NIGHTWATCH Extract: China-Sri Lanka

02 China, 03 Economy, 03 India, 10 Security

Sri Lanka Ports

China-Sri Lanka: On 16 September, China and Sri Lanka agreed to enhance bilateral military cooperation. The announcement came during a meeting between General Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China, and Sri Lankan Defense Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

NIGHTWATCH Comment: The terms and value of the agreement are not yet known. Nevertheless, any new Chinese defense cooperation initiative with any South Asian country will draw the attention of the Indians. This reinforces China's defense connections with the country immediately south of India and in which India has strategic interests, albeit badly managed most of the time.

Following the near trebling of the armed forces to achieve victory over the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan Army requires a major overhaul, downsizing, retraining and re-equipment. It is significant about Sri Lankan leadership views of India that they turned to China. India, China and Pakistan all have helped Sri Lanka in fighting the Tigers.

For India, this will reinforce suspicions that China plans and intends to encircle India with client states.

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See Also:

2010 Chinese firm partners with Sri Lanka's Aitken Spence on Colombo Port project
2010 China eyes rail link to Chittagong
2009 India Alarmed As Chinese Built Gwadar Port Of Pakistan Becomes Operational
NIGHTWATCH Extract: China-Iran Rail + China ReCap

Journal: Tim Berners-Lee Says “Free Internet for All”

About the Idea, Autonomous Internet, Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Historic Contributions, IO Sense-Making, Key Players, Mobile, Policies, Real Time, Threats, Topics (All Other)
Tim Berners-Lee Calls for Free Internet for All -- Full Story Online

BBC 15 September 2010 Last updated at 05:58 ET

Tim Berners-Lee calls for free internet worldwide

The inventor of the Web has called for everyone to have access to his creation for free.

Tim Berners-Lee said that he would like to see everybody given a low-bandwidth connection “by default”.

He said the web could be instrumental in giving people access to critical services such as healthcare.

Currently, he said, just one-fifth of the world's population has access to the web.

“What about the other 80%?” he asked the audience at the Nokia World conference in London.

Tip of the Hat to Pierre Levy at LinkedIn.

Phi Beta Iota: Sir Tim is on target but misses the critical point, which is that the Internet is already free, what is NOT free is the handheld device needed to access it.  Earth Intelligence Network and its 24 co-founders are committed to the idea of free cell phones for the five billion poor, along with national call centers that educate them “one cell call at a time” while also providing access to the kinds of Internet application that the Grameen AppLab is creating.

NIGHTWATCH Extract: China, World, Global Military Reach

02 China

China-The World: For the record. China's armed forces are ready to expand communication and cooperation with their counterparts worldwide to promote global peace, a senior officer with the Chinese Defense Ministry said. International military exchanges enhance mutual understanding and peace awareness among all troops across the globe and advance world peace, the officer said.

NIGHTWATCH Comment: The statements and the tone echo the American strategic vision of the post-war era, but with a more modern Chinese update of the US strategic path.

NIGHTWATCH KGS Home

Phi Beta Iota: China is now entering the third phase of its global outreach program.  The first phase, up to the 1980's, was primarily a human endeavor, leveraging all manner of human associations through Friendship, Fishery, and other professional and social alliances.  The second phase, now at full bore, is the construction and resource phase, in which Chinese engineers, donated buildings and equipment, and all that goes with massive rail, road, and port projects are used to capture countries and their resources in a de facto manner–the Chinese are going for tangible capture rather than the now collapsing financial capture of the West.  This new global reach of the military is the third phase, which should be seen as a “tri-maran,” that has cyber-penetration and exploitation and denial on the left, and covert operations including a massive number of illegals in long-term dormancy on the right.

See Also:

First Phase of PRC Global Reach (Human)

Second Phrase of PRC Global Reach (Construction)

Search: afghanistan minerals

08 Wild Cards, Searches

This seemed worthwhile.  Although below appear on this site already, we have done some prospecting and pulled a few other graphics and reports together.

Afghanistan War Wealth + Corruption Cycle (Opium, Hashish, Minerals, Past Pipeline Attempts)

Journal: Pentagon Lies, NYT Sells Out, Obama Fiddles

New today, thank you for the inspiration:

Full Story Online

Propaganda Busters:  Afghanistan minerals, China to USA & NATO: Thank you.

Known Resources 2008

Afghan mining contracts up for grabs

Vast $Trillion Mineral Deposits Discovered in Afghanistan – Mineral Maps – Taliban Maps – Videos

Continue reading “Search: afghanistan minerals”

Journal: YouTube Time Machine, Future of Education

Analysis, Augmented Reality, Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Historic Contributions, History, info-graphics/data-visualization, InfoOps (IO), International Aid, IO Mapping, IO Multinational, IO Sense-Making, Journalism/Free-Press/Censorship, Key Players, Maps, Methods & Process, Mobile, Open Government, Policies, Reform, Research resources, Strategy, Technologies, Threats, Tools, YouTube

YouTube Time Machine

YouTube Time Machine

Right now the Categories include, in this order:  Video Games,  Television,  Commercials,  Current Events,  Sports, Movies,  Music.

Phi Beta Iota: Now imagine this in all languages, available on the cell phone, as an educational tool that also harnesses the cognitive surplus–the distributed intelligence–of the Whole Earth.  Our view of YouTube is now such that we consider it more important than Google.

Also see YouTube.com/leanback (use search at top of leanback page)

Journal: General Mike Flynn from AF to DC

08 Wild Cards, Military, Officers Call

U.S. intel chief in Afghanistan leaves post

By Anne Gearan and Kimberly Dozier – The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Sep 9, 2010 12:11:01 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Army spokesman says the top U.S. and NATO intelligence officer in Afghanistan is on his way to another job.

Spokesman Col. Thomas Collins did not say what job Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn would take, as the move had not yet been approved by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But two defense officials say Flynn will become a top troubleshooter for the Director of National Intelligence. The officials spoke Thursday on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

Flynn is expected to be replaced by Brig. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, the current intelligence officer at the U.S. Central Command in Florida.

See Also:

Reference: Fixing Intel–A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan

Continue reading “Journal: General Mike Flynn from AF to DC”

Journal: Court Excuses CIA & KR Rendition & Torture

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, Corruption, Government, Intelligence (government), Officers Call, Peace Intelligence

Full Story Online

CIA rendition: US court throws out torture case, citing state secrets

Appeals court judges sound apologetic tone in ruling; plaintiffs say they were tortured overseas in ‘extraordinary rendition' program.

Under the state secrets doctrine, courts have generally granted deference to executive branch claims that certain litigation may involve highly sensitive US government information which, if disclosed, would cause significant damage to national security.

. . . . . .

In a dissent joined by four other judges, Judge Michael Hawkins said the court was wrong to dismiss the entire lawsuit at such an early stage. He said the case should be remanded to a federal judge to determine to what extent actual evidence in the case might raise a threat of disclosing state secrets.

Hawkins acknowledged that the state secrets doctrine is an established precedent. But he said the privilege need not be so broadly enforced.

“The doctrine is so dangerous as a means of hiding governmental misbehavior under the guise of national security, and so violative of common rights of due process, that courts should confine its application to the narrowest circumstances that still protect the government’s essential secrets,” he wrote.

The majority concluded its opinion with a quasi apology to the plaintiffs. “Our holding today is not intended to foreclose – or to prejudge – possible nonjudicial relief, should it be warranted for any of the plaintiffs,” Judge Fisher said.

Continue reading “Journal: Court Excuses CIA & KR Rendition & Torture”