“if the underlying philosophy of the war against disinformation can be expressed in a single claim, it is this: You cannot be trusted with your own mind.”

Brings back the old propaganda line pushed after the Patriot Act passed...

If you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to hide, or some such.
This was when we were all deemed to be potential terrorists.

Thanks for all the good links LO!

The spring has sprung here. Taking an unusual pause before jumping into summer.

Japan’s Official Security Assistance: The Sleeping Giant Stirs?

The OSA framework as such remains deeply cautious in its approach. It specifically and deliberately targets only “like-minded countries” and couches itself in the language of assistance rather than outright strategic cooperation or alliance, and it has been formulated in a manner which is sensitive to the needs of both the domestic and international audiences with which the Japanese government must contend.

Nonetheless, OSA represents yet another component of the steady loosening of Japan’s pacifist-isolationist norms, and it reflects the increased feeling of national insecurity among Japanese policymakers and members of the public. For policymakers, OSA appears to be something of a careful and measured toe-dipping exercise to see what the response will be to Japan engaging in more robust security cooperation in the future. Already, the idea of OSA or something similar being offered to Ukraine has been floated, despite this being an ostensible weakening of the guideline that OSA will not be extended where there is a possibility of it “directly relating to any international conflict.”

It also remains to be seen how the OSA framework will work in tandem with some of Japan’s other security initiatives, such as the Free and Open Indo-Pacific framework that has been championed in recent years. If this framework is viewed as successful, it is likely that it will only expand further and deepen Japan’s security role not just within East Asia, but perhaps on the global stage. Japan, a sleeping giant in security terms, is perhaps finally beginning to stir.

By James Kaizuka, Apr. 11, The Diplomat
https://thediplomat.com/2023/04/japans-official-security-assistance-the-...

The WJS referred in the past, to US-Japan strategy as "Strangle China." I think the US and Japanese economic development and assistance efforts pale compared to those of China. The US-Japanese approach is primarily military. Early OSA efforts will be directed toward Fiji, Philippines, Malaysia, and Bangladesh according to the Diplomat article. While the news drift seems to be about the decline of US economic and diplomatic influence around the world, increasing tempo of US, Japanese, and South Korean military activity is alarming. While the escalation is said to be justified by North Korean (and Chinese) provocations, the escalation unaccompanied by diplomatic initiatives appears to be contributing to a ongoing crisis. The Yoon administration has nothing else to offer because his domestic political situation is so precarious.

Luckily this incident didn't go any further:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says it fired warning shots to repel a North Korean patrol vessel that temporarily crossed the countries’ disputed western sea boundary while chasing a Chinese fishing boat.

The North Korean patrol boat crossed the so-called Northern Limit Line at around 11 a.m. Saturday while pursuing the Chinese boat in waters near South Korea’s Baekryeong island but immediately retreated after a South Korean naval vessel fired warning shots, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday.

While there were no exchanges of fire between the North and South Korean vessels, the South Korean high-speed vessel collided with the Chinese boat as it responded to the intrusion amid poor visibility, causing bruises and other minor injuries to some of the South Korean sailors.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the South Korean military is closely monitoring North Korean military activities while preparing for various possibilities of provocations.

https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-patrol-boat-sea-border-e100ee4e66...

I recommend the AP article which is surprisingly objective or factual (for them), and describes some upcoming joint military operations by US-South Korea etc.

Oddly, the South Korean patrol vessel collided with the Chinese fishing boat. The South Korean analysts I follow, especially Kim Jong-tae, predicted something like this would happen soon, now that the South Korean neo-cons rule in the Yoon national security, and foreign policy offices. The more cautious presidential advisors were forced out in March after the artillery shell shipment discussion reported in the recently leaked US wiretap incident.

Note, that the North Korean vessel didn't return fire in the incident near the western maritime demarcation line (MDL). I'm sure Kim Jong-un doesn't want his nuclear weapons development program to be interrupted over some minor skirmish. This boundary has been disputed since the US imposed it unilaterally near the time of the armistice. The sinking of the South Korean vessel Cheonan and the Yeonpyeong bombardment by North Korea in 2010, occurred when the same people were advising then president Lee Myung-bak.

The recently reported South Korean agreement to ship 500,000 artillery shells to the US to replace the insufficient US stocks and production due to the Ukrainian war effort, will have a negative impact on South Korean national security and military readiness. This according to Kim Byung-joo, National Assembly democratic representative, and former CFC Deputy Joint Chief of Staff. Kim stated that it takes 2 to 3 years of production for the military supplier to stockpile 100,000 shells. Therefore, large stockpiles must be maintained for any potential conflict with North Korea. According to Kim, who says he discussed this directly with officials inside the Ministry of Defense, South Korea had already agreed to provide 100,000 shells to the US, and the US demanded hundreds of thousands more. The Yoon administration which is incapable of offering any resistance to US or Japanese demands caved.

"우리가 피해자인데..." 김병주 "윤석열 정권은 미국 변호사인가" 오마이TV 4.14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpGa8h8L4VI&t=1s

From editorial in Hankyoreh:

Acquiring solid-fuel missiles was one of the five major tasks proposed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2021. In addition, the North has been raising threat levels by rapidly completing other goals such as advancing its hypersonic weapons and launching underwater strategic nuclear weapons.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats have become a far more serious reality compared to the past, with Pyongyang having already launched nine ballistic missiles this year alone.

On the one hand, North Korea’s latest launch is interpreted as aiming to strengthen internal solidarity ahead of the 11th anniversary of Kim Jong-un’s ascent to power and the Day of the Sun (Kim Il-sung’s birthday) on April 15. On the other hand, the test is also seen as a protest of South Korea-US joint military drills and the deployment of strategic assets by the US on the southern half of the peninsula.

Also concerning is the fact that the North has failed to respond to regular inter-Korean phone calls since April 7, which could be a sign of a full-scale provocation.

https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/1087944.html

The increased threats of war, and the deteriorating economy in South Korea have led to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in South Korea offering a 500 dollar a month stipend to isolated and unhappy young people. This is almost unheard of from the Milton Friedman devotee Yoon Suk-yeol. But polls show that he has lost the support of the younger demographic that in conjunction with the over 60 crowd put him in office. Ironically, as part of his campaign pledges Yoon had pledged to disband the agency.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/14/asia/south-korea-youth-recluse-stipend-in...

https://strategic-culture.org/news/2023/04/16/bye-bye-bidens/

“Relations between Russia and China are superior to the military alliances of the Cold War” China Defense Minister Li Shangfu

He is sanctioned by the US for facilitating weapons deal between China and Russia. pic.twitter.com/JFtiWKOTUl

— LogKa (@LogKa11) April 16, 2023

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Shangfu#:~:text=Li%20Shangfu%20(Chinese%3A%20%E6%9D%8E%E5%B0%9A%E7%A6%8F,National%20Defence%20since%20March%202023.

On January 18, 2023, Li Shangfu attended the Central Military Commission promotion ceremony, and was appointed State Councilor and Minister of National Defense on March 12 of the same year, succeeding Wei Fenghe.[9] Despite the sanctions imposed on him by the United States, he would be allowed to conduct official meetings with his American counterparts although an exemption will not be issued to waive his sanction designation.

tons of stuff here. Too bad about Sudan, many will die no matter what the outcome and in the end, years down the road, all for naught.

be well and have a good one

"I mean it sounds like a great trade off if we can kill 130 million Russians and only have to sacrifice 30 million of our own people."

Just imagine if Kennedy had lived and he had been able to break the CIA into a thousand pieces. And maybe there’s a chance that Americans wouldn’t have tolerated the endless regime changes that happened after his murder. And what could Bobby have accomplished?

Nothing to worry about Biden and Blinken have everything under control. HAH!

Former US President Donald Trump expresses grave concern over the de-dollarization trend taking over more and more countries around the world. pic.twitter.com/9rFHEfWBJv

— Spriter (@Spriter99880) April 16, 2023

Most Americans think they are escaping propaganda when they are just choosing the propaganda they want to hear

— Black in the Empire (@blackintheempir) April 17, 2023

Our MSM and journalists were more invested in finding and exposing the 'Leaker' for our Gov't, than reporting on how our Gov't lied to us about what was happening in Ukraine

Unfortunately, hardly any of our citizens found that to be terrifying

— Black in the Empire (@blackintheempir) April 17, 2023

Japan’s PM escapes explosion unharmed after suspected attack
Man detained after what looked like a smoke bomb was thrown at Fumio Kishida just before speech

TV footage showed what appeared to be a pipe- or smoke-bomb flying through the air in Kishida’s direction moments before he was due to start his speech. He was shielded by security personnel, while a video clip appeared to show a fisherman tussling with the suspect.

Kishida was seen standing with his back to the crowd in TV footage. When members of his security detail suddenly pointed to the ground near him, he turned around, looking alarmed. The camera quickly switched to the crowd as several people, including uniformed and plainclothes police officers, converged on the suspect, who was wearing a white surgical mask and holding what appeared to be a long silver tube.

As they collapsed on top of the man and tried to remove the tube from his hands, a large explosion was heard near where Kishida had been standing. The crowd scattered in panic as police dragged the man away.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/15/japan-pm-rushed-to-safety-...

This is from an AP report, but no other details about the suspect are given-

"Police arrested 24-year-old Ryuji Nakamura on suspicion of throwing a metal tube explosive at Kishida."

I'm sure after the political repercussions of the assassination of Abe, the motives and background of the suspect will be carefully screened before release.

She had been tending the Docudharma and The Stars Hollow Gazette blogs, lo! these many years, making almost-daily posts, including “Cartnoon” featuring classic Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.

But currently, since a spate of posts re NCAA basketball a.k.a. March Madness, neither site has been updated since April 3.

“Cartnoon” posts were typically marked as “by TMC for ek hornbeck” — the latter having passed on to another plane of existence in November 2020:

https://caucus99percent.com/content/ek-has-passed

Also, JackPine Radicals, the site founded by people fleeing Democratic Underground (“SV” = “Site Voldemort”) — much as this forum was founded by people fleeing That Other Place — appears to be gone for good.

After checking a couple of those China videos I'm prepared to concede that, in addition to a whole bunch of shiny infrastructure and world-class military build up (to do what with?) that China is clearly at or very near the top of the game when it comes to slick propaganda.

Complete with an army of dupes/bots to extol how China is bringing all sorts of benefits to the world selflessly and respecting others as equals. Left out is the part about how Han Chinese regard themselves as a *lot* more equal than the other 'equals'. Not that this is exclusive to them - Japanese and Koreans tend to think similarly.

Chinese leadership does not view other countries as 'friends' but rather as adversary/enemies - either active or potentially so (kind of like Israel). Whereas we tend to regard the absence of kinetic/shooting conflict as 'peace' the PRC leadership views it as that part of ongoing war where it is pursued by non-overtly violent means.

Retired USAF Gen. Robert Spaulding covers this Chinese political/military doctrine in his recent book "War Without Rules"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92nzljQIbI

Obviously, many of China's immediate neighbors have fraught historical relations (and many unresolved current issues) with it - Vietnam, Korea (note the N. Korean v. Chinese fishing boat incident), Russia, India, Japan, Taiwan... Leave it to US blundering and overreach to undermine its own position and that of countries that have or would otherwise be inclined to look to the US as some insurance against domination by their powerful neighbor.

This is especially dumb WRT US (and Japanese) policy toward Russia - for whom China is arguably its biggest threat - their land border issues are supposedly settled, but China had longstanding claims to a big whack of the Russian Far East - basically everything up to the Amur River, including Vladivostok and Khabarovsk and has long coveted the resources of Siberia.

China doesn't at all mind Russia being weakened - as long as the US and Nato don't dominate it. Russians, of course, realize this. The US should have long since normalized relations with Russia (N. Korea, Syria, Iran...) and maybe built some infrastructure ourselves instead of promoting ruinous conflicts and pissing people off with sanctions.

BRICS is taking over abroad, but at home there's nothing to stop totalitarianism?

What's supposed to happen, do China and Russia liberate US?!?