by the meltingpot: The chaos and the haze.

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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.

Now at 2nd place

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.

This is the 3rd

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.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

The chaos and the haze.

When you cook for yourself,you will begin to understand how women are imprisoned within the four wall of kitchen.No matter how well you prepare,there are always some small things which manage to drag you into miniature crises.There are so many small things that are left behind when you go shopping for stuffs,putting them inside the fridge,getting them out again and washing and preaparing them before they finally land inside the oven or the pressure cooker.I always try to fill up the fridge to fullest limit.But still I go shopping almost daily,mostly around the Ima Keithel.

Post-earthquake,the best word that describes the scenes around the Ima Keithel is 'chaos'.You can literally touch the air of chaos over there.

This chaotic scene came to my focus as soon as I began reading today's headlines.

1) There are three reports of agitators starting moving around,at least,one,even announcing prepararoty programme for a wider agitation.

2) The Russian president's first interview for the new year to a foreign media(German,this time)which clearly shows that the Russians are ready for confrontation with the encroaching NATO.

3) The incumbent American president's last State of the Union address.

This morning itself I have this feeling that the above two headlines were carefully timed to come up for public consumption on the eve of the American president's address.My feeling is just proven right as the news came over the radio that one American polo association is one of the several organizers of a women polo tournament to be held in Imphal.The announcement was made by the Chief Secretary,Governemnt of Manipur.

The Russian president's interview on the eve of the American president's address is quite understandable.The American president is the leader of West.So,the Russian president wants to get his message noticed by the leader of the West that the Russians(and,of course,the broad anti-West coalition) is ready for a good fight.

The contradiction between the West and the Russians are very clear.It's there openly for all of us to see and analyze.

But a thick haze is hanging over the three agitations which came up in today's headline.

That the three agitations made their appearances in today's headlines are sure signs that the contradiction between the West and our society is alive and kicking(which,in turn,was also confirmed by the American polo association news).But who amongst the agitators are in the West'camp or in the camp of the anti-West coalition?We cannot see clearly.As I have noted earlier,a thick haze is hanging over them preventing us from discerning them clearly.

When North Korea tested a Hydrogen bomb,the South Koreans made their ally, the Americans, to fly a B-54 bomber,which is specifically crafted to carry nuclear bombs,very close to the North Korean nuclear facilities.The contradiction between North and South Koreas are clearcut and it's there before our eyes.

But when it comes to our tiny valley,everything seems mysteriously enveloped by a thick haze.One important exception is the chaos around the Ima Keithel.The haze seems unable to conceal the chaotic scene.Symbolically,it's quite significant.Historically,the Ima Keithel is the epicentre of all important agitations and movements of our society.Today's headlines told us of the rumbling of the agitations in the near future.Would the present chaotic condition of the Ima Kethel have the wherewithal to host an agitation which truly mirrors the aspirations of our society?How would the agitators size up the damaged epicentre of our social movement?Do they have the temerity to start a strong social movement in the periphery?

I have this strong feeling that the analysis of the present chaotic condition of the Ima Keithel by those living inside the West's camp and those inside the anti-West coalition would be quite different.These differing perception would have their bearings on their programmes of the agitation.This,in turn.might help in starting to dispel the thick haze and in placing the contradiction in full public view.

I would like to close this post with a personal touch.As noted earlier,I am on the shopping run almost daily in and around the Ima Keithel.I noticed that the poorest of the poor women are so symbolically pushed out of touch with the Keithel.As the two constituents of the Ima Keithels are pronounced unsafe,all the woman vendors inside them are pushed out to the streets and footpaths around the Keithels.They are more organized class of woman vendors.As they come out to the streets and footpaths they mercilessly shove the poorest of the poor--the so-called street vendors--away from the life-giving reach of the Ima Keithels.The present condition of the Ima Keithel is such that it cannot give succour to the poorest of the poor.It's another way of saying that some agencies are trying to snub out the very soul of Ima Keithel.Could this be happening in a geographical space called Manipur?

The present condition would surely induce the already weeping Keithel Lairembi to a hiccuping weep.

by the meltingpot

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Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd