Monday, August 31, 2009

New Indian stealth fighter to fly soon

It is called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft or FGFA, developed in collaboration with Sukhoi.

Probably the most maneuverable fighter in the world, It has the ability to supercruise or operate at speeds beyond the speed of sound (to Mach 2) without engaging systems such as afterburners which consume huge amounts of fuel. The aircraft will be equipped with an electronically scanned array radar whose beams are electronically steered to detect targets with maximum accuracy. Probably no fighter can beat it, indeed it is now more advanced than the Sukhoi 30.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The American Conservative

'Sibel Edmonds Speaks, But No One is Listening'
The American Conservative (not Fox News - the two are very different) says on Sibel Edmonds, often referred to in this blog : "Edmonds is a credible witness who is ignored by the mainstream media and congress because her tales, if true, would be devastating to both political parties and to the Israel and Turkish lobbies," and then asks: "Now that she has testified under oath and in considerable detail making very specific accusations isn't it time for someone in the administration to review the FBI files and stand up to say whether her accounts are true or not?" Some details here.

IMO: Quite correct, and also lets hear what Christine Grahame says on Megrahi.

Murdoch's speech

IMO: First thoughts are that Rupert, in his way, was genuinely great, but the present Murdoch regime is stodgier than the BBC. With the latest Murdoch speech, we are hopefully seeing the last days of the greatness of the Murdochs. I think the earlier Murdoch speech may have been written by O'Neill anyway. Unfortunately the Murdochs are apparently going to be replaced by Branson, the oligarchs (as on the Russian TV services now available in Britain), and similar stuff. To prove this matter, you just need to pick up any cheap weekly TV program guide like TVChoice. The only programs worth watching are those on BBC and a very sparse number elsewhere, on Channel 4 with the odd program on Ch 3 and Ch 5. Sky and Virgin are both total crap, and the Russian News programs are so far little more than propaganda. I do not want to pay big sums of money through some license fee to people like Nicholas Parsons ("Nickel-arse Parsons" of "Much Binding in the Marsh" apparently) but at least he talks common sense about Westminster and for that we have to be grateful. Murdoch, Jr. just does pep talk on the meritless Sky.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Lockerbie mastermind to be named ?

Christine Grahame plans to use next week's censure debate to name a Syrian exile living under US protection in Washington as the actual mastermind of the bombing, under parliamentary privilege. Ms Grahame said the man had been named in Megrahi's appeal documents as a relative of one of the first leading suspects for the attack, the Syrian-based Palestinian militant Ahmed Jibril.

For the Lockerbie case, the then UN Chief Kofi Annan appointed Prof. H. Köchler as an international observer. The learned professor commenting on the verdict had this to say: "This was a classical case of a 'Show Process' from the time of the Cold War… like they had in the Soviet Union and East Germany before the Iron Curtain fell…This has been a political court case where the verdict already was decided upon in advance… It was a spectacular miscarriage of justice."

Only a few Western media outlets saw Köchler's remarks as newsworthy.

IMO: But then "they wouldn't, would they ?". After all Libya belongs to Italy, France and the UK - the media still wants to believe. Until Gadaffi's day, Libyans in Libya had to get off the road and walk in the gutter if a Westerner approached. And the Western outlets hadn't wanted such matters to change so they go on telling lies and omitting truths. The Western media are usually senile worthless drivelmongers. You'd think that at least the Obama administration would try to get its facts straight.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mumbai water

Five of the six lakes which supply water to Mumbai are just over 60% full. The monsoon is in its final leg. The lakes, which are usually are full by this time of the year, must receive at least 5 lakh litres of water in the coming days for the city to be guaranteed of continuous supply till monsoon arrives again next season.

IMO: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation weather modification tests seem partially successful this year. Eight experiments have been conducted by Meckoni Enterprises and three by Agni Aviation. But there is likely to be a 30% water cut from October 1st.


Ted Kennedy

Kennedy apparently supported Obama over the healthcare program, which is a good thing, and it is something correct that Kennedy did at the end.

But many accounts suggest that his life left much to be desired, such as the account in the Daily Mail, and another in the Daily Telegraph. These two accounts certainly sum up many people's views (religion and politics aside).

IMO: Perhaps Gordon Brown's decision to give the fellow an honorary knighthood sums up why many consider that nobody whatsoever should vote for Gordon Brown. A pity for the Labor Party. Indeed the Telegraph says "Let's make a deal with the Democrats. If they confer honorary U.S citizenship upon Osama Bin Laden, we in the UK will support an honorary Knighthood being conferred on Ted Kennedy". What a sad world we live in, that somehow that almost seems appropriate - and that the Republicans were little short of doing just that.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Soviet plans to invade Manchester

Tanks on the A56: Soviet invasion plan on show. A map showing the route that Soviet tanks would have taken during an invasion of Manchester, England forms part of a display at an international conference this week.

Details here. These maps are only 35 years old, and presumably were fit for use till recently. Other details are available.

IMO: OK, most people know the saying "First price in the competition, a day in Manchester. Second prize, two days in Manchester" and many people feel that this sums up Manchester. I would have thought that Washington, D.C. would still be a better target for invasion, more scenic and the tall ($100,000 plus per annum) poppies could all be cut down and health care provided for the poor. But the Russians don't seem to want to invade places any more, so maybe the Chinese or the Canadians could invade instead, as both have better health care systems and less corruption than Washington, D.C. Perhaps its just a matter of time.


Now, Kulkarni working with Mamata

The conflict in the BJP seems to have become Mamata Banerjee's gain. Just days after Vajpayee and Advani's trusted aide and BJP's ideologue, Sudheendra Kulkarni walked out of the party, citing irreconcilable differences; he has joined a key committee of the Railway Ministry under Union Minister Mamata Banerjee. The former BJP leader has denied any political affiliations with the Trinamool Chief, instead justified it as taking an association that began during Vajpayee's PM days forward. Kulkarni said, "Yes, I've been part of one meeting on the 10th of August. This is a very important ministry. Mamata is determined to bring about a real change. I've worked with her when I was in the Vajpayee government. This is taking the association forward."

IMO: India is basically a Hindu nation and a party like BJP should have a very important place there. BJP has to try to live up to its promises, to make sensible promises in the first place, and maybe reorganise a little.

One aspect of UK sentiment on Megrahi

"The message sent by Obama’s FBI director, who said Scotland had given comfort to terrorists and the back of its hand to those who’d promised justice for their victims, is a vindictive one which reinforces the Muslim world’s perception of America and its allies. The comment of Reverand Ian Galloway of the Church of Scotland, on the other hand, contains a lesson Mr Obama needs to learn if he hopes to persuade Muslims we have more in common than that which divides us and that we are children of the same Book".

IMO: That aspect of Nelson's views sounds fair. In Ramadan, which it is, Muslims fast and consider compassion and mercy, and Megrahi's release is at least that. Many people, such as Christine Grahame (MSP) reckon Megrahi was framed anyway, and that the instigator of the Lockerbie bombing is alive and well in Washington, D.C. - what you might expect, I suppose, and regrettably Americans leave a very bad impression on the rest of the world. We can only hope that the Obama administration will show more reason than we are beginning to expect. Here we think also of less related items such as the removal of the Jewish settlements in Jerusalem, supposedly agreed already.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sibel Edmonds and Megrahi

Twice gagged by the Bush Dept. of Justice's invocation of the so-called "State Secrets Privilege," Edmonds has been attempting to tell her story, about the crimes she became aware of while working for the FBI, for years.

Her testimony is referred to earlier in this blog but full testimony (pdf) and videos are now available.

Her allegations are of blackmail, bribery, espionage, infiltration, and criminal conspiracy by current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials, and agents of the government of Turkey and are seen and heard here, in full, for the first time, in her under-oath deposition.

IMO: Plenty of food for thought here, for example on the question of views of EU membership of Turkey. It also makes you wonder about what to think of how the FBI is run - throughout. A lot of people are none too happy on Megrahi for example, Margo Madonald for example has called for an enquiry and there are the PE points made in an earlier blog entry.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Ganesh Chaturthi


Malay model for caning because of drinking beer

32 year old former part-time model had earlier told Al Jazeera that she had accepted the sentence and asked to be caned in public as an example to other Muslims.

Alcohol is widely available in Malay but is forbidden for the majority Muslim community, who make up just over half the population.

But Amnesty International had urged authorities to revoke the sentence and abolish the practice of caning.

IMO: Drinking alcohol is a bad practice for anyone. Alcohol is forbidden to Hindus and Muslims, and Sri Ram Sena have recently tried in India to prevent female drinking, and this does already seem to have had a small effect on the liquor trade. I have seen the horrible degradation suffered by females, for example in Fulham, London from excessive alcohol consumption. India used to ban alcohol drinking completely except for those with an addict's permit and that was a very worthy position. But Malay is a slightly different country and ones' first thought might well be "is (caning a willing fashion model) just Islamic spin?". I'm not at all sure that caning females is the answer, probably not, certainly not in India. We think of the number of troops already killed in Afghanistan partly in an effort to prevent activities which try to give the impression of religious zeal, but in practice are quite unreligious and totally self-seeking. In particular we bear in mind the way that Western authorities are now tolerating excesses against females in Afghanistan, and it would be a pity if because of Islamic spin that this practice spreads further.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Assessment of Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee, the "anti-communist hero from Asian soil" -- this is the advice of a former Punjab Minister to British premier Gordon Brown who recently profiled eight influential figures of 20th century. Impressed by Brown's book 'Courage' that profiles leaders like Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Martin Luther King. Former state finance minister Surinder Singla said a person of British Prime Minister's eminence should write about the "hideous ideology" of communism. In a letter, Singla suggested to Brown that he could write about Railway Minister Banerjee, an "Asian woman who courageously fought Marxists firmly and single-handedly" in West Bengal. The long journey of three decades did not tire her and she continued to face the most brutal and oppressive regime"

IMO: That sounds a very fair comment about Didi. Didi is up there with the best of them. Hopefully the worst excesses of the unfortunate CPI(M) will now be constrained. There is still the Naxalite threat with its international implications.

How to Make Your Own Black Hole

A magnetic field-pulsed microwave transmission line containing an array of SQUIDs, not only reproduces physics analogous to that of a radiating black hole, but does so in a system where the high energy and quantum mechanical properties are well understood and can be directly controlled in the laboratory. Details here.

IMO: It could work, many ideas proposed by now though.

Megrahi's message

"There was a miscarriage of justice. My message to the British and Scottish communities is that I will put out the evidence and ask them to be the jury."

IMO: This was not the message of many of the UK and international media, who now seem to claim that Megrahi was a pawn in a trade dispute. Libya is said to be the 10th largest oil producer in the world, UK now has contracts with Libya and USA is also seeking them. But what about poor Africans and what about global warming ?

IMO: 'Private Eye' 1243 , page 28 could imply that Megrahi may be worth listening to. As for the politicians and other interested parties like the Zionist lobby and the relatives of the deceased, we have heard their views and to date we can form our opinions.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Barne and supporters join Shiv Sena

The entry of Barne and the others into the Shiv Sena is expected to strengthen the party in the Pimpri-Chinchwad township. Barne refused to comment on whether a commitment had been given by the Shiv Sena leadership to nominate him as the party candidate for the assembly elections from the newly-formed Chinchwad constituency.

IMO: Seems interesting if you follow politics.

Also in Pune, the abrupt end to Pune pattern seems to have boosted the morale of corporators who have been eyeing the State assembly polls. According to one estimate, as many as three dozen corporators are preparing to enter the assembly poll fray. The alliance of convenience forged two and a half years ago among the NCP, Shiv Sena and the BJP in the Pune Municipal Corporation had come to an end on Tuesday.

BJP spokesperson Ujjwal Keskar said the parting of ways would end the confusion among the general public. “The citizens preferred the MNS over the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls, which helped the Congress retain the Pune seat.” It was high time that the alliance was brought to an end, he said.

Witchcraft in the White House

According to TownHall, the US president Obama's mother-in-law now carries out her practice of witchcraft in the White House. Santeria cult, where they do spells and trances, and sacrifice animals, chickens and goats. Pres. Obama is not too happy about this, as he seems to fear it could be bad for his image.

IMO: I will not suggest that this may simply be a trial run for Obama's socialised medicine scheme, and I certainly hope that his scheme is not dumbed down that far by the ethical pharmaceutical manufacturers. (This is far from a joke, as the nutty 'alternative health' people are even forcing their nonsensical circulars into UK medical waiting rooms, and even poor Simon Singh has not yet got redress from the downright crooked UK law courts). At least Obama hasn't got Alzheimer's like Pres Reagan had, or a brother running a homosexual brothel like Pres. Carter had. US presidents often seem to be quite nutty (like Bush, Jr. or Reagan) or to have nutty relatives. In a way I wouldn't mind Michelle Obama's mum's activities (par for the course for the White House), as such activities seem almost traditionally African, but I do not like the animal slaughter and doubtless there are other problems.

Al-Qaeda Finances

Al-Qaeda cells now tend to raise operational funds locally, because in the last 10 years their organisation has been disrupted. Local law enforcement officials will thus be able to detect and disrupt their efforts.

IMO: Ah, but will they ? In the USA, persons with good reason can contact FBI, but what will be done outside the USA. Anyone who wants to can probably act, an FBI circular was sent out on August 19th.


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Afghan Taliban's finances - the West should win

Not just zakat (10% of poppy grower's earnings) but also ushr (another 10%) and also 2 kilos of poppy paste during harvest and now also 12,000 (paki) rupees per household. Extortion, nothing else. Surely a decent Afghan Govt can at least stop this.

Also there is a variety of other sources, including private contributions from Persian Gulf states.

Anecdotal evidence is mounting that the Taliban are taking a hefty portion of assistance money coming into Afghanistan from the outside. Very high-level negotiations take place between the Taliban and major US contractors, according to sources close to the process. For example "The manager of an Afghan firm with lucrative construction contracts with the U.S. government builds in a minimum of 20 percent for the Taliban in his cost estimates. The manager, who will not speak openly, has told friends privately that he makes in the neighborhood of $1 million per month. Out of this, $200,000 is siphoned off for the insurgents".

IMO: So there we have it, the USA is once again financing its enemies, just like it did in Vietnam. So we have the rich, fat Taliban and the poor Western forces. On the face of it, the desperate poor guy (USA) should be able to beat the rich, fat guy (Taliban). Plenty of material to show how this works, as long as facts are faced.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

British Education

A Bury lad waiting for his GCSE results was somewhat surprised to learn he'd passed exam board AQA's stringent 'Using Public Transport (Unit 1)' test, which honours those able to "walk to the local bus stop, stand or sit at a bus stop, wait for the arrival of a public bus and sit on the bus and observe through the windows".

