http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q='Balloon Fri, 24 May 2013 16:06:38 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q='Balloon Fri, 24 May 2013 12:32:56 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=463_1369412984 ShadyNJ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=463_1369412984 ShadyNJ Bam Margera takes a balloon ride. Bam Margera, balloon, ride Mon, 20 May 2013 06:55:14 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=940_1369046981 LethalMutation Turkey - Raw video footage of a hot air balloon crash; 1 killed, 24 injured. Two hot air balloons collided mid-air during a sightseeing tour of volcanic rock formations in Turkey on Monday, causing one of them to crash to the ground, officials said. One Brazilian tourist was killed while 24 other people on board were injured. The ascending balloon struck another balloon's wicker basket above it, causing a tear that sent it plunging to the ground, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The passengers on board the balloon that crashed were mostly tourists from Asia, Spain and Brazil, according to Abdurrahman Savas, the governor of Nevsehir province. Many had fractured bones and one of them, an elderly passenger, was in serious condition. The balloons were flying above scenic canyons and volcanic cones of the Cappadocia region, a popular tourist destination some 300 kilometres from the capital, Ankara. Cappadocia is famed for its "fairy chimney" volcanic cones and its subterranean cities carved out of soft stone. LINK Continuous video: Additional 2 seconds of footage http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=940_1369046981 LethalMutation Hot Air Balloon Crash in Turkey 1 killed, 24 injuries 5-20-13 hot air, balloon, Turkey, crash Sun, 19 May 2013 13:16:20 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad5_1368983706 sascha1es Somehow more interesting than a balloon actually exploding ;) http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad5_1368983706 sascha1es Water balloon NOT exploding in slow motion Balloon, slow motion, fps Mon, 20 May 2013 10:21:30 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6a8_1369056537 turkbordobereli Two Brazilian tourists were killed in hot air balloon crash in Cappadocia NEVSEHIR A hot air balloon crashed early Monday morning after colliding in mid-air with another balloon in Turkey's popular tourist destination of Cappadocia, killing two Brazilian nationals and injuring 23, authorities said. Abdurrahman Savas, governor of the central province of Nevsehir, said the death toll rose to two after the accident which occurred at about 6.00 a.m. (Turkish local time) when the balloon's envelope ripped open after colliding with the basket of another balloon in mid-air. The governor visited the wounded tourists at the private Cappadocia Hospital. Replying the questions at the end of his visit, Savas said, Brazilian nationals Maria Luiza Gomes (71) and Mariua Rosas (65) lost their lives. He added, among 23 injured people, 19 of them were taken to hospitals in Nevsehir and four others were taken to university hospital in neighboring province of Kayseri. He noted, injured tourists were from Brazil, Argentina and Spain. The region is famous for its chimney rocks, cave houses, underground cities and balloon trips. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6a8_1369056537 turkbordobereli Tot air balloon crash in Cappadocia air,baloon Wed, 22 May 2013 16:25:09 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b8b_1369254012 VikingRapeSquad First picture of the 'red balloon' brother and sister 'murdered by their British father' in bitter French custody battle http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329123/First-picture-Hugging-smiling-brother-sister-murdered-British-father-bitter-custody-battle-French-mother.html Mathew and Carla Stevenson were popular pupils at school in rural France Both 'had their throats cut by their father during an alcohol-fuelled rage' Mother, Stephanie Morlet, leads emotional march in memory of her children Family moved to the village of Charantonnay near Lyon six years ago Julian Stevenson had not been allowed to see children for three years because of violent temper By Peter Allen In loving arms: The first picture of siblings Mathew and Carla Stevenson who allegedly had their throats cut by their father, Julian Stevenson, in France Hugging and smiling, they were a brother and sister who could not have been prouder of one another. Mathew and Carla Stevenson were two of the most popular pupils at their primary school in rural France and renowned for being extremely close.But last Saturday both allegedly became victims of a bitter custody battle between their English father and French mother. In a suspected double murder, 10-year-old Mathew and five-year-old Carla are said to have had their throats cut by their father, Julian Stevenson.The 48-year-old, who is originally from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, allegedly killed them both in an alcohol-fuel rage. Their mother, Stephanie Morlet, came to collect them from a visit - the first Stevenson had been allowed in three years because of his violent behaviour - and saw him escaping the murder scene in a suburb of Lyon on a pair of roller-skates. Today, a picture of the loving little brother and sister was on display in the village of Charantonnay, south of Lyon, where the children's former classmates took part in a 'white march' in support of the family.Many were in floods of tears as Ms Morlet, who is in her early 40s, walked at the head of a process of some 300 people carrying white roses and white balloons. M'They were hugely popular children,' said Marie-Jeanne Chesneau. 