Harry Potter Mania…the Climax

We are witnessing Harry potter mania as never seen before…..not only because it’s the last one of the series. A lot of things happen….

A lot of characters are killed off….some are apprehensive of Harry himself.

In the previous episodes, all ye Harry Potter readers were in a parallel universe…but then that parallel universe was a world of fantasy. But this episode seems to merge this parallel universe into our own realistic world.

That was what J.K. Rowling was hinting at for a long time.

What makes this final episode interesting is its REALISTIC APPROACH.

Harry seems to be making a transformation from adolescence to adulthood. He has to confront his own frailties, his own limitations in dealing with Voldemort.. The preview says the elves, goblins & other exotic beings choose sides dependent on what they think the outcome is going to be.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows……It is the climax of the Eternal Conflict between the Forces of Good & the Forces of Evil.

Readers must brace themselves for the death of 5-6 of their favorite characters…..methinks Harry will live, badly bruised.

But what about Hermione, what about Ron ? The ultimate sacrifice is demanded from one of them….

Russia flexing its muscles again

Russia , sensing NATO is overstretched in 5-7 fronts, is flexing its muscles. One has to remember the Cold War Era + the undeniable fact that Russia still has a NUCLEAR ARSENAL ALMOST EQUAL TO THE USA....in some areas , even greater.

This is adding to the already growing tension.


This reports by Guy Falconbridge, reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday rejected a NATO offer to hold a special conference on a key European arms pact and instead proposed working on a new agreement, local news agencies quoted a top defense ministry official as saying.

President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday Russia would pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, a landmark pact limiting post-Cold War military strength.

NATO said it was "very concerned" at the pullout and suggested Russia should join an extraordinary conference to discuss its concerns about the treaty.

GASOLINE WARS …… A COROLLARY OF HUBBERT’S ANALYSIS

Late geophysicist Hubbert predicted way back in 1956 that peak year for oil production would be between 2004 to 2008. Though during 1956, it wasn’t given much accreditation….right now more & more oil analysts are saying that will be the case.

It’s difficult to predict but definitely range for peak oil production is between 2002 to 2010. At least from 2010, oil production is DEFINITELY GOING TO GO DOWN.

Reason :- We just can’t find enough oil reservoirs. And the ones that are being found cannot be extracted profitably.

Now what’s going to add up to the chaos?? – China & India’s production are rising rapidly.

Some say, oil will run out by 2050.

But the problems will start much early, within 2015……when production will be 60% of today’s with huge demand + NO ALTERNATIVES.

It would mean global conflicts of a scale not seen before.

What’s happening in the Mid-East is SCARY ??? Experts say –

We are just watching a TRAILER OF THE FIGHT FOR GASOLINE !

G-8 summit

CAR INSURANCE IN CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK HITTING THE SKY ??

What with all the risks involved, a friend of mine told me that he just can’t afford car insurance in New York. Another colleague told me car insurance in California might go up 150% next year.

What seems to be the reason behind this ?

Well, I got the scoop.

Till now, insurance companies were making up for the losses by gaining from the other states.

But, it seems like there is going to be an extremely complicated new legislation to be passed in Congress which is going to put a cap on these insurance companies’ asset translocations.

somebody told me we got more lead in our gasoline damaging the engines...anybody have an idea ??

Tumbling Asian Stocks….”domino effect”

Asian Stocks are tumbling, by around 2% average !

Reason: The Dow has fallen by 1.97 %…..Reason Dow fell was there were concerns about U.S. sub-prime lenders, who are providing mortgages to people with poor credit. Of course, if they fail, the lenders’ / banks / financial institutions might be in a mess…… So the Dow fell….

But what is truly surprising is why 7+ Asian stocks fell…..phenomenon being a “domino-effect”….Of course, IT IS A GLOBAL MARKET (at least when you’re dealing with stocks, of course). But the fall, IMHO, was a local U.S. phenomenon.

Question is : What effect can this have globally? The Asian markets have strong fundamentals, so there should be no cause for worry.

It is surprising to see the fall of the Nikkei 225 (2.92%), Shanghai Composite, Sensex(3%), Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 (2.1%), Singapore's Straits Times(3.17%), S.Korean Kospi,(2%), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (2.8%)…..

My financial consultant Mr. Debajyoti Dutta-Roy asked me to wait for a further fall to buy some blue-chips....this guy's delivered in the past, so I'm heeding his advice

U.S. PLANNING TO NEUTRALIZE IRAN ?

We all know that Iran is just a few months away from developing full-scale thermonuclear devices (i.e. atom bombs). And it already has a sophisticated missile system. This is pretty dangerous for the entire Middle east.

Also, Iran had developed an intercontinental missile capable of delivering several small warheads that could reach Europe.

But what comes as news is that a U.S. panel has been created to plan a bombing attack that could be implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President George W. Bush.

Now, what does that mean ?

If U.S. acts rashly, and takes out Iran’s nuclear facilities, it can have disastrous consequences.

Iran is a master of covert actions. This has been recorded in the past. It can ferry across nukes to different regions of its allies, like Syria, or even the Hezbollah of Lebanon.
Proof : the past Iran-made Hezbollah missiles that were used in the recent conflict with Israel.

So, an unilateral attack by the U.S. can lead to UNDETECTED NUKES being launched from Hezbollah-held positions in Lebanon. As well as parts of Syria, and even parts of southern Shia-dominated Iraq. Not to mention Iran.

IMHO, U.S. should consult its global allies before even thinking of unilaterally carrying out such action.

GLOBAL WARMING – SOLVE & GET $25 MILLION

Richard Branson, (with Al Gore by his side) has offered $25 million for ‘solving’ Global Warming. There’s a concrete proposal – you have to remove at least a billion tons of carbon dioxide a year from the Earth's atmosphere.

I’d say they are the right people to spearhead such a campaign……but the million $ question is :

Are we too late? Have we entered an IRREVERSIBLE TREND ?

We have strategies to capture carbon dioxide & greenhouse gases at industrial regions, but here is no strategy to REMOVE gases already released. These might be causing irreversible damage.

We are already witnessing effects of global warming throughout the globe :

Super hurricanes, like Hurricane Katrina.
Prolonged, persistent droughts in India.
Recurrent typhoons in South East Asia.
Rapid desertification in Africa.
Heat waves in Europe.
Melting of polar ice caps and glaciers in Himalayas & Alps.

My hunch is…….we already might have entered an irreversible process.

DOOMSDAY IS 5 MINUTES AWAY !

Quoting Reuters :


“The scientists who mind the Doomsday Clock moved it two minutes closer to midnight on Wednesday -- symbolizing the annihilation of civilization and adding the perils of global warming for the first time.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 to warn the world of the dangers of nuclear weapons, advanced the clock to five minutes until midnight. It was the first adjustment of the clock since 2002.

We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age," the bulletin's board of directors said in a statement.

They pointed to

North Korea's first nuclear test,

Iran's nuclear ambitions, U.S. flirtation with "bunker buster" nuclear bombs, the continued presence of 26,000 American and Russian nuclear weapons and inadequate security for nuclear materials.”

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And here’s my analysis :

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This prediction is by an extremely RESPONSIBLE, MATURE organization. The world would do well to heed its warning.

We are indeed at the brink of a Second Nuclear Age. A second escalation of nuclear armaments, by certain irresponsible powers. Yes, when it all started USA & Soviet Union too lacked maturity. But the 5 (or 7) nuclear powers DID stand the test of time. After the terrible catastrophes of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, there were no usage of nukes.

But now we have a nightmare scenario of nukes in the hands of destabilized Islamic fundamentalists.

N. Korea has a deterrent in the form of China. But still it poses a grave threat to Japan with its Taepodong missile. (And soon Taepodong III & other variants can reach India or mainland USA). I believe the Indian bureaucracy is still sleeping on this piece of information.

But Iran poses a graver threat. Its president openly vows to annihilate Israel. I think that other countries are more at risk than Israel. Any guarantee that its nukes can’t go “eastwards” ? Israel has an excellent defence system. But what if Iran nukes “Sunni part” of Iraq after the US forces have left?

Another destabilizing factor is the prescence of “dirty bombs”. Some have even been acquired by the Mafia. These guys acquire it at a cheap price, and hold on to it. They wait to sell it at a high price to global terrorists. Some say few are in “global conflict hotspots”

Moving this clock, which is symbolic of the proximity of mankind with its own annihilation, is done by people who really do their research.

WE SHOULD DO EVERYTHING, AS RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS OF THIS WORLD, TO REVERSE THIS DANGEROUS NUCLEAR WEAPONS ESCALATION.

Unbiased News Analysis