The bait

Every time a lunatic from some country attacks America, American leaders are calling out for war against that country. Just imagine the strategy a smart enemy can use against this kind of responses. Soon America will have no countries left as friends. In the past and present such baits are planted by third parties in other parts of the world to create chaos. Careful response is required from American leaders in these troubled times.

Mathematicians on Linkedin

I regret the day I decided to join math groups of Linkedin. So much junk in there and I grew up with so much regard for mathematicians.

Bridges

Modern Architecture is limited in funds. Unlike the royal days when a king would build a Taj Mahal with public funds, rich men will not spend so much of their personal money on making fantastic public structures. So architecture is limited to being utilitarian optimizing on spending. And the only hope for fantastic public structures are bridges. Not surprisingly in many countries bridges serve as public attractions.

Dilly dallying

Republicans are wasting time on important issues. Dilly dallying in the hope of doing better in the next elections is not going to do them any good. Its best to get their acts together in these difficult times. The only things Republicans are fine with is winning some Don quixote wars.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen should concentrate on transfer of technology. Some countries have developed good models of limiting pollution. This does not mean China is asked to cut down on number of factories but discuss how the factories can keep pollution at minimum. Or perhaps India is told writing software or solving math problems creates global warming. This is what reading fine print means. On the other hand exchange of technology and having forum that provides help and discussion to keep the world beautiful is always a good thing. In fact developing countries should pay for such transfer of technology not because they are forced to but because they want to.

Copenhagen would have been a greater success if instead of laws and funds, the aspect of how technology could be made more earth friendly was given more focus. The experience of developed countries would have been handy. But Copenhagen was more about rich and poor countries. There are no poor countries. Earth is fascinating and provides plenty for all. There are only poor people. Behind great poverty there is always great exploitation.

Global problems

The best way to handle organized terrorism is to hold governments responsible. Terrorism is an unequal war and can survive only if the government is kind enough not to vanquish the fighters. It is time people who face oppressive regimes or conditions turn to more civilized way to fight for their causes. There will always be conflicts and guerilla fighters but very rarely have guerilla fighters won any wars. The Afghan conflict with Russia was won with American help. On the other hand civilized movements for justice have an unfailing way of winning on their own merit(example movements lead by Gandhi or Martin Luther King).

Ode to the soldier

When you see interviews of soldiers they often say that it is not their call to make decisions but it is their call to perform their duty. I admire these people who will sacrifice life and limb for duty without asking questions. Freedom of speech is not a cheap thing. A lot of people have died with the hope that people might express what they think and can ask questions. Words mean nothing, its actions that speak loud. Saying I care about soldiers and using them without plan or thought is indecent considering that a soldier speaks very less but acts all the time in a country's interest whatever they may be.

A Soldier’s Cemetery

by John William Streets (killed and missing in action on 1 July 1916 aged 31)
Connaught British Military Cemetery, Somme battlefield near Thiepval (copyright www.greatwar.co.uk)

Behind that long and lonely trenched line
To which men come and go, where brave men die,
There is a yet unmarked and unknown shrine,
A broken plot, a soldier’s cemetery.

There lie the flower of youth, the men who scorn’d
To live (so died) when languished Liberty:
Across their graves flowerless and unadorned
Still scream the shells of each artillery.

When war shall cease this lonely unknown spot
Of many a pilgrimage will be the end,
And flowers will shine in this now barren plot
And fame upon it through the years descend:
But many a heart upon each simple cross
Will hang the grief, the memory of its loss.

The climate change urgency

The climate change debate started with worrying about ice melting in Antartica. These are changes man can do little about. Man can do little about natural catastrophes like earthquakes, tsunamis, etc which is why we must understand that the opportunity to exist in this world is a golden one. So many factors have to be right so that man can grow and thrive. But the Copenhagen talks about environmental issues is a good idea. Living in cities is convenient but living among nature is serene and everyone who has taken a vacation in some national forest will vouch for that. You hesitate to return to the city and you feel you are missing something by not always living in such pristine sorroundings. But if you lived too long away from a city, you miss the city too. One is not worried that cities will vanish from the earth but pristine sorroundings can surely do. Its a horrible world where there are no forests but only cities but its okay if there were no cities but only forests. To preserve nature as much as possible must be man's goal so that not only man but animals, birds, butterflies, wild flowers etc. might have that fleeting chance to exist. So cities must be planned with spacing of nature between that so that humans can rest their tired minds and body time and again by escaping to nature. The so called rich nations giving money to poor nations to protect their own forests is tricky. These are deals where you must read the fine print. In hindi they say "lene ke dene pad jayenge" which means "taking can become having to give". Free money always comes with some kind of trouble. Free money given with even the best intentions are not good to accept for the moral health of a nation. Anyways, what is the definition of a poor nation? There are no poor nations but only exploited nations.

Arrest warrants issued in UK are a good idea

Arrest warrants against Israeli war criminals is one of the best diplomatic ideas coming from Palestinians. Since nazis are tried around the globe for their role in world war 2, it is time Israelis face the music too when they abuse human rights. It is diplomatic strategies like these that can finally lead Palestine out of occupation.
The very idea of arrest warrants getting issued in any country against war criminals is a good idea because it is a small world. This way war criminals are under country arrest that is they cannot leave their country. Palestinians must use this strategy more, that is, get other countries friendly to its cause to issue warrants against war criminals. There is a Nazi list, a terrorist list, and so on. Its time for a war criminals list. This is how countries that are wronged seek justice. It is good that every important person that visits Israel has to pay respects to people who died unjustly under Nazis. It is not that Palestinians must copy Israeli people but if palestinians do not truly respect their own people first, no one else will.

The American understanding

Americans have a different understanding of hardships. They think hardships are related to material goods. They look at Afghanistan or people from other parts of the world and think their lives are hard. But there is another truth. The Afghans or people from developing countries (calling these countries third world suddenly is out of fashion) look at the Americans and say they have hard lives. You could very easily do without an ipod but the rich family life that the Afghan children enjoy are not so pervasive in the US. Priorities are different for different cultures and that is what shows up when you meet a new culture. A long way to go before people truly understand each other without prejudice so that the human race can benefit by meeting each other.

Dialogue

The Iran's president while talking to an international audience invokes religious texts. The trend is so pervasive among muslim leaders that the US president Obama on his first visit to the middle east had to quote from religious texts. Yes all of us are who we are because of our backgrounds and religion plays a big part in it for most of us. But while communicating to a worldwide audience he needs to connect and he talks about things important to him that many people do not know anything about. He could well have been talking at home. So in dialogue connecting is important else you lose audience. Imagine if non muslim leaders around the globe talked about their religion every time they talked, it would feel strange. Muslim leaders have to play catch up in communicating.

Health care reform

If the politicians at Washington think people do not want health care reform and happy with the things as they are they are living in another world. There are some serious problems with how people can pay for health care. But it is all about good people who want to pay and not people who are all taken care of by tax money. Its amusing to hear a senator saying that health care reform can be passed if a few things are removed from the bill like the public option or buy in to medicare option. Then what are we reforming? May be he wants more art in hospital buildings. Who knows?

Three countries

Three countries that will change world eco-politics are India, Iran, and China. The Chinese people are not free and so perhaps will make less difference than the other two. Though by becoming the worlds manufacturing hub they will be in the limelight for some time. Manufacturing is a difficult job and China will not be able to provide the kind of service it does at this price forever. In history Chinese people have never tasted real freedom. The people of Europe have fought and earned their freedom and it is now in the fabric of their culture. Indians have a free press and have been free since they declared independence from Britain. Iranians are getting there too. It is the young that bring about changes. Even though Chinese students tried to bring more freedom to their country they failed. If China truly wants to become a super power then it has to focus attention on what they need as a country and people instead of becoming a service nation for the world. Because you can only go so far serving others.
When a nation's people are not free all progress recorded are a progress of a few (and ironically the few free people).