'Our aim today is to show how much they meant to us, and how much we miss them.'Mrs Chesneau said the Morlet family had moved to the village some six years ago, and Mathew and Carla enrolled at the local village school in 2010. This was around the time that Ms Morlet was divorcing Stevenson because of his violent behaviour. Mrs Morlet wore dark glasses today as she walked through the town surrounded by family members. 'Stephanie inconsolable - her world has fallen apart,' said one family member. 'What has happened is absolutely horrific.' Ms Morlet was badly beaten up by Stevenson in 2005 and 2010, when an order was made preventing Stevenson seeing the children without a third party adult being present. The 2010 order was said to have been reversed over the past few weeks, meaning Stevenson was allowed to have the children to stay on Friday night for the first time in three years. Stevenson has been formally placed under criminal investigation for the double, and is likely to be remanded in custody until his murder trial.Another judicial source said: 'We are presently holding back from the charge of premeditated murder but this could always change.' The source said all the circumstances surrounding the horrific crime would be investigated over many months. Julian Stevenson, accused of killing his two children in Lyon, France, seen on CCTV footage taking the children, Mathew, 10, and Carla, 5, to the bakers to buy sweets hours before their deaths Chilling CCTV. Two young children..with their father...HOURS from... Neighbours of the Stevenson said he had appeared 'calm and relaxed' as he wandered around the St Priest suburb of Lyon, where he lives, with the two children on Saturday morning. 'It was a warm day and he was in T-shirt and long shorts,' said one. 'The children were smiling happily, and appeared to be enjoying a day out with their dad. 'He was buying them little presents, including sweets, and did not appear in the least bit flustered.' When Mrs Stevenson, an accountant's assistant, returned to pick up the children from the second floor apartment at around 5pm on Saturday she saw Stevenson looking 'panicked and angry', according to a neighbour. 'He was in the stairwell of the block, and his clothes were covered in blood,' said the neighbour. 'He made off on a pair of roller-skates, leaving his car in the apartment block's garage.' The bakery in Lyon where Julian Stevenson took his children hours before allegedly killing them The block of flats where Julian Stevenson lived Following a short manhunt, Stevenson was found in Lyon's 8th arrondissement at around 8pm on the same evening. A judicial source said that a knife which was thought to be the murder weapon had been found in the flat. The source said the double murder was 'clearly linked to a painful separation' and 'legal procedures concerning the right to access to the children which the father deemed insufficient.' Stevenson has been living in France for 10 years and married in 2005. His wife was finally heard by prosecutors on Sunday, providing them with their details of her troubled relationship with her ex-husband. Investigators were particularly keen to know who gave the father legal authority to look after the children. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b8b_1369254012 VikingRapeSquad Scumbag Trash British Man-Child Murders His Two Children After buying Them Ice Cream uk, british, slaves, peasants, scum, white, trash, murders, his, children Fri, 10 May 2013 22:28:45 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=149_1368236839 BasicChannel The Beautiful Skywhale hot air balloon has taken to the skies above Canberra in a maiden flight to celebrate the city's centenary. Film by Blueboat - http://www.blueboat.com.au - Music by Luke Howard - http://www.lukehoward.com - For more information on The Skywhale visit http://www.theskywhale.com ABC Story - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-11/skywhale-makes-maiden-flight-over-canberra/4683382 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=149_1368236839 BasicChannel Beautiful Skywhale Hot Air Balloon - First Flight - Canberra. canberra,art,skywhale,australia,hot air balloon Tue, 14 May 2013 17:13:44 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d29_1368565877 figatomek Experienced operator.. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d29_1368565877 figatomek Hot Air Balloon Landing at 18 Knots.. landing, Balloon, 18 knots, speed, Sun, 28 Apr 2013 04:15:29 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0e1_1367135735 Fertilizer These guys are crazy. I saw one of these hit some power lines as a kid and the gonadal caught fire ,and everyone jumped out before the bottle got to hot & blew up, not to mention the wicker basket they were is was a blaze. They hit a real high power line so the fall was over 5 story's. What makes people do this kind of thing. Oh yea they look majestic and gracefully in the air, but when you fall from that height you leave an imprint in the ground around 6in deep. I know because I went over and looked once all the ruckus was gone. This was amazing to see just how fast it went up and was out of control, just the wind, and Gods good humor. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0e1_1367135735 Fertilizer Balloon-a-Ticks hot air is all that keeps you alive. Balloon-a-Ticks Mon, 06 May 2013 11:02:36 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=458_1367852502 FB-RAMBO Awesome costume http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=458_1367852502 FB-RAMBO Buzz Lightyear Costume Fully made of Balloons balloon light year buz Sat, 11 May 2013 17:44:27 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=459_1368308526 Detroit Iron By ALLEN G. BREED On the very day John F. Kennedy died, a cottage industry was born. Fifty years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, it's still thriving. Its product? The "truth" about the president's assassination. "By the evening of November 22, 1963, I found myself being drawn into the case," Los Angeles businessman Ray Marcus wrote in "Addendum B," one of several self-published monographs he produced on the assassination. For him, authorities were just too quick and too pat with their conclusion. "The government was saying there was only one assassin; that there was no conspiracy. It was obvious that even if this subsequently turned out to be true, it could not have been known to be true at that time." Most skeptics, including Marcus, didn't get rich by publishing their doubts and theories - and some have even bankrupted themselves chasing theirs. But for a select few, there's been good money in keeping the controversy alive. Best-selling books and blockbuster movies have raked in massive profits since 1963. And now, with the 50th anniversary of that horrible day in Dallas looming, a new generation is set to cash in. Of course, the Warren Commission officially concluded in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone - and issued 26 volumes of documents to support that determination. But rather than closing the book on JFK's death, the report merely served as fuel for an already kindled fire of doubt and suspicion. Since then, even government investigators have stepped away from the lone assassin theory. In 1978, the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations ended its own lengthy inquiry by finding that JFK "was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy." That panel acknowledged it was "unable to identify the other gunman or the extent of the conspiracy." But armed with mountains of subsequently released documents, there has been no shortage of people willing to offer their own conclusions. Among the leading suspects: Cuban exiles angry about the Bay of Pigs fiasco; Mafiosi enraged by Attorney General Robert Kennedy's attacks on organized crime; the "military-industrial complex," worried about JFK's review of war policy in Vietnam. One theorist even floated the notion that Kennedy's limousine driver shot the president - as part of an effort to cover up proof of an alien invasion. Anything but that Oswald, a hapless former Marine, was in the right place at the right time, with motive and opportunity to pull off one of the most audacious crimes in American history. "As they say, nature abhors a vacuum, and the mind abhors chance," says Michael Shermer, executive director of the Skeptics Society and author of "The Believing Brain," a book on how humans seem hardwired to find patterns in disparate facts and unconnected, often innocent coincidences. Polls underscore the point. About 6 in 10 Americans say they believe multiple people were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy, while only one-fourth think Oswald acted alone, according to an AP-GfK survey done in mid-April. Belief in a conspiracy, though strong, has declined since a 2003 Gallup poll found 75 percent said they thought Oswald was part of a wider plot. The case has riveted the public from the start. When the Warren Commission report was released in book form, it debuted at No. 7 on The New York Times Best Sellers List. Two years later, attorney Mark Lane's "Rush to Judgment" dominated the list. The Warren Commission, he argued, "frequently chose to rely on evidence that was no stronger and sometimes demonstrably weaker than contrary evidence which it rejected." The book has since sold millions of copies in hardcover and paperback, says Lane. Since then, dozens of books with titles like "Best Evidence," ''Reasonable Doubt," ''High Treason" and "Coup D'Etat in America: The CIA and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy" have sought to lay responsibility for JFK's death at the highest levels of the U.S. government - and beyond. British journalist Anthony Summers, whose BBC documentary became the 1980 book "Conspiracy," says many conspiracy buffs "are fine scholars and students, and some are mad as hatters who think it was done by men from Mars using catapults." Unlike the later coverage