"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" -- Voltaire
Excellent quote at [link]. Got it via [ link].
Friday, November 25, 2005
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Left? Libertarian? Right? Authoritarian?
Saturday, November 05, 2005
No analogies please
High time the criminals are booked. These demented politicians need to go. They keep playing the blame game and in the process no one is convicted.
India Funding Pakistani Jihadi Groups
Atanu Dey on How India may have contributed to its own travails! The comments are interesting too. I liked his perspective on the donations India made. I guess there is very little sincerity in all the donation that was made. The Indian govt couldn't be worried of calamities that occur in India leave alone neighbours. All these acts can only impress naive people and may help India put up a nice face in the world community much of which could care less about the welfare of Kashmir. They are interested in hearing truce along the LOC for their own reasons.
The one reason that wouldn't stop me from making a donation to Pakistan is that the same money could be used for the good of impoverished India. Now that is one thing that doesn't happen. But yes the terrorists should not get succor for killing innocents!
The one reason that wouldn't stop me from making a donation to Pakistan is that the same money could be used for the good of impoverished India. Now that is one thing that doesn't happen. But yes the terrorists should not get succor for killing innocents!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
From fighting objectification to seeking it!
I am appalled by the objectification of women that is so common now a days. The sad part is that women seem to be biggest perpetrators of the same. It is rather unfortunate that the objectification is taking place in the garb of espousing equality of the sexes. Most men should be happy though! What better than a world of sluts? A very good article on the NYTimes that elaborates how the feminists of the 70s may have been wrong and how the women of today are doing no better. I have pasted a few snippets below though I would suggest the article be given a full read at "What's a Mordern Girl to do?". [Reached the link via IndiaUncut]
On "Courtship"
On "Courtship"
"Decades after the feminist movement promised equality with men, it was becoming increasingly apparent that many women would have to brush up on the venerable tricks of the trade: an absurdly charming little laugh, a pert toss of the head, an air of saucy triumph, dewy eyes and a full knowledge of music, drawing, elegant note writing and geography. It would once more be considered captivating to lie on a chaise longue, pass a lacy handkerchief across the eyelids and complain of a case of springtime giddiness.
Today, women have gone back to hunting their quarry - in person and in cyberspace - with elaborate schemes designed to allow the deluded creatures to think they are the hunters. "Men like hunting, and we shouldn't deprive them of their chance to do their hunting and mating rituals," my 26-year-old friend Julie Bosman, a New York Times reporter, says. "As my mom says, Men don't like to be chased." Or as the Marvelettes sang, "The hunter gets captured by the game.""
"Power Dynamics" [The paragraphs not necessarily in succession in the actual article]
He had hit on a primal fear of single successful women: that the aroma of male power is an aphrodisiac for women, but the perfume of female power is a turnoff for men. It took women a few decades to realize that everything they were doing to advance themselves in the boardroom could be sabotaging their chances in the bedroom, that evolution was lagging behind equality.
A lot of women now want to be Maxim babes as much as men want Maxim babes. So women have moved from fighting objectification to seeking it. "I have been surprised," Maxim's editor, Ed Needham, confessed to me, "to find that a lot of women would want to be somehow validated as a Maxim girl type, that they'd like to be thought of as hot and would like their boyfriends to take pictures of them or make comments about them that mirror the Maxim representation of a woman, the Pamela Anderson sort of brand. That, to me, is kind of extraordinary."
Hoping for a truly equal (where merit will be synonymous with individual intellect) future!
It was naïve and misguided for the early feminists to tendentiously demonize Barbie and Cosmo girl, to disdain such female proclivities as shopping, applying makeup and hunting for sexy shoes and cute boyfriends and to prognosticate a world where men and women dressed alike and worked alike in navy suits and were equal in every way.
But it is equally naïve and misguided for young women now to fritter away all their time shopping for boudoirish clothes and text-messaging about guys while they disdainfully ignore gender politics and the seismic shifts on the Supreme Court that will affect women's rights for a generation.
What I didn't like at the start of the feminist movement was that young women were dressing alike, looking alike and thinking alike. They were supposed to be liberated, but it just seemed like stifling conformity.
What I don't like now is that the young women rejecting the feminist movement are dressing alike, looking alike and thinking alike. The plumage is more colorful, the shapes are more curvy, the look is more plastic, the message is diametrically opposite - before it was don't be a sex object; now it's be a sex object - but the conformity is just as stifling.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
The Great Indian Attitude
We who boast about our great culture and high morals when compared to the rest of the world. This incident is a testimony to the delusion many God-fearing cultured Indians love and are very proud of. I am sure a plethora of such incidents occur every other day, just that nobody writes about them. How morally depraved we have become and how used to being depraved are we?
Krishna, where are you?
"The young man crossed. He ran across. All it took was a fraction of a second. I could've imagined it, but, I saw a bike actually speeding up as he ran across the road. The bike hit him. The young man was lying on the road. Blood was pouring out of what seemed like a huge yawning hole on his left temple. We all saw it. We watched shocked. A second later a bus slightly to the right of the young man decided it had to move. It did. It ran over him. Over his arm and the right side of his body. It then stopped later. It was a DTC.
I wanted to help. So I asked. Was anyone going to take him to hospital? Then I shut up, because I heard people talking about how much money they could make out of this. One man said no-one should move him, because if he died there then they all could make more money. I was bewildered. It was like I had got transported to someplace barbaric. To a place in the dark ages.
Then I said something. I called an auto- asked the driver if he would take me and the man to hospital. The auto driver thought... and thought and thought. Finally he demanded a hundred and fifty rupees, I didn't have time to bargain. The distance was worth thirty. Amongst a lot of abuses, threats and such I managed to hoist the man into the auto. In the auto I searched his pockets to find a number I could call--only to find his pockets ripped off and empty. His money had been stolen. People had searched his pockets before I got there.
We reached Safdarjung Hospital. At nine the trauma care centre was devoid of any patients. The man and lady at the reception made me wait for a half-hour while they completed some paper work, despite my protests. They then brought out a sheaf of papers. Asked me if I was a relative, because only then would they allow surgery. I called him Senthil and signed as his sister. They brought him in on a stretcher. Then they left him there in the lobby with me for forty-five minutes, I timed it. When I asked why they were taking so long-- they said they had sent someone to stamp the papers and couldn't begin till they arrived. At long last the took him into the OT.
I took an auto back to Yusuf Sarai. I had missed the first three classes of the day. There were two more to go. The crowd had largely disappeared. The bus, its driver, conductor, a couple of touts, the bike owner and a large beefy policeman stood in a small circle pointing to the blood stains. From a distance, I imagined that justice just might be on its way. I went up to the policeman saying I was an eyewitness and would be happy to give a statement.
He looked at me curiously. I looked at the bus driver and the bike owner holding two five hundred rupee notes each in their hands. The police man had already collected a thousand. He tore the complaint notice in half in front of me. I asked what he was doing. He told me not to worry. He said the matter had been resolved. The bus driver, conductor and policeman left for Chai together. The bike owner drove off nervously."
I wanted to help. So I asked. Was anyone going to take him to hospital? Then I shut up, because I heard people talking about how much money they could make out of this. One man said no-one should move him, because if he died there then they all could make more money. I was bewildered. It was like I had got transported to someplace barbaric. To a place in the dark ages.
Then I said something. I called an auto- asked the driver if he would take me and the man to hospital. The auto driver thought... and thought and thought. Finally he demanded a hundred and fifty rupees, I didn't have time to bargain. The distance was worth thirty. Amongst a lot of abuses, threats and such I managed to hoist the man into the auto. In the auto I searched his pockets to find a number I could call--only to find his pockets ripped off and empty. His money had been stolen. People had searched his pockets before I got there.
We reached Safdarjung Hospital. At nine the trauma care centre was devoid of any patients. The man and lady at the reception made me wait for a half-hour while they completed some paper work, despite my protests. They then brought out a sheaf of papers. Asked me if I was a relative, because only then would they allow surgery. I called him Senthil and signed as his sister. They brought him in on a stretcher. Then they left him there in the lobby with me for forty-five minutes, I timed it. When I asked why they were taking so long-- they said they had sent someone to stamp the papers and couldn't begin till they arrived. At long last the took him into the OT.
