California Thoughts & Dreams

Your Choice 2009: Why Your Vote Matters

2009-04-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

In less than one week, an electorate 700 million strong will begin to elect 550 members to the lower house of Parliament, constituting the 15th Lok Sabha, deciding the government that will run the world's largest democracy for the next half decade. If you're one of those 700 million Indians reading this, the following things are probably true about you:

You are middle-class or above in the socio-economic strata.
You are young.
You are urban.
You are well-educated.

For you, a young, urban, middle-class, well-educated Indian, the following is probably and unfortunately true when it comes to elections:

You are far less likely to exercise your franchise than say, a poor, middle-aged, rural farmer.
While events such as 26/11 make it more likely you will vote this year, the odds are still steep against a dramatic increase in your demographic's turnout.

After all, "why should I vote?", you might say. In an electorate 700 million strong, does one vote really matter? In short, the answer is yes. For a more detailed explanation, keep reading.

The fact is that most Indian contests tend to be close and a swing of tens of thousands could change the outcome of the contest. The fact that in India we have so many political parties and no run-off voting system means that the politician who wins the most votes in a constituency (even if they took only 20% of the overall votes) wins the seat. And since in a Parliamentary democracy, the central government is formed by the party or coalition with the largest number of seats in Parliament, individual constituencies matter and as a consequence of that, individual votes matter.

Whether you want to vote for the BJP or Congress (or any of the other parties, although I have no idea why you would want to vote for anything but a pan-Indian party since that just leads to chaos and instability), it's up to you. This post is not to pitch for a particular party or coalition (that'll come later). This post is to tell you that your vote matters. The votes of your peers matter. As a well-informed, educated Indian, you can make an informed decision of what direction you want the country to go in during the next five years. Look at India's neighbors for a reminder that this is a freedom that should not be taken for granted.

If you are convinced, great. You can stop reading now or continue reading for a re-affirming your belief that individual votes matter. If you're not yet convinced, perhaps the following statistics from the 2004 General Elections will change your mind. The following list is by no means a list of all the competitive contests in the country or even all the competititive contests within these cities (ex. Mumbai has six Lok Sabha seats of which five were competitive, but I've just mentioned the two most competitive seats below). The following is just some statistics to underscore what I've been saying this entire post: your vote matters. So go, vote!

Mumbai

Mumbai North constituency
Govinda (INC) - 559,763 votes
Ram Naik (BJP) - 511,492 votes
Out of a total of almost 1.12 million votes cast in this constituency, the difference between the two leading candidates was less than 50,000 votes.

Mumbai South constituency
Milind Murli Deora (INC) - 137,956 votes
Jayawantiben Mehta (BJP) - 127,710 votes
Out of a total of almost 275,000 votes cast in this constituency, the difference between the two leading candidates was just about 10,000 votes. Considering that south Mumbai faced the brunt of the Pakistani terrorists' rampage on 26/11, it's worth considering whether an extra 10,000 people will show up to vote this year and whether they will hold the INC (which was part of the government both at the Center and State levels) responsible in any way.

Delhi

South Delhi constituency
Vijay Kumar Malhotra (BJP) - 240,654 votes
R.K. Anand (INC) - 224,649 votes
Out of a total of almost 480,000 votes cast in this constituency, the difference between the two leading candidates was just about 16,000 votes.

Delhi Sadar constituency
Jagdish Tytler (INC) - 140,073 votes
Vijay Goel (BJP) - 124,099 votes
Out of a total of a little more than 270,000 votes cast in this constituency, the difference between the two leading candidates was just about 16,000 votes. The winner from 2004, Jagdish Tytler, has of course been in the news as of late for his alleged involvement in the 1984 post-Indira Gandhi assassination anti-Sikh pogroms. The opposition parties alleged that his being given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation prior to the commencement of election season was a misuse of the CBI machinery by the ruling government. The resulting media exposure and public backlash has led the Congress party to drop Jagdish Tytler as their candidate from Delhi Sadar this time around. Given the small margin between the candidates in this constituency in the first place in 2004, this controversy may be all that was required for this seat to change hands this year.

Bangalore

Bangalore North constituency
Dr. H.T. Sangliana (BJP) - 473,502 votes
Jaffer Sharieff C.K. (INC) - 443,144 votes
Ibrahim C.M. (JD-S) - 208,588 votes
Out of a total of almost 1.16 million votes cast in this constituency (my home constituency!), the difference between the two leading candidates was just about 30,000 votes. Changing demographics in this part of Bangalore was instrumental in wresting this constituency away from Jaffer Sharieff, who has been repeatedly re-elected from this constituency since 1977, six years before I was even born! If the BJP is to keep this constituency this year, the changed demographics will again have to work in their favor. The 200,000+ votes that the JD-S pulled in this constituency should not matter too much since the JD-S does not have a seat-sharing agreement with either the BJP or the Congress. Besides, Deve Gowda and his JD-S are pretty much heading towards extinction in urban Karnataka thanks to their blatant anti-urban mindset anyway.

Bangalore South constituency
Ananth Kumar (BJP) - 386,682 votes
Krishnappa M (INC) - 324,411 votes
Out of a total of a little more than 800,000 votes cast in this constituency, the difference between the two leading candidates was a little more than 62,000 votes.

Mysore

Mysore constituency
C.H. Vijayashankar (BJP) - 316,442 votes
A.S. Guruswamy (JD-S) - 306,292 votes
Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar (INC) - 299,227 votes
Out of a total of almost 960,000 votes cast in this constituency , the difference between the two leading candidates was just about 10,000 votes. Mysore was a close triangular contest in the last election with the BJP candidate beating the JD-S candidate and INC candidate, who is heir to the erstwhile Mysore royal family, just barely. An increased turnout by urban, young, educated, middle-class voters will make all the difference in Mysore in deciding which of these three parties can claim this city's seat for the 15th Lok Sabha.

Pune

Pune constituency
Kalmadi Suresh (INC) - 373,774 votes
Pradip Trimbak Rawat (BJP) - 300,598 votes
Out of a total of almost 770,000 votes cast in this constituency , the difference between the two leading candidates was 73,000 votes. Here too, the BJP will be hoping on voter disillusionment with the Congress from 26/11 and other issues (as noted earlier when talking about Mumbai, the Congress is in power both at the Center and the state level in Maharashtra). With a large number of urban, middle-class, educated people in Pune, it is certainly not out of the question that the BJP can make up this 73,000 vote difference if turnout among this demographic increases and their votes fall in its favor.

Kanpur

Kanpur constituency
Shriprakash Jaiswal (INC) - 211,109 votes
Satya Dev Pachauri (BJP) - 205,471 votes
Haji Mushtaq Solanki (SP) - 159,361 votes
Out of a total of almost 620,000 votes cast in this constituency , the difference between the two leading candidates was less than 6,000 votes! The Congress, more or less extinct in Uttar Pradesh, the nation's most populous state and the state with more seats in Parliament than any other, will desperately be trying to hold onto this seat.

Hopefully, you are now convinced. To find out the polling dates, party candidates' lists and to look up results of past elections dating back to the 1st Lok Sabha elections held in 1951-52 for constituencies across the country, go to the CNN-IBN network's Politics page. The address is http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/stats.php

VOTE!

An Appeal for Obama (and other CA endorsements)

2008-11-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Election day is here. For many, with record numbers choosing to vote early this year, the election is already over with simply the tallying of votes left to be done. But since I strongly subscribe to the policy of better late than never, here are my endorsements for 2008:

President and Vice-President: Obama/Biden '08

I am not going to list policy differences between Obama and McCain as reasons for my endorsement. This campaign has gone on long enough and positions stated often enough that doing so would be the equivalent of flogging a fossilized horse.

To put is succinctly, I support Barack Obama because he represents a generational change in politics. I truly believe he is running for President to lead all of America, not just 50% + 1 of America. While John McCain's campaigns has gone to great lengths to drive a wedge between "real" Americans and others, Barack Obama's message is the same now as it has always been: we do not live in blue states and we do not live in red states, we live in the United States.

Obama shares Howard Dean's 50-state strategy. The problems afflicting the people of Alabama are the same as those afflicting the people of New York. Obama, like Dean, knows that you do not abandon large tracts of the country assuming they will never vote for you. After all, if you don't respect them enough to go and explain your positions and ask them for their vote, what chance do you have of winning? This mindset of inclusive politics can be seen comparing the electoral map of today versus the electoral map of four years ago. The map is more blue than it is red and some of the toss-up states such as Virginia, North Carolina, and Indiana have long been derided as "deep red" and not worthy of putting up a fight. Barack Obama may still lose this election (unlikely as that may be), but it will not be because he did not try hard enough to get people with to vote for him.

A message of hope, unity and action versus one of division and 50%+1 politics. The choice could not be more stark.

This video says it all about the once-in-a-generation candidacy of Barack Obama!

California-specific Endorsements:

California is one of those peculiar states where elected representatives, despite having a job to do, pass the buck back to citizens in the form of propositions to vote on. This year is no different. So here are my endorsements on some of the major propositions before voters today:

Proposition 1A - Vote YES on 1A
Proposition 1A is a bond request measure to begin construction on the first high-speed rail network in the United States. This is an essential measure towards upgrading California's clogged and outdated infrastructure.

Proposition 2 - Vote NO on 2
Proposition 2 is a feel-good, sound-good proposition measure supported by the Humane Society of the United States. Proposition 2 however could not be any more wrong. Proposition 2 will simply cause egg production to shift from California to states such as Iowa, where there are far fewer regulations on animal welfare than in California, since it will be economically unfeasible to produce eggs here. It will destroy the egg industry in California, the vast majority of which consists of small farmers who already lead marginal livelihoods.

Furthermore, there is NO scientific proof that cage-free housing (cage free housing is DIFFERENT from free-range; this measure will simply require cages to be removed, not for the chickens to be free-range) is beneficial for chicken. In fact, there is scientific evidence that chicken kept in large numbers without cages actually display higher rates of cannibalism. Proposition 2 is a measure in contravention of scientific proof, promoted by an extremist advocacy organization , the Humane Society of the United States.

Proposition 7 - Vote NO on 7
Proposition 7 is another measure that reads really well. Unfortunately, it is a very badly worded proposition that will harm California's steps towards increasing renewable energy generation. It is such a bad proposal, it is opposed not only by the California Republican Party, but also the California Democratic Party as well as the Sierra Club.

Proposition 8 - Vote NO on 8
Proposition 8 would overturn the recent Supreme Court verdict and amend the state constitution to make same-sex marriages illegal. Vote against writing discrimination into the constitution. Vote for a tolerant California that can lead the way in America. Vote NO on 8.

Proposition 10 - Vote NO on 10
Proposition 10 would set aside a bond measure to reward consumers for natural gas and other alternative fuel vehicles. The Los Angeles Times editorialized that "Spending bond money on something as intangible as privately owned vehicles is a terrible idea unless there is a clear public benefit." Proposition 10 is opposed by the League of Conservation Voters. Another fishy thing about Proposition 10 is that it seems to disproportionately favor one Texas oilman, whose runs a natural gas supply firm for cars and trucks.

So tell me, just what is so effing special about China?

2008-09-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

You know what I don't get? All the focus on China and its "miracle economy" and its "booming stock-market". As an Indian, it's enough to give you a massive inferiority complex. Why oh why can't the Sensex match China's impressive performance, we lament. Then we actually go beyond the news media's infatuation with China to uncover the facts.

Both the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex and the Shanghai Composite Index, China's flagship index, peaked early this year before dropping precipitously. In fact, the value of the Sensex has dropped about 30% from January 1, 2008. Before we consider this the end of India's economic progress, take note of this, by comparison, the Shanghai Composite has fallen by more than 60%.

OK, you might say, but in its boom years, China's stock market surely must have run laps around India's, right? Over the last 5 years, the Shanghai Composite has increased in value by roughly 50% while the Sensex is about 225% higher than where it was five years ago.

And if you look at the last 11 years, the Sensex has climbed at almost three times the rate of the Shanghai Composite (note the colors are switched below from above).

So when you look at a stock market that has drastically underperformed compared to its neighbor and an economy that is entirely focused on manufacturing cheap, low-quality, unimaginate products that occasionally poison dogs and babies, just what is so effing special about China?

While China may always be able to fill the shelves at Wal-Mart or deliver cars which are carbon copies of western makes (the copying is so blatant that the doors of the Chery QQ and the Chevy Spark are interchangeable), it does not seem capable of generating the innovative spirit that results in America's position today as the undisputed global superpower, Japan's dominance of electronics and automotive sectors or the feat of India's Tata Motors in revolutionizing the global auto industry by coming up with a "people's car" for hundreds of millions around the developing world.

There are signs everywhere that Indians are ditching their inferiority complex, which has spilled over from the British Raj, but it's a process that could, and should, happen faster.

Jammu and Kashmir: Forever a Quagmire?

2008-08-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

The crisis raging in Jammu and Kashmir currently, not to mention the absolutely deplorable handling of it by the state and central governments, is particularly illuminating with regard to how much change needs to happen now to secure peace in the state.

First, some history. The state of Jammu and Kashmir's boundaries are largely those of the princely kingdom of the same name that existed prior to independence. As such, it consists of three distinct regions: Hindu-majority Jammu, Muslim-majority Kashmir, and Buddhist-majority Ladakh. It's an unnatural combination forming a state at best and at worse times, the regions of the state can act as bitter enemies.

So what's precipitated this bitter crisis?

On May 26, 2008 the government of Jammu and Kashmir transferred 100 acres (~40 hectares) of forest land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board for the construction of proper facilities for pilgrims on the annual Amarnath Pilgrimage in Muslim-majority Kashmir.
There was opposition to land transfer by environmentalist groups on the grounds that it would damage the delicate ecological balance of the region. There was also opposition to the land transfer by many in Muslim-majority Kashmir who argued that this was an attempt to change the demographics of the region -- an accusation that I find totally absurd since this land transfer was to facilitate building facilities for pilgrims, who are by definition temporary visitors, and especially in light of the fact that Muslim separatists have already altered the demographics of Kashmir Valley by the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Hindu Kashmiri "Pandits".
In late June, Muslim separatists (having had their influence wane in recent years) caught on to the land transfer issue and started rioting in the streets of Srinagar, in Muslim-majority Kashmir and also the capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
Political parties in Kashmir quickly bent to the demands of the separatists. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) which was part of the government and thus implicitly supported the land transfer initially quickly withdrew support to the government of Congress Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, reducing it to a minority government.
In a shocking about-face, Azad capitulated to the terrorists' violent actions and revoked the land transfer order on July 1, 2008 after just four days of rioting in Kashmir -- god forbid that he actually deploy security forces to control the rioting, which was instigated by the separatists. That would have actually been an act of governance.
The revokation of the land transfer order provoked intense protests in the Jammu region of the state with the Hindu nationalist parties quick to latch on to it, sensing a golden opportunity with which to fight the next elections.
For much of the past few weeks, an economic blockade has been forced on Kashmir Valley with Hindu groups not letting any trucks into or out of Kashmir through the only highway that connects Kashmir Valley with the rest of India.
Yesterday, Kashmiris trying to march across the Line of Control into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with fruits and other produce, that are now rotting in trucks, were fired upon by security forces, killing at least 13 people and one prominent separatist leader.

My thoughts:

First, the revokation of the land transfer order by the Jammu and Kashmir government was unacceptable. The proper way to protest in a democracy is through legal channels that are available, such as a petition or peaceful marches. And the proper way to address an issue in a democracy is on its merits and demerits and considering the laws of the land. Neither were accomplished here. Separatist politicians encouraged rioting and violence in Kashmir valley and the government of Jammu and Kashmir, with utter disregard to the rights of Hindu pilgrims or the merits or demerits of the land transfer, capitulated to the Muslim extremists' wishes.

What did they seriously expect to happen? I am a secular person and traditional supporter of the Congress party, but you can really only push Hindus so far. Jammu has always received secondary importance compared to Kashmir and has been badly neglected by the state government. Did the government of Jammu and Kashmir seriously expect the people of Jammu to stand by idly as they capitulated to Muslim extremists in Kashmir? Hindus in Jammu and Hindus' interests in the state, beginning with making Kashmiri Pandits refugees in their own country, have been mistreated and disregarded for so long, it must have seemed almost like second nature for the Ghulam Nabi Azad government to capitulate to the extremists' demands, with nary a thought to the people of Jammu or to Hindus' interests or even to the Constitutional rule of law, for that matter.

The people of Jammu were right to rise up in protest and I absolutely support them in that regard. They have been mistreated for too long and it was high time to let the politicians know that they were in charge of the state, Jammu and Kashmir.

While I support the protests by the people of Jammu, the economic blockade of Kashmir is unacceptable. You do not have the right to starve and cut off economically an entire region and population because of disagreement on some policy or the other. Again, the economic blockade showcases the government's impotence in being able to keep the highways clear. Come on, it's called "government" for a reason and it's high time they begin governing.

