North Korea - Kim Jong Il Dead

North Korea's supreme leader
Kim Jong Il died on Dec. 17

朝鲜最高领导人金正日17日逝世

According to People's Network 人民网, Beijing, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il should have died on December 17. The official photo below, perhaps one of his last, is showing Kim Jong Il together with Russian president Medvedyev during his visit to Russia on August 24.



金正日于１９４２年２月１６日出生在中朝边境白头山密营。
Kim Jong Il was born on February 16, 1942, in a secret camp in the White Head Mountain area that is bordering China.

2010年10月10日，朝鲜在平壤金日成广场举行盛大阅兵式，庆祝朝鲜劳动党成立65周年。
[Kim Jong Il and son Kim Jong Un]: At North Korea's large Kim Il Song square, attending a giant military parade on celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party.

In a 2010 blogspot, we already learnt about Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un who might now become the new strongman of North Korea.

Another blogspot, dating back to 2008, is showing a rare series of photos of Kim Jong Il visiting a military unit.

2月14日，朝鲜劳动党总书记、国防委员会委员长金正日（右一）在平壤会见了中国国务委员、公安部部长孟建柱（左一）。
The general secretary of Korea's Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defence Council, Kim Jong Il, meeting with members of China's State Council and the [Chinese] Minister of Public Security Meng Jian Zhu (first left). February 14, 2011.

Chinese Language Flooding the Web

These days, PEOPLE'S NETWORK 人民网, the online edition of PEOPLE'S DAILY 人民日报 in Beijing, is celebrating its 15th anniversary. I still remember their website from the very beginning as it was just about the same time BLUEPRINT magazine went online. At that time, the presentation of Chinese characters on webpages was still an unsolved problem to most webmasters, and even commercial Chinese webdesigners offered Chinese text rather on picture files than Chinese encoded text in the frame of an HTML-program.

Lucky me, being able to produce Chinese text on pictures by using a combination of rare software, already presented some BLUEPRINT articles containing Chinese scripture as early as 1997. Even though, Chinese websites using GB- and BIG-encoding could already be found on rare occasions, neither of both standard browsers at that time, the Microsoft Internet Explorer and its competitor from Netscape, was able to show simplified or traditional Chinese characters. Only later versions of the Internet Explorer were able to do so. I even remember one experimental version of the Microsoft product that required a distinct installation of the language support download for each single Chinese webpage to view. It was about the same time when "Chinese language viewers" were offered for free.

Nowadays, there are more than two Chinese encodings available and that are usually recognized by all modern browsers. Now, it makes sense to write Chinese text directly into the HTML-body of a website. Even more, Chinese is going to become the prevailing language on the internet, letting behind English that, up to then, dominated the worldwide web.

As to PEOPLE'S NETWORK, it has lived through all those changes during the 15 years of its existence. Their first website I found almost by chance as the search engines of that time were as well different from now. The GB-encoded site was characterized by a standard-grey background and contained no single picture. Instead, it summarized some older articles from the archives of PEOPLE'S DAILY. It really looked like a beginner's site. But very soon, the webdesign got a professional look and matched with state-of-the-art design of Western news magazines. Today, PEOPLE'S NETWORK is a highly professional news service with a comprehensive and well-organized structure, combined with an efficient search engine.

Of course, it should not be underestimated that Chinese media are subject to a strict administrative control. From there, restrictions to the credibility of news reports and related comments might arise when it comes to difficult subjects concerning China's internal problems. Nevertheless, PEOPLE'S NETWORK remains an important source for news and official opinion from the People's Republic of China.

