I am NOT Anna Hazare

I am not Anna Hazare. I do not become Anna Hazare by typing 420 characters on the internet and to be honest, a facebook status or tweet is the worst token of protest. What do you give up by stating that you ‘support’ Anna Hazare? I do support the REAL Anna Hazare in principle, who is actually putting his health and safety on the line to achieve something he believes in, but that is where we part ways.

I personally do not believe that the Jan Lokpal Bill will eliminate the primary engine of corruption, which is the system of arbitrary power we have mindlessly inherited from the British Empire. What we need is not a new set of overlords, but the removal of all existing overlords because it is the very existence of power that leads to the corruption of people and not some inherent flaw in a particular person.

One good lesson that should be learned from this flurry of protests, amidst all the uproar created by media, is that if your ‘protest action’ is supported by elite (who consider themselves ‘middle class’ because their parents were) interests you will reach great heights. Whereas if your actions genuinely endanger any sort of state or class privilege, you will be ignored and humiliated.

What you can do

GO READ ALL OF IT NOW!

Jumping headfirst into some stereotype of social activity — whether it is soup kitchens or civil disobedience — is rarely a prescription for long-term engagement. Often this ignores possibilities already present in our lives, and attempts to supplement what we are already doing with “something meaningful.” But adding another all-consuming activity to the menagerie of obligations attending work and home life is unlikely to be sustained in the longer term — with that which earns one’s livelihood prevailing in the end.

GIVE ME METAL!

in the spirit of thanksgiving, i would like to thank the gems of R&D at Kodak in Rochester for developing the Endura Pro Metallic Paper. I just had a couple of prints made at 8×12″ size to test it out(as it costs twice what a regular print does) but I am FLOORED! the two images (from the still life series) were very beautifully rendered and have a distinctly 3D feel to them that was lacking in previous glossy and matte-finish prints on either Fuji or Kodak paper. I was considering custom – i.e, digital inkjet – printing my final collection, but Endura has lured me back into the optical fold.

if you dont get what this is about, run out and get your favourite photo printed at a minimum of 11×14″ size and ask for a ‘metallic’ print. gorgeosity should emanate from the print.

chutzpah intelligence agency

wow

The CIA didn’t just offer guidance to film-makers, however. It even offered money. In 1950, the agency bought the rights to George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and then funded the 1954 British animated version of the film. Its involvement had long been rumoured, but only in the past decade have those rumours been substantiated, and the tale of the CIA’s role told in Daniel Leab’s book Orwell Subverted.

via Teh Tomb!

a silver bronze steel lining

some days you get more than spam in your inbox.

Dear [AIF]
Congratulations!
Your entry titled “River of Humanity” has won the Honorary Mention Certificate in the
Journalism Section at the National Salon and Exhibition being conducted by the
Photographic Society of Madras.

We commend the efforts that you have taken in both shooting and presenting this picture
for this competition. Our judges consisting of Mr. Benu Sen – FRPS; MFIAP; ESFIAP;
FNPAS; Hon FBPS; Hon JIPF from Kolkatta, Mr. H. S. Ganesh from Bengaluru, Mr.
Iqbal Mohammed from Ootacamund, Mr. T. N. A. Perumal – MFIAP; FRPS also from
Bengaluru and Mr. Venkat Ram from Chennai were impressed with the quality of output
and your perspective as a photographer.

Your entry will take pride of place during the exhibition to be conducted at Lalit Kala
Academy from 17th to 21st September, 2008 and will be viewed by thousands of
enthusiasts and also covered by the press and TV Channels

i’m quite happy today.

in case you’re wondering, this is the photo

unconventional thinking

Chris Floyd says it best:

Sometimes after I write critically of Obama and the Democrats, people ask me: “Well, what are we supposed to do? He’s not perfect, they’re not perfect, but don’t you think McCain would be worse?”

As it happens, I do think McCain would be “worse” — but only marginally so, for reasons I’ve laid out before. But what does that matter? These are the wrong questions for a nation swimming, sinking, drowning in the innocent blood shed by its bipartisan war machine. These are the wrong questions for a nation whose politics have become — literally, with no metaphor or exaggeration — insane, mired in violence, delusion and self-destruction. Whatever happens, whoever wins, there will be more war, more needless death, more mass murder in the name of America. Whoever wins, there will be more state-assisted assaults on working people and the poor. There will be more coddling of the rich, more servicing of the powerful, more injustice, more inequality.

The country is broke — the bipartisan elite have looted it. The infrastructure is rotting; communities are dying; the quality of life is deteriorating for millions of people; the socioeconomic system, based on cheap gas and the consumption of a vastly disproportionate amount of the world’s resources, is unsustainable — but the bipartisan elite won’t fix these problems. They won’t even address them. They are too busy expanding the frontiers of empire, pushing for new adventures in Pakistan, in Georgia, in Iran, pushing for more war, more bases, more missile sites, more troops. Yes, McCain might push a little bit harder and a little bit faster, or in different directions — but the self-destructive, mass-murdering push will go on. Listen to what Obama is actually saying, listen to what Biden is actually saying, look at their records, look at their coterie of advisors. There is nothing but blood and suffering as far as the eye can see.

QUOTAQUOTAQUOTA

The Supreme Court of India has upheld legislation for dramatically increasing the affirmative-action quotas at institutes of higher learning. the legislation effectively takes the quota to 49% and encompasses all sections of society that belong to scheduled castes and tribes(22%) and other backward classes(OBC’s who get most of the new 27%). This does not include those who are economically well-off, for obvious reasons.

Given the treatment meted out to the so-called ‘lower’ castes in India over the past few centuries at least, this is a reasonable first step towards social justice. now if only they could bring the same attempted fairness into agricultural policy and foreign relations, we’d be well on our way to a just state. i’m not holding my breath on this front, however.

For all the furore raised by certain sections of the news media about the system in institutes of higher education in india, the fact remains that the government has rather consistently stated that this will not affect the ‘general’ category and that the quotas will be met through increased capacities rather than restricting entry. of course, whether the government is willing to spend the necessary amount to bring the same quality or pulls a u-turn on this, effectively crippling the quota system, will determine the final outcome of the legislation.

the games, the games

Nothing will be allowed to disrupt the games. Can’t drink the water, can’t breathe the air, can’t bathe in the water, can’t guarantee the purity of the food, can’t guarantee the safety or construction of the venues — Nothing can be allowed to disrupt the games. If they have to wipe out Tibetan and Urghurs and half the ethnic minorities to do it, nothing will be allowed to disrupt the games. Ah, so what will the world do? Boycott? China will bristle and NOTHING WILL BE ALLOWED TO DISRUPT THE GAMES! Economic sanctions? China has lots of reserves and makes the Soviets in 1980 look like Lichtenstein in terms of economic clout. NOTHING WILL BE ALLOWED to disrupt the games.

Crusader AXE SMASH!!

man and god and law

It was 20 years(and a few months) ago today

Q: Do you feel good about things now generally?

JS: Oh man, you know. There’s certain things you gotta decide in life…. If you ain’t confronting them–if you ain’t thinkin’ about man and God and law, then you ain’t thinkin’ about nothin’. There ain’t no use thinkin’ about sex or drugs or rock ‘n’ roll. That’s all red heriings. If you ain’t thinkin’ about man and God and law then you ain’t thinkin’ about nothin’.

Q: What do you think about man and God and law? Do you believe in God?

JS: Well, I would say it was about time that you believe in something. And sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll ain’t it…. A lot of people used to think they were.