[cryptome] Re: The Nuclear Chain Reaction Gossip Column. Was: : US/Lyndon Baines Johnstone supplied Iran's Nuclear Reactor in 1967
- From: Andrew Hornback <achornback@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: cryptome@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2015 14:11:20 -0500
On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 10:31 AM, doug <douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Hi Andrew,
>
> You asked of my origins...Scotland, originally, but I have been away from
> there about 4 times as long as I lived there. Not so much wool over me
> eyes, but cataracts, comes from breeding specialist hairy haggis for Burns
> Suppers...they are so fine, that one can hardly see them.
>
Ahh, you may want to have the surgery for those, my friend.
[snip'd the comedic coming of age of Dougie :)]
> Regarding the internet, of course GCHQ and all sorts of government and
> security services, the military and so on have their own secret and private
> internets, intra-nets virtual nets and all sorts, where they have
> newsgroups, private discussion groups and blogs to keep themselves up to
> date with the latest developments in classified issues around the world,
> compartmentalised of course. The Snowden documents have revealed some of
> them.
>
I would not be the least bit surprised to find out that some of these
intelligence agencies are still using dial-up connectivity and acoustic
coupler modems to connect in to "classic" collaboration systems. Why
abandon a technology that's worked for decades?
> Intention, a vivid imagination, personal experience and high intellect and
> the ability to apply it physically to ones situation, and learn from ones
> mistakes...even if it is to make bigger ones, are of course individual and
> personal traits, rather than a collective one, with that I agree.
>
Sounds like a discussion about self-actualization, from my point of view...
> "Education is an admirable thing, but it is as well to remember that
> nothing that is worth knowing can be taught", as Oscar Wilde once said in
> "Philosophies for the Young".
>
I would respectfully disagree... there are a lot of things worth knowing
that can and must be taught. One does not simply pick up a welding torch
and become an artisan welder without some basic training and guidance.
Same goes for plumbers, electricians, spies... just because you own a set
of tools to do a job does not make you a master of the craft.
> Personally, I believe that the artists, no matter of what race, ethnicity,
> gender or age; the theorists and practitioners of the arts and sciences are
> born, rather than created by over-indulgent parents, specialist schools, or
> ruling elites and secret societies in jumped up universities, but there you
> are...who am I, but a hairy wee Scot... :-) . I am not saying here, by
> the way, that specialist training and education is no good...it should be
> offered to all that want it, rather than a select few.
>
See, I'm a fan of the way that the Germans and Israelis (odd combination,
I know, but stay with me for a minute) handle what amounts to their high
school and post-high school youth. 2 years of trade school education or 2
years of military service and then either into a profession, onto academic
college or staying within the military. The world will always need a
supply of plumbers, carpenters, electricians, morticians... but not always
a horde of English, Philosophy or Psychology majors.
China, as an entity, is a lot larger in terms of demography and geography
> and a lot older in history and cultural terms than the United States and it
> is only recently that it has started to industrialise in the capitalist
> fashion and pollute the environment in a major way.
>
You may want to look into...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward
... and the damage done both economically and environmentally by this
movement.
Also, as I tend to recall from my Chinese Foreign Policy class at the
University, The Great Leap Forward resulted in entire cemeteries being dug
up, the bodies removed and the ground used for agricultural use. When a
society puts industrialization ahead of respect for the dead...
> If it hadn't been for all those goods it was encouraged to produce for the
> US market, and its communist party subverted by American ways, then America
> would have been a lot poorer, and China a lot cleaner.
>
And again, more information from Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_trade_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China
Modern China, China of the 80s and China of the Great Leap Forward look
like distant cousins to one another at this point in history. There's no
way that one could say that China would have been a lot cleaner if not for
the demand for goods in America. Goods are produced, doesn't matter
necessarily where they are destined for final delivery. That production
and the industrialization to support that production causes nightmarish
scenarios. Perhaps if the Chinese hadn't acquired their post-WWII
industrialization from the Soviets, things would be different... but,
that's neither here nor there at this point.
> Perhaps the chap I mentioned (I am sorry I wish I could remember his name
> and his position) was suffering from a subconscious learnt process of
> superior cultural hegemony gained from one of those Primrose League schools
> which he attended, and which the representatives of huge empires usually do.
>
I'm far from a fan of ivory tower education... see above.
> When one gets too many of them it usually leads to the downfall of the
> empire.
>
Again, the name on the sheepskin is a sign of quality for those who don't
care to dive any further into the issue.
> There arises a belief that a good education, means going to the top
> educational establishments, i.e. paying a lot to learn the social graces of
> corruption, family networking, rituals and job creation, and how to corrupt
> others with the minimum chance of getting caught.
>
A good education is what the student makes out of it - not what name is on
the door that greets visitors to the campus.
> The Soviet Union disappeared because its communist party thought it was
> the cream of socieity, the intelligenzia and thought that it was more
> clever than anyone else and instead turned into the nomenklatura.
>
Both major political parties in the US suffer from the same mindset,
unfortunately.
Such methods don't always work, of course, too many others doing the same
> thing. The laws of uneven development, as Karl Marx put it, means that
> empires come and go, and don't last forever...though it does seem like it
> at times. The UK went the same way early in the 19th Century,
> neo-colonised by the US, held in hock, just like the rest of Europe (apart
> from old Europe, of course...-)). l but its ruling elites still has airs
> and graces well above its station...Still, perhaps the application of IT,
> the internet, the world wide web, the social media sharing experience and
> the growth of the global corporations will change all of that...but I doubt
> it.
> Evolution, to survive as a theory and in practice means change, change and
> more change and there is nuffink anyone can do to stop it.
>
It's not necessarily the political elites running the show anymore - a
couple of gaffs, a foible or two and you won't win the next election (or
get enough donors lined up to build the war chest to run properly in the
next election).
Concentrate on the number 1917 for a minute. Why 1917? Smack in the
middle of World War I, the US starts to get involved heavily. The Federal
Budget of the US grows to over 1 Billion USD for the first time and is
roughly the same size as the collective budgets from 1789 to 1849.
Now... 1 Billion USD. Why is that important? The next Presidential
election in the United States will have two candidates spending more than 1
Billion USD each to win the same seat that George Washington didn't spend a
dime to get elected to. 1 Billion USD for a position that doesn't pay more
than $500k/yr (heavily rounding), so that's $2 Million over a four year
term. So, you're spending 1000 to get 2 in return. Does that kind of
logic fly in business? If so, I've got some really great investment grade
bridges for sale in NYC... prime real estate, great views, hugely popular
locations.
The global corporations are the elites now - they're using IT to ensure
their longevity. Using/abusing IT, Al Gore's Internet and social media to
keep people stupid and blind. What's more important in the grand realm of
existence, the color of a dress or the war vs. ISIL? Kim Kardashian's ass
or the situation in Ukraine?
> Ah...Well, back to knitting me eyebrows...and Tx for the info...nice to
> share... :-) .
> ATB
> Dougie.
>
Enjoy!
--- A
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