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Well, that was the easy part. All Trump had to do was vanquish people too stupid to pick up the thousand-dollar bill lying on the sidewalk -- smug, smirking, out-of-touch establishment drones. 

A tax plan from President-elect Donald Trump could solve one of the biggest problems facing the Bay Area’s tech industry: billions in cash parked overseas, with foreign governments itching to get their hands on it.

Slowly but surely, China’s first indigenous carrier is coming into being. Laid down in 2015 with an expected launch date in 2017 or 2018, China’s second aircraft carrier may enter full service sometime around 2020. The lack of transparency around the project has spurred a tremendous degree of speculation, down to some very basic questions. As was the case with Liaoning, China’s first carrier, analysts have a name problem — no one is quite sure what to call the new ship. For years as Liaoning underwent construction and refit, China-watchers guessed as to the correct name, generally settling on the accurate but...

USS ‘Zumwalt.’ Photo via Wikipedia On Oct. 15, 2016 in Baltimore on the U.S. East Coast, the U.S. Navy commissioned the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt into service following a protracted and costly development. Six hundred feet long and displacing 14,500 tons, Zumwalt — the first of three stealthy land-attack destroyers — is America’s largest surface combatant in generations. But she’s not alone in her weight class. While the Americans were celebrating Zumwalt’s entry into service, on the other side of the world at a shipyard in Shanghai, the Chinese navy was hard at work on its own 14,000-ton-displacement surface warship. The Type 055 just...

First: I am going to re-institute a 5-year ban on all executive branch officials lobbying the government for 5 years after they leave government service. I am going to ask Congress to pass this ban into law so that it cannot be lifted by executive order. Second: I am going to ask Congress to institute its own 5-year ban on lobbying by former members of Congress and their staffs. Third: I am going to expand the definition of lobbyist so we close all the loopholes that former government officials use by labeling themselves consultants and advisors when we all know...

The United States does not have a coherent strategy to deal with a rising People's Republic of China in the Western Pacific. Nor do foreign policy experts specializing in the Asia-Pacific region have a concrete set of ideas to coax an increasingly assertive Beijing into accepting the U.S.-led post-Second World War liberal-institutional world order or to reassert Washington's dominance in the region. It is becoming increasingly clear that China hopes to chart its own course independent of the existing Western frameworks as Beijing reaffirms its claims to the South China Sea and continues to build artificial islands in the region,...

BEIJING --- Photos about the progress of China's first home-made aircraft carrier were revealed online again lately. Britain's Jane's Defence Weekly claimed that the carrier island is already lifted in place, a milestone before China's second aircraft carrier enters water. Military expert Cao Weidong said in an interview that China's first home-made aircraft carrier is likely to have Active Phased Array Radar (APAR) and can carry 40-50 aircraft of various types at most. Laser weapon will probably find its way to future carriers and large vessels too. According to Cao, carrier island installation is the last step of building the...

Russia and the US have agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria from sunset on 12 September after intensive talks in Geneva. Under the plan, the Syrian government will end combat missions in specified areas held by the opposition. Russia and the US will establish a joint centre to combat so-called Islamic State and al-Nusra fighters. The plan follows a day of talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

In the last couple of weeks, we've seen Trump roll out his plan for reviving America's inner cities and other economically depressed areas. As someone who has in various capacities worked on this issue, I must say that Trump has brilliantly boiled down the question down to the three elements that would form the essential foundation of an effective federal urban policy: law and order, school choice and trade reform. In my 20 or so years of working on this issue, I've met with thousands of people who live in these communities, and I can guarantee you that the vast...

Hospitals are to cancel thousands of operations and appointments in a desperate bid to stop the NHS "buckling" this winter, under Government plans. Health officials are drawing up contingency measures to attempt to safeguard emergency care by diverting senior doctors from operating theatres into wards and Accident & Emergency departments as winter sets in. The national plan, detailed in evidence to the Commons health select committee, comes amid concern that the NHS is already in the grip of the worst bed-blocking crisis on record. Last night, Britain’s most senior A&E doctor said hospitals were under such strain that a bad...

A former top intelligence adviser to President Barack Obama predicts Australia could play a "very consequential" role if a war breaks out between the United States and China. David C Gompert was principal deputy director of National Intelligence from 2009 to 2010 and has just led a US Army-commissioned report examining the prospect of the two military powers going to war. The report War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable says war between the US and China would be long, destructive and could erupt if regional disputes already underway overheat. The 115-page document by the Washington-based RAND Corporation also suggests...

In the latest escalation of bellicose rhetoric over the territorial dispute involving the South China Sea, Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan warned of "offshore security threats" and urged for a "substantial preparation for a people's war at sea" to safeguard sovereignty, China's Xinhua writes. The warning comes a day after China launched a massive naval drill which is set to prepare China for a "sudden, cruel and short" war.

The Chinese navy held a large-scale “live ammunition” drill in the East China Sea, which involved hundreds of ships and submarines from all three fleets of the People’s Liberation Army. The exercise involving China's East Sea, North Sea and South Sea fleets practiced both offensive and defensive capabilities of the Chinese naval power. The exercise mobilized some 300 ships, dozens of fighter planes, and involved troops that are responsible for coastal defense radars, communications, and electronic warfare defense, daily newspaper The China Times reported.

Based on pictures that have been just released by Chinese spotters, it appears that the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) next in-line Type 052D Destroyers (NATO reporting name Luyang III class) will be fitted with the H/PJ-11 close-in weapon system (CIWS) instead of the smaller H/PJ-12 currently fitted on existing vessels of the class. The H/PJ-12 seven-barreled 30mm CIWS (sometimes referred as Type 730 which is the export designation.) is present on the first four destroyers in the series already commissioned (as well as on a few other hulls currently at various stages of completion). It is...

Southeast Asian nations failed to find common ground on maritime disputes in the South China Sea on Sunday after Cambodia stuck to its demand the group make no reference to an international court ruling against Beijing in a statement, diplomats said. Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met for the first time since the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague handed an emphatic legal victory to the Philippines in the maritime dispute earlier this month. The ruling denied China's sweeping claims in the strategic seaway, through which more than $5 trillion in global...

HMS Somerset escorted the brand-new Chinese frigate Xiangtan through the Dover Strait as the Far Eastern warship made for Germany. During the several hours in company together, the Brits provided the Xiangtan with a weather forecast to help them on their way to Kiel for that city’s annual maritime spectacular. Picture: LA(Phot) Guy Pool SO AS a Brit, what do you do when you encounter a stranger and need to pass the time? That’s right, you chat about the weather. HMS Somerset met up with brand-new Chinese warship Xiangtan and escorted the frigate through the Dover Strait as it headed...

China Defense Blog has republished a series of photos depicting life on one of China's most modern ships. The photos show a world not too different from western navies, albeit with more spartan living conditions. Hefei, a Type 052D guided missile destroyer, is roughly the equivalent of the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Displacing 7,000 tons, Hefei has a Type 346 phased-array radar system for detecting aerial threats. It's equipped with 64 HQ-9 "Red Banner" missiles, roughly comparable to the SM-2 standard surface-to-air missile system, eight YJ-62 anti-ship missiles, a single 130-millimeter dual purpose ship gun, two close-in weapon systems,...

cjdby.net Type 001A Takes Shape The Type 001A carrier, likely to be named after a Chinese province, already has most of its hangar bay installed, the next major parts are the ski ramp, control tower island, and flight deck. China's first domestically built carrier, "Type 001A", is making brisk progress in its Dalian drydock. Tracing its design to the Soviet Admiral Kuznetsov class of aircraft carriers, the Type 001A will displace around 60,000-70,000 tons, is powered by steam turbines, and will carry between 30 and 40 helicopters and J-15 fighter jets. Type 001A first began construction in late 2014, and...

Pinzgauer, at China Defense Forum 167 Shenzhen The Type 051B Destroyer, "167" Shenzhen, is shown here in its original configuation, including the forward HQ-7 SAM launcher and four 37mm anti-air turrets around its stern hangar. Until the Type 052C, it was China's largest indigenous surface warship. The Chinese Navy (PLAN) has been expanding its power with a series of new, more capable surface warships like the 052D guided missile destroyers (DDG) and 054A frigates, while preparing its Type 055 cruiser for a launch at decade's end. but equally notable is how it is also spending big bucks to update its...

Recent images from China are showing two People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Project 956E Sovremennyy destroyers undergoing major refit and upgrade. It appears that the PLAN is upgrading its class of four destroyers (two 956E followed by two improved 956EM) acquired from Russia with domestic systems. Hangzhou (136) and Fuzhou (137) moored at the PLAN naval shipyard 4806 in Zhoushan. Hangzhou has many of its systems removed including the main gun, sensor and masts, missile launchers (both SAM and ASM). The pictures show first ship of the class Hangzhou (136) and Fuzhou (137) moored at the PLAN naval shipyard 4806...