by the meltingpot: Decoding the covert-speak,finding the thin red line and facing the silhouette of the three actors.

Now Reading!

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.

Monday, December 21, 2020

Decoding the covert-speak,finding the thin red line and facing the silhouette of the three actors.

1) Decoding the covert-speak:

a) It is shocking for me to find out some people connected with drinking water start talking 'poison' in public domain.

b) For the last feew days,something inside me flinched whenever I had heard people mentioning the number '31'--I mean important people mentioning the number '31' in the public domain.

It has been confusing and bewildering for me.

c) But such feelings vanishes when I read in the newspaper that a junior Union minister had landed in Imphal on the 20th of December 2020 in an unannounced visit.It is now clear that they are planning something big between the 20th and 31st of December.How big? Prepare for the shock--they are planning to add poison to drinking water,utilizing the underground network of pipes,which are the lifelines for the people for drinking water.

If we read this together with my last post,it is clear that the D Day has now becomes flexible--it can be any day between the 20th and 31st Dec.

d) As soon as he landed, the junior minister attended a religious function in a temple complex located just beside the Tiddim Road.Tiddim Road!

As we had discussed in my last post,a new set of rebel leaders were likely taken down--those taken down might be the residents of the places along the Tiddim Raod.

The schedule of the following day is attendance of a function relating to the spiritual circuit of tourism in Manipur(the junior minister deals with culture and tourism).The venue of the function is located inside Konung Mamang.As soon as we hear the word,Konung Mamang,it is instinctive to decipher the move as sending a message to Lamyanba office.We should recall that a team NIA sleuths from New Delhi in hush hush operation raided the Lamyanba office--that was some years back but more important for us here is that the raid was conducted because the NIA suspect that Lamyanba office functions as a front for a major rebel group.

They are trying to link the covert operations along the Tiddim Raod, taking down a set of rebel leaders ,to an office located in Konung Mamang.

But the most interesting thing is yet to come.

The junior minister is also attending another religious function inside Heingang Assembly Constituency,that too,in chief minister's residence.

Didn't the word 'Heingang' ring a bell?

I'm writing this from memory.I think it must be around three years back.

The place where this startling incident happened is Heingang.It was,and still,the first instance of this kind of incidence.

A group of masked gunmen brazenly forced their ways inside the house of a well-known journalist(now,an editor) located inside the Heingang Assembly Constituency.They began threatening people,including women and children.

They claimed that they were searching for something.

That incident remains a mystery even today.

Nay,the mystery deepens way further, making us bewildered--when a junior minister is made to visit there in an unannounced visit--forcing us to recall the keywords-'Heingnag','masked gunmen' and 'an editor'.

So,they are targeting some people living within the geographical boundary of Heingang Assembly Constituency.In my last post,we thought that their target might be only two men--the present and past presidents of a rebel groups.Now,from the keywords 'Heingang' and 'Lamyanba office',it is reasonable to guess that their targets might be people in double digits.

2) Finding the thin red line.

During the next 11 days they are planning to add poison to the drinking water--that too,to the water delivered to the lakhs of people in Manipur,via the network of underground pipes.

The benchmark of a terror attack is the one that is commonly known as 9/11.The casualty in that benchmark episode is less than 4000 deaths.

Here,in this tiny valley of Manipur,during the next 11 days,they are planning to add poison to drinking water,putting the health of lakhs of people in serious jeopardy.

People might not die in a spectacular fashion,like those happened in 9/11.

But,during the next 2 to 3 years there would be virtually an epidemic,mostly of kidney failures.It is because the suspected chemical substance that they are planning to add to the drinking water of Manipur are one or two amongst the heavy metals,which are commonly used to poison people leading to slow deaths.

This blogger need not spell out how they are going to cross the thin red line--the line between the legitimate covert warfare and open and willful terrorist attack.

3) The silhouette of the actors.

My last post mentioned that planning these terrorist act are three group of actors.

From the 20th of Dec onwards we are presented with silhouette of these actors.

Two actors are deputed on the ground,assigned to execute the dirty works.

The third actor is watching the whole procedure from the comfortable space inside power corridors of the government of Manipur.

The actor has already infiltrated well inside the power corridor of the government of Manipur.

The scale and quality of their infiltration is such that a juniour minister all the way from New Delhi can be made to rush down to Imphal,that too,in an unannounced visit.

It is now quite clear how well they place themselves inside the power structure of the government of Manipur.They can not only make a minister to come to Manipur but also can make him stick to an exact schedule serving their purpose--a religious function along the Tiddim Road,another function in Konung Mamang and yet,another religious function in Heingang Assembly Constituency,that too,in chief minister's residence.

by the meltingpot

Now Reading!

Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd