China's Navy - 2nd Aircraft Carrier Launched

我国第二艘航空母舰下水仪式26日上午在
中国船舶重工集团公司大连造船厂举行。

Yesterday, April 26, at 9 am local time and on the 68th birthday of China's navy PLAN, China's 2nd aircraft carrier of the Liaoning-class has been floated off its dry dock at Dalian. The ceremony was attended by members of the Central Committee of China's Communist Party and many high-ranking military leaders.

While the first carrier "Liaoning" was based on the semi-finished Soviet-era vessel "Varyag" which belonged to the Kuznetsov-class, China's second carrier has been completely home-built. Its name is still unknown, but rumours are saying it might probably be named "Shandong" on a later occasion.

A Chinese language news portal quoted by western sources had previously reported that the ship will have an aircraft capacity of 28-36 aircraft split between Chinese Shenyang J-15 fighters and helicopters, which is the same as that of the Liaoning. According to the new vessel's outward apperance, the most significant change from the "Liaoning" seems to be a reconfiguration of the phased array radar panels, with those on the new ship facing diagonally outward on both sides of bridge fore and aft.

“瓦良格”号原先在舰艏部的甲板下装有12枚巨大的SS-N-19重型反舰导弹，虽然在改装为辽宁舰时拆除了，但受制于原始设计，无法扩成机库。[金融界]

The new 50.000 tons aircraft carrier like the fully-operational "Liaoning" might still be able to use heavy SS-N-19 anti-ship guided missiles but which has never been confirmed. 12 SS-N-19 missiles of Soviet-era origin once belonged to the armament of a Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier and might present a serious danger to western ship units if still available, especially when used with a nuclear warhead.

[Source: People's Network and other Chinese and western military sources on April 26/27, 2017]




Related Military News:

On today's press conference, summoned by China's Ministry of Defence, navy officer Zhang Zheng was specially praised for his outstanding abilities. Zhang Zheng served as the commander of China's first aircraft carrier "Liaoning" from September 2012 until May 2016 and was later promoted to the position of a Deputy Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy PLAN. [People's Network on April 27, 2017]


美国若军事打击朝鲜 中国会介入吗？

In case of a U.S. military attack on North Korea,
will China know how to interfere ?

中国官方的《环球时报》日前发表社评说：“如果朝鲜继续开展严重的核导活动，美国对其相关设施开展外科手术式打击，北京应予以外交抵制，但不必军事介入。”

A few days ago, China's official paper "Global Times" said in its editorial: " If North Korea continues its activity of developing serious nuclear missiles, the U.S. will carry out an attack against its related facilities in some kind of a surgical operation. Beijing would then react with diplomatic resistance, however not feel obliged to interfere. "




[Quotation of Chinese source by DW 多维新闻 on April 26, 2017]


Crocodile Camp



特朗普：将和习近平有非常良好关系

Trump: Enjoying unusual fine relations with Xi JinPing.

Xi JinPing's U.S. visit on April 6 / 7, 2017
[Singapore Morning Post 新加坡早报]

N Korea - Culmination of Tensions Preparing US Strike ?

The following text is a summary from Australian and other western sources on a recent culmination of tensions between North Korea and the U.S. administration of Donald Trump:

North Korea threatens ‘merciless military strikes’ against US, as U.S. vice president Mike Pence visits the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

The isolated nation has trotted out three of its most senior officials to amp up its war rhetoric against the US.

North Korea’s deputy foreign minister, Sin Hong-chol, has told Al Jazeera that its army is on “maximum alert” after US Vice President Mike Pence visited the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas on Monday.

“The time of dictating orders by brandishing the US military might has gone,” Mr Sin told the Arabic broadcaster. The official made a passing swipe at Mr Trump and his administration, referring to him not as the President but as a “businessman”.

“If those businessmen in power in the US thought of intimidating us by any military or sanction threats — as the [Barack] Obama administration used to do and failed — they will soon find out such threats are useless,” Mr Sin said.

“If we notice any sign of assault on our sovereignty, our army will launch merciless military strikes against the US aggressors, wherever they may exist, from the remote US lands to the American military bases on the Korean Peninsula, such as those of Japan and elsewhere.”

"Mr Trump has tried to use trade incentives to pressure China into doing more to stop North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons", but Mr Sin implied this tactic would not work.

“The nuclear weapon in our possession is not illusion; it is not a commodity that may be traded for American dollars, nor is it for sale. So it cannot be put on the negotiating table with the aim to rip it off,” he said.

The country’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, has called the US a “gangster” hellbent on “disturbing peace and stability”. He accused the Trump administration of turning the Korean peninsula into “the world’s biggest hotspot” and creating “a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment”.

“If the United States dares opt for a military action … the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the Americans,” Mr Kim told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. “We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs.” He said North Korea was acting in self defence and would respond to any threat of nuclear weapons or intercontinental ballistic missiles “in kind”.

North Korea’s vice foreign minister has also maintained the threatening language, telling the BBC there would be “all-out war” if the US took military action. “We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” Han Song-Ryol said. Mr Trump’s remark that North Korea has “gotta behave” was made off the cuff on Monday when he was asked whether he had any message for North Korea or its leader, Kim Jong-un. His comment comes after a tense weekend on the Korean Peninsula where the North celebrated the 105th birthday of its founding father, Kim Il-sung, with an elaborate military parade on Saturday that showed off its growing missile arsenal. The triumphant procession, intended to show off the nation’s military might, was followed by a major embarrassment for the current leader. A ballistic missile test launched near a submarine base on the country’s east coast failed seconds after lift-off Sunday morning.

The US provoked North Korea’s ire when it sent a naval strike group, including aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and three guided-missile destroyers, to the region ahead of the anniversary, which is one of the biggest days on the country’s calendar.

US vice president Mike Pence visited the South Korean capital Seoul on Monday as part of a tour of Asia, where he warned the North not to test the resolve of the US President on military matters. “The world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan,” the US Vice President said. “North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in the region.” He said “all options are on the table” in response to North Korea and that the “era of strategic patience is over”. Two North Korean soldiers watched Mr Pence closely as he visited the demilitarised zone on Monday, with one taking photographs of the visiting leader.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Mr Trump would not draw “red lines” over North Korea and he would continue to play his cards “close to his vest” in terms of his military strategy. “The action that he took in Syria showed, when appropriate, this President will take decisive action,” Mr Spicer said, in reference to Mr Trump’s missile attack in April in retaliation to the Middle Eastern nation’s use of chemical weapons against its own people. Mr Spicer also praised China for its “historic” decision to take a “much more active role” against North Korea through economic actions. “I don’t think there’s anybody in the world who would not believe that North Korea’s actions are both provocative and a concern,” Mr Spicer told reporters Monday afternoon.

One security expert told The New York Times, the tension between the US and North Korea looks like “the Cuban missile crisis in slow motion".

U.S. - North Korean Diplomacy

美拒签朝高官 特朗普就任后首场美朝会谈取消

America refuses visa to North Korean high official.
After his election, Trump cancelled first talks
between U.S. and North Korea.

据《华尔街日报》报道，崔善熙原定于3月1日至2日在纽约与美国官员举行会谈。这是特朗普就任美国总统以来朝美官员首次传出接触计划，也是自2011年以来首次传出朝鲜高级特使要访问美国。

According to the Wall Street Journal, Choe Son Hui should originally start talks with a U.S. official in New York on 1st and 2nd of March [2017]. This is what Trump at first announced as a planned contact between North Korean and U.S. officials after [Trump's] election as a president of the United States. This would have been as well the first announced visit to America of a high-ranking North Korean special envoy since 2011.

[Source: Sina News 新浪新闻中心 on February 26, 2017]

North Korea - Kim Jong Nam Killed

Breaking News Update added on February 24 ........... 中国于朝鲜的联系在时局
On February 27 an external link was added that
offers an overview on different aspects of the
Kim Jong Nam killing in a series of news videos.
A shortcut of latest news was added the same day.

