German Fighter Pilots Training Chinese

Der Spiegel asks: "What Are German Fighter Pilots Doing in China?"  

    According to reporting by DER SPIEGEL and the public broadcaster ZDF, there appears to be a handful of former German fighter pilots working as trainers in China. And they are apparently earning salaries that would normally be reserved for professional athletes or top executives of multinational corporations.

    German security officials believe it is very possible that the pilots have passed on military expertise and confidential operational tactics, and even practiced attack scenarios, such as an offensive against Taiwan. And all that at a time when tensions between China and the West have been growing. For months, there has been little communication between Washington and Beijing, and there is a constant danger of escalation – such as last Friday, when two warplanes flew dangerously close to each other over the South China Sea.

    In several recent sessions, the Parliamentary Oversight Panel in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, has addressed the "professional activity of public servants following the end of their employment." Members of the committee, whose task it is to monitor Germany’s intelligence agencies, are concerned that expert knowledge could fall into the wrong hands. And one of their focuses has been the former Bundeswehr pilots in China. The chair of the Oversight Panel, Green Party politician Konstantin von Notz, says that should the suspicions be confirmed, it would be an "outrageous, scandalous and problematic situation" representing "an enormous security risk."

    The case certainly fits in with Beijing’s standard approach, which security experts refer to as the "gray beard strategy." For years now, Chinese agencies have sought to embrace former decision-makers who possess privileged knowledge, some of it quite current. They offer lucrative consulting contracts, honors and invitations to conferences. Their goal is the harvesting of know-how, say experts, including information that has military value.

    When approached for comment, the German Defense Ministry confirmed "that China is attempting, via external agencies, to recruit former NATO pilots as trainers," including "former German Bundeswehr pilots." There is, the ministry statement continues, "a significant danger that not just basic flight proficiency will be imparted, but that relevant tactics, techniques and procedures will be manifested."

The article continues:

    Bundeswehr fighter pilots usually enter retirement at 41, an age at which reflexes tend to grow duller and vision worse. Those who begin flying for the German Air Force at the age of 20 receive half of their final monthly salary as a pension once they reach 41. Most former pilots find it insufficient and look for secondary employment.

    The training of pilots in China began just over 10 years ago, with a former Bundeswehr pilot declaring a position at the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, which trains Chinese pilots. Sources in Berlin say the pilot did not transgress any formal restrictions with the move and point out that China at the time was not seen as an authoritarian rival. Germany was also providing official training to Chinese officers at the time.

    The naivete of this approach became clearer than ever last fall, when Australia arrested the     American pilot Daniel Duggan. He stands accused of having trained Chinese pilots, just like his German counterparts – allegations which Duggan denies. He is currently behind bars and may be extradited to the United States.

Read the whole thing. 

Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 90 (Streamed June 14, 2023)

VIDEO: "Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 90" (48 min.)

Hiking Photo

Just a photo from a recent hiking excursion. Normally I don't share my own photos, but I thought this one turned out okay although it doesn't quite capture how dark were the clouds. We were fortunate that the thunder storm passed to the north of us, and we apparently missed a rain storm a few miles to the south of us. We weren't trying to force our way through the foliage: this is just a view off one side of the trail. 

    This was actually my first time carrying my S&W Model 317 "Kit Gun" on an actual hike. The delay was mostly due to trying to track down a Kydex holster to use with the pistol. The 317 is a J-frame revolver and so I expected that it would fit the Kydex holster I have for my Model 638 since it is also an aluminum framed J-frame revolver. Nope. There was just enough difference between the frames that I could not get the 317 to fully insert into the holster. And tracking down someone that made a Kydex holster specifically for the 317 was more difficult than I thought it would be. But I finally found one manufactured and sold by Speed Beez. And it shipped pretty quick too. Anyway, the holster worked well--it held the weapon securely and wasn't uncomfortable, and no leather to collect the moisture from the sweat or humidity. And because it was specifically for the 317 Kit Gun--which has a longer barrel than my snubby--the barrel was covered and protected its entire length. 

    The 317 was also so lightweight (I think it is lighter than the holster) that it was not a distraction and didn't cause any backpain or make me have to tighten or readjust my belt. Sometimes with a leather belt and a heavy pistol, I will have to tighten my belt after walking for a period of time because it stretches the belt and/or the belt shifts a bit. 

Perpetrator of French Stabbing Attack Was Muslim

Last week I posted about a stabbing attack in France involving a Middle-Eastern man apparently angered that he had been denied refugee status in France. What set this apart from other similar attacks was the man was wearing a crucifix and declared himself to be Christian. Turns out the Christian angle was a sham: the man was Muslim.

The French-language news site Resistance Républicaine reported Monday that “Syrians living in France and Germany” have recognized the attacker as a “madman of Allah,” and that the identification has been confirmed by others as well. The attacker, according to those who have recognized him, is actually a Muslim named Selwan Majd, “a refugee from Al-Hasakah in northern Syria.”

As I suspected when I wrote about this last week, the Syrian refugee's claim to be Christian was just a sham intended to assist his pursuit of being admitted as a refugee and, eventually, be extended citizenship. The article goes on to point out that lying is common among those seeking refugee status:

Resistance Républicaine also notes that numerous refugees have given European authorities a great deal of false information. That’s certainly true. In Sweden several years ago, it was revealed that 5,460 of 7,000 Afghan “child migrants” were actually adults. In Britain, more than 2,000 adult migrants have been caught lying about their age and pretending to be children. Many migrants have claimed to be Christian, thinking that doing so would help their claim for asylum. Back in 2021, also in Britain, a man Enzo Almeni, who had converted to Christianity to get asylum in Britain, returned to Islam and became a jihad suicide bomber.

VIDEO: Communism as a Failed Religion

WhatIfAltHist most recent video explains why Communism should be considered a religion and explains why it is a failed religion. Similar to Oswald Spengler and some others, the author sees Communism as the bastard step-child of Christianity. I believe that Communism actually has closer ties to Rabbinical Judaism, which is backed up by the grossly disproportionate attraction that Communism held (and still holds) for Jewish intellectuals. But that is a minor quibble. I did find the author's description of Communism as essentially female in its outlook to be both humorous and insightful; it certainly matches what we are seeing from the Cultural Marxism that is rapidly overtaking the West and which is largely driven by its hatred of masculinity.

VIDEO: "Why Communism is a Failed Religion"--Whatifalthist (50 min.)

France Enjoying It's Diversity (Updated)

The Daily Mail reports: "Syrian refugee screaming 'in the name of Jesus Christ' stabs a child in their pram in front of mother as four kids aged 22 months to three - including British girl - are knifed while holidaying at French resort before cops shoot and arrest him." 

    The attacker, identified as Abdalmash H, 31, clinched onto a necklace with a crucifix on it before he launched his 'abominable' rampage in a lakeside park in the town of Annecy, a tourist hotspot in southeastern France, at around 9.45am.

    Distressing video shows the attacker running into the small playground and repeatedly stabbing a toddler in his pram while his screaming mother tries to protect him from the attack.

    Further dramatic footage shows the attacker, a recently divorced Syrian refugee who has declared himself a Christian, later being chased across the park by locals and cops before he was shot by a police officer and pinned to the ground.

I'm guessing that his "conversion" to Christianity was a cynical bid to stay in Europe.

    Witnesses said they heard the man, who was rejected for asylum in France four days before the attack, shouting before he began attacking the small children in the playground with a blade around four inches long. One of the injured children was in a stroller.

    Abdalmash H, who was recently divorced, had previously lived for 10 years in Sweden where he was granted refugee status in April, security sources and his ex-wife said.

    'He called me around four months ago. He was living in a church,' his ex-wife said on condition of anonymity, saying he had left Sweden because he had been unable to get Swedish nationality.

    He had applied for asylum in France but was rejected four days before launching his barbaric attack due to him already having refugee status in Sweden.

Of course, if he'd never been let in to France in the first place, this would never have happened.

Update: Turns out that the shooter was Muslim. 

The French-language news site Resistance Républicaine reported Monday that “Syrians living in France and Germany” have recognized the attacker as a “madman of Allah,” and that the identification has been confirmed by others as well. The attacker, according to those who have recognized him, is actually a Muslim named Selwan Majd, “a refugee from Al-Hasakah in northern Syria.”

Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 89 (Streamed June 8, 2023)

VIDEO: "Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 89" (50 min.)

In which we discuss the Russian's dam problem and much more

VIDEO: "Off Grid Winch: Making a Flip Flop Winch"

VIDEO: "Off Grid Winch: Making a Flip Flop Winch"--Survival Sherpa (12 min.)

How to make an improvised winch using two poles, two wood stakes, and some rope or chain. 

Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 88 (Streamed May 31, 2023)

VIDEO: "Bombs and Bants Live! Ep 88" (40 min.)

Demographic Collapse: Economic Burdens

I know that I harp a lot about collapsing birthrates--probably too much in some people's opinions--but it is an important topic and the response, at least in the West, has been to destroy our culture for the sake of importing foreign workers. 

    A few recent articles on the topic are:

• "The 'Population Explosion' Myth Blows Up" by Robert Spencer, PJ Media.
• "Low Population in 2050 for $50 Trillion Economic Loss – Over Ten Times More Than Climate Change" by Brian Wang, Next Big Future.
• "Japan's Old Age Crisis and Ours to Come" by Virginia Postrel. 

    Spencer's article is about how, notwithstanding the propaganda we've been exposed to our whole lives about "the population bomb", even major media outlets are finally being forced to admit that it was a lie. Writing on March 27, 2023, he relates:

    The UK’s far-Left Guardian admitted Monday that “the long-feared ‘population bomb’ may not go off, according to the authors of a new report that estimates that human numbers will peak lower and sooner than previously forecast.” The Club of Rome study, which was “carried out by the Earth4All collective of leading environmental science and economic institutions, including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Stockholm Resilience Centre and the BI Norwegian Business School,” predicts that “on current trends the world population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century, then decline rapidly.” This being the Guardian, it added: “The peak could come earlier still if governments take progressive steps to raise average incomes and education levels.”