As a proof for the accuracy of my evaluation, here some photos taken from a recent Chinese language article on unmanned airplanes (drones) as used by Western military [People's Network, Dec. 18, 2011]:

X-47B (U.S. drone)

RQ-4 (U.S. drone)

RQ-7 (U.S. drone)

Sentry 哨兵 RQ-170 (U.S. drone)

美无人机是被伊朗“诱骗”降落？
综合外国媒体12月16日报道，一位不愿透露姓名的伊朗工程师近日对外披露了伊朗用电子战方式击落美国RQ-170“哨兵”无人机的细节内容。
U.S. drone really brought down by Iran in a "tricky" landing ?
[According to] a comprehensive report from foreign media on December 16, an Iranian engineer and whose name was deliberately held back recently leaked [information] that Iran brought down an RQ-170 "Sentry" drone using electronic warfare measures. [People's Network, Dec.18, 2011]

Predator 捕食者 (U.S. drone)

Falcon 猎鹰 HTV-2 (U.S. drone)

Spirit of Lightning and Thunder 雷电神 (British drone)

Heron 苍鹭 (Israeli drone)

Habi 哈比 (Israeli drone; romanization of the Chinese name probably fitting with a Hebrew name)

World Economy: Rise of China - Fall of Europe ?

Today, the People's Republic of China is celebrating its 10th anniversary of China's membership in the World Trade Organization WTO. [People's Daily Online / People's Network and Al-Jazeera TV, Dec.11, 2011]

As China's gross national product GNP soared to $ 4,393 per head by 2010, in comparison to $ 1,042 in 2001, the People's Republic can now be considered as the world's second largest economy, following the United States of America.

President Hu Jin Tao joined the celebrations.

As Chinese folks are known to be superstitious, nature seems to have provided a "heavenly sign" for them which did not occur for ten years: A lunar eclipse on December 10, accompanied by the temporary observation of a "Red Moon" if that has anything to mean at all. - At least, the colour "red" is a traditional sign of good luck and prosperity in China's society.


_______________________________________


U.S. general warns of political unrest in the frame of latent economic difficulties that are just expressing themselves in the actual crisis of the European currency system. [Source: Al-Jazeera, Dec.10, 2011]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has said that he believes the eurozone is at great risk and warned that any breakup of the bloc could have consequences for the Pentagon, even threatening its top weapons programme and which is partly relying on its European allies in Britain and Italy.

Dempsey made his comment at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. Even though, Dempsey is no recognized expert in economics, his evaluation of the eurozone crisis might represent the way of thinking within parts of the military and political community at Washingon D.C..

As the U.S.military has still more than 80,000 troops and 20,000 civilian workers in Europe, many of them based in Germany, any worsening of the European crisis could affect U.S. military plannings as well, namely the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme which is considered to be the Pentagon's costlies weapons programme and is partly relying on their European partners.

Comment:
Now some remarks about economic stability in Germany. It's a fact that heavenly signs were not in favour of Germany since we met with the "Black Sun" of a solar eclipse under the Schröder administration in 1999, a time when worst mistakes had been made that are still showing their after-effect in 2011 Germany. Nevertheless, our economy has remained its vigour and even more recovered after the devastating global financial crisis. As to the eurozone crisis, Germany and France finally succeeded in finding a temporary solution that is settling the European market for a certain time while the European currency remains a stable competitor to the U.S.$. So what's all that fuzz about ?



Above: Headlines of the satirical magazine "Titanic" on the occasion of a total solar eclipse in 1999. - "Schröder is getting the Black Sun to Germany." - "That's what they have money for."

Earth-Like Planet Found

Only some hours ago, NASA reported about an earth-like planet, Kepler 22b, found in the sky region of Cygnus (Swan) and Lyra. This planet is orbiting a sun similar like ours and in a distance that would make human life possible, i.e. where liquid water could exist which is essential for the existence of human tissue.

Area of search of the Kepler mission in the star constellations of Cygnus (Swan) and Lyra.



Here's a shortened version of the NASA report. For the original text and additional pictures refer to their website:

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone" [of a star], the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

Previous research hinted at the existence of near-Earth-size planets in habitable zones, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Two other small planets orbiting stars smaller and cooler than our sun recently were confirmed on the very edges of the habitable zone, with orbits more closely resembling those of Venus and Mars.

