BEIJING'S DEBT CRISIS �C CHINA'S MILITARY INSECURITY

BEIJING'S DEBT CRISIS �C CHINA'S MILITARY INSECURITY

 

In my analysis, China's greater defense spending reflects her military insecurity driven by insurmountable Debt Crisis. The World's largest military will bite dust for its doom cannot be warded off by paying ransom.

 

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

 

CHINA'S MILITARY FLEXES MUSCLES FOR DOMESTIC OBJECTIVE: MORE FUNDING

 

 

Clipped from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-defence/chinas-military-flexes-muscles-for-domestic-objective-more-funding-idUSKCN1GC0KJ

BEIJING (Reuters) - With stealth jets entering service, leaked pictures of new high-tech naval artillery and proud reports of maneuvers that "dare to shine the sword," China's armed forces are putting on a show of power as they lobby for greater defense spending.

Although it is the world's largest military, the People's Liberation Army has been privately unhappy that it got less than double-digit funding increases the past two years. It has recently been making the case that it needs more money to deal with increased global uncertainty, diplomats and several sources with ties to the armed forces say.

In the run-up to the defense budget's release at the annual meeting of China's parliament next week, state media outlets have been filled with coverage of military drills, advanced new equipment and thrilling tales of derring-do in a new film very loosely based on China's evacuating people from Yemen's civil war in 2015.

 

The overall message is clear: China faces serious challenges, from U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of force against nuclear-armed North Korea to an increasingly tense border dispute with India and what Beijing sees as efforts by self-ruled Taiwan to assert its sovereignty.

Confronting those challenges requires cash, a point the military is now trying to drive home.

"If you keep telling your people China is facing all these threats, you have to be able to back it up to show you are spending enough," said a senior Beijing-based Western diplomat.

President Xi Jinping promised in his keynote speech to the Communist Party Congress in October to make China's armed forces world-class by the middle of the century. The military has deployed an increasingly sophisticated propaganda machine to make sure that promise stays top of mind.

A professionally shot air force video released to celebrate the Lunar New Year this month entitled "New fighters of the great power to safeguard the new era" led with footage of the latest fighter to enter service, the J-20 stealth jet, designed as a counterpart to the radar-evading the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

"It looks like they are making the case for a large rise in defense spending," said an Asian diplomat, speaking of the recent uptick in military-related stories in China.

NERVOUS NEIGHBORS

China's defense spending is only about one-quarter that of the United States, if official figures are accurate. China has repeatedly said that it has no hostile intent, that its military is for defensive missions, and that defense spending is transparent.

Many of the country's neighbors beg to differ, calling out what they see as Chinese saber-rattling as it ramps up drills in the region.

Vietnam, one of the most vocal opponents of China's South China Sea claims, has tightened its military relationship with the United States. Taiwan has pledged to grow defense spending, and wants to buy new, advanced U.S. equipment.

FILE PHOTO: Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) take part in a military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the army at the Zhurihe military training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, July 30, 2017. China Daily via REUTERS/File Photo

The official People's Liberation Army Daily said this month that although China was committed to a defensive military policy, it had to "dare to shine the sword" with air patrols far from China's coast, whether close to Taiwan or over uninhabited islets disputed with Japan in the East China Sea.

Such flights, it said, protected China's "bottom line" on strategic issues.

One source with ties to the military said another pressing area for more spending was salaries, which have not kept up with those of private-sector workers.

"Simply relying on 'the great Xi to lead us to victory' won't cut it," the source said, referring to efforts to recruit the best and the brightest into the military by appealing to national pride.

BETWEEN THE LINES

The defense budget will only disclose a top-line number, with a percentage comparison to the previous year. No breakdown on spending is provided.

Last year, China's parliament did not initially release the figure, sparking questions over transparency. But when it did, the budget increase was 7 percent, the smallest in more than a decade.

The budgeted increase of 7.6 percent for 2016 was the lowest in six years and the first single-digit rise since 2010, following a nearly unbroken two-decade run of double-digit increases.

Experts say the true figure is likely much higher than what is officially reported, with money for some military projects included in ostensibly non-military spending.

"Particularly given China's civil-military integration, it is difficult to know where defense spending ends" and civilian research and development begins, said another Western diplomat, who analyses China's military.

