On Evil

I was seeing this documentary on PBS "The Question of God" which looks at life from two diametrically opposed views, that of the believer represented by C.S. Lewis and that of the non-believer represented by Sigmund Freud. There was a passage where they show some video of the 2nd world war. England is all in shambles and a lot of homeless are shown, the cities destroyed and vulnerable children are being sent in train somewhere. The commentrator says something to the effect that this was the most horrible (evil) preiod in human history and this led many people to question the existence of God.

There is no question that it was evil. But there were have been other such mass genocides during colonialism. The Spanish Inquistion wiped out an entire civilization. Wars were conducted on almost every continent and millions of natives killed. Was that not evil ? No one questioned His existence then. Or was it all justified under the pretext of spreading Christianism ? Maybe it is evil only when the real believers are massacared? I certainly dont find colonialism as a dark chapter in the human history in history textbooks.

Sometimes it makes me wonder how the events of today will be presented to the new ones a couple of century from now.

What would I do if I had a billion dollars ?

Interesting question, as the protagonist in Office Space asks himself (and his appt mate who furnishes his kinky answer without blinking an eye ). Maybe this comes up due to the ennui I have been experiencing lately. I really cant think of too many things. Actually I can think of a lot of things. But nothing that I really really want to do. I though of getting an airplane and flying all over the world and seeing all the beautiful places I have always wanted to see. That gives me an idea to nail them down here :

(In no particular order):

- Newzealand
- Kashmir
- Switzerland
- Machu Pichu
- Japan
- France
- Thailand
- Alaska
- Hawai
- Caribbean

Maybe this is not a good idea, I will probably end up writing most of the countries on this planet. Maybe it will be easier if I just jot down the places I would probably not visit. Or let me just call this list the top ten and adjust it as time goes by. Though I wonder if I was given a choice to visit just one of these what will I pick.. that one will be one tough decision.

Political Compass

This quiz http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/index.html ( courtsey Aseem) make me a social libertarian and an economic leftist ! Now I consider myself an economic right wing person. I have always been pro-capitalism. I have always thought that socialism stiffles man's incentive and initiative. There are a few people who can work just for duty's sake but most of us work for the rewards.

The reason I write "have been" and not "am" for being pro-market etc above is that thesedays I am not so sure. Is a free-market economy necessarily better than socialism ? In a free market economy everyone works hard with the rewards in sight. It seems to be the ultimate meritocracy and a system that follows natural justice. The fittest (smartest, hardworking) will be most successful and properous. But here comes the issue. Capitalism gives a free reign to human greed.

Capitalism would be a pretty good system in a fair playing ground. But the recent spade of corporate scandals tell a different story. Are the multi-million dolar salaries and perks of high corporate officials justified ? I was reading some articles somewhere which stated that the salary of the richest 500 people in the US was equal to the bottom 5 million ! Some would argue that who gets what is decided by the market based on his/her abilities. But remember, this is capitalism, human greed is running amok and there is no stopping it. Look around, rackets are running rampant. Who cares about ehtics here? Boards person are CEOs yes men, allowing the CEOs to decide their own pay. The policy makers and the law enforcers are all human after all and they get their share from the system of greed allwoing the rich and powerful to become richer and more powerful.

A racket I read about recently, the class action racket- lawyers funding campaigns of public officials and in turn influening the public fund's ( as big as calpers) managers to invoke class action lawsuits on public companies billing as high as 10000 $ per hour ! Of course no one objects and the price is ultimately paid by the shareholders.

The problem boils down to ethics. The irony is a free market can never be free ! It itself destroys the fairness in the market and gives rise to a new hegemony of the rich who represent the new age feudal lords and control the economy, the politics and the society.

Whats up with me ? Why am I ranting about all this old ghisa pita stuff today?

Well all I can say is "I rant, therefore I am" :)

Ohio Gazaimus.

Thats how the Japanese "good morning" sounds. Or something similar. Avni returned from her conference in Japan and cant stop raving. The highlight of the trip was her meeting with the prince and princess of Tokyo. She went up and talked to them in a big dinner party and apparently the natives were pretty much in awe of the royal couple and everyone was asking her about the beautiful princess later. Lots of people were offering her jobs and one old man wanted to dance with her forever.

I certainly have to visit that amazing country sometime.

On another note, Pankaj, my b-in-law is here on a business trip. We were looking at some inns in Mountain View for 10 days for him.

First trip was to Ramada Inn. Nice lady. She quoted the best price of 59.99 per night, below which she said she couldnt go a cent. After we checked the room we came back, pointed out the nice from the US 101 and mentioned that Homestead Inn, sunnyvale rate was 55 $ per night. She said "Let me see what I can do". A minute later she said she could give us a rate of 55 $ too. We said we will come back and left.

Country Inn. Chinese elderly guy. 89.99/night (regular is 119.99 but just for us its 89.99). We check out room which has jacuzzi. We mention Ramada Inn rate of 55. Our man is confused. Scrathces head, thinks for some time. After "Let me see what I can do" he says he will match the 55 $ rate. Shame on our hagling skills. Should have started at $45 ..

Though finally we ended taking Homestead Inn at 56.99 ( comes with a kitchen ) , but it seems like motel/inn rates are pretty much negotiable here.

Fast Computer.

Thinking of assembling a fast computer. Either Athlon 64 based or dual processor. Though I am not into gaming or any other serious heavy duty software. "Then Why" you ask. For the kicks, adrenalin and the primordial hunting instincts. And the fact that the prices are so cheap these days.

Bought my home PC for 1200$ 3 years back. AMD 1 GHz, 40 Gig, 256 MB RAM. A new one with triple all these would be half the price. Forget resale value for this one, I will probably have to shell out to junk it!

Moores law. Dammit!

Post Lunch Limbo.

I am pretty sure those subway guys mixed some sleeping pills in my sandwhich. I just cant sit on my desk with my head straight. Its swirling in all directions. I have absolutely no control over it. Wave after wave of doze attacks. Hurricane Ivan would be turning green. I have washed my eyes, face, pinched myself, browsed endless "interesting" sites all in the attempt to stand my ground against it. But I dont think anyone can stand such an onslaught. This is utterly inhuman.

I have found myself in the parallel universe, revisiting my childhood, and flying a plane only to be unpleasantly shocked out of them dreams and finding myself in my office. Who was the moron who invented sleeping pills. What the world needs is anti-sleeping pills. No, dont recommend coffee. I am off caffiene. Or another thing that might help is the ability to sleep with my eyes wide open, so my boss thinks I am reading some product manuals. I will readily work for a company with half the pay which has a slumber room. The human species is designed to sleep after lunch. Didnt the product manual say that "all specimens need to be rested after lunch or they will shatter into a million fragments" huh ? Heck, it would even be there in the Ten Commandments or the constitution.

Even venting my frustrations here is not helping ...

Everyone does not like it hot !

Godse is mad. At the Indian news media. His gentle sensibilities are outraged by what is being published in the online editions of the major Indian newspapers. Every other day he presents me with a link justifying his indignation. Today he sent me a link to an article on the headline news on The Times of India website entitled "What Indian men want: Sex". I fully agree with him. The quality of news on most of the major Indian news sites is dropping day after day. Most of them are either titillating or demeaning. Some of the former ones from samachar.com today :

-Lingerie lust: Season's flavour
-Now, learn to make Kamasutra love in Kolkata school!
-Indian men happy with sex life
-Item girls not scared of new blood
-Man weds kid to settle scores
-On this road, Bollywood goes topless

Are any of these worthy enough to be headline news? WTF? I understand that the media have to cater to the baser instincts of the masses. But they dont have to put these in the headlines. Make a separate section ie Voyeur or some such but for mercy dont put it in the headlines ! I dont mean to be higher-than-thou and I admit I will take a peek more than once in a while. But it seriously puts me off seeing all that when I go to the main pages looking for some real news, issues and viewpoints and finding all that crap over there. Take Yahoo news. If you see the the "Most Popular" section, you will find mostly sizzle like this. But they dont put it in the headlines !

The other kind of lowly stuff is what this person has put in his blog. (Unfortunately I cant find more of these today btu I will post as and when I find them.) Give me a break ! why is this kind of news published at all ? To install some kind of nationalistic greatness or pride ? It looks like we as a nation are desperately seeking out anything and everything even remotely connected to India to ascertain some presence in the global psyche. Even that connection is sometimes tenuous at best.

Poor journalism. Very poor.

For some reason, I just cant wear formals or even semi-formals to work. On a few ocassions, I have tried to don on the khakhi trousers and a decent shirt to office, but I always get second thoughts after putting them on. I start feeling too dressy and get a little tense about having to handle the clothes properly all day long. I suspect that at a subconscious level, I fear I will have to act and behave more formally in those clothes. Almost always, I take them off, get into a pair of denims, t-shirt and sneakers heave a sigh and head to work.

Whats great about this attire is you dont have to care about them too much and they are comfortable. A little dirty denims are no problem at all (look at all those big brand names selling new denims that look ragged and greasy !) . Ironing is not a big issue. And you dont have to really wash your hands after lunch... you can wipe them off your denims. Enough said. (Sometimes I wonder what will I do if one fine day I find myself in a job that requires formalwear. We shall see. )

In my opinion sneakers are the most comfortable footwear. I prefer to wear them almost all the time. But I have this nasty habit of visiting those online deal sites during idle browsing and today I found a 40% off coupon for Rockport shoes. Good deals are a big personal weakness. Add to that all those semi-formal clothes wasting away in my closet, I found myself locating a store nearby in the Great Mall and went there in the evening. Searched the whole mall directory, no mention of Reebok/Rockport store. Heavy swearing. Got a couple of t-shirts from Gap. The cashier female told me I smelled nice ! Feeling good about it since. And I was about to throw away that vintage Eternity.

Federer creamed Hewitt in the US open. Awesome display. I was rooting for Hewitt following my natural affiliation for underdogs but Federer played incredibly well. Pete Sampras memories. Feeling too sleepy now... guess will break off here.

My attempt at blogging.

Today is the third anniversary of nine-eleven. The inspiration of writing blogs came after chatting with Rohit in the morning and reading his blogs. I dont know if I will be able to be as regular as Rohit but will try to give it my best shot. In the past couple of years, I have tried to be regular at some things (yoga, guitar to name a few) without a lot of success. Though I havent given up on them and actually am getting more regular than before. Lets see how I fare here.

Olympics ended recently and India's performance was abysmal as usual - only one silver medal for the 2nd most populous nation on the planet. I had read this article by some researchers at PWC predicting medals for nations based on their population, macroeconomy and growth (http://slate.msn.com/id/2105090/). They predicted ... hold on to tour breath ... a whooping 10 medals for India !!! To paraphrase:

"In the past four years, France and Germany have had comparatively little growth compared with, say, India and Mexico. So, France and Germany are projected to lose medals, while India's total is expected to rise from one to 10 (!) "

I am not so sure if those researchers still hold their jobs at PWC after such predictions. What really impressed me was China coming in second place. Speaks a lot about their national character (and our performance speaks a lot about ours too).