The war on the young

The many jails and rules fail to protect the young in advanced countries. In California you cannot barbecue in your apartment porch because its a fire hazard but drugs are available to the young everywhere. Effects of cigarettes are more talked about than drugs. The link of drugs to committing crime is quite a strong one and not explored much in the media or education. Berlusconi the Italian PM got smacked on his face by a youth and that is a sign of the young rejecting a flamboyant PM. They want a respectable leader at the top so that their girlfriends and wives will trust them and they can have a chance at real marital happiness which was so easy during Berlusconi's youth.

The stupid scheme of Climate change

Climate change is among the stupid schemes of the leaders of the rich countries of making fast money. Combating terrorism from oil rich countries is one too. No one is interested in combating terrorism in advanced countries or real poor countries. India and China are not taking short cuts to advance. The young people in those countries are ready to work hard to make the money they do. It is not that the young people in advanced countries are not ready to work hard but their leaders have lost confidence in the ability of the young and so are trying to assure a golden future by making fools of themselves by coming up with stupid schemes every day. Its a changed world and the countries that will take the top places are the ones that respect hard work and dignity of other human beings and countries. India and China has a long way to go in terms of human rights but compared to many advanced countries they are already ahead. It is best for developing countries with regards to climate change to follow by example. Tell the developed countries "lead the way, show us" instead of "come fine us if we do not do what you want". Remember developed nations have a way of twisting every global organization to their advantage.

Climate change

The entire aim of climate change debate is to sell certificates to pollute. Now you pollute for free, later you pollute by paying money to some rich country or a bunch of rich countries. Everyone must work towards keeping this earth beautiful. National parks and lands untouched by humanity offer sights that make us all want to do our bit. But making free money from such a noble desire is pathetic.

Academics

In the world of academics there is little discrimination. Across borders and cultures people communicate and connect in classrooms. There are some inefficient people who seek mileage because they hate working hard and are trying to change the classroom environment by bringing in social politics in to the classroom. Its disgusting and a recent phenomenon.

Jittery India

China takes aggressive stands against India and Indians do not know how to react. BJP asks whether America will come to the rescue if China encroaches on Arunachal Pradesh. I would say no. Why should they? India is on her own to fight her battles and she will provide a tough one to China. The secret is both India and China has nothing to gain by fighting each other. But China's aggressive stand raises many questions and India is better prepared than sorry. Sometimes its best to meet aggression head on than evasion. Ask for Diplomatic clarification from China about the speeches on Arunachal Pradesh and announce what the counter plan of India's will be. India expecting friendship from China is naive and India has already faced consequences in the 1962 war. No we do not want Hindi-China bhai bhai again.

Divisions

India should never have been divided in to states on the basis of language. The problems arising from this division is increasing day by day.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is important to the Jewish people but it is also important to Christians and muslims. Religious importance alone do not give Israel the right to occupy all of Jerusalem. Just like the Arabs cannot wish Israel away, Israel cannot wish Palestinians away. It is shameful to support such a move. If Jerusalem really is the promised land of the Jewish people why is there so much strife and blood shed? In other religions lands where prophets, saints, or gods are born become important and reason to fight. If the United Nations took an active part in stopping Hamas from sending rockets to Israel, it is only fair that this institution stop Israeli settlements. Palestine's borders are sealed on the Egypt side and encroached upon from the Israeli side. Palestine is subject to Israeli bombings of the kind we saw in December 2008. I do not know about the world but I for one find it very distasteful.

The parallel world of Woods

Tiger Woods is now a marked man. But one wonders about this legal parallel nocturnal world that Woods frequented. No one paid attention to it till his car crashed. Marriage is a tricky situation. Now that he is black sheep for family ads he can do the night spot ads for Las Vegas. He makes a compelling case for such ads. An honest to good family man is comforting like apple pie. A night club visiting swinger is good for something like James Bond movies. I suppose it is fair enough if people brand themselves as types: Family person at this point of time, Family person forever, Not a family person, Temporary break from family life, etc. Public lynching of Tiger Woods for infidelity is weird in this era. Its bad enough he loses his wife and family. Nothing warrants that he lose his golfing career or honors related to golf. There are no connections to matters of golf and matters of family. In fact a lot of talented people have pathetic family lives in history. Expecting sports people to have a sparkling family life is unrealistic. Its not elections for there is no public appeasement involved on basis of personality but more so on basis of talent. At least we hope so.

Outcasts

The Taliban we remember fought with Americans against Russians. And so America had left behind a "trained armed force" namely the Taliban in Afghanistan not so long ago. And now America is going to leave another trained army behind after killing a lot of Taliban they had spend resources training. Its all a little confusing which "trained armed forces" work better for Americans. I guess Americans like messing up with armed forces of other countries.

The bloody religious wars

The purpose of religion is to teach people how to live their lives well. But in history the dirtiest wars fought are the religious wars. Religion never focuses on how to bring about death but cherishes life I would think. The religious leaders have failed miserably. Some advanced religions respect lives of plants and animals but most major religions respect human life. It is supposed to be of the highest order. But everywhere people die in the name of religion. This is because people who propagate crimes in name of religion feel righteous because they think that they are doing the work of god. Its best if the reasons of greed and mean mindedness are cited than religion. Intolerance comes from insecurity. The idea is to get a gang to look down on a concept that threatens you personally and hence feel stronger.

Who will bell the cat?

Women's rights are violated and its widely talked about. Children's rights are violated and not many people are making that a talking point. This is because women do have a voice in society as grown ups. That women can get the mike many a times. But the problem of women's rights abuse and children's rights abuse comes from the same reason namely financial. Who will provide for these two? A lot of grown women coming from affluent families get married and when they face abuse no one wants them back. It is too much to expect old parents to bear the financial burden of supporting a grown woman. The same as a child either has an abusive home or a foster home or an orphanage. One is not better than the other. And how about really talented and educated women getting abused? The job market is less kind to women than men assuming that men support families. Its a sham considering that so many homes across America are single parent homes meaning only mother as parent homes. Chivalry makes you respect these women more than women who compete in the science or political arena for they truly carry the burden of the well being of society on their tender shoulders. Women have hope to escape abuse by gaining financial freedom but to truly respect children's right the society has a long way to go.

Abortion

Sometimes abortion is necessary. These are issues related to women's health that a doctor understands and decides and politicians and priests must keep out of. Abortion is not a good thing and should not be indulged in indiscriminately but sometimes its necessary socially too. Its better to not bring a child to the world without preparing a good home for it first. Its best to focus and solve the problems of why such a home is not possible for those children who some women are thinking of aborting rather than abortion itself. Children's rights are abused in the world more than any other human right for there are few who will talk for them. The priests and politicians will pay attention only after they become eligible to vote or pay.

What America means

America meant a land where people who were religiously or politically persecuted could come and forget their troubles. A lot of people have come to this land to start life afresh, work hard, and succeed. Lets keep it like that.

A return to creativity

Americans must return to their creativity. Huge corporations leave very little room for creativity. At one point of time huge corporations provided job security but even that is becoming history. Americans must become ready to support American creativity at a slightly higher cost so that American creativity can survive. This does not mean deriding things better than what one can produce but producing things better than what every one else does. Healthy competition is when the competitors are besting the other instead of destroying each other.

Women of Afghanistan

The women of Afghanistan have opinions and that brings hope to the land. No matter how far women's rights have come today very few women in the world form any strong opinions. The loudest voices among women are mostly repetitions of someone else's ideas. It may be because women in general are forced to tolerate a lot of nonsense that men propagate.