What Would Gandhi Do? - NYTimes.com:
I believe Gandhi would have admired the energy and community spirit in Zuccotti Park, but if he were at the protests, he would have taken up the human microphone and suggested some modifications.
First, Gandhi would reject the division between the 99 percent and the 1 percent. Gandhi did not believe in enemies: he worked on the premise that solutions emerged only from cooperation. This truth is often lost in discussions of his political tactics of noncooperation and civil disobedience. Noncooperation is best understood as an invitation to cooperate. “We are the 100 percent” may not make for a dramatic slogan, but from Gandhi’s perspective, it is the only way to achieve true and lasting change in society.
Gandhi explained this most pointedly when he declared that the British Empire existed because Indians had let it exist. He would say the same thing about the drastic income inequality in America today: it is here because Americans collectively allow it to be here.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
India Catches 'Kolaveri Di' Fever
India Catches 'Kolaveri Di' Fever:
Why is Kolaveri (Killer rage) Di ? This Tamil song has become famous all over India. The song is from the movie 3 (Moonu) directed by Aishwarya Rajnikanth that will be released in 2012. The music composer is Anirudh Ravichander and the song is penned and sung by Dhanush, Tamil movie star and son–in-law of megastar Rajnikanth. The song promo was released in YouTube on 16th, Nov 2011 and now the video is on the list of top trends and search. Till now the video has reached 3,971,966 views.
The song has gone viral on social networking sites, Facebook and has become one of the famous trends in twitter. Tanglish (Tamil+English) is playing the most major role in the song. There is no grammar in the song. White skin-u girl-u girl-u, Girl-u heart-u black-u Eyes-u eyes-u meet-u meet-u, My future dark. Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri di?' These are the line that are being replayed in YouTube or is the status on Facebook by boys especially. The song is no wonder turned into a killer track after having these hilarious lyrics in it.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Holy War — By Nigel Cliff — Book Review - NYTimes.com
Holy War — By Nigel Cliff — Book Review - NYTimes.com: "HOLY WAR
How Vasco da Gama’s Epic Voyages Turned the Tide in a Centuries-Old Clash of Civilizations
By Nigel Cliff
Illustrated. 547 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $29.99."
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama set sail from Belém, a village at the mouth of the Tagus River now part of greater Lisbon, on July 8, 1497. An obscure but well-connected courtier, he had been chosen, much to everyone’s surprise, by King Manuel I to head the ambitious expedition to chart a new route to India. The king was not moved chiefly by a desire for plunder. He possessed a visionary cast of mind bordering on derangement; he saw himself spearheading a holy war to topple Islam, recover Jerusalem from “the infidels” and establish himself as the “King of Jerusalem.”
Da Gama shared these dreams, but like his hard-bitten crew, rogues or criminals to a man, he coveted the fabled riches of the East — not only gold and gems but spices, then the most precious of commodities. On this voyage, as on his two later ones, he proved a brilliant navigator and commander. But where courage could not bring him through violent storms, contrary seas and the machinations of hostile rulers, luck came to his rescue. He sailed blindly, virtually by instinct, without maps, charts or reliable pilots, into unknown oceans.
As Nigel Cliff, a historian and journalist, demonstrates in his lively and ambitious “Holy War,” da Gama was abetted as much by ignorance as by skill and daring. To discover the sea route to India, he deliberately set his course in a different direction from Columbus, his great seafaring rival. Instead of heading west, da Gama went south. After months of sailing, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope. From there, creeping up the east coast of Africa, he embarked on the uncharted vastness of the Indian Ocean. Uncharted, that is, by European navigators. For at the time, the Indian Ocean was crisscrossed by Muslim vessels, and it was Muslim merchants, backed up by powerful local rulers, who controlled the trade routes and had done so for centuries. Da Gama sought to break this maritime dominance; even stronger was his ambition to discover the Christians of India and their “long-lost Christian king,” the legendary Prester John, and by forging an alliance with them, to unite Christianity and destroy Islam.
How Vasco da Gama’s Epic Voyages Turned the Tide in a Centuries-Old Clash of Civilizations
By Nigel Cliff
Illustrated. 547 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $29.99."
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama set sail from Belém, a village at the mouth of the Tagus River now part of greater Lisbon, on July 8, 1497. An obscure but well-connected courtier, he had been chosen, much to everyone’s surprise, by King Manuel I to head the ambitious expedition to chart a new route to India. The king was not moved chiefly by a desire for plunder. He possessed a visionary cast of mind bordering on derangement; he saw himself spearheading a holy war to topple Islam, recover Jerusalem from “the infidels” and establish himself as the “King of Jerusalem.”
Da Gama shared these dreams, but like his hard-bitten crew, rogues or criminals to a man, he coveted the fabled riches of the East — not only gold and gems but spices, then the most precious of commodities. On this voyage, as on his two later ones, he proved a brilliant navigator and commander. But where courage could not bring him through violent storms, contrary seas and the machinations of hostile rulers, luck came to his rescue. He sailed blindly, virtually by instinct, without maps, charts or reliable pilots, into unknown oceans.
As Nigel Cliff, a historian and journalist, demonstrates in his lively and ambitious “Holy War,” da Gama was abetted as much by ignorance as by skill and daring. To discover the sea route to India, he deliberately set his course in a different direction from Columbus, his great seafaring rival. Instead of heading west, da Gama went south. After months of sailing, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope. From there, creeping up the east coast of Africa, he embarked on the uncharted vastness of the Indian Ocean. Uncharted, that is, by European navigators. For at the time, the Indian Ocean was crisscrossed by Muslim vessels, and it was Muslim merchants, backed up by powerful local rulers, who controlled the trade routes and had done so for centuries. Da Gama sought to break this maritime dominance; even stronger was his ambition to discover the Christians of India and their “long-lost Christian king,” the legendary Prester John, and by forging an alliance with them, to unite Christianity and destroy Islam.
review « மயிலேறி
ராய் மாக்ஸ்காம் எழுதிய ‘The Great Hedge of India’
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
10 banned books that may surprise you - "James and the Giant Peach," by Roald Dahl - CSMonitor.com
10 banned books that may surprise you - "James and the Giant Peach," by Roald Dahl - CSMonitor.com: "Sometimes the banning of a book is self-explanatory, but other cases may leave some of us scratching their heads – who could object to "The Wizard of Oz," for example? Here are 10 books that may seem innocent – but somehow they managed to offend someone."
'Naked marriages' on rise in China - CSMonitor.com
'Naked marriages' on rise in China - CSMonitor.com: "As costs soar in the cities, more couples in China are opting for 'naked marriages' - those without the once-required trappings of a house, a car, and other goods.
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Michael Kinsley: Christians are being oppressed in the U.S.? Hardly - latimes.com
Michael Kinsley: Christians are being oppressed in the U.S.? Hardly - latimes.com: "Roman Catholic bishops have spoken out about bias and prejudice. But maybe it's a simple case of others reserving the right to disagree with social and political views of the church."
The Technocratic Nightmare - NYTimes.com
The Technocratic Nightmare - NYTimes.com:
This was the heyday of European integration. Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand and Jacques Delors were in power, negotiating the Maastricht Treaty and organizing the common currency.
shared identity doesn’t exist between Germans and Greeks, or even between French and Germans. It was easy to be European when it didn’t cost anything. When sacrifices are necessary, the European identity dissolves away.
The mess threatens to bring down the European project and European economies. It threatens to send the world into another global recession. (At this point, Chancellor Angela Merkel has more influence over President Obama’s re-election chances than Obama himself does.)
This was the heyday of European integration. Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand and Jacques Delors were in power, negotiating the Maastricht Treaty and organizing the common currency.
the real problems emerge from the technocratic mind-set, from the arrogant gray men who believe they can engineer society, oblivious to history, language, culture, values and place.
shared identity doesn’t exist between Germans and Greeks, or even between French and Germans. It was easy to be European when it didn’t cost anything. When sacrifices are necessary, the European identity dissolves away.
The mess threatens to bring down the European project and European economies. It threatens to send the world into another global recession. (At this point, Chancellor Angela Merkel has more influence over President Obama’s re-election chances than Obama himself does.)
At Penn State, a Bitter Reckoning - NYTimes.com
At Penn State, a Bitter Reckoning - NYTimes.com:
Joe Paterno — author of the “Grand Experiment” that sought to uphold academic standards in a major football program, the English major from Brown, the coach whose favorite poet is Virgil and who said, after his first national championship, that Penn State had to improve its library because “you can’t have a great university without a great library.” He and his wife, Sue, led the capital campaign that quadrupled the library’s size; the new wing bears their name.
Mr. Paterno and three university presidents — Bryce Jordan, Joab L. Thomas and Graham B. Spanier — were determined to compete with their counterparts in the Big Ten off the field as well as on. The Paterno family endowed two professorships that testify to their commitment to the humanities; one is in the library. The other is in English. I’m well acquainted with that professorship, since I happen to hold it.
Joe Paterno — author of the “Grand Experiment” that sought to uphold academic standards in a major football program, the English major from Brown, the coach whose favorite poet is Virgil and who said, after his first national championship, that Penn State had to improve its library because “you can’t have a great university without a great library.” He and his wife, Sue, led the capital campaign that quadrupled the library’s size; the new wing bears their name.
Mr. Paterno and three university presidents — Bryce Jordan, Joab L. Thomas and Graham B. Spanier — were determined to compete with their counterparts in the Big Ten off the field as well as on. The Paterno family endowed two professorships that testify to their commitment to the humanities; one is in the library. The other is in English. I’m well acquainted with that professorship, since I happen to hold it.
Charles P. Pierce on the brutal truth about the crimes at Penn State - Grantland
Charles P. Pierce on the brutal truth about the crimes at Penn State - Grantland:
The crimes at Penn State are about the raping of children. That is all they are about. The crimes at Penn State are about the raping of children by Jerry Sandusky, and the possibility that people lied to a grand jury about the raping of children by Jerry Sandusky, and the likelihood that most of the people who had the authority at Penn State to stop the raping of children by Jerry Sandusky proved themselves to have the moral backbone of ribbon worms.
The crimes at Penn State are about the raping of children. That is all they are about. The crimes at Penn State are about the raping of children by Jerry Sandusky, and the possibility that people lied to a grand jury about the raping of children by Jerry Sandusky, and the likelihood that most of the people who had the authority at Penn State to stop the raping of children by Jerry Sandusky proved themselves to have the moral backbone of ribbon worms.
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