour Two
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Mike Davis, professor at Hong Kong University Law School, in re: the Hong Kong protests. Pepper spray, batons, violence. There was a two-hour televised talk between Lam and students; neither side moved the other. Mainland allowed C Y Leung to be front-man, but clearly he's not making decisions. The ones who stayed in the tents in the big square they’ve taken over (section of a highway). Govt made no effort to understand, merely lectured the students then threatened to get tough (reads: nasty). Menacing. meanwhile, public support of the demos has jumped seven or eight points supporting Occupy. After the regime gassed the students, everyone sees that t Bring in trucks with buckets to haul away tents; but that just reinforces the protestors's resolve and after many texts and tweets, more crowds more show up. The only way for the govt to win is to be seen as serving HK people. The Mainland-operated HK officials just lecture people and entirely miss the point, The officials are now the source of the problem. C Y Leung misrepresented HK views in a recent report to Beijing. First thing to do is get rid of him. All three executives in that position have been failures – apparently it's not the individuals who failed as much as an across-the-board failure of the bogus, "One country/two systems" – the Basic Law calls for a lot of autonomy; Beijing refuses to allow that.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Stephen Yates, chairman of Idaho Republican Party, CEO of D.C. International Advisory, & former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, in re: China lectures the US: Americans have bad attitude about cybermaterial and China won’t speak to US until the US cleans up its act. This was a day after China had just hacked into Apple. The private-sector risk is greater than public-sector; Pentagon is target A, but is best protected; in a time of crisis, China would use chaos in the American public: tech industry, finance industry, power grid – could bring the US government to its knees. China steals between $20-300 billion a year. US needs to impose comparable costs on China. DOS and retribution tools as disincentives. US tends to look only at a shield rather than a sword. An arrogant pirate state, steals everybody's copyright. No incentive to change: culturally or governmentally – we could turn out all the lights and electricity in Beijing. That might awaken the predator regime.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/19/us-china-usa-cybersecurity-idUSKCN0I80GU20141019
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 2, Block C: David Feith, Wall Street Journal Asia in Hong Kong, in re: Current boss is attacking both of his predecessors; starting to call Xi Jinping, "Your Majesty." Twenty-five years after Tien An Men. The number 68 is rude, also 689 is the number of votes that C Y Leung got from a 1,200 electoral committee. The number 689 is potent, filled with political consequences; also points to 6 June 1989 (Tien An Men). Use of force in Hong Kong to clear the streets of protestors; HK people take the threats seriously. Over four weeks of protests, people began to look at a different rhythm: statements of public officials that need to be understood from a different angle. HK now focussed more on negotiations and less on hardline threats. Every time the HK govt uses even a little force, results are counterproductive. so concern lest the populace see threats as crying wolf. PLA might in fact move in and [slaughter] citizens. hawks and doves have been fighting it out; so far, doves winning. Purges launched by Xi, the new king, against the old king – Ling, Zhou (security chief) – relation between purges and the inability of the Mainland to win the argument with Occupy. Xi looks reactive, prey to events. Other Mainland battles can be seen as proxy fights, but not in Hong Kong. What’s in common is that Xi is the boss in both places and is taking a very hard line in both. Has put his lieutenants in powerful positions in HK; partly why we’re seeing such a showdown. Softer-minded persons could rule Hong Kong better; hardliners are creating resentment and rage; Xi's policy cannot be challenged until it completely fails. When some intl media began calling the movement "an umbrella revolution" – demos retorted that it’s not a revolution, it’s about the documents guaranteeing autonomy to HK, which have not been honored. Beijing, meanwhile, sees self-govt in HK as setting an example for the whole country – danger to the tyrants.
The Number That Explains Hong Kong’s Upheaval Off-color and packed with meaning, ‘689’ is a guide to the city’s present and future. The icon of this city’s pro-democracy protests is the umbrella, a reference to the modest shields that students raised against police tear gas and pepper spray on Sept. 28. But another symbol offers deeper insights into the struggle: the number 68.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 2, Block D: Rick Fisher, International Assessment and Strategy Center, in re: China has a carrier it bought from Russia; it sat rusting for years in a Ukrainian drydock. China spent a decade reassembling it, had to hire Ukies to replace the pboiler. Complicated. Renamed the Liaoning. Now building two. The Dalian and ___ shipyards both have produced parts. Space bases and Lagrangian points, base on Moon; carriers on the oceans – to project Chinese power across the planet by 2030. It’s taken a long time for the Pentagon to wake up to this, The US political leadership, now and former, are all oblivious.
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2014/10/22/chinas_aircraft_carrier_trouble_spewing_steam_and_losing_power_107506.html & SCMP article.
Hour Three
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 3, Block A: Ann Marlowe, Hudson Institute, in re: Social Media in a Time of Terrorism A Libyan friend asked for help: How to get deadly jihadist threats off Facebook and Twitter? In the debate about whether or not supporters of groups like Islamic State should be legally banned from social media, one argument runs that having material out in the open allows law enforcement to monitor Islamic radicals and those cheering on acts of terror. But online manifestations of terrorism can kill. Facebook and Twitter users in places like Libya, Syria, Iraq and other countries with no rule of law are especially vulnerable. Social-media postings can lead to assassination, which is followed by online gloating and then used to threaten other individuals.
Last month in Libya, for instance, people who were using Facebook in the struggle for democracy and peace were being picked off by others who stalked them online. On Sept. 20 in Benghazi, 14 people were assassinated, including civil-society activist Tawfik Bensaud, whom I first met in 2011 when he was 15. By 2014 Tawfik was a nationally known organizer and speaker. Even in a city accustomed to several assassinations a week, the deaths of Tawfik and his 17-year-old co-worker Sami El-Kawafi —who were shot in their vehicle—were shocking.
No one took responsibility, but it was widely assumed that Ansar al Sharia—the terrorist group in eastern Libya—was behind Tawfik’s killing and many others. Ansar al Sharia was implicated in the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens during the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, and designated as a terror group by the U.S. in 2013. A group has formed named "I Am Tawfik," of which Desmond Tutu is perhaps the best-known member. Facebook has set up a system whereby it depends on reporting, rather than using software to prevent the black flag of ISIS and similar matters from being used in establishing accountd. Twitter does have a monitor: @safety - can tweet to that when you find violent content.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 3, Block B: Gregory Copley, StrategicStudies director; GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs; & author, UnCivilization, in re: Conference on sea lines of communication opens in Taipei . . . focustaiwan.tw The Sea Lines of Communication Conference held by Taiwan's Navy opened Wednesday in Taipei, bringing dozens of . . . Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief – HADR. Democracies participate; China Mainland not so well. In the Philippin\ne typhoon, Taiwan jumped in and immed helped a great deal while Beijing pulled back in an ungainly and disaffecting way. Now, Taiwan and Mainland have their coast guards collaborating a bit. Also mil groups build up ability to deal with chaos such as might occur in a major cyberattack when infrastructure goes down. North Asia: a lot of outstanding territorial disputes, with more emerging as Arctic exploration grows. Everybody is going to need to learn to cooperate. C17A: Australians often first on the scene with disaster relief. PRC is working on a big hospital ship to send aid – Beijing has disgraced itself, and issued amazingly predatory threats to many neighbors, so the region is irate and hostile to Mainland's bad behavior.
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 3, Block C: Scott Stewart, Stratfor.com, in re: http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/21/patrice-vincent-killed-in-saint-jean-sur-richelieu-attack-was-a-distinguished-soldier-for-28-years-pm-says/
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 3, Block D: Peter Bogucki, Princeton, in re: President Obama Visits Stonehenge | The White House www.whitehouse.gov As the last stop on his three-day trip to Estonia and to the NATO Summit in . . .
Hour Four
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 4, Block A: The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers... by Adam Lankford (1 of 4)
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 4, Block B: The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers... by Adam Lankford (2 of 4)
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 4, Block C: The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers... by Adam Lankford (3 of 4)
Wednesday 22 October 2014 / Hour 4, Block D: The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers... by Adam Lankford (4 of 4)