Why Hindu’s should give up terrorism

I lost a bet to a friend of mine after a discussion about Hindu terrorism. 2 years back, I said that there will be at least 2-5 cases of Hindu terrorism, but sadly, I lost the bet. Happy in a way because hopefully the bottle of single malt (the stakes) will be shared

But then that led me to think about religious terrorism and violence and went back to check on the terrorism databases. Pretty much every religion is fairly heavy on minority violence and terrorism. Whether we are talking about Christianity (down the ages and say Northern Ireland), Buddhism (Sri Lanka and Thailand), Judaism (Palestine), Confucianism in China, Islam in a bewilderingly large number of countries, they have all shown an impressive grasp of the skills required to terrorise and act with extreme prejudice and violence on minorities. Heck, even godless communists were great at popping off people. Hindus, on the other hand, are pretty useless at this terrorism business. Seriously crap.

I know its all relative, but a small peep of an attack by the settlers in Palestine and 52 countries and countless rage boys boil over in anger and go about attacking cars and other assorted people. Now that’s an impressive reaction. What have the Hindu terrorists and rage boys managed to do? They popped off Mahatma Gandhi, bombed the Ajmer Dargah, a train ironically called as Samjhauta Express, Malegaon, the Staines murder and if we are talking about state directed violence, then Gujarat. I mean, look at the statistics of Gujarat from Wikipedia. I quote:

790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were ultimately killed and 223 more people were reported missing.^[4][5] 523 places of worship were damaged: 298 dargahs, 205 mosques, 17 temples, and 3 churches. Muslim-owned businesses suffered the bulk of the damage. 61,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus fled their homes. Preventive arrests of 17,947 Hindus and 3,616 Muslims were made. In total 27,901 Hindus and 7,651 Muslims were arrested. Nearly 10,000 rounds of bullets were fired in police shootings that killed 93 Muslims and 77 Hindus

What is this? What kind of a stupid incompetent pogrom is this? The idea is to kill the others, not your own co-religionists to die.

Here’s another example of a stupid exercise.

Hyderabad, April 29: It was not ‘jihadis,' but four Hindu youths, instigated by two local leaders, who planted the legs of a cow and sprinkled green paint in a temple at Madanappet, sparking communal clashes in the old city three weeks ago, the police have said. The youths have been arrested, and the police have launched a hunt for Niranjan, a wine merchant, and Srinivas, a moneylender, accused of masterminding the desecration.

/facepalm. #wtf. legs of a cow? What on earth are you doing with a frikking legs of a cow? What’s wrong with the standard protocol of dropping the head of the animal? When Muslims do it to Hindu’s, then cow heads are used (see here and here). Heck, there is even a bloody wiki entry on Cow Head Protests. When others do it to Muslims, they use pig’s heads ( see here and here). See? heads. Use your head and use heads. But no, our worthy Hindu rage boys use the frikking legs. What the hell? Didn't you guys organise it? I quote

Investigators said the youths met in a wine shop and finalised their plan on April 7, allegedly at the behest of Niranjan and Srinivas.

Ah! ha!, wine shop, now the penny drops, so this was a drink fuelled planning session. chuckles, LEGS! and green paint! I am just imagining these two muppets walking around with two legs of a cow.

Even the terrorist events that I mentioned above like the Ajmer Dargah Blast, the Samjhauta Express Bombing, Malegaon Blasts and the Mecca Masjid events have a strong alternative explanation of the Pakistani ISI involvement or from Muslim Terrorist groups. I know wikipedia is suspect, but its good enough for this argument. /wtf? even the bloody terrorist incidents which are considered to be Hindu terrorist events couldn't be carried out without the help of Muslim terrorist groups or Pakistani Muslim secret agencies? What kind of stupid, incompetent morons are you?

So seriously, they should give up, just give up. Admit you are crap at this, and go back to worshipping your 300m gods and pumping out kids and doing the maya thing. Think about it, a billion Hindu’s and we cant even produce a decent terrorist campaign. Shameful. Even the tiny, peace loving, non violent Buddhists are better at this terrorism stuff than you. Useless morons

When it happens in Africa

This was pretty powerful.

I was reminded of this article by Manu Joseph, which is frankly stupid. The broad generalisations immediately make it clear that the man does not have the intellect to understand the subtleties of life and the fact that he was unable to understand that western families look after their kids just as much means that he is ignorant. But we aren't here to talk about Manu Joseph’s stupid article, NYT seems to publish any odd sod crap from India these days.

But leave that aside for the moment. Look at the list above, pretty clear, no? When it happens in the UK or USA, then its fine, but when it goes into Africa or even Asia, then it has a different perspective. I know there are exceptions, and then there is the ideological difference, for example the last one is a classic left/right argument.

But the irony is so thick I could use it to butter my bread. Which reminds me, I have to go eat my muesli.

When I die, I can only wish that I’m remembered like this

This is good

Michael "Flathead" Blanchard

Blanchard, Michael "Flathead"
1944 ~ 2012
A Celebration of the life of Michael "Flathead" Blanchard will be held on April 14th, 3 pm 8160 Rosemary St, Commerce City. Weary of reading obituaries noting someone's courageous battle with death, Mike wanted it known that he died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctors' orders and raising hell for more than six decades. He enjoyed booze, guns, cars and younger women until the day he died.
Mike was born July 1944 in Colorado to Clyde and Ethel Blanchard. A community activist, he is noted for saving the Dr. Justina Ford house from demolition and defending those who could not defend themselves. He was a Republican delegate, life member of the NRA, founder and President of the Dead Cats MC. He loved music.
Mike was preceded in death by Clyde and Ethel Blanchard, survived by his beloved sons Mike and Chopper, former wife Jane Transue, brother Stephen Blanchard (Susan), Uncle Don and Aunt Cynthia Blanchard(his favorite); Uncle Dill and Aunt Dot, cousins and nephews, Baba Yaga can kiss his butt. So many of his childhood friends that weren't killed in Vietnam went on to become criminals, prostitutes and/or Democrats. He asks that you stop by and re-tell the stories he can no longer tell. As the Celebration will contain Adult material we respectfully ask that no children under 18 attend.

Published in Denver Post on April 12, 2012

I wish I could do this once I grow up and die. I think I am getting there, lol

When a typo says much about the police

I saw this on my Google reader. Check out the spelling of Director of Resoruces for the London Metropolitan Police. I think I am going to give this a skip

ha, as if I am ever going to get inside the bearpit of HR. The chances of that happening are classically described by PG Wodehouse as follows:

"Alf Todd," said Ukridge, soaring to an impressive burst of imagery, "has about as much chance as a one-armed blind man in a dark room trying to shove a pound of melted butter into a wild cat's left ear with a red-hot needle."

 

Making good with Photography

I decided to do a bit more with the photography bit, so have volunteered to help two charities with my photography.

First is Age Concern at Kingston upon Thames. I find OAP’s faces extremely photogenic. I look forward to helping them with my camera.

Second is the Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre. This should be nice.

I am looking forward to this and hope I get selected…

Brands

Click on the image for a bigger image. Fascinating when you try to decompose it down to the firms.

White Hispanics and other unicorns

The race industry in the USA is extraordinary. Not to say that the UK is good either, but hopefully its not that bad. See this previous post of mine. They called somebody a white Hispanic to give a racial angle to this murder. I guess its easy to blame the whites for everything, no?

But i found this brilliant report. On how Hispanics in the USA don't really fit into the neat way that the intelligentsia assume they do. I quote:

Hispanics and Identity

• When it comes to describing their identity, most Hispanics prefer their family’s country of origin over pan-ethnic terms.Half (51%) say that most often they use their family’s country of origin to describe their identity. That includes such terms as “Mexican” or “Cuban” or “Dominican,” for example. Just one-quarter (24%) say they use the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” to most often to describe their identity. And 21% say they use the term “American” most often.
• “Hispanic” or “Latino”? Most don’t care—but among those who do, “Hispanic” is preferred. Half (51%) say they have no preference for either term. When a preference is expressed, “Hispanic” is preferred over “Latino” by more than a two-to-one margin—33% versus 14%.
• Most Hispanics do not see a shared common culture among U.S. Hispanics. Nearly seven-in-ten (69%) say Hispanics in the U.S. have many different cultures, while 29% say Hispanics in the U.S. share a common culture.
• Most Hispanics don’t see themselves fitting into the standard racial categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau. When it comes to race, according to the Pew Hispanic survey, half (51%) of Latinos identify their race as “some other race” or volunteer “Hispanic/Latino.” Meanwhile, 36% identify their race as white, and 3% say their race is black.
• Latinos are split on whether they see themselves as a typical American. Nearly half (47%) say they are a typical American, while another 47% say they are very different from the typical American. Foreign-born Hispanics are less likely than native-born Hispanics to say they are a typical American—34% versus 66%.

The American Experience

• Hispanics say their group has been at least as successful as other minority groups in the U.S. Most Hispanics (55%) say their group is about as successful as other racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. More than one-in-five (22%) say they have been less successful, while 17% say they have been more successful.
• The U.S. is seen as better than Latinos’ countries of origin in many ways—but not in all ways. Fully 87% of Latino adults say the opportunity to get ahead is better in the U.S. than in the country of their ancestors; some 72% say the U.S. is better for raising children than their home country; nearly seven-in-ten (69%) say the poor are treated better in the U.S.; and a plurality of 44% say moral values are better here than in their homelands. However, when it comes to the strength of family ties, a plurality (39%) say the home country of their ancestors is better, while 33% say the strength of family ties is better in the U.S.
• Most Hispanic immigrants say they would migrate to the U.S. again. Some 79% of Hispanic immigrants say that if they had to do it all over again, they would come to the U.S. When asked why they came to this country, more than half (55%) of immigrant Hispanics say it was for economic reasons, while 24% say it was for family reasons.

So here’s what I am now tending towards. Do not unthinkingly reach for the race card. Life is much more complicated…

So what do you do?

Dear Kannu

I find this question always difficult to answer when I meet new people. Something like the immortal words of Harry Belafonte, “

He stammered and he stuttered pathetically
And this is what he said to me.
He said, "The woman piaba and the man piaba
and the Ton Ton call baka lemon grass,
The lily root, gully root, belly root uhmm,
And the famous grandy scratch scratch.
It was clear as mud but it covered the ground
And the confusion made the brain go 'round.

The song is at the bottom of this post. But that wasn't the point that I was making son (although you might like and appreciate the song).

You will end up doing many jobs and do many things. Saying that you are a banker or you work in IT or you are a process analyst or you are a researcher is rather silly. Don't say which firm you work for or which function you work for or what is your job title. Remember you are telling people, not announcing your cv. So ensure that the people understand what value you add.

Another point to remember is to consider who is asking where? If I am inside a bog fighting for a slice of cheese and my competitor asks what do you do, the answer, I am a banker will not help. The right answer would be, I am hungry and I look for food. Do you see what I mean? What you do is differently phrased depending upon who is asking when and where.

So you are a student, people will ask what do you want to do when you grow up. Saying that you want to be a broker or a diplomat or a software entrepreneur is telling them your job title. That’s boring son. Try to put it in some other words. Such as, I want help people become wealthy (broker), I want to help improve my country’s reputation and trade in the world (diplomat), I want to provide software to my customers that will help them improve their lives (software entrepreneur).

Another way of putting the same as above is to describe what others will describe you as. Turn the question around. The question is, “what do you do?” to “what will your customers/clients describe how you add value to them?”. So some examples can be, “well, my clients would say that I find them great investing opportunities” (broker), my counterparts would say that he is a great diplomat chap who represents his country’s interests brilliantly (diplomat), my customers would say that he has some great products that really help me out (software entrepreneur”.

See what I mean, son? Treat yourself differently, speak differently for yourself. Stand out of the crowd of brokers, bankers, diplomats and entrepreneurs. If you are interested in what I say what I do? I usually end up saying, “i help people sell more in my job, I help others help themselves in my charities and I have fun in my personal life”

Love

Baba