of Watergate, there were no reporters like The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who were told by their editors, "Get on this and don't get off it," says Summers, whose works focused on people and events largely ignored or treated cursorily by the official investigations. "Nobody went down there and really did the shoe leather work and the phone calls that we're all supposed to do," he says. For many, the Kennedy assassination has become "a board game: 'Who killed JFK?' So you feel free to sit around and say, 'Oh! It's the mob. Oh! It's the KGB' ... and have no shame," scoffs Gerald Posner, whose 1993 book "Case Closed" declared that the Warren Commission essentially got it right. The Oswald-as-patsy community has vilified Posner. But the lawyer says he didn't set out to write a defense of the Warren Commission. Instead, he planned to go back through the critical evidence to see what more could be determined through hindsight and more modern investigative techniques - "and then put out a book that says, 'Read THIS book. Here are the four unresolved issues of the Kennedy assassination, with the evidence on both sides.'" Halfway through the allotted research time, Posner went to the editorial staff with a new idea: A book that says flat-out who killed Kennedy. "Who?" one of the editors asked, as Posner retells it. "Oswald," he answered. "And who?" "Oswald," Posner says he repeated. "And they literally looked at me as though I had just come in from Mars. And you could tell there was this feeling of, 'Oh my God. He's read the Warren Commission and that's all he's done.'" "Case Closed" went on to sell 100,000 copies in hardcover. "I would have never thunk it," Posner says. Unlike Posner, Vincent Bugliosi, author of 2007's "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy," embarked on his book expecting to vindicate the Warren Commission. What he didn't expect was for it to balloon into a 1,650-page behemoth - with a CD-ROM containing an additional 960 pages of endnotes - that cost $57. "STOP writing," he recalls his wife telling him. "You're killing the sales of the book." The 78-year-old lawyer blames the conspiracy theorists. "We're talking about people," he explains, "who've invested the last 15, 20, 25 years of their life in this. They've lost jobs. They've gotten divorces. Nothing stops them." "Like a pea brain," he says, he responded to all of their allegations. "It's a bottomless pit. It never, ever ends. And if my publisher ... didn't finally step in and say, 'Vince, we're going to print,' I'd still be writing the book." Despite its girth and hefty price tag, "Reclaiming History" had a respectable first printing of 40,000, says Bugliosi, best known as the former deputy Los Angeles district attorney who prosecuted Charles Manson. But in a 9,400-word review, Gary L. Aguilar, a director of the Washington-based Assassination Archives and Research Center, wrote that the only thing Bugliosi's book proved was "that it may not be possible for one person to fully master, or give a fair accounting of, this impossibly tangled mess of a case." Bugliosi omitted or distorted evidence and failed to disprove "the case for conspiracy," Aguilar wrote. Lamar Waldron is not surprised at the success of people like Bugliosi and Posner. "The biggest money has been generated for the authors ... who kind of pretend it all was right back in 1964 and nothing really has happened since," says Waldron, who has co-written two books on the assassination. "The large six-figure advances and everything like that don't go to the people who dig through all those millions of pages of files and research for years." In "Ultimate Sacrifice" and "Legacy of Secrecy," Waldron and co-author Thom Hartmann used declassified CIA documents to make the case that JFK (and later his brother Robert) were killed because of plans to overthrow Cuban dictator Fidel Castro - and the Mafia's infiltration of that operation. Waldron says the books have sold a combined 85,000 copies since 2005. And now, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are set to star in a feature film version of "Legacy of Secrecy" - with a reported price tag of up to $90 million. That's one of a pair of major movies - landing on opposite sides of the Oswald-as-lone-gunman debate - due out this year. Oscar winners Marcia Gay Harden and Billy Bob Thornton have signed on for the Tom Hanks-produced "Parkland," named for the Dallas hospital where Kennedy was pronounced dead. That project, which Hanks' website describes as "part thriller, part real-time drama," is based on a small portion of Bugliosi's magnum opus. A TV movie is to be made from another new book, "Killing Kennedy," co-written by Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, which had sold 1 million copies within four months of its release in October. In a note to readers, O'Reilly wrote: "In our narrative, Martin Dugard and I go only as far as the evidence takes us. We are not conspiracy guys, although we do raise some questions about what is unknown and inconsistent." Academy Award winner Errol Morris is working on a documentary about the assassination. He did not respond to an interview request. One film, critics say, has done more than anything to shape the public's perception of the assassination: That's Oliver Stone's 1991 drama, "JFK." "He made this kind of paranoid conspiracy theory respectable," says New York writer Arthur Goldwag, author of "Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies." The movie tells the story of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, played by Kevin Costner . Garrison remains the only prosecutor to bring someone to trial for an alleged conspiracy to kill Kennedy. The film is "a remarkable litany of falsehoods and misrepresentations and exaggerations and omissions," Posner says. "The reason that I'm so hard on Stone is because he's such a good filmmaker. If he was a schlocky filmmaker, it wouldn't matter." Shermer, of the Skeptics Society, agrees that Stone's role in stirring the conspiracy pot is "huge." "You tell somebody a good story, that's more powerful than tons of data, charts and graphs and statistics," he says. "And Oliver Stone's a good storyteller. He's biased and he's very deceptive, and I don't trust him at all. But the movie's great." Stone's publicist said the director had "chosen to pass on this opportunity" to comment. "JFK" took in more than $205 million at the box office, nearly two-thirds of that overseas, and has since raked in untold millions more in television royalties, pay-per-view, and videocassette and DVD rentals. In the recent AP-GfK poll, respondents were asked how much of what they knew about the JFK case came from various sources. Only 9 percent cited movies or fictional TV shows, while the greatest portion, 37 percent, said history texts and nonfiction books. About two dozen JFK-related titles are due on bookstore shelves in coming months, says Patricia Bostelman, vice president of marketing for Barnes & Noble booksellers. Among them is "They Killed Our President: The Conspiracy to Kill JFK and the Cover-Up That Followed," by former pro wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura. Other authors are taking advantage of the anniversary to reissue or expand on previous works. Waldron is working on a book focusing on mob figures who confessed to being part of a conspiracy to kill the president. Summers is publishing a sequel to "Conspiracy," incorporating material released since 1980, while Bugliosi has a "Parkland" paperback to accompany the movie release. And "Case Closed" will soon appear for the first time as an e-book. Despite the mountains of documents released since its publication, and a mountain of criticism of his conclusions, Posner says there is no plan to update it, other than perhaps including a new foreword. "I moved on to other subjects," he says. On Nov. 22, 1963, John Kelin was a 7-year-old second-grader in Peoria, Ill. He says the Kennedy assassination is "my earliest clear memory in life." But he didn't really give the case much thought until 13 years later, when as a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University he attended a lecture by Mark Lane. It was the first time he saw the Abraham Zapruder film that captured the moment when Kennedy was fatally wounded. "Using slow motion and freeze frame, Lane made sure that all of us sitting in that hot, poorly ventilated auditorium understood that Kennedy's head and shoulders were slammed backward and to the left, and that Lee Harvey Oswald's alleged shooting position was behind the presidential limousine," Kelin wrote in a book, "Praise from a Future Generation," about early critics of the Warren Report. "In a way, that lecture was the genesis of this book." Kelin bristles at references to a conspiracy theory "industry," preferring to think of himself as part of a grass roots response to the government's "severely flawed, unsatisfactory explanations for what really happened in 1963." His publisher, Wings Press, has "made intimations" about releasing a digital edition of "Praise" for the 50th anniversary. Meanwhile, Kelin has written another JFK book - a fictional account of how he came to write the first one. "It's kind of a satire of the present-day research community," he says, "with a love story thrown in to try to broaden the interest level." The title: "Conspiracy Nut." http://omg.yahoo.com/news/50-years-finding-profit-truth-jfk-case-160632997.html http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=459_1368308526 Detroit Iron 50 years on, finding profit in 'truth' on JFK case John F. Kennedy Thu, 09 May 2013 06:08:35 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d2c_1368093921 Buzz1964 On April 22nd 2013 (World Earth Day) EVA from Tauranga, New Zealand became the first cow to go to the edge of Space and back again. Launched from a site in the Eastern Sierra Nevada desert she hitched a ride on a space weather balloon to 120,000 feet, and then parachuted back to Earth. EVA landed in the hottest place on Earth, where members of Earth to Sky Science club led by Dr. Tony Phillips spent over 18 hours rescuing her from the jaws of Death Valley. EVA's amazing adventure was captured on HD video. Music is - Space Explorers and Spacial Winds, both by Kevin MacLeod http://www.eol.co.nz/eva for more info http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d2c_1368093921 Buzz1964 Cow Goes to SPACE- 1080P HD Cow, Mooo, space, out there Thu, 