My problem with the "Ancient India was Sooooo Advanced" bullshit
So some jackass decided to go up and present nonsense about ancient Indians knowing about "Stem Cells" because in the Mahabharat there is a description of what sounds similar to a modern cloning experiment.
I'll admit it - I think it is hugely entertaining to spout this kind of nonsense to set off idiots but there is a major problem with this narrative. This is why I don't go around using this line of discussion to troll the immensely stupid*.
Let's assume that that whole "ancient India was AWESOME" story is somehow real. That the Mahabharat and Ramayana were stories of a very real, very fratricidal and very genocidal war. Under that line of thought, there idea of a lost world of technology gains ground.
One might make the case in that limit - that India was once a technological superpower but then regressed (technologically and sociologically) due to a war that wiped out significant portions of socially forward and technologically innovative communities.
So far so good. In fact it all sounds highly believable (how many times have we seen this same tape played over and over in Modern Europe over the last 200 years?)
Then it all goes bad.
The immediate question that comes to mind is - so why is it that in the intervening thousands of years - has India not been able to claim it lost prowess back?
Yes Yes Yes - I know "EVILLL MOOSSLIMS" etc... you might say but that is bullshit. Clearly Chandragupta Maurya was a Hindu emperor who ruled all of India several hundred years before Islam came into being. So why is there no mention of cellphones in the Maurya empire? did Chanakya have email address that I don't know about? - Did Ashoka learn about Buddhism on the internet? .. No ... so clearly Muslim rule have nothing to do with India's continued state of technological regression.
And of course as with all things only Brahmins are the custodians of true knowledge of all matters (And being one myself - I should know a thing or two also) but then why did Brahmins emphasize rote memorization over the rediscovery and rejuvenation of Indian science and technology?
Why was there no Indian renaissance led by Brahmins who sought to rediscover "Ancient Indian" technological secrets?
Or did they rediscover them after the age of the epics and never thought it worth their while to share them outside a few guilds who served their interests?
What was done with the wealth earned from such rediscovery? - stashed away in "Gupt Dhan" under the myriad tunnels that run below major Indian temples?
Dear readers - do you get my drift?
Stating India was an "Ancient Technological Superpower" is path to extremely uncomfortable questions about why and how India remains so underdeveloped today and why there are so many temples with secret basements full of gold!
I get it - your friend feels depressed about his/her science experiments and you tell them a story about ancient India's glory so that they feel better - but this is best left a bedtime story.
Unless you want to answer the questions I have raised above - you might want to stop with this "Ancient India Technological" nonsense.
* the only exception to the above is making up this kind of rubbish to get the fanatically foolish to part with legitimate research funds. If that is what the unnamed jackass was doing, I withdraw my opposition completely - good work my friend!!
Don't worry I am sure he will declare an Emergency next week or the week after or sometime soon.
Like so many people I was disappointed that Trump didn't declare an emergency and just go
full Palpatine in his address to the nation yesterday.
This was a political failure on his part. Now people are saying he is just doing these press events to grift for his campaign. Yesterday his campaign sent out emails asking for contributions to help him build his wall but then in the actual address he totally chickened out of declaring an emergency to build the wall.
This is not good PR. This is bad PR - it will damage his support base badly. They will publicly look like major idiots if he can't get this going. The whole point of the base continuing support to Trump in the face of major hardships like lost jobs, lost healthcare, and tariffs - is that the base is spared the humiliation of having to admit they were wrong about Trump (and everything else).
What he did yesterday basically rubbed their faces in his turds at a time when they already had their mouths open.
That is bad.
He can't keep doing that. I mean his approval rating will plummet even in the polls he routinely rigs.
So he is going to have to reschedule another TV address and then declare an actual emergency and use the emergency powers to kill the Mueller inquiry and pardon all his collaborators in the "collusion - which is not a crime".
And he will also have to anoint Don Jr as his successor as Emperor of the United States because that is what Don Jr expects and he is very close to flipping on Trump with Mueller. Not a day goes by when Don Jr doesn't go to town telling people he expects to be charged with some crime or the other any time soon.
And there is Ivanka and Jared. They will have to be given a kingdom of their own - otherwise they will not be happy with Don Jr's elevation. So maybe after Trump declares himself Emperor of the US, Don Jr. can be made Crown Prince of the United States and Jared and Ivanka can be given the Grand Duchy of New York City as a consolation.
Also we should all look forward to seeing the White House renamed as the Grand Trump Palace and Stephen Miller will be appointed as Grand Vazir of the Holy Trumpen Emperor.
The stars on our flag will be replaced by circles representing Trump's testicles. Each state will get one Trump testicle to incorporate on its flag.
The FBI, CIA and NSA will be renamed the TrumpBI, TrumpIA and the TrumpSA. That way they will be properly loyal to their political masters and of course the Supreme Court will be superseded by Trump Grand Council of Unique Justice.
There is so much to look forward to.
Surely he will declare an emergency soon.
Trump's desire for "Emergency Powers"
Apparently the White House Counsel is attempting to determine if it is possible to give Trump the "Emergency Powers" he desires at this time. Handing over these powers is being justified by projecting the "border crises" due to "illegal immigrants bringing drugs" etc... etc....
Obviously this is a ruse to seize control of powers to suspend Congress and the Senate and rule by decree. Quite obviously the main aim is to shut down the Mueller inquiry and prevent the Congressional committees from issuing arrest warrants for perjury.
And again quite naturally the socially dominant castes in the US are supportive of this idea as they fear the political rise of vengeful under-castes.
Will Trump's attempt at declaring himself emperor succeed? Yes it will.
Why? - because the dominant caste males are too embarrassed to admit they fucked up with Trump. They will go to great lengths to avoid having to face that failure. So they will support his assumption of extraordinary powers in the hope that he will use those powers to physically eliminate their enemies. (C.f Q Anon ideas about mass arrests etc...)
Will it work? Will this create enough momentum to allow the dominant social castes to retain power?
Difficult to say - the central problem is debt. This dominant social group is trying to skive off old debts that is where this sudden desire to set aside three hundred years of work is coming from.
Unfortunately debts can only be wiped out by death. Not by seizing power and tearing up the paperwork.
Let's gather around and watch the death of the World's Greatest Democracy.
Watch as the United States is finally reduced to the Amerikka Oblast of the Russian Union.
Rafale Deal - Why is a Hindu RW PM making it easier for Pakistan?
I am sure you have all heard everything about the Rafale Deal and you are heartily sick of it. While the political consequences of this Rafale Deal/Scam are obvious i.e.
Sangh Parivar is no less corrupt than the Gandhi Parivar - there are a few things on the strategic side I would like to point out.
My understanding of the original Rafale deal was setup to fill the coffers of those who are more receptive to INC's electoral prospects. When Modiji came to power, he renegotiated the deal to make it more attractive to people who want to see BJP win the next elections. Disappointing as it is to some -
this is just business as usual. If you thought Modi was going to be different - you are just an idiot.
Without an emergent threat to the country - politicians everywhere try to maximize the "return" on any such transaction. If Modiji had not gone to town talking about how clean he was and how dirty the Gandhi Family was - the INC might not have complained about his "renegotiation". But then not only did he overdo the whole "anti-corruption" marketing - he actually physically attacked INC slush funds with his demonetization scheme and literally transferred money stashed there into BJP slush funds. When you get that aggressive with your political opponents - they will strike back at you*. I mean seriously - put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what would you do?
So with that out of the way - the biggest unfortunate consequence of this kind of "renegotiation" is yet another delay in getting the IAF the airplanes it needs. This is the part I worry about the most.
The IAF has been running at way below it's ideal strength of 42 squadrons. While this old idea of a 42 squadron IAF might not be appropriate for the present time as current multi-role fighters are much more capable and have longer MBTF (Mean Time Between Failure) than older airplanes - we still have to take into account that in any crisis situation the key to air dominance is a high sortie rate.
To keep up a high sortie rate and to dissuade enemy forces from even getting off the ground - you need good airplanes and pilots. Even if you have the best aircraft in the world, you still need highly trained pilots to stay in the air and keep a high alert. If you keep using the same pilots - you will lose them to fatigue and lose aircraft to pilot errors. And this is where IMHO the aircraft shortage hits the IAF the most. With fewer squadrons, it is simply not training enough pilots or retaining a critical mass of senior experienced pilots.
All this wouldn't be an issue if the situation around India was static, but if you look at the PAF and PLAAF - both of them have vastly improved their situation. The PAF has been able to bring its squadron strengths up with the JF-17 and the thanks to the renewed spares - their F16 pilots can train more. The PLAAF for its part has built massive airbases in Outer Tibet and is now stationing Su-27/J-11 variants there. Both nations have built up their AWACS and aerial refueling capabilities.
I think this is a bad situation for the IAF.
The big idea that everyone latched on to during Gen. Padmanabhan's tenure was that the Indian army would maximally dissuade the Pakistanis on the western front and deter PLA shenanigans on the eastern front. The IAF for its part would service both air superiority over Indian Army IABGs in the west and keep India's mountain divisions supplied with air cover along the LoAC. Now I feel this is not viable.
The Pakistanis for their part have an idea that in the event of an India-Pakistan shooting war their conventional forces will be able to hold of India's forces for a few days (this is sometimes referred to as the "conventional pause"). This pause will allow Pakistan to seek international aid to de-escalate the situation while simultaneously marshaling its nuclear forces into a state of high readiness.
Whatever else happens on the political scene, I think degrading the IAF's strength like this will only increase Pakistan's ability to achieve a conventional pause. **
I don't understand why a Hindu RW PM would want that to happen. There is something here that I am struggling to get my head around but this may not be the usual accident of stupidity that we see.
* After this demonetization based robbery of the INC's slush funds by Modiji, the jury is out whether Gandhi Parivar will every rise to political prominence in India but on their way out they will make it abundantly to clear to all that the Sangh Parivar is no cleaner than they are. Perhaps that is not such a bad thing. I for one grow weary of the millenarism that surrounds the Sangh Parivar. I don't understand how so many people can continue to believe that there is some magic bullet solution to the problems facing the world. In the US - so many educated evangelical people believe that Christ is going to come down from heaven and save them from a Climate Change apocalypse and in India similarly religious folks think the Sangh is going ride out on unicorns to the save them. Stupidity must grow on trees somewhere.
** No amount of M77s howitzers, Arjun MBTs or Attack helos are going to change this. There will be no point in even putting those assets out in the FEBA without sufficient air cover. You will simply repeat the mistakes of the PA Commander at the Battle of Longewaal.
The current escalation along the LOC - some comments
I keep hearing about an escalation along the LoC last week. I am trying to figure out what led to this situation but I seem to end up clutching broken threads.
There is one story being put out by AKD friendly TV channels and RW social media. This story goes something like this -
1) There was a sniping attack on Indian Army positions in the southern side of the LoC and it became a big media talking point. And then there was an Indian Army riposte in the Leepa Valley where a brigadier of the Pakistan Army was injured and subsequently killed.
2) As a result of this death, the Pakistan Army launched a SSG led BAT attack on border posts in the Baramulla area on Dec 30th 2018. The attack was likely a lead to a repeat of the "Uri" attack and that was foiled.
3) This a "major disaster" averted thanks to timely action by security forces under leadership of Modiji and Super(Hanu)Man AKD.
As far as I can tell - this narrative has its roots in a conversation between
Gen. Ata Hasnain and Gaurav Sawant where Gen. Hasnain claims that the Indian Army sniped at some PA brigade level officers in the Leepa Valley and then Gaurav claims that a brigadier was injured and eventually succumbed.
There is confusion in the narrative on the RW social media channels in India. The IT-Cell guys keep saying Neelum Valley but AFAIK no one referrers to the Leepa Valley as the "Neelum Valley". I have only seen the "Neelum Valley" term used to address the MSR (so called Neelum Valley Road) running north of Athmuqam to Kel (and thence to 80 Inf Bde Hq at Minimarg near Burzil La).
I cannot be certain that the RW social media channels are actually talking about the same incident but if they are then it looks like they are confusing Leepa Valley with Neelum Valley.
This brings me to another problem with this narrative.
Any PA flag officer who dies rates an official funeral and a prayer meeting (Fateha) is held a few days after officer has passed. This meeting is usually attended by the COAS and it is covered by the press.
In the decades past the PA may have been embarrassed about admitting to losses but over the last decade - the Pakistan Army has lost several high ranking people including Generals in the war against the TTP and Baloch separatists. They now use public disclosure of these losses to generate public awareness of the risks that Army people take to keep Pakistan safe.
And that is where my problem is.
I cannot find any news of a brigadier's funeral. There is nothing in the news of COAS visits which are profiled on the ISPR site.
I feel if the narrative above is correct - then the PA would have gone to town to show how the IA had viciously sniped and killed its flag officer. They haven't done that. The only news item I could find was in August 2018 where they reported a teenage boy was killed.
Additionally some RW posters around going around claiming that IA has carried out some kind of salami slicing operation opposite Mandhole.
Again it is very easy to understand why this might happen in Mandhole - the LoC runs along a ridge line and it should be possible to position a reverse slope defense there - but we can't verify any of this.
The Indian RW is very adept at turning routine military activities into political marketing for its brand. I caution against accepting anything you hear from these people until there is reliable verification of the information.
