Momma's got a whole lotta $$$

Money? What Money?

Not the most startling news. A lot of Mommas have a lotta $$$. But, this particular Momma is the Momma of the Leader of the People's Republic of China! You know, the nation of over a billion folks. The majority of whom live in poverty. Even more than in the US.

A little background...

“The mother of China’s prime minister was a school teacher in northern China. His father was ordered to tend pigs in one of Mao’s political campaigns. And during childhood, “my family was extremely poor,” the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, said in a speech last year.”

School teacher? (and not even a Chicao school teacher at that) Pig farmer during Mao Tse Tung's reign of terror? A lot of questions come to mind. A lot.

Just one investment in her name, in a large Chinese financial services company, had a value of $120 million five years ago, the records show.

The details of how Ms. Yang, a widow, accumulated such wealth are not known, or even if she was aware of the holdings in her name. But it happened after her son was elevated to China’s ruling elite, first in 1998 as vice prime minister and then five years later as prime minister.

The story goes on about most of Wen's family tree becoming wealthy, hidden funds, offshore manipulaions, etc. And this $$$ doesn't seem to be the kind made “the old fashioned way – earning it.” No, “They didn't build it,” they stole, syphoned, kick-backed, loop-holed, and generally used whatever Mafia-like techniques required to pile it up.

There's a long, long list of behind the scenes financial doings in the country we're shipping boatloads of our cash to every day. I liked the ending...

The prime minister’s supporters say he has not personally benefited from his extended family’s business dealings, and may not even be knowledgeable about the extent of them.

Last March, the prime minister hinted that he was at least aware of the persistent rumors about his relatives. During a nationally televised news conference in Beijing, he insisted that he had “never pursued personal gain” in public office.

“I have the courage to face the people and to face history,” he said in an emotional session. “There are people who will appreciate what I have done, but there are also people who will criticize me. Ultimately, history will have the final say.”

Sounds like something you'd hear from one our own politicians PR reps.

At one time we had secrets. Now there are Secrets and "Secrets"

First, the ground rules...
The word Secret can be used as a noun or an adjective. For my purpose, it's one of three levels of security assigned to information or material (stuff). The other two are Confidential and Top Secret.

Secret information is: documents, pictures, charts or anything else associated with a piece of equipment, project, proposal... any and everything you only want folks with "A Need to Know," to know. Clear?

Disclosure of Secret information has the potential of causing serious damage to our national security. (Sadly, sometimes it's just embarrassing if folks find out about it.) Access to Secret information in only given to folks considered trustworthy. (And we all know how that occasionally works out.)

Now (finally) a couple of my Pet Peeves...
There are politicians, and those associated with them, who use classified information for their own purpose(s). They "leak" information to someone they know who will, in turn, pass it along or publish it. These politicians were granted a security clearance because they were deemed to be worthy of trust. Evidently they are not.

Today I found an example of "Secrets" (Secrets that aren't really.) The US has an unmanned (for now), reusable craft designated X-37B. It's launched into space, does its job(s) and then re-enters the atmosphere and lands. Rinse and repeat.

The story, titled, get this now, "Mysterious X-37B Military Space Plane's Next Secret Mission Delayed" Ok, it's not mysterious, and the next planned launch in not secret. What it'll do when/if it gets in orbit is another Secret, or not. Its exact capabilities have been widely speculated, and a few revealed.

If you'd like some idea about the design, Google you this... "X-37B diagrams" or "X-37B design" or "X-37B capabilities" or just about anything else you want to know about the X-37B. Lots of dots to connect, folks.

The fact that it even exists, IMO, should not be public knowledge. Much less how it works, its capabilities and when we launch or delay launching the damned thing! But the information is all over the internet and shows up from time to time on the evening news. Lord love a duck.

During the "Cold War," (I use the "  " because it wasn't as cold as most think. Another story for another day.) the Russian Commies pulled off one of the greatest "disinformation" cons ever. The US believed their planted information about the capabilities of one of their bombers. And we acted accordingly on that (dis)information.

Is the X-37B actually a masterful piece of disinformation? Are we just giving Russia, China, Iran, N. Korea, et al, a wild goose to chase? I don't think so.