NSA supposed / alleged snooping on everybody in the country (heavens to betsy).

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STOP MESSING WITH THE TELEPHONE?  While I do not really know, as such things as the latest news about N.S.A. “metadata” and “PRISM” activities could just be a test of secrecy and discussing the ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’ of this is moot.  Also, and with respect to any visceral reaction by anyone who talks over the phone, most people who have a telephone or a cellphone handset know the telephone company has the ability look at anyone’s telecommunications profile and call records at any time.  Such details are internal to telecommunications carriers and serve as a reference for things like demographics and marketing studies, system stress studies, customer service activities and the like.  For people like me, for the U.S. President even to have made this part of his agenda is not likely – he has to be too busy with other things.  Though snooping and mining into voluminous and numerous calling and other records with varying degrees of granularity and specificity is absolutely insidious in its intent and effect as far as civic, political, administrative, and other rights are concerned here in the U.S., it is undoubted that this makes any difference, even one iota of a smidgen of care, for most people as telecommunications customers.  It will be interesting if, or whether or not, our chief executive is found ever to be involved in such forms of monitoring of people’s behavior, but this is not likely:  Our president is a law professor at the nation’s best law school, big on issues like asserting and preserving individual and constitutional, and human rights, and that he is concerned with and orders and / or participates in the actual, purposeful and direct monitoring and recording of us talking over the phone is entirely doubtful to me.  That he ever gave direct permission for these sorts of things is doubtful as well, and the activities by N.S.A. under scrutiny at this point are to individuals such as myself a redundancy of ordinary corporate activities under different motivations and purposes (see above), perhaps, though centered on information – gathering and analysis that happens in any event due to things like systemic structure of our information systems, the nature and capabilities of high – level computing power, and solving the difficulties and other issues presented by communications today and the systems that host and operate them. 

 

See CBS News online coverage of this (click here.)

U.S. / P.R.C. Meeting in Los Angeles - June 2013 - Unbearable Lightness.

Media Photo - "This man can think," or at least it appears so.

With respect to the two - day meeting in Southern California this week between the U.S. President, Obama and Xi Jin ping, and while the most important post in P.R.C. is not that of its own president who's meeting with the Americans this week; it is undoubted that some major topics will be addressed, including those of the national security of both countries with respect to technology infrastructure, human rights, territory rights in the Pacific Ocean, Southeast Asia, international economics including Yuan currency values and trade, foreign direct investment (maybe by another name here), nuclear proliferation and security, and a myriad of other topics will probably be mentioned.  There are probably more salient and extremely important topics to both these leaders personally than can be looked at during their two days together in June this year, and even through further contact during a summit scheduled for July 2013 than will be addressed.  It is also foreseeable their talks will generate mountains of work, including paperwork, projects, tasks, new jobs, new money, new promises and obligations for both and the like, to keep a good number of people puzzling and very busy about what is said in the next couple of days by the two principals involved and their intent in, again, scheduling this meeting in the first place.  Rancho Mirage is also a kind of golf country, and if Xi Jin ping does not play golf, he needs be introduced to it here in this hotbed of the sport of all places.  The U.S. President might not overlook this, and people like me would consider it a major gaffe to not allow Mr. Xi at least a try at putting on a practice green, if not walking a course.  Mr. Xi might indeed play golf as well, in which case that universe is open  to both these executive leaders. 

If there is any question about the possibility of the U.S. President consorting with communists and the like, it is probably clear from the venue chosen here that he does not, nor does he really harbor socialist views that might stem from his undergraduate studies and legal training and so forth; and even though Boston these days is a very liberal place and has been for some time.  Probably only, the U.S. President under the circumstances, and especially given the presence of the Chinese community in Southern California, is sympathetic to many dilemmas these people face in their long journey to assert themselves credibly, even despite political and cultural baggage and in view of hearing out his Vice - President on the subject - though this is not a big picture consideration with respect to current events and might make its way into the language of something said here about the socio - economic situation or human rights situations in both countries.  With that, and as if such meetings are not complicated enough and difficult to carry on and talk about later given what is mentioned there and related implications and interpretations, one might see the following readings:  CNBC article; New York Times article; Brookings Blog; Heritage Blog, Sina.com writing; CSIS; Reuters, ABC - all worthy and more of reading about this meeting.  One might even search on the internet for latest news, and check the AP and other wires, and C - SPAN, C.N.N. and Bloomberg - this meeting, by its format and venue, even in what considers issues of form only, is quite important and people need pay attention to announcements about it and what will happen in July at the next one.  In the midst of this latest difficulty the U.S. administration faces over use of the Treasury against political enemies, the fallout over the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues in Libya, and some other things, this event well invites the lightness and overall tone of international friendship between U.S. and P.R.C. at this point in the political and diplomatic game, and on a quite grand and elegant scale here.  Think as well that Southern California is used by the Eastern establishment for that these days, and one has to know the world has changed from the past Western establishment mood about P.R.C. that it glaringly harbored years ago. 

Saint Exupéry, E. Chadeau (Perrin, 2000.)

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Au tardif, je dois constater que parmi les livres que j’ai vu sur Saint – Exupéry à travers les ans, j’aime beaucoup ce livre.  Il est possible aussi que je viens d’oublier dans quelque sorte ce que j’avais lu sur « Antoine », et n’ayant pas été capable aujourd’hui à réunir mes pensées là – dessus, je tombe sur ceci.  Enfin, ce livre – portrait de ce grand homme, ne soit pas trop detaillé ni trop bref ; et ayant été écrit dans un français lettré et correcte, l’histoire soit au moins captivant aux lecteurs curieux de ce pionnier de l’aire et aventurier dans la vie.  Vous noteriez aussi cette histoire s’agit du domaine parisien tandis que Saint – Exupéry passait des parties significatives de sa vie à Paris, mais ce qu’il faisait de valeur, son humanisme, le courage de conduire les avions partout en le monde, et ainsi de suite, fût bien au délà de l’Île de France.  Ses voyages au but de servir dans l’Armée de l’air et les lignes aériennes l’ont trouvé à Alger, Tunis, Amérique du Sud, les îles, Gibraltar, Maroc, Cap Juby, Dakar, Casablanca et d’autres endroits sur la liste des localités dont nous nous revons tous dans le domaine de l’aviation et des possibilités infinies. 

 

Saint – Exupéry assistait aux cours du Lycée Saint Louis pour sa formation dans le quartier latin de Paris, et il s’attendait à son sortie de sa formation scolaire en dédiant en plus à sa vie familiale.  Devenir pilote lors son entrée dans le service était pour les gents une chose pour les doués, et était de toute façon naturel pour ce jeune homme en 1921.  Il débuta son service sur la piste d’officier d’aviation, dont le métier principal fût écrivain (plus tard.)  Pendant les années 1920, il forma une alliance avec Mlle Louise de Vilmorin et composait des carnets, romans, récits et autres écrits inachevés à l’époque.  En 1926, il était pilote dans les lignes aériennes et faisait des voyages partout où il y avait les compagnies aériennes françaises (Europe, Moyen Orient, Amérique du Sud, … .)  Dès 1924, il publia « L’aviateur ».  En janvier 1931, il publia « Vol de nuit », un livre qui éprouvait la puissance et caractère lettré de sa prose.  A la même année, il recontra Consuelo Suncin de Sandoval, sa future épouse, et on a été marié au 11 avril 1931.  « Vol de nuit » le remonta à son succès de 1929 (au moment d’être à Buenos Aires) en l’édition du roman « Courrier du Sud » sous les presses de la Nouvelle Revue Française de Paris.  A ce point, Saint – Exupéry est devenue de plus en plus fameux et par 1934 avec sa femme il est au cercle de vedettes et de surdoués dans la société en son pays la France.  En 1935, Il s’est engagé en tant que pilote à Air France.  En 1936 – 37 il fût en Espagne et à New York aux EE.UU., et assistait aux colloques dans les médias à New York et à Paris.  Il publia « Terre des hommes » plus tard – un très grand livre selon les critiques littéraires et qui était discuté partout jusqu’en les années 1980.  Au début de la guerre, il rejoint l’Armée de l’Air, mais ne partageait pas la politique de Gaulle.  La politique de Gaulle sur la voie d’une France en grandes lignes, indépendant d’associations internationales, puissant dans toutes les affaires, avec encore beaucoup de territoires coloniaux, et d’autres attributs, était pour Saint – Exupéry un peu fou étant donné les évènements de l’Etat Français et le gouvernement à Vichy pendant la grande guerre.  « Antoine » était à Paris au début du conflit, et commentait lors de l’Anschluss qu’il était toujours contre la guerre (et ceci n’est pas entièrement clair en lisant ses écrits à l’époque) et fût départi pour la campagne avec sa femme aux nouvelles des offensifs Allemands en France et plus tard en 1940 à New York.  En 1943, il publia son livre le plus populaire avec les jeunes, « Le petit prince », et s’introduit à Alger et Tunis.  Son avion disparait lors d’un trajet en Afrique du nord le 31 juillet 1944.  Ce livre soit un portrait assez détaillé de ce personnage de très haute qualité, érudit, talenté, dans un détail très satisfaisante même pour les lecteurs qui connaissent mieux Saint – Exupéry à travers sa littérature à l’époque du XXème siècle. 

