12-6-2018
a recent report by the RAND Corporation includes responses from more than a dozen interviews with members of think tanks, academia and government organizations that have studied the PLA for more than 20 years explains the situations when the PLA copies foreign technology and when it develops its own. Most theft and innovation are for immediate political goals, while technology that doesn’t fit those goals is generally ignored.
The Chinese Air Force is intent on not just protecting the land it already controls but to recapture Taiwan and defeat the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, the report says. Future development is aimed toward control of outer space, while currently focusing on satellite espionage, with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) funding development of both missiles and rockets….
One person interviewed for the report said that ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 miles were a Chinese innovation. These developments were made for situations where bombers might risk being shot down. These rockets are also being developed with the intent of striking geosynchronous satellites.
Much of China’s space development is for espionage and anti-satellite warfare. While the PLA is much more focused on satellites for intelligence-gathering and espionage, the United States uses satellites more often for early warning on ballistic missiles. https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-military-intends-to-defeat-not-merely-compete-with-us-report-says_2731636.html
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12-5-2018 In exchange for funding, Lisbon offers China access to the tail end of the route mapped out in Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a plan to guarantee Chinese control of every major transportation hub in the world. China has succeeded in amassing control of ports throughout Africa and Southeast Asia, and has begun working on selling infrastructure projects to Latin America, but has yet to secure control of any part of the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
In an interview published by state-run outlet China Daily on Wednesday, Portuguese Ambassador to China Jose Augusto Duarte said his government was open to expanding China’s role in its economy and expected that its access to the ocean would make it an attractive trading partner. https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2018/12/05/portugal-wants-china-take-advantage-strategic-atlantic-ports/
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12-6-2018 The Malaysia Airlines plane was carrying 221kg of the batteries in its cargo when it went missing on March 8, 2014.
And retired United Airlines captain Ross Aimer believes this is why MH370 hasn't been seen since. Aimer, who has 40 years of flying experience, theorizes a "hard shake" of the batteries could have ignited a killer blaze during its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, who still flies a private jet, told Daily Star Online: "There have been several other fires that were attributed to lithium-ion batteries.
"They are a very unstable type and once it starts running away it's almost impossible to put it out. The Boeing 777 has a very sophisticated fire suppression system in the cargo hold, however with this type of fire nothing can fight it, it just burns itself out eventually.
"It could be as simple as a hard shake, when you're loading it you could technically start that thermal shock basically by either dropping it or overheating for some reason. Sometimes for absolutely for no other reason (they catch fire).” https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/744733/mh370-news-fire-theory-lithium-batteries-boeing-777-ross-aimer-united-airlines-latest
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bush-funeral-could-set-taxpayers-back-a-half-billion-dollars
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12-6-2018 The leaderless Yellow Vest — #GiletJaunes protest against living costs is escalating in France and spreading around the world to Belgium, The Netherlands, Serbia, even Basra and Bagdad in Iraq. A Yellow Vest protest is planned for Saturday in Vancouver. The workers are fed-up with being ignored and milked for causes they don’t support, fed up with being shamed for driving cars or for voicing their concerns. On twitter both the left and right sides of politics are trying to claim ownership (though most of the left are silent, recognizing that this is driven from the provincial and rural population and aims right at their sacred cows). Oil refineries are being blockaded. Ambulance workers and firefighters have joined in. Students have aslo started to protest about education changes — blocking over 100 high schools. So far four people have been killed and 133 people injured. Shops and hotels have lost 20% or more of their revenue. They’re flipping over Porsches. Macron’s popularity is down to 23%. The protesters are now starting to cite other issues like the UN migration pact which they don’t want Macron to sign.
Even after the violence and damage over 70% of people surveyed in France support the protests. Is it any wonder the riots started in France — one of the highest taxing nations in the world, where 48% of the national GDP churns through government coffers? 
Graph, France Tax, EU.
Source : wikimedia http://joannenova.com.au
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The yellow vest was chosen as a symbol because all motorists had been required by law—since 2008—to have high-visibility vests in their vehicles when driving. As a result, reflective vests have become widely available, inexpensive and symbolic.[10] A woman from the Seine-et-Marne department started a petition on the change.org website in May 2018 that reached 300,000 signatures by mid-October. Parallel to this petition, two men from the same department launched a Facebook event for 17 November to "block all roads" and thus protest against an increase in fuel prices they considered excessive, stating that this increase was the result of the tax increase. One of the viral videos around this group launched the idea of using yellow jackets.[40] The yellow jacket movement is not associated with a specific political party or trade union and has spread largely by social media.[42]...
With the protests in Paris having raised tensions the previous week, the Interior Ministry agreed to allow a gathering on 24 November at the Champ de Mars.[49] The protests attracted 106,000 people all across France,[50] only 8,000 of whom were in Paris, where the protests turned violent. Protesters lit fires in the streets, tore down signs, built barricades and pulled up cobblestones. Police resorted to tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters.[27]
According to Kim Willsher of The Guardian, the gilets jaunes protest has inspired imitation in Italy. She cites an Italian organizer saying, "We are inspired by the French gilet jaunes... But we are motivated by other issues. We, unlike the French, support our government. What we protest against is Europe. We want Europe to no longer interfere with Italian politics."[57]
Riot police in Brussels were pelted with billiard balls, cobblestones and rocks on 30 November, and responded with water cannons; 60 arrests were made for disturbing the public order.[58] Several oil depots had been blocked in Wallonia as of 16 November 2018, though protesters' attempts to block the Russian Lukoil depot in Brussels were quickly thwarted by police.[1] The movement is now working to form a party for the Belgian federal elections in 2019 under the name Mouvement citoyen belge.[59][1]
On 1 December, "yellow vest" demonstrators protested in the Dutch cities of The Hague, Nijmegen, Maastricht, Alkmaar, Leeuwarden and Groningen.[2] On 5 December, Yellow Jacket-inspired protesters demonstrated in Basra, Iraq, for more job opportunities and better services.[5]
In a French poll 85% were opposed to the violence in Paris.[61] The Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, blamed Marine Le Pen, Macron's opponent in the 2017 presidential election, and her Rassemblement National party for the violence on 24 November after she had reportedly urged people to go to the Champs Élysées.[50] Le Pen responded that letting people assemble on the Champs Élysées was the government's responsibility and accused the Minister of the Interior of trying to increase the tension to discredit the movement.[50] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_vests_movement
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12-6-18 Saud al-Qahtani (righthand man of MbS) has been accused of overseeing the torture of at least one female activist in a Saudi detention facility, Reuters has reported https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/top-mbs-aide-accused-overseeing-torture-jailed-female-rights-activist-668688902
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12-6-18 Saud al-Qahtani (righthand man of MbS) has been accused of overseeing the torture of at least one female activist in a Saudi detention facility, Reuters has reported https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/top-mbs-aide-accused-overseeing-torture-jailed-female-rights-activist-668688902
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