World Empires

Maps of the World:

Map of the World in 750 CE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_world_in_750_CE.PNG

The World recently:

http://www.zonu.com/detail-en/2009-11-06-10869/World-political-map.html

The World as a cartographer from Uruguay might see it:

Try to imagine how the World might be organized in 2750.  I imagine

•••  the Turkic Union (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) uniting with Iran, northern Afghanistan, and Tajikistan to recreate a Turko-Persian Empire; 

••• the states of South America joining in the United States of South America;  

•••  Canada and Mexico joining with the existing United States to form the United States of  North America;  

•••  the Pashtun on both sides of the Hindu Kush will form Pashtunistan and thee rest of the world will finally leave them alone; 

•••  Russia will join the European Union, bringing Georgia and Armenia along with it; 

•••  Pakistan, which has no good choices, will join the Golf Monarchies, which will gobble up Yemen and North Africa, though that Empire is unlikely to recreate the Golden Age of Islam, being too stultified by religion; 

and I have no guesses for Africa.  I also can't imagine India joining China or their remaining competitive states; something will have to give, and I don't know what it will be.

Or the World will, finally, give up Empire and allow all folks to live with those with whom they have affinity. I'd like that.

Yarn bombing

From on NEAATO Blog, a netwerok of entertaining Asian American talent.

Yarn bombing- Yarn Bombing is a type of street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk. The practice is believed to have originated in the U.S. with Texas knitters trying to find a creative way to use their leftover and unfinished knitting projects, but has since spread worldwide. While other forms of graffiti may be expressive, decorative, territorial, socio-political commentary, advertising or vandalism, yarn bombing is almost exclusively about beautification and creativity. 'Emphasis added]

So here's to Texas knitters (clink!)  Always knew they were inventive.

Syria's possible ceasefire

A ceasefire, even Peace, in Syria would be welcomed, with 9,000 dead and counting.

U.N.-brokered cease-fire appears to take hold in Syria -- Washington Post

Democrats are hopeful; Republicans are silent.

Some newspapers in the US portray Russia as a hold-out prima donna, merely strutting on the World State, showing off it's veto power.  It is claimed that China is merely following along.

Per contra:  

•••  Russia has fought bloody wars against Sunni Muslim nationalists in Chechnya and many Sunni Muslim attacks on Russian civilians; 


•••  Syria is right next door, not separated from Russia by two great oceans; 


•••  there are three Sunni Muslim Turkic republics inside the Russian Federation; 


•••  Turkey is a member of NATO and has missals pointed at Russia, 


•••  Damascus and Tehran and Bagdad were once, not long ago, Turkic and Persian was the Court language of a Turkic Empire; 


•••  Turkey has eyes on control of Syria, 


and so on.

Armed Militia have lost perhaps too much to settle for a continuation of the Assad dictatorship on any terms; and massive rallies are planned for this Friday, to test the ceasefire.

The horrible Saudis with their Salafi surrogates foment civil war in Syria, in the ope of establishing a repressive Sunni state there; and so on. See Salafis, Shiites,Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Battle for Syria

Assad's forces defy ceasefire deal in Syria

Annan says Syria promises ceasefire – Syrians, under bombardment, mock ‘ceasefire’ Kuwaiti Times

The Syrian rebel army patrols an area near Homs --  The Telegraph

Pretty bad.  Not genocidal, as in South Sudan.  I show only the least horrible of the images on the web:

. . . and with all the horror surrounding them, the South sudanese have a football team!

"Hope Springs eternal in the human breast."