The highway through Jammu and is the ONLY link between Kashmir and the rest of the country and it must be kept open at all times and all costs. Trade through Muzzafarrabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is not an option because that will only further alienate Kashmir from India.

So what should be done now, with the crisis at current levels? My suggestions, in order are as follows:

Short-term measures

Sack the governor of Jammu and Kashmir N. N. Vohra immediately; he has primarily been responsible for the current situation with the land transfer order revokation.
Elections are expected later this year in Jammu and Kashmir and until then, Ghulam Nabi Azad is continuing as the caretaker Chief Minister. Sack him immediately and invoke Article 356 of the Constitution, putting the state under direct Central Government rule until elections.
Meet the Fruit Growers' Association in the Kashmir Valley and other economic entities and assure them that the highway through Jammu will be open; act on that assurance by escorting fruit-laden and other trucks with military convoys through Jammu. Protesters trying to block the highway should be dealt with harshly, including the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, if needed to clear the highway.
A state of emergency should be declared in the short-term in both Jammu and Kashmir regions, with mass arrests of both Hindu protesters in Jammu trying to block the highway/uproot railway tracks, etc and separatists in the Kashmir Valley trying to inflame tensions.
Constitute a special expert committee to study the environmental impact of the land transfer issue; this and only this should determine whether the land is eventually transferred or not. The committee should come up with a recommendation within a month and it should be immediately implemented. Any violent protests, such as rioting, regarding the final order should be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

Long-term measures:

Get rid of Article 370 of the Constitution that grants special autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir; all states in the Indian Union are equal and there should be no preferential treatment to Jammu and Kashmir or any state in the Union.
Speed up economic development in the Valley, including the construction of the railway link between Jammu and Srinagar (which has now been pushed back perhaps until 2025 due to Indian politics). Only by winning the hearts and minds of Kashmiris will lasting peace be gained.
Institute a committee looking into the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits back into the Valley and provide security for any family that chooses to move back.

Only by conducting all these measures will lasting peace be delivered. Anything less will be just a temporary fix.

Freedom in the World 2008

2008-08-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

As regular visitors to my blog would know, every year, I provide an updated version of "Freedom in the World", by Freedom House, an organization that tracks political and civil freedom in countries around the world and ranks them as: Free, Partly Free, or Not Free. This year, they took their own time posting the map on their website, as a result of which this post, which should have come about in January is more than half a year late. Nevertheless, as they say, better late than never. So here we go.

The state of freedom in the world in the year 2007 was as follows:

Here's the link to my blog post detailing freedom in the world in the year 2006 for comparison. So what's worth noting?

1) As a matter of pride, I always like to point out the bright green jewel that is India in southern Asia, contrasted as usual with crimson red China to the northeast.

Around India:

2) Thailand has once again moved to "Partly Free" status as the one-year old military regime once again ceded power to a civilian, popularly-elected government after its 2006 coup d'etat. Lingering concerns exist about the degree of manipulation of the electoral machinery undertaking by the military regime, the Council for National Security, in the run-up to the democratic elections, which nonetheless brought about a reinstatement of exiled former-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's followers to the government.

At the time of the 2006 coup, I spoke out strongly against the actions of the military regime, in multiple blog posts, arguing that however corrupt Thaksin was alleged to be by his urban elite detractors, the proper way to change the government is through the ballot box, not the tank. It seems that the people of Thailand, especially the rural poor who formed the backbone of Thaksin's vote-bank, were able to teach both the military and its urban elite supporters a strong lesson.

Elsewhere:

3) Tiny Togo, sandwiched between Benin and Ghana in West Africa, saw its status improve from Not Free to Partly Free, "due to the success of the 2007 legislative elections, including the ability of Togo’s opposition parties to demonstrate and campaign without interference." More power to the Togans!

Besides these two status changes, Freedom House generally recorded a poor year for freedom in the world in the year 2007, with substantial declines in freedom in numerous countries such as Russia (with its sham of a presidential election), Georgia (where the ruling party resorted to a state of emergency), Pakistan (where Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by Islamic extremists in the run-up to the elections - which were postponed as a result), and Kenya (with massive bloodletting and intertribal mayhem after elections where the ruling party was widely seen to have rigged the results in its favor).

Some encouraging signs:

1) Almost half of the people living in the world are free (3.0282 billion or 45.85%) and almost two-thirds of the world's citizens are either free or partly free (4.2135 billion or 63.79%).

India and China are again worth noting here. India is home to more than a third of the world's free people (~1.2 billion out of the total ~3 billion free citizens). Meanwhile, China is ignominously home to more than half of the "Not Free" citizens of the world (~1.3 billion out of the total of ~2.4 billion "Not Free" people).

2) The global trend has been unmistakably positive. In 2007, there were 90 free countries in the countries, as opposed to 81 in 1997 and, prior to the fall of the iron curtain, 58 and 43 in 1987 and 1977 respectively.

Other points worth noting:

1) As in 2006, the freest continent in 2007 was undoubtedly Europe, where 33 of the 42 countries (78.57 %) were free. The exceptions were:

Russia - Where a sham election saw the baton pass from Vladimir Putin to Dmitry Medvedev without a real alternative.
Belarus - A dictatorship that has the open backing and support of the Kremlin.
Moldova (Partly Free)
Turkey (Partly Free) - Where the military, & its hard-line secularist elite backers, continue to hold much power, often overturning the measures of the duly-elected government.
Macedonia (Partly Free)
Albania (Partly Free)
Montenegro (Partly Free)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Partly Free)
Vatican City (Not Free) - A theocracy

Europe was closely followed by North America, where 18 of the 23 countries (78.26%) were free. The exceptions in North America were:

Cuba
Haiti (Partly Free)
Guatemala (Partly Free)
Honduras (Partly Free)
Nicaragua (Partly Free)

2) The most dismal continents for freedom were once again Asia and Africa. In Asia, oppression stretched in an unbroken chain from Jeddah in the southwest to Pyongyang in the northeast and Baku in the northwest to Ho Chi Minh City in the southeast.

In Africa, oppression stretched in an unbroken chain from Luanda in the south to Cairo in the north and from Laâyoune in the west to Asmara in the east.

7/25 - A date the world will not remember

2008-07-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

Some dates, such as 9/11, 7/7, and 7/11, will be forever stuck in the world's psyche due to the awful destruction caused by the terrorist attacks in New York, London, and Mumbai on those dates in respectively. On the other hand, 7/25 lies far below on the radar, the events of this day barely making the brief sections of international news organizations and was quickly overshadowed by the events that transpired on 7/26 in Ahmedabad.

On 7/25/2008, terrorists struck the peaceful city of Bangalore with eight low-intensity devices that were seemingly intended to disrupt the peace and economy of the city rather than inflict casualties. I was at the Indian Institute of Science campus at the time of the attacks and upon hearing of them, drove home immediately, stopping to drop off a friend at home along the way, and watched television for information on the attacks. For the rest of the day on Friday, I really did not pay much attention to the attacks and went through my normal routine.

On 7/26, as I prepared to head out to my cousin's place for a Saturday night out on the town, I was told about bomb blasts in Ahmedabad by my grandmother, but there was a power cut at the time and could not get more information. As I drove to my cousin's place, I realized that there has been a fundamental change in my outlook.

As I drove alongside ongoing construction on the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway, I reminisced about my thoughts from previous days. They were the thoughts of citizens living in "normal" countries around the world (as opposed to countries we readily associate with strife such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, etc). They were concerned with the progress of road construction on the highway, the progress of the construction of the Bangalore metro, wondering whether the UPA government at the Center would survive the trust vote or not, speculation about whether crude prices would continue on their downward trend, whether the Indian stock exchanges would continue on their upward trend, how the monsoon would play out in the coming months and whether the nuclear deal with the United States would go through or not.

Of course, all these issues do make it into my thoughts still, but as I was driving yesterday, for a brief moment, they seemed to be supplanted by something far more basic. For the first time that I can recall, I was thinking about whether the government could protect my life. Of course, India is no stranger to terrorism, with 13 major bomb blast incidents occurring in the country in the last five years (not including any in terrorism-prone Jammu and Kashmir), 10 of them in the last three years. But they always occurred in Mumbai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Delhi ... places far enough away to elicit sympathy but not really hit home.

Now that it's happened in my city, more importantly when I was in it as opposed to being in the field or in the U.S., the feeling of "it could happen to me" struck me yesterday. Despite the fact that "only" 2 persons died from the terrorist attacks in Bangalore, yesterday as I drove, I felt a momentary sense of solidarity with persons driving through the streets of Srinagar, Kabul or Baghdad. Perhaps persons in those cities are more desensitized to the violence and Bangalore's attacks were more jarring because this is such a peaceful town and I fervently hope that it stays that way (i.e., the violence never gets the level where we begin getting desensitized). But I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that the events of 7/25 contributed to a loss of Bangalore's innocence to an extent.

The increased vigil of citizens around the city prompted a provision store owner to call the police yesterday morning about a suspicious package left across the road, which turned out to be a live bomb and was defused by the bomb squad. Yesterday's incident was a reminder that despite the attacks on 7/25, we need to continue to maintain a higher level of vigil.

At the time of writing, five persons have been injured in a low-intensity bomb blast in the state of Jharkhand. God save India!

America's Downfall

2008-07-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Now that the headline captured your attention, I'm not talking about the Iraq War or the actions of any of the members of the Axis of Evil. Rather, America's foreign policy and its elaborate plans to stabilize Afghanistan will be laid to waste by its so-called "ally" in the war on terror, Pakistan.

When General Musharraf was dictator of Pakistan, the Bush administration lavished billions of dollars of aid and Musharraf kept the American establishment content by providing a top al-Qaeda figurehead every now and then to prove his anti-terror credentials, while simultaneously ignoring the proliferation of a Pakistani Taliban bent on sabotaging the American-backed Hamid Karzai government in Afghanistan. He also exercised little control over Pakistan's rogue Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which has carefully bred Islamic terrorists at home to use in a proxy war against India in the Kashmir dispute.

At least back then, the Pakistani government had some control over the Army and the ISI. Now, Pakistan is back to its familiar workings - a state where the civilian government has little actual authority over either its military or its intelligence services. Now that the ISI is free to let loose again, they have acted swiftly, attacking Indian interests in Afghanistan. India, a major backer of the anti-Taliban rebel Northern Alliance group, has poured over $750 million into Afghanistan in development projects and India's influence in Afghanistan must certainly have made Pakistan uneasy. But don't trust the Indian ambassador's words, even the Afghan government has pretty much blamed the ISI for carrying out the attack.

But the U.S. is the ostrich with its head in the sand. Even esteemed American newspaper organizations like the New York Times completely refuse to give credence to the fact that America's beloved ally may actually be sleeping with the enemy, making the Indian allegation seem completely without evidence and completely ignoring the fact that the Afghan government has made the same claims, by devoting all of one contemptuous sentence to the very real and important possibility that an American ally may be a state sponsor of terrorism: "Not surprisingly, Pakistan was swiftly blamed for the bombing, and just as swiftly, denied having a hand in it."

Perhaps the New York Times doesn't want to upset its Pakistani-American reader base and lose out on subscriptions or perhaps the attitude of the New York Times reflects the attitude of the American government, complete and utter denial of the fact that its so-called ally could really be one of the biggest destabilizers in the region.

Whatever the reasons, the situation is clear that America possesses neither the willpower nor the foresight to actually secure Afghanistan. It really is time for India to act like a regional power and deploy military forces in the region to protect its interests. India should not hesitate to strike within Pakistan and if the U.S. has any problems, too bad. The U.S. is responsible for Afghanistan being in this pathetic state in the first place after it diverted resources towards an unnecessary war for oil in Iraq. It's time for America to wake up and realize the ground realities that its ally is not as benign as it seems (as well as for the toothless U.S. media outlets (which in a democratic country, should be ashamed of themselves for their [lack of] journalistic courage)). In the meantime, let's go, India. Step up and fulfill your responsibility as a regional power. The time has come!

Delhi Hotel Experience

2008-06-23T00:17:00.000-07:00

I heard of an unpleasant occurrence during my overnight stay in Delhi that I feel I must talk about. There are a number of reasons why I did not want to discuss this issue online and they are:

1) The issue is founded only on the word of two people and I do not have any evidence, beyond circumstantial evidence, to back it up.
2) Equally importantly, I do not want the people who told me of this to suffer any adverse consequences which might affect their livelihoods.

Therefore, all places and persons in this account shall remain unnamed.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I had about an 11 hour overnight halt in Delhi on my trip to Bangalore and rather than try to spend the night uncomfortably at the Domestic Airport, I decided it would be better if I got a hotel room for the night and tried to get some sleep (even a few hours' worth). I found a cheap hotel in a Tibetan area of town and booked my reservation through an online travel website from the U.S.

I also arranged for a taxi pick-up service from the airport and as promised, the taxi driver was waiting at the airport for me when I landed. On the way to the hotel as I chatted with the taxi driver, he seemed surprised that I was staying at this particular hotel. When I asked why, he said that generally the hotel owners do not give out rooms to Indians! Shocked, I asked why a hotel, in India, would not give rooms to Indians. He said he did not know, but said that if an Indian were to inquire about a room, they would be told that there were no vacancies even if rooms were available! When I asked what business sense it made, the taxi driver replied that even he has not been able to figure it out up until now.

At the hotel, as I checked-in, the lobbyist wrote down my details, as per Government of India regulations. As he looked at my passport, he asked me what my visa number was (to fill in the portion of his hotel-book that asked for the visa number). When I asked why I, an Indian citizen, would need a visa number, he said OK and continued noting down details. It seemed to me as if the man had never seen an Indian passport before. A quick look at the guest-book also revealed only Tibetan and Western names.

I didn't get much sleep that night (it was 31 degrees at 11 p.m. when I landed in Delhi with about 85% humidity making it feel 9 degrees hotter (I am not joking!)) and was at the lobby the following morning at 7 a.m. and asked them to call me a taxi to return to the airport. I had a different taxi driver in the morning than I did the night before. On the way to the airport, as I chatted with him, he too remarked surprise at the fact that I, an Indian, was staying in this particular hotel. He asked me how I managed to get the room and when I told him I reserved it online, he nodded and said that made sense.

Let me state that I remain an ardent supporter of the Tibetan cause, especially following continued Chinese transgressions in Tibet. That doesn't excuse the actions of Tibetans within India however. The fact that a hotel in India would discriminate against Indians is beyond unacceptable; it's criminal. Tibetans are, after all, guests in this country. Tibetan refugees from China have the option of taking Indian citizenship, but the vast majority of them have declined to do so, following the Dalai Lama's advice that taking the citizenship of other countries would dilute their numbers and consequently, their claim for an independent Tibet.

Instead, they have availed themselves of Indian policies which have provided them papers to live and work anywhere in the Indian Union. They are automatically granted refugee status and these papers upon setting foot on Indian soil and there is no annual cap for the number of refugees India will provide shelter for. India is also the home of the Dalai Lama for the past 49 years and his Tibetan Government-in-Exile. More than 100,000 Tibetan refugees make India their home, more than any other nation in the world (twice the number in Nepal and more than 10 times the number in the United States).

In light of this generosity and support that the Indian people and the Indian government (irrespective of which political party is in power) have provided the Tibetan people, what I heard of the happenings in Delhi is disconcerting, to say the least. It's unfortunate that my opinion of the management of this hotel has tarred my views of the overall Tibetan community in India, the vast majority of whom I am sure will not support such discriminatory policies.

Trip to India

2008-06-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

Instead of making one giant block of text, I'll separate my travel experience into various categories:

Jet Airways

I flew by Jet Airways, advertised as "India's Finest International Airline", from New York JFK to New Delhi via Brussels. I had heard good stuff from others, but I was nonetheless impressed. I flew on brand new Boeing 777s and the crew was friendly and prompt.

The best feature was having video-on-demand. There was a large selection of movies, which I watched during the Brussels-New Delhi leg as I tried to stay awake (I try to time my sleep on aircraft so as to adjust to the destination time and avoid jet lag). In the course of the 7 hour flight, I watched Rambo IV, The Golden Compass, and a chick flick whose name I do not remember. Rambo IV was awesome (which Rambo or Rocky movie is not?), The Golden Compass was OK (certainly not the Lord of the Rings which they compared to), and the chick flick was, well, a chick flick!

Now that I've sufficiently proven my masculinity, let me move on. Food on the flights was good and it certainly was a matter of pride to see the many non-Indians flying on the JFK-Brussels sector audibly marvel at the quality of the airline. Unlike the perennially awful state-owned Air India, Jet Airways is a sign of India's arrival on the international stage.

New Delhi

It had been a good 15-and-a-half years since I had last stepped foot in the nation's capital. While I had read about the changes that had happened, I am very impressed by the absolutely wonderful state of the infrastructure in the city, infrastructure that makes Bangalore (supposed "Silicon Valley of India") look like a village. Don't believe me, check out the photos.

An intersection near the hotel I stayed in a Tibetan area of Delhi. In Bangalore, this road would be a large arterial road and a point of pride for the city's residents. In Delhi, I noticed quite a few roads of this size.

A water cooler by the roadside. The government in Delhi has placed these kinds of coolers all over the city so that citizens who cannot afford to buy bottled water always have refrigerated water available, a very useful service in a city where summer temperatures can soar to 45 degrees.

We drove through a couple of green spaces, such as this park, en route from the hotel in the northeast of Delhi to the airport in the southwest of Delhi.

One of the more chaotic intersections we encountered proving that Delhi is still, after all, a part of India.

Another road in Delhi, where there was a green median separating us from oncoming traffic.

And as a not-so-concealed easter egg, here's a photo with cows, once again proving that Delhi is a part of India.

If our government tells us that they have to remove all the circles in Bangalore because there is too much traffic for them, how come Delhi still gets to keep its circles?

Ongoing construction on the Delhi Metro's line to the airport.

Entrance ramp to the national highway that heads down past the airport to Gurgaon. I think in Bangalore, our highways themselves are about as large as this.

National Highway 8 within New Delhi. Count the number of lanes on this side of the median.

Perhaps the one area that Bangalore fares better than New Delhi. Our Vayu Vajra and Suvarna buses are far better than the buses that the Delhi Transport Corporation plies to the airport, but then the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is one of the more modern bus systems in India.

Delhi will also soon be deploying air conditioned buses to complement these non-AC buses to the airport. More importantly, Delhi will have a Metro connection to the airport by 2010.

The beginning of the flyover near the airport.

The exit towards the domestic airport.

Getting ready to take the exit. I wonder how many years we are from such roads in Bangalore. We have flyovers but not of these size.

Construction at Delhi airport; I wonder if that is the new terminal.

Bangalore International Airport ("Seeme-yenne canu airport")

I am sure that after reading my previous blog posts blasting the airport, you're all curious as to what my opinion of the airport is after traveling through it. Well, the airport looks fantastic and feels truly world class. But scratch the surface and deficiencies immediately appear. Let the photos below do the explaining.

The Good: As you can see, the airport looks very nice as seen from the plane.

The Good: The all glass facade facing the planes looks modern and international.

The Good: The glass gates also look very nice.

The Good: The inside of the terminal also looks very modern.

The Good: En route to the baggage claim area. The corridor looks clean and modern.

The Good: The baggage claim area.

The Good: They seem to be slightly confused about the name of the city (as is everyone else). The logo to the left and right of the sign states "Bengaluru International Airport" but it proclaims "Welcome to Bangalore".

The Good: The check-in area of the airport.

The Bad: The outside of the airport looks nice, but all visitors have to wait out here. I wonder why they are not let inside the airport. Maybe it's a Government of India regulation ...

The Bad: That's it. That's not one terminal of the airport. That is the airport. After 15 years, we have eight piffling gates at our service and from the number of stairs that can be seen here, many people will still be forced to climb and descend staircases, even in a brand, spanking new airport!

The Bad: I mentioned eight bridges, right? Here are two narrow-body airports parked next to each other and you can see the wingtips are almost touching. This means that two wide-body aircraft (such as Boeing 777, Boeing 747, Airbus A340, etc) cannot be parked next to each other. In times of heavy international flight presence, this reduces the number of effective gates to five! Seeme-yenne canu airport indeed.

We still are forced to go to the airport at odd hours of the morning to catch flights since there is not enough capacity and Albert Brunner's plans do not include a second runway for another 12 years, despite the aircraft being over-capacity in its first year.

Finally, there is the issue of there not being any coffee vending machines for the staff. Albert Brunner says that they can buy coffee from the stores at Rs. 50 a cup like anybody else. He says that vending machines will reduce the international quality of the airport. I wonder if he's paying the staff international wages. I am sure they would love to be paid at the U.S. minimum wage of $7.50 (Rs. 320) per hour, in which case they will gladly avail themselves of "international standard" coffee at the international-standard shops!

Albert Brunner cannot live under the delusion that the airport should be completely international while providing his workers third world wages. For a person in the U.S. making minimum wage, a $5 cup of coffee is about 40 minutes' work. For a person in India making Rs. 5,000 a month (a relatively large amount), a Rs. 50 coffee is about 2.5 hours of work. Do the math!

Seduction by California

2008-06-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia, at 1:45 p.m. EDT, 0n 06/08/2008:

Davis, at 01:45 p.m. PDT, on 06/08/2008:

For the uninitiated, compare the 52% humidity in Philly (which makes it feel 5 degrees hotter than it actually is) with the 14% humidity in Davis (which makes me quite comfortable as I sit in my non-air-conditioned room with the ceiling fan on.

It's funny, back in December when I visited Philly, I missed big city life and I was telling people here in January (a cold, rainy month in northern California) of how the difference in weather is not enough to keep me back from heading back east after I finish my Ph.D.

After spending one spring in California though, my views may have changed. I love the fact of being able to wake up six months out of the year (April through September) and knowing that there is a 99% chance it will be an absolutely out and out gorgeous day and that there will not be a single cloud in the sky. I look up and I see an ocean of light blue in all directions.

I seem to have fallen in love with California! How did that happen?

A Tale of Two Airports

2008-06-02T21:38:00.001-07:00

No, I have never read the Charles Dickens classic "A Tale of Two Cities" but that obviously has not prevented me from adopting its title for this blog post. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can talk about this article.

The article notes that:

"It has been eight years since the location of the new airport has been known; in all that time the state government of Karnataka state -- of which Bangalore is the capital -- didn't bother to build an expressway.

The net result is this: A software engineer working in Electronic City on Bangalore's outskirts may end up spending three hours on the road to catch a one-hour flight to another destination within India.

That, more than anything else, is why frequent fliers of Bangalore are feeling cheated with an airport they have eagerly awaited for so many years."

Yes, the lack of a proper expressway is a significant grumbling point for many Bangaloreans, but Albert Brunner and his thieving business partners would be sorely mistaken if they think that's the only thing that ails the airport. After promising Bangalore the sky (or at least an airport modeled on that of Zurich, Switzerland), these con-artists have done a number on Bangalore that's truly impressive. To con India, well known for producing illustrious con-artists, so thoroughly is no small feat by any yardstick.

The airport in its first year will be operating at 12.5 million passengers, 1.5 million more than its official capacity of 11 million. In its first year!!! What does Mr. Brunner have to say?

"The existing runway can handle 20 million passengers a year, he says, compared with the 12.5 million expected in the first year of operations."

The existing runway can handle 20 million passengers a year only if one continues the uniquely Indian practice of operating an airport 24 hours a day! The reason we have a new, larger airport is because we didn't want to have to show up at the airport for flights departing at 2:05 a.m. as we did at the old airport because it was too small to handle all the traffic in daylight hours.

Let's look at Mr. Brunner's home airport, the Zurich Airport, which Bangalore's new airport was supposed to be modeled on. In 2007, Zurich Airport handled 20.7 million passengers. By Mr. Brunner's assessment, it should have one runway, right, with expansion work being undertaken on a second runway? Wrong!!! Zurich Airport has three runways, which is the requisite amount for an airport of that size.

What about some other airports? Sacramento International Airport handles about 11 million passengers and has two runways, as Bangalore should have had. In neighboring China, Chongqing International Airport, for example, handled 10.35 million passengers in 2007. Though possessing one runway, after crossing the figure of 10 million passengers, the airport is about commence on a second and third runway to handle the increased air traffic.

In Bangalore, a second runway is not even planned for the immediate future and Albert Brunner seems perfectly happy to allow Bangaloreans to continue going to the airport at odd hours of the night to catch their flights and pay exorbitant "user-development fees" in the process. Hence, the litigation in the courts to keep the old airport open.

Siemens and the other private companies contend that the government agreed to give them a monopoly on an airport in the Bangalore area. Yes, that's true and the government should have given them a monopoly if they had provided a quality product. Instead, they have provided Bangalore a shoddy, third-class product that is under capacity. Clearly, the situation has changed and the courts should decree the original contract null and void and resume operations at the old airport in the public interest, which should be paramount in any democracy. Maybe some good old fashioned, capitalist competition is what is needed to get Brunner and his ilk to get to it and provide the airport that Bangaloreans deserve!

P.S. Did I mention the airport was a shoddy, third-class product? Click to read, this is a different article!

"Seeme-yenne canu" airport for a fast-becoming "seeme-yenne canu" city

2008-05-21T22:53:00.001-07:00

There is certainly humor, but also a certain foreboding sense of an accurate depiction of reality as one watches the following "Jaggesh" clip.

