Tuesday, December 22, 2015

For Putin Assad Is Himself

There is some ego business going on, sure. Like he said recently to the US, you take Iraq, leave Syria to me. It is important to him that he projects to his people that they are on par with the US. The Cold War is over, but the status is on. If he can demonstrate rivalry of any kind, that is proof.

Geopolitics is a very real thing. It is concrete. Just like gravity is a property of matter, landmass oozes something. It is almost independent of the people who inhabit that landmass, only we wouldn’t know one way or the other if there were no people. Does Antarctica ooze geopolitics? Go find out. I am staying put. Maybe it is a combination. The landmass plus the people on it ooze something. So it’s not just the headcount, it’s that and the size of the landmass. Like force is mass times acceleration.

So it is erroneous to ask Russia, what is your population? What is your GDP? Do you have nukes? Because it is not about any of that, it is about the landmass. And that geopolitical pull has stayed consistent while the territory has seen major political changes. Tectonic, some would say. Lenin’s works have been circulated more than everything except the Bible.

The people, and the GDP and the nukes in one basket multiplied by the landmass: that is Russia’s geopolitical pull.

So, I guess, the message is, Syria chaos is ISIS. But Russia chaos is not ISIS, it is nukes. Do you want that on your hands? I don’t know if Putin is being threatening or prophetic. But to Putin Assad is himself. He is saying, don’t challenge my power inside Russia. Let me be.

This makes for a tricky situation. Assad bombed Damascus like the Bushes bombed Baghdad. Assad is not a ruler, he is an occupying force. The Bushes got out of Iraq. When will Assad get out? That is a valid question.

A lot of people miss out on the Russia-India friendship. It exists. And it is at the people level. Russians know and worship Bollywood figures like non Indian Americans might not be aware of, for example. In India Putin is not this nuke-breathing monster. He is a friend who might have stepped on a landmine or two. There is some armor damage. Indians might have some qualms about the people in Pakistan, or the people in China, but with Russia it’s all clear. No issues, no blemishes.

I don’t know Ukraine. But if ethnic Russians have grievances in countries like Ukraine, I can totally relate to that. Like, deeply, personally. Look at what is going on in Nepal right about now. Only India will not engage in military adventures. Putin is more impulsive. When you constrain democracy like he has, you can afford to. Modi has a robust opposition and media. You can argue Indian origin minorities have been wronged in many countries: Sri Lanka, Burma, not to mention the Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh. And it’s not just Indians. When there are ethnic riots in places like Indonesia, ethnic Chinese get targeted. Why did Lee Kuan Yew break away from Malaysia? He was an ethnic Chinese who refused to accept second class status in a united Malaysia. Good for him. He went on to do the work and inspire Deng Xiaoping. This seems to be a big country problem. For China, for India, for Russia. Americans don’t understand because white guys don’t face that problem in Mexico. But give Donald Trump enough news cycles, and you never know.

Democracy is a force on its own. It is not dependent on a superpower push. It will work its way through ultimately, everywhere, that is my belief. For instance, the recent Saudi elections where women both voted and were elected, in however small a place, was news to me. I was thrown off balance. I did not see it coming. The Saudis be like, welcome Hillary.

But Russia is nowhere close to Syria. Syria is utter chaos. It went off my personal radar a long time ago. The magnitude of it all is so, I mean. If anything, Russia is law and order. Maybe too much so.

The Chinese have this thing called non-interference. On Tibet they say “splittism.” On the world they say non-interference. As in, we are too busy taking care of our own. We have too many poor people. It will be two more decades before we can afford to get our head above the water. For example in a small country like Nepal, they deal with whoever is in power. While the Nepali Maoists combusted the Nepali countryside, the Chinese dealt with the ruling king, exclusively. When the Maoists came to power, the Maoist premier got a front row seat at the Chinese Olympics. Non-interference. We will deal with whoever is in power. Americans are more nosy. It is half about spreading democracy, half about selling guns. It is good for business. “Strong on defense” sells better than anything else Donald has said. It is a well oiled machine. It has been put into the political culture, deeply embedded. And it is not just bad manners. Before there is rule of law between nations, there will be room for a force or two or three. Even after there is rule of law, the law will have to be enforced. Liberty seems to have a price. Life and property need protection. That makes room for more amorphous things like free speech and creativity and the arts and tech startups. And America has this thing where it necessarily has to be private companies manufacturing and supplying arms. It is a good arrangement. That church state separation is very respectful of private enterprise.

While I watch elections, from one country to another, like astrophysicists watch the stars. India is the most interesting. There is always yet another major election just round the corner. Bihar is over, Uttar Pradesh is on. And then there is the behemoth. I mean, who runs for office for a year? Two years? Every place else, it is a month. They also like to spend time actually governing. Give it to the Americans. They never stop running. It is one grand conversation. It is galactic. Like it or not, Trump is a star. Trump was doing reality TV before he figured out he was missing out on the real reality TV. Trump 2016. Putin should let Zhirinovsky have some of the limelight. I guess Russia is not that stretched of a democracy. Instead Putin does a three hour “press conference” where he is sitting on stage and 1500 journalists are down there in the auditorium. The guy does both elections and press conferences. How bad can he be?



My political journey identical to that of President Vladimir Putin: PM Narendra Modi

Monday, December 21, 2015

Dial 100: The Second Time Akhilesh Has Impressed Me

मैं भारत में कभी रहा नहीं हुँ। हो आया हुँ बहुतो बार। वो भी बहुत पहले। लेकिन रहा नहीं हुँ। तो क्या है कि कितनी बाते मालुम नहीं होती। जैसे कि ये इमरजेंसी नंबर वाली बात। बिहार में नहीं है, लेकिन बड़े शहरों में, कुछ शहरों में होंगे शायद। मैं assume करता था। इंडिया हेरिटेज है।

पहली बार अखिलेश ने मेरे को इम्प्रेस किया जब आगरा दिल्ली सड़क के लिए land acquisition किया। ये दुसरी बार है। मैं बहुत इम्प्रेस हो गया। He is definitely finding his groove.

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav lays foundation of 'Dial-100', says it will set an example for country
"The scheme will enable the police to reach the scene of incident within 20 minutes in the rural area and the response time in urban areas will be 10 minutes in two-wheelers and 15 minutes in four-wheelers," Yadav said.
Building dial 100 from scratch: For better law and order, Akhilesh ‘improves’ emergency services
The call centre will employ 400 people, and the building will have an auditorium with a capacity to hold 500 people and an amphitheatre for about 2000 people.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday laid the foundation stone of the building for the proposed state-level Dial 100 emergency service’s central master coordination centre in Lucknow. ..... The service, Police Emergency Management Scheme, will be developed at the cost of Rs 2325.33 crore. ..... the scheme was designed after studying similar facilities in other states like Delhi and Gujarat, and countries like Singapore and United States. ..... the government will deploy 2500 Bolero cars in rural areas and 700 Innova cars in urban areas, along with 1600 two-wheelers, as a part of the service to handle cases of emergency.

The Caste System Is The Sanatani Colonizing The Hindu Religion

Yadavs Have No Caste

राम के बाद कृष्ण। द्वापर युग त्रेता युग। तो कृष्ण का कास्ट क्या है? वो उँच जात के कि नीच जात के? कृष्ण का तो कोइ कास्ट नहीं। क्या वजह है? मुग़ल ने आ के कोलोनाइज़ किया वो तो हिन्दु देखते हैं, अँग्रेज का भी देख लेते हैं। लेकिन सनातनी का कोलोनाइजेशन आँख के ठीक सामने है लेकिन दिखता नहीं।

सनातनी यहुदी के तरह हुवे। ओल्ड टेस्टामेंट बोल दो। जीजस कोई गोरा नहीं था। पिक्चर में दिखा देते हैं जीजस को गोरा और बुद्ध को चिनिया। जब कि जीजस का चमरा था ब्राउन। अरब था। जैसा कि आजकल टेररिस्ट कह देते हैं। बुद्ध तो विशुद्ध मधेसी। १००% ---- जीजस के समुदाय के लोगों का जेनेटिक पुल और सनातनी का जेनेटिक पुल बहुत मिलता होगा। जो वैज्ञानिक लोग हैं ओ अपना शोध करें। हम तो layman हैं। मैं माइग्रेशन पैटर्न के आधार पर बोल रहा हुँ।

हाल ही में अमेरिका में एक मास्टर को नौकरी से निकाल दिया। क्यों कि उसने कहे दिया कि मुसलमान और ईसाई का भगवान एक ही है। मेरे को तो बहुत ताज्जुब लगा। कल कोई कहे एवरेस्ट की ऊंचाई है ८८४८ मीटर तो उसे भी निकाल दो।

दुनिया के सभी धर्म एक ही जगह से शुरू हुवे हैं। सनातनी भी मिडिल ईस्ट से ही आए हैं। सिर्फ यहुदी, ईसाई और मुसलमान का ही नहीं सनातनी, हिन्दु और बुद्धिस्ट का भी भगवान एक ही है। और ये जेनेटिक पुल का बात नहीं है। अरे मुरख जरा सोंच, भगवान का जो कांसेप्ट है वो एक के अलावे दो कैसे हो सकता है? भगवान एक ही हैं। Either that, or we are not talking about God, we are talking about something else. टॉपिक चेंज कर दिया गया। एक होना भगवान का प्रॉपर्टी है। जैसे पानी का प्रॉपर्टी है तरल होना। तो भगवान का प्रॉपर्टी है एक होना। एक के अलावे दो हो नहीं सकते। वो तो हम हैं अंधे जो एक ही हाथी को छु रहे हैं और अपने अपने स्टाइल से वर्णन कर रहे हैं।

अंधा कर देता है धर्म। श्री लंका और बर्मा में बुद्धिस्ट का हिंसा देख के दलाई लामा को कहना पड़ा उनकी बुद्धिस्ट धर्म से कोई लेनादेना नहीं। उनका सम्बन्ध है उनकी आशक्ति है बुद्ध के ज्ञान से।

बिभिन्न धर्म वाले टेंशन करते रहते हैं। तो संगठित धर्म राजनीति का रूप धारण कर लेता है। इसी लिए धर्म निरपेक्षता बहुत ही जरुरी चीज है। कि सभी धर्म के लिए जगह है टेंट में और राज्य का अपना कोई धर्म नहीं। राज्य तो एक भौतिक चीज हुई। पुलिस का लाठी डंडा, सुरक्षा, प्रति व्यक्ति आय, स्कुल अस्पताल, रोड पुल।

जीजस का जन्म हुवा यहुदी के रूप में। और जीजस ने ना बुद्ध ने खुद कोई धर्म शुरू किया। वो तो ज्ञान बांड रहे थे। नॉलेज। धर्म तो हम आप ने बाद में बना दिया। बुद्ध ने अपने आप को सिर्फ एक गुरु माना। कि जितना ज्ञान मेरे पास है उतना तुम्हारे पास भी हो सकता है। प्रयास करो।

उस समय के यहुदी ने जीसस को तड़पा तड़पा के मारा। उन्हें लगा ये हमारे शक्ति को चैलेंज कर रहा है। राम कृष्ण के हाथ पैर होते हैं। इस बात का सनातनी को बहुत बुरा लगता है। कि भगवान का भी कोई हाथ पैर होता है क्या!

दलितों में देखिएगा राम के प्रति बहुत आशक्ति। मेरे को ये ज्ञान नहीं हैं लेकिन मेरा अनुमान है जिस तरह यादव और कृष्ण उसी तरह दलित और राम। शायद। तो रामभक्त को तोड़मरोड़ करने में सनातनी को ज्यादा टाइम मिल गया। एक युग और बित जाने दो तो यादव भी हो जाएंगे दलित।

तो सनातनी कहता है तुम मंदिर में मत जाओ। मेरा आदेश है। किसी को धर्म से वर्जित कोई इंसान कैसे कर सकता है? This tension is not about God, this tension is about religion.

राम मंदिर बाद में बनाओ। पहले दलित को बराबरी हो। सबसे ज्यादा दलित राम के इलाके में क्यों? Coincidence? हरिजन शायद उपयुक्त नाम है। दलित का मतलब हुवा oppressed --- तो जैसे भारत को कहा जाता था colonized --- लेकिन देश का नाम तो Colonized नहीं हो सकता। Political status था colonized -- देशका नाम नहीं था। तो दलित समुदाय का नाम नहीं हो सकता। वो अभी का political status है। नाम शायद हरिजन है समुदाय का।

सनातनी ने बड़े बड़े पाप किए हैं। बुद्ध के भुमि से बुद्ध धर्म को बिलकुल सखाप कर दिया। तर्क वितर्क या पुजा पाठ से नहीं। जेनोसाइड के रास्ते। रूआण्डा। यहुदी ने एक जीजस को मारा। सनातनी ने कितने बुद्ध को मारा कोई गिनती नहीं।

एक आधुनिक राज्य में उस बुद्ध के शरीर की सुरक्षा की जिम्मेवारी राज्य की होती है।

कृष्ण का वध किया सनातनी ने। कहानी में लिख देते हैं श्राप दे दिया। भष्म कर दिया ये कर दिया वो कर दिया। मर्डर किया होगा। जिस तरह जीजस का मर्डर हुवा। History is written by the victors वाली बात।

जब हिन्दु धर्म हिन्दु धर्म रहता है तो वो बिना कास्ट के होता है, जैसे कि यादवों में है। लेकिन जब सनातनी हिन्दु धर्म को तोड़मरोड़ के रख देते हैं तो उसी को कास्ट सिस्टम कहते हैं। वो सनातनी का आक्रमण है। हिन्दु को पता भी नहीं चलता।

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist."



यहुदी कहता है, हाँ जीजस पैदा हुवा था लेकिन आदमी था। साधारण इंसान। हमारे ही गाओं देहात में पैदा हुवा था। हम मिले थे उससे। ईसाई कहते हैं जीजस भगवान का बेटा था। उतने से difference of opinion में दो धर्म हैं। दो अलग अलग धर्म। दलित कहता है हमें राम भगवान का पुजा करना है तो सनातनी सोंचता है इसे डायरेक्ट रोकुंगा तो लफड़ा हो सकता है तो वो घुमा के कहता है, तुम तो दलित हो, तुम नीच हो, तुम मंदिर नहीं जा सकते।

तो क्या है कि हिन्दु धर्म को लिबरेट करना होगा। कास्ट सिस्टम को खत्म करना होगा।

धर्म निरपेक्षता इस लिए बहुत जरुरी है। जीसस इन्सान था या भगवान का बेटा ---- वो आप लोग छलफल करते रहो, और वैसे भी वो राजकाज से सम्बंधित चीज नहीं है। तो सनातनी रहो। ब्राह्मण रहो। अपना सांस्कृतिक पहचान बना के रखो। जो पढ़ना है पढ़ो। यानि कि यादव के तरह ब्राह्मण का एक standalone identity हो सकता है, सांस्कृतिक। लेकिन किसी को मंदिर जाने से वर्जित नहीं कर सकते। किसी के रामभक्ति के आड़े नहीं आ सकते। किसी दूसरे को नीचा नहीं देख सकते। प्रत्येक धर्म का प्रत्येक ग्रन्थ सारे मानव जाति का है। कोई भी कुछ भी पढ़ सकता है। दलित वेद पुराण बाइबल कुरान कुछ भी पढ़ सकता है, उसकी इच्छा। सीसा पिघलाओ और गिलास बनाओ।

हिन्दु धर्म अभी एक कोलोनाइज्ड धर्म है। कास्ट सिस्टम ख़त्म करो तो मिल गयी आजादी। १९४७: अ लव स्टोरी।

सनातनी के विरुद्ध सब के सब एक हो जाओ: यादव, हरिजन, मुसलमान, बुद्धिस्ट। बदला नहीं सधाना है, बराबरी लेना भी है और देना भी। जान और धन का सुरक्षा वो तो धर्म निरपेक्ष राज्य का काम है, वो धार्मिक टॉपिक ही नहीं। वो तो भौतिक चीज है।


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

पाकिस्तान को ४० बिलियन का ऐड (2)

पाकिस्तान को ४० बिलियन का ऐड

तो सामान जब आती है तो वो रात के समय गुप चुप ट्रांसपोर्ट किया जाता है। सीधे गोदाम तक। कमसे कम लोगों को मालुम होता है। कहीं भारत उपर से स्पाई satellite न घुमा दे। ये नेशनल सिक्योरिटी का मामला है।

सोंचने वाली बात है, हथियार आया फॉरेन ऐड तो पाकिस्तान टु फाइट द वॉर ऑन टेरर तो फिर भारत से छुपाने का मतलब? तालेबान के पास को शायद satellite नहीं। भारत युद्ध करना जानता है, लेकिन टेरर --- वो उतना सोफिस्टिकेटेड कहाँ!

सामान गोदाम में जाने के बाद फिर एक जेनेरेशन उसको गोदाम से बाहर निकलना नहीं। काहे तो वो काम का सामान होता ही नहीं। किधर प्रयोग करिएगा? मैन्युअल पढ्ने वाले भी तो चाहिए। आतंकवादी चला रहा है AK-47 तो आप चलाइएगा क्या? आतंकवादी करता है urban warfare जहाँ हथियार कम इंटेलिजेंस ज्यादा काम की होती है।

बल्कि एक जनरेशन बाद उसी गोदाम में खिड़की दरबज्जा लगा दो तो वो हो गया म्यूजियम। देखो बच्चो, जब हम सुपरपावर हुवा करते थे तो कभी हम अमेरिका को सप्लाई करते थे तो कभी अमेरिका भी हमें सप्लाई करता था। तो एक बार अमेरिका ने जो सप्लाई किया वो ये है।

मान लो आप ने इस तरह गोदाम में बंद नहीं किया। चीन से एक कोई भ्रमण पर आया है उसने देख लिया। रूचि लेने लगा।

"मिया, ये क्या? कब ख़रीदे?"

"यही कोई छ महिने पहले ख़रीदे। वो क्या है कि सिक्योरिटी थोड़ा टेंशन दे रहा था। सो।"

"कैश ख़रीदे?"

"बिल्कुल। कुछ अपने भी थे कुछ ऐड में भी उसी वक्त पैसा आया हुवा था। तो सोंचे सिक्योरिटी तो सबसे जरुरी है। सो खरीद लिए। पैसे गनने में पसीना छुट गया था। सूटकेस का सूटकेस देना पड़ा था। गिनने वक्त मैं खुद बैठा था।"

"अच्छा?"

"बिलकुल।"

"वो जो है, वो कितने का है?"

"वो वाला? वो वही कोई बिलियन डॉलर का है वो। वर्ल्ड क्लास है। सीरिया बगैरह किसी के पास नहीं। भारत में भी रिपब्लिक डे में अभी तक नहीं दिखा। "

तो चिनिया भाइ नजदिक जा के देखते हैं।

"ये अच्छा है लेकिन ये तो हम आपको १०० मिलियन में उपलब्ध करा सकते थे। कभी कभार हमें भी याद कर लिया करो।"

बस मिया भाइ टाय टाय फिस। कि क्युँ बोला पैसा मैंने गिना। इम्प्रेस होने के बजाय ये क्या बोल गया?

तो मुँहमाँगी प्राइस लिए हुवे रहते हैं सप्लायर। गोदाम में ढक के रखने का प्रमुख कारण वो होता है।


Monday, December 14, 2015

Indian Bureaucracy At Its Worst

This is no different from Nepal's politicians and bureaucrats blocking four billion dollars in global aid from reaching Nepal's earthquake victims. This is insane. You'd think India would want to celebrate the fact that there is an Indian sitting atop Google right now. It is a big deal. More than that, Internet is water, Internet is air. The Internet is the oxygen the people need. This is insane. This is outrageous.

Follow the money. Obviously there are ISPs in India who think their markets will shrink, markets they have not even bothered tapping and have no plans to tap. No immediate plans. This is tragic.



A Potential Blow to Google’s Project Loon: Indian Official Throws Water on Internet Balloons
Project Loon, Google’s pie-in-the-sky plan to blanket the globe with Internet through a chain of balloons floating in the stratosphere ...... India, the country with the largest number of unconnected people (after China). ..... comments from India’s top telecom government official ..... Google has moved to purchase spectrum in the country for Loon. Here’s what Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s minister of communication and IT, told the nation’s upper house of Parliament about the purchase: “The proposed frequency band to be used in the Loon Project of Google is being used for cellular operations in India and it will lead to interference with cellular transmissions.” ..... In other words, India might not let Google fly its balloons....... We’re confident we can address any questions any government officials have about cellular interference, and are looking forward to working with them to conduct initial tests and validate our non-interference analysis. We have already successfully tested integrating the Loon system into the infrastructure of several major telcos. We believe that we can operate a balloon network on shared spectrum in a way that will enhance coverage without impacting existing operations, just like a telco can roll out new towers to expand coverage without causing interference....... (Kashmir, India’s disputed territory, is among the most militarized worldwide) ...... In October, Access — a separate Alphabet company from Google or Loon’s X — announced a deal to outfit India’s railways with Wi-Fi technology.
Google’s Project Loon in trouble due to spectrum interference in India
Google, under its Project Loon, is using big balloons floating at a height of 20 kilometers above earth surface for transmission of Internet services. It has already tested this technology in New Zealand, California (the US) and Brazil. As per Google, each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area about 40 km in diameter using a wireless communications technology called LTE or 4G....... To use LTE or 4G, Project Loon partners with telecom companies to share cellular spectrum so that people will be able to access the Internet everywhere directly from their phones and other LTE-enabled devices. Google uses solar panel and wind to power electronic equipment in the balloon throughout the day.
In The News

Allowing women to do more aid work could hugely boost India's GDP
Indian women can add $2.9 trillion, or 60 percent to annual GDP, by as early as 2025, if allowed to participate in the workforce on an equal basis as men ...... Indian women's contribution to the economy is the lowest on a global scale, at 17 percent. .........

Gender inequality, a lack of education and childcare facilities, social pressures and rising crime in cities are all cited as reasons for women opting out of the workforce.

..... Limited financial inclusion, with women getting less than 10 percent of all loans granted, along with a preference for a male child and rules such as the ones that mean

a woman needs to get her husband's signature for even a car loan

, have all contributed to women being left behind in the Indian economy ....... Manju Taneja, a 42-year-old who asked that her real name not be used, has an MBA from the top ranking Indian Institute of Management but has not worked for the past 10 years. She gave up her job when she had her first child and today spends most of her time looking after her three children. ....... Out of the 30 girls in her batch at the IIM, 15 are currently not working. If Manju had not left the workforce, today she could have been earning 10 million rupees ($150,000) a year ...... In India 48 percent of women drop out of the workforce before they reach middle management positions ...... "Childcare facilities are the biggest push to get women into the work force" ..... "Studies across the world have shown that working women's children are better fed, better educated, thus building social capital for the economy. This is called a double dividend" ..... women spent 93 percent of their earnings on the family's nutrition and education, while the men spent only 60 percent on family needs, the rest on their personal expenditure. ..... women are great multi-taskers and work harder to prove themselves, according to managers ......

companies that achieve diversity in their management ranks attain better financial results

...... companies with the most female board directors outperformed those with the least on return on sales by 16 percent and return on invested capital by 26 percent. ......... gender balanced teams at companies lead to greater innovation and result in more patents ......

women perform 9.8 times the amount of unpaid work than men in India

Why smartphones could be dead in 5 years
In its place will be artificial intelligence which will "enable interaction with objects without the need for a smartphone screen". ..... they will be able to talk to household appliances as they do to people. ..... AI will take over many common activities, such as searching the net, getting travel guidance and as personal assistants ..... Nearly half of those polled (44 percent), think an AI System would be good as a teacher, a third would like an AI device to keep them company, and 29 percent would feel more comfortable discussing their medical condition with a n AI system than a doctor.
Russian fighters are joining ISIS in record numbers
"Despite Putin's repeated statements of alarm at the problem posed by returning jihadist fighters, the Kremlin's campaign to prop up the Assad regime is, over the long term, likely to make the terrorist threat to the Russian homeland even greater"
Ex-Russia Fin Min: We need 'painful' structural reforms
"We need structural reforms in various areas. That will lead to diversification .... the reform of the pension system, decentralization of the budget and allocation of more funds for infrastructure." ..... whether or not privatization and de-monopolization of certain industries will take place. .....

this is a country which in 2013 depended on natural resources for an estimated 18 percent of total GDP

