Ovi magazine; Wednesday January 12th, 2022

 

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Wednesday January 12th, 2022 – National Youth Day (India)

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Great Powers’ New Year Resolution: Now We Need Action by Rene Wadlow

On 3 January 2022 the People’s Republic of China, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America issued a joint statement on security, disarmament, and arms control.

“We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.  As nuclear use would have far-reaching consequences, we also affirm that nuclear-weapons – for as long as they continue to exist – should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression and prevent war.

We reaffirm the importance of addressing nuclear threats and emphasize the importance of preserving and complying with our bilateral and multilateral non-proliferation, disarmament, and arms controm agreements and commitments and to create a security environment more conducive to progress on disarmament with the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all.

Continue reading HERE!

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Marching Boots #poem & #painting by Nikos Laios

“The marching boots,
The guns, the bayonets,
Flapping flags,
Clenched fists,
Empty squares,
The siren wails.”

Continue reading HERE!

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The future of science by Joseph Gatt

I have the feeling that theoretical science seems to be dead and needs a rebirth. Data science is in; where you have people studying patterns and trends in data, and a lot of what scientists are asked to do is fix the data or come up with new ways to study data.

Observation and logical inference are out. Data collection and analysis are in. The things is so many tools have been invented to study data, including infrared cameras and huge data centers that study gazillions of data points which make data collection and analysis a lot easier. So participant observation or data observation are kind of outdated methods of science, or of little interest to those who think any scientific claim should be backed up by data.

The problem with data is that it’s hard to study the cause and effect relationship in any data set that is what caused a phenomenon to be produced, unless there’s other data to help study the cause and effect relationship. But with observation you can infer the cause and effect relationship.

Continue reading HERE!

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A fistful of cactus #015 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more A fistful of cactus, HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

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Explosives missing in Gaza

A large stockpile of unexploded weapons has disappeared in Gaza, before United Nations experts were able to dispose of it safely. The explosives, including aircraft bombs and white phosphorus shells, were fired by the Israeli military during its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip.

UN officials said they were urgently trying to establish where the arms had gone and have called for their return. Israel has accused Hamas of taking the stockpile, which was under Hamas guard.

So, what are we expecting now? A provocative act that will turn in flames Gaza once more or a series of terrorists acts? And if something happens what will be the truth, terrorism of provocation?

Deal reached to ban cluster bombs

More than 100 nations meeting in Dublin, Ireland, agreed Wednesday on a treaty that would immediately ban all cluster bombs, a spokesman for the Cluster Munition Coalition told the news agencies.

The accord calls for a total, immediate ban of the weapons, strong standards to protect those injured by them, contaminated areas to be cleaned up as quickly as possible and for the weapons to be immediately destroyed, he said.

Thomas Nash, coordinator of the CMC campaigning organization, said: "This is a great achievement for everyone who has been working hard to see the end of 40 years of suffering from these weapons."

Though some of the biggest makers of cluster bombs, including the United States, Russia, China and Israel, were not involved in the talks and have not signed the accord, organizers predicted that those nations would nevertheless be pressured into compliance.

"Take the United States," Nash said. "Almost all of its allies are here. They've decided to ban these weapons. That's going to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the United States to ever use these weapons again, either on its own or in joint operations."

So how difficult it is for these 100 to ban all kinds of bombs and then persuade or better press the rest to do the same?

UN armed DR Congo rebels?

The UN has covered up claims that its troops in Democratic Republic of Congo gave arms to militias and smuggled gold and ivory.

The allegations, based on confidential UN sources, involve Pakistani and Indian troops working as peacekeepers. The UN investigated some of the claims in 2007, but said it could not substantiate claims of arms dealing.

Making business instead of stopping ones?

Angola allows arms ship to dock

Angola's government has authorized a Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe to dock, although it says it will not be allowed to unload weapons.

In a statement, the government said the vessel would only be allowed to deliver goods intended for Angola. On Thursday, the Chinese authorities said they would recall the ship to China after port workers in South Africa refused to unload the weapons.

Other southern African countries had also refused to allow the ship to dock. Leaders in the region had expressed concern that the weapons could heighten tensions in Zimbabwe.

Friends of the caricature dictator Mugabe, but when Mugabe is over their turn will come!!!

10 more days to hand over their weapons

Iraq's government has extended by 10 days a deadline for Shia militiamen fighting troops in the southern city of Basra to hand over their weapons.
More than 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since a clampdown on militias began in Basra on Tuesday. US-led forces joined the battle for the first time overnight, bombing Shia positions, the UK military said.

Iraq's parliament is to hold emergency talks on the crisis, which has also brought a three-day curfew in Baghdad. A statement from Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's office read: "All those who have heavy and intermediate weapons are to deliver them to security sites and they will be rewarded financially. This will start from March 28 to April 8."

I think the big question remaining is why these 10 days? Wont they have the time in ten days to do more damage? How many Shia Rambo will take to destroy everything in ten days? This is really sad and in the end it shows that they are going to hand …some weapons but the problem will remain. If they wanted to make the difference they should have said by tomorrow evening, and that’s it!