Paul Krugman and clarity

Paul Krugman won Nobel memorial prize for economics in 2009; yet his level headed columns generate exuberant sense and clarity not commonly seen in human species. His latest column in the New York Times "The Bankruptcy Boys" is another masterpiece that brings back from myth spread by doyens of capitalism ranging from Alan Greenspan to minutest of the capitalist cronies from any murky trading street. Nevertheless, the intrigue of unexplained roaring back of such ugly forces into the helm of affairs time and again remains to be explained unless it is attributed to some divinity. But divinity cannot be fathomed to be unjust else that can be furthered as an argument of inequality being law of nature maintained by divinity itself. I think I need to come back to this issue after I have cleared my thoughts!!

The 'My Name is Khan' emperor is naked

No sooner had I finished watching movie My name is Khan than my mind started buzzing with the phrase 'The emperor is naked' and it took me more than usual to figure out that the phrase is appropriate for the movie itself. Let me come straight to the point, the movie is banal, it is intellectually bankrupt, it is ill conceived, the acting is mediocre at its best and it is grossly over-rated. The film-makers have been ingenious in using Shiv-sena for generating publicity otherwise even gods could not have saved it and certainly they would never watch it but they certainly must be wondering at all around eulogies of mediocrity and ignorance and would never even deign to be proud of it. Seeing SRK in the guise of a so-called Aspergers syndrome patient reminded me of a quip by the Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid on his meeting with mostly maimed Afghan cabinet during Taliban regime one didn't know whether to cry or laugh or both. On a lighter note, my guess is SRK already developed the syndrome in the film Veer-Zara and it went unnoticed; a timely treatment at that time would have spared the film viewers from the agony of a fraudulent MNIK. The film-makers didn't show the the 'rikshah' in which man with the Aspergers syndrome reached flood infested region, which seemed to be more like 24-pargana district of West Bengal than a US state beyond reach of US federal government and only a sick man could reach. Had film makers confined themselves to the topic of Aspergers syndrome, the result would still have been plausible but to use it as a champion for rehabilitation and projection of moderate Muslims has ended in a complete farce. A single dialogue from Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Ishqiya' would demolish entire edifice of MNIK. I hope idiots don't start talk about Oscars for it. Kajol might learn something about acting from Vidya Balan's performance in Ishqiya and SRK can do same from Naseerudin Shah or Arshad Warsi. SRK should limit himself to playing idiotic Raj and anything more would be sacrilege. The rave reviews for MNIK in Indian press tells a lot about the idiots who freely masquerade as critics.

On Civil Society: Why Eastern Europe's Revolutions Could Succeed | Foreign Affairs

On Civil Society: Why Eastern Europe's Revolutions Could Succeed Foreign Affairs

Sorry state of Indian affairs

First I thought that the recent happenings vis-a-vis so called IPL cricket circus and increased decibel levels by the thugs who christen themselves as shiv-sena does not deserve any comment. But the way those brazen and shameless ruffians and their leaders keep on issuing their diktats and sadly the mute catapulting of powers to be leaves me wondering the direction in which the Indian state is heading. Forebodings are ominous. To start with a shameless brazen spectacle like IPL cricket circus in itself is a display of crass decadence into which the Indian society has descended. Such brazen display of wealth that too in a country where half of the population is still struggling below the threshold of poverty should not have been there. Those who don't see the Maoist movement on the wall will probably rue it but only when it is too late. Whatever those travails nevertheless process in itself had, until now, the aura of trans nationalism with cricketers from all prominent countries taking part. But then suddenly for some mysterious reasons all the franchise holders ignored players from Pakistan. It all seem to be carefully hatched and premeditated plan executed again most likely under the diktats of thuggish organizations. The move itself was poor in taste and smacked of typical Indian short-sightedness and there is no dearth of such exemplary Indian fool-hardiness. However, what was more disturbing was the way thugs belonging to Shiv-Sena started reacting to anybody questioning exclusion of Pakistani players. The thugs didn't realize and I am sure they will never, because they are so muddled and thick headed, that they provided the quantum of publicity to Shahrukh Khan before release of his movie that neither he himself nor Karan Johar would have ever dreamed off. Otherwise, somebody could have asked Shahrukh Khan, why he or his franchise did not bid for any Pakistani player for the team he owns. But that is not the issue; the issue is how can a thug like Thackeray of Shiv-Sena dictate who should play or not or more important who should be allowed to live in a particular part of the country. It is pathetic nobody ever thinks about MF Hussain who has been forced into exile and no government body or no so called secular NGO ever made that an issue. How are the thugs allowed to hold entire country to ransom while parties perpetrating them do not even manage to win elections? How does the nation that claims to be fountainhead of tolerance and inclusiveness explain the dominance of parochialism and schism perpetrated by disgruntled groups that brings the society to its knees? Why not even a single voice tells those thugs unequivocally to shut up? And which lanes were shiv-sainiks hiding when Bombay was being attacked and now they have come out to decide who plays cricket and which movies will run in cinemas. As Bill Clinton said that one remarkable truth about Republicans is they absolutely have no shame, which is aptly true for saffron thugs and their masters. The present day scenario where every single measure is measured in terms of money instead of originality and creativity has created a nation where accountancy and business takes over precedence over science and research is in no uncertain measures a causal factor. It started with advent of Janata conglomeration into power in late seveties that gave communal forces chance to infiletrate into almost every level of organisational structures and simultaneous dosing of public with religeous opimium in the form epic serials on television.