Cliquez ici pour la site Saint Exupéry.

 

Russia sends arms to Syria. - 2013.

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The idea of arms sales to Middle Eastern states by Russian arms producers has been around for a long time.  It probably pre – dates the Israëli – Palestinian conflict and the Middle East wars related to that as fought with U.S.S.R. military might / armor against Western military armor.  The recent problem with this is the Russians as usual appear to play a kind of spoiler in promoting what people in Eastern Europe who have a voice that's more important now in the scheme of things see as peacekeeping in the Middle East and an effort to preserve the status quo.  Russian arms sales to Syria, if they are of the same nature as in the past here, send a message to Western states that the supply of arms does not mean, for Russia and maybe to itself only, outright belligerency, and Russian actions here are a way to influence more than the politics in the region that those just in Syria.  The Russians themselves might present the arms sales as a kind of olive branch and an offer no one can refuse:  Modern anti – air warfare defenses in Syria might challenge the necessity of air surveillance over that territory and maybe some other military measures that would otherwise encourage the Al – Assad regime to give into the provincial insurrection and rebellion / revolution.  No one knows what those are really without inside details as to what is being discussed in Western capitols in order to support the anti – Bashar Al - Assad insurgents. 

 

The considerations of many of the simple political articles and stories on this that appear in the media are so complex today that one can not point to any particular reason, and that is singly, for an acceptance of Russian arms to Syria on the one hand and any cession of the Assad regime on the other.  Remember that while such exchanges with Syria and Eastern Europe are supposedly peaceful in nature, air defenses as sold to Syria might prevent proper military measures given the fighting to block or curtail campaigns of the regime against people regardless of how it treats opposing military or paramilitary groups aligned against the status quo there.  The considerations, including the timing of the proposed arms sales that is terrible for Western powers, on both sides could be now worked on by powerfully programmed super – technology super – thinking machines that can consider things from a simple dataset input as a narrative, that are indeed complex about this conflict given the circumstances of Iran and other Middle East regional powers at this point having caused hiccups everywhere attempts have been made to confirm the revolution for the freedom fighters.  This is an oversimplification, but Syria apparently has a quite robust supply of armaments for motorized “blitz” – type terror on the revolutionary fighters whereas the anti – government forces have had essentially makeshift armaments and only variegated small arms since the beginning of this conflict.  To even turn over the leaf on supplying the revolutionaries from Western arsenals is extremely touchy, again given regional military and diplomatic considerations despite Russia’s actions.  It is also important to consider the role of the U.S. State Department and its Secretary in this chaotic conflict, and the formation of its Secretary who is calling for an end to the conflict through peaceful means while knowing himself that the introduction of new Russian arms (a popular interpretation) will provoke the Assad regime to really pound the rebels while making attempts to influence world opinion that will keep Assad in the clear until his mission of quelling any revolution is complete.  It might help one to understand the rebels are not secure without air support, and the sale of anti – air armaments in what appears 0to be in quantity to the Syrian administration at this point will cause the physical security and condition of the rebels there to be less effective, aggressive, and achieving of their popular goal of taking power away from a shifty, cruel ruler. 

Read Additional Article here from U.K. papers, and click here for another online column.