Monday, March 30, 2009
YOU COULD BE TORTURED BY OBAMA TOO
Obama tortures British citizens. Or so it appears: "Defending government eavesdropping without a warrant. Arguing that prisoners of the U.S. held overseas don't have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. Claiming that victims of CIA kidnapping shouldn't have their cases heard because of "national security" interests. These were supposed to be relics of the Bush administration and its attacks on basic constitutional and human rights. Instead, they are among the many troubling actions taken by the new administration of President Barack Obama."
Apparent proofs of the above given here. One example is : "In a federal court document filed in March, the Justice Department argued that holding military officials liable for their treatment of prisoners could cause them to make future decisions based on fear of litigation rather than appropriate military policy. "The Obama administration appears to be sticking with Bush administration legal definitions in pending litigation," reported the Associated Press. The case, involving four British men who say they were beaten, shackled in "stress positions" and forcibly shaved while they were imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay (all four have since been released) named, among others, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
IMO: Irrespective of the merits of these four Brits, it seems to me that Blair's extradition treaty with the US should be abandoned or modified. At present British autists like McKinnon, for example, could be tortured by Obama without recourse. Something for those at the G20 rallies to bear in mind - YOU COULD BE TORTURED BY OBAMA TOO.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
TDP-CPM stand off over seats intensifies
The newly-formed "grand alliance" of TDP, Left and TRS in Andhra Pradesh, which appeared to be floundering following a stand-off between the TDP and the CPM over seat-sharing of assembly constituencies, on Sunday went further into crisis. With TDP refusing to give more than 15 seats to CPM, the latter has threatened to go it alone in 49 assembly constituencies.
IMO: Probably as well for the left if it fragments, more chance for worthwhile reconsolidation after it loses present elections.
As for the left in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said that her party would convert North Bengal into Switzerland if it came to power. Criticising the state government, she alleged that nothing had been done to better the tourism sector and that false promises had been given in the name of industrialisation. "Many tea workers are suffering as a number of tea gardens are lying closed. Work for the much-awaited bridge at Adabari in Dinhata is yet to start. If we come to power we will build up a new North Bengal. Setting up a separate secretariat for North Bengal is no separatist act and it is possible to do it within the framework of the state government machinery," she said.
IMO: Vote Trinamool Congress in Bengal, out Marxists.
Soros: G20 summit in London next week is the last chance to avert disaster
Soros refuses to say whether sterling has yet hit its lowest point. Has he shorted the pound recently? "I had shorted it last year, but I'm not shorting the pound now." Is the euro under threat? "There is stress in the euro because of the differential in the interest rate that the different countries have to pay," he replies. "Gordon Brown underestimated the severity of the problem, but then so did most people. Part of the perceived role of a leader is to cheerlead, so you can't really blame him for that." He says "the G20 summit in London next week is the last chance to avert disaster. "The odds would favour that it fails because there are such differences of opinion. It's difficult enough to get it right in your own country let alone with 20 governments coming together, but if it's a failure I think then the global financial and trading system falls apart."
IMO: The UK banks and investment houses have been very crooked for at least 10 years. Since Thatcher's "Big Bang", you could not find an honest stock broker in London. I definitely blame Thatcher and the Tories. After the investors allowed many Building Societies to fall into the wrong hands, the new 'owners' promptly took large commissions for handing out the investor's money to totally incorrect people. Also it was obvious from the start that many new instruments like loans based on self-assessed wages were nothing but liar's licenses.
So now all these countries are run by self-serving politicians. I understand that the UK home secretary even claimed against the taxpayer for an 88p bathplug - politicians certainly seem to wash, most of them are 'dirty', but that is ridiculous. It seems that her (and her family) watch movies like "Oceans 13" - which is total crap - and hard core porn - at the expense of UK taxpayers. It is a sad reflection that the Home Secretary has had to blame her husband. With the Home Secretary, "the buck should stop there". By the look of her, she drinks too much and is taking some sort of hormone tablets, so it may be no wonder that her poor husband needs to use porn. Lacan had something to say about that, and also her husband may well need use of the traditional Hoover Junior.
IMO: The country is in a sad state when we have to reflect on the above, and I do not see the rather feeble g20 public protests as doing much good either. But let's see.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Bhopal compared to Auschwitz
BBC News states today that allegedly "Union Carbide, and its current owner Dow Chemical Company, are continuing to withhold the results of studies into the effects of MIC on living tissue that were done at Carnegie-Mellon Institute in the late-70s and early 80s. There is no treatment protocol for the complex conditions that people exhibit and so the doctors treat the symptoms with large quantities of painkillers, antibiotics or steroids, all of which compound the problem with their side effects.
Groups representing the survivors and victims of the tragedy appealed to Unesco earlier this month for the Union Carbide plant to be preserved as an Industrial Heritage Site of international importance, so that the building would stand as a memorial to the disaster and educate future generations. Survivors say that they will "physically block" any attempts to dismantle the remaining structure. Other Unesco Industrial Heritage Sites include the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
IMO: About time the US paid off any surviving victims of Bhopal instead of squandering yet more US taxpayer's money on buying fancy homes for Pakistani residents. 82nd Airborne could resolve the Pakistan problem in a week, given adequate instructions. Instead many US soldiers will die unless the US pulls itself together.
BBC News states today that allegedly "Union Carbide, and its current owner Dow Chemical Company, are continuing to withhold the results of studies into the effects of MIC on living tissue that were done at Carnegie-Mellon Institute in the late-70s and early 80s. There is no treatment protocol for the complex conditions that people exhibit and so the doctors treat the symptoms with large quantities of painkillers, antibiotics or steroids, all of which compound the problem with their side effects.
Groups representing the survivors and victims of the tragedy appealed to Unesco earlier this month for the Union Carbide plant to be preserved as an Industrial Heritage Site of international importance, so that the building would stand as a memorial to the disaster and educate future generations. Survivors say that they will "physically block" any attempts to dismantle the remaining structure. Other Unesco Industrial Heritage Sites include the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
IMO: About time the US paid off any surviving victims of Bhopal instead of squandering yet more US taxpayer's money on buying fancy homes for Pakistani residents. 82nd Airborne could resolve the Pakistan problem in a week, given adequate instructions. Instead many US soldiers will die unless the US pulls itself together.
'Hanging bankers' prof is suspended
Chris Knight, professor of anthropology at the University of East London, is organising protests under the banner G20 Meltdown. He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: "We are going to be hanging a lot of people like Fred the Shred from lampposts on April Fool's Day and I can only say let's hope they are just effigies."
IMO: I note that the Govt are suspending University academics who are protesting against corruption. I wish I could believe that this was due to a minor hiccup in the system. More likely it is due to massive corruption in the banking and parliamentary system. This can possibly still be rectified. But it seems a pity that general education standards in the UK have already been so corrupted by greed.
MP Michael Meacher - whose opinions have been sensible and largely uncontroversial in the past, and seem to be sensible now - thinks the city people should have to return their bonuses. City cocaine users, apparently such as some 'Spectator' staff, beg to disagree.
IMO: Some blogs, found for example by looking up "g20 meltdown" on blog search engines, do appear sensible and thought provoking, for example this URL. But we can only hope that the protests will lead to some positive results. Maybe it is time to 'suspend' some politicians whose methods are leading to educational standards in the UK at a standard suitable for chimpanzee, rather than academic staff..
Chris Knight, professor of anthropology at the University of East London, is organising protests under the banner G20 Meltdown. He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: "We are going to be hanging a lot of people like Fred the Shred from lampposts on April Fool's Day and I can only say let's hope they are just effigies."
IMO: I note that the Govt are suspending University academics who are protesting against corruption. I wish I could believe that this was due to a minor hiccup in the system. More likely it is due to massive corruption in the banking and parliamentary system. This can possibly still be rectified. But it seems a pity that general education standards in the UK have already been so corrupted by greed.
MP Michael Meacher - whose opinions have been sensible and largely uncontroversial in the past, and seem to be sensible now - thinks the city people should have to return their bonuses. City cocaine users, apparently such as some 'Spectator' staff, beg to disagree.
IMO: Some blogs, found for example by looking up "g20 meltdown" on blog search engines, do appear sensible and thought provoking, for example this URL. But we can only hope that the protests will lead to some positive results. Maybe it is time to 'suspend' some politicians whose methods are leading to educational standards in the UK at a standard suitable for chimpanzee, rather than academic staff..
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Michigan man jailed for having sex with car wash vacuum
A Michigan man who was caught red-handed having sex with a car wash vacuum hose has been jailed for 90 days, the Saginaw News reports. Jason L Savage, 29, was spotted on 16 October last year at 6.45 am having it away in Thomas Township, Saginaw. A resident saw "someone acting suspicious", and alerted the cops. An officer "caught Savage in the act", police sources said. Jay Leno and David Letterman both used their shows to poke fun at the town.
IMO: Savage was probably lucky, in that he did not use the traditional English method, which is to use the Hoover Junior vacuum cleaner. The Hoover Junior has led to many hospital visits and even the use of a local fire service in order to extricate the male person from his problems with the device. An expert from the Hoover plant informed me about how unfortunately common such misuse of the Hoover is. This may be due to the frigidity of English women, due to their excessive imbibing of alcoholic beverages. Certainly this leads to 'brewer's droop' for UK men, again possibly requiring use of the Hoover Junior..
A Michigan man who was caught red-handed having sex with a car wash vacuum hose has been jailed for 90 days, the Saginaw News reports. Jason L Savage, 29, was spotted on 16 October last year at 6.45 am having it away in Thomas Township, Saginaw. A resident saw "someone acting suspicious", and alerted the cops. An officer "caught Savage in the act", police sources said. Jay Leno and David Letterman both used their shows to poke fun at the town.
IMO: Savage was probably lucky, in that he did not use the traditional English method, which is to use the Hoover Junior vacuum cleaner. The Hoover Junior has led to many hospital visits and even the use of a local fire service in order to extricate the male person from his problems with the device. An expert from the Hoover plant informed me about how unfortunately common such misuse of the Hoover is. This may be due to the frigidity of English women, due to their excessive imbibing of alcoholic beverages. Certainly this leads to 'brewer's droop' for UK men, again possibly requiring use of the Hoover Junior..
China brands Tibet beating video fake
The Chinese government has branded a YouTube video, purportedly showing Chinese police viciously beating Tibetan protesters, as a fake. The film, URL here, apparently taken last March near Lhasa, was put on the video sharing site last Saturday and is believed to be what sparked China's renewed blocking of the site.
IMO: Hm, at the very least, the video seems to be fair comment for which China has produced no decent rebuttal. The Chinese Govt has told so many lies in the past and the historical facts seem to suggest that they have almost certainly told more lies now. These facts include proven population transfer, mining, urbanization, persecution of Buddhism, vilification of the Dalai Lama, and the continued use of torture and extreme repression to silence all protest. Not good for China.
The Chinese government has branded a YouTube video, purportedly showing Chinese police viciously beating Tibetan protesters, as a fake. The film, URL here, apparently taken last March near Lhasa, was put on the video sharing site last Saturday and is believed to be what sparked China's renewed blocking of the site.
IMO: Hm, at the very least, the video seems to be fair comment for which China has produced no decent rebuttal. The Chinese Govt has told so many lies in the past and the historical facts seem to suggest that they have almost certainly told more lies now. These facts include proven population transfer, mining, urbanization, persecution of Buddhism, vilification of the Dalai Lama, and the continued use of torture and extreme repression to silence all protest. Not good for China.
Is the EU run by a madman?
Speaking in the European Parliament, a mentally unbalanced Topalanek accuses Obama of going down the road to hell, one commentator alleges, and then says "the Czech EU presidency is now turning into the disaster we have always expected. A day after losing a vote of no confidence in his national parliament, the Czech premier took the stage at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to launch a diplomatically disastrous attack on US president Barrack Obama over his stimulus programme. He said the attempt to borrow trillions would pave the road to hell. (While conservative economists inside and outside the US may agree with that view, it is nevertheless a different matter for the acting president of the EU to make such a statement, as one would expect it to reflect official EU position, which it is not.) FT Deutschland said in its news story that the comments underline doubt the Czech EU presidency, which runs until June, could be successfully completed".
IMO: I understand the above viewpoint. But the fact seems to be that the EU overall is having problems, as can be seen in the attempts to silence the Irish vote on a constitution. This is not simply the matter of a Czech who speaks his mind.
The head of the International Monetary Fund urged governments to step up action to stem the global economic crisis or risk delaying a recovery and sparking violent unrest on the streets. Dominique Strauss-Kahn argued that government efforts to tackle the economic downturn so far have been uncertain and largely insufficient, which could lead to severe consequences. He singled out the eurozone nations as he attacked the inadequate global response.
He added that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite.
IMO: Typical members of the small elite being Fred the Shred and the MPs he bribes.
Pentagon resources and U.S. troops may be used if needed to quell protests and bank runs during an economic crisis, the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute reported. "Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," the War College study states. Incidents of economic collapse, terrorism and disruption of legal order could require deployment of forces within the U.S., it said.
IMO: Maybe at the end of the day it depends on whether al Quaeda are right and Obama really is just another "house nigger". He has so far not clearly indicated the contrary position. But CERTAINLY Obama was a better choice for prez than Clinton or McCain.
Gerald Celente told Fox News that America will morph into the first "undeveloped" nation of the world by 2012. He said there will be a tax revolution marked by "food riots, squatter rebellion, tax revolts and job marches."
IMO: Perhaps unduly alarmist - I hope.
Speaking in the European Parliament, a mentally unbalanced Topalanek accuses Obama of going down the road to hell, one commentator alleges, and then says "the Czech EU presidency is now turning into the disaster we have always expected. A day after losing a vote of no confidence in his national parliament, the Czech premier took the stage at the European Parliament in Strasbourg to launch a diplomatically disastrous attack on US president Barrack Obama over his stimulus programme. He said the attempt to borrow trillions would pave the road to hell. (While conservative economists inside and outside the US may agree with that view, it is nevertheless a different matter for the acting president of the EU to make such a statement, as one would expect it to reflect official EU position, which it is not.) FT Deutschland said in its news story that the comments underline doubt the Czech EU presidency, which runs until June, could be successfully completed".
IMO: I understand the above viewpoint. But the fact seems to be that the EU overall is having problems, as can be seen in the attempts to silence the Irish vote on a constitution. This is not simply the matter of a Czech who speaks his mind.
The head of the International Monetary Fund urged governments to step up action to stem the global economic crisis or risk delaying a recovery and sparking violent unrest on the streets. Dominique Strauss-Kahn argued that government efforts to tackle the economic downturn so far have been uncertain and largely insufficient, which could lead to severe consequences. He singled out the eurozone nations as he attacked the inadequate global response.
He added that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite.
IMO: Typical members of the small elite being Fred the Shred and the MPs he bribes.
Pentagon resources and U.S. troops may be used if needed to quell protests and bank runs during an economic crisis, the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute reported. "Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security," the War College study states. Incidents of economic collapse, terrorism and disruption of legal order could require deployment of forces within the U.S., it said.
IMO: Maybe at the end of the day it depends on whether al Quaeda are right and Obama really is just another "house nigger". He has so far not clearly indicated the contrary position. But CERTAINLY Obama was a better choice for prez than Clinton or McCain.
Gerald Celente told Fox News that America will morph into the first "undeveloped" nation of the world by 2012. He said there will be a tax revolution marked by "food riots, squatter rebellion, tax revolts and job marches."
IMO: Perhaps unduly alarmist - I hope.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Fred Goodwin
Windows were smashed overnight at the Edinburgh house belonging to Goodwin, who left RBS late last year with a pension of some 700,000 pounds a year despite the company's huge losses. A group calling itself Bank Bosses Are Criminals (BBAC) emailed a number of media organisation soon after warning: Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning.
Allegedly email: bankbossesarecriminals@mail.com
IMO: This matter is nothing like as important as say Nandigram or Singur but someone should take serious action about corrupt bank bosses (Goodwin is not even a proper banker), politicians and other such criminals.
As for Goodwin, reports are "the scum bastard is in Nice. He flow out last friday on a flyglobespan flight. Tight git. My money is on him coming back on friday to edinburgh. Saw some Glasgow guy abuse him at Nice airports saying You're a disgrace to the country and hand your money back' He didn't say anything and his cocky wife kept her trap shut as well".
So who is next? The money is on Andy Hornby -in the select committee he looked like he'd have a mental breakdown if you said "boo" to him.
Fred Goodwin was a Director and as such had Fiduciary Responsibility to all employees and share holders. If it is proven he acted recklessly and in a manner to both endanger the employment of staff and to damage the share holding of fellow directors, staff and share holders is in breach of company law and he is personally responsible. He has assets he has funds and all who have lost can make a case against him and his fellow board members. If it is proven they acted irresponsibly and in a manner that would lead to loss of share value or jobs. Then he and his board are all liable for prosecution. If proven they are indeed criminals!
It is currently said that the only reason the politicians don't go after Goodwin's money with any conviction is that they are as guilty of theft as he is and he knows stuff that can hurt them. Sack the lot of them. If McNulty gets away with this we should all stop our Council Tax payments until he goes.
IMO: I don't blame McNulty in particular - in some ways he is a victim of the system as we all are and he is in a different bracket from Goodwin - but Council Tax should certainly be abolished and this is a good time to do so. Libdems tried to abolish Council Tax but have so far been ineffectual.
Windows were smashed overnight at the Edinburgh house belonging to Goodwin, who left RBS late last year with a pension of some 700,000 pounds a year despite the company's huge losses. A group calling itself Bank Bosses Are Criminals (BBAC) emailed a number of media organisation soon after warning: Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning.
Allegedly email: bankbossesarecriminals@mail.com
IMO: This matter is nothing like as important as say Nandigram or Singur but someone should take serious action about corrupt bank bosses (Goodwin is not even a proper banker), politicians and other such criminals.
As for Goodwin, reports are "the scum bastard is in Nice. He flow out last friday on a flyglobespan flight. Tight git. My money is on him coming back on friday to edinburgh. Saw some Glasgow guy abuse him at Nice airports saying You're a disgrace to the country and hand your money back' He didn't say anything and his cocky wife kept her trap shut as well".
So who is next? The money is on Andy Hornby -in the select committee he looked like he'd have a mental breakdown if you said "boo" to him.
Fred Goodwin was a Director and as such had Fiduciary Responsibility to all employees and share holders. If it is proven he acted recklessly and in a manner to both endanger the employment of staff and to damage the share holding of fellow directors, staff and share holders is in breach of company law and he is personally responsible. He has assets he has funds and all who have lost can make a case against him and his fellow board members. If it is proven they acted irresponsibly and in a manner that would lead to loss of share value or jobs. Then he and his board are all liable for prosecution. If proven they are indeed criminals!
It is currently said that the only reason the politicians don't go after Goodwin's money with any conviction is that they are as guilty of theft as he is and he knows stuff that can hurt them. Sack the lot of them. If McNulty gets away with this we should all stop our Council Tax payments until he goes.
IMO: I don't blame McNulty in particular - in some ways he is a victim of the system as we all are and he is in a different bracket from Goodwin - but Council Tax should certainly be abolished and this is a good time to do so. Libdems tried to abolish Council Tax but have so far been ineffectual.
Sri Ram Sena action hits pubs hard
Sri Ram Sena apparently go round pubs to beat up women drinkers. Or so the popular papers say. What the truth is, and how Sri Ram Sena may modify its views to 'hit' the pub owners rather than the people in the pubs, remains to be seen.
IMO: I am not a member of Sri Ram Sena - in fact the organisation now seems to be banned in Goa, for example - but at least their action works.
Sri Ram Sena's action has hit the pub industry hard. "We are very badly hit," L.K. Sudhir, owner of two popular pubs - The Liquid Lounge and Froth on Top, said. "There is up to 90 percent drop in the numbers coming to our place. We had hoped our clients will be back during the last weekend but there was no improvement." Some pub owners feel it may take six to seven months for business to pick up.
Karat, however, said the young were still frequenting the pubs. "But women are not ready to go to pubs." Mangalore is the headquarters of Dakshina Kannada, a district which is the envy of other districts in Karnataka. That is so because it tops in literacy, sex ratio and educational standards.
IMO: There are better ways for Indians to behave than to emulate the corrupt decadent US and UK by getting drunk.
Sri Ram Sena apparently go round pubs to beat up women drinkers. Or so the popular papers say. What the truth is, and how Sri Ram Sena may modify its views to 'hit' the pub owners rather than the people in the pubs, remains to be seen.
IMO: I am not a member of Sri Ram Sena - in fact the organisation now seems to be banned in Goa, for example - but at least their action works.
Sri Ram Sena's action has hit the pub industry hard. "We are very badly hit," L.K. Sudhir, owner of two popular pubs - The Liquid Lounge and Froth on Top, said. "There is up to 90 percent drop in the numbers coming to our place. We had hoped our clients will be back during the last weekend but there was no improvement." Some pub owners feel it may take six to seven months for business to pick up.
Karat, however, said the young were still frequenting the pubs. "But women are not ready to go to pubs." Mangalore is the headquarters of Dakshina Kannada, a district which is the envy of other districts in Karnataka. That is so because it tops in literacy, sex ratio and educational standards.
IMO: There are better ways for Indians to behave than to emulate the corrupt decadent US and UK by getting drunk.
Indian develops digital 'sixth sense'
Developed by Pranav Mistry, a researcher at the Fluid Interfaces Group at Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who is from from Palanpur, Gujarat.
The "Sixth Sense" device comprises a pocket projector, mirror and web camera bundled in a wearable pendant-like mobile. The projector can turn anything into a touch screen. The webcam (and colour-coded finger-gloves worn on the index finger and thumb) can recognise the movements of a user's hands, which enables gesture-commands.
A "square frame" gesture, for instance, will prompt the device to click a photo. The device can also recognise a book the user selects from a bookstore ? either by image recognition or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags ? and project information, like an Amazon rating, onto it.
The system can also project a keyboard to type on, detect items on grocery shelves and compare online prices. A newspaper can prompt the device to search for news video clips (the device's smartphone uses an internet connection to retrieve information).
The user can also stop by any surface or wall and flick through the photos she has taken. The device allows a user to draw icons or symbols in the air using the index finger and it recognises those symbols as interaction instructions. For instance, drawing an "@" symbol will let a user check his/her mail.
You can even use this contraption to teach games like football or ping pong (one of Mistry's hobbies, besides doodling, trekking, mountaineering, listening to ghazals and even watching Tom & Jerry). "Your imagination is the only limitation," Mistry added.
"We need to dream our own dreams," he said. He should know, having always dreamt about bringing meaningful computing to the masses. For instance, he believes India should leverage the power of technology, rather than giving every villager a computer which is difficult to operate.
He also thinks Indians don't need to learn how to use keyboards, mouse, etc. One of his earlier projects, "Sandesh," addresses the communication needs of such people. It suggests a new system using the public switched telephone network and simple interaction methods. Sandesh contains a message-receiving unit in villages and kiosks in cities with visual aids. It uses print or sound-based media to convey messages.
Another of his projects, called "Akshar", is basically an attempt to have a mechanism for inputting Indic scripts in digital devices like mobile phones, kiosks, interactive TVs or personal computers. "I use this to talk to my mother," says Mistry, explaining that data entry methods for Indian languages like Hindi, Gujarati and in general are not keyboard-friendly and their entry using QWERTY keyboards is complicated.
IMO: "We need to dream our own dreams": Maybe this is another step towards the new India.
Developed by Pranav Mistry, a researcher at the Fluid Interfaces Group at Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who is from from Palanpur, Gujarat.
The "Sixth Sense" device comprises a pocket projector, mirror and web camera bundled in a wearable pendant-like mobile. The projector can turn anything into a touch screen. The webcam (and colour-coded finger-gloves worn on the index finger and thumb) can recognise the movements of a user's hands, which enables gesture-commands.
A "square frame" gesture, for instance, will prompt the device to click a photo. The device can also recognise a book the user selects from a bookstore ? either by image recognition or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags ? and project information, like an Amazon rating, onto it.
The system can also project a keyboard to type on, detect items on grocery shelves and compare online prices. A newspaper can prompt the device to search for news video clips (the device's smartphone uses an internet connection to retrieve information).
The user can also stop by any surface or wall and flick through the photos she has taken. The device allows a user to draw icons or symbols in the air using the index finger and it recognises those symbols as interaction instructions. For instance, drawing an "@" symbol will let a user check his/her mail.
You can even use this contraption to teach games like football or ping pong (one of Mistry's hobbies, besides doodling, trekking, mountaineering, listening to ghazals and even watching Tom & Jerry). "Your imagination is the only limitation," Mistry added.
"We need to dream our own dreams," he said. He should know, having always dreamt about bringing meaningful computing to the masses. For instance, he believes India should leverage the power of technology, rather than giving every villager a computer which is difficult to operate.
He also thinks Indians don't need to learn how to use keyboards, mouse, etc. One of his earlier projects, "Sandesh," addresses the communication needs of such people. It suggests a new system using the public switched telephone network and simple interaction methods. Sandesh contains a message-receiving unit in villages and kiosks in cities with visual aids. It uses print or sound-based media to convey messages.
Another of his projects, called "Akshar", is basically an attempt to have a mechanism for inputting Indic scripts in digital devices like mobile phones, kiosks, interactive TVs or personal computers. "I use this to talk to my mother," says Mistry, explaining that data entry methods for Indian languages like Hindi, Gujarati and in general are not keyboard-friendly and their entry using QWERTY keyboards is complicated.
IMO: "We need to dream our own dreams": Maybe this is another step towards the new India.
Dirty Bombs - A remedy
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith claimed an increasing amount of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material has become available around the world and that it could fall into the hands of extremists living in Britain.
IMO: Perhaps through nuclear expert A.Q. Khan, recently deliberately released by Pakistan and its ISI ?
A dossier on the activities of some UK men recently in Pakistan is to be given to British anti-terrorist workers. It is claimed the men have trained with groups linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban and pose a potential threat to British security. Their details have been compiled by Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI.
IMO: The trouble with this is, the ISI certainly cannot be trusted and may well leak wrong or inappropriate names to suit their hidden agenda, which itself could be pro-Taliban. Already a large lump of Pakistan in the Swat valley has been taken by the Taliban, apparently with ISI permission or default, who are amusing themselves by flogging buggers and female adulterers (seen on UK TV). It seems the Taliban like a little fascist style Max Mosely entertainment. Certainly Taliban behaviour follows the traditions of Islam, in terms of tactics.
First steps to a Remedy: Four members of the US House of Representatives on Thursday introduced a bill that would cut off military aid to Pakistan unless the United States is allowed to question disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith claimed an increasing amount of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material has become available around the world and that it could fall into the hands of extremists living in Britain.
IMO: Perhaps through nuclear expert A.Q. Khan, recently deliberately released by Pakistan and its ISI ?
A dossier on the activities of some UK men recently in Pakistan is to be given to British anti-terrorist workers. It is claimed the men have trained with groups linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban and pose a potential threat to British security. Their details have been compiled by Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI.
IMO: The trouble with this is, the ISI certainly cannot be trusted and may well leak wrong or inappropriate names to suit their hidden agenda, which itself could be pro-Taliban. Already a large lump of Pakistan in the Swat valley has been taken by the Taliban, apparently with ISI permission or default, who are amusing themselves by flogging buggers and female adulterers (seen on UK TV). It seems the Taliban like a little fascist style Max Mosely entertainment. Certainly Taliban behaviour follows the traditions of Islam, in terms of tactics.
First steps to a Remedy: Four members of the US House of Representatives on Thursday introduced a bill that would cut off military aid to Pakistan unless the United States is allowed to question disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Geithner plan
1. First the hedge fund buys an asset with a face value of $100 for $80. The hedge fund puts up $2.40, while the Fed contributes the rest, $77.60. Huge leverage.
2. The next day, the hedge fund re-runs the model and realizes that they overpaid the bank. Turns out, it was only worth $20 — which was where the market had been, sans-government leverage.
3. The hedge fund loses it entire $2.40, and the taxpayer loses its entire $77.60.
4. BUT! The bank buys the asset back from the hedge fund at $20, while paying it a $5 million fee for its trouble.
5. The upshot: The banks sells high, buys low. The hedge fund collects a fee for holding the asset. And the taxpayer is screwed.
