Solitary Wave

Change we can believe in:

In President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, there is a Nobel Prize winner, a former mayor, and a veteran CIA agent. Surrounding him in the White House West Wing are a former four-star general, one of the nation’s most eminent economists, and a handful of this generation’s most talented political operatives.

There are no former CEOs in the Obama Cabinet. And among the people who make up his daily inner circle, there is only a dollop or two of top-level private sector experience.

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That was a masterful performance. It has been eight years since we had a President who could utter a coherent sentence. Too long. When is the last time we had a President who could go from describing the desperate situation of the economy, comparing it to Japan’s crisis of the last decade, and then without losing a beat, comment on nuclear weapons in the Middle East and switch to Alex Rodriguez? Eight years.

He even called on that guy Major Garrulous from FOX. Of course Major G. tried to make a big thing of some dumb remark of VP Biden and Obama had to laugh it off. The President did not fall into the trap set by Helen Thomas when asked if he knew of any country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons. He smoothly said that he is trying to enter into a nuclear weapons reductions agreement with Russia so we will have the standing to tell other countries not to pursue them. When is the last time we had a President who gave a shit about our standing in the world? Eight years.

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Engineering is the most sought after career among the Indian middle class, replacing Civil Service in the British days. In addition to several elite schools like the IITs, India has several hundred Engineering colleges that churn out techies by the thousands. There is no shortage of talented and well-prepared students for these professional schools, despite the poor conditions in most of India’s high schools. The secret is that students, and parents, spend a fortune on private tuition. There is a whole cottage industry preparing students for the entrance exams.

There is a negative side to this. Sciences and humanities suffer as talent is sucked away into the professions. Still, overall, the system has benefitted society: the Indian economic boom is powered by the graduates of these many regional engineering colleges and to a lesser extent, the IITs.

Pakistan on the other hand has failed in its many attempts to revive its educational system. Not having outlets for their energies, young men-and some women- turn to militant religious organizations for inspiration and guidance. The havoc they cause is a problem for India and the rest of the world, but it is threatening the very existence of Pakistan. (more…)

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For someone living within American culture, India’s response to the Mumbai attacks looks either suicidally passive or diabolically clever. Despite daily statements that make vague threats (”all options are still open”) the most direct action India has taken so far is to cancel a cricket match with Pakistan. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister even sent the President of Pakistan a New Year’s greeting card.

The card carries the picture of a white dove with flowers in its beak

Zardari must have said ” Dammit! Why didn’t I think of that card thing?”.

What is going on here? Why coddle people who are still denying that one of the most vicious attacks on innocent civilians was launched from Pakistan?
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India and Israel have both been victims of terrorist attacks in recent months. Their response could not be more different. Israel has opted for direct action, in a bold and widely condemned attack on Gaza, from where Hamas launched rockets to attack Israeli civilians. India has taken a judicial approach, collecting evidence against the Mumbai attackers and pressing Pakistan to extradite the terrorist commanders who directed the operation from within its territory. Which strategy will work in the long term?

I will not go into the root causes of either conflict. Instead, I will try to explain why each Nation is acting the way it is, and examine whether it is rational for them to act as they do. (more…)

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Exhale Now. The US and the world came so close to a disaster and survived only because the right leader showed up. Just in time.

Think back to the dark days after 9/11 when we almost destroyed ourselves by lashing out in blind rage. Hitting at imaginary enemies, while the real ones were regrouping in the Hindukush mountains. Jonathan Alter was floating the idea that torture may not be so bad after all. Tom Friedman helped sell the Iraq invasion. Colin Powell showed up at the UN with fake evidence for WMD, with the CIA director sitting behind in silence to give credibility to the lies. Hillary Clinton gave a craven speech in the Senate, pretending that she was not voting for the Iraq war, but was merely authorizing it. (Ugh?) Joe Biden had a plan to divide Iraq into three parts. And these are just the Liberals and Moderates. Just the people who have came to their senses by now.

A minor American politician, a State Legislator from Illinois named Barack Obama, gave the best argument against the Iraq war: it was dumb. Only a few seconds of the film of that speech that survives. The words repeated by-some of his supporters- are powerful, even if, delivered without Obama’s special diction. Clear thinking matters most when even the smartest people are confused.
Listen to it:
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The headlines today make us look back at a time when the country faced even greater economic peril. Now we stare into the abyss. Then we were at the bottom of that abyss. Yet we survived, and even thrived. In no small measure it is because the people had the wisdom to choose the right leader. In 1932 that leader was Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, Governor of New York. He might have got around on a wheelchair, but his voice projected the confidence of a vital and ambitious nation. (more…)

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At eighteen you are old enough to vote. To be registered for a potential draft, if you are male. Old enough to enlist in the armed forces, regardless of gender. And certainly to drive. But you cannot be trusted with a glass of beer until you are twenty one. That is the law in most of the United States. Since most undergraduates fall in the age group 18-21 for whom alcohol is prohibited, colleges and universities have become enforcers of this rule. (more…)

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What seemed only an idealistic dream a year ago has come to pass. Elections were held in Pakistan. Both of the main political parties took part. Musharraf has resigned. One of the intellectual leaders of the opposition to Musharraf’s military regime, Husain Haqqani, is now the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States.

But all is not well. (more…)

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Daniel Markey was Policy planning staff member, South and Central Asia portfolio, U.S. Department of State (2003-2007). He is now a senior fellow for South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. It is interesting to listen to the diissolution of Musharraf through the words of Dr. Markey:

Mar 3 2008

Musharraf is a diminished asset. He is exceedingly unpopular. No one disagrees with that. The time has come to really get on sort of the right side of history, essentially for the United States to jump into the future and work with more popular forces in Pakistan

Feb 23 2008

Musharraf is obviously a poison pill. He is fading out.

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Bill Foster, the former Fermilab physicist, won the special election to replace Speaker Dennis Hastert in the House of Representatives for the next eleven months. There will be a regular election with the rest of the country in November, for a full term of two years. The margin of victory, 53-47, would be respectable anywhere, but is a stunning upset in a heavily Republican district: Foster ran as a Democrat. (more…)

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A parable, possibly of Buddhist origin:

The baker dangled the freshly made bread under the Bodhisatva’s nose. He knew it was overpriced, but the smell still enticed Him. So He breathed in deep. The baker, knowing he had lost the sale, said

“Hey, if you are enjoying the smell of my bread, you have to pay for it”
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National Poll:

AP reports that Obama is catching up even in New York (Quinnipiac University Polling Institute)

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THE NUMBERS - DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 53 percent

Barack Obama, 39 percent

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A Quinnipiac poll on Jan. 22 had him trailing, 51 percent to 25 percent.

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FermiLab (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) is the premier High Energy Physics research facility in the US. Located outside Chicago, it is named for the renowned Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi. SLAC is the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the second most important center in the US for High Energy Physics. Both institutions are in deep trouble due to budget cuts mandated by Congress. FermiLab is planning to lay off 100 `permanent’ PhDs, a total of 200 employees; those remaining will be subject to a `rolling furlough’, amounting to a 7% wage cut. SLAC will experience an RIF of 250 employees, which ought to hurt more as its total size is smaller.

Cutbacks at Argonne National Laboratory (also near Chicago) and to Fusion research are even more drastic. If the current proposals are to become law, the US will also default on commitments to international agreements to create the next fusion research reactor.

FermiLab is experiencing what Los Alamos went through about ten years ago. (more…)

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When we published the post reprinted below, we did not have President Clinton in mind. All of us are familiar with leaders who find it hard to bow out, even after their time is up.

The wisdom of the American people in imposing a limit of two terms on Presidents is clearer now than ever before. Not only does it save the country from ineffective leadership, it saves a President past his prime from making a public fool of himself.

Whatever Mrs. Clinton’s claims to the Presidency, her case is not strengthened by letting the former President be her main advocate. Clearly, she understands this. Early in the campaign, President Clinton played the role of strategist-in-chief. Karl Rove not withstanding, there is no one who understands American politics as well as him. So this would be how he is most useful for her.

So what changed in the last three weeks? It looks to us that Senator Obama successfully baited Bill Clinton into becoming an attack-dog. (more…)

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Times, they are a-changing. It was not too long ago that Indian diplomats used to make speeches at the UN General Assembly condemning Israel. A new, more pragmatic, generation is in charge of India now. Fewer speeches at the UN. More interested in development and return on investment. Even from the space program. Due to various sanctions, India had to develop the capability to launch into space on its own: a slow and painstaking process. Now that it is able to launch reasonable size payloads, it would like to enter the commercial launch business. As of now, India offers the cheapest launch options- $14M for a 650 kg payload in low Earth orbit. There is some question about reliability though; this can nullify the cost advantage because of the insurance needed.

It is important therefore to show that you can deliver reliably. The latest launch of a `Remote Sensing Satellite’ with `Synthetic Aperture Radar’ in polar orbit (i.e., spy satellite) for Israel went off exactly as planned, although months past the original date. This ought to attract more business. Also, make a few people mad; but probably not make many new enemies.

So why did Israel choose the Indian Space Research Organization for this launch? It is doubtful it is for technical reasons. Israel most likely has the capability to launch such a payload on its own.Even otherwise, Israel has many other options. It could be for strategic reasons. India is already Israel’s largest customer for arms exports. Some trade in the other direction could be a good way to cement a deeper strategic relationship. It could be a good way of keeping tabs on what India is up to.

Or may be it was just a good arrangement for both sides. Sometimes a rocket is just a rocket.

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Congress makes decisions that require scientific knowledge all the time. Yet very few Congressmen have a science background. So it is in all of our interests to have scientists run for Congress.

Bill Foster, a physicist with a distinguished career at Fermilab, is doing just that. (I know him only by reputation.) He is running for the seat vacated by the retirement of former Speaker Dennis Hastert. It turns out that Foster is a successful businessman as well! He and his brother started a company that is now one of the world’s largest manufacturers of lighting equipment for the theater. A rare combination of talents.

Sadly, the support of 22 Nobel Laureates probably won’t help much in the real world. But the Chicago Tribune endorsement ought to matter.

Contribute to his campaign. If you live in the 14th District of Illinois, ( in true Chicago Democrat tradition) Vote Early, Vote Often on primary election day, Feb 5th.

Actually, early voting began on Jan 9th. The `vote often’ bit is not entirely a joke either. You can vote twice for the same seat: once to pick the person who will fill out Hastert’s term and another for the full term in the next Congress.

Update Jan 26: The Daily Kos reports on the race.

Feb 6: It looks like Foster won the democratic primary narrowly. The district traditionally leans Republican by five points, but could be within reach this election year.

Feb14: The race is a dead heat. Remarkable, as this is a District previously represented by the Republican Speaker of the House. Foster has a real chance!

Feb 23: From the Robert Novak column:

McCain presided over a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser in Sugar Grove, Ill., for conservative dairy magnate Jim Oberweis. Although Hastert carried the district easily, Republican nominee Oberweis faces a serious battle against liberal Democratic physicist-businessman Bill Foster. Oberweis lost previous primary bids for governor and the U.S. Senate.

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An analogy is often made between scientific research and exploration. In High Energy Physics, the accelerator physicists are the ship builders, the theoreticians the map makers, phenemenologists the navigators and the experimentalists are the sailors. The spokesman for the experimentalists is the captain of the ship, a dashing figure with power over life and death during the voyage. Ah, if only we were still in this romantic era..

Exploring in Canoes

The mega collaborations of thousands of physicists, that are being formed, are more like aircraft carriers. A good way of projecting power, but a bad instrument for exploration.

“But you can’t go exploring in a canoe”, I am told when I bring up this point.

Actually, you can. Canoes were exactly what the polynesians used to explore and settle the largest ocean on Earth, the Pacific. (more…)

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It’s official. The Grey Lady hath spoken. The Pakistani secret service (ISI) has been aiding terrorists even as they claim to be fighting them. Not only that, they rigged the original election that made Musharraf President. The plan was to hold the extremists in reserve, to use against India and Afghanistan when the Western powers lose interest in the region. Except they ISI lost control of them. Once you convince people that they will go to heaven for killing, it is hard to make them stop. Duh.

Will anything change because NYTimes wrote a font page lead story stating the obvious? Probably not. Still, it is one step in the right direction.

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Breaking News….

The crack investigation team set up by General Musharraf to investigate the death of Mrs. Benazir Bhutto has submitted its report. The conclusions might surprise some who made hasty deductions based on a grainy video.

Mrs. Bhutto died from a severe case of indigestion. Having lived abroad for so long, her stomach could no longer handle the spicy food of her homeland. A particularly spicy meal of Naan and Chicken Tikka at Army HQ in Rawalpindi did her in. Other than that, the dinner was a nice affair.

In the videos shown you can see her bending over suddenly with stomach pain. Purely by coincidence a young man in the crowd can be seen raising a revolver and aiming it at her head. The near simultaneity of these two events led most of the world to mistakenly conclude that Mrs. Bhutto was assassinated. The truth is mundane but inescapable.

Unscrupulous elements are trying to take advantage of the confusion. They will be put down mercilessly. The truth has always been on the side of the Glorious Pakistan Army.

Absurdistan Zindabad!

We return to our regularly scheduled program now.

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Other Posts on Pakistan

Contrary to popular wisdom it really is the time now to assign blame. It lies squarely with the Pakistani Army and its Commander-in-Chief, Pervez Musharraf. The same army assassinated her father, Zulfikar Bhutto, after a sham trial. The same army has been plundering the country’s wealth and put its judges in jail in the name of security. (more…)

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Next in Line?

Despite his willingness to blog on our site , I also think it is time for Musharraf to go. It is not enough that he `take off his uniform’. It is time for Musharraf to retire from the Army and give up the Presidency. If he is merely overthrown by his own hand-picked successor, the situation will only get even worse. (more…)

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The Lincoln of Pakistan

Other posts edited by P. Richard Saunders

Editor’s note I am posting here the full text of my dear friend Mushie’s decree imposing emergency rule. A partial text of the decree has been published before by BBC. I have been able to obtain additional secret parts of the decree as well as Mushie’s own commentary explaining the thinking behind it. A couple of words had to be redacted to preserve good relations with allies. So here goes: (more…)

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My friends abroad, I am writing this with joy in my heart. Our long national nightmare is over. Full Democracy has been achieved and Full Justice has triumphed. Extremism in all its forms has been defeated. The humiliation of public servants by the judiciary has been stopped. Our Mission has been Accomplished. (more…)

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