Climate change and the Geneva Days

Last week I was in Geneva for a meeting. As usual, World Health Organisation (WHO) had booked me in a hotel near the central railway station. When we landed in Geneva, it did not seem like very hot, compared to the hot Bologna that I had left behind. But, when I reached my room in the hotel, it felt as if I had entered a furnace.

While the bed had a woollen blanket as usual, there was something new in the room - a small table fan. Switzerland had always been nice and cool. In the summers, it did get warm in the day but most of the time, nights were cool, needing something warm. And I had never seen a fan in a room before.

After the arrival of fans, how long is it going to take for Switzerland to turn from paradise to a hot baking furnace?

During nineteen eighties in Italy, I had never seen a fan in any house or office. To be honest, I had never felt even the need for it. I think that our first table fan, we had bought it in 1993 or 1994. Then in the next years, we bought more of them, so that we had one for each room of the house. During the same years, fans were installed in our office as well. Finally, this year, we have air-conditioning, at home and in office in Bologna (Italy). Everything has happened in the last 10-15 years.

Any way the hot temperatures in Geneva had some nice side-effects also. People were having fun with the summer along the lake in Geneva. Drinking beer along the small pubs, sitting and chatting on the grass wearing bikinis and swimming costumes, swimming in the lake.

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In Geneva I met Gregor Wolbring. He says that soon the new technologies like synthetic biology and nanotechnology, and their convergence are going to change the world completely as we know it. It is all going to happen in the next ten or twenty years, he says, and in future, the real disabled persons will be those who are not be able to afford the new technologies for enhancement of their bodies and minds.

He has a soft smile, gentle way of speaking and dreamy eyes. And he has a special wheel chair, that looks simple and has side bars, that you need to move gently to move ahead or back. Listening to him, I feel as I am transported in the world of Asimov.

Yet, take a look at his webpage and his coloumn, and check his credentials, he teaches in the university and is part of some important sounding committees. So I guess that it is no science fiction but a new reality he is talking about. He tells about it in a simple way, making it easy to understand.

For a moment, I daydream about enhanced human beings but then that images contrasts so strongly with the reality of poverty, lack of most basic things, disease and death that stalks lives in so many parts of the world! Would that dream be for all of the humanity or will it be sold to the highest bidders, I ask myself.

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In the pictures below, I am with Gregor Wolbring.

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Against the Virtual holdup Hackers

It has been sometime, while navigating on internet, suddenly a sign appears "Attention, the scanning of your system is not complete, your system is unsafe, if you want free scanning of your system to identify errors ...". I have tried to ignore it. I have tried to click on "cancel". I have tried to click on the cross at the right hand corner to close it.

No matter what I do, it takes over the webpage I am looking at and hijacks it to a website called "www.it.bloodyerrorsafe.com", leaving me trembling with rage each time. (The "bloody" in the address has been added by me, I don't want them to claim that they are so popular that people are linking their blogs to them)!

I call the people running that site by all names possible. I walk around in the room to calm me down. And, of course, I close the internet explorer. Some times I disconnect and reconnect, hoping that they are gone. Cursing them all the time, scumbags, oro-genitally mixed up, òç*+#ò@... And I take deep breaths and tell myself, "This world is pure maya, no need to get so heated up son. Relax. It is hurting only you while those bastards, they must be smiling their way to the bank with all the money they can get from people clicking their site!"

I try to imagine where they can be based. They must have an office in Jersey island, with another hack who can't find anyone to love him hiding in Cayman island and their server running from Easter islands, with the boss sitting in Florida. Do you think I should go and apply to the international court of justice in the Hague to persecute them?

Or is it the duty of our Government to protect us from unwanted intruders even if the gang is scattered in all the corners of the world and worse still, even if, the brother of the big boss is governing (ha, ha!) Florida!.

The list of modern stress syndromes is getting longer every day.

Like all those people sitting in their cars, stuck in the traffic and snarling with rage. Their stress has been recognised. Even people typing continuously on their keyboards have legitimate stress. And those looking at the computer monitors all day long, they are indeed stressed.

Perhaps it is time to add another stress diagnosis. Internet-holdup and hijacking.

If you have gone through it, you will agree that there is no virtuality in this stress. You have no psychological pleasure in it like collecting the spam mail and throwing it in the rubbish bin and then watching it pass through the thrasher till the bits and bytes are flushed down the cyber-toilet.

So there is no other way, except to take deep breath, hold it and count up to seven, then exhale slowly. Repeat it five times.

How do you feel now brother, ready to forgive them?

Forgive those scumbags, éòù+è#@ ... Ok, let's do it five more time! Take a deep breath, hold it, count slowly upto seven and now exhale slowly. I hope that these internet hackers rot in some hell with all the millions they are earning from their hacking. Better still, I hope that their brother hackers will hack their websites. (BTW, designing the image for this post was a lot of fun and helped in reducing my stress, because it made me feel that I was doing something for it!)

 

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Refugee Camps and the World Outside

We were in a rural area. It was a refugee camp in Kenya and I was there with a delegation of the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). We were looking at issues related to persons with disability in the refugee camps and before that visit, I had already been to some other refugee camps in Africa.

