Generational Dynamics World View

[Cynic Hero '86]

Selfish Boomers would have us intervene on the Armenian side if Azerbaijan attacked, even though the US' treaty obligations are to help Azerbaijan, not Armenia. Boomers are completely selfish, and stop trying to overthrow Assad either, boomers. Assad is valiantly defending civilization in Syria from Islamist barbarism.

[John J. Xenakis]

(07-12-2018, 05:22 PM)Cynic Hero 86 Wrote: > Selfish Boomers would have us intervene on the Armenian side if
> Azerbaijan attacked, even though the US' treaty obligations are to
> help Azerbaijan, not Armenia. Boomers are completely selfish, and
> stop trying to overthrow Assad either, boomers.

I'm not aware that any American policymakers have picked sides at all
on Armenia vs Azerbaijan. As for al-Assad, he's a sociopathic killer,
the worst genocidal monster so far this century.

[pbrower2a]

(07-12-2018, 05:29 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

(07-12-2018, 05:22 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: >   Selfish Boomers would have us intervene on the Armenian side if
>   Azerbaijan attacked, even though the US' treaty obligations are to
>   help Azerbaijan, not Armenia. Boomers are completely selfish, and
>   stop trying to overthrow Assad either, boomers.

I'm not aware that any American policymakers have picked sides at all
on Armenia vs Azerbaijan.  As for al-Assad, he's a sociopathic killer,
the worst genocidal monster so far this century.

There are far more Armenian-Americans than Azeri-Americans, which would have more chance of relevance. But ethnic affiliations have their limits. Rather few German-Americans admired Hitler.

Of course there is nothing wrong with Bashir Assad that a well-tied rope and about a seven-foot drop would not solve. The worst living genocidal monster is Haile Mengistu, former Communist butcher of Ethiopia. But he is from the twentieth century.

[Cynic Hero '86]

Boomers universally refuse to acknowledge Bashar Al-Assad's contribution to defending civilization in Syria from barbarism and his courage determination and dedication to ruthlessly fight and stamp out Islamist barbarism until Syria is completely cleansed of this scourge.

[pbrower2a]

(07-12-2018, 07:47 PM)Cynic Hero Wrote: Boomers universally refuse to acknowledge Bashar Al-Assad's contribution to defending civilization in Syria from barbarism and his courage determination and dedication to ruthlessly fight and stamp out Islamist barbarism until Syria is completely cleansed of this scourge.

Mock modification:

Missionaries universally refuse to acknowledge Adolf Hitler's contribution to defending civilization in Europe from barbarism and his courage determination and dedication to ruthlessly fight and stamp out Judeo-Bolshevik barbarism until Europe is completely cleansed of this scourge.

...Bashir Assad is a mass murderer on a smaller scale, but that is not enough to get him off the hook. Tim McVeigh was a mass murderer on a smaller scale than Bashir Assad... and he has been judged harshly if fairly.

[Bob Butler 54]

In Syria, each group fighting seems to be advocating for their own ethnic, religious or political group.  They each have found external allies enough to not be defeated and keep fighting, but not enough to win.

Now, the Enlightenment favored toleration of alien groups.  If someone hates due to politics, religion or race, they are the bad guys, they are showing prejudice.  We can daydream about tolerance, but it remains a daydream.  Those seeking power seek the power to suppress some other group.

Now we seem to be fighting terrorism.  How do you fight a tactic?  We are good to fight a conventional war with tanks and front lines, so we begrudge those enemies who avoid such things, and red coats as part of uniforms.  But there is a lot of targeting the opponents will to fight, which is what terrorism is in the long term.

I for one do not anticipate a failure of the will to fight, an identification with the group, an affiliation with the like any time soon.

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 13-Jul-18 World View -- Viral video shows Francophone Cameroon soldiers killing women and children

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Viral video shows Francophone Cameroon soldiers killing women and children
  
• Cameroon continues on path to full-scale crisis civil war
  

****
**** Viral video shows Francophone Cameroon soldiers killing women and children
****


Screen shot from video shows soldier pushing blindfolded woman with baby to the ground, just before he shoots both of them dead.

A horrendously graphic video that has gone viral on social media
depicts Cameroon Francophone (French-speaking) government soldiers in
uniform blindfolding, shooting and killing two women, as well as the
two babies that they're carrying. One of the uniformed men says in
French that it is a heavy burden executing people but they don't have
another option.

According to Amnesty International:

<QUOTE>"The Cameroonian authorities’ initial claim that this
shocking video is fake simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. We can
provide credible evidence to the contrary. Given the gravity of
these horrific acts – the cold blooded and calculated slaughter of
women and young children – these hasty and dismissive denials cast
serious doubt over whether any investigation will be genuine. It
is imperative that a proper, impartial investigation is undertaken
and those responsible for these abhorrent acts are brought to
justice."<END QUOTE>

The claim by Cameroon's government that a "proper, impartial
investigation" will be conducted is not credible, in light of repeated
atrocities by the Francophone government over the last two years.

These government atrocities began in November 2016,
when the Francophone (French-speaking) Cameroon
government security forces began beating and killing peaceful
anti-government demonstrators in the South Cameroons, the Anglophone
(English-speaking) regions of Cameroon. The demonstrators were
protesting systematic bias, discrimination and marginalization towards
Anglophones by the Francophone government. For example,
schoolteachers in the Anglophone regions were forbidden from teaching
any courses in English.

The Cameroon government, led by the 85 year old president Paul Biya,
has stepped up the torture, slaughter and other atrocities continually
since then, with numerous videos and reports on social media
documenting the atrocities. The level of atrocities ticked up
considerably in October, when the Anglophone separatists demanded
independence for the Southern Cameroons, calling it Ambazonia.

There have been numerous videos posted on social media showing
atrocities committed since then. Another video, posted by the BBC, is
a compilation of verified videos from social media accounts showing
everything from torture to entire villages being burned down.
Africa News and Amnesty International and YouTube - Extrajudicial execution of women and children and YouTube - BBC - Cameroon military atrocities, village burnings

****
**** Cameroon continues on path to full-scale crisis civil war
****

It's increasingly clear that the Francophone government in Cameroon is
conducting genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Anglophone people in
the Southern Cameroons. Hundreds of thousands of people have had to
flee their homes, and tens of thousands have fled across the border
into Nigeria. Nigerians who used to conduct business in Southern
Cameroons are now abandoning their businesses and returning home in
droves.

Cameroon's last generational crisis war was the "UPC Revolt,"
1956-1960, which was a bloody civil war by communists attacking the
French government in the Cameroun colony. It has now been exactly 58
years since the ending climax of the UPC Revolt. Generational
Dynamics research has found that 58 years is the minimum and most
common time period from the end of one crisis war till the beginning
of the next, since 58 years is exactly the point where the survivors
who were traumatized by the war almost all disappear (retire or die),
all at once, and are replaced in positions of power by younger
generations of people with no personal memory of the atrocities of the
previous crisis war, and therefore have no fear of starting a new one.

Because of the flood of Anglophones from Cameroon entering Nigeria,
some Nigerian activists are urging Nigeria's government to
try to mediate in Cameroon, even though Nigeria has to deal
with Boko Haram and bloody fights between farmers and herders that
have been widely reported in the news. Abdul Oroh, a lawyer
and civil rights activist from Nigeria, summarizes the situation:

<QUOTE>"Specifically, the Francophone Cameroon is trying to
dominate and super-impose itself on the Anglophone Cameroon. They
had two legal systems but there is a policy of assimilation which
is threatening to obliterate the Anglophone culture and legal
system. One of the lawyers told me that as a lawyer, if you file a
case at the Ministry of Justice in Cameroon, unless it us written
in French, they won’t treat the case. What you now do is to go and
look for somebody who can translate it into French. There is so
much anger and bitterness in that country. ...

We were under military rule when we intervened in apartheid South
Africa. We were under military rule when we stepped out to restore
democracy in Sierra Leone and Liberia. We have been carrying out
peace-keeping operations, not just within but even outside
Africa. We are talking about our immediate neighbors whose
citizens are pouring into our country as refugees on daily
basis. These refugees are putting pressures on our lean
resources. If we don’t help them to solve that problem, it will
continue and could get to a stage when it could even become a
threat to our own security too. So, it is not a question of moral
right because human lives are involved in this conflict. It is
true that we have our own challenges but I am not saying we should
deploy our troops there to help one side to defeat the other
side. I am saying we should help them to get to talk, negotiate
peace and resolve their differences amicably."<END QUOTE>

Unfortunately, from the point of view of Generational Dynamics,
attempts to mediate and negotiate will not work. What is happening in
Cameroon is the beginnings of a generational crisis civil war. A
crisis war is a force of nature that cannot be stopped until it burns
itself out, typically after around five years, with an explosive
genocidal climax of some kind that horrifies everyone so much that it
brings the war to an end. Cameroon is nowhere near that explosive
climax at this time. New Telegraph (Nigeria) and AFP and Deutsche Welle and Task and Purpose

Related Articles

• Cameroon condemns scathing Amnesty report on government atrocities (16-Jun-2018)
  
  
• Violence between herders and farmers surges in Nigeria (04-Jun-2018)
  
  
• Dozens killed in English-speaking Cameroon region by French-speaking government police (28-May-2018)
  
  
• Brief generational history of Cameroon (15-Feb-2017)
  
  
• Clashes in Jos, Nigeria, pit Christians against Muslims (24-Feb-2011)
  

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cameroon, Southern Cameroons,
Anglophones, Francophones, Paul Biya, Amnesty International,
Ambazonia, Liberation Movement of Southern Cameroons,
UPC Revolt, Nigeria, Abdul Oroh

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John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
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Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe

[John J. Xenakis]

(07-12-2018, 07:47 PM)Cynic Hero 86 Wrote: > Boomers universally refuse to acknowledge Bashar Al-Assad's
> contribution to defending civilization in Syria from barbarism and
> his courage determination and dedication to ruthlessly fight and
> stamp out Islamist barbarism until Syria is completely cleansed of
> this scourge.

That reminds me of the old joke about doctors: The operation was a
success, but the patient died.

[Tim Randal Walker]

58 years after the last Crisis, those with adult memories will be a rapidly dwindling group of elderly survivors.

Those who were kids during the last Crisis-the aging Adaptives-will be largely gone from public life.

[David Horn]

(07-13-2018, 11:55 AM)Tim Randal Walker Wrote: 58 years after the last Crisis, those with adult memories will be a rapidly dwindling group of elderly survivors.

Those who were kids during the last Crisis-the aging Adaptives-will be largely gone from public life.

Today, the most shocked and aggrieved are the remaining GIs, who know this tune very well.  If my local newspaper is any measure, all the 90+ generation is outraged and at a loss about what to do.  They're most shocked by the young who cheer for the swamp monster, yet will have to live in the swamp for the rest of their lives, or so they fear.

[John J. Xenakis]

(07-13-2018, 12:45 PM)David Horn Wrote: > Today, the most shocked and aggrieved are the remaining GIs, who
> know this tune very well. If my local newspaper is any measure,
> all the 90+ generation is outraged and at a loss about what to do.
> They're most shocked by the young who cheer for the swamp monster,
> yet will have to live in the swamp for the rest of their lives, or
> so they fear.

The swamp monster? Is that Trump? One wonders how he won the last
election.

You leftists must be thrilled to see all the anti-Trump protests today
in London, and especially thrilled at the baby Trump balloon. Trump
has been avoiding them by using his Marine 1 helicopter to move
around, rather than traveling by auto, which would allow protesters to
target him. I saw al-Jazeera show a shot of the helicopter traveling
across the screen, and the so-called news reporter said, "Trump has
brought his own military threat to London." It's always fun and
educational to hear what the leftists have to say.

[pbrower2a]

(07-13-2018, 01:55 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

(07-13-2018, 12:45 PM)David Horn Wrote: >   Today, the most shocked and aggrieved are the remaining GIs, who
>   know this tune very well. If my local newspaper is any measure,
>   all the 90+ generation is outraged and at a loss about what to do.
>   They're most shocked by the young who cheer for the swamp monster,
>   yet will have to live in the swamp for the rest of their lives, or
>   so they fear.

The swamp monster?  Is that Trump?  One wonders how he won the last
election.

Demagoguery that few people thought could work in America because Americans are allegedly too sophisticated and learned for that stuff. The nation of Walt Whitman and Ernest Hemingway could never fall for that. Except that the people who read Whitman and Hemingway weren't the ones who voted for him. Something like the people who listened to Bach and read Goethe would never vote for... Add to that a frekish situation in the Electoral College.

Quote:You leftists must be thrilled to see all the anti-Trump protests today
in London, and especially thrilled at the baby Trump balloon.

I wish I were there to protest.

Quote:  Trump has been avoiding them by using his Marine 1 helicopter to move
around, rather than traveling by auto, which would allow protesters to
target him.  I saw al-Jazeera show a shot of the helicopter traveling
across the screen, and the so-called news reporter said, "Trump has
brought his own military threat to London."  It's always fun and
educational to hear what the leftists have to say.

Donald Trump makes me look with longing to Ronald Reagan, who for all his faults did not mock the handicapped, brag about grabbing women by their crotches, stiff subcontractors, bait aliens, mock well-established religions, or get cozy with tyrants.

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 14-Jul-18 World View -- China's railway contractor in Kenya accused of 'neo-colonialism, racism and blatant discrimination'

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• China's railway contractor in Kenya accused of 'neo-colonialism, racism and blatant discrimination'
  
• Kenya may lose its Mombasa seaport to China because of 'Debt Book Diplomacy'
  

****
**** China's railway contractor in Kenya accused of 'neo-colonialism, racism and blatant discrimination'
****

Kenyan workers on Kenya railway line begin abused by Chinese masters


Chinese railway contractor punishes workers for refusing to do menial jobs that they were not hired to do (Standard Media, Kenya)

A series of reports in Kenyan newspapers being described as
"explosive" accuse the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), which
is responsible for developing and operating Kenya's Special Gauge
Railway (SGR), of "neo-colonialism, racism and blatant discrimination"
towards Kenya workers. The SGR train is the Madaraka Express, which
operates between Kenya's Port of Mombasa and the capital city Nairobi.

Racism is rampant, to the point where the Chinese have apparently set
up an apartheid system. At the staff canteen, Kenyans may not sit at
the same tables as Chinese. Kenyans may not share the company's staff
vans used by the Chinese. All the signs are written in Chinese,
apparently with no translations available, to prevent the Kenyans from
doing many of the jobs.

Although Kenyan workers have at least civil engineering degrees, the
Chinese masters order them to perform only menial tasks, well below
their skill levels. If a Kenyan refuses to perform menial work as
ordered, he can be physically punished. Furthermore, when a Kenyan
and a Chinese employee perform the same job, the Chinese employee's
salary is four times as high.

There are 40 Kenyan locomotive drivers employed by the company, but
the Chinese do not actually let them drive the train. The Chinese are
supposed to be training Kenyans to do the technical jobs, but
according to one Kenyan driver who has been working at the company for
over a year, "We just sit at the back and watch. There is no actual
transfer of skills that is happening here."

Chinese workers blatantly violate the rules -- smoking inside
the trains, urinating on the tracks, and other violations that
are ignored for the Chinese workers but would immediately
get a Kenyan worker fired.

The Chinese contractor CRBC is apparently also guilty of corruption
and financial fraud. Some employees have also discovered that the
Chinese contractor has been reporting different figures to the Kenya
Revenue Authority for tax purposes.

Kenya's government have apparently sided with the Chinese contractor,
against the Kenyan workers, blaming the Kenyan workers for having a
poor work ethic. According to government spokesman Eric Kiraithe;

<QUOTE>"I am not saying any worker should be discriminated
and humiliated in the workplace but we must all appreciate that
the operation of a modern train is a profession that calls for
military standard discipline.

Inward-looking, haki yetu ["our rights" in Swahili] centered
personalities have no place in this kind of profession, not now or
in the future. They are the first crop of Kenyans employed on this
project and the culture they entrench will determine whether in
less than 10 years we shall depend on them."<END QUOTE>

The news reports have caused a major scandal in Kenya. Kenya
Railways, the agency mandated to supervise the Chinese operator of the
railway project said it was launching an investigation into the
claims, giving CRBC 72 hours to submit a report. Kenyans News and Shanghaiist and Standard Media (Kenya) and Nairobi Wire and Standard Media (Kenya)

****
**** Kenya may lose its Mombasa seaport to China because of 'Debt Book Diplomacy'
****

China is building infrastructure projects in many countries as part of
its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China does not build a project in
a country for free. It loans the money at harsh terms with high
interest rates. Furthermore, it demands that almost all of the work
be done by Chinese workers, who get paid out of the money that has
been loaned, so most of the money that China loans to the country is
returned to China in the form of remittances and payments for
services, but the country still has that debt, and has to repay the
same money to China again, with interest.

Theoretically, the Chinese workers are supposed to train the local
workers, and responsibility for the project is supposed to be turned
over to the country within a few years. But as we're seeing in the
case of Kenya's SGR, the Chinese masters are forcing the Kenyans into
menial jobs, are segregating themselves from the Kenyans, are
maintaining all signs in Chinese so that the Kenyans are not being
trained.

This is being called "Debt Book Diplomacy" (as opposed to "checkbook
diplomacy," which the US used to be accused of). The poster child for
how it works is the Port of Hambantota, a Chinese infrastructure
project in Sri Lanka, funded with a loan from China, with almost all
the labor performed by Chinese workers. Sri Lanka was unable to repay
the loan, and the government was forced to give the Port to China. So
now Sri Lanka has a large seaport owned by China, and a large Chinese
enclave with hundreds of Chinese families, with no benefit to itself
and to its own people.

Kenya has been going on a public borrowing binge. Kenya's public
debt is over $50 billion, including $4 billion in loans from
China for the SGR.

Theoretically, the Madaraka Express, the SGR train that operates
between the Port of Mombasa and the capital city Nairobi, is supposed
to pay for itself, just like Sri Lanka's Hambantota seaport. The
World Bank in 2013 warned Kenya that the railway project was a bad
deal, but Kenya went ahead with it anyway.

However, it now emerges that in the first year of operation, the
only managed to bring in $10 million in revenues, far short of
the fantasy amounts that were originally promised. Furthermore,
even that amount is dependent on the government forcing businesses
to use the railway, even when it's not the best choice.

According to David Shinn, a former diplomat and a professor of
international affairs at George Washington University:

<QUOTE>"Keep in mind that this is a loan from a Chinese
bank. A Chinese company by contract is required to build the
projects on an enormous amount of that loan money that’s going to
go straight into the pocket of a Chinese state-owned company. It’s
going to have a percentage of Chinese labor.

And most of the material that goes into the project will be
manufactured in China. So, Chinese companies are making a profit
on that. There are two or three wins for China, you know, [and]
one win for Kenya and Ethiopia, being that they get a railway
built that no other country is offering to build for
them."<END QUOTE>

Kenya is not able to make its debt payments in these circumstances.
Rumors are beginning to spread that Kenya will be forced to give up
the Mombasa seaport to the Chinese, just as Sri Lanka was forced to
give up the Hambantota seaport. The government is denying these
rumors, but has not explained how the debt will be paid. Soko Directory (Kenya) and Standard Media (Kenya) and VOA and Center for Global Development (4-Mar-2018)

Related Articles

• African Cédric Bakambu joins China's Sinobo Guoan Football Club (04-Mar-2018)
  
  
• China-built railway in Kenya raises questions about 'debt trap diplomacy' (02-Jun-2017)
  
  
• Violent protests in Sri Lanka over China's takeover of Hambantota seaport (08-Jan-2017)
  
  
• Massive China-Pakistan CPEC energy project said to end energy crisis 'soon' (23-Mar-2017)
  
  
• Mahathir promises to reduce Malaysia's debt and China's influence (31-May-2018)
  
  
• Iran-India sign 'historic' Chabahar port deal to counter Pakistan-China (25-May-2016)
  

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Kenya, Standard Gauge Railway, SGR,
Madaraka Express, Port of Mombasa, Nairobi, Kenya Railways,
China Road and Bridge Corporation, CRBC,
Eric Kiraithe, Belt and Road Initiative, BRI,
Debt Book Diplomacy, Sri Lanka, Port of Hambantota,
David Shinn

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John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 15-Jul-18 World View -- Israel prepares for war on two fronts, Gaza and Syria

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Egypt mediates Israel-Gaza ceasefire in biggest escalation since 2014 war
  
• Israel also prepares for war on Syria border with Iran and Hezbollah
  

****
**** Egypt mediates Israel-Gaza ceasefire in biggest escalation since 2014 war
****


A Patriot Missile launched in southern Israel on Friday afternoon hit an incoming Syrian drone as it crossed the border into Israel (Reuters)

Israel and Gaza appear close to full-scale war today for the first
time since 2014, despite the announcement that both Hamas and Islamic
Jihad in Gaza had agreed to a ceasefire mediated by Egypt. However,
it's unclear whether the ceasefire is holding.