After something like a decade and a half, India's so called "IT City", Bangalore, finally will get a new airport at the end of this week. Ordinarily, this should be an opportunity to be proud and happy, but for Bangaloreans, the incompetent bungling of what should have been a simple and straight-forward job is something to hang our heads in shame. Bangalore truly is a "seeme yenne canu" city and a "seeme yenne canu" airport (the analogy being that we are seemingly about two decades behind the world as far as progress is concerned).

The new airport, although only 34 km (~21 miles) from the city, will take almost 90 minutes to get to. True, you would ordinarily think that anything has got to be better than the current airport, which is currently operating at three times the official capacity of 2.5 million passengers per annum. The crowding at the current airport, hemmed in from all sides of the city, is depicted accurately below:

State of affairs at the current airport: You can see the whole range of aircraft crammed into this tiny location, from the short-range Kingfisher Airlines domestic airplane in the front to the long-range transcontinental British Airways aircraft all the way in the back. The airport has only two gate-bridges, reserved for international flights. - NY Times photo

The government was supposed to provide adequate transportation capacity to the new airport. Talk was fluttering about two six-lane expressways and a high-speed rail connection that would connect the city center to the airport, making the new distance irrelevant. Such plans sadly remain on paper. Even the extension of one six-lane expressway has not yet been completed and the current hellish access to the new airport is depicted in the picture below. Truly, pictures are worth a thousand words.

I certainly do not see a six-lane expressway here, do you? - NY Times photo

To make it worse, the NY Times article reports that the new expressway will swallow up land that is currently owned by an animal shelter and a hospice that provides care for HIV/AIDS patients. Fine, in any democratic country, the government has legitimate rights to acquire land for development work. But there are allegations that influential people's land has been left untouched. In all likelihood, the allegations are probably true.

A major reason for the sorry state of affairs is due to the fact that one H.D. Deve Gowda, a virulent plague of a man who has befallen Karnataka, continues to live and that his cronies led by his son ran the last government. I wonder if any of Deve Gowda's land, which he propitiously acquired around the airport site prior to it skyrocketing in value was affected by this highway development. I'm going to go out on a ledge and say ... no!

While the courts (the last refuge for the ordinary citizen in India) look into this slew of cases before them, things will proceed at a snail's pace. Hopefully, the recent elections will restore some political stability to Karnataka and progress can only come if Deve Gowda and his JD-S party are denied any say in the formation of the new government. There are two reasons for why I believe they will be:

1) The last government in Karnataka was a JD-S / BJP coalition government. The agreement was that the JD-S would have the chief ministership for 22 months and then the BJP would have the chief ministership for the next 22 months. The first 22 months went according to plan, but before the BJP could get a chance to govern, Deve Gowda pulled out a number of unreasonable proposals for the BJP, effectively guaranteeing his party continued power, and when they would not agree, withdrew support for the coalition, putting Karnataka under central government rule and calling fresh elections.

The public widely treats it as a betrayal of the agreement and this sympathy vote is expected to help the BJP tremendously this elections.

2) The JD-S has constantly concentrated on the rural masses while spitting in the direction of Bangalore and other urban areas. Deve Gowda's loathing for the situation of the urban residents of Karnataka is well-known.

Unfortunately for him, this year, the elections are based on the 2001 census, rather than previous elections which were based on the 1971 census, a time when India was a far more agricultural country. The result is that Bangalore's representation in the legislature has dramatically increased from 16 seats in the assembly to 28 seats, an increase from 7% of total assembly to 12.5% of the total assembly. Although voter turnout in Bangalore has been low (about 45% as opposed to 70-80% seen in rural areas - a richer, urban India is seemingly mimicking the turnout of developed countries like the U.S.; also, there tend to be many more errors in the voting lists in urban areas. I personally know many people who tried to go and vote but had to come back because their names were not on the list (the concept of a "provisional ballot" does not exist in India)), the fact that urban areas had this increased importance was an eye opener to the political parties with all of them, even Deve Gowda, promising change to the city.

Anyway, results of the elections will be announced on the May 25th, 2008. I really don't care if it a Congress majority or a BJP majority. As long as Deve Gowda and his cronies and sycophants remain powerless in the new government, I'll be happy. Meanwhile, who wants to drive all the way to the new airport and pick me up when I come to Bangalore? Come on, it'll be fun ... the road is in great condition, it'll hardly take you a half an hour ... come on ...

And Bush blames India for the food crisis ...

2008-05-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

This article is a real eye opener. In light of this, it's all the more astounding that George Bush accused people being able to afford food in India as being a major cause of the global food crisis. In addition to the nonsensical policy of pumping food into SUV fuel tanks in the form of ethanol-based fuel, this massive wastage of food in the United States starting from the grocery store to ending up in people's homes is the cause of the global food crisis.

The amount of food people throw away as described in this article is astounding. For example, let me compare the average American family (and assume there are five people in a family) with myself over the past 9 months:

Average - Grains 18.5 lbs / month for the family --> 1.68 kg per person (3.7 lbs)
Me - Grains --> ~ 1 kg over the past nine months --> 0.11 kg (~0.25 lbs) per month -- Consisting of half a loaf of bread that I had to throw away in March and about 500 g of cooked rice I had to throw away this week, which I felt really awful about

Average - Meat and fish - 10.4 lbs / month for the family --> 0.945 g per person (2.08 lbs)
Me - Meat and fish - 0 - I'm a vegetarian, so I don't buy meat or fish, so the question of throwing it away really doesn't arise

Average - Sweeteners - 15 lbs / month for the family --> 1.36 kg per person (3 lbs)
Me - 0 kg over the past nine months

Average - Fats and Oils - 8.6 lbs / month for the family --> 1.78 kg per person (3.91 lbs)
Me - 0 kg over the past nine months

Average - Fresh fruits and vegetables - 24 lbs / month for the family --> 2.18 kg per person (4.8 lbs)
Me - ~4.5 kg over the past nine months --> 0.5 kg per month (1.1 lbs)
-- Partly the reason why I stopped going to the Farmer's Market and buy frozen food now instead. I never used to get the time to cook the vegetables by the time they spoiled.

Average - Processed fruit and vegetables - 10.5 lbs / month for the family --> 0.95 kg per person (2.1 lbs)
Me - 0 kg over the past nine months

Average - Fluid milk - 22 lbs / month for the family --> 2 kg per person (4.4 lbs)
Me - 0 kg over the past nine months

Average - Other food - 12.8 lbs / month for the family --> 1.16 kg per person (2.56 lbs)
Me - 0 kg over the past nine months

The reason for this comparison isn't to be self-righteous or gloat over how little I waste. I, too, wasted way more than I should have, the ideal figure should be 0 in all these categories. Rather, the point of this exercise is to encourage people to compare their wastage with the average American family. If it's anywhere near similar, you should be making major changes to your food consumption habits. Even if it is drastically lower, you may still find ways in which you reduce wastage.

A really hot May week

2008-05-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I'm looking at my calendar and wondering whether I've somehow time-warped and landed in late-June? Did I miss prelims? Should I already be in India by now? The weather here in Davis in the week ahead is bringing about these weird doubts.

Pander Country

2008-05-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

It's open season as far as pandering goes, with Hillary Clinton and John McCain trying to outdo each other, while Obama seemingly forges a lonely path of common sense on this issue. Well, the path is lonely among presidential candidates anyway. Unsurprisingly, those not looking to derive immediately political mileage are pretty much unanimous in their opposition to this inane idea coined by a senile, old man and quickly picked up by a candidate who would embrace Osama bin Laden if it would give her the presidency.

But I wonder if there just may be a middle path. What if instead of a gas tax holiday, there was a diesel tax holiday? That way, the relief would affect those who need it most, truckers who are particularly feeling the pinch of high fuel prices, while ensuring that the drivers of SUVs pay their fair share. The typical large truck in the U.S. contains something like a 250 gallon tank. An elimination of the federal tax on diesel fuel would save those truckers about $50 for every full tank, which when the truck is fully loaded, can take the truck about 1200 miles. On a run from New York City to San Francisco, the savings for a trucker would be about $125.

It makes sense to eliminate the tax on those who are disproportionately affected by high fuel prices, but ludicrous to eliminate it for everyone, since the average car driver would feel no difference while together, the hit on the system would be unimaginable. So if we're going to do this, let's target the right people.

Clinton declares global warming to be a hoax

2008-04-29T01:24:00.001-07:00

Well, she didn't actually in so many words, but now that I've got your attention ...

She pretty much spit in Al Gore's face. Now will he please go ahead and provide his endorsement for Obama? Meanwhile, let's see if this shameful pandering will get the "Straight Talk Express" and Hillary Clinton anything at the polls ...

But here's some good news. Small cars are now the largest segment in the United States. Who would have thought that the land of the Hummer would kneel before the Asian subcompact. Definitely not the suits at Detroit!

Another well-deserved nail in the coffin for the American auto industry that for years fought stricter emissions standards that would have, ironically, made them more competitive in the global marketplace today. It's sad that the incompetence of the fat-cats is causing misery for ordinary citizens, but life isn't fair. Some 3,500 people get laid off and the CEO of GM gets a $10 million bonus for pulling the company through these "tough times" and goes back to doing what he does best, lining the greasy paws of the likes of Mitt Romney who go around claiming that stricter emissions regulations are what are dragging America's auto industry down. Right ...

Boycott Intensifies

2008-04-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Picture this scenario. Angered by the actions of government relating to the Olympic Games and the Tibet issue, an ordinary citizen begins a resolute boycott of all goods emerging from that country. If you think I'm referring to the ignorant, propaganda-fed sheeple who are boycotting French firms, you're not quite correct. I'm talking about myself boycotting Chinese goods.

What's that you say? How can I begin to boycott Chinese goods when I've always tried to stay away from Chinese goods? The difference is in the strength of the motivation. True, I've always tried to avoid Chinese goods, but usually, if there is no alternative, I might go for the Chinese good anyway. With the recent uprising and brutal suppression of peaceful protesters in Tibet by the thugs and goons running China, my feelings are markedly different. And unlike from CNN, the Chinese will get no apology from me, sincere or insincere ...

Anyway, getting back on track, I bought a digital camera two days ago. The choice was between a Fujifilm S700 and a Kodak EasyShare Z712 IS. They were both about the same price (~$195 including shipping and handling + 2 GB SD card) and same specs (Kodak probably beats the Fujifilm slightly, 12x vs 10x optical zoom, slightly better image stabilizing technology). Mani recently bought the Fujifilm S700 and I saw it in Mexico and it's a pretty decent camera. So that was another incentive for me to buy the Kodak camera, since it would be something different.

BUT ... I knew for a fact that (since Mani had it) that the Fujifilm S700 cameras were made in Indonesia (i.e., not China). I did not know where the Kodak Easyshare Z712 IS cameras were made. It might have been China or it might not have been China. In an ordinary year, this uncertainty may have been enough to get me to buy the Kodak and then if it turned out to be Kodak after all, oh well, too bad, I'll know not to buy Kodak next time.

But this is not an ordinary year. This is the year that China brutally suppressed (and continues to suppress) an uprising in Tibet and follows a year in which the military rulers of Burma with Chinese support brutally suppressed an uprising by monks in their own country. As a result, I went with certainty over uncertainty. I made the effort to go to a local RadioShack, where I noticed that one of Kodak's lower-end model cameras were manufactured in China. This was enough for me to conclude that there was a high-enough probability of the Kodak model that I wanted of being manufactured in China. I came back home and ordered the Fujifilm S700 and feel quite good about possibly denying the Chinese junta an extra $200 into their economy.

It's not just the big-ticket items either. I was at the Davis Co-Op the other day (I usually shop at Nugget Market, which I like a lot more, but Davis Co-Op was on my way home that day and I just needed a few things). I stop to pick up frozen okra and what do I see on the back of the packet? "Product of China". Okra!!!

Needless to say, I toss the packets back into the freezer, put everything else I had bought back on the shelves and left the place. I went to Nugget (as I should have in the first place) and finished shopping. The nerve of those hippies running the Co-Op! God forbid they stock enough Pepsi on their shelves so there would be some left when I got there (only about half their soda space is dedicated to the big, "evil capitalist" brands with the other half being devoted to cola brands I've never heard of). But they seemingly have no problem sourcing food from China to stock their freezers full of it. No wonder this town is sometimes called the "People's Republic of Davis." And we're not talking of exotic tropical fruits here. We're talking okra, which grows plentifully in the United States seasonally and in Mexico year round!

Anyway, this is just the start of my China boycott. The month of May is going to be my China total boycott month. I pledge not to buy ANYTHING made in China during that month. If I cannot find an alternative, I will do without. It's time to send the goons and thugs running China a message! They should know that boycotting is a two-way street ...

Olympic Torch in India: Mission Accomplished

2008-04-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

As far the Olympic torch's run in India goes, it was a mission well accomplished. The ruling junta in China intended for the torch to be a crowning symbol to the world of its "arrival" on the world stage or what Chinese propaganda claims to be China's "peaceful rise."

So far, where it has been displayed to the public, such as in London, Paris and San Francisco, it has met overwhelming opposition and disdain. In New Delhi, the torch passed through a sterilized bubble in one of the world's largest cities. China's primary mission of showing off its torch was a resounding failure.

Meanwhile, protesters against Chinese atrocities in Tibet ran their own torch relay in Delhi, a spectacular success that got far more viewers than the official Olympic torch. Somehow, I don't think that this is what the ruling junta in Beijing had imagined would occur. All in all, a good job by the Indian government. It burnished its diplomatic and security credentials (and a possible bid by New Delhi to host the 2020 Olympics) that it could provide the security for the torch's safe relay through the city, but at the same time showed the world the difference between autocratic China and democratic India in light of the numerous protest relays that occurred throughout the city. For once, the Indian government seems not to have messed anything up.

New Delhi, April 17, 2008

Tibetan protesters participate in the parallel relay in New Delhi. (AFP Photo)

The Olympic torch made a strange and lonely procession through central Delhi on Thursday, with the event so overshadowed by fears of the anti-Chinese protests that marred its appearances in other cities that no members of the public were allowed close enough to witness it. Here, officials waited for the torch in front of the presidential palace in New Delhi along a boulevard purged of spectators. - NY Times

Tibetan monks prayed next to their own "Olympic torch" in New Delhi on Thursday before a parallel torch relay to protest against Chinese action on Tibet. Demonstrators lit their own torch at the spot where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi are buried and mounted a parallel, peaceful torch relay through central Delhi. - NY Times

Hundreds of Tibetan protesters marched through central Delhi shouting "Die for Freedom" hours before the torch was due to be carried through the Indian capital. - NY Times

Our Manchurian Candidates

2008-04-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's never been in doubt that the Left parties in India openly support their comrades in Beijing. This was the case, in 1962, when they were on China's side in the Sino-Indian war and were full of glee when India lost that skirmish and it is the case today as they try their level best to scupper any solidifying of India's ties with the "devil" (i.e., mainly the United States and Israel). They're held up the Indo-US nuclear deal because a strategic relationship with the United States is unfathomable for them.

OK, despite how much disgust I have for them, they are allowed to voice their views and when they have power, follow an agenda that serves their narrow, outdated mindsets. That's the beauty of India being a democracy and for all the frustration it brings about, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Unfortunately, the Leftists themselves don't seem to get that concept. It's not just the China-style appropriation of farmers' lands for building large industries and firing on and massacring farmers that protested. Revolting as the Nandigram violence was, the drubbing the CPI-M government received from 24 hour media coverage of the massacre, the denunciation by the Governor of West Bengal (who also happens to be Mahatma Gandhi's grandson), the isolation of the party in Parliament on the issue and the ruling by the High Court last November that
"The action of the police department to open fire at Nandigram on 14.03.2007 was wholly unconstitutional and cannot be justified under any provision of the law ... The action of the police cannot be protected or justified on the ground of sovereign immunity ... The action of the police cannot be justified even under the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code; The Police Act, 1861 for The Police Regulations, 1943 ... we direct the State of West Bengal to pay to the victims of the deceased as a result of the indiscriminating police firing on 14th of March, 2007 immediate compensation in the sum of Rs.5 (five) lakhs each ... We further direct the State Government to pay immediate compensation to the persons who were injured and whose particulars have been given the pleadings sum of Rs. not less than 1 (one) lakh each ... We further direct the State Government to pay compensation to the victims of rape who have been duly identified in the pleadings a sum of Rs.2 (two) lakhs each." seemingly would have reminded the Left Parties that they worked within the framework of democratic India, not Communist China.

The message has not clearly gotten through. The West Bengal government banned a peaceful protest rally by Tibetans and their supporters that was to take place a few days ago. Police canceled the protest citing "pressure from above." The [weak] excuse provided by the West Bengal government is that the protests run counter to India's "China-centric policy". First of all, India does not have a "China-centric policy" ... the Left parties may, but they don't represent either India or the Indian government. Secondly, so what even if we did have a China-centric policy. The protest could be anti-Indian policy for all we care. In a democratic society, the people do not have to toe the official government line.

An excellent editorial from the Times of India on the topic:

"Whatever their long-term goals, the fact is that Left parties in India function within the framework of a constitutionally sanctioned parliamentary democracy.

They contest elections like any other political outfit, run administrations in three states and support the current dispensation at the Centre."

"The Indian government has assured China of a safe and incident-free passage for the Olympic torch. It has not suspended the democratic rights — to disagree and protest peacefully — of either its own citizens or that of the Tibetans-in-exile.

That is because we are a democracy, and therefore value human and individual rights and give space for the expression of dissent.

To be sure, West Bengal is part of the Indian union and the state government cannot suspend democratic rights, especially when there is no threat to public order."

"The Left in India is often accused of being more interested in China's well-being than India's.

It only gives more reasons to believe that the accusation is not completely baseless."

My question now is: who will be held accountable? The protests did not take place, but someone in the West Bengal government has to be held accountable for the outrageous abrogation of citizens' political rights.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government had the gall to ask the Indian government if we would ban Tibetan protests all across the country. Oh, wouldn't that make them happy! Thankfully, the central government seems to have given them a fitting reply. The central government has also given them a firm no for being part of the security cordon in New Delhi. What's next? Will the Chinese request access to India's intelligence files?

China had better check its expansionist ambitions at the Himalayas. India is not and will never be a Chinese puppet or be willing to kowtow to its demands, regardless of what some of our own politicians may think.

The Torch Arrives in San Francisco

2008-04-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

San Francisco, April 9, 2008

This torch relay is now completely chaotic. The city of San Francisco changed the torch route numerous times, the closing ceremony at the waterfront was canceled (probably because "mighty" China doesn't want to be humiliated again by peaceful protesters) and the Chinese consulate bused in its nationals from all around the region (including from Davis) to project its propaganda of a "harmonious" world accepting the "harmonious" rise of China with the "harmonious" Olympics about to be played. Not everything was harmonious though ...

A man carrying a Tibetan flag is attacked by pro-China supporters awaiting the start of the Olympic torch relay on Wednesday in San Francisco. AFP/Getty Images

I guess old habits die hard. If you can beat Tibetans for peacefully expressing their opinions within Tibet, I guess it's fair game outside Tibet as well. Right?

Protesters [both pro-Tibet and pro-China] waited along the original torch route. City officials rerouted the torch amid worries about a repeat of protests in Europe. - NY Times

One World, Shared Disgust

2008-04-07T10:26:00.001-07:00

Everywhere across the world, wherever the Olympic torch goes, people are protesting in a massive show of global defiance and disgust. This post will keep track of protests along the torch's route, as a world stands up and speaks out in favor of human rights and against the crackdown in Tibet, and indeed all across China, as the Chinese government "clears" its streets of potential "troublemakers" ahead of the games. The Xinhua propaganda mouthpiece has labeled these protests as the "vile misdeeds" of a "few Tibet separatists" and that "people welcome the torch." These photos however show one world with one dream, Free Tibet!

Paris, April 7, 2008

"French police grappled with a demonstrator trying to grab the torch. What organizers had billed as an occasion to celebrate the Olympics' sporting ideals of peace and harmony is turning into a contest between China's supporters and critics." - NY Times

Was the IOC really stupid enough to not expect anything like this to happen? I think they fully realized what was going to happen, but chose to mortgage their so-called Olympics values in exchange for rolling around in Chinese money. And the protesters are not politicizing the games. The IOC and China have already did that. China has long been promoting these games as evidence of its "peaceful rise" - never mind the thousands languishing in Chinese gulags or undergoing torture - and as a measure of success of the Communist Party. The IOC and the Chinese government have politicized these games long before the protesters.

"Protesters with Tibetan flags at the Place du Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower before the arrival of the Olympics torch relay on Monday." - NY Times

London, April 6, 2008

Chinese security officers (in light blue uniforms) provided security for the torch route in London! What's next, a Tiananmen-style massacre in Trafalgar Square? Gordon Brown should be ashamed of himself for capitulating before the Chinese as such. Source of photo: New York Times

"One protester who broke through the police cordon, David Allen, said his anger flared at the sight of British sports stars being guarded in London by Chinese security men.

“It makes us complicit in the regime’s repression,” Allen said. ”You have to ask: Where were these security men last week? Beating up people in the villages of China, no doubt.”" - NY Times

"Thousands of demonstrators crowded the streets of central London as the Olympic torch was carried through the city on its way to the summer Olympic Games in Beijing." - New York Times

Bhutia Refuses to Carry Torch of Repression

2008-03-31T22:46:00.000-07:00

India's football captain Baichung Bhutia has refused to carry the Olympic torch as it passes through India. Finally, someone in India shows they have some integrity. As someone else remarked in the Times of India comments section, let the spineless Indian politicians carry the torch, if they so wish to and if they are capable of even!

Meanwhile, here is an excellent, exclusive NDTV interview with His Holiness The Dalai Lama in light of the recent uprising in Tibet. Definitely worth watching!

Maroon Revolution in Tibet?

2008-03-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

OK, the events that transpired in Burma last September and October taught me not to hope, but still, a part of me came alive when I heard of monks marching in the streets of Tibet against Chinese rule.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese government has cracked down, hauling monks away to secret prisons and even firing live ammunition into crowds. The protests in Lhasa turned violent, unlike the peaceful protests in Burma last year, with ordinary citizens protesters stoning military vehicles and other property.

The protests by the monks themselves have continued to be peaceful. It will be interesting to see how hard China will crack down upon them, especially as the world's gaze is directed at it in these months prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Clearly, China cannot afford to act anything like how the Burmese junta acted last year. If it acts similarly, then it is almost certain that the Olympics will face a major boycott from the West, one would hope at least.

These are the eye-witness accounts from Lhasa. While it's understandable that Chinese owned businesses will be targeted, due to the resentment among Tibetans of the favored treatment that Han Chinese migrants have been getting in their homeland, such violence against ordinary civilians will ultimately not be beneficial.

Any violence towards Han Chinese civilians by Tibetans will provide an excuse for China to carry out a bloody crackdown, an excuse that the world may well accept. And besides, violence against civilians is something I can never condone, however justifiable the arguments may be. The Dalai Lama has called for abstaining from violence and it would be better if the Tibetans directed their anger against the Chinese military occupying their homeland.

Unlike the junta's handling of protests, China has been extremely efficient (ruthlessly efficient , some would say ). This is proven by the fact that only now we're receiving news that this is going on, despite the fact it's been going on for the past few days now.

How China responds to this will be interesting. The time is now, because as noted, with the Olympics looming, the ruling cabal in China can ill-afford another Tiananmen Square ...

Senator McCain's Choice

2008-02-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

When I supported John McCain's candidacy, the main reason was his stance on torture. I admired him for standing up to the Republican right-wing and arguing based on principles. But unfortunately, it looks like Barack Obama is right. Somewhere along the way, the wheels came off of the straight-talk express.

Senator McCain had to choose between staying true to his principles and courting the independents and moderates that have brought him this far or abandon his principles and pander to the right-wing of his party. Unfortunately, he seems to have made his choice.

I feel betrayed and used. Independents are what brought McCain this far and now he's stabbed us in the back as he bends over backwards to court the right-wing of his party. I was willing to look the other way on his 180-degree flip-flop on the Bush tax cuts, but no way am I going to pardon him for this.

Congratulations, John, you just doomed your candidacy. Let's see how many independent votes you get in November, especially if you run against Barack. Don't think these flip-flops are going to make you any more endearing to conservatives. Even if you do complete a hat-trick and flip-flop on immigration as well, I very much doubt the ALIPAC crowd will support you.

For a while, I thought we would see an election between two principled and equally qualified presidential aspirants. Guess it was too good to be true. Oh well, at least this gives Barack more ammunition going ahead.

Justice Scalia Opens His Mouth

2008-02-11T23:41:00.001-08:00

The more people like Justice Scalia keep running off at the mouth, the more it will drive independents and moderates into the Democratic camp run November.

I really do respect John McCain, but the prospect of another Scalia-type justice appointee makes me support Obama's candidacy all the more fervently.

I'm amused at how Republicans keep referring to people like Scalia a "strict, constructionist judge". Scalia is right, the Founding Fathers might not have considered smacking someone in the face as cruel and unusual punishment.

But waterboarding and other forms of torture is another issue entirely. To put it this way, if Justice Scalia's over-the-top, Jack Bauer scenario of a "bomb about to blow up Los Angeles" were to actually happen, I wonder if he would consider it appropriate to break a finger or two to get the information?

I mean, come on ... If simulated drowning (which the mind cannot distinguish from real drowning) is not "cruel and unusual punishment", surely a few broken bones aren't either, right?

The likes of Scalia being a "constructionist" is about as accurate as George Bush being compassionate.