Saturday, December 12, 2015

डोनाल्ड का विग उतारो



इस चुतिये की तो जम के पिटाई होने वाली है। ये हरामी का पिल्ला, हिटलर का नाजायज औलाद। ..... और एम्बुलेंस तैयार रखो। हम अपना कम्पैशन नहीं खो बैठे हैं। .... समझने वाले समझ जाएंगे ये भी रियल एस्टेट का ही लफड़ा है। पोलिटिकल रियल एस्टेट। ...... जब हम न्यु यॉर्क में आ गए हैं तो इसे चाहिए कहीं दुर चले जाए, अलाबामा या ऐसा ही कोई जगह।

Bobby Jindal 2024
Donald's Poll Numbers Are Name Recognition
Donald Trump: Marxist? Hitlerian?
Republicans Asked For Unlimited Money In Politics
The San Diego Shooting: Defining Terrorism

Friday, December 11, 2015

Eliot Spitzer, Barack Obama

Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Rod...
Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There was a time when Eliot Spitzer was the next President Of The United States and Barack Obama was this good looking Senator you saw on TV who showed no signs of even trying to pass any major bill, but Spitzer was cutting butter with his knife in a major executive position. Obama had announced not only was he not running for president in 2008, he was not even interested in being Vice President. When you have been in DC one month, what else could you say?

Bobby Jindal 2024
Preet Bharara, Eliot Spitzer Parallels

Jewish people are different. I had not met too many before I got to New York City. But the outsize influence was obvious: there was data. 12 million people have imprints that 200 million people don't. A billion have not. That outsize influence is because they have packed so much knowledge per cubic millimeter of brain matter. Generation after generation. As in, others could do this too. Stop throwing stones and sit down and read.

In some micro interactions it struck me as to the level of emotional intelligence. And it was so obvious it was not individual. Part of it was the cubic millimeter thing. Part of it also is the history of persecution. When Hitler kills six million of your kind, that gives you a heightened sense of reality. For example, I had a Beware The Ides Of March moment a few weeks before my cliff fall in 2008, but I did not pay attention. I only saw it in retrospect. It was a Jewish guy. I have had several such micro interactions.

There is this super gifted politician in India. Bihar was the superpower when India was world. I have Bihari heritage. And there is this Jewish-like knowledge heritage Biharis have. Buddha, who gave the world its first republic purely on knowledge power, was Bihari. If they could only get their house in order, they could lead India again, because the future is not in coal, or even solar, it is in knowledge. Nitish Kumar. In terms of political gifts, Nitish Kumar and Eliot Spitzer are alike. You see a butter-knife thing. Bill Gates is a fan. What Nitish has done for Bihar's poor, Bill can only imagine.

Nitish was in alliance with Modi's party for a decade and a half. He walked away a year before Modi ran for PM. Many people think Nitish made the mistake of his lifetime. I am not so sure.

It can be said Eliot Spitzer said, fuck it, the black folks have been wronged too much by this country. And it is possible he combusted. It was a conscious political decision. Like Nitish walked away from Modi.

I identify with Jews on many levels.

When Punjab started combusting as a state in India, it was the leading state measured by per capita income. Both Bobby Jindal and Preet Bharara, I think also Nicky Haley, have Punjabi heritage. It is not rocket science that the most successful group felt acute disrespect. As in, if the disrespect is happening, you are going to feel it. There is no brushing it aside. Why can't people digest headgear? Why do you struggle with turbans and naqabs? The violent part was tragic, beyond tragic. Sikhs are like Jews, small in number but large in impact.


Thursday, December 10, 2015

नीतिश को ग्रैंड अलायन्स के लिए सुझाव


  • ग्रैंड अलायन्स को एक राष्ट्रिय स्वरुप देने का प्रयास हो। 
  • सदस्य पार्टी यो को सभी तह पर एक पद एक उम्मेदवार पर जाना होगा। 
  • सदस्य पार्टी के दिल्ली में जितने सांसद हैं सब एक जगह आएंगे, वो निर्वाचक मंडल हुवा। उसमें ५०% से ज्यादा मत जो बटोरे वो ग्रैंड अलायन्स का राष्ट्रिय अध्यक्ष हुवा। 
  • वही फोर्मुला राज्य स्तर पर भी लागु हो। 
  • लेकिन ये तो संगठन वाली बात हुई। उससे ज्यादा महत्वपुर्ण बात है विज़न। Anti-BJP is not a vision. 
  • ५ स: सुशासन, शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, संरचना, सुलभता। 
  • लक्ष्य है डबल डिजिट ग्रोथ रेट। 

युपी में ऐसा नहीं हो सकता? मायावती और अखिलेश ५०-५० सीट डिस्ट्रीब्यूशन करें २०१७ में। जो ज्यादा सीट जितेगा वो मुख मंत्री। ये बात मायावती को बोलो तो वो कहेंगी आप अपनी हवा मिठाई घी के साथ खाओ। 

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Bipolar Politics In India?

As Nitish Kumar Meets Assam Leader, Signs Of A Bihar-Like Formula



I have no idea what Nitish is upto, but a few days back I read he wants a Bihar repeat in Uttar Pradesh. And I was skeptical. Mayawati revolves in a world of her own. For the Nitish swearing in ceremony, her terse response was: "Jana jaroori hai kya?"

But Grand Alliance is a catchy name. It feels like a fresh start. The Third Front has been put to rest. The Federal Front never materialized, except in Mamata's brain.

Never underestimate a Bihari. Biharis are like Greeks. Ek samay ke superpower jab sirf India hi duniya tha. Modi and Nitish are the two most talented Indian politicians of their generation. Easily. Obvious baat hai. And Laloo is a powerhouse on his own. And Laloo's conviction, in a strange way, has turned him into a Nitish Hanuman, which probably would have been hard, perhaps impossible otherwise. Yane ke Laloo ko to koi pad lena nahin. Us sthiti mein political relevance hi bahut bara puraskar ho jata hai. Yane ke alag party hote bhi Laloo ke sare ke sare MP Nitish apna gin sakte hain. Bhagwan deta hai to chhappar far ke. Isi ko kahte hain.

To Bihar ke 40 MP ek nucleus ban jate hain. A national alternative can be imagined around that nucleus.

Pechinda baat ye hai ki Uttar Pradesh is galaxy mein hi nahin. Uska apna hi alag orbit hai. Kucchh planets hote hain, na is galaxy mein, na us galaxy mein. Wo between galaxies fenka jate hain. Andhere mein lattoo ki tarah golchakkar lagate rah jate hain.

Abhi desh ka rajniti na unipolar hai, na bipolar, na multi-polar. Desh ka rajniti abhi comet ki tarah hai. Sirf ek banda PM ke liye lada pichhle saal. Aur us ke pichhe ek lamba dhunwa sa hai koso tak.

To agar Grand Alliance Bihar se failte failte Assam pahunch jaye to badi baat hai. Laloo barishth neta ke rup mein sab jagah golchakkar lagate rahenge. Agar rashtriya star par hi ek Grand Alliance banti hai aur desh ke rajniti mein ek clean bi-polarization ho jati hai to wo desh ke liye, loktantr ke liye, double digit growth ke liye bahut achha hoga. PM bhi development man, Opposition Leader bhi development man ho jaye to sustained double digit growth shayad mil jaye desh ko.

Nitishism akhir hai kya? Nitish ne kabhi codify nahin kiya. Karna chahiye. Ki humne Bihar mein aise kiya. Wo dusre jagah bhi kiye jaa sakte hain. Usi tarah Laloo ko codify karna chahiye. Railway mein unhone jo kiya so kaise kiya. Kisi paschima textbook mein hi nahin hai. Laloo ke populism ("I am a man of the people!") ne western capitalism ko maat kar diya. And it is relevant to India. Jis desh mein ghans kam aadmi jyada ho, wahan people intensive economic activity ki sakht jaroorat hai shayad. Bagair katni chhantni kiye kaise logon ke marfat bumper profit karein. 

National level par Modi bahut aage hain. Indian economy ke fundamental level par itna bejod kaam ho raha hai, iska asar kuchh saal ke baad bade thos kism se padega.

Gelling the Grand Alliance at the national level is hard. Jaise Mayawati ko lo. Unhe to lagta hai BJP aur Congress ke baad hum hi to hain. To pahle unke charan sparsh karo tab koi alliance ki baat karo. Nahin to wo to mere to lagta hai chai pe bhi nahin bulayegi. Akhilesh kam nahin. Mulayam ko PM mano pahle, uske baad hi koi allaince balaince ki baat shuru ho sakti hai. Kahan na maine, kuchh planets galaxy ko hi chhod dete hain. Spin out ho jate hain. Aur Mulayam. Safal rajnitigya rahe hain. Dimag bhi shayad chalta ho. Lekin boli se to nahin lagta. Aur waise bhi wo ek apne hi kism ke Advani hain: way past retirement age. Lekin neta logon ko pata hi nahin chalta. Ghadi mein time kya hai, nabj mein daudahat banki hai bhi ki nahin. Log salam karte rahte hain. To lagta hai ek round aur dekh lete hain, rakha kya hai, log pyar de hi rahe hain.

Nitish ne Bihar mein vikas kar diya. Honestly bol raha hoon, maine kabhi kalpana bhi nahin kiya tha ki koi bhi sakhs Bihar mein vikas kar sakta hai. Like how? Where would you start? Lekin Bihar mein vikas se jyada kathin baat hai UP mein Mayawati aur Akhilesh ko ek jagah lana, usse bhi kathin unhe manana ki koi teesra neta banega. Unhe lagta hai wo hain Amrika, banki Bharat hai Fiji. Size to dekho.

Bobby Jindal 2024

photo of gurudwara ponta sahib
photo of gurudwara ponta sahib (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • You have to be yourself. If you talk fast, if that is you, don't slow down. You can be only one person, and that is you. Just be yourself. You slowed down artificially for that speech in 2009, and that was the beginning of your end. 
  • You became particularly shrill after that. Two reasons. One, the Great Recession hit you and your state. When that happens, people sometimes end up in dark corners. Two, that counter Obama speech in 2009 put you at the receiving end of racism. People who say they are only individuals, they don't have group identities are two dimensional creatures. And racism is a three dimensional reality. When 2D creatures get hit with a 3D reality, they don't know what hit them. You got infantilized. That was racist. But you will not understand if you keep claiming you are only an individual. 
  • I have had hundreds of meals at the local Gurudwara. India is sorry 1984 happened. Now own up to it. You are Indian. Like JFK was Irish. He wore it on his sleeve. You are Indian, your wife is Indian, your kids are Indian. Your Indian identity goes back thousands of years. America would not be great if it did not allow you room for your Indian identity. I mean, my favorite thing about America are inter-racial, cross-cultural kids. But that does not take away from heritage, mine, or yours, or anyone else's.
  • On social issues you may hold any view you want, that does not bother people. But to say the alternative view is not valid is Taliban, it is not America. So on the social issues, you have to be live and let live. And since America is a free country, and social views don't change fast, it is best to push the social views to the background. You know where you stand, you respect where others stand, and you make them feel like you respect them, and you are done. No one is convincing nobody. Everybody is too smart by one and a half. 
  • And focus hard core on the economic issues. This is where you will sink or swim. If you can show America you can help create the industries of tomorrow, you will regain your pre-2008 aura and seeming invincibility. Barack Obama is a tough guy to go against. Hillary knows. So do you. But she is running again. 
  • As for the industries of tomorrow, talk to Vivek Wadhwa, the smartest dude in Silicon Valley. He was your active supporter, before you became shrill. 


Donald's Poll Numbers Are Name Recognition

A derivate work. John McCain official photo po...
A derivate work. John McCain official photo portrait. This image is an edit of Image:John McCain official photo portrait.JPG to alter the background from black to a blue/white gradient. The background mask used in Image:John McCain official photo portrait-cropped-background edit.JPG was also used here. The edits to the original were performed by User:Andrew c with help from User:Navy Blue. This was a request processed through the en.wiki graphics lab, see here. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The US presidential election used to last a year. Barack Obama changed that. He made it last two full years. People were so sick and tired of W, they are like, bring it on, Barack. Everywhere else in the world, most places, all places I know, elections last a month. It is over before you know it.

The US presidential election process is pretty well designed. It is a vast country of 300 million. Not as vast as India, but still very vast. But then you have the Iowa caucuses where you are made to feel like you are running for City Council in a town of 500. It is pretty amazing. It is very hard to fool people when you have to go to them direct. No media, no social media, no TV ads, no flyers, no bells, no whistles. It's you and them, face to face, often in their living room, no neighbors. Their opinions get made when they sit down with their neighbors. It is pretty heady stuff. Old school and heady.

By the time New York and California happen, it feels like it is over. But New Yorkers get to feel like, so what, who paid for your breakfast?

My point being, it is a pretty well designed process. I am confident it will not let idiots through. And The Donald is an idiot through and through.

Where was John McCain at this stage in 2007? He was out. Maybe Bobby made a mistake.

The Donald was on TV. Why do you think he switched? To a presidential run? Attention. The guy wants some attention. He has no intention of winning. He will lose and act like the country's Opposition Leader for eight years without showing up in DC: all the TV studios are in NYC, why go to DC! You want to know how I feel about the Defense Bill? Oh, you want to know how I feel about the Budget Deficit? Jobs? I have an opinion about jobs. That is what this is about. The guy has a narcissistic desire to be on TV. It is not like he does not have a small base. There is a far right in every country, in every society. Heck, there is a far right on the Upper West Side. And the far right does not ask you for ideas. It just needs to be fed some vague prejudice. Every policy debate can be wrapped up in about three or four vague emotions.

So, no, I don't feel like 40% of the Americans are rabidly racist. I do know that most people are not even paying attention. I have yet to watch a debate, Democratic or Republican. I might wait until the two parties are done nominating.

Very likely we will see a three way race: Hillary, a Republican (Rubio? Bush? maybe both will end up on the ticket, I'd love to see two women on the Democratic ticket running against two men on the Republican ticket), and Donald (the dude does not need a running mate, why share attention). This guy is not getting out. He is going to run as an Independent. It is the attention thing. He has no platform.

He said somewhere he is "strong on defense." Now, that to me is rocket science. Wow, Donald, how did you figure that one out?



Russian far-right leader calls for birth control in Caucasus

Trump's business dealings in Muslim-majority countries

“It’s a very exciting time for the Trump Organisation in the Middle East” – Donald J. Trump, December 2013.The Republican front-runner may now want a ban on Muslims entering the United States, but he has not been shy of doing deals in Muslim-majority countries to expand his business empire.

Posted by Channel 4 News on Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Donald Trump: Marxist? Hitlerian?

The San Diego Shooting: Defining Terrorism

What is Donald Trump? Marxist? Hitlerian? What? We know he is German. It has got to be one of the above. He does business with the Chinese. Does that make him Marxist? Yes? No?


I know a whole bunch of Marxists. Too many. In Nepal, everyone is a Marxist. The ruling party is Marxist. The opposition party is Marxist. So when they switch sides, it gets really confusing.


कौन है ये बन्दा? आखिर है कौन? पता लगाओ। For the sake of Aamir. पता करो। आधे इधर जाओ। आधे उधर जाओ। बाँकी बिखर जाओ।



The Donald is a Hitlerian. I have proof.



ये हिटलर का नाजायज औलाद। जब हिटलर बंकर में बंद था जहाँ उसने ख़ुदकुशी की वहाँ से एक बच्चा गायब हो गया था। एगो ननकिरबा गायब भ गइलबा।



Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Republicans Asked For Unlimited Money In Politics

And they got Donald Trump. Like they say, be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. The party be combusting at all ends.


The San Diego Shooting: Defining Terrorism



I have yet to read a full news item on this San Diego shooting, so forgive if I am missing out on details, but this incident has been hard to ignore in the headlines.

This Pakistani woman's neighbors back in Pakistan are in disbelief. It is unimaginable she did that, they say. So obviously her radicalization did not happen in Pakistan. Ordinary Pakistanis are overwhelmingly lower middle class, God fearing and peace loving. It is pretty humdrum. Pakistan is a larger population than Russia.

So if her radicalization did not happen in Pakistan, where did it happen? Obviously it happened in San Diego. Where in San Diego? It is possible she saw Donald Trump on TV.

And I grew up around Muslims. It was a total non-issue when Muslims dropped by my house. They were biologically identical in terms of skin color and looks, spoke the exact same language, shared the same culture. They were just a different religion. But then so are Buddhists.

And you have to understand, what Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan mean to Indians across the world -- and Indians are across the world, Indians live in every town in America -- there is no parallel in Hollywood and America. So when you badmouth Muslims across the board, don't get surprised if Indians across the religious spectrum get offended. I will. I am offended that you might be talking about Aamir. I am deeply, personally offended.

Maybe this woman saw Donald Trump on TV. And I don't mean that in a Jimmy Fallon way, I mean that in a Charlie Rose way.

It has always struck me as to the clarity of thought in the Muslim worldview. When you wrong a Muslim there is no foggy thinking that maybe I belong to the wrong caste and that's why. They are more like, I am a child of God, how dare you! I am fond of that.

So if her radicalization happened in San Diego, or on TV, who supplied her with the gun? Not ISIS. ISIS is not that sophisticated.

I have news, people. America does not need ISIS. It has the NRA.

Terrorism has to be precisely defined. When you kill one person, that is murder. When your motivation is that you don't like their kind, that is a hate crime. And hate crime IS different from murder. If one Sikh person got killed and it was a hate crime, then all Sikhs in that community should take note. Because there is a killer at large who are after people like them.

But when you kill a bunch of people, and you are driven by some kind of ideology, then that is an act of terrorism. Terrorism simply is hate crime magnified. It is possible you have never been recruited by any person or organization. It is possible your indoctrination happened over the Internet. It is possible your gun was provided to you by the NRA. But the act is an act of terrorism.

White guys are primarily guilty in this country. There is no ISIS. Not yet. That white guy killing black church goers is a terrorist. He was not sick, he was driven by ideology.

A serial killer is a serial killer, as opposed to a murderer.

Then there are some people who are mentally sick. They are not terrorists in that they are not driven by ideology. They are just not okay upstairs, it is clinical, and they got hold of a gun, and they went some place and started shooting. For me the most important question there is, how did they get hold of that gun? That is the top question. There's also the issue of universal health insurance. Where could they have gone for help?

NRA.

This is a barbaric nation with a homegrown epidemic of acts of terrorism. It does not need the ISIS. It has the NRA.

This country needs a constitutional amendment. You got done killing Indians (Native Americans), now amend it. By the way, that was also terrorism. On a massive scale. Colonialism is the El Nino of terrorism.

Objectively speaking, head count by head count, the US is no less barbaric than the territory ISIS controls. Look at all those gun deaths. The numbers are of epidemic proportions.

The only plausible explanation.

Posted by Manjushree Thapa on Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

In The News (1)

PM Narendra Modi one of best prime ministers India has had: Mufti Muhammad Sayeed
Debate is Parliament's soul: PM Narendra Modi
PM Narendra Modi willing to speak to everyone on GST Bill: Arun Jaitley
Narendra Modi remains a popular Prime Minister with 74% approval rating
The approval of 74% reflects a marginal dip for Modi from 79% in August, and 82% last August...... In May, when his government and he completed a year in office, his approval rating was 74% again..... “There is some level of disillusionment” but expectations “are still high”, said Shastri...... “His persona is projected in multiple ways—he is travelling (around the world), speaking to different audiences… His visibility is high on social media.” ...... The government has agreed to a debate on intolerance in Parliament in a bid to address these concerns and push through its legislative agenda—including a much-awaited bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST), which will unify the Indian market and boost the economy by over a percentage point according to some economists...... The results of the survey show “that Bihar polls are not being viewed as a referendum on Modi or the central government,” said Shastri.
Bihar fastest growing state, Maharashtra tops in economic size: Report
Bihar has emerged as the fastest growing state in terms of gross state domestic product (GSDP), clocking a growth rate of

17.06 per cent

in FY 2014-15, while Maharashtra grew by 11.69 per cent to become the biggest state with Rs 16.87 trillion economy ...... Fastest-growing states are Bihar at 17.06 per cent, Madhya Pradesh at 16.86 per cent and Goa at 16.43 per cent
A contest in 2019 between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi too early to predict?
A week after the Congress and non-NDA parties shared the stage at the swearing-in ceremony of the Grand Alliance government in Bihar, strains have come to the fore. Delhi chief Mminister Arvind Kejriwal distanced himself from the tight hug he got from Rashtriya Janata Dal head Lalu Prasad at the event. ..... The Aam Aadmi Party leader who campaigns against corruption not only blamed Prasad for the embrace but also expressed displeasure at his dynasty politics .... The regional parties that shared the dais at Nitish Kumar's oath-taking ceremony are a disparate group and many of them have the Congress as their main opponent in the state where they are a potent force. ...... Some, such as the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party, or the Trinamool Congress and the Left parties, don't see eye to eye. BSP leader Mayawati made it clear that her party would not attend the November 20 swearing-in event in Patna, ensuring that there is no ambiguity about her party going it alone in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections. The SP backed out at the last moment, although initially, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav was to attend. ...... Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal will never be a part of an alliance that includes the Congress, its primary opponent in Odisha. Patnaik sent a congratulatory letter to Nitish Kumar and kept away from the swearing in. ....... While Nitish may have higher credibility and gravitas than Rahul Gandhi as a challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress would not want the Bihar CM to become the pivot of the opposition alliance.

Arithmetic will outweigh all the credentials that Nitish Kumar enjoys.

..... At most, the Bihar CM can head a Third Front with outside support from the Congress, a scenario the grand old party would not be looking at as it prepares itself to do battle under Gandhi's leadership in 2019.
Modi to blame for Nepal crisis, Madhesi plight: Lalu
Lalu is planning to visit some of the states where elections are due next year. ...... "Just after taking over as the PM, he went to Nepal with much fanfare and even made big claims of strengthening relations with a country that already shared cordial ties with India. China has entered Nepal and he is on world tour," Lalu said. "I am afraid what will happen to our relationship with other countries," he added. ..... Lalu's younger son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had also criticised the PM for frequent foreign tours, saying he only returns to India for dry cleaning his costly suits.
Normalise situation as soon as possible: India to Nepal
Madhesi agitation leads to cross-border weddings falling through
This one thing may decide Yahoo’s future
a proposal to sell the company's core business — the search and advertising sections of the 20-year-old company that have struggled to compete with Google and Facebook. ..... Right now, the company has a total market value of $34 billion. But much of that is because it owns 15 percent of the fast-growing Chinese Web retailer Alibaba. Yahoo's stake is estimated to be worth as much as $32 billion.
LinkedIn Tries to Clear the Clutter With App Update
LinkedIn's new Facebook-like app arrives on iOS and Android
Justin Bieber Posts Throwback Picture With Selena Gomez Because of Course He Did
Why I ditched Spotify for Google Music

Preet Bharara, Eliot Spitzer Parallels

EMBOLDENED BY SILVER CONVICTION, BHARARA TO INDICT CUOMO JAN 2ND

Preet Bharara, no elected official, right now has the ring of an Eliot Spitzer before that dude combusted, or before he ran for Governor. This is interesting. This is some Cowboy Indian. I must not know the process well. When Sheldon Silver was ram shackled Hollywood style, I thought Cuomo was behind it. What do I know!