Generator Man
NYT – Grassroots response to the dismal Iraqi electricity grid –
Iraq has three sources of electrical power. At the low end is the frail national grid, which provides only about one hour of electricity every four hours — a total of six hours a day — and sometimes less.
At the top is the small, personal-size generator, a feature in many homes, though the steadily rising cost of fuel now makes it a luxury for most families.
Filling the gap, and carrying the load for much of urban Iraq, is the generator man, owner and operator of the neighborhood power plant. Throughout Baghdad, for example, there is at least one generator every few blocks to help power nearby homes and businesses.
They’re onto an important idea for resiliency – a decentralized electricity grid – but they’re limited by faulty technology and reliance upon rationed fuel. With some better tech and real support this could really take off. The more likely course of action, however, is that this opportunity will never be exploited and will probably be reduced to serving as an interesting case study .
India’s Affirmative Action
UPI – Clash of capitalist and government rulesets:
India’s government plans to double the number of lower caste students admitted to universities in its latest move to break up the country’s Hindu caste system.
The announcement has prompted protests by large groups of medical and engineering students who say the quota system will squelch merit at India’s most respected universities and further fracture Indian society. Additional protests are expected when Parliament reconvenes for its winter session, the Times said.
Not a good idea to put a lot of pressure on the education system which happens to be the largest provider of social mobility.
Musharraf Continues To Dance
BBC – The tribe’s aren’t a fan of Musharraf and his selling out to the US –
BBC’s Jonathan Beale in Washington says that, in the CBS interview, Gen Musharraf was deliberately distancing himself from the White House in the face of intense pressure within Pakistan over his close ties to Washington.
And in light of the latest treaty between the tribes of near autonimous Warizistan and his government it’s not surprising he’s trying to maintain some degree of seperation.
Co-Chairman Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
This managed to fly under my radar – Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is now the Co-Chairman of the Counterterrorism Foundation. Daveed “is one of the brightest young stars in the counterterrorism community” and I’m proud to count Daveed as one of my readers. Good luck.
More Stolen USG Laptops
CNN –
The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 laptop computers since 2001, most of them assigned to the Census Bureau, officials said Thursday night.
The Census Bureau, the main collector of information about Americans, lost 672 computers. Of those, 246 contained some personal data, the department said in a statement. However, no personal information from any of the missing computers has been known to have been improperly used, the department said.
A. Why are there so many laptops missing?
B. Why do so many laptops across the USG have personal data on them?