An update on Israeli Elections 2019
was added below on the same day.
A global astronomy project provided the first images ever taken from a black hole.
..............................
Israeli Elections 2019:
While an official result is still missing, it is quite clear that Netanyahu will build a new government based on a coalition with right-wing and religious parties.
Today, one of Israel's most important newspapers Haaretz came with a rather gloomy comment on Israel having become a 'high-functioning illiberal democracy'. Such evaluation is fitting with an earlier comment, published by Haaretz only two days ago, and which is saying in its headline:
'With a Netanyahu victory, it's time we admit: Israel has become a dictatorship'
'Netanyahu's re-election is a black day for solidly liberal American Jews,
whose relations with a pro-Trump Israel were already in crisis.
But we can't give up.'
Haaretz Logo originally loaded from Wikipedia.
Haaretz was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now being published in both Hebrew and English. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic and foreign issues. As of 2016, the paper had a weekday exposure rate of 3.9% in Israel. According to the US based Center for Research Libraries CRL, "Haaretz is considered the most influential and respected for both its news coverage and its commentary" among Israel's daily newspapers. [Wikipedia]
Many US citizens would automatically relate Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his
wife Ivanka Trump to some kind of a Jewish Connection in the White
House.
This very connection together with Trump's recent political decisions about the status
of Jerusalem and the Golan heights are raising fears within US opposition groups and
abroad that president Trump might be constantly under the influence of Israel's leading
class. Leaving aside the personal behaviour of both protagonists, the question of Kushner's
security clearance therefore became a crucial item in the public.
As the Mueller report was restricted to searching for a Russian connection in the White
House, its conclusion of no further indictments to follow doesn't necessarily mean that
new investigations in a different direction are to be excluded.
On April 4, 2019, the New Zealand Herald reported about Jared
Kushner's security clearance, and which was originally denied by White House career officials
in charge of the matter, however, finally granted by their boss:
New Zealand Herald [April 4, 2019]
" The unnamed senior White House official whose security clearance was denied last year
because of concerns about foreign influence, private business interests and personal
conduct is presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with
documents and testimony provided to the House Oversight Committee.
Kushner was identified only as "Senior White House Official 1" in committee documents
released this week describing the testimony of Tricia Newbold, a whistleblower in the
White House's personnel security office who said she and another career employee determined
that Kushner had too many "significant disqualifying factors" to receive a clearance.
Their decision was overruled by Carl Kline, the political appointee who then headed the
office, according to Newbold's interview with committee staff.
The new details about the internal debate over Kushner's clearance revives questions about
the severity of the issues flagged in his background investigation and Kushner's access to
government secrets. "
Jared Kushner laughs off question about security clearance.
[Please note: This is pro-Trump channel Fox News]
A recent opinion poll published by The New York Times on April 1st,
2019, is evaluating public approval for Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner:
The New York Times [April 1st, 2019]
Investigative journalist on Ivanka and Jared in recently published book.
..............................
When US president Donald Trump publicly declares himself to be "Very Normal",
President A B Normal wants us to know he is as normal as anybody A B else !
Donald Trump's Day Of Strange And Confusing Statements:
Trump repeatedly insisted his father was born in Germany.
This, however, is not true and he should really know it.
[MSNBC on April 2nd 2019]
But could we really expect an American Revolution " à la française ",
taking place in the United States in the middle of the 21st century ?
President Donald Trump would say: " All options are on the table ! "
..............................
The Liberals' Strategy of Using an Alleged Anti-Semitism
to Dishonor Influential Opponents from the Political Left.
The following quotation has been selected from an article written by Serge Halimi
for the reputed French paper Le Monde diplomatique and published in April 2019.
" What has succeeded against the far right, the Liberals intend to redo it against the left.
They therefore seek to build against its possible progression a wall of values that will
make it suspect in turn. And thus to oblige those who no longer support the policies of
the power to accommodate it anyway, to avoid their most powerful members from being
stigmatized as ignoble.
As luck would have it, the slander of a left that had become anti-Semitic burgeoned at the
same time in France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Once the target is designated,
it is enough to find an awkward, outrageous or abject judgment on the Facebook page or on
the Twitter account of a member of the political current they want to dishonor (..........).
Then the media take over. One can also try to destroy an adversary by attributing to him an
anti-Semitic fantasy which is foreign to him - of the type: democracy, journalism and finance
are at the service of the Jews - as soon as this adversary formulates a criticism of the
oligarchy, media or the bank.
..........
Equally threatening situation in the United States, since, according to President
Donald Trump, with the election to Congress of several left-wing parliamentarians,
" the Democratic Party has become an anti-Israel party, an anti-Jewish party ."
" Democrats hate the Jewish people, " he adds.
..........
Jews have been murdered in France and the United States by anti-Semites. Such a tragedy
should not serve as an ideological weapon for Mr. Trump, the Israeli government and forge
intellectuals. If it is necessary to construct a cordon sanitaire, it protects us rather
from those who impute to their adversaries an infamy of which they know they are innocent. "
..............................
Related news published on April 6 and 15, 2019:
And here come the consequences of Mr. Trump's public trolling
of Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar [BBC Tweet on April 15]:
Trump and the Jews
This came three days before Israel's general elections, and
which left Netanyahu in his position as a prime minister in
the frame of a new right-wing coalition.
..............................
What about anti-Semitism ?
When it comes to the definition of anti-Semitism in the
frame of the more general question of 'Who is a Semite ?',
things become really difficult.
As a racial Semitic background can be found with a high percentage of all people
living in the Mediterranian area, the Middle East, Turkey and the Caucasian region,
any definition of Semitism / anti-Semitism based on racial origin will mainly point
to the numerous populations of Arabs who are of Semitic origin and are speaking Arabic,
a Semitic language, rather than target the Jews who are of Semitic origin as well and
who are speaking Hebrew, another Semitic language.
Regarding the enmity between Jews and Arabs and which has surged after the foundation
of the Jewish state of Israel, one might even come to think that
'Jews are the most ambitious anti-Semites'.
This however isn't fitting with a historic definition of
anti-Semitism and which came into being in Europe before 1900. From there, anti-Semitism
is related to a negative attitude and hatred towards the Jews.
Nowadays, the meaning of anti-Semitism has undergone another and perhaps more dangerous
change, not only in Europe but in North America as well.
Therefore, I cannot help quoting an interesting article I found on a website dedicated
to the fight against racism:
Philo-Semitism in right-wing populist parties.
"For some years now, we have been hearing right-wing populist parties declare their
support for the 'Judeo-Christian Occident' and their opposition to anti-Semitism.
The term 'Judeo-Christian Occident' obscures, euphemises and mocks the history of
the Jewish minority in Europe. There are various reasons why tolerance and cosmopolitanism
are practiced in the form of philo-Semitism (which roughly means respect and appreciation
for everything Jewish).
The basis in this case is rather self-interest, and not a sincere interest in others.
After invoking a (supposed) Judeo-Christian sense of unity, statements are then usually
made that are directed against the Muslim faith. Interreligious projects or projects that
aim to stamp out prejudices and racism are not mentioned or are de-emphasised. The aim
of such arguments is to construct groups based on a characteristic and set them against
each other."
[GRA Foundation against racism, Switzerland]
..............................
Genetic Science as quoted by what we call 'Bible Researchers' allegedly
affirms that human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup J (J-P209) undoubtedly descended from Shem, one
of the sons of biblical Noah. And it is Shem who is mentioned when it comes to the origin of
the word 'Semite'.
The geographical distribution for populations represented by that DNA haplogroup, is being shown
below. Its relation to Jewish, or in a wider sense, Semitic origin seems to be established,
however, without any direct descent from mythological figures like Shem or Noah.
"Splendid isolation" is the term used at the time for the 19th-century British diplomatic practice of avoiding permanent alliances, particularly under the governments of Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1902. The practice emerged as early as 1822 with Britain's exit
from the post-1815 Concert of Europe and continued until 1904 when Britain found it useful
to establish its "Entente Cordiale" with France. It was the division of Europe into two
power blocs and Britain's isolation during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) that forced
Britain to finally abandon its policy of isolation.
Lord Salisbury in a caricature (1900)
However, in a speech held on 26 February 1896, the contemporary British politician Viscount Goschen still insisted on the usefulness of "splendid isolation" when he declared
"We are said to be isolated, but I say that, which I know when I say that, we have but to hold
out our hands and our isolation will terminate, and we shall receive welcome into several
groups of other Powers. ..... In the modern system of European politics we could at any
moment, I believe, make such alliances as we chose. ..... Our isolation is not an isolation
of weakness, or of contempt for ourselves: it is deliberately chosen; the freedom to act as
we choose in any circumstances that may arise."
In our times, diplomatic historian Margaret MacMillan argued that in 1897 Britain was indeed
isolated, but far from being "splendid" this was a bad thing, for Britain had no real friends
and was engaged in disputes with the United States, France, Germany, and Russia.
Sounds familiar to you ?
Taking US president Trump's policy of "America first" with all its consequences as given,
we easily find paralleles to Britain's political adage of isolation and noninterference as practised in most of the 19th century.
Only to consider what US vice-president Pence said on the 2019 Munich Security Conference: "America has never been stronger than today", and which indicates a similar point of view like that expressed by Viscount Goschen in 1896 Britain: This time, America is acting out
of a position of strength (real or imagined) that enables the country to seek and abandon
alliances at will and according to America's changing needs.