"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Kepler's results continue to demonstrate the importance of NASA's science missions, which aim to answer some of the biggest questions about our place in the universe."

Kepler discovers planets and planet candidates by measuring dips in the brightness of more than 150,000 stars to search for planets that cross in front, or "transit," the stars. Kepler requires at least three transits to verify a signal as a planet.

"Fortune smiled upon us with the detection of this planet," said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., who led the team that discovered Kepler-22b. "The first transit was captured just three days after we declared the spacecraft operationally ready. We witnessed the defining third transit over the 2010 holiday season."

The Kepler science team uses ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer Space Telescope to review observations on planet candidates the spacecraft finds. The star field that Kepler observes in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra can only be seen from ground-based observatories in spring through early fall. The data from these other observations help determine which candidates can be validated as planets.

Kepler-22b is located 600 light-years away. While the planet is larger than Earth, its orbit of 290 days around a sun-like star resembles that of our world. The planet's host star belongs to the same class as our sun, called G-type, although it is slightly smaller and cooler.

Of the 54 habitable zone planet candidates reported in February 2011, Kepler-22b is the first to be confirmed. This milestone will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Steve Maran, a former NASA astronomer and book author ("Astronomy for Dummies"), explaining the Kepler mission in an interview with Al-Jazeera, studio Washington :

Afghanistan - A Doomed Conference

A major conference on Afghanistan has begun in the German town of Bonn comprising delegates from 90 countries. Pakistan cancelled its participation after a devastating U.S. assault on alleged Taliban targets in the Jalalabad area, killing instead 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Missing as well are Taliban related groups including three influential members of the former Taliban administration in Afghanistan and delegates of a militant group lead by Afghan strongman Hekmatyar. As the official Afghan delegation of president Karzai has rejected any Afghan representation other than their own, such groups cannot participate officially. Nevertheless, talks with high-ranking Taliban representatives are now taking place behind the scene in Pakistan and Qatar.

The present conference has to prepare for the future of Afghanistan, because complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from that country should take place by 2014. Pakistan's participation at the meeting would have been of much importance for the stabilization of Afghanistan's security, as Pakistan's influence in the Afghan border region is steadily increasing.

East-Asia Leading Worldwide Car Production

According to recent statistics I found in a magazine, published by the largest German organization of car drivers, ADAC, China can now be regarded as the No.1 car producer worldwide. This I took for reason to examine some aspects of East-Asian car production.

"Sai Ou 赛欧", a Chinese manufacturer of cars offers his latest model called "Xue Fo Lan 雪佛兰". As there is no intelligible translation of the model's name, it might be a combination of the Chinese word "xue" for "snow" (German "Schnee") and the sound-adaptation "fo-lan" possibly representing the German word of "Fohlen" which means young horse. The result could therefore be "Schneefohlen", a beautiful white-coloured and energetic young horse, thus hinting at German competitors on the Chinese market (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) who are offering their top models to Chinese top clients. Such interpretation of the car's name becomes even more credible when we look at the translation of the Chinese company's name of "Sai Ou 赛欧" which simply means "Surpassing Europe" or at least, in a moderate version, "Competiting with Europe", thus directly indicating Germany which is Europe's most important exporter of cars. That's just an example how Chinese folks are thinking.

Exhibition site of Sai Ou Ltd. showing their latest model in the foreground while the background poster is referring to Sai Ou's cars of the so-called "Happiness 幸福" series:


Below are photos of the Xue FoLan model:


1.4L S-TEC III (54.3 kW/L)和1.2L S-TEC II (53.1 kW/L)发动机，0到100公里加速分别可达到11.9秒和12.9秒，而百公里综合油耗仅为5.9L和5.7L。
Reaching 100 km/h in 11.9 (54.3 kW engine) / 12.9 seconds (53.1 kW engine) while fuel consumption at 100 km/h is 5.9 / 5.7 L.

