The Campaign Continues.....

The blog moved, last spotted near

TVMTALKIES.com

Its just that this blog has moved. The fight against uptight, short sighted, narrow minded, nuerotic, pyschotic, pig headed, short haired, yellow bellied, tricky dicky, tight lipped, Condescending, Chauvinistic, Schizophrenic, Ego-centric, Paranoid hypocritics continues.

Good Night and Good Luck :)

Germania

Here’s looking at you Germania,

Goethe,Leibnitz, Kant, Karl Marx, Nietzsche, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Fahrenheit, Röntgen, Hertz, Hegel and Hitler

Kant, Hegel, Marx and then Hitler - the “germ” is always there

For anyone out there crouched in their prison cell, who cannot hear the ocean, who thinks “secular” and “progressive” are cliched twentieth century words - Germany is one lesson from history on eternal vigilence. A secular progressive society where every human being has the right to live in the land they were born into, a right to “food, medicine, clean air, pure water, trees and grass, pleasant homes to live in, some hours of work, more hours of leisure” is not a destination, it is a journey - something the society needs to achieve at the end of every day. Any one who strives for it is not a utopian but a realist. Because the ‘germ’ will always be there and every sunrise is another day.

A place called hope

'Saudi Arabia's peace plan for the Middle East was long considered stillborn by the West. Now the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is lauding it as "revolutionary."'

"Last week, the 22 government leaders of the Arab League renewed their commitment to the Beirut proposal. First, however, Abdullah, who has since become the king of Saudi Arabia, gave them a telling-off the likes of which has never been heard before at an Arab summit. He mentioned the bloodshed in occupied Iraq, the political deadlock in Lebanon, the "Arab meekness" in Sudan and the seemingly endless series of civil wars in Somalia. "The real blame should fall on us -- we the leaders of the Arab nations," he said." - Speigel story here

The hellfire in Iraq notwithstanding, a breakthrough in middle east seems possible. With Israel warming up to the Beirut peace plan put forth in 2002 by the then crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The realization of mistakes by both sides is important and maybe we could shed our cynicism for a moment, there could be peace and as some experts say,it could happen in the very short term.

And

Six months after the heart wrenching massacre, it is a new beginning for the students in Nickel Mines. Despite a tsunami in the Pacific, there are reasons enough this Monday morning to believe in a place called 'hope'.

Hail to the Chief !

Nouri Al-Maliki, had just finished explaining to the visiting UN chief Ban Ki Moon about the progress being made in Iraq. (28 sec video)



I don't understand Al Jazeera's arab commentary, nor Dubya's Iraq policy.

Bollywoodland !

"I have been offered this award before but did not accept it because the time I felt was not right. But today I'm going to be a mother-in-law all over again to a wonderful lovely girl who has great values , a great dignity and a lovely smile. I welcome you to the family, I love you. So I thought this would be the right time to accept this award.", Jaya Bhaduri said after accepting the "LifeTime Achievement Award" from Filmfare.

After watching the Bachchan family drama on Filmfare stage, I was not in a position to actively think on what was Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan's life time achievement for hindi cinema. I agree that Bollywood, considering its vast resources has achieved very less and all Jaya Bhaduris sitting with a 'Devil' can grab any award in our tinsel town. Watch this video at your own risk.



As far as I see it, this couple, standing there on stage for around ten minutes going on and on about how their son married , how their daughter got pregnant and why that is a lifetime achievement, with the whole of Hindi film industry sitting there and listening is a spectacle - that is exactly what makes the hindi films suck - inertia to get out of that bullshit pit. Every speech on the filmfare stage has to pay homage to the Bachchans or the Chopras or the Roshans. Everyone is addressed as uncle or aunty. Every movie is so full of bullshit. And Hrithik is the best actor for Dhoom2.


Can we get over it guys ? Your family values. Are we still not fed up of this family drama and Koffee couches. Is there a single award night in recent memory where the family hasn't tortured us. Isn't it time Bollywood borrows some professionalism from hollywood or outsource this bollywood farce to good film makers in Bengal, Chennai or Kerala. Bachchan once said Academy awards are not for us, our art is different. Yes sir ! your art is different and so full of bullshit, which is shoveled down the average movie goer's esophagus like "Eklavya"

Let us not live under the impression that these folks are the best we have, they are not. There have been genuine movies like this and this, which came out of the same bollywood. These families are the cancer of the hindi film industry and they make a mockery of cinema, perhaps the most important medium of our times - and thats a crime. There are a lot people who stand accused, but the main culprit could be six feet three with a baritone voice.

P.S : If you still haven't watched Black Friday, as Taran Adarsh put it, do yourselves a favour - go watch it.

P.P.S : Now that 'Lifetime' has been presented to Jaya and Rekha, how about checking out names like Nihalani and Benegal before giving it to Aishwarya.

Mother of all Nightmares

"...I am sure, thousands like me will be shocked by the Nandigram incident. Please, please have some regard for those who feel that socialism is not terrorism, but humanism; and misrule by gun will not be the rule of the Left in State authority."

V.R.Krishna Iyer in his open letter to Prakash Karat.

Beat the squares with the tramp of rebels!
Higher, rangers of haughty heads!
We'll wash the world with a second deluge,
Now’s the hour whose coming it dreads.
Too slow, the wagon of years,
The oxen of days — too glum.
Our god is the god of speed,
Our heart — our battle drum.
Is there a gold diviner than ours
What wasp of a bullet us can sting?
Songs are our weapons, our power of powers,
Our gold — our voices — just hear us sing!

- Mayakovski,1917

When did the Communist government in Bengal forget to sing, when did the lover of Marquez and modernism start writing his whim around the echo of a bullet shot, why did the communist lose his vow of burning patience. Every excuse of governance from the Writer's Building notwithstanding, the bottom line is a democratically elected communist government opened fire on its own people, killing them. A left front government used the brute force of state machinery to repress its own people. This is unprecedented and shameful.This is not revolution through parliamentary democracy, this is not 'struggle and governance', this is the mother of all nightmares and this will haunt the leftist struggle in India for years to come. This is sad.

Buddha could argue citing the metaphor that Agricultural Bharat met eyeball to eyeball with Industrial India in Nandigram. He could argue that rapid industrialization is key to India's growth with the agricultural sector growing at one third the rate of industrial growth and that a failure in Nandigram and Singur will have national implications. But try explaining the Hindu growth rate to the farmer and the farm labourer who is wedded to his soil -its hard ; but then, thats why we need communists and them compassionate.

Buddha could argue citing the facts that the rule of law had to be brought back in Nandigram, that a chief executive has to make hard decisions, that the Trinamool, fringe left and Muslim groups in Nandigram and across Bengal are dangerous and he had to act, that the villagers in Nandigram are under siege by external elements. But why can't a democratic communist government with its roots in the hearts of Bengalis talk with its own people, convince its own people. If Trinamool and the Naxals are able to convince the villagers, why can't the Communist party do it. A progressive movement which is impotent to talk to its own stakeholders, be it due to the arrogance of power or reactionary influences on the people will be in due course of time be relegated to its rightful place in the waste paper basket of history unless it changes its course.

Buddha needs to understand that we live in an India where state violence in Bengal and Naxal violence in Chattisgarh are both called Red Terror. The removal of this Indian cataract will be a long and painful journey, in which songs will be more effective than bullets. Being the darling of capitalist enterprise might be hailed by the media which believes in gulping rather than savouring, but the leftist struggle in India draws its energy not from the news cycles but from the ground realities which are strangled by the news media. The Indian news media never asks what the Naxalites want, then the Naxalites are terrorists.


The Buddha government and the party in Bengal needs to go through a process of self-critical analysis on what went wrong. The decision to accept the peoples' verdict on Nandigram will be the first step towards that. The damage that has been done will take time to heal, but the 'astounding arrogance' of the CPIM will have to be cured now. There are a lot of difficult questions that will haunt CPIM for long, Buddha better have some answers or else the humility to ask for forgiveness. Millions of Hindutva sympathizers died exactly five years before in Gujarat, a lot of Indian communists died on March 14th in Bengal. The death toll is rising, maybe, Buddha should go.

Forrest Gump Confesses

The Forrest Gump of Global Terror has confessed. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is one of the three hundred and twenty seven (courtesy : random number generator) people the US considers to be Al-Qaeda No 3. This Global terrorist was arrested in March 2003 in Pakistan and was placed in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The terrorist confessed on March 10th of 2007.

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You might have heard this one, but can't resist, this is my all time favourite. Once, way back in early 90's there was a competition for the best police force in the world. The top three finalists were the Russians, Israelis and Kerala police. The challenge was to go into the Muthodi forest and catch three "absconding" tigers.

The Russians took the first turn, and after a day returned with the tiger. Next the Israelis went into the forest and caught the tiger in half a day. Finally, Kerala police went in. Days passed without any news and after a week a search team was sent out to look for them.

The search team found the KP guys just half a mile into the forest. There was a Bear tied to one of the trees and a constable was standing next to it, punching the bear in the stomach. The bear was wailing "I'm not a tiger,I'm not a tiger". The Kerala police chief said " we caught the tiger in less than ten minutes, but this sonofabitch is not confessing".

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has confessed to personally beheading journalist Daniel Pearl, 1993 World Trade Center bombing,Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States,''Filka Island Operation'' in Kuwait, Bali bombings, Shoe-bomb plot for bombing trans-Atlantic flights, plotting to bomb Sears Towers and Empire State building, Plotting to assassinate all American Presidents including Jimmy Carter, Plotting to attack Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Port of Singapore,Panama Canal, Heathrow Airport, Big Ben ,Canary WharfS,NATO headquarters in Brussels, Israel Embassies, US Embassies, plotting the Bojinka Operation to take down 12 American planes in Indonesia AND planning to Kill the Pope, Kill Musharraf and Kill Clinton.

Read full confession here (there are many that I left out after fainting)

Khalid is not just the Forrest Gump of terror, he is the James Bond of terror or rather the Rajnikanth of terror. Osama Bin Laden is reportedly fuming in his cave despite the Afghan winter. Reports say he feels betrayed and mugged in broad daylight. OBL is planning to confess and take responsibility for JFK assassination, Katrina Hurricane and Global Warming to regain his terror status.

Khalid in the meantime on a fast track to terror sainthood in Pakistan and the middle-east might claim responsibility for "plotting" in this mega case as well. That might be another feather in the cap for FBI and Kerala Police.

Women's Army and Jhansi Rani

"My short skirt is a liberation flag in the women's army," they read. "I declare these streets, any streets, my vagina's country."

they read the Vagina Monologues aloud and then they were suspended

So sad. What about those men who were fired for using the "V" word at work.

and back in India on this Women's day,

'A study on all aspects related to women officers in the armed forces, including induction in combat roles was conducted under the aegis of the Chiefs of Staff Committee -,' Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. 'The study has recommended exclusion of women officers for the present in close combat roles where chances of physical contact with the enemy are high,' Antony added.

Neihal, says Women's right activists have "slammed the findings of the study as the height of male chauvinism"

What is with this male chauvinist (but armed) pigs, this is the height of discrimination, that too in the land of the great and "highly successful in battle" Jhansi Rani. And whats with this "Physical contact" , haven't these morons heard about this thingy called "Guns" which other armed forces in the rest of the world have successfully put into use. Don't tell me we settle disputes with Pakis by playing kabaddi and wrestling (extreme physical contact conditions) - Indian army had decommisioned those weapons after the Chinese routed us.

Does anyone remember those rape cases, remember Jaffna of 87 ? Having women in the army*provided they have guns* will arguably reduce the chance of sexual abuse - well who knows. Now about winnability and compromising national security, when was the last time we fought a full fledged war - 1971 ? did we actually see the enemy in Kargil, let alone physical contact. So let these women be, give them whatever they want. Do whatever is needed to shut those feminists up. Oh those shrill voices.

According to me, all our Jhansi Ranis in short skirts must be given the freedom to go to hell in any frickin way they want. Say NO to discrimination in combat roles in Indian Armed Forces !!

Where the Nile flows...

Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman, the Egyptian blogger from Alexandria was this week, sentenced to four years in prison for what he wrote in his blog. He was first arrested in 2005. A blogger and a law student in Al Azhar (world's second oldest operating University), Karim's blog was critical of the University which he termed "was promoting extreme ideas". Point to note is that he was a casual blogger who commented on issues around him occasionally. Karim's post accusing Muslims of savagery during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Alexandria in 2005 titled “The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it" created an uproar in the Sunni fundamentalist circles.

Excerpt :
"It is worth mentioning that although some people may think that this Christian-owned liquor store was particularly targeted because the owner is selling the forbidden alcoholic beverages that is forbidden in Islam, but another liquor store in front of the Christian-owned store happens to be owned by a Moslem merchant, and none of the thugs dared to attack, as they did with the Christian-owned store. Now you can see the hateful sectarian actions."

Karim's criticism of Papa Bear Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president since 1981, "likening him to the dictatorial pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt" is cited as yet another reason to jail him - as criticizing the President put "National Security at a higher risk".

Egypt, an Enemy of the Internet is a long way away from individual freedom. A country where the supreme religious leader, the Grand Mufti is in favour of reconstructive hymen surgery for women who lost their virginity before marriage cannot be expected to be a beacon for secular progressive forces; and its not.

The fate of Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman does not bother me, if it bothers you, you might find something here. What bothers me is the fact that Egypt is arguably the cradle of human civilization, man and his intelligence has constantly worked wonders by the banks of the Nile.
If what Egypt implies is that individual freedom and human progress are not directly proportional to the age of civilization, then they should be products of certain choices the society makes as a whole. We need to find those choices; We need to make those choices; We cannot afford to be Egypt.

As for Egypt, USA's Man Friday in the region, you can wait by the Nile , looking upstream till Uncle Sam sends you a wooden basket down the river with Nile's gift of democracy. This will take some time of course and Egypt being obedient to US is not helping things at all. If you are obedient, you don't get the democracy gift - see Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan. All the prodigal disobedient kids got democracy - see Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan. The whole point is obedience.

Good Night and Good Luck !

The Slow Drumbeat of Another war

One can sense it, the slow drumbeat of another war. In the past two weeks the military-intelligence-government complex has been building up a new case against Iran. A confrontation with Iran seems inevitable when one looks at the way the story is being built-up in the media, especially the news deprived 24\7 network channels.

It could be a war or a swift and precise bombing of key installations in Iran. The truth being a full scale war with Iran will be unacceptable to the USA at a time when the extrapolated cost of the Iraq quagmire is touching a senseless 1 Trillion dollars and the fact being Iran is no Iraq.



The war in Iraq was a success in meeting the short term goals of the US,
1. Checkmating Iraq's firepower - Especially the Scud threat against Israel
2. Unseating the Saddam regime and a cleanup of the Baath-Sunni oligarchy

But in a war with Iran, what would be the short term goals,
1. Taking out Iran's nuclear capablity - this will not be easy, given the fact that Atomic installations in Iran are geographically wide-spread and high in count.
2. Unseating the regime - Iran is a functioning democracy and even in their wildest dreams, the US will not be thinking about this.
3. Containing Iran's reaction - will be tough. Iran could go on a rampage in the Persian Gulf and across the middle-east if it is hit. Iran has the firepower to accomplish that and the American forces in Iraq and rest of the middle-east will be sitting ducks despite any ramp up the US intends to and is perhaps currently doing in the Persian Gulf.

Going into a war with Iran has two critical reasons against it,
1. American public opinion - which a propaganda campaign over a period of time may perhaps be able to change
2. World opinion - which asks this Question, but which, if Iraq is any example the current establishment does not really care about

Despite this why would the US make this mistake perhaps in another year or two - the answer is, the conservative right which has placed George Bush and Dick Cheney in charge of the country will not let them go back home without doing something about Iran. There is not much of a choice here and the way things are piling up, it is surely going their way. It may not happen soon, but there is another 'solid' two years left in the Bush Presidency.

Before the bombing starts, lets take a minute off to see what Iran (which has not invaded a country in the past one hundred years) looks like. After the bombing we'll be left with rubble, like Afghanistan and Iraq, it is in the nature of bombs.


P.S : Per the state of the Union did you hear about yesterday's "Valentine's Day Massacre"

P.P.S : Take a look at the 2008 Budget Request (courtesy : RoseCoveredGlasses)

Road to the White House - Miami Caucuses

With the Presidential race for 2008 getting heated up , Miami Caucuses yesterday decided on a bipartisan ticket for 2008. The Caucuses across Budweiser suggested a Republican as President and a Democrat as his VP. The Lincoln-Kennedy '08 ticket was announced by the Caucus leader Stephen Colbert with much fanfare outside Sunday's Superbowl venue. Within minutes CIA's closest base at Bay of Pigs with written authorization from Langley informed the Caucus that both Lincoln and Kennedy were killed and probably both were dead. The Caucus in a state of extreme shock, downed a gallon of Mojito and observed a moment of silence. The Caucus also decided that probably a bipartisan ticket might not be a good idea in a country that has opinions. The search for a new President is on.

How does this CV look like ?

Eric Seagal's book Love Story was closely based on him and his Harvard roomie Tomy Lee Jones.

Serves in Apple's board of Directors and advisor to Google's senior management.

Consistently opposed the war in Iraq and Abu Ghraib, stating the facts. He said "We would not have invaded a country that did not attack us. We would not have taken money from the working families and given it to the most wealthy families. We would not be trying to control and intimidate the news media. We would not be routinely torturing people."

He didn't say he "invented the internet" but played a major role in creating it. This is what Vinton Gray Cerf and Bob Kahn - the two founding fathers of Internet have to say about our candidate - " He was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development. No one person or even small group of persons exclusively "invented" the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community. But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge his contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time. "

He led the foreign policy initiatives during the Clinton years. Remember South Africa, Israel-Palestine, Bosnia - Yugoslavia.

He says Global Warming is not a myth and many of us are convinced. His latest Documentary on global warming has created a new found awareness on the issue. Its the third highest grossing documentary in US history, nominated for the 2007 Oscars. Point is he's been saying this since 1980s and got a copy of the Kyoto Protocol for record - though it didn't do much good.

Nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on Global Warming.

He served in Vietnam (unlike Bush and Clinton who dodged the draft)

Pioneered the National Performance Review - something every country can do with.

He was elected President of the United States in 2000. But that was the year the US Supreme court elected its own President, our hero - Dubya.

More written word on PBS and NYTimes

Its a long campaign ahead - fresh faces, old horses, promises, vested interests and hypocrisies. More on the 2008 race later. Btw, according to Conan O'Brien, President Bush visited the New York Stock Exchange. It was an awkward moment when President Bush asked, "When do I get to meet Dow Jones?. Then he went on to say the economy is doing pretty good and all the Indian techies smiled. He said Iraq situation is difficult. If Iraq is 'difficult', 'pretty good' for the economy is surely an understatement.

Good Night and Good Luck :-)

Lets Burn Mumbai !

Ha Papa Bear has spoken. What a long wait it was oh Emperor of the Hindu hearts, papa we missed you so.

Thackeray who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, made an emotional appeal to the Marathis saying there was a conspiracy to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra and it would not be "tolerated".

"The city will burn if it is taken away from Maharashtra," Thackeray said.

"Let them even try to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra and we will give them a fitting reply. One hundred and five martyrs, mostly mill workers, had sacrificed their lives for the cause of Maharashtra with Mumbai and we will not let it go to waste," he added.

Source : CNN-IBN

Asking Hindus to break linguistic barriers and unite, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray said his dream was to feel a "Hindustan of Hindus" that would bring "Islam in this country down to its knees".

Addressing a massive rally at Shiv Sena stronghold Shivaji Park, Thackeray said "it is my dream that we would create a Hindustan of the Hindus. Maharashtrians or Punjabis alone cannot fight against Islam. That is why, I appeal to all Hindus to break the linguistic wall around them and come together so that we can bring Islam in this country down to its knees."

Source : Indian Express


So Papa Bear, lets get to burning this Mumbai thingy down shoulder to shoulder with all those surviving mill workers *who the stingy-pig eating- Afzal loving- Sickle carrying commies allege you had sold out again and again to mill owners while you were the trade union Sarkar* . Lets drive all those Biharis, Gujjus, Madrasis and coconut selling Malayalis out of Brihanmumbai. Shall we use electoral rolls this time like Modi uncle did ?
Let me tell you that is not as comprehensive as the marwadis think, why cant this godforsaken non-marathis circumcise ? Neways, lets drive them out, one by one.

After that Papa Bear, we'll fight the Muslims. We'll throw them into Arabian sea, let them drown or swim to Mecca, Dubai or Madina. Christians we'll ship them back to Italy, along with Maino. HOLD ON !!!! Did you say break the linguistic wall and fight Islam ? What about the first plan then ? Here I'm confused Papa Bear, I wouldn't dare say you are aging. But I'm confused - its like the whole plan is lost in translation.

P.S : Don't worry Papa Bear, all opinion polls say we'll win Brihanmumbai. These morons will vote for us. If they don't we'll burn Mumbai.Either ways,next week they'll again squat near the Gateway and go gua gua gua about the spirit of Bombay.These morons.

The State of the Union

Joseph Palmi: Let me ask you something... we Italians, we got our families, and we got the chuch; the Irish they have the homeland, jews their tradition; even the niggas, they got their music. What about you people, Mr. Wilson, what do you have?

Edward Wilson: The United States of America, and the rest of you are just visiting.

- Good Shepherd, 2006

Pfizer announced Monday that it will cut 10,000 jobs and close five plants, including three R&D sites and two factories, by the end of 2008. Pfizer reported that fourth-quarter sales were $12.6 billion, while net income surged 257 percent.

Source : CNN-Money

"Hey, hey, Uncle Sam,
we remember Vietnam.
They cheer you on when you attack,
when you come home they turn their back
Bush and Cheney talk war-talk,
but we know they’re chicken hawks.
Bring our troops back to our soil.
We say NO blood for oil.

Hey, hey Uncle Sam
We remember Vietnam
We don't want your I-raq war
Peace is what we're marchin' for
We don't want another war
Peace is what we're marchin' for"

- Vietnam Veterans, Peace March on Washington, Jan 27, 2006

CNN and NYTimes imply there is a gradual leftward shift in US politics (after the far right days of '01) . FOX says the new legislature is leftist with San Fransisco values. I listen. Its not my job to analyse news, I pay for Advanced Cable.

State of the Union

Tags from outside the speech, or as it seems to a couch news-freak, scavenger.

US is all about its foreign policy for the rest of the world, but foreign policy did not figure much in the agenda of the new Democratic Congress, the supposedly left leaning one. The much hyped tag First 100 hours wasn't such a waste - Ethics reform, An increase in the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years, Enactment of the 9-11 commission's recommendations, Expanded stem-cell research, Government negotiation of prices with prescription drug companies, Student loan interest rates cut in half and The elimination of billions in subsidies for big oil companies. Not bad for the first hundred hours - NYTimes calls it a qualified success. The United States has a mature democracy that comes home again and again after straying right or left. Which makes one feel, maybe the founding fathers got it right.

The tag Speaker Nancy Pelosi implies just one thing - the Bush Presidency is over. There is no point in discussing Bush anymore, he'll be a lame duck keeping that chair in the Oval office warm till that cold January morning of 2009.With the rout the Republicans faced last November in both the House and the Senate and the overwhelming public opinion disapproving of his performance, you don't need a Karl Rove to figure out that Bush's only option is to buy time and then get out.

President Hillary Clinton or so it seems (blogger relies completely on Las Vegas bookies for future prediction; more on the '08 race later) will inherit Iraq for sure. But the tag Adm William J Fallon could be a trojan. The appointment of this Navy patriarch to head the Central Command (including the hotbeds Afghanistan, Iraq and Horn of Africa) has been ridiculed, as operations and combat in the region is overwhelmingly army. But this could be part of another broad move for more involvement in the Persian Gulf (Iran - the obvious target) and Somalia (which was bombed last week). The war has to go on somewhere.

Iran -an armed intervention by the US in Iran seems unlikely, but that prediction is based completely on the mood of the nation, opinion of experts and the stand of the legislators - three things Bush really don't care about. Will Israel unilaterally make a move against Iran, which threatens its existence quite vocally. Quite possible, but in that case, conflict in the middle-east will reach a level never seen before with a total realignment of forces stretching from Beirut to Kashmir.

Israel - Palestine ; Condi Rice will not accomplish anything in the mid-east even if the Bush Administration changes its "Dont give a damn about Palestine" stand. Because Israel and Palestine have their weakest leaders in history now - Ehud Olmert (with the least popularity ratings of any Israeli leader) and Abbas who is more concerned about his life. Other than that, there will be an overall lack of support for any bold political moves in the middle-east or Iran or North Korea, with Japan and France going into elections,Tony Blair retiring and US public opinion hovering around Iraq and nothing else.

In the few minutes they have between news and opinions on the War, the media rages on immigration and Racism in the US. Paula Zahn *She's got the most genuine look and the most pretty face in Prime-time news* follows the Duke rape case and the LA gang wars hinging on the racist side of this nation. But no one crying over immigration seems to mention the fact that this country is 80% white and it will remain so. It is more like Hindu fundamentalists in India crying over the higher growth rate of the Muslim population - while being completely unaware of the actual figures. And in the US, no one crying over race seems to mention or want to change the fact that cities like Detroit and Michigan and almost all major retirement destinations in Florida are 70-80% segregated in terms of housing. Which means , if you are a white kid, chances are that you wouldn't see a black kid anywhere near your house. And this is the America of 2007.

Back to politics, the Bush presidency will die out into insignificance in the days to come, as T S Elliot put it, 'not with a bang, but with a whimper', while USA will survive, bringing glory and disrepute to the human kind with their huge complex of myths, values, recipes, slogans, figures, and rites - the height of which one will see this coming Tuesday in Miami when the Bears meets the Colts for the crowning glory. Because USA is not just a melting pot, its a Super Bowl.

Good Night and Good Luck !

American Women

“A gentleman asked me to marry him and I said no,” she recalled. “I told him, ‘I’m just beginning to fly again, I’m just beginning to be me. Don’t take that away.’ ”

Elissa B. Terris, 59, of Marietta, Ga., divorced in 2005 after being married for 34 years and raising a daughter, who is now an adult.

NYTimes story citing Census Bureau figures looks like a close follow up to the Time story on Women in affluent Western Europe.

Read the full story here :

51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse

Excerpts :

"For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one"

"Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom"

“The benefits were completely unforeseen for me,” Ms. Fidler said, “the free time, the amount of time I get to spend with friends, the time I have alone, which I value tremendously, the flexibility in terms of work, travel and cultural events.”


Blogger's : Indian media is all praise for Abhishek Bachan who inspite of all odds decided to save Aishwarya Rai though she is a Manglik. For all my readers from Madagascar, Abhishek and Aishwarya are stars and Manglik is something about planets - if that is of any help.

Western Europe and now the US , do we see any light in Asia . I've maintained throughout, its this simple and see - it works !