    It’s jarring to read this. Population explosion hysteria has been a staple of education for decades, and there are no doubt millions of people who still take the idea that soon there will be many more people on earth than can possibly be fed as axiomatic fact. Americans have so internalized this belief that people with large families are guilt-tripped on a routine basis. I myself can remember being inundated with this propaganda in public school at all levels, although of course, no one recognized it as propaganda in those palmy days, as far back as the early 1970s. The population explosion myth became the basis for many of the Left’s other favored agendas, including the “climate crisis,” the bug-eating plan, and even the sexual revolution, which was in large part made possible by the contraception and abortion that we were told had to be readily available in order to try to bring the world’s population under control.

The next two articles discuss a bit more of what we can expect from shrinking populations.

    Wang's article approaches the issue from a purely economic perspective. He notes that the propaganda from our elites is that the greatest threat we face is from climate change.

In 2021, the World Economic forum called Climate change ‘most impactful risk facing the planet. The largest predicted economic losses of climate change are from models that predict a lot more storm damage. This is mainly worsening droughts, storms and torrential rain in some of the world’s largest economies could cause $5.6 trillion in losses to the global economy by 2050. This has not happened yet as the world has been experiencing $100-250 billion per year in such storm damage. The agricultural losses from climate change might be $330 billion in 2050 and this does not calculate the improved agricultural yields from warming conditions for Canada and other northern farmland.

This, however, is dwarfed by the economic losses caused by shrinking populations. He points out, for instance, that "[p]opulation loss from now to 2050 will cause about 20-30% in economic damage or about a $60 trillion in economic loss." He continues:

    China will be losing 10 million people per year from its working age population from 2027-2050. Japan will be losing 1 million people per year from its working age population from 2023-2050. The working age populations for China, Japan, Italy and Spain will be about 20-30% smaller in 2050 than today.

    Japan is going from 122 million people today to about 100 million people in 2050-2056. By 2050, its population could fall below 100 million, of whom 38.8% will be 65 or older. IF there was magic policy to double Japan’s birthrates then instead of a working age population of about 58 million in 2050, Japan could have 72 million working age people and a population of about 120 million.

I would point out that China may already be farther into the demographic hole than most people think (see my post, "VIDEO: 'China doesn’t have 1.4 billion people. Its population is under 1 billion.'"). But it isn't just an issue for China or Japan. Wang points out that "All of the developed countries except Israel have a total fertility rate below the replacement level of 2.1." Most are well below replacement level.

    Postrel's article focuses on Japan and how it got to its current demographic emergency. She relates that it is primarily due to Japan's lax laws on abortion and birth control (I would argue that it was more because the Japanese lost their faith). She notes, for instance, that in 1948, the Diet passed the Eugenic Protection Law which made abortions both legal and cheap, and encouraged the use of contraception. It was successful in forestalling a population boom. She writes:

People over 75 now make up 15 percent of the population [in Japan], and they don’t have a lot of kids to take care of them. Japan’s postwar baby boom lasted only about two years. By contrast, the U.S. experienced high birth rates from 1946 to 1964.

The problem facing the Japanese, then, is:

a rapidly growing population of very old people without much family support. In some cases, the unshared burden of taking care of parents simply becomes too much, especially when the parent is a difficult character. In others, middle-age children—including increasing numbers of men—are quitting their jobs to take care of their parents. At the extreme are “lonely deaths,” or kodokushi, when people die alone and go unnoticed for days. (In some cases, the deceased elderly person was not alone but living with a person with dementia.) 

In other words, other potential workers are being removed from the labor force to take care of aging parents. She warns that this is America's future (and that of most other industrialized countries, for that matter). 

    Postrel, admitting that she is a childless spinster, acknowledges that she doesn't have a solution. I obviously don't know her particular situation and why she is childless, but I can say that women like her--urban and professional--are the problem. Giving up family roles to pursue careers. That is why female education is the biggest predictor of population decline, and why religiosity is the common trait among populations bucking the overall trend of declining populations. 

    I was recently reading a piece from Robert Zubrin entitled "A Declaration of Decadence" which began:

The French historian Fernand Braudel remarks in Out of Italy that “decadence” is what occurs in a civilization when it rejects the ideas and ideals responsible for its origin and growth.

And such is the case for declining birth rates: it is a rejection of the importance and role of being a wife and mother. Oswald Spengler touched on this in his work, The Decline of the West, with his complaints of the "Ibsen woman" (in reference to playwright Henrik Ibsen who featured works of, for that time, strong independent women who abandoned families to discovery their true selves) who might attend all the best plays and indulge in intellectual pursuits, but are barren and useless.