The editor in chief of India Today, Mr Aroon Purie, provides us with an excellent example of illogic that would delight anyone with a keen sense of the absurd. Here’s what he writes at the start of his editorial of Aug 27th: Continue reading “Of Cars and Roads”
Month: August 2010
Condell is Mad as Hell, and so Should you be
Stop the Patenting of Numbers
This is very disturbing news that was brought to my attention on a mailing list I subscribe to. Continue reading “Stop the Patenting of Numbers”
Guest Post on Maoist Violence in India
Guest posts are not common on my blog but once in a long while I agree to post one. (There’s one more in the pipeline.) This one comes with the caveat that I don’t understand what’s happening in the Maoist infected areas and why; therefore don’t have any basis for endorsing the post. It’s your call.
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Open Thread – Say what you will
Actually, it’s the fault of Hindus
The brutal murder of two boys in Sialkot is actually not the fault of the killers and has nothing to do with Muslims, least of all Islam. The fault, dear momin, lies with the kaffirs. The Hindus are at fault. Confused?
Continue reading “Actually, it’s the fault of Hindus”
Hang the Spoil-sport Hari Prasad
If you show up the people in government in a way that threatens their very existence in government, then you can be assured that those people in government will waste no time in fixing you real good. Hari Prasad and his colleagues showed that electronic voting machines are not tamper-proof. This should come as no surprise. Nothing in the universe is tamper-proof (including the universe according to those who insist that their On True God™ frequently fixes the universe to suit their moods.) So what’s all the fuss about?
Continue reading “Hang the Spoil-sport Hari Prasad”
Of Human Savagery and Human Joy
Christopher Hitchens once wrote “I think human civilisation only begins when people separate religion from the state. Policing that frontier, making sure of it, is a huge thing, culturally and politically. You realise that any attempt to cross it is poisonous – in the sense of lethal.” I am reminded of that while reading yet another account of human savagery in a land which was based on a lethal religious dogma. But be warned that this is rated R for violence. If you don’t have a strong stomach, skip the text and just go to the embedded videos.
Continue reading “Of Human Savagery and Human Joy”
Distinguishing American and Indian Democracy
A piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, “America’s Insurgent Pollster: Understanding the tea party is essential to predicting what the country’s political scene will look like,” prompted thought on some differences between the US and India in the context of the oft repeated fact that both are democracies. The article is of interest to me since I want to know how governance in India can be improved. So here’s what I take away from the article, and one other matter.
Continue reading “Distinguishing American and Indian Democracy”
Personality Cult Disorder
India suffers severely from PCD — personality cult disorder. I mentioned that in a post soon after moving to Mumbai from Berkeley in 2003. I believe that the disease under the Italian Sonia Gandhi has intensified. Here are my thoughts from way back when.
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Life is a Random Draw 