today

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said the state has asked for a battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to be deployed in Nandigram. Union Home Ministry was not keen on sending the CRPF right away. One reason was the shortage of forces and the other was Union I&B minister from West Bengal Priyaranjan Dasmunshi’s statement opposing deployment of CRPF in Nandigram.

Patriarch Jyoti Basu said, “The decision to send CRPF to Nandigram can be delayed for now". Basu said of Mamata Banerjee, “I have no animosity with her. She even came to my house on my birthday." Banerjee will not sit with Buddha, however.

IMO: I am reluctant to suggest that it is about time somebody got rid of Buddha, as in the context of Nandigram such a comment could be misinterpreted and sometimes, admittedly not even nearly often enough, Buddha is even possibly right! He may even have seen the light on 123. Unfortunately, perhaps the present 123 deal is something like all that can be hoped for.

Anyway, fresh violence erupted on Wednesday (7 Oct) at Nandigram with firing and bombs being hurled in which two persons were injured, police said.

The Front partners and a section of CPI-M, too, also criticised Politburo member Brinda Karat’s comments at a meeting in Kolkata recently. Brinda that the Opposition in Nandigram needed “Dum Dum Dawai” (a severe bashing) .

IMO: Such antisocial behaviour, which is seemingly mere politics and not heartfelt anger which seems so common in Nandigram now for good reason, seems to be counterproductive to decent law and order, particularly when said at a women's association as in this case. Overall, there are currently severe splits in the Left Front.

Next week I am going to Beijing. I have previously visited China but on this occasion I will see the Great Wall of China. This large edifice is said by some to be the second largest engineering construct on the planet Earth, and the second thing that would be seen from outer space coming towards earth. The largest is of course said to be "the fence", or a 2 metre high wire netting fence completed in the 1950s which goes 5614 km across Australia. (Time magazine places the great wall of China as 1684 miles but it could be far longer). Different as they are, these two barriers have many things in common: for example the indomitable spirit of the human race in combating forces of corruption and exploitation (in the case of China, these problems were seen as cultural challenges and in the case of Australia, as leading to the necessity of a form of ecological protection against rabbits introduced by the British, and other such unwanted but harmless creatures).

IMO: Many things change but remain the same, but continually there are new tests to try us - global warming in particular.

With friends like this, women certainly need no more enemies. 2005 Feinstein's net worth was believed to be between $43 million and $99 million, much of it made after she took to politics.. Feinstein's support of policies that may benefit her husband may raise the appearance of a conflict of interest.

IMO: She is making a profit from slavery. She favors wiretapping, the death penalty and Iran occupation, and wanted to extend the Patriot act. Seems she voted to confirm anti-gay anti-black bigot judge in 8/2/07. Not someone to vote for. They let these people be Democrats? She started to do really well in politics, shortly after Harvey Milk was shot. I bought a camera from Harvey Milk's store, it still works and was excellent value. Milk seemed to be a great guy, politics aside.

Mukasey is now all but assured confirmation."When the history of this time is written, the issue of torture will define America’s values in the age of terrorism," said Judiciary Committee member Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) in the New York Times, "Judge Mukasey’s responses to our questions on the issue of torture make it clear that he does not understand the challenge of this moment in history."

IMO: A bad day in the history of America.

This is http://waterboarding.org/ ,

This site gives full details and contemporary history of the current US torture of "waterboarding", also some details as to "how to help" (presumably how to help victims and potential victims). Probably much more still to be done.

IMO: Seems a pity that a once great nation like USA could have sank so low.

ICICI, strongly advocated in the UK by the consumer magazine "Which?", was fined a whopping fine of Rs 50 lakh for employing "goons" to recover loan and deplored the practice of the banks intimidating consumers to pay the installments. the Delhi Consumer Commission deprecated the "audacity and impunity" with which the banks have been effecting forcible possession of vehicles and ordered ICICI also to pay Rs 5 lakh to a consumer, who was mercilessly beaten by the recovery agents while they snatched a loaned car from him. Holding the ICICI Bank guilty of "unfair trade practice," the Commission termed such miscreants as "yahoos" and said they are boorish and a brutal lout, who care a fig for legal and judicial authorities, including the Supreme Court.

IMO: I have also heard from customers of this bank in India of bad reports and alleged swindling and lies by ICICI. I cannot comment, but evidently it is best to be wary. (I recall that other international banks have had similar reports on them in India).

The Honda FCX sounds for practical purposes a bit like the Toyota Prius, except that it runs on hydrogen, if you can find it. Ultracapacitators are used as a buffer between a fuel cell and the electric engine. This effect seems needed to allow bursts of high power from the fuel cells, rather sluggish otherwise. The key link may be the Ultracapacitators, which use carbon nanotubes to increase surface area, hence storage.

IMO: Too expensive FWIW- maybe £50,000. I'd stick with a Neva, at around 2 lacs in India, much more in UK but excellent value for money under London parking regulations, if a bit cramped.

The man found guilty of murdering the television presenter Jill Dando is challenging his conviction in the Court of Appeal. Barry George will argue that one of the crucial pieces of evidence in the original trial, the discovery of a single particle of firearms residue on his coat, should not have been admitted.

IMO: Certainly, on the face of it, the conviction looks almost incredibly implausible. We are then left with the query as to whether the Police have simply adopted the apparently common view "Let us simply jail some retard or noddy, in effect so we can readily continue our so-called "Spanish practices"" - and if so, what should be done. Sack all Fulham Police ? Can substitutes be found without such an expense that mortgaging the council's parking meters and cultural centres if any will be required ? Perhaps Al Quaeda may fill the gap for some ? Or would it be easier to leave an innocent retard in jail ? What a bunch of appalling hypocrites.

It is not complete martial law as the cabinet, national and provincial assemblies will continue to function. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said he had been left with no option but to impose an emergency in the country to control growing terrorism and interference from the judiciary.

IMO: He has also used the opportunity to sack a lot of judges etc. who other people want, and there is massive opposition within Pakistan. India seems to show bemused tolerance, so far. A horrible lesson for India : 'Beware of becoming some kind of vassal or client state of the USA'. 123 is still probably OK, even if it is approved by Kissinger, and other crap like Buddha.. Musharraf is probably doing his best but most people are saying "Not good enough". This is a real chance for al Qaeda but I doubt if they have the gumption to take it. Even now, there is possibly a benign option of joining the India free trade Area, preferably as a democracy. Saudi and US suppost seem to cause only chaos.

Benazir Bhutto has said the deadly suicide attack on her homecoming procession may have been the handiwork of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's son Hamza. She has also warned that Pakistan is facing an ''increasing threat of an extremist takeover''.

This is at the same time as US claims are that Bin Laden admits defeat in Iraq. On October 22nd, Osama bin Laden admitted that al Qaeda had lost its war in Iraq. In an audiotape speech titled "Message to the people of Iraq," bin Laden complains of disunity and poor use of resources. Bin Laden's latest audio recording brought forth a furious reaction from many of his followers. The main complaint was that only excerpts of the message were being reported on by the Arab media, and that if the entire message were put out there, the excerpts would not appear so damaging. The excerpts concentrated on bin Laden admitting mistakes, criticizing al Qaeda operations in Iraq and urging Islamic radicals to get their act together.

IMO: There is an element of whistling in the dark in the US view. They can't do much about Pakistan at the moment. Bush claims he seeks "democracy" in Pakistan but Musharaff (understandably) has imposed an emergency on the country. Then there is Turkey's alignment with Iran over the Kurds, maybe US should have kept their poker games to Texas and not gone out to kill and torture foreigners instead. Can't they at least prevent the Mukasey nomination, quite useless anyway, and probably meaningless in practice.

Free download URL given here. Microsoft takes on Adobe Flash, which is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in that offers media services through the Web. Microsoft says the possibilities are endless with Silverlight 1.0, whether it's booking tickets simply by connecting destinations on an online map, or setting-off on a seamless virtual tour of myriad destinations. Microsoft said it is working with Novell to deliver Silverlight for Linux, which will be called 'Moonlight'. Recently, Microsoft launched a complete product suite -- Expression Studio -- for the designer community. In combination, Silverlight 1.0, Expression Studio, and Visual Studio 08 promise easy and seamless creation of rich user experiences across platforms.

IMO: It might be useful, downloads free anyway.

A genetically modified "supermouse" which can run twice as far as a normal rodent, and lives longer, has been created by scientists working in the US. An artist's cartoon depiction of the mouse, a brief scientific summary, and reference to original work, is here.

IMO: Such techniques could possibly be used to improve the potentialities of human beings alive today - you and me. I am not basically a geneticist (though I have a Ph.D. in chemistry) so in this brief blog I won't go into details as to how this might be done. There is still a lot to do. However there is one obvious moral: if more of the money wasted on so-called "defense" (in actual fact going to in-pocket bribery of politicians and businessmen) and on quite futile megaprojects and other vote catching activities, could be spent on useful scientific research, we would all, every one of us, be better off.

According to the "Daily Mail" the Hon Margarita Armstrong-Jones (aka Linley) had to cling desperately to Daddy's (Lord Linley's) coattails while his foldaway bicycle dodged through rush-hour traffic on the King's Road in West London. The 44-year-old son of the late Princess Margaret looked far from steady as he balanced his daughter's school bags on the handlebars.

IMO: It seems to me that children looked after so carelessly should be taken from their parents and placed in public care, 14th in line to the UK throne or not.

Bush wants to appoint, according to the US Press, another attorney general - Michael Mukasey - who obfuscates the truth about torture, and who, once confirmed, will continue to subversively retain America's franchise of torture hostels.

The Democrats can use their majority status to render the Bush administration's torture policy quaint and obsolete. Some of the Democrats, including most recently Senator Clinton, have declared their intention to vote against Mukasey for attorney general.

IMO: It does not seem to me correct that anyone should vote, within the US, for politicians who will not block torture. It seems to me that such people are, in terms of current rhetoric, worse than Adolf Hitler and nowadays most people would feel internationally and locally that such a vote would not inspire confidence. Clearly if the Democrats do not use their majority status it will seemingly place them in the eyes of the world as collaborators with torture, and will not be forgotten. It could also do world Christianity a body blow.