Sunday, February 24, 2013

Iranian Uranium - Large Natural Reserves



Al-Arabiya report dating from February 23 (translation further down)


伊朗宣布发现蕴藏量丰富的新铀矿

Iran declares having discovered a new uranium mine containing rich deposits.

…伊朗23日宣布发现可供核能计划使用的丰富新铀矿,并确定16个可兴建核电厂的地点。

On [February] 23, Iran announced the discovery of a new mine, rich in uranium, that might be convenient for use in nuclear energy plannings [at the time] the location of 16 nuclear energy plants to be constructed has to be determined.

…这些铀矿是在南部沿海地区发现,蕴藏量为先前估计的3倍。若将过去18个月发现的矿藏计入,伊朗的铀储存量约4400吨。

[According to the Atomic Energy Organization], that uranium mine was discovered in the southern part of coastal districts, its deposit being three times the previously estimated value. If [treatment] of the discovered mineral resources started 18 month ago, Iran's stockpiled amount of uranium would be approximately 4.400 tons.


[Source: China News Network / People's Network on February 24, 2013]

The discovery of new uranium deposits and increased nuclear ambitions are expected to strengthen Iran's position in the negotiations with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany ("5+1") in Kazakhstan, starting on Tuesday February 26.

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طهران استأنفت تخصيب اليورانيوم إلى وقود بنسبة 20%ـ

Tehran resumes uranium enrichment up to a fuel [grade] of 20%.

مصدر غربي يقول إن قلق الأسرة الدولية تضاعف 5 مرات

A western source says that fears in the family of nations have five times increased.


[Source: Al-Arabiya on February 23, 2013]

Sunday, February 17, 2013

U.S. Policy - N Korean Ambitions



Military parade in Pyongyang celebrating N Korea's 3rd nuclear test
[People's Network, Beijing, February 17]


美智库:短暂性制裁是打破朝核僵局的思路

U.S. "think tank": Short-living sanctions are breaking
North Korea's train of thought in the nuclear deadlock.

人民网华盛顿2月15日电 (记者 李博雅)15日,有报道称朝鲜已经告知中国今年还将进行1至2次核试。而据布鲁金斯学会网站报道,朝鲜可能已经在秘密地点制造高浓缩铀,每年可以生产相当于几个炸弹威力的U-235铀燃料。

People's Network report from Washington, Feb. 15, correspondent Li BoYa:
There are news reports saying that North Korea already informed China this year [about its intention] to carry out another one or two nuclear tests. According to a report [to be found on] the website of Brookings Institute, North Korea should probably already manufacture highly enriched uranium at a secret site, being able to produce each year [enough] U-235 uranium fuel matching the power of "several bombs".


A Source of Foreign Policy Development in the U.S.

In today's article on North Korea's nuclear capacity, the ideas developed at Brookings Institute, a Washington "think tank", are thoroughly reported by semi-official People's Daily / People's Network without any Chinese comment added. You can find the quoted Brookings article on their website behind the following link:

"Try Temporary North Korea Sanctions" written by Michael E. O'Hanlon and published on February 15, 2013.

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The headline of a related news report from People's Network, published today February 17, is reading:

"Japanese media say Obama is expecting [Japan's prime minister] Abe to visit America for priority talks on the North Korean question."

日媒称奥巴马希望安倍访美优先讨论朝鲜问题


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

N Korea's Nuclear Test - Still Not Perfect



军事评论员马鼎盛:朝鲜核试称不上成功

Military commentator Ma DingSheng:
North Korea's nuclear test was not successful.


Yesterday, February 12, the Chinese news service IFENG (Hongkong / Beijing), quoted Ma DingSheng (picture above), a Hongkong based commentator on military subjects, that North Korea's recent nuclear test was "not really successful". Nevertheless, North Korea should be regarded as a nuclear power.

Ma then referred to a South Korean evaluation of the explosion capacity matching with 56 kt TNT. "From the data material, considered to be reliable, it can be seen that today's test did not succeed like two other tests before, because the technique North Korea has in its hands is probably not well enough settled, and planning scheme as well as electronic device are not accurate enough."


South Korea: Demonstration against North Korea's leader
Kim Jong Un after yesterday's nuclear test.


Chinese papers reporting on North Korea's nuclear test.


The above pictures are showing the location and
scheme of the Punggje-ri nuclear test facility:
The nuclear test facility consists of a tunnel leading down to a horizontal passway at the end of which the ignition chamber with the nuclear device can be found. The mountain above the ignition chamber measures about 400 m in height. After installation of the nuclear device, the horizontal tunnel in front of the ignition chamber is entirely filled with concrete. A data cable is connecting the lowest level of the tunnel system with an outside facility intended to survey the experiment. The distance between the entrance to the tunnel system and the ignition chamber measures more than one km.

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环保部:朝鲜第三次核试验尚未影响

[China's] ministry of environment protection: North Korea's third nuclear test has still not affected [China's] environment or public health.


[Source: People's Daily / People's Network, Beijing, on February 13, 2013]

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韩国推测朝可能用移动发射车发射多枚弹道导弹

South Korea guessing the North might probably use movable launching vehicles to project [a multitude of] ballistic missiles.


North Korea already owns 640 guided missiles of their "Fleet-Footed Runner" -B, -C or -ER brand that are covering a range of 300-1.000 km as well as 27-40 movable launching vehicles used in realistic war plannings. This goes together with 150-250 guided missiles of their "Labour" brand [or: "Rodong"] guided missiles with their range of 1.300 km and that can be used with the provided 27-40 launching vehicles. Furthermore, North Korea's army has prepared 14 launching vehicles, specially designed for helping to project the 3.000-4.000 km range "Dancing to Water's End" guided missiles that could reach the U.S. [base] on Guam.


[Source: ChinaNews.Com from PR China on February 13, 2013]

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Chinese visitor to "blueprint news" coming from river Yangtse at the beginning of the Year of the Snake:


Macau - Port of the Watersnake:



Saturday, February 09, 2013

Neurology Meets Religion - The Devil Within



Prof. Gerhard Roth, University of Bremen, Germany


عالم ألماني يعثر في الدماغ على "وكر شيطاني" يوسوس بالشر

German scholar has discovered the " seat of devil " in human brain from where the evil is being suggested.

هناك 3 أنواع ممن لديهم "وكر" تنبع منه المحرّضات على العنف وأخطرهم الطغاة

There are three categories of [such] " seats " from where originate the [provocation] of violence and the [dangers of tyranny].


[Source; Al-Arabiya on February 8, 2013]

Editor's Note:

I was very much astonished to find a German scholar of humanistic background in the headlines of an Arabic newspaper. However, it is his fascinating theory on the origin of diabolic thought which has caught the interest of journalists in an Islamic country. From reading the Coran I got some idea about the role of "diabolic thinking" in Muslim belief. Now, there is somebody telling them that "devil" is part of everybody, and he even dares to point to a certain area of brain considered as his seat. From there, it is only a small step to assume that such "incorporated devil" will control everybody's action and thought, making any "free decision" in support of or against the rules of Allah (i.e. God) to become a mere result of interacting factors that are supporting or endangering the vital functions of the body and its general well-being. If that well-being can only be ensured by denying moral laws and turning a blind eye on all kinds of crimes, the "devilish authority within" will most certainly take over. Such is the consequence of a fully deterministic theory of human behaviour, ... and we finally reach the undisputed truth of Karl Marx: The state of being determines the state of consciousness. Same goes with the more physical experience of the Pawlow dog who reacts according to brain stimulation.

However, everybody should know, if not from personal experience but from neutral observation of others, that such deterministic point of view has only half the truth. Indeed, some people are opposing the "devil's decision" and acting against it, while knowing well enough that such behaviour will, sooner or later, affect their physical well-being in a rather negative way. As a proof, we can quote outstanding human behaviour under pressure as can be found on the battle field, during torture or in any other situation characterized by personal distress.

Now, it becomes clear that individual choices are still possible, - within certain boundaries of physical integrity, I agree. The proposed "seat of devil" in human brain might then be one possible strategic center where some of such choices are being processed. It could be a place where refined strategies of action are being developed and an evaluation of possible consequences takes place. Whether some action and its consequences are to be considered as "devilish", will then depend on the goal intended to reach and the measures to be taken. Personal goals and suited measures necessary to apply will further depend on the moral background of a person which is a function of education and daily life experience, something that can be influenced from the outside of human brain.

Any extreme human behaviour, however, characterized by violence, aggression and despotism, and that could be related to a prevailing influence of the above mentioned brain segments should then be regarded as what it is, - a mental disorder. Nothing devilish or mysterious about it. Don't let them enjoy your fear.


By the way, I should add that Gerhard Roth's deterministic theory has not been applauded by every specialist on this field of neurology. Nevertheless, he is accepted as an important member of the scientific community in Germany and has even received a high national decoration.


"Now, Verily, it is We who have created man, and
We know what his innermost self whispers with him:
for We are closer to him than his neck-vein."
[Quran 50:16]


" But as for anyone who chooses to remain blind
to the remembrance of the Most Gracious,
to him We assign an [enduring] evil impulse,
to become his other self : " [Quran 43:36]

" whereupon, behold, these [evil impulses]
bar all such from the path [of truth],
making them think that they are
guided aright ! " [Quran 43:37]


Early Understanding of Brain Functions in the World of Islam


Al-Harith ibn Kaladah (Arabic: الحارث بن كلدة‎; deceased 13 AH / 634–35 AD) was, according to traditional sources, the oldest known Arab physician and a companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (deceased 632 AD). He is said to have traveled to Jundishapur, a legendary medical school in Persia, in search of medical knowledge before the advent of Islam. There, he might have received even some basic understanding of brain surgery.

Some are saying that the Prophet's knowledge about medicine can be related to ibn Kalandah. This, however, might be regarded by orthodox Muslims as a blasphemic interpretation of the historical facts. Furthermore, such theory cannot stand scientific approach as one of the few detailed evaluations of ibn Kalandah is stating [=> al-Khazarajî / Kareem], referring to him as a healer who practised traditional Arabic plant and folk medicine rather than sophisticated medicine related to the inheritance of earlier Greek physicians like Hippocrates, Galen or Dioscurides.

Greek influence on Arabic medicine became visible only some 200 years later after the Coran was delivered by Prophet Muhammad. This is most probably due to the fact that Arabic was a rather "new" language at the time of the Prophet, its scripture being perfected around 600 AD. As a result, reliable translations from Greek to Arabic should have come into being only much later when some essential works of ancient Greek medicine, like that of Dioscurides, only survived in the Arabic transcription.

Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded that some miraculous legends on brain surgery and brain functions reached the steadily growing Islamic community much earlier. This, however, should not necessarily imply an influence on the Prophet's perception of brain functioning.

[Main source: Was al-Harith bin Kaladah the Source of Prophet Muhammad’s Medical Knowledge ?; authors: Khalid al-Khazarajî and Elias Kareem; October 26, 2011; update: February 10, 2012; hosted at IslamPapers.com]

In fact, the Greek physician Hippocrates of Kos (460–377 BC) already had a thorough understanding of the human body and, in particular, the brain. He believed that the body must be treated as a whole and not just a series of parts. He was the first physician to assert that thoughts, ideas and feelings come from the brain and not the heart as others of his time believed. He recognized that the brain was involved in sensation and was the center of intelligence.

Hippocrates accurately described disease symptoms and was the first physician to note the symptoms of epilepsy in children. He wrote the first book on epilepsy, "On the Sacred Disease". Refuting the idea that epilepsy is a curse or a prophetic power, as was previously believed, he states that it's a brain disorder. "It is thus with regard to the disease called Sacred: it appears to me to be nowise more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but has a natural cause like other affections."


