New Blog.

The online repository of all knowledge, especially the history of it, has been launched. While it still needs many tweaks, three of the four authors have confirmed participation. The third will be writing about the scandals that avataram's grandfather was involved in --when he was teaching mathematics and lording over tenants in Trichy. The fourth, one hopes, will be the dutiful grandson defending his grandfather's honor.

Dear American voter,

Fight over what you get. Personally. Like a free color TV.

Thanks,
Nilu

Mount Road Marx

If one had the time, one could have written this yesterday to just check if all was well in the world, the following morning.

The role of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has, for a second time, come under the spotlight. In March 2007, he clearly stepped out of line in publicly airing his philosophical and tactical differences with the State government over Nandigram. He does not seem to have learnt any lessons from that experience and, in fact, his latest speaking out of line has had the effect of adding fuel to the flames. Let us concede that Nandigram represented a situation where the moral urge not to remain silent came into conflict with the restraints imposed by the constitutional office. Yet, of the restraints imposed by the office, there would seem to be little doubt, and a public statement critical of the government’s handling of the issue could not have been made without transgressing them. The Hindu has consistently regarded this as a major question of principle in the constitutional realm. The classic 1867 exposition of the role of the British monarch by Walter Bagehot applies equally to the office of the President and the Governor: “To state the matter shortly, the Sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy such as ours, three rights — the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn. And a king of great sense and sagacity would want no others. He would find that his having no others would enable him to use these with singular effect.” The right to advise and the right to warn are to be exercised in private and in confidence, and not through public statements. This restraint required of the head of state is not a mere constitutional formality but is based on sound democratic principles. In the first place, the head of state must not, through statements critical of its functioning, place himself or herself in conflict with the representative government, which has a greater democratic legitimacy. Secondly, the head of state should appear non-partisan and remain above the fray when controversial and divisive questions are being debated in the political sphere, and avoid any public statements that could give comfort to one side or the other. The Governor’s public statements on Nandigram both challenged the wisdom of the government’s approach and came down on the side of the critics of its action. Further, Mr. Gandhi laid himself open to the charge of remaining silent when the supporters of the Left Front were at the receiving end. His conduct through this crisis has been constitutionally indefensible. Yet the Left Front government must not get distracted by this. Its top priorities must be to re-establish peace, ensure human security, and resume development work in Nandigram. The CPI(M) has a special responsibility in this regard — among other things, to be manifestly fair in its dealings on the ground, and to restrain its cadre from any campaign of reprisal.

This must be the rare case where an entire argument can be condensed into one name: K R Narayanan.

Jaya, the modern day Gangaikonda Cholan

AIADMK should acquire Trinamool and arm them with aruvaal.

Dear Bullish Analysts,

The next Prime Minister will be Mayawati.

Thanks,
Nilu

Why India works

The bubble is not deflated by Dr Reddy but by some judge in a consumer court.

The good part about having an ineffective system is, ineffectiveness lends itself to growth better than some structured system thought about by a human. The cost is ugliness -- but that's hardly a cost to people and countries already ugly.

There are rules, you just don't know they exist

When one was 11, one always asked questions like 'Do you want to pick a team and then the Captain or vice-versa'. One even thought one was very clever. One then grew up and realized many things. 15 years later, one has a Dhoni to figure.

Puke of the Day

People older than 12 discussing religion make me want to throw up.

About ethics and growth

In a country without a single national identification number to track individuals and their credit, why is a bank employing goons to recover loans, news? Physical intimidation is a much better deterrent against a bubble than bad credit history can ever be.

Puke of the Day

I told you so. Giving an award away has serious consequences.

This post makes one puke at so many different layers. Whether the intent was sarcasm or humor or straight faced reply or a combination of any or all of the above -- the result seems stunningly similar. And, we need to define our middle class person such that half-Bong mongrels don't claim to be one.

Why Paul Krugman is P Sainath's idol

The man whose fundamental argument for many years has been, 'I am a Professor at Princeton and you are not', writes,

Let’s start with the facts: Mr. Giuliani’s claim is wrong on multiple levels — bogus numbers wrapped in an invalid comparison embedded in a smear.

Mr. Giuliani got his numbers from a recent article in City Journal, a publication of the conservative Manhattan Institute. The author gave no source for his numbers on five-year survival rates — the probability that someone diagnosed with prostate cancer would still be alive five years after the diagnosis. And they’re just wrong.

You see, the actual survival rate in Britain is 74.4 percent. That still looks a bit lower than the U.S. rate, but the difference turns out to be mainly a statistical illusion. The details are technical, but the bottom line is that a man’s chance of dying from prostate cancer is about the same in Britain as it is in America.

So Mr. Giuliani’s supposed killer statistic about the defects of “socialized medicine” is entirely false. In fact, there’s very little evidence that Americans get better health care than the British, which is amazing given the fact that Britain spends only 41 percent as much on health care per person as we do.

So, yes, the point is, you can't cite statistics without source. Unless, you are Paul Krugman. If you are, you may even go on to argue,

But here’s what I don’t understand: Why isn’t Mr. Giuliani’s behavior here considered not just a case of bad policy analysis but a character issue?

Why Free Market Fundamentalists are Dumb

The movement's mouthpiece, The Economist, says,

How frightening (or inspiring) is this prospect? As our special report explains, the idea that religion has re-emerged in public life is to some extent an illusion. It never really went away—certainly not to the extent that French politicians and American college professors imagined. Its new power is mostly the consequence of two changes. The first is the failure of secular creeds: religion's political comeback started during the 1970s, when faith in government everywhere was crumbling. Second, although some theocracies survive in the Islamic world, religion has returned to the stage as a much more democratic, individualistic affair: a bottom-up marketing success, surprisingly in tune with globalisation. Secularism was not as modern as many intellectuals imagined, but pluralism is. Free up religion and ardent believers and ardent atheists both do well.

Unless there is deep thought and an unwavering belief in Him, we are doomed.

Dear Film Critic,

I understand you are not very bright. Actually, not even average. Or, just below. Had you been any of that, you would have become an Engineer, like the rest of us. And had a regular job type thing. So, by definition, you cannot write a brilliant review. But that's alright. The rest of us aren't very intelligent either and we don't mind mediocrity -- even by our standards.

However, when you take yourself and your silly job that exists because newspapers and TV channels need to fill space and time, seriously -- there is a simple rule: You stay relevant within the layer you just defined for yourself. Just like the movie is expected to stay logical within its structure. In other words, one does not compare Annamalai and some obscure Eastern European movie -- Annamalai is brilliant because it is Annamalai.

Or, stop saying 'No Smoking' is a bad movie because you have decided that the masses will not be entertained or that the director is self indulgent in your opinion. I have a feeling, you basically belong to the camp that says 'Lost Highway' is a great padam but 'No Smoking' is not, because the former was called a great padam by some clever crtic (who was also white). Not that you can't or shouldn't -- but don't.

Regards,
Nilu

How to win awards and prizes #21

Argue thus: I am jealous. Therefore, you should not.

Peru vechhaye, soru vechhaya?

Generally, the monetary policy statement cannot be faulted insofar as it provides for a respective measure of increase of credit. It recognises the problems posed by the appreciating rupee, albeit in a casual way, but it does not promise any remedial action. The monetary policy statement is more significant for what it has apparently in store for the future.

Is the Op-Ed page a meal or is that mint too? Kadasila saapade kadayatha?

Someone should tell these geniuses that the absence of diversity does not necessarily mean the presence of discrimination. Asking for a normal distribution of demographic detail is akin to mocking evolution. Think deeply and send your certificates to Seattle.

No Smoking

Go watch it.

I did not understand it fully, though I am blaming that on my Hindi. I have a feeling it's a very very good movie.

About Decision Makers

If you want to know the reason a Democracy elects whom it does, attend a strategy meeting in any given company.

Thanks to this boy's photographs and Google Gadget, life isn't as bad as I had imagined it to be.

In fact, I am not even dead these days.

Ban Private News Channels

Watching Harinder Baweja on TV made me wish DD I was still the only Television News available.

And, naturally, I checked the Tehelka website. Exhibit A.