On March 9th (9/3/18) the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics opened in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK/South).
It opened with the traditional Opening Ceremony.
In writing about things like Olympic ceremonies and the Eurovision Song Contest I do worry that I seem to be creating rules of what they should contain. This places an expectation on people who participate in them in the future limiting their creativity.
Generally speaking though Olympic Opening Ceremonies are used to introduce and welcome visitors to the host nation. They then make some attempt to set the agenda of the topics to be discussed during the games.
The 2018 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony introduced some extremely heavy topics. Such as;
The ancient history of the Korean Peninsula. Particularly the Unified Three Kingdoms of Korea period from 57 B.C to 668 A.D.
This topic touches on the Korean people's relationship with the Chinese people. In particular the Chinese Tang Dynasty's role in unifying the Three Kingdoms and the Korean's betrayal of the Tang Dynasty through the creation of; "Balhae." Within the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
Korea's traditional Animist religions such as Taoism and Buddhism. It compared these to the Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Islam. In part to highlight how more complex Animist religions are to understand because they lack a codified belief system.
How these Animist religious beliefs have mixed with local folklore to create things like the Four Guardians explanation of the solar system and various Creation Myths. This in turn contrasts with the Mount Paektu Bloodline Creation Myth which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) system of government is based upon.
Existential philosophy. A topic which by its nature is impossible to define.
Korean Unification. As an existential concept.
The Closing Ceremony also introduced a pair of very complex topics;
The RoK's falling birth rate sometimes referred to as the; "Birth Strike." It looked at the socioeconomic drivers behind this phenomenon. Such as the RoK's highly competitive childhood education system and its equally competitive system of adult employment. Along with women's changing role in society.
Advanced Physics. Particularly the similarity between the relatively new concept of Unified Quantum Field Theory and the ancient Animist belief of the Wu Xing. Five essential elements which make up everything and strive to exist in balance and harmony with each other.
Other Olympic ceremonies have touched on the topic of advanced physics. However the 2018 Closing Ceremony drilled down into very specific concepts. Such as Wave-Particle Duality, Time Dilation and the Doppler Effect.
I just about remember studying Wave-Particle Duality at High School. That section of the course lasted for about a month.
The Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony didn't really introduce fresh topics. Instead it referenced the topics raised in the 2018 Olympic ceremonies. So they could be discussed again at the Para-Olympics.
Rather than not bothering for the Para-Olympics this seemed to be a deliberate effort by the South Koreans to establish parity between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics. It makes the Para-Olympics an extension of the Olympics rather than a separate event.
For example if you were introduced to the concept of Wave-Particle Duality at the Olympic Closing Ceremony and have spent the past two weeks reading up on it. Well the chances are that you're only now ready to start discussing it with other people.
What's a TV Anyway?:
One prime example of the inferior way that the Para-Olympics are treated compared to the Olympics is the lack of TV coverage.
The Olympics are a massive global event. The Opening and Closing ceremonies are broadcast live by many broadcasters in most nations on Earth. By contrast Britain's Channel 4 is one of only a handful of broadcasters who showed the Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony live.
During the Olympic ceremonies extra efforts have to be made so all these different broadcasters can calibrate and synchronise their coverage.
This is completely absent at Para-Olympic ceremonies. As almost the sole broadcaster I'm pretty sure Channel 4 could get the hosts to move the ceremonies so the fitted in with its scheduling.
As a result the overwhelming majority of people who watched the Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony would have done so online. Streaming it from the Paralympic website.
This cuts out the middlemen of the broadcasters. So rather then having to coordinate the presenters and the pre-show programming the stream of the ceremony starts about 15 minutes before. Then people keep half an eye on it until the show actually starts.
To highlight this the South Korean host broadcaster provided quite an interesting stream. Rather than say a fixed shot of the outside of the arena they had multiple cameras showing the inside of the arena. So you got to see people taking their seats etc giving you a good idea of the atmosphere.
The irony is that while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have been trying to get more TV broadcasters to show their events the role of TV broadcasters has dramatically decreased.
People who work in the media no longer talk in terms of; "TV Programs" but of; "Media Content." The way that people consume that media content is increasingly been done through Internet streaming.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched its own Internet streaming service - the; "Olympics Channel." The 2018 Winter Games were the first games where this service was up and running.
As no doubt people on the Korean Peninsula have heard I've recently got into the world on Internet streaming. Through a Roku box which sits on my desk/TV stand. About the size of a big button this connects my TV to the Internet.
I was contemplating using this to watch some of the Olympics and Para-Olympics. However I can't because of a flaw in the IOC and IPC's business model.
Like many Internet enabled TV's a Roku box doesn't allow you to use the Internet through a browser.
Instead it allows you use Apps which use certain parts of the Internet. Without a browser you can only use Apps which are available through the service provider - in my case Roku - market place. The Olympic Channel app is not available in that market place. I don't think the IPC even have an App.
The challenge for content providers such as the IOC and the IPC now seems to be to get their Apps included in the service providers market place. It is unlikely they'll provide this service for free giving the service providers a great deal of control over content.
Particularly in the US they're currently trying to increase their level of control even further by ending the concept of net neutrality. This will allow Internet Service Providers (ISP) to speed up or slow down the content depending on how much the content providers are prepared to pay for using a particular service provider.
I suppose I could watch the Para-Olympics on Channel 4's online streaming platform which is available on the Roku market place.
Unfortunately Channel 4 is run by Totalitarian Capitalists. They are utterly obsessed with control.
So Channel 4's online streaming platform is unique amongst free-to-air UK streaming platforms. It requires you to register handing over a great deal of personal information. Which the UK government owned Channel 4 will no doubt use for some sinister purpose.
Like all Totalitarian Capitalists Channel 4 is also utterly obsessed by the; "Nudge Theory" of economics put forward by 2017 Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler.
So rather than allowing me to make the free choice to watch the Para-Olympics online Channel 4 have decided to try and nudge me into it.
This has involved shutting down their High Definition (HD) channels and only offering HD programming online.
Particularly targeting the new season of the US TV show; "Homeland" the intention being to force me to sign up to their online streaming platform to watch things in HD. It would certainly be nice to see the end of an episode.
However much like the Totalitarian female Democrat Party President in Homeland Channel 4 really need to learn that they can't bully and trick their way into getting what they want.
The Countdown:
At the Olympic ceremonies the main way that broadcasters calibrate and synchronise their coverage is through the video countdown.
A short video sequence counts down the seconds with numerals showing 10 to 1. This allows continuity editors to know exactly how long they've got before they need to switch from the studio feed to the arena feed.
However as broadcast technology has improved the job of continuity editor has almost completely disappeared. It has been replaced almost entirely by computerised systems.
As a result this video countdown has become less and less important to the broadcast.
It has always been almost entirely irrelevant at the Para-Olympics.
There are so few broadcasters their coverage can be coordinated by the conference call between the continuity editors and the ceremony director. Even the broadcasters which do show the ceremony live don't do so with the same level of studio package provided to the Olympics.
It is though tradition. So many host nation's have taken to making the countdown sequence part of the ceremony itself.
The South Koreans did though include a short video sequence and a semi-separate countdown.
The video sequence featured lots of people with physical impairments and the equipment they use to overcome those impairments to participate in winter sports.
So for example you saw a man pulling on a prosthetic leg. A child wearing a prosthetic leg in the shower. A woman with only one arm, the other amputated at the shoulder exercising in a gym. You also saw an able bodied downhill skier directly followed by footage of a Sit-Skier to highlight the contrast.
A large part of the Para-Olympics is to promote disability rights. This involves lots of discussion about the different types of physical impairments that affect people, how they affect people and what can be done to overcome those limitations.
Also the Para-Olympics is not as high profile as the Olympics. So every Para-Olympic games has to serve as a sort of introduction to people who are watching disability sport for the first time and often encountering the types of physical impairments for the first time.
So invariably you have to spend some time answering the stupid questions and explaining all the complex jargon.
Such as that the woman with one arm in the gym is referred to as; "A single above elbow amputee" and that Sit Skiers have some level of impairment in their lower limbs. So they compete by sitting in type of wheelchair which is attached to skis rather than wheels.
The video also featured lots of shots of South Korea's natural environment while introducing us to the main theme. The rising temperature as show by a thermometer.
This can be taken on a number of levels.
Although these are the Winter Para-Olympics it is March now which is really the start of spring in the RoK. One of the features of the Wu Xing mentioned earlier is that it signifies the different seasons. However there are five elements to the Wu Xing but only four seasons.
The fifth element of the Wu Xing; "Earth" represented by the colour Yellow represents that time between the seasons. So I suppose you could really describe these as the; "Earth Games." Occurring as they do not quite in winter but not quite in spring either.
The issue of rising temperature could also be taking as a reference to Climate Change and Global Warming. As home to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) the RoK is a key nation in the fight against Climate Change. Even if through the Paris Agreement every other nation has already surrendered.
It could also be taken as a reference to the political temperature rising. It is traditional that the Olympics are used by a variety of nations to bring up a variety of political topics. A small number of those topics are then taken forward to the Para-Olympics to be discussed in a lot of detail. So it's at the Para-Olympics the heated arguments and fights start to break out.
At one point the video featured footage of a wind turbine. I think this was the same footage of a wind turbine used during the Olympic ceremonies. However the footage had been speeded up so the wind turbine was shown spinning really, really fast.
This seemed to be a reference to the joke the weather seemed to play on the organisers during the Olympics.
The Korean Peninsula and therefore these games are still stuck in the Cold War era. During the Olympics the weather seemed keen to emphasise this point.
Initially the weather was very, very COLD. When winter sport athletes are complaining about the cold you know its a bit chilly. When winter sport athletes from Canada's arctic north are complaining about how cold it is you know it is really cold.
After the cold the weather decided to focus on the WAR. Explosively high winds caused many events to be delayed and some of the venues to be closed entirely.
The video sequence ended with a flaming Ice Hockey puck being struck by a Sledge Hockey player.
These are people with lower limb impairments who play Ice Hockey by sitting on a sledge. The propel themselves around by using spikes attached to the pair of sticks they use. It's as if someones looked at the already violent sport of Ice Hockey and gone;
"Do you know what this needs?! Spears!"
The hockey puck then seemed to break free of the video and enter the arena.
Light projection showed it tearing a fiery path down the ramp from the Cauldron to the arena floor. It's path was marked in the red of the thermometer shown in the video. When it arrived in the Taoist circle at the centre of the arena floor that circle became the thermometer's reservoir.
Within the reservoir English numerals appeared counting down from 10 to 1. If you wanted to know how those numbers are pronounced in Korean you only needed to listen to the crowd.
As the countdown reached zero light appeared to make ice crack across the arena.
I have to say that the lighting display used throughout the ceremony and in particular in this sequence was extremely impressive.
The arena has no roof. However they seemed to created a roof of lights. The lights being in the colour of the Wu Xing.
Introductions & Handshakes:
It is IPC protocol that each Opening Ceremony features a short sequence in which VIP's are welcomed into the arena.
This normally includes the Head of Government/State of the host nation. In this case South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It also includes the Head of the IPC. In this case Andrew Parsons who was appointed in September 2016.
At the Olympic Opening Ceremony this segment of was dramatic. It featured the first handshake between a sitting South Korean President and a member of North Korea's fabled Mount Paektu Bloodline. In the form of Kim Yo-jong.
At the Para-Olympics this segment was back to being traditionally dull.
The only thing of note was the IOC President Thomas Bach was in attendance. A further gesture of parity and equality between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.
Also it was South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Not South Korean President Park Guen-hye.
Park Guen-hye was deposed in 2016 after faking claims of foreign interference to rig South Korea's 2012 election.
18:40 on 10/3/18 (UK date).
Saturday, 10 March 2018
Friday, 9 March 2018
So Who's Crashed The Party.
Today (9/3/18) the 2018 Winter Para-Olympic Games formally opened in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK/South).
I will watch a recorded version of the Opening Ceremony later tonight. In Standard Definition (SD). Like some sort of Neanderthal.
I think that really shows the contempt in which the UK broadcaster Channel 4 hold disabled people. Just because you've lost a leg doesn't suddenly mean you've gone blind.
The Opening Ceremony however has been overshadowed somewhat by other news from the Korean Peninsula.
The staging of the Olympics & Para-Olympics on the Korean Peninsula has prompted something of a rapprochement between the RoK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North). Two neighbours which are technically still at war with one another.
A meeting between the two Koreas on January 20th (20/1/18) saw an agreement that the DPRK would participate in the games.
That included the RoK and the DPRK competing as a single team in some events such as Ice Hockey. It also saw the two Koreas participate in the Opening Ceremony's Parade of Nations as a single team. Under a single flag of Korean Unification.
The DPRK also sent a 400 strong diplomatic mission to the games. This was lead by Kim Yo-jong, the sister of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. At the Opening Ceremony this led to the first ever handshake between a South Korean President and a member of North Korea's fabled Mount Paektu bloodline.
That handshake led to a high level South Korean delegation travelling to the DPRK on March 5th (5/3/18).
Yesterday (8/3/17) that South Korean delegation travelled to the US to share the outcome of their trip to the DPRK.
The result of the visit was that the DPRK has offered to suspend its nuclear weapons program. In return for a highest level Head of Government/State (HOGS) meeting. Between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.
The US immediately accepted the offer. The meeting between Kim Jong-un and President Trump is provisionally scheduled for late May 2018.
This is highly unconventional.
In a period between September 1950 and April 1951 the US engaged in a strategy of; "Nuclear Blackmail." They flew nuclear armed bombers over the Korean Peninsula in a clear threat that they were ready and willing to use them.
From the DPRK's perspective the most offensive thing about this is that the US was doing this to blackmail China. It did not consider the DPRK important enough to bother threaten.
This prompted the DPRK to embark on a seven decade quest to obtain nuclear weapons of its own. Specifically so the US would treat it as an equal.
Therefore the US finally treating the DPRK as an equal by agreeing to HOGS talks risks handing a massive propaganda coup to Kim Jong-un. It also creates something of a moral hazard. Re-affirming the message that nations must become nuclear armed states before the US will treat them as equals.
The conventional diplomatic wisdom then is that there would be some level of foreplay before HOGS talks take place.
Something like the DPRK suspending its nuclear weapons program in return for the US suspending the military drills it holds every spring. Although the US denies it these drills are practice for invading the DPRK.
However we have been doing conventional diplomatic wisdom for the best part of 70 years. It has taken the DPRK at least to the nuclear threshold. The point where it stops trying to obtain nuclear weapons and becomes a state with nuclear weapons.
Throughout 2017 it became increasingly obvious that the DPRK is at the very least at the nuclear threshold. The US' diplomatic response to this has been predictably conventional. It has increased sanctions on the DPRK.
To me that response has seemed unwise. The DPRK is so committed to and now so close to becoming a nuclear armed state it seems there is nothing the US can do to stop them. Up to and including itself using nuclear weapons against the DPRK. That means that sanctions now are likely to be a wasted effort.
I liken the situation to the fact that as I write this is currently raining. I am not happy about the fact that it is raining. However there is nothing I can do to stop it raining. Therefore it is best that I wait until it stops raining before I decide to go out to the shop.
As such it may well be the time to attempt the unconventional.
Although it is certainly a significant development this meeting between the leaders of the DPRK and the US is not as significant as certain people are making it out to be.
This is the thing that former US President Barack Obama completely failed to grasp. Actually in life it doesn't matter how you make people feel. It matters what you do.
All that is being done here is that two men are going to meet in a room. They may or may not talk to each other while in that same room.
If that meeting doesn't result in the outcome that either man wants they can simply walk away and say;
"Well at least we tried."
And then go back to doing what they were going to do before.
The UK has also been trying to build its part during the Para-Olympics. With the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and others in the UK city of Salisbury. An event I'm fast running out of John le Carre themed puns to cover.
Since my post on that topic yesterday there has been one significant development.
It has been confirmed that the MI6 officer who recruited and ran Skripal as an agent now works for a company run by Christopher Steele. The source for US Democrats claims of Russian interference in the US' 2016 Election.
No I don't have a link to a newspaper article to prove this point.
That means there is a direct connection between Skripal's poisoning and the actions of US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.
The US is obviously very concerned about that link and has been asking about it for most of the week.
As the UK is continuing to refuse to share intelligence with the US this questioning has taken the form of the; "President and the Porn Star" story linking President Trump to the porn star Stormy Daniels.
There is an American gay-male porn star named Christopher Steele. I can provide you with a think to prove that. But it's best I don't.
This lack on intelligence sharing and the link to the Mueller investigation - which I am informing the US about - should have the US very alarmed by today's other big announcement. 180 of the British military have been deployed to assist with the case.
That seems intended as a reminder to a faction within the US intelligence community that if it continues to act in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and associated groups it will be treated like other ISIL supporters.
After all the Chapter 7 United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2170 (2014) applies to all nations. Including the US.
The news of the deployment of British troops onto British streets probably sounds alarming to nations which have suffered under military dictatorship. Nations such as the RoK and 2016 Olympic host Brazil.
It really does not sound alarming to the residents of Salisbury. Due to the Salisbury Plain Training Area this area of Wiltshire is home to, I think 7 military bases. Alongside the Porton Down Chemical Weapons facility.
As a result if you're driving on the roads in and around Salisbury and you spot a police vehicle. Well there's a 50:50 chance it's the Military Police rather than the civilian police.
However unlike in Brazil the British Military Police are there to police all the members of the military.
17:55 on 9/3/18 (UK date).
Edited at around 15:55 on 10/3/18 (UK date) to add;
I'm worried I may have overstated the moral hazard presented by a HOGS level meeting between the US and the DPRK.
In many ways this is the history of the World. You treat people who can beat you up much more seriously then you treat people you can beat up. It is not the best of human nature but it is certainly human nature.
The supposed superiority of nuclear armed states is well established within the global order. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) had five permanent members, all wielding veto power. It is no coincidence that these are the five original nuclear powers.
Therefore the risk of sending out the message that the US is only now taking the DPRK seriously because it is a nuclear armed state is slight. The US has been sending out that message for the last 70 to 80 years. It's not going to come as a surprise to anyone.
Plus the DPRK now has nuclear weapons. If not the ability to reliably deliver them. Therefore any future interaction with the DPRK is going to be an interaction with a nuclear state.
An initial HOGS level meeting then actually seems to be a very good idea. It gets the notion that the US is not prepared to respect the DPRK as an equal out of the way.
The nuclear weapons then become the reason there can't be further cooperation between the nations. It's the fact it has nuclear weapons which makes the DPRK an inferior state rather than an equal.
16:05 on 10/3/18 (UK date).
I will watch a recorded version of the Opening Ceremony later tonight. In Standard Definition (SD). Like some sort of Neanderthal.
I think that really shows the contempt in which the UK broadcaster Channel 4 hold disabled people. Just because you've lost a leg doesn't suddenly mean you've gone blind.
The Opening Ceremony however has been overshadowed somewhat by other news from the Korean Peninsula.
The staging of the Olympics & Para-Olympics on the Korean Peninsula has prompted something of a rapprochement between the RoK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North). Two neighbours which are technically still at war with one another.
A meeting between the two Koreas on January 20th (20/1/18) saw an agreement that the DPRK would participate in the games.
That included the RoK and the DPRK competing as a single team in some events such as Ice Hockey. It also saw the two Koreas participate in the Opening Ceremony's Parade of Nations as a single team. Under a single flag of Korean Unification.
The DPRK also sent a 400 strong diplomatic mission to the games. This was lead by Kim Yo-jong, the sister of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. At the Opening Ceremony this led to the first ever handshake between a South Korean President and a member of North Korea's fabled Mount Paektu bloodline.
That handshake led to a high level South Korean delegation travelling to the DPRK on March 5th (5/3/18).
Yesterday (8/3/17) that South Korean delegation travelled to the US to share the outcome of their trip to the DPRK.
The result of the visit was that the DPRK has offered to suspend its nuclear weapons program. In return for a highest level Head of Government/State (HOGS) meeting. Between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.
The US immediately accepted the offer. The meeting between Kim Jong-un and President Trump is provisionally scheduled for late May 2018.
This is highly unconventional.
In a period between September 1950 and April 1951 the US engaged in a strategy of; "Nuclear Blackmail." They flew nuclear armed bombers over the Korean Peninsula in a clear threat that they were ready and willing to use them.
From the DPRK's perspective the most offensive thing about this is that the US was doing this to blackmail China. It did not consider the DPRK important enough to bother threaten.
This prompted the DPRK to embark on a seven decade quest to obtain nuclear weapons of its own. Specifically so the US would treat it as an equal.
Therefore the US finally treating the DPRK as an equal by agreeing to HOGS talks risks handing a massive propaganda coup to Kim Jong-un. It also creates something of a moral hazard. Re-affirming the message that nations must become nuclear armed states before the US will treat them as equals.
The conventional diplomatic wisdom then is that there would be some level of foreplay before HOGS talks take place.
Something like the DPRK suspending its nuclear weapons program in return for the US suspending the military drills it holds every spring. Although the US denies it these drills are practice for invading the DPRK.
However we have been doing conventional diplomatic wisdom for the best part of 70 years. It has taken the DPRK at least to the nuclear threshold. The point where it stops trying to obtain nuclear weapons and becomes a state with nuclear weapons.
Throughout 2017 it became increasingly obvious that the DPRK is at the very least at the nuclear threshold. The US' diplomatic response to this has been predictably conventional. It has increased sanctions on the DPRK.
To me that response has seemed unwise. The DPRK is so committed to and now so close to becoming a nuclear armed state it seems there is nothing the US can do to stop them. Up to and including itself using nuclear weapons against the DPRK. That means that sanctions now are likely to be a wasted effort.
I liken the situation to the fact that as I write this is currently raining. I am not happy about the fact that it is raining. However there is nothing I can do to stop it raining. Therefore it is best that I wait until it stops raining before I decide to go out to the shop.
As such it may well be the time to attempt the unconventional.
Although it is certainly a significant development this meeting between the leaders of the DPRK and the US is not as significant as certain people are making it out to be.
This is the thing that former US President Barack Obama completely failed to grasp. Actually in life it doesn't matter how you make people feel. It matters what you do.
All that is being done here is that two men are going to meet in a room. They may or may not talk to each other while in that same room.
If that meeting doesn't result in the outcome that either man wants they can simply walk away and say;
"Well at least we tried."
And then go back to doing what they were going to do before.
The UK has also been trying to build its part during the Para-Olympics. With the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and others in the UK city of Salisbury. An event I'm fast running out of John le Carre themed puns to cover.
Since my post on that topic yesterday there has been one significant development.
It has been confirmed that the MI6 officer who recruited and ran Skripal as an agent now works for a company run by Christopher Steele. The source for US Democrats claims of Russian interference in the US' 2016 Election.
No I don't have a link to a newspaper article to prove this point.
That means there is a direct connection between Skripal's poisoning and the actions of US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.
The US is obviously very concerned about that link and has been asking about it for most of the week.
As the UK is continuing to refuse to share intelligence with the US this questioning has taken the form of the; "President and the Porn Star" story linking President Trump to the porn star Stormy Daniels.
There is an American gay-male porn star named Christopher Steele. I can provide you with a think to prove that. But it's best I don't.
This lack on intelligence sharing and the link to the Mueller investigation - which I am informing the US about - should have the US very alarmed by today's other big announcement. 180 of the British military have been deployed to assist with the case.
That seems intended as a reminder to a faction within the US intelligence community that if it continues to act in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and associated groups it will be treated like other ISIL supporters.
After all the Chapter 7 United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2170 (2014) applies to all nations. Including the US.
The news of the deployment of British troops onto British streets probably sounds alarming to nations which have suffered under military dictatorship. Nations such as the RoK and 2016 Olympic host Brazil.
It really does not sound alarming to the residents of Salisbury. Due to the Salisbury Plain Training Area this area of Wiltshire is home to, I think 7 military bases. Alongside the Porton Down Chemical Weapons facility.
As a result if you're driving on the roads in and around Salisbury and you spot a police vehicle. Well there's a 50:50 chance it's the Military Police rather than the civilian police.
However unlike in Brazil the British Military Police are there to police all the members of the military.
17:55 on 9/3/18 (UK date).
Edited at around 15:55 on 10/3/18 (UK date) to add;
I'm worried I may have overstated the moral hazard presented by a HOGS level meeting between the US and the DPRK.
In many ways this is the history of the World. You treat people who can beat you up much more seriously then you treat people you can beat up. It is not the best of human nature but it is certainly human nature.
The supposed superiority of nuclear armed states is well established within the global order. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) had five permanent members, all wielding veto power. It is no coincidence that these are the five original nuclear powers.
Therefore the risk of sending out the message that the US is only now taking the DPRK seriously because it is a nuclear armed state is slight. The US has been sending out that message for the last 70 to 80 years. It's not going to come as a surprise to anyone.
Plus the DPRK now has nuclear weapons. If not the ability to reliably deliver them. Therefore any future interaction with the DPRK is going to be an interaction with a nuclear state.
An initial HOGS level meeting then actually seems to be a very good idea. It gets the notion that the US is not prepared to respect the DPRK as an equal out of the way.
The nuclear weapons then become the reason there can't be further cooperation between the nations. It's the fact it has nuclear weapons which makes the DPRK an inferior state rather than an equal.
16:05 on 10/3/18 (UK date).
Thursday, 8 March 2018
A Small Town in Wiltshire.
This is really a follow up from Tuesday's post; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-circus-continues.html
UK authorities have since revealed that the Skripals were poisoned with some sort of Chemical Weapons Nerve Agent. They have not yet revealed precisely which type of Nerve Agent.
However it would be some variant of one of two classes of Nerve Agent.
The G-Series: These were produced by Nazi Germany in the 1930's under the leadership of Gerhard Schrader. The most famous of these is "GB" more commonly known as; "Sarin."
The V-Series: These were developed in the 1950's by Britain at the Porton Down laboratory in Wiltshire. They're based on a group of chemicals discovered by Swedish scientist Lars-Erik Tammelin known as; "Tammelin's Esters." The most famous of these is; "VX" which stands for; "Venomous Agent X."
Both the G-Series and the V-Series are Organophosphates. This is a class of chemical widely used in agriculture as an insecticide. Both the G-series and V-series started life to be used for that purpose.
There is actually a lot of similarity in the way that so-called; "Legal Highs" and Chemical Weapons agents are legislated.
In the UK it used to be that there was a list of banned drugs. Such as Heroin, Cocaine, Marijuana etc.
The problem was that these synthetic legal highs would arrive on the market quicker then they could be added to the banned list. Once they were added to the banned list they would simply re-emerge with a slightly different formula making them legal again.
In 2016 UK law was changed. It now bans all compounds except for some which are placed on a permitted list. Often for medical use.
Nitrous Oxide is an interesting example. It is on the permitted list as a medical anaesthetic. However it remains to be clarified by the Courts whether that exemption permits its sale and use as a recreational drug.
The use of Chemical Warfare agents in war is governed by the 1925 Geneva Protocol. It's provisions have been taken further by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention although not all nations have ratified that agreement.
The Geneva Protocol takes the same approach as the UK's legislation against Legal Highs. It imposes a blanket ban on the use of all; "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases." Regardless of what those other gases actually do.
This is specifically to stop people slightly changing the formulas of chemicals so they can use ones which aren't on a banned list. In the heat of battle where thousands of people are being killed it is very difficult to identify the exact formulas of chemicals being used.
The Geneva Protocol's approach leads to some bizarre contradictions.
For example it classes Chlorine as a chemical weapon. This despite Chlorine presenting no real threat to human health.
I myself was exposed to Chlorine gas during the war in Syria. Fair point I did it to myself by accidentally mixing bathroom cleaning chemicals thousands of miles away from Syria.
This was an extremely unpleasant experience for a couple of hours. However that is all that it was. I did not require medical attention and while I did it on the Friday it was more or less forgotten about by the Monday.
In fact I didn't even need to throw my clothes away. I actually wore them again the last time I visited the IC/TU at Salisbury hospital.
This is why Chlorine has become so popular amongst Islamist terrorists in Syria to fake attacks. It allows them to claim that chemical weapons have been used in violation of the Geneva Protocol without putting themselves at any risk of harm.
The Geneva Protocol also bans the use of Tear Gas or CS gas in war.
So outside of a war police forces can use as much of those chemicals as they like to disperse crowds. However if an army were to use it in a war it would be a war crime. That despite using live ammunition against the crowd not being considered a war crime. Provided that there is a proportionate threat to life.
One of the key differences between the Geneva Protocol and the Chemical Weapons Convention is that the Convention introduced difference classes or schedules of Chemical Weapons.
Rather like how in the UK you get Class A drugs, Class B drugs, Class C drugs etc. The further you go down the classes the less serious the drugs are considered and the less severe the punishments for using them.
It must be said that the US' response to events in the UK has been alarmingly shambolic.
On Tuesday (6/3/18) David Coates the head of the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI) - the body which oversees all US intelligence agencies - appeared in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Coates informed the committee that the US intelligence community consider the use of Chlorine to be equivalent to a nerve agent such as Sarin. A weapon of mass destruction. That position belies a complete failure to understand different chemical weapons, the effects they have and how they are legislated against.
It also suggests that the US considers the Chemical Weapons Convention is too sophisticated for them and they want to revert to the system used by the League of Nations. Although given their attitude towards the United Nations (UN) that's hardly a surprise.
Later on Tuesday (6/3/18) the US announced that it believed Malaysia's account of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) using VX to assassinate Kim Jong-nam on February 13th 2017 (13/2/17). This automatically triggered the imposition of sanctions on the DPRK.
The sanctions it triggered against the DPRK have been in place for about 30 years. Therefore that was not the real reason behind the US' announcement.
The real reason was to enquire whether a VX like nerve agent had been used in the UK. The fact the US had to ask that question really tells you something.
It makes clear that Britain is not prepared to share sensitive intelligence with the US intelligence community. A dramatic step with the UK being one of the US' closest allies and a member of the NATO alliance.
Concerns about the US' intelligence community's ability to be trusted with sensitive information have been growing for a while.
Back in May 22nd (22/5/17) there was an Islamist terrorist bombing in the UK city of Manchester.
Under the Five Eyes agreement the UK shared intelligence on that bombing with the US. The FBI under acting Director Andrew McCabe then chose to share that intelligence with the terrorists by making it available to the media.
This led to British police formally suspending the Five Eyes agreement and refusing to share further intelligence on the bombing with the US.
Then of course there is the July 1st 2016 (1/7/16) Islamist terror attack at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Almost to the minute this mimicked a lunch I was having with my mother thousands of miles away. Creating the question of how Islamist terrorists had become aware of my plans for that day.
I feel that I should confirm that I have, with my mother, eaten at the restaurant and drunk at the pub at the centre of the Skripal investigation. I doubt either will be inviting me back in a hurry.
Before all that though there was Hillary Clinton. A investigation led by Andrew McCabe found that Hillary Clinton had committed 110 offences of espionage against the US. By way of mishandling Top Secret intelligence. However the FBI inexplicably declined to prosecute her.
The US' decision to confirm Malaysia's account of Kim Jong-nam's death to pose this question was itself extremely reckless.
Malaysia's account of Kim Jong-nam's death was the start of a discussion which led to the April 4th 2017 (4/4/17) use of Sarin by Turkey in Syria. As it was intended to do that in turn led to illegal US air and missile strikes against Syria on April 7th 2017 (7/4/17).
By endorsing Malaysia's version of events the US appears to be giving permission for Turkey to conduct another Sarin attack in Syria.
The Skripal case actually serves to underline why no-one believes Malaysia's account of Kim Jong-nam's death.
There are actually three serious casualties of events in Salisbury. The Skripal's and a police officer who first attended to them. Last night all three were in comas in hospital however today the news has emerged that the police officer has regained consciousness.
Malaysia contend that two untrained women with no protective equipment administered VX to Kim Jong-nam. He was then attended to by various first responders also without protective equipment.
Yet mysteriously Kim Jong-nam was the only person taken ill.
The use of a nerve agent has been taken by some as evidence of a state sponsored killing. The implication being that state is Russia.
That is to use the correct technical terminology Bullsh*t.
If I was looking for the source of an organophosphate poison the first place I would look is the many farms in and around Salisbury. Technically they shouldn't be using organophates but farmers in Northern Ireland shouldn't have been using Republic of Ireland produced Net Nitrate either.
One of the most famous nerve agent attacks was the March 1995 Sarin attack on the Metro system in the Japanese capital Tokyo. That was carried out by a non-state actor in the form of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
On February 14th (14/2/18) there was a mass shooting at school in the Parkland area of the US state of Florida. While all that was going on the FBI were quietly arresting the Toro brothers for building bombs in the Bronx district of New York City.
The bizarre ideology of the Toros with their Japanese themed name was very similar to the ideology of Aum Shinrikyo. That mixed elements of Asian Animist religions with western Christianity. Rather like the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics did.
At the time there was significant concern that along with events in Parkland and the actions of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller the arrest of the Toro brothers was the FBI unilaterally giving Turkey permission to use chemical weapons in Syria.
16:00 on 8/3/18 (UK date).
UK authorities have since revealed that the Skripals were poisoned with some sort of Chemical Weapons Nerve Agent. They have not yet revealed precisely which type of Nerve Agent.
However it would be some variant of one of two classes of Nerve Agent.
The G-Series: These were produced by Nazi Germany in the 1930's under the leadership of Gerhard Schrader. The most famous of these is "GB" more commonly known as; "Sarin."
The V-Series: These were developed in the 1950's by Britain at the Porton Down laboratory in Wiltshire. They're based on a group of chemicals discovered by Swedish scientist Lars-Erik Tammelin known as; "Tammelin's Esters." The most famous of these is; "VX" which stands for; "Venomous Agent X."
Both the G-Series and the V-Series are Organophosphates. This is a class of chemical widely used in agriculture as an insecticide. Both the G-series and V-series started life to be used for that purpose.
There is actually a lot of similarity in the way that so-called; "Legal Highs" and Chemical Weapons agents are legislated.
In the UK it used to be that there was a list of banned drugs. Such as Heroin, Cocaine, Marijuana etc.
The problem was that these synthetic legal highs would arrive on the market quicker then they could be added to the banned list. Once they were added to the banned list they would simply re-emerge with a slightly different formula making them legal again.
In 2016 UK law was changed. It now bans all compounds except for some which are placed on a permitted list. Often for medical use.
Nitrous Oxide is an interesting example. It is on the permitted list as a medical anaesthetic. However it remains to be clarified by the Courts whether that exemption permits its sale and use as a recreational drug.
The use of Chemical Warfare agents in war is governed by the 1925 Geneva Protocol. It's provisions have been taken further by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention although not all nations have ratified that agreement.
The Geneva Protocol takes the same approach as the UK's legislation against Legal Highs. It imposes a blanket ban on the use of all; "asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases." Regardless of what those other gases actually do.
This is specifically to stop people slightly changing the formulas of chemicals so they can use ones which aren't on a banned list. In the heat of battle where thousands of people are being killed it is very difficult to identify the exact formulas of chemicals being used.
The Geneva Protocol's approach leads to some bizarre contradictions.
For example it classes Chlorine as a chemical weapon. This despite Chlorine presenting no real threat to human health.
I myself was exposed to Chlorine gas during the war in Syria. Fair point I did it to myself by accidentally mixing bathroom cleaning chemicals thousands of miles away from Syria.
This was an extremely unpleasant experience for a couple of hours. However that is all that it was. I did not require medical attention and while I did it on the Friday it was more or less forgotten about by the Monday.
In fact I didn't even need to throw my clothes away. I actually wore them again the last time I visited the IC/TU at Salisbury hospital.
This is why Chlorine has become so popular amongst Islamist terrorists in Syria to fake attacks. It allows them to claim that chemical weapons have been used in violation of the Geneva Protocol without putting themselves at any risk of harm.
The Geneva Protocol also bans the use of Tear Gas or CS gas in war.
So outside of a war police forces can use as much of those chemicals as they like to disperse crowds. However if an army were to use it in a war it would be a war crime. That despite using live ammunition against the crowd not being considered a war crime. Provided that there is a proportionate threat to life.
One of the key differences between the Geneva Protocol and the Chemical Weapons Convention is that the Convention introduced difference classes or schedules of Chemical Weapons.
Rather like how in the UK you get Class A drugs, Class B drugs, Class C drugs etc. The further you go down the classes the less serious the drugs are considered and the less severe the punishments for using them.
It must be said that the US' response to events in the UK has been alarmingly shambolic.
On Tuesday (6/3/18) David Coates the head of the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI) - the body which oversees all US intelligence agencies - appeared in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Coates informed the committee that the US intelligence community consider the use of Chlorine to be equivalent to a nerve agent such as Sarin. A weapon of mass destruction. That position belies a complete failure to understand different chemical weapons, the effects they have and how they are legislated against.
It also suggests that the US considers the Chemical Weapons Convention is too sophisticated for them and they want to revert to the system used by the League of Nations. Although given their attitude towards the United Nations (UN) that's hardly a surprise.
Later on Tuesday (6/3/18) the US announced that it believed Malaysia's account of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) using VX to assassinate Kim Jong-nam on February 13th 2017 (13/2/17). This automatically triggered the imposition of sanctions on the DPRK.
The sanctions it triggered against the DPRK have been in place for about 30 years. Therefore that was not the real reason behind the US' announcement.
The real reason was to enquire whether a VX like nerve agent had been used in the UK. The fact the US had to ask that question really tells you something.
It makes clear that Britain is not prepared to share sensitive intelligence with the US intelligence community. A dramatic step with the UK being one of the US' closest allies and a member of the NATO alliance.
Concerns about the US' intelligence community's ability to be trusted with sensitive information have been growing for a while.
Back in May 22nd (22/5/17) there was an Islamist terrorist bombing in the UK city of Manchester.
Under the Five Eyes agreement the UK shared intelligence on that bombing with the US. The FBI under acting Director Andrew McCabe then chose to share that intelligence with the terrorists by making it available to the media.
This led to British police formally suspending the Five Eyes agreement and refusing to share further intelligence on the bombing with the US.
Then of course there is the July 1st 2016 (1/7/16) Islamist terror attack at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Almost to the minute this mimicked a lunch I was having with my mother thousands of miles away. Creating the question of how Islamist terrorists had become aware of my plans for that day.
I feel that I should confirm that I have, with my mother, eaten at the restaurant and drunk at the pub at the centre of the Skripal investigation. I doubt either will be inviting me back in a hurry.
Before all that though there was Hillary Clinton. A investigation led by Andrew McCabe found that Hillary Clinton had committed 110 offences of espionage against the US. By way of mishandling Top Secret intelligence. However the FBI inexplicably declined to prosecute her.
The US' decision to confirm Malaysia's account of Kim Jong-nam's death to pose this question was itself extremely reckless.
Malaysia's account of Kim Jong-nam's death was the start of a discussion which led to the April 4th 2017 (4/4/17) use of Sarin by Turkey in Syria. As it was intended to do that in turn led to illegal US air and missile strikes against Syria on April 7th 2017 (7/4/17).
By endorsing Malaysia's version of events the US appears to be giving permission for Turkey to conduct another Sarin attack in Syria.
The Skripal case actually serves to underline why no-one believes Malaysia's account of Kim Jong-nam's death.
There are actually three serious casualties of events in Salisbury. The Skripal's and a police officer who first attended to them. Last night all three were in comas in hospital however today the news has emerged that the police officer has regained consciousness.
Malaysia contend that two untrained women with no protective equipment administered VX to Kim Jong-nam. He was then attended to by various first responders also without protective equipment.
Yet mysteriously Kim Jong-nam was the only person taken ill.
The use of a nerve agent has been taken by some as evidence of a state sponsored killing. The implication being that state is Russia.
That is to use the correct technical terminology Bullsh*t.
If I was looking for the source of an organophosphate poison the first place I would look is the many farms in and around Salisbury. Technically they shouldn't be using organophates but farmers in Northern Ireland shouldn't have been using Republic of Ireland produced Net Nitrate either.
One of the most famous nerve agent attacks was the March 1995 Sarin attack on the Metro system in the Japanese capital Tokyo. That was carried out by a non-state actor in the form of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
On February 14th (14/2/18) there was a mass shooting at school in the Parkland area of the US state of Florida. While all that was going on the FBI were quietly arresting the Toro brothers for building bombs in the Bronx district of New York City.
The bizarre ideology of the Toros with their Japanese themed name was very similar to the ideology of Aum Shinrikyo. That mixed elements of Asian Animist religions with western Christianity. Rather like the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics did.
At the time there was significant concern that along with events in Parkland and the actions of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller the arrest of the Toro brothers was the FBI unilaterally giving Turkey permission to use chemical weapons in Syria.
16:00 on 8/3/18 (UK date).
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
The Circus Continues.
On February 25th (25/2/18) the 2018 Winter Olympics drew to a close in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK/South).
On Friday March 9th (9/3/18) the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics opens in PyeongChang in the RoK.
Traditionally the Olympics are used to bring up a wide variety of topics for discussion. A small number of those topics are then brought forward to the Para-Olympics where they are worked on in detail.
The huge topic at this year's games have been the banning of the Russian team. Leading to them being forced to compete as; "Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR).
Or more accurately the main topic was the hypocrisy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in introducing this ban.
This is best illustrated by the case of Russian Tennis player Maria Sharapova.
It's well known that throughout her career Sharapova has used a drug called Meldonium to improve her cardiovascular performance. I hate to shatter the illusion for you but it is a standard practice for athletes to misuse drugs which are not banned by WADA to boost their performance.
The prime example are Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) such as Ibuprofen. Athletes take this in high doses. Not to treat pain but to reduce inflammation to allow them to train longer and harder.
Meldonium like Ibuprofen was not on WADA's list of banned drugs. So Sharapova's use of it was hardly a secret and certainly not considered cheating.
Then at the start of 2016 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suddenly banned Meldonium. Specifically so they could label Sharapova a drugs cheat and ban her from competition.
This ambush went to the extent that WADA didn't tell anyone they were banning Meldonium until I think January 1st. They then tested Sharapova on around January 21st. Knowing full well that it would take 28 days for any Meldonium she had taken while it was legal to leave her system.
Meanwhile WADA continued to grant US Tennis player Serena Williams Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) to allow her to use corticosteroid asthma drugs like Prednisone and Prednisolone to improve her cardiovascular performance. This despite those drugs being long banned by WADA.
In preparation for the games Norway announced that it was bringing 6,000 doses of corticosteroid asthma drugs including Prednisone and Prednisolone for their athletes to use. This was something like 10 times the amount of asthma drugs that any team has ever brought to any games.
Rather than trying to hide this Norway pretty much spent their time introducing themselves to everyone as; "The most cheating Olympic team in Olympic history."
The Closing Ceremony included two medal ceremonies for men's and women's Cross Country Skiing.
The women's medals were given out first. Gold went to Norway, Silver went to Finland and Bronze went to Sweden.
The men's medals were given out second. Gold went to Finland. Silver went to the OAR. Bronze also went to the OAR.
So in the women's ceremony we saw Gold going to IOC approved doping.
In the men's ceremony we saw what the result would have been if it wasn't for IOC approved doping. Followed by two athletes the IOC won't give approval to dope.
The banning of Russia was largely led by British peer Sebastian Lord Coe. A man mired in controversy over his links to the US sportswear giant Nike and their role in the US' Seattle based doping program. Which included Serena Williams.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics it was Lord Coe - as head of the International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF) - who unilaterally banned Russia from the athletics events. This lead to the British based International Para-Olympics Committee (IPC) to issue a blanket ban on Russia at the 2016 Summer Para-Olympics.
Yesterday (5/3/18) the British Parliament's Committee for Digital Culture, Media and Sport released a damning report on the issue of drug use in sport.
The report was particularly damning of Lord Coe who it found had mislead them. Something which if it proved was done intentionally represents a criminal offence punishable by a prison sentence.
Mainly the report focused on British Olympic cyclist and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. Particularly the way WADA granted him a TUE to use the corticosteroid asthma drug Triamconolone during the 2011 Tour de France. Ostensibly to relieve him of systems of respiratory distress.
The thing is that to be suffering from the level of respiratory distress to require the doses of Triamconolone Bradley Wiggins was taking patients often require other forms of medicals support. Normally in a hospital's Intensive Care/Treatment Unit (IC/TU). You certainly don't tend to find them competing in premier cycling endurance races.
The other big topic at the 2018 Winter Olympics was Britain's August 2011 riots. How they led to me being married off to the popstar Rihanna and that marriage's implications for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UK's June 2016 Grenfell Tower arson attack.
Although they rapidly spiralled out of hand the UK's August 2011 riots were intended as a single night of rioting in a corner of 2012 Summer Olympic host city London. The intention being to introduce the topic of rioting/urban disorder into the ongoing discussion about Olympic security.
They were scheduled to coincide with the, technically, civil partnership ceremony between my lesbian mothers. At the time they were living very close to the Olympic park in the Stratford area of east London.
To give you an idea of how close they were living to the Olympic park they wanted to move house in the summer of 2012. However they were forced to delay the complex chain of house buyers and sellers due to the traffic restrictions imposed around the Olympic park.
Eventually though they did move to Salisbury in the south-west of England.
Later yesterday (5/3/18) Salisbury made global headlines.
A major incident was declared after two people were rushed to the IC/TU of Salisbury hospital after being found poisoned with an unknown substance in Salisbury city centre. An exact area of Salisbury city centre I know extremely well.
The two poisoned individuals have since been identified as Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
was an officer with Russian military intelligence who was recruited as a double agent by Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6. Following his capture he as was exchanged in 2010 for individuals who had spied for Russia.
This invoked memories of Georgi Markov. A Bulgarian dissident who was assassinated by Soviet spies on London's Waterloo Bridge in 1978. He was killed using a pellet containing the poison Ricin. The pellet was fired from an airgun disguised as an umbrella.
You know how I have a tendency to tell stories that sound like they're made up? Well;
One of my mother's university friends was dating and went on to marry one of the doctors treating Markov. Legend has it he was the specific doctor who worked out Ricin had been used as a poison solving the mystery.
Frustratingly I'm trying to fit this in around real world activities. So at around 13:35 on 6/3/18 (UK date) I will pick it up later.
Edited at around 17:15 on 6/3/18 (UK date) to add above & below;
It also invoked memories of the death of Alexander Litvinenko who was killed using Polonium-210. Also in London in 2006.
The other big talking point of the games has been the FBI's attempts to rig the 2016 US Election by inventing claims of foreign interference.
Just like the RoK's equivalent of the FBI - the National Intelligence Service (NIS) - succeeded in rigging their 2012 Election by inventing claims of foreign interference.
Having failed to rig the 2016 Election sections of the US intelligence community have continued to use these claims of foreign interference to run an illegal shadow US foreign policy. As we saw from the February 14th (14/2/18) Parkland school shooting they are prepared to kill US citizens to pursue their aims.
Primarily led by the US Democrat Party the US claims of foreign interference are based on two sources.
The first of these is claims Russia hacked the email system of the Democrat National Committee (DNC).
Nobody has been allowed to inspect the DNC's computers to verify these claims. Instead they've been forced to rely on the word of Crowdstrike. A private company in the employ of the DNC.
The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics featured a staged Cyberattack in the form of the; "Olympic Destroyer" malware. This was done to provide a talking point about Cybersecurity.
Although this was made by the South Koreans themselves Crowdstrike have claimed it was a Russian attack. Revenge for the banning of Russian athletes.
The second source of the Democrats claims is an intelligence dossier produced by a company called "Fusion GPS." Again this private company is in the employ of the Democrat Party.
The lurid claims in the dossier are primarily the work of a man called Christopher Steele. A former officer with Britain's MI6.
Prior to the Olympics the US Republican Party released what has become known as; "The Nunes Memo."
This revealed that the FBI failed to inform the Court that Fusion GPS was in the employ of the Democrat Party when using the Steele dossier to obtain surveillance warrants to spy on the Republicans 2016 campaign.
On the penultimate day of the games the US Democrat Party released what has become known as; "The Schiff Memo."
The Schiff memo corroborated the Nunes memo. The FBI had failed to disclose to the Court it was asking to spy on the Republican campaign on behalf of the Democrat campaign.
I'm still waiting for the retractions from all the news agencies that have denied that the FBI spied on the Republican campaign.
The exact office politics of what caused Christopher Steele to leave MI6 are an official UK state secret. However the UK have certainly not denied that it was due to his response to the Litvinenko death.
People talk about spies being; "Double Agents." Alexander Litvinenko was at least a Quadruple Agent.
He worked for the Soviet Union's Committee for State Security (KGB) domestic intelligence agency. He went on to work for its replacement the Federal Security Service (FSB) following the fall of the Soviet Union.
Whilst working for the FSB Litvinenko was also working providing private security for Boris Berezovsky. A Russian oligarch with deep involvement in organised crime.
His work for Berezovsky led to Litvinenko betraying the FSB. He started working for Britain's MI6. Providing them with information on Berezovsky's criminal rivals in the hope Britain would eliminate the competition on Berezovsky's behalf.
In 2000 Litvinenko was found out by the FSB and fled to the UK. There he started working for Sweden's Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST).
Litvinenko's role for MUST was in supporting Swedish backed Islamist terrorists operating out of Russia's Caucus region such as Chechnya and Dagestan.
While working for MUST Litvinenko made all sorts of outlandish claims.
He claimed that the October 1999 assassination of the Armenian Prime Minister at the Armenian Parliament building was the work of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The intention being to stop the Nagorno-Karabakh Region (NKR) being ceded to Muslim majority Azerbaijan.
This is a sensitive topic in Turkey's ongoing invasion in Syria's Afrin Canton. Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan keeps trying to liken his actions to Azerbaijan's desires in NKR. This puts pressure on Russia which backs both Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Litvinenko also claimed the September 1999 Russian apartment bombings were the work of the FSB. An attempt to smear Islamist terrorists backed by MUST. A claim recited by that other arm of MUST's operations - Human Rights House.
Litvinenko went on to claim that both the October 2002 Moscow Theatre Siege and the September 2004 Beslan School Massacre were the work of the FSB. Attempts to smear Islamist terrorists backed by MUST. Claims recited by that other arm of MUST's operations - Human Rights House.
Litvinenko even went so far as to claim the July 2005 bombings in London, UK were the work of the Russians. An attempt to smear the otherwise good name of Al Qaeda.
Every time Litvinenko moved onto a new employer he demanded more money. He also handed over the secrets of his previous employers.
His work for MUST was particularly hazardous. Islamist terrorists put a great deal of effort into their atrocities. When you deny them the glory by blaming someone else you really anger them.
So Litvinenko died is was easier to draw up a list of people who didn't want to kill him.
Britain's MI6 were certainly not happy about him passing on their secrets to MUST and publicly accusing them of lying about the July 2005 bombings.
Christopher Steele however became fixated on the idea that Litvinenko had been murdered by the SVR. In an elaborate conspiracy that went all the way to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This caused others within MI6 to question both Steele's judgement and his sanity. As a result he was asked to leave the organisation.
Then of course the was the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. The Saudi bombing campaign, the US' overthrow of the government of Ukraine and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 meant that anti-Russian conspiracy theories were suddenly very fashionable.
So nine years after Litvinenko's death the UK held an Inquest in 2015. This blamed his death on Russia.
However the evidence the Inquest based its conclusions on were utterly ridiculous.
It claimed the Russian agents who'd carried the Polonium-210 had placed the lives of thousands of Londoners in danger. Not least because they had attended an Arsenal football match.
The Closing Ceremony of these games focused on the scientific concept of; "Wave-Particle Duality."
This really stems from the work of Scottish physicist Charles Wilson. He showed how radioactive particles collided with and ionised other particles in his famous; "Cloud Chamber Experiment."
Through this he identified two types of radiation; Alpha and Beta. However he and other physicists could not understand the third type of radiation; Gamma. This behaved like a wave and couldn't be seen in the Cloud Chamber.
Polonium-210 is a source of Alpha and sometimes Beta radiation. The radiation it produces behaves as particles and collide with other particles like air or dust and quickly become ionised and harmless.
In short the radiation Polonium-210 produces can be stopped by the human skin or even just the air. The only way you can be harmed by it is by ingesting it as Litvinenko did. The claim it would endanger thousands of people of a football match is utter nonsense.
To give you an idea of how harmless Polonium-210 is they allow High School children to play about with it doing the Cloud Chamber experiment. Or at least the students who don't waste their lives on women's studies.
The Inquest also claimed that Polonium-210 is so rare it could only have been obtained by someone with high level access to a Russian nuclear reactor. Again utter nonsense.
As it decays Polonium-210 emits a small electrical charge. As a result its used as a power source in a huge array of commercially available electronics.
So provided you know what to ask for you can buy Polonium-210 on any high street in Britain. There's probably even some of it sitting in the computer you're reading this on now.
At around 18:35 on 6/3/18 (UK date) there is one more edit to come.
Edited again at around 20:50 on 6/3/18 (UK date) to add;
As with the February 25th (25/2/18) explosion on Hinckley Road in Leicester, UK the release of information regarding events in Salisbury is being very tightly controlled.
However the initial reports were that Skripals had taken an overdose of the drug Fentanyl. Or some other transdermal opioid.
The reason why Hobbiton police are obsessed with Fentanyl is that it plays such a large role in the US' current opioid epidemic. Something which featured heavily at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Realistically Wiltshire police's - like much of the UK - main drug problem is with what are know locally as; "Legal Highs." Or in the US as; "Bath Salts.
These are synthetic drugs produced largely in 2022 Olympic host China. They're sold as experimental compounds. Then once one is made illegal the Chinese simply change the recipe slightly and start selling it all over again.
This has really revolutionised the recreational drug market.
Largely gone are the days of welding bricks of Heroin into washing machines to smuggle them through customs. Now with just a couple of clicks of a computer mouse you get whatever synthetic drug you desired mailed directly to your house. In a Bradley Wiggins style jiffy bag package.
This is actually causing huge problems not only for law enforcement but also medical services.
Drugs like Heroin and Cocaine can be hugely damaging to your health. However medical professionals fully understand how those drugs can damage your health.
They have absolutely no idea how these synthetic compounds which seem to change every week damage the human body. They don't even have ways to test for them. Let alone provide an antidote.
The US' opioid epidemic provides an example of just how biased the US media is against President Trump.
On October 26th 2017 (26/10/17) President Trump declared the opioid epidemic to be a public health emergency. His speech was carried live by CNN.
It was then quite fun to watch CNN's panelists scramble around live on TV for reasons to explain to their viewers why this was a bad thing.
About three days later they finally picked up on the growing trend of synthetic drugs being delivered through the mail. They then used this as a way to condemn Trump's plan to build a much needed wall with Mexico.
What they failed to mention to their viewers is that once the wall is built US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) resources can then be redeployed to more rigorously inspecting packages sent through the mail. Particularly ones being sent from China.
In November 2017 the UNFCCC held their 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23).
The big talking point at COP23 was the retirement of Robert Mugabe. The only President Zimbabwe has ever known. Salisbury is the colonial name for Harare. The capital of Zimbabwe.
I think it is safe to say that the entire nation of Zimbabwe agreed that it was time for Robert Mugabe to retire. However in making that a reality Zimbabwe received some help from China.
It is part of China's transactional foreign policy that help must be paid for by the retirement party forming the main talking point at COP23. China is of course very defensive about the Paris Agreement which allows them to continue growing their Green House Gas (ghg) emissions. Making Climate Change worse.
This idea of booting out corrupt leaders seems to have caught on in South Africa - Zimbabwe's immediate neighbour. On February 14th (14/2/18) they ousted the very corrupt Jacob Zuma. A story that was largely drowned out by the Parkland school shooting.
Jacob Zuma was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa. Despite the early elation Ramaphosa has only added to concerns about South Africa's future.
He's declared that private property can be seized by the government without compensation. It's exactly this type of; "State Capture" which was the main problem with Zuma.
Obviously this seizure of white farms will appeal to Julius Melema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Party. However Julius Melema's a f*cking moron. You only need to look at Zimbabwe to see that.
As for Sergei Skripal - he's not done anything for MI6 since at least 2010. Despite MI6 having to continue to pay for his very nice house in Salisbury.
Much like how the BBC were forced to pay for; "McMafia." Despite no-one wanting to watch it.
Seriously they only saved the finale by doing a frame-for-frame rip off of the Metro chase scene from the; "Game of Chance" episode of the US TV Show; "The Unit."
Also I think we should take a moment to congratulate British actor Gary Oldman on the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar he won on Sunday (4/3/18).
This is really a lifetime achievement award. However it was won specifically for his portrayal of UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the movie; "The Darkest Hour."
That is a movie about the question of appeasement in the wake of the annexation of the Sudetenland.
Turkish broadcaster TRT found his win particularly controversial.
Apparently women's rights suddenly matter to Erdogan.
21:45 on 6/3/18 (UK date).
On Friday March 9th (9/3/18) the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics opens in PyeongChang in the RoK.
Traditionally the Olympics are used to bring up a wide variety of topics for discussion. A small number of those topics are then brought forward to the Para-Olympics where they are worked on in detail.
The huge topic at this year's games have been the banning of the Russian team. Leading to them being forced to compete as; "Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR).
Or more accurately the main topic was the hypocrisy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in introducing this ban.
This is best illustrated by the case of Russian Tennis player Maria Sharapova.
It's well known that throughout her career Sharapova has used a drug called Meldonium to improve her cardiovascular performance. I hate to shatter the illusion for you but it is a standard practice for athletes to misuse drugs which are not banned by WADA to boost their performance.
The prime example are Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) such as Ibuprofen. Athletes take this in high doses. Not to treat pain but to reduce inflammation to allow them to train longer and harder.
Meldonium like Ibuprofen was not on WADA's list of banned drugs. So Sharapova's use of it was hardly a secret and certainly not considered cheating.
Then at the start of 2016 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suddenly banned Meldonium. Specifically so they could label Sharapova a drugs cheat and ban her from competition.
This ambush went to the extent that WADA didn't tell anyone they were banning Meldonium until I think January 1st. They then tested Sharapova on around January 21st. Knowing full well that it would take 28 days for any Meldonium she had taken while it was legal to leave her system.
Meanwhile WADA continued to grant US Tennis player Serena Williams Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) to allow her to use corticosteroid asthma drugs like Prednisone and Prednisolone to improve her cardiovascular performance. This despite those drugs being long banned by WADA.
In preparation for the games Norway announced that it was bringing 6,000 doses of corticosteroid asthma drugs including Prednisone and Prednisolone for their athletes to use. This was something like 10 times the amount of asthma drugs that any team has ever brought to any games.
Rather than trying to hide this Norway pretty much spent their time introducing themselves to everyone as; "The most cheating Olympic team in Olympic history."
The Closing Ceremony included two medal ceremonies for men's and women's Cross Country Skiing.
The women's medals were given out first. Gold went to Norway, Silver went to Finland and Bronze went to Sweden.
The men's medals were given out second. Gold went to Finland. Silver went to the OAR. Bronze also went to the OAR.
So in the women's ceremony we saw Gold going to IOC approved doping.
In the men's ceremony we saw what the result would have been if it wasn't for IOC approved doping. Followed by two athletes the IOC won't give approval to dope.
The banning of Russia was largely led by British peer Sebastian Lord Coe. A man mired in controversy over his links to the US sportswear giant Nike and their role in the US' Seattle based doping program. Which included Serena Williams.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics it was Lord Coe - as head of the International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF) - who unilaterally banned Russia from the athletics events. This lead to the British based International Para-Olympics Committee (IPC) to issue a blanket ban on Russia at the 2016 Summer Para-Olympics.
Yesterday (5/3/18) the British Parliament's Committee for Digital Culture, Media and Sport released a damning report on the issue of drug use in sport.
The report was particularly damning of Lord Coe who it found had mislead them. Something which if it proved was done intentionally represents a criminal offence punishable by a prison sentence.
Mainly the report focused on British Olympic cyclist and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. Particularly the way WADA granted him a TUE to use the corticosteroid asthma drug Triamconolone during the 2011 Tour de France. Ostensibly to relieve him of systems of respiratory distress.
The thing is that to be suffering from the level of respiratory distress to require the doses of Triamconolone Bradley Wiggins was taking patients often require other forms of medicals support. Normally in a hospital's Intensive Care/Treatment Unit (IC/TU). You certainly don't tend to find them competing in premier cycling endurance races.
The other big topic at the 2018 Winter Olympics was Britain's August 2011 riots. How they led to me being married off to the popstar Rihanna and that marriage's implications for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UK's June 2016 Grenfell Tower arson attack.
Although they rapidly spiralled out of hand the UK's August 2011 riots were intended as a single night of rioting in a corner of 2012 Summer Olympic host city London. The intention being to introduce the topic of rioting/urban disorder into the ongoing discussion about Olympic security.
They were scheduled to coincide with the, technically, civil partnership ceremony between my lesbian mothers. At the time they were living very close to the Olympic park in the Stratford area of east London.
To give you an idea of how close they were living to the Olympic park they wanted to move house in the summer of 2012. However they were forced to delay the complex chain of house buyers and sellers due to the traffic restrictions imposed around the Olympic park.
Eventually though they did move to Salisbury in the south-west of England.
Later yesterday (5/3/18) Salisbury made global headlines.
A major incident was declared after two people were rushed to the IC/TU of Salisbury hospital after being found poisoned with an unknown substance in Salisbury city centre. An exact area of Salisbury city centre I know extremely well.
The two poisoned individuals have since been identified as Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
was an officer with Russian military intelligence who was recruited as a double agent by Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6. Following his capture he as was exchanged in 2010 for individuals who had spied for Russia.
This invoked memories of Georgi Markov. A Bulgarian dissident who was assassinated by Soviet spies on London's Waterloo Bridge in 1978. He was killed using a pellet containing the poison Ricin. The pellet was fired from an airgun disguised as an umbrella.
You know how I have a tendency to tell stories that sound like they're made up? Well;
One of my mother's university friends was dating and went on to marry one of the doctors treating Markov. Legend has it he was the specific doctor who worked out Ricin had been used as a poison solving the mystery.
Frustratingly I'm trying to fit this in around real world activities. So at around 13:35 on 6/3/18 (UK date) I will pick it up later.
Edited at around 17:15 on 6/3/18 (UK date) to add above & below;
It also invoked memories of the death of Alexander Litvinenko who was killed using Polonium-210. Also in London in 2006.
The other big talking point of the games has been the FBI's attempts to rig the 2016 US Election by inventing claims of foreign interference.
Just like the RoK's equivalent of the FBI - the National Intelligence Service (NIS) - succeeded in rigging their 2012 Election by inventing claims of foreign interference.
Having failed to rig the 2016 Election sections of the US intelligence community have continued to use these claims of foreign interference to run an illegal shadow US foreign policy. As we saw from the February 14th (14/2/18) Parkland school shooting they are prepared to kill US citizens to pursue their aims.
Primarily led by the US Democrat Party the US claims of foreign interference are based on two sources.
The first of these is claims Russia hacked the email system of the Democrat National Committee (DNC).
Nobody has been allowed to inspect the DNC's computers to verify these claims. Instead they've been forced to rely on the word of Crowdstrike. A private company in the employ of the DNC.
The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics featured a staged Cyberattack in the form of the; "Olympic Destroyer" malware. This was done to provide a talking point about Cybersecurity.
Although this was made by the South Koreans themselves Crowdstrike have claimed it was a Russian attack. Revenge for the banning of Russian athletes.
The second source of the Democrats claims is an intelligence dossier produced by a company called "Fusion GPS." Again this private company is in the employ of the Democrat Party.
The lurid claims in the dossier are primarily the work of a man called Christopher Steele. A former officer with Britain's MI6.
Prior to the Olympics the US Republican Party released what has become known as; "The Nunes Memo."
This revealed that the FBI failed to inform the Court that Fusion GPS was in the employ of the Democrat Party when using the Steele dossier to obtain surveillance warrants to spy on the Republicans 2016 campaign.
On the penultimate day of the games the US Democrat Party released what has become known as; "The Schiff Memo."
The Schiff memo corroborated the Nunes memo. The FBI had failed to disclose to the Court it was asking to spy on the Republican campaign on behalf of the Democrat campaign.
I'm still waiting for the retractions from all the news agencies that have denied that the FBI spied on the Republican campaign.
The exact office politics of what caused Christopher Steele to leave MI6 are an official UK state secret. However the UK have certainly not denied that it was due to his response to the Litvinenko death.
People talk about spies being; "Double Agents." Alexander Litvinenko was at least a Quadruple Agent.
He worked for the Soviet Union's Committee for State Security (KGB) domestic intelligence agency. He went on to work for its replacement the Federal Security Service (FSB) following the fall of the Soviet Union.
Whilst working for the FSB Litvinenko was also working providing private security for Boris Berezovsky. A Russian oligarch with deep involvement in organised crime.
His work for Berezovsky led to Litvinenko betraying the FSB. He started working for Britain's MI6. Providing them with information on Berezovsky's criminal rivals in the hope Britain would eliminate the competition on Berezovsky's behalf.
In 2000 Litvinenko was found out by the FSB and fled to the UK. There he started working for Sweden's Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST).
Litvinenko's role for MUST was in supporting Swedish backed Islamist terrorists operating out of Russia's Caucus region such as Chechnya and Dagestan.
While working for MUST Litvinenko made all sorts of outlandish claims.
He claimed that the October 1999 assassination of the Armenian Prime Minister at the Armenian Parliament building was the work of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The intention being to stop the Nagorno-Karabakh Region (NKR) being ceded to Muslim majority Azerbaijan.
This is a sensitive topic in Turkey's ongoing invasion in Syria's Afrin Canton. Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan keeps trying to liken his actions to Azerbaijan's desires in NKR. This puts pressure on Russia which backs both Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Litvinenko also claimed the September 1999 Russian apartment bombings were the work of the FSB. An attempt to smear Islamist terrorists backed by MUST. A claim recited by that other arm of MUST's operations - Human Rights House.
Litvinenko went on to claim that both the October 2002 Moscow Theatre Siege and the September 2004 Beslan School Massacre were the work of the FSB. Attempts to smear Islamist terrorists backed by MUST. Claims recited by that other arm of MUST's operations - Human Rights House.
Litvinenko even went so far as to claim the July 2005 bombings in London, UK were the work of the Russians. An attempt to smear the otherwise good name of Al Qaeda.
Every time Litvinenko moved onto a new employer he demanded more money. He also handed over the secrets of his previous employers.
His work for MUST was particularly hazardous. Islamist terrorists put a great deal of effort into their atrocities. When you deny them the glory by blaming someone else you really anger them.
So Litvinenko died is was easier to draw up a list of people who didn't want to kill him.
Britain's MI6 were certainly not happy about him passing on their secrets to MUST and publicly accusing them of lying about the July 2005 bombings.
Christopher Steele however became fixated on the idea that Litvinenko had been murdered by the SVR. In an elaborate conspiracy that went all the way to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This caused others within MI6 to question both Steele's judgement and his sanity. As a result he was asked to leave the organisation.
Then of course the was the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. The Saudi bombing campaign, the US' overthrow of the government of Ukraine and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 meant that anti-Russian conspiracy theories were suddenly very fashionable.
So nine years after Litvinenko's death the UK held an Inquest in 2015. This blamed his death on Russia.
However the evidence the Inquest based its conclusions on were utterly ridiculous.
It claimed the Russian agents who'd carried the Polonium-210 had placed the lives of thousands of Londoners in danger. Not least because they had attended an Arsenal football match.
The Closing Ceremony of these games focused on the scientific concept of; "Wave-Particle Duality."
This really stems from the work of Scottish physicist Charles Wilson. He showed how radioactive particles collided with and ionised other particles in his famous; "Cloud Chamber Experiment."
Through this he identified two types of radiation; Alpha and Beta. However he and other physicists could not understand the third type of radiation; Gamma. This behaved like a wave and couldn't be seen in the Cloud Chamber.
Polonium-210 is a source of Alpha and sometimes Beta radiation. The radiation it produces behaves as particles and collide with other particles like air or dust and quickly become ionised and harmless.
In short the radiation Polonium-210 produces can be stopped by the human skin or even just the air. The only way you can be harmed by it is by ingesting it as Litvinenko did. The claim it would endanger thousands of people of a football match is utter nonsense.
To give you an idea of how harmless Polonium-210 is they allow High School children to play about with it doing the Cloud Chamber experiment. Or at least the students who don't waste their lives on women's studies.
The Inquest also claimed that Polonium-210 is so rare it could only have been obtained by someone with high level access to a Russian nuclear reactor. Again utter nonsense.
As it decays Polonium-210 emits a small electrical charge. As a result its used as a power source in a huge array of commercially available electronics.
So provided you know what to ask for you can buy Polonium-210 on any high street in Britain. There's probably even some of it sitting in the computer you're reading this on now.
At around 18:35 on 6/3/18 (UK date) there is one more edit to come.
Edited again at around 20:50 on 6/3/18 (UK date) to add;
As with the February 25th (25/2/18) explosion on Hinckley Road in Leicester, UK the release of information regarding events in Salisbury is being very tightly controlled.
However the initial reports were that Skripals had taken an overdose of the drug Fentanyl. Or some other transdermal opioid.
The reason why Hobbiton police are obsessed with Fentanyl is that it plays such a large role in the US' current opioid epidemic. Something which featured heavily at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Realistically Wiltshire police's - like much of the UK - main drug problem is with what are know locally as; "Legal Highs." Or in the US as; "Bath Salts.
These are synthetic drugs produced largely in 2022 Olympic host China. They're sold as experimental compounds. Then once one is made illegal the Chinese simply change the recipe slightly and start selling it all over again.
This has really revolutionised the recreational drug market.
Largely gone are the days of welding bricks of Heroin into washing machines to smuggle them through customs. Now with just a couple of clicks of a computer mouse you get whatever synthetic drug you desired mailed directly to your house. In a Bradley Wiggins style jiffy bag package.
This is actually causing huge problems not only for law enforcement but also medical services.
Drugs like Heroin and Cocaine can be hugely damaging to your health. However medical professionals fully understand how those drugs can damage your health.
They have absolutely no idea how these synthetic compounds which seem to change every week damage the human body. They don't even have ways to test for them. Let alone provide an antidote.
The US' opioid epidemic provides an example of just how biased the US media is against President Trump.
On October 26th 2017 (26/10/17) President Trump declared the opioid epidemic to be a public health emergency. His speech was carried live by CNN.
It was then quite fun to watch CNN's panelists scramble around live on TV for reasons to explain to their viewers why this was a bad thing.
About three days later they finally picked up on the growing trend of synthetic drugs being delivered through the mail. They then used this as a way to condemn Trump's plan to build a much needed wall with Mexico.
What they failed to mention to their viewers is that once the wall is built US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) resources can then be redeployed to more rigorously inspecting packages sent through the mail. Particularly ones being sent from China.
In November 2017 the UNFCCC held their 23rd Conference of Parties (COP23).
The big talking point at COP23 was the retirement of Robert Mugabe. The only President Zimbabwe has ever known. Salisbury is the colonial name for Harare. The capital of Zimbabwe.
I think it is safe to say that the entire nation of Zimbabwe agreed that it was time for Robert Mugabe to retire. However in making that a reality Zimbabwe received some help from China.
It is part of China's transactional foreign policy that help must be paid for by the retirement party forming the main talking point at COP23. China is of course very defensive about the Paris Agreement which allows them to continue growing their Green House Gas (ghg) emissions. Making Climate Change worse.
This idea of booting out corrupt leaders seems to have caught on in South Africa - Zimbabwe's immediate neighbour. On February 14th (14/2/18) they ousted the very corrupt Jacob Zuma. A story that was largely drowned out by the Parkland school shooting.
Jacob Zuma was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa. Despite the early elation Ramaphosa has only added to concerns about South Africa's future.
He's declared that private property can be seized by the government without compensation. It's exactly this type of; "State Capture" which was the main problem with Zuma.
Obviously this seizure of white farms will appeal to Julius Melema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Party. However Julius Melema's a f*cking moron. You only need to look at Zimbabwe to see that.
As for Sergei Skripal - he's not done anything for MI6 since at least 2010. Despite MI6 having to continue to pay for his very nice house in Salisbury.
Much like how the BBC were forced to pay for; "McMafia." Despite no-one wanting to watch it.
Seriously they only saved the finale by doing a frame-for-frame rip off of the Metro chase scene from the; "Game of Chance" episode of the US TV Show; "The Unit."
Also I think we should take a moment to congratulate British actor Gary Oldman on the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar he won on Sunday (4/3/18).
This is really a lifetime achievement award. However it was won specifically for his portrayal of UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the movie; "The Darkest Hour."
That is a movie about the question of appeasement in the wake of the annexation of the Sudetenland.
Turkish broadcaster TRT found his win particularly controversial.
Apparently women's rights suddenly matter to Erdogan.
21:45 on 6/3/18 (UK date).
Saturday, 3 March 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Closing Ceremony Pt.8
A continuation of Part 7; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-olympics-closing_2.html
Farewell Snowflakes:
That is the official title of this sequence.
It began with the five Childlike Ciphers of the Wu Xing from the Opening Ceremony returning to the arena. They were carrying with them snowglobes.
They were followed by a massive wrapped giftbox. When it had arrived in the centre of the arena the giftbox opened to reveal a giant snowglobe.
These snowglobes were a big part of the RoK's pitch to win the rights to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. As part of their bidding process they handed out many of them to delegates.
Performers or stewards in white cloaks formed a circle around the outside of the arena floor. They too were carrying snowglobes. The shape they formed was that out a snowglobe.
In the centre of the arena a video sequence was projected. It was dedicated to the idea of the Olympic flame, the journey it goes on and what is achieved throughout the games.
This video sequence was presented as if being broadcast on multiple TV screens. This obviously promotes discussion about how the games will be broadcast going forward. Including things like Internet streaming including on the IOC's own; "Olympic Channel."
As the video sequence ended all these TV screens showed what looked like a testcard. This promoted discussion about the sort of battle for eyeballs the Olympics face in a media landscape with so much choice.
I don't have the viewing figures for these games to hand. But in the US they're talking about it being the least watched games ever. Particularly in the crucial 18 to 34 year old market which advertisers utterly obsess about.
I guess Snowflake millennials just aren't interested in the Olympics. Perhaps they find it triggering. Or perhaps the people who believed in Black Lives Matter (BLM) think the Olympics is about sport.
Lights then drew us up from the arena floor to where the Olympic Cauldron stood.
That Cauldron of course resembles one of the "Martian War Machines" from the 1897 novel; "The War of the Worlds" by H.G Wells.
In 1938 Orson Welles produced and directed a radio dramatisation of The War of the Worlds. This is widely recognised as the greatest Fake News hoax in US broadcasting history.
Or at least it was going into the games. The US' place on the medal table now seems to represent where Orson Welles' broadcast now stands in the all time list of Fake News hoaxes in US broadcasting history.
At the midway point of the games the US was languishing in fifth. The US continued to languish there until the last Thursday (22/2/18) of the games. They were then elevated to their finishing position of fourth by the awarding of two surprise Gold Medals.
The first of these came in the Women's Ice Hockey where the US defeated Canada in a penalty shoot-out.
In 2017 the US Women's Ice Hockey team refused to participate in the World Championships unless they were paid the same as the men's team. Made up of players from the US National Hockey League (NHL). Eventually they won their equal pay dispute.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics the NHL has decided that it's too profitable to suspend its season for the Olympics. Therefore most of the World's top Ice Hockey players have been absent depriving the Olympics with a large source of revenue.
Therefore there was a lot of support for a US women's team prepared to stick it to the NHL.
Questions of where the money will come from to pay the women will have to come later.
Also while the Final between the US and Canada was taking place there was something of a background event.
The RoK is an extremely technologically advanced nation. It is a nation that is also technically still at war with its northern neighbour the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North).
As a result the topic of "Soft Power" in the digital age has been a major theme of the games. The hosts even staged a Cyberattack during the Opening Ceremony to promote discussion about this topic.
On Thursday (22/2/18) - Wednesday (21/2/18) in the US - the US broadcaster CNN staged its own Cyberattack on Twitter users.
This took the form of a Town Hall style debate on the topic of gun control. In was organised in the wake of the February 14th (14/2/18) shooting at the Marjory Stoneman High School in the Parkland area of Florida. It was advertised using the Twitter hashtag; "#StudentsStandUp."
I hate to break it to you but CNN's social media accounts are automated. These infamous "Bots" that have been talked about so much in the US Democrats claims of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
During the Town Hall debate CNN's bots Tweeted out pretty much everything that was said during the debate. Not only that but they Tweeted out the same messages on both the same accounts and separate accounts such as their main account, their politics account and their breaking news account.
This was done in an effort to get the #StudentsStandUp hashtag trending on Twitter. In order to give a false impression of how popular CNN's own political bias actually was.
The effect of this network of CNN bots or "botnet" if you like on Twitter users was a sort of Cyberattack. Similar to a Denial Of Service (DOS) attack.
Essentially the effort of loading all these duplicate Tweets each with images, videos and hashtags sucked up memory causing Twitter to slow down for individual users and even causing some computers to crash.
This sort of tactic is sometimes known as a; "Twitter Bomb."
Just the day before Twitter announced that they would be cracking down in exactly this type of behaviour. Accounts and users engaging in it would find themselves banned in what has been dubbed the; "#TwitterPurge"
As always CNN were totally lacking in self-awareness as to their actions. People have learnt that when CNN are doing a Town Hall style event you just Mute the account(s) in advance.
However on this occasion someone decided to make a talking point of it. By chucking actual bombs - hand grenades - at the US Embassy in Montenegro.
These muffled rumours of a bomb attack on a US Embassy during the Women's Ice Hockey Final may well have made Canada feel overly sympathetic towards their opponents.
Then of course NATO member Canada had it pointed out to them that Montenegro has been a NATO member since June 2017.
Canada then swiftly apologised.
They allowed the US men's team to beat them in the Curling semi-final. Curling was introduced to the Olympics in 2006. Since then pretty much every Curling Olympic Gold Medal has been won by Canada.
Curling is a sport centred around trying to slide things called; "Stones" into something called a; "House." There is even an Olympic themed episode of the US TV Show; "The Simpsons" where Marjorie discovers she's very good at Curling.
So I think we all know what the US' main "Stoneman" John Schuster's new nickname is going to be.
Curling is a painfully dull sport. So dull in fact it actually has a rule called; "Shaking" which allows a team to concede because they've suddenly realised just how dull it is.
So by allowing the US into the Curling final Canada was providing a very big stage on which Marjorie Stoneman could concede the futility of it all.
However in that final the US faced Sweden who allowed them to win. Giving the US a further Gold Medal.
Recently US President Trump suggested holding a military parade to mark the centenary of the First World War on November 11th 2018 (11/11/18). This was met with consternation by certain sections of the US media.
Therefore I think it is fair to assume that a lot of Americans don't know that the history making First World War ended on November 11th 1918 (11/11/18).
Those people aside though I think it is widely known that the Second World War began in 1939. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
What I think though is less well known is that while Nazi Germany was invading Poland Nazi Sweden was invading Finland. This became known as the; "Winter War."
Sweden lost that war and adopted a position of neutrality from then on. This meant that it has not been forced to face up with its shameful past in the same way that Germany and Japan have been forced to do.
It also means that Sweden have seethed over their defeat by the Russians and have been looking for revenge ever since.
Throughout the Cold War and beyond this has taken the form of Sweden's intelligence services mounting Soft Power operations against Russia. Specifically through a network of 'Human Rights' 'Charities' known collectively as; "Human Rights House."
So when the US overthrows Ukraine's government during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Well then Human Rights House are on hand to start rumours of Russian soldiers being killed in Ukraine.
When Georgia starts a war with Russia during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Well then Human Rights House are on hand to claim Russia started the war by committing Human Rights abuses.
When Islamist terrorists attack a school in Beslan murdering at least 334 people. Well then Human Rights House are there to claim the Islamist terrorists are entirely innocent. The deaths are simply Putin's fault.
Probably Sweden's intelligence services biggest operation to date occurred during the Balkan Wars of the 1990's which saw the break up of Yugoslavia. Eventually creating the nation of Montenegro.
This is really a big topic to get into.
However Croatia and Yugoslavia were on course to repeat Czechoslovakia's famous; "Velvet Divorce." This peaceful solution though would have left Yugoslavia largely intact and still allied with Russia.
So the NATO nations started the Balkan Wars to tear Yugoslavia apart in order to make sure their rather than Russia influence dominated the region.
Sweden's contribution to this effort was to accuse Russia of Islamaphobia backing Serb forces in things like the Srebrenica massacre. Then they recruited Russian Muslims to carry out things like the Beslan massacre and the Chechen War.
This strategy forced Sweden to put its money where its mouth was. In order to sustain allegations of Russian Islamaphobia Sweden was forced to take in tens of thousands of Balkan Muslim refugees.
Over the ensuing 20 years those Balkan Muslim refugees have created ghettos in Swedish cities. These have created extremely violent so-called; "No Go Zones"
People talk about the US' levels of gun crime. In Sweden's No Go Zones the weapons of choice are hand grenades and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's).
US President Trump of course has been condemned by certain sections of the media and Twitter users with the hashtag; "#LastNightInSweden" for acknowledging that Sweden's ghettos exist.
So no. I don't think Men's Curling Gold was a medal the US' Marjorie Stoneman really wanted to win.
A point reinforced when at the medal ceremony the US team were actually handed the wrong medals.
The act of drawing our attention from the arena floor to the Cauldron was intended to remind people that the Para-Olympics are still to come.
Between the arena floor and the Cauldron stands a steep ramp. During the Opening Ceremony torch bearers had to climb this ramp to reach the Cauldron. To aid them steps suddenly appeared from within the ramp.
This was a reference to the 2016 Summer Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony. There a wheelchair using tourch bearer was faced with steps on his way up to the Cauldron. Suddenly a ramp appeared from the steps to make the Cauldron wheelchair accessible.
Quite how they're going to do the Cauldron lighting at the 2018 Winter Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony remains to be seen. Theirs is the sort of ramp ski-jumpers launch themselves down. Not the sort wheelchair users push themselves up.
Finally the Cauldron was extinguished. As is IOC protocol.
Rage On:
Following the dying of the light the Closing Ceremony ended with a raging house music party.
This was DJ'd first by the South Korean DJ Raiden. He then handed over proceedings to world famous DJ Martin Garrix.
By design this sequence was just one messy party that the athletes were encouraged to join. So there was really no political dimension to it whatsoever.
I should point out though that Martin Garrix is Dutch.
On July 17th 2014 (17/7/14) Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot-down over Ukraine.
The US immediately said that it had electronic evidence proving that Russia had fired the missile that brought down the aircraft. They strongly implied that this was Russian revenge for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 during the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Russia.
The US used this as an excuse to impose further sanctions on Russia. Sanctions which by an amazing coincidence hampered Russia's fight against ISIL and Al Qaeda in Syria.
Flight MH17 originated in the Netherlands. As a result it fell to the Dutch to conduct the investigation. Probably a job that absolutely nobody wanted.
The Dutch took the position that they are a nation that values the truth above all else. So they commendably played the investigation straight simply laying out the facts. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Dutch investigation did not explicitly accuse the US of falsifying electronic evidence against Russia.
However it did conclude that it was impossible to show who had fired the missile. Strongly implying that they were not treating the electronic evidence produced by the US with any degree of credibility.
It went on to conclude that the main cause of the crash was the decision by Ukrainian Air Traffic Controllers (ATC's) to fly a civilian plane into a warzone. A warzone where planes were being shot down on a regular basis.
At the time Ukraine's ATC's - like the rest of the country - were under the command of the US' CIA spy agency. With then CIA Director John Brennan proudly visiting Ukraine in April 2014 the US was making no attempt to disguise this fact.
Efforts to bring criminal prosecutions in the MH17 case have stalled. As the Dutch wait for the US to hand over the CIA officers who were directing Ukraine's ATC's at the time.
The Netherlands have been engaged in their own Russian Aggression scandal of late.
On February 13th (13/2/18) Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra was forced to resign. He'd claimed he had evidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring that he wanted to create a Greater Russia in Eastern Europe.
Halbe Zijlstra was found to have faked that evidence.
On Friday (16/2/18) US Special Prosecutor Mueller announced that he was indicting 13 Russians based on electronic evidence of interference in the US 2016 Election.
The US' NATO partners then queued up to condemn Mueller for faking further electronic evidence as part of his Fake News Hoax.
On February 20th (20/2/18) Mueller took steps to clarify the tenability of his position.
He announced charges of falsifying evidence against Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan. These relate to Mueller's case against Paul Manafort and Richard Gates. That case relates to tax evasion in Ukraine dating back to 2012.
In that context Martin Garrix playing his song; "Together" featuring lyrics such as; "A change in the wind is blowing" seems to carry some significance.
I think everyone who'd been involved in either ceremony joined the party.
This included the bird that appeared in the; "Meet the Cipher" sequence of the Opening Ceremony. At the time there was debate as to whether this was Vermilion Bird - one of the Four Guardians - or the Fenghuang which is considered the master of all birds.
This reappearance allowed us to confirm that it was indeed the Fenghuang. Initially the Fenghuang was divided into male birds the; "Feng" and female birds the; "Huang." However male and female were unified into one bird which is both male and female.
Hence why the bird used in the ceremonies had a bird's body and a male human head.
The broadcast of the Closing Ceremony ended with the traditional big fireworks display.
However the party continued within the arena and no doubt spilled out into the athletes village as the night went on.
This along with the reference to the Dylan Thomas poem reminded us that although this broadcast has ended the party is not over.
The Para-Olympics are still to come.
22:05 on 3/3/18 (UK date).
Farewell Snowflakes:
That is the official title of this sequence.
It began with the five Childlike Ciphers of the Wu Xing from the Opening Ceremony returning to the arena. They were carrying with them snowglobes.
They were followed by a massive wrapped giftbox. When it had arrived in the centre of the arena the giftbox opened to reveal a giant snowglobe.
These snowglobes were a big part of the RoK's pitch to win the rights to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. As part of their bidding process they handed out many of them to delegates.
Performers or stewards in white cloaks formed a circle around the outside of the arena floor. They too were carrying snowglobes. The shape they formed was that out a snowglobe.
In the centre of the arena a video sequence was projected. It was dedicated to the idea of the Olympic flame, the journey it goes on and what is achieved throughout the games.
This video sequence was presented as if being broadcast on multiple TV screens. This obviously promotes discussion about how the games will be broadcast going forward. Including things like Internet streaming including on the IOC's own; "Olympic Channel."
As the video sequence ended all these TV screens showed what looked like a testcard. This promoted discussion about the sort of battle for eyeballs the Olympics face in a media landscape with so much choice.
I don't have the viewing figures for these games to hand. But in the US they're talking about it being the least watched games ever. Particularly in the crucial 18 to 34 year old market which advertisers utterly obsess about.
I guess Snowflake millennials just aren't interested in the Olympics. Perhaps they find it triggering. Or perhaps the people who believed in Black Lives Matter (BLM) think the Olympics is about sport.
Lights then drew us up from the arena floor to where the Olympic Cauldron stood.
That Cauldron of course resembles one of the "Martian War Machines" from the 1897 novel; "The War of the Worlds" by H.G Wells.
In 1938 Orson Welles produced and directed a radio dramatisation of The War of the Worlds. This is widely recognised as the greatest Fake News hoax in US broadcasting history.
Or at least it was going into the games. The US' place on the medal table now seems to represent where Orson Welles' broadcast now stands in the all time list of Fake News hoaxes in US broadcasting history.
At the midway point of the games the US was languishing in fifth. The US continued to languish there until the last Thursday (22/2/18) of the games. They were then elevated to their finishing position of fourth by the awarding of two surprise Gold Medals.
The first of these came in the Women's Ice Hockey where the US defeated Canada in a penalty shoot-out.
In 2017 the US Women's Ice Hockey team refused to participate in the World Championships unless they were paid the same as the men's team. Made up of players from the US National Hockey League (NHL). Eventually they won their equal pay dispute.
At the 2018 Winter Olympics the NHL has decided that it's too profitable to suspend its season for the Olympics. Therefore most of the World's top Ice Hockey players have been absent depriving the Olympics with a large source of revenue.
Therefore there was a lot of support for a US women's team prepared to stick it to the NHL.
Questions of where the money will come from to pay the women will have to come later.
Also while the Final between the US and Canada was taking place there was something of a background event.
The RoK is an extremely technologically advanced nation. It is a nation that is also technically still at war with its northern neighbour the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North).
As a result the topic of "Soft Power" in the digital age has been a major theme of the games. The hosts even staged a Cyberattack during the Opening Ceremony to promote discussion about this topic.
On Thursday (22/2/18) - Wednesday (21/2/18) in the US - the US broadcaster CNN staged its own Cyberattack on Twitter users.
This took the form of a Town Hall style debate on the topic of gun control. In was organised in the wake of the February 14th (14/2/18) shooting at the Marjory Stoneman High School in the Parkland area of Florida. It was advertised using the Twitter hashtag; "#StudentsStandUp."
I hate to break it to you but CNN's social media accounts are automated. These infamous "Bots" that have been talked about so much in the US Democrats claims of Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
During the Town Hall debate CNN's bots Tweeted out pretty much everything that was said during the debate. Not only that but they Tweeted out the same messages on both the same accounts and separate accounts such as their main account, their politics account and their breaking news account.
This was done in an effort to get the #StudentsStandUp hashtag trending on Twitter. In order to give a false impression of how popular CNN's own political bias actually was.
The effect of this network of CNN bots or "botnet" if you like on Twitter users was a sort of Cyberattack. Similar to a Denial Of Service (DOS) attack.
Essentially the effort of loading all these duplicate Tweets each with images, videos and hashtags sucked up memory causing Twitter to slow down for individual users and even causing some computers to crash.
This sort of tactic is sometimes known as a; "Twitter Bomb."
Just the day before Twitter announced that they would be cracking down in exactly this type of behaviour. Accounts and users engaging in it would find themselves banned in what has been dubbed the; "#TwitterPurge"
As always CNN were totally lacking in self-awareness as to their actions. People have learnt that when CNN are doing a Town Hall style event you just Mute the account(s) in advance.
However on this occasion someone decided to make a talking point of it. By chucking actual bombs - hand grenades - at the US Embassy in Montenegro.
These muffled rumours of a bomb attack on a US Embassy during the Women's Ice Hockey Final may well have made Canada feel overly sympathetic towards their opponents.
Then of course NATO member Canada had it pointed out to them that Montenegro has been a NATO member since June 2017.
Canada then swiftly apologised.
They allowed the US men's team to beat them in the Curling semi-final. Curling was introduced to the Olympics in 2006. Since then pretty much every Curling Olympic Gold Medal has been won by Canada.
Curling is a sport centred around trying to slide things called; "Stones" into something called a; "House." There is even an Olympic themed episode of the US TV Show; "The Simpsons" where Marjorie discovers she's very good at Curling.
So I think we all know what the US' main "Stoneman" John Schuster's new nickname is going to be.
Curling is a painfully dull sport. So dull in fact it actually has a rule called; "Shaking" which allows a team to concede because they've suddenly realised just how dull it is.
So by allowing the US into the Curling final Canada was providing a very big stage on which Marjorie Stoneman could concede the futility of it all.
However in that final the US faced Sweden who allowed them to win. Giving the US a further Gold Medal.
Recently US President Trump suggested holding a military parade to mark the centenary of the First World War on November 11th 2018 (11/11/18). This was met with consternation by certain sections of the US media.
Therefore I think it is fair to assume that a lot of Americans don't know that the history making First World War ended on November 11th 1918 (11/11/18).
Those people aside though I think it is widely known that the Second World War began in 1939. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland.
What I think though is less well known is that while Nazi Germany was invading Poland Nazi Sweden was invading Finland. This became known as the; "Winter War."
Sweden lost that war and adopted a position of neutrality from then on. This meant that it has not been forced to face up with its shameful past in the same way that Germany and Japan have been forced to do.
It also means that Sweden have seethed over their defeat by the Russians and have been looking for revenge ever since.
Throughout the Cold War and beyond this has taken the form of Sweden's intelligence services mounting Soft Power operations against Russia. Specifically through a network of 'Human Rights' 'Charities' known collectively as; "Human Rights House."
So when the US overthrows Ukraine's government during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Well then Human Rights House are on hand to start rumours of Russian soldiers being killed in Ukraine.
When Georgia starts a war with Russia during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Well then Human Rights House are on hand to claim Russia started the war by committing Human Rights abuses.
When Islamist terrorists attack a school in Beslan murdering at least 334 people. Well then Human Rights House are there to claim the Islamist terrorists are entirely innocent. The deaths are simply Putin's fault.
Probably Sweden's intelligence services biggest operation to date occurred during the Balkan Wars of the 1990's which saw the break up of Yugoslavia. Eventually creating the nation of Montenegro.
This is really a big topic to get into.
However Croatia and Yugoslavia were on course to repeat Czechoslovakia's famous; "Velvet Divorce." This peaceful solution though would have left Yugoslavia largely intact and still allied with Russia.
So the NATO nations started the Balkan Wars to tear Yugoslavia apart in order to make sure their rather than Russia influence dominated the region.
Sweden's contribution to this effort was to accuse Russia of Islamaphobia backing Serb forces in things like the Srebrenica massacre. Then they recruited Russian Muslims to carry out things like the Beslan massacre and the Chechen War.
This strategy forced Sweden to put its money where its mouth was. In order to sustain allegations of Russian Islamaphobia Sweden was forced to take in tens of thousands of Balkan Muslim refugees.
Over the ensuing 20 years those Balkan Muslim refugees have created ghettos in Swedish cities. These have created extremely violent so-called; "No Go Zones"
People talk about the US' levels of gun crime. In Sweden's No Go Zones the weapons of choice are hand grenades and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's).
US President Trump of course has been condemned by certain sections of the media and Twitter users with the hashtag; "#LastNightInSweden" for acknowledging that Sweden's ghettos exist.