Based on such point of view, it might make sense to court North Korea's despotic leader
Kim Jong-Un, to dupe instead long-standing partners in Europe or to build a wall on the
border to Mexico at enormous costs. Even some military conflict with Iran or Venezuela,
based on an individual pretext and in order to control the regional oil markets, might fit
into the scheme of a self-righteous policy ignoring, both, the reality of 21th century and
the interests of other powerful global players.
While "splendid isolation" was working as a practicable policy during a certain era in
the 19th century when functioning networks of trade and communication, including the
globally acting financial markets, still did not exist and everything was simply about
plundering the colonies for the benefit of the colonial powers' national economies.
In our time where global development and trade is steadily growing and diversifying in the
frame of fast means of traffic and highspeed communications, any unilateral restriction
like the implementation of national tariffs will necessarily generate conflict and isolate
a nation that is following such hazardous proceedings. As a consequence, former partners
of the US will have to keep more close together and even improve their relations with
powerful competitors like China, such creating an increasing danger to US economy and
damage to its political credibility.
《美国之音》3月7日——特朗普任内第二年贸易逆差创新高
On March 6, 2019, US media like CNN, NY Times and Washington Post reported about the
most dramatic development of America's national economy under the Trump administration:
In what can be seen as a severe blow to president Trump, America’s Trade Deficit
in goods hit a record $891 billion at the end of 2018 — the highest it’s ever been.
The trade deficit is the difference between how much goods and services the US
imports from other countries and how much it exports.
Of course, the weakened overseas demand for American goods is partly due to a global
economic slowdown and the relative strength of the US dollar. But the widening gap
was also essentially caused by Trump’s $1.5 trillion tax cut, which has been largely
financed by government borrowing, and the trade war he escalated last year.
Not only did the trade deficit increase, it increased exactly where Trump said
it wouldn’t. Reducing the gap has always been a key subject of Trump's policies.
And, by the way, British proceedings to exit from the EU ("Brexit") have already
proved to be a severe nuisance to Britain's economy and credibility, not only a loss for
Europe. - Just another example that "splendid isolation" might be a risky enterprise today.
And we still didn't speak about North Korea's "Juche" ideology which is often related to the word "self-reliance" and was invented by Kim Jong-Un's grandfather Kim Il-Sung: It is the ultimate example of "splendid isolation" and, maybe, this could explain why US president Trump was, at least until some days ago, so fond of N Korea's despotic leader. However, there are still chances for a better understanding between both of them, even after the crashed summit in Vietnam, as the German proverbe has it: "The rat pack are beating up each other and are friends again." ("Pack schlägt sich, Pack verträgt sich.")
Trump's 2019 CPAC address in 3 minutes You have to switch on the video sound !
President Trump's address to the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2
was the longest speech of his presidency. He covered many topics, including the people
involved in Muller's Russia probe, the Green New Deal on climate control and some ugly
aspect of border security. And referring to current "immigration lottery" he added:
"I'm finding loopholes to get around the loophole because our Congress cannot."
[《华盛顿邮报》3月2日：“民主在黑暗中消亡” ， 特朗普演说在共和党的会议。]
Holding America as a Hostage
劫持美国为人质
The incredible evidence of White House information leaks
originating from fed-up Trump aides (... willfully) and from
Trump himself (... by ignoring basic security standards).
[MSNBC on March 8, 2019]
Twitter statistics and remarkable tweets for @blueprint_news (March 1st, 2019).
Top Tweet on the US-North Korea subject,
dating from March 9, and the overall tweet
statistics 15 hours after publishing.
US secretary of state Pompeo says the U.S. will suspend its obligations to the INF treaty
today, Saturday Feb. 2nd 2019. The day before he stated that if Russia doesn’t come into
compliance, the treaty “will terminate.”
The INF treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty), signed in 1987, was the first arms
control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: Ground-launched cruise missiles with a
range between 500 kilometers (310 miles) and 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles). Russia denies
that it has been in violation.
U.S. officials have expressed concern that China, which isn’t part of the treaty, is deploying
large numbers of missiles in Asia that the U.S. can’t counter because it’s bound by the treaty
[Boston Herald]. There remains an amassing of US missiles on more or less small islands like
Okinawa and which could be easily handled by Chinese rocket forces in case of conflict between
China and the US according to Chinese opinion comments on one website which is dealing with
military items [SINA Military 新浪军事]. This seems to be the reason why Washington specially declared that China had nothing to do with the INF treaty.
Chinese comments to the subject as found on a related
SINA Military 新浪军事 website published on Feb. 1st.
Russia's answer to the US decision followed within hours:
..............................
Top-tweets on Twitter for @blueprint_news in January 2019.