There will be five versions on the market, ranging from the basic model (1.2 L S-TEC II engine) up to the premium model (1.4 L S-TEC III engine), each of them available in six different colours.

雪佛兰新赛欧正式上市 售价5.68-6.88万元：从1.2L手动温馨版到1.4L手动优逸版，并有六种车身颜色。

By the way, if the Xue FoLan model would ever invade the European market, it could even be sold at a competitive price which lies, according to delivered equipment, between 56.800 and 68.800 Yuan which is 6.700 - 8.100 €. Even though, the actual evaluation rate of the Chinese currency, usually considered as far too low, might be subject to future adjustment due to increasing political pressure from North America and Euro zone countries, such car prices alone could guarantee a decent segment on the European car market.

As to the expected quality of Chinese cars, I should add that China already reached a high standard in the production of special steel, necessary for car production and shipbuilding. Thus, Chinese cars are not likely to get rusty faster than those from America or Europe.

But it's not all about exportation to Europe: Wealthy newcomers from within an emerging middle-class in China are targeted as well by East-Asian car manufacturers. The Japanese brand Lexus which makes part of the Toyota family is trying to sell its expensive segment of brandnew landrovers together with moderate sex in a campaign named "香车美女", a name that could be translated either as "Fine Smelling Car - Beautiful Woman", thus referring to the car's low emission rates, or as "Hongkong Car - U.S. Woman", such putting stress on Western design and technology. The landrover model, up to now assembled and sold in North America under the label of LX 570, was renamed for the Chinese market into "Conquering Dragon 霸王龙". Another interpretation of the Chinese name being "Ba Wang's Dragon" which is referring to a famous but cruel Chinese warrior. Both versions would make feel the Chinese driver like a hero of the road...

Lexus LX 570:


Even though, Japanese car sellers recently lost much credibility among their Western customers, they still enjoy a large segment on the international market. Together with an uprising Chinese giant whose output of cars for, both, local requirements and international challenges already overtook declining U.S. car production, East-Asian car manufacturers as a whole are getting more and more influential, especially when it comes to modern driving technology. This is at least what car exhibitions in Tokyo and Guangzhou (Canton) are indicating.

Statistics of worldwide car production (2011):

Israel vs. Iran - Preparing for High Noon

Parading Iranian soldiers

People's Daily Online / People's Network on November 22, 2011:

伊朗称要让以色列血债血偿

Headline: Iran states it would make Israel pay with blood for blood.

人民网11月22日讯 据合众国际社报道，伊朗军方重要领导人日前表示，一旦伊朗受到以色列的军事袭击，伊朗即刻准备回击以色列。

On November 22, a People's Network report and that is citing "united international agencies" [probably meant: United Press International UPI] informed:
The day before, Iran's highest military leaders made it clear that in case Iran received a military attack from Israel, Iran would immediately prepare for a counter-attack against Israel.

伊朗首都德黑兰西南部40公里外的一个革命卫队军事基地12日发生爆炸，导致17人丧命，其中包括该革命卫队指挥官穆加达姆。

A detonation that took place on a military base of the revolutionary guards 40 km south-west of Iran's capital Teheran on [November] 12, caused the death of 17, probably comprising the commander of the revolutionary guards (Mujia Damu).

伊朗参谋长联席会议副主席拉希德声称，势必要让以色列血债血偿。一旦以色列再次冒犯伊朗，伊朗已全面部署好导弹，准备重击以色列各个中心地区。

The deputy chairman of the joint conference of Iran's chiefs of staff, (Laxide), claims that Israel certainly needs to be made to pay with blood for blood. If Israel once more offends Iran, Iran will then arrange for an overall deployment of guided missiles and prepare a heavy blow against each of Israel's central regions.

据称，伊朗上星期开展的军事演习在东部边境300,000平方英里以内都已部署好军事力量。

Such referring to Iran's manoeuvre that was opened at the beginning of the week [near] the eastern border, in an area covering 300.000 square miles and where military power is being deployed.

Latest news from the Arabic website of Al-Jazeera on November 27:

إيران تتوعد الدرع الصاروخي بتركيا

Headline: Iran endangers the missile shield of Turkey.

أكد قائد القوة الجوية التابعة للحرس الثوري الإيراني أمير علي حاجي زادة، أمس السبت، أن بلاده قد تستهدف الدرع الصاروخي لحلف شمال الأطلسي (ناتو) بتركيا في حالة نشوب أي صراع في المستقبل

A commander of the Iranian air force and which belongs to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Amir Ali Haji Saada, confirmed yesterday [i.e. Saturday, Nov. 26] that his country could [cope with] the missile shield of the North Atlantic Pact (NATO) in Turkey, in case of any future fighting.

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Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak in a recent interview with CNN.

Will Israel attack Iran ?
Barak: The main issue on the table is Iran, its behavior, its intention.

America's role in the Middle East
Barak: Obama's administration "excelling" in its support of Israel.

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Al-Jazeera Special (2007) on Israel's Nuclear Program:

Location of nuclear facilities in Israel.

من الملاحظ أن أكثر مواقع البرنامج النووي الإسرائيلي تقع قرب تجمعات سكنية عربية مدن أو قرى

It can be observed that most locations of Israel's nuclear program happen to exist near concentrations of Arabic inhabitants either in towns or villages.
[Most important Palestinian settlements (Ramallah, Jerusalem and Hebron) have been marked on the above map by their Arabic names written in small letters.]

Editor's remark:
There are different nuclear installations for research and storage of weapons in the central area of Israel, reaching from Haifa to lake Genezareth and from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, including the Soreq Center for Nuclear Research in Soreq brook valley that is stretching between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. But the most important facility for the development of nuclear weapons can be found in the southern part of the country where the Dimona Center for Nuclear Research is being located, right in the middle of the Negev desert. An international commission that once visited this installation many years ago had been deceived by a unique construction which concealed all essential laboratories in some underground levels below the area visited by the commission. No entrance to any lower level could be detected by that commission. Later, any further international request for another visit of the Dimona facility was categorically rejected.

It is only recently that Israel's government officially confirmed the possession of homemade nuclear weapons which has been an unspoken but open secret for many years.

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A Walk About Israel - Suspicious Landscape South of Tel Aviv.

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Quran-Sura 3:64


Editor's remark:
The above cited "People of the Book" are all those who once received a scripture from Allah (Arabic: "The God"), i.e. the Jews and their Torah, the Christians and their Bible, and finally, the Muslims and their Quran.

Compare this to a previous blogspot on Israel vs. Iran.

Libya - Former Strongmen Captured

After Muammar Al-Gadafi, now, his eldest son Saif Al-Islam and the former chief of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah Al-Senussi, have been captured.



From the archives of Al-Jazeera TV:
Intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi in an interview.

Iran-Israel-Conflict

Israel's guided missile system

David vs. Goliath Reloaded - Same Result Again ?

Two days ago, Israel's president Perez publicly declared it was time to attack Iran's nuclear facilities in order to withhold Iranian specialists from finishing their first nuclear device in a very near future. As Iran's president Ahmadi Nejad already indicated that Israel needed to be annihilated in order to restore peace in the Middle East, Israeli fears seem to be understandable. At the same time, any military action whatsoever taken by Israel's military against Iranian territory would certainly trigger off a military conflict of an unpredictable dimension. There are different arguments feeding such evaluation:

- Iran is a powerful regional nation with a high standard of military efficiency and that is based on modern Russian equipment and its own development of weaponry. Even though Russian president Putin lately agreed to stop the export of guided missiles to Iran, the country's military capabilities cannot be overestimated.

- Iran is a vast country that cannot be easily invaded like Afghanistan and Iraq. It's population might suffer from its political and religious leadership but would never accept a foreign attack. Therefore, military and civil resistance on all possible levels can be taken for granted.

