Posts by fulltimestudent

5

China Opens World's First Quantum Communications Line

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the people's daily reports the opening of the world's first, totally secure, quantum communications line.

the line connects shanghai to beijing and some points in between.. .

guests attend the opening ceremony of the jing-hu, or beijing-shanghai,trunk line, in beijing, capital of china, sept. 29, 2017. .

fulltimestudent

The People's Daily reports the opening of the world's first, totally secure, quantum communications line. The line connects Shanghai to Beijing and some points in between.

Guests attend the opening ceremony of the Jing-Hu, or Beijing-Shanghai,Trunk Line, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 29, 2017.

The line also connects to the world's first quantum satellite which has been in operation for some months.

More information at: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2101071-china-launches-worlds-first-quantum-communications-satellite/

and http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0930/c90000-9275699.html

For a description of the international research goals to date, check this Australian National University web-site: http://photonics.anu.edu.au/qoptics/Research/securequantumcom.html

32

A Korean Tragedy

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies.

and, my intention, as i sat down to write of those tragedies for a fb page i look after for a macquarie university student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events.

but east asia history is complex and i think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

fulltimestudent

A Korean Tragedy.

The Back Story. 4. Russia, Japan and Korea. (continued)

Above all, from the viewpoint of this discussion, the Qing Empire renounced all influence in Korea, but Russia, not Japan that won immediate influence in Korea. There was a Korean political group that wanted to allow stronger Japanese influence, but a stronger group wanted more Russian influence. The King even ruled Korea from the Russian Embassy for a period. This was something that the Japanese could not tolerate. The Japanese government offered a compromise to the Russians. The Russians could have Manchuria and Japan would have Korea. The Russians refused they wanted an all-year naval base in Port Arthur (Now called Dalian again).

After negotiations broke down, the Japanese navy made a surprise attack on the Russian Eastern fleet in Port Arthur, destroying most of the Russian ships. That was the commencement of the Russo-Japanese war. The Tsar sent a second fleet from Europe. The Japanese navy waited in ambush and destroyed that fleet too.

The war hung on until a peace was negotiated by American President Theodore Roosevelt in the so-called Treaty of Portsmouth.

For the first time in modern history (from a western viewpoint) an Asian nation had humiliated a European nation in a war. It was difficult for some to accept.

Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany was warning of a ‘yellow peril,' and that Japan and China would unite against Europe.

"Twenty to thirty million Chinese, supported by a half dozen Japanese divisions, led by competent, intrepid Japanese officers, full of hatred for Christianity—that is a vision of the future that cannot be contemplated without concern, and it is not impossible. On the contrary, it is the realisation of the yellow peril, which I described a few years ago”

And Japan? Japan gradually absorbed Korea, and in a few years declared it part of Japan

32

A Korean Tragedy

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies.

and, my intention, as i sat down to write of those tragedies for a fb page i look after for a macquarie university student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events.

but east asia history is complex and i think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

fulltimestudent

A Korean Tragedy.

The Back Story. 4. Russia, Japan and Korea.

Russia had taken control of Siberia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this brought certain tensions between the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire which now controlled China. After some conflict a relationship developed until in the general melee occurring during the European incursions into East Asia, the Russian Empire grabbed a chunk of the Qing (Manchu) homeland, the section of land where Vladivostok now stands. Russia also wanted some of the action in the weakened Qing Empire.

In 1853 the USA decided to join the fun and the U.S. government sent a fleet to “open Japan” Faced with the problem of superior weapons that the Americans showed off, the Japanese Bakufu (Military government) decided to allow access. ( A website of the U.S.State Dept. Office of the Historian has a reasonable summary of the event ( https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan ). It should be noted that Japan had previously allowed greater access to the Portuguese in Nagasaki, and the Jesuits had established a base in Nagasaki. The Bakufu eventually cancelled that permission (after claimed abuse) and massacred the Catholic converts. The Dutch were allowed limited trading rights after that.

Events moved quickly in ‘open’ Japan. A rebellion destroyed the Bakufu government and a new government set about ‘westernising’ (if you think that’s a good term). Japan also had Imperial ambitions and closely watched how the “West” went about doing things.

Japan had some good teachers, as they watched the semi-colonisation of China. In the 1880’s France decided they wanted to control Vietnam. Vietnam had a close association with Qing China, and this brought conflict between France and the Qing Empire. A war (the Sino-French war, December 1883 – April 1885) developed. One of the first French actions was to sail a naval fleet into the harbour where a Chinese fleet (the Nanyang – South fleet) was based at Mawei part of Fuzhou city, and without any declaration of war, started firing, destroying most of the Chinese ships and a new machine shop (one of the largest in the world at that time).

I assume the Japanese watched closely, why? Because that was a technique they later used against the Russians and in December, 1941 against the USA.

It’s difficult to quickly describe all the complex moves behind my simplified summaries, and none more so than with the next major conflict in East Asia. In July 1894, Japan and China became involved in what is known (in the west) as the First Sino-Japanese war. It was a move by Japan to expel the Qing Empire from Korea. Japan’s armed forces showed great skill. The Japanese army was trained and advised by Imperial Germany. It was the advice of the head of the German mission that Korea was a geographical threat to their security. The Japanese Navy was trained and advised by the British Navy, at that time, surely the best in the world.

The Japanese won easily. There Navy destroyed most of the Qing Northern fleet. The Japanese army was able to win control of large parts of Manchuria (now the North East provinces of modern China).

In the ensuing peace negotiations, Japan took control of Taiwan, the Liaodong Peninsula and the Penghu Island, “in perpetuity.” The Qing government also had to pay 13,600 tons of silver to Japan as war reparations (that was 6.5 years of government revenue for the Japanese). A second treaty made the Qing concede to the Japanese the right to navigate the Yangzi River deep into the Chinese heartland, and the right to establish factories in any “Treaty” Port.

Japanese beheading Chinese Pows.

The failure of the Qing in this war caused deep resentment in China, and it can be argued, that the end of the Qing became inevitable. By 1911 the Qing would abdicate, but the Revolution that toppled the Qing would continue until 1949 and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

From a global geo-political viewpoint, Japan’s victory meant that Japan supplanted China as THE political power in East Asia

19

marriage"equality" survey, Australia.

by zeb in

jw
friends

the australian govt has set out a survey to see if people are in favour of changing the marriage act to include same sex couples.. hm here have received their papers?

the survey promises to be anonymous but has a substantial bar code at the bottom... anonymous yeah right.. the marriage act once said "two people" then a previous prime minister changed it to say "man and woman" all that is needed to amend this situation as required by the gay community is change it back again to "two people" there, done and dusted.. and millions of dollars need not be wasted on this survey which is not compulsory as is voting in australia.

can anyone here who still goes to kh tell us if this has had a ruling from the platform?.

fulltimestudent

This exercise by the federal government may be interesting in the future. Why? Because the current form of democracy in use, is to choose between one of a number of oligarchies that could form a government. But the resulting government will often act in a way that is against the will of the majority (w.hich has other issues, but that's for another time).

Before John Howard obeyed our current hegemon and joined in the second Iraq war, there were huge mass demonstrations against being involved in the war. I went to one in Sydney. the enormous crowd filled most of the streets between George St. and Hyde Park and Martin Place to Liverpool St. But Howard took no notice of the people's wishes.

In the future, surely, they must allow the people to express their opinion.

Its called Participatory Democracy, as against Representational Democracy.

Do you think that's going to happen?

56

Human Origins

by cofty in

fantastic graphic produced by the smithsonian institute illustrating human origins.

click on any of the group or species labels for more detailed information.. meet your ancestors here....

fulltimestudent

Ruby456: "... the scientific method requires doubts to be investigated and helps us build scepticism which leads to testing for evidence."

Absolutely! The reason why most of us (likely) fell victim to the virulent form of xtianity that worships yhwh and his jesus sidekick, is that we lacked adequate cognitive skills. I repeat my (these days) favourite quotation:

"A student must first of all learn to doubt" (Zheng Yi, 12th Century scholar).

