The reason women do not inherit land from farming families is very complex...neither you understand, neither The Hindu understand.
Also, as a society you can only create a legal and policy framework for change. For example - you can only create a law which bans types of 'racism' - not actually eradicate racism - that's up to the people who practice.
And the solution you are giving, using Bitcoin as dowry is the most boneheaded I have heard in my lifetime. My question remains - what the hell are you smoking!
Bitcoin is certainly in a bubble. My ex called a few days back and asked "what do you think of investing in Bitcoin?"
I replied..."The reason you heard about Bitcoin is because its in a bubble. So do not invest. If you were asking me this question early in 2012 I would have said yes. Wait till it goes below $100."
It seems one of her acquaintances, the scion of a wealthy business family is getting into the game with a Singapore based exchange. That guy can lose a lot and it won't matter, for regular folks it will be stupid to invest in Bitcoin now.
If it is this bad for outsiders how terrible is it for Indians who manage to have some success?
I don't think you have any idea about India, except some anecdotal tales from "businessmen who were treading dangerous waters".
I am yet to see Indians complaining of lack of respect from Western business world. I don't know what you are talking about...did an Indian say, "please white brother, please respect us".
There are enough Indian companies in various verticals thriving in India. The corruption you are talking about exists in different forms all over the world. In the most business friendly country - US - it will be lobbying groups buying access and may be lawmakers and laws themselves. The corruption which exists in India is of the same character...no need to vilify this country with an extra dose of scorn. And a small country like Canada (you guys have the population of my home state, Kerala, and I know about your country, I was a landed immigrant in Canada who got bored of your country and returned to India) or Scandinavian nations does not make a valid comparison. If you compare Canada with Kerala it may make sense...Kerala has 100% literacy and is relatively non corrupt. If the state was a country, we would be up in Transparency Index rankings.
Judiciary is relatively non-corrupt in India. It was the Delhi High Court which lifted the freeze of assets. A commentator made a sarcastic note "someone was bribed". I don't think so. No one with some common sense will try to bribe a Delhi High Court judge, there is no need in this case and it can backfire spectacularly.
There are certain sectors in India which work well. The tax department being one of them. And surprisingly there are honest politicians, policemen, judges and so on. Broadly categorizing India and Indians as corrupt is a weak generalization.
What if I say every adult Finn is a closet xenophobe? Will you agree to this generalization?
Nokia may or may not be liable to this tax. The rule of the land you have to follow. There is a judicial process if you want to take that path to contest. Indians and Indian government need not be blamed if the sale of Nokia is held up due to this issue. It does not matter to us. Blame the consulting idiots who are advising Microsoft and Nokia in this sale for overlooking these issues.
And any comment regarding "India will lose, we will take our business elsewhere" is an empty threat. India is one billion strong - we have one of the biggest middle classes and the largest group of young population in this planet. Take your business elsewhere and you will lose. Ask yourself - where will you take your business - China? Russia? Yes, they are great places as far as I know.
Now, get off my lawn.
The reality is that unless you've been 50-100 pounds overweight all your life and worked your way down to a healthy weight for at least 5 years, your opinion about what makes people fat is worth less than dog shit.
I am six feet. I lost 4 inches - 40 waist size to 36 - in one year.
What did I do?
Daily 40-50 minute brisk walking (jogging might damage knee joints), some stomach crunches and push ups. The same time reduced carbohydrates (which was easy as a South Indian - all I had to do was reduce - not avoid - the amount of rice in the diet.) I have not avoided sugar. I take alcohol, though now a days its rare. (In India good beer is insanely expensive, so you don't feel having one.)
Was the exercise regime easy to follow? Yes...it was, at least for me. The exercise gave me so much energy it became some type of addiction.
Can anyone do the same? Yes. But they won't. The key is both exercise and reduced carbs - a mix not easy for everyone to adopt. I regularly see people start on a routine and drop after a few days. And I also notice long time dedicated walkers and joggers.
Is genetics to blame if you cannot be disciplined? I have no idea. But I don't expect everyone to have willpower and focus for such situations. May be I was lucky.
How will 'copyright' affect the average citizen anywhere in the world as far as video/audio/books are concerned?
If you upload something on You Tube they will pull it down if it infringes on someone's copyright. This is usually an issue with audio, with visual data its not that simple, but still possible.
Metallica proved that you cannot win the hearts and minds by taking a strong stance against popular sentiment. I don't see any artist going that path again.
The worst case scenario would be some corporation claiming copyright for singing "Happy Birthday". But that's a far fetched scenario.
Corporations will lock it down to the max they can. Let them. At some point they will start leaking their own stuff. Because for art and entertainment, you want people to watch and listen.
About cellphone unlocking and software patents...that's a different beast altogether.
South Africa of today is one of the most dangerous and violent places on earth; Mandela did next to nothing to address black on white or even black-on-black violence. There was a huge white-flight out of SA during the 90s.
Mandela's biggest legacy and creditable achievement as the President is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa) Also he was the premier for five years, that too on a country as big as South Africa without any administrative experience (he was in prison for 27 years.) From all accounts he did well. He may not have micromanaged the affairs, but on a policy level his actions look far reaching and inspirational.
Wikipedia says from 1995, 800000 of a total white population of 5.2 million left the country. I think the white flight out of South Africa would have happened even if Mahatma Gandhi was the President. Its an inevitable knee jerk reaction.
Any solution to global warming, or any movement to combat an issue affecting humanity should involve the following three countries...China, India and USA...these are the three biggest countries as far as population goes and can have the most impact - right now or in immediate future.
What Norway or other smaller Scandinavian countries propose and follows is commendable...but its nothing more than good PR.
As far as vegetarian / vegan goes, India is more or less "Shuddh Shakahari" - Hindi/Sanskrit for "Pure Vegetarian".
I moved all the cache directories of Firefox/Chrome/IE and even the temp directory of OS and all applications point to a cheap USB thumb drive.
I have not looked around to find out if there is more writes happening elsewhere other than cache/temp...but I guess a super majority is taken care of.
The above might be the reason the SSD did not 'disappear' when a power outage happened.
Now, as far as I know the only cache I cannot control is when the virtual machines are booted up - swap spaces remain in the SSD.
The price of ONE if these cars can elevate 300 Saudi poor to owning a modest home that is comfortable and has clean water and sanitation.
You have no idea about Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a 19th century theocracy strongly influenced by Wahhabi style of Islam (they are super right wing wacko birds following Sharia.)
But Saudi Arabia is not a poor country, its one of the richest countries in the world. The stuff you imagine - clean water and sanitation for Saudi poor - does not exist. Because Saudi poor does not exist. There are unemployed Saudi youth...but they are not poor.
Our current political landscape seems to be dominated instead by centrist politicians whose chief principles consist in ensuring reelection by satisfying corporate donors. If we had real socialists, at least we could have a real conversation.
Two big democracies whose political systems can be compared as they are big countries are India and US. I have always felt the multiparty democracy we have in India has greater advantages as far as representing diverse political views compared to the two party system of USA. The American senate and house need to have diverse views. You need 10 more Justin Amash, Dennis Kucinich, more (far) right and (far) left in the political process. In such a system a safe centrist character like Obama may not even become President. The race for President - the ultimate political prize in this planet - itself is anti-democratic.
The disadvantages of having a multiparty system are small regional players keeping the coalition alive and sometimes holding the government to ransom. But then with the latest US government shutdown such a situation can arise even with a two party system.
Indian Prime Minister is only an elected representative of the upper house (Rajya Sabha), or lower house (Lok Sabha) - not a winner of a nationwide pageant like the US president elections. Imagine the hubris such a win can impart on the psyche of an individual like Obama - he is the leader of the free world, not a constitutional professor who was a community organizer - that element of Obama, which made him endearing does not apply anymore.
Some of the clueless Indian politicians - like Shashi Tharoor, a glib writer and UN diplomat with American roots - want to remake our political process to more reflect the US presidential style. But I don't think it will happen, and it should not happen.
UK has been getting a flood of immigrants who want nothing more than to live on the UK's generous welfare system.
Sensible arguments are can be made from the right - about NHS, immigration and other stuff, but you wrote flaming nonsense.
No economic migrant anywhere in the world is a leech on the host. They are the most hardworking - generally doing the low wage work the locals are not really keen to do. They pay taxes - may be not income tax - but every other tax when they consume products and services.
Who's the famous immigrant bogeyman in UK? The Polish Plumber. Who's he? A plumber. Someone who unclogs the stupid shit you guys excrete.
This is the same all over the world. Mexicans and Central Americans in US, Bangladeshi's in India (before partition - 60 years back - Bangladesh and India was the same country, calling Bangladeshi's illegal immigrants is stretching matters, still India has 1 billion plus population - so at least in the short term the argument 'we do not need extra heads' may make sense), Sub Saharan Africans in Italy who perish in large numbers when their boats capsize and so on.
The countries taking immigrants - willingly or otherwise - have a brighter future. You need headcount. The native population is not going to procreate in the numbers needed to keep your economy growing and humming. US is a prime example. Japan is on a long term decline for precisely the same reason - they are so insular they have a great derogatory word for non Japanese - GAICHIN. Ask yourself - do you want to live in a Japanese society full of inbred Japanese who all look the same? Parsi's in India - otherwise a very sensible community - is in decline for the same reason. They are so insular if a Parsi marries a non Parsi they are kicked out.
What you - and the type like you - also forget is the cultural and social contribution of the immigrants. Diversity and mixing of gene pool is a good idea. It makes your country stronger.
The new slogan should be "make love to someone of your opposite in gene pool, not war."
India is a democracy. There are natural and artificial limitations on natural resources exploitation. And lets keep it like that. Russia and Canada are geographically big, but cannot even match the headcounts of a medium sized Indian city / state. They are not competition. Canada depends on immigrants. Their biggest export other than oil is tasty maple syrup. Russia is a basket case. Their biggest export in 21st century - other than oil - seems to be Krokodil.
China exports hardware. India exports software.
There is no country which can match Chinese hardware / manufacturing base in scale and ambition. There might be niches in certain industries, but overall China is unbeatable.
India is the software powerhouse. Your gripe about call centers, pronunciations of Indians, poor quality of software code miss the big picture. The big picture is simply the fact India is a predominantly young country, with a huge English speaking computer literate population. Every Indian city and town have billboards shouting words like Java or.NET. The effect of this blanketing should not be overlooked. The world NEED programmers, and India will provide the numbers. There is no company similar to Infosys, TCS or Wipro anywhere else in this planet. Any complaint about the quality of programmers are moot...if you have 10 American programmers, you will find 2 good ones, 4 okay, and the rest mediocre. This is the same with Indians. The number of programmers are high, so the number of mediocre programmers are also high increasing the perception "Indians are horrible". Bullshit!!! Some of the best positions in the world of software are held by Indians. Look at the number of Indians occupying top spot at Google.
Both India and China countries US to remain stable and strong as its their biggest market. No American or European will plan on dumping Chinese hardware for Indian hardware. Likewise no-one will dump Indian software for Chinese or Brazilian.
...should come up with a stripped down extra secure Android smartphone, with two profiles - a fully encrypted super secure profile for business and another for rest of the nonsense.
There is a market for the above, and they have to tom-tom "this phone will not spy on you". (Its a meaningless slogan, but might work.)
They did have the two profile version with the new phone, but the OS needs to be Android. They already have the hardware.
With all its faults, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times are American publications I take seriously.
Many have pointed out Economist, Al Jazeera and The Atlantic. Here are few others worth mentioning...
The New Yorker
The Times of India
The Indian Express
The Hindu
Outlook India and Tehelka (Indian weekly news magazines.)
Der Spiegel (they have an excellent English edition.)
South China Morning Post
Caijing Daily (they also have an English version.)
South American publications with English editions - from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina are missing from the above list. The Japanese publications with good English editions are rare, and the ones like The Japan Times are not that interesting.
But in an ostensibly capitalist country it neesd to be ok to be a capitalist, otherwise the people with the capital flee the country. I think if taxes were simplfied rather than remain the incredibly complex morass of laws and regulations we have now, we might have a better chance at collecting them.
The rich will flee to where? To Somalia - the land with no taxes!
The whole argument 'if you tax the rich, they will flee' is nonsense perpetrated by the rich. They are in California, New York or Paris for a reason - these are
good environments to be with your wealth.
Why do the rich Russian oligarchs buy property in London and other Western cities...its not because of their new found love for British monarchy, kidney pie or Shakespeare, its because of the quality of living and the 'rule of law' which may not be usurped by the Politicians in power if you fall out of favor. Only democracies can guarantee that to some extent - at least until you turn against the state in a serious way.
An AADHAR card does not allow anyone to vote in an election.
You are more than racist and xenophobic...you are also a total idiot!!!
Like I said muslims vote en masse, unlike hindus.
That takes the cake as far as argument goes.
You are also saying Congress has this agenda to to give AADHAR cards to slum dwellers in Mumbai and Delhi who are supposedly Bangladeshi immigrants - and gets an advantage in the coming elections.
What a crazy right wing propaganda? What next - Indian Christians are actually Italians in disguise?
Congress is trying to change this by using this scheme as a backdoor method of providing legitimate identity papers(and thus citienship) to millions of illegal muslim immigrants from neighbouring bangladesh and thus inflating their vote bank. The nearest oppositional rival party BJP has a more pro-hindu stance.
You made the most illogical and idiotic reasoning against AADHAR.
Do you know how many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are in India and where? Do you think even if all of them were given citizenship and free beer, they will even make 0.05% dent to the number of voters in an Indian constituency?
There might be sensible arguments against AADHAR - what you made is flaming racist xenophobic nonsense.
So you are claiming that the intent of the system is not to combat fraud but to simply replace an old paper-based identification (not authentication) system? That's not at all what I remember reading about the system a few years back when they were trying to justify it.
Yes, one of the ideas behind the new system is "preventing fraud" - but its more than biometric data.
"Preventing fraud" in the new AADHAR system does not equate to verifying identity using biometric data.
For example, the new system will make sure subsidies are doled out. Meaning - if you have a bank account connected to your AADHAR number unless the government goes belly up the money will be credited. In the early system it depended on other extraneous factors - "application in triplicate", deadlines, thumb impressions, signatures for each and every benefit. This is an inherently messy system ripe for abuse.
AADHAR may not be the silver bullet, but its a step in the right direction. As with any data collection system there is a chance for NSA type snooping. Right now, lets not worry about that. Indian democracy works in a different way.
Yeah, so now you are talking authentication, but all you've done is mention a human in the loop, which I already addressed in my original post. Perhaps you could elaborate on these additional "checks and balances" (which is not a term that I think even applies to a welfare system, what is being balanced?)
Your original post was at best a strawman..."biometrics, help, ripe for abuse, failure" and all that nonsense. That is why I replied.
The checks and balances are many in India, Indian bureaucracy is good for that.
Widespread abuse of AADHAR card will not work. the concept of AADHAR card is based on our electoral system using our Election voting identity cards which has a photo, name, date of birth and stuff similar to your drivers license. The reason Indian democracy works is because with my voting card, only I can vote in the constituency I am registered as a voter. Are there abuses...yes, but they are minor and the Indian system is much more cleaner and robus than the "hanging chad", "targeted profiling of minority voters so that they have difficulty in voting in certain areas" systems of USA. (We cannot compare India with any other country - China is bigger, but not a democracy, USA is the closest, with 1/3rd of the population.)
AADHAR card works similar. Individual skimming might happen. But for an undesirable to collect hundreds of AADHAR cards with fake identifications, start bank accounts with fake identifications and then bribe the concerned bureaucrats to funnel the subsidies - well, I guess even a die hard criminal is not that stupid.
The checks and balances - meaning some type of monitoring and prevention of abuse methodologies in place, can be applied to any system - start with AADHAR card itself...it has a photo (forget about biometrics), it has age, gender and an address. Then you have a bank account - its not easy to start a bank account with fake documents in India. It goes like that.
Today an important Indian politician - Laloo Prasad Yadav - was sentenced for four years for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fodder_Scam"Fodder Scam". This scam might not have happened in such a large scale with a better system.
Here is a car analogy...blaming AADHAR card for using biometric data is like blaming TESLA cars for its stereo quality, not the fact the batteries might explode.
If you are saying Biometric systems are not foolproof from a security perspective I agree. But if you extrapolate that to "biometric data used in Aadhar will make the scheme fail" - then you have no clue whatsoever about the existing system and how Aadhar uses biometric data.
AADHAR replaces the existing archaic mostly pen and paper 19th century PDS models - Public Distribution Systems - usually through 'Ration Cards' - to deploy benefits.
There will be some amount of fraud in any system which is used widespread. People lose their identity in the West. Social Security Numbers or Social Insurance numbers are misplaced or stolen or identity hijacked. But for all practical purposes they work as intended Your social security card is only a piece of green paper with your name and number...the number is your username. And you do not need a password.
The Aadhar number is only a username. The photo of the person, the address together with biometric data are added. It is for identification, not to swipe and open a door!
For the AADHAR system in India, the intentions and purposes of using biometric data is not security, but identification. And identification works on different levels, biometrics is only one of them. There is no village / town / city in India where you present a photo ID and a machine scans it and gives you benefits - there is a person behind the counter. Thats the first step. There are other checks and balances.
Still, local rowdies might abuse the system. Some corrupt officials might misuse their powers and try to pocket the proceeds. But this is a change which the country needed.
(As a side note: Most states in India give 25 kilos of rice to a family of four for Rs 1 a kilo - something like 0.016 cents a kilo - to anyone belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders. Some of the rice returns to the market when the BPL card holders sell the extra to local shops or hotels. No system can stop this nonsense!)
I have seen the benefits of solar power in rural, tribal communities of Kerala, South India. These communities are living in the edge of forests - sometimes deep inside forests - where conventional power distribution via any type of cable/wire is impractical and prohibitively expensive.
The government has provided a solar panel to power basic needs - lights, fans, radio and a small TV. This is the way solar power has to be harnessed at least till the efficiency of panels goes up and costs go down for this to be widely useful.
Your assertion on Islam versus Christianity might be true on a certain level. I am a Chrisitan from India. The Hindu beliefs I carry - which were not imposed by anyone - are far more stronger than whatever Christianity has tried to impose.
India and the polytheist Hindu philosophy with its 33 1/3 million gods always found space for new religions. We absorbed any new god, compared to other Abrahamic and monotheist religions who felt a "new god" stole the thunder and the adherents had to be blocked/killed/raped/pillaged.
This is the reason Hindu philosophy shines over others when it comes to tolerance and acceptance. Even the most rabid Hindu nationalists are tame compared to the Islamic and far right Christian counterparts. They are angry pussy cats rather than feral dogs.
But if I follow your assertion fully, I have no answer why the science and technological development starting with European renaissance escaped India and China. May be everything is cyclical, a paradigm shift might be underway, India's young population - 65% is under age of 30, bodes well for the future unless we pick a dumb war with China or Pakistan.
Slashdot Mirror
The reason women do not inherit land from farming families is very complex...neither you understand, neither The Hindu understand.
Also, as a society you can only create a legal and policy framework for change. For example - you can only create a law which bans types of 'racism' - not actually eradicate racism - that's up to the people who practice.
And the solution you are giving, using Bitcoin as dowry is the most boneheaded I have heard in my lifetime. My question remains - what the hell are you smoking!
Nations like India, which have restrictions limiting women's ownership of land,
What nonsense!!! There is no legal restriction on women owning land in India. What are you smoking?
And who are the idiots who mod you up?
Bitcoin is certainly in a bubble. My ex called a few days back and asked "what do you think of investing in Bitcoin?"
I replied..."The reason you heard about Bitcoin is because its in a bubble. So do not invest. If you were asking me this question early in 2012 I would have said yes. Wait till it goes below $100."
It seems one of her acquaintances, the scion of a wealthy business family is getting into the game with a Singapore based exchange. That guy can lose a lot and it won't matter, for regular folks it will be stupid to invest in Bitcoin now.
If it is this bad for outsiders how terrible is it for Indians who manage to have some success?
I don't think you have any idea about India, except some anecdotal tales from "businessmen who were treading dangerous waters".
I am yet to see Indians complaining of lack of respect from Western business world. I don't know what you are talking about...did an Indian say, "please white brother, please respect us".
There are enough Indian companies in various verticals thriving in India. The corruption you are talking about exists in different forms all over the world. In the most business friendly country - US - it will be lobbying groups buying access and may be lawmakers and laws themselves. The corruption which exists in India is of the same character...no need to vilify this country with an extra dose of scorn. And a small country like Canada (you guys have the population of my home state, Kerala, and I know about your country, I was a landed immigrant in Canada who got bored of your country and returned to India) or Scandinavian nations does not make a valid comparison. If you compare Canada with Kerala it may make sense...Kerala has 100% literacy and is relatively non corrupt. If the state was a country, we would be up in Transparency Index rankings.
Judiciary is relatively non-corrupt in India. It was the Delhi High Court which lifted the freeze of assets. A commentator made a sarcastic note "someone was bribed". I don't think so. No one with some common sense will try to bribe a Delhi High Court judge, there is no need in this case and it can backfire spectacularly.
There are certain sectors in India which work well. The tax department being one of them. And surprisingly there are honest politicians, policemen, judges and so on. Broadly categorizing India and Indians as corrupt is a weak generalization.
What if I say every adult Finn is a closet xenophobe? Will you agree to this generalization?
Nokia may or may not be liable to this tax. The rule of the land you have to follow. There is a judicial process if you want to take that path to contest. Indians and Indian government need not be blamed if the sale of Nokia is held up due to this issue. It does not matter to us. Blame the consulting idiots who are advising Microsoft and Nokia in this sale for overlooking these issues.
And any comment regarding "India will lose, we will take our business elsewhere" is an empty threat. India is one billion strong - we have one of the biggest middle classes and the largest group of young population in this planet. Take your business elsewhere and you will lose. Ask yourself - where will you take your business - China? Russia? Yes, they are great places as far as I know.
Now, get off my lawn.
The reality is that unless you've been 50-100 pounds overweight all your life and worked your way down to a healthy weight for at least 5 years, your opinion about what makes people fat is worth less than dog shit.
I am six feet. I lost 4 inches - 40 waist size to 36 - in one year.
What did I do?
Daily 40-50 minute brisk walking (jogging might damage knee joints), some stomach crunches and push ups. The same time reduced carbohydrates (which was easy as a South Indian - all I had to do was reduce - not avoid - the amount of rice in the diet.) I have not avoided sugar. I take alcohol, though now a days its rare. (In India good beer is insanely expensive, so you don't feel having one.)
Was the exercise regime easy to follow? Yes...it was, at least for me. The exercise gave me so much energy it became some type of addiction.
Can anyone do the same? Yes. But they won't. The key is both exercise and reduced carbs - a mix not easy for everyone to adopt. I regularly see people start on a routine and drop after a few days. And I also notice long time dedicated walkers and joggers.
Is genetics to blame if you cannot be disciplined? I have no idea. But I don't expect everyone to have willpower and focus for such situations. May be I was lucky.
How will 'copyright' affect the average citizen anywhere in the world as far as video/audio/books are concerned?
If you upload something on You Tube they will pull it down if it infringes on someone's copyright. This is usually an issue with audio, with visual data its not that simple, but still possible.
Metallica proved that you cannot win the hearts and minds by taking a strong stance against popular sentiment. I don't see any artist going that path again.
The worst case scenario would be some corporation claiming copyright for singing "Happy Birthday". But that's a far fetched scenario.
Corporations will lock it down to the max they can. Let them. At some point they will start leaking their own stuff. Because for art and entertainment, you want people to watch and listen.
About cellphone unlocking and software patents...that's a different beast altogether.
South Africa of today is one of the most dangerous and violent places on earth; Mandela did next to nothing to address black on white or even black-on-black violence. There was a huge white-flight out of SA during the 90s.
Mandela's biggest legacy and creditable achievement as the President is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa) Also he was the premier for five years, that too on a country as big as South Africa without any administrative experience (he was in prison for 27 years.) From all accounts he did well. He may not have micromanaged the affairs, but on a policy level his actions look far reaching and inspirational.
Wikipedia says from 1995, 800000 of a total white population of 5.2 million left the country. I think the white flight out of South Africa would have happened even if Mahatma Gandhi was the President. Its an inevitable knee jerk reaction.
...why Google did not buy Sun?
It might be the most boneheaded indecision when the whole Android platform is built on Java.
Any solution to global warming, or any movement to combat an issue affecting humanity should involve the following three countries...China, India and USA...these are the three biggest countries as far as population goes and can have the most impact - right now or in immediate future.
What Norway or other smaller Scandinavian countries propose and follows is commendable...but its nothing more than good PR.
As far as vegetarian / vegan goes, India is more or less "Shuddh Shakahari" - Hindi/Sanskrit for "Pure Vegetarian".
I moved all the cache directories of Firefox/Chrome/IE and even the temp directory of OS and all applications point to a cheap USB thumb drive.
I have not looked around to find out if there is more writes happening elsewhere other than cache/temp...but I guess a super majority is taken care of.
The above might be the reason the SSD did not 'disappear' when a power outage happened.
Now, as far as I know the only cache I cannot control is when the virtual machines are booted up - swap spaces remain in the SSD.
The price of ONE if these cars can elevate 300 Saudi poor to owning a modest home that is comfortable and has clean water and sanitation.
You have no idea about Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a 19th century theocracy strongly influenced by Wahhabi style of Islam (they are super right wing wacko birds following Sharia.)
But Saudi Arabia is not a poor country, its one of the richest countries in the world. The stuff you imagine - clean water and sanitation for Saudi poor - does not exist. Because Saudi poor does not exist. There are unemployed Saudi youth...but they are not poor.
Do you know how the Arab Spring did not make a presence in Saudi? The kingdom increased the monthly allowance to citizens. Meaning the whole country is bribed and kept happy. (How can you blame the citizens? The Al Saud family makes money, but also shares the spoils. Most of the oil rich states in middle east are super welfare states - so an internal revolt by the poor will not happen.
http://cjpp5.over-blog.com/article-al-ahram-weekly-online-egypt-riyadh-escapes-the-arab-spring-by-omayma-abdel-latif-111103275.html
...now, all what matters is who got how many? Was it a fair share? Did someone hoard?
The world needs to pull up these spoiled brats and give them a decent spanking.
Our current political landscape seems to be dominated instead by centrist politicians whose chief principles consist in ensuring reelection by satisfying corporate donors. If we had real socialists, at least we could have a real conversation.
Two big democracies whose political systems can be compared as they are big countries are India and US. I have always felt the multiparty democracy we have in India has greater advantages as far as representing diverse political views compared to the two party system of USA. The American senate and house need to have diverse views. You need 10 more Justin Amash, Dennis Kucinich, more (far) right and (far) left in the political process. In such a system a safe centrist character like Obama may not even become President. The race for President - the ultimate political prize in this planet - itself is anti-democratic.
The disadvantages of having a multiparty system are small regional players keeping the coalition alive and sometimes holding the government to ransom. But then with the latest US government shutdown such a situation can arise even with a two party system.
Indian Prime Minister is only an elected representative of the upper house (Rajya Sabha), or lower house (Lok Sabha) - not a winner of a nationwide pageant like the US president elections. Imagine the hubris such a win can impart on the psyche of an individual like Obama - he is the leader of the free world, not a constitutional professor who was a community organizer - that element of Obama, which made him endearing does not apply anymore.
Some of the clueless Indian politicians - like Shashi Tharoor, a glib writer and UN diplomat with American roots - want to remake our political process to more reflect the US presidential style. But I don't think it will happen, and it should not happen.
UK has been getting a flood of immigrants who want nothing more than to live on the UK's generous welfare system.
Sensible arguments are can be made from the right - about NHS, immigration and other stuff, but you wrote flaming nonsense.
No economic migrant anywhere in the world is a leech on the host. They are the most hardworking - generally doing the low wage work the locals are not really keen to do. They pay taxes - may be not income tax - but every other tax when they consume products and services.
Who's the famous immigrant bogeyman in UK? The Polish Plumber. Who's he? A plumber. Someone who unclogs the stupid shit you guys excrete.
This is the same all over the world. Mexicans and Central Americans in US, Bangladeshi's in India (before partition - 60 years back - Bangladesh and India was the same country, calling Bangladeshi's illegal immigrants is stretching matters, still India has 1 billion plus population - so at least in the short term the argument 'we do not need extra heads' may make sense), Sub Saharan Africans in Italy who perish in large numbers when their boats capsize and so on.
