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The Chessboard for the Great Power Competition in the Indo Pacific
Rahul Jaybhay
As structural change is happening with China's ascending growth and Russia's re-emergence, the scholarly community is worried about the result of such changes. US pre-eminence is now being increasingly challenged in the wider geopolitical structure, as countries like China, Russia and India are busy acquiring advanced military weapons, thus thickening their military might. This has led to power diffusion across the globe. Subsequently, as the relative power of China vis-à-vis the US is expanding, security analysts are predicting an intense security competition between the rising power and the falling giant. People are concerned about what steps the US should take to either contain or accommodate China? Since belligerency is the characteristic of Chinese behavior, US must sort to contain China by maintaining existing power gaps and technological advantages.
But, by and large, US failed to thwart the Chinese rise. The recent Indo-Pacific Deterrence Initiative highlights the worry caused by Chinese growth and its impact on the overall balance of power within the Western Pacific. The usage of words like "regaining" US advantages in the region reflects a broader opinion that the US has lost its prior superiority, and must focus on "balancing" China's gains. This is broadly a result of recent changes in US foreign policy where decision-makers think that mere acquiring military "mass" won't do any good unless some significant edge is not achieved in the "intelligence" domain. The thinking points to the fact that since intelligence is a requirement to achieve target destruction through means of weapons, budgetary investments must prioritize the acquisition of information technology alongside advanced weapons.
Why just gaining military mass is not enough?
Realistically speaking, if the military balance between the two powers is calculated then it seems that the US is much powerful than the Chinese. Since this reckoning is mostly based on absolute numbers of weapons a country possesses, a mere number-to-number analysis might mislead us. A more intelligent approach would be to observe how these weapons (acquired by both countries) behave in supposed battlefield operations. For instance, if we assume the South China Sea (SCS) to be the next battlefield, then it's imperative for the US to project power and neutralize any Chinese threat. Considering this context, I believe this may not be that easy for Americans, given the Chinese A2/AD capabilities. Fielding these weapons may inflict heavy damage on US assets at a considerably lower cost. For example, a DF-21 or DF-26 ASBM of China could threaten the whole Carrier Strike Group or theoretically might aspire to sink an aircraft carrier, hence making it "prohibitively" costly for Americans to engage with the Chinese.
In fact, as depicted by Andrew Krepinevich, a foremost scholar on A2/AD capabilities, China could utilize such capabilities to prevent US forces from entering contested waters and may also hinder freedom of actions in the grey zones. This might lead to the creation of "bastions", if not "sphere of influence", leading to the demarcation of areas into zones and probably resulting in the "balkanization" of Indo Pacific oceans. Such assessment if actualizes in the future, could then threaten US primacy in the world at a significant low cost.
Conceptually, Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) capabilities threaten to destroy access points in the region so as to make US operations quite costly and even technologically unfeasible. For instance, US airbases in Gaum or Japan, if destroyed, would make US operations strategically infeasible hence making it easier for China to flex its muscles against the regional actors. If airbases are destroyed, then long-range bombers are required to complete the mission. Tactically, no. of sorties delivered by these bombers will be significantly lower if the mission is launched from the US mainland. Adding to this, the burden of air refueling will make it difficult for the US to achieve operational objectives at a sustainable cost. Moreover, the recent US acquisition of small ranger fighters including F/A 18 or F-35's will become redundant, if not useless, in the above combat scenario. Thus, the US must plan its acquisition program in a way to offset any contingency that may arise, as the security competition with China is exacerbating.
Similarly, area-denial capabilities are those, which may not prevent entry into the combat theatre, but would severely challenge the US potential for "freedom of actions" in these contested zones. Loosely speaking these capabilities are submarines, mine warfare, ballistic and cruise missiles, G-RAMM.
The merits of such capabilities are not only restricted to cheap weapons causing damage to expensive weaponry, but also to other aspects, which might be even more critical. US aspiration to get an information edge over its non-peer competitors might go down the drain, as these capabilities, in addition to weapons damage, could also inflict heavy destruction to the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR)enterprise, leading to the suppression of intelligence, which the US considers, a key element for nabbing the adversary.
ISR is the system that makes it easier to sense, detect, and precisely destroy the targets within a limited theatre of operations. In a naval unit, the Carrier Strike Groups (CSG) along with their weapon delivery capacity simultaneously engage in ISR functioning, churning out abundant data from the combat theatre thereby increasing the battlefield awareness.
Now, any leakages within the missile defenses of the CSG would mean heavy destruction to the platform whereby even the ISR technology is compromised. Apparently, US attempt to gain an information advantage over its competitors at the expense of military "thickness" may suffer, unless significant investments are not done in missile defense systems to preserve platforms, thus ensuring free flow of information.
In short, the US focus on prioritizing intelligence technology over gathering military weapons is welcoming. Although care has to be taken to invest significantly in those technologies which will provide the secure flow of data and intelligence without any disruption. Defense systems have to be strengthened if the information edge has to be preserved. Until then, security anxiety will persist.
Will the Dragon able to withstand the Eagle's Strike or Power Projection?
Although, pictorial imagination might reckon the Eagle victorious in real life, but in world politics, this may not be true. In real life, eagles are known to be surreptitious which kills with a pinpoint accuracy rendering the prey helpless in most conditions. Unfortunately, great power politics is not a biological kingdom, where predator always dominates the prey. Superiority changes based on the performance of the countries and today's prey can be tomorrow's predator.
Comparatively, the US is superior to every nation in the sense that it had the capability to project and demonstrate its power over long distances. In my opinion, the most important service which could provide such superiority is the US Navy and US Marine corps. As allied overseas bases are becoming increasingly vulnerable to China's attack, over-reliance on them to access the combat theatre will be much riskier. This vulnerability of fixed basing is ultimately solved by sea basing option which the navy provides through the means of the aircraft carrier and its combatants. Operationally, the naval unit overcomes the anti-access problems, simply because the access points are not fixed, but mobile, and targeting a fleeting giant would be much bigger a challenge than destroying a fixed base. Though the vulnerabilities of the US Air Force and US Army are mitigated by Naval command, without joint operations and coordinated efforts gaining an early edge over Beijing may not be possible.
The most probable combat theatre in my opinion would be the SCS, besides Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea. Given strategic advantages in the SCS, in lieu of sovereignty disputes over the Spratly and Paracel islands with added complexity due to the overlapping of maritime entitlements , such an ambiguous environment presents enough opportunities for China to hone its "salami-slicing" tactics whereby China is making small strides to take control over the SCS without provoking an adversarial response from the contestants. Since China never officially clarified the meaning of the 9dashline, its actions in the SCS are interpreted by neighboring countries as coercive. Moreover, Chinese actions also feed its image as a big-time bully in the region, intended to make SCS its own "lake".
China's resurgence in SCS began after 2013 when it started the land reclamation program. And as of 2020, Beijing constructed more than 3200 acres of land around these tiny islets. Such magnitude of reclamation stands quite meagre to other's construction which stands at 200 acres. Moreover, the 13 largest islands in Spratly are only half the size of Central Park in Manhattan New York, according to the geological survey conducted in 2000. Thus, extending artificial space beyond the natural geography point to the fact that such construction cannot be intended to assert sovereignty similar to other contestants. Instead, quite interestingly, China has built airstrips, installed radars, fielded artillery, and mobile platforms in these man-made islands. In the future, the area might become an overseas strategic base to launch attacks on adversaries, similar to what Japan did in WWII. Such actions clearly show Beijing's interest to challenge the status quo and Eagle's pre-eminence in the global commons.
US achieves its power projection through the means of Aircraft Carrier and those escorting the giant including destroyers, surface combatants, replenishment ship together with helicopters, UAV's, submarines scattered over a distance. Surveillance and Reconnaissance functions are done by most of the platforms, as diversification prevents over-reliance on the single platform. In a combat theatre, locating the target is the first task, which in this case can be achieved by radars either mounted on a destroyer, or those loitering in the space. Target's precise coordinates are then fed into the weapons system, which ultimately delivers the munitions to destroy the adversary. Moving objects are difficult to track, but weapon system fitted with laser-guided or precision strike munition could easily inflict heavy damage with pinpoint accuracy, largely because of seekers, fitted into the warhead which provides real time location of the target.
As military analysts have observed, China's fielding of such weapons mainly anti-aircraft, anti-ship missiles, mortars from mobile launchers, artillery, mines could prevent the US force projection. Installing these on the SCS islands will extend the area over which US forces can be denied freedom of action. According to Robert Works, an aircraft carrier must be within 25-100 miles of the adversary's coastline to deliver a powerful punch. Although it remains unrealistic to achieve such a blow unless counter-measures to offset the effects of AD capabilities are not taken. Such closeness to the enemy's shore would mean additional armored and munitions directed towards the US. China's short-range cruise missiles could be used to engage the missile defense system of the allied powers like PAC 3. Moreover, such deflection of missile defense systems towards countering cheap missiles might be used to launch more lethal weapons like ballistic missiles, so as to exploit any leakages and penetrate to cause heavy damage to an aircraft carrier. More importantly, near to the enemy coastline, US vessels could be successfully interrupted through mine warfare capabilities, given the poor track record of US platforms to counter such weapons.
Given China's policy of active defense, which purports to achieve a defensive objective with an offensive posture. In simple words, China can initiate war with any country solely with the purpose to deter them. In light of this, China could in the future rely on offensive cyber warfare and information warfare mechanisms. The goal would be to cripple the "network-centric architecture" on which the whole US operations depend. Loosely speaking, network-centric architecture means the integration of the ISR system with the common center on the ground so as to perform C3 functions (Command, Control, and Communication). In a cyber offense, China could get considerable leverage if this "central nervous system" is hacked. In operational terms, the offense could distort the information received by the commanders on the ground. GPS coordinates for precision strikes can be manipulated. The goal in this warfare would be to either kill data or tweak it in a way to create false intelligence among the commanders.
By analyzing this crisis situation, it remains imperative to counter China's A2/AD capabilities. Moreover, intelligence that is provided by platforms has to be protected. Further, concrete defensive steps have to be taken to mitigate any possibility of cyber offense from China.
US must focus on acquiring weapons system and must integrate these with advanced ISR system, so as to "see first and attack first". Any trade-off between the two would mean immense ripple effects. Prioritizing defense acquisition will mean less investment directed towards building the ISR capabilities while focusing solely on ISR capabilities would mean less military weight to deter the Chinese. More importantly, the integration between the two systems would work effectively counter China's A2/AD capabilities, hence keeping the world power balance intact.
Related Topics:ChinaGeopoliticsIndo-PacificSecurityUSA
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Master's student in Politics and International Studies at School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Areas of interest includes the Realist theories, Great Power Competition(USA-China), Politics in Southeast Asia, Emerging technologies and its impact on military strategy. Twitter @rahuljaybhay1
Why shouldn't Israel Undermine Iran's Conventional Deterrence
Rebalancing Act: China's 2022 Outlook
The Forgotten Analogy: World War II
Masoud Rezaei
When Naftali Bennett took over as the prime minister of Israel, it was expected that he would take a different approach compared to Netanyahu. This could be a probable expectation, save for the issue of Iran, since Iran is considered a consistent strategic and existential threat in the eyes of Israeli political and military officials same way that Israel has always been considered an enemy in the strategic culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, with the resumption of the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna, Israel has intensified its campaign for an imminent military strike on Iran. On the other hand, Iran has tried to create a balance of missile threat against Israel based on valid deterrence during the past years.
However, the level and the nature of performance and deterrence of these two influential actors of the Middle East are fundamentally different. While Iran has defined its deterrence based on hybrid missile deterrence concepts—including direct and extended deterrence—, Israel's deterrence is based on preemptive warfare, a.k.a. "immediate deterrence," irrespective of its nuclear capabilities, policies of "strategic ambiguity" and "defensible borders strategy."
From a direct deterrence perspective (i.e., the strength of a large missile fire from within Iranian territory) and given the extended and asymmetric dimensions (i.e., strengthening missile capabilities of the axis of resistance), the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that Israel will gradually become weaker and more fragile defensively, considering the importance of objective components in the area of deterrence—such as geographical depth and population, and this will derive Israeli leaders to consider their fragile security and survival before any attempt to take on a direct military confrontation with Iran. For instance, when the tensions over Iran's nuclear program escalated between 2010 and 2013 during the Obama administration, none of Iran's nuclear facilities was attacked, despite Israel's repeated expression of its willingness to do so. Former defense minister Ehud Barak justified this inaction with the pretext of Barack Obama's opposition and lack of support. In fact, the Netanyahu administration sought to instill this idea to the world that Israel has both the "determination" and the "ability" to attack Iran should this preemptive action not have been faced with Washington objection. The fact that Netanyahu still failed to implement the idea even during Trump administration—as John Bolton points out in the first chapter of his book—despite his overwhelming support for Israel, indicated the fact that Israel does not have independent military capabilities and determination to take such hostile action at no cost without the support of the US.
Therefore, despite the constant claims of Israeli officials, this country's general strategy so far has been to avoid direct military confrontation with Iran and to focus on less intense and covert warfare. This has changed since 2017 due to Israel's objection to pro-Iranian forces regaining the control over Al-Bukamal Qa'im border crossing on the Iraqi-Syrian border, and the consequent lack of a proportionate and retaliatory response from Iran to Israel's ongoing operations in Syria. In fact, inaction of Iran has allowed Israeli army to expand its campaign from northern borders and the Golan Heights (as the first ring) to the province of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, then to the depths of Iraq in cooperation with the US (as the second ring), and eventually, inside the Iranian territory (as the third ring). The expansion of Israel's subversive actions deep inside Iran is an effort to discredit Iran's deterrence as well as undermining Iran's strategic stability, while also dismantling Iran's military and nuclear capabilities.
In the meantime, Israel's embark on the strategy of Third-Circle Directorate based on intensifying low-level but effective military actions on Iranian soil has played a greater role in undermining Iran's conventional deterrent advantages. Israel's repeated operation and its recklessness in accepting responsibility for such actions has taken Israel's belief and determination that it can target Iran's assets and strategic resources inside and outside of Iran with numerous intermittent actions to a new level. Therefore, it can be said that while the previous positions of Israeli officials regarding the bombing and cessation of Iran's nuclear capabilities were mostly focused on the assassination of Iranian scientists, targeted cyberattacks, sabotages, and bombings of industrial, security, and military facilities, there is no guarantee that the Third-Circle Directorate would not extent to explicit and direct entry of Israeli fighters, bombers or ballistic missiles to bomb Iran's nuclear and military facilities in cooperation with the United States or independently.
If Israel mistakes Iran's inaction with inability to respond and decides to extend Mabam Campaign to air or missile strikes inside the Iranian borders, it should not be sure of the unpredictable consequences. Iran has not yet responded decisively to cyber-attacks, the assassination of its scientists, and the Israeli sabotages due to the fact that these actions have been designed and carried out in such a way that Iran has assessed the damage as compensable. That is, a long set of low-level attacks were conducted to change the state of the field without taking actions that justifies an extensive reaction. Iran's failure to respond to the recent Israeli attack on the port of Latakia is a clear example of the success and effectiveness of Salami Slicing strategy. Such strategies are designed to engage Iran in a polygonal dilemma: that it cannot respond to every individual military actions and small-scale sabotage, while inaction against these multiple small and non-intensive attacks will gradually result in losing its strategic position and deterrent credibility.
This very, unique Israeli strategy in military confrontation with Iran has reinforced the assessment of the Bennett administration about the serious weakness of Iran's conventional deterrence. As a clear case Foreign Minister Yair Lapid claimed that "Israel could attack Iran if necessary without informing the Biden administration, which is looking to rejoin the nuclear deal". This problem became more apparent after the assassination of the commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, especially in the last months of Donald Trump's presidency. In other words, if Tehran decided to respond directly to various Israeli actions, such as the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and attacks on its military and industrial centers, the risk of a war with Israel with the support of the US would increase. By the same token, this has in fact given Tehran an opportunity not to retaliate based on the concept of conventional strategic stability. That is, at this level of conflict, Iran's confidence in its ability to retaliate makes it easier for this country to limit and delay the response. From Iranian perspective, therefore, conventional strategic stability means preventing armed conflict in the Middle East, especially a level of conflict that directly threatens its security and territory.
However, if Israel tries to discredit Iran's conventional deterrence and strategic stability by launching a direct air strike into Iranian territory, Iran's retaliatory response will not be as limited and symbolic as the attack on the US base of Ain al-Assad in Iraq, because Tehran would face the so-called "Sputnik moment" dilemma, which forces it to test its missile credibility. In such a situation, Iran will be forced to first, launch a decisive comprehensive missile response against Israel and then change its deterrent structure from conventional to nuclear by leaving the NPT in order to contain pressure of domestic public opinion, maintain its credibility with regional rivals such as Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and even the Republic of Azerbaijan, and to reassure its proxy forces in the axis of resistance.
Indo-Pacific strategy and the new China-IDF relationship
Dr.Nadia Helmy
The signing of the United States of America (the new Aukus defense agreement and the Quad Quartet agreement with Japan, India and Australia), had significant future repercussions on the Middle East region and the balances of power and influence within it, given its great geopolitical importance, according to these new American agreements in the "Indo-Pacific region", China will have to (face a new strong defense alliance in the Indo-Pacific region, then transfer this entire Chinese conflict to the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear file and increase Chinese influence in the sea straits and waterways in the Middle East), an alliance welcomed by regional partners such as Japan. The three countries in the new US regional alliances and polarizations of "Japan, India, and Australia" also make it clear that such agreements with the United States of America are a (historic opportunity for them and their allies to protect common values and enhance security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region). On the other hand, we find that those American agreements and alliances in the "Indo-Pacific" region surrounding China will be reflected in one way or another and may increase in the Middle East, for China will have to transfer conflict and competition with Washington to the region, Israel and Iran, and this will have future consequences and repercussions. The countries of the region in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf, as follows:
The equation of competition between the United States and China in the Middle East has increased since the Biden administration took office, and here (placing the neutral countries in the middle became more difficult). One of the areas that may witness an escalation in the intensity of competition between the two sides is the Middle East.
To understand the vision of regional countries for their interests with the two powers, it is necessary to look at the initial indicators issued by the Biden's administration towards the region. It has become clear that the US administration has a desire to reformulate its approach towards the region, but (it is not yet clear how deep this American step and its impact on the regional security structure sponsored by the United States, especially in the Arab Gulf region).
The US Defense Secretary "Lloyd Austin" announced a comprehensive strategic review of the status of US forces around the world, including the Middle East. It seems that officials in the US Department of Defense "Pentagon" are tending to reconsider the status of US forces in the Middle East, which may be understood (not a condition of reducing them), in favor of increasing the size of the forces in the "Indo-Pacific" region.
At the present time, the Biden administration's focus was on (ending the war in Yemen, reviving the negotiation track over the Iranian nuclear file), and it did not show much interest in other pivotal files.
In parallel with the previous US approach, the US National Security Adviser "Jake Sullivan", reduced the number of Middle East experts in the US National Security Council, and significantly increased the number and hierarchy of Indo-Pacific experts.
Defense Minister "Lloyd Austin" also appointed three advisers to him, all of them are Asian experts, and none of them specialize in Middle Eastern issues, in contrast to the approach of all previous US administrations, due to the danger of China, according to the current US security strategy.
These American steps toward China reflect the Biden administration's vision of the world from the perspective of "the theory of the great power conflict", which prevailed during the Cold War, and the decline of the Middle East on its list of priorities.
On the Israeli-Chinese side, Beijing will try to play an increasing role inside Israel in order to bring about rapprochement with Tel Aviv at the expense of Washington. Here, we note the (extent and seriousness of Chinese companies sought to obtain contracts to operate the main Israeli ports, as Washington was particularly concerned about a Chinese company winning a tender to manage a port in Haifa, where the US Navy's Sixth Fleet is anchored).
Perhaps the future analysis will come in (China's attempt to play a challenge to American interests inside Israel, and China's future planning in order to manage all Israeli ports, and thus control the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea). Which is what Washington fears the most.
In addition to China's desire to invest and be present in vital infrastructure projects in Israel, (China is trying to obtain this advanced Israeli technology, and trying to obtain any monopoly information that can be harvested in China by Israeli companies to benefit from it in the aspects of Chinese progress and innovation), thus, he challenged American technological progress from the Israeli gate.
The most important and most dangerous for me, analytically, is the attempts of the People's Republic of China to obtain all Israeli trade secrets related to the United States of America, and even more dangerous in the future is (the rapprochement of the Chinese People's Liberation Army with the Israel Defense Forces, which relies heavily on advanced American equipment such as Fighter "F-35").
From my analytical point of view, the expectation remains that (if China succeeds in increasing its ability to exist, monitor and infiltrate the Israeli army), this may allow Beijing to obtain all American military technological secrets from Israel directly, and here is the danger for the United States of America being Israel is a conduit through which the (People's Liberation Army of China) "PLA" achieves greater parity with the US armed forces. This is what Washington is trying to confront from Tel Aviv to counter Chinese influence there, as the United States of America cannot in any way allow its military technology to fall into the hands of its main opponent, China.
Perhaps the final analysis here, is explaining that (the absence of American thinking of a clear strategy until now to confront the growing Chinese influence in the region and the world), and perhaps it is a continuation of the same approach of the "Trump's administration", as the United States shows interest in what it does not want, without presenting a clear vision of the results that you want access to this conflict.
China, Vietnam, Philippines and United States Sustainability in the South China Sea
Nabel Akram
The guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville during a replenishment-at-sea with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Harris/U.S. Navy/Flickr
Authors : Nabel Akram, Imran Altaf, Komal Tariq
Supremacy of any world power depends upon its control over the important Geo-strategic places. A hegemon must have influence over the Geo-strategic places. This rule is generally applied for every world super power. Other factors like the will to lead, economic, political and military factors are also important but these factors are restricted in a specific sphere of influence. Influence over Geo-strategic important places enhances the influence over other countries related to that place. Britain remained the superpower due to occupation of such important places. The US as a super power and hegemon, is enjoying influence over the Geo-strategic places in the world. The US has influence over Malacca Strait, Suez Canal, and Panama Canal etc. (Oral, 2012). On strategic places, the US is facing challenges from China and Russia. Russia has occupied Crimea the strategically important place in East Europe which covers black sea and offered a way towards Mediterranean Sea. On the other hand, China is struggling hard to get control over South China Sea (SCS). The SCS is an important Geo-strategic, Geo-economic and geopolitical place for world. It contains plenty of natural resources and the hub of fishing. It covers half of the world trade passage. The US has enjoyed strong influence in this place after WWII, but, now the US is facing great resistance from China. The US does not want to lose its influence in East Asia and the SCS. The US is struggling hard with the coordination of the ASEAN states, Japan, Australia and India. China is gradually strengthening its control over the SCS. Due to economic growth, China has got influence over regional countries. Most critical area of South China Sea dispute contains two groups of islands such as Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands. Paracel archipelago comes under the rule of China (The People's Republic of China, 2014). China has occupied this group of islands in 1974. Spratly islands are most disputed among China, Philippines and Vietnam (Ngo, 2017). This group of islands are under the different countries like China, Vietnam, Philippine, Malaysia and Taiwan. China has constructed seven artificial islands on this place (Southerland, 2016). The US has initiated Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in the SCS region with objective to contain China from establishing its hegemony in this region. It has increased the sensitivity of this issue in region (Harress, 2015).
Vietnam and Philippines both are the potential rival of China in South China Sea dispute. These countries have deep economic and diplomatic ties with China. Both countries are engaging China to set up alliances with the US and other important states for restraining and hedging China. Vietnam and Philippines are making efforts to strengthen their military setup against China. The US is providing its assistance to the rival states of China and opposing Chinese irredentist claim with the help of maritime law and the right of freedom of navigation in the SCS as an international sea. In this way, China has to face potential rivalry from the US, Vietnam and Philippines in SCS.
Philippines and Vietnam have huge trade and diplomatic relations with China for hedging China. Both countries even have strong economic and strategic relations with Chinese competitors like the US, Russia, Japan and India. In this way, both countries are reducing the risk. Vietnam is consistently building its military capabilities through strong economy and making alliances with the strong countries and international and regional institutions. There are following way which cause to hedging China.
For hedging China, Philippines and Vietnam are engaging China through a huge trade volume and interdependence. Vietnam has become the biggest trading partner of China. Mutual interdependence will cause to stop China from taking any aggressive action against Vietnam.
Philippines and Vietnam are developing diplomatic, political, party to party and people to people relations with China. This will help to know about the behavior of China towards Philippines and Vietnam over South China Sea dispute.
Philippines and Vietnam are focusing to increase its military strength. For this purpose, Vietnam has bought large military equipment from Russia and developed its military equipment complex in Vietnam for modernizing its military equipment with the help of Russia. Philippines has increased its military alliance with the US.
Vietnam has made alliances with world powers like the US, Russia, India, Japan etc. to secure itself against any aggression from China. For this purpose, it has engaged itself in many exercises and joint ventures with the US and many other countries.
Philippines and Vietnam has improved its relations with neighboring countries who can provide help in time of difficulty. This is the reason that Philippines and Vietnam are active in ASEAN forum.
China would play its role as a hegemon after the US. The US should contain China through its neighboring countries like Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Russia. To gain hegemonic status, it is necessary to become regional hegemon. John Mearsheimer supports regional hegemon. He gives example of the US that it first became regional hegemon in 1898 after Monroe doctrine and gained world hegemonic status after the WWII (Mearsheimer, 2004).
China has acquired economic and military power and about to become a regional hegemon. John Mearsheimer (2006) suggests China to gain hegemonic status; China must need to become regional hegemon and to get more power than its neighbors like Japan, Russia and India. China should increase its military strength and power. China has to regain Taiwan for establishing the status of regional hegemon (Mearsheimer, China's Unpeaceful Rise, 2006).
Rising security demands of China has unsecured the neighboring countries. Arm race has been started in East Asia region. Although, China has maintained good relations with its neighbors but they have strong concerns over Chinese security measures. China's largest economy and advanced military stimulate China to control its surroundings (Roy, 2013).
After open up policies, China has rapidly grown and become world imminent actor. To become a great power, China has to respond all challenges positively and set its priorities to overcome its drawbacks. In future, China should not claim its hegemony. China should need to advocate new world system with some reforms in economy and politics without claiming its hegemony (Bijian, 2005).
China is the largest trading partner of Vietnam. Vietnam's second largest export partner is China with 13.2 percent of its export. The US secure biggest trading partner with 21 percent of Vietnamese export and Japan secured third with 8.4 percent of Vietnam export. Vietnam's first largest import partner is China with 34 percent of its import and Japan secured fourth largest import partner with 6.4 percent of Vietnamese import (CIA, 2017). A huge numbers of Chinese foreign direct investment companies are working in Vietnam. It is estimated that about 833 companies are running their business in Vietnam in 2011. The quantity of these companies are increasing day by day and their total registered capital is 4.3 billion. There are following benefits of Vietnam for economic partnership with China;
Spratly Islands (Kalyan Islands Group) are the part of Philippines territory. KIG is the part of Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under UNCLOS 1982 (Palma, 2009). Philippines has filed a case against China and its historical claim of nine dash lines in International court of Tribunal in Hague in 2013. Court has given decision in favor of Philippines on 12 July 2016 but China has rejected the decision and remained adamant in its claim (France-Presse, Agence, July 8th, 2016). Philippines and Chinese relations worsen due to Philippines case and the ongoing problem in Scarborough Shoal and Chinese construction of new islands. This was the scenario when Philippines new president Rodrigo Roe Duterte took charge on 30 July 2016 (Philippine History, 2017) and initiated new strategy that is called strategic hedging. Although Philippines previous governments have close economic and political relations but current government is leading in this respect. Philippines started to engage China with a huge trade volume. Politically, Philippines has come closer to China (Shead, 2017).
The Geo-strategic position and bundle of resources are the main reason that China is very conscious to control this region whereas other regional actors like Vietnam, Philippine, Malaysia and Brunei are also active for sovereignty over these islands due to Geo-proximity and resources. The US as the global hegemon has become the part of this game and wants to get its part from these resources. This is the reason that it has established strong alliances with other stack holders against China and also provoking Japan, Australia and India against China due to this regional dispute. The SCS is important for the US for three purposes; first it secures the US trade and military, second, it is check to restrain and contain the Chinese hegemony in the East Asia region (Mustajib, 2016), third, it is necessary for the protection of the US allies like Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan and ASEAN member countries. On the trade basis, the SCS is the passage of the 5 trillion annual ships (Robinson, 2018) and ships related to the US trade and military activities are worth 1.2 trillion dollar trade with East Asian countries (Mustajib, 2016).
Peace lies in continuous diplomatic engagement of claimant countries of the SCS dispute. Any change in existing status quo might put the peace of whole region at risk. Philippines and Vietnam consider China as an assertive state. Both States want to establish close relations with China in order to stop China from assertive actions. The US has strong political, economic and military bilateral alliances with Philippine, Vietnam and other ASEAN countries. The US has launched the FONE operations in the SCS to contain China. These operations show that the US wants to sustain its hegemony in East Asia.
Competition to Find Solutions to Reduce Overfishing in Coastal Fisheries
The World Bank Coastal Fisheries Initiative – Challenge Fund (CFI-CF) is launching a competition to seek collaborative solutions to reduce...


This is the seediest hotel I've ever stayed in. To make matters worse, I've stayed there on no less than three occasions. The first two times were excusable – travelling through Europe in 1996, arriving and exiting via Amsterdam, it was cheap and functional for a couple of budget backpackers and we made do with it just fine. Returning to Amsterdam in 2007 and being silly enough to take mushrooms at 0830 in the morning after a night of no sleep – before organising a hotel – I found myself walking through their doors once again in the hope of a quick solution.
That was a very long day and something of a strange one – soaring highs and spirit-sapping lows. Originally planning to spend the night in Haarlem, on arrival in Amsterdam I ate some splendidly potent Venezuelan mushrooms and set off for the Van Gogh museum. The world before my eyes soon started its customary psilocybin dance and before long I was not only lost, but entirely unable to focus on my map nor read any of the street signs. Realising that I was significantly impaired, I made a snap decision to head straight for the central train station and take a train to Haarlem. I'd visited Van Gogh before and I figured that by the time I arrived in Haarlem I'd be sufficiently on top of things to find my way to the Frans Hals gallery. The late Renaissance and early Baroque was hardly a compromise, and the shrooms would offer enough in the way of impressionism.
Surprisingly, I was right, and had a wonderful afternoon wandering around Haarlem and looking at what seemed to be freshly painted Dutch Masters. The weather was stunning – a few degrees above, sunshine and wide blue skies. It was crisp and refreshing and there were windmills – enough said. Finding a hotel, however, proved more complicated than expected and as the day drew to a close, I left sweet Haarlem and made my way back to Amsterdam, a mere twenty minutes away by train. Now only interested in a quick solution, I headed straight for this hotel, whose location I remembered all too well. When they showed me this really rather disgusting room, I resigned myself to taking it.
It was a night to get through and not to remember, yet here I am remembering it. Indeed, after that trip around The Netherlands I wrote a poem, which was never finished, about the experience. I include it here below, perhaps the most appropriate home for it.
the bronzed canals to spirit essence.
rooves and lost myself in painted Delftware.
in a stealthy, growing complexity.
in a hotel that stank of suicide.
blaze on the weteringen, smashed in the Kinderdijk polders.


text:
News and PublicationsCurrently selected
Lambeth Borough Prescribing Committee
South East London Area Prescribing Committee
Primary Care Meetings
Staying Healthy in Lambeth Partnership Board
CCG Committee in Common
Tenders, procurement and contracting
Don't just go to A&E
It's okay to ask
Only ask for what you need
Help Us Help You in Lambeth and Southwark
People's Choice AwardCurrently selected
Unpaid Carer of the Year Award
Young Carer of the Year Award
The Innovation in Lambeth Award
The Lambeth Together Award - adult services
The Outstanding Contribution to Public Health Award
Lambeth Together Award - children's services
The Outstanding Contribution to Primary Care Award
The Kindess Award
The Putting People First Award
The Outstanding Contribution to Children Award
People's Choice Award
Winner: Deniece Campbell
Deniece is a carer for her young son who has autism. She is well known in Lambeth for her work advocating to improve the quality of life for children with special educational needs and disabilities, their parents and carers.
She supports a wide range of organisations, charities and contributes to a number of committees. Deniece has even set up her own support group and information hub for parents and carers.
Deniece also does a lot of work for the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community as well as hard to reach families, signposting them to useful information and updating them on what is going on in their local area. Nominees described Deniece as friendly, approachable and always willing to help.
We are so grateful to Deniece for all her work in Lambeth as a role model in many different areas. Her work has made a huge positive impact on some of Lambeth's most vulnerable people and their families.
Winner: Odette Haase, Health Care Assistant, The Corner Surgery
Odette was nominated by a number of patients and her colleagues for her fantastic work at The Corner Surger. She is passionate about helping people with long term conditions such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
She enjoys helping patients make positive changes in their lives. Odette works hard to educate people wherever the opportunity arises and can often be spotted out in the local community working with patients. You may have seen her checking the blood pressure of Lambeth residents at the annual Lambeth Country Show.
Odette was nominated multiple times and praised for her positive and enthusiastic approach with both patients and staff. Her caring and uplifting nature was highlighted as well as her efforts to ensure patients understood their conditions and felt empowered to take control of their own health.
We would like to thank Odette for always making her patients smile and giving them the confidence to manage aspects of their own health.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
German physicist
Klaus von Klitzing, (born June 28, 1943, Schroda [Sroda], German-occupied Poland), German physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1985 for his discovery that under appropriate conditions the resistance offered by an electrical conductor is quantized; that is, it varies by discrete steps rather than smoothly and continuously.
At the end of World War II, Klitzing was taken by his parents to live in West Germany. He attended the Technical University of Brunswick, graduating in 1969, and then earned a doctorate in physics at the University of Würzburg in 1972. In 1980 he became a professor at the Technical University of Munich, and in 1985 he became director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Ger.
Klitzing demonstrated that electrical resistance occurs in very precise units by using the Hall effect. The Hall effect denotes the voltage that develops between the edges of a thin current-carrying ribbon placed between the poles of a strong magnet. The ratio of this voltage to the current is called the Hall resistance. When the magnetic field is very strong and the temperature very low, the Hall resistance varies only in the discrete jumps first observed by Klitzing. The size of those jumps is directly related to the so-called fine-structure constant, which defines the mathematical ratio between the motion of an electron in the innermost orbit around an atomic nucleus to the speed of light.
The significance of Klitzing's discovery, made in 1980, was immediately recognized. His experiments enabled other scientists to study the conducting properties of electronic components with extraordinary precision. His work also aided in determining the precise value of the fine-structure constant and in establishing convenient standards for the measurement of electrical resistance.
…in 1980 the German physicist Klaus von Klitzing, while observing the effect at very low temperatures and under extremely strong magnetic fields, discovered that as the strength of the applied magnetic field is increased, the corresponding change in the voltage of the deflected current (the Hall resistance) occurs in a…
Resistance, in electricity, property of an electric circuit or part of a circuit that transforms electric energy into heat energy in opposing electric current. Resistance involves collisions of the current-carrying charged particles with fixed particles that make up the structure of the conductors. Resistance is often considered as localized in…
Hall effect, development of a transverse electric field in a solid material when it carries an electric current and is placed in a magnetic field that is perpendicular to the current. This phenomenon was discovered in 1879 by the U.S. physicist Edwin Herbert Hall. The electric field, or Hall field,…
June 28, 1943 (age 76)
Schroda
subjects of study
Nobel Prize (1985)
How Stuff Works - Science - Biography of Klaus von Klitzing


text:
2012ApJ...750...36D - Astrophys. J., 750, 36 (2012/May-1)
The tidal origin of the Magellanic Stream and the possibility of a stellar counterpart.
DIAZ J.D. and BEKKI K.
We present an N-body model that reproduces the morphology and kinematics of the Magellanic Stream (MS), a vast neutral hydrogen (H I) structure that trails behind the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively) in their orbit about the Milky Way (MW). After investigating 8x106 possible orbits consistent with the latest proper motions, we adopt an orbital history in which the LMC and SMC have only recently become a strongly interacting binary pair. We find that their first close encounter ∼2 Gyr ago provides the necessary tidal forces to disrupt the disk of the SMC and thereby create the MS. The model also reproduces the on-sky bifurcation of the two filaments of the MS, and we suggest that a bound association with the MW is required to reproduce the bifurcation. Additional H I structures are created during the tidal evolution of the SMC disk, including the Magellanic Bridge, the "Counter-Bridge," and two branches of leading material. Insights into the chemical evolution of the LMC are also provided, as a substantial fraction of the material stripped away from the SMC is engulfed by the LMC. Lastly, we compare three different N-body realizations of the stellar component of the SMC, which we model as a pressure-supported spheroid motivated by recent kinematical observations. We find that an extended spheroid is better able to explain the stellar periphery of the SMC, and the tidal evolution of the spheroid may imply the existence of a stellar stream akin to the gaseous MS.
Journal keyword(s): galaxies: evolution - galaxies: kinematics and dynamics - Galaxy: halo - Magellanic Clouds
Simbad objects: 11
To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2012ApJ...750...36D and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu


text:
package sms.news

import scala.xml.Node
import ec._
import com.google.common.hash.Hashing
import java.nio.charset.Charset
import sms.core.io.Reader
import sms.news.model.News
import sms.core.model.Conversions._
import sms.core.model.QueryDSL._
import scala.concurrent.Future
import dispatch.url
import sms.core.stock.StockTicker
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
import sms.core.dispatch.as
import sms.core._
import reactivemongo.core.commands.LastError
import sms.news.sentiment.analysis.SentimentAnalysis.default._
import sms.news.sentiment.analysis.SentimentAnalysis

trait NewsService extends Logging {

  case class Article(content: String, url: String)

  protected implicit def strToWebsite(body: String)(implicit url: String): Article = Article(body, url)

  private val hasher = Hashing.murmur3_128()

  protected def dtFormatter: DateTimeFormatter

  protected def baseURL: String

  protected def follow: PartialFunction[String, Future[Article]]

  protected def isValid(item: Node): Boolean

  private def hash(title: String, desc: String): String = hasher.hashString(s"$title;$desc", Charset.defaultCharset()).toString

  private def exists(item: Node)(implicit path: String): Future[(String, String, Boolean)] = {
    val title = extract(item, "title")
    val description = extractOpt(item, "description").mkString
    val h = hash(title, description)
    News.exists(News.hash === h).map(exists => (title, h, exists)).withFailDBLogging
  }

  private final def extractOpt(node: Node, field: String): Option[String] = {
    val seq = node \ field
    if (seq.size > 1) sys.error(s"Malformed rss $node")
    else seq.headOption.map(_.text)
  }

  protected final def extract(node: Node, field: String): String =
    extractOpt(node, field).getOrElse(sys.error(s"Malformed rss $node"))

  def fetch(ticker: StockTicker): Future[Seq[LastError]] = {
    implicit val path = baseURL + ticker.symbol
    log.debug("Fetching data for {}", ticker)

    Reader(url(path) OK as.xml.Elem).withFailReqLogging.flatMap { xml =>
      val futures = (xml \\ "item").foldLeft(Seq.newBuilder[Future[LastError]]) {
        case (acc, item) if isValid(item) => acc += exists(item).flatMap {
          case (title, hash, true) =>
            News.update(News.hash === hash, News.tickers +? ticker)
          case (title, hash, false) =>
            val url = extract(item, "link")
            log.debug("Adding news '{}' ({}) about {} to database", title, hash, ticker)
            follow(url).withFailDBLogging.flatMap {
              case Article(text, link) =>
                val model = News(hash, ticker, SentimentAnalysis.analyze(text), title, dtFormatter.parseDateTime(extract(item, "pubDate")), link)
                News.insert(model).flatMap(_ >>>(News, News.hash === hash, News.tickers +? ticker))
            }
        }
        case (acc, _) => acc
      }.result()
      Future.sequence(futures)
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
package io.webfolder.ui4j.api.event;

@FunctionalInterface
public interface EventHandler {

    void handle(DomEvent event);
}


Old + Older = New. Makes sense right?!
A little while ago I given some fabric and patterns which had belonged to my Great Grandmother Mabel, who I never had the pleasure of meeting. Mabel made all of her own clothes and undergarments, and was a concert pianist!
From the stash, circa 50's or 60's, I made this midi skirt. There were also a lot of off cuts, rolled together and secured with the selvedge of the fabric. I love the mindset of nothing wasted! This fabric was in that stash; it's beautiful!
There was not enough to make a whole top so I took a white linen shirt which I bought on my first trip to New York City in 1995 (wow, can't believe that was 20 years ago!). I rarely wore the top, but saved it all these years because of the memories attached to it.
Using my trusty New Look pattern 6194 I made myself a top. I love the classic style of this top. I didn't want to waste this special fabric on a "trendy" top that I wouldn't wear in a year or two. I made a couple of slight modifications to the pattern: I added length (standard for me!) and as I used an existing shirt for the back I didn't need to add the darts from the pattern on the back.
Ta da! A beautiful new top which I treasure. I hope Mabel would be proud of how I used her fabric scraps.
I used the pretty trim around the neck and to add sleeves.
Miss 3 in the background, who will be Miss 4 tomorrow!
50 or 60 year old fabric + 20 year old fabric = a new top full of special meaning and wonderful memories!
Lovely. You will be able to wear your top with everything too: jeans, shorts, skirts.
I would pay good money for this top! Your great-grandmother's fabric is beautiful and I love your creativity in combining it with your good-memory NYC linen top and adding the trim around the neck. Bravo!
What a beautiful top! love that you're putting the fabric to good use, and mixing old and new to ensure you get something wonderful you will wear and treasure!
What a gorgeous top and great way to mix fabric!
I love reading about your thought process. I do the same thing all the time, except the big difference is that I have someone else sew up my vision...that's the perk of living in a country where skilled labor is not too expensive ;) Thanks for sharing your refined style with the My Refined Style linkup.
How sweet and it looks great!
What a great idea! I have some favourites that are a little snug and this would make them wearable again. I'm getting that pattern ASAP! Just found you on IG. Great work.


International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that Elizabeth Snyder has joined the Firm's Minneapolis office as an associate. Ms. Snyder, who received a Certificate of Advanced Study in National Security and Counterterrorism Law from Syracuse University College of Law, will be a member of Dorsey's Firm-wide lawyer teams focused on Cybersecurity, Privacy and Social Media and on National Security Law.
Ms. Snyder received a J.D. degree from Syracuse University College of Law, where she participated in the National Security Crisis Law Invitational hosted by Georgetown Law School and The Syrian Accountability Project, Special Projects Team. She has an M.A. degree from the University of Virginia and a B.A. degree from Bowdoin College. She is a member of the New York Bar.


The Academy on Thursday announced the nine films that will compete for a nomination for the best foreign-language film Oscar.
The shortlist includes a number of expected entries, like Ruben Ostlund's Swedish art-world satire The Square, which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and the Russian drama Loveless, about a divorcing couple searching for their missing son and directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, which won the Cannes Jury Prize.
But it also has some striking omissions: Angelina Jolie failed to earn a nomination for her film First They Killed My Father, which was submitted by Cambodia and also has earned a Golden Globe nomination. And the list also failed to find room for France's submission, Robin Campillo's BPM (Beats Per Minute), about AIDS activists, which won the Grand Prix prize at Cannes.
The shortlist of films was chosen from a record 92 titles that were submitted by their respective countries. The selected films will now screen for committees in New York, Los Angeles and London, which will cast the ballots for the film nominees in the category, to be announced Jan. 23.
The 90th Oscars will be held Sunday, March 4, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and will be televised live on ABC. Nominations will be announced Tuesday, Jan. 23.


How might 'confidence and supply' work within coalition and as might be suggested withn a proposed comsitution ?
Just watching various media, what seems strange itt that all parties are struggling to delver coalition ? How might this 'seeming impasse' might need to be carefully considered withn any proposed constitution? How would C&S work with relations with the EU, NATO, the UN, etc???
Democracy in 'action' - involving 'us' and 'trusting us'?
How does a constitution deal with a succession of 'hung' Parliaments?
It seems that in 2015 we are moving towards another parliament which will be decided by 'negotianton' between parties that one might have voted for. Pragmatically, one must accept the government as established ... By broad or narrow coalition to enable viable government. However, what happens in relation to Constitutional amendments under a coalition? What might be the mechanisms for the constitution to encompass political difficulties between any parties with in a governing coalition?
Repealing or revising previously agreed amendments?
Just reviewing many posts, is any mechanism should or be enshrined within the proposed constitution for revision? I have posted upon this before but the enshrinement within a separate of constitutional law of mechanisms to stimulate discussion with relation to proposed amendments This is a very simple question. Who decides the mechanism? ... Supreme Court?, Constitutional Court?, regional assemblies etc.? Confused . Com?
What might be included within the proposed referendum question.
Is Magna Carta too much of a weight on any proposed 'new' constitution?
Which Parliament ... Or devolved administrations ... Or local authority?
Any proposed consituituion must contain core values relating to British citizens but must define 'accurately' the various divisions of governance within this country. It seems that all too often, there is constitutional and judicial confusion as to who does what to who? This 'confusion' would be a major of the compilers of the constitution ?
Party Alligence? How does local reflect national priorities under the proposed constitution?
Language of the constitution - how, who, when?
Who governs who? And for whom?
Describing, using and assessing the language of the constitution?
I am still unsure of 'multi member ' constituencies based upon geographical areas? Presumably, the Electoral Commission would have to decide but what would be the role of Parliament or devolved institutions. In assessing the 'potential change ' in the demographics of these seemingly rather arbitrary geographical areas? 'Straight proportionality ' does not allow for any 'shading' of the individual citizecn's vote ... Anotherwords, 'shading' however it is enacted, seems to be a better alternative!
Trigger mechanisms for constitutional referendum need to be more nearly defined. Certainly with reference to consitutional amendments that will essential rights and dignities the all citizens, referenda are certainly appropriate. With regard to treaty changes e.g. EU legislation/NATO etc. we elect representatives to Parliament to undertake these decisions on our behalf?
'The constitution will ensure essential human rights and dignities with full regard to treaties and concords agreed by Parliament and devolved institutions. It is a fundamental consitutional duty of Parliament and devolved institutions to maintain and sustain human rights and essential dignities that benefit the commonwealth of all citizens.
The constitution will ensure the human rights and dignities every citizen and Parlimaent and devolved institutions will together be responsible for this clause to be fundamentally maintained and sustained.
The constitution is 'owned' by all citizens, regardless of previous priveldge, birthright, and current status. All citizens are to be part of the constitution and shall be consulted with regard to proposed amendments which can be proposed by a group of citizens who, having the common interest of the consitutiion, and furthering the interests of all citizens, make proposals to amend. (a trigger mechanism would obvioulsy be required).New citizens must be made aware of the basic principles regarding the constitution but should be advised that failure to comply with its precepts would constitute an 'infringement' of Constitutinal law as interpreted by common law and as proscribed by a duly elected Parliament or with reference to Constitutinal laws as are able to be made by appropriately devolved institutions. However, all laws passed by devolved institutions must be and should be superseded if necessary, by the articles contained within the constitution.
feel free to shoot it down ... Just playing with language? I can already see problems?
Whilst I appreciate the 'spirit' of this proposal, for me, it is a bit clunky? Should the PM's ability to decide ministerial level and at whatever level be limited by constant votes in Parliament? Parliamentary business might be 'clogged up' for ever increasing amounts of time. I note the careful use of the word 'sole' in relation to initial appointments, but the proposal tends limit the PM's ability to 're-shuffle', not always a completely political 'spin'.. Sometimes, cabinet appointees are simply not up to job and the PM must be able to change the cabinet as circumstances dictate. Maybe Parliament should initially vote on the establishment of cabinet following a general election, but then give way to the PM subsequently In terms of movement within the cabinet. Perhaps midway through the Parliament, the government and cabinet should self submit to a 'sustaining ' vote ....this wouldn't necesserily trigger an election (currently it can't due to fixed term) but might provide for a health check on the efficacy of the executive. Welcome your thoughts!
l sent a quite detailed response in relatiion to the 'compentcies' that you described. I am curious as to why you might not have received this but maybe I replied in another Key question. I am at loss to understand because I did a fair amount of work on the possible interfaces might be undertaken under the proposed constitutional statement. Please reply.
I agree with Bob on this point. I am a fairly passionate supporter of PR but disagree with the notion that some form of AV is too complicated for the electorate. We have worked with this form of voting in devolved institutions since their inception as the whole nation does with Euro Parliament elections. PR does give a more balanced view overall of voter wishes but as Bob noted, a major campaign would be required to convince the electorate. I am not exactly sure that the exercise is entirely futile as how and when people vote has major implications.
Hi James, how would this work in the crown court. I appreciate that perhaps you are asking for a general oath relating to loyalty to the constitution ... Or perhaps not? I would ddefinitely prefer a single oath with the principles of the core constitution at its heart but it may have to have 'adjustments' for various purposes?
Bio Born 11.9.60. Bought up in Cardiff, Wales. Educated at St. Illtyd's College, Cardiff, the University of Durham where I completed a degree in music, the University of Manchester where I completed a post graduate certification in Education. Worked n three schools and ended career as a Headteacher of a junior school in Barry.


"I was thinking about my family and kids, and how I wanted to make it back home."
Country music star Eric Church is opening up about a terrifying health scare last year that required emergency surgery.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the "Springsteen" singer reveals he had a deadly blood clot in his chest. He had no idea he had a birth defect called thoracic outlet syndrome, which caused the clot.
Thoracic outlet syndrome occurs when blood vessels or nerves in the space between the collarbone and first rib are compressed, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can lead to blood clots in veins or arteries in the upper area of the body.
In June 2017, he was admitted to Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, where he says doctors believed he "was going to die."
But while watching the College World Series and texting someone about golf, his left hand stopped "responding like it should" and his arm was "noticeably red and enlarged."
Church Googled his symptoms and believed he had thrombosis of the arm, which is a blood clot inside a blood vessel. His wife, Katherine, was out of town, so he handed off his two children to the nanny and headed to a hospital in North Carolina, where doctors advised him to get an ultrasound at a location 25 minutes away in Boone. They wrapped up the IV in his arm, and he drove himself.
Eric Church and his wife, Katherine Blasingame Church, in 2017.
The ultrasound revealed a blood clot in his chest. Doctors told Church that immediate surgery was needed at Duke University Hospital in Durham. Because the vibrations of a helicopter could dislodge the blood clot, he was put on blood thinners and driven two and a half hours by ambulance.
Church was in recovery for three days and doctors removed his top rib one week later. The rest of his summer was spent rehabbing and, in September, he went back on the road.
Today, his nerves haven't quite completely healed, but luckily there's no long-term damage.


You are currently browsing the SeniorSeminar2011Spring weblog archives for the 'Uncategorized' category.
After reading the Invisible Man i can say I really did enjoy this story because it hits so many of the points of racism that African Americans face on a daily basis that many other writers fail to do.
In the book we are introduced to the narrator without a name already he is being invisible to the world. As the story goes on over and over again the narrator is being treated an the invisible figure to the world. Whether it is through his words, his actions, or his status the narrator is always looked over.
He is given the opportunity to prove himself over an over again. He is made fun of when he has to make a speech in front of a bunch of white men. He is then made to fight in the battle royal to prove his worth.
When he is in college trying to educate himself he gets kicked out because he did something wrong. He thought through his education he would be able to make his presence to the world.
But when he is kicked out he tries once again to prove himself and this time he joins the Brotherhood to bring awareness to the brutality African Americans face but again he fails.
The entire book is about this character who is in search of making a place for himself in the world of prejudices.
He fights to prove that he exist and is of equal to other races.
I think the authors use of this title is an excellent move because when a person is in a constant search to find where they belong to, it makes that person think as if they are invisible to the world. No one seems to acknowledge ones existence when they dont respect you. So this character that is invisible to the eye has gained no respect from the world around him.
After finishing the book the Ambassadors and then going back to the painting of the Ambassadors by Holebin i still found the many same similarties as i had the after the first time when i had approached these two topics.
The one thing that i had missed in the first view of the painting was the skull on the floor. Which we learned in class is referred to as an anamorphosis . I learned that many things in Holebin's painting is in one way or another a replica to the things in James' book and the skull plays as not just a skull but a very important symbol and theme in the book.
In my previous post I had thought the painting was invented after the book. I also felt that they were in some way connected to one another but when i learned they were not meaning the painting was not painted with the image of Stether in mind. However I learned that James based his book and the chratcters, events, and storyline according to Holebin's painting.
In the painting it has painted the image of two men, one wealthy and the other not so wealthy, James had used that to create his characters. One of the major themes in the book is rich versus poor. Most of his characters have the wealth seperating them from one another.
I also had seen many maps, compasses and globes in the painting, and in James' book we learn the enitre book takes place in the understanding of Europe and America, the entire book is about the exploration of Europe through the Americans.
When viewing the two men it is clear that James based his characters on the painting because Strether's character is resembled by the image of the less wealthy and unhappy man. Throughout the enitire book Strether is unhappy and in search for self revelation.
The skull plays a big role in the book because when Strether meets little Bilham, he tells Strether to live life to the fullest. The skull represents death and so i think the image relates to the book in that Strether is alive but not "living" He needs to learn to live. Which he learns at the end of the book.
The skull isnt only a way Strether can learn to live life but also a kind of summary for us as readers. I mean throughout the book I wondered what the skull stood for and then I realized that that was the purpose of the skull. In the early Renaissance such paintings were done so that the painting was a puzzle to the viewer and only after viewing it through a different angle were the viewers able to understand the painting. The same goes for Strether's case, throughout the entire book he is looking at life through all perspectives and then finally it clicks and he learns what life is.
The first that caught my eye when I looked at this painting was the two men and the difference in their clothing. While one is dressed looking very well groomed and wealthy the other seems to look very dressed down. One man is covered in fur and jewlery while the other is in raggedy clothes. Both men seem expressionless yet one can read so much from their faces. The wealthy man looks as if he is someone who is very hign class, withthe know it all attidude while the man who is poor looks like he doesnt really have a voice. He isnt someone who people would look up to. Looking at the picture and reading The Ambassador I felt was helpful because the book so far talks about the two differnt sides of class status, two differnt countries, and two different types of men and women. i was connecting the wealthy man to Chad and Waymarsh and the poor man to Lambert. I felt that the painting helped potray the wealth difference and the status difference that the book constantly talks about.
When I think of looking at the painting and then basing my view of the book on the painthing. I get the feeling it doesnt give me as much of a choice to be as creative. I felt that the painting kind of takes away the ability to make all the connections from the reading because you can point out the differences without the need for the book. I am not sure if this is making much sense. But what I think is the better way of understanding the image is to read the book and then draw the comaprison because then you can think more and be more creative rather than looking at the picture first and getting the feeling of the painting does all the explaining needed so why think harder. Sorry I dont even know if i am getting my point across its just hard to explain in writing.
Form is henceforth divorced from matter. In fact, matter as a visible object is of no great use any longer, except as the mould on which form is shaped." (Solnit 21) is what Holmes had said in the piece by Solnit. In her article shhe seems to be arguing aganist what james and holmes believe to be the correct way of preceving a photograph. Holmes believed that having a photograph of the original object was fine and in fact it was the best way to et the viewer to feel the realness and the closeness of the object. James argued that a photo can remind you of the event but it doesnt remind you of the feeling you would get if you were really there. He said the viewer doesnt get to "experience" the event in the photograph.
When we were asked about the motion pitures and what they presented and how did the affect the time and space. I wrote that motion pictures was a way to help the viewer see the impossible. In other words throug motion pictures we were able to shhhow scences that one can probably see only once in a life time. For example the piture of a horse up on all four feet. we know the horse can do it because we have the picture that it can do it, the only problem is that the horse wont do that act all the time. SO having these motion pictures were helpful in the sense that they helped capture the scenes that the eye would miss in a blink. This affected the time and space becuase the time limits the viewers understanding of the event or object it sees, because of the technology advancement was so rrapid the viewer was rushing with time to be able to understand the image and move on.
Muybridge's motion pictures was very interesting becuase it helped viweres see the images through different lenses The viewer was able to pinpoint the horse at differnt angels and how it moved.
While reading the work of both James and Carter I realized that they both seem to be following almost the same views on consciousness. Interesting thing is that James' interpertation dates back to the 1890s while Carter's is much more recent in 2002. Just from the dates I noticed that this topic on a way one observes things has been going on for so many years trying to establish a set ground or a set meaning for it.
When I read James' piece one line that stood out the most to me was "Immediately, after 0 [seconds], even before we have opened our mouths to speak, the entire thought is present to our mind in the form of an intention to utter that sentence" (280) here I thought that James view on preception is that one always has thoughts of the object. Our minds view the object, think of what it could be and then say well this is what it is. I think James tries to say that our eyes and minds work together. In James' piece i felt as though he was saying that the order in which we see things is very important, in the sense that when we are looking at an object what we first see, then second, third and so on is what out brain will pick up and put all together to make sense of it.
In Carter's piece she uses reading as a exapmle to prove her theory of consciousness, which is very simlar to James' Carter questions "Does your consciousness flow smoothly, continuously, and in real time? Or does it lurch along, punctuated by jump-cuts and freeze-frames, flashbacks and fade-outs" (Carter 12) as she tries to explain that your mind is countinuly processing words it sees on a page while you read. Your eyes read the indivdual words but it is your mind that makes seanse on it.
I feel taht both James and Carter seem to have the same thoughts in mind and that is that the thought of the human mind is continous. Both writers state that the mind is constantly thinking and the eyes are the factor used to help the mind think. What the eye sees is what the brain will make sense of, as proved in James' theory of the thoughts being continouus yet broken down in parts. Carter uses the computer reading as the exapmle, the rapid movement of the eyes that can be obtained by the computer shouws that the eyes are one source for seeing but the brain is the main source that works with the eyes to help percieve the object and make sense of it all.
Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous American poets of the 1800s. It was only after her death when her poetry was published and out came almost 1700 poems that she had written, leaving her readers to think of the many hidden meanings and depth behind her work. Her poems vary in range of themes but one theme that stands out amongst the many is the theme of "sight" or "seeing." After doing a thorough reading of her poetry it is very hard to depict what exactly Dickinson wants her readers to get out of her poems but how she wants them to "see" the poetry is very clearly presented. The readers of her poetry are to be able to vision her words as if they are images that can be seen. Dickinson's poetry helps readers see objects that are of two different spectrums through one lens similar to the stereoscope.
In her poem "The Brain is wider than the sky…" the reader is placed almost like on a globe where she has to run from one end of the pole to the other end and then somehow come back to the center and make sense of the whole thing. In this poem Dickinson describes objects that don't really connect but yet when really thought about a similarity can be found within them. Like the stereoscope where the image is viewed though the right and left eye and then the mind plays the devil's advocate and makes sense of the two images Dickinson's poem seems to be following in the similar footsteps.
When she writes her first lines of "The Brain -is wider than the sky- For-Put them side by side-The one the other will contain with ease- and you-beside-" as a reader what comes to mind is imagining a brain that is so big that the sky seems to be this little blue thing within the brain. If one really thinks about it it seems as if Dickinson is making a connection of what the outside world and the mind share. By her saying the Brain is wider than the sky it seems as if she is saying that the mind's ability to see things, understand things, and interpret things can be measured wider than the sky. Here is presented two different objects, the Brain and the sky yet in the mind of Dickinson they are similar because when a reader who actually looks at the two not through the physiological view but through the experience of the eye and mind as Crary states, the reader will be able to see the connection Dickinson is trying to construct.
In her second stanza she says "The Brain is deeper than the sea-For-hold them-Blue to Blue-The one the other will absorb-as sponges- Buckets-do-" she compares the Brain to a sea and the sea to being soaked by a sponge or in a bucket. In these lines you see that she is constructing the brain in the form of an object that absorbs things as a sponge does. She visualizes the brain as how she sees it and then compares it to the sea. She says the sea can be absorbed with a sponge and like that the brain can be soak in all the things it sees and construct things to the way it wants to see it. The stereoscope can be used to explain Dickinson's view again because here she uses the whole stereoscope theory of two dissimilar images that can be seen together to create a connection and meaning.
In the third stanza of the poem she says "The Brain is just the weight of God-For-Heft them-Pound for Pound- And they will differ if they do-As syllable from sound-" Here she says that the brain is just the weight of god in other words it seems as if she is saying it is the brain that give god its existences. When she compares a syllable to a sound it's like saying that a syllable gives a word structure while a sound keeps the word without a form. While looking at it from this perspective its seems as if she is suggesting that God is only in the mind and that it is the mind that gives God an existence.
Dickinson's poetry like the poetry of many other poets has been criticized, attacked, beaten through critics to get the real meaning out. Reading line by line each of her stanza's readers can try to pick up what she wants her readers to get out of her poem and what she wants them to see in her poems. When she writes the words to her poems it's like she takes words that can have simple meanings such as a brain but turn it so that one sees the brain in a totally different light. A reader may not ever think of a brain being as big as the sky but when Dickinson puts these images in the reader's mind it gets the reader to look at the brain through a different view. The fact that she allows her reader to take something as simple as the Brain and come out by the end of the poem with such a complex meaning for Brain is applaud worthy. She makes the reader look behind the basic images of a brain, sea, and sky to what they actually mean.
"In devising the stereoscope, Wheatstone aimed to simulate the actual presence of a physical object or scene, not to discover another way to exhibit a print or drawing." (Crary 84) The main point of the stereoscope was to allow the viewer to see the image as a "solid" object rather than a replica of it. Unlike the camera obscura, the stereoscope didn't not want to take the viewer away from the "realism" of the object but in fact bring them closer to it. Dickinson's poem "The Brain is wider than the Sky…" similarly to the stereoscope seems to bring the reader as close to the truth of the world as it possibly can. The fact that Dickinson constantly does this comparison between two different objects to prove a point of similarity between them shows that she is trying to bring her readers to a conclusion that objects can be viewed through different degrees but with the help of the mind the reader will be able to see the object's existence past just the physiological view of it.
The writing of Whitman I believe was duirng the American Civil War, the era of when patriotism was being seen though different lights. Here the war had started in the effort of having everyone look eye to eye on the issue of slavery, at the same time we had writers such as Whitman and Trachtenberg who wrote of the war through thier views.
Whitman's writing of the war was very imaaganative, when you read his work its almost as if you can see each even he writes happen in front of you. He tried his hardest to make his poetry of the war come out as "realistic" as possible.
He mentions "during the forenoon Washington gets all over motley with these defeated soldiers—queer-looking objects, strange eyes and faces, drench'd (the steady rain drizzles on all day) and fearfully worn, hungry, haggard, blister'd in the feet. Good people (but not over-many of them either,) hurry up something for their grub. They put wash-kettles on the fire, for soup, for coffee. They set tables on the side-walks—wagon-loads of bread are purchas'd, swiftly cut in stout chunks. Here are two aged ladies, beautiful, the first in the city for culture and charm, they stand with store of eating and drink at an improvis'd table of rough plank, and give food, and have the store replenish'd from their house every half-hour all that day; and there in the rain they stand, active, silent, white-hair'd, and give food, though the tears stream down their cheeks, almost without intermission, the whole time. (pg. 24-25) As you read these lines you can just picture these soldiers sitting in thier uniforms eating canned foods, with thier faces filled by dirt. You can imagine the blisters on their feet from old and worn out shoes.
While reading Trachtenberg's piece and viewing the photographs that go along with the reading, it seems that even thought the photographer wasnt there at the exact location when the events of the war occured he tried through his photography to bring the photo's as close to reality as he possibly could. "More important than who made each is how what was made came to be viewd as communication-how it came to have a meaning. it can be said that whoever may have authored Brady's images, "Brady" authorized them, gave them imprimatur. Indeed on the occasion he placed- we might say inscribed himself within the picture, clearly not as the photographer but as the impresario or producer of the event itself." (pg.5) Trachtenberg writes that his photographer tried to view the images as close to the reality of the war as he could.
Both the writers and the photographer, the ear of camera and the time matter of the civil war revolve around ones way of seeing things. The American war being viewd from two different angles, the north and south. The writing of Whitman, where he writes his poetry as close to the reality of the war. The photos in the writing of Trachtenberg, show the closest thing to what really happened in the war zones. All this shows the tiredless effort that authors and writers made to make the sure the viewers and readers were able to get a sense of the truth through their works.
Reading the works of Emerson makes me really think of all the choices i make on a daily basis of life.
While reading "Nature" i was awed by Emerson's words. We never really sit back and think to ourselves of why we follow certain traditions or beliefs. We believe the home remedies that our grandmothers have past down to us are the correct ways of curing illnesses but little do we think of experiencing this illness to today's nature.
We follow what other say and do without going out there and finding the answers to our own questions on our own. We rely on other opinions and then make their opinion our opinions. We don't look for answer on our own, we don't form our own way of knowledge. If we were to sit back and view our questions through the words of God and experiences of nature we would look at life in a total different way. We wouldn't be as materialistic.
Emerson's "Nature" and "Experience" go hand in hand because we learn that through our own experiences of life do we understand what life really is. Taking the shortcut and being a follower will give us no real understanding of the world. Life as Emerson says is a confusing experience and to follow what every other confusing person does only makes it more confusing. One should follow their own way of life to learn from the difference. Life becomes much more interesting and easy when you understand why you choose to do such and such.
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