According to Israel's military (IDF), since Friday afternoon Hamas has
launched 200 rockets and mortar shells across the border into Israel,
causing property damage and three injuries.

As a precaution, the IDF instructed Israelis living near the Gaza
border to remain within a 15-second radius from bomb shelters or safe
rooms.

In retaliation, Israeli aircraft on Saturday attacked more than 40
targets in Gaza in the most extensive daytime assault since the 67 day
war with Gaza in 2014. The IDF says that targets included urban
warfare training facilities, weapon storage warehouse, training
compounds, command centers, and offices in Hamas's Battalion
headquarters. This was the first time recently that Israel struck
targets in the heart of Gaza city. Palestinians said two teens were
killed and 14 injured in the Israeli strikes.

Every Friday after midday prayers for several months, Gaza has been
holding demonstrations along the border fence with Israel, with the
stated objective for Palestinians to exercise their "Right of Return,"
to regain the lands where their ancestors had lived, prior to the 1947
war between Arabs and Jews that followed the partitioning of Palestine
and the creation of the state of Israel. The demonstrations have been
mostly peaceful, but activists have also tried to break through the
fence, with the intent of attacking Israelis in their homes.

In recent weeks, the protests have been supplemented by incendiary
kites and balloons, which float over the border fence and land in
forests and farmland, causing massive fires. Israel's army has been
baffled by these devices, and has been responding by striking Hamas
targets in Gaza. Saturday's attack was the biggest attack since the
2014 full-scale war.

According to an IDF spokesman, the aims of Saturday's operation were
to end the large-scale border protests, end the incendiary kites and
balloons, and end the rocket and mortar fire. That appears to be a
great deal to hope for. Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel and BBC and
Reuters

Related Articles:

• Israel will close crossing point to Gaza in retaliation for incendiary kites (10-Jul-2018)
  
  
• Israel hopeful that Egypt's mediation has ended Gaza violence - for now (01-Jun-2018)
  
  
• Channeling Sisyphus, Trump and Abbas say Mideast peace not as hard as it looks (04-May-2017)
  

****
**** Israel also prepares for war on Syria border with Iran and Hezbollah
****

Late on Saturday evening, Israel's army announced that military
exercises will be taking place across the country for the next week,
starting immediately on Sunday morning. The announcement said that
the exercises were "planned in advance," but the abrupt nature of the
announcement indicates that imminent concerns.

It's believed that the it may be in response to the following
announcement that appeared in the Syrian governments al-Masdar news on
Thursday:

<QUOTE>"The Syrian Arab Army’s shock troops have moved from
the Daraa Governorate to the Al-Quneitra front, following the
military’s recent achievements in southwest Syria.

According to the official Facebook of Colonel Nizar Qindi, his
elite shock troops from the 9th Division have moved to the
Al-Quneitra Governorate, today, after a short deployment in the
Daraa Governorate. ...

The 9th Division has operated in the Al-Quneitra Governorate
before, but they were later redeployed to the Damascus and Daraa
fronts to aid in those offensives.

Also redeploying alongside the 9th Division was the National
Defense Forces (NDF) of Al-Sweida, Damascus, and Izraa.

These reinforcements should give the Syrian Arab Army and their
allies a major military boost in the Al-Quneitra Governorate, as
they make their final preparations for this operation.

In the coming days, the Syrian Army is expected to kickoff their
long-awaited Al-Quneitra offensive, as they look to conclude their
southwest Syria operations before month’s end.

The National Defense Forces (NDF) referred to in the statement are a
collection of militias that the Syrian regime set up in 2012,
organized by Iran and Hezbollah.

While Israel's army is struggling to deal with the increasing tensions
on the Gaza border, the army is also facing the possibility of a
northern war with Iran and Hezbollah along the border with Syria.

It's quite possible that Israel's army is not prepared for a two-front
war. This could explain Saturday evening's abrupt announcement of
military exercises in cities across Israel.

Syria's Quneitra offensive is expected to begin within the next two
days, before or during the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir
Putin. Al-Masdar News (Damascus) and Debka (Israel) and YNet (Israel) and Debka

Related Articles:

• Concerns grow in Israel over Syrian and Russian assaults on Daraa and Quneitra provinces (25-Jun-2018)
  
  
• Thousands of Syrians flee into Jordan to escape bombing in Daraa (22-Jun-2018)
  
  
• Russia, Iran, Turkey sign farcical Syria peace agreement (25-Jan-2017)
  

[i]KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Hamas, Islamic Jihad,
Syria, Daraa, Quneitra, Nizar Qindi,
National Defense Forces, NDF, Iran, Hezbollah

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John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 16-Jul-18 World View -- Socialist Cuba moves to Capitalism, while Socialist Venezuela moves to self-destruction

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Cuba's new constitution builds on ending of socialism in 2011
  
• Private property ownership allowed under Cuba's new constitution
  
• Mario Díaz-Canel imposes harsh regulations on the private sector
  

****
**** Cuba's new constitution builds on ending of socialism in 2011
****


Homes and cars in Cuba are stuck in the 1950s, thanks to Socialism (Getty)

Cuba's new constitution will recognize private property for the first
time since the fanatical Fidel Castro abolished private property after
the Cuban Communist Revolution of 1959. Cuba's current constitution,
adopted in 1976, recognizes four forms of property: state,
cooperative, farmer, personal and joint-venture property.
The new category of private property will permit Cubans to own
business-related property.

Despite the insistence that Cuba is still a full-fledged, glorious
Socialist state, ever since Fidel Castro stepped down in 2008, the two
new leaders that replaced him have been moving Cuba in the direction
of capitalism. This is in contrast to Venezuela and North Korea,
whose Socialist leaders continue to move their countries toward
self-destruction.

In 2010, when Cuba's economy was in shambles, and president Raúl
Castro announced the end of the Socialist economy.
The government would lay off 500,000 government
workers (Socialist bureaucrats) and privatize many businesses.

In particular, Marx's Socialist Principle Of Distribution ("From each
according to abilities, to each according to needs") was abandoned at
the time, with the announcement: We must reinvigorate the socialist
principle of distribution, to pay to each according to the quantity
and quality of work provided."

Within two years of the 2010 announcement, the size of the state
payroll had been reduced by 20%, and more than 200,000 people had
moved into private enterprise. For the first time, Havana was
population with street stalls selling everything from pirate DVDs to
kitchen implements. The problem, however, was these self-employed
small business owners were not permitted to own the street stalls that
they had set up. The same was true of other entrepreneurs as well.
Guardian (London, 6-Nov-2011) and Granma (Cuba, 20-Apr)

****
**** Private property ownership allowed under Cuba's new constitution
****

Since 2010, the number of self-employed people in areas like tourism
and transport has nearly quadrupled to more than 591,000, around 13%
of Cuba’s overall workforce.

In April of this year, Raúl Castro stepped down, and Miguel Mario
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez became president. In a speech in April, Castro
previewed the changes that Díaz-Canel was about to implement:

<QUOTE>"We will continue to expand self-employed work – as I
have mentioned in different speeches before this parliament –
which represents an alternative source of employment within the
framework of current law, and far from signifying a process of
neoliberal privatization of social property, will allow the state
to free itself of managing activities of a non-strategic nature to
the country’s development. The experiment with non-agricultural
cooperatives will also continue.

Significant results have been achieved in both areas, but also
revealed are mistakes in management, control and monitoring, which
have led to the emergence of various forms of indiscipline such as
tax evasion, in a country where, before these measures were
applied, hardly anyone paid taxes; criminal acts and regulatory
violations, with the aim of getting rich quick, a problem which
was not addressed in a timely manner and resulted in the need to
modify various regulations linked to this sector."<END QUOTE>

This was a preview of the new constitution that was announced by
president Mario Díaz-Canel on Saturday. Here is part of
the announcement:

<QUOTE>"The economic system that it reflects maintains as
essential principles the socialist property of all the people on
the fundamental means of production and planning as the main
component of management, to which is added the recognition of the
role of the market and of new forms of ownership, between they are
private, in correspondence with the Conceptualization of the Cuban
Economic and Social Socialist Development Model and the Guidelines
of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution,
as a result of the consultation with broad sectors of society. ...

Regarding private property on the land, a special regime is
maintained, with limitations on its transmission and the
preferential right of the State to its acquisition through its
fair price."<END QUOTE>

So the new constitution allows entrepreneurs to keep their commercial
property, but the last clause means that the dictators in the
government can still confiscate property at any time. The Conversation (18-Apr) and Granma (Cuba) (Trans) and TelesurTV

****
**** Mario Díaz-Canel imposes harsh regulations on the private sector
****

Castro's speech in April referred to "mistakes in management, control
and monitoring." The fear of a quickly growing private marketplace
that might threaten the power of the dictatorship has motivated harsh
restrictions and regulations. The government froze issuing licenses
for some popular business categories last year, and new regulations
forbid a single person from holding more than one business license.
This has already discouraged badly needed investment in businesses,
and has even forced some business owners to close businesses because
business licenses had to be returned.

Investment is the reason why the economic changes are being made in
the first place. Cuba has decaying road infrastructure, a national
housing deficit, food shortages, and public transport problems.

Under the fanatical Fidel Castro, Cuba's economy was a continuing
disaster, first propped up by the Soviet Union, and later by
Venezuela. Now that Venezuela is an economic disaster, the payments
are getting smaller, and Cuba needs money.

Cuban officials want international investors, but no one is willing to
invest money in Cuba unless they believe that they can make a profit
and take the money out. So really, Cuba's new regulations restricting
business may may actually cancel out the advantages of owning private
property.

It's also good to remember that returning Cuba to capitalism does not
make it a democracy. I've written about many countries that
illustrate this. Nazi Germany was a capitalist dictatorship. China
today resembles a capitalist dictatorship. For example, Cameroon has
a capitalist economy, but the Francophone government still commits daily atrocities
on the
Anglophone community, including extrajudicial jailings, mass
slaughter, rape, torture, and burning down entire villages. Syria has
a capitalist economy, but the government of Shia/Alawite president
Bashar al-Assad continues full-scale genocide and ethnic cleaning
of hated Sunni populations.