Here's why it is so warm on the East Coast
"Arctic Oscillation" is a change in air pressure at the North Pole that affects how far south cold air travels from the Arctic. ..... The polar vortex is a ring of cold winds that swirls around the north pole (there is one at the South Pole, as well). Low pressure keeps those winds — and the cold air they carry — wrapped around the poles. At the furthest perimeter of this vortex is a jet stream of fast-moving, cold air. ..... The cold weather in the early months of 2014 was largely attributed to that shifting of the polar vortex away from the Arctic and toward the equator — a "negative" Arctic Oscillation. Over half of the United States was covered in snow, and some regions saw record cold temperatures. ..... Currently, the Arctic Oscillation is exceptionally positive, and the polar vortex has been stronger than average. The cold air that would otherwise chill the northern regions of the country is staying around the Arctic. ...... the temperatures in Florida are puzzlingly high right now
Marine Le Pen Far From Humbled by National Front’s Bruising Defeat
The party “doesn’t realize that in order to win power, it has to make allies and expand its audience,” said Sylvain Crépon, a political scientist and an expert on the National Front. ...... “Their ideas continue to repulse over 70 percent of the French,” Mr. Crépon said...... Both right and left freely steal from the National Front’s ideas, with the left often sounding law-and-order themes and the right vowing to crack down on immigration. “The other two parties wage their campaigns around the Front’s ideas,” Mr. Crépon said. But they are always careful to avoid its extreme xenophobia ......

The party’s dilemma, never resolved, is that “if it is too radical, it marginalizes itself, but if it normalizes itself, it becomes too commonplace.”

..... “With all this immigration, and then the immigration leading to terrorism; she said it, and nobody was listening,” said Nellie Viaro, a National Front municipal councilor from the Paris suburbs. ...... He added, referring to France’s flag, “With the Socialists, there is no blue-white-red, there is only red.”
Marine Le Pen Lost a Battle But May Win the War in France
The Front National may have been shut out of office, but the party’s overall strong showing points to the its arrival as the third major force in French politics. The 6.8 million votes cast for the FN yesterday was a record high, and there is no sign that support is ebbing
Galaxy S7 likely to get pressure-sensitive display and high-speed charging
Apple added a pressure-sensitive display to the iPhone 6S earlier this year, allowing the phone to interpret the added force on a screen touch to create a different response. .... The reported fast-charging port is a USB Type-C, allowing a full day's charge in under 30 minutes or faster. LG and Huawei have already offered such a feature in smartphones.
Facebook Is Killing Photo Syncing, Asks Users To Download Its “Moments” App Instead
The move also comes at a time when rival Google is seeing success with its own standalone photo-syncing app, Google Photos, now a top 20 “Photos & Video” app on iOS, and a top 10 app on Android.

Yadavs Have No Caste

Yadavs have no caste. Yadavs are not Brahmin. Yadavs are not Chhatriya. Yadavs are not Vaishya. Yadavs are not Sudras. And they are large in number. They dominate the Hindi belt in India.

The question, is the Hindu religion possible without the caste system, it is not even a question. Of course it is possible.

It is not a coincidence that the only form of Hinduism that is out there in any missionary position is the one that flows straight out of Krishna, who is considered the Founding Father of the Yadavs. The Hare Rama Hare Krishna people are out there preaching. When you join, you simply become a Hindu, you have no caste. You read out of the Geeta, the crown jewel of the Hindu worldview.

But just like the Brahmins annihilated Buddhists from the subcontinent, they also tried to annihilate the Yadavs. They did manage to in Gujrat, where Krishna was from, where Gandhi was from, where Modi is from. Both Gandhi and Modi are caste Hindus.

Caste Hindus think of religion as geography. They don't feel, there are a billion Chinese, if I can get half of them that will be 500 million more Hindus. They don't care which way the Chinese go. They feel everyone on the subcontinent was once a Hindu, and so any deviation that happened anywhere along the way needs to be corrected. Which makes for amazingly intolerant, obnoxious behavior, like asking Muslims to "come back."

Bramhins are weird. They are supposed to be these learned people, people of the book, but they also have been the most mercilessly bloodthirsty. They have killed like it was nobody's business.

Yadavs also seem to be able to form political alliances with Muslims rather easily. Neither the Muslims nor the Yadavs are part of the caste framework. They have nothing to break out of first.

But I don't see any Yadav in Bollywood. Maybe the good looks stopped after Krishna, who was supposed to have had a thousand girlfriends. Laloo ne sab jagah aarakshan lagoo karvaya, Bollywood shayad bhool gaye.