14-Mar-18 World View -- Trump blocks Broadcom acquisition of Qualcomm over national security

[josa0512]

> I've been shopping for a laptop and I'm seriously considering
> buying a Lenovo Thinkpad. Since Lenovo is a Chinese multinational
> corporation and its computers are manufactured in China, do you
> feel that it's safe for me to buy a Lenovo laptop? Or would you
> recommend that I buy another brand of computer, such as
> Dell?

All I can tell you is that the heads of the intelligence agencies
would suggest that you buy an American-made product, with
chips from an American firm like Intel.

I agree but the further I dig, the more complicated it gets. Lenovo actually uses Intel chips in its Thinkpad T series and P series, which are the ones I'm interested in. I recently bought a refurbished Dell laptop from Dell outlet.com back in January but it didn't work properly (which means that they didn't do their job to make sure it worked before they sent it to me) so I had to return it. My first instinct is to buy American, but Dell sold me such a worthless piece of junk that even they recommended that I return it to them for a full refund. And I believe that Dell manufactures and assembles all of their laptops and personal computers in foreign countries now. I used to live in Austin and I want to support Dell but they don't make it easy. Lenovo could easily put spyware or malware in all of their computers so I definitely don't trust them. Any corporation based in China is obviously infiltrated by and partially controlled by the communist Chinese government. The Lenovo brand used to be owned by IBM but of course, IBM sold the brand to Lenovo and the U.S. government allowed the sale, which resulted in a transfer of technology. My father recently retired from the federal government (he was a civilian and he worked for the Army). He says that basically every day, 24/7, China is hacking into our government and military computers and stealing our military technology and secrets. For many years, and continuing to this very moment, there is an enormous transfer of top-level technology and highly classified military information from the U.S. to China via espionage, hacking, and cyber warfare. What I'm telling you is common knowledge within the U.S. government...and it's also common knowledge by insiders that the U.S. government and U.S. military are not adequately funding their cyberwarfare departments (which is one reason why the Chinese are having so much success stealing our military and civilian technology). If war does break out between the U.S. and China, China will have prepared quite a few surprises for us, I've no doubt. I'm sorry to be so pessimistic but I really don't have anyone else to share this information with. The average American doesn't understand nor even wants to understand the massive and enormously effective cyberwarfare campaign being waged against the U.S. government and military by the Chinese government. My father can't provide me details of exactly what military information the Chinese are taking from us because his information is classified but he says it would anger you and disgust you if you knew the depth and the details of it.

[John]

> I agree but the further I dig, the more complicated it
> gets. Lenovo actually uses Intel chips in its Thinkpad T series
> and P series, which are the ones I'm interested in. I recently
> bought a refurbished Dell laptop from Dell outlet.com back in
> January but it didn't work properly (which means that they didn't
> do their job to make sure it worked before they sent it to me) so
> I had to return it. My first instinct is to buy American, but Dell
> sold me such a worthless piece of junk that even they recommended
> that I return it to them for a full refund. And I believe that
> Dell manufactures and assembles all of their laptops and personal
> computers in foreign countries now. I used to live in Austin and I
> want to support Dell but they don't make it easy. Lenovo could
> easily put spyware or malware in all of their computers so I
> definitely don't trust them. Any corporation based in China is
> obviously infiltrated by and partially controlled by the communist
> Chinese government. The Lenovo brand used to be owned by IBM but
> of course, IBM sold the brand to Lenovo and the U.S. government
> allowed the sale, which resulted in a transfer of technology. My
> father recently retired from the federal government (he was a
> civilian and he worked for the Army). He says that basically every
> day, 24/7, China is hacking into our government and military
> computers and stealing our military technology and secrets. For
> many years, and continuing to this very moment, there is an
> enormous transfer of top-level technology and highly classified
> military information from the U.S. to China via espionage,
> hacking, and cyber warfare. What I'm telling you is common
> knowledge within the U.S. government...and it's also common
> knowledge by insiders that the U.S. government and U.S. military
> are not adequately funding their cyberwarfare departments (which
> is one reason why the Chinese are having so much success stealing
> our military and civilian technology). If war does break out
> between the U.S. and China, China will have prepared quite a few
> surprises for us, I've no doubt. I'm sorry to be so pessimistic
> but I really don't have anyone else to share this information
> with. The average American doesn't understand nor even wants to
> understand the massive and enormously effective cyberwarfare
> campaign being waged against the U.S. government and military by
> the Chinese government. My father can't provide me details of
> exactly what military information the Chinese are taking from us
> because his information is classified but he says it would anger
> you and disgust you if you knew the depth and the details of
> it.

Unfortunately I'm not surprised by any of this. I keep track of
Chinese hacking to the extent that I'm aware that commercial companies
are hacked frequently, and there must be lots of others that aren't
reported publicly. So I'm well aware of this, and not surprised that
military companies are hacked as well. I'm just glad that it's very
unlikely that I'll live long enough to see how it all turns out, and I
feel sorry for all the people who will.

[Guest]

So, this will take place decades, not years from now?

[John]

> So, this will take place decades, not years from now?

It could happen next week, next month, next year, or whenever
the Chinese decide.

[Cynic Hero 86]

> So, this will take place decades, not years from now?

It could happen next week, next month, next year, or whenever
the Chinese decide.

The Chinese have taken none of the traditional steps toward that signal mobilization for war. They have not severed trade, ordered their citizens back to China or recalled their ambassador and most of their diplomatic personnel. They have so far not carried out mass propaganda campaigns within China either. When it looked like China and India would go to war, they briefly made signs of war mobilization but that has since quieted down (although a renewed showdown at Doklam is likely). Serious Wars require mass mobilization. Finally the very definition of war means there are two sides shooting therefore US measures should be mentioned in reports as well. China opening a battlefront at Taiwan is not the end of the world, soldiers would have be mobilized to fight and die.

[John]

> The Chinese have taken none of the traditional steps toward that
> signal mobilization for war.

From my article:

> Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei, a former Red Army engineer.
> China has been preparing for war with the U.S. in every possible
> way. They've built large, illegal military bases in the South
> China Sea, and repeatedly lied about them. They've developed
> numerous nuclear-tipped ballistic and hypersonic missile systems
> designed to successfully strike and destroy American aircraft
> carriers, American cities, and American bases. They've
> demonstrated a capability to destroy American communications and
> GPS satellites. They have thousands of missiles ready to launch
> against Taiwan, and they have large military deployments in
> western Tibet ready to invade India.

[Cynic Hero 86]

The Chinese have not taken the traditional Irrevocable steps that once taken means war is imminent. They have Not recalled their ambassador and most other diplomatic personnel or evacuated their citizens from likely enemy countries. They have not Seriously redeployed their Military into wartime Jump-off points either. A military regiment at the Indian border is not a big enough redeployment, I'm talking of an entire army or even an army group. Their Fleet has not been deployed into a wartime stance. Their Missiles have not been moved en masse underground or into hardened silos, except the ones that are always in hardened positions. Their Civil Defense has not been revived either.

[John]

> The Chinese have not taken the traditional Irrevocable steps that
> once taken means war is imminent. They have Not recalled their
> ambassador and most other diplomatic personnel or evacuated their
> citizens from likely enemy countries. They have not Seriously
> redeployed their Military into wartime Jump-off points either. A
> military regiment at the Indian border is not a big enough
> redeployment, I'm talking of an entire army or even an army
> group. Their Fleet has not been deployed into a wartime
> stance. Their Missiles have not been moved en masse underground or
> into hardened silos, except the ones that are always in hardened
> positions. Their Civil Defense has not been revived either.

How many of those things did Japan do before attacking Pearl Harbor?

How many of those things did the South do before attacking Fort
Sumter?

[Cynic Hero 86]

> The Chinese have not taken the traditional Irrevocable steps that
> once taken means war is imminent. They have Not recalled their
> ambassador and most other diplomatic personnel or evacuated their
> citizens from likely enemy countries. They have not Seriously
> redeployed their Military into wartime Jump-off points either. A
> military regiment at the Indian border is not a big enough
> redeployment, I'm talking of an entire army or even an army
> group. Their Fleet has not been deployed into a wartime
> stance. Their Missiles have not been moved en masse underground or
> into hardened silos, except the ones that are always in hardened
> positions. Their Civil Defense has not been revived either.

How many of those things did Japan do before attacking Pearl Harbor?

How many of those things did the South do before attacking Fort
Sumter?

Japan DId all of these things except recalling the ambassador (the Japanese did appoint a emergency envoy with resulted in the infamous incident of the declaration of war note arriving after the first bombs had hit). Japan had mobilized their entire navy throughout 1941 and their army had already been fully mobilized for years since they were already at war with China and had a hostile border with the Soviets. Most Japanese Citizens had been evacuated starting in summer 1941 and the last Japanese transport ships left the US in the few weeks prior to the start of the war.

The South was Not an Independent country prior to Fort Sumter but they had already expelled federal troops from most bases in the south and everyone knew that they would come to take Fort Sumter soon.

[John]

> Japan DId all of these things except recalling the ambassador (the
> Japanese did appoint a emergency envoy with resulted in the
> infamous incident of the declaration of war note arriving after
> the first bombs had hit). Japan had mobilized their entire navy
> throughout 1941 and their army had already been fully mobilized
> for years since they were already at war with China and had a
> hostile border with the Soviets. Most Japanese Citizens had been
> evacuated starting in summer 1941 and the last Japanese transport
> ships left the US in the few weeks prior to the start of the
> war.

* So Japan didn't withdraw its ambassador. The Chinese today have
ended relations with any country that has relations with Taiwan.

* Japan mobilized their Navy: China has been mobilizing its navy in
the South and East China seas for years in preparation for war, and
has even mobilized thousands of fishing boats to conduct surveillance
to back up the navy. Furthermore, China's navy has been creating its
"string of pearls" bases all across the Indian Ocean, with a full
naval base in Djibouti.

* So Japan didn't mobilize its army, since they were already
mobilized. China has thousands of missiles pointed at Taiwan,
and China has been building infrastructure on the Indian
border in preparation for its war with India.

* Japanese citizens were evacuated from the US -- that's because
Americans hated the Japanese, so a lot of Japanese wanted to leave.
Note that Germany did not evacuate its citizens, since Americans liked
the Germans. The same is true of attitudes toward the Chinese today,
which is the opposite of attitudes towards the Japanese in the 1930s.
Also:

** 18-May-14 World View -- China evacuates 3,000 citizens from Vietnam, fearing more violence
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e140518

In addition:

Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei, a former Red Army engineer. China
has been preparing for war with the U.S. in every possible way.
They've built large, illegal military bases in the South China Sea,
and repeatedly lied about them. They've developed numerous
nuclear-tipped ballistic and hypersonic missile systems designed to
successfully strike and destroy American aircraft carriers, American
cities, and American bases. They've demonstrated a capability to
destroy American communications and GPS satellites. They have
thousands of missiles ready to launch against Taiwan, and they have
large military deployments in western Tibet ready to invade
India.

By your own criteria, China is preparing for war far more thoroughly
and aggressively than Japan ever did.

> The South was Not an Independent country prior to Fort Sumter but
> they had already expelled federal troops from most bases in the
> south and everyone knew that they would come to take Fort Sumter
> soon.

"Everyone knew that they would take Fort Sumter" is only true in the
same sense that in the 1930s "everyone knew" that Churchill was right
the UK would be at war with Hitler, or that today "everyone knows"
that we'll soon be at war with China.