The countries taking immigrants - willingly or otherwise - have a brighter future. You need headcount. The native population is not going to procreate in the numbers needed to keep your economy growing and humming. US is a prime example. Japan is on a long term decline for precisely the same reason - they are so insular they have a great derogatory word for non Japanese - GAICHIN. Ask yourself - do you want to live in a Japanese society full of inbred Japanese who all look the same? Parsi's in India - otherwise a very sensible community - is in decline for the same reason. They are so insular if a Parsi marries a non Parsi they are kicked out.
What you - and the type like you - also forget is the cultural and social contribution of the immigrants. Diversity and mixing of gene pool is a good idea. It makes your country stronger.
The new slogan should be "make love to someone of your opposite in gene pool, not war."
India is a democracy. There are natural and artificial limitations on natural resources exploitation. And lets keep it like that. Russia and Canada are geographically big, but cannot even match the headcounts of a medium sized Indian city / state. They are not competition. Canada depends on immigrants. Their biggest export other than oil is tasty maple syrup. Russia is a basket case. Their biggest export in 21st century - other than oil - seems to be Krokodil.
.NET. The effect of this blanketing should not be overlooked. The world NEED programmers, and India will provide the numbers. There is no company similar to Infosys, TCS or Wipro anywhere else in this planet. Any complaint about the quality of programmers are moot...if you have 10 American programmers, you will find 2 good ones, 4 okay, and the rest mediocre. This is the same with Indians. The number of programmers are high, so the number of mediocre programmers are also high increasing the perception "Indians are horrible". Bullshit!!! Some of the best positions in the world of software are held by Indians. Look at the number of Indians occupying top spot at Google.
China exports hardware. India exports software.
There is no country which can match Chinese hardware / manufacturing base in scale and ambition. There might be niches in certain industries, but overall China is unbeatable.
India is the software powerhouse. Your gripe about call centers, pronunciations of Indians, poor quality of software code miss the big picture. The big picture is simply the fact India is a predominantly young country, with a huge English speaking computer literate population. Every Indian city and town have billboards shouting words like Java or
Both India and China countries US to remain stable and strong as its their biggest market. No American or European will plan on dumping Chinese hardware for Indian hardware. Likewise no-one will dump Indian software for Chinese or Brazilian.
...should come up with a stripped down extra secure Android smartphone, with two profiles - a fully encrypted super secure profile for business and another for rest of the nonsense.
There is a market for the above, and they have to tom-tom "this phone will not spy on you". (Its a meaningless slogan, but might work.)
They did have the two profile version with the new phone, but the OS needs to be Android. They already have the hardware.
With all its faults, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times are American publications I take seriously.
Many have pointed out Economist, Al Jazeera and The Atlantic. Here are few others worth mentioning...
The New Yorker
The Times of India
The Indian Express
The Hindu
Outlook India and Tehelka (Indian weekly news magazines.)
Der Spiegel (they have an excellent English edition.)
South China Morning Post
Caijing Daily (they also have an English version.)
South American publications with English editions - from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina are missing from the above list. The Japanese publications with good English editions are rare, and the ones like The Japan Times are not that interesting.
But in an ostensibly capitalist country it neesd to be ok to be a capitalist, otherwise the people with the capital flee the country. I think if taxes were simplfied rather than remain the incredibly complex morass of laws and regulations we have now, we might have a better chance at collecting them.
The rich will flee to where? To Somalia - the land with no taxes!
The whole argument 'if you tax the rich, they will flee' is nonsense perpetrated by the rich. They are in California, New York or Paris for a reason - these are good environments to be with your wealth.
Why do the rich Russian oligarchs buy property in London and other Western cities...its not because of their new found love for British monarchy, kidney pie or Shakespeare, its because of the quality of living and the 'rule of law' which may not be usurped by the Politicians in power if you fall out of favor. Only democracies can guarantee that to some extent - at least until you turn against the state in a serious way.
You are more than racist and xenophobic...you are also a total idiot!!!
Like I said muslims vote en masse, unlike hindus.
That takes the cake as far as argument goes.
You are also saying Congress has this agenda to to give AADHAR cards to slum dwellers in Mumbai and Delhi who are supposedly Bangladeshi immigrants - and gets an advantage in the coming elections.
What a crazy right wing propaganda? What next - Indian Christians are actually Italians in disguise?
You made the most illogical and idiotic reasoning against AADHAR.
Do you know how many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are in India and where? Do you think even if all of them were given citizenship and free beer, they will even make 0.05% dent to the number of voters in an Indian constituency?
There might be sensible arguments against AADHAR - what you made is flaming racist xenophobic nonsense.
Yes, one of the ideas behind the new system is "preventing fraud" - but its more than biometric data. "Preventing fraud" in the new AADHAR system does not equate to verifying identity using biometric data.