Still, Cuba and Venezuela are a study in contrasts. Venezuela is
pushing forward with full-scale Socialism, destroying the country,
turning it into a military fascist state, starving the population, and
driving millions of families into neighboring countries as refugees.
Venezuela has become a worldwide poster child for what a disaster
Socialism always is, 100% of the time.

Perhaps because Venezuela is such a disaster, Cuba is taking a
different path, looking for a way to maintain the dictatorship, but at
the same time opening up the economy by abandoning Socialism in order
to encourage foreign investments. A dictatorship without Socialism,
as in the case of Cuba, isn't as disastrous as a dictatorship with
Socialism, as in the case of Venezuela, so at least Cuba is choosing
the lesser of two evils. Reuters and Havana Times and AFP

Related Articles:

• Cuba's new president Miguel Díaz-Canel makes delusional promise to continue Socialist revolution (20-Apr-2018)
  
  
• Cuba's seismic shift has global implications (16-Sep-2010)
  
  
• From Cuba to China, people worry about demise of Venezuela's Chavez (03-Jul-2011)
  
  
• Cuba's shift is similar to E. Germany, Hungary, Poland, others (18-Dec-2014)
  
  
• Venezuela's economic crisis is hitting Cuba hard (06-Aug-2016)
  

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro,
Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez,
Venezuela, North Korea, Socialist Principle Of Distribution,
Cameroon, Syria, Bashar al-Assad

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John J. Xenakis
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Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
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[David Horn]

(07-13-2018, 01:55 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

(07-13-2018, 12:45 PM)David Horn Wrote: Today, the most shocked and aggrieved are the remaining GIs, who know this tune very well. If my local newspaper is any measure, all the 90+ generation is outraged and at a loss about what to do.  They're most shocked by the young who cheer for the swamp monster, yet will have to live in the swamp for the rest of their lives, or so they fear.

The swamp monster?  Is that Trump?  One wonders how he won the last election.

You leftists must be thrilled to see all the anti-Trump protests today in London, and especially thrilled at the baby Trump balloon.  Trump has been avoiding them by using his Marine 1 helicopter to move around, rather than traveling by auto, which would allow protesters to target him.  I saw al-Jazeera show a shot of the helicopter traveling across the screen, and the so-called news reporter said, "Trump has brought his own military threat to London."  It's always fun and educational to hear what the leftists have to say.

It's totally baffling to me that anyone with a functioning brain can support Trump's actions on any level.  If "a method to his madness" could be seen to work on some level -- any level will do -- then maybe, just maybe he might be forgiven for being a monumental putz.  So far, there is no evidence that this is the case, and plenty of evidence that he is pushing the world toward chaos.  Of course, you've always lobbied for yet one more crisis war, so that may be your reason for backing him.  If so, it's a piss poor reason, in my opinion.

Then again, you may be one of those who believe that infuriating liberals is a good enough reason in and of itself. Keep in mind: paybacks tend to be very dramatic and often long lasting.

[David Horn]

I missed this, so consider this a late response.

(07-12-2018, 05:03 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote:

(07-11-2018, 02:43 PM)David Horn Wrote: I know people who were in Charlottesville when the neo-Nazis came to town. I have a hard time seeing that as "bogus".

The difference is that the neo-nazis are condemned by everyone on the right and left, except for a small group of nutcases.

I guess DJT qualifies as a nutcase then, because he was eminently squishy on the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville.

John X Wrote:But Socialism, which is ten times worse than the Nazis, is praised and adored by almost everyone on the left.  The Nazis killed tens of millions of people in the last century, while the Socialists killed hundreds of millions.  The Socialists are killing, starving, jailing and torturing people in Venezuela today.

… and Duterte is actively encouraging Philippinos to kill "suspected drug dealers".  Shall I assign that to Capitalists, since you seem to assign Maduro to Socialists?

John X Wrote:The Nazis are condemned by the right, who are on the side of law and order.  But the Left are the mainstream supporters of slaughter, torture, rape, jailings, killings and mutilations performed by the Socialists.  That's the difference.

Maybe not.  Where you get this nonsense is puzzling.  You might consider moving out of Cambridge.  It seems to make you crazy.

[pbrower2a]

Basically true, David Horn. Extremists are against law and order when not in power because they seek to destabilize a political order that they do not control but seek to control. Once in power, the extremists insist upon the most rigid control of society -- one that crushes all dissent or rivalry against them. They are anarchists seeking destruction of such order as exists and then they seek to control everything.

[Tim Randal Walker]

So Cuba may evolve into a not-strictly-Socialist dictatorship? In the meantime, I'm wondering if there will be draconian change in Venezuela-a coup perhaps?

And Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was elected in Mexico.

Change is coming to our neck of the woods.

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 17-Jul-18 World View -- Pakistan terrorism grows as July 25 election approaches

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Second largest terror attack in Pakistan's history occurs at election rally
  
• 'Ghazi Force' takes credit for attack on 11th anniversary of Red Mosque siege
  

****
**** Second largest terror attack in Pakistan's history occurs at election rally
****


Facebook picture of Siraj Raisani, Baloch leader who was killed in terrorist attack on Friday

About 149 people were killed, including nine children, and hundreds
injured at a terror attack on Friday in Mastung, near Quetta, the
capital of the Balochistan province in southwest Pakistan. This was
the second worst terror attack in Pakistan's history, and it occurs as
a nationwide general election approaches on July 25.

The attack targeted an election rally for the Balochistan Awami Party
(BAP). Among the 149 killed were the BAP candidate and Baloch leader
Siraj Raisani.

The worst occurred in 2014, when Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP, Pakistan
Taliban) attacked an army school in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan on
Tuesday, killing 141 people, 132 of them schoolchildren, most of them
children of soldiers. ( "17-Dec-14 World View -- Pakistan Taliban crosses a red line with mass slaughter of army children"
) The 2014 attack was
such a shock to Pakistan, especially to the army, that the army
immediately began a long-term counter-terrorism operation directed at
TTP.

The new attack may not have the same effect of shock as the 2014
attack, because of a confluence of events. In the hours after the
suicide attack occurred on Friday, the country was riveted by a scene
going on at the other end of the country -- the return of the
charismatic former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from self-imposed exile
in London. Beginning in 1990, Sharif has been prime minister of
Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. But Sharif was charged with
corruption early in 2017 because of revelations in the leaked Panama
Papers, and he left the country after being forced to step down by the
Pakistani Supreme Court. Sharif had been promising to return to
Pakistan to defend himself against the charges, and on Friday his
plane landed and, in the midst of crowds of thousands of supporters,
he was arrested and taken off to jail.

So with all that going on, the terror attack in Balochistan didn't get
much media coverage, and so there wasn't the level of public outrage
and shock that had followed the 2014 terror attack. This is all the
more surprising because there were two more terror attacks last week.
On Tuesday, a suicide bombing in Peshawar at a rally for the Awami
National Party (ANP) killed 21, including candidate Haroon Bilour. On
Friday, a bomb roadside bomb killed four people in the northern town
of Bannu.

Terrorist violence in Pakistan has ebbed since the military began
counter-terrorism operations against the TTP after the 2014 attack.
However, with three attacks in the last week alone, and with the
election less than two weeks again, Pakistanis are concerned about a
new surge in violence. Dawn (Pakistan) and South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP - India) and Express Tribune (Pakistan) and BBC
and Indian Express

****
**** 'Ghazi Force' takes credit for attack on 11th anniversary of Red Mosque siege
****

The terror group "Ghazi Force Lal Masjid," linked to Tehrik-e-Taliban
(TTP, Pakistan Taliban) claimed credit for the attack. This
represents a resurgence of a group linked to a major event that
occurred almost exactly eleven years ago.

On July 11, 2007, a spectacular 8-day siege ended after 36 hours in a
mosque complex in Islamabad known as the "Red Mosque" or "Lal Masjid."
It had all begun the previous January, when dozens of female seminary
students studying and living at the madrassas within the mosque
complex demanded that the government impose Taliban-style sharia law
and arrest the prostitutes in downtown Islamabad. After a while, the
female students would come out in black burqas with long bamboo sticks
and threaten the prostitutes.

The last straw came when dozens of students kidnapped nine people,
including six Chinese women and a Chinese man, leading to protests
from China. The result was the siege and bloodbath that ended on July
11. It turned out that the Red Mosque had a huge cache of weapons
that apparently had been brought there is the last few months.

The leading cleric for the Red Mosque was Imam Abdul Rashid Ghazi who
called for his own death to spark an Islamic revolution. He said that
he would rather be martyred than give in to the government, and he was
killed during the siege. Ghazi said that he had declared war against
Pakistan's government for entering into an alliance with the United
States following the 9/11 attacks. The standoff left more than 100
militants dead, along with 11 armed forces personnel. It was a
significant turning point in terrorism in Pakistan.

Al-Qaeda leaders quickly demanded revenge, and Ghazi's death has
become a global inspiration to other jihadist movements. Six months
later, on December 14, 2007, some 40 militant leaders, commanding
40,000 militant fighters, gathered in South Waziristan to form a
united front under the banner of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Now, on the tenth anniversary of the Red Mosque siege, the Ghazi Force
Lal Masjid has struck again. Dawn (9-July-2017) and Khaama News (Afghanistan)

Related Articles:

• Pakistan Taliban crosses a red` line with mass slaughter of army children (17-Dec-2014)
  
  
• After 'Pakistan's 9/11', war is declared on the Taliban (21-Dec-2014)
  
  
• Pakistan: Over 106 dead in spectacular assault on radical mosque in Islamabad (12-Jul-2007)
  
  
• Pakistan celebrates its 70th birthday, wondering what Pakistan is (15-Aug-2017)
  

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Pakistan, Mastung, Quetta, Balochistan,
Balochistan Awami Party, BAP, Siraj Raisani,
Tehrik-e-Taliban, TTP, Pakistan Taliban, Peshawar,
Nawaz Sharif, Awami National Party, ANP, Haroon Bilour, Bannu,
Ghazi Force Lal Masjid, Lal Masjid, Red Mosque,
Abdul Rashid Ghazi

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John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe