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AI is your friend. Trust me!

We have all heard of AI by now (artificial intelligence) and the marvels that are promised from its development, as well as its dangers. What we may not be aware of is that such an initiative has been in process for decades, and in fact was a distant dream of the first director of what is now DARPA in the US. DARPA derived from the original agency, ARPA, in 1958. So, we begin our story with a little history in order to show the true reasons for the creation of ARPA, as well as NASA and the NDEA, all three all in the year 1958, and all of which have contributed their part to the development of AI, at least in the US. For readers who receive my letters, that year may stick out in your memory, too – it was a Mountain Dog year, a year of great geopolitical shifts. We just had another one in 2018, and 1898 was another such year. Continue reading “AI is your friend. Trust me!”

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What we are not being told about Venezuela [updated as facts emerge]

This is the first part in a two-part article. In the Western media these days there is quite a lot of hand-wringing about the plight of the poor Venezuelans and how we of democratic nations must intervene to avert a dire humanitarian crisis there, remove an evil dictator, restore democracy to the region, and so on. These are stories we have heard before in other regions, like Libya, Syria and Iraq, for instance. But emerging from behind the curtain of corporate media scrutiny is another story, quite different from what we are being told in Western nations. Continue reading “What we are not being told about Venezuela [updated as facts emerge]”

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Venezuela and the Big Prize

Continuing on from the previous discussion, we need to look at what has been happening with Venezuela in the past couple of months. To start, this is not some new initiative on the part of the US. Ever since the Bolivarian Revolution in 1999 Washington has been trying to subvert the democratic revolutionary gains. Bush and Co. fomented the coup against Chavez in 2002 as a start. So, we start with the directions to Venezuela at the time of the Revolution. Continue reading “Venezuela and the Big Prize”

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The border wall and other tall tales

Apparently we have a national emergency on the southern US border, necessitating funding for the completion of a border wall. That’s the story we are given from the Trump administration, anyway. But there seems to be some debate about the issue. Some people appear to question whether or not there is actually a national emergency, but more than that, if a wall is even necessary, or even if Trump has the authority to declare such an emergency. And, is this simply an election stunt? So many questions. So much media coverage. As is usually the case with such hyperbole, though, what is being sidelined in the process? Where should we really be looking? It would pay us to have a look at these other things, and not so much at the border wall. Continue reading “The border wall and other tall tales”

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Bollocks, Bolton, on the INF!

John Bolton doesn’t much like treaties, it would seem. The Trump administration, in its INF-inite wisdom (?!) has just pulled the United States out of the INF Treaty – the acronym for the ‘Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces’ Treaty. This is the very same treaty that has kept nuclear missiles out of Europe since Reagan and Gorbachev signed it and it came into force on 1 Jun 1988 (chart). Europeans are rightly concerned, with typical muted criticism even, because that treaty covered missiles that were aimed primarily at US/NATO bases and nuclear power stations in Europe, as well as key infrastructure sites. It was a landmark in détente between Russia and the US, which is also apparently not in the interests of Washington at the moment. This will be another reason for Europeans to distance themselves from Washington. Continue reading “Bollocks, Bolton, on the INF!”

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America’s latest attempt at king-making

On the 23rd of Jan 19 the US, primarily, along with a few other nations, attempted a coup in Venezuela. It played out as an opposition leader, one Juan Guaidó, swore himself in as president of Venezuela. The only problem with that is that he is not the elected leader of Venezuela. That title falls to Nicolas Maduro, who was reelected by a wide margin on 20 May 18, in what the Western media outlets slammed as a sham election. The further problem with that is the opposition parties refused to take part in the election, and in fact were directed not to, with the result that voter turnout was low. The opposition parties are also badly divided. So now Venezuelans face the prospect of a drawn-out internal battle, mission creep and a long siege for control of their nation, intensified external pressure to overthrow Maduro and increased sanctions so long as Maduro hangs on to power. Continue reading “America’s latest attempt at king-making”

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Theresa May’s day, or Mayday!?

As we know by now, Theresa May has survived the no-confidence vote against her. It was not by a large margin, though, which would be troubling for her. The final vote count was 306 to 325. In fact, it was a win only by a slim margin. This is less than 25% of the margin by which she won her last confidence vote back in December. Clearly, confidence in the government is slipping fast. After the vote she was still vowing to carry through with Brexit, to find some sort of compromise that would be suitable to the House, but held mum about taking the no-deal Brexit off the table when pressed on the matter by Jeremy Corbyn. To her mind, nothing has changed. One gets the sense, though, that something is in the works. Continue reading “Theresa May’s day, or Mayday!?”

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The Hare, the Moon Maiden and the Magpies: The Meaning

Legend has it that Cháng’é was a beautiful woman married to the master archer, Hòu Yì. He was so legendary that he shot down nine of ten suns that had risen together in those distant times, which were scorching the Earth and causing hardship for the people, thus leaving the one sun we have to this day. As a reward for his skill and valor, he was given the elixir of immortality. We don’t know who gave him this magic elixir. We assume it was the gods, but who can say? Anyway,  Yì decided not to drink it just then, but instead hid it away at home in the care of his wife, Cháng’é. Continue reading “The Hare, the Moon Maiden and the Magpies: The Meaning”

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French unrest and Yellow Vests

Emmanuel Macron has seen happier days. Eighteen months into his five-year term his approval rating has plummeted from a high of 62% when he was elected to less than half now, as low as 20% by some accounts as of this writing. It is likely to fall further still. The reason? It is symbolized for us in yellow vests in the form of what might seem to some readers to have all the appearances of yet another color revolution – the gilet jaunes protests that began on 17 November this year. Those protests are ongoing and were triggered by yet another rise in prices for the French. Continue reading “French unrest and Yellow Vests”