I took an auto back to Yusuf Sarai. I had missed the first three classes of the day. There were two more to go. The crowd had largely disappeared. The bus, its driver, conductor, a couple of touts, the bike owner and a large beefy policeman stood in a small circle pointing to the blood stains. From a distance, I imagined that justice just might be on its way. I went up to the policeman saying I was an eyewitness and would be happy to give a statement.
He looked at me curiously. I looked at the bus driver and the bike owner holding two five hundred rupee notes each in their hands. The police man had already collected a thousand. He tore the complaint notice in half in front of me. I asked what he was doing. He told me not to worry. He said the matter had been resolved. The bus driver, conductor and policeman left for Chai together. The bike owner drove off nervously."
Krishna, where are you?
Friday, October 28, 2005
Goa lifts bars on beaches!
For once the government makes the right move! God knows why hard drinks were not legal on the beaches till now!
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
A Ferrari is still always a Ferrari
Anand Vasu on the return of the God. Sachin Tendulkar is back!
Read entire article here.
Choose your own holiday
Wow! Finally, religious holidays will not be mandatory for one and all [link]. People get to select from a fixed number of holidays rather than rest on holidays that they don't celebrate anyways. In fact the proposal speaks of conversion of religious holidays into "restricted holidays". I would suggest that there should be a certain fixed number of holidays that people should be allowed to use as they will. There is no reason why a secular state should have anything to do with religious festivals. Religious festivals that may lead to congestion in areas they are celebrated due to any associated processions etc should have the need to get special permission for celebration at hours which don't cause any difficulties to the work routines of those not celebrating.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Necessity is the mother of invention?
Inventions seem to foster necessity here (The new Ipod!).
I feel a severe urge to buy this one but don't find the need. Guess, I will have to resolve the need soon.
I feel a severe urge to buy this one but don't find the need. Guess, I will have to resolve the need soon.
Friday, October 07, 2005
When God called Bush
Link
"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did.
"'And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it.'"
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who attended the meeting in June 2003 too, also appears on the documentary series to recount how Mr Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."
God bless Bush!Sunday, October 02, 2005
The complex act of giving
Why do people give? Are acts of giving truly selfless or is there a hidden motive that is more important to the giver than the cause the donation is made to. Is the donor conscious of the hidden motive or is the donor oblivious to it too. A very nice article in the NYTimes gives some scientific insight into the act of giving!
There are people who seem to think that the world depends on their charitable acts. The acts as a result are done more in a condescending manner and end up doing very little good to the purported beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are in fact the people who do the charity. It benefits different people differently. I guess it helps a few to suppress their guilt at their fellow beings suffering. Also, they are not sure as to what their own future holds for them and so feel a sense of security by giving. Others may derive some sort of mileage, political or in social circles out of the charity.
It is very common for people to worry about the donations that their sports team has made or the donations that a certain other celebrity has made. As if it is an obligation on part of the celebrity to make a donation. I guess the reasoning is that since the celebrity earns much more he should donate more. A celebrity who makes a donation is accused of having a hidden propaganda. Life is miserable whether or not you donate! People who raise fingers may have not done their bit though. In fact people are more worried about the charity the other person did than the charity they would be interested in doing.
I don't think that all charity should be done anonymously. No charitable organisation can run without funds and the only way one can extract funds is to advertise any charity that has been done. But if Mac Donalds tries to get attention for its donation for the Katrina cause then it is doing more charity to its own cause. They could have made donations anonymously. I guess all educated folks can see through donations of the Mac Donald kind. Unfortunately, most donations are of the Mac Donalds kind! Not to say that people and organisations should stop donating. Just that the act of giving is by no means noble.
"And the altruistic impulse in humans is frequently absent in the face of need, which seems inconsistent with selfless goodness. Why does the generosity sparked by events like Katrina fail to appear when it comes to helping the 700,000 African children who die from diarrhea every year for lack of clean water?
Kathleen D. McCarthy, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York, argued that Americans' response to Katrina had much to do with what she calls the "but for the grace of God factor." The devastation hit so close to home that they could imagine their own living rooms under water. It's harder for them to put themselves in the place of a dying African child."
Read the Entire article. Kathleen D. McCarthy, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York, argued that Americans' response to Katrina had much to do with what she calls the "but for the grace of God factor." The devastation hit so close to home that they could imagine their own living rooms under water. It's harder for them to put themselves in the place of a dying African child."
It is very common for people to worry about the donations that their sports team has made or the donations that a certain other celebrity has made. As if it is an obligation on part of the celebrity to make a donation. I guess the reasoning is that since the celebrity earns much more he should donate more. A celebrity who makes a donation is accused of having a hidden propaganda. Life is miserable whether or not you donate! People who raise fingers may have not done their bit though. In fact people are more worried about the charity the other person did than the charity they would be interested in doing.
I don't think that all charity should be done anonymously. No charitable organisation can run without funds and the only way one can extract funds is to advertise any charity that has been done. But if Mac Donalds tries to get attention for its donation for the Katrina cause then it is doing more charity to its own cause. They could have made donations anonymously. I guess all educated folks can see through donations of the Mac Donald kind. Unfortunately, most donations are of the Mac Donalds kind! Not to say that people and organisations should stop donating. Just that the act of giving is by no means noble.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Sun TV, The moral police? Huh!
A photo that cost 5-star its license!
Brilliant. The interesting part is that the moral police is a news paper that belongs to the Sun TV group. It is the same Sun TV group that is known for showing "Adult Programs" after midnight! They have a problem with people who were shown kissing at a private party!
Brilliant. The interesting part is that the moral police is a news paper that belongs to the Sun TV group. It is the same Sun TV group that is known for showing "Adult Programs" after midnight! They have a problem with people who were shown kissing at a private party!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Give Ganguly a break?
Maybe, in the recent Ganguly-Chappell imbroglio Chappell was not less at fault. He is not known for his team management skills. Just as a great scientist may not be a good teacher, a great player may not be a good coach for Team India. Whether Ganguly should stay or not deserves debate and maybe he doesn't deserve to stay as the captain of the team or even in the team given his poor form. But that doesn't mean we don't give him the benefit of doubt and just because we think he should be out of the team take Chappell's word for granted.
As an aside, I just hope these kind of shameful events demote our cricket players from their current status of being only next to God. They are after all error bound humans!
As an aside, I just hope these kind of shameful events demote our cricket players from their current status of being only next to God. They are after all error bound humans!
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Natural Selection vs Intelligent Design
A nice post [link]. The link gives a nice introduction to what natural selection means and how today scientists can visualize, using DNA, what the theory of Darwin suggested to be a cause of all the diversity we witness in nature. It is amazing to know that random mutations occur and some of the mutations survive longer than others due to the circumstances that exist. It also seems that mutations occur anyways and are not encouraged or caused by changing environment. It is like you happen to pick a lottery ticket that wins. Most others pick the wrong tickets and loose. You keep investing in the game of lottery anyways. If you keep winning u keep getting stronger and survive longer than others who don't win as much. Just that the fittest of all the mutations (the winning lottery ticket, a selection amongst many possible mutations or lottery tickets) survives!
Yes, the process is a random process that is still being understood. I guess the cause behind the randomness is still a mystery. Once the cause is known the process will become deterministic?
Yes, the process is a random process that is still being understood. I guess the cause behind the randomness is still a mystery. Once the cause is known the process will become deterministic?
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Groom Bazaar
IAS - 25 lakh, IPS - 25 lakhs, poor engineer - a few lakhs lesser. Engineering is costlier to pursue. Seems to be a loss making venture as there are IAS/IPS who are not engineers. The good old story.
Up north, grooms are categorised according to their stature. A Lucknow-based matrimonial agency, the professor elaborates, would typically place an IAS-IPS groom under the 'Lotus Category'.
Lotus carries more weight than the 'Marigold Category' of doctors, engineers, lawyers and lecturers. 'Rose' stands for grooms who have passed out from the IIMs and IITs. "These are the undisputed sultans of the wedding mart," the professor maintains.
Shameless bastards!Lotus carries more weight than the 'Marigold Category' of doctors, engineers, lawyers and lecturers. 'Rose' stands for grooms who have passed out from the IIMs and IITs. "These are the undisputed sultans of the wedding mart," the professor maintains.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
