by the meltingpot: The saint and the agent provocateur.

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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.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

The saint and the agent provocateur.

At the first place,we need to know what has just hit us.

Are we facing a situation where sectarian violence is imminent?

Or.is it the case of agent provocateurs trying to create a sectarian violence in our society?

Right now,we are observing a shut down called by the committee formed to protest the killing of a young man in the Northern mountain ranges.Another young man was also lynched in Lilong Haoreibi,which is a Muslim dominated area.I also think that the committee formed to protest this lynching might also call for another shutdown.These two killings make everybody jump to the conclusion that sectarian violence is imminent.

I do not think we are facing a situation where sectarian violence is imminent.The lynching of the young man in a Muslim dominated area is a carefully planned job of agent provocateurs.The reason is that there is a pattern behind the lynching.

Two days earlier the lynching there was this murder of another young man in the Northern mountain ranges,which is the stronghold of NSCN(IM).Being in a peace talk with the Govt of India for more than a decade,this group has had a strong co-ordnation with Indian troops on the grounds.Within this context it is to see why there has been a consistent and longstanding effort to build up sectarian feelings between the ethnic group,forming the mainstay of NSCN(IM) and the majority community of the State.Classic divide and rule policy--when seen in the context that no worthwhile groups from the majority openly come out for peace talk with New Delhi.That the lynching came only days after the murder of the young man in the Northern mountain ranges sets off a pattern which points to the beginning of a similar effort to create sectarian feelings between the Muslims and the majority community of Manipur.

The immediate reaction might be like this: How can one sya that two apparently unrelated killings make a fully formed pattern?

This is a valid question.

But we have a surprise which enables us to say that the two killings definitely emanate a fully formed pattern.

Hers is the surprise: Ravi Shankar,the Art of Living.

I know it is bombshell.I also know that there must a outcry if anybody tries to bring such a celebrity as Ravi Shankar within the loop of a pattern emanated from two ugly killings.

To reconcile with the expected outcry,we need to go back several months in our timeline.Now,I cannot remember which country it was in South East Asia but it might be Vietnam.The Art of Living in that country was threatened by the Islamic State.I also cannot remember clearly but I think that threat from the Islmaic State put the functioning of the Art of Living in a temporary shut down in that country.

Now,the Art of Living head had come down to Manipur in a determined fashion.He had a glittering public function in Imphal on the 24th of April 2016(the same day the young man was killed in the Northern mountain ranges?).It was indeed a glittering function graced by none other than the Chief Minister,the Deputy Chief Minister and the who's who of Manipuri society.

This morning,newspaper headlines told us that Ravi Shankerji did not mid spending his expensive celebrity time in going a Guwahati jail and personally met an insurgent leader from Manipur.

Now,we have three clearly defined tangible:

a) Islamic State

b) Ravi Shankar.

C) A Manipuri insugent group.

When we come this far,it's not difficult to see that the lynching in Lilong Haoreibi was carefully planned to shine the focus towards the above three tangible.

We also know that the above three tangible are clearly defined.

The lynching,trying to shine the focus on the already defined three tangible,brings to us the fourth tangible,which --it's very important--remains undefined.Although not defined as yet,it's tangible enough to bring forth,at least,two murders within space of days.

We need to seek a clear definition of this fourth tangible.If anybody in Manipur has had an agenda wanting to shine the focus to the above three clearly defined tangible,they need to come out openly and announce to the world that they are indeed the fourth tangible.They need to graduate from being an agent provocateur of the saintly Ravi Shankerji and establish themselves as fully credible and very tangible factor in the affairs of Manipuri society.

Until and unless they do that,Manipuri society would have no chance to fathom the riddle thrown up by the above three clearly defined tangible.

by the meltingpot

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Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd