Wednesday 920P Eastern Time (620P Pacific Time):  Lobsang Nyandak, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas, in re:   Two young men self-immolate in Qinghai province, call for the return of HH the Dalai Lama. "Everyone should unite to uphold the cause of Tibetans." Two more young Tibetans are dead. Are the Chinese listening?  Now 64 Tibetans in the past year have set themselves on fire, many have died. Looks as though the Chinese govt is adamant, refuses to acknowledge that Tibetans are unhappy under their rule. Beijing pretends that the problem is economic development; it emphatically is not at all. It has to do with religious freedom, with liberty. 

 

"The issue is the Tibetan people's basic rights" -- HH the Dalai Lama.  

 

China is trying to set up permanent military installations, and [basically throttle] monastic life.  More and more Han Chinese are being sent into Tibet to create a demographic minority [same as what was done by Stalin and Brezhnev in the USSR. Also done by Beijing in Xinjiang Province to overwhelm Uyghur people. Culturally brutal.  -ed]

 

Democracy, individual freedom:  China will have to allow these, cannot go backward historically, said HH the Dalai Lama.

 

Chinese brutality has not intimidated Tibetans.

 

Tibet definitely is not part of China. Tibet has been an independent state for many centuries - own currency, intl relations - an empire. Twelve hundred yeas ago, the Chinese were frightened of Tibetans.  Same thing now.

 

Wednesday 935P Eastern Time (635P Pacific Time):  Hotel Mars. David M. Livingston, The Space Show, and Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer SETI Institute, in re: Huge SETI conference in Santa Clara - science, science fiction space, art - an amazing three-day event of very capable people focussing on multiple matters. One section on exoplanets, esp Eden II; cosmophobia.  Roughly a thousand people descended on the hotel. Dark energy, dark matter; why Hollywood never gets the aliens right. Special Sat banquet, w Sheldon Reynolds (of Earth Wind and Fire) who'll play a few pieces in honor of one of SETI's dignitaries's retirement. SETI: seeking ut the origins and prevalence of life in the Universe. Here only, a miracle, or widespread throughout the Universe. Probably a trillion planets in the Milky Way, 150 billion other galaxies. Either there's a lot of company out there or we're some sort of miracle.   More remarkable: dark energy has revolutionized out understanding of the universe; 95% of the Universe is missing in action. Collection of superstars at this space conference. Mary Roach is a particular favorite; well known for her books, esp Packing for Mars.  Private space industry: buy a ticket to Mars by 2020. Kepler: identify exoplanets in main sequence stars. Gives us a higher target  at which to aim our antennae - Kepler can tell us which planets are known to have water. The Universe is three times older than our Sun.

 

Wednesday 950P Eastern Time (650P Pacific Time):  Michael Auslin, AEI, in re:  Cambodia arrests a Frenchman linked to the Bo Xilai scandal A French architect with ties to the disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been arrested in Cambodia, the French embassy said Tuesday, in a new twist to China's biggest political scandal in decades. Cambodian police said the arrest of Patrick Devillers was carried out with the cooperation of Beijing, which is seeking his extradition. Must be related to Gu Kailai - she and Devillers are pictured in a balloon in England, where they were living together. Son was driving a Ferrari at Harvard. Michael was in Beijing last week: such a sense of uncertainty about what's going on at the top - deep-seated unease. Not one bad apple who can be purged, but a wholly corrupt system. What happens to ordinary Chinese when [honchos] like this so clearly abuse the system? Upper strata probably want to clean up superficially - remove Bo - in order to keep in power.  With his wife, they can go ahead with the murder trial. However, if you open corruption proceeding vs. Bo Xilai, then everybody else's corruption will spill out.  Xi Jinping?  The princelings are nor =w clearly an utterly corrupt group - revealed as common thugs.  French playboy in Pnom Penh will sing to Paris-Match.

 

Wednesday 1005P Eastern  (705P Pacific Time):  Rick Fisher, Senior Fellow, Asian Military Matters at the International Assessment and Strategy Center,  in re: China's space mission.  Rick is just returned from the Eurosatory 2012 Land Forces arms show:  The Land and Airland Defence and Security international exhibition.   Dream Team - Russia, China, Iran and Syria all together in the Eastern Med. Chinese foreign ministry even denied that the upcoming mil exercises exist, even as Chinese ships are about to sail through the Red Sea and into the Suez Canal, with Iran, to join with Russia and Syria. China has three ships there now; Iranian report says China wants to brig 12 ships to the Eastern Med for he exercises.   Earlier antiaircraft and antisub exercises in the Yellow Sea (China not yet too good at antisub).  Te world is cleaving into two camps: dictatorships will tend to join Russia and China.   China cannot join the ISS because China's space program is totally, overtly military.  Even last Sunday's craft is for reconnaissance, intell, sigint gathering, and, in future, launching missiles.  Series of modules means that they can send up specially-configured modules for all sorts of purposes, certainly including aggressive mil.   PLA Daily, the mil newspapers, has been running a seres on loyalty; suggests that the military is breaking free from civilian control.  major public collaboration with Iran suggests that Iran will join the Shanghai Cooperation Council. 

 

Wednesday 1020P Eastern (720P Pacific Time):    Yuri Maltsev, Carthage College, in re:  Russia and Syria. Mr Putin doesn;t trust he US at all, are in fact Enemy No. 1.  Putin believes that Obama will do anything for political expedience, White House, however, is extremely inconsistent. President's  on-mike remark, msg to Putin via Medvedev, has been obviated by later events.  US has supported bad elements in the Kremlin since 1991. Now, looks as though the world is breaking apart with CHina and Russia on one side, most of the rest of the world on the other.  Putin, March 2000, first term:  needed foreign enemies in order to beef up his mil-industrial complex, nuclear subs, nuclear warheads. Runs a regime similar to that of Mr Assad and others.  Teheran and Damascus represent a wedge between Moscow and the Sunni inside Russia? Best way to insulate Russia is for it to stop oppressing its own Muslims. Before Chechnya was pretty secular; blame Moscow for radicalizing the population. Putin swore to put down the Chechens in order to become president; led to circumstances that could radicalize all of Central Asia.

 

Wednesday 1035P Eastern  (735P Pacific Time): Gordon Chang, in re: 

 

Wednesday 1050P Eastern (750P Pacific Time):  Joseph Sternberg, WSJ Asia, in re:   Testing Beijing's metal:  the success of Hong Kong Exchange's acquisition of the London Metal Exchange relies on a Chinese change of heart on resources. "Jim Rogers was right, but now he's wrong"! [Jimmy Rogers has long advocated buying commodities and agriculture.]   Beijing could utilize warehouses to store its huge commodities stockpiles . . .

 

Wednesday 1105P  Eastern (805P Pacific Time):  Aaron Klein, WABC, in re: rockets from Gaza, Hamas and Egypt.

 

Wednesday 1120P Eastern (820P Pacific Time):  Bill McGurn, WSJ Main Street, in re: Eric Holder contempt of Congress; Executive privilege

 

Wednesday 1135P Eastern  (835P Pacific Time): 

 

The Life of Super-Earths: How the Hunt for Alien Worlds and Artificial Cells Will Revolutionize Life on Our Planet by Dimitar D. Sasselov, founder of  Harvard Origins of Life Initiative; Generation 2 biotics, et al. 1 of 2

Wednesday 1150P Eastern  (850P Pacific Time):  

 

The Life of Super-Earths: How the Hunt for Alien Worlds and Artificial Cells Will Revolutionize Life on Our Planet by Dimitar D. Sasselov, 2 of 2

 

Wednesday/Thurs 1205A  Eastern (905 Pacific Time):  Eric Trager, Washington Institute (in Cairo), in re: SCAF suspends elections result in Egypt. Muslim Brothers call for protest.

 

Wednesday/Thurs  1220A Eastern (920 Pacific Time):  John Bussey, WSJ, in re: petition org and how to use it; the business model

 

Wednesday/Thurs  1235A  Eastern (935P Pacific Time):    Hotel Mars. David M. Livingston, The Space Show, and Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer SETI Institute, in re: Huge SETI conference in Santa Clara - science, science fiction space, art - an amazing three-day event of very capable people focussing on multiple matters. One section on exoplanets, esp Eden II; cosmophobia.  Roughly a thousand people descended on the hotel. Dark energy, dark matter; why Hollywood never gets the aliens right. Special Sat banquet, w Sheldon Reynolds (of Earth Wind and Fire) who'll play a few pieces in honor of one of SETI's dignitaries's retirement. SETI: seeking ut the origins and prevalence of life in the Universe. Here only, a miracle, or widespread throughout the Universe. Probably a trillion planets in the Milky Way, 150 billion other galaxies. Either there's a lot of company out there or we're some sort of miracle.   More remarkable: dark energy has revolutionized out understanding of the universe; 95% of the Universe is missing in action. Collection of superstars at this space conference. Mary Roach is a particular favorite; well known for her books, esp Packing for Mars.  Private space industry: buy a ticket to Mars by 2020. Kepler: identify exoplanets in main sequence stars. Gives us a higher target  at which to aim our antennae - Kepler can tell us which planets are known to have water. The Universe is three times older than our Sun.    

 

Wednesday/Thurs  1250A  Eastern (950P Pacific Time): Exeunt.  Brian Switek, in re: what became of woolly mammoths?

 

Music

 

Hour 1

 

The Painted Veil by Alexandre Desplat

Contact by Alan Silvestri

 

Hour 2

 

Shaolin by Nicolas Errera

Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Rachel Portman

 

Hour 3

 

The Grey by Marc Streitenfeld

X-Files by Mark Snow

 

Hour 4

 

Burn After Reading by Carter Burwell

John Carter by Michael Giacchino