Barackface

Monday, February 23, 2009

MumbaiSlumDog TopDog

In The News

India Celebrates a Hollywood Victory New York Times Its depictions of filth and brutality fueled angry blogging and stray street protests. It drew unusually intense scrutiny, for everything from how much its child actors were paid to what the composer A. R. Rahman would wear to the Oscars. But on Monday, as India woke up to news of the spectacular wins by “Slumdog Millionaire” at the Academy Awards, this movie-mad country went “Jai Ho.” ...... The story dominated television news throughout the day. News of a hepatitis B outbreak in western Gujarat State and a southern politician’s threatened hunger strike seemed minor by comparison. ....... “We rocked the world” ....... India seized on its Oscar wins as a sign of its arrival on the world stage. ........ In his small town in south India, neighbors and kin were shown passing a big plate of sweets and crying tears of joy. ....... even the prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, congratulated the “Slumdog” team, along with the makers of another winning film, “Smile Pinki,” a short documentary about a village girl with a cleft palate. “The winners have done India proud” ....... (In 1992 the Indian director Satyajit Ray was awarded the Oscar for lifetime achievement.) ....... It was shot on the streets of Mumbai, unlike most Indian films. And about a third of the dialogue is in Hindi. ........ Mr. Rahman, whose compositions weave sounds from all over the world with a deeply Indian sensibility. ....... “Even when ‘Gandhi’ won the Oscar for best picture all those years ago, we never felt that it was India’s victory,” he wrote. “I don’t know if this is a breakthrough for India, or whether we will be able to follow it up. But some things seem clear. Anil Kapoor is now the world’s most famous Bollywood actor — and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Nobody will be able to talk about world music without including Rahman as its leading star.” ......... two of the film’s youngest stars, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali Qureshi, 9, are enrolled. The children still live in a sprawling shantytown whose name, Garib Nagar, literally means the enclave of the poor. The filmmakers pay their school fees. ........ the story of “Slumdog” echoed the stories of hundreds of Indian children she had met. “This is the way it really is,” she said. “We can’t ignore it. We have to face it. I mean Indians as a whole.” ..... the people of Garib Nagar had stayed up much of the night in anticipation, then greeted the victory on Monday morning with firecrackers and boisterous handmade drums ..... “She has crossed the ocean,” Mrs. Qureishi said. “With God’s blessing she will return.”
GOP rising star Jindal's speech a 'coming-out party' CNN
Bobby Jindal's moment in the spotlight guardian.co.uk
Jindal the wonk The Moderate Voice
Drive-Bys Try to Marginalize Jindal RushLimbaugh.com
Gov. Bobby Jindal takes stimulus plan opposition to NBC's "Meet ... The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
Lalu-Paswan bonhomie worries Cong in Bihar Economic Times “Prasad’s sudden closeness to Paswan is aimed at pressurising the Congress into accepting to contest only on four seats, which we were forced to accept last time,” a senior party leader from Bihar, who declined to be named, said.
Oscars Boost India Film Industry BusinessWeek Until this year, Indians never took much interest in the Oscars— ........ The country may have the world's most prolific film industry, but Bollywood has long had a dismal showing at the Oscars. ...... Lagaan, a colonial tale with cricket as a backdrop, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002 ...... a rich haul of eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. ...... Allah Rakha Rahman—known as the Mozart of Madras—getting the Oscar for Best Music Score and sharing the Oscar with countryman Gulzar for Best Original Song, and Resul Pookutty winning for Best Sound Mixing. The Slumdog victory is the top story on Indian news channels ....... unlike most foreign films made in India, Slumdog is like a typical Bollywood film, complete with the local industry's favorite seasonings of survival, love, and triumph. ....... people working in the local film industry say they suddenly are getting more calls from Hollywood producers ...... Hollywood has consistently "ridiculed our song-and-dance sequences, but when the same is done by a British filmmaker, the world laps it up," he says...... "Four of Slumdog's Oscars were won by Indian technicians," says Palekar. ..... the Pune-based Film & Television Institute of India, which churns out excellent technicians, could be in the limelight. ....global professionals looking for low-cost outsourcing possibilities.
Clinton to visit Israel, West Bank Reuters
Slumdog is ok, Delhi 6 not?' Bachchan criticises film critics Hindustan TimesBachchan noted that one critic exulted Delhi 6, starring his son Abhishek Bachchan, as "the greatest piece of cinema seen in a long time"
Big B fumes over 'Delhi-6' reviews Hindu On the eve of the release of 'Slumdog Millionaire' in India, Bachchan wrote that the film had received global recognition because it was made by a Westerner.
Bachchan hails Rahman, Resul on golden win Business Standard
Too much being made of a British movie: Jaya Bachchan Times of India Amitabh Bachchan, writing in his blog, had made strong remarks against the movie to the effect that it was an exhibition of Mumbai's underbelly when such squalor was a reality even in developed countries. It was taken as criticism of the movie for selling the poverty of India, and had triggered a controversy.
Oscars Telecast Attracted More Viewers Than Last Year Washington Post
More than 36 million US viewers watch Oscar telecast Reuters
Jai Ho echoes in State prisons Hindu, India
A country-wide toast to Oscar winners Hindu, India
“A total Indian evening with Americans watching it” Hindu, India
Rahman an amazing innovator, says Gulzar Hindu, India
‘In reality, it is a British film’ Times of India, India
Do you dare hate Slumdog hoopla? Times of India, India
It's a bridge for Indian cinema: AR Rahman Economic Times, India
Aren't our slum people the world's best? Times Online, UK
Jackman, Miley and those cute Slumdog kids — Oscar winners or losers? Reuters
Oscars 2009: the biggest victory ever for British films Times Online, UKOnce upon a time a British film director called Danny Boyle had the brilliant idea of shooting a fairytale in the slums of Mumbai. He was awarded a budget of two shillings and told to sober up. Max Clifford couldn't have crafted a happier ending. On Sunday night in Los Angeles, Slumdog Millionaire lifted eight out of a possible nine Oscars (it was nominated for ten - twice for Original Song). ........ the two biggest prizes in showbusiness: Best Picture, and Best Director ...... David Fincher's tedious fantasy about an octogenarian who grows into a young Brad Pitt won just three awards out of a possible 13 for things such as Best Wrinkles and Receding Hairlines. ..... Slumdog Millionaire is the first film in Oscar history to win Best Picture without a Hollywood star in the cast. It made the heart sing to see the cast of orphans, who were airlifted from Mumbai, tripping up the red carpet. But what's unsettled the Americans is not the Slumdog landslide, which has been gathering an unstoppable momentum since the Golden Globes. It's the painful admission that Hollywood is no longer making the best independent films in the world. ........ He's not just a great director. He's a great human being. He may be useless with big budgets (The Beach). But his guerrilla attitude to film has defined the 2009 awards..... a bitter-sweet feeling for the Slumdog family. This is the last time that they will ever gather together under one roof. For most of them the awfully big adventure is now over. But for a lucky few it might have just begun.
'Slumdog didn't deserved so many Oscars' Times of India, IndiaNow, perhaps Indian artists will be taken more seriously. ...... `Jai Ho!' has become an anthem the world over and it's great for us Indians. It's a celebration of India.
Slumdog scripting brand new history Economic Times, IndiaSome call it the Inflection Point in the history of Indian cinema. Some slam it as Poverty Porn. But in the wee hours of Monday, India’s Cinema

Inc took a giant leap into global markets with Slumdog Millionaire bagging a whopping eight Oscars........ Slumdog’s leading lady Freida Pinto gave away one of the Oscars ..... Smile Pinki, a heart-rending piece of work set in UP’s Mirzapur, romped home as the best short documentary, making it an all-India affair. ...... “Mere paas maa hai,” said Rahman in his acceptance speech, thanking his mother by quoting the immortal line from Salim-Javed’s Deewar. ..... Resul too added to the India rhetoric, “I come from a country and civilisation that have given the universal word... That word is preceded by silence, followed by more silence... That word is Om. So I dedicate this award to my country.” ......Danny Boyle on Aamchi Mumbai, “Just to say to Mumbai, unending, inseparable, unborn, all of you who helped us make the film and all of you who didn’t... Thank you so much. You dwarf even the sky.” ......Slumdog Millionaire may have done for India what Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon did for China nine years ago..... China’s economy was already soaring when Taiwanese-born American director Ang Lee walked away with the best foreign-film Oscar for the Chinese martial arts epic. That was in 2000. ...... A year later, China would join the World Trade Organisation and forever change the global economic order. The Oscar for Lee’s tale of flying monks and magical warriors became a symbol of the surge in West’s admiration for the rise of modern China. .... Other Indian cultural exports such as yoga, herbal cosmetics, the two-minute Rajma curry and Indian fiction in English may also benefit. ....... India’s moment on the world stage

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Mideast: Permanent Peace Is Possible

Three Mega Religions: Major Confusion, Big Emotional Entanglements

I am not Muslim, I am not Jewish, I am not Christian. Thank God. If you truly believe in God - does not matter if that is a God as described by one particular religion - would you die for God? Countries have gone to war over smaller things like real estate: land. But God? That is a big one. The major passion of being a Muslim, a "believer," as Bin Laden might say, the major passion of being a Jew, even a secular, cultural Jew, the Christian self-righteousness, all come into play. Christianity is a great religion, but it only makes sense within the framework of religious diversity. It is not a superior religion. It is not the ultimate religion all humanity will end up with. It is not Da Bomb. It is just one among many religions. It is a great religion, but then so is Islam. Buddhism is a great religion: I am a Buddhist. Hinduism is a great religion: I was born a Hindu, I grew up a Hindu.

All these religions have long memories. 1000 years was but yesterday. There are numerous wounds on all sides, all very much alive in the collective memory. No wonder Jerusalem is combustile. Keep a lid on the matchsticks.

Love And Coexistence: Big Difference

Peace is or is not about love. Love might or might not happen. Love is vague. In seeking peace you are seeking coexistence. New York City is the role model for visions of grand peace. People from every little town on earth, not every country, not every city, but every little town on earth live in NYC. It is a wonder there is no permanent civil war, no raging bloody battle in this city. Because there is coexistence. A common complaint is New Yorkers are not very nice. But they are at peace. There is crime in the city. But the city is at peace. There is no civil war.

Past And Future: Big Difference

The past is unfathomable. There are too many grievances on all sides. Who did what to whom when where? The lists are endless. I am not suggesting people should forget the past, or not talk about it. That's what blogs are for. Talk as much as you want. Put it all out there. Speak up. Air it all. Vent. The past is not event past. Talk.

But peace talks have to be about the future. You start with the end point, you start with the final map, and then you seek paths to that point from where you stand.

Final Map

The final map has two parts. One, there are two states, Israel and Palestine. Two, all Arab countries have been turned into democracies. Jerusalem is probably an international city like the Vatican. Vatican is not Italy. Not all Palestinian refugees return back to Israel. Some do, but some end up in Arizona, and Australia, and Bahrain, and Toronto, and Brussels, London, perhaps. On the knottiest issues, creativity will have to make attempts where bull headed steadfastness has so far not delivered.

My Gripe With Israel

It is like when you come across some Jews in New York whose idea of sounding white is to sound more racist than the racist whites, or at least as imagined. The Germans abused the Jews, but that does not mean the Jews get to abuse the Palestinians.

My Gripe With Arabs

When you don't have democracy, the top 10,000 people in the country keep all the billions, and they blame and incite the masses to blame Israel and America for everything, all the povety, the social ills, all logjams in international politics, global warming, your grandpa's wrinkles, everything. You need to have periodic elections so you know who to blame: the person in office who you boot out next time around. The massive sexism in the Arab world is a direct result of a lack of democracy. The 10,000 Al Qaeda guys are so sexist, they don't even have sex.

But democracy will not come from the current crop of leadership, and it should not have to come from America: Bush killed a million and a half Iraqis. Democracy should have come because a million and half Iraqis marched the streets, and shut the country down for three weeks. Democracy has to come the grassroots way, the mass movement way, country after Arab country.

White Guy Presidents And Barack

Clinton dabbled in Mideast peace towards the fag end of his presidency. Bush dabbled in Mideast peace towards the fag end of his presidency. Those were not serious attempts. Not Barack. The first foreign leader he called up as president was Abbas. His first TV interview sit down was with an Arab network. This guy means business, but he can't do it alone. The Arabs are going to have to play ball. The Israelis are going to have to start making sense.

Permanent peace in the Mideast is possible within Barack's eight years. The War On Terror has a conclusion. Most of it is in political and diplomatic work to do with Mideast peace. People power delivered Barack a presidency. People power in the Arab world is the open secret also in the Arab world.

And if permanent peace is not achieved during these eight years, we are in for a long, long inning.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Stimulus: Make It A Trillion

Stimulus: Size Matters

It was not the big spending of the New Deal that brought the Great Depression to an end, it was the massive deficit spending of World War II. We forget. A do nothing government would be suicide. A do little government would be foolhardy. This is the time to err on the side of doing much. Little will be late soon enough. So the idea that there are politicians who are trying to bring the stimulus down to 800 billion from 820 billion, I find ridiculous. This is slavery to ideology, not to reality, not even crisis reality. The house is on fire, do not ration water.

A crisis is also a time for reinvention. This is a time for America and the world to reinvent itself. The bailout package in America's chance to draw a new financial architecture, for itself and for the world, a new architecture that is fully transparent, fully accountable, and fully global. The toxic assets are bad news. Many banks will go down the tube. Many banks will lose big money. But then the toxic assets never really fell in the category of wealth creation. Sooner or later that truth was going to emerge. Now is that time. It is time for the banks to clean up the slate and start afresh in the banking business. Go back to the fundamentals. Banks take money, banks lend out money.

https://twitter.com/paramendra/status/1205593499
http://baselinescenario.com

Constructing new schools was my favorite item in the stimulus package, and they took it out! Put that back in. Build new schools. Every child in America should be getting educated in 21st century schools.

This stimulus package is step one to America becoming a full-fledged knowledge economy. Don't take it from 820 billion to 800 billion. Take it from 820 billion to 900 billion. Put 20 billion down for new schools. Put another 30 billion for broadband. ($6 Billion For Wireless Broadband: Too Little) Put 30 billion down for health care. Make it 900.

And talk to the world. The three biggies are all inter-related. (Global Finance, Global Terrorism, Global Warming) America got itself a Global President, now it needs to get itself Global Solutions to Global Problems. Talk to the world. Work with the world.

Slumdog Millionaire

Friday, February 06, 2009

Stimulus: Size Matters

(photo courtesy a Facebook friend of mine, no, she is not American)

The Obama Message Shift Time Gone is the warm and fuzzy talk about how everything is on track and Washington can get along at bipartisan White House cocktail parties. In is the tough talk about how members of Congress--particularly Republicans--have to stop bickering and threatening delay, and get something done. .............. In the last few days, we've seen proposals arise from some in Congress that you may not have read, but you'd be very familiar with, because you've been hearing them for the last 10 years, maybe longer. They're rooted in the idea that tax cuts alone can solve all our problems, that government doesn't have a role to play, that half- measures and tinkering are somehow enough, that we can afford to ignore our most fundamental economic challenges: the crushing cost of health care, the inadequate state of so many of our schools, our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. ............... Those ideas have been tested, and they have failed. They've taken us from surpluses to an annual deficit of over $1 trillion. And they've brought our economy to a halt. And that's precisely what the election we just had was all about. The American people have rendered their judgment, and now's the time to move forward, not back. Now's the time for action.

The idea behind deficit spending to get an economy out of a recession goes back to Keynes and FDR, it is another thing that it is said when the two met they did not much like each other, kind of like Newt Gingrich and Bill Gates, when they met, they did not much like each other, there was no talk.

Before Keynes the orthodoxy was only someone stupid would spend money they don't have. Going into debt was not what wise people did.

The American economy really only turned around after the monstrously massive deficit spending that World War II forced the country into. Otherwise the recession of the 1930s was a deep ditch. We don't call it a recession, it was a depression. It was a major flunk.

The American economy today does not have a 30% unemployment rate, so this is not a depression, not yet. But then a recession mishandled is a depression. Don't count it out yet. This is the financial SARS virus that America has already exported all over the world. The entire global economy is sneezing.

If mishandled, this downturn could hit a tipping point, and then there would be no turning point. It would go downhill from there. At that point a trillion dollar jolt is going to feel like something on the cheap.

What the American economy has is a cardiac arrest. And it needs a jolt. That is why size matters. Reducing the size of the stimulus is exactly the bad idea. And you can't do it in steps. A jolt has to be one big step. Spending a trillion $100 billion a year over 10 years would be too lukewarm. It would not be a jolt, and hence not a stimulus.

The stimulus has to be announced with a bang, not a whimper. It has to be implemented with a bang. It has to be followed through with a bang.

There is an urgent need for a new global financial architecture. That is the number one lesson. But it will be much easier to shape that new architecture if the US economy is not in the bad shape it is in right now, if the world economy is feeling some upswing.

This is not a recession that comes once every 10 years or so. This is something that happens once or twice a century, once every 70 years or so. This is big. This asks for a big dose of medicine.

This is the time to think big, and engage in massive spending programs, massive infrastructure programs.

Obama Bank Pay Ceiling Would Make Many CEOs Stoop CNNMoney.com
Obama limits bailed-out bank CEO pay MarketWatch
Obama Caps Exec Pay For Bailout Firms U.S. News & World Report
Obama Turns Up Heat, Slams GOP Ideas Wall Street Journal
Obama: Economy faces catastrophe without stimulus Reuters Obama spoke as the Democratic-led Senate abruptly halted debate on a $920 billion version of the plan on Thursday night. ..... his critics were offering "tired arguments" for economic solutions that emphasized tax cuts for well-off families. ...... don't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis ...... "If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe," Obama said. ..... "We are not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that for the last eight years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin," he said.
President Obama Enters the Chaos Zone FOXNews
With Daschle out, Obama should make Romney the healthcare-reform czar Christian Science Monitor
AP Says It Owns Image Used in Obama Poster New York Times, United States
Copyright battle over Obama image BBC News
Associated Press wants money from Obama artist Christian Science Monitor
Afghanistan Appeal May Temper European Allies' Ardor for Obama Washington Post, United States
Obama Sets More Modest Goals For Afghanistan NPR
'Finish the job' in Afghanistan? Where do we begin? Los Angeles Times
Op-Ed Contributor Afghan Supplies, Russian Demands New York Times
Obama upholds Bush faith policy Los Angeles Times, CA
Obama creates faith-based office with wide mission The Associated Press
Obama is right to object to ‘Buy American’ provisions Kansas City Star, MO
McCain looks to nix ‘buy American’ from Obama stimulus Bizjournals.com
Reject 'Buy American' clause or risk a trade war Salt Lake Tribune
Obama Bows to EU Demands on Stimulus The New American
Obama CIA pick may back 'limited' abuse prosecution Reuters
Obama's pick for CIA chief says he wants answers The Associated Press
Panetta says he would end harsh CIA interrogation tactics San Jose Mercury News
Cold warrior Henry Kissinger woos Russia for Barack Obama Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Obama admin. seeks treaty to cut US, Russia nukes The Associated Press
Russia, US pledge closer cooperation under Obama MSNBC
Obama’s First Ride on Marine One New York Times, United States
Obama says White House and Congress 'in range' The Associated Press
Obama Goes Airborne Today For First Time As President CBS News
Obama takes first ride on 'spiffy' Air Force One AFP

Howard Dean For Health And Human Services Secretary

Howard Dean Was Grassroots 1.0, Barack Is Grassroots 2.0

President Clinton as president described then Governor Dean as the best Governor in the nation when it came to health care.
Howard Dean is a doctor. We need a doctor in the house.
A doctor or two. His wife is also a doctor.
Barack was a Deaniac in 2004, so was I. I came to Barack by way of Dean.
Howard Dean authored the 50 state strategy. It delivered in 2006, it delivered in 2008. He was great as DNC Chair. If he had won the primary in 2004, he would have won the general.
Howard Dean was the original anti-war candidate.

Howard Dean Should Have Been Obama’s Pick All Along Truthdig, United States Within a week of Obama’s winning the presidential election, Dean’s name began to circulate as a top contender for the job. Dean is a physician, a former family practitioner in fact, and during his 11-year tenure as governor of Vermont, health care and other welfare-related reforms were a priority. ........ Dean became imprinted on the national consciousness when he surged to the head of the pack during his run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination by playing the angry anti-war candidate. His novel use of the Internet to raise funds and organize supporters produced a meteoric rise in the polls. ........ I lived in Vermont for nearly all of Dean’s 11 years as governor. The 2004 presidential contender who whipped crowds of young voters into frenzies with his bracing oratory was someone we had not seen before. ....... Though Dean can be famously argumentative, he is not known as a politician who holds grudges. As governor, he’d fight like mad for an initiative he believed in but on the next issue of importance could work with those who had just opposed him. ...... He served much longer as chief executive of a state with a fixed budget and very real health and human services responsibilities, and his track record in that capacity should count for much. ........ “When Dean left office in early 2003, most states were in dire financial shape, their revenues hammered by the collapse of the dot-com economy. Vermont, by contrast, had a comfortable surplus, thanks largely to Dean.” ......... “The only real exception to rigid budget discipline was health care. … This did stretch the budget some, but those costs were offset somewhat by increased tobacco taxes.” ....... Dean “for the first time pushed governmental health care coverage out beyond the welfare population to working people who did not qualify for Medicaid.” ......... “Government observers in Vermont usually cite two highlights among Dean’s accomplishments in office: tight budget management of the state’s economy, and Success by Six, an effort to link early education programs to social services. … Dean, perhaps because of his medical training, demanded measured results.” ........ “One of my most persistent activities during the early ’90s,” recalled Glenn Gershaneck, who was Dean’s press secretary before eventually heading the state Transportation Agency, “was trying to fend off the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party. The will to spend money always exceeded the resources available, and the push to spend came mostly from the left.” ....... Dean’s strained relationship with Obama’s White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, with whom he famously clashed over strategy during the 2006 midterm election—Emanuel wanted DNC money to be targeted where it could help Democratic congressional candidates win immediately while Dean was intent on a long-range plan to build party infrastructures in all 50 states ....... But just as presidential candidate Dean paved the way for now-President Obama’s use of the Internet as a campaign tool, it was DNC Chairman Dean whose 50-state strategy helped candidate Obama keep John McCain on the defensive in traditional red states. ....... Dean was a true Washington outsider who took over a broken political machine and achieved astonishing results. ....... Dean’s proven strengths—his medical training and his ability to work within budgets, to name just two. And no one could bring more passion to the job ...... imagine the damage that could result from an effort led by a career politician with no understanding of the dynamics at play in our health care system, let alone the human organism ...... After so many years of fruitless rhetoric by politicians, why not let a medical doctor with proven success as a political operative and a record for plain talk and common sense have a chance? ....... As governor, he made advances in the area of health and welfare by gaining support for initiatives such as health insurance for children and prenatal care and other preventive wellness measures that cost relatively little and offered long-term savings and sustainability.
Why not Howard Dean for Sec. of Health and Human Services? Capitol Hill Blue
Howard Dean for HHS or Health Czar The Young Turks
Chris Matthews: Howard Dean should replace Daschle Raw Story
Dean For HHS Gains Momentum Atlantic Online
My Suggestion to Obama: Drop Daschle--Choose Howard Dean Gather.com, MA
Dump Daschle - Howard Dean for Health and Human Services Beliefnet.com, NY

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