Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Lazy bureaucrat, or just prejudiced?

Sometime in the late 1800's a British Raj file-pusher took the easy option of branding an entire people, rather than doing some leg work to find cause and effect. Fallout of that is, there's way too many wrongs done against these people. Instead of trying to get into villages, they really should be going elsewhere, and I can't help but think their only redemption lies in the anonymity of the city.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Who'll watch the watchers?

This is a fine example to persuade those who'd have greater government oversight in our everyday lives. The notion of a benevolent government looking after our best interests and protecting us from profit seeking locusts may well be a worthwhile one; but the reality is the government man doing the job is just another fallible human being.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Delegation gone wrong

Something a wise man told me once, you can delegate the work not the responsibility. This case of the Chinese Godfather is a case in point, and also a reminder to recruit carefully.

Not for a minute am I glorifying their lifestyles or modus operandi, but a lesson / parable is almost anywhere.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

This is why i gave up on development economics


I can't believe they gave this 'intellectual giant' a Nobel, but then again these guys also gave Al Gore and Barack Obama one of these medallions each, so its in keeping with trend.

The best motivation is the profit incentive, if the big banks make money out of these projects its more than likely they'll keep at it and lend more. If this was a charity project, i wouldn't count on it lasting too long. I can understand the counter-intuitiveness of this concept being beyond the lay folk, but apparently its out of bounds for Nobel winners too.

Monday, April 05, 2010

Free the slaves

I had trouble accepting the fact that slavery exists in the 21st century. It always seemed like a topic for a history text, not contemporary debate. Its a point made even by Dr. Kevin Bales in his TED talk here. After listening to Siddharth Kara i'd gotten curious about this economic system and realised that there's a whole world out there that most people aren't aware of.

Friday, April 02, 2010

What a waste of life!

The headline on this article is actually quite sensationalist and misleading.


These politically motivated suicides aren't for a separatist cause, they just want their own administrative region within the Indian nation. However, the article does highlight the idiocy of some of these 'martyrs'. The most annoying bit was about Mr. Sunil Kumar, whose family lost their biggest breadwinner. And this after they sacrificed so much to get him in that position. 

Thursday, April 01, 2010

When will they ever learn?

I really like Rule # 2 (though i'd have made it rule #1)

Wannabe regime changers should really have an advisor on historical perspective, since everyone of these guys seem to make the same mistake of raising a beast that turns around and bites the hand that feeds.

Though i'd suppose it to be common sense to not get into a fight you don't need to. A fight that leads to a pyrrhic victory and a blood-letting situation you can't get out of should really be left alone.

Looking at how Af-Pak is turning out, am beginning to appreciate the Indian (lack of) response to terror attacks. Much better to be picking up the pieces and carrying on with your life, than stuck in some wild land for so long your forces/public don't recall the reasons they're putting their lives on the line. Especially when your ostensible allies feel more confident running you down in public.