Here are some things to make you worry and if you are particularly acute, keep you from falling asleep.
Russian Anti-Terror Troops Arrive in Syria: The troops are supposed to stop the uprising in Syria that is supposedly part of the so-called Arab-Spring uprisings from last year. The scary thing about this is that this puts America and Russia at odds with each other. The United States supports the protests in Syria, while Russia clearly supports the Syrian government. At the same time, the USA has confirmed their continued support of Israel, if they chose to attack Iran. On the other hand, both Russia and China have indicated their support of Iran. These major world players are starting to position themselves for what could easily escalate to WWIII.
Obama signed the "National Defense Resources Preparation"-Act, bringing America continuously closer to a police-state (that is if you are not of the opinion that it is not a police state already). Keep in mind that the President can already declare anybody a "threat to the state", allowing the military to assassinate you without judge or jury.
At noon today the official North Korean news agency announced that the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Il, has died. The North Korean newscaster was dressed in clothes of morning as she revealed that the “Dear Leader” had died on Saturday, 17 December, due to extreme psychological and physiological fatigue while doing on site inspections—something he was known for doing quite frequently—at 8:30 in the morning. The North Korean newscaster announced that he died of “physical and mental exhaustion.” The exact cause of death is myocardial infarction, a heart attack. This was determined during an autopsy that was performed on Sunday. He was 69 years old (70 years in Korean counting). North Korean citizens broke down weeping at the news, according to pictures from the Chinese news agency. China is North Korea's greatest ally. The funeral is set for next week, the December 28th or 29th.
Although the South Korean government has declared a state of emergency, the second highest security level, I have spent much of my day in the streets of Seoul and can attest that the average South Korean citizen does not seem too concerned. This is in high contrast to how American citizens reacted upon the announcement of the death of their bogeyman, Osama Bin Laden, earlier this year. In South Korea there are no obvious cheering in the streets nor cowering in the corners. People are just going on with life as normal Although online video sites do have news videos about the North Korean leader's death, the news is shared with local entertainment videos of participants in the pop idol show Kpop Star.
Asian markets seem more concerned than South Korean citizen as Asian currencies dropped at the announcement, but Asian markets have always been nervous.
So what can we expect? For the time being, I think, not much. It is very unlikely that there will be any uprising in the North. Since Kim Jong-Il suffered a stroke in 2008, the North Korean regime has been preparing for his eventual death. Also, although he died Saturday already, the party only made the announcement two days later, giving them enough time to prepare for any unwanted reaction from the people. The South Korean government's state of emergency is more for political display than anything else, since it is highly unlikely the North will do anything to stir up further animosity until after its mourning period. Apart from the immediate mourning period, which will last until around Thursday next week, Korean's also have a special mourning ceremony 100 days after the day of death. Furthermore, Kim Il Sung's Centennial is coming up next year. Plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, has been put into motion for quite some time now.
North Korea is practically a cult-state devoted to Kim Il-Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il. Kim Jong-Il's third son Kim Jong-Eun has been groomed as the successor so plans to “enthrone” him will also take up focus. The next couple of months we can expect North Korea to be completely internally focussed with the mourning of Kim Jong-Il, the centennial celebrations of Kim-Il Sung and the successor ceremony of Kim Jong-Eun.
That is at least how I see things play out, unless there are any outside interferences and the only powers that could / would cause “interferences” are China who isn't likely to do anything, Japan and Korea who prize stability in the region more than anything else, and the United States. America has its focus divided elsewhere and would rather not thin their attention any more than it has too. In any case, China will not stand idly by if America were to make a move in North Korea. North Korea serves as a strategic buffer between America's heavy presence in South Korea. A move by America on North Korea is too close for comfort for China.
Speaking of the United States and it's divided attentions... Both the USA and Russia have naval air carriers and other military presence in Syrian waters, what can only be described as a under-reported stand-off. China and Russia has blocked United Nations Security Council efforts (i.e. US military) to interfere with Syria. China has announced its allegiance to Iran.
It is well known that America feels the need to invade Iran because of Iran's nuclear ambitions. (That is, at least, the cover story. The truth is more probably America's hunger for oil or using war as a economic stimulus.) However, the American people are waking up to the fraudulent wars their government is waging. Although war is likely, it is unlikely that America will make the first overt move. Instead we are more likely to see them bite at the heels of Iran until Iran gets so irate that it loses its temper and make the first strike. This will, of course, give the Military Industrial Complex that runs the show the excuse to go to war with Iran. For this scenario to play out will require quite a number of months of agitation, so we can probably expect it to happen later, maybe September, October, 2012. That is unless they pull another false flag event like 9/11. With US presidential elections coming up we may first see some “soldiers coming home” rhetoric in action, which was a promise Obama made during his presidential race. Either way, it is plausible for Obama to stay on as president. He has been heeding the commands of his international banker masters quite well. But it doesn't matter. What we can be sure of is that unless Ron Paul or a completely different third party candidate suddenly become exceedingly popular and wins the upcoming election, the banking elite will just replace Obama with one of their cronies—it doesn't matter the party. The Republicans and the Democrats are merely to sides of the same proverbial coin—a two headed party.
Back to the probable war with Iran later next year. Such a war has so many parties involved that it can easily escalate to a global conflict—a Third World War. Unfortunately, with technology as advanced as it is, a Third World War will be a rather messy affair which could easily involve bioweapons and nuclear / hydrogen bombs.
Then, let's not forget the predicted high solar activities predicted for next year. And for those that do not know, sun storms are closely related to natural disasters such as earth quakes and unusual weather here on our planet.
But, in the meantime, enjoy the festive season. It ought not be too volatile. The “fun” is all scheduled for later in 2012.
Okay, so I have a Degree in Graphic Design, which make it easy to see the obvious, glaring, issues with this document, which is clearly a fake. But come on! You don't need a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design to see this.
Apart from the obvious issue of the green background grain not matching up, here are some other things to look at.
Notice the State Registrar's Stamp at the bottom of the page. There is a spelling error: "ABSTRACT OF TXE RECORD". You wanna tell me that the State Registrar used a stamp with a spelling error in it? If so, then we need to compare this with other certificates from the same time and see if those too have this error on it, which I hard to believe.
Is that a smiling face in the first A of the Registrar's signature? Zoom into the signature and look at the A in "Alvin". Yes it could be an ink smudge, but we don't see that type of splattering to this extend elsewhere in the signature.
Notice the colour mismatch of the green thatched paper on the outside border and the grey-green mismatched colour where the new layer clearly begins. It looks like they took a photocopy of some sort, selected all the "white" and deleted it leaving the transparent background (except for the grey areas), and then pasted the whole thing onto the green thatched background.
Look at the Department of Health number at the upper right corner: 61 10641. Zoom in so that you can clearly compare that last one with the other numbers. It is strikingly obvious to anybody that has ever worked with computer images that the last number has been added as an image. It is clearly pixelated, when compared to the other numbers and the font is not exactly the same either.
Below the Department of Health number look at the date. What's up with that comma (heavily pixelated) behind the 4 (day).
Now, I'm not saying that this certificate proves President Obama is not an American or anything like that. What I am saying is that this document is HIGHLY suspicious. I have to wonder why the White House would provide such a clearly altered document to the public? Surely there are better graphic designers in Washington! With enough time I would have made a better document and I'm not even an actively practising graphic designer anymore.
Well, first, I don't believe whatever the White House is saying. Even their own official spoke people contradict each other, how can they expect us to believe them? Read about some the contradictions as well video's of some of the White House briefings at Politico. So let's for a moment put aside the alternative media and conspiracy theorists' belief that Bin Laden has been dead for a number of years now and that this was all a staged event . . .
So an American friend asked me the other day how do I feel about Bin Laden's killing and in particular, how do I feel about American's celebrating his killing. (As a New Yorker my friend admitted to cheering at the announcement of Bin Laden's death.)
Personally I think it is terribly sad. People think that through his killing they have attained justice. The supposed mastermind behind 9/11 has at long last been brought to justice. I beg to differ. Firstly, 9/11 was just as much an inside job as an outside terrorist attack. If you don't believe it, then answer the Building 7 question. Secondly, there is no justice in the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Yes, the United States got even, like when a child pulls the hair of the girl that pulled her hair first. Tit for tat. You performed a terrorist attack on us, so we will perform terrorist attacks on you. (And that is basically what America has done with it's invasions, wars, and continuous drone strikes in Pakistan wherein numerous innocent people are regularly killed.) I'm sorry, no justice has been served. If they really wanted justice, they should have captured Bin Laden (and don't tell me the most elite combat squad in the world aren't capable of it). They should have captured him, and took him before a court of law, preferably an international tribunal. Then we would have had justice. But what makes me really sad about this whole thing is that people are cheering death. They are finding joy in the death of another person. They are not cheering for Justice -- in the virtuous sense of the word, but for getting even; they are cheering revenge. I see a depiction of an elementary, a childish morality; definitely not a matured morality or sense of ethics. America has not shown itself to be morally better or ethically superior to its enemy. They are on equal plains. An egotistical you-hit-me-I-hit-you-back-harder attitude that will only escalate mutual hatred and cause further terrorist (revenge) attacks.
Furthermore, people celebrating at the death of Osama bin Laden, thinking that this means the end of the wars, are naive. Sadam Hussein's death did not signal the end of the Iraqi war. Bin Laden's death will not result in the immediate end of the Afghani war. And the secret war in Pakistan continues. The wars continue.
Good, Osama bin Laden is dead; but so is Justice and any hope for reconciliation. And the vicious circle of revenge and hate continues. It's a cause not for celebration, but for crying.
Below is an example of something worth celebrating.
The unrest in the Middle East (and especially the possible "Day of Rage") will cause oil prices to increase dramatically world-wide. This will cause the U.S. Dollar to drop in value. As the Dollar drops, the price of gold and silver will increase even more dramatically. (Buy gold now, before it's too expensive.)
Some more guesses for South Africa:
The weakened U.S. Dollar will strengthen the South African Rand, but at the same time the price of fuel in South Africa is bound to go up. Riots in South Africa will commence in March, particularly driven by unions, and will increase in the following months. The politicians will try and appease the unions with all kinds of promises, especially with the coming elections. The question is whether the unions will believe such promises.
A South Korean man watches a TV broadcasting news about two American journalists detained in North Korea at the Seoul Railway Station, in South Korea, Monday, June 8, 2009. North Korea's top court convicted the journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States. The headline reads "North Korea convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a prison." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Truly something worth applauding. After going to North Korea a couple of days earlier, former US president, Bill Clinton, returns home with the two journalist that were captured by North Korea and charged with 12 years of hard labour. Apparently North Korean dictator-president Kim Jong-Il pardoned Laura Ling and Euna Lee. This came after an apology by Clinton for their "hostile acts," and probably a host of other negotiations we will never know about. Irrespective of the nitty-gritty, I'm happy for them. A North Korean hard labour prison is probably one of the worst places to be -- period.
I would really like to see a proper interview of these two and their experiences in the Hermit Kingdom.
About ten days ago I went to my local exchange bank in Korea and sent a good chunk of money to my bank in South Africa. A money transfer works something like this: First, I need to convert my Korean currency (Won) into US Dollars. (In effect, I have to buy US$ and, of course, lose some money in the process.) Then I transfer these dollars to my South African bank, where it's converted into South African Rand (and of course I lose some on this transaction as well). My great concern is the in-between process. Before the money is transferred from Korea to South Africa, the wiring first goes through America. (I don't know why; that's just how it works.) Now with the American economy in the state that it's in, who knows what happens to the money while it's there? The whole process usually takes around three working days. It has been nearly ten days since I transferred the money, and it's still not showing in my South African bank account. I'm starting to get anxious now. I'll wait till next week and if by then it is not yet deposited I'm going to see my bank, or phone Obama and tell him that my money is not part of his bail-out budget.
Gister het ek ’n vreemde ervaring gehad. Deur die loop van die dag het dit aansienlik kouer geraak, soveel so dat die klere wat ek aangehad het nie meer gehelp het nie. Gevolglik, toe my laaste klas om 16:00 eindig toe haas ek huistoe net om weer te ontdooi. ’n Halfuur later bel die akademiese dekaan my by my huis en vra dat ek hom onmiddelik moet kom sien by sy kantoor.
