by the meltingpot: Ah! elegance is thy name!!

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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.

Sunday, June 07, 2020

Ah! elegance is thy name!!

I stand totally amazed at the elegance of the choices of words,puns and word constructions found in our prophesies.

This morning I'm taking up two of the prophesies.

1)Se Se Seboti
Laishram macha boboti
Nanga eiga kaonasi
Kanana ngange yengnasi.

A cursory look at the prophesy enables anybody to see that it is something to do with competition or clash.

It's not a simple clash but a clash between two networks of people and groups subscribing to different viewpoints and life goals.

a)Se Se Seboti

The first line identifies the first one of the networks.

This network contains people of vision and principle.But it's not a popular network.

b)Laishram macha boboti.

The second line identifies the remaining network.

This network contains people who are very adept in selling themselves,talkative and glib.This network is a very popular one.

The explicit mention of a major surname is a pun to the populist nature of the network.It is also common knowledge that any locality in Manipur is incomplete without some Laishram households inside them.But it is necessary to decode the word deployed for pun,Laishram,which,apparently,carries a vastly different meaning from the one which defines what the surname stands for.Only after decoding the word 'Laishram' do we come to the conclusion that the prophesy hints at a populist network.

So, the prophesy asks--

Who will be the winner--the visionary versus the populist?

At this stage,a commentary is needed.I've actually planned for a word by word explanation of my interpretation.But I have found out that it is impossible to do so without first putting my newly discovered basic structure of Manipuri language out there in the open to serve as the point of reference for the interpretation I've been making.Part of the reason is the degree in the economy of word usage in the particular prophesies I've chosen this morning.For example,I've actually decoded 'Se se seboti' deploying my newly acquired idea but explaining how I do it without context of the said basic structure of Manipuri language becomes impossible.

And,I also need to state that the least possible space merited by the proposed announcement of the new basic structure of the Manipuri language is in the form of monograph.It is impossible in space,like this English language blog.

2)Tung Tung Tungdrungbi
Chakrik Nakrik Chawaibi
Thadoi kou-e-da
Temu Temu Makhogda Sana Mason Chi chou
Khat khat-tok-u.

a)The first line is calling out the leaders of a section of our society.

This section of the society is living in the past.They are confident that the mission is accomplished by simply glorifying our past.

b)The second line is calling out the the leaders of the organized groups of people--this includes those undertaking society-wide operations and the provincial ones.

These organized groups are earnestly throwing themselves in the struggles in the efforts to lead the people and society.They are trying their level best to find the correct path.

c)The third line--Calling out the above mentioned leaders,the prophesy implores them to implant the ideals of the 'residents of the moon' in their flesh and blood.For the ideals of 'the residents of the moon',please go back to my last post.

d)The fourth line talks about impostors.

There will be numerous and significant sections or parts in our society where the leadership roles are taken over by the impostors.

They are in disguise,playing the role of responsible leaders.

But they are tempted to make their true presence felt.

For this purpose,in the initial stage,they will send out shock waves throughout the length and breadth of our society by deploying unprincipled and non-conscientious means.But they,themselves, will be in a safe distance from the beastly deeds;the dirty works will be accomplished by their agents covertly.

But in course of time,the line representing their beastly deeds will approach the inflection point of self-implosion.

At this point of time,the people will start seeing them as what they are,the impostors.

At this point,a brief commentary is needed. Impostor and the words,'sana mason', are placed in the closest possible space.At the first glance,we we tempted to link the impostors with gold or treasures. But it is not the case.It is also a pun--a well-placed one.

e)The last line is what strikes me the most.Such an economy of words but carrying so a profound meaning.

So profound that people would ,shielded,for the moment,from the context of the newly discovered basic structure of Manipuri language,be tempted to think that I am imagining things.But I did actually decode minutely the two words comprising the last line.These two words carry the far deeper meaning than the literal one,which would be easy for anyone to guess--it means,'just shove it away'.

So,get ready for the shocker--it is an amazing stuff.

The last line says--"Struggle with the people;bring the people to the higher level of consciousness".

How in the world would the vast lengths of just two words convey such a profound meaning! I'm repeating--it's an amazing stuff.

This propels me to re-organize my priorities.My first priority now is getting the first draft of the planned monograph ready at the earliest possible time.

by the meltingpot

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Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd