Tuesday, January 29, 2008
BSP to go it alone in Madhya Pradesh
Mishra on Sunday asserted that his party would contest on its own all the 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.
"No alliance will be forged and we will enter the fray with full confidence as has been the case with Uttar Pradesh where our social engineering concept paid dividends."
IMO: It will be interesting to see how it goes. Both sensible politics and a relatively decent overall approach have improved the BSP enormously over recent years - so they are getting more votes. Democracy in action.
Mishra on Sunday asserted that his party would contest on its own all the 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.
"No alliance will be forged and we will enter the fray with full confidence as has been the case with Uttar Pradesh where our social engineering concept paid dividends."
IMO: It will be interesting to see how it goes. Both sensible politics and a relatively decent overall approach have improved the BSP enormously over recent years - so they are getting more votes. Democracy in action.
Van Bergen's recent book ""The Twilight of Democracy"
Van Bergen says a lot, and provides a terrible warning about past US abuses of democracy.For example, Bush's frequent use of the death penalty and indifference to human suffering when he was Texas governor. In fact, his flippant attitude showed up much earlier and now he flaunts it. The Patriot Act made current practices possible by "help(ing) set the stage for government endorsed torture." Under this repressive law, the nation regressed to "barbarian times" reminiscent of the worst of the Spanish Inquisition and Nazi era. Van Bergen stresses no society claiming to be a "liberty-protecting one" can justify "human rights abuses in response to a terrorist attack" or for any other reason. Any country violating these sacred precepts must be held to account and made to answer for their serious crimes against humanity, and that's what the ICC is in place to do.
On July 19, 2007, well after the publication of Van Bergen's book, George Bush displayed his contempt for the law in another sweeping executive order (EO). According to AP, he "breathed new life into the CIA's terror interrogation program (aka no holds barred torture) that would allow harsh questioning of suspects limited in public only by a vaguely worded ban (signifying none whatever) on cruel and inhuman treatment." The order pretends to prohibit some practices, "to quell international criticism," describes them only vaguely, and doesn't say what practices are still allowed. The Bush administration insists its interrogation operation is one of its most important tools in the "war on terrorism." Bottom line - ugly business as usual will continue unchanged and unchecked, except for doublespeak language that signifies only deception from a president exposed as a serial liar.More details here.
Van Bergen says a lot, and provides a terrible warning about past US abuses of democracy.For example, Bush's frequent use of the death penalty and indifference to human suffering when he was Texas governor. In fact, his flippant attitude showed up much earlier and now he flaunts it. The Patriot Act made current practices possible by "help(ing) set the stage for government endorsed torture." Under this repressive law, the nation regressed to "barbarian times" reminiscent of the worst of the Spanish Inquisition and Nazi era. Van Bergen stresses no society claiming to be a "liberty-protecting one" can justify "human rights abuses in response to a terrorist attack" or for any other reason. Any country violating these sacred precepts must be held to account and made to answer for their serious crimes against humanity, and that's what the ICC is in place to do.
On July 19, 2007, well after the publication of Van Bergen's book, George Bush displayed his contempt for the law in another sweeping executive order (EO). According to AP, he "breathed new life into the CIA's terror interrogation program (aka no holds barred torture) that would allow harsh questioning of suspects limited in public only by a vaguely worded ban (signifying none whatever) on cruel and inhuman treatment." The order pretends to prohibit some practices, "to quell international criticism," describes them only vaguely, and doesn't say what practices are still allowed. The Bush administration insists its interrogation operation is one of its most important tools in the "war on terrorism." Bottom line - ugly business as usual will continue unchanged and unchecked, except for doublespeak language that signifies only deception from a president exposed as a serial liar.More details here.
John Birch Society exposes US Govt corruption - U.S. media gagged
Document 203A-WF-210023 seems to prove US officials stole nuclear secrets for eventual sale to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Everyone from leading blog Boing- Boing to the John Birch Society and the UK Times dislike this. Together with recent evidence that Musheraff has been using US funds, not against the Taliban but to line his own pockets and prepare to try to start a war with India, the current situation looks bad. Since the offical US Press do not try to discourage this, the left may almost be on the side of John Birch Society (named after the eponymous US Intelligence agent and Baptist minister).
IMO:Democracy is not functioning at all well, particularly in the US. The only guy worth a vote seems like Edwards and even here non US citizens may remain sceptical. So exposure of this latest US Govt scam just seems to show how far the country is going into the doldrums. The worst thing is, that this bad US behaviour is a filthy smear on the value of all democratic ideals.
Document 203A-WF-210023 seems to prove US officials stole nuclear secrets for eventual sale to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Everyone from leading blog Boing- Boing to the John Birch Society and the UK Times dislike this. Together with recent evidence that Musheraff has been using US funds, not against the Taliban but to line his own pockets and prepare to try to start a war with India, the current situation looks bad. Since the offical US Press do not try to discourage this, the left may almost be on the side of John Birch Society (named after the eponymous US Intelligence agent and Baptist minister).
IMO:Democracy is not functioning at all well, particularly in the US. The only guy worth a vote seems like Edwards and even here non US citizens may remain sceptical. So exposure of this latest US Govt scam just seems to show how far the country is going into the doldrums. The worst thing is, that this bad US behaviour is a filthy smear on the value of all democratic ideals.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Soros predicts worst recession for 50 years
Amid collapsing stock prices worldwide, the billionaire investor George Soros has told an Austrian daily, the Standard, that the United States is threatened with recession and the world is facing the worst financial crisis in half a century. He said over the past few years politics had been guided by some basic misunderstandings stemming from something that he called "market fundamentalism" - the belief that financial markets tended to act as a balance. "This is the wrong idea," he said. "We really do have a serious financial crisis now."
Meanwhile,in Mumbai, some market analysts are suggesting Soros shorted the Indian markets last week. Over 15 years after he shorted the British pound in September 1992 and earned one billion dollars, local market sources say one of Soros's funds may have shorted the Nifty last week.
IMO:The financial markets do not look like an effective balance, or anything like a really good or ideal way to run a country. But how should a country be run ? Democracy doesn't seem to work well, but the temptation to decline to look for valid alternatives (reasoning, for example, that we do not want another Adolf Hitler) is reasoning that can inflict its own downfall on itself. Unpalatable facts, however, should not in themselves constrain us to reasoning to eventual results which are the same as those of Soros.
Meanwhile,in Mumbai, some market analysts are suggesting Soros shorted the Indian markets last week. Over 15 years after he shorted the British pound in September 1992 and earned one billion dollars, local market sources say one of Soros's funds may have shorted the Nifty last week.
IMO:The financial markets do not look like an effective balance, or anything like a really good or ideal way to run a country. But how should a country be run ? Democracy doesn't seem to work well, but the temptation to decline to look for valid alternatives (reasoning, for example, that we do not want another Adolf Hitler) is reasoning that can inflict its own downfall on itself. Unpalatable facts, however, should not in themselves constrain us to reasoning to eventual results which are the same as those of Soros.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Electric Cars
Tesla founder Eberhard said on the teslafounders blog about the proposed Chevy Volt : "If the Volt can allow for true plug-in electric driving for those short trips, while giving potential buyers confidence that they can take a long trip whenever they want to, this will be a HUGE improvement in gasoline consumption. if the Chevy Volt was available on the market today, I would definitely buy one."
In the meantime, at Tesla itself, 26 people, about ten per cent of total staff, are losing their jobs. An anonymous worker at Tesla called the job cull "a stealth bloodbath".
IMO: We do not hear much about the redundancies at Tesla and most people who read that news think that GM is up to its historic old tricks again. Maybe, optimistically, there should be an an opportunity for Tata to take the lead from GM in cars, but I don't see it happening in the forseeable future under present Tata policies.
In the meantime, at Tesla itself, 26 people, about ten per cent of total staff, are losing their jobs. An anonymous worker at Tesla called the job cull "a stealth bloodbath".
IMO: We do not hear much about the redundancies at Tesla and most people who read that news think that GM is up to its historic old tricks again. Maybe, optimistically, there should be an an opportunity for Tata to take the lead from GM in cars, but I don't see it happening in the forseeable future under present Tata policies.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tatas will have to go: Mamata
“The Tatas will have to go,” Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said at a public meeting close to the site of the upcoming car manufacturing plant of Tata Motors at Singur in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Tuesday.
She said and urged the peasants of the area to “remain united in your struggle for land, livelihood and self-dignity.” The meeting was convened to commemorate the death anniversary of teenager Tapasi Mallick, whose charred body was found within the automobile project site a year ago. The Trinamool has claimed that the teenager was a victim of the atrocities perpetrated by activists of the CPI(M) on supporters of the Krishi Jami Raksha (Protection of Farmland) Committee.
IMO:Trinamool has general support (mainly against CPI(M)(Communist party of India (Marxist splitoff from CPI)) by at least 15 other major parties.
“The CPI(M) will also have to go,” Ms. Banerjee said. The movements carried out against acquisition of farmland for industry at Singur and Nandigram had “drawn international attention and support.”
IMO: There is a fair measure of truth in the relevance of these matters. The new small car will effectively be funded, not by the would be purchasors, who sound like unwitting pawns of TATA, but by land revaluations, and eventual unwilling taxpayer support, directly or indirectly, by a Government that 3 million people have just shown can't even run a railway, and indeed - Suzuki still claim there is no way the car can reach its own quality standards, if indeed it is ever built for 1 lakh.
