The Living Years by Mike & The Mechanics (1988)

         (Lyrics and the music video of “The Living Years by Mike & Mechanics”.)

Every generation, Blames the one before

And all of their frustrations, Come beating on your door

I know that I'm a prisoner, To all my Father held so dear

I know that I'm a hostage, To all his hopes and fears

I just wish I could have told him in the living years.

 

Oh, crumpled bits of paper, Filled with imperfect thought

Stilted conversations, I'm afraid that's all we've got

You say you just don't see it, He says it's perfect sense

You just can't get agreement, In this present tense

We all talk a different language, Talking in defence.

Trump working on Access to Myanmar's Rare Earths

             (Staff post from the REUTERS on 29 July 2025.)

Trump team hears pitches on access to Myanmar's rare earths: The Trump administration has heard competing proposals that would significantly alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Myanmar, with the aim of diverting its vast supplies of rare earth minerals away from strategic rival China, four people with direct knowledge of the discussions said.

Nothing has been decided and experts say there are huge logistical obstacles, but if the ideas are ever acted upon, Washington may need to strike a deal with the ethnic rebels controlling most of Myanmar's rich deposits of heavy rare earths.

Among the proposals are one advocating talks with Myanmar's ruling junta to get a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army rebels and another calling for the U.S. to instead work directly with the KIA without engaging the junta. Washington has avoided direct talks with the country's military leaders following their overthrow of the country's democratically elected government in 2021.

Thailand Vs Cambodia Border War?

          (Facebook post from the PHILLIPINES STAR on 25 July 2025.)

Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the border between their countries in a major escalation that left at least 14 people dead, mostly civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched airstrikes.

Fighting took place in at least six areas on Thursday, according to Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, a day after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers and led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia’s envoy to Thailand.

On Friday, Cambodia’s chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said clashes resumed early in the morning near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours.

The Importance of Kachin State to Myanmar’s Revolution

                    (Michael Martin’s post from the CSIS on 22 July 2025.)

Four years on, Myanmar’s civil war has spread to all 14 regions and states, as well as the major cities of Mandalay, Naypyidaw, and Yangon.

According to the analysis of the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, opposition groups have effective control over 34 percent of the country’s landmass, including all but one of the border townships.

Townships under opposition control form a crescent that arcs from Rakhine State in the west, through Chin State, Sagaing Region, across Kachin State, and into Shan State in the east. Almost all of the cross-border towns with neighboring Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand are under the administration of opposition forces.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its affiliated People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) have reportedly captured more than 300 military installations and 15 towns in Kachin State, Shan State, or Sagaing Region since the 2021 coup. The KIA and its allies have also taken control of all but one of the border crossings into China. In addition, they control most of Kachin’s valuable mining region, including its rare earth mines.

Rumours of Xi’s fall are wishful thinking?

              (B. R. Deepak’s post from the SUNDAY GUARDIAN on 06 July 2025.)

Rumours of the imminent or actual political demise of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMS) by overseas Chinese dissidents, have been simmering in recent times.

At the heart of these rumours is Xi’s unusual disappearance from public view for nearly two weeks in the month of May. Fingers have been pointed to factional rivalry between the so-called “Princeling” and once formidable “Shanghai” clique represented by Jiang Zemin and his loyalists. Some other signals that fed the rumour mill is that the May Politburo meeting, a routine fixture, did not take place.

In the military realm, Xi’s removal of senior generals such as Vice Chairman of the CMC, He Weidong Admiral Miao Hua, the director of the CMC’s political work department, responsible for ideological control and personnel management within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have dominated the headlines.

Xi Jinping is Cornered by a Silent Coup?

        (Edward Wenming’s post from the VISION TIMES NEWS on 09 July 2025.)

Xi Jinping Cornered: Is a Silent Coup Reshaping China’s Power Structure? On June 30, Beijing’s top-ruling body, the Politburo, called a meeting to review the “Regulations on the Work of the Party Central Committee’s Decision-Making and Coordination Bodies.” The meeting was personally chaired by Xi Jinping, Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

As soon as the news broke, it sparked widespread interpretations. Many observers believe that, coming at this sensitive moment on the eve of the Beidaihe meeting, Zhongnanhai’s release of these regulations is effectively creating a new, higher-level Politburo above the existing one. This not only underscores Xi Jinping’s weakening grip on power, but also carries multiple hidden political signals.

So what kind of body is this exactly? Why would Xi agree to place a tightening shackle on himself — to elevate a supervisory “matron” over his own authority? What’s so unusual about the wording of this official communiqué? And what kind of political storm is brewing inside Zhongnanhai? Where is China’s shifting political landscape headed?

The Murchison Rock Meteorite in Victoria, Australia

             (Fiona Pepper’s post from the ABC NEWS Australia on 02 October 2019.)

The Secrets Of The Universe: The Murchison meteorite is one of the most scientifically significant space rocks ever discovered. It fell to Earth on September 28, 1969, near the town of Murchison in Victoria, Australia. A bright fireball was seen streaking across the sky before the meteorite exploded in the atmosphere and scattered fragments across a wide area.

What makes the Murchison meteorite so extraordinary is its composition. It's classified as a carbonaceous chondrite, a rare type of meteorite rich in organic compounds and primitive solar system material. Scientists believe it is over 4.6 billion years old, meaning it formed during the very early days of the solar system.

When researchers analyzed the Murchison fragments, they discovered over 70 amino acids—the building blocks of life. Many of these are not found naturally on Earth, strongly suggesting an extraterrestrial origin. In later studies, scientists even identified sugars and nucleobases, which are crucial for RNA and DNA. This raised a profound possibility: the ingredients for life may have been delivered to Earth from space.

The Party Elders Who May Challenge Xi Jinping

            (Melinda Liu’s post from the FOREIGN POLICY on 13 October 2022.)

Succession has always been the Chinese Communists’ Achilles’s heel: By Melinda Liu, Newsweek’s Beijing bureau chief.

They used to be called the “Eight Immortals”: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elders who wielded political influence behind the scenes. In the spring of 1989, as street protests and internal power struggles bedevilled strongman Deng Xiaoping, he trotted out seven senior retired officials to help him unify a factionalized leadership and calm an emotional public. Together, the elders purged Deng’s heir apparent, Zhao Ziyang, who had sympathized with the demonstrators, and soldiers were ordered to open fire on civilians.

Watching Chinese TV at the time, I was among a group of foreign media and diplomats who could hardly believe it when the aged revolutionaries—most of whom had long faded from public view—were suddenly thrust back into the limelight, standing together on nationwide TV. A Western newspaper reporter beside me muttered, “It’s like I’m watching Night of the Living Dead.”

Return of Hu Jintao: Dangerous Days in Forbidden City

             (Maurice Newman’s post from the SPECTATOR Australia on 21 June 2025.)

In October 2022, when former Chinese president and respected party elder, Hu Jintao, was televised being unceremoniously escorted out of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, the whole world got a glimpse of the ruthlessness of Chinese politics.

Hu’s departure was during the closing ceremony of the Communist party’s 20th National Congress during which Xi Jinping had secured an unprecedented, third, five-year term as party chief. Hu’s humiliation sent an emphatic signal that the Xi faction was in absolute control,

Since then several purges have been conducted, intended to further entrench the ‘Chairman of Everything’, by ensuring only those close to him secured senior positions. But it’s no longer happy days in the Forbidden City.

President Xi Jinping’s Quiet Military Purge

              (Tom Clifford’s post from the COUNTER PUNCH on 01 July 2025.) 

President Xi Jinping has put the Chinese military in the crosshairs as he proves once again that Mao Zedong’s metaphor, power is gained through the barrel of a gun, remains as relevant today as it was when the communists took power in 1949.

Admiral Miao Hua was responsible for ideology and loyalty within the armed forces. His own loyalty was questioned and he was removed after allegations of corruption. Miao was originally suspended from the CMC in 2024 as he was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline”. Those words, in China, mean guilty of corruption and are as damming as any court verdict.

Miao is the eighth member of the Central Military Commission (it only has six members) to be ousted since Xi took power in 2012. The expulsion of CMC members was previously unheard of since the era of Mao.

The Mysterious Death of Ex-Premier Li Keqiang

           (Janet Huang’s post from the VISION TIME NEWS on 18 June 2025.) 

The Mysterious Death of Li Keqiang and the Fractures Splitting China’s Leadership: The sudden death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in October 2023 sent shockwaves across China — but for many, the official account was met with deep skepticism. Authorities claimed Li died of a sudden heart attack while swimming, but rumors of foul play have persisted.

Now, a dramatic allegation has surfaced, adding fuel to those suspicions. A figure claiming inside knowledge — using the pseudonym “Nothing to Say” — has come forward with what he describes as a detailed account of a state-sanctioned assassination.

According to this whistleblower, Li’s death was no tragic accident but rather a cold, calculated execution code-named Operation 23107, ordered from within the Chinese state apparatus itself.

Shockwave of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Death

         (Jennifer Zeng’s post from the JAPAN FORWARD on 07 November 2023.) 

Shockwave of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's Death: End of Old Era, or Beginning of New One? Li Keqiang's death shocked many and has raised some uncomfortable questions about the consolidation of power and future of China, reports author Jennifer Zeng.

Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's death has sent shockwaves through Chinese society. He passed away suddenly after only seven months out of office, drawing massive attention both domestically and abroad.

With the cremation of his body, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities are forcibly seeking to quell this shockwave. Some lament that Li's passing marks the end of an era. But does it also herald the beginning of another?

Why Li Keqiang's death is dangerous for Xi Jinping

             (Stephen McDonell’s post from the BBC NEWS UK on 27 Oct 2023.)

The death of a leader in China can usher in big changes, it did after Mao Zedong, or can lead to political upheaval, like it did when grieving for Hu Yaobang morphed into the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

For this reason, the passing of former premier Li Keqiang has already triggered various measures to ensure that stability is maintained. A crackdown on VPN use is under way to reduce the access of Chinese citizens to the parts of the internet not controlled by the Communist Party.

The Party doesn't want mourning for a popular, liberal, former number two leader to generate wider criticism of the current administration, led by Xi Jinping. It is not just that Li died so suddenly, suffering a heart attack just months after stepping down, but because of what he represented: a way of potentially governing China with different priorities to those of the General Secretary Xi.

Li Keqiang: Ex-Premier sidelined by Xi Jinping dies at 68

             (Yvette Tan’s post from the BBC NEWS UK on 27 Oct 2023.)

Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang has died of a heart attack aged 68. State media said he died at 10 minutes past midnight on Friday (October 27, 2023) despite "all-out" efforts to revive him. Li was once tipped to be the country's future leader but was overtaken by President Xi Jinping.

A trained economist, he held the second highest-ranked position in China, though in recent years, he was widely isolated amongst China's top leadership. He was the only incumbent top official who didn't belong to Mr Xi's loyalists group.

"Li's death means the loss of a prominent moderating voice within the senior levels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with no one apparently being able to take over the mantle," Ian Chong, non resident scholar at the Carnegie China think tank told the BBC. "This probably means even less restraint on Mr Xi's exercise of power and authority."

Billion Bahts Police Corruption in Thailand’s Maesot

             (Based on the post from the PEOPLE’s SPRING on 05 July 2025.)

There are about 250,000 Burmese living in the frontier Thai-Myanmar Border Town of Maesot, either legally or illegally. They all must pay, unofficially of course, the Thai Police in Maesot to live in peace there and also earn a living among only 100,000 Thai locals.

As non-citizens, no Burmese has Thai Identity Card, and they are all forced to carry a basic identity card called The Police Card at the monthly cost of 600 bahts (roughly US$ 15). The Police Card allowed the Burmese to be out and about in Maesot Town from 6 am to 8 pm. Outside of that time they would be arrested if they are outside and required to pay the arresting police a bribe of from 10,000 (US$ 250) to 50,000 (US$ 1,250) bahts.

On top of that Police Card the Burmese there have to pay for additional cards such as Motorbike Cards at the monthly cost of 1,500 bahts (US$ 40) to own and ride a motorbike and Sam-lor Cards at the monthly cost of 5,000 bahts (US$ 150) to operate a Three-Wheeler Bike carrier business.

Coup in Communist China: Xi Jinping Removed?

          (Nivedita Dash’s post from the INDIA.COM on 04 July 2025.)

Either dead or in prison?

Xi Jinping’s oldest enemy ready to end Xi’s rule in China, silent coup on against super powerful Chinese president: Chinese President Xi Jinping has been missing for the past two weeks as he has not been seen anywhere between late May and early June.

Various questions are arising due to the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the last two weeks. Is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s power coming to an end? Is there a plot for a coup in China?. There is no news of him even in the Chinese government’s mouthpiece People’s Daily, although he used to be a part of its news every day.

Meanwhile, news of other Communist Party leaders hosting visiting dignitaries in Beijing’s grand hall made headlines. China has a history of senior leaders being quietly removed from power. In such a situation, it is not meaningless to ask whether similar preparations are going on against Xi Jinping as well.

Paetongtarn’s Thai Government on the Brink of Collapse

             (Patrick Martin’s post from the ABC NEWS AUSTRALIA on 19 June 2025.)

Thailand's government on brink of collapse after key coalition party withdraws support following leaked call: The phone call between Hun Sen and Paetongtarn Shinawatra has had massive political repercussions in Thailand. 

Political leaks are usually damaging but rarely bring a government to the brink of collapse. A leaked phone call has done just that in Thailand. The chat between Thailand's prime minister and a former Cambodian leader comes as the relationship sours over a border dispute that has stemmed from the death of a soldier. Here's how that death and a leaked phone call have brought a government to its knees.

What happened at the 'Emerald Triangle? Late last month, a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish in a contested zone known as the "Emerald Triangle", where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet. Both the Thai and Cambodian armies said they acted in self-defence.