I have seen this in USA and now after returning to India have seen the same trend here, where the emergence of 24 hr news channels has created fear and paranoia among the public. Whether it be swine flu, terrorism or the most recent example of the blow up of the conspiracy theory regarding YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s murder.

In USA, the mainstream news channels do not question the government and are all controlled by corporations. These corporations manipulate the news and only show what is needed. It was evident in the way the government controlled all the news media and created a hysteria using lies to attack Iraq. Now they have found their latest fear topic “Yemen” after the december 25th failed terrorist attack. You may laugh at it but to see real news you have to watch comedy central’s The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They use comedy as a guise to tell the truth.

In India, the news was fairly independent till the 90′s. But with capitalism taking root, more and more 24 hr news channels are being opened by corporations and politicians to spread their opinion and control the public opinion. All the newspapers are aligned with one political party or the other and show news through their views and not with an independent non-partisan view.

During the recent swine flu outbreak, everyday the newspapers and news channels will show images of people wearing masks and use sensational headlines that people are living in fear. Out of the 3 months of that news, I saw may be one person wearing mask in public and used to wonder where do these people get these images from, do they stage manage them?

The general public needs to understand this and stop watching news channels which spread lies and hatred.

Share on Facebook

What does the mysterious helicopter crash that killed one of India’s most popular politicians have to do with White House economic czar Larry Summers? Read on…

First, the crash: one of India’s most popular politicians, who heads the state of Andhra Pradesh, just died in a mysterious helicopter crash. What’s eerie is that the dead politician recently went public attacking India’s most powerful oligarch family, the Ambanis, threatening to take away their giant offshore gas concessions. Meanwhile the Ambani brothers, Mukesh (the world’s 7th richest man) and Anil (the world’s 34 richest) are battling each other in a blood feud that’s taking the whole country down with them–that’s not a hornet’s nest you’d want to stick your fingers into, even if you’re the governor of a huge Indian province. The Ambani brothers’ feud peaked in May when Anil’s helicopter was found to have been sabotaged just before takeoff . Anil strongly hinted he suspected Mukesh, but no one will ever know who did it, because the mechanic who discovered the dirt and gravel in Anil Ambani’s helicopter gear box was hit by a train two days later in what was initially ruled as a “suicide,” but which later was ruled murder.

So why would an Ambani have anything to do with the mysterious helicopter crash of Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy? Just speculatin’ on a hypothesis, as the police chief says in Miller’s Crossing, and here’s why:

Just over a month ago, as the Ambani brothers’ insane internecine war over offshore gas deposits dragged on with no end in sight, Reddy publicly demanded that his state, Andhra Pradesh, take a share of the gas deposits for itself:

Even as the two Ambani brothers are locked in a legal battle over supply and price of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin, the Andhra Pradesh government has sought its “due share” of the hydrocarbon asset.

He even attacked the brothers’ mother, who brokered the deal dividing up India’s gas between her feuding sons:

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Sunday said that the settlement of the gas dispute between the Ambani brothers could not be left to their mother Kokilaben and the Centre must play a decisive role, for which he has written to the Prime Minister.

“The dispute over sharing of gas is not an issue to be settled by (the) mother (Kokilaben). It is for the government to decide who should get the gas and also at what price,” Reddy said on the sidelines of a function here.

Ah, Y.S., you shouldn’ta attacked their mother. Next thing you know…Reddy’s deady.

Oh, and by the way, don’t forget this one little fun-fact: Larry Summers, the guy appointed by Obama to run America’s economy, worked for Mukesh Ambani right up until he took his White House job. We’re in good hands, folks.

Mark Ames is the author of Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion from Reagan’s Workplaces to Clinton’s Columbine.

Share on Facebook

Most of the people who do daily labor in India are some of the laziest people. They completely lack any work ethic. All they care about is if they got the money to feed themselves for that day. They will not do any additional work even if it means extra pay. And most would just look for any opportunity to not work like bandhs (even if it does not affect their work) and even festivals of other religions. Whereas most of us in the middle class would look for every opportunity to make extra money and jump at a chance to work overtime so we can save for future expenses.

Some daily laborers send their kids to schools by working hard in the hope of a better future for their kids. But most of the rest do not care about their kids future, the general mentality is why should I care for my kids when my parents did not do anything for me.

The government, NGO’s and private companies are providing support,but unless a person has a desire to improve his and in turn his families lives there is nothing anybody can do. India and Indians have a long way to go before we eliminate poverty.

Share on Facebook

The night of Dec 3rd 1984 changed the fate of nearly 500,000 people and the face of Bhopal industrial scenario. They are still hoping and waiting for things to get better. Hazardous gas Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the pesticide plant of Union Carbide Company (UCC) killing thousands and leaving tens of thousands handicapped. That tragedy still haunts the people of Bhopal as the leak has contaminated the ground water. The chemical has made the water toxic for drinking to date and as a result there are a high percentage of children born with birth defects that stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Reasons for the accident are controversial to date, the stories of the workers of the plant and the management vary about what happened in the plant that night. Safety regulations were clearly violated. The location of the plant near densely populated area and lack of any disaster management in place made the situation worse. Lack of knowledge about the poisonous gas and the ways to deal with the exposure made it impossible for the government of India and Madhya Pradesh to deal with a disaster that affected so many lives. And the way the government chose to
investigate the incident raises many questions as they was very discreet about the information released and nothing was ever clearly disclosed about the findings of the investigation until the year 2003. Though the company involved UCC has accepted to pay the penalty for civil and criminal responsibility in the form of 470 million dollars as compensation to the victims, to date it has not disclosed the chemical composition of MIC, making it difficult to find a permanent solution to treat the drinking water.

It has been 25 years since the fatal accident and still everyday there is a new victim waiting for help thanks to the toxic water, but hope is still alive that someday this case file will be closed completely and justifiably. Every time there is a large scale tragedy be it Bhopal gas leak or any other natural disaster or terrorist attack of 26/11 in India, we fail time and again to respond in an effective way due to the lack of proper disaster management systems in place which could save many lives lost in vain. No proper measures seem to have ever been taken by authorities to implement a proper response system and conveniently this issue is forgotten once news
channels and newspapers stop reporting about the incident. Bhopal gas leak is a classic case to understand what happens in the absence of effective response system, proper implementation of safety regulations could have prevented this situation but we cannot stop natural disasters to happen though with proper planning we can save the lives of hundreds that would be affected. I think one way to give justice to the victims is to address the issue of proper disaster responsive system. It should be in place before something happens so that we will be well equipped to deal with the difficult situations and natural disasters.

Share on Facebook

States should be just administrative areas and nothing more. May be we should have started with small states in the beginning itself instead of diving them on linguistic basis, but once formed no one should be allowed to break them into pieces as this creates disunity among Indians. People start forgetting that they are Indians first and will fight with other Indians on these petty issues.  If some parts of a state are backward in comparison to other, then these politicians instead of asking for a separate state should first of all find the cause of the problem and then try to solve it.

For thousands of years people have been migrating to places where they have an opportunity to improve their and their family’s lives. Stopping that is not possible, whether it be for MNS, TRS or ULFA and many more such organizations. Immigrants, settlers or non-locals, whatever you may call them by bring new ideas, innovations, culture and development with them. Without human migrations a civilization becomes stagnant and then rots very quickly causing its destruction. Instead of arguing that a non-local has taken a job away from a local, why not look at the fact that these non-locals use local services, spend their money locally and in turn create more jobs which will help many more locals find employment.

All these dramas and agitations by these parties are nothing but to grab power so they can swindle public money and make their families and relatives rich at the expense of the very locals who ignorantly support them.

Share on Facebook

One should see the Pakistan media discussions on this issue, it is mind boggling and sometimes funny how they talk as if this is all true. Do they even live in realty. Pakistan along with US have created, funded, armed and trained Taliban. Maybe they should see the movie Frankenstein to know what happens in the end if you create a monster. If and when India does decide to destabilize Pakistan, it would not even take a couple of years with the right strategy.

Don’t think the Indian politicians or the RAW have the brains or the willingness to destabilize Pakistan and brake it into smaller independent countries. The all powerful Indian intelligence agency RAW only exists in the imagination of Pakistanis. It is an agency that is incompetent and it could not predict the Kargil war, attack on Parliament, attack on Mumbai…just to name a few. Is India involved in Balochistan to give the oppressed people independence from Pakistan, I WISH.

The Pakistanis are giving more publicity for the issue of the freedom of Balochistan in the world and in the end might cause it to break away just like Bangladesh. Who even heard of people fighting for freedom in Balochistan a year ago or even knew a province with that name existed.

On a different note, while watching Pakistani media discussions on YouTube I saw the comedic and paranoid defence analyst of Pakistan media, Zaid Hamid saying in an interview that he is for the unification of India and Pakistan if the new country is called Pakistan. Maybe 10 years back the talk of unification of India and Pakistan would have been acceptable (if it was called India). But not after the attack on India’s parliament, the heart of our democracy. Who in their right senses would want to unite India which will be the world’s 3rd biggest ecocnomy in a few decades with Pakistan that is begging for economic aid from America and Europe.

Share on Facebook

I understand the three hikers may most probably be innocent and crossed into Iran by accident. But let me ask just one question. If three Iranian hikers were hiking in the Canadian Rockies. If they cross the border and enter US by mistake. And they are captured by Americans. What will happen to them?

They will be taken to Guantanamo and detained as enemy combatants. They would never get a fair trial, will be tortured (or should I say questioned using Enhanced Interrogation techniques) and detained for ever. They will not be allowed visits by anyone. And all of this will be acceptable to the western media.

Share on Facebook

250 gms all purpose flour

1 cup Water

Pinch of chilli powder

500 gms potatoes

100 gms green peas

2 onions chopped

6 green chillies chopped

1 bunch cilantro (coriander) washed and chopped

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp coriander seeds (dhaniya) powder

Pinch of turmeric

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

To make the filling

Boil the potatoes and mash them (not too soft)

Take a sauce pan add a tbsp of oil

Once the oil is hot add chopped onions and green chilies

Fry the onions till golden brown and add ginger garlic paste and a pinch of turmeric

After a min add green peas and potatoes previously mashed.mix them well

Add lemon juice, dhaniya powder and salt. Mix it well and let it cook for 10 min on low flame

Garnish it with cilantro.

To make Samosa

Take the flour in a bowl, heat 3 tbsp oil add it with salt to the flour

And kneed the mixture into dough by adding  water gradually and set it aside for 30 min.

Now divide the dough into 10 equal parts, make them into round flat balls

Roll each ball into a chapatti (medium thick) then cut it into 2 equal semi circles.

Fold the semi circle into half and seal one side with water making a triangle pocket

Now stuff it with filling and seal the other side with water again.

Keep the oil ready for frying in a wok

Fry the samosas in oil on medium flame till they are golden brown.make sure the side are sealed properly before putting the samosas in oil

Hot tasty home made samosas are ready to serve.green chuney complements samosas very well

Share on Facebook

I am not going to say India will defeat China or China will defeat India. It will all be decided by the terrain the war is fought in, how widespread the war will be, and the resolve of the people to fight a long and costly war.

Share on Facebook

The developed countries have polluted the earth for the last 200 years to build their infrastructure and economies. Now as the developing countries are competing against them and slowly rising as economic powers, they could have created this myth to keep the developing countries from crossing them in economic might. I am not saying that India should pollute as it rises economically, but at the same time it should not be forced to pay for the mistakes made by the west. One might argue that all the scientists are saying we are causing global warming, then you can argue that a few centuries back all the scientists of that era believed the earth was flat. Everybody believes in something until the next invention or discovery is made to disprove it, then the next cycle begins.

There is another example of how these countries would use double standards. During the 80′s and 90′s as India was fighting Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir, the Indian police and armed forces were criticized for human rights violations. After 9/11 and the same terrorists attacked USA, people were arrested without any charges, tortured, humiliated and killed. There is no one talking about human rights anymore. In the 90′s it was human rights, now its global warming and next they might use some other ploy. But at the same time we should try to avoid polluting the earth whether it is a cause for global warming or not.

We may cause the demise of some species and the growth of others. And in the end even if we cause our own extinction, life on earth will go on. The time of the humans on earth for the last few thousand years is insignificant when compared to the age of the earth and the changes it has gone through.

Share on Facebook