Some defense experts say that China is eroding the United States' military technology dominance and that the People's Liberation Army could surpass the U.S. military in artificial intelligence capabilities, which have become a spending priority for Beijing.

But in the absence of transparency about new technologies, such as an experimental electromagnetic railgun state media suggested this year was being tested aboard a Chinese warship, there is skepticism about their combat readiness.

China has not fought a war since 1979, a brief invasion of Vietnam that ended badly for China.

China's Defense Ministry declined to comment ahead of the figure being released by parliament. The general percentage rise is typically given the day before parliament opens, and the raw figure the next day. Parliament opens March 5.

Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina; Editing by Gerry Doyle

 

 

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RED CHINA'S IMPERIALISM – ERA OF EMPEROR XI JINPING

RED CHINA'S IMPERIALISM – ERA OF EMPEROR XI JINPING

 

In my analysis, Red China's Imperialism will perish without any human intervention. Era of Emperor Xi Jinping will end by heavenly strike as mentioned in REVELATION Chapter 18.

 

 

 

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

 

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

 

CHINA PRESIDENT'S POSSIBLE INDEFINITE TERM RAISES CONCERNS AMONG CITIZENS

 

Clipped from: http://www.ibtimes.com/china-presidents-possible-indefinite-term-raises-concerns-among-citizens-2657905

 

 

Political commentators and business people in China voiced their displeasure on the proposal for an indefinite term for President Xi Jinping, Time Magazine reported.

In a rare event that was close to an expression of public dissent, prominent people in China penned open letters urging lawmakers to reject the plan to extend the term of the president.

Li Datong, a former editor for the state-run China Youth Daily wrote in a statement on WeChat — a social media mobile application — that lifting the term limit will "sow the seeds of chaos."

Wang Ying, a business woman who in the past advocated for government reforms, viewed the move by lawmakers as a betrayal.

"I know that you (the government) will dare to do anything," Wang wrote on WeChat. "And one ordinary person's voice is certainly useless. But I am a Chinese citizen, and I don't plan on leaving. This is my motherland too!"

Xi is viewed as the most powerful leader in China since Mao — the founding father of People's Republic of China.

Li told the Associated Press on Tuesday: "If there are no term limits on a country's highest leader, then we are returning to an imperial regime."

"My generation has lived through Mao. That era is over. How can we possibly go back to it?" she added.

The officials in China said they were not aware of the open letters.

Under China's constitution the president is allowed two terms in office, but the current president sought additional terms to realize the agenda set by his office to fight corruption, eliminate poverty and transform China into a thriving country.

On Sunday, lawmakers in China said they were pursuing an amendment in the constitution in which the term limit can be indefinitely extended so Xi can stay in power.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Monday the proposal "was made in accordance with new situation and the practice of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era."

The statements indicating discontent on the move to extend the term limit, started making rounds shortly after lawmakers declared they were looking into the possibility.

According to the report in Time, the National People's Congress was sure the bill to amend the constitution will pass at the next annual session early next month, which would grant Xi a second five-year term and appoint new ministers and other government officials.

"The strong leadership of the [Communist party of China] has proved to be a decisive factor for what this country has achieved both economically and politically over the past four decades," the China Daily argued in an editorial.

The Guardian reported that the English newspaper China Daily, an international voice for the affairs in Beijing, said the move was "necessitated by the need to perfect the party and the state leadership system."

 

 

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EUROPE IS UNDER GRIPS OF CHINA'S NEOCOLONIALISM

EUROPE IS UNDER GRIPS OF CHINA'S NEOCOLONIALISM

 

Zhejian Geely Holding, Chinese automaker which owns VOLVO has acquired 9.7 percent stake in Daimler. In my analysis, Europe is under grips of China's Neocolonialism. It seems Germany is not able to defend Daimler's Intellectual Property Rights from relentless attacks by Chinese Economic Expansionism.

 

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

 

 

CHINA'S GEELY RAID ON DAIMLER REIGNITES GERMAN KNOW-HOW FEARS

 

Clipped from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-geely/chinas-geely-raid-on-daimler-reignites-german-know-how-fears-idUSKCN1GA048

 

 

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Automaker Geely’s purchase of a $9 billion stake in Mercedes maker Daimler rekindled fears in Germany on Monday of its highly-prized expertise falling into Chinese hands.

Economy minister Brigitte Zypries stuck to Berlin’s position that Geely’s [GEELY.UL] swoop was a business matter, but said Germany’s openness must not be not exploited by other countries.

 

Geely, which owns rival Swedish carmaker Volvo, is pushing Daimler for access to know-how in electric and autonomous cars.

Germany tightened its rules on foreign takeovers last year, the first European Union country to do so, after a series of deals saw China gain access to high-tech know-how, while attempts by German companies to buy full control of Chinese rivals remains prohibited.

Although under German law, the government can only intervene if a threshold of 25 percent is exceeded, investors must abide by market rules, Zypries said in interviews with Daimler’s home-town newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung and Handelsblatt newspaper.

Geely revealed its 9.7 percent stake in Daimler (DAIGn.DE) on Friday, surprising the market as it had not disclosed having crossed regulatory thresholds of 3 and 5 percent.

Financial and markets regulator Bafin, which oversees the proper disclosure of stakes said it was investigating whether there had been any breach of disclosure rules, which can result in fines of 10 million euros or more.

The Chinese carmaker first approached Daimler in November and asked it to issue shares so it could buy a stake, as well as for access to battery technology to help set up an electric car joint venture in Wuhan, China.

Daimler, which employs 289,000 people, declined to do a deal as it had reservations about a new industrial alliance for fear of alienating its existing Chinese joint venture partner BAIC (1958.HK), a person familiar with the carmaker’s thinking said.

Daimler and BAIC on Sunday said they were planning to co-invest more than 11.9 billion yuan ($1.88 billion) to build a new local production base.

“Daimler has already rejected Geely’s overtures once, and Daimler execs we spoke with argue it’s simply not clear what Geely could offer Mercedes,” Bernstein Research analyst Robin Zhu said in a note.

 

STEALTH RAID

Geely responded to the rejection in November by enlisting Dirk Notheis, the former Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley in Germany and Yi Bao, a former CEO of Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Notheis, who declined comment, and Yi Bao, who could not be reached, devised a way for Geely to build a significant stake in Daimler using aggressive takeover tactics which German regulators had sought to quash.

Daimler AG70.23

DAIGn.DEXetra

-0.18(-0.26%)

·         DAIGn.DE

·         1958.HK

·         0175.HK

·         000333.SZ

·         KU2G.DE

Geely worked with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which declined to comment on Monday, to help secure a 9.69 percent voting stake using derivatives to help skirt disclosure requirements, two people familiar with the deal told Reuters.

Mercedes-Benz executives in Stuttgart were at first caught off guard by the approach, but welcomed Geely in meetings on Monday to see how to “constructively discuss” industry changes.

Zhejian Geely Holding also owns several other carmakers including Sweden’s Volvo Cars, London’s black-cab maker LEVC and its own Geely Automobile Holdings (0175.HK). It has agreed to buy a $3.3 billion stake in Volvo Trucks.

KNOCK-ON IMPACT

The first sign of wider ramifications from Geely’s move on Daimler surfaced on Monday as Volvo Trucks dropped the chief executive of Geely’s Volvo Cars from its board, citing competition concerns with rival Daimler.

And EU trade ministers will meet this week to discuss a range of issues including how better to protect strategically important European companies from unwanted investors.

Several major deals during 2017 raised German sensitivities about multi-billion euro foreign takeovers, notably Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group (000333.SZ) buying German robotics firm Kuka (KU2G.DE), and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s buying German metering firm Ista.[L8N1QG3VD]

“The events of last Friday are the latest demonstrations of China’s growing confidence and assertiveness, growing desire to impose its will on global affairs, and growing willingness to exploit the German OEMs’ heavy reliance on Chinese profits,” Bernstein Research said.

Reporting by Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Georgina Prodhan, Arno Schuetze and Edward Taylor in Frankfurt and Johannes Hellstrom in Stockholm; Editing by Keith Weir and Alexander Smith.

 

 

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'THE LIVING TIBETAN SPIRITS' - WHAT IS MY FINAL DESTINATION?

THE LIVING TIBETAN SPIRITS – WHAT IS MY FINAL DESTINATION?

 

 

In my Consciousness, I host 'The Living Tibetan Spirits', the Spirits of young Tibetan Soldiers who gave their precious lives in Chittagong Hill Tracts during Bangladesh Ops of 1971. His Holiness the Dalai Lama expressed his desire to return to his home in Tibet. I admit that myself and 'The Tibetan Living Spirits' have no Home or Place that we may claim as our own. What is my Final Destination? I have no answer. If not His Holiness, I need 'MANJUSHREE'(Manjusri) Bodhisattva of Wisdom to give Blessings of Compassion to complete my mortal journey with or without reaching Final Destination.

 

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

 

 

DALAI LAMA, CHINA AND THE HOMECOMING URGE

 

By CLAUDE ARPI

 

Clipped from: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/dalai-lama-china-and-the-homecoming-urge.html

 

It has been a lifetime wish for the Lama to visit Wutaishan, his native town. But he must follow his own saying: Look at situations from all angles. It is unwise for him to go on pilgrimage in China right now

At the end of 2017, Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, former Chairman of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala and now, the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy, went to China to ‘negotiate’ an eventual visit of the Tibetan leader to Wutaishan in Shanxi Province of northern China.

Mount Wutai is said to be one of the four sacred mountains in Buddhism. Each of the mountains is viewed as the abode of one of the four great bodhisattvas. Wutai is the home of Manjushree, the Bodhisattva of wisdom.

Since decades, the Dalai Lama has expressed the wish to visit Wutaishan in his lifetime. While in China, Samdhong Rinpoche is said to have met senior officials of the United Front Work Department in Kunming and Wutaishan to discuss the proposed visit, which would exclude Tibet, as Beijing does not want to see the Dalai Lama returning to his native land, where he is immensely popular.

Beijing believes that China could benefit from the visit by extracting a ‘statement’ from the Dalai Lama. But can the Tibetan leader ‘admit’ to Tibet always ‘belonging’ to China?

In his Five-Point Peace Plan speech in Washington DC in 1987, which heralded his Middle Way approach, the Dalai Lama stated: “The real issue …is China’s illegal occupation of Tibet, which has given it direct access to the Indian sub-continent. The Chinese authorities have attempted to confuse the issue by claiming that Tibet has always been a part of China. This is untrue. Tibet was a fully independent State when the People’s Liberation Army invaded the country in 1949/50.”

The Dalai Lama knows history can’t (and shouldn’t) be changed. In 1987, the Lama stated: “China’s aggression, condemned by virtually all nations of the free world, was a flagrant violation of international law. …China’s military occupation of Tibet continues.”

The recent secret, though formal, contacts between Beijing and Dharamshala, could make the public believe that there was a relaxation of the Chinese position. It is not the case.

On February 11, The Global Times reported: “The public security bureau (PSB) in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region has released details on how the public can provide tips on activities of criminal gangs connected to the separatist forces of the Dalai Lama.”

Practically, it means that the Tibetans, who worship, or even simply respect, the Dalai Lama could now be termed criminals?

The mouthpiece of the Party continued: “[the circular] warns local people to be on the lookout for the ‘evil forces’ of the Dalai Lama that might use local temples and religious control to confuse and incite people against the Party and Government.”

The circular asked people to report on the activities of ‘foreign hostile forces’. Interestingly, a few weeks ago, Beijing announced the nomination of three Han cadres in the 20-member Tibet delegation to the National People’s Congress (NPC).

One of the delegates is Zhao Kezhi, the Minister of Public Security, responsible for the dreaded PSBs; he will ‘represent’ Tibet at the NPC. Probably wanting to show the leadership his efficiency, Zhao acted fast; the PSB’s circular said: “Criminal gangs are cancers on the healthy economic and social development, and gangsters are a chronic disease that severely disgusts the public”.

It listed 22 illegal activities to be reported to the PSB; three of them mention the ‘Dalai’s clique’: “The Dalai Lama has been in exile for decades but still holds the ambition to split China’s Tibet from the Chinese territory.”

Dai, a professor at Public Security University of China told The Global Times: “Collusion with criminal gangs is a tactic the Dalai group uses to spreading its message of separatism. These kinds of gangsters were involved in the Lhasa rebellion in the 1950s and the violent incident in 2008 in Tibet.”

Dai added “the spread of separatist gangs in Tibet is rampant. Only a campaign against the ‘gangsters’ would deter secessionist activities by the Dalai.”

Wang Xiaobin, a Chinese scholar at the Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Center, explained that the primary task for Tibet is “to maintain national and ethnic unity”. He cited a few groups in China “closely connected with the Dalai group…The Dalai group always interferes in national affairs by controlling temples, including lamas and living Buddhas, and by spreading a kind of ‘middle way’ to the world.”

Xinhua had earlier reported that the campaign would involve targeting “protective umbrellas of gang crime — the officials who shelter the criminals.”

This explains another Han nomination in the NPC’s Tibet delegation, Jing Hanchao, who is currently Vice-President of the Supreme People’s Court. Jing will make sure that the ‘criminals’ caught in the nets of Zhao Kezhi are heavily sentenced.

All this comes at a time when Beijing has just introduced sophisticated facial recognition software on the plateau. The circular promised that the PSB informers’ identity and safety will be protected: “The targets are gangsters who threaten political stability and infiltrate politics, or encourage the public to go against the Party.”

Beijing has also taken the campaign against the Dalai Lama internationally; there too it has been ferocious.

On February 8, The People’s Daily Online titled: ‘Mercedes-Benz: Don’t dare challenge China’s core interest’ while announcing that the German car company had apologized for quoting the Dalai Lama ‘in an extremely wrong message’. What did Mercedes-Benz do so wrong?

Next to one of its luxury cars, the German firm had quoted the Dalai Lama: “Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.”

You may think that it is a nice quote, but Beijing is not amused: “The post not only hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, but also challenged their bottom line on national sovereignty.”

The challenge is clear: If the firm, which sold 600,000 new cars in China in 2017, wants to continue to do business in the Middle Kingdom, it has to follow the paranoid regime’s diktats. The same misadventure had recently happened to the US hotel chain Marriott, who had to profusely apologize for wrongly marking Tibet and Taiwan as independent countries.

President Xi Jinping would have said in 2015 that foreign interference in China’s domestic affairs is intolerable: “Country, enterprise, or individual should not challenge the core interests of China, and [have] any activity to split China.”

Even after due apology by Mercedes-Benz, the Chinese newspaper said that “the apology lacks sincerity and reflects the German carmaker’s lack of understanding of Chinese culture and values. China’s core interests cannot be challenged.”

The paper even compared the Dalai Lama to Hitler: “How will the German people react if a foreign enterprise speaks highly of Adolf Hitler.”

It seems definitely unwise for the Dalai Lama, considered by Beijing as the ‘head of the gangsters’, to go on pilgrimage in China right now. Let us hope that the spiritual leader will not accept the diktats of the bully regime in Beijing.

(The writer is an expert on India-China relations and an author)

 

 

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WHERE IS FRIENDSHIP? FROM SPACE FANTASY TO GROUND REALITY

WHERE IS FRIENDSHIP? FROM SPACE FANTASY TO GROUND REALITY 

 

On February 20, 1962 I was a student at Giriraj Government Arts College, Nizamabad, India entertaining my dreams of Friendship and living life with Space Fantasy. Space Travel was the topic of my presentation at my College Seminar sponsored by Science Association. I briefly floated a Club called 'FRIENDSHIP CLUB' to bring youth together in promoting Democracy, Freedom, and Peace, the American Values I imbibed.

 

On February 20, 2018 I am sharing the story about Friendship 7 Spacecraft to tell the world that I do not have an American Friend with whom I can communicate the Ground Reality that put an end to my Space Fantasy.

 

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

 

 

AN AMERICAN ORBITS EARTH – FEBRUARY 20, 1962 – HISTORY.com

 

 

 

Clipped from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/an-american-orbits-earth?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2018-0220-02202018&om_rid=5b756c66f833f687988da82aab98ca63d678b12c9ea4193f1bf69fae34a8c785&om_mid=324738196&kx_EmailCampaignID=19086&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2018-0220-02202018&kx_EmailRecipientID=5b756c66f833f687988da82aab98ca63d678b12c9ea4193f1bf69fae34a8c785

From Cape Canaveral, Florida, John Hershel Glenn Jr. is successfully launched into space aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut.

Glenn, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, was among the seven men chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1959 to become America’s first astronauts. A decorated pilot, he flew nearly 150 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. In 1957, he made the first nonstop supersonic flight across the United States, flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes.