We all probably did have some doubts at first, but our lack of cognitive skills, meant that we were not able to truly examine what we were being taught. That was true, particularly if a relationship had been established with the person teaching us, because then we'd be affected by the "liking bias." We can easily understand the importance of that issue, as witnesses, once a HH took a dislike to us (for whatever reason) we would never be able to start a study.

And there are some outstanding examples of christian's lack of cognitive skills, currently on display in Australia's debate over the same sex marriage issue. No doubt that's because in a modern multicultural society personal views of a law giving divinity should not restrict the rights of others, So the "no" campaign does not focus on the key issue, but using a combination of the 'slippery slope' and 'red herring' fallacies, the christian side is claiming that if two people of the same sex can marry, then boys will be made to wear dresses to school. But what else would we expect christians to do?

Ruby 456: " ... I too am fascinated by human origins especially how we developed our cognitive powers. there have been many theories re this. One theory puts our ancestors as the hunted. while not taking this theory too seriously but giving it the seriousness that it deserves I can see how being prey may have caused our ancestors to develop intelligence, cunning and deception."

I'm guessing that you're referring to the dual thinking concept. That is, at one level, we make quick decisions. If that is really a predator lurking near by, our survival may depend on fast thinking - a quick response. We often see that sort of thinking by 'hunted' animals, and once one is spooked, many may also react (herd response). Young animal's may instinctively be fast thinkers. Whereas, the cultivation of good cognitive skills takes time and thought.

If this is a new thought to some, you could check out these sites. But don't just accept, consider it carefully.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/nobel-prize-winner-this-is-the-difference-between-thinking-fast-and-slow-2012-6

and contrast these claims

http://schoolofthinking.org/2012/02/are-you-a-slow-thinker/

" ... Starting from the conflict-based I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong premise logic traps the thinker into defending his viewpoint against any suggestion of change (because “I-am-right!”). It becomes difficult, even impossible, for the thinker to escape from his own point-of-view. To think outside-the-square.
Programmed into your brain by the education systemÂ logic was designed by the Roman church for Europe and then spread around the world by missionaries. It was imported into Australia, along with rabbits, 200 years ago. Designed to defend ‘truth’ logic is driven by judgment.Â Once the thinker judges something as either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ their enormous brainpower is then devoted to defending that opinion. This makes it very difficult for the thinker to escape from his opinion to find a much better one."

Which leads us into the Dunning Kruger Effect:

The entire world is currently watching the problems that can arise (as an example) when someone, say the Leader of an influential nation, has formed an opinion without considering wider aspects of an issue. So that he/she doesn't know what they don't know.

Example: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-12/trump-s-dangerous-disability-it-s-the-dunning-kruger-effect

32

A Korean Tragedy

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies.

and, my intention, as i sat down to write of those tragedies for a fb page i look after for a macquarie university student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events.

but east asia history is complex and i think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

fulltimestudent

A Korean Tragedy.

The Back Story 3. The Qing Empire and Korea.

As summarized in the previous entry the Manchus became the dominant political power in N. E. Asia. Nurhaci, an ambitious local ruler, once swearing loyalty to the Ming, began to organize an attempt to win control of China. In 1636, under the name of the Qing dynasty Korea was invaded and the Joseon Dynasty was forced to cut off their relationship with Ming China and submit to a vassal status to the Manchurian Qing. By 1644 Qing armies were in Beijing and on their way to control of China. During the years when the Qing Dynasty controlled China, Korea had a close relationship with the Qing, but by the beginning of the 20th century that relationship had weakened and would soon prove to be useless.

In the above 400-500 years of history Koreans experienced many tragedies, but the worst tragedies were still to come.

In the nineteenth century ambitious European powers began to seek to colonise East Asia. At first East Asians – Japan, Korea and China in particular attempted to close their borders to these new aggressions.

And, it is in the political machinations that occurred under the pressure of European aggression that today’s Korean tragedy began to unfold.

Around China's borders, under both the Ming and Qing regimes, relationships were built with most neighbour states, not just with Korea.** Most of those relationships revolved around what we may call today a "favoured nation' status. That is, a right to trade with China. These relationships could be widespread, for example the Ryukyu Kingdom, centred on what is now Okinawa had a relationship with Qing China. In the Philipinnes (before the Spanish) a small kingdom had a relationship with China. The north of Vietnam was in a tributary relationship with Qing China, as did a northern section of Burma (now Myanmar). Tibet also had submitted to the Qing before the Qing took control of China. Tibetan Buddhism was the form of Buddhism used by the Imperial Qing family.

However, under pressure from various European states, Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia, all these previous alliances and relationships came under pressure.

The reactions of the key states, China, Japan and Korea. was to close their borders. As a policy it failed.

** A list of tributary alliances can be found in this Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tributaries_of_Imperial_China

32

A Korean Tragedy

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies.

and, my intention, as i sat down to write of those tragedies for a fb page i look after for a macquarie university student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events.

but east asia history is complex and i think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

fulltimestudent

A Korean Tragedy.

The Back Story. 2. Ming China, Korea and Japan.

Continued.

Additional details in this section go some way to explaining the deep seated hatred in the Korean psyche towards the Japanese. Beginning approximately in the 1559's Japanese raiders began hitting Korean coastal towns and villages.In 1592 a very large Japanese army landed at Pusan, overwhelmed the local Korean forces and commenced a three pronged march toward Seoul. The initial response of the Korean government was weak, and the situation was only partially saved by the spontaneous formation of guerrilla groups known as 'uibyong' (righteous armies). A Ming Chinese relief Army also arrived in Korea and eventually forced the Japanese to retreat. A second Japanese attempt in 1597 was also repulsed, The cost to Koreans during this seven year period national defense was great. There was a marked decrease in the population, due not just to deaths in the war, but also the famine and disease which ravaged most of Korea. So even after a regime change in Japan and the restoration of a relationship between the two states, Koreans generally retained a deep animosity towards the Japanese.

That Korean-Japanese war also caused other problems in East Asia. Its possible to mark the decline of the MIng dynasty in China from that war, so that by 1644, the rising Qing were able to just march through an opened gate in the Great Wall and begin their long-planned conquest of China. For around the next 250 years China was subjected to Manchurian rule.Of course, while many Chinese wanted (and planned) to expel the Manchus, other cultural forces were at work, and eventually the Manchus, became "Chinese," so that today, the former Manchuria, generally known now as the 'Dongbei' (the North east) is just another part of China. During those years of Chinese decline, the Manchu's (the Qing) also commenced forcing the Koreans into a vassal status.

32

A Korean Tragedy

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies.

and, my intention, as i sat down to write of those tragedies for a fb page i look after for a macquarie university student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events.

but east asia history is complex and i think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

fulltimestudent

A Korean Tragedy.

The Back Story. 2. Ming China, Korea and Japan

1. By 1370 the last of the Mongolian armies left China, but did not give up on efforts to regain, at least control of some areas, of China. Because of that constant threat, China under the Ming has been described as an armed camp, with an army of one million. That’s the time when the Great Wall, that was already over 1500 years old (parts anyway) was rebuilt with masonry walls, as you can see near Beijing today.

------------------------

Tomorrow (hopefully)

1. The Qing Empire and Korea.

1. Russia, Japan and Korea

Korea divided

Korea’s darkest time

32

A Korean Tragedy

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

the modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies.

and, my intention, as i sat down to write of those tragedies for a fb page i look after for a macquarie university student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events.

but east asia history is complex and i think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

fulltimestudent

The modern history is full of deep, dark tragedies. And, my intention, as I sat down to write of those tragedies for a FB page I look after for a Macquarie University student society, was to tell the story of these very dark contemporary events. But East Asia history is complex and I think its helpful to try to have an overview of that history to understand what has happened in the recent past.

A Korean Tragedy.

The Back Story. 1. The Mongols, Korea, China and Japan

In the first decade of the 13th century, Chingiis Khan and his armies commenced small scale raids into one of the smaller Northern Dynasties of China, but it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan had conquered sufficient territory to declare himself the Emperor of China.