IMO: I'm afraid the true scenario may be something like the above. Obama needs to do better, so does Geithner.
1. First the hedge fund buys an asset with a face value of $100 for $80. The hedge fund puts up $2.40, while the Fed contributes the rest, $77.60. Huge leverage.
2. The next day, the hedge fund re-runs the model and realizes that they overpaid the bank. Turns out, it was only worth $20 — which was where the market had been, sans-government leverage.
3. The hedge fund loses it entire $2.40, and the taxpayer loses its entire $77.60.
4. BUT! The bank buys the asset back from the hedge fund at $20, while paying it a $5 million fee for its trouble.
5. The upshot: The banks sells high, buys low. The hedge fund collects a fee for holding the asset. And the taxpayer is screwed.
IMO: I'm afraid the true scenario may be something like the above. Obama needs to do better, so does Geithner.
Mamata Banerjee prefers to ‘ignore’ Nano launch in Mumbai and India should realise it can become the world's first, largest and greatest post-industrial society
Asked about her reaction to the Nano launch, Banerjee, who led a sustained protest against the land acquisition for the Tata Motors’ Nano project in Singur, said she was unperturbed about the event. “This is not our business and we ignore it,” she replied to a question. The Trinamool manifesto said that the party aimed at forming a secular, progressive and stable government at the centre which would focus on economic reforms, industry, agricultural development and adopt pro-people policies. “We want a stable government and thus we are neither with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor with the newly formed Third Front led by the communists,” Mamata Banerjee told a press conference while releasing the document. She said: “I appeal to all people of West Bengal to vote for the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance as it is the only alternative in the state against the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front government.”
IMO: Quite right too. I would point out that the BJP (quite popular in Maharashtra) supported Didi over the Singur campaign and in fact said “We support all agitations directly concerned with farmers and Amarnath pilgrims, anywhere in the country.” As for the Nano, it looks like a nice enough little car, which keeps up with a BMW in Indian traffic. The problem is pollution increases, and IMO India needs to restructure as a post-industrial society. Unlike the USA and China, India has not gone so far as to burn its boats in that regard. Post-industrial societies can lead to pleasure and profit for all, and India is in the strongest position in the world for this to happen. I'll write again about this - Tata actually now intends to introduce an electric version of the Indica in Norway later this year, for example.
Asked about her reaction to the Nano launch, Banerjee, who led a sustained protest against the land acquisition for the Tata Motors’ Nano project in Singur, said she was unperturbed about the event. “This is not our business and we ignore it,” she replied to a question. The Trinamool manifesto said that the party aimed at forming a secular, progressive and stable government at the centre which would focus on economic reforms, industry, agricultural development and adopt pro-people policies. “We want a stable government and thus we are neither with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor with the newly formed Third Front led by the communists,” Mamata Banerjee told a press conference while releasing the document. She said: “I appeal to all people of West Bengal to vote for the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance as it is the only alternative in the state against the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front government.”
IMO: Quite right too. I would point out that the BJP (quite popular in Maharashtra) supported Didi over the Singur campaign and in fact said “We support all agitations directly concerned with farmers and Amarnath pilgrims, anywhere in the country.” As for the Nano, it looks like a nice enough little car, which keeps up with a BMW in Indian traffic. The problem is pollution increases, and IMO India needs to restructure as a post-industrial society. Unlike the USA and China, India has not gone so far as to burn its boats in that regard. Post-industrial societies can lead to pleasure and profit for all, and India is in the strongest position in the world for this to happen. I'll write again about this - Tata actually now intends to introduce an electric version of the Indica in Norway later this year, for example.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Google Street View, bring back the vomiting Brit
Thus says the typical UK blog. These days vomiting men (and of course women) are as typical of the British street scene as hockey Moms and apple pie are of the US street scene.
As bloggers say, to remove vomiting Brits from Google Street View "is as iconoclastic as to remove images of the French seated at cafes, smoking or to remove the work of Michel Houellebecq from Google".
IMO: To censor such pictures is to cause damage to the British way of life. Decent, upright UK citizens have vomited in the streets since the days of Hogarth and earlier AND BEEN PICTURED DOING SO, often in valuable historical museums, one of which, at the famous Hogarth Roundabout, is only a short walk from where I write this. Google's alleged infamy appears to be yet another example of how US corruption is damaging the fabric of British society. Alright, Google's infamy is not as bad as Obama, Bush, Goldman Sachs or AIG but it is cerainly yet another straw that shows the way the wind blows
Why, soon typical examples of the British way of life like the following will be censored from existence.
" “I’m p***ed out of my f***ing head,” the 28-year-old declares, as she sits unsteadily on a bench. “I’ve been drinking all night but I still have some room for a few more.”
Meanwhile 19-year-old nursery nurse Kayleigh Kennedy is slumped on the floor outside the Blu Bamboo club. Pal Lindsey Nicholson, 24, says she has had six double vodkas but insists: “We’re good girls. We never get into trouble. We stay out of the way.”
A pretty 18-year-old blonde, who only gives her name as Rachel, is looking the worse for wear by 11.30pm as she stands in the city’s Bigg Market. The teenager supports herself with one hand against an office window as she vomits on the pavement while her pal strokes her head.
Nearby, Gemma, 18, has lost her taxi fare and is trying to get some cash. She does herself no favours as she tells passers-by: “If you give me a fiver I’ll show you my t*ts.”
Reveller Lauren McNiven and ten of her mates have hit the town to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They started drinking at 7pm and usually stay out until 3.30am, she says.
Student Lauren, 21, who is about to qualify as a primary school teacher, adds that they never get into trouble but she admits she will have up to 11 glasses of wine or spirits on a night out.
At around midnight, barefoot teenagers in colourful dresses lurch from bar to nightclub along Sauchiehall Street and Queen Street, narrowly avoiding shards of glass strewn along the pavement.
A teenage birthday girl in a PVC SuperGirl outfit is shouting obscenities at fellow revellers and demanding that strangers buy her drinks. The rest of her fancy dress-clad group drag her into the next available bar to take advantage of discounted drinks.
Meanwhile at half past midnight on the riverfront a group of binge-drinking girls in Grecian togas are arguing drunkenly about where their final destination of the night should be.
Another girl slumps in the doorway of a takeaway, spreading her legs in her short skirt to gain attention from passing males.
Later, a pretty redhead momentarily leaves her pals in search of a quiet spot to lean over railings and vomit. Minutes later she calmly rejoins her friends to enter a club and continue drinking.
At 2.20am two girls kick off their shoes and, despite the broken glass covering the pavement, they take it in turns to give each other piggy-back rides down the street as they search for a taxi to take them home.
It’s only 11pm but the city’s Broad Street is already echoing to police and ambulance sirens as unruly women fight outside the bars and clubs.
A girl, already the worse for wear from alcopops, stumbles across the street wearing only one shoe, telling a pal: “I’m wasted. I want to go home.” Her equally drunken mate is holding on to a street lamp as she throws up the remains of the “buy-one-get-one-free” cocktails.
An hour later a couple are rowing loudly in a nightclub entrance because the man has grabbed her friend’s bum.
As the woman continues to swear and put her fist in her partner’s face, it takes three cops to restrain her.
A girl outside a row of fast food shops takes a bite out of her kebab, then vomits on the pavement, holding on to a pole to keep herself upright.
With hair plastered to her face and a pool of vomit on the pavement, another woman falls victim to our booze culture.
It takes two paramedics, lifting her by each arm, to carry her to an ambulance.
Nearby, close to the city’s Men Arena, another girl is slumped in a doorway, her head stuck between her legs as she tries in vain to sober up. Her pals try to flag down passing taxis in a bid to get her off the street, then drag her to her feet and stagger off down the road in search of a lift home.
Two girls struggle to support their drunken friend as she falls into fencing, flashing her bum as she stumbles.
In nearby St Mary Street, outside Squares nightclub, a young woman lies on the pavement, face-down in her own vomit after taking advantage of too many cut-price drinks. Paramedics fuss around the girl, clearing her airways before lifting her on to a stretcher and into an ambulance. At 1.45am the night ends for another teenager as her concerned parents arrive to carry her home. Minutes earlier she had been sprawled on the pavement outside the same club as the girl who had needed hospital treatment. For her too, the night of “fun” is over." "
Thus says the typical UK blog. These days vomiting men (and of course women) are as typical of the British street scene as hockey Moms and apple pie are of the US street scene.
As bloggers say, to remove vomiting Brits from Google Street View "is as iconoclastic as to remove images of the French seated at cafes, smoking or to remove the work of Michel Houellebecq from Google".
IMO: To censor such pictures is to cause damage to the British way of life. Decent, upright UK citizens have vomited in the streets since the days of Hogarth and earlier AND BEEN PICTURED DOING SO, often in valuable historical museums, one of which, at the famous Hogarth Roundabout, is only a short walk from where I write this. Google's alleged infamy appears to be yet another example of how US corruption is damaging the fabric of British society. Alright, Google's infamy is not as bad as Obama, Bush, Goldman Sachs or AIG but it is cerainly yet another straw that shows the way the wind blows
Why, soon typical examples of the British way of life like the following will be censored from existence.
" “I’m p***ed out of my f***ing head,” the 28-year-old declares, as she sits unsteadily on a bench. “I’ve been drinking all night but I still have some room for a few more.”
Meanwhile 19-year-old nursery nurse Kayleigh Kennedy is slumped on the floor outside the Blu Bamboo club. Pal Lindsey Nicholson, 24, says she has had six double vodkas but insists: “We’re good girls. We never get into trouble. We stay out of the way.”
A pretty 18-year-old blonde, who only gives her name as Rachel, is looking the worse for wear by 11.30pm as she stands in the city’s Bigg Market. The teenager supports herself with one hand against an office window as she vomits on the pavement while her pal strokes her head.
Nearby, Gemma, 18, has lost her taxi fare and is trying to get some cash. She does herself no favours as she tells passers-by: “If you give me a fiver I’ll show you my t*ts.”
Reveller Lauren McNiven and ten of her mates have hit the town to celebrate a friend’s birthday. They started drinking at 7pm and usually stay out until 3.30am, she says.
Student Lauren, 21, who is about to qualify as a primary school teacher, adds that they never get into trouble but she admits she will have up to 11 glasses of wine or spirits on a night out.
At around midnight, barefoot teenagers in colourful dresses lurch from bar to nightclub along Sauchiehall Street and Queen Street, narrowly avoiding shards of glass strewn along the pavement.
A teenage birthday girl in a PVC SuperGirl outfit is shouting obscenities at fellow revellers and demanding that strangers buy her drinks. The rest of her fancy dress-clad group drag her into the next available bar to take advantage of discounted drinks.
Meanwhile at half past midnight on the riverfront a group of binge-drinking girls in Grecian togas are arguing drunkenly about where their final destination of the night should be.
Another girl slumps in the doorway of a takeaway, spreading her legs in her short skirt to gain attention from passing males.
Later, a pretty redhead momentarily leaves her pals in search of a quiet spot to lean over railings and vomit. Minutes later she calmly rejoins her friends to enter a club and continue drinking.
At 2.20am two girls kick off their shoes and, despite the broken glass covering the pavement, they take it in turns to give each other piggy-back rides down the street as they search for a taxi to take them home.
It’s only 11pm but the city’s Broad Street is already echoing to police and ambulance sirens as unruly women fight outside the bars and clubs.
A girl, already the worse for wear from alcopops, stumbles across the street wearing only one shoe, telling a pal: “I’m wasted. I want to go home.” Her equally drunken mate is holding on to a street lamp as she throws up the remains of the “buy-one-get-one-free” cocktails.
An hour later a couple are rowing loudly in a nightclub entrance because the man has grabbed her friend’s bum.
As the woman continues to swear and put her fist in her partner’s face, it takes three cops to restrain her.
A girl outside a row of fast food shops takes a bite out of her kebab, then vomits on the pavement, holding on to a pole to keep herself upright.
With hair plastered to her face and a pool of vomit on the pavement, another woman falls victim to our booze culture.
It takes two paramedics, lifting her by each arm, to carry her to an ambulance.
Nearby, close to the city’s Men Arena, another girl is slumped in a doorway, her head stuck between her legs as she tries in vain to sober up. Her pals try to flag down passing taxis in a bid to get her off the street, then drag her to her feet and stagger off down the road in search of a lift home.
Two girls struggle to support their drunken friend as she falls into fencing, flashing her bum as she stumbles.
In nearby St Mary Street, outside Squares nightclub, a young woman lies on the pavement, face-down in her own vomit after taking advantage of too many cut-price drinks. Paramedics fuss around the girl, clearing her airways before lifting her on to a stretcher and into an ambulance. At 1.45am the night ends for another teenager as her concerned parents arrive to carry her home. Minutes earlier she had been sprawled on the pavement outside the same club as the girl who had needed hospital treatment. For her too, the night of “fun” is over." "
Iran's leader dismisses Obama offer
As the supreme leader, Khamenei is believed to hold the last word on major Iranian policy decisions. Khamenei has dismissed overtures from the US president, saying Tehran does not see any change in US policy under Barack Obama's administration.
Commenting on Khamenei's rejection of Obama's offer, Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran university professor, told Al Jazeera: "It was expected. Iran has many grievances. A change in tone is not really enough. "He [Khamenei] said if the US changes its policy ... especially towards Israel and the Palestinian people, the Iranians can move forward. I think if the Americans do make a significant move the Iranians will be willing to look towards better relations".
IMO: Some hope if real changes made, but are such changes acceptable in the USA - and what could they be ? I'm sure something can be done if there are genuine attempts at mutual tolerance.
As the supreme leader, Khamenei is believed to hold the last word on major Iranian policy decisions. Khamenei has dismissed overtures from the US president, saying Tehran does not see any change in US policy under Barack Obama's administration.
Commenting on Khamenei's rejection of Obama's offer, Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran university professor, told Al Jazeera: "It was expected. Iran has many grievances. A change in tone is not really enough. "He [Khamenei] said if the US changes its policy ... especially towards Israel and the Palestinian people, the Iranians can move forward. I think if the Americans do make a significant move the Iranians will be willing to look towards better relations".
