Posts by fulltimestudent

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

Japan Colonises Korea.

This was a complicated and difficult time. Yes, Korea (particularly the North) became industrialised, but it was also a time of a great and brutal repression. I've had to leave a lot out, otherwise I'd still be reading and writing.

Japan Colonises Korea with consequences.

Japan and Gt. Britain had signed an alliance in 1902, which recognized their respective ‘interests.’ For Britain it was China, and for Japan (primarily) Korea. After the defeat of Russia and an agreement with the USA, Japan was in a position to move quickly to take control of Korea.

This was a complicated and difficult time. Yes, Korea (particularly the North) became industrialised, but it was also a time of a great and brutal repression. I've had to leave a lot out, otherwise I'd still be reading and writing.

A cartoon from that period.Britain and Japan shake hands

On November 17, 1905 Ito Hirobumi, with a Japanese military escort entered the royal palace, threatened the King (Kojong) and his ministers and demanded that they accept a draft treaty the Japanese had prepared. The Koreans refused. Japanese soldiers arrested the PM, others went to the Foreign Ministry Office and returned with the official Korean seal and affixed it to.t the draft treat.

That Treaty transferred authority for all Korean foreign relations to the Japanese foreign office. Gradually all Korean administrative departments were brought under Japanese control.

But Koreans did attempt resistance in various ways, some even committing suicide as a form of protest. “Righteous armies,” began armed resistance. But ultimately, the Japanese won, by 1910 they had killed over 17,600 insurgents. There were other forms of protest. Various organisations were formed with the goal of promoting or preserving Korean culture, however any movement that was deemed by the Japanese Colonial government to be too successful was usually closed down. A network of informers were employed by the police to watch for dangerous trends. Japanese migration was encouraged and Japanese officials given preference for promotion. The Colonial government built hundreds of new schools, but taught Japanese language as the “national language.” Korean could only be taught as a second language. It became difficult for Koreans to progress past primary school. (Only 5% of Korean students managed to gain education to a higher level). Land-use surveys were used to identify the most valuable land which was often made available to Japanese investors. A rapid industrialization program was often co-ordinated with Japanese industry in Manchuria.

World War 1, primarily a European war, fought over control of global resources caused widespread disillusionment among Asian nationalists. Foolish decisions by the victors, (i.e. Britain and France) such as taking control of Syria, Iraq and Iran and amazingly in China, by their attempt to reward Japan for Japan's wartime support, by giving Shandong Province to Japan, caused so many Asian patriots to look elsewhere for their freedom. So in China, Sun Yatsen asked the Comintern to advise him leading to a tense alliance with the small Chinese Communist Party. Future leaders in Indonesia, - (Soekarno), Vietnam - (Ho Chi Minh), Myanmar – Aung San) all turned to Communist thought and/or support in their struggles to thrown off Imperialist enslavement. That occurred in Korea also, which shared a border with the new USSR, to those patriots socialism offered an alternative path for those who sought freedom from the Imperialist powers.

In 1918 a Korean Socialist Party was founded. And in the USSR, a Korean Communist division was founded. Of course, some hopes were dashed when separate groups fought each other. The Japanese government in Korea was concerned with these groups and often arrested members of such groups.

In the 1930s the Japanese succeeded in gaining control of all of Manchuria, and campaigned in Korea for active, patriotic support. Many Koreans were encouraged to move into Manchuria, and formed the basis for the Chinese-Koreans of today, Others were moved to Japan’s home islands and their descendants still live in Japan (and interestingly, strongly support North Korea). By 1944 more than 4 million Koreans may have been living and working outside Korea,

In spite of Japanese repression, there were still some armed groups engaged in a guerilla war with the Japanese. Kim Il-Sung is thought to have led one of those groups. Life would have been difficult for these groups. Japanese harassment never stopped, they would always have been on the run, often with little food or weapons. It was in those circumstances that Kim Il Sung developed his Juche philosophy that today guides the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Eventually, the Japanese were able to repress most of the armed guerilla groups. Some like Kim Il Sung took refuge in Soviet Siberia. Kim was given a commission in the Russian Army, a very strong force guarding against a Japanese invasion of Russian territory. Its noteworthy that in two armed incursions by the Japanese Kwantung Army into Soviet territory, the Russian army repelled them.

