Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Naqba Myths

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23-11-3 Palestinian Refugee Problem - Nakba and false Arab narrative - trav > .
24-1-27 The Nakba (I’m famous! But also wrong?) - traveling > .
24-2-1 Why [despite weakist antisemitism] US Supports and Funds Israel | WSJ > .
21-12-21 [Palestinian Myths] Wrong about Everything? - trav > .
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Battle of Haifa (1948) w


“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.”
― Winston Churchill, The River War .

Saturday, May 21, 2016

1906-3-15: Rolls-Royce Limited, UK


1906-3-15: Rolls-Royce Limited established in Britain > .
Rolls-Royce Merlin - one of the most important engines of WW2 > .
The Insane Engineering of the Spitfire - Real Engineering > .
Poor Boy Who Invented World's Most Luxurious Car - BusStor > .
Merlin - Engine that won the war > .

Englishman Frederick Henry Royce had established an electrical engineering firm in 1884 but, by the start of the twentieth century, he was facing increasing competition from German and American manufacturers. In response he turned his attention to designing his own motor car, and he completed the first of three two-cylinder Royce 10 prototypes at his Manchester factory in 1904.

Based on a 1901 two-cylinder Decauville, one of the cars was sold to Henry Edmunds who was friends with Charles Rolls of the C.S. Rolls & Co. car dealership in London. Despite specialising in imported French and Belgian vehicles, Rolls was impressed by the Royce 10 and Edmunds subsequently arranged for him to meet Royce at the Midland Hotel. This led to an agreement on 23 December through which Rolls would sell every car Royce manufactured. These ranged from the original 10 hp two-cylinder up to a 30 hp six-cylinder model.

The manufacturer-salesman partnership between the two men proved to be an incredible success and, on 15 March 1906, they formalised their relationship with the establishment of Rolls-Royce Limited. With increased sales thanks to the combination of Royce’s high quality engineering and Rolls’ business expertise, the company soon opened a dedicated factory in Derby in 1908.

It was from this base that Rolls-Royce later established a reputation for the development of aero engines. In the Second World War their V-12 Merlin engine powered the iconic British Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, while modern Rolls-Royce jet engines are fitted to aircraft such as the Airbus A380.

Friday, May 20, 2016

1907-8-31 Anglo-Russian Entente


For much of the second-half of the nineteenth century Britain and Russia had been involved in a series of disputes over colonial acquisitions in Persia, Tibet and Afghanistan. By the start of the twentieth century, however, the increasing threat of the relatively-young German Empire saw the two great powers seek to settle what had become known as ‘The Great Game’.

Russia had already ended years of tension with France through the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894. Meanwhile the Entente Cordiale of 1904 saw Britain and France settle a number of longstanding colonial disputes. Consequently the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente on 31 August 1907 completed a series of agreements that loosely tied the three nations together.

The Entente itself consisted of three separate agreements which were bundled together for ratification. The first divided Iran into three zones, two of which were part of the British and Russian spheres of influence respectively while the third – which separated the other two – was neutral. In the second agreement the two nations agreed not to interfere in Tibet’s domestic affairs. The third agreed that Afghanistan was ‘outside Russia’s sphere of influence’ – effectively a recognition of British influence there.

The Anglo-French and Anglo-Russian Ententes did not formally make the signatories allies. Nevertheless the Triple Entente, as the network of agreements between the three powers became known, acted as a counterweight to the existing Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. These two huge power blocs played a prominent role in the outbreak of the First World War. 

Thursday, May 19, 2016

1908-1-24 "Scouting for Boys"


Robert Baden-Powell had become a national hero as a result of his successful defence of the South African town of Mafeking during the Second Boer War. Baden-Powell’s garrison survived the 217-day siege in part thanks to his recruitment of boys aged 12–15 who were trained to form the Mafeking Cadet Corps.

On his return to England, Baden-Powell found that his military field manual Aids to Scouting had found an audience amongst teachers and youth organisations who had begun to use it to train boys in skills such as tracking and observation. Encouraged by his friends, and inspired by Ernest Thompson Seton’s The Birchbark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians, Baden-Powell subsequently decided to write a non-military version of his book specifically for boys.

Before Scouting for Boys was published, Baden-Powell first tested his approach with a diverse group of 21 boys on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset. The week-long camp in the summer on 1907 saw the first trials of what was to become the Patrol System as Baden-Powell and his assistants taught the boys a broad range of skills such as woodcraft, observation, and lifesaving techniques.

Following the success of the Brownsea camp, Scouting for Boys was published in six fortnightly instalments by Baden-Powell’s friend, the newspaper magnate Sir Arthur Pearson. Beginning on 24 January 1908, it proved to be an immediate sensation and, within a matter months, Scout Troops had begun to form throughout Britain and its empire. The six instalments were then combined into a single book that went on sale in May and, with regular revisions, it has become one of the best-selling books of all time.


1908-1-24 "Scouting for Boys" ..  

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

1919-2-8 Boy Scouts of America


Boyce was born in Pennsylvania, and became a successful newspaper publisher who eventually settled in Illinois. By the early 1900s he had successfully delegated the day-to-day running of his many businesses, and focused his own energies on financing and participating in foreign expeditions.

In 1909, while undertaking a trip to Europe ahead of a safari in British East Africa, Boyce stopped in London. Legend says that he got lost on foggy street, and was assisted by an unknown member of the Scout movement that had grown following the publication of the book Scouting for Boys by British Army officer Robert Baden-Powell. The unknown Scout refused a tip, saying he was only doing his duty, and soon afterwards took Boyce to meet with Baden-Powell himself.

In reality the day wasn’t foggy, the scout only helped him cross the road to his hotel, and Boyce didn’t meet with Baden-Powell. Nevertheless he was still so impressed by the encounter that he obtained a copy of Scouting for Boys to read while in Africa, and cancelled his planned round-the-world voyage so that he could return to London after the expedition to learn more about the organization.

On his return to America, Boyce was inspired to organize the Boy Scouts of America. After discussions with Colin H. Livingstone, a railroad executive who would go on to become the first national president of the new organization, Boyce agreed to incorporate it in Washington D.C. The men hoped that this would send a message of the national scope of the BSA. Although the organization’s numbers have fallen in recent years, it still has an estimated 2.2 million members.

1910-2-8 Boy Scouts of America ..

Saturday, May 14, 2016

1913-6-4 Suffragette Emily Davison Killed


Suffragettes: Emily Davison's death at Epsom DerbyAccounts of Emily Wilding Davison's death are divided. Some call her death a deliberate suicide, which succeeded in drawing global attention to the cause of votes for women. Others say she was trying to disrupt the race, but not to die. Whatever the motivation, on 4 June 1913, as racehorses horses thundered around Tattenham Corner during the Epsom Derby, Emily Davison rushed onto the course and was hit by King George V's colt, Anmer.


Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and a militant fighter for her cause, she was arrested on nine occasions, went on hunger strike seven times and was force fed on forty-nine occasions. She died after being hit by King George V's horse Anmer at the 1913 Derby when she walked onto the track during the race.

Davison grew up in a middle-class family, and studied at Royal Holloway College, London, and St Hugh's College, Oxford, before taking jobs as a teacher and governess. She joined the WSPU in November 1906 and became an officer of the organisation and a chief steward during marches. She soon became known in the organisation for her daring militant action; her tactics included breaking windows, throwing stones, setting fire to postboxes and, on three occasions, hiding overnight in the Palace of Westminster—including on the night of the 1911 census. Her funeral on 14 June 1913 was organised by the WSPU. A procession of 5,000 suffragettes and their supporters accompanied her coffin and 50,000 people lined the route through London; her coffin was then taken by train to the family plot in Morpeth, Northumberland.

Davison was a staunch feminist and passionate Christian, and considered that socialism was a moral and political force for good. Much of her life has been interpreted through the manner of her death. She gave no prior explanation for what she planned to do at the Derby and the uncertainty of her motives and intentions has affected how she has been judged by history. Several theories have been put forward, including accident, suicide, or an attempt to pin a suffragette banner to the king's horse. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Battlefields of Future?

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Exoskeletons are the future of body armor - Task & Purpose > .
> PLA > 

Bionic Troops?

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U.S. Official Says China Attempted To Create 'Super Soldiers' | MSNBC > .



Is China trying to make its own version of Captain America? US intelligence has suggested so. But beyond the hype, the possibility of a super soldier is not so outlandish and one that not just China is interested in. With deep pockets, and a desire to get an edge, the world's militaries have often driven technological innovation, from the state-of-the-art to the humble.

Announcing a new initiative in 2014, then-President Barack Obama told journalists: "Basically I'm here to announce that we're building Iron Man." The US military had already begun work on the project - a protective suit, known as the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit. (Talos). A video game-like promotional video showed the wearer bursting in on an enemy cell, bullets ricocheting off the armour. Iron Man was not to be. Five years on, the initiative ended, but makers hope individual components of the suit will have applications elsewhere. Exoskeletons are just one of the promising technologies militaries are exploring to enhance their soldiers.

Enhancement could mean much more than merely giving an individual soldier a better gun. It could mean altering the individual soldier. In 2017, Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned that humanity could soon create something "worse than a nuclear bomb". ... "One may imagine that a man can create a man with some given characteristics, not only theoretically but also practically. He can be a genius mathematician, a brilliant musician or a soldier, a man who can fight without fear, compassion, regret or pain."

Last year, the former US Director of National Intelligence (DNI), John Ratcliffe, went further with a blunt accusation against China."China has even conducted human testing on members of the People's Liberation Army in hope of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities. There are no ethical boundaries to Beijing's pursuit of power," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. Needless to say, China called the article a "miscellany of lies".

A 2019 paper from two US academics said that China's military was "actively exploring" such techniques as gene editing, exoskeletons and human-machine collaboration. The report was based primarily on comments from Chinese military strategists. Ratcliffe was referring to testing on adults. While some characteristics could be altered in adults using gene editing, changing the DNA of embryos would offer one of the most plausible routes to a "super soldier".

Some analysts see China's efforts as a direct response to the US. A 2017 report in the Guardian said that a US military agency was investing tens of millions in genetic extinction technology that could wipe out invasive species, something UN experts warned could have military applications. China and the US are not the only countries seeking an advantage. France's armed forces have been given approval to develop "enhanced soldiers" with a report laying out ethical boundaries for the research.

Monday, April 25, 2016

DEW - Directed-Energy Weapons

23-9-15 Directed Energy Weapons in Future Weaponry - nwyt > .
drones 

Companies are now developing and deploying sophisticated new defences, from frying the electronic circuits with powerful beams of microwave radiation (phasers), to precise jamming systems.

A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices. In the United States, the Pentagon, DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, United States Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, and the Naval Research Laboratory are researching directed-energy weapons to counter ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles, and hypersonic glide vehicles. These systems of missile defense are expected to come online no sooner than the mid to late-2020s.

Xina, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, and Pakistan are also developing military-grade directed-energy weapons, while Iran and Turkey claim to have them in active service. 

The first use of directed-energy weapons in combat between military forces was claimed to have occurred in Libya in August 2019 by Turkey, which claimed to use the ALKA directed-energy weapon. After decades of research and development, most directed-energy weapons are still at the experimental stage and it remains to be seen if or when they will be deployed as practical, high-performance military weapons.
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By programming a UAV to fly around numerous points before arriving at its target it can avoid the obvious directions from which an attack is expected. This may explain why existing radars failed to spot the drone formation which attacked Abqaiq.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49984415

Drones (UAVs) ..

Sunday, April 24, 2016

EU's Future?

22-3-23 Polish citizens join army b/o Russian invasion of Ukraine - BBC > .
> EU >

● Geopolitics: Europe, Mediterranean ..BrexTWIT - Divided We Fall ..
BrexTWIT to Devolution? ..

Geostrategic Projection
European Geostrategic Projection ..

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Future Conflict?

> PLA > 
On The Radar: Defence Experts - FoTV >> .

sī vīs pācem, parā bellum

igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum    therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...