IMO: Some hope if real changes made, but are such changes acceptable in the USA - and what could they be ? I'm sure something can be done if there are genuine attempts at mutual tolerance.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Bush/Obama bailouts are a scam themselves
The Bush/Obama bailouts require serious investigation. Were these bailouts necessary, or were they a scam, like “weapons of mass destruction,” used to advance a private agenda behind a wall of fear? Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren, a member of a congressional bailout oversight panel, said on NPR that the US has far too many banks. Out of the financial crisis, she said, should come consolidation with the financial sector consisting of a few mega-banks. Was the whole point of the bailout to supply taxpayer money for a program of financial concentration?
Examples of what goes on: The Dinkins style Obama administration does not regard contracts as sacred. Specifically: labor unions had to agree to give-backs in order for the auto companies to obtain federal help; CNN reports that “Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday [March 10] that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance”; the Washington Post reports that the Obama team has set its sights on downsizing Social Security and Medicare. Yet, Obama’s White House economist, Larry Summers, on whose watch as Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration financial deregulation got out of control, invoked the “sanctity of contracts” in defense of the AIG bonuses !
IMO: US elites run the government in their own private interests. It is somewhat like the Russian and Indian oligarchy system, and all three oligarchies should be dismantled.
The Bush/Obama bailouts require serious investigation. Were these bailouts necessary, or were they a scam, like “weapons of mass destruction,” used to advance a private agenda behind a wall of fear? Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren, a member of a congressional bailout oversight panel, said on NPR that the US has far too many banks. Out of the financial crisis, she said, should come consolidation with the financial sector consisting of a few mega-banks. Was the whole point of the bailout to supply taxpayer money for a program of financial concentration?
Examples of what goes on: The Dinkins style Obama administration does not regard contracts as sacred. Specifically: labor unions had to agree to give-backs in order for the auto companies to obtain federal help; CNN reports that “Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday [March 10] that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance”; the Washington Post reports that the Obama team has set its sights on downsizing Social Security and Medicare. Yet, Obama’s White House economist, Larry Summers, on whose watch as Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration financial deregulation got out of control, invoked the “sanctity of contracts” in defense of the AIG bonuses !
IMO: US elites run the government in their own private interests. It is somewhat like the Russian and Indian oligarchy system, and all three oligarchies should be dismantled.
New owner of Florida 9/11 'terror' flight school in huge Ponzi scheme
Arthur G. Nadel, 75, was arrested recently for running a Ponzi scheme which methodically looted investors in his Sarasota-based hedge funds of more than $300 million. Nadel's arrest marks the second time in recent years that the owner of Huffman Aviation, the FBO (fixed base of operations) at the Venice Airport has been involved in crimes traditionally associated with the Mob.
While previous owner Wallace J. Hilliard owned Huffman Aviation, and Mohamed Atta was taking flying lessons, DEA agents busted Hilliard’s Learjet carrying 43 lbs. of heroin. It was July 25, 2000, at the Orlando Executive Airport. Venice Airport was the same building whose blue awning became well-known internationally after the 9/11 attack as the home of dozens of young Arab men suspected of being terrorists learned to fly.
Hilliard also allegedly had connections with the CIA, through Myron DuBain, a World War II OSS/CIA operative who became the chairman of Fireman's Fund Insurance, which announced plans to acquire the insurance company founded by Hilliard back in 1982.
How did city officials in Venice, Florida allow the airport's mission-critical FBO to fall into the hands--not once but twice--of people otherwise engaged in organized crime? How many small towns with barely ten thousand people “boast” a tiny local airport which play host to terrorist hijackers? Or been run by a heroin trafficker disguised as a flight school owner, or a man accused of stealing $300 million in a huge financial fraud? Why do shadowy underworld figures have the permanent run of the airport in Venice, Florida?
Arthur G. Nadel, 75, was arrested recently for running a Ponzi scheme which methodically looted investors in his Sarasota-based hedge funds of more than $300 million. Nadel's arrest marks the second time in recent years that the owner of Huffman Aviation, the FBO (fixed base of operations) at the Venice Airport has been involved in crimes traditionally associated with the Mob.
While previous owner Wallace J. Hilliard owned Huffman Aviation, and Mohamed Atta was taking flying lessons, DEA agents busted Hilliard’s Learjet carrying 43 lbs. of heroin. It was July 25, 2000, at the Orlando Executive Airport. Venice Airport was the same building whose blue awning became well-known internationally after the 9/11 attack as the home of dozens of young Arab men suspected of being terrorists learned to fly.
Hilliard also allegedly had connections with the CIA, through Myron DuBain, a World War II OSS/CIA operative who became the chairman of Fireman's Fund Insurance, which announced plans to acquire the insurance company founded by Hilliard back in 1982.
How did city officials in Venice, Florida allow the airport's mission-critical FBO to fall into the hands--not once but twice--of people otherwise engaged in organized crime? How many small towns with barely ten thousand people “boast” a tiny local airport which play host to terrorist hijackers? Or been run by a heroin trafficker disguised as a flight school owner, or a man accused of stealing $300 million in a huge financial fraud? Why do shadowy underworld figures have the permanent run of the airport in Venice, Florida?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Gordon Brown's role
The national auditor's scathing account of the nationalisation of Northern Rock will deal a heavy blow to his legacy as chancellor. Rather than dismissing the crisis as unprecedented and unforeseeable, the investigation makes the politically toxic suggestion that Mr Brown failed to fix a regulatory system that he was warned was flawed.
Philip Hammond, shadow chief secretary, said: "The Treasury that didn't ask about the size of Fred Goodwin's pension also clearly didn't ask to see Northern Rock's loan book or for them to stop lending 125 per cent mortgages - how could he have got it so wrong?"
IMO: Yes, and we all have thought Brown's public-private-partnership idea to be a bit nuts all along, e.g. as in Private Eye. Staffordshire a nasty but typical example. That all being said Brown was not as bad a chancellor than most of them of recent years, and he did have some ideas. IMO he can still put things back on track, but Labor is now getting old and weary, and Brown is too cautious for his own good. We need Vince Cable, some Libdem support and a partial Labor/Libdem coalition. Tories are far too passe, lets hope the voters work that out too.
The national auditor's scathing account of the nationalisation of Northern Rock will deal a heavy blow to his legacy as chancellor. Rather than dismissing the crisis as unprecedented and unforeseeable, the investigation makes the politically toxic suggestion that Mr Brown failed to fix a regulatory system that he was warned was flawed.
Philip Hammond, shadow chief secretary, said: "The Treasury that didn't ask about the size of Fred Goodwin's pension also clearly didn't ask to see Northern Rock's loan book or for them to stop lending 125 per cent mortgages - how could he have got it so wrong?"
IMO: Yes, and we all have thought Brown's public-private-partnership idea to be a bit nuts all along, e.g. as in Private Eye. Staffordshire a nasty but typical example. That all being said Brown was not as bad a chancellor than most of them of recent years, and he did have some ideas. IMO he can still put things back on track, but Labor is now getting old and weary, and Brown is too cautious for his own good. We need Vince Cable, some Libdem support and a partial Labor/Libdem coalition. Tories are far too passe, lets hope the voters work that out too.