Glenn was preceded in space by two Americans, Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, and two Soviets, Yuri A. Gagarin and Gherman S. Titov. In April 1961, Gagarin was the first man in space, and his spacecraft Vostok 1 made a full orbit before returning to Earth. Less than one month later, Shepard was launched into space aboard Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight. In July, Grissom made another brief suborbital flight aboard Liberty Bell 7. In August, with the Americans still having failed to make an orbital flight, the Russians sprinted further ahead in the space race when Titov spent more than 25 hours in space aboard Vostok 2, making 17 orbits. As a technological power, the United States was looking very much second-rate compared with its Cold War adversary. If the Americans wanted to dispel this notion, they needed a multi-orbital flight before another Soviet space advance arrived.

It was with this responsibility in mind that John Glenn lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral at 9:47 a.m. on February 20, 1962. Some 100,000 spectators watched on the ground nearby and millions more saw it on television. After separating from its launching rocket, the bell-shaped Friendship 7 capsule entered into an orbit around Earth at a speed of about 17,500 miles per hour. Smoothing into orbit, Glenn radioed back, “Capsule is turning around. Oh, that view is tremendous.”

During Friendship 7‘s first orbit, Glenn noticed what he described as small, glowing fireflies drifting by the capsule’s tiny window. It was some time later that NASA mission control determined that the sparks were crystallized water vapor released by the capsule’s air-conditioning system. Before the end of the first orbit, a more serious problem occurred when Friendship 7‘s automatic control system began to malfunction, sending the capsule into erratic movements. At the end of the orbit, Glenn switched to manual control and regained command of the craft.

Toward the end of Glenn’s third and last orbit, mission control received a mechanical signal from the spacecraft indicating that the heat shield on the base of the capsule was possibly loose. Traveling at its immense speed, the capsule would be incinerated if the shield failed to absorb and dissipate the extremely high reentry temperatures. It was decided that the craft’s retrorockets, usually jettisoned before reentry, would be left on in order to better secure the heat shield. Less than a minute later, Friendship 7 slammed into Earth’s atmosphere.

During Glenn’s fiery descent back to Earth, the straps holding the retrorockets gave way and flapped violently by his window as a shroud of ions caused by excessive friction enveloped the spacecraft, causing Glenn to lose radio contact with mission control. As mission control anxiously waited for the resumption of radio transmissions that would indicate Glenn’s survival, he watched flaming chunks of retrorocket fly by his window. After four minutes of radio silence, Glenn’s voice crackled through loudspeakers at mission control, and Friendship 7 splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. He was picked up by the USS destroyer Noa, and his first words upon stepping out of the capsule and onto the deck of the Noa were, “It was hot in there.” He had spent nearly five hours in space.

Glenn was hailed as a national hero, and on February 23 President John F. Kennedy visited him at Cape Canaveral. He later addressed Congress and was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

Out of a reluctance to risk the life of an astronaut as popular as Glenn, NASA essentially grounded the “Clean Marine” in the years after his historic flight. Frustrated with this uncharacteristic lack of activity, Glenn turned to politics and in 1964 announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Ohio and formally left NASA. Later that year, however, he withdrew his Senate bid after seriously injuring his inner ear in a fall. In 1970, following a stint as a Royal Crown Cola executive, he ran for the Senate again but lost the Democratic nomination to Howard Metzenbaum. Four years later, he defeated Metzenbaum, won the general election, and went on to win reelection three times. In 1984, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president.

In early 1998, NASA announced it had approved Glenn to serve as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery. On October 29, 1998, nearly four decades after his famous orbital flight, the 77-year-old Glenn became the oldest human ever to travel in space. During the nine-day mission, he served as part of a NASA study on health problems associated with aging. In 1999, he retired from his U.S. Senate seat after four consecutive terms in office, a record for the state of Ohio.

 

 

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RED CHINA'S INFORMATION WARFARE – INFILTRATION OF AMERICAN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

RED CHINA'S INFORMATION WARFARE – INFILTRATION OF AMERICAN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

 

Red China deploys Communist Tactics of Deception, Infiltration, and Subversion to undermine American Academic Institutions

 

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

 

WAKING UP TO CHINA'S INFILTRATION OF AMERICAN COLLEGES -                                                   THE WASHINGTON POST

 

 

Clipped from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/waking-up-to-chinas-infiltration-of-american-colleges/2018/02/18/99d3bee8-13f7-11e8-9570-29c9830535e5_story.html?utm_term=.2f7f2220ca8d

 

 

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 13. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

China's massive foreign influence campaign in the United States takes a long view, sowing seeds in American institutions meant to blossom over years or even decades. That's why the problem of Chinese financial infusions into U.S. higher education is so difficult to grasp and so crucial to combat.