So no. I don't think Men's Curling Gold was a medal the US' Marjorie Stoneman really wanted to win.
A point reinforced when at the medal ceremony the US team were actually handed the wrong medals.
The act of drawing our attention from the arena floor to the Cauldron was intended to remind people that the Para-Olympics are still to come.
Between the arena floor and the Cauldron stands a steep ramp. During the Opening Ceremony torch bearers had to climb this ramp to reach the Cauldron. To aid them steps suddenly appeared from within the ramp.
This was a reference to the 2016 Summer Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony. There a wheelchair using tourch bearer was faced with steps on his way up to the Cauldron. Suddenly a ramp appeared from the steps to make the Cauldron wheelchair accessible.
Quite how they're going to do the Cauldron lighting at the 2018 Winter Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony remains to be seen. Theirs is the sort of ramp ski-jumpers launch themselves down. Not the sort wheelchair users push themselves up.
Finally the Cauldron was extinguished. As is IOC protocol.
Rage On:
Following the dying of the light the Closing Ceremony ended with a raging house music party.
This was DJ'd first by the South Korean DJ Raiden. He then handed over proceedings to world famous DJ Martin Garrix.
By design this sequence was just one messy party that the athletes were encouraged to join. So there was really no political dimension to it whatsoever.
I should point out though that Martin Garrix is Dutch.
On July 17th 2014 (17/7/14) Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot-down over Ukraine.
The US immediately said that it had electronic evidence proving that Russia had fired the missile that brought down the aircraft. They strongly implied that this was Russian revenge for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 during the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Russia.
The US used this as an excuse to impose further sanctions on Russia. Sanctions which by an amazing coincidence hampered Russia's fight against ISIL and Al Qaeda in Syria.
Flight MH17 originated in the Netherlands. As a result it fell to the Dutch to conduct the investigation. Probably a job that absolutely nobody wanted.
The Dutch took the position that they are a nation that values the truth above all else. So they commendably played the investigation straight simply laying out the facts. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Dutch investigation did not explicitly accuse the US of falsifying electronic evidence against Russia.
However it did conclude that it was impossible to show who had fired the missile. Strongly implying that they were not treating the electronic evidence produced by the US with any degree of credibility.
It went on to conclude that the main cause of the crash was the decision by Ukrainian Air Traffic Controllers (ATC's) to fly a civilian plane into a warzone. A warzone where planes were being shot down on a regular basis.
At the time Ukraine's ATC's - like the rest of the country - were under the command of the US' CIA spy agency. With then CIA Director John Brennan proudly visiting Ukraine in April 2014 the US was making no attempt to disguise this fact.
Efforts to bring criminal prosecutions in the MH17 case have stalled. As the Dutch wait for the US to hand over the CIA officers who were directing Ukraine's ATC's at the time.
The Netherlands have been engaged in their own Russian Aggression scandal of late.
On February 13th (13/2/18) Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra was forced to resign. He'd claimed he had evidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring that he wanted to create a Greater Russia in Eastern Europe.
Halbe Zijlstra was found to have faked that evidence.
On Friday (16/2/18) US Special Prosecutor Mueller announced that he was indicting 13 Russians based on electronic evidence of interference in the US 2016 Election.
The US' NATO partners then queued up to condemn Mueller for faking further electronic evidence as part of his Fake News Hoax.
On February 20th (20/2/18) Mueller took steps to clarify the tenability of his position.
He announced charges of falsifying evidence against Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan. These relate to Mueller's case against Paul Manafort and Richard Gates. That case relates to tax evasion in Ukraine dating back to 2012.
In that context Martin Garrix playing his song; "Together" featuring lyrics such as; "A change in the wind is blowing" seems to carry some significance.
I think everyone who'd been involved in either ceremony joined the party.
This included the bird that appeared in the; "Meet the Cipher" sequence of the Opening Ceremony. At the time there was debate as to whether this was Vermilion Bird - one of the Four Guardians - or the Fenghuang which is considered the master of all birds.
This reappearance allowed us to confirm that it was indeed the Fenghuang. Initially the Fenghuang was divided into male birds the; "Feng" and female birds the; "Huang." However male and female were unified into one bird which is both male and female.
Hence why the bird used in the ceremonies had a bird's body and a male human head.
The broadcast of the Closing Ceremony ended with the traditional big fireworks display.
However the party continued within the arena and no doubt spilled out into the athletes village as the night went on.
This along with the reference to the Dylan Thomas poem reminded us that although this broadcast has ended the party is not over.
The Para-Olympics are still to come.
22:05 on 3/3/18 (UK date).
Friday, 2 March 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Closing Ceremony. Pt.7
A continuation of Part 6; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-olympics-closing_1.html
Closing Speeches:
It is IOC protocol that each Closing Ceremony must contain two closing speeches.
By the head of the host National Olympic Committee (NOC). In this case Lee Kee-heung. Then by the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In this case former Olympic fencer Thomas Bach.
The political significance of these speeches were the speeches themselves. In about a two hours the Heritage Flame Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics takes place. So I'm trying to trim this down as much as possible. So I'm sure you can look up the text of the speeches online.
The only thing of note is that it falls to the IOC head to end his speech with a formal declaration that the games have ended. Normally this triggers the extinguishing of the Olympic Cauldron.
However on this occasion the Cauldron remained lit.
In part this was to draw attention to the Cauldron's H.G Welles inspired design. And its implications for the topic of American Fake News Hoaxes.
Also the flame continuing to burn bright served as a reminder that these games may be over. The Para-Olympics are still to come.
It was at the end of this sequence that the BBC commentator decided to break the news that the DPRK is prepared to hold direct talks with the US. However being a sports commentator his version of that announcement didn't really make much sense.
I should point out that the DPRK has aspired to having direct talks as equals with the US since US President Truman flew nuclear armed bombers over the Korean Peninsula in 1950. A large part of the reason why the DPRK is seeking nuclear weapons is so the US will finally view them as equals.
The announcement that the DPRK is prepared to go-ahead with something they've been aspiring to for 68 years is not exactly going to knock the world from its axis.
Teenage Kicks:
This next sequence was a performance by very famous Korean Pop (K-Pop) boy band Exo. They performed two of their songs; "Growl" and "Power."
Exo are a manufactured pop band. Although often sneered at manufactured pop bands are the history of popular music.
One of the earliest examples are the US band; "The Four Seasons" who were formed in 1960. You then have all the Motown of Atlantic soul bands like; "The Supremes" and "The Temptations" etc.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's this really came to the public attention with bands like; "New Kids on the Block" in the US and; "Take That" in the UK.
Following the success of Take That the Irish boy band; "Boyzone" was formed by producer Louis Walsh. Once Boyzone had run their course Louis Walsh formed the boy band; "Westlife."
As many people have pointed out Westlife is exactly the same band as Boyzone. Only with a different cast.
Louis Walsh then sort of led the next step of manufactured pop band with TV talent shows like "The X-Factor," "The Voice," "American Idol" etc. These allow viewers to see and participate in the bands being manufactured. Bands such as; "One Direction" and "Fifth Harmony."
Some people accuse programs like X-Factor of killing the music industry. They're not. They're simply showing the public what the music industry has always been.
Asian nations such as the RoK with K-Pop and Japan with J-Pop have taken this idea of manufactured bands and gone to a whole new level with it.
Within that culture the band is considered a brand. Rather like the stage musical; "Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons" is a brand. The cast of musical performers using the brand changes regularly.
The musical performers in K-Pop and J-Pop bands often go through an extremely rigorous audition process. Once in the band their behaviour is controlled in ways so tightly disciplined it makes the military seem like a chilled out after school club.
Alongside the Olympic coverage South Korean TV is currently running an "American Idol" talent show to find a new lineup for the K-Pop band; "Bangtan Boys (BTS)."
This show is called; "The Unit." In reference to a US TV Show also called; "The Unit" about an elite squad of Special Operations Force (SOF) soldiers. The message is that getting into a K-Pop band is as about as tough as getting into a SOF unit.
The reason why Bangtan Boys (BTS) need a new lineup is that their existing lineup is being drafted into compulsory military service. Which after a spell in a K-Pop band is likely to seem like a much needed holiday.
Exo were formed following a 2011 strategy meeting at the Hallyu Business Seminar at the prestigious Stanford University. The objective of the strategy was to maximise sales in both the South Korean market and much larger Chinese market.
This was to be achieved by creating two bands releasing the same songs under the Exo brand. "Exo-k" which had South Korean members and performed in Korean and "Exo-m" which had a mix of South Korean and Chinese members and sung in Mandarin Chinese.
I don't think it was the intention. I'm sure though its easy to turn this idea of; "One Band: Two Systems" into a discussion of the; "One China: Two Systems" policy. This is what China uses to balance mainland China with its more autonomous island territories of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In 2014 Exo became unified as one band under one system. They dropped from their 12 members to their current line-up of 9 members. Including Zhang Yixing known as; "Lay" who is Chinese.
Part of the reason for the unification was the decision by two members of Exo-m to leave the band. Wu Yifan known as "Kris Wu" who is Chinese Canadian and Lu Han who is Chinese.
This triggered a slew of lawsuits and counter-lawsuits involving Intellectual Property Theft and human rights abuses.
However unlike Kesha's human rights lawsuits Kris and Lu's lawsuits seem likely to have far more standing.
At around 17:50 on 2/3/18 (UK date) much to my annoyance I'm going to have to pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 15:45 on 3/3/18 (UK date) to add;
Exo first single as a unified bad; "Overdose" was supposed to be released on April 21st 2014 (21/4/14). However is was delayed until May due to the April 16th 2014 (16/4/14) Sewol Ferry Disaster.
This saw the ferry Sewol sink in waters between Inchon and Jeju. Of its 476 crew and passengers 305 perished. The majority of them children from the Danwon Highschool. 7 emergency workers also died in the efforts to rescue survivors and recover the dead.
The Sewol Ferry Disaster occurred a week before then US President Barack Obama embarked of a week long tour of South East Asia. Amid trips to the RoK and The Philippines the highlight of Obama's tour was to Japan. There he signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP was the main part of the economic track of Obama's "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy. The security track of that policy was to assist the DPRK in becoming a nuclear armed state. The sort of bogeyman that only America could protect the region from.
Obama's visit also include a trip to Malaysia. In order to congratulate the Islamist Kingdom for their work in bringing down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 during the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia.
The Sewol Ferry Disaster therefore seemed to be a warning to Obama over his Pivot Towards the Pacific policy.
It certainly showed the dangers of suddenly lurching to the far right. In order to overthrow Ukraine's government during the 2014 games Obama partnered with not just Neo-Nazis but actual World War Two Nazis.
Of the 305 passengers and crew killed aboard the Sewol the bodies of 5 of them remain missing to this day. Much like MH370 remains missing to this day.
When the US dropped an A-bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 they killed 146,000 people. When they dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki they killed 80,000 people.
The H-bomb that Obama helped the DPRK develop is at least 1000 times more powerful then either of the A-bombs dropped on Japan. In drawing up plans for a nuclear war against the Soviet Union using H-bombs in the 1960's the US arrived at a figure of 50 million US civilian deaths as an acceptable loss.
In a game with the stakes that high 312 deaths is considered barely noticeable.
However it was the Sewol Ferry Disaster that really started people doubting then RoK President Park Geun-hye. The woman who stole the Presidency after falsifying claims of foreign interference in order to rig the 2012 election.
The ease with which Park Geun-hye was prepared to kill South Koreans in order to make a political point reminded people of her father. Park Chung-hee. South Korea's dictator until 1979.
It also goes to that deep biological instinct in almost all humans to nurture and protect children.
The report into the disaster was published in November 2016. It revealed that Park Geun-hye and the RoK's equivalent of the FBI had conspired to influence public opinion over the incident with the specific purpose of suppressing protests against the government.
Along with the news that Park Geun-hye had abused her position to get the daughter of her close friend Choi Soon-sil into a top university it was one of those moments you could feel the nation shifting against the President.
Within South Korean society boy bands like Exo perform pretty much the same function boy bands like One Direction perform in western societies. They give hormonal teenage girls something safe to lust over.
Within South Korea's great rival Japan this type of pop band - particularly girl bands - perform a much more uncomfortable role.
I joke that I'm married to the popstar Rihanna. In J-Pop this type of thing is actively encouraged.
Japanese men in their 20's and 30's who are often still virgins are encouraged to think of members of girl bands as their girlfriends. Aside from buying their records they're expected to buy them gifts and flowers and pay to have "dates" with them at meet & greet events.
This encouragement of this sort of obsessed psycho-fan obviously brings with it its own problems. In May 2014 a male fan used a saw to attack two members of the girl band AKB48 at one of these meet & greet events. Apparently he was jealous of his "girlfriend" dating other men.
AKB48 are also a good example of how far K-Pop and J-Pop take the idea of manufactured bands. It has 186 members each meant to appeal to the sexual preferences of their fans.
In 2013 one of the members Minami Minegishi broke band rules by staying over night with a male friend. She was punished by having her head publicly shaved. Rather like Nazi collaborators were punished at the end of the Second World War.
Much of these games have focused on the topic of; "Soft Power in the Internet Age" and what some people have dubbed; "Sharp Power."
There was an entire sequence on this during the Opening Ceremony. There was even a faked Cyberattack included as part of that ceremony.
On February 16th (16/2/18) the US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller accused 13 Russians of using the Internet to interfere with the 2016 US Election. The US' allies spent the next week condemning Mueller and his faction of the US intelligence community of falsifying that evidence.
On February 21st (21/2/18) the US broadcaster CNN set off a; "Twitter Bomb."
It used a network of bot accounts (botnet) to push its; "#StudentsStandUp" slogan up the Twitter rankings to make it more popular than it was. This prompted people in NATO member Montenegro to throw actual bombs at the US Embassy.
This type of social media influence operation is a long recognised part of the pop music industry.
Fans of bands who like to be referred to as; "Fandoms" get together on social media. Either to repeatedly send out messages containing a slogan to promote their bands new release or hold streaming parties to stream the same song or video over and over again to push it up the charts.
So we all knew that Exo were going to appear in the Closing Ceremony. The slogan; "#Olympics_EXO" had been trending top of the Twitter rankings all throughout the day of the ceremony. And much of the day after the ceremony.
This is fully encouraged. The "Vevo" streaming services grants "Certified" status to videos that receive over a certain number of views. A high honour amongst fandoms.
The US iHeartRadio Awards actually has a special category for; "Best Fan Army." In 2017 it was won by Fifth Harmony's; "Harmonziers." 2018 is shaping up to be a battle between Exo and BTS whose fanbases seem to have the organisation levels of actual armies.
Obviously record companies can't rely on fans to give them all of this free publicity. So they use botnets to post the slogans and stream the videos.
I don't think anyone seriously believes Drake topped the UK charts for 14 weeks because people actually like Drake. It's because his record company used botnets to constantly stream his song rigging the chart.
Although the use of botnets is something of an open secret the fans conducting the fandom influence operations know exactly that they are doing. Therefore similar tactics being used in political campaigns certainly doesn't come as news to them.
I've actually seen the One Direction fandom conduct a campaign in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD). Being predominately teenage girls many of the Feminine People's Protection Units (YPJ) are big One Direction fans themselves.
The education that pop bands provide into social media influence operations really demonstrates how nations can guard against them.
You need that thing US Democrats fear the most. An educated and informed electorate.
At around 17:15 on 3/3/18 (UK date) I will pick this up later.
Edited again at around 20:10 on 3/3/18 (UK date) to add;
The sequence began with two dancers who may well have been members of Just Jerk who appeared in the Opening Ceremony in the; "Twitchy Eye, Psychotic Face Emoji" sequence. However rather than wearing comedy Kung Fu pyjamas there were wearing authentic Korean costumes.
Then Exo arrived. Carried into the arena on All Terrain Buggies.
This was reminiscent of the 2015 movie; "Mad Max: Fury Road." That features Charlize Theron as an escaped sex slave who wages war against her former captors in an apocalyptic desert. At the 2016 Oscars it stood in for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). And won a lot of awards.
Also Charlize Theron's character is a single, below the elbow amputee. Someone who would fit right in at the Para-Olympics which this ceremony is keen to remind you is yet to come.
In further reference to the war in Syria the Russian military has just adopted a new All Terrain Buggy. Primarily for SOF missions in desert environments. The Charboz M6 is made in Chechnya. Home of the Swedish backed Islamist terrorists who carried out the 2004 Beslan School massacred.
The Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has recently been enthusiastically testing the Charboz M6 of the streets of the Chechen capital Grozny. You may remember that following the liberation of Aleppo City in December 2016 Chechen military police units were deployed there.
Then suddenly Chechnya was accused of murdering gay people. Just as Russia was accused of homophobia during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The Buggies assembled in a Taoist circle at the centre of the arena. As Exo were dismounting a series of images were projected into the circle. These included a bird, a horse and finally a tiger. The rumour has it that China has deployed it's SOF's named Night Tigers and Snow Tigers to Syria.
If you could hear anything in this sequence it was the excited cheers of admiration and support.
Exo then performed their first song; "Growl." Although I can't say I'm familiar with the lyrics this seemed quite sexual in nature. Exo performed this wearing outfits that resembled a High School uniform. Blazers and smart trousers.
The RoK's Birth Strike problem seems to stem from how hard South Korean children must work at school to pass the Suneung of CSAT college entry exam. These highly disciplined conditions leave little room for other teenage rights-of-passage such as first loves and first kisses.
As a result many unmarried South Koreans remain virgins until their 30's. Something which is not conducive to having large families with lots of children.
I'm not sure if it is deliberate but the K-Pop market seems to contribute to this highly disciplined adolescence. They provide an outlet for teenage lust which stops students being distracted from their studies by things like real teenage heartbreak.
Alongside their school uniforms Exo were wearing high fashion versions of military boots. Both in reference to the highly disciplined South Korean teenage experience and possibly in protest at the fact even K-Pop stars have to do military service.
Their second song; "Power" seemed less of a political statement and more just a really famous band playing one of their biggest hits.
However they were joined by dancers with lights attached to their fingers. This is an Asian pop idea that black US popstar Jason Derulo has used in the past. Posing a bit of a question of whom is appropriating whose culture.
As they were performing what appeared to be a galaxy of stars was projected onto the arena floor. This is quite a common theme for a band who take their name from; "Exoplanet." A planet outside of Earth's Solar System which orbits a star. Their first tour was named; "Exo from Exoplanet #1 - The Lost Planet."
Here though it allowed topics from elsewhere in the ceremony to be brought in. Such as Time Dilation, the Doppler Effect and Wave-Particle Duality. I'm pretty sure I detected elements of Red Shift.
The stars of Exo's galaxy also seemed to include the five colours of the Taoist Wu Xing. Reminding Quantum Physicists that perhaps Unified Field Theory isn't such a new idea.
The sequence ended with a big fireworks display.
21:00 on 3/3/18 (UK date).
Closing Speeches:
It is IOC protocol that each Closing Ceremony must contain two closing speeches.