Next. Korea is divided.

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

zeb: but what does it do..?

Simply, the claim is that communications on it can not be hacked or intercepted. That's why there's been so much research effort focused on quantum computing and communications

Supposedly, all present communications can be overheard if you have the right gear. (Think the USA's Pine Gap facility near Alice Springs in the NT). Any telephone conversation in Asia (or Australia) can be overheard. Of course, if its encrypted you may not be able to decode it, but (again its a claim) with the advent of extremely powerful quantum computing, most current encryption could be decoded. So a different approach will be required to provide secure communications.

We're talking about some very complex stuff, and I admit I really don't understand it.

An overview of it has been discussed on a web-site specialising in this stuff, and it also reports (on Sept 30) :

"Earlier today, China's pioneering quantum satellite Micius facilitated the first-ever intercontinental video conference using a quantum communications network. The video call connected Chunli Bai, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, with Anton Zeilinger, president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, a distance of over 4,600 miles. It was the first real-world demonstration that showed that a global quantum internet is not only possible, but within reach. "

Link: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwg53k/china-is-another-step-closer-to-building-a-quantum-internet

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

burnedout: Are we not thrilled to see the World wide increase of secure downloads of Bible based literature?

Grin! Are you quoting our former loving brothers as evidence that YHWH or JESUS have sent the holy spirit to provide secure downloads?

I'm not sure what they may mean when they use the term, 'secure downloads' , but my understanding of current 'in use' technology is that no current system is completely safe. (If I'm wrong, someone please correct me). Its possible their use of the term may hinge on so-called unbreakable encryption. If so further developments in quantum computing may end that possibility. (See: http://theconversation.com/will-superfast-quantum-computers-mean-the-end-of-unbreakable-encryption-64402 )

Again as I understand the situation, there has been a lot of research around the world into the possible development of quantum technology for completely safe electronic communication.

Back in June, Australia's government owned media group mentioned the successful development of a quantum satellite. Under the Heading - "Chinese scientists use satellite to smash quantum entanglement distance record" the report stated:

"The experiment by a group of Chinese researchers, led by Professor Jian-Wei Pan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), takes us a step closer to achieving instant, unhackable communication."

Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-06-16/chinese-satellite-breaks-quantum-entanglement-distance-record/8620240

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 … and now the USA

Did The USA sell out the Koreans to the Japanese?

Let’s look back in history for an answer.

The USA had mediated an end to the Russian-Japanese war, and during the negotiations (at some point) the US Secretary of War, W.H.Taft and the Japanese PM Katsura Taro had a chat about other issues and ..

"...The two concluded the secret Taft-Katsura Agreement, in which the United States acknowledged Japanese rule over Korea and condoned the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902. At the same time, Japan recognized U.S. control of the Philippines."

Quoted from a document prepared by the (previously mentioned American, "Office of the Historian.")

Link: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/japanese-relations

Why would the USA have had wanted the Japanese government to recognise American control of the Philippines?

That was because as the Spanish Empire collapsed at the end of the nineteenth century, the USA had bought Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spain for the sum of twenty million dollars. The problem was that freedom fighters in the Philippines had refused to accept that transaction, and had fought the American occupation forces. The American Army used tactics similar to those developed in the American Indian wars, and some 126,000 American troops had slaughtered some 16,000 Philippino soldiers and contributed to the death of at least 200,000 civilians.

Why was the USA interested in discussing their invasion of the Philippines with Japan? Because Japan had won control of Taiwan from the Chinese in the 1890's and many thought that the Japanese were also interested in the Philippines. The Taft-Katsura Agreement set out both nations interests and essentially set out a Japanese agreement to Imperial America’s takeover of the Philippines.

What did the Japanese get in return? In return the Americans recognized that Imperial Japan could take over Korea.

Were the Koreans sold out? What do you think?

From 1910 to 1945 Korea became part of the Japanese Empire.

Darker tragic events loom closer.

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

And that brings us to the modern period and some very dark times in Korea.

But before we get to the time period in which many of us have lived, there is one more incident to consider. That incident raises a question. Did the USA sell out the Koreans to Japan?

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