02 May 2013 23:13:39 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bb2_1367547432 Baron_Kaz China is too big for its shoes, we all know that. For a 3rd world country with barely a fraction of its lands and people being urbanized, China assumes too much power with its sheer bluster. It is not uncommon, Hitler in the 1930's was not leading a super powerful Germany, when it made the pacifist League of Nations and a weak willed European council of states accede to his demands. And it was through these concessions that he built up Nazi Germany to what it is. We pride ourselves in not learning lessons from the past, whereas it seems the enemy always uses tried and tested techniques to built it self up. A strong assertive China is not in the interests of any nation in the world. Not the Western Allies or the Russians or the regional super power India or the Asian economic power houses. A strong China is not even good for the Chinese, who are being ground to the dust by the communist boots. Support for N. Korea, Iran, and every rogue nation in the world, slyly building up "ring of pearls" extending from Laos, Burma, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran to control what is arguably the most vital shipping routes connecting the far east to Europe, China is following a policy that is clearly expansionist. And what did Hitler do in the beginning ... he did not openly march in to warfare to garner resources. He utilized age old territorial and ethnic claims to bolster himself, Studetenland is case and point. Similarly China is doing that on a much larger scale. China has territorial dispute with every single neighbor. And it claims territories based on mystical propagandist rhetoric which seems to be the hall mark of totalitarian regimes. The only exception being Tajikistan, which ceded more than 1% of its national land mass to China, or roughly 1000 Sq. Kms. Now this was AFTER China signed MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) with its Central Asian neighbors arising from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, viz. Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan in 1991. China re-evaluated its greed for land, and in this case the pressure worked with Tajikistan, leading to a 2001 agreement and finally a 2011 hand over of the land mass to China. China has lately taken to very aggressive posturing with its neighbors in the recent few years. Senkaku Islands in Japan, South China Sea islands controlled by Vietnam, Phillipines, etc and most recently South Tibet controlled by India. In the cases of Senkaku Island and South China sea, there was aggressive posturing and rhetoric, without any active military action. However in the case of India, China has moved forward and established military bases deep within Indian territory, 20 Kms actually. But given the rugged mountainous terrain, the Chinese bases with the advantage of height control over 750 Kms of Indian territory and the vital Karakorum pass - the life line of that region, which connects the 3 hostile neighbors, India, Pakistan and China. While Vietnam, Philippines and Japan have a sense of national pride, India, although technically the most militarily powerful, given its weak and corrupt government, has actually done nothing to reclaim its lost lands other than hold "Flag waving exercises" which actually is Indian Soldiers waving white flags at the enemy and hollering to get their attention. Its not a joke, but a true statement. Controlling / containing China is not hard. Let us consider the liabilities China has at this time: 1) A very large population, with a skewed distribution of wealth and education. The southern port cities are wallowing in wealth, while the hinterlands are still agricultural and backward. 2) An economy bereft of imagination, just mindless manufacturing. The largest human migration actually happens during the Chinese Lunar new year, when Chinese factory workers take a break for 1 month from their sweat shops to go to their villages in the north. If these workers come back and have no jobs, they pose the most significant threat to China, since they will be in the southern cities, they have been exposed to the "good life" and "reality" and are semi - weaned off the communist propaganda teat. And they have the ability to rouse the hitherto placated hinterlands, which remained completely silent during the 1989 Beijing uprising aka the "Tinanmen square protests". 3) A skewed and unhealthy male to female sex ratio, due to the one family, one child policy, which led to mass abortion of female babies. 4) Dangerous allies - North Korea, Iran, which instead of bolstering China's reputation and economy, actually subtract from it. 5) A very huge thirst for energy, which cannot be sustained from within. 6) A relatively weak naval force. Chinese Navy is a joke, their only naval asset worth even considering is their anti ship missile. But they are modernizing at a furious pace. 7) A very centralized command and control structure, which is dependent on propaganda and rhetoric. The question which is most intriguing, why is China going out of its way to antagonize its neighbors with its land claims? Just like North Korea's recent tantrums, it is mostly meant for domestic consumption. It is a true and tested tactic, if you want to placate your own masses and divert their attention, create a bogeyman foreign enemy to unite them under your banner. Given the afore mentioned 7 points and the world economic slow down of 2008, and a recent change in Chinese leadership, the new Communist party boss is in the process of establishing his authority over the masses. It is of little surprise thus, that the latest debacle with India is happening as I write this, barely 17 days prior to a high level visit by none less than the Chinese Premier himself to New Delhi on May 20th, 2013. Most likely these debacles will slowly peter out, but with each incursion and with each claim, China is flexing its theoretical muscle while we watch with bated breath, waiting for them to make the move. Like in any sport, or any debate, one should NEVER leave the opening move and thus control to the opponent. And statecraft is not a blind rush to address leaks where it happens, but rather a careful assessment of SWOT : Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat with due consideration of strategic benefits vs tactical gains. The solution for India vis a vis the Chinese land grab in Southern Tibet lies not in the Himalayan mountains, wherein sheer logistics would make it too expensive a proposal to adequately address the issue. While China has for years worked to build its infrastructure in the mountains, India has barely started and the Indian army is honestly not a match for the People' Red Army. Or for Japan, where in the control of a tiny island very close to its own shores is under threat. The key to this problem lies in the South China sea. China is in desperate need of oil, and energy. And it needs to unload its mass of cheaply manufactured goods to the Western Nations. And some how both these factors coincide at the same patch of waters, which we know as the South China sea. Rich in oil reserves and a vital naval route for cargo ships, it is central to China in terms of importance. India has its national oil company, the ONGC - Videsh (Oil & Natural Gas Corporation - International) already exploring these waters, and it has the strongest Naval fleet in Asia, next only to Russia - which maintains its Vladivostok fleet, but is hampered due to economic constrains and since it is not a all year port given its northern location. If India agrees on a "Protection" deal with the South China Sea claimants, viz. Phillipines, Vietnam, et al, and positions its blue water navy in these waters, it effectively catches China with its shorts and curlies. Same applies to the USA, which however does not enjoy the good will that India does, with Vietnam in particular. A joint, India, US and Japanese collaboration in the South China sea, with maritime Patrols would contribute to greater control over China, compared to any bull shit defense and military build up. We have to remember, that when we press down on an over inflated water balloon, although we might apply pressure at one point, the effects of the pressure are transmitted to the other side, and ultimately leads to the breakage at the weakest point. This is strategy. Controlling the South China sea, not only controls the potential Oil and Natural gas resource which China craves and indeed needs to sustain its very existence, but it controls the shipping routes from the middle east which supplies the energy to China. A bit of that pressure will be eased with the building of the pipeline from Iran through Pakistan in to China. So the time to act is now. Also, given the dependence of "Off loading" cheap manufactured goods, China needs these water ways. If the factories remain shut for more than a month, there will be a revolution. The people in China are in a precarious state. And there is only so much control you can exercise with cults of personality and rhetoric. If the Northern workers, without wives (given the skewed sex ratio) are idle, and with their new education and knowledge are denied their meager earnings, they will rise. And they will rise in the nerve centers of the south. And they will instigate their brethren in the hinterlands. And, the educated "intelligentsia" in the south, will support this revolution, since like the Czech and Slovak republics, wherein the Czechs saw the Slovaks as a drain on their earnings, the Southerners will want to keep their money and assume the role of employers, rather than benefit providers to the communist teat. Also, with greater exposure to Western media, they know what they are missing. But these ideas can work in the immediate present. Please do note, the oil pipeline from Iran to China, and the massive modernization drive of the People's Naval forces, will render this idea unusable in the next few years. As with Hitler, we think in retrospect, that he should have been stopped in Munich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeasement). Let us not make that mistake and let another monster grow, before it gets too big for the good of the world. Signed: Kaz. Los Angeles, May 2, 2013. PS: Please donate to help me create more original content. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bb2_1367547432 Baron_Kaz Containing China - Militarily & Economically. China