For example, the new system will make sure subsidies are doled out. Meaning - if you have a bank account connected to your AADHAR number unless the government goes belly up the money will be credited. In the early system it depended on other extraneous factors - "application in triplicate", deadlines, thumb impressions, signatures for each and every benefit. This is an inherently messy system ripe for abuse.
AADHAR may not be the silver bullet, but its a step in the right direction. As with any data collection system there is a chance for NSA type snooping. Right now, lets not worry about that. Indian democracy works in a different way.
Your original post was at best a strawman..."biometrics, help, ripe for abuse, failure" and all that nonsense. That is why I replied.
The checks and balances are many in India, Indian bureaucracy is good for that.
Widespread abuse of AADHAR card will not work. the concept of AADHAR card is based on our electoral system using our Election voting identity cards which has a photo, name, date of birth and stuff similar to your drivers license. The reason Indian democracy works is because with my voting card, only I can vote in the constituency I am registered as a voter. Are there abuses...yes, but they are minor and the Indian system is much more cleaner and robus than the "hanging chad", "targeted profiling of minority voters so that they have difficulty in voting in certain areas" systems of USA. (We cannot compare India with any other country - China is bigger, but not a democracy, USA is the closest, with 1/3rd of the population.)
AADHAR card works similar. Individual skimming might happen. But for an undesirable to collect hundreds of AADHAR cards with fake identifications, start bank accounts with fake identifications and then bribe the concerned bureaucrats to funnel the subsidies - well, I guess even a die hard criminal is not that stupid. The checks and balances - meaning some type of monitoring and prevention of abuse methodologies in place, can be applied to any system - start with AADHAR card itself...it has a photo (forget about biometrics), it has age, gender and an address. Then you have a bank account - its not easy to start a bank account with fake documents in India. It goes like that.
Today an important Indian politician - Laloo Prasad Yadav - was sentenced for four years for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fodder_Scam"Fodder Scam". This scam might not have happened in such a large scale with a better system.
Here is a car analogy...blaming AADHAR card for using biometric data is like blaming TESLA cars for its stereo quality, not the fact the batteries might explode.
If you are saying Biometric systems are not foolproof from a security perspective I agree. But if you extrapolate that to "biometric data used in Aadhar will make the scheme fail" - then you have no clue whatsoever about the existing system and how Aadhar uses biometric data.
AADHAR replaces the existing archaic mostly pen and paper 19th century PDS models - Public Distribution Systems - usually through 'Ration Cards' - to deploy benefits.
There will be some amount of fraud in any system which is used widespread. People lose their identity in the West. Social Security Numbers or Social Insurance numbers are misplaced or stolen or identity hijacked. But for all practical purposes they work as intended Your social security card is only a piece of green paper with your name and number...the number is your username. And you do not need a password.
The Aadhar number is only a username. The photo of the person, the address together with biometric data are added. It is for identification, not to swipe and open a door!
For the AADHAR system in India, the intentions and purposes of using biometric data is not security, but identification. And identification works on different levels, biometrics is only one of them. There is no village / town / city in India where you present a photo ID and a machine scans it and gives you benefits - there is a person behind the counter. Thats the first step. There are other checks and balances.
Still, local rowdies might abuse the system. Some corrupt officials might misuse their powers and try to pocket the proceeds. But this is a change which the country needed.
(As a side note: Most states in India give 25 kilos of rice to a family of four for Rs 1 a kilo - something like 0.016 cents a kilo - to anyone belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders. Some of the rice returns to the market when the BPL card holders sell the extra to local shops or hotels. No system can stop this nonsense!)
I have seen the benefits of solar power in rural, tribal communities of Kerala, South India. These communities are living in the edge of forests - sometimes deep inside forests - where conventional power distribution via any type of cable/wire is impractical and prohibitively expensive.
The government has provided a solar panel to power basic needs - lights, fans, radio and a small TV. This is the way solar power has to be harnessed at least till the efficiency of panels goes up and costs go down for this to be widely useful.
Your assertion on Islam versus Christianity might be true on a certain level. I am a Chrisitan from India. The Hindu beliefs I carry - which were not imposed by anyone - are far more stronger than whatever Christianity has tried to impose. India and the polytheist Hindu philosophy with its 33 1/3 million gods always found space for new religions. We absorbed any new god, compared to other Abrahamic and monotheist religions who felt a "new god" stole the thunder and the adherents had to be blocked/killed/raped/pillaged. This is the reason Hindu philosophy shines over others when it comes to tolerance and acceptance. Even the most rabid Hindu nationalists are tame compared to the Islamic and far right Christian counterparts. They are angry pussy cats rather than feral dogs. But if I follow your assertion fully, I have no answer why the science and technological development starting with European renaissance escaped India and China. May be everything is cyclical, a paradigm shift might be underway, India's young population - 65% is under age of 30, bodes well for the future unless we pick a dumb war with China or Pakistan.