tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42882694578146806052024-02-02T15:39:02.059+05:30Optimistic Cynic(Yeah right!)Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-22654518313911069912009-02-05T11:14:00.004+05:302009-02-05T11:39:44.092+05:30Real-life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy<span style="font-style: italic;">Cracked</span> magazine has a list of <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html">5 real life badass soldiers</a> whose actions make <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambo">Rambo</a>'s adventures look like a walk in the park in comparison. At Number 4, is India's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogendra_Singh_Yadav">Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav</a>:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Who Was He?</span><br /><br />Yogendra Singh Yadav was a member of an Indian grenadier battalion during a conflict with Pakistan in 1999. Their mission was to climb "Tiger Hill" (actually a big-ass mountain), and neutralize the three enemy bunkers at the top. Unfortunately, this meant climbing up a sheer hundred-foot cliff-face of solid ice. Since they didn't want to all climb up one at a time with ice-axes, they decided they'd send one guy up, and he'd fasten the ropes to the cliff as he went, so everyone else could climb up the sissy way. Yadav, being awesome, volunteered.<br /><br />Half way up the icy cliff-o'-doom, enemies stationed on an adjacent mountain opened fire, shooting them with an RPG, then spraying assault-rifle fire all over the cliff. Half his squad was killed, including the commander, and the rest were scattered and disorganized. Yadav, in spite of being shot three times, kept climbing.<br /><br />When he reached the top, one of the target bunkers opened fire on him with machine guns. Yadav ran <span style="font-style: italic;">toward</span> the hail of bullets, pitched a grenade in the window and killed everyone inside. By this point the second bunker had a clear shot and opened fire, so he ran at them, taking bullets while he did, and killed the four heavily-armed men inside with his bare hands.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the remainder of his squad was standing at the top of the cliff staring at him saying, "dude, holy shit!" They then all went and took the third bunker with little trouble.<br /><br />For his gallantry and sheer ballsiness, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military award. Unlike the Medal of Honor, the Param Vir Chakra is only given for "rarest of the rare gallantry which is beyond the call of duty and which in normal life is considered impossible to do." That's right, you actually have to break the laws of reality just to be eligible.<br /><br />It has only been awarded 21 times, and two thirds of the people who earned it died in the process. It was initially reported that Yadav had as well, but it turns out that they just mistook him for someone less badass. Or they just figured no real human being could survive a broken leg, shattered arm and 10-15 fresh bullet holes in one sitting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The best Hollywood could come up with:</span><br /><br />John McClane (Bruce Wilis) from <span style="font-style: italic;">Die Hard</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why it Doesn't Compare:</span><br /><br />McClane has a fairly impressive resume of badassery, climbing through elevator shafts and killing terrorists with his bare hands, much like Yadav, except Yadav took more bullets in 10 minutes than McClane did in the entire series without even slowing down. Plus, he was fucking 19-years-old! Try to imagine a high school Bruce Willis screaming, "yippee ki-yay, m*****f*****!"<br /><br />Exactly. [<a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html">Cracked</a>]</blockquote>Read <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html">the article</a> to see 4 other such soldiers.<br /><br />The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Param_Vir_Chakra">Param Vir Chakra</a> citation for him reads:<br /><blockquote>Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav was part of the leading team of a Ghatak Platoon tasked to capture Tiger Hill on the night of ¾ July 1999. The approach to the top was steep, snowbound and rocky. Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, unmindful of the danger involved, volunteered to lead and fix the rope for his team to climb up. On seeing the team, the enemy opened intense automatic, grenade, rocket and artillery fire killing the Commander and two of his colleagues and the platoon was stalled. Realising the gravity of the situation, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav crawled up to the enemy position to silence it and in the process sustained multiple bullet injuries. Unmindful of his injuries and in the hail of enemy bullets, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav continued climbing towards the enemy positions, lobbed grenades, continued firing from his weapons and killed four enemy soldiers in close combat an silenced the automatic fire. Despite multiple bullet injuries, he refused to be evacuated and continued the charge. Inspired by his gallant act, the platoon charged on the other positions with renewed punch and captured Tiger Hill Top.<br /><br />Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav displayed the most conspicuous courage, indomitable gallantry, grit and determination under extreme adverse circumstances. [<a href="http://indianarmy.nic.in/PVC/photo_7.htm">Indian Army</a>]</blockquote>The disappointing thing is that despite being honoured with the highest gallantry award of the country, the Indian Army doesn't even know how to spell his name. The <a href="http://indianarmy.nic.in/PVC/photo_7.htm">citation page</a> has <span style="font-style: italic;">Yoginder</span> as well as <span style="font-style: italic;">Yogender</span>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogendra_Singh_Yadav">His Wikipedia entry</a> has <span style="font-style: italic;">Yogendra</span>. I just hope that his copy of the citation has got it right.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-28941170103615108412009-01-29T11:48:00.006+05:302009-01-29T12:25:20.611+05:30Shoddy Journalism by NDTV and Barkha DuttThat, and a complete lack of a sense of irony.<br /><br />Those are the things that define the current state of our media in general. In the present context, it is NDTV and Barkha Dutt who are the culprits.<br /><br />As the Mumbai terrorist attack was unfolding, an Indian citizen and blogger (<a href="http://ckunte.com/colophon/about">Mr. Chyetanya Kunte</a>) watching the media coverage was shocked by certain aspects of the coverage by Barkha Dutt and NDTV. Chyetanya wrote an angry post (<a href="http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:swkK7xp9rLQJ:reader.feedshow.com/show_items-feed%3D82acf344ae184d2fd2a94dd3b34582b1+http://ckunte.com/+shoddy+journalism&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=in">cached version here</a>; scroll right to the bottom and save a copy of the post titled "Shoddy journalism").<br /><br />On January 26, he <a href="http://ckunte.com/archives/withdrawal">published a retraction</a>. Now, the retraction is smelling strongly of a pseudo-legal notice being "served" by e-mail to Chyetanya. In the retraction, he apologizes to Barkha Dutt and NDTV on three specific counts. I don't know what the personal circumstances of Mr. Kunte are, but I wish he hadn't apologized merely for (a) holding an opinion; (b) speaking the truth; and (c) quoting from Wikipedia.<br /><br />None of those are defamatory in any way. The worst that can be said about his post is that it had an angry "tone" and that he used the word "idiot" to describe a certain "journalist" (I can't tell you what her name is, but it might rhyme with Darkha Butt, or may be not).<br /><br />So, someone calls you an idiot and you go ahead and serve them a legal notice.. even though you routinely insult people and hide behind the facade of being in the media? Where is fair play in that? Plus, whatever happened to freedom of speech etc.? You know, all the stuff that media keeps demanding for itself.<br /><br />Do you know what Wikipedia has to say about Barkha Dutt? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkha_Dutt">This</a>:<br /><blockquote>Perhaps most disastrously, during the Mumbai terrorist attacks of November 2008, Barkha Dutt shared and telecast critical information live on television regarding<br /><ul><li>the location of civilians hiding in hotels (thus potentially endangering their lives),</li><li>the then ATS chief Hemant Karkare's safety preparation (showed him wearing a helmet and a bullet-proof vest in excruciating detail live on television: the officer succumbed to bullets in the neck),</li><li>the exact number and location of commandos defending the hostage locations at the Taj and the Oberoi hotels (information easily available to the terrorists via television or sat phone),</li><li> contacting the head of Oberoi to release sensitive information regarding the current hostage situation in the hotel which drastically contradicted the sanitised information released by Indian security agencies in order to keep the rescue operation uncompromised,</li><li> she further went on to say that even though the govt said that there will be no negotiations with the terrorists, her diplomatic sources – she named the diplomat – said that negotiations are underway.</li><li> It has been reported by a survivor(Lynne Shaw) that this information was used by terrorists in Oberoi to get to some of the hostages. There are also reports that this information may have let terrorists to the next steps by the armed forces.</li></ul></blockquote>Why don't you sue Wikipedia, Barkha?<br /><br />Anyway, others have already eloquently expressed everything that is wrong with this installment of media madness. So, read these (you really must):<br /><ul><li><a href="http://retributions.nationalinterest.in/ndtvs-assault-on-free-speech/">NDTV’s Assault on Free Speech</a></li><li><a href="http://www.ipatrix.com/muffling-a-blogger/">Muffling a Blogger</a></li><li><a href="http://elekhni.com/2009/01/a-bedtime-story-about-blog-freedom/">A bedtime story about blog freedom</a></li><li><a href="http://shripriya.com/blog/2009/01/28/shame-on-ndtv-and-barkha-dutt/">Shame on NDTV and Barkha Dutt</a></li></ul>Keep an eye on <a href="http://www.desipundit.com/">DesiPundit</a> for more.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Note</span>: Also read <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/03/stories/2008120360861300.htm">this item in The Hindu</a>. It talks about the Chief of Indian Navy being upset with the media. A short quote:<br /><blockquote>The competition among news channels to score brownie points reminded him of the "famous shot" during the Kargil War that led to the destruction of an ultra-powerful artillery gun of the Army. Three soldiers died and the Colonel, who yielded to a woman reporter’s entreaty to fire the gun for the camera’s benefit was dismissed from service.</blockquote>No marks for guessing who this "woman reporter" was. Once again, her name might rhyme with "Darkha Butt", or may be not.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-62423612156361889432009-01-29T07:44:00.006+05:302009-01-29T08:13:26.502+05:30Ashley Tellis on Lessons from Mumbai AttacksJust a quotation from his <a href="http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=4bad8b13-1ed8-4ea4-8ed7-0c020c6205f4">testimony</a> to U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:<br /><blockquote>... India has unfortunately become the "sponge" that protects us all. India’s very proximity to Pakistan, which has developed into the epicenter of global terrorism during the last thirty years, has resulted in New Delhi absorbing most of the blows unleashed by those terrorist groups that treat it as a common enemy along with Israel, the United States, and the West more generally. To the chagrin of its citizens, India has also turned out to be a terribly soft state neither able to prevent many of the terrorist acts that have confronted it over the years nor capable of retaliating effectively against either its terrorist adversaries or their state sponsors in Pakistan. The existence of unresolved problems, such as the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, has also provided both Pakistani institutions and their terrorist clients with the excuses necessary to bleed India to "death by a thousand cuts." But these unsettled disputes remain only excuses: not that they should not be addressed by New Delhi seriously and with alacrity, there is no assurance that a satisfactory resolution of these problems will conclusively eliminate the threat of terrorism facing India and the West more generally.<br /><br />This is because the most vicious entities now engaged in attacks on India, like LeT, have objectives that go way beyond Kashmir itself. Rather, they seek to destroy what is perhaps the most successful example of a thriving democracy in the non-Western world, one that has prospered despite the presence of crushing poverty, incredible diversity, and a relatively short history of self-rule. India’s existence as a secular and liberal democratic state that protects political rights and personal freedoms—despite all its failures and imperfections—thus remains a threat to groups such as LeT, with their narrow, blighted, and destructive worldviews, as well as to praetorian, anti-democratic, institutions such as the Pakistan Army and the ISI. India, accordingly, becomes an attractive target, while its mistakes, inadequacies, and missteps only exacerbate the opportunities for violence directed at its citizenry.<br /><br />Yet it would be a gross error to treat the terrorism facing India — including the terrible recent atrocities — as simply a problem for New Delhi alone. In a very real sense, the outrage in Bombay was fundamentally a species of global terrorism not merely because the assailants happened to believe in an obscurantist brand of Islam but, more importantly, because killing Indians turned out to be simply interchangeable with killing citizens of some fifteen different nationalities for no apparent reason whatsoever. If the United States fails to recognize that the struggle against terrorism ought to be indivisible because Indian security is as important to New Delhi as American security is to Washington, future Indian governments could choose to respond to the problems posed by Pakistani groups such as LeT in ways that may undermine regional security and make the U.S. effort to transform Pakistan more difficult than it already it. Avoiding these sub-optimal outcomes requires the Obama administration to treat Indian concerns about terrorism more seriously than the United States has done thus far. [<a href="http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/012809Tellis.pdf">Full text, PDF</a>]</blockquote>Testimonies <a href="http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=4bad8b13-1ed8-4ea4-8ed7-0c020c6205f4">by others</a> are also available.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aside</span>: This should explain why some folks (<a href="http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/do-you-think-kashmir-is-an-integral-part-of-india/">Amit Varma</a>, <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=37ea1a37-c222-41e7-8b19-859b5fd34cbd">Vir Sanghvi</a>) are so terribly wrong. But then, that had been <a href="http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2008/08/18/why-giving-in-to-kashmir-fatigue-is-not-a-good-idea/">established</a> <a href="http://retributions.nationalinterest.in/dear-amit-varma/">already</a>.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-90534943929655934002009-01-27T06:38:00.009+05:302009-01-27T07:37:51.357+05:30Incompetent and OverpaidFloyd Norris, writing in NYT, finally confirms something that I have long held to be an obvious truth - <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/business/23norris.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1233118800&en=9f4c0fe61196eb42&ei=5087%0A">financial sector workers are overpaid</a>. See for yourself:<br /><br /><img style="border: 1px black solid;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfFhNtBbNw7OiAd-XdNi7HeWSNYbaHYBMQsDjS_6SkXl09eChLvFc_bKAgm-WfPCUoAjz59pT5BFMOqq68YaTkpDiMneXtYhi_GwNc94iwIEu-crBVQEzaZGAiM8eInIZgRHe8X50uD4o/s400/23norris-graf01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295775642362953250" /><br /><blockquote>"Wages in finance were excessively high around 1930 and from the mid 1990s until 2006," wrote Thomas Philippon of New York University and Ariell Reshef of the University of Virginia, in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper released this week, "Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry, 1909-2006."<br /><br />They forecast that up to half the wage differential observed in recent years "can be expected to disappear."</blockquote>The article goes to discuss much more. And you should <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/business/23norris.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1233118800&en=9f4c0fe61196eb42&ei=5087%0A">read it in full</a>.<br /><br />I should explain why I included the word "incompetent" in the title. This is not to say that <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> financial sector employees are incompetent (just as they may not <span style="font-style: italic;">all</span> be overpaid). However, it is quite well-known that any booming economic sector attracts a lot of wannabe-types who would not be in that sector if not for the boom. Remember the dot-com bubble, and how many incompetent idiots it attracted to the sector? This one has been the same.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-71167420230166880502009-01-26T05:58:00.000+05:302009-01-26T13:57:21.977+05:30Embarrassing AddressesJust a short (and incomplete) list to lighten you up (all from UK, via <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html?em" target="_blank">NYT</a>):<br /><ul><li>Crapstone, Devon</li><li>Ugley, Essex</li><li>East Breast, Western Scotland</li><li>North Piddle, Worcestershire </li><li>Crotch Crescent, Oxford</li><li>Titty Ho, Northamptonshire</li><li>Slutshole Lane, Norfolk</li><li>Spanker Lane, Derbyshire</li><li>Thong, Kent</li><li>Wetwang, East Yorkshire</li><li>Penistone, South Yorkshire</li><li>Butt Hole Road, South Yorkshire</li></ul>I guess you gotta hand it to Yorkshire with its Wetwang, Penistone and Butt Hole Road.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-38865550590502510732009-01-24T07:00:00.002+05:302009-01-27T07:38:22.301+05:30Delaram-Zaranj Highway CompletedSome good news out of Afghanistan:<br /><blockquote>India today handed over to Afghan authorities a crucial highway built by it in the face of stiff resistance from Taliban, vowing that the collaboration between the two countries in the field of development will not stop.<br /><br />The 215-km long Delaram-Zaranj highway, a symbol of India's developmental work in the war-ravaged country, was handed over to Afghan authorities by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the presence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta. <a href="http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/5E0A56957CE37C0965257546003AB966?OpenDocument" target="_blank">[PTI</a>]</blockquote><br />Below, you can see the Zaranj and Delaram on the map:<br /><br /><img style="border: 1px black solid;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgciWBWeqPZufqLC-6Gcjf6XNhJMfRyasxmafQD8LPyq-HaH0KrZctSB-pPkK3o_GH1_PgKKZd6etxZSwLhdeGdcpE0drdM5ttHRiqFGw-2KzUEojzvz5ZJrL6zcGqD0mAvLS7gMj4XIJZY/" /><br /><br />A total of 135 people (including 6 Indians) laid down their lives in constructing this critical road.<br /><br />Zaranj is at the Afghanistan-Iran border. On the Iranian side, there is a road link to the Iranian port of Bandar-Abbas. Therefore, this road provides India with an alternative access route to Afghanistan. So far, only the Air route has connected India and Afghanistan with overflight rights dependent on Pakistan's whims and fancies. Pakistan has been denying transit facility to India through its territory for a land route.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-24792519190217144322008-10-09T18:37:00.001+05:302009-01-27T06:55:07.974+05:30The Sorry Fate of IcelandStart reading this tragic tale here:<br /><blockquote>This North Atlantic volcanic island, which is the size of Cuba, with a population of 320,000 - the size of Coventry's - is an unlikely player on the global financial stage. It is famous for its fish, geysers and for winning the UN's 2007 'best country to live in' poll. But Iceland built its extraordinary wealth on the crest of the worldwide credit boom and now the crunch is sweeping it away, bankrupting a people for whom the past eight years have been, for most of them and by their own admission, one long party. [<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/05/iceland.creditcrunch" target="_blank">Guardian</a>]</blockquote><br />Basically, the country is bankrupt. So are most of its people.<br /><br />To make it worse, it is being threatened by former friends:<br /><blockquote>The Prime Minister said Britain would seize the assets of Icelandic companies and take “further action against the authorities” over the collapse of the island’s banks.<br /><br />The diplomatic row, which has echoes of the Cod Wars of the 1970s, erupted after it emerged that more than 100 local authorities have deposits in Iceland. They stand to lose a total of more than £1 billion. British companies are said to have as much as £12 billion in the failed banks and individual savers more than £6 billion. [<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3169032/Financial-Crisis-Gordon-Brown-demands-20-bn-British-money-from-Iceland.html" target="_blank">Telegraph</a>]</blockquote><br />But how did these idiots local authorities of Britain come to deposit so much money in Icelandic banks? Quite simply, they offered certified "better" deals:<br /><blockquote>Back in May when the base rate was 5%, Icesave was offering eye-watering 7.01% on its one-year fixed-rate savings account. The best UK banks could manage was Birmingham Midshires, which paid 6.88%. Icelandic banks offered more bang for your pound, they also appeared safe.<br /><br />The credit-ratings agencies, whose job it is to assess which banks are most likely to give you your money back, gave them top-grade. Indeed, Standard & Poor's and Fitch and Moody's only downgraded some of the banks in the week they went bust. [<a href="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Iceland-Bank-Crisis-Skys-Joel-Hills-Explains-How-British-Cash-Was-Lured-Overseas/Article/200810215117421?lpos=Business_Carousel_Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15117421_Iceland_Bank_Crisis%3A_Skys_Joel_Hills_Explains_How_British_Cash_Was_Lured_Overseas" target="_blank">Sky News</a>]</blockquote><br />Presumably, nobody at Standard & Poor's, Fitch or Moody's had known about the basic idea of Risk vs Rewards.<br /><br />This reminds me - no matter how the global economy manages to survive the current crisis, and regardless of what happens to the fate of many investment banks, i-bankers, CEOs etc. - if there is one group of companies that needs to be investigated thoroughly, it is the credit rating agencies. These buggers are paid to avoid precisely this sort of fuck-ups. They are supposed to evaluate risks, which means that they have to disregard what the Suits and Talking-heads are saying and take a detailed look at the actual books. Did they do that? Time and again, names of these same credit rating agencies keep coming up in one failure after another where they have given completely fraudulent ratings. How come these rascals are still standing?<br /><br />Anyway, what is this troubled country of Iceland to do now? Go fishing, literally:<br /><blockquote>Now residents are betting that the Atlantic island's natural resources, primarily fish and geothermal energy, will help the country survive.<br /><br />"We can live off the land as there are not so many of us, and we have heating, clean water and fish," said Reykjavik resident Kristinn Johansson, 50, outside a branch of the now- nationalized Kaupthing. "We will be fine. We can eat what we can fish." [<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=azZ189JG.1S8&refer=home" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>]</blockquote><br />Oh dear, how the mighty have fallen! Who is next?Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-14808214832138602302008-09-28T10:09:00.002+05:302009-01-27T07:38:42.938+05:30Graffiti Spelling Fail<img style="border: 1px black solid;" title="Spelling Fail" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKMv4BiaY2R8jnDaKvZ8e64WoHs1OxaiWwTsAIA0E4flMD2v3kyqCybcCoblq7FnHDL6w9KeUmNmeqjpF3XnOVL6B0uclFPe81Wd7Vyg1C5HeKqn81WK7bO2CUqlkZuMl9g8zSyYJH5IL/" alt="Spelling Fail" /><br /><br />Seen in the lift (elevator) of my building. For a lot more fails, see <a href="http://failblog.org/" target="_blank">failblog</a>.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-66750952926372602462008-09-23T21:22:00.000+05:302009-01-24T12:00:31.622+05:30Laid-off Workers of the World, Unite!First, the background:<br /><blockquote>Lalit Kishore Choudhary, the 47-year-old chief executive officer of Graziano Transmissioni India, died on Monday after sacked employees beat him up in the company's office, a senior officer said. [<a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-35604720080923" target="_blank">Reuters</a>]</blockquote><br />The sacked employees, all innocent-like:<br /><blockquote>"We were demonstrating peacefully to get our jobs back," one of the workers, Rajpal, told the Hindustan Times newspaper.<br /><br />"Outsiders may have assaulted the CEO leading to his death. Firing by the guards agitated workers and they clashed with the staff," he said. [<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7630696.stm" target="_blank">BBC</a>]</blockquote><br />Yeah, right. They were just demonstrating peacefully, caressing the CEO <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=eb6568c6-c26f-405a-961e-2595e1a82fba&ParentID=1ba62b0c-e0c2-4440-bc16-a594de45dc7b&&Headline=CEO+beaten+to+death+by+workers+in+Noida" target="_blank">with iron rods</a>. Poor guy couldn't take so much love and affection.<br /><br />Nothing really weird about this, so far. Sacked employees got angry at some point during negotiations, and the angry mob beat up the CEO, resulting in his death. A criminal case that should be duly investigated and the culprits punished so as to serve as a warning to all those to think that mobs have the right to break laws. Right? Wrong.<br /><br />Here is the real WTF stuff:<br /><blockquote>"This should serve as a warning for the managements. It is my appeal to the managements that the workers should be dealt with compassion," Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes told reporters at a press conference. [<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/CEO_death_warning_for_managements_Govt/articleshow/3518772.cms" target="_blank">ToI</a>]</blockquote><br />I suppose it should be okay with the Government if its shareholders/workers (citizens of India) decide to implement a similar brand of justice on <em>their</em> management (Cabinet Ministers etc.).Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-67041888514769629362008-09-19T12:56:00.002+05:302009-01-27T07:39:05.467+05:30Get Well Soon<img style="border: 1px black solid;" title="Inspector MC Sharma" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEI4U-kSZONp0dy_4V6QagTNP1qm2FIG3QbYIVoKG1HX9EXWrAfZjWw4-P2MlMPyd5G2dHFBnZOOko6BHZGvqL4yYsdpX-Hh27fz9OCwCFhUr7x-aXWCsZcJwPyxEKVPkbrPs-3b-qnye/" alt="Inspector MC Sharma" /><br /><br />Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was one of the recipients of the Police Medal for Gallantry this year on Republic Day (<a href="http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/gallantry-rd08.pdf" target="_blank">full list - pdf</a>). He took three bullets during the <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Encounter_in_Delhi_ends_two_terrorists_killed/articleshow/3502240.cms" target="_blank">encounter in Delhi</a> in which two terrorists were killed, and one was captured, while two managed to escape. Head Constable Balwant, who also received a bullet, is reported to be out of danger.<br /><blockquote>... Inspector M C Sharma, a highly decorated officer of the special cell who has won gallantry awards seven times, was in a "critical condition" at the Holy Family hospital. [<a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/19del.htm" target="_blank">Rediff</a>]</blockquote><br />Take a couple of minutes off, and say a prayer for him to get well soon.<br /><br /><strong>Update</strong>: He <a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/19del1.htm" target="_blank">succumbed</a> to the injuries on Friday, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Thousands_Bid_AdieuTo_Fridays_Shootout_Hero/articleshow/3508053.cms" target="_blank">cremation service</a> was held on Saturday. May his soul rest in peace.<br /><br />And we need <a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080921/jsp/nation/story_9865297.jsp" target="_blank">better execution</a> of counter-terrorism operations. We can't afford to lose people like him to hasty and insufficient planning.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-42252726989650066532008-09-11T08:31:00.000+05:302009-01-24T12:00:28.492+05:30Hating It: India TVRead this article about the extent of <a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/09225354/For-this-Haryana-village-the.html" target="_blank">paranoia whipped up by some Indian media outlets about the Large Hadron Collider</a>, and weep. Weep for the innocent and the naive who take everything shown and said on TV to be true. Weep for the state of journalism in the country. And pour some hate on <a href="http://www.indiatvnews.com/" target="_blank">the fraudster TV channel</a> which is the main culprit in spreading this paranoia about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider" target="_blank">Large Hadron Collider</a>.<br /><blockquote>In this village, a woman named Mukesh recounts what she saw on India TV, a Hindi news channel—once a black hole opened up, the earth would be consumed in one second, followed by the moon in another second and the sun in another six. It even set a time for doomsday—noon, sharp.<br /><br />“This has worried us so much that we haven’t even eaten properly for the last few days,” she says. On Wednesday, “my son Rishipal has an English exam, so I have to send him to school. But I’m not sending him alone. I’m going with him.” And then, very businesslike, she asks: “Tell me, should we go into the hills? Is that safer?” [<a href="http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/09225354/For-this-Haryana-village-the.html" target="_blank">Live Mint</a>]</blockquote><br />My mother called me early yesterday morning to ask me whether the world is going to end at noon. She sounded quite worried, so I tried to reassure her. I hope I succeeded. But what about those mothers who don't have engineer sons to call up for comfort every time this sort of nonsense happens?<br /><br />The sheer outrageous nature of this channel's coverage of events connected to LHC is beyond belief. I can't find any clips on the web right now, but the excerpt above should give you a hint. Don't forget that this coverage was backed with visuals from disaster movies, flash animation, terrorizing sound-effects etc. <a href="http://limericker.blogspot.com/2008/09/indiatv-tries-to-do-lhc.html" target="_blank">Read this</a> for some more details.<br /><br />Also, please take a look at the descriptions of some of the shows being promoted on the front page of this <a href="http://www.indiatvnews.com/" target="_blank">channel's website</a>:<br /><blockquote>To strike a balance between high tech modernization and astronomical calculations Sant Shiromani brings you GURUMANTRA with value added remedies of common ailments, foretelling future from Panchaang, and AAJ KA UPAAY. A perfect way to kick start your day.<br /><br />Introducing you to your horoscope and numerological fortune, the proficient astrologer Acharya Indu Praksh reveals the connection between your celestial mechanics and the terrestrial dynamics. This daily dose of ‘Bhavishyavani’ aims to give you practical solutions to all your problems.Just dial 0120 – 2517251 and make a refreshing start to know your stars, just a phone call away.<br /><br />'Jai Shani Maharaj' is a weekly show in which viewers get a chance to interact with proficient astrologer Dati Madan Maharaj Rajasthani Ji over telephone and get the solutions for Shani's impact on their life. Just dial 0120 – 251 7 251.</blockquote><br />Yes, that's right: three daily shows devoted entirely to astrology. Yes, I know that a lot of people are superstitious and believe in such stuff. But must our media add to such nonsensical beliefs?<br /><br />It looks like there might be some action taken <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/CERN_Big_Bang_News_channels_draw_IB_ire_/articleshow/3469211.cms" target="_blank">against India TV and Aaj Tak</a> for their alarmist fear-mongering. But the most effective action can only be taken by the viewers by refusing to watch such idiotic channels. You now have a channel which said that the world will end at noon. Well, it didn't. Isn't that proof enough that the channel was bullshitting you? Do yourself a favour and ask your cable operator to unsubscribe you from such feeds.<br /><br /><strong>Update</strong>: There is a lot more <a href="http://stupidindiatv.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">evidence of sheer idiocy and inanity from India TV</a>. Thanks to reader Amit Jain for the pointer in comments.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-32770662719780366752008-09-10T01:59:00.001+05:302009-01-24T13:03:16.523+05:30Questions For Sarah Palin<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/newshour/2830606101/"><img title="John McCain and Sarah Palin" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdodCQd3ufAhp0pwWQmC79ocwz2LdTpmKPEiU2iG9xvApnxz2wWdFlRzEPPDYPwINc2cPGUbLog1Gj1qH7NXETB9pYREQFrbdi50LGKf4OSCMwkQpQJCxUoEoCgHdMXSdQ96jqAlPX0jyI/" alt="Together at the Republican Convention 2008" /></a><br /><br />Looks like everyone has a few questions to ask the Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, now that she has <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5757684" target="_blank">granted her first interview</a> as the GOP's VP-nominee.<br /><br />Jack Shafer at Slate asks the following <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2199668/pagenum/all/#page_start" target="_blank">10 questions</a>:<br /><ol><br /> <li>What Bush administration policy do you disagree with most, and what would you have done differently?</li><br /> <li>How are you like Hillary Clinton?</li><br /> <li>You're running as a reformer, a crusader against the special interests and politics as usual. Setting aside for a moment Sen. Ted Stevens' legal problems, should Alaska return to the Senate this Republican who has delivered more pork to his state than virtually any other elected official? Yes or no?</li><br /> <li>Unique among all U.S. governors, you lead a state that shares a border with Russia, a sometimes hostile nation with a nuclear arsenal and new geopolitical ambitions. Given that, how do you evaluate Vladimir Putin?</li><br /> <li>Do you still disagree with John McCain's position that global warming is caused by man? If you've changed your mind in the last couple of weeks, please tell me why you changed your mind and when that happened.</li><br /> <li>On the campaign trail or as vice president, will you try to persuade Mr. McCain to adopt your position on drilling in ANWAR? Or have you adopted his?</li><br /> <li>Were you for the bridge to nowhere before you were against it?</li><br /> <li>For most in the nation, you're an unknown quantity. What questions should the press be asking you?</li><br /> <li>What have you learned about foreign policy from John McCain since joining the ticket?</li><br /> <li>Your son is being sent to Iraq. What is he fighting for?</li><br /></ol><br />He also has follow-ups to many of these questions. This is the list that I liked the most. As they say, read the whole thing [<a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2199668/pagenum/all/#page_start" target="_blank">10 Questions for Sarah Palin</a>]<br /><br />The Foreign Policy magazine has put up a list of 20 questions they would like to ask her. Quite naturally, most questions on this list deal with foreign policy. I would have liked it more if they hadn't included <a href="http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9741" target="_blank">trivia-type questions</a> in it (naming world leaders, listing books, is Iraq a democracy, which world leader would you meet first and why etc.).<br /><br />Huffington post also has a list of 20 questions for her, but it seems to be <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-heffernan/twenty-questions-for-sara_b_125063.html" target="_blank">unusually heavy on sensationalism</a>.<br /><br />The Anchorage Daily News, a newspaper based in Alaska, pitches in with <a href="http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/520272.html" target="_blank">9 questions</a> of its own.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-29757063550781260932008-09-07T07:46:00.002+05:302009-01-24T13:07:02.424+05:30How Can She Slap, Sir?Apparently, there is this reality show called <a href="http://www.bindass.com/dadagiri/" target="_blank">Dadagiri</a> (<a href="http://www.india-forums.com/tellybuzz/article.asp?id=2640" target="_blank">TV's meanest game show</a>) on a channel called <a href="http://www.bindass.com/" target="_blank">Bindaas</a>. I'd never heard of either, till this happened (Via: <a href="http://greatbong.net/2008/09/06/how-can-you-slap/" target="_blank">Great Bong</a>):<br /><br />(Warning: The Audio/Video is NSFW)<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XiwXb26mloQ&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XiwXb26mloQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />After being <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2008/09/03/when-a-man-slaps-a-woman-the-indian-edition/" target="_blank">covered on TMZ</a>, the video is a global hit and copies are available on virtually every video-sharing website.<br /><br />Here is a short summary, if you can't watch the videos for some reason:<br /><blockquote>The show pitches college students (contestants) against college bullies (hosts). Every round has different flavours of bullying (all intent on humiliation of contestants, basically). One of the hosts "Isha - The Goddess" - plays the role of the college rich bitch, who is supposed to insult contestants for their ugliness and for their lack of class.<br /><br />She was doing her usual 'your-sideburns-are-from-60s' routine (Part 1, above) while the contestants managed to remain cool and didn't respond to her comments. Infuriated (scripted, I think) she asked them whether they have tongues in the mouths (direct translation from the Hindi quip - '<em>munh mein zabaan nahi hai kya</em>'). One of the two contestants said that they are quiet because they don't want to talk to her. She barked at him to "fuck off". The contestant managed a (weak) comeback of "you go". Something cracked inside the hostess, and she slapped the contestant. Shocked, the contestant slapped her back (Part 2, above).<br /><br />The other host then jumped into the fray to defend the hostess and started beating up the contestant who kept asking "how can she slap, sir?" Thereafter, the whole crew seemed to descend on the poor contestant and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. In the process, apart from getting physically thrashed, he gets thoroughly abused verbally as well. Expletives were all over the place, in Hindi and in English.</blockquote><br />Now, quite obviously, the first slap wasn't part of the script. That explains the reflexive return slap by the contestant. Moreover, he kept asking the host about the slap that he received. He has confirmed as much now (and is suing the channel):<br /><blockquote>“This incident occurred four months ago. The participants of the show had to pass through the litmus test of abuses and spats. And it was all scripted! We were all given our parts where 70 per cent was to be said as is and 30 per cent would be improvisations,” says Ravi. “There was this girl called Isha opposite me who was supposed to abuse me and I was to retaliate, but calmly. After a while when it came to improvisations, I presume she was out of words and came and slapped me hard. I was shocked and in the heat of the moment, I slapped her back. That led to the entire unit of about 70 people jumping on me beating me black and blue. It was a miracle in itself that I managed to escape from there,” he says. [<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/TV_Buzz/Ravi_is_upset/articleshow/3436967.cms" target="_blank">TOI</a>]</blockquote><br />Legal tangles apart, I am on the contestant's side on this one. She shouldn't have slapped him in the first place. The rest of the crew had no right whatsoever to beat him to a pulp (he was thrown on the ground and kicked, and was reduced to tears). And the verbal abuse is just shameful, especially coming from a TV crew who are supposed to know better than to scream obscenities when the camera is rolling. Disgusting. Funny too, in a sad sort of way.<br /><br />The channel, no doubt, is pretty happy with this turn of events. In fact, it probably deliberately leaked the clip to create controversy and raise TRPs.<br /><br />PS: The incident has also become an internet meme. There is even a dedicated website, which sells <a href="http://www.howcanyouslap.com/category/t-shirt/" target="_blank">"how can you slap" t-shirts</a>.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4288269457814680605.post-17503222797720076622008-09-05T03:04:00.000+05:302009-01-24T12:00:24.706+05:30Actually, We'll Run Out of OilVia <a href="http://lifeandsomething.blogspot.com/2008/09/help.html" target="_blank">Something Like Life</a>, and also via <a href="http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/are-we-running-out-of-oil/" target="_blank">India Uncut</a>, I reached the provocatively titled article <em><a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=760789" target="_blank">We'll never out</a></em> by Donald J. Boudreaux (professor of economics at George Mason University). He is talking about oil.<br /><br />He asserts that "economics assures us that we will never run out of oil." Really?<br /><br />He differentiates (rightly) between the physical and economic limits of exploiting the oil reserves. He asserts (rightly, again) that we don't know how much oil there <em>really</em> is in the ground. However, he does admit that there is a physical limit on the amount of oil, even though we don't know exactly what this limit is.<br /><br />His argument for reassuring us about never running out of oil relies on an analogy:<br /><blockquote>Scenario One: You're a mosquito on the surface of a balloon containing as much blood as an Olympic-size swimming pool contains water. You, hungry mosquito that you are, inject your proboscis into the balloon and enjoy a meal. By doing so you negligibly reduce the volume of blood in the balloon. Whether you know it or not, you can gorge yourself on blood from this balloon for the rest of your life and there will still be ample blood remaining to feed countless generations of your offspring.<br /><br />Scenario Two: You're a mosquito on a balloon the size of a pea. You eat a meal. The size of your meal relative to the blood-contents of the tiny balloon is large; you significantly reduce the contents.</blockquote><br />By his own admission, he doesn't know which situation we are in. He <em>guesses</em> that we are in an intermediate scenario, while being <em>confident</em> that we are definitely <em>not</em> in Scenario Two.<br /><br />Note the complete absence of any pointers to supporting evidence. Without them, it amounts (roughly) to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_authority" target="_blank">Argument from Authority</a> (a professor of economics, who is talking about economics) which I am not a big fan of.<br /><blockquote>Point is, we could be like the mosquito in scenario one. That mosquito needn't know that she's atop a quantity of blood that's practically limitless. If she's informed that the amount of blood in her balloon is finite, she might needlessly worry that she'll run out of blood. She might pointlessly reduce her consumption to avoid a mythical "end of blood."<br /><br />Again, I don't know that we're like the mosquito in scenario one -- but no one knows that we're not. A resource physically finite might be economically inexhaustible.</blockquote><br />The assertion that "no one knows that we're not" in Scenario One can be turned on its head and would apply equally well to Scenario Two (unless some evidence is presented, which wasn't). So, what if we are really in Scenario Two, but sitting smugly in the false belief that we'll never run out of oil? Not good.<br /><br />If we are in an intermediate scenario, as he suspects, we would still do well to try to rid ourselves of our oil addiction and invest in alternative sources of oil. Why? Because the basic assumptions of Scenario One would fall apart in an intermediate scenario. The supply of oil would not be virtually limitless, and our consumption would significantly deplete the reserves. As a consequence, there would not be ample oil remaining to satisfy the needs of "countless generations" of our offspring. In other words, we'll run out of oil.<br /><br />Words like "never" and "countless" are not to be easily deployed.<br /><br />I understand that he is just writing an article, not a thesis. There are word-limits and editorial deadlines to keep in mind. But, such articles, especially when coming from someone who is generally considered a figure of authority, run the risk of giving the layperson a false sense of energy security. The consequences can be serious. Already, Amit Varma's maid agrees with the professor and is presumably not switching the lights off at night.Cyniquehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08012716058252079920noreply@blogger.com0