The UK Guardian/Observer predictably but correctly says in headline that the car "horrifies the green lobby". The car when new is about the price of a motorcycle over here and such a car could sell 7 million - and make the air unbreathable.
Tata of course claim that the car meets pollution levels but this is almost certainly false, bearing in mind the level of safety checks here and what simple statistics show. Anumita Roychoudhury, of the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi, says "How will you be able to meet the safety and emissions standards? There are no clear answers yet."
IMO: I'm pretty clear that it will not meet standards at that cost. Why not an electric car ? Surely an electric version could solve many pollution problems but sounds not worth the time of those who simply want to make a fast buck.
The Singur car plant is currently guarded by 1500 men in uniform. The workman inside often don't seem to have a clue about the issues. Tata's previous performance has not been too bad, I do know the Pimpri/Cinchwad facility and it seems better than you would expect - from India. But times are changing, and they are hard times for the non wealthy around there today. In fact Pune has been turned into a filthy mess by vile capitalist greed in recent years, aside from Pimpri/Cinchwad. If Tata is following the existing trend as it stands in Pune, not only will the relatively decent clean area around Singur be ruined for good, and the world's ecology and environment be iretrievably damaged but he will lose money too. On the face of it, not only is the car an environmental fraud but Tata is racing against time for completion. The Calcutta Telegraph says "A full-fledged facility will need roads, buildings, electricity, water supply, sewage systems and countless similar infrastructure features." Well Tata will not have them if current Pune problems prove anything.
Even the Australian, which seems to be some kind of Fox News affiliate, and you cannot sink much lower, says "Tata 'cheapmobile' a green nightmare".
IMO: Really it could have all been done better and to the advantage of all.
She said and urged the peasants of the area to “remain united in your struggle for land, livelihood and self-dignity.” The meeting was convened to commemorate the death anniversary of teenager Tapasi Mallick, whose charred body was found within the automobile project site a year ago. The Trinamool has claimed that the teenager was a victim of the atrocities perpetrated by activists of the CPI(M) on supporters of the Krishi Jami Raksha (Protection of Farmland) Committee.
IMO:Trinamool has general support (mainly against CPI(M)(Communist party of India (Marxist splitoff from CPI)) by at least 15 other major parties.
“The CPI(M) will also have to go,” Ms. Banerjee said. The movements carried out against acquisition of farmland for industry at Singur and Nandigram had “drawn international attention and support.”
IMO: There is a fair measure of truth in the relevance of these matters. The new small car will effectively be funded, not by the would be purchasors, who sound like unwitting pawns of TATA, but by land revaluations, and eventual unwilling taxpayer support, directly or indirectly, by a Government that 3 million people have just shown can't even run a railway, and indeed - Suzuki still claim there is no way the car can reach its own quality standards, if indeed it is ever built for 1 lakh.
The UK Guardian/Observer predictably but correctly says in headline that the car "horrifies the green lobby". The car when new is about the price of a motorcycle over here and such a car could sell 7 million - and make the air unbreathable.
Tata of course claim that the car meets pollution levels but this is almost certainly false, bearing in mind the level of safety checks here and what simple statistics show. Anumita Roychoudhury, of the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi, says "How will you be able to meet the safety and emissions standards? There are no clear answers yet."
IMO: I'm pretty clear that it will not meet standards at that cost. Why not an electric car ? Surely an electric version could solve many pollution problems but sounds not worth the time of those who simply want to make a fast buck.
The Singur car plant is currently guarded by 1500 men in uniform. The workman inside often don't seem to have a clue about the issues. Tata's previous performance has not been too bad, I do know the Pimpri/Cinchwad facility and it seems better than you would expect - from India. But times are changing, and they are hard times for the non wealthy around there today. In fact Pune has been turned into a filthy mess by vile capitalist greed in recent years, aside from Pimpri/Cinchwad. If Tata is following the existing trend as it stands in Pune, not only will the relatively decent clean area around Singur be ruined for good, and the world's ecology and environment be iretrievably damaged but he will lose money too. On the face of it, not only is the car an environmental fraud but Tata is racing against time for completion. The Calcutta Telegraph says "A full-fledged facility will need roads, buildings, electricity, water supply, sewage systems and countless similar infrastructure features." Well Tata will not have them if current Pune problems prove anything.
Even the Australian, which seems to be some kind of Fox News affiliate, and you cannot sink much lower, says "Tata 'cheapmobile' a green nightmare".
IMO: Really it could have all been done better and to the advantage of all.
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