While attempting to subdue Chinese opposition, the Mongol army first invaded Korea, *in 1231) there was strong resistance and only in 1259 did the King sue for peace with the Mongols. However, some army units continued resistance until 1273. The Mongols, having achieved control of most of East Asia, now sought to invade Japan, using Chinese and Korean resources. In 1274, a combined army of Mongols, Chinese and Korean troops sailed on some 800 ships on the first of two ill-fated invasions. Despite having superior weapons (e.g. poisoned arrows, fire arrows, bow-launched arrows with small rocket engines attached and gunpowder-packed exploding arrows and grenades with ceramic shells thrown by slings to terrify the enemy's horses), the invaders were defeated.

The Mongol military machine was not about to give up. They organised a second invasion force. According to some sources, as many as 100,000 highly skilled warriors and near to 4,500 ships took part in the second invasion. This time the Mongols nearly succeeded. Legend has it that as battle seemed lost, the Emperor prayed to his ancestors who sent a ‘divine wind’ (kamikaze) that destroyed much of the invasion force and drowned near 100,000 men.

The Mongol era in East Asia was not all doom and spilt blood. This was the East Asia that Marco Polo described in glowing terms. With a unified political authority stretching across Asia, East-West trade surged and there were many cultural exchanges.

Yet, in China, the Mongols began to lose control with various peasant uprisings demonstrating the dynasty’s growing weakness. Two native rivals fought for political control of China, and in 1363, in a naval battle known as the 'Battle of Lake Poyang' (termed by some historians as the largest naval battle in history) Zhu Yuanzhang eliminated his opponent, and by 1368, his armies were able to control much of China as the Ming (Bright) Dynasty.

7

A cashless society

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

for thousands of years some material form of money has been important in daily.

but now, all over the world, there is a move toward a cashless society - a society where out wealth exists in an electronic form.. perhaps, no other country has moved as quickly toward that notion than china.. a report today on china's peoples daily (english) web-site claims that 84% of chinese can now leave home without cash in their wallet/pocket.

as i understand it they will make payments via a smartphone app.. ( see: http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0924/c90000-9273002.html ).

fulltimestudent

For thousands of years some material form of money has been important in daily. But now, all over the world, there is a move toward a cashless society - a society where out wealth exists in an electronic form.

Perhaps, no other country has moved as quickly toward that notion than China.

A report today on China's Peoples Daily (English) web-site claims that 84% of Chinese can now leave home without cash in their wallet/pocket. As I understand it they will make payments via a smartphone app.

( See: http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0924/c90000-9273002.html )

An American reporter in China comments:

"Its mobile payment app, Alipay, and WeChat Pay, which belongs to the country's leading social messaging platform, together hold a commanding 90 percent of the market, leaving Apple Pay struggling to make inroads.
I recently spent a day in Hangzhou to see how easy it was to go cashless, and I found it somewhat ahead of other cities, including Beijing. I rode buses and subways, which all accept Alipay. I visited a major Buddhist temple, where visitors can make donations, buffing up their karma with a swipe of their phone.
I even listened to the plaintive tunes of a woman performing music on the street for change — or for a scan of a QR code, placed beside the change box.
Over a plate of noodles, a restaurateur named Ma Zhiguo told me that about half his customers pay for their meals with cellphones, and he uses his to pay most of the time too.
"I don't have to worry about getting counterfeit money, or having to make change," he explained."

Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/06/29/534846403/in-china-a-cashless-trend-is-taking-hold-with-mobile-payments

And with a projected middle class population of 500 million in a few years, it would seem that the trend will only grow more popular in China

I'm likely in a (old-age-grin) minority (even here in Aust. where like most western countries, credit cards are in common use) but I'm not sure i'll be entirely comfortable. But thinking about it, I've already gone partly down that road. I pay for my public transport fares with a Govt. transport card, that I have to top up regularly. I could use a smartphone app instead of a card, but I don't want a smartphone. But I do appreciate using a web-based bank account that allows me to make payments directly into the accounts of people like my credit card, water and electricity suppliers and others.

Maybe I'm just a slow adopter.

How about you?

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