Dadelik begin ek stres en wonder wat ek verkeerd gedoen het. Die feit dat hy my by die huis bel, beteken dat hy eerstens my by my kantoor moes gaan soek het. My afwesigheid daar lei hom toe om my by die huis te soek. Soos ek moontlik al genoem het, is ek teoreties veronderstel om op kantoor te wees tussen 9:00 en 17:00, maar dis baie ontspanne met niemand wat oor ’n mens se skouer loer nie, so om bietjie vroeër huistoe te gaan is nie ’n kwelling nie. Nietemin, toe die akademiese dekaan my bel met só ’n dringende versoek toe wonder ek of ek nie dalk in die verknorsing is hieroor nie.
Oppad na sy kantoor probeer ek dink wat ek moontlik verkeerd gedoen het. ’n Ander moontlikheid behels die Internet. Buiten dat Suid-Korea sekere webbladsye blokkeer, blokkeer die kampus se Internetbediener ook sekere webbladsy. Nou, ek rebelleer onmiddelik wanneer dit by dinge soos sensorskap kom, en daarom wil ek júís die inligting bekom wat van my weerhou word. Gevolglik gebruik ek maniere om die blokkasies te omseil. Niks onwettigs nie, maar tog berade. Oppad na die akademiese hoof toe wonder ek of hulle nie dalk my Internetaktiwiteite dophou nie en sien dat ek hulle inligtingshindernisse systap. Ek verbeel my hoedat hy vir my gaan sê dat ek droogmaak en dat hulle my in die pad steek.
By sy kantoor kom ek aan en hy groet my heel vriendelik en maak my sit. Hy begin die gesprek deur te noem dat dit die eerste keer is wat ek en hy amptelik gesels (ons het al vinnig ontmoet, maar my direkte hoof is die Engelse departementshoof, so ek het selde met die akademiese- / administratiewe kantoor te doen). Hy vra my uit oor my werksomstandighede, hoeveel klasse ek aanbied, my ure, of ek gelukkig is. Al die tyd klop my hart vinnig en wag ek vir een of ander obskure gebeurlikheid, ’n mistrap wat ek gemaak het, ’n oortreding (willens-en-wetens óf onkundig), wat die rede is dat die akademiese hoof my so dringend wil sien.
Dan begin hy gesels oor die ekonomiese krisis in die wêreld en hoedat uitlanders veral daardeur geaffekteer word. Omdat die Koreaanse geldeenheid verswak het teenoor die (reeds verswakte) Amerikaanse Dollar, verduidelik hy, kry ons uitlanderpersoneel moontlik swaar wanneer ons geldwissel en terug stuur na ons tuislande. En toe haal hy ’n koevertjie uit. Die rektor het voorgestel dat ons uitlanderpersoneel ’n bonusvergoedingtjie moet kry as ’n teken van die universiteit se waardeuring van ons. Die geskenk val ook te same met Thanks Giving Day (die Amerikaanse vakansie dag wat gister plaasgevind het), om sodoende dubbel spesiaal te wees. Hy handig aan my die koevert met 500 000 Won. Dis omtrent US$337 en sowat R3400 teen die huidige wisselkoerse.
En so word my skuldige gewete beloon.
Ek dink toe aan Adam nadat hy gesondig het. God roep hom, maar Adam wil vlug uit vrees vir God. God kom, en in plaas daarvan om Adam die doodstraf toe te ken, gee God aan Adam die Goeie Nuus – ja, jy gaan sterwe want dis die natuurlike gevolg van keuses wat in disharmonie met die Bron van Lewe is, maar Ek gaan ’n manier voorberei om jou weer tot My te versoen. Ons sondig en weet dit, tog kom God en in plaas van straf, beloon God ons. Nie vir ons sondes of goeie werke nie, maar bloot omdat God God is.
Ns. In ’n vorige inskrywing het ek genoem hoedat my werk baie goedgunstig met geskenke teenoor ons personeel is.
Nns. Hierdie ervaring spreek luidkeels uit teenoor die sogenaamde The Secret-fenomeen wat die wêreldoorspoel het en beweer dat ons kry die dinge wat ons verwag om te kry. Nou ja, ek was oortuig dat ek in die moeilikheid is vir iets, maar in plaas van moeilikheid, is ek beloon met geld en waardering vir my werk. So much for The Secret.