At last, the community of U.S. officials, lawmakers and academics focused on resisting Chinese efforts to subvert free societies is beginning to respond to Beijing's presence on America's campuses. One part of that is compelling public and private universities to reconsider hosting Confucius Institutes, the Chinese government-sponsored outposts of culture and language training.

With more than 100 universities in the United States now in direct partnership with the Chinese government through Confucius Institutes, the U.S. intelligence community is warning about their potential as spying outposts. But the more important challenge is the threat the institutes pose to the ability of the next generation of American leaders to learn, think and speak about realities in China and the true nature of the Communist Party regime.

"Their goal is to exploit America's academic freedom to instill in the minds of future leaders a pro-China viewpoint," said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. "It's smart. It's a long-term, patient approach."

This month, Rubio asked all Florida educational institutions that host Confucius Institutes to reconsider those arrangements in light of a growing body of evidence that China seeks to constrain criticism on American campuses, exert influence over curriculum related to China and monitor Chinese students in the United States.

One of the schools Rubio contacted, the University of West Florida, had already decided not to renew its contract with Hanban, the Chinese government entity that manages the institutes. Western Florida joins a growing list of universities that are rejecting the Faustian bargain that comes with accepting Chinese government funding and management for programs meant to expose students to China, including the University of Chicago, Penn State University and Ontario's McMaster University. West Florida President Martha Saunders told me the decision was primarily due to a lack of student interest, but the rising concerns also contributed.

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray articulated those concerns in testimony last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said the FBI is "watching warily" and even investigating some Confucius Institutes. He said "naivete" in the academic sector was exacerbating the problem and called out the Chinese government for planting spies in American schools.

"They're exploiting the very open research and development environment that we have, which we all revere. But they're taking advantage of it," Wray said.

For Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), that's a long-awaited acknowledgment. The majority of the institutes' activity may be benign, and it's difficult to determine how much self-censorship participating institutions engage in, Smith said. He has commissioned a study of the institutes by the Government Accountability Office to collect data to support his call for their closure.

"They are nests of influence, reconnaissance," he said. "They keep tabs on Chinese students, and those who attend their classes are getting a Pollyannaish take on what China is about today."

To understand what Confucius Institutes are really about, it's necessary to understand their connections to the Communist Party and its history. Peter Mattis, a former U.S. intelligence analyst now with the Jamestown Foundation, said Confucius Institutes can be directly linked to the Communist Party's "united front" efforts, still described in Maoist terms: to mobilize the party's friends to strike at the party's enemies.

For example, Liu Yandong, the Communist Party official who launched the Confucius Institutes and served as chairwoman, was the head of the United Front Work Department when the program began.

"They are an instrument of the party's power, not a support for independent scholarship," Mattis said. "They can be used to groom academics and administrators to provide a voice for the party in university decision-making."

At a minimum, Confucius Institutes must be required to provide more transparency, yield full control over curriculum to their American hosts and pledge not to involve themselves in issues of academic freedom for American or Chinese students. If they don't do this voluntarily, Congress will likely act to compel them. Both Rubio and Smith are working on new legislation to do just that.

More broadly, if we as a country don't want Confucius Institutes to control discussion of China on campus, we must provide better funding for the study of China and Chinese languages. If we are really headed into a long-term strategic competition with China, there is no excuse for not investing in educating our young people about it — or for letting the Chinese government do it for us.

 

 

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BHARAT DARSHAN - 3-in-1 CELEBRATION OF HOLY DEATH ON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2018

BHARAT DARSHAN – 3-in-1 CELEBRATION OF HOLY DEATH ON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2018

 

 

Wednesday February 14, 2018 is very significant as the day symbolizes 3-in-1 Celebration of Holy Death from both Indian and Christian perspectives. There is an interesting coincidence of three holiday traditions; 1. Maha Shivaratri, 2. Ash Wednesday, and 3. Valentine's Day.

 

Indians celebrate Maha Shivaratri in the Month of Magha, Krishna Paksha( Waning Phase of Lunar Cycle), on fourth day called Chaturdashi.

 

 

In essence it is celebration of Divine Love to defend man's mortal existence from premature loss of life.

In Hindu Mythology, Lord Kamadeva or Cupid known as Lord Manmadha shot his magic arrow to facilitate romantic union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati to save humanity from actions of evil power.  But Kamadeva pays heavy price for stimulating Lord Shiva's romantic interest while He meditated with absolute stillness of mind. Later, Lord Shiva restores Kamadeva's life for he acted to help humanity to save them from their suffering.

 

Many Hindus observe fasting on the night before Maha Shivaratri Day and spend the night in devotional worship of Lord Shiva to thank him for His Mercy, Grace, and Compassion in responding to man's fears about Death. Man conquers his Fear of Death by simply burning his desires. In Indian Tradition, Lord Shiva adorns Himself by covering His body with 'Ashes' that signify burnt desires. Man keeps his Love of God by sacrificing desires for material comfort and sensual pleasure.

 

Ash Wednesday is again celebration of God's Love. God sent Jesus to save man from Sin and Death. Jesus prepares Himself for His earthly mission for 40 days by fasting and praying. He prepared for His sacrifice through crucifixion to atone for man's sinful conduct. Ash Wednesday heralds the beginning of 'Lent Season' that culminates in Easter Celebration of Resurrection of Jesus after He died on Cross.

 

Valentine's Day celebrates romantic interpersonal relationships between men and women. For man is mortal being, man desires to keep feelings of Love alive even after death. Man celebrates enduring and abiding quality of Love for it transcends barriers of Time.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

PUMA PUNKU DIVINE SOCIETY

ASH WEDNESDAY IS ABOUT DEATH

 

Clipped from: http://theweek.com/articles/682886/ash-wednesday-about-death

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Today is Ash Wednesday, the holiday marking the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period of purification in which Christians often find something to "give up."

This ritual makes a lot of sense even in modern secular terms. We have juice fasts and cleanses, after all. And indeed, the idea that it could be helpful for all of us to try to get rid of, or at least pause, the superfluous things in our life to focus more on the essential is an idea that is present in spirituality both Eastern and Western, as well as in secular folklore.

Fasting yields spiritual benefits because it is a kind of spiritual workout. Physical exercise works by putting stress on our muscles, and this strengthens them. Something like dieting is worthwhile not just because we expect to get some material benefit from it, like lower weight or better health, but also the spiritual benefit of becoming less attached to material things.

But Lent is about much more than dieting. It's about death.

For starters, on Ash Wednesday, the priest draws a cross on your forehead with ashes, a reminder that "dust we are and to dust we shall return." That means death.

This is a part of the Catholic faith that I don't usually like. Not that death makes me uncomfortable — I believe in life everlasting — but because the faith has been corrupted by the idea that it is simply a get-out-of-hell card, a set of legalistic or pious requirements that one must accomplish to save one's soul. Christianity shouldn't just be about avoiding hell — it's about an encounter with a person whom, we believe, is love made flesh.

The point about ashes and turning away from fleshly reality also offers a reminder of another folk belief that has too long been associated with Christianity: namely, the idea that this world is wholly corrupt and that the body and material goods are to be despised. This belief is actually condemned as a heresy by the Catholic Church, because the Bible affirms that God loves the material world he created.

And yet, while material things like food and drink and sex are all well and good, it is still the case that they are not the most important things in life. And moreover, it is still the case that those things can enslave us. "I can quit any time!" says the smoker, puffing in the rain with a grimace on his face. Tuning down some pleasures might make us realize how much of a hold they have on us.

A reminder of our maturity is perhaps one of the most salutary things we can experience. We are all mortal, and yet we spend our entire lives trying to distract ourselves from this fact. On a day-to-day basis, almost all of us like to think and live and behave as if we will live forever. But we won't. If you were to die tomorrow — or 40 days from now — what would you change? What would you do differently? Lent pushes us to ask these questions.

Lent is also about death for a much more fundamental reason, one which is much less secular than platitudes about the importance of clean living. Lent is spiritual preparation for the celebration of the Easter cycle, when Jesus Christ was crucified before rising from the dead three days later.

Jesus chose to pour out his divine love on the cross, to give himself fully to us, in an acrobatic act of love that would in a mysterious way bind us to him. Christians, then, are called to imitate him by "dying" — that is to say, by renouncing everything apart from this divine love, everything apart from love of God and love of fellow man.

This, rather than Lent, is the real meaning of Ash Wednesday. I hope you can partake in it.

 

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