UK to buy supersonic stealth jumpjets
UK has ordered its first three Joint Strike Fighter (aka F-35 or "Lightning II") supersonic stealth jumpjets. The initial trio of UK planes will be prototypes built as part of the F-35's development phase, giving UK access and input to the jet's final design.
F-35B will have a central lift fan driven by the engine and a downward-swivelling exhaust. This will deliver vertical thrust, letting the plane land on a pad like a helicopter if lightly loaded. The F-35B is meant to replace the famous Harrier jumpjet with many of its current operators, including the US Marines, the RAF and the Royal Navy.
The Royal Navy regards the F-35B as vital. This is because the new British carriers will not have catapults or arrester wires, so as to save money in the short term. Thus, only helicopters and jumpjets like the F-35B will be able to fly from them.
It's really only the carrier programme keeping the UK F-35B purchase alive: but the carriers could start looking very vulnerable if Gordon Brown and the Scottish shipyards disappear from national politics next year, as seems quite likely.carriers, no UK F-35Bs, in all likelihood. Yesterday's buy of the prototype birds doesn't necessarily mean anything, for all that UK has already sunk £2bn into the F-35 development programme.
IMO: And here is an allegely current list of Iranian spies. Consider also the possibility of Iranian use of Sunburn missiles. Gordon Broon's Atomic peace and progress sounds good but I will believe it when I see it.
UK has ordered its first three Joint Strike Fighter (aka F-35 or "Lightning II") supersonic stealth jumpjets. The initial trio of UK planes will be prototypes built as part of the F-35's development phase, giving UK access and input to the jet's final design.
F-35B will have a central lift fan driven by the engine and a downward-swivelling exhaust. This will deliver vertical thrust, letting the plane land on a pad like a helicopter if lightly loaded. The F-35B is meant to replace the famous Harrier jumpjet with many of its current operators, including the US Marines, the RAF and the Royal Navy.
The Royal Navy regards the F-35B as vital. This is because the new British carriers will not have catapults or arrester wires, so as to save money in the short term. Thus, only helicopters and jumpjets like the F-35B will be able to fly from them.
It's really only the carrier programme keeping the UK F-35B purchase alive: but the carriers could start looking very vulnerable if Gordon Brown and the Scottish shipyards disappear from national politics next year, as seems quite likely.carriers, no UK F-35Bs, in all likelihood. Yesterday's buy of the prototype birds doesn't necessarily mean anything, for all that UK has already sunk £2bn into the F-35 development programme.
IMO: And here is an allegely current list of Iranian spies. Consider also the possibility of Iranian use of Sunburn missiles. Gordon Broon's Atomic peace and progress sounds good but I will believe it when I see it.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Pakistan: "The lunatics are running the asylum"
The above is a comment made on 'Times Now' TV. It concerns the apparent attack on a Sri Lankan cricket team, in a bus which was supposed to be bullet proof but was not, apparently by four groups of at least 12-14 terrorists, armed with Kalashnikovs, grenades and rocket launchers. They seem to have been well prepared and militarily capable, many shots were fired, yet there were apparently only 8 bullet holes in the bus, all of which seem to have come from shots from within the bus and none of the cricketers seem to have been seriously injured. Many people see the lack of a lot of serious injuries as being almost a miracle and no rockets seem to have hit the bus. The whole matter was recorded on TV, almost as if the TV crews had been waiting to do so. Probably no such incident has ever been recorded for TV in so much detail. All the terrorists so far seem to have escaped.
IMO: Makes you think of Pancho Vila. At least the Federales were doing their job in his case.
The obvious possibility is that it was another 'put up' job by people in the ISI, seeking more political control.
IMO: Is Obama just another variety of Dinkins ? He has already offered something like a billion dollars of aid to Gaza, which presumably will be used often enough to buy materiel like rocket launchers etc. and now he probably proposes to aid Pakistan !!! Certainly, existing recipients of US aid in Lahore, with their many private swimming pools and air conditioning, whilst the yokels starve, probably do not like the recent attack in Lahore at all, but will doubtless feel that the price of yet more US aid is worth it. I sincerely hope that Obama is in fact not another Dinkins type and the US authorities pull up their socks and try not to continue to buy their way out of trouble by paying off the wrong people.
The above is a comment made on 'Times Now' TV. It concerns the apparent attack on a Sri Lankan cricket team, in a bus which was supposed to be bullet proof but was not, apparently by four groups of at least 12-14 terrorists, armed with Kalashnikovs, grenades and rocket launchers. They seem to have been well prepared and militarily capable, many shots were fired, yet there were apparently only 8 bullet holes in the bus, all of which seem to have come from shots from within the bus and none of the cricketers seem to have been seriously injured. Many people see the lack of a lot of serious injuries as being almost a miracle and no rockets seem to have hit the bus. The whole matter was recorded on TV, almost as if the TV crews had been waiting to do so. Probably no such incident has ever been recorded for TV in so much detail. All the terrorists so far seem to have escaped.
IMO: Makes you think of Pancho Vila. At least the Federales were doing their job in his case.
The obvious possibility is that it was another 'put up' job by people in the ISI, seeking more political control.
IMO: Is Obama just another variety of Dinkins ? He has already offered something like a billion dollars of aid to Gaza, which presumably will be used often enough to buy materiel like rocket launchers etc. and now he probably proposes to aid Pakistan !!! Certainly, existing recipients of US aid in Lahore, with their many private swimming pools and air conditioning, whilst the yokels starve, probably do not like the recent attack in Lahore at all, but will doubtless feel that the price of yet more US aid is worth it. I sincerely hope that Obama is in fact not another Dinkins type and the US authorities pull up their socks and try not to continue to buy their way out of trouble by paying off the wrong people.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Congress victory hopes
Pranab Mukherjee, the External Affairs minister announced on Sunday that the Congress would make an alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal and would jointly fight against the Leftist parties in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Mukherjee met with the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee at a guest house in Kolkata yesterday. While speaking to the media, Mukherjee said, “We (Congress and Trinamool Congress) will jointly fight the coming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal against the ruling Left Front.”
IMO: Bravo ! Congress seems to have made the right move at last ! What UK politics needs is candidates more caring for voters like Mamata Banerjee. Whatever the views of people like "Sailor-boy", people like Mamata Banerjee are an asset to ANY party, unlike a certain Labor politician whose Chesterfield East constituency was scandalously heglected, whatever his other merits. Of the oldsters, Jack Straw is possibly best of the lot, not that that says enough, probably, and Milliband etc appear to be unfortunate disappointments.
Pranab Mukherjee, the External Affairs minister announced on Sunday that the Congress would make an alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal and would jointly fight against the Leftist parties in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Mukherjee met with the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee at a guest house in Kolkata yesterday. While speaking to the media, Mukherjee said, “We (Congress and Trinamool Congress) will jointly fight the coming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal against the ruling Left Front.”
IMO: Bravo ! Congress seems to have made the right move at last ! What UK politics needs is candidates more caring for voters like Mamata Banerjee. Whatever the views of people like "Sailor-boy", people like Mamata Banerjee are an asset to ANY party, unlike a certain Labor politician whose Chesterfield East constituency was scandalously heglected, whatever his other merits. Of the oldsters, Jack Straw is possibly best of the lot, not that that says enough, probably, and Milliband etc appear to be unfortunate disappointments.
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