Tuesday, September 30, 2008

milestone: 5,000 posts

sep 30th, 2008

we just hit our 5,000th post on this blog. this is a milestone and shows there is a significant amount of activity here.

at this point, i'd like to request that you, the readers, bring in more eyeballs to this blog. please tell your friends and acquaintances about this blog, and ask them to read it regularly, as well as comment.


some light reading -- Rationing Rationalism: T.R Jawahar

kalyan: Crap-sandwich for fat cats in bankrupt economics. Arthas'astra holds the key.

sep 29th, 2008

ye olde kautilya had a few good thoughts on all this, apparently

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S. Kalyanaraman

http://dharma1.blogspot.com/2008/09/crap-sandwich-of-fat-cats-in-bankrupt.html

See the cartoons and arthas'astra chapters at this blog. I am just amazed at the sharp perceptions of many cartoonists. They are better analysts than most quants and nerds masquerading as economic-financial pundits.

namaskaram. kalyan

Mujahid Manifesto -- Ashok Malik. The nexus between IM and p-secs.

sep 29th, 2008

interesting comment by kalyan on ashok's well-thought-through piece.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S. Kalyanaraman


A penetrating, lucid analysis by Ashok. Congratulations, Ashok.

Many security analysts have drawn some technological clues from the Indian Mujahideen (IM) emails. Some have also highlighted the roots of islamist jihadi terror in the religious texts cited in the emails. This is the first analytical piece I have come across placing the IM's viewpoint in a clear-cut present-day political context. Calling it a 'manifesto' may be a hyperbole, but the message is clear.

Politico-s will be at peril if they draw wrong conclusions from the IM emails and if they fail to identify the IM email scribes.

Ashok is on the dot; there is an ideological nexus between 'thehoot' -- see the URL cited below -- and the IM scribe who cites 'thehoot' approvingly.For info. on promoters of 'thehoot' see

http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/aboutUs.php?cid=26&bg=1

When IM cites pseudo-seculars, the mixture is potent and explosive (not unlike ammonium nitrate + RDX), denying the very fabric of nationalist Hindusthana and the fact that the ancestors of all these folks were Hindu.


kalyanaraman


Mujahid Manifesto (Ashok Malik, Pioneer, 28 Sept. 2008)


[Before the Ahmedabad and Delhi bombings, Indian Mujahideen sent out long e-mails outlining its historical inspirations and its contemporary politics. Ashok Malik compares the two letters to understand the new jihad --]

In Ahmedabad on July 26 and in Delhi on September 13, the Indian Mujahideen terrorist group carried out bombings and killed about 80 people. On both occasions, the perpetrators sent out elaborate, 13-page e-mails just before the bombs went off (in the case of Delhi, the first bombs had already exploded).
                    

Just what do these letters say about the terrorists, their inspirations and motivations? Do the letters differ or is the second a corollary to the first? Can we, on the basis of these letters, detect a strategy to the politics of Indian Mujahideen -- or is there a numbing and mindless randomness to its bombings?

... deleted

http://www.dailypioneer.com/AGENDA1.asp?main_variable=SUNDAYPIONEER%2FAGENDA&file_name=agen1%2Etxt&counter_img=1


ideas on where to park your funds during this perfect storm

sep 29th, 2008

usual disclaimer: i am not a financial consultant, and you follow this or any other suggestion at your own risk. caveat emptor!

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_40/b4102063709852.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

but some of these ideas seem sensible. i am thinking of investing in some TIPS, assuming uncle sam ain't going to go broke, and that inflation is going to raise its ugly head in the us (stagflation?)

i think the real estate bubble will take 7+ years to work its way out. consider japan, it took a $440 billion bailout from the government, and seven years later, only 70% of the bad assets had been sold off. so, by extrapolation, it will take some 9 years for the us bubble to fully subside and the toxic mortgages to be out of the system

atlanticist weighs in on india's future

sep 29th, 2008

since they are damning india with faint praise, it's a given this was not written by james "i am a racist hindu-baiter, and proud of it" astill. he would never praise india, faintly or otherwise.

http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12327126&fsrc=nwl

wsj: The Real Costs of the Bailouts

sep 29th, 2008

i am sorry to say this, but i think there's no way a depression can be avoided. which is bad news for all of us, whether in the us or india.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shahryar


 
  • SEPTEMBER 28, 2008
  • The Real Costs of the Bailouts

    By SUDEEP REDDY

     

    Last week, as federal regulators seized Washington Mutual in the largest U.S. banking failure, Congress was grappling with whether to spend $700 billion of public money to fix the financial industry's troubles.
     
    .... deleted

    mohammedan sues Tesco over alcohol

    sep 29th, 2008

    another example of mohammedan exceptionalism and faux-victimhood.

    let the guy go back to saudi arabia and enjoy not having to handle alcohol.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Shahryar

     
    Muslim sues Tesco over alcohol
     
    Press Assoc. - Sunday, September 28 04:35 am

     

    A Muslim said he is suing Tesco for religious discrimination because he was asked to handle crates of alcohol in a warehouse.

    ... deleted

    Is there a media mindset?

    sep 29th, 2008

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Seema


    Is there a police mindset?

    I want to ask is there a media mindset? The very fact that such a trivial non-issue like this is given more space and importance by the section of Bharatiya media makes me sick to my guts. They are worried about the scarf that the accused terrorists are wearing and not the countless people who are dying every day because the shameless government of Antonia Maino is sleeping and doesn't care. Because one-issue "Selected" Prime Minister is busy hard selling a farce Nuclear deal and Home Minister is busy changing his clothes.

    I don't think there is anything wrong in what the police did. On one hand the so-called Muslim leaders, pseudo-secularists, overground-face-of-terrorists section of Human Rights activists, and section of media shout their innards out saying that terror has no religion, and on the other hand they are hairsplitting a trivial non-issue like this by saying that their religion is being indicted. Well if the terrorists are being chauvinist and openly claiming what they are doing is because of their ideological and religious indoctrination, then how balmy are you to question the police and suffering citizen's mindset. You are so awe struck that you want police to hide these damn terrorists face also and you also want to choreograph what they should wear so that it may not even remotely link to Islam. Next thing we know, you will ask don't face towards Mecca Madia to interview, don't interrogate on Fridays, etc. [Asinine!] But when a government is bent on proving that Hindu gods are a myth, and wants to destroy at least 15000 years old world heritage Shri Ram Setu, everything is hunky-dory.

    Come on, do Muslims have a patent on that design of the scarf. Obviously there is something wrong in their own mindset which is proving that famous Hindi idiom "चोर की दाढ़ी में तिनका" (Chor ki daadi mein tinka). If it wasn't for these jerks shouting like this, no one would have even noticed or cared for what scarf they were wearing. It is you guys (section of media, communal Imams, communal AIMPLB), who are engraving and Islamitizing the stereotypes. You will only find faults in others because that is what you are looking for. Make up your mind, are these terrorists Muslims or not? Do they belong to a religion or not? If yes, then how can you claim terrorists have no religion. If not, then how can you claim that any action against these traitors is an action against Islam and why are you supporting them, isn't that treason. You want to bake your cake and eat it too. Grow up people. Let police do their work. Sick!

    You want the best of the two worlds, you want Sharia to stone the victim to death when a muslim Father-in-law rapes his Daughter-in-law and openly hold your so-called courts above the Supreme Court of Bharat. But when it is criminal justice you want Bharatiya law because it goes easy on dreaded criminals as compared to cutting the hands as per sharia. Hypocrites! The government has such audacity and insolence to arrest, humiliate, and torture our incomparable Revered His Holiness Shri Shankaracharya ji on mere charges on a holy Deepavali day but has no guts to throw that communal Imam Bhukari of Jama Masjid and VC of Jamia Millia Islamia in the jail and hang them for openly supporting the terrorists.

    Every day we hear inflated figures about the riots that followed Godhra terrorist attack. Yes, a terrorist attack. It will be called so in any real civil unbiased society if 58 innocent citizens incl. 20 children, 15 women, and 23 men were burnt alive just because they are Hindus by communal Muslim riffraffs. It was no less, if not more, than a terrorist attack. The truth is out in the form of the indisputable, exhaustive, and scientific report by THE OFFICIAL Commission constituted as per the constitution under the ex-Judge selected by THE Hon'ble Supreme Court of Bharat. But the truth is sour for these hate mongers to accept. Till when will you live in denial, huh? May be you also don't believe in ॥सत्यमेव जयते नानृतं॥ (Truth Alone Triumphs, not falsehood) - Mundak Upanishad 3.1.6 like the present government which once had plans to change this motto also, like they have removed the other historical and traditional symbols and logos.

    As per official figures given by the Union Minister of State for Home Prakash Jaiswal, who belongs to the Congress Party, in Parliament on May 11, 2005, 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed in the riots, 2548 people were injured and 223 people were missing. The report placed the number of riot-affected widows at 919 and the number of children orphaned at 606. It was the UPA government which gave these figures and not Mr. Narendra Modi's government.

    But no, still we have such reckless disregarding attitude of section of Media, who loosely inflate the figures to 2500-3500 muslims ONLY being killed. As if there weren't any loss of life of Hindus or other citizens and they didn't have any Human Rights. Each and every one who was killed was a citizen. How can you be so callous and ignore the atrocities on others? Every time one listens to these disgusting hateful lectures and commentaries on these so-called self-proclaimed best news channels pondering over accepting everything which suits their lamentable anti-Majority mindset and dejecting even the iota of truth if spoken or written. And they don't want to accept the sad reality of shameless undeserving Bharatiya citizens now terrorizing other Bharatvaasi through such train attacks and bomb blasts even though they openly arrogantly claim that their religion has commanded them to do so.

    As per the website Gujarat Riots: The True Story, look at how the section of media has been playing with the figures to forward their idea which is alienating muslims and creating a fear of under siege at the cost of bashing the Hindus, the so-called majority who are treated worse than third grade citizens in their own country. As per the website, in an interview with Gujarat Chief Minister and now vindicated Mr. Narendra Modi was accused by some Aaj Tak news channel's reporter Prabhu Chawla, which was published in the weekly India Today, dated November 2, 2002. Mr. Modi was accused of being responsible for the killing of 1,100 innocent people in the riots that followed Godhra terrorist attack. To which Mr. Modi replied that
    "In our previous interview, you said 900 people. Now you are saying 1,100. Are you adding all the people killed in other states like Maharashtra and Bengal to Gujarat's account?"
    And then the website says
    "As we see, the number of people killed in the riots jumped from 900 to 1100 after Narendra Modi's previous interview, i.e. within 4 months! Now it has jumped from 9,00 to 2,000. May be after 10 years, at this rate it will jump to 10,000! Already it is being said that, "thousands of Muslims were killed in Gujarat" and "3,000 innocent Muslims were butchered in Gujarat"."
    And I concur with them that with out any proofs, spreading lies, fear and hatred ain't going to solve anything. But if this continues, a few tens-hundreds of years down the line they will very well misrepresent their doodles as true pictures to the future generations. Just like how they have doctored, thanks to Nehruvian and Leftist ideologies, our history, created and propagated myths of Aryan Invasions, glorified the mass murderer rapist conversionists Monguls (Mughals), still call our scriptures as mythology, ignore murder of Hindu monk nationalist Swami Saraswati ji on Janmashtmi by Christian terrorists, and justify the destruction of our religious and World heritage like Shri Ram Setu & Shri Amarnath ji to settle scores.

    Talk about section of Media's sick mindset, the new hip trend is to demonize the Bharatiya state and Hindus. Oh Muslims don't get an apartment and rooms in Bharatiya cities. What BS! I denounce and deplore any kind of discrimination. But come on, Bharat is not that bad as is portrayed by its own media. There are societies in every country including in the US which have such unsaid rules and public likings of where to live. Let me give you food for thought, did you know there is predominance of two different communities who live just across the street in the different areas of Dorchester and Roxbury in Boston, MA. Watch it your self, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4P9b4Elm3M and read Neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts.

    Why no one stands to take up cause for Hindus who are denied space in the town of Mohemadwadi (which was renamed from Mahadevwadi) near Pune. Like I said divisions and discriminations are not good but they exist in most of the places. Then why this prejudice against Hindus when taking up such causes? Stop demonizing HINDUS!

    The attitude of this section of media who are nothing but taking forward the prejudice mindset of self-serving charge sheeted Union Ministers has been so appalling. What right do they have to comment on Godhra terrorist attack when they them self are charge sheeted and have a MP from their party who has been awarded a Rigorous Imprisonment, what a 6th time. But shameless convicted and charge sheeted ministers don't care and neither does the media who laughs when such opprobrium minister cracks a cuckoo joke. The attitude that they carry is that if you can't uplift the shortcomings of conservative and radical people from one community, then you belittle, cold-cut, and bash the other community to make equals out of non-equals. Who-so-ever created that so-called Minority commission whose sole job is Hindu bashing clearly wanted to divide the society with Majority-Minority syndrome. But if that's the way it is, then it is high time Hindus in Bharat get a Majority Commission too.

    Bharat may be the only country where public funds and tax payers money will be used to fight the case for the very terrorists who have wagged the war against the country itself. Today when the truth is out about the Godhra terrorist attack, it is not just Mr. Modi, but the nation and Hindus who also stand vindicated of the false charges and communal propaganda of pseudo-secularists. There must be something in that date August 15, I say. There was one August 15, 1947 when Bharat had a tryst with its destiny when it got its Independence, at least on the books. And I didn't say that, it was Nehru who said that he is the last Englishman to rule Bharat. (Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/sep/16rajeev.htm) He was wrong, well partially, because he was the last of the first pack. If there was true Independence then there would not have been any emergency imposed by Indira Feroz Ghandi and article 356 would not have been used a whopping 110 times in 60 years.

    Now we have August 15, 2008 which brings us to another foreigner (mis)ruling Bharat. Antonia Maino. (Source: http://www.janataparty.org/sonia.html) On this date people of Bharatiya origin had their tryst with destiny to up hold the principles of democracy which Bharatiya citizens are so vehemently divested from under the current government. On this date, the Supreme Court of New Jersey in US tossed out one of the two defamation lawsuits filed by the Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) seeking $100 million case allegedly defaming Antonia Maino. (Source: http://www.hindusupportfund.org/Links.html) The case was filed to suppress the Freedom of Speech entitled to every resident of US and Bharat. But sadly, it can only be exercised in US and not Bharat.

    But there was not even one article or editorial in any Bharatiya newspaper or channel about this historic day or about the undemocratic action like such suppression of free speech. Shows where all your (section of media) loyalty lies. If you have national interest in mind and so ardently believe there is freedom of speech and press in Bharat, I challenge you to print one article or news piece with the name Antonia Maino. We all know you can't, just look at how media was gagged from reporting on the unprecedented nationalist movement by citizens of Jammu for their Religious rights, Civil Liberties, and against the traitors and separatists in Kashyap Mar (misnomer: Kashmir). But for millions of us Hindus, there must be something in that date August 15, when vicious maligned agenda of a foreigner was throttled again.

    But who are we asking, when we have media which diligently wants Antonia Maino to speak on the so-called alleged attacks on Churches but there is a sense of mass-hysteria created if someone like Mr. Advani or Mr. Modi, or a clamor frenzy by section of media to oppress if someone like Dr. Swamy, stands for the cause or atrocities on Hindus and our religious heritage. Like Mr. Modi rightly says "You can't fight 21st century terrorists with 19th century tools". When will the pseudo-secularists learn, a terrorist is a terrorist, remove him from the society or else he will remove you. Oh God Shri Ram ji, please bless this world with peace. ॥ॐ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः॥

    Regards,
    Seema

    Dallas, TX

    It's OK to provide legal aid to blasts suspects: Arjun

    sep 29th, 2008

    arjun sings for this supper. maybe this month's check from the saudis was a little late.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Media Society


    Print Close Window
    Indian Express

    It's OK to provide legal aid to blasts suspects: Arjun

    Agencies : Friday, September 26, 2008
    New Delhi, September 26: : HRD Minister Arjun Singh backed the decision of Jamia Millia Islamia University to provide legal aid to two of its students accused in the Delhi serial blasts, saying the step was in national interest.

    Jamia Vice-Chancellor Prof Mushrul Hasan met Singh to apprise him of the decision of the university to provide legal aid to the two students, a move criticised by the BJP.

    ... deleted

    'Thooran', the 'true periyaar' of Thamizh

    sep 29th, 2008

    ev ramaswami naicker was a true racist, demagogue, and bigot: a perfect example of christism, which 'dravidianism' is an offshoot of. a true mussolini or hitler or KKK person or godman.

    i don't know anything about this thooran person, but i know naicker was a fake and a liar. he is called 'vaikom veerar', in which case i submit that yours truly should be called 'hero of tamil nadu'. naicker was a zero, who went to vaikom in kerala, and was roundly ignored, quite rightly, by everybody, because he was a low-down, rabble-rousing scum. moi, not being low-down, rabble-rousing scum, at least lived for 5 years in tamil nadu without causing any damage.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: HARAN
    Date: Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 4:35 PM
    Subject: 'Thooran', the 'true periyaar' of Thamizh
    To:


    http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=29

    'Thooran', the 'true periyaar' of Thamizh.

    By: B R HARAN

    letters@newstodaynet.com

    September 26 2008 marks the centenary of the great Tamil Scholar Periyasami Thooran, who was fondly addressed as 'Thooran' by millions of Tamil lovers. Thooran is well known in the fields of Music and Literature for his immense contributions for the development of both. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the name Thooran is synonymous with Tamil. The moment it is said Thooran, it denotes ' Tamil Encyclopedia', for he will be remembered for his magnificent work of compiling the Tamil Encyclopedia in ten volumes. And he will be equally remembered for his wonderful contribution to Carnatic Music and Children's Literature.

    ... deleted

    E V Ramasamy, another product of Erode district, who called Tamil as a 'barbarous' language and Tamils as barbarians and who worked for the separation of Tamilnadu from the national mainstream, has been adored as 'Periyaar' and his birth anniversaries are celebrated every year with pomp and gaiety spending the taxpayers' money. Whereas Thooran, also hailing from the same Erode district, who served throughout his life for Tamil and brought glory to the language, has been totally forgotten. Let the Dravidian racists ignore him; the true Tamils will always remember and revere Thooran forever.

    Fwd: Wanted: A balanced approach

    sep 29th, 2008

    well, p-secs are fundamentally unbalanced people.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: A


    Wanted: A balanced approach
    B S Raghavan
    http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/26guest.htm

    September 26, 2008
    It is a hallowed principle of jurisprudence that justice should be even-handed, and both sides to a dispute must be given a full hearing before conclusions are drawn. The media coverage of the disturbances in both Orissa and Karnataka and the action taken by the Centre are so one-sided as to make any fair-minded person feel extremely worried.

    ... deleted

    Monday, September 29, 2008

    Hindus Urge European Union to "Formally Apologize" to Its Roma Population

    sep 28th, 2008

    the roma (or gypsies) are seriously discriminated against. it is total racism.

    good initiative by the hindus. it is good to harass the europeans about this, in which case they'll stop shouting so much about the alleged harassment of mohammedans and christists in india.

    no p-sec will take up this cause, *because* they do not know that many roma are in fact mohammedans, sometimes mohammedans with hindu names! they must have got forcibly converted while they were being shipped as slaves to afghanistan by mohammedan barbarian invaders. they would then have escaped and moved further to europe.

    someone should tell manmohan this factoid, and then he'll start losing sleep over the gypsies.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Shahryar

    Published: September 25,2008
    Hindus Urge European Union to "Formally Apologize" to Its Roma Population

    Hindus want the European Union (EU) to offer "formally apology" for centuries and generations of maltreatment of the Roma (Gypsy) people of Europe, who still live in apartheid like conditions.
    Acclaimed Hindu and Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that apology was the right thing to do in view of the continuous human rights violations and brazen structural discrimination suffered by them, which unfortunately was still continuing. Roma, who numbered around ten million and who mostly migrated from India many centuries back, continued to face social exclusion in Europe.
    ... deleted


    nice example of p-secularism

    sep 28th, 2008

    which of course means 'anti-hinduism'.

    why aren't the p-secs jumping up and down screaming 'religions discrimination'?


    Congress hypocricy nicely put in a rediff discussion

    sep 28th, 2008

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Swami


    http://messageboard.rediff.com/newboard/permapost/s/bnews2008sep26karna/pseudo_secular_UPA__amp__congress.html

    pseudo secular UPA & congress 
    by Ramesh on Sep 26, 2008 11:49 AM 

    * Sikhs getting slaughtered in thousands was only a big mistake; Hindus getting killed in Kashmir is a grave political problem ;

    * Muslims getting killed by a few hundred is no less than a holocaust ; Poor protesters getting 
    shot in West Bengal under Left Govt is just a plain misunderstanding;

    * Banning Parzania in Gujarat was Communal; on the same time Banning Da Vinci Code was indeed Secular;

    * Kargil attack was Government failure; Chinese invasion in 1962 was just an unfortunate Betrayal; 

    * Reservation in every school and college on caste lines strengthen Secularism; Reservations in minority institutions is Communal;

    * Fake encounters in Gujarat [Sohrabuddin] was Modi sponsored BJP Communalism; Fake encounters under Cong-NCP in Maharashtra [Khwaja Younus] was only an instance of Police atrocity;

    * Talking about Hindus and Hindu appeasement is dangerous and Communal; Talking about Muslims and Islam is Secular;

    * BJP freeing 3 terrorists to save Indian hostages was Shameful; Freeing 4 militants to save the life of the daughter of a minister [Rubina Sayed] was a Natural Political dilemma;

    * Attack on Parliament was the result of BJP ineptitude; Not hanging Afzal Guru,the mastermind despite Supreme Court orders is due to Humanity and Political dilemma;

    * BJP questioning any religion is communal; Congress questioning Lord Rama existence was simply a Clerical Error.

    Is there any end to Congress and it a shameless hypocrisy ?



    SpaceX's Falcon1 Rocket Achieves Orbit

    SpaceX, started up by PayPal founder Elon Musk, has finally launched its Falcon1 rocket into orbit. Here's a Wired.com article with embedded video. An impressive first for a private enterprise. This should actually make them very cost-competitive with ISRO.

    Sunday, September 28, 2008

    Google Moderator

    Google has unveiled yet another new tool -- Google Moderator, which allows you to crowd-source questions and suggestions. If you use your gmail signon for a closer look, you'll see that it has some vote-gathering features.

    Conditions Attached by US Congress Sink 123 Deal

    It may now be no longer possible for India to sign the 123 Deal, because of the extra conditions attached by the US Congress. These conditions are explicit language that requires the US not just to cut off supplies, but also to disrupt the nuclear waiver, which was not previously the case before. India can still go forward with its plans to negotiate reactor deals with France and Russia, which aren't bound by any similar conditions.

    Saturday, September 27, 2008

    Taro Aso is Japan's New PM

    Taro Aso is the new PM of Japan. While he is from Japan's small Roman Catholic community, he is looked upon with disdain by the West, due to his nationalist views, which are even stronger than Shinzo Abe's. Indians may see reason to take heart in that. However, the govt's currently low poll ratings will likely mean another round of elections very soon.

    The once again failing state

    Pakistan’s Faith in Its New Leader Is Shaken - NYTimes.com

    The Pakistanis can always get their pals like Kuldip Nayyar, Rajdeep Sardesai and Burkha Dutt to ask for a bail-out package for "our neighbors" . Manmohan Singh will soon say that it is not Indian Muslim - but Pakistani Muslims who have first right to India's resources. And James Astill can go back to "sit around and wonder" what is going on.

    Interesting that even Saudi Arabia has refused concessions on oil - so much for solidarity amongst the 'brotherhood of Islam'; they can always go to China though - the Hans have plenty of cash to spare.

    the "international condom" is back - only this time it's wrapped around another - well - you know what!

    Atlanticists Take Swipe at Globalization

    The Atlanticists are suggesting that globalization could collapse, and that the world has seen this before. Krugman came out with this thesis in one of his recent columns, and now the Atlanticists are quickly jumping on it to echo it. As I've said before, those few who enjoyed the privileged special trans-national relationships in the pre-globalization era are upset at how globalization has swamped the specialness of those previously privileged relationships. These people have a vested interest in seeing globalization fail, so that they can regain their special privileged status.

    chrisits swipe another hindu temple, this one in pakistan

    Economic Crisis Threatens Indian Outsourcing

    A high-level analyst in the US says that the current economic crunch could badly hit India's outsourcing-driven growth.

    Friday, September 26, 2008

    84.4% believe scrapping of POTA led to increased terror activities

    sep 25th, 2008

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: A


    Here is something interesting. According this ongoing poll of NDTV, overwhelming number of Indians believe in the effectiveness of POTA!!  The total votes is 46,990 its no mickey mouse survey.

    http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080066736&ch=633580279963593750

    Q: Is the scrapping of POTA really a cause for increased terror activities?
    84.4% Yes
     
    13.9% No
     
    1.8% Can't say
     
    Total Votes: 46990

     

    Q: Is the scrapping of POTA really a cause for increased terror activities?

    84.4% Yes
    13.9% No
    1.8% Can't say
    Total Votes: 46990
     
     

    WAMU nationalized - then re-sold

    Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets

    The last time I was at a nationalized bank in India, a sarcastic branch manager told me that the worst loans that our system made was to fund cows and bullock carts - under political pressure. But the American mistakes surely pale in comparison.

    As noted below (and much to san's fuming) - buying American financial stock at the moment is a needless play for Indian banks. It is better to fund productive assets at home. In fact, given the amount of black money collateral - it is actually safer for a bank to fund real estate loans in India than to pick up these stakes. There are more shocks coming - Nouriel Roubini* has predicted that the next ones up are hedge funds http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini

    (* note to Nizhal Yoddha - Roubini is the economist whose analysis has been partly used by the man you rightly credit - S Gurumurthy- for saying that the emperor has no clothes. A finer explanation is provided by another man from Chennai)

    Thursday, September 25, 2008

    Japanese buying wall street

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/business/worldbusiness/25comeback.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

    Someone on this blog asked if Indian banks should be buying chunks of Wall Street as the Japanese are doing here- I do not think that is a good idea. Primarily because investment opportunities in India are aplenty and more attractive than these risky Wall Street plays.

    Also Japanese have a greater incentive to reacapitalize America's financial system - their enormous reserve holdings are in dollars - India holds it's reserves in a basket of currencies and also gold. I think the Japanese may be in for nasty surprises in the coming couple of years when these balance sheet's real holes are revealed

    The Spontaneous Combustion Engine - Bannerjee

    http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/25godhra.htm

    Now watch for fiery editorials by the English press in India - all rejecting the Nanavati report. The same way they rejected the Wadhwa commission report on Graham Satines' murder. Can you imagine how ridiculous these people are? Remember how they railed against Modi - forever shouting only abuses; especially that "sudden removal" Karan Thapar - wonder where he is now

    Of course - the idiot Bannerjee still claims that his theory of Spontaneous Combustion is the right one - sigh!

    Offstumped gets it a bit Off

    Offstumped at the National Interest is without doubt, one of the best right-of-center blogs out there. In addition to having excellent points of view on Indian politics, Yossarin (the author) conducts some excellent Sting programs of his own.

    However, on this occasion, Offstumped gets it wrong.

    Offstumped falls into a bit of a duality between safeguarding the National Interest and human rights, when frankly there is none.

    The National Interest, is, in fact, the same as the safeguarding of the human rights of all Indians in general. India's National interest is in ensuring the human rights of her citizens -- the right of tax paying, law abiding citizens to safety, property, wealth, health and what have you. 

    However, a clear distinction must be drawn in the matter of whos human rights are important. The human rights of those citizens who threaten the human rights (to safety, property, health, etc.) of ordinary Indians are not paramount and should be suborned by the state to protect the rights of law abiding, tax paying citizens.
    Hence the human rights of the Indian Mujahideen, SIMI activists do not matter as much as that of the victims. If third degree methods are to be employed against them to prevent violations of the human rights of Ordinary Indians, so be it. If family members of terrorists face the heat for the follies of their "misguided" flock, so be it, for it creates a powerful disincentive in the minds of would-be terrorists, knowing that their kith and kin will have a price to pay (even if they are enjoying 72 virgins in heaven).  

    However, for the Indian media and our resident fifth columnists (at times virtually indistinguishable from each other), human rights apply only for terrorists (of the homegrown and illegal varieties) and their kin. Not to victims, or slain police officers and armymen.

    In separating the National Interest from human rights, we play into the hands of the ELM and sundry seditionists. We have to exercise judgement -- viveka -- in engaging our adversaries.

    Yes human rights are paramount, so long as its the human rights of the saamanya nagarik, terror victims and law enforcers. Human rights do not apply for Terrorists, or their sympathisers.

    Wednesday, September 24, 2008

    radha rajan on the fallacies behind the nuclear deal

    sep 24th, 2008

    good hard data

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Radha Rajan

    Nuclear Deal – India plays Red Riding Hood

    The American President is careful not to lie to his Congress – his letter, seeking Congress approval for the Indo-US nuclear deal, stated that assurances of fuel supply to India are not legally binding. The same however cannot be said of the UPA Prime Minister when he addressed Parliament on the issue or of the UPA Chairperson when she spoke to the farmers of Andhra Pradesh about how good the nuclear deal was for India. It is a fact that only Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have actively pushed for the deal while other heavyweights in the Congress and Congress' allies in the UPA have only been making polite noises; not opposing the deal but not welcoming it either with the kind of fervour that the UPA Chairperson and Prime Minister have consistently maintained. If anything there is a marked lack of enthusiasm both within the Congress and the UPA over the deal.


    The ugly charade of seeking Parliament approval for the deal through the tainted vote of confidence was played out in full view of the nation as our honourable members of parliament enacted the sordid bribe-for-vote scandal inside the august house. This much was evident – astronomical amounts of money (domestic, foreign or both) had steamrolled all genuine dissent to the Indo-American Nuclear Deal and it was tainted money that spoke in parliament on that day and not the voice of the people. Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, like their partner George W Bush before invading Iraq, contemptuously dismissed domestic public opinion. The world's largest democracy and the world's questionably most powerful democracy, trod democracy under their heels and rushed the deal in what amounted to indecent haste, to the IAEA and the NSG. But there is a difference here. While American Presidents may have contempt for democracy as expressed as voice of the people, they take care not to bypass the democratic process as embodied in their ruling elite oligarchy (Senate and House of Representatives). But the Indian Prime Minister and the UPA Chairperson have not only thumbed their nose at Parliament, they have contemptuously thumbed their nose at important voices within the scientific community, within the military establishment and even the political class. So strict is the adherence to the democratic process in the US that neither the American establishment nor the American President has sent even the faintest sign that the deal will be signed during the Indian Prime Minister's visit now to the US. But bartering away the nation's dignity, its sovereignty and its interests the Prime Minister has emplaned for the US with no assurances leave alone promises that the deal will be signed.


    The Indo-US nuclear deal is touted as the UPA government's crowning foreign-policy achievement; why this trade in nuclear fuel and technology should pertain to the foreign-policy domain and not simply to trade and commerce, may not be clear at once. The nuclear deal agreement was signed by the American President on December 18, 2006, barely a month before Russian President Putin's state visit to India in January 2007. Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Russian Ambassador to India had remarked then that nuclear co-operation was the most important agenda on Putin's diary during that visit. Indian and Russian nuclear officials signed a MoU for construction of four more one-gigawatt nuclear reactors in Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu, in addition to the two units already under construction in Koodankulam by Russia's Atomstroyexport. Pending India's bilateral agreement with member countries of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group or NSG, Russia had indicated that it expects to win contracts to build at least ten more nuclear reactors in as-yet unspecified sites in the country. It needs mention that the NSG, trading in nuclear fuel and technology, functions like OPEC which trades in petroleum; that, while member countries in these blocs are free to enter into bilateral agreements with non-member countries for purposes of trade, broad policy decisions and guidelines governing the trade are made only by the bloc collectively. Russia, a late entrant to the NSG, became a member of the group only in 1992.


