The Real Reason We're (Still) In Afghanistan

Since there are, by military analysts own admission, at most 100 Al Qaeda dweebs left in the region, and we can basically thump the Taliban at will, the truth is that while we're justifiably worried about what's going on in Pakistan and the frightening prospect of terrorists somehow getting control of a nuke, there is another really big reason why we're there that has not one fucking thing to do with terrorist dorks squatting in caves.

In 2003, China made a territorial claim on the Indian province of Sikkim (apparently following Eddie Izzard's "Do you have a flag?" model of diplomatic relations). This border was set by British and Tibetan authorities in 1914, called the McMahon Line, but China has basically said, "Screw the treaty, we own that 90,000 sq. km."

There have since been Chinese troop incursions into the utterly peaceful nation of Bhutan in 2006, which have quite justifiably pissed off India. India has parked bunkers in the northeastern state of Sikkim, and China has demanded that India remove the two bunkers even though the bunkers are on Indian territory.

In 2006, China's Ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi flat-out claimed on Indian television that the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh was Chinese territory. In 2007, there were rumors of China moving 20 km further inside the Indian territory of Arunachal Pradesh (an area China now refers to as "Southern Tibet"), which China denied. India has accused China of occupying 8,000 sq km of Kashmir as a part of a flare up over the territory in 1986 with Chinese and Indian forces actually fighting against each other in the Sumdorong Valley.

In addition to the Indian Chief of the Army Deepak Kapoor complaining of Chinese helicopters violating Indian airspace, the Chinese have pulled ridiculous stunts like sending grazing herds across the border, and painting rocks in Indian territory with the Cantonese characters for "China" written in a lovely shade of Commie red.

In 2008, Chinese troops threatened to destroy stone structures (ie. the monasteries) in Sikkim's Finger Point region, and then a month later sent troops one km into Indian territory. In total, there were over 65 incursions into this region which is known for it's Buddhist treasures in Tawang (the birthplace of the sixth incarnation of the Dalai Lama, and the location of the 327-year-old Galden Namgey Lhatse Monastery, which is second in size only to the main Potala in Lhasa, Tibet). This is a region China just wants to monetize for the potential tourist dollars it would bring in. Unfortunately, Tawang is also rich in minerals that no doubt China wishes to exploit/rape the same way as they have in their own country like a plague of locusts. Ironically, atheist China has made international claims on this territory under supposed "religious grounds". Something which India counters by basically saying, "Well if you try to claim that, we'll claim Mount Kailash which is sacred to Hindus."

And it should NEVER be forgotten that because China occupies Tibet, they basically own the high ground that controls the fresh water supply for the entire Indian Subcontinent. China basically has never forgiven India for providing refuge for the Dalai Lama and hundreds of thousands of Tibetans fleeing the totalitarian regime that is illegally occupying their sovereign nation. This, even though India signed the stupid Panchsheel Agreement which basically legitimized the invasion of Tibet by India acknowledging that China was it's "new neighbor". After signing the agreement, China proceeded to make multiple incursions all through the 1950's into Indian territory like Ladakh. China did things like to build the Tibet-Xinjiang Highway through the Indian territory of Aksai Chin.

The never talked about truth of our occupation of Afghanistan is that it's basically America guarding India's flank from the Chinese.

It also serves the purpose of blocking direct paths of contact between China and Iran, who's oil relationship continues to grow.

Steven Pinker On "The Stuff of Thought"

I want to recommend a really interesting lecture on psycholinguistics presented as a part of the Big Ideas Podcast.

To download the podcast, LISTEN HERE.

The audio (#81) was released on 02/02/08, and is a little over 51 minutes long.

Additional video is available HERE.

Quadrupling Genetic Power

Jason Chin and his team at the University of Cambridge have managed successfully create synthetic genes with expanded numbers of codons.

In the current genetic code, the four letters of genetic code, G, A, C, & T (otherwise known as nucleotides) are read in triplets. In other words, each triplet forms a single amino acid. These amino acids either tell cells to construct protein chains (or command such growth to stop) and from this, a myriad of life forms are created.

By this method, there are 64 possible combinations (codons) of the nucleotides. However the Cambridge team has managed to find a way to redesign the cells to read nucleotides in quadruplets. This means that 256 codons are now possible, with all the variation that implies.

Think about the vast difference in imaging power between 64-bit and 256-bit graphics and how that upgrade revolutionized computing, and you begin to get the idea about the possibilities here.

Some of the advantages of this new development include proteins that don't lose their disulphide bonds (3D structure) even when hear or acidity are applied, meaning that it might be possible to make a drug that can be taken orally, without being destroyed by the acids in the patient's stomach. It might even be possible to mix polymers with organics creating more adaptable life forms.

For more, CLICK HERE.

HIV Cured Via Stem Cells In Germany

This is really wonderful news that could save literally millions of lives.

Per CNN:

A 42-year-old HIV patient with leukemia appears to have no detectable HIV in his blood and no symptoms after a stem cell transplant from a donor carrying a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to the virus that causes AIDS, according to a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The patient is fine," said Dr. Gero Hutter of Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany. "Today, two years after his transplantation, he is still without any signs of HIV disease and without antiretroviral medication."

The case was first reported in November, and the new report is the first official publication of the case in a medical journal. Hutter and a team of medical professionals performed the stem cell transplant on the patient, an American living in Germany, to treat the man's leukemia, not the HIV itself.

However, the team deliberately chose a compatible donor who has a naturally occurring gene mutation that confers resistance to HIV. The mutation cripples a receptor known as CCR5, which is normally found on the surface of T cells, the type of immune system cells attacked by HIV.

The mutation is known as CCR5 delta32 and is found in 1 percent to 3 percent of white populations of European descent.

HIV uses the CCR5 as a co-receptor (in addition to CD4 receptors) to latch on to and ultimately destroy immune system cells. Since the virus can't gain a foothold on cells that lack CCR5, people who have the mutation have natural protection. (There are other, less common HIV strains that use different co-receptors.)

People who inherit one copy of CCR5 delta32 take longer to get sick or develop AIDS if infected with HIV. People with two copies (one from each parent) may not become infected at all. The stem cell donor had two copies.

For more information, CLICK HERE.

How To Report The News

The BBC gives us a hilarious summation of all the clichés news organizations use in their reportage...

Yup, that about covers it.