The road leading to the refugee camp, left the city to meander through fields dotted with small huts. Thin and dirty children in tattered clothes occasionally stood by the roadside to look at our big UN vehicles passing.

If outside was poverty, inside the refugee camp seemed like the land of plenty. There were a lot of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with a lot of expatriate staff. In the health centre, their was plenty of staff and no medicines seemed to be lacking. I had a long conversation with an Australian speech therapist working with children who had speaking difficulties, asking her about the general conditions inside the camp and the different services available there.

"What about the local people living outside the camp?" I had asked. Persons outside the refugee camp had looked malnourished and without any services, left to fend for themself in an isolated remote area. "No, we can't provide any services to the locals", I was told. It was because of policy decision by government here. UNHCR staff and international staff were responsible only for the refugee camp and they were prohibited from having any kind of interaction with the local population.

But international NGOs could have started separate projects for the surrounding countryside, I had insisted.Isn't it terrible to pass in front of those huts everyday and see them so poor and so vulnerable? There are only funds for emergency, no one gives money for ordinary poverty, they said.

The person showing us around took us to the high school in the refugee camp. It was a wonderful place with nice uniforms, a large field where children were playing, and some committed expatriate teachers, who explained their work including the use of internet to bring the world to the refugee camp.

I was a little upset. I thought it was discriminatory with all these resources that they had in the UN, giving the world to the refugees inside the camp walls, while just outside those walls, people of the same skin colour, same language, and similar facial traits could die of hunger, their children faced malnutrition, and died of usual simple illnesses like diarrhoea and measles. So perhaps, I was condescending in my interaction with the students of 12th standard. I don't remember the exact words of my question. Perhaps it was something to do with their future.

A young man sitting at the back stood up to answer me. I think that he said some thing like, "We are prisoners in this cage. This wonderful school, these wonderful teachers, our learning internet, our learning French and English, what use is it? It only serves to make us feel worse. We have no future. UNHCR can provide only school education. There is no university here and I can not go outside the walls of this camp. And, after passing 12th, all these wonderful programmes finish. Then we go back to our families in this camp, to work in the fields. For working in the field, I don't need any of this knowledge that I have got, it will only serve to remind me about the wretchedness of my life, to know how much we are missing. It is terrible to know what we could be and be forced to be nothing."

I was suddenly reminded of this episode while reading the story "Sudama's children" about poor kids in rich private schools in Delhi in the latest issue of Outlook. "There are two kinds of pain—the pain of growing up in a jhuggi with little hope of change, and the pain of adjustment in studying with well-off kids in a private school. How do we know which is worse?"

I think of that young man's heartbreaking answer in the refugee camp and the choices he had. Yet, compared to the life of living in poverty, outside the refugee camp, where hunger and disease are likely to kill you young and at the best, you will grow up to eke out a miserable and difficult life from the fields!

 

What would you choose if you had this choice - to be a refugee boy inside the refugee camp or to be a poor boy outside the camp?

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Da Vinci Code and the Talibans

When I saw the headlines, "De Vinci code banned" in an Indian newspaper, it depressed me.

 

Even though there were some protests when "Sins" was released in India, in the end, the film did manage to be released, without people burning down the theatres or cars.

 

While the headline was alarming, reading the news about Da Vinci Code was slightly better. It explained that the film is not yet banned, that a group of persons will watch the film and decide. I hope that they will decide to show it. We do not need the Indian Christians to learn from Islamists and Hindu radicals about getting offended about everything and start asking for bans.

I believe that we need some sane persons in India. Very badly. Unfortunately, it seems we are running out of them.

Every group of religious louts is just waiting to pounce on the slightest provocation. They come out on the streets, burn a few cars, pelt stones and threaten burning down the books or the theatres or whatever.

Now Aamir Khan is warned, how dare he speak about Narmada Bachao or against Narendra Modi? They will not let his Fanaa to be released in Gujarat, they say. Show him the Hindu might?

The Sikhs have done it too. Jo Bole so Nihaal is a caricature, they say. The child in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is a caricature. How dare they? Let's teach them a lesson they shout.

The Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians - everyone is ready with the petrol cans. They define themselves as saviours of their religions. Dissent is equal to blasphemy they feel, and because the God can not defend itself, they must do it.

 

Armed with hockey sticks or worse, they come out with their torches. And the sovereign Government representing the people bows its head and presents its butt so that it can be kicked by any thug, always ready for banning any thing so that "it does not disturb public order" (except when you dare to protest against the Government, then the police is ready for the lathi-charge).

So we are going for a Taliban rule in India and only insecure louts will decide what we can read, see or think? I am not saying that we have to be agree with everyone but you can disagree on something and still be civil? Amartaya Sen talks about the ancient traditions of dissent and criticism inherent in Hinduism and in Indian culture in his book "The Argumentative Indian". Yet, those traditions are being corrupted everyday and we are prisoners of fire-wielding hardliners, who have decided that we Indians are not mature enough, we need censorship, and that they will decide for us.

If a country (Italy) that hosts the Vatican itself, can show the film, De Vinci code, it seems strange that India has to worry about the feelings of few sensitive Christians who do not like it and decide to get offended by it!

 

I get it that India is a mix of religions and beliefs and hurting the sentiments of any one group can easily lead to violence, mayhem and deaths, so the Government has to be cautious. However, I wish that there were religious leaders promoting tolerance and "let it be" kind of attitude, instead of fanning protests and hate marches.

 

Partly, it may be due to these TV channels, which keep on looking for persons with more hardline and crude beliefs, so that they can show them and increase their TRPs. It is a system which gives more visibility to those with the more extremist views.

 

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Governments - Heaviest Element Known to Science

Got this from a colleague in an email (I don't know who originally wrote it but it is wonderful):

A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium". Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration.

This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass." When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium - an element which radiates just as much energy as the Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

 

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The Governmentium story reminds me of an Asterix and Obelix comic book about guy running between different Government departments in Rome, each of which wants a stamp or a seal or photocopy or three signed copies. However, to be honest, this disease is not limited to ancient Rome, it afflicts most of our countries.

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Maoist Extremism in Nepal

Yes, I know it is long time since I wrote anything on this blog. Over past few weeks, I have been thinking about the situation in Nepal. Finally, it seems the King of Nepal has decided to give in to the people's movement asking for an end to the monarchy and now, hopefully the peace may return to this beautiful land.

At the same time, I am thinking about Nepalese Maoists and if they pose a threat to the country.

I have always felt that dialogue and democracy are the best way to deal with extremists - by extremists, I mean, those who believe in extreme changes, and not necessarily violent. In that sense, I don't agree with state repression, banning, jails and fighting to overcome or to contain those we consider "extreme". I believe that if extremists can be made to participate in the democratic dialogue and if they find public support, to become a part of the government, then with a little time, their extremism will be tempered and they will automatically need to become less extreme to fit in with the system.

The increasing forces of globalisation, means that the increasing inter-links between people and countries, should be a safeguard since extremist governments, even if elected, can not break those links and live in isolation.

Another aspect of globalisation is the increasing presence of media, so that when "news worthy events" happens like dead bodies floating in Victoria falls in Rwanda, the world will see it. Thus, violent aberrations, sooner or later must go away other wise you become an international pariah.

Unfortunately, it seems that both these aspects of globalisation can be easily manipulated. When economic interests are there, other countries can become tolerant of dictators and murderers, and close one or both eyes. And, the international media is fickle, it comes to catch the goriest pictures but since here the supply is greater than demand, so it soon loses interest and leaves to catch other gorier pastures.

So I think that Maoists in Nepal should get a chance to participate in the elections and if they win the elections, they can get a go at the system. Yet, I am also worried if the democracy rules are considered valid for everyone? What if once in the Government, they decide that autocracy is the best way to govern the country.

So what do we do with people or groups, who do not believe in democracy and liberty, but they play along only to win elections and get into power and then start their dictatorship and repression?

 

And if through democracy, we end up with a Pol Pot and millions of dead, whose fault was it?

 

Or with Islamists and Talibans? 

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Dismantling of the UK Health Services

I was in London last week.

I went to see my friend Pam at her home. She has worked as a children's doctor and before her retirement, she was heading the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) course at the London School of Child Health. She told me that she had been in the hospital for back pain and her experience in the hospital. She saw the doctors only on the day of her admission. After that for the next two and half weeks, she never saw her house officer.

The British NHS, national health services had such a great reputation with people coming from all over the world to benefit from the British standard of medical care. So, I was wondering what has happened to it?

In the night, I was watching the the news on BBC in my hotel room. It mentioned a guy called Mr. Gonsalez, who had killed many persons and the court has sentenced him to a mandatory prison for life. There was also an interview with the grandmother of Mr. Gonsalez, who explained that if her grandson was guilty, the state was equally guilty. She had been complaining about the deterioration in the psychological condition of her grandson for months without any response from social services or the psychiatric services. In one of the letters, she had even written, "Would you do something only when he kills someone?".

In the morning, flying back to Bologna, I saw the headlines in the newspaper, a private hospital in London is "forced to cut 1000 jobs because of lack of funds".

I was wondering that according to the magazines like The Economist, UK has the most booming economy in Europe, so how can this happen there? While rest of Europe is fighting recession, only UK seems to be going strong, then why do they need to cut their health service so drastically? The quality of the health services, though I am sure that they are not so bad, but these stories sound more like government hospital services in India.

I am also afraid for our health care services in Italy. With all these magic words of greater efficiency, reducing wastage of resources, more autonomy and privatization in the policy makers, the future does not seem very bright for the right to health. Actually, the quality of health services in Italy seems to be really good, perhaps one of the best in the world, but I think that it does not bring them the kind of money they want.

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I have a new Hindi-English-Italian photo-blog, Chayachitrakar. There are mornings, when I don't feel like writing much. It would be simpler to stick in a nice picture and it will be done. That is the logic behind it. I have just one camera, a digital kodak, and I don't know about apertures and time of exposure, etc. I can't even take very sophisticated pictures and I don't like special effects, most of the time. But I think that my pictures have good human angle. May be that is not very modest, but I like the pictures I take!

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