Miscellaneous News

manqiangrexue

Brigadier
Well Bub, its really not funny when people get hurt, and likely killed on either side,,, but this poor little F-16 is proof positive that folks who are relying on "antique aircraft" for their sole defense.. better get serious about 5 Gen, Israel is in a fight for survival against evil and the terror organizations that they face. No other nation feels the pressure as they do, even though lots of people like to "whine"??

anyway, 4 gens, 4+ gens, will not cut it in the hostile environment the Russians have propogated with all the ground based SAMs they continue to pedal, sometimes to both sides... F-16s, J-15s, or Su-35s are all sitting ducks, unless somebody's 5 gens take them out... even with Electronic Warfare pods jamming, the environment is very dangerous.

this incident is likely over, the Israeli's are very measured and methodical in their response, but there is always the danger when you get external actors like Russia and Iran playing both sides against the middle for their own interests..
Oh, the LOL was not for this article; it went with the "AANNNNNYYYWAYYYYY" which meant, "Let's end the odd, personal, and entirely off topic discussion that was proceeding before my post."

As for the bold part, I'm sure that the countries that Israel robs land from and their Muslim allies feel the same, but stronger feelings towards Israel. Being that I'm neither a fan of Israel nor those countries, I don't care to take a side, but I know that the "evil" is certainly not one-sided.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator

brother, I was thinking about the casualties, likely deaths on the other side as well, and I do get your point. After 9/11/2001, I also get terrorism, when cold cruel individuals, took the lives of innocent children and women...

I'm a guilty sinner,,, I'm far from perfect, but in my heart, as wicked and selfish as I am, to take the lives of a child or a woman is an act of extreme and heinous cowardice, not ten miles from my house, a convicted felon, out on parole, shot his friends girlfriend in the head, people who had given him a place to stay.

that's also an act of cowardice and murder, worthy of swift and deadly justice!

the State of Illinois no longer has a death penalty, and killers kill without any fear for their own lives, Chicago and St. Louis are two of the most dangerous cities in the world!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Oh, the LOL was not for this article; it went with the "AANNNNNYYYWAYYYYY" which meant, "Let's end the odd, personal, and entirely off topic discussion that was proceeding before my post."

As for the bold part, I'm sure that the countries that Israel robs land from and their Muslim allies feel the same, but stronger feelings towards Israel. Being that I'm neither a fan of Israel nor those countries, I don't care to take a side, but I know that the "evil" is certainly not one-sided.

thank you for your reply,, I do stand with Israel, but I see the suffering of the Palestinians as well, but Israel is not randomly entering into Palestinian communities and murdering innocent women and children, but the Palestinians are strapping bombs on innocent children and women, and sending them to kill in Israel, a certain death, that my friend is cowardice!
 

Equation

Lieutenant General
brother, I was thinking about the casualties, likely deaths on the other side as well, and I do get your point. After 9/11/2001, I also get terrorism, when cold cruel individuals, took the lives of innocent children and women...

I'm a guilty sinner,,, I'm far from perfect, but in my heart, as wicked and selfish as I am, to take the lives of a child or a woman is an act of extreme and heinous cowardice, not ten miles from my house, a convicted felon, out on parole, shot his friends girlfriend in the head, people who had given him a place to stay.

that's also an act of cowardice and murder, worthy of swift and deadly justice!

the State of Illinois no longer has a death penalty, and killers kill without any fear for their own lives, Chicago and St. Louis are two of the most dangerous cities in the world!

So does this mean that you understand the evilness that goes with regime changing policy where thousands of innocent men, women and children were cowardly taken?
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
So does this mean that you understand the evilness that goes with regime changing policy where thousands of innocent men, women and children were cowardly taken?

I have been very outspoken against Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and their EVIL ARAB SPRING, what happened in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya is criminal. They were also running guns to Syria and using Ambassador Stevens as a go-between, (they did NOT want that to be found out) that's why they did NOT provide the security he asked for, he feared for his life, and they left him to die! because they did not want the truth to be exposed!

As a result of their heinous policy, the Middle East has become uninhabitable in certain regions and was overrun by ISIS...that is indeed what spawned Europe's Refugee Crisis!

I was also against George W. Bush invading Iraq,,, and I was against Barack Obama's leaving Iraq to the wolves by pulling the rug out from under there budding Govt, and allowing ISIS to thrive..

you will not find a single post, where I proposed or applauded regime change!

so YES! I do understand, and NO I do NOT approve or support that kind of nonsense, nor would I support invading North Korea!
 
thank you for your reply,, I do stand with Israel, but I see the suffering of the Palestinians as well, but Israel is not randomly entering into Palestinian communities and murdering innocent women and children, but the Palestinians are strapping bombs on innocent children and women, and sending them to kill in Israel, a certain death, that my friend is cowardice!

Whether the killing is delivered by fighter bombers or suicide bombers is an issue of budget and capability, the intended result will be horrible, the effect will be terrorizing, and depending on the target may or may not involve collateral casualties.

Being oppressed and abused can be worse fate than death, witness the saying "live free or die". There are various concepts and traditions of the suicidal warrior around the world particularly respected when on the outmatched side.

Women and children are at least human shields, and possibly co-conspirators and combatants when they are armed, when they are sent to colonize disputed lands and boot out others who live there.

Is a fighter bomber pilot a spoiled coward or a lucky smartypants? Is a suicide bomber a crazed coward or a desperate braveheart? If only wars were limited to thumb wars.
 

solarz

Brigadier
Too bad the "What the heck" thread is closed...

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China outcry at Heathrow duty free 'discrimination'

A duty free shop at Heathrow Airport has triggered outcry in China and been criticised by state-run media after apparently being caught discriminating against the country’s passengers.

Britain’s busiest airport was targeted by a wave of anger from Chinese Internet users over allegations that Chinese consumers were being singled out and “ripped off".

The accusations emerged after an employee at retailer World Duty Free alleged they had seen the store offer 20 per cent VIP discount vouchers to customers spending £79 or more, while telling passengers travelling to China they had to spend £1,000 to qualify.


The employee’s account was viewed millions of times and attracted angry comments after being posted on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

The uproar led both Heathrow and the retailer to apologise and
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Are British people in such great poverty they need to act without any sense of pride in this way?Editorial in China's state-run Global Times
A Heathrow spokeswoman told the Telegraph: “We have been made aware of this offer which we find unacceptable. We are currently working with our commercial partner to understand how this happened and ensure it does not happen again.”

The airport told Chinese internet users it was apologising for the "controversy and high emotions" caused by its partner and the retailer had “corrected the issue with immediate effect”.

World Duty Free, which is owned by Swiss-based retail giant Dufry, did not respond to questions from the Telegraph and it was unclear if the policy was company wide and applied at other shops or airports.

But the apologies were not enough to head off a hard-hitting editorial in China’s influential Global Times newspaper which accused the airport of "cultural discrimination" and deception.

The newspaper, which is published by the People's Daily - the Communist Party's mouthpiece newspaper - accused Heathrow of taking advantage of what it sees as "rich" Chinese travellers.

Chinese people will be thinking: “Are British people in such great poverty they need to act without any sense of pride in this way?" the popular tabloid said.

“When it comes to reasons behind this, apart from thinking that Chinese consumers are rich, they (Heathrow) may also think it is easy to deceive Chinese consumers and it will be hard to reveal if Chinese are being ripped off…... it is a cultural discrimination."

The original post from the part-time employee of World Duty Free warned Chinese consumers: "On the one hand they want to take money from your pocket and on the other hand they treat you like a fool."

The anonymous post added: "I have been working in the UK for seven years, but this is the first time I have felt something so deeply unfair, and racist discrimination."

The staff member, who claimed to also be a student, called managers at the store in terminal two "white skinned pigs".

He said he had seen one traveller buy items worth over £300 and had accompanied the passenger to the till. However the cashier refused to hand over a VIP voucher, saying the threshold for Chinese passengers was £1,000. He alleged that when he complained, the store manager said the policy was applied only to shoppers who were departing to China.

Heathrow says around 1.2m Chinese passengers travel through the airport each year.

About 115,000 Chinese tourists visited the UK in the first half of last year, an increase of 47 percent on the same periodic the previous year.

Spending also increased to £231 million, up 54 percent, according to national tourism agency VisitBritain.

Why the hell is "discrimination" in quotes in the headline???
 
... even with Electronic Warfare pods jamming, the environment is very dangerous.

this incident is likely over, the Israeli's are very measured and methodical in their response, but there is always the danger when you get external actors like Russia and Iran playing both sides against the middle for their own interests..
now you may comment on Initial probe: Altitude may have made downed jet vulnerable to Syrian fire
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Fair enough that there is national competition and actual espionage. Then there is plenty of glossing over US accountability for and benefits from consensual arrangements, double standards and “do what we say, not what we do”. “Whole-of-society threat” sounds a lot like the racist “yellow peril” concept of the past.

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The director of the FBI says the whole of Chinese society is a threat to the US — and that Americans must step up to defend themselves

Michal Kranz
21h 185,872

FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a dire warning about China's growing influence during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.

He said there were a variety of ways China was implementing a plan to replace the US as the foremost global power, including by infiltrating academia.

Recent reports have suggested that while China's Confucius Institutes are ostensibly language-learning centers, they often serve as vehicles for Chinese propaganda at universities around the world, including the US.

Intelligence experts have also cited Chinese cybersecurity threats as a major concern in 2018.

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday reiterated a commonly held view among US intelligence officials that China is seeking to become a global superpower through unconventional means — but he framed it as both a governmental and a societal threat to the US.

Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee alongside the heads of other US intelligence agencies, Wray said that to undermine the US's military, economic, cultural, and informational power across the globe, China was using methods relying on more than just its state institutions.

"One of the things we're trying to do is view the China threat as not just a whole-of-government threat, but a whole-of-society threat on their end," Wray said. "And I think it's going to take a whole-of-society response by us."

In response to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio about whether China was planning to overtake the US as the world's most dominant power, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, echoed Wray.

"There is no question that what you have just articulated is what's happening with China," Coats said. "They're doing it in a very smart way. They're doing it in a very effective way. They are looking beyond their own region."

Coats said multiple agencies were conducting "intensive studies" to understand the ways China is looking to carry out its global agenda.

The double-edged sword of open academics
Wray pointed to China's use of unconventional intelligence sources as an example of its reach.

He said "collectors" — what the intelligence community calls people who collect intelligence on behalf of agencies or governments — had infiltrated US universities.

"I think in this setting, I would just say that the use of nontraditional collectors — especially in the academic setting, whether it's professors, scientists, students — we see in almost every field office that the FBI has around the country," Wray said.

"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, adding that there was a "naiveté" among academics about the risks posed by foreign nationals at US universities.

china confucius institute
Xi's immediate predecessor, Hu Jintao, in 2011. REUTERS/Chris Walker/Pool
The Institute of International Education found that US universities admitted more than 1 million international students in the 2015-16 school year, nearly 329,000 of which were Chinese students.

While there is no evidence that a large number of Chinese students or academics at US universities poses a threat to US interests, the Chinese government uses several education efforts as vehicles for soft power.

One is the Confucius Institutes, which Rubio alluded to during the Senate hearing.

These institutes mirror many other foreign-language-education entities that countries fund around the world, but with a couple of caveats. Rather than existing as standalone bodies, they are inserted into universities in the US and elsewhere. And Foreign Policy reported last year that though their mission is to promote cultural diplomacy, they disseminate Chinese propaganda and restrict what professors.

In response to the perceived danger to open expression posed by these institutes, the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University closed the Confucius Institutes on their campuses in 2014. Other global universities have followed suit.

Confucius Institutes also have a presence in Africa, where China is growing its economic and political power.

Quartz reported in November that people in countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe were encouraged to view China as a positive economic force and a source of progress and opportunity as part of the "Look East" policy many African countries have implemented.

As a result of this push, the number of African students in China has skyrocketed over the past 10 or so years, the Quartz report says.

Chinese cybersecurity threats
During Tuesday's Senate hearing, the top US intel chiefs drew attention to Chinese cybersecurity strategies.

"Frankly, the United States is under attack by entities that are using cyber to penetrate virtually every major action that takes place" within the US, Coats said.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo; Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats; Defense Intelligence Agency Director Robert Ashley; National Security Agency (NSA) Director Michael Rogers; and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on
US security chiefs testifying at the Senate Intelligence Committee's hearing on worldwide threats. Thomson Reuters
The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, also released Tuesday, outlines China's cyber capabilities.

"China will continue to use cyber espionage and bolster cyber attack capabilities to support national security priorities," the report says, adding that while China's cyber activity is at much lower levels than it was before September 2015, it is still threatening.

It continues: "Most detected Chinese cyber operations against US private industry are focused on cleared defense contractors or IT and communications firms whose products and services support government and private sector networks worldwide."

Pointing to the findings, several intelligence heads reaffirmed the need to beef up US counterintelligence efforts in cyber. Many identified it as one of the top priorities for the intelligence community in the coming year.

Wray said that with so many facets of American society under threat, it would take a lot more than just intelligence agencies to combat China.

"It's not just the intelligence community," he said, "but it's raising awareness within our academic sector, within our private sector, as part of the defense."
 
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