Archive for the ‘International’ Category
Mars Rover successfully lands
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source: nasa.gov
What a contrast between the noise of the Olympics and the awesome team achievement of getting the Mars Rover safely onto the Martian surface, first with a parachute and then with rockets. And then get some pictures of the planet before breakfast. The seven minutes of terror proved anything but. Though images from NASA’s control room showed the tension.
Breathtaking.
Let’s do the math: Mars Rover £1.5billion; Olympics: £9billion. That’s about six Rovers for an Olympics. Legacy…let’s see, but I suspect the science will endure in a way the Olympics will not. Plus, if we talk about inspiring a generation, surely Mars/planetary exploration top
s running fast?
And here is the image taken from a satellite of the craft decending to the surface being slowed by the largest parachute ever used in a space programme.
Why politics matters
Golden Dawn logo
It has been quite a couple of weeks. Francois Hollande is elected President of France on a less Austerity ticket. The Greeks don’t elect anyone to run the country but open the door to some of Europe’s most agressive fascists. And the fickle English electorate finally shows that it realises that the Conservatives rule in their own interests. It may be too late on that one, however, if healh service ‘reforms’ and educational ‘reforms’ go unchecked.
This all challenges the ‘fix’ agreed by the previous generation of European leaders regarding the Euro and sovereign debt. Yesterday morning we learned that Spanish government bailed out the country’s fouth largest bank, Bankia. Today they are shoring up the rest of the banking sector against the backdrop of no growth, high unemployment and investor withdrawal of funds.
It is clear, however, that electors are unlikely to be swayed by policies that continue to support those who have brought on the misery by their own greed, self-belief and inability to manage their own financial instrument creations. (This morning we find JP Morgen Chase have reported an embarrassing $2bn loss generated by a trader in derivatives that were designed to hedge against risks elsewhere in the bank.)
I’m hopeful about the French. The Greeks, however, have resorted to a fascist response. I suspect a contagion is not likely across Europe, the Greeks will need to manage them robustly. They are not democrats.
Flag courtesy of Stlemur
The special relationship
So David Cameron is now in The USA shoring up the special relationship. The speeches yesterday on the Whitehouse lawn were 
somewhat over-the-top with respect to how fabulous the Camerons and the Obamas are. The description of beacons of liberty, freedom, justice, etc. from both sides seemed to have a certain other worldliness quality. Where does constant regime change, interference in other countries’ affairs, Guantanamo Bay, assassination squads, privatisation, bank bailouts….fit into all of this.
Nice clothes.
Medvedev Tells NATO something
It is like the cold war starting again. The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, goes live to tell the Russian people that NATO’s 
missile shield with ‘facilities’ located rather close to Russian borders and installations is a threat. Enter talks or suffer the cosequences, he says chillingly to camera. Associated Press’s report can be found here: Medvedev
What exactly is going on here? It is not widely being reported with the print and TV/radio media preoccupied with the Leveson Inquiry into press intrusion. Did the story itself go under the radar, or has the media forgotten that superpowers flex their muscles when provoked? If so, what is the provocation? Is NATO planning to move against Syria, or more likely Iran? Or is Medvedev staking his place in history as his tenure fades?
