2008-03-12T17:04:03-05:00

A first-term Democrat, built his political reputation on rooting out government corruption, and made a name for himself as attorney general as crusader against shady practices and overly generous compensation. He also cracked down on prostitution. He was known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street." Time magazine named him "Crusader of the Year," and the tabloids proclaimed him "Eliot Ness." The square-jawed graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law was sometimes mentioned as a potential candidate for president. This is the profile of a guy who has just resigned after being exposed of a sex scandal where he was involved with a prostitution ring. Gov. Elliot Spitzer from New York. He was moving money around and managing a prostitution ring. His bank got suspicious when it looked at numerous transfers going on between accounts and thought that he was probably hiding some bribe money. They alerted FBI. Only after enough investigation, FBI came to know that the payments being made to a fake company called QAT - really the prostitution ring - were being funneled elsewhere. He had been prosecuting New York's high and mighty in financial cases and is now going to be tried for structuring. Structuring involves creating a series of financial movements designed to obscure the true purpose of the payments. Now, the prosecutors have a solid case based on wiretaps and phone conversations. Rather stupid to have been doing all this in a way that it could be traced like this. And bizarre thing is that he had some advice that he could have done well to ruminate himself - if this is the life he wanted to live! "Never talk when you can nod, and never nod when you can wink, and never write an e-mail because it's death. You're giving prosecutors all the evidence we need," is what he said in an interview 2 years back with ABC News, then an Attorney General! Sex, Prostitution and human hypocrisy of 10,000 years Prostitution, it is said, is the oldest profession. It is fueled by an overwhelming physical needs of men and women to satisfy their urges when they cannot get the means in a "legitimate" manner. So they use influence and money to get it. It has been talked in hushed tones, has been termed illegal, cloaked in immorality, and against good etc. Yet, it flourishes and goes on almost unchecked in every society and country. Not one place on Earth is free from illegitimate sex - prostitution or otherwise. In our 10,000 years of existence, this has to be the most hypocritical area of human morality that may exist! I am amazed when we all know that this demand-supply market is inevitably interlinked with human existence, why does the world keep on pretending?? Read more

2008-03-12T04:37:12-05:00

There is no way to the other shore. There is no action, no behaviour, no prescription that will open the door to the other. It is not an evolutionary process; it is not the end of a discipline; it cannot be bought or given or invited. If this is clear, if the mind has forgotten itself and no longer says – the other bank or this bank – if the mind has stopped groping and searching, if there is total emptiness and space in the mind itself – then and only then is it there. Read more

2008-03-11T21:05:11-05:00

Sent by my friend, Girish. The picture says it all! It shows a few youngsters from the new look Indian cricket team... Read more

2008-03-11T15:41:49-05:00

Which is a better eCommerce option? - Drupal + Uber Cart - osCommerce - Magento Magento is a (pardon my lingo) kick-ass ecommerce package. It has so many functionalities that its amazing. It is still evolving though. Some people, though, have a need to combine a CMS with a cart - so the obvious choice with Magento is Drupal. Although there is some discussion on integration of Magento with Drupal, it is still considered to be tough. Uber Cart, meanwhile is easily integrated. Read more

2008-03-11T15:05:35-05:00

Lately, I have been doing some tweaks to Drishtikone which may not have been apparent. Drupal follows a file system that where the nodes, pages, blocks etc follow a certain hierarchy and priority. Since I will be using this information, I wanted to lay it down in one place for future use: For pages: page-node-edit.tpl.php page-node-1.tpl.php page-node.tpl.php page.tpl.php Example: Your home page. page-front.tpl.php page.tpl.php Tracker page: page-tracker.tpl.php page.tpl.php Read more

2008-03-11T03:23:31-05:00

Now, Asif Zardari of Pakistan Peoples Party is suddenly interested in becoming the Prime Minister after having pushed Makhdoom Amin Fahim's name. Rift within PPP? Meanwhile, was something wrong with Fahim? Read this comment from Syed Jamaluddin on my blog post at desicritics: According to reliable reports received by "divide pakistan team", saudi government has instructed president pervez musharraf not to have a shia prime minister of pakistan. Read more

2008-03-09T17:50:03-05:00

"We believe it is possible to make intelligent, thoughtful and even provocative public comment without descending to personal abuse." Is what the Chief Executive of Cricket Australia (CA) says in a letter to the BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India) on remarks by Harbhajan Singh when he called Hayden a liar and said Gilchrist was "no saint". REALLY, Mr Sutherland? Isn't Hayden the same guy who called Harbhajan an "Obnoxious little weed" and a "Mad Boy"?? (The Age . Times of India) Liar vs Weed? Is there a comparison? And seriously, if you cannot take what you give in the neighborhood where you were the original bullies (and continue to be so), then just export some bangles from India, go home and play some video games! It will do you all Aussies some collective good! You are sissiest bunch of wannabe bullies I have seen in my life! You can't win in cricket without cheating anymore.. at least be honorable bullies, will you?? Read more

2008-03-09T12:47:25-05:00

You cannot discuss and solve a relational issue if there is no relation at all or one that is at best acromonious. I have long believed that the issue between India and Pakistan is not Kashmir. But trust. And comfort and being together. India surely does not want Pakistan to go into chaos. But India still harbours the burns of the decades of cross border terrorism. To be fair - despite its own master-slave mentality to Bengalis - Pakistanis still point to India as the villain of Bangladesh split. The seeds that Zia ul Haq had sowed are blossoming now in his own country. He had used fanatical religious mentality to create "strategic depth" against India. The depth became so deep that the big hole started devouring Pakistan itself! Last few months have been the most depressing in Pakistan's short life span. There seemed no hope. Political opportunism writ large and strong as mathematical alignments were being worked out. In such an atmosphere, you would expect every politican to be opportunistic and short term oriented. That was what I expected. So, reading this article by Karan Thappar on Asif Zardari was a like a whiff of fresh air. Like I said, Kashmir is NOT the issue. Trust is. Trust cannot be brought about by "saying" or speaking about it. It is brought about by years of engagement. Just as years of disengagement helps in losing trust. Never has Pakistani leadership thought on those lines. Until I read this piece. Zardari has a different - and I believe - the correct way to look at things! When I asked about Kashmir and the role it has played separating India and Pakistan, Asif, in a simple heartfelt reply, reversed Pakistan’s stand. Let’s put Kashmir aside for a wiser generation to sort out, he said. Read more

2008-03-07T20:13:16-06:00

One of the things that you should never do after you come out of a dark well where you were holed up with several others of your friends is to close the lid! But that is exactly what this idiot who got released by Pakistan did. Kashmir Singh was a police constable who strayed into Pakistan and was caught in 1973. For roughly 35 years he rotted in those jails (as many do as well). And after that he gets released and is back with fan fare. He never admitted to any spying to anyone. So, what does he do on his landing in India? He admits he was spying! Now, he was freed by personal intervention of the Pakistani Human Rights minister. He personally invested in it. It is easy to see that there would have been ground swell against that action. Yet, Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney put in his weight to get Singh out. If I was him I would be pissed and let down. Can you see how Singh's one remark has tied Burney's hands from future intervention. Anyone from opposition (and they dont need to be right or wrong in their claim) can get up and say that this bloke is busy freeing Pakistan's enemies and those who spied on their home. 1973 was a charged time. Bangladesh was created and India and Pakistan were at it. No one will remember that fact. All they will remember is that Kashmir Singh was a spy and we let him off. Read more

2008-03-07T16:22:28-06:00

Look at how things change. roughly 400 years back the British first put a foot on the Indian soil. By 1900, they were clearly in charge of the country. Then in 1947 they left bruised by the WWII and could no longer handle the already bankrupted colony. Then it was to be a long period - our lifetimes - of poverty and just looking up to the colonial masters. But things change, they say. And they are. There are clear indications that the power is shifting Eastwards again! The signs are there and as the power shifts, the British are again looking at being in the vantage position. So want to shift their diplomats to move more to Asia. This may be a euphemism for more interference potential. The power struggle is a covert thing. Its nature is in shift. This shift in history that we are all witnessing is very unique. It is not happening on the back of a military take-over but on the basis of hard work under the worst of conditions. Look at the workers in Chinese factories. They work for hours on end without much on their back or stomach. Look at the many kids in India who work hard, without much help, to be better educated so they could compete. Small kids from small towns work hard against all odds, so they can compete with an American brought up in all privileges. It is not easy for those in Asia to compete. But compete they must. A new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers says that India's economy would grow to 90 per cent of the United States by 2050, with China being the biggest. Growth rate wise, the Chinese growth rate would fall to 4.5% in 2050 from 6.8% in 2007, while India's will fall to 5.8% in 2050 from the current 8.5%. The latest billionaires list shows those signs already. This year India had four out of top 10 billionaires (#4, 5, 6, & 8) in the world. Many others are knocking on the doors. That is a big jump for any new-kid-on-the-block country! Strangely, China doesnt see so many private achievers in the top slot. My argument obviously is that this is because of its Government-led enterprise as opposed to private initiative. We may not be when the new world comes through in Asia, but it will. The pendulum has started its eastwards journey. Read more

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