dont know why do i have to say this?

It is quite satisfying to be 'getting work done' unfortuately it does have an opportunity cost and is quite exhausting. I have surrendered myself to talking and behaving like a zombie. I have got a weird body shape, turned blind, dream about stuff I should be working on, think about things that are a distraction - to get a break. Coffee is not helping much (i am still yawning) the deadline is relentless.

Oh well!!

Dictionary being useful

For more on the word see here

30 days in Feb

Dont you think Feburary should have 30 days?

look here and here

Equal to what?

On differences ,

Vani K Borooah and John Mangan wrote a paper on 'how much bigotry is there in western countries' (find pdf)

And I am sure I have read someone else say this before, but none the less it is quite an accurate analysis by Hawkeye

It is self-worth ladies and gentlemen. The inalienable weakness of human beings to crave for self-worth. A primitive want - to feel that they are better than somebody else. The somebody-else could be anybody. You needn't have met them. It could be black people, white people, people who don't dress very well, telegu heroes who wear yellow shirts, H1B parties, people who do arranged-marriages, Bengalis, north Indians who do not speak English very well, south Indians who don't speak Hindi very well, cigarette smokers, people who are religious, atheists, suspect atheists, people who live in joint families - anybody. You are so desperate to find that one stereotype who will make you feel better than what you actually are.

The good ol' paradigm

I watched ABC last night, and first we had a discussion on citizenship tests, and then we had a discussion about troops in Iraq. In both cases, I realised whatever be the kind of solution offered, there was some kind of I and some kind of them and 'never the twain shall meet'. All in all, I found the discussions very frustrating, because once we have reached that kind of crystallised version of 'us' and 'them' - we start hypothesising. So, the discussion goes on like - "if we do this they will do that" and that sits like an assumption, for each and every speaker. Good Lord! I really would like to know how do you know that. You see, we have put 'us' in a box 'them' in another box, and all of us know how boxes work, right? No. The problem is that these assumptions are not right. They cannot be right. If they were right, then the solution based on these assumptions would work - which they never do.

Our paradigm to look at the world and our idea of an ideal world is flawed. Justice and equality as we have come to understand them, do not seem to be working. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of justice and equality, but just like a physicist cannot start his experiment assuming that there is no gravity - we cannot just go on assuming things that are just not happening. We need to understand how the world works and only then can we make any change in the world for the positive. We need a new paradigm, I don't know what and how of it. I dont know how it will be available on the news and in the media - but hey, some people are already working on 'A Project for a New Mythology'.

ps: oh this last stanza has so much scope to be misunderstood, I so hope no one decides to do that.

Go Ahead

READ this

Yes, the famous speeches links are coming soon. I just need to figure out how, and then find the time.
Radio National's First Person is carrying them as 'audio on demand'. 'Audio on demand' is typically on for only 2 weeks after they have been presented on radio.

Radio National's Poll

Radio National has compiled a list of speeches to stir your memory. You can choose one of these, or vote for any other public speech you feel passionate about.

I intend to vote. These pages will carry all the nominated speeches, if possible. Please drop a message and let me know if there is some outstanding speech that should be added. (Doesn't this series of post go well with the title of the blog?)

Seriously, a stone wont make you happier

so why wear it? wouldnt going for the stuff made in cottage industry make a lot more sense?

Diamonds from non-conflict industry are also harming people. Tho some people would like us to believe other ways.