If publishing a bunch of cartoons results in significant death and destruction around the world, imagine what it must require to actually speak critically of Islam on an Arabic television program. Dr Wafa Sultan has — how should I put it — gonads the size of the globe. A Syrian-American psychiatrist living outside Los Angeles, she is talking. Her talk is not pretty.
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Fragments – 6
The spirit that is human. A random act of generosity. {Hat tip: Charity Focus.}
Flat Out Shocked!
Ron Somers, President, United States-India Business Council, writes a letter to NY Times on March 8th, 2006, titled “Thomas Friedman Is Flat Wrong” in response to the NY Times “Letting India in the Club” (Column by Thomas L. Friedman, March 8, 2006)
The Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) does not prohibit the sharing of civilian nuclear technology with India, contrary to Thomas Friedman’s insinuation.
Terrorism — The Way Out
Unsurprisingly, Islamic terrorism struck once again. Just three days ago in Varanasi about two dozen innocent Hindus were bombed out of existence and around a 100 wounded. Indians being the victims of Islamic terrorism has become routine and mundane – barely three days after the incident, the major news web portals such as rediff and Indiatimes don’t even mention it on their front page. A few dozens killed? No problem, there are more where they came from. “Just maintain peace and calm, and go about your business as usual,” say the political leaders of the country. Yes, sir, terrorists killing Indians is business as usual.
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India Rising — The Big Scare
Triumph of hype and hyperbole over honest reporting. ABCNews has a report titled “India Rising: One Billion Reasons to Care,” a study in scare mongering. I am sure that some Indians will misinterpret the report as high praise, instead of the scare mongering it really is.
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On Violence Against Women
Street sexual harassment is something that women have to contend with in India. While generally true, I have heard that the degree of harassment varies from city to city. Delhi is especially bad but Kolkata is a much safer place for women. It appears that in Kolkata, people take an interest in what is going on around them, and if they notice a woman being assaulted, they actively discourage the behavior by beating the crap out of the person. It is part of the culture and everyone knows. It basically is common knowledge: that if you are considering harassing a woman in public, you are likely to get beaten up; and if you the third party, you are expected to either initiate the roughing up or join in enthusiastically in the edification of the criminal.
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You Only Live Twice
You only live twice,
Or so it seems.
One life for yourself,
And one for your dreams. . . . Continue reading “You Only Live Twice”
The Bloggers’ New Clothes
This is a blog. Schizophrenic though it may be, but I am fundamentally against blogging. I believe that there is a humongous mountain of absolutely wonderfully written totally worthwhile news, views, and analysis out there, and most of it is available to you via the wonder that is the Internet and the WWW, and so there is absolutely no need for anyone to waste time reading blogs. Go read a book, instead.
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Keynes on the Power of Ideas
” . . . the ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Not, indeed, immediately, but after a certain interval; for in the field of economic and political philosophy there are not many who are influenced by new theories after they are twenty-five or thirty years of age, so that the ideas which civil servants and politicians and even agitators apply to current events are not likely to be the newest. But, soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil.”
The last half of the last paragraph in John Maynard Keynes’s book General Theory of Employment Interest and Money. That quote has to be read and re-read slowly, reflectively, savoring the language, and the thoughts. Just read this: “Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.” Pure delight, like a sip of very fine cognac.
Fragments – 5
BBC reports that the US has done a U-turn and is not opposed to the Iran-India LNG pipeline through Pakistan. I suppose that the US has finally figured out that the pipeline would make India vulnerable to even more Pakistani blackmail and all in all, it would be a bonus for the US. Normally the US puts the screws on India by merely arming Pakistan to the teeth. This time the dumb Indians are obliging the US by voluntarily bending over for Pakistan with no help from the US.
The Iran Pipe-bomb is on its way.
If you pay for the cost of the instrument that will be used to screw you over, you might be a third world country.
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 