President Donald Trump’s Historic Russia Denial Will Follow Him Forever. After latest news delivered by The Daily Beast, a popular US source, Trump's famous stance on the absence of personal relations with Russia has, once again, come into the focus of a broader public in the frame of special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigations in the subject:
The following article is quoting Chinese publications on cutting-edge laser communications in
space and which makes up for one of China's most ambitious national programs. Due to the complex
character of that subject, I tried to keep myself as close as possible to the original text in
order to avoid misinterpretation. Only slight editorial changes have been made to the quotations.
On January 9 in 2015, the first prize of the National Technology Invention Award, and which represents
the highest level of invention and creation in China, was awarded to Prof. Ma Jing and his research
team at the Harbin Institute of Technology by China's prime minister Li Keqiang.
"Prof. Ma Jing and Prof. Tan Liying successfully carried out the 'Star-Earth Laser-Link-Communications
Test' which is an important milestone in the history of China's satellite communications technology
development, marking China's space high-speed information transmission, a high-tech aerospace cutting-
edge field."
Harbin Institute of Technology - Prof. Ma Jing (l) and Prof. Tan Liying (r)
[中国教育和科研计算机网网络中心——哈工大报2019年01月02日]
More accurate, however, is a Chinese publication in the US magazine Science, and which was launched on June 16, 2017. That publication deals with "Satellite-based entanglement distribution over 1200 kilometers". In other words it's about "Space calling Earth, on the quantum line". All of the authors belong to research facilities located in China.
"Any successful quantum communications network will rely on the ability to distribute entangled photons
over large distances between receiver stations. Up to then, earthbound free-space demonstrations had
been limited to line-of-sight links across cities or between mountaintops. Scattering and coherence
decay have limited the link separations to around 100 km. Yin et al. now used the Chinese Micius
satellite, which was launched last year and is equipped with a specialized quantum optical payload.
They successfully demonstrated the satellite-based entanglement distribution to (terrestic) receiver
stations separated by more than 1200 km. The results obtained are illustrating the possibility of a
future global quantum communications network."
The signal attenuation of measured photon activity as a
function of varying length of the communications path.
"Quantum entanglement, first recognized by (Albert) Einstein, Podolsky, and Roson, as well as Schrödinger, is
a physical phenomenon in which the quantum states of a many-particle system cannot be factorized into
a product of single-particle wave functions, even when the particles are separated by large distances.
Entangled states have been produced in laboratories and exploited to test the contradiction between
classical local hidden variable theory and quantum mechanics by using Bell’s inequality. It is of
fundamental interest to distribute entangled particles over increasingly large distances and study the
behavior of entanglement under extreme conditions."
In the space module, photons of different quantum status were generated by a pump laser
(PL) and subsequent polarizing crystal (PBS) that is splitting the laser beam into differently
polarized photons. An integrated system of mirrors is comprising fixed dichromatic mirrors
DM1/DM2 and piezo-electrically steered mirrors PI for fine adjustment. It is used to aligne
both kinds of photons before their emission. Quarter-wave and half-wave plates QWP/HWP
are included.
"Practically, large-scale dissemination of entanglement — eventually at a global scale — is useful as
the essential physical resource for quantum information protocols such as quantum cryptography, quantum
teleportation, and quantum networks."
[Science - American Association for the Advancement of Science 16 June 2017]
There have been considerations, published by other sources, to use photon-entanglement in the creation
of secure communication lines that could not be hacked. Any unauthorized interference with such line
would lead to a quantum switch of entangled photons and such trigger off the alarm at the connected
receiving station.
Up to now, we don't know for sure whether photon-entanglement is playing a role in China's brandnew
communications line named the "Magpie Bridge", and which already enables data transfer between Earth
and the backside of the Moon. However, it would be a contradiction to enormous Chinese efforts in this
field, if such option was not included in the plannings of the Magpie project.
China's relay satellite system "Magpie Bridge". [搜狐2019年01月02日]
Related Subjects:
Here's another future application of quantum mechanics and quantum state entanglement.
According to IBM Q, 1st US manufacturer of quantum computers, some systems are already
available and are allegedly working under stable conditions, i.e. without any mechanical or
thermal disturbances from the outside. IBM Q's brandnew commercial video was launched
on January 8, 2019:
Update added for the 70th Anniversary
of Human Rights on December 9, 2018.
..............................
70th Anniversary of Human Rights
Arabic Media Reporting.
The following Arabic article I found on the website of برنامج إضاءات
Program Spotlights and which is related to قناة العربية Al-Arabiya
TV in Dubai:
مواقف الشعوب هي التحدي الأكبر لمستقبل حقوق الإنسان
"The positions of peoples are the greatest challenge to the future of human rights".
Reading this article one gets an idea of how much the individual situation of a certain human
population (starving poverty or life in abundance) determines its approach to human rights. In
the end it always leads to old grandpa Karl Marx and his stance
"Being determines consciousness".