    Besides the MoU, the Russian President and the Indian Prime Minister had signed in January 2007 a memorandum to prepare before the end of 2007, a comprehensive document on nuclear power co-operation agreement between the two countries. The nuclear establishment and our strategic experts have not told us the status of this very important intended agreement. My own guess would be that the official document outlining such an Indo-Russian agreement on nuclear power co-operation has probably begun to taxi, but has not received government (read US) signal for take-off. The trading in nuclear fuel and technology and the issue of contracts for the building of nuclear reactors in India had thus begun to acquire foreign policy connotations. A vibrant economy consistently expanding the base of its middle-class, military strength in terms of hard ware and manpower in conventional warfare, an indigenous nuclear science research establishment leading to demonstrable clout accruing from success in the nuclear civil and military sectors, and an indigenous space programme are the contemporary power indicators signaling a country's power to influence world affairs. The NSG has signaled its readiness to deal with India on the basis of the waiver but Manmohan Singh has not permitted India's nuclear establishment to start business with Russia and France both of which countries had always been ready to enter into agreements for nuclear co-operation; instead the Prime Minister is holding up all contracts until the US Congress assents to the deal after which India will begin the trading process with the US signing the first slew of contracts. This is not nuclear trade and commerce, this is foreign policy.


    Given the power indicators of geopolitics, the US had every reason to fear revival of the traditional ties between India and a re-assertive Putin's Russia, especially through the nuclear route. It must also be borne on mind that in 1998 the then Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov had mooted the attractive idea of an India-China-Russia triangle. To a pointed question on the triangular relations by the media in January 2007, Putin replied, "The Prime Minister and I discussed trilateral cooperation today. We did not discuss the matter in detail, but we noted that it is an interesting and useful format. Furthermore, we are united by our desire to resolve regional problems in a way acceptable to all sides. We therefore think that there are good prospects for work together in a trilateral format". There is little doubt that Putin's remarks about trilateral relations being useful to resolve regional issues must have been interpreted (correctly) as a step to reduce and ultimately eliminate America's influence in the region. It was perhaps the threat of the renewed special relations between Russia and India with China as a potential ally in the group which may have triggered the US to move fast to cement the nuclear deal with a speed hitherto not displayed in any aspect of Indo-US ties.


    India's energy requirements include electricity and non-electric energy in industry for purposes of heat application (process heat and space heating) and energy for transportation. Currently the global average of energy use is one-thirds of primary energy (nuclear energy, fossil fuels and renewable energy) as electricity with the remaining two-thirds used in heat application and for transportation. The general trend in developed nations, where the transportation sector consumes about one quarter of all energy produced, is to replace petroleum-based hydro-carbons like gasoline and diesel with nuclear energy generating energy carriers like hydrogen and electricity. Research in these areas have begun and the objective is to get even aircrafts to fly on hydrogen. Energy carriers are energy sources we use for domestic and industrial purposes, derived from primary energy sources like nuclear energy, fossil fuels and renewable sources like solar and wind power. In short, the movement is towards getting nuclear energy to replace fossil fuels as power source for all non-electric purposes.


    For the moment let us set aside the issue of India's energy requirements and the quantum of deficit in energy production as against demand. Let us examine America's energy requirements and the state of its fast-declining and almost defunct nuclear industry. It is not just the nuclear industry in America which is in the doldrums; Americans are increasingly becoming aware of the serious trouble in manufacturing, in industry and in infrastructure development. In short, the fundamentals of the American economy are unhealthy and need to be revived and kick-started urgently and for this they are going to need energy and fast. The time has come for the global bully policeman to rein its hubris, stop waging global wars as a compulsive indulgence of this hubris and attend to its home; last week's collapse of the US financial edifice is not only a symptom of this acute malaise but also in a sense its culmination.


    American experts have mooted the idea of no fewer than 100 new nuclear plants within the next decade to revive the flagging American economy and the defunct nuclear power industry. However, the 2005 energy legislation passed by the American Congress has provided for insulation of the power industry from procedural and regulatory delays only with respect to six prospective new nuclear plants. The Bush administration though is contemplating building only three nuclear plants by 2010 – an initiative which falls far short of their gargantuan appetite for power. American misadventure in the middle-east, its modern-day oil piracy combined with a Christian Crusade in Iraq have antagonized even the formerly subservient Saudi Arabia; and since the close of the 1990s decade, White House occupants and hopeful occupants have been articulating the need for America to minimize its dependence on Gulf oil.

    So what are the real options before the US? There is practically no more coal-fired power generation in the US and the power generated by natural gas-fired turbines is woefully inadequate and is adding only "part-time power" to put it charitably, to overall power generation. Existing coal-fired electric power plants in the US have all aged or aging and are also greatly polluting with alarming levels of carbon-monoxide, carbon-dioxide and sulphur-dioxide emissions. As regards the economic viability of coal power, the cost of retrofitting aging and aged coal plants to meet anti-pollution standards equals the cost of building new power plants. To add to America's problems, America's manufacturing and industry are adversely affected by America's dependence on coal for transportation. America's freight railroads are running so many goods trains to carry coal for power stations across the country, that for more than 30 years now, movement of all other freight by rail has been steadily declining. The US therefore has no other option but to turn to nuclear power – to meet rising domestic consumption, demands on infrastructure and consumption from a growing population, to revive its manufacturing and industry and to invest in the flagging infrastructure development industry.

    The most worrisome aspect of the Indo-US nuclear deal is what precisely is the US going to give India – build nuclear plants for us, give us nuclear fuel or share nuclear technology? What is the cost that India will be forced to pay for this co-operation and is it worth the cost if we have the capacity to meet a great part of our energy requirements without the deal? The US has refused to share any kind of technology with us because it knows that all nuclear technology is dual-use and it is a thin line which divides the civil nuclear from the military nuclear programme. So the deal is not going to get India any up-to-date nuclear technology with respect to building reactors, fuel enrichment or spent-fuel reprocessing. Fuel supply through the deal from the US and from other countries in the NSG comes with the condition of not conducting nuclear tests for military purposes. The UPA government has not told the nation if the ban on nuclear testing includes testing new and advanced missiles carrying nuclear payload. The American President has told his Congress that assurances of fuel supply to India are not legally binding and if India were to conduct nuclear tests then America will be governed only by domestic laws and all further cooperation with India will cease as will supply of nuclear fuel. So, the only economically viable aspect of the deal is America negotiating contracts to build nuclear plants in India – something that will benefit the American economy more than it will benefit India because if building nuclear plants alone is the issue here, then Russia or France or even China could have built them for us with fewer debilitating conditions and more advanced technology. Is the US in any position to build nuclear reactors for India with American nuclear plants as aged or aging as its coal plants?

    What exactly is the status of the American nuclear industry?

    Of the 430 nuclear plants operational in the world today, 104 are located in the US. However, in 1991, 112 nuclear plants were operational in the country; this means since 1991, several nuclear plants in the US have been de-commissioned. In terms of nuclear energy, since 1991, 7000 megawatts of nuclear power have been removed off the line, of which, units generating 6000 megawatts of nuclear power have been permanently disabled. During the next ten years it is believed that 30 more nuclear reactors may have to be re-licensed because they have already attained the re-licensing operating life-time limit of 30 years. Of these, some reactors have already been re-licensed, some reactors are being reviewed for re-licensing while some have not even applied for review. Since 2000, 22 new nuclear reactors have been commissioned and are now operational in different countries of the world and another 25 nuclear reactors are in various stages of construction; several of the 22 operational reactors and of the 25 under construction are located in Asia. But none among the 22 reactors already commissioned or among the 25 under construction is in the US.

    For nearly two decades now no new nuclear reactor has gone on-line in America whereas Russia, China and Japan are racing towards operationalising third generation and even fourth generation nuclear reactors. While Russia is well on the way towards its first floating nuclear plant (stand-alone nuclear reactors on ships and barges which can provide electricity to remote localities in difficult terrain), Japan, China and South Africa (!) are successfully building and operating High Temperature Reactors or PBMR (Pebble Bed Modular Reactors) which seek to transform their countries towards a hydrogen-based economy. Russia is also moving in this direction with its own HTR PBMR at the testing stage. Now, the million dollar question – if the US will not give us nuclear technology (what technology?), if nuclear fuel supply comes with non-negotiable conditions from the American side of the deal, and if the US has not built any new reactor at home for over three decades (going by the laws governing the re-licensing process in that country), why is the UPA government hell-bent on the nuclear deal with the US whose own domestic nuclear industry is out-dated and decrepit?

