by the meltingpot: 8 days in the life of an editor--1

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Indeed, what is at work in the recent return of realism is the revenge of geography in the most old-fashioned sense. In the 18th and 19th centuries, before the arrival of political science as an academic specialty, geography was an honored, if not always formalized, discipline in which politics, culture, and economics were often conceived of in reference to the relief map. Thus, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, mountains and the men who grow out of them were the first order of reality; ideas, however uplifting, were only the second.
And yet, to embrace geography is not to accept it as an implacable force against which humankind is powerless. Rather, it serves to qualify human freedom and choice with a modest acceptance of fate. This is all the more important today, because rather than eliminating the relevance of geography, globalization is reinforcing it. Mass communications and economic integration are weakening many states, exposing a Hobbesian world of small, fractious regions. Within them, local, ethnic, and religious sources of identity are reasserting themselves, and because they are anchored to specific terrains, they are best explained by reference to geography. Like the faults that determine earthquakes, the political future will be defined by conflict and instability with a similar geographic logic. The upheaval spawned by the ongoing economic crisis is increasing the relevance of geography even further, by weakening social orders and other creations of humankind, leaving the natural frontiers of the globe as the only restraint.
So we, too, need to return to the map, and particularly to what I call the “shatter zones” of Eurasia. We need to reclaim those thinkers who knew the landscape best. And we need to update their theories for the revenge of geography in our time.
Here is the link for the whole write up.

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My view is that relations between countries in the coming decades are most likely to reflect their cultural commitments, their cultural ties and antagonism with other countries rather than other factors. Quite obviously, power will continue to play a central role in global politics, as it always does. But usually there is something else behind conflicts. In the 18th century in Europe, the issues to a large extent involved questions of monarchy versus the emerging republican movements, first in America and then in France. In the 19th century, it involved states identifying themselves through nationalism. In the 20th century, ideology came to the fore, largely, but not exclusively, as a result of the Russian Revolution. We had fascism, communism and liberal democracy competing with each other. Well, that’s pretty much over. Liberal democracy has come to be accepted, in theory at least, around the world, if not always in practice. So the question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades? My argument remains that cultural identities, antagonisms and affiliations will not only play a role, but play a major role in relations between states. The full interview is here.

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Every citizen in the City of Richardson will be able to access 756 Kbps of internet connectivity for free, from anywhere in the city. They will be able to access the internet from their homes, schools, restaurants and parks using standard wi-fi connections which are now installed on almost every notebook computer. That is almost as fast as many so-called high speed broadband connections that one pays dearly for today, and several times faster than the various hotspots at your local coffee shops. And I should note that the tax-payers of the City of Richardson are not paying one penny for this, and in fact are going to see additional revenues as a benefit. ... At the beginning of this letter, I suggested that this would be one of the fastest worldwide rollouts of a technology ever seen. It was just 20 years ago that the first cellular systems were being built. The rollout for mesh wireless systems is going to make that look slow. There are several reasons I make this assertion. But they all center on the facts that installing mesh systems will be cheaper and easier than any previous system and the economics in both the developed and especially the developing world will be so radically compelling. Throw in the fact the any astute politician will want to be at the front of this parade (They will all want to say, "I was the man who helped bring free internet to everyone!") and the groundwork is laid for rapid deployment. In Richardson and elsewhere, MeshLinx is offering the basic infrastructure for free. This avoids all the time consuming, political budget battles in the cities. When a service is offered for free, much of the mandated competitive process is eliminated. Next is the low cost of installation of the system. As noted above, Richardson is a city of roughly 100,000 people living in 27.4 square miles. It will "only" cost about $2,000,000 today to lay the wireless blanket I mentioned above. It will cost a great deal less in the future, as MeshLinx is building the pods at a pace of 100 a month today. The maximum output of the US pilot assembly line is 500 a month. When the demand exceeds this (and it will in a very short time) discussions have been held to move volume production to China. Of course, the world will need tens of millions of pods. The cost for a pod will be a fraction of today's cost, with that installation number for a city like Richardson soon being half (or less) the cost of today. What does that $1 or 2 million get you? The infrastructure to be an internet connection, telephone, security, entertainment provider and a whole lot more company. As noted, it will get cheaper as the number of pods being made each month rises, thus lowering their costs dramatically. This technology does have scale. The cost of physically putting up a pod is not a large part of the equation, as you simply need to run a power line, attach a few bolts to a mount on the side of a building or light pole and then off to the next point. Think about the 40,000 homes and businesses in Richardson. If and (hopefully) over time when 10% decide to pay $50 a month for 10-20 Mbps high speed internet access you could see a revenue of $2.5 million a year just from internet access. Now add in all the other income possibilities (phone, entertainment, security and don't forget advertising revenue on the free service!). Think about your town or country. What would service like this be worth? If you are a small city that does not have high speed connections available, how many businesses that could bring jobs do not come your way because they need reliable communications for their work and their employees? If you are in a developing country, where internet access is difficult and expensive, it will open whole new vistas. Couple that with the various programs which want to give cheap laptops to kids in poor countries, and you could see significant social progress in a generation. Here is the link.

Friday, May 26, 2006

8 days in the life of an editor--1

I’m translating a write-up by Hijam Rajesh, editor of the Manipuri edition of the Sa-ngai Express. I’m less interested in the subject of the piece than the prose itself. It is one of those you find only occasionally which transports you to the scene the piece is dealing with.

I don’t know if I can keep that touch in tact in my translation. But I’m trying my best.

The piece appeared in the 24th May 26, 2006 edition of the paper.

It was the 12th May. The scene: Tactical headquarters of the 293rd Battalion of MPA, the armed wing of the revolutionary outfit, UNLF inside the verdant jungles of the South East Manipur. My part: Meeting Mr RK Sanayaima, chairman, UNLF. Taken together I’m certain that it’s a milestone in my life as a reporter or a media worker. I guess all other media worker in the team have the feeling as I do.

Meeting chairman SanaYaima there in the middle of the no-roads land but still constantly ‘welcomed’ by the pre-monsoon rains, is, I’m repeating, is a milestone in my life—but meeting those MPA cadres who were escorting us there, to and fro and, spending 8 days amongst them, makes my journey there much more than just a milestone.

My point is not to project the combat fatigue clad MPA cadres there as kind of supermen, nor to extol their lives there as joyous one touching the primal nature perhaps with shades of Shangri-La. But it is to convey my feelings formed during those 8 days.

There were two objectives for our journey that started on 7th of May: One was to directly investigate the conditions of the livelihoods of the villagers along the Indo-Myanmar border and the other was to meet some important leaders of UNLF. I can’t say for other members of the team but for myself I have absolutely no prior knowledge—that’s before we reached the place—that we meeting SanaYaima, the chairman himself.

The members of the team, besides myself, include Irengbam Arun, editor, Ireibak; G. Robindro, jt. Editor, Poknapham; Yumnam Rupachandra, associate editor, Gagan, reporter cum cameraman, ISTV; Shashi, correspondent, Rohit, producer, and Rajesh Bhardwaj, cameraman, CNN-IBN; Snaju, correspondent, Inaomacha and Ingobi, cameramen, NETV; Phanjoubam Santosh, cameraman, PTI and Hemanta, editor, Eikhoigi Panthung.

In the morning (of 7th May) we left Imphal on a Tata Sumo. We spent the night in a place called Hengshi in Chandel district. We of the taste buds for spicy and rich foods had to cook whatever we could lay our hands on and eat that too!

On the 8th May, we came into contact with MPA cadres. That day also saw the start of the journey through the dense and mountainous jungles—escorted by the cadres. We were with the same cadres until 15th of May when they escorted us back to a place where they thought that we would be danger zone.

The scene that descended upon me was the total opposite of the perceived images of them. They were clad in combat fatigue and never lay their hands off the assault rifles for one moment in days and in nights. But they were so respectful towards others and their degree of dedication to a cause really touched me—I was drawn closer to them.

I was drawn even more closely towards them when we reached their tactical headquarters. By then, my admiration for them had also gone several notches up. Those young men almost snatched away my muddied t-shirt and track pant—coz they wanted to wash them for me! I tried resisting that—private laundry is meant to be for myself—but I was disarmed by their hospitality shown to a guest, that is, me. Presto! My t-shirts and track pant were before me all cleaned up white—that is, on the next morning.

On the way to the meeting with the chairman and again, way back after the meeting, their helping hands were there for us—ready for anything, anytime. When climbing down mountainous slopes, there was one cadre was behind me and another in front, literally wedging me to prevent accidental falls. When we happened to confront impassable tracks, they made roads for us. They would not let us touch any heavy objects—they insisted on carrying them themselves though they were already burden by the arms and ammunitions. On the 9th day, constant walking took the toll of us—even our thick jackets became too heavy for us—they even took such jackets from us to become the ‘burden of beasts’ themselves!

Among us there was one who is 5’ 11” in height and 113 kgs in weight. He is none other than Rohit Khanna, producer, CNN-IBN. On one particular day we were climbing down a steep hillside when it suddenly started raining. Besides being supported by a cadre in front of him another was desperately trying to weigh him down to keep the balance. But the sheer steepness and slipperiness of the slope got the better of him—he fell flat on his bottom. The cadre wieighing him down behind him, flew over him, all together with his assault rifle and fell flat on his face!

The very bulk of his heavy body is itself a burden for him already. But four of those cadres were keeping a constant vigil over him to avoid any accident.

One reporter was too tired to use his feet—he sat down, legs in front and just slide down the slippery slopes!

by the meltingpot

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