[Main source: Hippocrates' Influence on the Origins of Neurosurgery; authors: Anna Chang, BS, Eleonora M. Lad, MD, PhD, Shivanand P. Lad, MD, PhDDisclosures: Neurosurg Focus. 2007;23(1):E9]

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A visitor to "blueprint news" from Abu Dhabi searching for the Devil:



Sunday, February 03, 2013

Chinese Hackers - Infiltrating the West


Last UPDATE: January 7, 2013



James Lewis - Center for Strategic & International Studies
[Source: Al-Jazeera, English program, 1st February, 2013]


These days, there is much noise in Western media concerning "China's government hacking the Free World".

As to the New York Times which was after a story that should reveal private income of China's leader Wen JiaBao and his family, there is not much to say. Of course, China's authorities are able to invade certain websites in order to get strategic information from anybody attacking the core of their power. If People's Daily or any other official Chinese paper ever dared to use "investigative journalism" to find out the amount of alleged private earnings of U.S. ex-president Bush senior in the frame of his contacts with the armament industry (Carlyle and the Saudis ...), I could imagine how furiously all those technically skilled specialists and agencies related to the Pentagon would react.

Now, there is the question to what extent Chinese authorities are regularly attacking Western government institutions and high-tech companies in some kind of military hacking. This kind of hacking, however, leads to another question which is that of civil hacking by some Chinese folks who are resembling much those uncivilized guys traditionally haunting the websites of our hemissphere.

In fact, there is much civil hacking in China despite a rigorous control of internet access by China Telecom and state security. Yet, even in China internet security can be outwitted which brought about some special kind of hacker we encountered in a German TV interview already years ago. He said: "When I am breaking through the Great Firewall of China, I always think of doing something in favour of my country. If I can infiltrate the network of Taiwan's defense ministry, maybe the punishment for being caught while tunnelling out of China will be less severe."


China’s Ministry of National Defense recently said, “Chinese laws prohibit any action including hacking that damages Internet security.” It added that “to accuse the Chinese military of launching cyberattacks without solid proof is unprofessional and baseless.” [Source: New York Times on January 30, 2013].

In the frame of the official Chinese declaration on internet security, I searched some IT platforms in the People's Republic for links to "hacking" and related vocabulary. However, I did not find much except some hints at the security standards of Google OS and the quest for "cheap" copies of Western standard software, altogether rather harmless material as expected before. Compare this with the self-portrayals of some Western hackers who seem to fear no consequences for what they are doing.

Nevertheless, there must be an extensive civil hacking activity that is binding much capacity of China's security authorities. The following quotations are dealing with "China's domestic hacking problem" and have been taken from Chinese web resources. Maybe, all those allegations on "China's military hacking activity" could then turn into a demographic problem of a densely populated nation with steadily rising economic and communications capacities. By now, even the number of Chinese language websites should be surpassing that of English language sites as has been predicted already years ago.


The schematic diagram above of "assembly line virus" as used
by hackers makes a difference between "invading virus" (left)
and "virus extracting money" (right). The diagram has been
composed by some Chinese "Lucky Star Anti-Virus Center".


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Computer Related Crimes in China


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公安部侦破最大网站入侵案 30省185家网站被黑

Headline:
An investigation by the Ministry of Public Security broke with the greatest case of website infiltration in 30 provinces on 185 hacked homepages.

假证贩子和电脑黑客联手,185个官方网站被其入侵,范围涵盖30个省、直辖市和自治区。近日,公安部组织在案件线索来源地——揭阳市召开了新闻发布会,宣布近年来公安机关侦破的最大规模入侵政府网站案件。

Dealers of falsified certificates and computer hackers [shook hands] when they invaded official websites in a range effecting about 30 provinces, municipalities [directly under the central government] and autonomous regions. The Ministry of Public Security recently organized the opening of a news release meeting [or: press conference] in Jieyang township presenting sources which delivered clues in that case, thereby announcing the most extensive case of government website infiltration, investigated and [solved] by the public security organization in recent years.
Note: Jieyang township is located in Guangdong province (广东省).

截至本月12日,全国各地共抓获涉案犯罪嫌疑人165名,收缴各类假证书7100多本、假印章1万多枚。

By 12th of this month [i.e. July 2012], the overall number of suspects, seized for being involved in that case of criminal action, reached 165 for any place of the country. More than 7100 fake certificates and more than 10.000 [illegal] seals have been confiscated.


揭阳市新闻发布会现场展示收缴的各类假证等。

News spread from a public site of Jieyang township
revealing all kinds of confiscated fake certificates.


[Source: XinHua News on July 26, 2012]

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黑客团伙5个月入侵70多家政府网站被判刑

A group of hackers, joining for five months to invade more than 70 government websites, has now been sentenced.


The article is mentioning 80-90 youths forming the group's main body. Some of them should have only junior middle school education. 13 group members received prison sentences between one year six months and seven years.

[Source: People's Network quoted by gmw.cn on September 09, 2012]

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" We Did It "


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揭秘全球黑客组织“匿名者” 多次黑掉美中情局

A secret global hacker organization "The Anonymous Ones" being
exposed for having hacked America's Central Intelligence many times.

黑客团体“匿名者”以攻击山达基教官网成名,又“黑”了美国中央情报局、日本索尼公司和英国《太阳报》网站,在一些网民眼里是叛逆英雄,在各国网络监管部门眼中却是“互联网恐怖组织”,去年更是成为一场声势浩大跨国打击行动的目标。英国《观察家报》寻访一些曝光的“匿名者”成员和研究黑客现象的专家,试图揭开这个号称世界最大黑客团体的神秘面纱。

A hacker group named "The Anonymous Ones" and which became famous for their attack on Scientology's instruction network, also hacked websites of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Japan's company Sony and Britain's daily "The Sun". In the focus of some network people these are heroic rebels, while they are a "terrorist organization of the internet" in the focus of supervizing departments in charge of national networks. Last year they turned, even more, towards goals of transnational hitting activities, great in strength and impetus. Britain's "Observer" tried to locate some exposed members of the "Anonymous Ones" together with specialists involved in research of the "hacker phenomenon" in an attempt to lift the mysterious veil of what claims to be the "world's greatest hacker organization".


Editor's Note: The complete article was published on October 26, 2012, by 环球网, a news network belonging to a media group in the People's Republic of China. The article doesn's include any reference to hacking activity in China.

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"China Hacking" - Another subject at the Munich Security Conference
[February 2, 2013]





Another blogspot related to the subject:

China's Internet People - A Growing Population





A Brave New World of Internet Security



Above: Professional visitor to "blueprint news" coming from the Philadelphia branch of Lockheed Information Technology Company, a provider of computer related services to U.S. aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin in Denver, Colorado. That visitor has been tracked back in order to demonstrate one legal mechanism of verifying an internet address. All data referring to that visitor and regarded as probably sensitive have been deleted from tracking protocols and will not be given away to third parties.




Saturday, February 02, 2013

Egypt - Morsy Under Pressure



Anti-government protesters are gathering outside of the presidential palace in Cairo, some of them throwing petrol bombs while security forces are using water cannons to stop them.

The clashes began as Egypt was marking the second anniversary of the revolution, and protest is not restricted to Cairo alone.


التيار الشعبي بقيادة حمدين صباحي يطالب أنصاره أمام القصر الرئاسي بالتدخل لوقف الاشتباكات

A flow of people with [matinal religious guidance] calling for supporters in front of the presidential palace to intervene [in order to] stop the clashes.

الرئاسة المصرية تحمل القوى التي "قد تكون ساهمت بالتحريض" المسؤولية الكاملة عن الأحداث

The Egyptian presidency [deployed] troops that "might be helpful in the provocation" of those entirely responsible for the incidents.



الرئاسة المصرية تتعهد بالتعامل بحزم مع المتظاهرين لحماية منشآت الدولة

Egypt's presidency cares for dealing decidedly with protesters [in order to] protect national institutions.


[Source: Al-Jazeera evening news on 1st February, 2013]