On February 13, Kim Jong Nam (photo), elder brother to North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia. While North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia denies the identity of the poisoned victim, saying it was some other North Korean, Malaysia has triggered off a comprehensive investigation and called on Pyongyang's ambassador to cooperate.



Kim Jong Nam (above) is known for having criticized the North Korean regime.



朝鲜大使拒认死者是金正男 称验DNA可笑

N Korean ambassador refuses to accept the dead being Kim Jong Nam
and is calling a DNA test "ridiculous". [New Tang Dynasty TV, Feb. 20]

An airport surveillance camera is showing Kim Jong Nam being approached by a young woman. Nam was shortly blindfolded by one woman's hands coming from behind his head. That should have been the moment of the poisoning.

Among the arrested persons one woman could be identified as Siti Aisyah, an Indonesian citizen from Serang, West Java (Bantan, Greater Jakarta). She told authorities having been approached in a shopping center the month before by a man who introduced himself as a Japanese delegate and who seemed to be wealthy. He should have given her a tiny sum of money and allegedly convinced her to take part in a TV prank.



In the evening of February 17, Malaysian police arrested as well the 46-year-old Chosun nationality suspect Lee Jong Chol.

[Source: China Press 中国报, Chinese news service in Malaysia on February 19, 2017]


姜哲对47岁的朝鲜特工李正哲（Ri Jong-Chol，音译）被捕表示不满，他说：〝上周五，大马便衣警探突击1名朝鲜人位于吉隆坡的公寓，在完全没有搜查令或证据的情况下，用武力逮捕他。〞

As to the 47-year-old special agent Lee Jong Chol, now under arrest, [..... North Korea's am-bassador .....] showed discontent. He said: " Last Friday [i.e. Feb. 17], [.....] plainclothes police attacked a North Korean at some Kuala Lumpur lodging house. That happened in the complete absence of a search warrant or evidence while armed force was applied to arrest [that man]."

[Source: New Tang Dynasty TV 新唐人TV on February 20, 2017]


Headlines from China TV - CCTV 13
Morning News, February 24, 2017.



Photos of all suspects.

马来西亚：一朝鲜籍男子在吉隆坡死亡事件追踪——朝鲜驻马使馆官员不满马方调查

Malaysia: [Covering] the incident of a North Korean male who died in Kuala Lumpur - An official from the North Korean embassy in Malaysia shows discontended with Malaysia's investigation.

朝方提出多个疑点质疑马方调查

North Korea is raising all questionable points [that should be inquired] by Malaysia's investigation.

朝方——马方侵害主权 此举与韩有关

North Korea: The Malaysian side infringes sovereign rights [i.e. of North Korea] - This is in line with South Korea.

朝方：马方不移送尸体

North Korea: The Malaysian side doesn't move the corpse [i.e. back to N Korea] out of bad intentions.

Editor's note: The Malaysian side insists on caring for an autopsy which is taking some time in a complicated case like this.

[Source: China TV - CCTV 13 on February 24, 2017]


Preliminary Analysis Report related to the Kim Jong Nam Poisoning:





Expert: North Korea "highly probably" behind the Kim Jong Nam killing
outside of China where Kim Jong Nam lived under protection in Macao.
[CNN Report]

Please note:
The whole subject has been covered by a series of videos published by CNN. Their site could be seen as a comprehensive source of all events and background information available by Feb. 27. Many other sources of different origin are offering rather bits of information than an overall view on the Kim Jong Nam killing.


Shortcut of latest information available by February 27
assembled from Chinese, Malaysian and U.S. media:

The timeline of the Kim Jong Nam killing now being fully established, it seems that one secretary of the North Korean embassy in K.L. and a representative of the North Korean airline might be involved. Their cooperation has been requested by Malaysian police but was turned down by the embassy. However, Malaysian police is not willing to accept the North Korean position as a high-ranking police officer unequivocally indicated.

During the days of Kim Jong Nam's autopsy, an unauthorized intrusion into the Kuala Lumpur morgue was foiled.

As to the girls who actually committed the assassination, a Vietnamese woman that blindfolded Kim Jong Nam and an Indonesian woman that probably applied deadly VX nerve agent from a vaporizer, their cover story of being convinced to make part of a TV joke has failed to work. At the time VX was found on their bodies, both girls seemed to be either healthy (the Vietnamese) or suffering from "rather small problems" (the Indonesian). This could be seen as a proof that both were prepared in advance with the antidote, a common drug usually available in many hospitals, such that they should have known what they were doing.

..............................





A visitor from Thailand reminding how Kim Jong Un gets rid of "traitors":
North Korea - Important Change in Staff

U.S. President Trump Mentally Ill ?

A recent letter to the editorial board of the New York Times, that was signed by 35 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, put it this way: “We fear that too much is at stake to be silent.” It continued, “We believe that the grave emotional instability indicated by Mr. Trump’s speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president."

But there is more behind it ! Read the original article.






美国35份精神科医生发表公开信：特朗普有精神病

In an open letter 35 U.S. psychiatrists said
that Trump is affected by mental disorder.

在公开信中，医生们描述特朗普需要每时每刻“把反对派踩在脚下”，并且“情绪极度不稳”。

In [that] open letter, psychiatrists describe Trump as needing each [single] hour, each quarter of an hour "some opponent to be crushed under his foot" and moreover [being in an] "extremely unstable mood".

However, one high-profile psychiatrist is opposing his 35 colleagues who wrote to the editorial board of the New York Times:

美国一位知名精神病专家艾伦•弗朗西斯（Allen Frances）认为，很多人非精神病专家都混淆了特朗普的问题，直接把他定义为“自恋型人格障碍” （narcissistic personality disorder）。

One of America's best-known specialists on mental disorder, Allen Francis, considers that many non-psychiatrists are mixing up the Trump case, immediately defining it as narcissistic personality disorder.

[Source: 新浪网 on February 19, 2017]




特朗普：媒体是“美国人民的敌人”

Trump: The media are "the enemies of the U.S. people".

[Source: FT中文网 on February 20, 2017]

Trump - Fear of Predators ?

Last Update: Feb. 19, 2017.



Embarrassing Donald Trump at least seems to have respect for other predators.
It's all about knowing "the family".




"See you later, alligator !"
Xi JinPing, the "waddling crocodile", while visiting the U.S.A. in 2012.




With a Paper Tiger in the White House, there's time enough to care for the Siberian Tiger.
[The Chinese article is using the expression "Tiger Putin 普京虎" in its headline.]




Trump shrinking back from the American Eagle.

..............................

On U.S. Guidelines of the Trump Era

On hearing shouts of "America First" and "Buy American" from the White House, those having experienced the cold war era might feel haunted by memories from that time when Eastern and Western politics were dominated by ideology.

Depending on one's personal position there might be different ways of perception for these ambitious adages that are now marking the era of U.S. president Donald Trump.

One possible way to deal with "Buy American" can still be related to the following phrase and which is dating back to the "dark ages" of communism and anti-imperialism:

"We will hang the capitalists with the rope they sell us."

A popular quotation often attributed to different persons like Lenin, Marx and Stalin and who most likely never used that specific stance. Therefore, it might be that this phrase is simply expressing a programmatic adage which doesn't need any personalized origin.

In 1958, Mao Tse Tung adopted that tiny phrase and got even more specific on the subject. The explanation he gave then became a part of his famous Red Booklet:

.....
The United States has set up hundreds of military bases in many countries all over the world. China's territory of Taiwan, Lebanon and all military bases of the United States on foreign soil are so many ropes round the neck of U.S. imperialism. The ropes have been fabricated by the Americans themselves and by nobody else, and it is they themselves who have put the nooses round their own necks, handing the ends of the ropes to the Chinese people, the peoples of the Arab countries and all the peoples of the world who love peace and oppose aggression. The longer the U.S. aggressors remain in those places, the tighter the nooses round their necks will become.

Mao's interpretation of U.S. politics in the 1950ies, seems to be accurate even today and it opens a view on what we recently learnt to be the ultimate guideline of the new Trump era and which should be "America First". One could say Mao is still having the truth, even though China itself has slowly changed from basic socialism to some kind of crude capitalism "à la Américaine" in the meantime.



Nowadays, after persistent political confrontation based on ossified doctrine rather than common sense has given way to complicated supranational conflicts of economic and geopolitical interests in the frame of an irreversible globalization, any national policy of separation might quickly turn out to be counterproductive for the authors of such separation.

The stances "America First - Buy American" could therefore easily turn into some kind of boomerang that hits America where it is intended to hit competing nations. Latest news and comments from different national economies are already pointing in that direction.

..............................



Indonesian Visitor interested in the U.S. response on Trump's Muslim Ban.



A visitor from Dallas/Texas, the town where U.S. President J.F. Kennedy was shot.
The visitor called my blogspot on Barack Obama's first visit to Berlin in 2008 when
Obama was just a presidential candidate.

Iraq - Army Targeting ISIL Leaders

العراق: استهدفنا "البغدادي" بضربة جوية ومصيره غير معلوم

Iraq: We targeted "Al-Baghdadi" in an
air raid and his fate remains unknown.

قال الجيش العراقي في بيان، اليوم الاثنين، إن قواته الجوية نفذت غارة على منزل كان يُعتقد أن زعيم تنظيم داعش أبوبكر البغدادي يجتمع فيه مع قادة آخرين بالتنظيم. ولم يوضح البيان ما إذا كان البغدادي قد استهدف أم لا.ـ

On Monday [Feb. 13], the Iraqui army declared in a bulletin, their air force had executed a raid on some residence that was considered to be the meeting point of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with other leaders of the organization. The declaration, however, was not clear about al-Baghdadi being the [primary] target or not.

وذكر البيان أن طائرات أف-16 العراقية استهدفت المنزل الكائن في غرب العراق يوم السبت. ونشر البيان أسماء 13 من قادة التنظيم قال إنهم قتلوا في الغارة الجوية، لكن القائمة لم تشمل البغدادي.ـ

According to the military bulletin, 13 ISIL leaders should have been killed in an air raid executed by Iraqui F-16 fighters in western Iraq on Saturday, February 11. The names on a list of killed leaders, however, does not include al-Baghdadi.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on February 13, 2016]

Trump - Preparing War on Iran ?

An important update included on February 7, 2017:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "thanked" Trump for having
revealed the "true face of America" => view video !


In the frame of recent Iranian missile tests, U.S. president Donald Trump is going to loose his temper. After having warned Iran of preferring a policy "less cosy" than that of his predecessor President Obama, the White House is indicating an uncompromising way of treating Iran as the most important source of all evil in Middle Eastern developments.

However, any military blow on Iran that is intended to extinguish its military capabilities (including the nuclear ones) will not be such an easy-going affair like the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq because Iran is an important regional power with own armament industries and an army well-equipped with high-end Russian missile technology.

This might be rather a nice opportunity for some contest by proxy of brandnew U.S. and Russian weaponry with president Putin on the opposite side of the war game and who was only recently defended by Trump as "just one of many other murderers" [Fox News], an evaluation that sounds almost like some kind of "honouring the knight".

If by some "unforeseen" military incident Trump would be "forced" to declare war on Iran and, simultaneously, declare a state of emergency in his own country, this would certainly affect civil rights and the activity of all those who are now still fighting against Trump's rule of madness.




اول اعتراض روسي على ترامب: ايران ليست دولة ارهابية

First Russian protest targeting Trump: Iran no terrorist country.

[Source: Shafaq News شفق نيوز, Iraq, on February 6, 2017]




On February 7, 2017, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
caustically thanked "political newcomer" Trump for having revealed
the "true face of America". [Source: New York Times]




يران تكشف قريبا عن خمسة إنجازات عسكرية

Iran is soon to unveil five military achievements.

أعلنت وزارة الدفاع الإيرانية على موقعها الإلكتروني أنها ستكشف النقاب عما وصفتها بخمسة إنجازات عسكرية جديدة في مجال الدفاع الجوي والبري، وذلك بحضور وزير الدفاع حسين دهقان ومع اقتراب "عيد انتصار الثورة".ـ

The Iranian Ministry of Defense declared on its website that it would unveil what they described as five new military achievements in the area of defense air and land [as published on Twitter] in the presence of Defense Minister Hussein Dehghan with the approach of the "triumph of the revolution" celebrations.

[Source: Al-Jazeera online الجزيرة نت on February 6, 2017]


Videos related to the subject:



Iran warns U.S. not to make a problem over missile test.




Iranian state-of-the-art military drone technology,
partly based on captured U.S. stealth drone used
for spying on Iran. Military hackers diverted the
aircraft and brought it down undamaged [IRNA].




Iran - Military Power 2016




Iran Begins Massive Military Drill Ahead Of Trump Presidency
(Dec.18, 2016 news headlines including an outlook on Trump's
first guidelines of foreign policy)

..............................



Visitor to "blueprint news" interested in the subject of a U.S.-Iranian war scenario.





Some visitor from the U.S. State of Indiana called my "classic" 2012 blogspot on Iran:
Iran - Who is Threatening Whom ?

USA - Response to Muslim Immigration Ban

Latest News on January 29:



U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has blocked part of President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, ruling that travellers who have already landed in the US with valid visas should not be sent back to their home countries.

..........

A group of state attorneys general, meanwhile, are discussing whether to file their own court challenge against the order, officials in three states told the Reuters news agency.

Officials in the offices of attorneys general in Pennsylvania, Washington and Hawaii said they were evaluating what specific claims could be filed, and in which court.

Trump signed the executive order on Friday, January 27, that effectively denies entry to refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, including those with green cards, who otherwise have permanent residence in the US.

Signing the order at the Pentagon, Trump said the move would help protect Americans from "terrorist" attacks.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, international edition, on January 29, 2017]




Above: German news video showing U.S. protesters in front of a New York law court
and who are celebrating the court rule that partly dismissed Trump's immigration ban
for Muslims. [N24 News TV on Jan. 28/29]





Headlines of opinion pages for The New York Times on January 27 / 28, 2017.


In face of Donald Trump's Muslim ban,
Canada's Trudeau welcomes refugees.

Headline of The Sydney Morning Herald on January 29, 2017.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed those fleeing war and persecution on Saturday, January 28, even as Canadian airlines said they would turn back U.S.-bound passengers to comply with an immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

In pointed tweets a day after U.S. President Donald Trump put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from the seven countries, Trudeau said refugees were welcome in Canada.



[Source: Reuters.com, Globalnews.ca on January 28, 2017]




Immigration ban protests erupt at JFK International Airport
as NY taxi drivers strike following Trump's immigration ban.

[Source: USA Today on January 28, 2017]




U.S. arrivals in 2015 from recently banned Muslim countries.
[U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security]



Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif issued a series of tweets in response to President Trump's order, saying the move would be "a great gift to extremists and their supporters."

..............................



Welcome to the Year of Super Rooster Donald 2017 !

2017 - Year of Super Rooster Donald

Last Update: January 27

美国的鸡年

According to Chinese horoscope theory, the Chinese year 2017 is to arrive on January 28 and is called the Year of the Red Fire Chicken or Red Fire Rooster with "red" being connected to the "fire".

While the Chinese New Year's Day differs according to the Chinese Moon Calendar, the U.S. nation swears in their 45th president Donald Trump exactly on January 20 which is a pre-fixed date in U.S. history for the inauguration of any new president. Donald Trump will preside over the U.S. Year of the Super Rooster. However, Chinese fireworks will start just about a week later.

Chicken (or rooster) implies luxury, beauty, and wealth. The Red Fire Chicken of 2017 is related to the light bulb. When the rooster and his jewels are in the spotlight, he feels fine and presents himself as being even more valuable than he is. That implies we will deal with financial events in the year of the chicken.

