Saturday, June 27, 2015
States Rights
So if the Supreme Court can rule that none of the 50 states can ban gay marriage then can it rule that none of the 50 states can ban the sale and carry of firearms? How can a constitutionally guaranteed right be regulated and banned, but something the constitution says nothing about can be forced on all 50 states? This bears striking similarities to the beginning of the War of Northern Aggression.
Dashing Eagle 15
It turns out we are not the only country that cross trains with out nations armed forces. China recently sent an Airborne Special Operation Company to train with Belarus for "anti-terrorist" missions. And it turns out this is not a new thing, having been previously held in 2011 and 2012. Looks like we aren't the only on with interests in the region.
And coming in September we get Operation Union Shield between Russia and Belarus. But its ok, its purely defensive according to Belarus's military's website. After all, according to Sputnik, a Russian propaganda news site, NATO is clearly the aggressor.
 |
| Because Russia has never staged a military exercise on a nation's border to make a point.... |
After all, they are only casually drilling 80,000 Soldiers. Not like when they drilled 150,000 soldiers on Europes' doorstep.
 |
| We may exercise more often, but Russia drills more Soldiers. |
The message seems clear. Dont intervene in Ukraine.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
US backs Kurdish forces in Syria
This is big news that bears watching. If we really have backed the Kurds then Turkey is going to be pissed. I have no problem backing the Kurds and think they are the only ones doing any good in this fight, but pissing off one of our biggest allies in the region will have repercussions. I wonder how this will turn out.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
The Sun Never Sets on the Chinese Empire
The Age of Imperialism is over. But only for the Western powers. Last February Russia annexed Crimea. But more importantly the Chinese annexed several islands in the South China Sea, the Diaoyu or Senkaku islands depending on which nation you talk to. They have being building the islands into fortified airstrips because they are too far behind the aircraft carrier curve to go toe to toe with us. But you cant sink an island.
But that's not the only expansionist actions China has taken recently. China is sinking its talons into South America as we speak. Ecuador is so in debt to China its selling 8 million hectares of the Amazon rain forest to Chinese oil companies. Ecuador owes China $7 billion dollars, which doesn't sound like much, until you realize that is 10% of their entire GDP.
Between 2008 and 2012 China lent over $80 billion dollars to South American countries. Consider that an investment. China's economy is growing so vast that it cannot sustain itself with its own raw materials. Its looking to essentially buy third world nations so it has access to all the resources its needs.
But its not just South America. China has become Africa's biggest trading partner trading $160 billion in goods a year.
China is developing third world nations all around the world in order to provide a steady stream of resources to its growing industrial machine. But it also needs food an land. China has the largest population on the planet.
China and Russia have recently signed a deal giving 300,000 hectares of agricultural land for about 24 billion Rubles for 49 years. This land is located in Russia's Federal District of the Far East.
Th Far Eastern district is the largest district in Russia at 2,400,000 sq mi. It also has the lowest population at approximately 7 million Russian citizens on the last census. I specify Russian citizens because there are thought to be 2-5 million illegal Chinese workers in the region. This presents an interesting dilemma. With the lease of the land the Chinese also want to push for easier access to the region for Chinese workers. If enough Chinese move into the region to the point were the Chinese Government feels the need to protect them, they may steal the Russians play from Crimea and annex the region. After all, one of the most valuable things to China right now is land.
But that's not the only expansionist actions China has taken recently. China is sinking its talons into South America as we speak. Ecuador is so in debt to China its selling 8 million hectares of the Amazon rain forest to Chinese oil companies. Ecuador owes China $7 billion dollars, which doesn't sound like much, until you realize that is 10% of their entire GDP.
Between 2008 and 2012 China lent over $80 billion dollars to South American countries. Consider that an investment. China's economy is growing so vast that it cannot sustain itself with its own raw materials. Its looking to essentially buy third world nations so it has access to all the resources its needs.
But its not just South America. China has become Africa's biggest trading partner trading $160 billion in goods a year.
China and Russia have recently signed a deal giving 300,000 hectares of agricultural land for about 24 billion Rubles for 49 years. This land is located in Russia's Federal District of the Far East.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
From Russia with Love, Fear, and Pride
Thor asked me to guest write some articles from a military point of view. Today were going to take a look at the Ukrainian conflict with regards to logistics and finances.
Russia recently announced it was adding 40 new nuclear ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) to its arsenal this year. Now while 40 ICBMs may not sound like alot we need to take a step back and look at the big picture.
In 1970 the NPT (non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty) was signed.At the time it was signed by 40 Nation States and boiled down to three major pillars. They were non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology. The ultimate goal is the complete elimination of nuclear arsenals. Today 190 Nations have signed and ratified it with only four refusing to sign it and one withdrawn. Three of the four are nuclear powers, Israel, Pakistan, India. The other is South Sudan. The one nation who has withdrawn from the agreement in 2003 is North Korea. But both Russia and China are members of the NPT.
And thats why this is a big deal. Of the five nuclear powers involved in the treaty, Russia and China are both actively building new nuclear weapons while the United States is actively reducing the amount of nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Now don't take that as a war cry to build more nukes. The point is to take a look at the mindset of our potential enemies. And enemies they may be one day, China has publicly stated it would nuke the US if it defended Taiwan in a conflict and the Russians have threatened to use nukes if the NATO attempts to return Crimea to Ukraine.
According to Arms Control Association, the 2015 number of nuclear weapons are as follows:
Now that $620 billion comes out to roughly 16% of our entire budget. If you look at the table above, you will see we spend more on Social Security, and almost as much on Health Care, Medicare, and Income Security. This is a MASSIVE amount to spend on defense, and is why our military makes us the ONLY super power in the world (I'll explain that one a different day in another article).
As of 2015 Russia's military budget is 3.03 TRILLION Rubles. As of today that converts to $56 billion dollars US. When Russia annexed Crimea in February of 2014 the exchange rate was 36 rubles to the dollar. That would have made their military budget approximately $84 billion dollars. Suddenly the drop in oil prices makes a lot more sense, as Russia's GDP has dropepd by 2.4%. At $56 billion Russia only spends approximately 9% what the US spends on the defense. With the entire Russian budget being 15.3 trillion Rubles, they are spending approximately 20% of their entire budget on defense, and still are only able to spend a tenth of what we do.
So this should show us exactly why the Russians are so willing to throw nukes around. They're scared of us. They are the largest country in the world, and have to defend it with a total of 750,000 active duty soldiers. They see our alliance with NATO and the installation of a missile shield in Europe as western aggression.
I remember growing up and reading about the cold war. US planners were bracing for the day hordes of Russian tanks would pour through the Fulda gap and crawl over Europe. We expected to be out numbered and would possibly have to use tactical nukes to stem the tide. The Apache helicopter was designed for the sole purpose of killing Russian tanks and evening the odds. But now days the situation is reversed. We outspend the Russians alone, without NATO. By preconditioning equipment in Europe all we have to do is fly soldiers in to man the equipment and start rolling. The Russians see us as an aggressor and treat us accordingly.
Luckily, because of this it means that a full scale war in Europe is basically impossibly unless we push the Russians into a corner. And if they get pushed into that corner you can bet they will use nukes.
Russia recently announced it was adding 40 new nuclear ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) to its arsenal this year. Now while 40 ICBMs may not sound like alot we need to take a step back and look at the big picture.
In 1970 the NPT (non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty) was signed.At the time it was signed by 40 Nation States and boiled down to three major pillars. They were non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology. The ultimate goal is the complete elimination of nuclear arsenals. Today 190 Nations have signed and ratified it with only four refusing to sign it and one withdrawn. Three of the four are nuclear powers, Israel, Pakistan, India. The other is South Sudan. The one nation who has withdrawn from the agreement in 2003 is North Korea. But both Russia and China are members of the NPT.
And thats why this is a big deal. Of the five nuclear powers involved in the treaty, Russia and China are both actively building new nuclear weapons while the United States is actively reducing the amount of nuclear weapons in its arsenal. Now don't take that as a war cry to build more nukes. The point is to take a look at the mindset of our potential enemies. And enemies they may be one day, China has publicly stated it would nuke the US if it defended Taiwan in a conflict and the Russians have threatened to use nukes if the NATO attempts to return Crimea to Ukraine.
According to Arms Control Association, the 2015 number of nuclear weapons are as follows:
China: About 250 total warheads.
France: 290 deployed warheads.
Russia: According to the March 2015 New START numbers, Russia has 1,582 strategic warheads deployed on 515 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers [1]. The Federation of American Scientists estimates Russia has several thousand nondeployed strategic warheads and approximately 2,000 tactical nuclear warheads. An additional 3,700 are awaiting dismantlement.
United Kingdom: About 120 strategic warheads, of which no more than 40 are deployed at sea at any given time. The total stockpile is up to 225 weapons.
United States: According to the March 2015 New START declaration, the United States has 1,597 strategic nuclear warheads deployed on 785 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers [1]. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that the United States' nondeployed strategic arsenal is approximately 2,800 warheads and the U.S. tactical nuclear arsenal numbers 500 warheads. In total, the U.S. has about 4,800 nuclear warheads [2], including tactical, strategic, and nondeployed weapons. Additional warheads are retired and await dismantlement.
Now here is where we break away for a moment and talk logistics. As of 2014 the US is spending $620 billion dollars on defense.  |
| Remember these numbers are in BILLIONS of dollars |
Now that $620 billion comes out to roughly 16% of our entire budget. If you look at the table above, you will see we spend more on Social Security, and almost as much on Health Care, Medicare, and Income Security. This is a MASSIVE amount to spend on defense, and is why our military makes us the ONLY super power in the world (I'll explain that one a different day in another article).
 |
| This is why we're a superpower |
So this should show us exactly why the Russians are so willing to throw nukes around. They're scared of us. They are the largest country in the world, and have to defend it with a total of 750,000 active duty soldiers. They see our alliance with NATO and the installation of a missile shield in Europe as western aggression.
I remember growing up and reading about the cold war. US planners were bracing for the day hordes of Russian tanks would pour through the Fulda gap and crawl over Europe. We expected to be out numbered and would possibly have to use tactical nukes to stem the tide. The Apache helicopter was designed for the sole purpose of killing Russian tanks and evening the odds. But now days the situation is reversed. We outspend the Russians alone, without NATO. By preconditioning equipment in Europe all we have to do is fly soldiers in to man the equipment and start rolling. The Russians see us as an aggressor and treat us accordingly.
Luckily, because of this it means that a full scale war in Europe is basically impossibly unless we push the Russians into a corner. And if they get pushed into that corner you can bet they will use nukes.
You know that Ukrainian boat that exploded off the coast of Mariupol two weeks ago?
Well, the Japanese media is calling it a mine that was strategically placed. And Moscow is
claiming it was a separatist made bomb that blew up as the crew tried pulling the object aboard. I also learned I need to get better at following up on rapidly evolving current events if I talk about them on here, for your sake, reader, and my sake, Future Thor, when you're looking through these old archives for something.
 |
| GO. INTO. THE WATER. LIVE THERE. DIE THERE. |
Well, the Japanese media is calling it a mine that was strategically placed. And Moscow is
claiming it was a separatist made bomb that blew up as the crew tried pulling the object aboard. I also learned I need to get better at following up on rapidly evolving current events if I talk about them on here, for your sake, reader, and my sake, Future Thor, when you're looking through these old archives for something.
Ebola's not Over; Cause of Ebola Outbreak Recently Identified
It looks like patient zero of the deadliest ebola outbreak in human history has been identified. (Although, this should not be confused with the outbreak in the DRC, from Aug-Nov of last year. Though simultaneous to the other current outbreak, this strain and outbreak has been determined unrelated to the West African one.) Doctors have traced the virus back to a toddler who played with a fruit bat in late 2013, dying in early December of unidentified causes. His mother, sister and grandmother would soon follow in his footsteps, with villagers from neighboring villages coming in to pay respects to his grandmother. In spite of the fact she not patient zero, this funeral would wind up being the catalyst that lead to the deadly outbreak. Funerals in West Africa are "superspreader" events for such diseases, so much so that 60% of all the reported case in Guinea stem directly from a funeral. Many who attended that funeral died from it in the following weeks after bringing it to their own villages.
How does ebola kill you?
It isn't fucking pleasant, this disease is literally nightmare fuel. Ebola gives you EHF, Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. This starts out by having the virus attack our immune system and kill off your t-lymphocytes, or t-cells, the same thing AIDS does. The virus releases proteins that stop your immune system from sending out anti-bodies. Then it gets into your collagen.
I don't know how well you know biology, but collagen is important, making up 25-35% of all the protein in your body. It's all the fibers that make up connective tissue. If you've ever dissected a mammal in a biology class, you know how much fucking connective tissue we have. Every square inch of skin has connective tissue on the bottom of it, keeping it in your insides. Your muscles all have connective tissue, your tendons are made out of connective tissue. You can hydrolize it to make gelatin. You can also boil horses to harvest their collagen for glue, which is where the name comes from (κόλλα, or colla-, greek for glue, and γεν, or -gen, for "producing").
So ebola hangs out in your collagen and eats it. So now your entire skin is barely hanging on, instead of being anchored down, it's floating on a small layer of liquefied collagen remnants. Your entire skin breaks out in red and white blisters that can be ripped open with almost no effort. And of course, they're full of ebola-laden fluids. Parts of you just start to rip open. This is why people bleeding out of the mouth, nose, ears, gums, and all other orifices is common.
What's left of your immune system will cause coagulation in your blood, leading to clots getting stuck in tons of small capillaries are vessels. Not only does this lead to blockages, it causes many of them to burst. Your fever is awful, your body is ripping itself apart, and you're just having a bad time at this point.
But wait, there's more!
Once the virus makes it's way into your organs, it REALLY gets down to trying to kill you. Your blood stops coagulating once the damages are done, because ebola will destroy the glands in the liver required for making coagulants and plasma. It attacks your adrenal glands, which can no longer produce the steroids to regulate blood pressure. Your cells are dying and sloughing off, in both an uncontrollable diarrhea consisting of regular diarrhea AND the liquefied remains of the dead parts of your GI tract, and vomiting the same piling up in your stomach. Your skin is falling off, as is parts of the inside of you esophagus. It is said the most painful part of ebola is when the skin on your tongue sloughs off. By now, your blood hasn't coagulated because you can't make the proteins for it, and your blood cells are bursting at the seams with the virus, so everywhere you've begun to bleed out of, you just don't stop. That's when you die.
This brings us back to the tradition of funerals in West Africa. It often includes practices like washing the body, touching the body, or even kissing the body. Some affected cultures, like the Kissi, believe in certain parts of the natural cycle of life and death, and believe that burying a mother with a dead, unborn fetus disrupts such a cycle. Removing the fetus is the only culturally acceptable thing to do here, but the medical professionals insisted that it was unnecessary and way too dangerous to attempt, due to the body being an ebola bomb.
Although in this situation, a compromise was worked out with a witch doctor who sacrificed a goat, oil, salt and kola nuts, it was an unnecessary step in separating the dead from the living; yet as an outcome, it was the exception. Medical workers trying to fight the outbreak have been routinely attacked and even killed for trying to fight this outbreak, where villagers would then flee like terrified animals into the jungle with their loved yet infected ones. Traditions were upkept, the outbreak would continue.
Last October, USSOUTHCOM put this out, stating that they were worried that an outbreak in the Americas would prove deadly and overwhelming for the United States. They specifically named human trafficking rings from West Africa who take people to the Caribbean as a massive threat. The disease, should it spread to the Caribbean or to Central America, would leave a horde of immigrants clamoring their way up to our country. The infection wouldn't be the biggest of our worries at that point.
Also, the infection hasn't ended yet. Though Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal have declared the outbreak officially eradicated (it has been over 40 days since the last infection took place, well outside the 21 days incubation period), it's still ravaging Guinea and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has imposed a curfew designed to keep people indoors 12 hours a day, enforced by soldiers, so that people cannot continue to smuggle things, especially bodies they want to bury, and continue to propagate the infection. Just because our media isn't talking about it and using the outbreak and the disappearance of MH370 has major, distractifying stories, doesn't mean it's still going on.
Until the outbreak is completely contained, we can fall back to square one at any time, where thousands of new infections are taking place every day.
 |
| Washing the nightmares away |
How does ebola kill you?
It isn't fucking pleasant, this disease is literally nightmare fuel. Ebola gives you EHF, Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. This starts out by having the virus attack our immune system and kill off your t-lymphocytes, or t-cells, the same thing AIDS does. The virus releases proteins that stop your immune system from sending out anti-bodies. Then it gets into your collagen.
 |
| Those are ready to pop, and full of ebola. |
I don't know how well you know biology, but collagen is important, making up 25-35% of all the protein in your body. It's all the fibers that make up connective tissue. If you've ever dissected a mammal in a biology class, you know how much fucking connective tissue we have. Every square inch of skin has connective tissue on the bottom of it, keeping it in your insides. Your muscles all have connective tissue, your tendons are made out of connective tissue. You can hydrolize it to make gelatin. You can also boil horses to harvest their collagen for glue, which is where the name comes from (κόλλα, or colla-, greek for glue, and γεν, or -gen, for "producing").
So ebola hangs out in your collagen and eats it. So now your entire skin is barely hanging on, instead of being anchored down, it's floating on a small layer of liquefied collagen remnants. Your entire skin breaks out in red and white blisters that can be ripped open with almost no effort. And of course, they're full of ebola-laden fluids. Parts of you just start to rip open. This is why people bleeding out of the mouth, nose, ears, gums, and all other orifices is common.
What's left of your immune system will cause coagulation in your blood, leading to clots getting stuck in tons of small capillaries are vessels. Not only does this lead to blockages, it causes many of them to burst. Your fever is awful, your body is ripping itself apart, and you're just having a bad time at this point.
But wait, there's more!
Once the virus makes it's way into your organs, it REALLY gets down to trying to kill you. Your blood stops coagulating once the damages are done, because ebola will destroy the glands in the liver required for making coagulants and plasma. It attacks your adrenal glands, which can no longer produce the steroids to regulate blood pressure. Your cells are dying and sloughing off, in both an uncontrollable diarrhea consisting of regular diarrhea AND the liquefied remains of the dead parts of your GI tract, and vomiting the same piling up in your stomach. Your skin is falling off, as is parts of the inside of you esophagus. It is said the most painful part of ebola is when the skin on your tongue sloughs off. By now, your blood hasn't coagulated because you can't make the proteins for it, and your blood cells are bursting at the seams with the virus, so everywhere you've begun to bleed out of, you just don't stop. That's when you die.
This brings us back to the tradition of funerals in West Africa. It often includes practices like washing the body, touching the body, or even kissing the body. Some affected cultures, like the Kissi, believe in certain parts of the natural cycle of life and death, and believe that burying a mother with a dead, unborn fetus disrupts such a cycle. Removing the fetus is the only culturally acceptable thing to do here, but the medical professionals insisted that it was unnecessary and way too dangerous to attempt, due to the body being an ebola bomb.
Although in this situation, a compromise was worked out with a witch doctor who sacrificed a goat, oil, salt and kola nuts, it was an unnecessary step in separating the dead from the living; yet as an outcome, it was the exception. Medical workers trying to fight the outbreak have been routinely attacked and even killed for trying to fight this outbreak, where villagers would then flee like terrified animals into the jungle with their loved yet infected ones. Traditions were upkept, the outbreak would continue.
Last October, USSOUTHCOM put this out, stating that they were worried that an outbreak in the Americas would prove deadly and overwhelming for the United States. They specifically named human trafficking rings from West Africa who take people to the Caribbean as a massive threat. The disease, should it spread to the Caribbean or to Central America, would leave a horde of immigrants clamoring their way up to our country. The infection wouldn't be the biggest of our worries at that point.
Also, the infection hasn't ended yet. Though Nigeria, Liberia and Senegal have declared the outbreak officially eradicated (it has been over 40 days since the last infection took place, well outside the 21 days incubation period), it's still ravaging Guinea and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has imposed a curfew designed to keep people indoors 12 hours a day, enforced by soldiers, so that people cannot continue to smuggle things, especially bodies they want to bury, and continue to propagate the infection. Just because our media isn't talking about it and using the outbreak and the disappearance of MH370 has major, distractifying stories, doesn't mean it's still going on.
Until the outbreak is completely contained, we can fall back to square one at any time, where thousands of new infections are taking place every day.
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