Bobby McHale, 15, was in fact unaware he'd even sat the test until he got a certificate through the post. He said: "At first I thought I'd got some sort of GCSE early. When I read out the details to the family we all fell about laughing."

IMO: Sadly, this appears to be true, not a canard. (The authorities provided some sort of explanatory guff). Referring the previous post about Howard, it was clear about Howard that he was not the sharpest knife in the box, and to get a lot of money the way he did, does suggest a lot of log-rolling. Obviously just about all the MPs want to replace award for merit with award for log-rolling, so will continue to try to dumb down the education system so that stupid fellows can still do well - if they went to Eton.

UK MPs

Many MPs now take big consultancy money. Michael Howard, for example, is nonexecutive deputy chairman of a 12 billion pounds mining company with large interests in Mongolia.

Others include Elliot Morley and David Chaytor who claimed for nonexistent mortgages - criminals, then. These criminals will doubtless claim for a £64,766 additional grant when they have to stand down.

Patricia Hewitt, Alan Milburn and John Reid have all been building up large outside interests. For example Alan Milburn, the former health secretary, is believed to have obtained substantial medical consultancies.

IMO: In some countries such people could be readily jailed. Why not in UK?

Mr al-Megrahi

With many in Whitehall assuming that Gordon Brown has ‘lost Scotland’, it may be left to the USA to decide how to treat this emerging micro-power in the North Atlantic. As for playing hardball, dropping the hint that Scotland might someday be welcome as the 51st state of the United States if the British union buckles under the weight of so many recent policy failures, might just have a sobering effect on the Nationalists. The more cerebral ones know that such an idea would appeal to plenty who don’t fancy occupying a Celtic twilight zone for the next fifty years.

IMO: Unlike the case of Ronnie Biggs, there do seem to be genuine grounds for al-Megrahi's release, which after all is the current issue.

"Some fear that if he drops his appeal and is released on compassionate grounds due to his advanced prostrate cancer, the chances of the truth ever surfacing about who was responsible for this terrorist act will never be known."

IMO: Of course, that is also the case.

IMO: I'm afraid that surviving in 'a Celtic twilight zone fo the next fifty years' sounds unattractive.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Pakistan

FWIW, General Hamid Gul, former head of the Pakistani intelligence service says the brother of President Karzai, Abdul Wali Karzai is the biggest drug baron of Afghanistan .....(he added that the drug lords are also involved in arms trafficking, which is “a flourishing trade” in Afghanistan)....but what is most disturbing from my point of view is that the military aircraft, American military aircraft are also being used".

IMO: Hm.., if ISI are your friends, you clearly don't need enemies. But some of his dubious interview could be true. Details of full interview here.

Friday, August 14, 2009

National Healthcare: a breeding ground for terrorism?

Video here, which makes it clear that national healthcare is a breeding ground for terrorism !?

IMO: How it looks from UK. As other commentators have said "Fox News sounds even more far-fetched than the Onion". Perhaps it is a deep plot by Rupert, so that Fox News will sell as well as the 'Onion'. With the current public disaffection with the media, Fox News will have to declare bankruptcy if it does not pull up its socks. The UK NHS works very well.

UK Law firms 'jumping queue' to get swine flu vaccinations

Law firms and other businesses are seeking to jump the queue ahead of pregnant women and other vulnerable groups by mass vaccinating their staff against swine flu. Law firms especially are already asking for vaccinations. The vaccine’s effectiveness in reducing deaths and serious complications depends on whether it can be completed and deployed before the anticipated arrival of the second wave of the virus in the autumn.

11 million people in four priority groups, mostly those whose health puts them at risk from the pandemic, may be invited to have a course of two injections three weeks apart, probably starting in October.

IMO: Whether lawyers and similar persons will clog the system enough to cause a repetiton of the 1968 epidemic which caused over a million deaths, we do not yet know. Of course, many more might die but 1 in 50 people dying because of greedy lawyers is getting to be a bit much. Not a statistical account as such of course, but we can easily see the position. Captains staying with their ship until the ordinary people get to the lifeboats, seems an idea unacceptable nowadays. So basically the captains (or people like Allen Duncan, M.P., overpaid Guardian journalists and so on) are no longer worthy of their pay. When global warming arises, we can guess the results.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

USCIRF

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list of countries which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence. The USCIRF says that the Obama administration should urge the Indian government to take measures to promote communal peace and protect religious minorities.

"India, a country of 1.1 billion people, is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society......Abberrations, if any, are dealt with promptly within our legal framework under the watchful eye of an independent judiciary and a vigilant media," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said and described the USCIRF statement as "regrettable".

IMO: First we know that so many statements made in the US are made because of bribes, blackmail and lobbying. Second I think things are much more difficult than a small nation like USA can comprehend. 1.1 billion is a lot of people and they each have their rights. It is tough and difficult in India except for the truly wealthy. Things should be getting better, and overall they are. I have no doubt that some affiliates of USCIRF are very shady and woolly, why is not practically every Islamic nation right at the top of their list ? It is not my list though, but theirs. But I certainly think that India can improve in many ways, even though - given its difficult circumstances, often caused by Western Imperialism - it already sets the most shining example in the world for decency and tolerance.

Krikorian on Armenian genocide

David Krikorian, Ohio's Democratic candidate for the U.S. House seat in the 2nd Congressional district, has just issued a press release relating to Sibel Edmond's recent testimony.

Apparently Edmonds' allegations under oath say that "the Turkish Lobby in the United States was under the direction of the Turkish Government and engaged in operations including bribery, espionage and blackmail with certain members of the US House of Representatives to further its objectives in the United States including one of which is the denial of the Armenian Genocide."

IMO: Hm, what position should the EU now take on Turkey ? And I have little doubt that Edmonds also said much more.

In the UK most MPs are ....

Guido says: "Alan Duncan has been caught on camera complaining that post expense-gate he lives on rations and is “treated like sh*t”. He is now backtracking and claiming it was only said in jest and it is a great honour to blah, blah, blah. He of course lives in a Westminster pad worth well over a million quid and a constituency house which we pay to maintain in some style. We also paid him four hundred quid a month tax free, no receipts required for groceries. (MPs recently voted in a show of piss-taking to raise that to five hundred quid.) Not exactly hardship rations. The more MPs Guido meets, the more he is confirmed in his view that they are for the most; venal, egotistical, untrustworthy, sh*ts".

IMO: MPs live in a world of their own, surrounded by wealthy fraudsters who leech the country. I have found some MPs to be honest, helpful and hardworking, but most are clearly the opposite. The only answer I have is electoral reform. Otherwise is it REALLY worth having a revolution, to kill or imprison all of them, dead easy nowadays.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Mafia don woman beater still allegedly supported by Sonia Gandhi

Hitendra Thakur who allegedly beat up a female villager in Vasai recently is the brother of Bhai Thakur, an alleged mafia don, who was arrested under anti-terror law Tada in the early 1990s. The MLA has warm ties with the ruling Congress-NCP, of which Sonia Gandhi is supposedly in charge.

Shiv Sena leader Vivek Pandit continued on indefinite fast on the second day at Vasai demanding that the government withdraw 53 villages from the newly formed civic body. His doctor has warned Pandit who is a diabetic that fasting may result in serious health problems.

“The government has turned a blind eye to exploitation by builders,” Pandit said.

Thakur’s party heads three of the four municipal councils that will, together with the 53 villages, form the new corporation.

IMO: Seems a pity a pleasant enough area is about to be destroyed by Mafia thugs, with friends in Congress-NCP.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

UK 'New Labor' appalling

Ministerial mice are too timid to face down fat cat bankers, says Ian Aitken in "Tribune". "What on earth is wrong with this Government? At a time when ministers could, if they wished, cast caution to the winds and get on with some really radical programmes, they pussyfoot around like maiden aunts trying to choose a hat for the church fete. Yet they have nothing to lose and the possibility – albeit remote – of substantial gain....... what is happening in Washington raises the question of whether our present lot in Whitehall would have had the courage to do what Clem Attlee and Nye Bevan did in 1947 and introduce a comprehensive free health service in the middle of a massive financial crisis. On the basis of present performance, I doubt it."

IMO: Sadly, this is too true. At least "Labor" could give ordinary people some kind of choice with electoral reform. Sadly, the most the punters seem to be able to do is things like slashing the tyres of Hazel Blears' car. Not a good idea, there has to be a better way forward. Aitken and those like him must shoulder the blame for not doing much much more. At least Aitken's father fought on roughly the right side in Spain, we may find ourselves looking back to the days of Miss Jean Brodie as being the last, halcyon days the UK mice even squeaked before they were trampled under by the pigs.

Jaguar Land Rover secures funding

The Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover has told the UK government it no longer needs support for the carmaker, after obtaining private funding.

JLR has been in talks for months with the UK Government over possible funding but will not now need state money.

The firm employs nearly 15,000 people, including 3,500 engineers at Whitley in Coventry and Gaydon, Warwickshire.

IMO: As I have often said in this blog, Tata is usually a good employer, and the current Pimpri/Cinchwad works has been considered a better model than the old Lever facility at Port Sunlight used to be. I mainly blame CPI(M) for the recent Bengal problems. But irrespective of the existence of a would-be model employer, Government and greedy Unions can be a real problem in a country like the UK which by now has lost all real idea of 'hard times'. I say that, even as a former Salford resident.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Uighurs

The Chinese government has tried to pressure Australia's National Press Club in Canberra to cancel an address by the Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer. Rebiya Kadeer said of the latest controversy that China could not impose its authoritarian will on the whole world. She said that Australia was a democratic country and not a province of China.

IMO: The Sibel Edwards and Eric Margolis testimonies may lead some to believe that USA trained Uighur freedom-fighters (or terrorists, depending on your viewpoint).The gist of this was roughly that Chinese muslims from Xinjiang province in Western China were trained by Bin Laden to go and fight the communist Chinese in Xinjiang, and this was not only with the knowledge, but with the support of the CIA, because they thought they might use them if war ever broke out with China.

Vivek Pandit on hunger strike

Since Sunday, six activists of Shramgiri Sanghatana, including its founder Vivek Pandit, have launched an indefinite hunger strike to protest the merger of the four municipal councils and 53 surrounding villages into a monolithic Virar-Vasai municipal corporation.

MPs were trying to intimidate the villagers into accepting the upgradation proposal and threatening them against joining a shutdown in Vasai-Nalla Sopara. Hitendra Thakur 'slapped one of the women', claimed Thane Zilla Parishad Member Dominica Dabre, of the Shramgiri Sanghatana. Then Thane MP Baliram Jadhav suffered serious injuries and has been admitted to a hospital while Thakur sustained minor injuries. They were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment even as the villagers went on a rampage and destroyed over a dozen vehicles and some shops nearby.

IMO: As I mentioned on August 7th, Shiv Sena, BJP, Congress and other major groups oppose the merger. So, it would seem, do the locals. We do not think it is a good idea either.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Big cat filmed in Scotland

A photograph of what appears to be a big cat or cougar has been taken by a military policeman in Scotland near Coulport. Varying opinions on this here, here and here.

IMO: Large exotic and dangerous pets were often kept in the UK, the "Woking Lion" is the best known case. This practice has been discontinued, one hopes, though private individuals like Paul Getty till quite recently are known to have kept them. Obviously, there were many strays. Some say that indigenous cougar like animals roam the country and that these are native species not seen much of for thousands of years - the so-called "devil dogs" etc., but there seems little evidence in terms of tracks, roadkill etc. Certainly there were recently a few free leopards in Mumbai, with quite a high human kill rate.

Perhaps more immediately relevant has been the hijacking of the scientific literature to false ends, and workers like Ben Goldacre continuously write on this matter. Two current brief but relatively exemplary pieces about this appears here and here, mainly concerning inappropriare choice of citations etc. One is by Goldacre and the other in the BMJ, mainly about neuroscience.

IMO: The entire subject of physics has gone slightly astray and I try to pursue this matter in my other blog.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Low-Budget Fusion Reactor

General Fusion in Vancouver is taking the fast track to fusion, with a plan to build a working prototype fusion power plant within the next decade at a cost of less than a billion dollars.

Professor Fowler (Berkeley) explained that the culture of a private startup might enable the process to proceed more quickly, with less worry about potential risks.

IMO: Hm, why does the word 'Bhopal' so easily come to mind.

US politics

Polls show 37 states now Democrat, 5 are Republican and some doubts even as to the few remaining Republican states. Even Texas is a swing state.

IMO: Possibly either a flaw in the polls or a misreading, in that level of conservativism rather than rep-or-dem is an important factor. Also the Obama health bill or something like it is obviously necessary, yet newspapers which are paid for by the wealthy are often against it. So this could be a serious trend. USA may alter voting system to make things more reasonable or more democratic or even both.


Alan Sugar sues journalist

An article in the "Spectator" quoted in the UK "Times" suggests that for a selfmade man to sue a journalist is unreasonable. So far, pretty much all the letters to the "Spectator" seem to totally disagree.

IMO: On the face of it I hope the journalist is bankrupted and has to lick Mr. Sugar's boots. Every private individual knows what worthless and usually overpaid people many journalists are, and most sensible people hold such overpaid clowns in contempt. Every issue of 'Private Eye' gives a clear inkling of this fact. But this lawsuit is a minor matter, Lets see what Sugar does for technology - we can only hope that Alan Sugar improves UK progress.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Land Acquisition Bill

Since August 7 is the last day of the current budget session, it seems that Mamata Banerjee will get adequate time till the next session to convince Sonia Gandhi to accept her reservations on certain provisions in the bill. In the draft bill, the Union government has intended to allow private promoters to purchase a maximum 70 per cent of land required for any industrial project and the rest 30 per cent land might be acquired by the government in case of any necessity. Mamata has raised serious objections on this provision and demanded that the government should not interfere in the land acquisition process for industrial projects. Mamata has demanded that 100 per cent land for any industrial project should be acquired directly from the land owners by the private industrialist and the government should not play any role in this. Mamata has already conveyed her reservations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a cabinet meeting on July 23. The Congress top brass in Delhi has also held talks with Mamata on the Land Bill. It is still unknown whether the Congress has agreed to accept Mamata’s plea to keep the government out of land acquisition for industrial projects.

IMO: Further, the Congress high command’s decision to withdraw the party candidates for both the Sealdah and Bowbazar assembly by-elections created serious resentment among the party’s rank and file and lower ranking Congress activists in the districts have initiated the process of quitting the party to join Trinamool Congress. It is expected that a huge chunk of Youth Congress activists in Howrah district will quit the party on August 9 to join Trinamool Congress.

India's bold solar energy plans

In a step forward, the Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change got an in-principle nod from the Indian PM with anambitious target of 20,000MW solar power by 2020 being accepted. In a meeting that lasted over two hours, the Climate Change Council headed by the PM suggested several changes and alterations to the mission details which will now be incorporated in the final document.

Although the country has virtually no solar power today, the plan is to generate 20 gigawatts (GW) from sunlight by 2020. About 400 million Indians have no electricity at all, and harnessing the country’s abundant solar power could help spark growth and end the power cuts that plague the nation.

India, along with China and others, has demanded that the costs of clean technologies should be borne by developed nations, who have grown rich through their heavy use of fossil fuels. If rich nations do fund the solar plan, the aim of both sides — economic growth for developing countries but with low-carbon emissions — will have been met.

IMO: Quite right too. I've said such things for years, for India, but relatively speaking, China looks wealthy so I can't necessarily speak there.

2009 Indian education act passed

The new law makes it compulsory for a child between the age of 6-14 years to be in school. With the passage of the Bill the right to free education also comes into effect.

During the presentation of the Bill in Parliament with some calling it a historic step, why was UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi silent?

IMO: I do not know, and find it hard to judge as to best measures. Briefly, there are some adverse comments on the scope of the Act. "Privatisation no cure for India's education ills" is one possibly fair comment. I like to believe that good education for all is important and necessary for the benefit of India, even for rural children. Free education to learn ABCD etc in a hutment would be more than helpful.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Tories stage 'open primary'

Conservatives delighted after 16,000 people vote in ballot to choose parliamentary candidate for Totnes.

IMO: This sounds a good idea, and if repeated for all MPs could improve UK government despite the ruling parties. A few other measures like reducing or removing the power of the Whips is also needed.

The previous Tory MP for Totnes in Devon resigned after the Telegraph disclosed that he spent tens of thousands of pounds (believed at least £100,000) of taxpayer's money on his million-pound country home, including paying a forestry expert to inspect at least 100 trees in the grounds.

Launch your own satellite for £5000

Currently you can do this for around £5000 including satellite and launch, prices may eventually drop even further. Possible uses include.

* Germ warfare, germs extra but prices reasonable (e.g. working centrifuge from $2 assembled)
* Earth-from-space video imaging
* Tracking migratory animals from orbit
* Biological experiments
* On-orbit advertising (clone your own human species)
* Private e-mail

Monday, August 03, 2009

Lisbon Treaty naysayers up the ante

To ratify the Lisbon Treaty would be a crushing blow to freedom and for all those countries within the EU who have been forced to ratify it without a vote of their own. The European Union has a stranglehold on the EU member states as it is, and by allowing the Lisbon Treaty to go ahead would mean giving total power to Brussels taking the decision making out of the hands of the governments of these countries and in doing so the citzens of Europe would no longer live in a democracy where a vote counts.

Sinn Féin’s spokesman on European affairs in the Dail, said: “They have returned from Brussels with the very same treaty they put to us last year.”

IMO: Ireland is voting, we can only hope that they reject the Lisbon Treaty yet again. UK seems to have been refused a vote by the political opportunists of all parties in the UK. We know when Gordon Brown tells a lie - every time his mouth opens - but it was certainly a lie to offer and then refuse a referendum on Lisbon. Will the four pigs of the apocalypse trample us to the ground and eat us as promised by Brown and Cameron ?

Drones again

An interesting article discussing these and similar matters in "The New Atlantis". They say "to ensure that responsibility falls where it should, there should be clear ways to track the authority in the chain of design, manufacture, ownership, and use of unmanned systems, all the way from the designer and maker to the commanders in the field. ....Not merely scientists, but everyone from theologians (who helped create the first laws of war) to the human rights and arms control communities must start looking at where this technological revolution is taking both our weapons and laws".

IMO: That sort of thing is reasonable enough (UTAP), and many more drones may well sort out Afghanistan, without loss of too many lives. On the US side, we have to remember that so far conscription has not been needed, and more drones may help avoid its actual necessity, in this and other conflicts.

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Harriet Harman

According to the Times "What (Harman) is spouting is rabid nonsense, and morally repugnant".

IMO: Seems all right to me.

The Times says "Firstly, we need the best people to run the country, irrespective of gender."

IMO: But, clearly, we are not going to get them. Politics has to be 'the art of the possible'. And as for the morals of the "Times" or indeed Edwina Currie, surely neither can be taken as advisors for the nation's morals, all we want is fact and fair comment, not rhetoric designed to appease the Murdoch clan.

Apparently Harman will try to ensure that the Labour Party rules are changed in order to determine that one of the two top jobs in the party must always belong to a woman.

IMO: It seems to me that there's no harm in trying. UK is supposed to be a democracy though it is often very hard to construe as one. That would seem to mean that the idea of half the people (women) getting half the top jobs is an idea well worth considering. There are possibly other, even better ways, to run the country but Harman's idea is fair and reasonable. What is more important is to have serious electoral reform, and AV+ and PR are two ideas, abolition of Whips and other ideas also at least worth considering.

Thousands protest civic merger of Vasai, Virar

Thousands of people took to the streets last Sunday afternoon to protest against the government's move to merge 53 villages to form a Vasai-Virar municipal corporation.

The parties that backed Sunday's rally included the BJP, Congress, Shiv Sena, MNS, Janata Dal (Secular) and RPI-Athawale; social organisations such as Shramjeevi Sanghatana and Swabhimani Vasaikar Sanghatana, too, supported the cause.

Vivek Pandit of the Sena said it was obvious that the government was acting in haste and had not consulted groups and social organisations operating in the area. The issue of formation of the Vasai-Virar municipal corporation has been simmering for over a year and has led to fears that the greenery in the area will be swallowed up by a concrete jungle. (By the way, Vivek Pandit's new book has just been released, I understand).

IMO: We certainly do not want the area to be turned into a concrete jungle. England has turned into a concrete jungle and nobody likes that at all. At least where we live in Vasai there is still a mountain backdrop and we see an elephant occasionally, and plenty of buffaloes etc, so it could be a lot worse - it will be if present measures are adopted. I also strongly support the protest.

'The Neuro Revolution' - nonsense

On Lynch's new book, we have Scientific American, and probably others, saying "Imagine a technology that can determine—with 100 percent accuracy—when a crime suspect is lying. etc etc... As Zack Lynch explains in The Neuro Revolution, these wonders and many others may soon become mainstream, thanks to advances in brain science".

IMO: I've read Lynch's Corante blog for years and quite enjoyed it. But I have to say, that resume is total nonsense, and if it fairly represents the book, then so is the book. Some would like us to believe such spin, such as the dodgy banks, dubious financial traders and the sort of cops Pres. Obama does not like, but I do not. There is no prospect whatever of such a technology. For example, even the most advanced diffusion tensor MRI results give only maps of the way human blood moves in the brain, and such results are not acceptable or even understandible as evidence in a lynch law court. Certainly fMRI is a useful tool but to go beyond that to the point suggested by SciAm, we cannot do. Now we have consistently had the Press behaving like this, and it is disgraceful.

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Edward McMillan-Scott: Why we must stop rise of a new face of fascism

Kaminski was nominated by the new Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) created by David Cameron for the post of Vice-President of the European Parliament. Thankfully Kaminski seems to have lost.

Gazeta Wyborcza said "Kaminski isn't officially and completely anti-Semitic or homophobic, but at some point he recognised that these things could help him politically." The rough survey given here shows that Kaminski seems too close to antisemitism not to be hallmarked with its worst aspects.

IMO: Of course there have been a lot of very bad Jews, Bob Maxwell and (some say) Edward Teller for example. These people may certainly well be best avoided or made subject to very serious measures indeed. However that does not excuse general and broad antisemitism. The generation of Jews who arrived in England with the tradtional 'horses and herrings' are now long gone. So basically it is now difficult to credibly support anti-semites, hence some would say that nobody should vote Tory. A fair line seems to be "I wasn't a Jew, so I still voted Tory...and then, I wasn't a Muslim, so I still voted Tory...I wasn't a 'gay bishop' so I still voted Tory ... continues along Pastor Niemoller lines".

Auto drivers in Kolkata go on rampage

Yet another problem in Bengal. Kolkata High Court's directive to phase out transport vehicles which are over 15-years-old. Among those to go off the roads are some 6,000 taxis, 3,000 buses and 35,000 auto-rickshaws.

Auto rickshaw drivers went on rampage in Kolkata, and violence was reported in Tollygunje area. Several State buses were torched also, and there will be a truck and probably a bus strike.

IMO: Hm, Bengal sounds like it must be getting back to normal. Anyone who has lived in Tollygunge will eventually be pleased that there is less smoke there. AFAIK, the electric underground still runs out there. When I was there the main worry was the number of tiles prised off the station walls for people to use at home.

Chilcot Inquiry

Most of the UK press seem to feel that this will be a 'whitewash'.

IMO: But was joining the Iraq war a mistake anyway ? Had it not been for efforts of earlier US allies in the Vietnam dispute (as usual the cowardly surrender-monkeys of Britain were not there), what then ? The area around Vietnam could have been like another WW2 without US involvement. In the WW2 scenario without US intervention, USA would probably have ended up with an Irish president and like it or not, either Russia or Germany would have won. There would be no Britain today. Cannot we have a decent UK enquiry as to whether the best known course was taken at the time it was decided to go to war in Iraq ? Actually in view of recent enquiries it will probably a self-serving enquiry for the Westminster politicians, whoever is running the Government. I would say that reform to the UK voting procedures and plently more Westminster reform should be done as soon as possible. Otherwise, just the politicians and their friends gain. The rest of you can 'take the bus to Zurich'.


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