By the head of the host National Olympic Committee (NOC). In this case Lee Kee-heung. Then by the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In this case former Olympic fencer Thomas Bach.
The political significance of these speeches were the speeches themselves. In about a two hours the Heritage Flame Ceremony for the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics takes place. So I'm trying to trim this down as much as possible. So I'm sure you can look up the text of the speeches online.
The only thing of note is that it falls to the IOC head to end his speech with a formal declaration that the games have ended. Normally this triggers the extinguishing of the Olympic Cauldron.
However on this occasion the Cauldron remained lit.
In part this was to draw attention to the Cauldron's H.G Welles inspired design. And its implications for the topic of American Fake News Hoaxes.
Also the flame continuing to burn bright served as a reminder that these games may be over. The Para-Olympics are still to come.
It was at the end of this sequence that the BBC commentator decided to break the news that the DPRK is prepared to hold direct talks with the US. However being a sports commentator his version of that announcement didn't really make much sense.
I should point out that the DPRK has aspired to having direct talks as equals with the US since US President Truman flew nuclear armed bombers over the Korean Peninsula in 1950. A large part of the reason why the DPRK is seeking nuclear weapons is so the US will finally view them as equals.
The announcement that the DPRK is prepared to go-ahead with something they've been aspiring to for 68 years is not exactly going to knock the world from its axis.
Teenage Kicks:
This next sequence was a performance by very famous Korean Pop (K-Pop) boy band Exo. They performed two of their songs; "Growl" and "Power."
Exo are a manufactured pop band. Although often sneered at manufactured pop bands are the history of popular music.
One of the earliest examples are the US band; "The Four Seasons" who were formed in 1960. You then have all the Motown of Atlantic soul bands like; "The Supremes" and "The Temptations" etc.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's this really came to the public attention with bands like; "New Kids on the Block" in the US and; "Take That" in the UK.
Following the success of Take That the Irish boy band; "Boyzone" was formed by producer Louis Walsh. Once Boyzone had run their course Louis Walsh formed the boy band; "Westlife."
As many people have pointed out Westlife is exactly the same band as Boyzone. Only with a different cast.
Louis Walsh then sort of led the next step of manufactured pop band with TV talent shows like "The X-Factor," "The Voice," "American Idol" etc. These allow viewers to see and participate in the bands being manufactured. Bands such as; "One Direction" and "Fifth Harmony."
Some people accuse programs like X-Factor of killing the music industry. They're not. They're simply showing the public what the music industry has always been.
Asian nations such as the RoK with K-Pop and Japan with J-Pop have taken this idea of manufactured bands and gone to a whole new level with it.
Within that culture the band is considered a brand. Rather like the stage musical; "Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons" is a brand. The cast of musical performers using the brand changes regularly.
The musical performers in K-Pop and J-Pop bands often go through an extremely rigorous audition process. Once in the band their behaviour is controlled in ways so tightly disciplined it makes the military seem like a chilled out after school club.
Alongside the Olympic coverage South Korean TV is currently running an "American Idol" talent show to find a new lineup for the K-Pop band; "Bangtan Boys (BTS)."
This show is called; "The Unit." In reference to a US TV Show also called; "The Unit" about an elite squad of Special Operations Force (SOF) soldiers. The message is that getting into a K-Pop band is as about as tough as getting into a SOF unit.
The reason why Bangtan Boys (BTS) need a new lineup is that their existing lineup is being drafted into compulsory military service. Which after a spell in a K-Pop band is likely to seem like a much needed holiday.
Exo were formed following a 2011 strategy meeting at the Hallyu Business Seminar at the prestigious Stanford University. The objective of the strategy was to maximise sales in both the South Korean market and much larger Chinese market.
This was to be achieved by creating two bands releasing the same songs under the Exo brand. "Exo-k" which had South Korean members and performed in Korean and "Exo-m" which had a mix of South Korean and Chinese members and sung in Mandarin Chinese.
I don't think it was the intention. I'm sure though its easy to turn this idea of; "One Band: Two Systems" into a discussion of the; "One China: Two Systems" policy. This is what China uses to balance mainland China with its more autonomous island territories of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In 2014 Exo became unified as one band under one system. They dropped from their 12 members to their current line-up of 9 members. Including Zhang Yixing known as; "Lay" who is Chinese.
Part of the reason for the unification was the decision by two members of Exo-m to leave the band. Wu Yifan known as "Kris Wu" who is Chinese Canadian and Lu Han who is Chinese.
This triggered a slew of lawsuits and counter-lawsuits involving Intellectual Property Theft and human rights abuses.
However unlike Kesha's human rights lawsuits Kris and Lu's lawsuits seem likely to have far more standing.
At around 17:50 on 2/3/18 (UK date) much to my annoyance I'm going to have to pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 15:45 on 3/3/18 (UK date) to add;
Exo first single as a unified bad; "Overdose" was supposed to be released on April 21st 2014 (21/4/14). However is was delayed until May due to the April 16th 2014 (16/4/14) Sewol Ferry Disaster.
This saw the ferry Sewol sink in waters between Inchon and Jeju. Of its 476 crew and passengers 305 perished. The majority of them children from the Danwon Highschool. 7 emergency workers also died in the efforts to rescue survivors and recover the dead.
The Sewol Ferry Disaster occurred a week before then US President Barack Obama embarked of a week long tour of South East Asia. Amid trips to the RoK and The Philippines the highlight of Obama's tour was to Japan. There he signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP was the main part of the economic track of Obama's "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy. The security track of that policy was to assist the DPRK in becoming a nuclear armed state. The sort of bogeyman that only America could protect the region from.
Obama's visit also include a trip to Malaysia. In order to congratulate the Islamist Kingdom for their work in bringing down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 during the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia.
The Sewol Ferry Disaster therefore seemed to be a warning to Obama over his Pivot Towards the Pacific policy.
It certainly showed the dangers of suddenly lurching to the far right. In order to overthrow Ukraine's government during the 2014 games Obama partnered with not just Neo-Nazis but actual World War Two Nazis.
Of the 305 passengers and crew killed aboard the Sewol the bodies of 5 of them remain missing to this day. Much like MH370 remains missing to this day.
When the US dropped an A-bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 they killed 146,000 people. When they dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki they killed 80,000 people.
The H-bomb that Obama helped the DPRK develop is at least 1000 times more powerful then either of the A-bombs dropped on Japan. In drawing up plans for a nuclear war against the Soviet Union using H-bombs in the 1960's the US arrived at a figure of 50 million US civilian deaths as an acceptable loss.
In a game with the stakes that high 312 deaths is considered barely noticeable.
However it was the Sewol Ferry Disaster that really started people doubting then RoK President Park Geun-hye. The woman who stole the Presidency after falsifying claims of foreign interference in order to rig the 2012 election.
The ease with which Park Geun-hye was prepared to kill South Koreans in order to make a political point reminded people of her father. Park Chung-hee. South Korea's dictator until 1979.
It also goes to that deep biological instinct in almost all humans to nurture and protect children.
The report into the disaster was published in November 2016. It revealed that Park Geun-hye and the RoK's equivalent of the FBI had conspired to influence public opinion over the incident with the specific purpose of suppressing protests against the government.
Along with the news that Park Geun-hye had abused her position to get the daughter of her close friend Choi Soon-sil into a top university it was one of those moments you could feel the nation shifting against the President.
Within South Korean society boy bands like Exo perform pretty much the same function boy bands like One Direction perform in western societies. They give hormonal teenage girls something safe to lust over.
Within South Korea's great rival Japan this type of pop band - particularly girl bands - perform a much more uncomfortable role.
I joke that I'm married to the popstar Rihanna. In J-Pop this type of thing is actively encouraged.
Japanese men in their 20's and 30's who are often still virgins are encouraged to think of members of girl bands as their girlfriends. Aside from buying their records they're expected to buy them gifts and flowers and pay to have "dates" with them at meet & greet events.
This encouragement of this sort of obsessed psycho-fan obviously brings with it its own problems. In May 2014 a male fan used a saw to attack two members of the girl band AKB48 at one of these meet & greet events. Apparently he was jealous of his "girlfriend" dating other men.
AKB48 are also a good example of how far K-Pop and J-Pop take the idea of manufactured bands. It has 186 members each meant to appeal to the sexual preferences of their fans.
In 2013 one of the members Minami Minegishi broke band rules by staying over night with a male friend. She was punished by having her head publicly shaved. Rather like Nazi collaborators were punished at the end of the Second World War.
Much of these games have focused on the topic of; "Soft Power in the Internet Age" and what some people have dubbed; "Sharp Power."
There was an entire sequence on this during the Opening Ceremony. There was even a faked Cyberattack included as part of that ceremony.
On February 16th (16/2/18) the US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller accused 13 Russians of using the Internet to interfere with the 2016 US Election. The US' allies spent the next week condemning Mueller and his faction of the US intelligence community of falsifying that evidence.
On February 21st (21/2/18) the US broadcaster CNN set off a; "Twitter Bomb."
It used a network of bot accounts (botnet) to push its; "#StudentsStandUp" slogan up the Twitter rankings to make it more popular than it was. This prompted people in NATO member Montenegro to throw actual bombs at the US Embassy.
This type of social media influence operation is a long recognised part of the pop music industry.
Fans of bands who like to be referred to as; "Fandoms" get together on social media. Either to repeatedly send out messages containing a slogan to promote their bands new release or hold streaming parties to stream the same song or video over and over again to push it up the charts.
So we all knew that Exo were going to appear in the Closing Ceremony. The slogan; "#Olympics_EXO" had been trending top of the Twitter rankings all throughout the day of the ceremony. And much of the day after the ceremony.
This is fully encouraged. The "Vevo" streaming services grants "Certified" status to videos that receive over a certain number of views. A high honour amongst fandoms.
The US iHeartRadio Awards actually has a special category for; "Best Fan Army." In 2017 it was won by Fifth Harmony's; "Harmonziers." 2018 is shaping up to be a battle between Exo and BTS whose fanbases seem to have the organisation levels of actual armies.
Obviously record companies can't rely on fans to give them all of this free publicity. So they use botnets to post the slogans and stream the videos.
I don't think anyone seriously believes Drake topped the UK charts for 14 weeks because people actually like Drake. It's because his record company used botnets to constantly stream his song rigging the chart.
Although the use of botnets is something of an open secret the fans conducting the fandom influence operations know exactly that they are doing. Therefore similar tactics being used in political campaigns certainly doesn't come as news to them.
I've actually seen the One Direction fandom conduct a campaign in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD). Being predominately teenage girls many of the Feminine People's Protection Units (YPJ) are big One Direction fans themselves.
The education that pop bands provide into social media influence operations really demonstrates how nations can guard against them.
You need that thing US Democrats fear the most. An educated and informed electorate.
At around 17:15 on 3/3/18 (UK date) I will pick this up later.
Edited again at around 20:10 on 3/3/18 (UK date) to add;
The sequence began with two dancers who may well have been members of Just Jerk who appeared in the Opening Ceremony in the; "Twitchy Eye, Psychotic Face Emoji" sequence. However rather than wearing comedy Kung Fu pyjamas there were wearing authentic Korean costumes.
Then Exo arrived. Carried into the arena on All Terrain Buggies.
This was reminiscent of the 2015 movie; "Mad Max: Fury Road." That features Charlize Theron as an escaped sex slave who wages war against her former captors in an apocalyptic desert. At the 2016 Oscars it stood in for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). And won a lot of awards.
Also Charlize Theron's character is a single, below the elbow amputee. Someone who would fit right in at the Para-Olympics which this ceremony is keen to remind you is yet to come.
In further reference to the war in Syria the Russian military has just adopted a new All Terrain Buggy. Primarily for SOF missions in desert environments. The Charboz M6 is made in Chechnya. Home of the Swedish backed Islamist terrorists who carried out the 2004 Beslan School massacred.
The Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has recently been enthusiastically testing the Charboz M6 of the streets of the Chechen capital Grozny. You may remember that following the liberation of Aleppo City in December 2016 Chechen military police units were deployed there.
Then suddenly Chechnya was accused of murdering gay people. Just as Russia was accused of homophobia during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The Buggies assembled in a Taoist circle at the centre of the arena. As Exo were dismounting a series of images were projected into the circle. These included a bird, a horse and finally a tiger. The rumour has it that China has deployed it's SOF's named Night Tigers and Snow Tigers to Syria.
If you could hear anything in this sequence it was the excited cheers of admiration and support.
Exo then performed their first song; "Growl." Although I can't say I'm familiar with the lyrics this seemed quite sexual in nature. Exo performed this wearing outfits that resembled a High School uniform. Blazers and smart trousers.
The RoK's Birth Strike problem seems to stem from how hard South Korean children must work at school to pass the Suneung of CSAT college entry exam. These highly disciplined conditions leave little room for other teenage rights-of-passage such as first loves and first kisses.
As a result many unmarried South Koreans remain virgins until their 30's. Something which is not conducive to having large families with lots of children.
I'm not sure if it is deliberate but the K-Pop market seems to contribute to this highly disciplined adolescence. They provide an outlet for teenage lust which stops students being distracted from their studies by things like real teenage heartbreak.
Alongside their school uniforms Exo were wearing high fashion versions of military boots. Both in reference to the highly disciplined South Korean teenage experience and possibly in protest at the fact even K-Pop stars have to do military service.
Their second song; "Power" seemed less of a political statement and more just a really famous band playing one of their biggest hits.
However they were joined by dancers with lights attached to their fingers. This is an Asian pop idea that black US popstar Jason Derulo has used in the past. Posing a bit of a question of whom is appropriating whose culture.
As they were performing what appeared to be a galaxy of stars was projected onto the arena floor. This is quite a common theme for a band who take their name from; "Exoplanet." A planet outside of Earth's Solar System which orbits a star. Their first tour was named; "Exo from Exoplanet #1 - The Lost Planet."
Here though it allowed topics from elsewhere in the ceremony to be brought in. Such as Time Dilation, the Doppler Effect and Wave-Particle Duality. I'm pretty sure I detected elements of Red Shift.
The stars of Exo's galaxy also seemed to include the five colours of the Taoist Wu Xing. Reminding Quantum Physicists that perhaps Unified Field Theory isn't such a new idea.
The sequence ended with a big fireworks display.
21:00 on 3/3/18 (UK date).
Thursday, 1 March 2018
The 2018 Winter Olympics: Closing Ceremony Pt.6
A continuation of Part 5; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-closing_17.html
Fun With Flags:
It is IOC protocol that each Closing Ceremony must include a sequence marking the transition from one Olympic host to the next. This must be done through a lot of mucking about with flags.
The Greek national flag is raised while their national anthem is performed. Next the Olympic anthem is performed. The Olympic flag is then taken down and handed to a representative of the next Olympic host. The flag of that nation is then raised and their national anthem performed. Finally the flag of the existing host nation is taken down.
If nothing else this proves why during an Olympics you shouldn't take anything at face value.
The first Olympics took place in the village of Wenlock in the UK in 1850. They were organised by British surgeon William Brooks and French Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
However at every games they raise the Greek national flag in an effort to convince us that the Olympics began in Ancient Greece.
Also its claimed that the five rings of the Olympic logo represent all five continents. There are seven continents.
During this sequence the flag detail was provided by the South Korean Royal Guard.
A recording of the Greek national anthem by the London Symphony Orchestra was played.
The Olympic anthem was performed by Oh Yeon-joon. An 11 year winner of the RoK's version of; "The Voice" talent show.
His appearance provided another example of how adorable Korean children are. In the hope of inspiring any South Koreans watching to produce more of them. The ceremony's main theme of the Birth Strike was intended to promote discussion of the issue amongst primarily a domestic audience.
The RoK were represented by Mayor of PyeongChang County Shim Jae-kook. He passed the Olympic flag to China's representative Mayor of Beijing Chen Jining.
As the national flag of the People's Republic of China was raised its anthem was performed by a choir representing China's 56 recognised ethnic groups.
Quite how you get recognised as an official ethnic group in China is a topic in itself.
China's Bit:
It is IOC protocol that each Closing Ceremony includes a sequence produced by the next Olympic host. In this case China. The purpose is to briefly introduce us to that nation and identify the topics which will likely come up in the next four years preparing for their games.
In Asia the Chinese have a reputation for being what in the UK would be called; "Country Bumpkins." That is to say poorly educated, not particularly sophisticated and generally lacking in good manners and good breeding.
This reputation of mainland Chinese people even extends to other Chinese people living outside of the mainland. Such as Hong Kong.
This became something of an issue within China is 2014. Particularly on social media.
A mainland Chinese mother was visiting Hong Kong when her two year old daughter needed to use the bathroom. So the mother simply made the girl squat down and urinate in the middle of the street. Much like they would do at home. Local Hong Kong residents were appalled by this behaviour.
The day after the Closing Ceremony (26/2/18) the issue again hit social media. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security posted footage of an elementary school aged boy urinating on the buttons in an elevator in Chongqing Province. This caused the elevator to breakdown and the boy had to be rescued by firefighters.
On this occasion many mainland Chinese also seemed to appalled by the idea of public urination.
Asians attitudes towards the Chinese is really illustrated by a sketch in the US TV Show; "Family Guy." In case you've not worked it out yet that, like; "The Simpsons," is animated in the RoK.
If you like you can watch the clip here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjFbKJYkkw
However it depicts the boardroom at a big, successful Japanese company. The boss announces that there is a Chinese hiding amongst them. The camera then pans around the Japanese board members in their sharp suits.
Finally it comes to rest on a bucktoothed fool wearing a farmer's hat, carrying a hoe over his shoulder and holding the reigns to a Water Buffalo. He is very obviously the Chinese.
You particularly see this contrast between South Koreans and Chinese in the electronics industry.
It is the South Koreans (and definitely not the Japanese, they're rubbish) who have the big ideas designing these amazing new products. It then falls to the strong backs and nimble fingers of the Chinese to actual manufacture the finished products.
As it grows its economy China is trying move away from this. Rather then simply providing cheap labour to build other people's designs they are trying to move towards developing designs of their own.
In doing this China's actions have sometimes been legally questionable. They have frequently been accused of what is known as; "Intellectual Property Theft." In short stealing other people's ideas.
In the Opening Ceremony I said that if you're reading this on an electronic device the chances are that device was made in the RoK.
The truth is that device was probably designed in the RoK. Then made in China. Either under license from a South Korean company. Or by a Chinese company that had stolen South Korean technology.
As China has tried to move away from being the so-called; "Workshop of the World" the US under particularly former President Obama has been trying to undermine its entire economy.
This has very real implications to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) nuclear weapons program. And by extension the RoK.
Obama's big effort to contain the rise of China was his; "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy. This had two tracks.
The first was security. In short aiding the DPRK to develop its nuclear weapons program. This created a threat which the US then offered protection against bringing nations in the region under US influence rather than Chinese influence.
The second was economic. In short lifting sanctions on rogue nations in the region. Myanmar (Burma) being the most extreme example. This opened up a new pool of low skilled workers.
This forces China to either lose business to those nations or cut wages. Or at least stop wages rising as the cost of living increases. Leading to some very unhappy Chinese workers.
The sequence began with performers on inline roller skates dressed as Pandas.
China is very famous for Pandas. It actually owns all the Pandas in World. They hand them out to other nations in what is known as; "Panda Diplomacy." The Opening Ceremony focused on the issue of; "Soft Power." I think China's Pandas are an example of; "Soft & Cuddly Power."
The Pandas were joined by many other performers on inline roller skates. All the performers were dressed in what are known as; "Smart Fabrics." Fabrics that include electronics which warm them, charge cellphones or in this case light up.
This is a technique the South Koreans used themselves throughout the games. However China's version deliberately didn't seem quite as good. Just sort of cheaper and as not as high quality.
While this was going on lights were projected in the form of waves on the arena floor. This directly references the scientific concepts of; "Wave-Particle Duality" and "The Doppler Effect" which the South Koreans had employed earlier in this ceremony.
This allowed nuclear armed China to show off its scientific knowledge and understanding of physics. It also allowed China to show that it knew exactly what the South Koreans had planned. Alongside Intellectual Property Theft China has quite the reputation for computer hacking and spying.
The light projection then showed Winter Olympic sports being played. Specifically Ice (or in this case Air) Hockey and Curling. All the skaters of course took care of the skating events.
At around 21:05 on 1/3/18 (UK date) I will pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 14:30 on 2/3/18 (UK date) to add;
China then brought out the centrepiece of its presentation. A number of large TV's which were wheeled around the arena in various formations.
These resembled the wheeled doorways in the "Beaten Black & Blue" sequence in the Opening Ceremony. Their initial formation resembled the railway train carriage also used in that sequence.
At the time I decided that didn't need further clarification. So China bringing it up again was a poorly educated, unsophisticated Bumpkin type of move.
The sequence then moved into what I don't think China will have any problem with me describing as a complete counterfeit of commercials from the Japanese Sony Bravia TV commercials. Highlighting the issue of Intellectual Property Theft.
Light projection then showed the skaters carving out gold lines on the arena floor. This was a reference to the gold conductive tracks you find on printed circuit boards. Highlighting China's role in physically manufacturing electronic goods such as Sony Bravia TV's.
Finally the conductive tracks became an image of a rising Dragon. Symbolising China's desire to advance their economy from simply being the Workshop of the World.
The TV's then arranged themselves in a Taoist or Animist circle at the centre of arena. Fans of the war in Syria would've noticed the wreath of Olive Branches forming an inner ring to the circle.
Within the centre of the circle a projected animation showed the International Space Station (ISIS) and then the Earth as if viewed from orbit. This referenced the concepts of the Doppler Effect and Time Dilation that the South Koreans had used in an earlier sequence of this ceremony.
That allowed nuclear armed, QUESS satellite launching China to show that it certainly has the scientific knowhow to move beyond being the Workshop of the World. While raising further questions about how they found out the South Koreans were going to include that sequence.
The arena then collapsed into graphics representing computer code. The green 1's and 0's of Binary code etc.
This really focused in on the issue of Chinese computer hacking.
In 2012 the Chinese government gave a lavish gift to the African Union (AU). A purpose built Headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The building was constructed and paid for by the Chinese State Construction Engineering Corporation. It was equipped with all the latest electronics supplied by the Chinese Huawei corporation.
In January 2018 the Headquarters of the African Union was closed down. This was due to the discovery of surveillance equipment suggesting China had constructed the building simply so it could spy on the AU by copying all the data on the Huawei communication systems directly to Shanghai.
On February 7th (7/2/18) - during the games - US Senators introduced a bill banning the US government or its suppliers from using Huawei or ZTE equipment. Specifically over these spying fears.
The UK has a more relaxed attitude towards China. The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station which was approved in 2016 will in part be funded by China's state owned General Nuclear Power Group.
Shortly after the Closing Ceremony there was a large explosion on Hinkley Road in the UK city of Leicester. It seems to be the result of either someone trying to bypass a natural gas meter to obtain energy for free or someone simply stealing metal pipes.
The computer code reassembled itself into an animated email invitation. This travelled off into a video welcoming you to China.
This included lots of footage of things that China is famous for. Such as the Great Wall and food. So much food.
It also showed a lot of people enjoying winter sports. Despite them being awarded the 2022 games Chinese people are not famous for having any interest whatsoever in winter sports. This creates concerns over ticket sales for the games. The legacy element of which will be increasing Chinese interest in winter sports.
Included in the Chinese people doing winter sports was the current Chinese Women's Speed Skating team. They were the ones who were told to tone down the bullying of Britain's Elise Christie during these games.
The only other things of note I spotted were wind turbines. These have been used extensively by the South Koreans to reference efforts to combat Climate Change.
The major flaw with former US President Obama's Paris Agreement is that it doesn't obligated anyone to reduce their Greenhouse Gas (ghg) emissions. The vital step needed to combat Climate Change.
Worse then that it doesn't even place an expectation on China - as the World's second largest emitter of ghg's - to stop increasing their emissions.
In short discussions about the Paris Agreement and combating Climate Change are two entirely separate things.
Also there were shots of the orange bicycles of China's largest bike-sharing scheme; "Mobike."
The 2012 Olympic host London made a lot of its bike-sharing scheme. These were dubbed; "Boris Bikes" after Boris Johnson the London Mayor who introduced them.
This scheme administered by the local government body "Transport for London (TfL) allowed users to rent a bicycle for a small fee. They could pick up the bike for a rack that was convenient for them. The deposit the bike at another rack convenient for them when they'd finished.
A number of Chinese Internet start-ups including Mobike have leapt on this idea. Setting up their own bike racks across many World cities. However they have done this without consultation with local authorities.
This has led to a high degree of chaos. Rather being deposited back into racks the bikes are often stolen or dumped in the streets and in rivers. Causing quite a bit of environmental pollution.
Europe's cycling capital Amsterdam in the Netherlands has banned these companies. As has Beijing itself with many other cities threatening to follow suit. At least one of the companies; "Bluegogo" has gone bust after all their bikes were stolen.
The video sequence ended with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping welcoming everyone to his games.
Premier Xi's message was entirely innocent. However if you are a powerful figure with command of nuclear weapons. Well any time you appear on a giant screen you are going to resemble a Bond Villain. Or something from the 1949 George Orwell novel; "1984."
China decided to play up on this image. In the hours before the Closing Ceremony they announced a consultation of scrapping term limits allowing Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely.
That caused speculation about the creation of a sort of Xi Dynasty. Like the Chinese Dynasties of old. That has obvious implications for the Mount Paektu Dynasty in the DPRK.
It also has implications for the Clinton/Obama Dynasty the US Democrat Party have been trying to build. Despite the election of US President Trump.
As a general rule if China is able to score points of you in the sphere of rule of law & democracy your country is in an absolute mess.
The sequence ended with the email invitation returning to the arena. English numerals then counted up showing the years between now and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As this was happening the wheeled TV screens in the arena were joined by a huge number of projected TV screens. Creating a sort of multi-multi-screen effect.
That promoted discussion about how the 2022 Winter Olympics will be broadcast. Even Internet streaming platforms may be a thing of the past by then.
15:50 on 2/3/18 (UK date).
Fun With Flags:
It is IOC protocol that each Closing Ceremony must include a sequence marking the transition from one Olympic host to the next. This must be done through a lot of mucking about with flags.
The Greek national flag is raised while their national anthem is performed. Next the Olympic anthem is performed. The Olympic flag is then taken down and handed to a representative of the next Olympic host. The flag of that nation is then raised and their national anthem performed. Finally the flag of the existing host nation is taken down.
If nothing else this proves why during an Olympics you shouldn't take anything at face value.
The first Olympics took place in the village of Wenlock in the UK in 1850. They were organised by British surgeon William Brooks and French Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
However at every games they raise the Greek national flag in an effort to convince us that the Olympics began in Ancient Greece.
Also its claimed that the five rings of the Olympic logo represent all five continents. There are seven continents.
During this sequence the flag detail was provided by the South Korean Royal Guard.
A recording of the Greek national anthem by the London Symphony Orchestra was played.
The Olympic anthem was performed by Oh Yeon-joon. An 11 year winner of the RoK's version of; "The Voice" talent show.
His appearance provided another example of how adorable Korean children are. In the hope of inspiring any South Koreans watching to produce more of them. The ceremony's main theme of the Birth Strike was intended to promote discussion of the issue amongst primarily a domestic audience.
The RoK were represented by Mayor of PyeongChang County Shim Jae-kook. He passed the Olympic flag to China's representative Mayor of Beijing Chen Jining.
As the national flag of the People's Republic of China was raised its anthem was performed by a choir representing China's 56 recognised ethnic groups.
Quite how you get recognised as an official ethnic group in China is a topic in itself.
China's Bit:
It is IOC protocol that each Closing Ceremony includes a sequence produced by the next Olympic host. In this case China. The purpose is to briefly introduce us to that nation and identify the topics which will likely come up in the next four years preparing for their games.
In Asia the Chinese have a reputation for being what in the UK would be called; "Country Bumpkins." That is to say poorly educated, not particularly sophisticated and generally lacking in good manners and good breeding.
This reputation of mainland Chinese people even extends to other Chinese people living outside of the mainland. Such as Hong Kong.
This became something of an issue within China is 2014. Particularly on social media.
A mainland Chinese mother was visiting Hong Kong when her two year old daughter needed to use the bathroom. So the mother simply made the girl squat down and urinate in the middle of the street. Much like they would do at home. Local Hong Kong residents were appalled by this behaviour.
The day after the Closing Ceremony (26/2/18) the issue again hit social media. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security posted footage of an elementary school aged boy urinating on the buttons in an elevator in Chongqing Province. This caused the elevator to breakdown and the boy had to be rescued by firefighters.
On this occasion many mainland Chinese also seemed to appalled by the idea of public urination.
Asians attitudes towards the Chinese is really illustrated by a sketch in the US TV Show; "Family Guy." In case you've not worked it out yet that, like; "The Simpsons," is animated in the RoK.
If you like you can watch the clip here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjFbKJYkkw
However it depicts the boardroom at a big, successful Japanese company. The boss announces that there is a Chinese hiding amongst them. The camera then pans around the Japanese board members in their sharp suits.
Finally it comes to rest on a bucktoothed fool wearing a farmer's hat, carrying a hoe over his shoulder and holding the reigns to a Water Buffalo. He is very obviously the Chinese.
You particularly see this contrast between South Koreans and Chinese in the electronics industry.
It is the South Koreans (and definitely not the Japanese, they're rubbish) who have the big ideas designing these amazing new products. It then falls to the strong backs and nimble fingers of the Chinese to actual manufacture the finished products.
As it grows its economy China is trying move away from this. Rather then simply providing cheap labour to build other people's designs they are trying to move towards developing designs of their own.
In doing this China's actions have sometimes been legally questionable. They have frequently been accused of what is known as; "Intellectual Property Theft." In short stealing other people's ideas.
In the Opening Ceremony I said that if you're reading this on an electronic device the chances are that device was made in the RoK.
The truth is that device was probably designed in the RoK. Then made in China. Either under license from a South Korean company. Or by a Chinese company that had stolen South Korean technology.
As China has tried to move away from being the so-called; "Workshop of the World" the US under particularly former President Obama has been trying to undermine its entire economy.
This has very real implications to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) nuclear weapons program. And by extension the RoK.
Obama's big effort to contain the rise of China was his; "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy. This had two tracks.
The first was security. In short aiding the DPRK to develop its nuclear weapons program. This created a threat which the US then offered protection against bringing nations in the region under US influence rather than Chinese influence.
The second was economic. In short lifting sanctions on rogue nations in the region. Myanmar (Burma) being the most extreme example. This opened up a new pool of low skilled workers.
This forces China to either lose business to those nations or cut wages. Or at least stop wages rising as the cost of living increases. Leading to some very unhappy Chinese workers.
The sequence began with performers on inline roller skates dressed as Pandas.
China is very famous for Pandas. It actually owns all the Pandas in World. They hand them out to other nations in what is known as; "Panda Diplomacy." The Opening Ceremony focused on the issue of; "Soft Power." I think China's Pandas are an example of; "Soft & Cuddly Power."
The Pandas were joined by many other performers on inline roller skates. All the performers were dressed in what are known as; "Smart Fabrics." Fabrics that include electronics which warm them, charge cellphones or in this case light up.
This is a technique the South Koreans used themselves throughout the games. However China's version deliberately didn't seem quite as good. Just sort of cheaper and as not as high quality.
While this was going on lights were projected in the form of waves on the arena floor. This directly references the scientific concepts of; "Wave-Particle Duality" and "The Doppler Effect" which the South Koreans had employed earlier in this ceremony.
This allowed nuclear armed China to show off its scientific knowledge and understanding of physics. It also allowed China to show that it knew exactly what the South Koreans had planned. Alongside Intellectual Property Theft China has quite the reputation for computer hacking and spying.
The light projection then showed Winter Olympic sports being played. Specifically Ice (or in this case Air) Hockey and Curling. All the skaters of course took care of the skating events.
At around 21:05 on 1/3/18 (UK date) I will pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 14:30 on 2/3/18 (UK date) to add;
China then brought out the centrepiece of its presentation. A number of large TV's which were wheeled around the arena in various formations.
These resembled the wheeled doorways in the "Beaten Black & Blue" sequence in the Opening Ceremony. Their initial formation resembled the railway train carriage also used in that sequence.
At the time I decided that didn't need further clarification. So China bringing it up again was a poorly educated, unsophisticated Bumpkin type of move.
The sequence then moved into what I don't think China will have any problem with me describing as a complete counterfeit of commercials from the Japanese Sony Bravia TV commercials. Highlighting the issue of Intellectual Property Theft.
Light projection then showed the skaters carving out gold lines on the arena floor. This was a reference to the gold conductive tracks you find on printed circuit boards. Highlighting China's role in physically manufacturing electronic goods such as Sony Bravia TV's.
Finally the conductive tracks became an image of a rising Dragon. Symbolising China's desire to advance their economy from simply being the Workshop of the World.
The TV's then arranged themselves in a Taoist or Animist circle at the centre of arena. Fans of the war in Syria would've noticed the wreath of Olive Branches forming an inner ring to the circle.
Within the centre of the circle a projected animation showed the International Space Station (ISIS) and then the Earth as if viewed from orbit. This referenced the concepts of the Doppler Effect and Time Dilation that the South Koreans had used in an earlier sequence of this ceremony.
That allowed nuclear armed, QUESS satellite launching China to show that it certainly has the scientific knowhow to move beyond being the Workshop of the World. While raising further questions about how they found out the South Koreans were going to include that sequence.
The arena then collapsed into graphics representing computer code. The green 1's and 0's of Binary code etc.
This really focused in on the issue of Chinese computer hacking.
In 2012 the Chinese government gave a lavish gift to the African Union (AU). A purpose built Headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The building was constructed and paid for by the Chinese State Construction Engineering Corporation. It was equipped with all the latest electronics supplied by the Chinese Huawei corporation.
In January 2018 the Headquarters of the African Union was closed down. This was due to the discovery of surveillance equipment suggesting China had constructed the building simply so it could spy on the AU by copying all the data on the Huawei communication systems directly to Shanghai.
On February 7th (7/2/18) - during the games - US Senators introduced a bill banning the US government or its suppliers from using Huawei or ZTE equipment. Specifically over these spying fears.
The UK has a more relaxed attitude towards China. The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station which was approved in 2016 will in part be funded by China's state owned General Nuclear Power Group.
Shortly after the Closing Ceremony there was a large explosion on Hinkley Road in the UK city of Leicester. It seems to be the result of either someone trying to bypass a natural gas meter to obtain energy for free or someone simply stealing metal pipes.
The computer code reassembled itself into an animated email invitation. This travelled off into a video welcoming you to China.
This included lots of footage of things that China is famous for. Such as the Great Wall and food. So much food.
It also showed a lot of people enjoying winter sports. Despite them being awarded the 2022 games Chinese people are not famous for having any interest whatsoever in winter sports. This creates concerns over ticket sales for the games. The legacy element of which will be increasing Chinese interest in winter sports.
Included in the Chinese people doing winter sports was the current Chinese Women's Speed Skating team. They were the ones who were told to tone down the bullying of Britain's Elise Christie during these games.
The only other things of note I spotted were wind turbines. These have been used extensively by the South Koreans to reference efforts to combat Climate Change.
The major flaw with former US President Obama's Paris Agreement is that it doesn't obligated anyone to reduce their Greenhouse Gas (ghg) emissions. The vital step needed to combat Climate Change.
Worse then that it doesn't even place an expectation on China - as the World's second largest emitter of ghg's - to stop increasing their emissions.
In short discussions about the Paris Agreement and combating Climate Change are two entirely separate things.
Also there were shots of the orange bicycles of China's largest bike-sharing scheme; "Mobike."
The 2012 Olympic host London made a lot of its bike-sharing scheme. These were dubbed; "Boris Bikes" after Boris Johnson the London Mayor who introduced them.
This scheme administered by the local government body "Transport for London (TfL) allowed users to rent a bicycle for a small fee. They could pick up the bike for a rack that was convenient for them. The deposit the bike at another rack convenient for them when they'd finished.
A number of Chinese Internet start-ups including Mobike have leapt on this idea. Setting up their own bike racks across many World cities. However they have done this without consultation with local authorities.
This has led to a high degree of chaos. Rather being deposited back into racks the bikes are often stolen or dumped in the streets and in rivers. Causing quite a bit of environmental pollution.
Europe's cycling capital Amsterdam in the Netherlands has banned these companies. As has Beijing itself with many other cities threatening to follow suit. At least one of the companies; "Bluegogo" has gone bust after all their bikes were stolen.
The video sequence ended with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping welcoming everyone to his games.
Premier Xi's message was entirely innocent. However if you are a powerful figure with command of nuclear weapons. Well any time you appear on a giant screen you are going to resemble a Bond Villain. Or something from the 1949 George Orwell novel; "1984."
China decided to play up on this image. In the hours before the Closing Ceremony they announced a consultation of scrapping term limits allowing Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely.
That caused speculation about the creation of a sort of Xi Dynasty. Like the Chinese Dynasties of old. That has obvious implications for the Mount Paektu Dynasty in the DPRK.
It also has implications for the Clinton/Obama Dynasty the US Democrat Party have been trying to build. Despite the election of US President Trump.
As a general rule if China is able to score points of you in the sphere of rule of law & democracy your country is in an absolute mess.
The sequence ended with the email invitation returning to the arena. English numerals then counted up showing the years between now and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
As this was happening the wheeled TV screens in the arena were joined by a huge number of projected TV screens. Creating a sort of multi-multi-screen effect.
That promoted discussion about how the 2022 Winter Olympics will be broadcast. Even Internet streaming platforms may be a thing of the past by then.
15:50 on 2/3/18 (UK date).
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