by the meltingpot: December 2021

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.

Thursday, December 09, 2021

Sonic booms as the operational commands to the Indian Army-installed sleeper cells deep inside Manipuri society.

I'm pretty sure that the sonic booms over Manipur during the last few days are 'the operational commands' given to all the sleeper cells installed by the Indian Army deep inside Manipuri society.

I have tried several times to see the jets producing the booms but failed all the times.The main reason might be that there had been thick clouds over the sky for several days now.It is a little worrying to hear jets flying overhead,producing loud sonic booms,even during night time,that too,in the very heart of Imphal.

It is of utmost interest for myself to note down how I came to the above conclusion.

1) Let's start from the Mon killings.

At the first instance,it is hard to believe that the seven mine-workers in the pick up truck were gunned down by the troops of the 21 Para Regiment.

The 21 Para Regiment is Indian Army's special force.They are trained for quick surgical strikes.As the name also suggests,they are air-lifted to the area of operations and they are also quickly air-lifted out to their bases after the surgical strikes.

At the best of my knowledge,they are now headquartered somewhere in the Barak Valley.It is sensible because the Barak Valley is at the point,roughly equidistant from all the 'trouble spots' spanning Manipur and Nagaland.

In the Mon's case also, they should had been airlifted to their operational area.As the signature operation of a special operation unit,they did admirably erase all their tracks of deploying in and out of the area.We,the common people, cannot find any report of aerial activity around the area.

Now,how to find the most appropriate phrase to express the opposite of 'signature operation'?Extremely unlikely of a special operation unit the troops at Mon acted on a worst kind of intelligence.

Or,it it the case of the working of a well-placed sleeper cell inside the Indian Army establishment which 'caused' the wrong intelligence to emerge through the normal process of their intelligence gathering?

2) Before we begin to start trying to answer the above question,we need to note the damage control exercise underway by the Defense Establishment by influencing select journalists to spread out the narrative that it might be the handiwork of the 'deep State' opposing the Naga Peace Talk which manipulates the intelligence gathering process so that that worthless intelligence reaches the desks of the commanders at the Barak Valley.

Noting the above the point,we need to go back a week's time.On 2nd Dec there was this not so particular news item--'Soldier found death'.But what is most intriguing is the place where it did happen--it was inside the campus of well-fortified Army headquarter for Manipur operations--Leimakhong.

Here,just at this point of the story,we can detect a pattern-forming aspect,however tenuous it might be.The 21 years old soldier from Madhya Pradesh was shot dead(apparently with a silencer-fitted handgun) and his service rifle was neatly placed beside his death body.

3) This same placement of the service handgun happened some years ago inside the official residence of the Chief Minister of Manipur.

It was during the time of the former Chief Minister,Mr Okram Ibobi.

I cannot remember the exact year.But I distinctly remember the day--that day the then Chief Minsiter went to his Thoubal home to attend his daughter's wedding.While he was thus away from his official residence,a lady constable of the CISF was shot dead(apparently,this time also,by a silencer-fitted hand gun,because nobody,in the ever-present crowd just outside the campus, heard a gun shot and that this killing itself remains a mystery to this day).

As the case took place inside the official residence of the Chief Minister,everybody instantly become disoriented and preferred to go mum about the whole thing.Upto this day,everybody here in Manipur goes about his daily chores denying it.

Now,we need to re-visit the context leading to the gunning down of the lady constable.It all began with a comparatively smaller rebel group starting lobbing bombs aiming the official residence of the Chief Minister.Every such attempts were acknowledged by the appropriate press notes the next day.Such press notes convey they were sending a warning to the then Chief Minister.

In no time,there emerged a vigorous competition amonst the rebel groups in sending warnings to the then Chief Minsiter via military means.

The shooting down of the lady constable inside the Chief Minster's official residence itself forms the last chapter of that compettion.And,there was never a press note regarding it.Inspite of this,everybody,deep down his heart,knows that Manipur's 'Unseen Actors' are behind the gunning down of the lady constable.In other words,a well-executed military operation by an equally well-placed sleeper cell inside the Manipur government establishment.

4) Our tenuous pattern definitely points to the scenario of Manipur's 'Unseen Actors' putting in place well-settled sleeper cells inside the Indian Army establishment.Even if we assume that they are the true cases of successful military operations by the 'Unseen Actors's sleeper cells,why did they reveal their prized assets at this particular time?

5) The only plausible answer I can find right at the moment is that the 'Unseen Actors',for their parts also,suddenly sense the presence of Indian Army's sleeper cells deep inside Manipuri society.By definition,sleeper cells are next to impossible to detect.The only possible way ahead is to put a challenge of a duellist.One combatant inviting another combatant to a duel.

6) To my mind,this is exactly what is happening right at the present moment.

Manipur's 'Unseen Actors' are essentially saying that,at the cost of revealing our prized assets,we are inflicting damages to the Indian Army.Now,it is your turn to inflict some damage to us.It is a publicly announced duel.

7)It seems that Manipur's 'Unseen Actors' are going in for a gamble.They are ready to trade off some losses for the first glimpse of the first verifiable tracks of the Indian Army's sleeper cells inside Manipuri society.

8) Facing with this challenge,the Indian Army,for its part,are treading very cautiously. They are not ready surrender even an iota of data regarding their prized assets inside Manipuri society.Thus,they are spurning the agreed-mode of communication with their sleeper cells.Instead,they are choosing the safest tactics--sending fighter jets over Manipur skies producing sonic booms.They bet that repeated sonic booms(reading together with Leimakhong and Mon) would make the sleeper cells to figure them out as the operational commands.So,it is logical to deduct that the sleeper cells inside Manipuri society are getting their operational commands to come out of the sleeper mode and start attacking the 'Unseen Actors'.In all probabilities,those attacks would take the form of 'Lone Wolf' strategy.

by the meltingpot

Now Reading!

Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd