Traders Await Market Reaction to Middle East Events
Israel’s stock market shrugged off the weekend’s attack by Iran, and cryptocurrencies were regaining some of their losses as the world braced for a broader market reaction at the start of the week.
Officials said most of the 300 drones and missiles launched Saturday by Iran toward Israel were intercepted, and tensions appeared to be de-escalating on Sunday. President Joe Biden condemned the…
Volodymyr Zelensky and ‘the spirit of Ukraine’ named Time’s Person of the Year
Volodymyr Zelensky and ‘the spirit of Ukraine’ named Time’s Person of the Year
“‘For proving that courage can be as contagious as fear, for stirring people and nations to come together in defense of freedom, for reminding the world of the fragility of democracy — and of peace — Volodymyr Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine are TIME’s 2022 Person of the Year.’”
That was Time editor in chief Edward Felsenthal explaining why the publication has named the Ukrainian leader and…
Former Nascar Driver Bobby East’s Suspected Killer Fatally Shot by Police
Former Nascar Driver Bobby East’s Suspected Killer Fatally Shot by Police
A man suspected of fatally stabbing former Nascar driver Bobby East at a California gas station was shot and killed Friday by police, according to local authorities.
Westminster, Calif., police identified 27-year-old Trent Millsap as the primary suspect in the stabbing death of Mr. East last week.
In 2013, NSA Security Genius, Ed Snowden, revealed troubling documents that were termed "classified" by the NSA. This revelation actually has shown that we have a lot going on with our privacy.
But today, even with the seeming improvement in privacy policies in the world, the truth remains that we still have a lot to protect, IF we must really prevent those who are not authorized from spying on our private lives.
One way that has and will continuously pose a huge block of problems to us is our PHONE.
Right now, if you are reading this article, I can bet that you have a phone, whether a dummy or a smartphone. One good thing is, the phone helps you to solve problems, the bad news is, the same phone SPIES on you and gives away private information about you to many people.
While many claim to switch their phones off, or put them on AIRPLANE MODE, the truth is that your phone never really goes off. It continues skwaking and talking to the nearest cell tower to you, (what you call "masts").
Even when your phone is off, it keeps sending out tons and tons of data through radio signals, to companies which you have their apps on your phone or signed up on the website. It also speaks with the cell towers, revealing everything about it i.e your location, your phone number, your IMEI, and many others.
Shocking truth is that even your camera and microphone are always on even when you don't use it and can be used to spy on you right inside your home.
Does that mean you should delete all apps on your phone? NO
Does that mean you should stop using phones? No
It means that the dawn of our fear is here
While many suggest that you can use VPN (Virtual Private Networks) to keep your activity secret.
Others also suggest using incognito windows while browsing, or using private browsers like TOR browser, Brave browser, and others.
This to an extent truly helps to make our lives safer online as we use our gadgets both online and offline.
Yes, your activity is secret, but you are not secret, your locations, and your activities physically will be broadcasted on air, every single time. The problem isn’t just re-routing our locations or not keeping our data, the issue to be tackled is how we can protect ourselves even when we are not using those gadgets online or offline.
Multi-million dollar companies like Google, Apple, and many others have given reasons for withholding the right for humans to have total control over the devices they use, this is because “we won’t be able to make the right decisions”. This, to an extent, is true, but to what length does it make us become SLAVES to these organisations and the government that is in power?
Well, the best way we can help to ensure our total security (if possible) is to review our data privacy policies.
Smart people instinctively understand the dangers of entrusting our future to self-serving leaders who use our institutions, whether in the corporate or social sectors, to advance their own interests. James C Colins
I discussed yesterday the catastrophic consequences of David Cameron’s policy of austerity, one academic study claiming 333,000 excess deaths can be attributed to the cuts to public services and benefits inflicted by Cameron as part of his austerity package.
Needless to say, it was the poor that suffered while the rich became richer still. The hardships of austerity were for ordinary working people to endure, not the rich friends of the Tory Party.
“We often hear David Cameron say: "We're all in this together." The truth is that Mr Cameron and his cabinet of millionaires sit there in a pool of cash whilst there are over three million children in Britain living in poverty. Under the Tories, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Whether it's dinners for donors in Downing Street or giving millionaires a tax-cut, it's the same old Tories who leave all the ordinary hard-working people of this country to suffer.” (HUFFPOST: 25/01/14)
After a further five years of austerity nothing had changed:
“Rich getting richer while poor get poorer, official figures show – with ‘Brexit and benefits freeze to blame'." (Independent: 26/02/19)
Not only was Cameron (together with George Osborne) responsible for the devastating cuts to public service funding and benefit payments, but he also led us into the quagmire that was Brexit.
Whatever your views on Brexit, it has been an economic disaster for this country and the blame for this can be squarely laid at the door of David Cameron.
"Many will never forgive him for the almost offhand way he steered Britain into an unnecessary Brexit cul-de-sac, and the ramifications of his mistake continue to cast a pall over the country." (Evening Standard: 14/11/23)
The Evening Standard, is usually a Tory supporting newspaper but even they recognise that Cameron was being totally self-serving in calling for a referendum on our membership of the EU, a decision that had more to do with saving the Tory Party (and his premiership) from the consequences of a right-wing split and the rise of UKIP to Tory MP seats.
“Cameron chose to commit to a vote, not because the country’s population was clamouring for one but because a significant minority of his own MPs, many of them frustrated by the constraints of coalition, were demanding that he do so – some because they feared that UKIP would cost them their seat (or the seats of too many of their colleagues) at the next election, some because they wanted out of the European Union and were more than happy to leverage that fear to their advantage.” (ukandeu.ac.uk: Why David Cameron called the 2016 referendum – and why he lost’ : 04/10/22)
As if this were not enough, Cameron was not averse to using his political connections to potentially line his own pockets after he had resigned as PM. In 2022, MP’s condemned Cameron for lobbying on behalf of his banking employer, Greensill.
“The Treasury select committee said in July 2021 that it was inappropriate of the ex-prime minister to send 62 messages to former colleagues pleading for them to help the controversial bank, for which he worked and in which he owned stock options that could have been worth tens of millions of pounds.” (Guardian: 13/11/23)
Cameron also risked the security of this country by cosying up to China. Declaring that he was determined to make Britain Beijing’s partner of choice, he signed £40bn worth of deals with China claiming:
“What this really means is jobs, it means livelihoods, it means security.”
Whatever else it meant it did not mean security.
“China represents the "largest state-based threat" to Britain's economic security, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has told the BBC. It comes as figures show the government intervened in eight attempted takeovers of UK firms by Chinese buyers last year over national security fears.” (BBC News: 11/07/23)
It did however mean a job for David Cameron:
“Former British PM Cameron gets new job as vice-chairman of China-UK fund.” (The Straits Times: 19/12/17)
Cameron, like many Tories, is a man who, despite his patriotic rhetoric, is prepared to put the Conservative Party and his own career above the best interests of the country as a whole. He is a man of poor economic judgement, a man who acts for the benefit of his rich friends and is quite prepared to endanger our security of our nation for the short term benefit of making a few extra pounds. He is not fit to be Foreign Secretary and Rishi Sunak should never have appointed him.
German police arrest 25 on suspicion of an armed coup led by suspected far-right extremists
German police arrest 25 on suspicion of an armed coup led by suspected far-right extremists
BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of police carried out a series of raids across much of Germany on Wednesday against suspected far-right extremists who allegedly sought to overthrow the state in an armed coup.
Federal prosecutors said some 3,000 officers conducted searches at 130 sites in 11 of Germany’s 16 states against adherents of the so-called Reich Citizens movement. Some members of the grouping…
What's your opinion on Kuroda Hyoue being the disguised Tsutomu Akai?
I think it would make his character even more interesting, but if he isn't I don't know where and who Tsutomu could be.
And if he is did he meet his kids? I think he met Sera but I am not sure.
"Kuroda Hyoue = Akai Tsutomu" Theory (Updated)
This is my current speculation on Kuroda Hyoue's identity, I will keep it updated as we get new developments.
I think that Kuroda Hyoue is indeed Akai Tsutomu's current identity. Kuroda shares many similarities with Akai Tsutomu and especially his son (Akai Shuuichi). They both have similar fashion sense, with a contrasting white-coloured tie to a dark shirt and a brown overlay, and when it comes to Shuuichi, we got visual cues where they not only stood the same way with hands in their pocket, but also demonstrated the same leg sweep technique (File 989 & 1016), which is most likely intended to indicate that they share the same martial arts (Jeet Kune Do) that Akai Tsutomu was revealed to have mastered (File 1099 & SDB 90+).
Kuroda was also especially interested in the Kohji case, to the point of seemingly noticing a dying message-like name in the news (File 980 & 987). This fits with Akai Tsutomu's interest, that started after Haneda Kohji's father (Haneda Yasuharu), who is Tsutomu's friend, requested that he solved his son's murder (File 1037).
Here is how I currently suspect he turned from a seemingly deceased MI6 agent from Britain to a member of the NPA's Public Security in Japan in the last 17 years.
We know from File 1048-1049 that Tsutomu had a confrontation with Vermouth 17 years ago after his investigation on the Kohji case, and that clash lead to him being presumed dead by the BO. We then learned in File 1099 that Wakasa and a "monster" (Rum) was involved in what potentially was that same incident that lead to his presumed death 17 years ago.
As I speculated before, I think that Tsutomu's investigation lead him to finding out that Kohji's dying message revealed "Karasuma" to be the culprit, and that the prime suspect Asaka is innocent. I think that Rum found out about Tsutomu's investigation and baited him to a location using Vermouth, who disguised as "the innocent bodyguard Asaka" and carried Kohji's shogi piece charm as proof to convince him. Before going to the meeting location, Tsutomu warned his family about making enemies with bad people and told them to move to Japan, so that his family's whereabouts aren't discovered (File 972), in case he doesn't survive the planned meeting with "Asaka" (similar to Mary's contingency plan of having Masumi contact MI6 about fake Tsutomu in case Mary didn't make it back in File 1049).
That lead to Tsutomu finger jabbing Rum's left eye (as hinted by Gosho in the OdaxAoyama interview and File 972) and ultimately getting defeated by Rum after letting his guard down around Vermouth (Fake Asaka/Wakasa).
I suspect that Tsutomu's confrontation with them lead to him surviving (like Mary) and changing his identity and appearance (likely through plastic surgery). Afterwards, to pursue the organization further, it makes sense that he would have moved to Japan, where the culprit(s) "Karasuma" originate from, just like the other overseas agents (i.e Hondou Ethan from the CIA). Just like Mary, who got ahold of a fake pass to fly to Japan (revealed by Gosho in SDB 100+), Tsutomu had also gotten ahold of a fake pass with the alias "Kuroda Hyoue".
I think that he then decided to investigate the Karasuma Group/Black Organization, by becoming a public security officer of the Japanese police (in order to extract information easier, as referenced in File 1033).
In order to get a pass into the police academy in Japan (disregarding of his blank background), I suspect that Kuroda/Tsutomu secretly relied on his relationship with the head of the Ōoka Group (who is currently retired) that was revealed in File 1088, similar to how his friend Haneda Yasuharu did in File 1039-1042.
The Ōoka family has been shown and hinted to have great influence and connections with people in high positions, like the Tokyo governor (File 992), making them more than capable of helping Kuroda/Tsutomu join the japanese police.
In other words, the same time as his eldest son started to work towards becoming an FBI agent 17 years ago (File 972), Kuroda started to work towards getting accepted by the National Police Agency (File 913). He then built himself up and became what I think is the backstage administrator of the NPA's security planning division (who recieves all the classified reports of their NOC:s), all within 7 years.
Seven years later (since his disappearance), Kuroda/Tsutomu has made a name for himself within the NPA and has diligently kept his safe distance from his family, but before the status quo with his family could change, an incident took place around 10 years ago, that lead to his 10-year-long coma (File 914). We recently learned that Iori Muga, the current butler of the Ōoka family, was a former coworker of Kuroda within the Public Security, who went with the alias "Sakakibara" while undercover, which was likely before Kuroda's 10-year coma (File 1090).
I think that what lead to Kuroda's burn-scar-causing and right-eye-losing incident 10 years ago was that Iori Muga (who is actually Rum's true appearance) deemed Kuroda as a threatening and formidable enemy to the black organization. He therefore secretly orchestrated the incident that made Kuroda fall into a coma. Kuroda's hair colour changed due to the stress of the incident (his hair was perhaps shaved off for surgery purposes and white hair grew instead) and he didn't wake up until 10 years later (File 914).
I suspect that when Kuroda/Tsutomu woke up from his coma, he suffered actual memory loss to an extent, which is why he was perceived to have become a different person (As Yui mentioned). This concept was already foreshadowed as a possibility through Vermouth's disguise cover story when she faced Mary as Tsutomu (File 1048).
This would also explain why Kuroda immediately reacted to Wakasa Rumi in the news in File 980, while also still acting unaware of her identity as if he is trying to confirm suspicions of her being a criminal tied to the Kohji case in File 987-989, despite potentially having met her 17 years ago as Tsutomu. The amnesia could have made him forget her potential role in his demise 17 years ago, but he still found her familiar enough to the point of investigating her and making the connection between her name and Kohji's dying message.
While he may have forgotten significant things from his life as Tsutomu, his goal to take down the BO and find out who Kohji's killer is hasn't changed. Although the NPA had him move to Nagano to ease back into his work (before he moved to Tokyo MPD as the new superintendent), I think they gave Kuroda permission to still keep his Backstage administrator role active and stay in contact with their NOC ("Bourbon"/Furuya Rei) by Kuroda's request (File 1017).