Iran, the nuclear weapon and the World

What is going on this week at the IAEA in Vienna has a distinct flavor of "Deja vu". Nothing I can see has changed after the latest resolutions of the UN Security Council, or of other international and regional bodies.

The West is demanding Iran to comply with international law. The leaders of the Third World, either real or self proclaimed, are putting into question the international verification system. The silent majority of moderate countries still have not built up the courage to side with the cause of non proliferation.

But the reality is difficult to hide. If Iran has no intention of building a nuclear weapon, why defy the international community and contribute to the legitimate concerns of whole sectors of the world population who believe that further nuclear weaponry only endangers the world as we know it and what we are trying to construct for future generations.

And there is no denying that Iran is worried with the new sanctions it has to suffer. Monies and banks are targeted this time round. This really will affect not only the people of Iran,but also their leaders. This is a whole new matter.

There is something else I cannot understand. Why does the Arab world side with Iran? If nuclear proliferation by Iran is a threat to someone it is first and foremost to the Arab countries. Not to mention Pakistan and other far eastern Muslim countries. As a matter of fact, if Iran manages to finally get the nuclear weapon, the Arabs will, in turn, scramble to get theirs as soon as possible. They have the financial capabilities to buy it from any willing seller. That would really be a danger to the world we live in. That would be a real disaster.

More on Air travel disruptions in Spain.

Now, after 11 months I finally get around to writing a post on my blog, and it resulted rather sympathetic to the Air Traffic Controllers in Spain who are disrupting air travel with a stealthy undeclared strike, in which most of them don't show up to work allegedly for medical reasons, and thus reduce the number of flights that can be handled by the system.
A bit like traffic police who have nearly quit fining drivers ( some reports say that the number of fines has gone down 85% lately).
Having experimented a 5% decrease in my salary, because the government needs money to keep on paying for all the political appointees ( not one such position has been eliminated, it is only professional civil servants who see their grades reduced arbitrarily), a few hours ago my sympathies were with the Controllers. However, I am now stranded at Madrid airport where my connecting flight is only 2 hours late, hopefully. That is after a scheduled 8 hour stop because it was the cheapest option for the government.
Of course a top politician who was also on my inbound flight this morning, but in business class, has long left in a previous but more expensive flight than the one I got booked by the powers that be.
So I am having a difficult time maintaining my sympathy for those guys who are supposed to get us all home safely. My respect for our politicians is also lower than it was it this morning, if that were possible. So I have decided to keep both posts on the blog. 11 months without activity and two posts today! And at 11 pm I guess the night is still young....

Air Traffic control stealthy strike in Spain...

Here I am, blogging for the first time in months, yes in months! And I am doing it on my brand new iPad and on a plane. A delayed plane flight to be precise. I am trying to get to Madrid from Vienna, and we have been informed that we cannot start the engines because lof flight restrictions in Madrid. The press in this slow time for news, but heavy times for air travel, are having a ball criticizing flight control operators who are rumored to be on a " stealth strike".
Fact is that an unusually high percentage of them are turning sick without enough time to cater for substitutes, so the rest are working over time and cannot manage the demand from scheduled holiday seasonflights.
Fact is also that when a medical inspection has been ordered by the authorities, 7 out of ten controllers on sick leave have been ordered to return to work, or else...p
So it seems that there is some sort of a protest agreement going on and it is the travelers and holiday makers who are suffering the consequences.
But the fact remains that as a government employee whose salary has been cut illegally by the same government who has got us into this economic disaster due to reckless measures and excessive spending, I cannot but feel a sensation of solidarity and admiration for those controllers who are, in their own way, standing up to our socialists who spend our money on themselves and their trips and perks and who have done nothing to remedy our situation until it was too late.
Keep it up guys, wish we could do the same in our department.