    Getting back to India's energy sector – as per the Eleventh Planning Commission Report, our country's total installed power generation capacity stands at about 1,44,000 MW. The approximate share of the installed capacity between Hydro (coal-fired), Thermal, Nuclear and renewable are 25%, 67%, 3%, and 5% respectively. The contribution from renewable energy sources is mainly from wind, bio-mass and small hydro and industrial waste. Out of the tenth plan target of adding another 41,110 MW to the installed capacity we managed to add only 23,250 MW and the deficit will spill over into the eleventh plan. The eleventh plan itself envisages adding 68,869 MW, not including the deficit from the tenth plan. The country's target by the end of the eleventh plan is to generate 200,000MW of power. It cannot be gainsaid that India's nuclear power sector must be geared to contributing a heftier share than the paltry 3%, of the total power generated so far. But does this need to be done only through the Indo-US nuclear Deal route when we have an abundance of thorium and even as we are perfecting our fast-breeder reactors? Opposition to the deal with the US has come from the Indian scientific community and military establishment. The reasons are simple:

    1. A vibrant nuclear weapons programme demands enough Natural Uranium (NU) which has about 99% of the non-fissile Uranium isotope called U 238 and about 0.7% of the fissile isotope called U 235

    2. Natural Uranium which contains just 0.7% of U 235 must be enriched to 3-4% of U 235 for fueling nuclear reactors. Natural Uranium is enriched to about 93% of U 235 to make it weapons' grade Uranium

    3. Several countries of the world use enriched U 235 to fuel their reactors.

    4. India uses NU because of the indigenously developed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) which can be fuelled by NU and do not need enriched U 235.

    5. India's nuclear weapons programme is using, not enriched U 235 but Plutonium

    6. India, by reprocessing its spent fuel from its PHWRs extracts Plutonium which because it decays radioactively, is used in India's pioneer Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR) and is also used for military purposes

    7. India's test FBR in Kalpakkam and the two prototype FBRs also in Kalpakkam use Plutonium in a Thorium 232 Blanket around the core to breed U 233 which is also breeder fuel

    8. Uranium 233 is fissile Uranium which does not exist naturally but can be manufactured in perpetuity in FBRs using Thorium By using NU to fuel reactors, by reprocessing spent fuel to extract Plutonium which will be used with Thorium in FBRs to manufacture U233, India would not only be nuclear fuel self-sufficient but would also have completed the nuclear fuel cycle.

    The key is Natural Uranium and Plutonium. Plutonium can be extracted only by reprocessing spent fuel and the conditions imposed by the Indo-US Nuclear Deal is that India cannot reprocess spent fuel from the reactors which will be set up after the deal is concluded and will also have to place its reactors under an intrusive IAEA inspection regime which will monitor our reactors to ensure that India does not reprocess spent fuel. We have been told that reactors existing in India prior to the deal will not be subject to IAEA inspection but this will also mean that Uranium sold to India by the NSG cannot be used in these reactors because we can still separate Plutonium by reprocessing spent fuel from these rectors. The question plaguing the scientific community, military establishment and Indians with a modicum of common sense is does India have enough Uranium deposits to run her reactors which can eventually give us enough spent fuel which can be reprocessed to extract Plutonium which can be used in our FBRs to breed the fissile U 233 which will give us enough fuel not only to run our reactors but also to fuel our weapons programme. But what is not spoken about loudly enough even by the political class is that given the critical importance of Plutonium for fuelling our FBRs and for our weapons' programme, Manmohan Singh last year ordered closure of Cirius II our spent fuel reprocessing reactor unit; one year has since passed. This anti-national decision has effectively undermined our nuclear fuel security and it is plain as daylight that Manmohan Singh ordered closure of this fuel reprocessing unit only as an unstated condition of the US to cap our fissile material. Manmohan Singh has in effect acceded to the Fissile Material Control Regime. Because we cannot extract Plutonium any longer if this unit is de-commissioned, not only will our weapons programme be stymied but our thorium and Plutonium fuelled FBRs too will be aborted.

    When new oil and natural gas deposits are being discovered in the KG basin, with functional hydro, thermal and growing biomass power projects, with a hard-earned indigenous nuclear programme are we so desperate for power that we need to sign a slave treaty called the Indo-US nuclear deal? Who is the real beneficiary? With all these facts in the public domain India cannot credibly play Red Riding Hood. That the US has wolfish economic, military, strategic interests in India is well-known and documented. The Indo-US Nuclear Deal is subordinating national sovereignty to development achieved not by our efforts but with the 'help' of predatory regimes. Perhaps the financial crisis in the US is our Gods machinating to sabotage the deal.

    Radha Rajan, 23 September, 2008.

    (The author is Editor, www.vigilonline.com)


    Indian CEO Murdered by Mob of Sacked Workers

    What a disgusting incident. And it gets even worse.

    RSS relief work video Bihar floods

    sep 23rd, 2008

    while the christists are out there like vultures, the hindu organizations provide actual relief.

    so who are the actual good samaritans? no, not john dayal, valson thampu and other such leeches.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Sewa Sandesh






    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8oj_J17OGc


    Date: Friday, September 19, 2008, 9:40 AM

    Namaste all
                              Please see
                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8oj_J17OGc

                                     It is a quick edit video on the RSS rescue and relief work in recent Bihar floods.Although a more good and comprehensive version will no doubt come from Bihar in due time, this is published as glimpses of relief work for immediate viewing. Please forward it to your friends also.
                                                                                                                                               milind
     





    Checks, balances must be allowed as bailout of thieving rich guys goes forward

    sep 23rd, 2008

    checks and balances are missing in india too. the executive branch (ie. manmohan singh) can take all sorts of decisions (eg. selling the country out to americans on the nuclear deal) with no oversight or permission from the legislative branch (ie. parliament) or from the judiciary.

    this is one of the major flaws in the indian constitution.

    we have all been told that the indian constitution is a wonderful, sacred document. actually it isn't. this is one of its glaring flaws. another is the ridiculous provision of 'minority' privileges to mohammedans and christists, who are a majority in the world in both numbers and in money.

    the indian constitution needs to be re-evaluated and updated.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Shahryar


     

    Checks, balances must be allowed as bailout of thieving rich guys goes forward

    Posted by trhodin September 23, 2008 11:34AM

    "Sec. 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." From Reuters' text of the U.S. Treasury Department's proposal to bail out the financial services industry.
    Fortunately, by this morning, the U.S. Senate, at least in opening statements in the Banking Committee, had digested this power grab and was pushing back. But what in the world is it doing in the proposal in the first place?
     
    Didn't we get in this mess because no one was regulating?
    How could the solution in any way exist in a place where the very people who drop the ball have absolute power to change the scoreboard?
     
    Checks and balances, despite the ridiculous behavior of the Bush administration the past eight years, really do work. For more than 200 years we didn't put all the power in the hands of the executive branch because we never wanted a king.
     
    Actions of one branch of government are subject to the hopefully investigating eyes of other branches of government so corruption is caught, not fostered.
     
    The way the Treasury Department pitches it, laws can be broken in the pursuit of bailing out Secretary Henry Paulson's pals and no one could be prosecuted. Broken laws could be uncovered and excused.
     
    It's nearly as unAmerican as a government bailout of out-of-control gamblers at the highest level of our economic system.
     
    When people take risks in capitalism, they either garner great rewards or go out of business. It's how the game is played.
     
    And one safeguard they have is the government making sure they follow the rules. And how can the government do that?
     
    Through regulation, legislation and court action.
     
    If you cut off all those avenues, who is to say Paulson doesn't just pay off his friends, screw the mortgage holders -- who are the real victims here -- and then just go back to Wall Street on Jan. 21 and reap the benefits he put in a place a few months earlier?
     
    The first thing that must be done as legislation is crafted from Treasury's request is cut those 35 words quoted above. If Wall Street poobahs don't like people looking into their business dealings, they can turn down the bailout money and go broke on their own. It's what they really deserve. And if the Bushies think those of us on Main Street would put up with this power grab, they are as wrong as they've been for the last eight years about the role of regulation in our financial markets.
     
    Here's the priority list for Congress this week: help the taxpayers, protect the taxpayers and pay back the taxpayers.
    In the long term: regulation and retirement of debt.
     
    Only Main Street matters, no matter what the rich guys on Wall Street and Washington want you to think. And as for shielding those rich guys from whatever justice is due them, that's not not the role of government and it should never have been in the Treasury proposal in the first place.
     


    chrisist bigotry: Reasons for clashes everywhere

    sep 23rd, 2008

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: Swami


    This is the proof that Christian missionaries are destroying the culture of India.

    A Vishwa Hindu Parishad-led delegation, comprising ethnic tribesmen from North-Eastern states and Punjab, on Tuesday met the National Minorities Commission and National Tribal Commission to submit evidence of alleged misdeeds by Christian missionaries.

    The delegation was led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad's national spokesperson Surendra Jain and comprised representatives from the states of Tripura, Mizoram and Punjab.

    "On September 10, Christian missionaries burnt the Guru Granth Sahib in Bhatinda. In Mizoram, a sub-divisional magistrate wrote a letter to a Chakma tribe family, asking it to give up its agricultural land for construction of a church. We have a copy of that," said Jain.

    "We have submitted copies of documentary evidence, photographs and newspaper clippings of cases of missionary aggressions and forced conversions to both the commissions," he added.

    The delegation handed over a memorandum to the Tribal Commission seeking their right to retain their culture, belief and livelihood. The delegation from Punjab approached the National Minorities Commission seeking protection of their minority status.

     

    The Beam In Your Eye: Two kinds of Christianity

    sep 23rd, 2008

    kamath is being too kind. there is only kind of christism: the satanic kind. they are into devil-worship, as their yhwh is actually lucifer -- and i am not making this up. their god is their devil, too. yhwh is the demon ialdoboath who usurped the title of god, and this is why the bugger is so insecure and jealous.

    christists are not the problem; christism is.

    those christists who have left christism are absolutely wonderful people; historical examples include many of the founding fathers of the US, such as jefferson, paine, et al, who have said extraordinarily truthful things about christism. one of them said that when he started tearing out pages in the bible that were offensive, cruel, inhuman, depraved, etc., he found that he was left with nothing between the covers.

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: A


    The Beam In Your Eye
     
    M. V. Kamath.
     
    I have often wondered whether Christians realise how much offence their
    missionaries give to non-Christians in India, mainly Hindus, by their
    activities.
    There are two kinds of Christianity. One is that of simple god-fearing
    people who go to church, say their prayers, do what little they can for
    lessening the suffering or ignorance of their fellow citizens, and be at
    peace with the world around them. They are respected, loved and
    honoured.
    The other is the 'Institutional Christianity', which came to India with
    the marauding Portuguese in the 16th century. It is this Christianity
    that has been causing trouble in India in recent times.
    The argument adduced by Institutional Christianity is that it is God's
    command that his good word be spread all over the world. They insist on
    their 'right' to convert people becuase God ordained that people must be
    converted. Such an attitude is insulting to non-Christians.
    Some time in late January, the South Asian correspondent of Le Figaro,
    France's most popular newspaper, wrote a scathing peice against
    missionary activity in the Hindustan Times. Francois Gautier must have
    felt really incensed at the insensitivity of Indian Christians.
    More recently, Jon Stock, New Delhi correspondent of the Daily Telegraph
    (a London paper) wrote a revelatory piece in the Spectator, another
    British journal, about the activities of missionaries in India. Put
    simply, Stock wrote, "The Indian subcontinent has become the principal
    target for a wide range of western Christian missions determined to
    spread the Gospel to India's 'unreached' people before the year 2000."
    Christian missions in the US have become particularly nasty and
    offensive.
    Stock quotes what the US-based Bethany World Prayer Centre has been
    writing about Hinduism. Any American who wants to pray for the Ho
    tribals of south Bihar and northern Orissa, for example, is given a
    photo, he says, a detailed map and a description of how tribals live and
    what they believe in, with the suggestion: "Pray against the spirits of
    animism and Hinduism that have kept the Ho in spiritual darkness for
    centuries." Stock comments: "Bethany's exhortation to pray against
    animism and Hinduism is hardly a mark of respect." He's being kind. I
    call that a downright insult to Hinduism. But we are not supposed to
    protest.
    Then Stock quotes 'The Native Missionary Movement in India' as saying
    about Orissa: "Satan has successfully camouflaged his grip on the people
    of Orissa with a thin veneer of religion." Is Hinduism satanic? As for
    'AD 2000 and Beyond,' it says that Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, is
    full of temples dedicated to Shiva, "an idol whose symbol is a phallus.
    Many consider the city the very seat of Satan." Why are our Indian
    Bishops quiet in this matter?
    But Stock goes further. He writes: "Hundreds and thousands of dollars
    are being channelled into India through well-organised US-based
    evangelica missions. The meticulously researched ethnographic data they
    are compiling on the region ensures that funds (as well as prayers) are
    being directed with military precision ot the right places, even to
    specific PIN codes, in remote tribal districts."
    Stock quotes 'AD 2000 and Beyond' as saying: "God is allowing us to spy
    on the land that we might go in and claim both it and its inhabitants
    for Him." The kind of language being used by US evangelical missions to
    describe Hinduism is appaling. But there is not a word of apology from
    our Christian bishops.
    According to Suresh Kumar Unnithan, writing in the Observer (March 23),
    "A detailed strategy for massive conversion of tribals, Dalits and
    backward classes and large-scale church planting was formulated at a
    meeting of church and missionary leaders in Bhpal recently."
    Unnithan quotes a document prepared by one Dr. Victor Choudrie,
    co-ordinator of 'Harvest Consultant' (a proselytisation programme of the
    Protestant Church) and present at the meeting, as saying that "the goal
    is to plant about 30,000 churches and reach over 10 million 'unreached'
    in the state by the year 2007." According to the report "MP has 70
    million people in 70,000 villages and only 70,000 Christian families. We
    should strive to have one church in every village by 2010."
    I call this Institutional Christianity and it seems to be hell bent on
    creating trouble in the name of religion. And the money for all these
    church-building activities comes from the USS, where Christianity hardly
    exists. Fro that matter, what sort of Christianity exists in Europe? In
    Ireland, Catholics and Protestants are at each others' throats. Not one
    of Christ's preachings are practised anywhere. Germans sent god alone
    knows how millions Jews to death during the Nazi era. The French ravaged
    Vietnam and Nigeria. Italians almost destroyed Ethiopia. The record of
    the Spaniards is despicable as is that of the Portuguese. Americans
    almost levelled Vietnam - a small nation that had done them no harm - to
    dust.
    Is this Christianity in action? And they have the cheek to come to India
    to instruct us in pacifist ways? Eurpoean Christianity is the very
    antithesis of Christianity. It is an insult to Christ. US evangelists
    dare not send money to support proselytisation in Muslim countries. Let
    them try to do so in any Muslim country and they would know what would
    happen. In India we allow our religion to be trampled upon, our gods
    insulted - all in the name of secularism.
    I would like to know what Sonia Gandhi thinks of all this and what her
    Indian National Congress Party's veiws are on this matter.
    The government needs to be warned in advance so there is not repetition
    of the Staines incident. The missionaries need to be told to cry a halt
    to their activities. And foreign church bodies should be told to lay
    off.
    The point can be made that if non-resident Indians can support the
    International Hindu Council (Vishwa Hindu Parishad or VHP) financially,
    why shouldn't foreign Church bodies finance Indian churches?
    The point is that these expatriates are not attempting to convert
    Christians. In any event, it is a matter of Indians supporting Indians.
    The people needing conversions are Europeans and Americans. We do not
    need US-style or European-style Christianity in India; thank you. We are
    quite happy and at peace with the local variety.
     

    the down side of "progress"

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/world/europe/24diet.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

    Sadly this is true for Indians as well - I was in Bangalore last year and the kids are distinctly fatter than before. There is better exercise culture in some parts - with swanky new gyms and world class equipment - but the junk food and colas are taking their toll.

    Perhaps the future is in Dr. Joshi's (of the Prayog Parivar fame) pioneering city farming techniques. Eat what you can grow is the mantra

    Tuesday, September 23, 2008

    from a VC/banker friend, the simple explanation for the mortgage crisis

    sep 22nd, 2008

    warning: profanity

    how to destroy the financial system in a few easy steps, and make yourselves a few million dollars in the process.

    http://rajeev.posterous.com/in-a-few-easy-steps-how-to-scr

    credit where it's due re american debt mountain

    sep 22nd, 2008

    the one person who's been running around saying "the emperor has no clothes" is s. gurumurthy. he's been saying "there's something wrong when taking on debt is considered virtuous" and "the japanese are saving a lot, and that's considered a vice". have to give him credit for his instinct that the endless accumulation of debt is not really a good thing.

    srirang godbole: Conversions: Faith in the closet

    sep 22nd, 2008

    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: sgodbole

    Conversions: Faith in the closet       
    Shreerang Godbole; www.vijayvaani.com
    22 Sep 2008

    Post-Kandhamal, post-Mangalore, the issue of conversions has taken centre-stage.  "Christians are a persecuted, hapless minority"; "How can a minority that accounts for less than 2.5% of the population pose a threat to the 84% Hindus of the country?" is the general refrain. "If Christian missionaries had been indulging in large-scale conversions, how has the Christian percentage remained virtually static in the last two censuses" is the seemingly compelling argument. 

    The Christian percentage that stood at 2.32 in the 1991 census was virtually static at 2.35 in Census 2001. In fact, a state like Andhra Pradesh presents a strange phenomenon in religious demography. Since 1971, there has been a steady decline in the share of Christian population in the state. The Christian population in Andhra had increased steadily for more than a century from the time of "mass movements" in 1860s till 1970. The Christian population increased by 2.5 percentage points from 1.7% in 1911 to 4.2% in 1971.

    However, there has been a steady decline in the share of Christians since then, as recorded in every decadal census. As per Census 2001, the share of Christians came down to 1.6%. In fact, the Christian population even declined in absolute numbers, from about 180,000 in 1971 to about 120,000 in 2001. The decline in the share of Christians during 1971-2001 is seen in all regions of Andhra Pradesh, though it is most marked in the middle and southern coastal districts – the largest decline being observed in Guntur district (14.6% in 1971 to 3.0% in 2001).  

    Yet Hindu organizations routinely allege that Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a hotbed of Christian activities. The annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, March 2007, lends credence to Hindu apprehensions. According to the report, for the year 2005-2006, three metropolitan cities namely Chennai (Rs. 7530.83 million), Bangalore (Rs. 4640.97 million) and Mumbai (Rs. 4400.47 million) reported the highest district-wise receipt of foreign contribution in the country.

    Next in line are two districts in Andhra Pradesh - Ananthapur (Rs. 2880.11 million) and Hyderabad-Secunderabad (Rs. 2360.84 million). In the last four decades, Andhra Pradesh has consistently been one of the top three states to receive such mind-boggling foreign aid. A couple of years ago, Christian organizations had become bold enough to swarm the seven hills of Lord Venkateshwara to hawk their creed, but had to beat a retreat when Hindu society launched a staunch protest. Outside of the north-east, Andhra Pradesh is the only state in India to have a Christian Chief Minister. How does one explain the curious paradox of an apparent spurt in conversion activities and a static, sometimes even declining Christian share in the population? 

    The answer becomes obvious when one takes the trouble of studying Christian strategy and statistics – statistics provided by authoritative mission documents. Every year Christian churches spend billions of dollars to maintain a head-count of their flock. This aids the massive evangelistic enterprise of global Christianity. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity, at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, brings out the World Christian Encyclopedia (Oxford University Press, 1982; 2d ed., 2001) and World Christian Trends (William Carey Library, 2001).

    In addition, an annual update of many of the statistics in this report is produced every January in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research. The 2001 report states that of the estimated 1.88 billion professing Christians worldwide, an estimated 124 million or 6.2% are crypto-Christians or those who conceal their faith. We need not swallow everything churned out by this seminary. As the report itself notes, "Christian triumphalism – not as pride in huge numbers, but as publicized self-congratulation – is rampant in most churches, agencies, and ministries… some 250 of the 300 largest international Christian organizations regularly mislead the Christian public by publishing demonstrably incorrect or falsified progress statistics." Nevertheless, there is no doubt that a significant number of Christians worldwide keep their faith in the closet.

    Concealing one's faith – and double-crossing one's pre-Christian faith – has a hoary Biblical tradition. In the Gospel of John, we come across a character called Nicodemus who was a 'closet disciple' of Jesus Christ. Nicodemus was a Pharisee (a group of Jews whom the New Testament typically depicts as being self-righteous and arrogant because of their disbelief) and a member of the Sanhedrin or the Supreme Court of the ancient Jews which tried and found Jesus guilty. Without renouncing his Judaism explicitly, Nicodemus had met Jesus at night and subsequently took care of his corpse.    

    In later centuries, Christians have taken recourse to subterfuge to practice their faith. When Francis Xavier brought Roman Catholicism to Japan in 1549, most of the inhabitants of Ikitsuki Island left Buddhism and became Christians. Recognizing the threat that Christianity posed to Japan and her traditions, Hideyoshi and the other shogun all but stamped out Christianity. Adopting a complex sham, the Christians of Ikitsuki worshipped publicly at Buddhist temples, and then slipped away at night to hold secret Christian prayer meetings. At home, they prayed overtly before Buddhist and Shinto altars, but their real altar became the nan do garni (closet god), innocuous-looking bundles of cloth in which Christian statues and medallions were hidden.

    For two and a half centuries, the Christian faith was transmitted secretly to illiterate peasants.  These Janus-faced people came to be known as Kakure Kirishitan (crypto-Christians). In 1865, when Japan permitted a Catholic church to open in Nagasaki to serve Western visitors, the Kakure, then numbering around 30,000 in the region, suddenly came out of hiding. To this day, at public ceremonies such as Kakure funerals, a Buddhist priest is always asked to officiate, but the Kakure make sure to make a secret prayer to erase the effect of the Buddhist priest!

    Crypto-Christians are numerous in places where Christianity gets a taste of the maltreatment it usually metes out to others. Thus, Chinese law requires all churches to be registered with government-run Christian associations. Members of so-called underground churches are imprisoned, 're-educated,' and sometimes executed. China's official census enumerates 10 million Protestants and 4 million Roman Catholics. But reliable estimates place the actual number of Protestants in China at 39 million and that of Roman Catholics at 14 million.

    In Saudi Arabia, foreign Christians generally only worship in secret within private homes. They are careful to keep Bibles, crucifixes and religious statues away from public gaze.  While the Church-inspired United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a creature of the US State Department, makes routine noises against the Saudis, it is not known to have recommended denial of US visas to visiting Saudi dignitaries!

    The existence, indeed proliferation, of crypto-Christians in India is a fact acknowledged by the Church. The World Christian Trends (2001) has placed the number of persons affiliated to the Church in India at 62243546 or 6.1%. In short, the number of Christians in India is nearly thrice the official census figure! The document places the share of crypto-Christians in the total Christian population at a staggering 62%! 

    In 2002, the American mission agency Global Mapping International asked Patrick Johnstone, author of Operation World, a prayer handbook which documents demographics and mission activity in many countries, to list the seven most encouraging trends of the 1990's. "The astonishing and mostly undocumented growth of the church in India - the official numbers (2.34% Christians in 1991) are far lower than the truth, deliberately hiding the true extent of Christianity in the nation. The true figures are certainly far more than double, and look like only the beginning. The 'untouchable' Dalits have started leaving Hinduism, which could lead to an immense growth of Indian churches" was Johnstone's gleeful reply. 

    So why do so many Christians in India conceal their faith, given that the rulers are Christian-friendly? The present Constitutional provision that limits the benefits available to Scheduled Castes only to Hindus (including Sikhs and Buddhists) is a major hurdle. This has created a peculiar breed of Christians with dual identity. They attend the Church but are identified by their Hindu names and castes in the Government records.

    No wonder Christian leaders are vigorously demanding continuation of benefits to Scheduled Castes even after conversion. Not so long ago, Church leaders heaped abuse on the institution of caste, calling it a strictly Hindu phenomenon and claimed that conversion to Christianity would ensure social equality. That argument is passé. "Scheduled Caste converts face the same social disabilities as their Hindu counterparts" is the new mantra. Another reason to hide conversions is the fear that awareness of the grim reality would jolt Hindus into action.  If events in Kandhamal and Mangalore are any indication, the grandiose ambitions of the Church to 'claim India for Christ' already seem doomed.

    Dr. Shreerang Godbole is a Pune-based endocrinologist, social activist and author. He has contributed in making http://www.savarkar.org/