through a distant mirror darkly
To digress briefly, I'm just finishing Carl Sagan's, The Demon Haunted World, and the following impressed upon this reader no small reflection:
Quote:
Friedrich von Spee (pronounced "Shpay") was a Jesuit priest who had the misfortune to hear the confessions of those accused of witchcraft in the German city of Wurzburg (see Chapter 7). In 1631, he published Cautio Criminalis (Precautions for Prosecutors), which exposed the essence of this Church/State terrorism against the innocent. Before he was punished he died of the plague - as a parish priest serving the afflicted. Here is an excerpt from his whistle-blowing book:
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9. If a madman's ravings or some malicious and idle rumor (for no proof of the scandal is ever needed) points to some helpless old woman, she is the first to suffer.
10. Yet to avoid the appearance that she is indicted solely on the basis of rumor, without other proofs, a certain presumption of guilt is obtained by posing the following dilemma: Either she has led an evil and improper life, or she has led a good and proper one. If an evil one, then she should be guilty. On the other hand, if she has led a good life, this is just as damning; for witches dissemble and try to appear especially virtuous.
11. Therefore the old woman is put in prison. A new proof is found through a second dilemma: she is afraid or not afraid. If she is (hearing of the horrible tortures used against witches), this is sure proof; for her conscience accuses her. If she does not show fear (trusting in her innocence), this too is a proof; for witches characteristically pretend innocence and wear a bold front. (excerpts, pp.402-403)
Friedrich Spee - Wikipedia
Friedrich Spee - Catholic Encyclopedia
And also this footnote:
Quote:
Making the President nervous, said a member of Congress, "is the new crime." Jefferson believed the Alien Act had been framed particularly to expel C. F. Volney,*
*A typical passage from Volney's 1791 book Ruins:
You dispute, you quarrel, you fight for that which is uncertain, that of which you doubt. O men! Is this not folly? . . . We must trace a line of distinction between those that are capable of verification, and those that are not, and separate by an inviolable barrier the world of fantastical beings from the world of realities; that is to say, all civil effect must be taken away from theological and religious opinions. (p.400)
Comte de Volney - Wikipedia
Such is the world of men in this measure.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Link to opening seen of one of greatest Unconventional War movies of all time(Chinese call it Unrestricted Warfare). The movie is about Chinese brainwashing techniques used to support a political assassination that stages an internal takeover of America by the Secret Rich Elite of America who have always supported the basic idea of Communism (rule by a rich,privileged central planning committee). The original movie is showing on some cable channel this month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBDhoUZgsDo&NR=1
China's time may be limited...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Backwards Observer
As far as China's Emergence as a Superpower: The Sequel, my guess is that barring world-crippling, high-stakes kineticism, the US will probably be back to playing at an advantage within a generation or so. Uncritically buying self-generated PR seems to hobble the so-called OODA loop, and China appears to be exhibiting signs of this; a common human failing perhaps. The oft and correctly cited US advantages of intellectual open society and melting-pot dynamics are probably more advanced than anywhere else is going to be for a long while.
The downside might be that Americans seem to derive more pleasure from kicking each other in the balls than anything else. Maybe it's a "fun" thing, I dunno.
I agree that China's time appears to be limited. See Paul Krugman's op ed on the NYT website... there are serious structural economic problems in China that aren't being addressed.
Backwards Observer, I think your last point is important - America has been able to deal with significant changes in the environment precisely because we are able to figure out we were wrong, kick ourselves, and still manage to somehow change policy and move in a positive direction.
Would China's (or most other country's!) leaders be able to mess something up as badly as the US did Iraq, admit they were wrong, and implement unpopular policies to change things for the better?
The real problem is the effect a Chinese downturn would have on the world economy. The US, EU, Japan etc are not recovered to the point where we could deal with such a bump in the road...
V/R,
Cliff
China’s military: threat or twist?
Paul Rogers writes, with a variety of links, to technical comments on the J-20 fighter and the strategic and ends with:
Quote:
...by allowing the release of information about the J-20 they may also achieve the aim of diverting some of America's best scientific and technological talent into big new defence projects - while China maintains the priority of building its civil economy. Such a policy would be even more complicated for the United States: for if a jungle full of elusive snakes was difficult to "keep track of", a devious new dragon that remains one step ahead even as you think you have its measure - that is much more tricky.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-ro...hreat-or-twist
China's J-20: future rival for air dominance?