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Someone pointed out the other day that it takes first-hand experience of a given subject or incident to expose how distorted ‘news’ can be. Personal involvement in any story jolts you into that illuminating, lightbulb moment when you suddenly realise how partial, one-sided or misleading ‘the News’ often is. I looked back at our archive and found “On a Loop.” It's a shame, but it’s as relevant now, at the tail end of 2020, as it was in 2012. Here’s the gist: Most pro-Israel bloggers like myself would find life much simpler if there were no Palestinian civilian casualties, no settlements, no disputed borders, no ultra religious Jewish extremists making claims on behalf of God. But, proceeding further down that path, it would be easier for us if Israel stopped protecting its citizens as assiduously as it does so that we could produce heart-rending footage of injured Israelis. We could make our case more effectively if the ‘apartheid wall’ was dismantled and the suicide bombers pro

Source:- Cost, conditions made Myanmar choose Indian submarine The Myanmar military withstood pressure from China and North Korea and went ahead to purchase a submarine from India to bolster its presence in the Bay of Bengal. The move may be an indication of the neighbour’s determination to make an independent decision suitable to it, notwithstanding its ties with Beijing and Pyongyang. The submarine which recently went into operation has been named ‘Min Ye Thein Kha Thu’, an ancient Burmese warrior. Mid-October the submarine joined its first exercise conducted by the Myanmar navy and Myanmar’s senior general was present on the occasion. The Soviet-manufactured kilo-class submarine was refurbished by Hindustan Shipyard before it was handed over to Myanmar. Sources told ET, Myanmar made a conscious decision to purchase an Indian submarine based on a number of factors. Myanmar began studying the possibility of buying a submarine in 2005 and in 2007 sent naval officers to India for tr

Source:- Hurriyat calls strike in Kashmir over land rules but Utter it was Failure Shops and businesses remained mostly shuttered in response to separatist Hurriyat Conference’s call for a one-day long strike against the Centre’s “anti-people orders”, especially pertaining to land rights, even as vehicles plied on the roads. The call was given after the Centre on Tuesday notified rules allowing outsiders to buy non-agricultural land in Jammu & Kashmir over a year after the region’s special status was scrapped. The status prevented people from outside the state from buying or owning immovable property. In a statement calling for the strike and peaceful protests, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat Conference said the Centre’s imperial approach was bound to fail. It accused the Centre of “issuing incessant anti-people orders at frequent intervals to intimidate and psychologically torture the people”. The statement said the amalgam reiterates its “principled stand of engagement and d

Source:- How The Indian Navy Is Ensuring High Indigenous Content In Its Project-75(I) Submarines The Indian Navy, by far, is the most self-reliant of the three defence services and is way ahead of the Army and the Air Force in terms of indigenous content of its combat units. It was the first to develop in-house designing capabilities by setting up a dedicated bureau just years after India’s independence. Today, a large number of its surface vessels are constructed by Indian shipyards with indigenous content going up to 81 per cent in some cases. And now, this trend is also becoming evident in the construction of submarines. The Kalvari-class (Scorpene-class) submarines of the Indian Navy, some of which are currently under construction at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Limited, have between 30 to 40 per cent indigenous content. While indigenous content on the Kalvari-class boats is not exceptionally high due to contract stipulations, the Indian Navy has sought to do away with this res

🇧🇸 The postal service of Bahamas will issue its first stamps of 2020 on 12 November in the form of a very attractive set of 6 stamps depicting Medical plants of Bahamas. The issue was designed by Bee Design from photographs taken by Dr Ethan Freid and the stamps were lithographed by Cartor and are perforated 13.5 x 13. Rating:- *****. 🇫🇰 The postal service of Falkland Islands will release a set of 4 stamps on 14 November 2020 on the subject of Demining (getting rid of the mines laid down by Argentine forces during the occupation of 1982). This interesting set was designed by Bee Design from photographs taken by John Hare Safe Lane Global Ltd 2015 - 2020 (32p) and GuyMargot, Demining Programme and was lithographed by Cartor and the stamps are perforated 13.5. Rating:- ****. ( Thanks to Juliet Warner of Pobjoy Stamps  for information about the above issues.  🇸🇬 Singapore Post will issue a set of 4 stamps on 6 November 2020 to commemorate the 75

Source:- High-tech drones could have neutralised Chinese intrusions at LAC but India didn’t have them For the past one month, the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has made the militaries world over sit up and take notice of the extensive use of high-end military technology — armed/unarmed drones and loiter munitions, colloquially known as kamikaze drones. The videos that have emerged from the conflict demonstrate how artificial intelligence-based weapons system will have a major impact on shaping the contours of future conflicts, relegating the much romanticised close combat to the sidelines. It is empirical wisdom that the development and introduction of path-breaking military technologies, and their antidotes is near simultaneous. What you require is the know-how and a will to reform and pay the costs involved — India is notorious for violating these cardinals. Nothing demonstrates this better than our inability in neutralising the Chinese intrusions and coercion on

Experts from the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center launched an unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III missile at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base Thursday. The launch, which took place at 12:27 a.m. Pacific time, was a test of the missile's accuracy and reliability, according to the Air Force. The missile traveled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. "These operational test launches serve multiple purposes," said Col. Erik Quigley, Minuteman III Systems director. In addition to serving as a demonstration of the Air Force's nuclear launch capability to adversaries and assurance of the capability for allies, Quigley said the test launches "help validate our models of the Minuteman III fleet to ensure the ICBMs continue to meet stringent nuclear launch requirements." The Minuteman III missile fleet was fielded in the 1970s and is marking its 50th anniversary this year. The fleet's launch infrastructure system is now spread

Department of the Air Force Secretary, Barbara M. Barrett, offered an upbeat assessment Oct. 28 of the Space Force's development while also describing in stark terms how the shifting security environment in space is validating the nation's newest branch of the military. "Increasingly, free and open access to space is under threat. Though the United States will not be the aggressor in space, we will, we must, build a Space Force to defend our space interests," Barrett said in a virtual address at Space Symposium 365, an influential gathering of space advocates from government, commerce and defense sponsored by the Space Foundation. Barrett, who was joined by Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, underscored that assertion by highlighting activities and threats in space that in the past had been given less emphasis. "Last year, Russia maneuvered an 'inspector satellite' into an orbit threateningly close to a sensitive U.S. satelli

More than 400 defense industry executives, military commanders and other national security experts came together virtually this week to discuss an innovative plan for U.S. military communication and decision-making. The Texas A and M University System hosted the meeting sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), a group promoting dialogue on the shared goals of the military and industry. In a series of lectures, question-and-answer sessions and panel discussions, the military and industry leaders explored the challenges associated with an ongoing Department of Defense initiative called "Joint All Domain Command and Control" or "JADC2." Its goal is to connect information systems among all of the service branches in a single network. Speakers on Tuesday and Wednesday included Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown and about two dozen other high-ranking officers and retired officers from every service branch. Texas A and M System Chanc

  🇯🇪 Jersey Post will issue a lovely set of 8 Christmas stamps on 23 November 2020. The designs by So Design depict Jersey landscapes created from layers of paper cuttings.The foregrounds of the stamps are also made from paper cuttings and represent traditional Christmas icons. The stamps are self-adhesive. Rating:- *****. 🇲🇿 In Blog 1736 I mentioned that a miniature sheet containing 10 different stamps had been issued with the name of Sierra Leone printed on it which appeared to be a joint issue with several other countries including a number of European territories. Whether this item had been produced at the request of the postal service of Sierra Leone to enable it to identify itself with other postal services or whether or not it is just another Stamperija -produced item destined never to see a post office counter in Sierra Leone I know not but it is a little more interesting than the usual Stamperija products (if that is what it is)  Now a

  The auction is led by  Louis Lozowick ’s scarce circa-1925 Art Deco lithograph  New York,  of which only three other impressions have been seen at auction in the past 30 years ($40,000-60,000). Edward Hopper is available with  Night Shadows , etching, 1921 ($20,000-30,000): the work is the only commercial etching printed by Hopper and was created for  The New Republic , New York, and published in a limited edition portfolio for their December 1924 issue.   Additional works by American printmakers include color woodcuts by Gustave Baumann, classic views of New York City by Martin Lewis, and the important Regionalist lithographer Thomas Hart Benton. Latin American stalwarts include Wifredo Lam with  Pleni Luna , a 1974 portfolio with complete text and 10 color lithographs ($6,000-9,000); Mixografias by Rufino Tamayo:  Personajes con Pajaros , 1988 ($4,000-6,000), and  Hombre en la Ventana , 1980 ($5,000-8,000); as well as impressions by Diego Rivera, Leopold Méndez, David A. Sique

Source:- Pakistan minister says we entered India and killed them, Pulwama was a success New Delhi: A minister in Pakistan’s Imran Khan government, Fawad Chaudhry, Thursday admitted to the country’s involvement in the 14 February 2019 Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. Speaking in the Pakistan parliament, the National Assembly, Chaudhry said, “Humne Hindustan ko ghus ke mara hai… wahaan pe. Pulwama main jo humari kamyabi hai, woh Imran Khan ki leadership mein is kaum ki kamyabi hai (We entered India and killed. Our success in Pulwama, under the leadership of Imran Khan, is a victory of our community),” he said. “Uske hissedar aap aur hum sab hai (all of us are party to it),” he added. Chaudhry was responding to a comment made by opposition leader Ayaz Sadiq of Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). Speaking to a news channel Wednesday, Sadiq had said Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s “legs were shaking” during a meeting last February when their fo