As the chicken is related as well to, both, "female" and "metal", there are further implications:

While "male metal" is connected to air, wind or strong current, "female metal" is connected to fog or slow dirty air. We cannot see our future clearly until the fog disappears. That means the rooster blurs our vision and mystifies our decision. We need to wait for the sun to appear or the fog to disappear.

In my country we are still using that old expression:
"To put the Red Fire Rooster on top of the house."
which has the meaning of: "To set the house on fire."
And that seems to be exactly what voters for Donald
Trump are going to enjoy during the times to come ...



During his election campaign and up to now, Donald Trump insulted lots and lots of people. Here now a global list of politicians who fired back, together with their most remarkable comments. Click to the red buttons and enjoy it !

=> Happy Inauguration Day ! - Politicians worldwide challenging Trump <=






U.S. President Trump's opinion on the "efficiency of torture"
while torture is considered a crime not only under U.S. laws.

..............................

特朗普与普京为什么会互有好感？

Why do Trump and Putin enjoy a mutual understanding ?



也许是意识形态上的共鸣以及对地缘政治的共同利益，
让特朗普与普京“惺惺相惜”（图源：法国新闻社）

It's probably the resonance of their ideologies regarding
mutual benefits from geopolitics that made Trump and
Putin become aware of "sympathetic feelings".

[多维新闻2017年01月11日]

The above Chinese article shows how Donald Trump's expression of sympathy towards Russia's president Putin is not only disturbing certain conservative circles of U.S. politicians, even in the Republican Party that brought him to power. It is, as well, annoying PR China which maintains friendly relations with Russia despite mutual geopolitical rivalry in the frame of new Central-Asian alliances that are dominated by both countries. As Trump is so obviously busy to create mistrust between China and Russia in favor of U.S. interests, his success could only be limited. A related item from the same Chinese source:



Chinese cartoon showing how Trump damaged Beijing's idea of "One China" when he expressed "long-standing friendly terms" with Taiwan that is still regarded by Beijing as an integrate part of Mainland China. Former U.S. presidents, regardless how deeply involved in U.S.-Taiwanese relations they had been, always avoided to mention Taiwan as some kind of "ally to the West" while Donald Trump was the first to accept a direct phone call from Taiwan's president Tsai. It should be mentioned that nowadays the "One China" ideology is not based any longer on the idea of a military solution but rather on a political development between both Chinese countries.




Portuguese visitor to "blueprint news" interested in Chinese-Russian naval exercises.



U.S. visitor reminding Barack Obama's public speech in Berlin on his 2nd visit to Germany.



Reminder of Ghadafi's end in Libya.

US on Palestine - Status Quo Restored

ـ"النواب" الأميركي يندد بقرار مجلس الأمن ضد الاستيطان

US "parliament" [House of Representatives] denounces
a [UN] Security Council decision opposing colonialism
[literally: implantation of colonies in occupied territory].
[Source: Al-Arabia العربية on January 6, 2017]

The Jerusalem Post wrote on January 6, 2017:

Washington - The House of Representatives passed a resolution on Thursday [January 5] condemning the UN Security Council for censuring Israel over its settlement enterprise, and calling on the Obama administration– which allowed the UN move to pass– to veto any similar actions in the international chamber.

The resolution acknowledges America's longstanding and bipartisan support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, but reminds the government of its historic policy opposed to "one-sided" UN resolutions that seek to impose parameters for such a solution onto the parties.

It is this policy, the resolution asserts, that the Obama administration undermined with its latest action at the UN, which condemned Israel over its construction in the West Bank and "east Jerusalem." The White House abstained from the vote, choosing not to utilize its permanent veto power.

The status of East Jerusalem remains a sticking point between Israelis and Palestinians, and the US has for years considered it a topic not for UN deliberations but for final-status, direct negotiations.

"The passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 undermined the longstanding position of the United States to oppose and veto United Nations Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues, or are one-sided and anti-Israel, reversing decades of bipartisan agreement," the resolution asserts, referring to US President Barack Obama's decision to abstain from the vote.

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Merry X-mas and Happy New Year

Packing the Christmas tree before heading home. (We don't spoil the desert with our waste.)