One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night • Hacker News Board

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#31

Post by _5hnm » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:38 PM UTC

dest wrote: post #2

I wonder how many MW are spent on this border

Good question.

Wikipedia entry claims 150,000 floodlights but I question the origin of this number. It showed up out of the blue, in a single edit, and none of the cited sources have the said number in them. Two pieces of information that the edit added are that there are (A) 0.15 million lights, and (B) 50,000 poles they're on: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indo-Pakistani_bo...

Trying to trace A or B just shows articles that obviously quoted wikipedia, and they use either version of 0.15 or 150,000 depending on when they were written. At this point, the wiki entry number is almost imaginary, being circularly reinforced by web articles referencing it.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#32

Post by chimeracoder » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

1971genocide wrote: post #29

sremani wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree. India and Pakistan are similar and have similar problems but the level of white-washing of history and devotion to "Garrison State" does not happen in India. Heck, the education system in India is wildly varied from state to state. After reading real books and what not, India is screwed up, but if Indians want to feel any better they only have to look at Pakistan and take comfort from the fact Pakistan is m…

India is amazing. As a ethnically hindu bangladeshi I would eat a hat to switch my passport so that I could go work in bangalore ! I do not have a problem with muslims - most of my friends are. But islam is a terrible curse in south east asia in general. I am not sure if its the saudis spreading wahabbism - I mean pakistan was terrible even during the independence. Pakistan needs some sort of Hiroshima moment like th…

> As a ethnically hindu bangladeshi

Well, on that note, as an Hindu East Bengali, I'm embarrassed to read the things you've been posting here.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#33

Post by arihant » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:57 PM UTC

mattzito wrote: post #16

Once flying from the US to Delhi, a flight attendant came to get me in the middle of the night, and waved me over to an open window row to show me the border. It's quite pretty, but it is striking how few lights are on other than the border itself.

There's desert on either side of the border.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#34

Post by 1024core » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 6:00 PM UTC

ucaetano wrote: post #13

ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poverty won't be solved by spending less on enforcing borders. This is the same type of thing the BBC says whenever India does something like send a probe to the moon or mars.

Actually, it will. Not because of the extra money, but because of increased trade and job mobility that will come with a more open border.

It is Pakistan that does not want Indian goods flowing in. India is more than happy to trade with Pakistan.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#35

Post by cmadan » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 6:29 PM UTC

grokavi wrote: post #15

thrownaway122 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The propensity to fight pointless wars is a human problem not specific to any particular grouping of humans.

Yes, but I'm not paying for the wars humans are waging all over the globe. I would rather have power in Bangalore than waste it this way.

AFAIK, you are. India has contributed millions in foreign aid to rebuild Afghanistan and contributes a significant number of troops to UN peacekeeping forces.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#36

Post by Theodores » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 6:35 PM UTC

One man decided that border in a matter of a few weeks having never been to India before.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Line

He left after drawing the line, burning his papers and not accepting payment. So nobody really knows why the border was decided to be where it is yet untold billions have been spent defending it and lighting it up.

Oh, and that border cost ~500,000 lives.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#37

Post by 1971genocide » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 6:39 PM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #32

1971genocide wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

India is amazing. As a ethnically hindu bangladeshi I would eat a hat to switch my passport so that I could go work in bangalore ! I do not have a problem with muslims - most of my friends are. But islam is a terrible curse in south east asia in general. I am not sure if its the saudis spreading wahabbism - I mean pakistan was terrible even during the independence. Pakistan needs some sort of Hiroshima moment like th…

> As a ethnically hindu bangladeshi Well, on that note, as an Hindu East Bengali, I'm embarrassed to read the things you've been posting here.

What exactly did I say that you think is so shameful ?

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#38

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 6:41 PM UTC

grokavi wrote: post #15

thrownaway122 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The propensity to fight pointless wars is a human problem not specific to any particular grouping of humans.

Yes, but I'm not paying for the wars humans are waging all over the globe. I would rather have power in Bangalore than waste it this way.

[deleted]

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#39

Post by dang » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 7:04 PM UTC

1971genocide wrote: post #37

chimeracoder wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a ethnically hindu bangladeshi Well, on that note, as an Hindu East Bengali, I'm embarrassed to read the things you've been posting here.

What exactly did I say that you think is so shameful ?

You've posted many comments to HN that were uncivil, unsubstantive, or both. Now you've called (or almost called) for nuking Pakistan, which is beyond the pale.

Please work on editing out the uncivil and unsubstantive from your comments, and please stop feeding flamewars on this site.

Re: One of few places on Earth where an international boundary can be seen at night

#40

Post by 1971genocide » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 8:07 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #39

1971genocide wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly did I say that you think is so shameful ?

You've posted many comments to HN that were uncivil, unsubstantive, or both. Now you've called (or almost called) for nuking Pakistan, which is beyond the pale. Please work on editing out the uncivil and unsubstantive from your comments, and please stop feeding flamewars on this site.

I didn't call for nuking pakistan. Just said they as a country needs a Hiroshima moment. Similar to how the Japanese though they were exceptional and then the Americans made them surrender causing a collective realization in their society.

Pakistan thinks they are equal to the Indians. Not only the govt but also its people. This is why they need a Hiroshima moment. It could as simple as India being granted a seat at the security council - but I think given the view of the average Pakistani it needs to be something more stronger.

Sorry if you think my language is uncivil. But I am not interested in changing it since I have not met a single pakistani who would even accept the war crimes they committed in bengal in 1971, and I have meet many pakistanis. Their collective arrogance is what drives me to use strong language whenever they are brought up.