Machiavelli described three ways a conquering prince might best treat its defeated subject. Ruin them, rule them directly or install a puppet government. “Therein a state of the few which might keep it friendly to you.” The example Machiavelli gives of the last is the friendly government Sparta established in
10th February 2021 The question still in the forefront of the Burmese people’s minds is why has the coup taken place? Well, in the words of Woodward and Bernstein, follow the money. By seizing absolute power, Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has protected his and his
10th February 2021 The demonstrations have yet to become an uprising, but it is becoming clear that events are following the 8888 uprising which resulted in wholesale slaughter, illegal imprisonment, and many deaths in prison. The Military was hoping that the usual political adage that most protests fade after 7
Robert Cialdini Peter Koenig thesaker.is Have you ever wondered how a herd of sheep is driven to their slaughterhouse? Manipulation of minds is a well-studied science, has been applied already for centuries, but is getting ever more sophisticated. For example, the many poignant assertions, Joseph Goebbels, Hitlers Minister
7th February 2021 It is becoming clear that the coup was planned well in advance and is running according to plan for the military. They had all the likely reactions assessed and shut down means of communication to slow down the planning of internal resistance and to prevent pictures/videos
Yet again, the Chinese Communist Party is weaponising the moronic greed of a South Pacific panjandrum ruling a running-down island state desperate for cash. No, I’m not talking about Jacinda Ardern inching ever-closer to the poisoned carrot that is Xi Xinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative”. Papua
5th February 2021 Things are certainly on the move in Myanmar. Health professionals, doctors, nurses and ancillary workers have withdrawn their support from the military government. They will still treat the populace, delivering the rudimentary health care available to an ordinary Burmese as best they can, but adopting a policy
4 February 2021 The South China Morning Post carried an opinion piece on China’s relations with the world. The SCMP is owned by Alibaba, Jack Ma’s company, and should be read with that perspective in mind. Last week, the small nation of New Zealand managed to cut a
From Goethe’s classic Faust to Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore’s comedic version, Bedazzled, the message has always been clear: fools deal with the Devil at their peril. No matter how glittering the prize the Prince of Liars dangles before the naive and greedy, the Devil always wins – and
My previous pieces raised a few questions, so I will attempt to answer a few of them here. Where Does Myanmar Source Its Military Hardware? Many of these date back to the early 1990s but are well maintained. The fighter aircraft are mostly ground attack and support versions used internally.
Now the public is aware of political interference through social media platforms Zuckerberg says he wants to reduce the “political echo chambers” on all of them. “We’re also currently considering steps that we can take to reduce the amount of political content in News Feed as well,” Zuckerberg said
CJ Hopkins The Consent Factory OK … I assume you’re wondering about that photo above. Let me tell you about that photo. It’s a photo of one of the new internment camps for “quarantine objectors” here in Germany, which officially opened for business yesterday. I’ve been writing about
Mong Palatino globalvoices.org Myanmar’s newly elected parliament members were supposed to convene a session on February 1 to select the country’s president and vice president. Instead, the military seized power, imposed a year-long state of emergency, and detained key leaders of the National League for Democracy
Below is part of a piece that I wrote for The BFD on 13 November last year following on from the Myanmar election. “Despite its deep flaws, we’re approaching an election that will in all likelihood deliver a government with a strong popular mandate – something that would be difficult
Antony Blinken, the new US Secretary of State, has already indicated President Biden’s intent to restart the forever Israeli/Palestinian ‘peace process’ known affectionately to all as the ‘two state solution’. This paradigm for solving the intractable hundred-year conflict has clearly failed by all measurable parameters and appears