- Iran's geopolitical situation is a very special one. Reaching from the backyard of Russia's political and economic sphere of influence (oil fields of Azerbaijan, natural gas resources of Turkmenistan) to the Persian gulf where it could threaten any westbound shipping of crude oil and petrochemical products. Furthermore, Iran is in direct contact with many Arab nations where people are historically opposing Israel and U.S. support of the Jewish state. Even the U.S. fostered governments in Afghanistan and Iraq enjoy friendly relations with their Iranian neighbours. Let alone China that is absolutely not interested in further turmoil in the Middle East and Central Asia, the region of rich oil resources so badly needed for feeding China's booming economy.

- Israel, on the opposite, has followed a rigid policy of suppression against their Palestinian neighbours, the original owners of their territory, since the very foundation of the Jewish state. Long harboured hate and mistrust on both sides have forged Israel into a paranoid community "under siege" that is forced to pump most of its national wealth into its army and the development of highly sophisticated weapons, including weapons of mass destruction.

- Having neglected its structural development for decades in favor of military excellence, Israel is now facing a difficult time where public protest is on the rise. In fact, Israel is addicted to regular support from its few friends, namely in the U.S., and cannot afford its military adventures and incursions into Gaza or Lebanon any longer. Even if their planned destruction of nuclear facilities in Iran was successful, Israel would not stand a continued military response for long.

Only remember the destruction of Saddam Hussein's secret nuclear facility in Iraq by Israeli warplanes many years ago : Such surprise attack, based on an unexpected intelligence coup by Israel's security service Mossad isn't possible any longer after public announcement. And even Mossad is no longer what it used to be (just remember the Dubai scandal when Mossad assassins were caught red-handed).

Therefore it would be wise to hold back the state of the Jews from dragging the West into a conflict that will certainly put the United States and its European allies into a position of confrontation against Russia and China that are both following their own economic interests in the region. And by the way : Why isn't anybody demanding Israel to give up its nuclear arsenal, the existence of which is already proven ?

Below: BBC video - Evidence Israel's nuclear weapons(Banned Censored) - Part I and II




Additional material :

- A semi-official U.S. evaluation of Israel's nuclear weapons potential dating back to 1999.


- Proliferation of nuclear weapons made in Israel to the former apartheid regime of South Africa : In 2010, the British daily GUARDIAN reported on a secret weapons deal signed by the defence ministers Perez and Botha in 1975.


不是狮吼是墙角里的猫叫
"It's not the roaring of a lion but the shouting of a cornered cat."

Headline of a Chinese report on Israel's intention to attack Iran, published November 8 in People's Daily Online / People's Network.

法国外交部长阿兰·朱佩6日公开表示反对对伊朗核项目动武，称军事打击可能引发整个地区的“彻底动乱”。
On November 6, the French minister of foreign affairs, Alain Juppé, publicly declared his opposition to any attack launched against Iran's nuclear [facilities], saying that a military blow would probably trigger off " thoroughgoing turmoil " in the whole region.

阿拉维6日公开发表演讲，称以色列言论“不是狮吼”，“而是墙角里的猫叫”。
[On the same day, Ayatollah] Alawi described Israel's proclamation in a public lecture as " not the roaring of a lion but the shouting of a cornered cat ".

Meeting between China's Prime Minister Wen Jia Bao and Russia's president Putin yesterday, November 7 [People's Network, Beijing]

First news on Israel threatening Iran [Al-Arabiya TV, November 6]

مع ترقب "تقرير حاسم" لوكالة الطاقة الذرية
Headline 1: In expectation of a " decisive report " from the [International] Nuclear Energy Agency.

الرئيس الإسرائيلي: احتمالات شن هجوم عسكري على إيران تنزاير
Headline 2: Israel's president [speaks about] increasing probabilities of launching a military attack against Iran.