oct 30th, 2006
francois has been very diligent in his work on caste. the fact of the matter is that caste is actually a useful and good system, which is why it has survived so long.
francois has put together a brief video on brahmins doing menial jobs including toilet-cleaner and coolie -- totally contrary to the popular image of fat-cat brahmins. the image is quite appropriate for christist priests though: they are interfering busybodies who live in the lap of luxury.
the video is too large to upload else i'd put it on my other blog.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006 fgautier wrote :
>Dear friends,
>
>We are having a conference in Habitat Centre on castes on 17th December. All of you interested can join in our efforts to make it a success in terms of attendance, media coverage and a prestigious discussion pannel. Details attached
>Best
>
>François Gautier
>Editor In Chief La Revue de l'Inde
>Correspondent South Asia Marianne
>
>41 Jorbagh / New Delhi 110003
>Tel 24649635 / 9811118828/ Fgautier@sify.com
>
>Dear Friends,
As many of you have noticed, this present Government of India is concentrating all its energies and funds on Minorities, Dalits and Other Backward Classes.
That is good.
Every Indian has the right to education, health and dignity.
But there are three flaws in this endeavour
1) It does not spring from the field of spiritual compassion for all beings that has always been India's trademark. No, it is rather a crude move to garner the votes of Muslims and OBC's, which are enough to bring any Government in power and maintain it there.
2) Most of the programmes implemented – reservations, nominations, quotas etc, - are often done at the expense of the rest of India: the Upper castes. The doctors' strikes have clearly told us why.
3) There is a strong anti Brahmanical streak in it, which is actually borrowed from the Muslim invaders, the Christian missionaries and the Marxists, who all saw - and still see today - Brahmins and Other Upper Castes as their worst enemies (see John Dayal's latest efforts at showing that Indian culture continues to be that of a Brahminical Hindu Vedic [North Indian] highly sanskritised ethos and symbolism)
Yes, we do know that Brahmins, and OUC have often exploited lower castes, forgetting that in its pristine form, their duties were based on earned merits, not on hereditary rights. They may be getting back today a taste of their own medicine. But can we let his cynical government divide India more and more along caste and religion lines ???
Today, many Brahmins and Other upper Castes may be as underprivileged as the Dalits. Did you see for instance the paper by D Narayana, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvanantpuram ("Perception, Poverty and Health, Feb. 2005), which shows that 69.8% of Brahmins and OUC never went past 12th standard, that 52,4% of Brahmins and OUC farmers don't owe land bigger than 100 cents, quite insufficient to nourish a family, and that
53.9 % of the upper caste population is below poverty line. So much for the clichés and prejudices in India about Brahmins and Thakurs.
The Government thinks that with the support of the wooed Dalits and Muslims it will stay forever in power, but they seem to forget that Brahmins and Other Upper Castes, according to the National Sample Survey's (NSS) 99 report, constitute 36% of India, a huge bank vote which ignores its own power ?
We need an India based on merit not on caste. Indians should feel Indians first and then belonging to that caste or that religion after. But what is happening at the moment, is that Indians are made to believe that they are first OBC and then Indians, first Muslims and then Indians, first Christians and then Indians. This is very wrong and has got to be fought.
It is for this reason that FACT has decided to embark upon an exhibition, a film and a book on the condition of Brahmins and OUC in India today, so that we shake people's myths and confront them to the reality of an India adrift. We have already made a six minutes film. If you are interested, we will send it to you. It has to be shown in villages on your local channels, extracts of its statistics should published in newspapers,.. For a start you can send this email to five of your friends, asking them in turn to send it to five of their friends, and so on…
We will have an exhibition on underprivileged Brahmins and OUC from 16th to 20th December 2006 in Indian International Centre, New Delhi. Then take it around India and eventually all over the world. We also need to shoot a professional film on the condition of Brahmins and OUC and come out with a book of an international quality.
For this noble endeavour, FACT solicits your help and support. FACT India is a registered Trust with tax exemption. Please send your donations to FACT, Canara Bank, Pondichery a/c N° 27147, or mail your cheques in the name of FACT to François Gautier, Auromodel, Auroville, 605101, India. For those who want to send small contributions from abroad, use my ICICI bank account: François Gautier, ICICI, 47 Mission street, PONDICHERY, AC N° 005601019548, Customer ID50523253.
Thanks so much for your help
François Gautier
FACT
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
italians enjoy the attentions of members of the 'religion of love' and members of the 'religion of peace'
29th oct 2006
an italian town overrun by pakistani and other mohammedans, a christist from sri lanka, and other assorted local villains involved in prostitution, gang warfare and other such fun stuff. no wonder italians love to live in india safe from all these nuisances; enriching themselves is the icing on the cake.
in that context, the word 'toady' springs to mind.
natwar singh, formerly chief of the toady brigade, has finally discovered a vertebra or two. alas, a bit too late in the day, a cynic might say.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ga
It's an ancient Italian city known for its conservatism. But in 17 days in August, seven people were callously murdered. Ed Vulliamy reports from an area riven by racism and organised crime
Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer
an italian town overrun by pakistani and other mohammedans, a christist from sri lanka, and other assorted local villains involved in prostitution, gang warfare and other such fun stuff. no wonder italians love to live in india safe from all these nuisances; enriching themselves is the icing on the cake.
in that context, the word 'toady' springs to mind.
natwar singh, formerly chief of the toady brigade, has finally discovered a vertebra or two. alas, a bit too late in the day, a cynic might say.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ga
Death in Brescia
It's an ancient Italian city known for its conservatism. But in 17 days in August, seven people were callously murdered. Ed Vulliamy reports from an area riven by racism and organised crime
Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer
'See you soon,' chirped Hina Saleem to her boyfriend Beppe Tampini, after receiving a phone call from her father. 'I won't be late.' She also informed her boss, Grumail Multani, at the Pizzeria Antica India where she worked in the northern Italian city of Brescia: 'Some relatives have arrived from France - with presents! I must greet them, but I won't be late for work.' During the hours that followed, both Beppe and Multani tried to call the 21-year-old on her mobile - without success. The call home had been a trap: Hina's father, aided by three male relatives, had cut his own daughter's throat, after a family council condemned her to death for her liaison with Tampini, a local carpenter.
...
...
India and Imperial China
oct 29th, 2006
next, the chinese dictator will come to india, insult the country (just as its ambassador and consul-general talk down to india frequently as though they were imperial regents), and manmohan singh et al will lap it all up with ingratiating and pained smiles on their faces.
a spine, a spine, a kingdom for a spine!
and china will rub in the 'india-pakistan equal-equal' mantra they have always propagated, by adding a gratuitous visit to pakistan.
a good response by india would be the following: the next time the indian grand pooh-bah of the day visits china, they should add a visit to a) taiwan, b) japan to the schedule, to indicate:
a) 'china-taiwan equal-equal'
b) we visit you, our enemy, but we will reassure our friend, japan, that whatever we do is not going to affect our ties with japan
any foreigner who makes a trip to india should be forbidden from adding a trip to pakistan alongside. if india insists even once and says 'buzz off! we don't need you that badly! if you want access to our market, you better listen to what we have to say!' they will never do it again. eg. this will work just fine with american presidents.
by not asserting ourselves, we are allowing india's individuality to be submerged in this vague 'south asia' thing which does nothing for india's branding or soft power.
brahma, as always, is direct and clear. i am enjoying reading his new book 'asian juggernaut'.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ram Narayanan
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1831691,00120001.htm
HINDUSTAN TIMES.COM
Imperial China
Brahma Chellaney
October 29, 2006
In keeping with Indian hospitality, Chinese President Hu Jintao will be received warmly when he visits India in three weeks after attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meet in Hanoi. The world's leading autocrat, currently tightening his hold at home by purging non-loyalists through an anti-corruption drive, might even get to address the Parliament of the world's largest democracy, whose winter session is being especially brought forward.
Hu's India visit, however, will be largely symbolic, high on banal expressions of friendly intent but low on enduring substance. Any accord signed will be no different than the ornamental agreement that marked the April 2005 visit of Premier Wen Jiabao. That vaunted agreement identifying six abstract 'guiding principles' for a settlement of frontier disputes has actually taken the border talks backwards. Despite 25 years of continuous negotiation, India and China remain the only neighbours in the world not separated even by a mutually-defined line of control.
... deleted
HINDUSTAN TIMES.COM
Imperial China
Brahma Chellaney
October 29, 2006
In keeping with Indian hospitality, Chinese President Hu Jintao will be received warmly when he visits India in three weeks after attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meet in Hanoi. The world's leading autocrat, currently tightening his hold at home by purging non-loyalists through an anti-corruption drive, might even get to address the Parliament of the world's largest democracy, whose winter session is being especially brought forward.
Hu's India visit, however, will be largely symbolic, high on banal expressions of friendly intent but low on enduring substance. Any accord signed will be no different than the ornamental agreement that marked the April 2005 visit of Premier Wen Jiabao. That vaunted agreement identifying six abstract 'guiding principles' for a settlement of frontier disputes has actually taken the border talks backwards. Despite 25 years of continuous negotiation, India and China remain the only neighbours in the world not separated even by a mutually-defined line of control.
... deleted
Saturday, October 28, 2006
how china bamboozled nixon and kissinger
oct 28th, 2006
the inscrutable chinese did the americans in by leading them way up the garden path. so the end of the american century can be dated to 1972, not to the end of the war of the vietnam war in 1975.
these american geniuses of the state department are the people now running rings around the UPA!
actually, it figures, because the UPA is full of people from the JNU -- the place where all of india's biggest idiots congregate.
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8077489&fsrc=nwlgafree
the inscrutable chinese did the americans in by leading them way up the garden path. so the end of the american century can be dated to 1972, not to the end of the war of the vietnam war in 1975.
these american geniuses of the state department are the people now running rings around the UPA!
actually, it figures, because the UPA is full of people from the JNU -- the place where all of india's biggest idiots congregate.
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8077489&fsrc=nwlgafree
poor whites in britain go back to being brutes
oct 28th, 2006
britain's white underclass life reverts to the hobbesian "nasty, brutish and short".
couldnt happen to a more deserving people.
http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8089315&fsrc=nwlgafree
britain's white underclass life reverts to the hobbesian "nasty, brutish and short".
couldnt happen to a more deserving people.
http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8089315&fsrc=nwlgafree
afghanistan according to the new york times
oct 28th, 2006
how nicely murdering pakistanis are portrayed! these are the nice men plotting the deaths of americans and all westerners -- people like general aslam beg.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/magazine/22afghanistan.html?bl=&_r=1&ei=5087%0A&en=2281c87fc53b9c22&ex=1161748800&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
how nicely murdering pakistanis are portrayed! these are the nice men plotting the deaths of americans and all westerners -- people like general aslam beg.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/magazine/22afghanistan.html?bl=&_r=1&ei=5087%0A&en=2281c87fc53b9c22&ex=1161748800&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
londonistan overtakes nyc as money capital
oct 28th, 2006
the economist recently crowed about this as well. the limeys are circulating their ill-gotten (euphemism for 'stolen') gains nicely.
food for thought: the industrial revolution in limey-land was the direct result of venture capital circulating in the UK as part of the loot from bengal. the catalyst was the money pouring in. when there was money to be made (as in silicon valley more recently) innovation appeared. odd coincidence, eh? 1757, battle of plassey and limey conquest of bengal. 1762, spinning jenny; 1766, steam engine, etc etc. (the dates are a little approximate as i am typing from memory. plassey is correct).
they also had an interesting rationale for it. they said the limeys deregulated the finance industry some 25-30 years ago and that was what caused the industry to take off, to attract overseas talent, and to generally prosper. the financial district is called the City of London.
eventually the center of gravity will shift to asia. hong kong, then singapore, and perhaps finally mumbai. that is, if mumbai hasn't been completely taken over by mohammedan mafiosi by then.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/business/worldbusiness/27london.html?em&ex=1162180800&en=5e194d6d000e4478&ei=5087%0A
the economist recently crowed about this as well. the limeys are circulating their ill-gotten (euphemism for 'stolen') gains nicely.
food for thought: the industrial revolution in limey-land was the direct result of venture capital circulating in the UK as part of the loot from bengal. the catalyst was the money pouring in. when there was money to be made (as in silicon valley more recently) innovation appeared. odd coincidence, eh? 1757, battle of plassey and limey conquest of bengal. 1762, spinning jenny; 1766, steam engine, etc etc. (the dates are a little approximate as i am typing from memory. plassey is correct).
they also had an interesting rationale for it. they said the limeys deregulated the finance industry some 25-30 years ago and that was what caused the industry to take off, to attract overseas talent, and to generally prosper. the financial district is called the City of London.
eventually the center of gravity will shift to asia. hong kong, then singapore, and perhaps finally mumbai. that is, if mumbai hasn't been completely taken over by mohammedan mafiosi by then.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/business/worldbusiness/27london.html?em&ex=1162180800&en=5e194d6d000e4478&ei=5087%0A
Why Are Chinese Leaders Greeted With Protests Every Time They Visit India?
oct 28, 2006
the guy should be greeted with cowdung flung at him.
reminds me of an old school joke, tasteless and silly, which i cannot resist, about a typical chinese name: hu flung dung. get it? :-)
and it's true: only an independent tibet cleansed of han chinese will every guarantee indian security and even indian existence. as i have said many times in the past, the chinese are about to divert the brahmaputra northwards in tibet, which will turn northern india into a desert. we might as well commit collective suicide.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Friends of Tibet
Date: Oct 28, 2006 12:37 PM
Subject: Why Are Chinese Leaders Greeted With Protests Every Time They Visit India?
To: undisclosed-recipients
Why Are Chinese Leaders Greeted With Protests Every Time They Visit India?
The answer to this question are many and varied. India's economy is victim
to China's unfair trade practices of dumping cheap goods produced from
slave labour in prisons; dumping nuclear and other toxic wastes at the
source of Asia's major rivers; to the horrendous massacre of peaceful
student protesters at Tiananmen and to the escalating military build-up
along the entire length of the Himalayas. But the primary reason is
China's invasion of Tibet, once ruled by the Dalai Lamas, now under
China's military occupation. Tibetans living in exile in India protest
whenever a Chinese leader visits India because they see the visit as an
insult to the memory of the more than ten lakh Tibetans who
died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation of their country.
In Tibet and other countries like East Turkestan and Southern Mongolia,
which are under China's colonial rule, freedom of expression and religion
are restricted and China continues to use 'war against terrorism' as a
pretext to crack down on peaceful dissent. The situation in occupied Tibet
continues to be the same with more and more people being executed for
their involvement in 'political' activities. Today China tops the world
with the highest number of executions. According to Amnesty International;
out of 7,395 executions in the year 2004 carried out in 25 countries,
3,400 were in China followed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Even though China claims to have brought 'development in Tibet' and that
'Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule', there is no decline in the number
of Tibetans crossing the border to seek freedom in India and also to learn
their language, religion and culture.The UNHCR estimates that every month
between 200 to 300 Tibetans reach the Refugee Reception Centre in Nepal to
cross into India. The recent killing of two Tibetan refugees, including a
nun, at the Nangpa Pass on September 30, 2006 is just one incident in the
ongoing crimes committed by China's military rulers in Tibet.
China's threat to world peace does not end with the occupation and
militarisation of Tibet. China continues to occupy India's Aksai Chin in
the Himalayas. The rampant mining of Tibet; heavy deforestation; damming
rivers originating from Tibet; creating artificial lakes like Pareechoo
result in floods in India and other Asian countries. Tibet is the source
of Asia's major rivers. The recent news about China planning to dam the
Brahmaputra and to divert its waters is ominous. China's attack on India
in 1962 was at a time when India was extending friendship saying
"Hindi-Chini-Bhai-Bhai". And today India is spending 63-crores a day to
protect her people from a 'friendly' neighbour!
We want to remind Hu Jintao that the people of Tibet do not want to live
under Chinese rule and that the Tibetans want China to get out of Tibet.
At the same time we want the people of India to face the reality that only
an independent Tibet can guarantee lasting peace and security for India.
** You may download Hu Jintao Protest Poster in PDF and Corel Draw file
formats from: http://friendsoftibetglobal.blogspot.com/ **
. . . .
Friends of Tibet, PO Box: 16674, Bombay 400050, India.
. . . .
Friends of Tibet is a global movement to keep alive the issue of Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending China's
occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people. Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people for
independence. To know more, visit: www.friendsoftibet.org
. . . .
the guy should be greeted with cowdung flung at him.
reminds me of an old school joke, tasteless and silly, which i cannot resist, about a typical chinese name: hu flung dung. get it? :-)
and it's true: only an independent tibet cleansed of han chinese will every guarantee indian security and even indian existence. as i have said many times in the past, the chinese are about to divert the brahmaputra northwards in tibet, which will turn northern india into a desert. we might as well commit collective suicide.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Friends of Tibet
Date: Oct 28, 2006 12:37 PM
Subject: Why Are Chinese Leaders Greeted With Protests Every Time They Visit India?
To: undisclosed-recipients
Why Are Chinese Leaders Greeted With Protests Every Time They Visit India?
The answer to this question are many and varied. India's economy is victim
to China's unfair trade practices of dumping cheap goods produced from
slave labour in prisons; dumping nuclear and other toxic wastes at the
source of Asia's major rivers; to the horrendous massacre of peaceful
student protesters at Tiananmen and to the escalating military build-up
along the entire length of the Himalayas. But the primary reason is
China's invasion of Tibet, once ruled by the Dalai Lamas, now under
China's military occupation. Tibetans living in exile in India protest
whenever a Chinese leader visits India because they see the visit as an
insult to the memory of the more than ten lakh Tibetans who
died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation of their country.
In Tibet and other countries like East Turkestan and Southern Mongolia,
which are under China's colonial rule, freedom of expression and religion
are restricted and China continues to use 'war against terrorism' as a
pretext to crack down on peaceful dissent. The situation in occupied Tibet
continues to be the same with more and more people being executed for
their involvement in 'political' activities. Today China tops the world
with the highest number of executions. According to Amnesty International;
out of 7,395 executions in the year 2004 carried out in 25 countries,
3,400 were in China followed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Even though China claims to have brought 'development in Tibet' and that
'Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule', there is no decline in the number
of Tibetans crossing the border to seek freedom in India and also to learn
their language, religion and culture.The UNHCR estimates that every month
between 200 to 300 Tibetans reach the Refugee Reception Centre in Nepal to
cross into India. The recent killing of two Tibetan refugees, including a
nun, at the Nangpa Pass on September 30, 2006 is just one incident in the
ongoing crimes committed by China's military rulers in Tibet.
China's threat to world peace does not end with the occupation and
militarisation of Tibet. China continues to occupy India's Aksai Chin in
the Himalayas. The rampant mining of Tibet; heavy deforestation; damming
rivers originating from Tibet; creating artificial lakes like Pareechoo
result in floods in India and other Asian countries. Tibet is the source
of Asia's major rivers. The recent news about China planning to dam the
Brahmaputra and to divert its waters is ominous. China's attack on India
in 1962 was at a time when India was extending friendship saying
"Hindi-Chini-Bhai-Bhai". And today India is spending 63-crores a day to
protect her people from a 'friendly' neighbour!
We want to remind Hu Jintao that the people of Tibet do not want to live
under Chinese rule and that the Tibetans want China to get out of Tibet.
At the same time we want the people of India to face the reality that only
an independent Tibet can guarantee lasting peace and security for India.
** You may download Hu Jintao Protest Poster in PDF and Corel Draw file
formats from: http://friendsoftibetglobal.blogspot.com/ **
. . . .
Friends of Tibet, PO Box: 16674, Bombay 400050, India.
. . . .
Friends of Tibet is a global movement to keep alive the issue of Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending China's
occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people. Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people for
independence. To know more, visit: www.friendsoftibet.org
. . . .
heritage foundation trashes pakistan
oct 28th, 2006
and yes, we have forgotten conveniently the diwali bombings last year. and the mumbai bombings more recently. we are just waiting for the next outrage to say, "one more time and we'll show you!".
we will jump through any hoops for that dubious 'piss-process', won't we?
the heritage foundation is a very conservative group in the US. lisa curtis, according to her bio, was a CIA agent at one point. impeccable credentials, i guess? :-)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Prakash
and yes, we have forgotten conveniently the diwali bombings last year. and the mumbai bombings more recently. we are just waiting for the next outrage to say, "one more time and we'll show you!".
we will jump through any hoops for that dubious 'piss-process', won't we?
the heritage foundation is a very conservative group in the US. lisa curtis, according to her bio, was a CIA agent at one point. impeccable credentials, i guess? :-)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Prakash
Hi Rajeev,
Please publish the below article by Lisa Curtis of heritage forum in your blog..
http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/bg1981.cfm
Let us not forget those cruel acts of pakistan last year on october 29th in Delhi.
Basically i would like to see uncle sam use all his expiry dated bombs in pukiland ...!!!
Rgds,
Prakash.
Search from any Web page with powerful protection. Get the FREE Windows Live Toolbar Today! Try it now!
Please publish the below article by Lisa Curtis of heritage forum in your blog..
http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/bg1981.cfm
Let us not forget those cruel acts of pakistan last year on october 29th in Delhi.
Basically i would like to see uncle sam use all his expiry dated bombs in pukiland ...!!!
Rgds,
Prakash.
Search from any Web page with powerful protection. Get the FREE Windows Live Toolbar Today! Try it now!
Looks like not a lot has changed!
oct 27th, 2006
the only difference is that the whites are in india now, not in the uk.
btw, the only globally competitive UK business these days is financial services, right: so they've gone from being a nation of shopkeepers to a nation of moneylenders. and the money they are lending is money they stole from us!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ga
the only difference is that the whites are in india now, not in the uk.
btw, the only globally competitive UK business these days is financial services, right: so they've gone from being a nation of shopkeepers to a nation of moneylenders. and the money they are lending is money they stole from us!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ga
A hundred years of rule over India
Friday October 2, 1936
The Guardian
[Extracts from a letter written by the Nobel prize-winning philosopher and poet Rabindranath Tagore to an English friend]
You know that of all the Western peoples who have direct dealings with alien races I respect most the British people. Many things have recently happened in our country to wound us to the quicks.
In spite of it all, I still say that there are other great nations in Europe who exercise dominion over foreign peoples. And we cannot but heave a sigh of relief whenever we recall that it is not they who are our rulers.
We admire the United States from a distance, because we have no relations with her. But, apart from her inhuman treatment of the Negroes, the instances of rank injustice, perpetrated by her highest courts of law are such as do not fortunately belong to our normal experience in India.
I have seen many great Englishmen. They stand up against wrong, whether done by others or their countrymen. These may not be statesmen, for statesmen are not usually reckoned as the true representatives of the nation.
If the persons wielding political power in England had been able to ignore the silent judgment of the great minds in their country, they might have succeeded in levelling to the dust all the best canons of humanity - as has been done in Germany.
I admit my admiration of British character does is not much more than a comparative statement. It is inhuman enough for us, as you must have found from political prisoners, in the prime of their youth, coming out to die after a few years of gaol, miserably broken in health and spirit. And it is but meagre consolation to us to think that it could even have been worse.
The chronic want of food and water, the lack of sanitation and medical help, the neglect of means of communication, the poverty of educational provision, the all-pervading spirit of depression that prevail in our villages after over a hundred years of British rule make me despair of its beneficence. I state my conclusion that what is responsible for our condition in the so-called British Empire is the yawning gulf between its dominant and subjugated sections.
On the other hand, it has to be recognised that there is an inevitableness in the fate that has overtaken Hindu India. We have divided and subdivided ourselves into mince-meat, not fit to live but only to be swallowed. Never up to now has our disjointed society been able to ward off any threatening evil.
Rabindranath Tagore
http://www.guardian.co.uk/fromthearchive/story/0,,1885545,00.html
yechuri sings for his supper
oct 27th, 2006
i was racking my brains for something nice to say about yechuri: and yes, he shows gratitude. the guy is grateful to the chinese for having given him lots of money.
this guy is a prize ass. i once heard him at a conference saying that a) india should put *more* of its schools into the public sector; b) that china was going to overtake india in IT any day now. a nice demonstration of the intellectual caliber of a) JNU profs, b) marxists.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1829862,0002.htm
i was racking my brains for something nice to say about yechuri: and yes, he shows gratitude. the guy is grateful to the chinese for having given him lots of money.
this guy is a prize ass. i once heard him at a conference saying that a) india should put *more* of its schools into the public sector; b) that china was going to overtake india in IT any day now. a nice demonstration of the intellectual caliber of a) JNU profs, b) marxists.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1829862,0002.htm
what's in all this for india?
oct 27th, 2006
i suspect the yanks are getting highly useful information about the malabar coast from this. what is india getting? pakistan gets useful information about indian naval forces from the yanks, that's about it.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200610280341.htm
i suspect the yanks are getting highly useful information about the malabar coast from this. what is india getting? pakistan gets useful information about indian naval forces from the yanks, that's about it.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200610280341.htm
earth to moonbeam carter: which planet are you living on?
oct 27th, 2006
carter is an example of what excessive christist indoctrination does to you: destroys your brain cells.
especially after the north korean test, this is such a dumb thing to say!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/193445.cms
carter is an example of what excessive christist indoctrination does to you: destroys your brain cells.
especially after the north korean test, this is such a dumb thing to say!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/193445.cms
surjit bhalla on 10% growth
oct 27th, 2006
bhalla is one of the more sensible economists in india. i dont necessarily share his optimism or his ideas about china, but he always deserves to be listened to carefully.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=263043&leftnm=4&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
bhalla is one of the more sensible economists in india. i dont necessarily share his optimism or his ideas about china, but he always deserves to be listened to carefully.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=263043&leftnm=4&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
der Spiegel: America and the Dollar Illusion
oct 27th, 2006
the germans are saying the american emperor has no clothes any more. take that, you atlanticists!
there are also a couple of books by joseph stiglitz: "globalization's discontents" and "making globalization work". net net is that globalization has not worked out as the americans hoped: which was the old george kennan expectation that the US with 8% of the world's population would continue to enjoy 50% of the world's resources.
also, i'd like to point out that i dont think it's the fact of the hollowing out of american manufacturing that has caused this problem. it's that america has ceased to be less competitive in general, and the country is not set up to be less than dominant.
i listened to a stiglitz interview, and he said things to be effect that the Uruguay Round of the GATT was extremely unfair to developing nations; i guess this means that india has managed to circumvent this by being insular. that's a vote for being un-globalized. interesting person, stiglitz says "because of global warming, 1/3rd of bangladesh will be under water in 50 years."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish K <jjjj>
Date: Oct 28, 2006 3:57 AM
Subject: America and the Dollar Illusion
To: rajeev
... deleted
the germans are saying the american emperor has no clothes any more. take that, you atlanticists!
there are also a couple of books by joseph stiglitz: "globalization's discontents" and "making globalization work". net net is that globalization has not worked out as the americans hoped: which was the old george kennan expectation that the US with 8% of the world's population would continue to enjoy 50% of the world's resources.
also, i'd like to point out that i dont think it's the fact of the hollowing out of american manufacturing that has caused this problem. it's that america has ceased to be less competitive in general, and the country is not set up to be less than dominant.
i listened to a stiglitz interview, and he said things to be effect that the Uruguay Round of the GATT was extremely unfair to developing nations; i guess this means that india has managed to circumvent this by being insular. that's a vote for being un-globalized. interesting person, stiglitz says "because of global warming, 1/3rd of bangladesh will be under water in 50 years."
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish K <jjjj>
Date: Oct 28, 2006 3:57 AM
Subject: America and the Dollar Illusion
To: rajeev
SPIEGEL ONLINE - October 25, 2006, 03:21 PM
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,440054,00.html
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,440054,00.html
PLAYING WITH FIRE
America and the Dollar Illusion
By Gabor Steingart
The dollar is still the world's reserve currency, even though it hasn't deserved this status for a long time. The devaluation of the dollar can't be stopped -- it can only be deferred. The result could be a world economic crisis.
Editor's Note: The following essay has been excerpted from the German best-seller "World War for Wealth: The Global Grab for Power and Prosperity" by SPIEGEL editor Gabor Steingart. SPIEGEL ONLINE is publishing a series of excerpts from the book.
The two things investors crave most are high yields and high security. Since you can never have both at the same time, the moods of investors are like an emotional roller coaster. They shift constantly from fear to greed and back -- although major investors, like corporations and states, clearly prefer security over fancy returns. Their fear is stronger than their greed. They'll freely relinquish the really fat profits as long as the stability of their billions is guaranteed. They're afraid of political unrest, they loathe overly dramatic changes in currency value and the mere thought of creeping inflation sends them into a state of panic.
Der Spiegel: A Superpower in Decline
oct 27th, 2006
thanks to girish. good stuff about america on a downswing. people really should factor this into their work and retirement plans. on average, you are going to be better off elsewhere rather than the US over time. i say this with sorrow, because i like the US. i certainly am not happy about china becoming an alternative superpower because it is a negative, imperalistic nation.
it's like the old paradigm of the full moon vs. the new moon. the full moon (america) is waning, whereas the new moon (india etc.) are waxing.
it is a fact that american power was at its peak in the 70s. coincidence, maybe, but the defeat in vietnam marked the beginning of the end of economic superiority as well.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish K <g>
Date: Oct 28, 2006 3:41 AM
Subject: A Superpower in Decline
To: om
... deleted
thanks to girish. good stuff about america on a downswing. people really should factor this into their work and retirement plans. on average, you are going to be better off elsewhere rather than the US over time. i say this with sorrow, because i like the US. i certainly am not happy about china becoming an alternative superpower because it is a negative, imperalistic nation.
it's like the old paradigm of the full moon vs. the new moon. the full moon (america) is waning, whereas the new moon (india etc.) are waxing.
it is a fact that american power was at its peak in the 70s. coincidence, maybe, but the defeat in vietnam marked the beginning of the end of economic superiority as well.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish K <g>
Date: Oct 28, 2006 3:41 AM
Subject: A Superpower in Decline
To: om
SPIEGEL ONLINE - October 24, 2006, 03:49 PM
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,439766,00.html
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,439766,00.html
A SUPERPOWER IN DECLINE
America's Middle Class Has Become Globalization's Loser
America's Middle Class Has Become Globalization's Loser
By Gabor Steingart
At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States is still a superpower. But it's a superpower facing competition from beyond its borders as well as internal difficulties. Its lower and middle classes are turning out to be the losers of globalization.
Editor's Note: The following essay has been excerpted from the German best-seller "World War for Wealth: The Global Grab for Power and Prosperity" by SPIEGEL editor Gabor Steingart. SPIEGEL ONLINE is publishing a series of daily excerpts from the book.
There are essentially three exclusive characteristics whose simultaneous development have served as the foundations of the United States's success up until now -- and they only appear in this particular combination in America. They are not only the country's biggest strengths, but also its greatest weaknesses. It's worth scrutinizing them more closely.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
la times: Muslims feel the long arm of Beijing
oct 26th, 2006
thanks to sandeep for the pointer. yes, the chinese are pretty mean to the mohammedan uighurs.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sandeep
This story was sent to you by: sandeep
here is link tht u hopefully u can put on ur blog
--------------------
Muslims feel the long arm of Beijing
--------------------
In Xinjiang, which is of strategic importance to China, Uighurs try to maintain their culture despite strict oversight.
By Mark Magnier
Times Staff Writer
October 23 2006
HOTAN, CHINA — Mullah Masude, 63, removes his shoes and gingerly navigates an expanse of cheap carpeting in the Jaman mosque's main worship area before climbing a set of rickety steps to the roof.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-islam23oct23,1,4774123.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com
thanks to sandeep for the pointer. yes, the chinese are pretty mean to the mohammedan uighurs.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sandeep
This story was sent to you by: sandeep
here is link tht u hopefully u can put on ur blog
--------------------
Muslims feel the long arm of Beijing
--------------------
In Xinjiang, which is of strategic importance to China, Uighurs try to maintain their culture despite strict oversight.
By Mark Magnier
Times Staff Writer
October 23 2006
HOTAN, CHINA — Mullah Masude, 63, removes his shoes and gingerly navigates an expanse of cheap carpeting in the Jaman mosque's main worship area before climbing a set of rickety steps to the roof.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-islam23oct23,1,4774123.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com
carbon equivalent credits?
25th oct 2006
i dont entirely understand what the heck is going on with this. it sounds vaguely useful, but does someone knowledgeable enlighten the rest of us? is this like taking on carbon emissions into india and selling that to western companies? or is this actually useful and sensible? or is it another hare-brained idea like shipping high-quality iron ore to china?
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/15394.html
i dont entirely understand what the heck is going on with this. it sounds vaguely useful, but does someone knowledgeable enlighten the rest of us? is this like taking on carbon emissions into india and selling that to western companies? or is this actually useful and sensible? or is it another hare-brained idea like shipping high-quality iron ore to china?
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/15394.html
antony as defence minister
oct 25th, 2006
the omens are bad.
you said it, ghostwriter.
i pointed this out in a previous column: when there are lots of malayalis in the central power broking group, disaster strikes.
1962:
krishna menon as defence minister
m o mathai as nehru's conscience keeper
k m panikkar as ambassador to china (i think)
result: the tibet debacle and the war in which india simply didnt use its air force, for reasons known only to that j. nehru
2006:
antony as defence minister
m k narayanan as national security adviser
hormis tharakan (a christist) as RAW head
tka nair as PMO secretary (i think)
vincent george as sonia's conscience keeper
result: nepal is lost; the chinese divert the brahmaputra; much of the naxalite belt declares itself as part of china; chinese take over indian ports; yechuri , n ram, and karat welcome invading chinese battleships at gateway of india with marigold garlands (the only silver lining is that within minutes of this, yechuri, n ram and karat are shot as untrustworthy traitors by the chinese).
and also (i am not making this up): vs achutanandan (kerala CM) declares his undying support for convicted terrorist madani; vs also says that all mohammedans displaced from maraad will be compensated.
what happened in maraad? mohammedans (with the apparent connivance of top indian union muslim league guys allegedly including e ahamed, minister of state for foreign affairs at the center, and kunjalikutty, former industries minister in kerala) ambushed and hacked to death 8 unarmed hindu fishermen on the beach. when the police attempted to search the mosque, mohammedan women formed a screeching cordon and beat them back. the police finally found bloodstained swords buried in the mosque. incensed at all this well-coordinated stuff with the involvement of mohammedan women, the local hindus told the mohammedans to leave.
note that there is no compensation for the massacred hindu fishermen. only for the mohammedans who left.
also note that ak antony was the CM at the time of the massacre, and a stinging judicial committee report (currently tabled in the kerala assembly) accuses him of sweeping the police report under the carpet. and also indicts the then collector, o suraj (a mohammedan), some ips guys, etc. this same report (written by a christist judge, by the way -- which makes me believe christists in kerala are quite worried about the grave threat of mohammedan terrorism, because christists never do anything without the approval of their padres) is the one that alleges involvement by the IUML.
i guess that gives ak antony all the credentials to be defence minister of india. see, he defended the mohammedan murderers. that of course is the job description of india's defence minister under the UPA or the kaangress at large.
just as pranab mukerjee declared that he's going to bring peace with pakistan. or is it 'piss'? with pranab's thick bengali accept, he most probably did say 'piss'. anybody remember neville chamberlain in 1942: "we have peace in our time" just before the germans invaded?
the omens are bad.
you said it, ghostwriter.
i pointed this out in a previous column: when there are lots of malayalis in the central power broking group, disaster strikes.
1962:
krishna menon as defence minister
m o mathai as nehru's conscience keeper
k m panikkar as ambassador to china (i think)
result: the tibet debacle and the war in which india simply didnt use its air force, for reasons known only to that j. nehru
2006:
antony as defence minister
m k narayanan as national security adviser
hormis tharakan (a christist) as RAW head
tka nair as PMO secretary (i think)
vincent george as sonia's conscience keeper
result: nepal is lost; the chinese divert the brahmaputra; much of the naxalite belt declares itself as part of china; chinese take over indian ports; yechuri , n ram, and karat welcome invading chinese battleships at gateway of india with marigold garlands (the only silver lining is that within minutes of this, yechuri, n ram and karat are shot as untrustworthy traitors by the chinese).
and also (i am not making this up): vs achutanandan (kerala CM) declares his undying support for convicted terrorist madani; vs also says that all mohammedans displaced from maraad will be compensated.
what happened in maraad? mohammedans (with the apparent connivance of top indian union muslim league guys allegedly including e ahamed, minister of state for foreign affairs at the center, and kunjalikutty, former industries minister in kerala) ambushed and hacked to death 8 unarmed hindu fishermen on the beach. when the police attempted to search the mosque, mohammedan women formed a screeching cordon and beat them back. the police finally found bloodstained swords buried in the mosque. incensed at all this well-coordinated stuff with the involvement of mohammedan women, the local hindus told the mohammedans to leave.
note that there is no compensation for the massacred hindu fishermen. only for the mohammedans who left.
also note that ak antony was the CM at the time of the massacre, and a stinging judicial committee report (currently tabled in the kerala assembly) accuses him of sweeping the police report under the carpet. and also indicts the then collector, o suraj (a mohammedan), some ips guys, etc. this same report (written by a christist judge, by the way -- which makes me believe christists in kerala are quite worried about the grave threat of mohammedan terrorism, because christists never do anything without the approval of their padres) is the one that alleges involvement by the IUML.
i guess that gives ak antony all the credentials to be defence minister of india. see, he defended the mohammedan murderers. that of course is the job description of india's defence minister under the UPA or the kaangress at large.
just as pranab mukerjee declared that he's going to bring peace with pakistan. or is it 'piss'? with pranab's thick bengali accept, he most probably did say 'piss'. anybody remember neville chamberlain in 1942: "we have peace in our time" just before the germans invaded?
more from a scientific huckster
oct 25th, 2006
from good morning silicon valley. another blow to those with a touching faith in 'science'.
the answer is scepticism. you have to take *all* claims with a pinch of salt. in particular, claims by semitic hucksters like pat robertson, oral roberts and co., but also from all those star scientists.
Leave the gun. Take the mammoth meat. Cloning an extinct species ain't easy, so it's understandable that disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk went seeking help from some shady characters. On trial yesterday for allegedly accepting millions of dollars in private donations based on the outcome of his falsified research, Hwang said he used a portion of those donations to purchase a sample of mammoth tissue from the Russian mafia in the hopes that he might someday clone the extinct animal. "Some of the money was spent in contacting the Russia mafia as we tried to clone mammoths," Hwang told the court during a hearing on Tuesday . "But you can't say that (on the expense claim) so we expensed it as money for cows for experiment."
from good morning silicon valley. another blow to those with a touching faith in 'science'.
the answer is scepticism. you have to take *all* claims with a pinch of salt. in particular, claims by semitic hucksters like pat robertson, oral roberts and co., but also from all those star scientists.
Leave the gun. Take the mammoth meat. Cloning an extinct species ain't easy, so it's understandable that disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk went seeking help from some shady characters. On trial yesterday for allegedly accepting millions of dollars in private donations based on the outcome of his falsified research, Hwang said he used a portion of those donations to purchase a sample of mammoth tissue from the Russian mafia in the hopes that he might someday clone the extinct animal. "Some of the money was spent in contacting the Russia mafia as we tried to clone mammoths," Hwang told the court during a hearing on Tuesday . "But you can't say that (on the expense claim) so we expensed it as money for cows for experiment."
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Release of Vivekananda Kendra Patrika on Oct. 29
oct 24th, 2006
good to have a book that exposes, among other things, the humbug about 'saint' thomas going to india. the fellow never did, there has been a systematic confusion with thomas of canaan, an actual christist refugee from syria who, along with his family and friends, was given refuge in kerala around 345 CE. (fat lot of thanks we got for that, but that's another story).
the thomas myth is truly 'truth by repeated assertion'. all schoolchildren in india now *know* that thomas came to india in 52 CE. well, this is even before paul fabricated various letters and manufactured the myth of jesus (who never existed).
thomas the 'saint' died in ortona, italy, and his skeleton is there, as certified by the vatican.
the 'skeleton' of 'saint' thomas in chennai is a fake. he never went to india, not to mention chennai. what the portuguese did, though, was a) they demolished the kapaleeswara temple that stood on the beach in mylapore and built the san thome cathedral over it; b) they destroyed the jain temple on the only hill in chennai and built the little mount center over it
or else, if you are into miracles, my explanation of the 'miracle' of thomas's two skeletions: the skeleton in ortona is that of thomas as an old man; the skeleton in chennai is that of thomas as a young man. now isn't that truly miraculous? :-)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
good to have a book that exposes, among other things, the humbug about 'saint' thomas going to india. the fellow never did, there has been a systematic confusion with thomas of canaan, an actual christist refugee from syria who, along with his family and friends, was given refuge in kerala around 345 CE. (fat lot of thanks we got for that, but that's another story).
the thomas myth is truly 'truth by repeated assertion'. all schoolchildren in india now *know* that thomas came to india in 52 CE. well, this is even before paul fabricated various letters and manufactured the myth of jesus (who never existed).
thomas the 'saint' died in ortona, italy, and his skeleton is there, as certified by the vatican.
the 'skeleton' of 'saint' thomas in chennai is a fake. he never went to india, not to mention chennai. what the portuguese did, though, was a) they demolished the kapaleeswara temple that stood on the beach in mylapore and built the san thome cathedral over it; b) they destroyed the jain temple on the only hill in chennai and built the little mount center over it
or else, if you are into miracles, my explanation of the 'miracle' of thomas's two skeletions: the skeleton in ortona is that of thomas as an old man; the skeleton in chennai is that of thomas as a young man. now isn't that truly miraculous? :-)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Release of Vivekananda Kendra Patrika
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
On 29 October 2006, Chennai
4.45 − 4.50 Prayer
4.50 − 5.00 Vande Mataram
5.00 − 5.05 Welcome address and Introduction
5.05 − 5.25 Changing Face of Indian Demography − Shri M.D.Srinivasji
5.30 − 6.15 Threats to National Security − Shri Ajit Dovalji
6.20 − 6.45 We and the Public space − Shri. S. Gurumurthyji
6.45 − 7.10 My encounters with Christians − Shri Michel Daninoji
7.15 − 7.30 Introduction of the book by members of the editorial team, Sri. Aravindanji and Sri. Pramod Kumarji
7.30 − 8.00 Book Release by Revered Swami Mitranandaji and address on
"Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah"
8.05 − 8.30 Organised Response − Maananeeya Shri P. Parameswaranji
8.30 − 8.35 Vote of Thanks
8.35 Shantipath
Venue: R. K. Swamy Auditorium, Sir Sivaswamy Kalalaya Senior Secondary School
5 Sundareswarar Swamy St., Mylapore (Opp. Lane to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan)
* * *
Vivekananda Kendra Patrika – Writeup
The new book from Vivekananda Kendra titled "Expressions of Christianity, with a focus on India" is the first of two compilations on Christianity, meant not only for the specialist intellectual but also for the ordinary man who is interested in knowing about Christianity which is increasingly confronting him in his everyday life. The contributors of the articles are selected on the basis of their deep insight into or authentic study of the concerned aspects as a result of their encounter with Christianity in actual practice.
One reason for bringing out this volume is that a lot of misunderstanding has been created by missionary writers and Christian propagandists about the origin of Christianity in India and also about the methods Christian missionaries have used to propagate their religion in this country. One example may be cited here. It is widely propagated through writings, which claim to be authentic, that Christians came to India in the first century A.D. through St. Thomas, one of the twelve direct disciples of Jesus Christ. Even authentic historic documents which at one time widely disputed this claim are not currently in vogue. Textbooks also have been so fabricated that the myth is treated as real history. Further, another myth of St. Thomas having been murdered by the Brahmins of Tamilnadu and the origin of St. Thome church on the St. Thomas mount in Chennai where his martyrdom is supposed have taken place is propagated in such a scale and planned and persistent manner that a large number of people blindly believe it.
Another claim that is paraded is that Christianity is a religion of love and compassion and that their main channel of activity is service of the poor and the deprived. But the true history of Christianity all over the world, including India, shows, beyond a shadow of doubt, that missionaries have indulged in cruelty and violence for spreading their religion. The Goan inquisition is well documented and no one can deny or disprove it.
The destruction of temples has also been recorded. Francis Xavier who was declared a saint has a history of the most cruel sort of violence used for spreading Christianity in the coastal areas of India.
The Kendra felt it necessary to bring out such updated and comprehensive volumes on Christianity since so-called objective historians have been hesitant to come out openly and call a spade a spade. The total outcome of all these is that an Indian student of Christianity finds it difficult to get the truth.
Whatever has been stated above by way of explanation for selecting the subject of Christianity in India for the two compilations should be taken in the proper perspective. It is not at all meant to condemn or even belittle the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ whom Swami Vivekananda as also the Hindu society in general hold in a very high esteem.
Unfortunately, the Church did not do justice to his divine greatness. The universal personality of Christ was cribbed, cabined and confined within the narrow walls of a rigorously dogmatic and strictly regimented body of the Church. Even great Christian scholars have confessed that the history of the Church is largely a negation and distortion of Christ's teachings. That is why Swami Abhedananda, a prominent co-disciple of Swami Vivekananda delivered a lecture in America on "Why a Hindu accepts Christ and rejects Churchianity".
As the title suggests, we have looked at the practical, outer expressions of Christianity rather than its theological foundations. Indian Christians themselves have the foggiest notion of the history of their religion, its origins, its expansion, its institutions, its destruction of other cultures, the challenge it received from leading Western intellectuals, its clash with science, and finally its spectacular retreat in the West.
* * *
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
uighurs, china's oppression of mohammedans, US collusion
oct 24th, 2006
the chinese have been quite beastly to the uighur mohammedans of sinkiang.
but this has not bothered:
a) the brotherhood-loving pakistanis
b) the china-loving marxists of india
c) the mohammedan-apologist 'secular progressives' of india
d) the religious-freedom-loving americans
a project in which all these villains collaborate with great gusto: keeping the lid on the uighurs. just take a look at the nytimes' list of very optimistic stories on uighurs -- yeah, because the US colludes with china to call uighurs 'terrorists' the canny chinese are going to return the favor and stop working with mohammedan terrorists to attack the US. oh yeah, and pigs will fly.
since all these people want to keep the uighurs quiet, why, that would be a great play for india to try and get them excited. give the uighurs a bunch of ak-47s helpfully stamped 'made in pakistan'. send a bunch of forged chinese money into sinkiang which paper/inks that can be traced back to pakistan.
even though the uighurs are white people (all reports from the US press emphasize that uighurs often have blue eyes and white skin) the US is not bothered about them. even though they are mohammedans, the pakistanis are not bothered about them. nor is teesta setalvad, or shabana azmi. enquiring minds want to know why.
interesting statistic: in each of the last five years, china has executed more prisoners than the *rest of the world* put together. a large fraction of these have been uighurs and tibetans. of course tibetans, being buddhists, don't matter (i have this on authority of j. nehru), but the uighurs -- i mean how can the world stand by and let the human rights of mohammedans be affected? quick, prakash karat and sitaram yechuri, put in a word with your sponsors in peking that they are making you look bad to your mohammedan voters in india.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/china/index.html?query=XINJIANG%20(CHINA)&field=geo&match=exact
the chinese have been quite beastly to the uighur mohammedans of sinkiang.
but this has not bothered:
a) the brotherhood-loving pakistanis
b) the china-loving marxists of india
c) the mohammedan-apologist 'secular progressives' of india
d) the religious-freedom-loving americans
a project in which all these villains collaborate with great gusto: keeping the lid on the uighurs. just take a look at the nytimes' list of very optimistic stories on uighurs -- yeah, because the US colludes with china to call uighurs 'terrorists' the canny chinese are going to return the favor and stop working with mohammedan terrorists to attack the US. oh yeah, and pigs will fly.
since all these people want to keep the uighurs quiet, why, that would be a great play for india to try and get them excited. give the uighurs a bunch of ak-47s helpfully stamped 'made in pakistan'. send a bunch of forged chinese money into sinkiang which paper/inks that can be traced back to pakistan.
even though the uighurs are white people (all reports from the US press emphasize that uighurs often have blue eyes and white skin) the US is not bothered about them. even though they are mohammedans, the pakistanis are not bothered about them. nor is teesta setalvad, or shabana azmi. enquiring minds want to know why.
interesting statistic: in each of the last five years, china has executed more prisoners than the *rest of the world* put together. a large fraction of these have been uighurs and tibetans. of course tibetans, being buddhists, don't matter (i have this on authority of j. nehru), but the uighurs -- i mean how can the world stand by and let the human rights of mohammedans be affected? quick, prakash karat and sitaram yechuri, put in a word with your sponsors in peking that they are making you look bad to your mohammedan voters in india.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/china/index.html?query=XINJIANG%20(CHINA)&field=geo&match=exact
scientific fraud, big time
oct 24th, 2006
as i have said repeatedly, i repose little faith in 'science' being rational and logical. it is also a matter of faith and belief, just as religion is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/magazine/22sciencefraud.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=640f5517261c0a07&ex=1161835200&pagewanted=all
as i have said repeatedly, i repose little faith in 'science' being rational and logical. it is also a matter of faith and belief, just as religion is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/magazine/22sciencefraud.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=640f5517261c0a07&ex=1161835200&pagewanted=all
good news, bad news story about indians in new jersey and other parts of the US
oct 24th, 2006
i used to live in new jersey for a while, and have personally 'enjoyed' being told to go home and that i was a 'dothead'. that was in jersey city, if i remember right.
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=163587
i used to live in new jersey for a while, and have personally 'enjoyed' being told to go home and that i was a 'dothead'. that was in jersey city, if i remember right.
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=163587
Hindu nationalism versus Hindu universalism
oct 24th, 2006
interesting comment about universalism and suchlike.
the problem is that this is the slippery slope towards 'all religions are equal'. now, strictly speaking, that statement is true: all religions do attempt to teach people to be good.
the problem is the word 'religion': it has been used to refer to the murderous, imperialistic semitic death cults as well. they are not religions, but ideologies.
the problem, then, is in comparing apples to oranges. if we are talking about humanistic religions such as hinduism, buddhism, and perhaps confucianism and shintoism (i admit i know very little about the last two), we can talk all we want about universalism and pluralism.
but when confronted by these semitic death cults (marxism has killed at least 40 million people, for instance) there is no point in waxing philosophical. it is life and death. they are intent on wiping us out, so it's not unfair to turn their tactics back on them.
it is quite instructive to use their tactics in reverse. using their own methods, i have deconstructed christism and found it to be a giant hoax (about a guy who did not exist) intended to hoodwink people into accepting white guy hegemony. the funny thing is that this alleged jesus character was an arab, not even a propah 'aryan' white guy! (jew and arab are genetically indistinguishable). according to discovery, see a picture of what jesus (if one believed the myths about his existence) would have really looked like -- a wild-eyed, sinister, coarse arab street thug. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20041220/boyjesus.html
and of course, in their fantasies, they want him to look like the blond, blue eyed, 'aryan' type in the first picture.
isn't that instructive? they have expropriated a coarse arab and turned him into some 'aryan' type. what more evidence do you need that christism is merely a convenient device for white guy imperialism?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Arjuna
The term 'nation' is defined differently by different sources. One definition is: "A people who share common customs, origins, history, and frequently language."
"A warrior relaxes and abandons himself; he fears nothing.Only then will the powers that guide human destiny open the road for a
warrior and aid him. Only then...."
interesting comment about universalism and suchlike.
the problem is that this is the slippery slope towards 'all religions are equal'. now, strictly speaking, that statement is true: all religions do attempt to teach people to be good.
the problem is the word 'religion': it has been used to refer to the murderous, imperialistic semitic death cults as well. they are not religions, but ideologies.
the problem, then, is in comparing apples to oranges. if we are talking about humanistic religions such as hinduism, buddhism, and perhaps confucianism and shintoism (i admit i know very little about the last two), we can talk all we want about universalism and pluralism.
but when confronted by these semitic death cults (marxism has killed at least 40 million people, for instance) there is no point in waxing philosophical. it is life and death. they are intent on wiping us out, so it's not unfair to turn their tactics back on them.
it is quite instructive to use their tactics in reverse. using their own methods, i have deconstructed christism and found it to be a giant hoax (about a guy who did not exist) intended to hoodwink people into accepting white guy hegemony. the funny thing is that this alleged jesus character was an arab, not even a propah 'aryan' white guy! (jew and arab are genetically indistinguishable). according to discovery, see a picture of what jesus (if one believed the myths about his existence) would have really looked like -- a wild-eyed, sinister, coarse arab street thug. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20041220/boyjesus.html
and of course, in their fantasies, they want him to look like the blond, blue eyed, 'aryan' type in the first picture.
isn't that instructive? they have expropriated a coarse arab and turned him into some 'aryan' type. what more evidence do you need that christism is merely a convenient device for white guy imperialism?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Arjuna
Hindu nationalism versus Hindu universalism
The term 'nation' is defined differently by different sources. One definition is: "A people who share common customs, origins, history, and frequently language." Hindu nationalism can be defined as the tendency of Hindus to define themselves as a nation. It is often said that the late 1980's and 90's saw an upsurge of Hindu nationalism in India. Translated into the realm of politics, this resulted in an increased tendency for Hindus to define their political activity in terms of common Hindu interests.
Historically, strong nationalistic tendencies emerge amongst peoples during times of struggle or in the face of real or perceived threats. For example, Scottish nationalism emerged through struggle with the English, and draws its sustenance from the memories of this struggle. The same is the case with Hindu nationalism. The formation of a strong Hindu identity has its roots in the trials and tribulations of the struggles against the Muslim and European colonialisms.
In the late 80's and 90's the rapid increase in Hindu nationalism was a product of many perceived challenges. There was a general sense of anxiety amongst Hindus about their collective future, as well as a feeling that the secular Indian state was not capable of safeguarding their collective interests, being netral if not hostile to their cultural norms. Gradually, this sense spread to Hindus living in other countries too, particularly Hindus in the UK and USA.
It can be appreciated that the emergence of nationalism is a natural phenomenon, brought about by certain circumstances. It can sometimes be a constructive force, and sometimes destructive, depending on how it is harnessed.
There is a danger that nationalism can cloud clear thinking, leading the nation to forego its identification and responsibility towards humanity as a whole. This can lead to excesses, and even genocides, as has been witnessed on numerous occasions throughout history.
Today, we see a great many Hindus who place a strong emphasis on identifying Hindus together as a nation. Amongst the international Hindu community, information flow through the medium of the Internet has spawned a whole generation of vocal Hindu hyper-nationalists, who are full of grievances at the harm suffered by Hindus today and in the past.
Historically, strong nationalistic tendencies emerge amongst peoples during times of struggle or in the face of real or perceived threats. For example, Scottish nationalism emerged through struggle with the English, and draws its sustenance from the memories of this struggle. The same is the case with Hindu nationalism. The formation of a strong Hindu identity has its roots in the trials and tribulations of the struggles against the Muslim and European colonialisms.
In the late 80's and 90's the rapid increase in Hindu nationalism was a product of many perceived challenges. There was a general sense of anxiety amongst Hindus about their collective future, as well as a feeling that the secular Indian state was not capable of safeguarding their collective interests, being netral if not hostile to their cultural norms. Gradually, this sense spread to Hindus living in other countries too, particularly Hindus in the UK and USA.
It can be appreciated that the emergence of nationalism is a natural phenomenon, brought about by certain circumstances. It can sometimes be a constructive force, and sometimes destructive, depending on how it is harnessed.
There is a danger that nationalism can cloud clear thinking, leading the nation to forego its identification and responsibility towards humanity as a whole. This can lead to excesses, and even genocides, as has been witnessed on numerous occasions throughout history.
Today, we see a great many Hindus who place a strong emphasis on identifying Hindus together as a nation. Amongst the international Hindu community, information flow through the medium of the Internet has spawned a whole generation of vocal Hindu hyper-nationalists, who are full of grievances at the harm suffered by Hindus today and in the past.
While these individuals may be well intentioned (at the beginning at least), an overly negative perspective has served to distance these Hindus from the principles of Hinduism itself, as well as rendering them incapable of doing much service to the cause that they claim to profess. They spend their time in narrow circles indulging in conspiracy theories, failing to understand that the great Hindu men and women of the past employed very different means to uplift their people.
True Hinduism can never accept injustice lying down, but at the same time it cannot support an over emphasis on nationalism unless the nationalism is informed by a greater spirit, by a spirit of dharma and universalism.
Hindu pluralistic ideas are of universal value, and can help humanity emerge victorious from many contemporary struggles, such as the prevalence of mental illness, religious conflict, consumerism and the breakdown in family structure, to name but a few.
The very vocal nature of these Hindu hyper-nationalists has done a disservice to Hinduism, because through their actions, universal Hindu ideas become associated with a narrow-nationalism, and therefore become limited in their appeal. Due to the minority of hyper-nationalist Hindus, sensible-minded Hindu groups in the West often end up getting labelled as Hindu nationalists or even fanatics simply for speaking up for common sense Hindu issues such trying to increase their temple's car parking space or teaching Hinduism in schools.
Hindu pluralistic ideas are of universal value, and can help humanity emerge victorious from many contemporary struggles, such as the prevalence of mental illness, religious conflict, consumerism and the breakdown in family structure, to name but a few.
The very vocal nature of these Hindu hyper-nationalists has done a disservice to Hinduism, because through their actions, universal Hindu ideas become associated with a narrow-nationalism, and therefore become limited in their appeal. Due to the minority of hyper-nationalist Hindus, sensible-minded Hindu groups in the West often end up getting labelled as Hindu nationalists or even fanatics simply for speaking up for common sense Hindu issues such trying to increase their temple's car parking space or teaching Hinduism in schools.
The need of today are Hindus who have grasped the universal nature of Hinduism and who can implement constructive solutions for applying Hindu ideas into modern life, as well as to redress Hindu grievances in a way that is in agreement with Hindu dharma.
http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/Issues/10/Universalism.htm
http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/Issues/10/Universalism.htm
"A warrior relaxes and abandons himself; he fears nothing.Only then will the powers that guide human destiny open the road for a
warrior and aid him. Only then...."
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
"karma capitalism" : Business week article
oct 23rd, 2006
yikes! the mcdonaldization of the gita. there will soon be the 'christist gita' as well. the blighters will reinterpret it such that krishna = christ. they will say that it is all taken from the bible, when in reality the bible dates to about 150 CE, and the gita can be dated to several centuries before that.
actually there is a lot of very sensible thoughts in the arthasastra which would be highly applicable to business strategy. as i have said here before, it's much more sensible than the silly sun tzu, which is roughly like chinese fortune cookies. Stuff like 'woman who put husband in doghouse find him in cathouse'. sun tzu loves mouthing inaninities like 'use the opponent's strength against him by being calm and centered in battle.' 'the wise general diverts the opponent's attention through minor skirmishes away from the core thrust.'
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: arun
Date: Oct 23, 2006 6:22 AM
Subject: "karma capitalism" : Business week article
To:
Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced The Art of War as the hip new ancient Eastern management text?
thoughts ?
~A
Sunday, October 22, 2006
great business model to make solar energy work
oct 20th, 2006
this is a great idea. solar without the capital investment bothering the end user.
where are all the private equity types looking for a steady revenue model? i think people like the big real estate types in india should also look into this. for instance, why not offer to provide, say, wipro, with solar power in their bangalore campus, which would enable them to even phase out their generators to some extent considering that bangalore has a lot of sunny days? the economics of this will improve steadily over the next few years as the volume effects kick in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/business/21solar.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=f7f8bc062130941f&ex=1161576000&pagewanted=all
this is a great idea. solar without the capital investment bothering the end user.
where are all the private equity types looking for a steady revenue model? i think people like the big real estate types in india should also look into this. for instance, why not offer to provide, say, wipro, with solar power in their bangalore campus, which would enable them to even phase out their generators to some extent considering that bangalore has a lot of sunny days? the economics of this will improve steadily over the next few years as the volume effects kick in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/21/business/21solar.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=f7f8bc062130941f&ex=1161576000&pagewanted=all
slightly less reverential review of dawkin's book
oct 20th, 2006
good counterpoint to the economist's adulatory review, posted here previously.
my perspective is as follows: i don't agree with his arguments that posit that blind faith is a peculiarly religious phenomenon, as i see blind faith about 'science' and 'atheism' as well. also, i don't agree with his arguments that religion is necessarily bad. it's only that the semitic religions and gods that he's familiar with are bad and brutal. indic religions and gods -- and indeed the old religions of the world before the advent of the early semites like zoroastrians and jews -- are/were generally good and positive.
good counterpoint to the economist's adulatory review, posted here previously.
my perspective is as follows: i don't agree with his arguments that posit that blind faith is a peculiarly religious phenomenon, as i see blind faith about 'science' and 'atheism' as well. also, i don't agree with his arguments that religion is necessarily bad. it's only that the semitic religions and gods that he's familiar with are bad and brutal. indic religions and gods -- and indeed the old religions of the world before the advent of the early semites like zoroastrians and jews -- are/were generally good and positive.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
on this anodyne night, as fire crosses the sky
happy new year to all those who celebrate the new year now. may this be a peaceful and prosperous new year for you.
but it probably shouldnt be written as 'diwali' -- it is deepavali or divali -- as we do not have the proper "w" sound in any indian language, as was pointed out to me some time ago by a reader. there are no words in indian languages that use the "w" sound as distinct from "v", except perhaps if it's a complex sound. i guess you could say it's "saraswati", but i prefer "sarasvati", and "visvanathan" rather than "viswanathan". the "w" sound with the curling "o" shaped lips is alien to indian languages.
but it probably shouldnt be written as 'diwali' -- it is deepavali or divali -- as we do not have the proper "w" sound in any indian language, as was pointed out to me some time ago by a reader. there are no words in indian languages that use the "w" sound as distinct from "v", except perhaps if it's a complex sound. i guess you could say it's "saraswati", but i prefer "sarasvati", and "visvanathan" rather than "viswanathan". the "w" sound with the curling "o" shaped lips is alien to indian languages.
a new bug like y2k
oct 20th, 2006
http://www.viewswire.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1921233977
i wonder who'll make money off of this like the indian IT cos did off y2k. probably taiwanese.
http://www.viewswire.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1921233977
i wonder who'll make money off of this like the indian IT cos did off y2k. probably taiwanese.
why the US slowdown may not affect asia that much
oct 20th, 2006
interesting comment by the economist implying that the US may matter less and less to asia as domestic demand builds up.
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8049652&fsrc=nwlbtwfree
see also this one talking about the short-term decline in the US.
http://www.viewswire.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1921233977
interesting comment by the economist implying that the US may matter less and less to asia as domestic demand builds up.
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8049652&fsrc=nwlbtwfree
see also this one talking about the short-term decline in the US.
http://www.viewswire.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1921233977
econ intel unit does not think india's stockmarket rally will last
oct 20th, 2006
really? with the price of oil dropping, and record profits reported by companies?
http://www.viewswire.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1031286488
really? with the price of oil dropping, and record profits reported by companies?
http://www.viewswire.com/index.asp?layout=VWArticleVW3&article_id=1031286488
Friday, October 20, 2006
mohammed yunus and nobel prize
october 20th, 2006
i think this man is right. they could have given the economics nobel to yunus. but as usual they would have given it to some white guy who produced some dicey theory. let us remember that there were two nobel prize winners in economics in that massive failure Long Term Capital Management which had to be bailed out by the us govt.
speaking of nobel prizes this year (although they are not all that meaningful), once again a disappointment that jagdish bhagwati did not win the economics prize. but even sadder, there's nobody in india who is anywhere close to winning a nobel in any science.
and now for a bit of california chauvinism: stanford got 2 (chemistry and medicine) and berkeley got 1 (physics). take that, ye atlanticists of the northeast! :-)
i think this man is right. they could have given the economics nobel to yunus. but as usual they would have given it to some white guy who produced some dicey theory. let us remember that there were two nobel prize winners in economics in that massive failure Long Term Capital Management which had to be bailed out by the us govt.
speaking of nobel prizes this year (although they are not all that meaningful), once again a disappointment that jagdish bhagwati did not win the economics prize. but even sadder, there's nobody in india who is anywhere close to winning a nobel in any science.
and now for a bit of california chauvinism: stanford got 2 (chemistry and medicine) and berkeley got 1 (physics). take that, ye atlanticists of the northeast! :-)
SIR — Mr Yunus and Grameen should have been granted the Nobel award for economics. The work of spreading microcredit through the developing world has improved millions of lives. And this contribution to development in the real word is likely to be of far greater importance than that of any ivory-tower theorist.
Lee Shephard
Oakland, Californiaa prof with conventional wisdom
oct 20th, 2006
this prof must be san's pal: insistent that cheap manufacturing is a must.
well, i think there is a good case to be made for indian exceptionalism. india is not like other nations, it is not a 'developing' nation, but a 'redeveloping' nation, one that was the economic superpower for millennia.
the economist (this is a letter published by them) probably agrees with this conventional wisdom.
this prof must be san's pal: insistent that cheap manufacturing is a must.
well, i think there is a good case to be made for indian exceptionalism. india is not like other nations, it is not a 'developing' nation, but a 'redeveloping' nation, one that was the economic superpower for millennia.
the economist (this is a letter published by them) probably agrees with this conventional wisdom.
Walk before you can run
SIR – After reading your leader on technology leapfrogs one should not conclude that it makes sense for developing economies to jump "from agriculture straight to high-tech industries" ("Behind the bleeding edge", September 23rd). Granted, such jumps may be productive at the level of single commodities, but countries with large agricultural sectors containing significant surpluses of labour, including India, which you cited as an example, cannot afford to skip past a development phase of unskilled labour-intensive industries and low-tech services if they are not to experience diminished growth and a level of income distribution with dire poverty consequences.
Gustav Ranis
Frank Altschul Professor Emeritus of International Economics
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
arch-atlanticist a little vexed at indian firm buying european one
oct 20th, 2006
rather peevish, the economist is.
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8070085&fsrc=nwl
rather peevish, the economist is.
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8070085&fsrc=nwl
precisely the right order
oct 20th, 2006
this is the right order to get a bunch of the FOIL types thrown in jail as enemy aliens. maybe they will bring back the concentration camps where they interned japanese-americans during world war II.
the FOIL types are non-citizens acting against the interests of the US.
will you, iamdemocracy, who whines so loudly and often about others not doing whatever you want them to do, kindly take this opportunity to spearhead exposing the FOIL thugs to the tender mercies of the US government? if not, i dont want to hear another peep from you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/opinion/19thu1.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1161489600&en=5796f3c07768c578&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
this is the right order to get a bunch of the FOIL types thrown in jail as enemy aliens. maybe they will bring back the concentration camps where they interned japanese-americans during world war II.
the FOIL types are non-citizens acting against the interests of the US.
will you, iamdemocracy, who whines so loudly and often about others not doing whatever you want them to do, kindly take this opportunity to spearhead exposing the FOIL thugs to the tender mercies of the US government? if not, i dont want to hear another peep from you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/opinion/19thu1.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1161489600&en=5796f3c07768c578&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
hindu rate of growth, the real one
oct 20, 2006
i wrote this in 1995 for Hinduism Today.
i wrote this in 1995 for Hinduism Today.
The Hindu Work Ethic: or, The New "Hindu Rate of Growth"
by Rajeev Srinivasan
India has suddenly become a fashionable destination for investment;
many large companies view India as a must-have market. Is this a flash
in the pan, given her enormous problems of underdevelopment? I think
not: because there is a fundamental Hindu work ethic. In fact, the 21st
century, rather than being the Pacific century, will really be the
Asian century, and India will be a major player in this.
Americans, with some justification, have considered the thrifty Yankee
farmer of the northeastern provinces to embody the spirit of sacrifice
and hard work that has allowed them to conquer and tame a continent.
Similarly, the rise of the East Asian world has been attributed to the
inherent qualities of a Confucian model that upholds values of duty
and responsibility, as well as sanctioning the pursuit of material
possessions. In contrast, it has been presumed in the west that the
pervasive poverty and misery in India is the result of a Hindu ethic
of self-abnegation, fatalism, and other-worldliness. However, this is
a false assumption: the success of Indians all over the world is proof
of the incorrectness of this belief.
It is interesting to analyze historical western attitudes towards East
Asians to contrast these with their attitudes towards Indians. In the
wake of the Opium Wars and other unpleasant encounters, and indeed
after World War II, the prevailing wisdom in the west was that
Mongoloid peoples were inherently inferior: dull-witted, slothful,
untrustworthy, and at best capable of aping the west. Of course, the
rise of Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore has emphatically
denied that notion; pundits (including the irrepressible Mr. Lee Kuan
Yew) have come up with the notion of the "Confucian work ethic" to
explain the unqualified East Asian success.
It is my contention that in the same fashion, there is an underlying
Hindu ethic--as yet undiscovered by western commentators--that will
make India a major economic power. This would merely be a return to
ages past: in medieval times, India was one of the world's richest
nations, producing a significant fraction of the world's entire trade,
particularly in textiles, high-value agricultural products, gems,
steel, and so forth. This could not have been the case without a
well-organized and well-run commercial structure. Further, Indians
were good traders: observe the Phoenicians and Romans coming to the
Malabar coast in search of black pepper, worth its weight in gold; or
the maritime empire of the Pallavas, which dominated South East Asian
trade as far afield as Cambodia. More recent examples include the
Indian diaspora in East Africa. What has held India down over the last
millennia is a combination of inevitable cyclical decline, invasions,
and outright looting, especially by the British, with a lot of
misgovernment and stultifying bureaucracy thrown in.
What are the fundamental features of this Hindu work ethic? They are:
thrift, hard work, sense of duty, respect for the family unit, respect
for education, mathematical skills, and entrepreneurial skills.
For a poor nation, Indians are remarkably thrifty, saving up to 28% of
their gross national product. While not as high as that of the Chinese
or the Japanese, this is certainly very high. When channelled wisely,
into useful investment, this is a major asset.
Those who have lived outside India can testify to the extraordinary
hard work put in by small-business owners of Indian origin. In
California, a significant number of high-technology millionaires are
workaholic Hindus. Somehow, in India, the rewards for hard work have
been so hard to come by that it has made no sense to work hard.
The Hindu paradigm of dharma--of doing one's duty, whatever it may
be--is a powerful force in keeping the individual focused on a
superordinate goal. It does not make one fatalistic; on the contrary,
if one's dharma is to be a trader, to amass wealth, then there is
scriptural authorization to do so.
Hindus have been castigated for being clannish and unwilling to mix
with others. This, however, has another side to it: that the Hindu,
much like the Japanese, the Chinese, or the Jew, believes that he has
a duty to a unit, be it the extended family or to the community (as he
defines it--often a caste grouping or a language grouping). Far from
being a negative, this "tribal" consciousness is an extremely
important asset in a rapidly shrinking world, where connections count
for a lot. In addition, on a more personal level, the existence of
support mechanisms from the immediate and extended family is a
significant benefit.
Perhaps the most serious problems facing American society is the poor
quality of its human resources--education is valued little here. On
the other hand, Indians have always revered education. In the new
information era, educated and skilled people will be the greatest
asset a nation could have; thus, India is well positioned for the
future.
Hindu scientists and mathematicians were among the most advanced in
the ancient world; to this day, the mathematical precision required by
Sanskrit lives on in the racial skill set. Thus Hindus' notable
predilection for science and technology: and this flies in the face of
the western prejudice of Hindus as superstitious and primitive. To
manipulate complex financial and technical information, Indian
brainpower will be in much demand in the future.
Indians have tremendous entrepreneurial skills; even in India, with
liberalization, a large number of people have started their own small
businesses. The ambition and perseverance needed to succeed in these
will serve the country well, just as Germany's small businesses have
been the engine of the economy there.
Will all this result in fundamental growth in India? The term, "the
Hindu rate of growth" has been used disparagingly to refer to India's
recent history of 2-3% annual growth in GDP, as though there were
something inherent in Hinduism that limited growth. On the contrary, I
believe that the true "Hindu rate of growth" is a healthy and
sustainable 6-8% a year.
Of course, there are limits to growth: environmental degradation,
overpopulation, AIDS, and cultural homogenization. There is
speculation that AIDS might become a pandemic in India; this would be
a serious problem. In addition, there is evidence that, for example,
in Japan, the young are beginning to lose their Confucian ethic, and
becoming mindless emulators of vacuous American fads.
If India can avoid some of these traps, there is no reason why the
Hindu work ethic cannot transform the country in a single lifetime,
lifting untold millions of our brethren from poverty to a fulfilling
life. It is, finally, the time for Hindus to "arise, awake" as Swami
Vivekananda predicted a century ago.
[Note: because of the overwhelming importance of Hindu culture in
India, I generally use the terms Indian and Hindu interchangeably,
with no disrespect meant towards Indians of other faiths].
Rajeev Srinivasan lives near San Francisco.
diwali, by vikram seth
I send this poem out every year at Diwali time.
I would like to share it with you this year for the festive season.
"And when an alap of Marwa
Swims on slow flute-notes overf
The neighbours' roofs at sunset
Wordlessly like a lover
It holds me-till the strain
Of exile, here or there,
Subverts the trance, the fear
Of fear found everywhere. "
Happy Diwali to all of you who are "abroad abroad" and "not at home at home".
Rajeev Srinivasan
===========================
DIWALI --- Vikram Seth
Three years of neurotic
Guy Fawkes Days-I recall
That lonely hankering-
But I am home after all.
Home. These walls, this sky
Splintered with wakes of light
These mud-lamps beaded round
The eaves, this festive night,
These streets, these voices...yet
The old insensate dread,
Abeyant as that love,
Once more shifts in my head.
Five? Six? generations ago
Somewhere in the Punjab
My father's family,farmers,
Perhaps had a small shop
And two generations later
Could send a son to a school
To gain the conqueror's
Authoritarian seal:
English! Six-armed god,
Key to a job, to power,
Snobbery, the good life,
This separateness, this fear.
English: beloved language
of Jonson, Wordsworth's tongue-
These my "meridian names"
Whose grooves I crawl along.
The Moghuls fought and ruled
And settled. Even while
They hungered for musk-melon,
Rose, peach, nightingale,
The land assumed their love.
At sixty they could not
Retire westwards. The British
Made us the Orient.
How could an Englishman say
About the divan-e-khas
"If there is heaven on earth
It is this; it is this; it is this."?
Macaulay the prophet of learning
Chewed at his pen: one taste
Of Western wisdom "surpasses
All the books of the East,"
And Kalidas, Shankaracharya,
Panini, Bhaskar, Kabir,
Surdas sank, and we welcomed
The reign of Shakespeare.
The undigested Hobbes,
The Mill who later ground
(Through talk of liberty)
The Raj out of the land ...
O happy breed of Babus,
I march on with your purpose;
We will have railways, common law
And a good postal service-
And I twist along
Those grooves from image to image,
Violet, elm-tree, swan,
Pork-pie, gable, scrimmage
And as we title our memoirs
"Roses in December"
Though we all know that here
Roses *grow* in December
And we import songs
Composed in the U.S
For Vietnam (not even
Our local horrors grip us)
And as, over gin at the Club,
I note that egregious member
Strut just perceptibly more
When with a foreigner,
I know that the whole world
Means exile of our breed
Who are not home at home
And are abroad abroad,
Huddled in towns, while around:
"He died last week. My boys
Are starving. Daily we dig
The ground for sweet potatoes."
"The landlord's hirelings broke
My husband's ribs-and I
Grow blind in the smoke of the hearth."
"Who will take care of me
When I am old? No-one
Is left." So it goes on,
The cyclic shadow-play
Under the sinister sun;
That sun that, were there water,
Could bless the dispirited land,
Coaxing three crops a year
From this same yieldless ground.
Yet would these parched wraiths still
Starve in their ruins, while
"Silkworms around them grow
Into fat cocoons?", Sad soil,
This may as well be my home.
Because no other nation
Moves me thus? What of that?
Cause for congratulation?
This could well be my home;
I am too used to the flavor
Of tenous fixity;
I have been brought to savour
Its phases: the winter wheat-
The flowers of Har-ki-Doon -
The sal forests - the hills
Inflamed with rhododendron -
The first smell of the Rains
On the baked earth-the peaks
Snow-drowned in permanence--
The single mountain lakes.
What if my tongue is warped?
I need no words to gaze
At Ajanta, those flaked caves,
Or at the tomb of Mumtaz;
And when an alap of Marwa
Swims on slow flute-notes over
The neighbours' roofs at sunset
Wordlessly like a lover
It holds me-till the strain
Of exile, here or there,
Subverts the trance, the fear
Of fear found everywhere.
"But freedom?" the notes would sing...
Parole is enough. Tonight
Below the fire-crossed sky
Of the Festival of Light.
Give your soul leave to feel
What distilled peace it can;
In lieu of joy, at least
This lapsing anodyne.
"The world is a bridge. Pass over it,
Building no house upon it."
Acceptance may come with time;
Rest, then disquieted heart.
I would like to share it with you this year for the festive season.
"And when an alap of Marwa
Swims on slow flute-notes overf
The neighbours' roofs at sunset
Wordlessly like a lover
It holds me-till the strain
Of exile, here or there,
Subverts the trance, the fear
Of fear found everywhere. "
Happy Diwali to all of you who are "abroad abroad" and "not at home at home".
Rajeev Srinivasan
===========================
DIWALI --- Vikram Seth
Three years of neurotic
Guy Fawkes Days-I recall
That lonely hankering-
But I am home after all.
Home. These walls, this sky
Splintered with wakes of light
These mud-lamps beaded round
The eaves, this festive night,
These streets, these voices...yet
The old insensate dread,
Abeyant as that love,
Once more shifts in my head.
Five? Six? generations ago
Somewhere in the Punjab
My father's family,farmers,
Perhaps had a small shop
And two generations later
Could send a son to a school
To gain the conqueror's
Authoritarian seal:
English! Six-armed god,
Key to a job, to power,
Snobbery, the good life,
This separateness, this fear.
English: beloved language
of Jonson, Wordsworth's tongue-
These my "meridian names"
Whose grooves I crawl along.
The Moghuls fought and ruled
And settled. Even while
They hungered for musk-melon,
Rose, peach, nightingale,
The land assumed their love.
At sixty they could not
Retire westwards. The British
Made us the Orient.
How could an Englishman say
About the divan-e-khas
"If there is heaven on earth
It is this; it is this; it is this."?
Macaulay the prophet of learning
Chewed at his pen: one taste
Of Western wisdom "surpasses
All the books of the East,"
And Kalidas, Shankaracharya,
Panini, Bhaskar, Kabir,
Surdas sank, and we welcomed
The reign of Shakespeare.
The undigested Hobbes,
The Mill who later ground
(Through talk of liberty)
The Raj out of the land ...
O happy breed of Babus,
I march on with your purpose;
We will have railways, common law
And a good postal service-
And I twist along
Those grooves from image to image,
Violet, elm-tree, swan,
Pork-pie, gable, scrimmage
And as we title our memoirs
"Roses in December"
Though we all know that here
Roses *grow* in December
And we import songs
Composed in the U.S
For Vietnam (not even
Our local horrors grip us)
And as, over gin at the Club,
I note that egregious member
Strut just perceptibly more
When with a foreigner,
I know that the whole world
Means exile of our breed
Who are not home at home
And are abroad abroad,
Huddled in towns, while around:
"He died last week. My boys
Are starving. Daily we dig
The ground for sweet potatoes."
"The landlord's hirelings broke
My husband's ribs-and I
Grow blind in the smoke of the hearth."
"Who will take care of me
When I am old? No-one
Is left." So it goes on,
The cyclic shadow-play
Under the sinister sun;
That sun that, were there water,
Could bless the dispirited land,
Coaxing three crops a year
From this same yieldless ground.
Yet would these parched wraiths still
Starve in their ruins, while
"Silkworms around them grow
Into fat cocoons?", Sad soil,
This may as well be my home.
Because no other nation
Moves me thus? What of that?
Cause for congratulation?
This could well be my home;
I am too used to the flavor
Of tenous fixity;
I have been brought to savour
Its phases: the winter wheat-
The flowers of Har-ki-Doon -
The sal forests - the hills
Inflamed with rhododendron -
The first smell of the Rains
On the baked earth-the peaks
Snow-drowned in permanence--
The single mountain lakes.
What if my tongue is warped?
I need no words to gaze
At Ajanta, those flaked caves,
Or at the tomb of Mumtaz;
And when an alap of Marwa
Swims on slow flute-notes over
The neighbours' roofs at sunset
Wordlessly like a lover
It holds me-till the strain
Of exile, here or there,
Subverts the trance, the fear
Of fear found everywhere.
"But freedom?" the notes would sing...
Parole is enough. Tonight
Below the fire-crossed sky
Of the Festival of Light.
Give your soul leave to feel
What distilled peace it can;
In lieu of joy, at least
This lapsing anodyne.
"The world is a bridge. Pass over it,
Building no house upon it."
Acceptance may come with time;
Rest, then disquieted heart.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
why musharraf is untouchable
oct 19th, 2006
also read my old column, 'what happened in kunduz?'
now what would explain manmohan singh's strange penchant for caving in to musharraf?
CORRECTION: i got the above in an email which attributed it to ahmed rashid, a pakistani journalist and an expert on the taliban, writing it in the uk telegraph of oct 6th, and i posted it as such. in fact, ahmed rashid wrote something else on that day, about the ISI being blamed by NATO generals. i posted that on this blog earlier. anyway, thanks to alert reader partha who pointed this out to me. sorry about the mis-attribution. what is said above is probably true, but not written by ahmed rashid.
also read my old column, 'what happened in kunduz?'
now what would explain manmohan singh's strange penchant for caving in to musharraf?
Musharraf is Untouchable
Friday, October 6, 2006
It is a confirmed fact that in the days preceding 9/11, Lt Gen Mahmoud Ahmed, the then head of Pakistan's ISI (Inter Services Intelligence), transferred $100,000 to Mohammad Atta, the ringleader of the 9/11 hijackers. This explosive fact has received only minimal coverage in the
mainstream US media. Lt Gen Mahmoud Ahmed has had deep links with the US intelligence establishment, and was in fact in a meeting with Bush administration officials on the morning of 9/11. When the US attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan, he was asked by Musharraf to quit. He is now living a comfortable life as a retiree in Islamabad, and is a volunteer in the Tablighi Jamaat, a hardline Islamist organization. Interestingly enough, the US has not made any attempts to get their hands on him or bring him to justice.But wait—things get stranger still: Some Americans have begun trying to actually promote the Taliban in Afghanistan. On October 2, the leader of the Republicans in the US senate, Bill Frist, declared in Afghanistan that the "people who called themselves the Taliban" should be brought to power in Kabul, and that the "Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield". Now, these are the same Taliban that who owe their all to the Pakistanis, who hosted Osama Bin Laden, who opposed the Afghan elections, and who have of late been burning schools and murdering teachers in southern Afghanistan.
So now we have a scenario in which the chief of Pakistani
Intelligence participates in organizing a horrific attack on the US with 3000 dead, and then gets no more punishment than being asked to go into a comfortable retirement. Meanwhile the US remains quite happy to leave him in peace, and shows no interest in getting hold of him. And senior Republicans are actually trying to promote the interests of the Taliban.Why does the West display such extreme reluctance to hold the Pakistanis accountable for their numerous sins? Why are Western governments so eager to swallow the stories put out by the Pakistanis? Just why is it that the West, in particular the Americans, are being so very accomodating to the Pakistanis, in the process undermining their own national interests? Is there an explanation that can fit this bizarre behavior?
Yes, there is one: The Pakistanis know too much. The Bush administration has foolishly put itself in the grip of a bunch of amoral and ruthless Pakistani Generals. And the people of America are paying the price, the people of Afghanistan are paying the price. The whole world will pay the price.
CORRECTION: i got the above in an email which attributed it to ahmed rashid, a pakistani journalist and an expert on the taliban, writing it in the uk telegraph of oct 6th, and i posted it as such. in fact, ahmed rashid wrote something else on that day, about the ISI being blamed by NATO generals. i posted that on this blog earlier. anyway, thanks to alert reader partha who pointed this out to me. sorry about the mis-attribution. what is said above is probably true, but not written by ahmed rashid.
Has dictator Musharraf outflanked and outwitted President Bush?
oct 19th, 2006
well, yes.
and he has totally run circles around manmohan singh, too.
but good point by amb parthasarathy. at least in our maps, let us show most of pakistan as disputed territory.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ram Narayanan
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 19, 2006
An 'Ally' With His Own Agenda
Most of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's new book cannot be believed.
BY TUNKU VARADARAJAN
Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
Toward the end of "In the Line of Fire"--in a chapter on the emancipation of women that has all the passion of a government circular--Pervez Musharraf writes that "rape, no matter where it happens in the world, is a tragedy and deeply traumatic for the victim. My heart, therefore, goes out to Mukhtaran Mai and any woman to whom such a fate befalls."
...
[yeah, right.]
___________________________________
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061019/edit.htm#4
THE TRIBUNE. OCTOBER 19, 2006
Re-emergence of Taliban
Towards Waziristan-style deal in Afghanistan
by G. Parthasarathy
Ever since American forces entered Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power, Indian foreign policy has been based on the premise that the US and its NATO allies would restore peace, stability and moderation in Afghanistan. The fundamental basis of our Afghanistan policy, which presumed that the Americans would not permit the Taliban to return to centre-stage and allow Afghanistan to become a client state of Pakistan yet again, is now coming unstuck. A series of American strategic and tactical blunders has now led to the resurgence of a well-armed and well-trained Taliban in Afghanistan, which is incrementally establishing control over the war-torn country. General Musharraf has outflanked and outwitted President George Bush and Mr Tony Blair.
...
As a move towards a neutral position on the Durand Line by India will involve a large portion of Northern Balochistan also being depicted as "disputed", we need to have a close look at the manner in which the Khan of Kalat was overthrown and Balochistan taken over by an invading Pakistan army. Pakistan depicts Junagadh and Hyderabad as being separate from India in its maps. Is there any justification for our showing Balochistan as an integral part of Pakistan in our maps, especially in the light of the suppression of the Baloch people by the Pakistan army?
_________________________________
Powered By PanWebMailer Version 2.0 © 2004-2005
well, yes.
and he has totally run circles around manmohan singh, too.
but good point by amb parthasarathy. at least in our maps, let us show most of pakistan as disputed territory.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ram Narayanan
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 19, 2006
An 'Ally' With His Own Agenda
Most of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's new book cannot be believed.
BY TUNKU VARADARAJAN
Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
Toward the end of "In the Line of Fire"--in a chapter on the emancipation of women that has all the passion of a government circular--Pervez Musharraf writes that "rape, no matter where it happens in the world, is a tragedy and deeply traumatic for the victim. My heart, therefore, goes out to Mukhtaran Mai and any woman to whom such a fate befalls."
...
[yeah, right.]
___________________________________
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061019/edit.htm#4
THE TRIBUNE. OCTOBER 19, 2006
Re-emergence of Taliban
Towards Waziristan-style deal in Afghanistan
by G. Parthasarathy
Ever since American forces entered Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power, Indian foreign policy has been based on the premise that the US and its NATO allies would restore peace, stability and moderation in Afghanistan. The fundamental basis of our Afghanistan policy, which presumed that the Americans would not permit the Taliban to return to centre-stage and allow Afghanistan to become a client state of Pakistan yet again, is now coming unstuck. A series of American strategic and tactical blunders has now led to the resurgence of a well-armed and well-trained Taliban in Afghanistan, which is incrementally establishing control over the war-torn country. General Musharraf has outflanked and outwitted President George Bush and Mr Tony Blair.
...
As a move towards a neutral position on the Durand Line by India will involve a large portion of Northern Balochistan also being depicted as "disputed", we need to have a close look at the manner in which the Khan of Kalat was overthrown and Balochistan taken over by an invading Pakistan army. Pakistan depicts Junagadh and Hyderabad as being separate from India in its maps. Is there any justification for our showing Balochistan as an integral part of Pakistan in our maps, especially in the light of the suppression of the Baloch people by the Pakistan army?
_________________________________
Powered By PanWebMailer Version 2.0 © 2004-2005
christism's rampant conversion agenda
oct 18th, 2006
the naked face of christism -- as the well-packaged mask of white imperialism.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: swami
While feeling concerned about the "definitive results of Islamization" in
India, also please feel concerned about the aggressive evangelism (JOSHUA
PROJECT--$20 Billion Plus project) emanating from America, well-funded,
superbly networked, backed by the highest of the land, seized of its moral
supremacy, having India as one of its key targets (as revealed in a
disturbing exposé), a jingoistic president, multi-million dollar
corporations, high technology, a grand if furtive mission, networks spanning
the globe, and biblical invocations. Only it's real. And its got India in
its crosshair:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main_free.asp?filename=ts013004synopsis.asp
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main.asp?filename=ts013004shashi.asp
US FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES:'GEORGE BUSH HAS A BIG CONVERSION AGENDA IN INDIA.'
http://www.christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1078984877
STATISTICS AND FACTS FROM THE JOSHUA PROJECT
http://www.christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1095518305
CAN HINDUISM FACE THE ONSLAUGHT OF PROJECT THESSALONICA?
http://www.christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1130133787
Also, please read carefully:
BOSTON GLOBE SERIES ON AMERICA EXPORTING FAITH
October 11, 2006
Source Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/11/healing_the_body_to_reach_the_soul/
http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1161098955
(Articles in this four-part series examine how American religious
organizations benefit from an increasingly accommodating government):
PART 1: CHANGING THE RULES:
BUSH BRINGS FAITH TO FOREIGN AID,
AS FUNDING RISES, CHRISTIAN GROUPS DELIVER HELP -- WITH A MESSAGE
http://tinyurl.com/yfy2wd
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=508&Itemid=125
PART 2: CHURCH MEETS STATE: EXPORTING FAITH:
RELIGIOUS RIGHT WIELDS CLOUT, SECULAR GROUPS LOSING FUNDING AMID PRESSURE
http://tinyurl.com/ylluj4
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=509&Itemid=125
Part 3: THE MUSLIM WORLD | EXPORTING FAITH:
TOGETHER, BUT WORLDS APART,
CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS RAISE SUSPICION IN STRONGHOLDS OF ISLAM
http://tinyurl.com/wer7g
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=511&Itemid=125
PART 4: MISSIONARIES IN TRAINING | EXPORTING FAITH: HEALING THE BODY TO
REACH THE SOUL, EVANGELICALS ADD CONVERTS THROUGH MEDICAL TRIPS
http://tinyurl.com/y5l2cn
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=512&Itemid=125
* * *
NYTimes Series: Part 1:
IN GOD'S NAME:
AS EXEMPTIONS GROW, RELIGION OUTWEIGHS REGULATION
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=513&Itemid=125
NY Times Series: Part 2:
IN GOD'S NAME:
LIMITING WORKERS' RIGHTS
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=514&Itemid=125
NYTimes series: Part 3:
IN GOD'S NAME:
GIVING EXEMPTIONS
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=515&Itemid=125
NYTimes Series: Part 4:
IN GOD'S NAME:
RELIGION-BASED TAX BREAKS: HOUSING TO PAYCHECKS TO BOOKS
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=516&Itemid=125
Excerpts:
======================================
The US government has given $10.9 million to Food for the Hungry, a
faith-based development organization, to reach deep into the arid mountains
of northern Kenya to provide training in hygiene, childhood illnesses, and
clean water. The group has brought all that, and something else that
increasingly accompanies US-funded aid programs: regular church service and
prayer.
President Bush has almost doubled the percentage of US foreign-aid dollars
going to faith-based groups such as Food for the Hungry, according to a
Globe survey of government data. And in seeking to help such groups obtain
more contracts, Bush has systematically eliminated or weakened rules
designed to enforce the separation of church and state.
For decades, US policy has sought to avoid intermingling government programs
and religious proselytizing. The aim is both to abide by the Constitution's
prohibition against a state religion and to ensure that aid recipients don't
forgo assistance because they don't share the religion of the provider.
But many of those restrictions were removed by Bush in a little-noticed
series of executive orders -- a policy change that cleared the way for
religious groups to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in additional
government funding. It also helped change the message American aid workers
bring to many corners of the world, from emphasizing religious neutrality to
touting the healing powers of the Christian God.
Bush's orders altered the longstanding practice that groups preach religion
in one space and run government programs in another. The administration said
religious organizations can conduct services in the same space as they hand
out government aid, so long as the services don't take place while the aid
is being delivered. But the rule allows groups to schedule prayers
immediately before or after dispensing taxpayer-funded aid.
Bush's orders also reversed longstanding rules forbidding the use of
government funds to pay for employees who are required to take an oath to
one religion. In addition, the president's orders allowed faith-based groups
to keep religious symbols in places where they distribute taxpayer-funded aid.
And in implementing the president's orders, the administration rejected
efforts to require groups to inform beneficiaries that they don't have to
attend religious services to get the help they need. Instead of a
requirement, groups are merely encouraged to make clear to recipients that
they don't have to participate in religious activities.
Bush made some of the changes by executive order only after failing to get
Congress to approve them; the bill faltered in the Senate, where moderate
Republicans joined Democrats in raising concerns about breaking down the
barrier between government and religion.
"I got a little frustrated in Washington because I couldn't get the bill
passed," Bush told a meeting of faith-based groups in March 2004. "Congress
wouldn't act, so I signed an executive order -- that means I did it on my own."
The legality of Bush's moves is being challenged by a group advocating
separation of church and state. The lawsuit, claiming both that Bush
overstepped his powers and that the orders violate the Constitution, is
inching its way through the federal courts.
Faith-based groups have long delivered humanitarian assistance in distant
and dangerous places, marshaling an impressive array of volunteers. But
Bush's initiative has put government dollars into faith-based providers in
unprecedented fashion. A Globe survey of more than 52,000 awards of
contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements from the US Agency for
International Development -- which distributes taxpayer-funded assistance
overseas -- provides the first comprehensive assessment of the impact of
Bush's policies on foreign aid.
The survey of prime contractors and grantees, based on records obtained
through the Freedom of Information Act, shows a sharp increase in money
going to faith-based groups between fiscal 2001, the last budget of the
Clinton administration, and fiscal 2005, the last year for which complete
figures were available. Faith-based groups accounted for 10.5 percent of
USAID dollars to nongovernmental aid organizations in fiscal 2001, and 19.9
percent in 2005.
========================================
the naked face of christism -- as the well-packaged mask of white imperialism.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: swami
While feeling concerned about the "definitive results of Islamization" in
India, also please feel concerned about the aggressive evangelism (JOSHUA
PROJECT--$20 Billion Plus project) emanating from America, well-funded,
superbly networked, backed by the highest of the land, seized of its moral
supremacy, having India as one of its key targets (as revealed in a
disturbing exposé), a jingoistic president, multi-million dollar
corporations, high technology, a grand if furtive mission, networks spanning
the globe, and biblical invocations. Only it's real. And its got India in
its crosshair:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main_free.asp?filename=ts013004synopsis.asp
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main.asp?filename=ts013004shashi.asp
US FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES:'GEORGE BUSH HAS A BIG CONVERSION AGENDA IN INDIA.'
http://www.christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1078984877
STATISTICS AND FACTS FROM THE JOSHUA PROJECT
http://www.christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1095518305
CAN HINDUISM FACE THE ONSLAUGHT OF PROJECT THESSALONICA?
http://www.christianaggression.com/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1130133787
Also, please read carefully:
BOSTON GLOBE SERIES ON AMERICA EXPORTING FAITH
October 11, 2006
Source Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/11/healing_the_body_to_reach_the_soul/
http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1161098955
(Articles in this four-part series examine how American religious
organizations benefit from an increasingly accommodating government):
PART 1: CHANGING THE RULES:
BUSH BRINGS FAITH TO FOREIGN AID,
AS FUNDING RISES, CHRISTIAN GROUPS DELIVER HELP -- WITH A MESSAGE
http://tinyurl.com/yfy2wd
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=508&Itemid=125
PART 2: CHURCH MEETS STATE: EXPORTING FAITH:
RELIGIOUS RIGHT WIELDS CLOUT, SECULAR GROUPS LOSING FUNDING AMID PRESSURE
http://tinyurl.com/ylluj4
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=509&Itemid=125
Part 3: THE MUSLIM WORLD | EXPORTING FAITH:
TOGETHER, BUT WORLDS APART,
CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS RAISE SUSPICION IN STRONGHOLDS OF ISLAM
http://tinyurl.com/wer7g
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=511&Itemid=125
PART 4: MISSIONARIES IN TRAINING | EXPORTING FAITH: HEALING THE BODY TO
REACH THE SOUL, EVANGELICALS ADD CONVERTS THROUGH MEDICAL TRIPS
http://tinyurl.com/y5l2cn
or
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=512&Itemid=125
* * *
NYTimes Series: Part 1:
IN GOD'S NAME:
AS EXEMPTIONS GROW, RELIGION OUTWEIGHS REGULATION
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=513&Itemid=125
NY Times Series: Part 2:
IN GOD'S NAME:
LIMITING WORKERS' RIGHTS
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=514&Itemid=125
NYTimes series: Part 3:
IN GOD'S NAME:
GIVING EXEMPTIONS
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=515&Itemid=125
NYTimes Series: Part 4:
IN GOD'S NAME:
RELIGION-BASED TAX BREAKS: HOUSING TO PAYCHECKS TO BOOKS
http://www.crusadewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=516&Itemid=125
Excerpts:
======================================
The US government has given $10.9 million to Food for the Hungry, a
faith-based development organization, to reach deep into the arid mountains
of northern Kenya to provide training in hygiene, childhood illnesses, and
clean water. The group has brought all that, and something else that
increasingly accompanies US-funded aid programs: regular church service and
prayer.
President Bush has almost doubled the percentage of US foreign-aid dollars
going to faith-based groups such as Food for the Hungry, according to a
Globe survey of government data. And in seeking to help such groups obtain
more contracts, Bush has systematically eliminated or weakened rules
designed to enforce the separation of church and state.
For decades, US policy has sought to avoid intermingling government programs
and religious proselytizing. The aim is both to abide by the Constitution's
prohibition against a state religion and to ensure that aid recipients don't
forgo assistance because they don't share the religion of the provider.
But many of those restrictions were removed by Bush in a little-noticed
series of executive orders -- a policy change that cleared the way for
religious groups to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in additional
government funding. It also helped change the message American aid workers
bring to many corners of the world, from emphasizing religious neutrality to
touting the healing powers of the Christian God.
Bush's orders altered the longstanding practice that groups preach religion
in one space and run government programs in another. The administration said
religious organizations can conduct services in the same space as they hand
out government aid, so long as the services don't take place while the aid
is being delivered. But the rule allows groups to schedule prayers
immediately before or after dispensing taxpayer-funded aid.
Bush's orders also reversed longstanding rules forbidding the use of
government funds to pay for employees who are required to take an oath to
one religion. In addition, the president's orders allowed faith-based groups
to keep religious symbols in places where they distribute taxpayer-funded aid.
And in implementing the president's orders, the administration rejected
efforts to require groups to inform beneficiaries that they don't have to
attend religious services to get the help they need. Instead of a
requirement, groups are merely encouraged to make clear to recipients that
they don't have to participate in religious activities.
Bush made some of the changes by executive order only after failing to get
Congress to approve them; the bill faltered in the Senate, where moderate
Republicans joined Democrats in raising concerns about breaking down the
barrier between government and religion.
"I got a little frustrated in Washington because I couldn't get the bill
passed," Bush told a meeting of faith-based groups in March 2004. "Congress
wouldn't act, so I signed an executive order -- that means I did it on my own."
The legality of Bush's moves is being challenged by a group advocating
separation of church and state. The lawsuit, claiming both that Bush
overstepped his powers and that the orders violate the Constitution, is
inching its way through the federal courts.
Faith-based groups have long delivered humanitarian assistance in distant
and dangerous places, marshaling an impressive array of volunteers. But
Bush's initiative has put government dollars into faith-based providers in
unprecedented fashion. A Globe survey of more than 52,000 awards of
contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements from the US Agency for
International Development -- which distributes taxpayer-funded assistance
overseas -- provides the first comprehensive assessment of the impact of
Bush's policies on foreign aid.
The survey of prime contractors and grantees, based on records obtained
through the Freedom of Information Act, shows a sharp increase in money
going to faith-based groups between fiscal 2001, the last budget of the
Clinton administration, and fiscal 2005, the last year for which complete
figures were available. Faith-based groups accounted for 10.5 percent of
USAID dollars to nongovernmental aid organizations in fiscal 2001, and 19.9
percent in 2005.
========================================
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)