Their profit margins are already extremely inflated and they just want more money.
Was I asleep for the past 5 years or has the US of A suddenly become a socialist republic where the price of products and profit margins are decreed by the people's will instead of by the producer's whims?
AFAIK, in a capitalist society, it is the producer's (or in this case, the copyright holder's) prerogative to decide the price (and therefore, the profit margin) of his / her product. The price decides the popularity of the product (or the popularity decides the price) and hence profits. It is none of your business to complain about inflated profit margins.
How long, in a democratic nation like India, will it take for the residents who are skillful in their field to demand more money?
The residents who are skillful in their fields get shitloads of money here. It's not as if we're underpaid here. Just that the cost of living is much lower than in your country. Which means we can live better on less money.
e.g.
My parents make around Rs. 60000 per month => $1400.
They own a reasonably large house, a smallish hospital (with an operation theatre etc. etc.), 2 cars and have enough money left over to invest.
The statement about North Korea not possessing enough money to develop nukes is fallacious. They traded missile technology in return for the technology and materials to develop nukes with Pakistan.
I don't remember the names exactly, but the Pakistani missiles are the Nodong missiles (sp?) with Pakistan written on them.
Hmm... The Brinnel hardness test scale has Diamond listed on it. You can test this new substance by using it as an indentor on Diamond, then work backwards from there to arrive at a hardness number for this substance.
As far as Kashmir is concerned, the Brits are not to blame. When they left, Kashmir was an Independent state. It was when Pakistan, its forces comprising tribals from Baluchistan and its regular Army, invaded Kashmir that the trouble started. The ruler of Kashmir acceded his state to the Indian Union and sought the Indian Army's help in defending Kashmir against Pakistani aggression.
"What is India doing to the population, making them suffer?"
Yes, what is India doing to the population? Nothing compared to the sort of ethnic cleaning that took place in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the Kashmir valley in the name of Islam, perpetrated by Pak-trained terrorists from Pak, Afghanistan, Chechnya etc.
"The Hindus -- "We are only killing the men; the women and children go free. We are soldiers not cowards to kill them..." I was to hear in Comilla [site of a major military base] [Comments R.J. Rummel: "One would think that murdering an unarmed man was a heroic act" (Death By Government, p. 323)]"
"Saudi Arabia hasn't evicted anyone nor stole their land."
The polytheists in existence in Saudi Arabi during the time of Mohammad were converted or massacred. Presenting someone with a choice between becoming a Muslim or dying is forcible conversion.
"Afghanistan? Who was evicted and killed? "
Read history. Afghanistan was a Hindu province till 1000 AD. It was attacked and its citizens converted to Islam or massacred. Kandhar is the current mispronunciation of the Sanskrit term Gandhar which was the capital of a flourishing ancient Hindu kingdom. Uzbekistan and Takzikistan Formed part of the Afghan kingdom in those times. Tashkent has one of those ancient Shiv temples standing even today.
Baku (capital of the Azerbaijan region) known for its underground petroleum yields has still an ancient Hindu temple of the Divine Flame generated by the subterraneas petrol and gas). During the Czar regimes in Russia a Punjabi priest officiated at that temple. The walls display some religious stanzas written in Punjabi Gurumakhi script. The market there also had Hindu merchants. Nearby was a locality too of Hindu inhabitants.
Kenduj a province of Afghanistan, ruled by a king had a Hindu prime minister. This is mentioned in history books. Albirruni's travel account contains details of ancient Hindu Afghanistan, He mentions a Hindu king, Khingla whose coins bore the imprint of God Shiva.
Arabs began invading Afghanistan around, 155A.D. A Persian chronicle TARIKH-E-SISTAN records that invasion and the plunder and devastation of a shiva temple there The invader ibn-e-Samurah carried away the gold idol of Shiva among other Valuables. When ibn Samurah invaded kandhar he carried out a general massacre.
But I guess all the Hindu and Buddhist population of the region just decided to vanish into nothingness and present their lands to the muslims.
"Look, even if it happened once, you're blowing it tremendously out of proportion. Islam wasn't spread by the sword."
Most of the middle east to the east of Saudi Arabia was forcibly taken by Islam through massacres and forced conversions. Iran was Persian. Afghanistan was Hindu. Uzbekistan was Hindu. What are they now? Islamic countries. I have given you examples of 4 countries (Pak, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran) that were made Islamic by the sword. You have given me one example of Indonesia. I don't think you know what you're talking about.
"Are you going to blame Kashmir on Pakistan?"
Kashmir is Pakistan's fault. It trained and sent Armed tribals alongwith their Pak army reg
"Do you read CAIR's survey's of Muslims in America? Have you studied the concepts of fiqh and ijtehad and can you tell me in detail how the Muslims have "changed" since then? The Quran is unchanged since then. How are Muslims today somehow less Cosmopolitan than in 7th century AD?"
I don't think a survey of American Muslims has any bearing on what muslims in the rest of the world think.
And although the Quran is the same, its interpretation has changed over the years.
"I don't believe you can find a Muslim who would say "true Muslims are supposed to conquer land" in order to add to the land of Islam."
You only have to go so far as Pakistan or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to find the muslim who will say that.
"You're dropping names that are incorrect and in the minority view."
Yes, they are in minority view. But it is this minority which is the cause of terrorism, isn't it?
" If there is no Dar-ul-Islam, then there is no dar-ul-harb. (Land of war. BTW, you misspelled harb)"
Correct me if I am wrong, but if a piece of land is not Dar-ul-Islam, then it is dar-ul-harb. That would mean every piece of land is dar-ul-harb (Land of war).
"BTW, you misspelled harb"
Sorry.
"For those who aren't familiar, a lot of critics have taken an old medieval scholarly opinion that divided the world into Muslim rule and non-Muslim rule."
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this the view taught by Wahhabi Islam in the middle east and Pakistan? And hasn't the rise of Wahhabi Islam coincided with the rise of Islamic terrorism all over the world?
"All of the religious groups are focusing on other things, like the restoration of the caliphate or spiritual rejuvenation of the Ummah."
Sorry, not all of them. There have been numerous journalists who went inside Madrassas in Pakistan. They interviewed people studying there and apparently the scholarly opinion which divided the world into the land of islam and the land of war is being taught there (along with hatred of all things non-islamic).
"Your sources are all wrong, Muslims don't follow what you're saying, no matter what Anti-Muslim critics claim."
My sources are not wrong. You're generalising. Most muslims don't follow what I'm saying, but quite a few do. And that is the bloody problem.
"Any countries that had Muslim armies forcibly evict or kill people and take their land?"
I believe it is referred to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Azad Kashmir. Take your pick. You can also include Bangladesh in that list. Or how about Persia? (Have you heard about the plight of the Parsis who had to flee it?) Saudi Arabia during and after the time of Mohammad. Afghanistan. Want more? Pakistan - please refer to the ethnic breakup of the population of Pakistan immediately after partition (after the forced migration, which did go both ways - I never said anything to the contrary) and now.
I am not from Israel. I am from India. And I agree with your thoughts on Iraq being a big strategic fuckup. Afghanistan was a step in the right direction (don't know about the oil there) but then there have been fuckups since the very beginning. Instead of invading and fighting with an international coalition's armed forces (Iraq in 91-92), the US propped up warlords with seriously dubious motives. And then it's been mostly downhill.
Pakistan acts as if Afghanistan is it's vassal state (Pakistan will not allow India to be given any sort of role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, nor will it allow food from India to travel overland to Afghanistan. So all food aid has to go to Iran by sea and then 2000 kms over land to Afghanistan) and the US lets it. Afghanistan was not the epicentre of terrorism - Pakistan is.
As for American corporations, the less said the better (you said it pretty nicely).
"Perhaps you'd recall how NICE it would be if someone sold YOUR home to a bunch of foreigners, shot you, and moved them in."
Please refer to what has happened to Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Also refer to the genocide perpetrated by the Pakistan Army in Bangladesh prior to 1971. Or maybe you'd be better off referring to the greatest forced migration in the history of the world - India's Independence and Pakistan being cut out of it.
Please don't become an apologist for Islamic terrorism.
"Perhaps you'd recall how NICE it would be if someone sold YOUR home to a bunch of foreigners, shot you, and moved them in."
This is exactly how most of the muslim countries were founded from 700 AD to 1700 AD.
When you are cornered, and an omnipresent foe threatens to destroy your lifestyle and enslave you to a set of norms completely against everything you believe, do you not think you would take up a rifle or machete and fight "the man" ??
Osama Bin Laden's fortune is rumoured to be greater than $300 Million. The London bombers weren't cornered by an omnipresent foe. The symptoms you describe are that of paranoia - a neurosis.
We don't ask "WHY?" we just react. And thus our country is less like an elite martial arts master, analyzing the situation and acting properly, we are more like the dumb gangbanger shooting up the sidewalk full of innocents to kill some other kid that might belong to another gang.
There is no tried and tested safe and secure way of fighting these people. My country has been dealing with such problems for the greater part of our independence. It is not easy. And avoiding civilian casualties becomes extremely difficult because the targets and battlefields chosen by these people are urban. That said, Invading Iraq was stupid and wasteful - you diluted your troop strength in Afghanistan (where you could have broken the terror network's back) and have the biggest exporter and trainer of terrorists as a major NON NATO ally (pakistan). That is where the true failure of your leaders lies. The inability to see beyond cold war relics.
We keep "buying" cheap goods made in China, we keep listening to those Indian IT support people. That just makes you seem racist and bigoted.
We leave the arabs to reconquer their lands, and we're likely never going to hear from them again. Especially after we put alternative fuels and energy sources to work.
Do you have any knowedge of the basic tenets of Islam as taught in the middle east and Pakistan? Dar-ul-Islam and Dar-ul-harab? Land of the faithful and land of the infidels? And how true Muslims are supposed conquer land from the land of the infidels and add to the land of Islam?
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Go back to your videogames.
I tend to judge him by what he has said more than any experience with software he has written or managed. And really his blog has very good insights on software that other people ignore at their peril - this particular story is no exception to that rule.
Ah yes! Quite like taking tactical and strategical advice on a battlefield from Tom Clancy because I tend to judge him by what he has said and written more than any experience with battles he may have commanded or fought in. And really, his blog has very good insights on tactics that other people (read: serving officers in the armed forces) ignore at their peril.
"Al Quada was successful because they were able to get sphisticated weaponlry and intelligence from the US. Who will back them now? Maybe china? maybe north korea? Maybe Iran? maybe somebody from south america? maybe even the russians? I am afraid too many countries hate us and would like to see us suffer. It could be anybody."
Actually, the most likely backers are China through the ISI (Pakistani Intelligence). You see, China has a northwestern territory which is predominantly islamic and has had problems with islamic terrorism. If islamic terror in other parts of asia ends or simmers down, these mercenaries will flock to the Chinese province and that won't be good for China's access to central asian OIL.
I speak as a neutral observer to this debate. I am not Chinese, nor am I American. I don't own stock in Cisco or its competitor. But I come from one country which has been the target of Chinese aggression before. India. We fought a war against them in 1962 and lost. They are illegally occupying many thousand sq. km. of our territory (just like Pakistan) and all this happened with the blessings of the US.
You speak of censorship in the US. You speak of rights being trampled upon in the US. You know nothing of censorship or trampling of rights. Go speak to a Tibetean refugee (there are whole towns and cities filled with them in the Himachal Pradesh state of India). Then you'll know how privileged an existence you lead.
Don't go about comparing the rights violation by the US with the rights violation by China.
Take the worst possible example of rights violation you can think of. I guess you're thinking of the Nazis. Multiply that a hundred times with itself. There you get the Chinese. This is happening because Corporations are bending over backwards at the Chinese government's behest to earn some more profits.
The Nazis were extremely racist and so are the Chinese. Ask my tibetean.
The thinking of corporations is very short term. The moment China can afford to do so (economically and militarily), they will show the US the finger and take Taiwan. Then we'll have Arunachal Pradesh (a part of India since 1947) next in line, followed by Sikkim, Ladakh and other parts of Northeast and North India. Somewhere in there they'll take over Nepal as well. They've already taken over Pakistan (where do you think Pakistan gets its ballistic missiles, aircraft and nuclear reactors / weapons from?)
And it's apologists like you who are preventing straightforward debate about this monster.
Someday we're all going to pay for the greed of Corporations.
I speak as a neutral observer to this debate. I am not Chinese, nor am I American. I don't own stock in Cisco or its competitor. But I come from one country which has been the target of Chinese aggression before. India. We fought a war against them in 1962 and lost. They are illegally occupying many thousand sq. km. of our territory (just like Pakistan) and all this happened with the blessings of the US.
You speak of censorship in the US. You speak of rights being trampled upon in the US. You know nothing of censorship or trampling of rights. Go speak to a Tibetean refugee (there are whole towns and cities filled with them in the Himachal Pradesh state of India). Then you'll know how privileged an existence you lead.
Don't go about comparing the rights violation by the US with the rights violation by China.
Take the worst possible example of rights violation you can think of. I guess you're thinking of the Nazis. Multiply that a hundred times with itself. There you get the Chinese. This is happening because Corporations are bending over backwards at the Chinese government's behest to earn some more profits.
The Nazis were extremely racist and so are the Chinese. Ask my tibetean.
The thinking of corporations is very short term. The moment China can afford to do so (economically and militarily), they will show the US the finger and take Taiwan. Then we'll have Arunachal Pradesh (a part of India since 1947) next in line, followed by Sikkim, Ladakh and other parts of Northeast and North India. Somewhere in there they'll take over Nepal as well. They've already taken over Pakistan (where do you think Pakistan gets its ballistic missiles, aircraft and nuclear reactors / weapons from?)
And it's apologists like you who are preventing straightforward debate about this monster.
Someday we're all going to pay for the greed of Corporations.
"On a side note, why is the concept of zero considered so advanced on the intelligence ladder? I know it was well after Greek times that man came to terms with it. But could it be the case that we were over-thinking its concept?"
Not accurate. The concept of zero originated in the vedas. The period of composition of the Vedas is hotly debated. Although popular sources say it was around 1500 BCE, back-calculating the positions of stars described in the vedas leads to figures of around 4000 to 7000 BCE (Meaning they were composed over a period of three thousand years).
The usage of zero (the numeral) is seen around 500 BCE or 1500 BCE (depending on your sources).
The usage of the concept predates the greek civilisation (?), the usage of the numeral is concurrent with the greek civ.
The rigidity crept in later. Earlier the system was quite fluid (AFAIK). However, even if you discount this, there were other benefits.
1> There was a ready profession for every person. A child once born would have a ready profession to work towards. (S)he wouldn't have to face the problem of unemployment / lack of education leading to unemployment because the education in the trade was provided by her / his parents.
2> Division of labour meant greater efficiency (since everyone worked for the kingdom, this was a good thing). It was a sort of specialisation of jobs.
3> Castes were and still are the biggest support system available to most people. People of one caste looked after each other.
As for room for individual brilliance, I don't suppose you can call the Vedas, the upanishads, Ayurveda, Indian Architecture, Mathematics (Pythagorus' theorem is described in a couple of verses in the vedas which have been dated, using the astronomical position of stars described within them to more than 8000 years BC), works like the Arthashastra by Kautilya, and other such works anything less than brilliant. Kautilya makes Machiavelli look like an amateur. These were the works of people who lived in the same caste system.
That said, there were quite a few attrocities committed in some parts under the guise of this system. I don't mean to deny those.
It's just worth noting that while a few non-brahmin leaders are credited with 'uplifting' the lower castes, the people who uplifted these leaders themselves were brahmins.
I know this might be slightly offtopic. But your reference to your grandfather's high regard for education brought this up.
I guess valuing education very highly is a trait shared by the Brahmins of India. I come from a brahmin family and I assure you they're fanitical about education. Nothing's valued higher - not even money (although with globalisation that's changing). You could be rich as hell, but a pauper who's well educated will be respected much more than you.
Over the years, the brahmins have been much maligned by being accused as being the sole perpetrators of the caste system. That wasn't completely true. There were three higher castes and one lower caste. The higher castes were the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas (warriors and administrators) and the Vaishyas (Merchants). The lower caste was that of the Shudras (menial labourers). While all three upper castes enjoyed the privileges of the caste system (which was not all negative - it had plenty of advantages too), it was the brahmins who have borne the brunt of the backlash post independence.
I'll have you know that I don't get paid for this. I'm an amateur, Sir, a complete amateur.
"This time the loser exposes his stupidity "
This time the teenager exposes his angst at his pals getting all the pussy and he getting nothing but the old hand. Seriously. Get some perspective before you call others stupid, losers or morons. How old are you? 12? In your parents basement?
"... "professional mountaineers". Hope on sucker."
Have you ever climbed a mountain? Do you know who these people I refer to are? Are you mature enough to understand something other than your need to eat and shit?
And you sound like a pimply-faced teen with raging hormones and a grudge against the world because you don't get any.
I qualified my statement about BoDs in my previous post - read the fucking post. They're not always infallible, but they will make sure the CEO is not the CEO just because he is friends with BG.
" They supposedly spend X BILLION a year on R&D!"
I don't know how much they spend. But I do believe XBox was really really nice. Wasn't that made by MS? Oh wait. I guess they outsourced RnD for that one.
"You sound like a Microsoft shill"
I already told you what you sound like - so I won't bother repeating myself. For the record, I don't work for MS nor do I own any stock in it. Nothing to do with that company what so ever - except the OS I use.
"or someone who realizes what an idiot he is for supporting this lying, incompetent, fraudulent, monopolistic company but can't afford to admit it to anyone because of his fragile self-esteem."
Oh right, that must be it - my fragile self-esteem. Oops - you just broke it. As a company, MS is not incompetent. They make shitloads of $s. Way more than you can even count (I hope you can count). I don't really see what sort of fraud they've committed. Bring me up on that one. Lies? It's called MARKETING. Monopoly? Yes, they are one. It isn't my fault. I use Unix and MS Windows both.
Cheers, Shaunak
PS: Do something about those pimples and those hormones too.
Once again the wonderful people at/. show the "It's M$ - SCREW THEM" mentality. How many of you "pundits" commenting on Microsoft's upcoming demise work or have ever worked at MS? How many of you know what sort of projects are being executed there? That's right, I thought so. Most of this is just a part of your wet dreams where you're the dominatrix and MS is strapped to the bed. Oh! Did I mention Google is the whip? Get over yourselves.
And for those commenting on how Ballmer is an idiot and incapable of working competently as CEO, well, there is this thing known as the Board of Directors. Quite a few have to be independent. And while I don't claim that boards are infallible, if shareholders (many of them) begin to think the CEO is ignorant or not up to the job, he's usually sacked. Last I checked, BG does not hold the majority stock in MS. So he can't KEEP Ballmer there if Ballmer is incompetent. Again, get over yourselves. You sound like a kid who's climbed your local hill and is talking about professional mountaineers being incompetent at mountaineering.
Slashdot Mirror
Their profit margins are already extremely inflated and they just want more money.
Was I asleep for the past 5 years or has the US of A suddenly become a socialist republic where the price of products and profit margins are decreed by the people's will instead of by the producer's whims?
AFAIK, in a capitalist society, it is the producer's (or in this case, the copyright holder's) prerogative to decide the price (and therefore, the profit margin) of his / her product. The price decides the popularity of the product (or the popularity decides the price) and hence profits. It is none of your business to complain about inflated profit margins.
How long, in a democratic nation like India, will it take for the residents who are skillful in their field to demand more money?
The residents who are skillful in their fields get shitloads of money here. It's not as if we're underpaid here. Just that the cost of living is much lower than in your country. Which means we can live better on less money.
e.g.
My parents make around Rs. 60000 per month => $1400. They own a reasonably large house, a smallish hospital (with an operation theatre etc. etc.), 2 cars and have enough money left over to invest.
The statement about North Korea not possessing enough money to develop nukes is fallacious.
They traded missile technology in return for the technology and materials to develop nukes with Pakistan.
I don't remember the names exactly, but the Pakistani missiles are the Nodong missiles (sp?) with Pakistan written on them.
Money is irrelevant if you can barter something.
Hmm ...
The Brinnel hardness test scale has Diamond listed on it. You can test this new substance by using it as an indentor on Diamond, then work backwards from there to arrive at a hardness number for this substance.
For a good description of Hardness measuring methods, See this page
It is, after all, a measure of strength in compression, which is completely different from hardness.
How about giving us figures for hardness? Like the Brinell Hardness Number or the results of the Rockwell hardness test?
As far as Kashmir is concerned, the Brits are not to blame. When they left, Kashmir was an Independent state. It was when Pakistan, its forces comprising tribals from Baluchistan and its regular Army, invaded Kashmir that the trouble started. The ruler of Kashmir acceded his state to the Indian Union and sought the Indian Army's help in defending Kashmir against Pakistani aggression.
"What is India doing to the population, making them suffer?"
..." I was to hear in Comilla [site of a major military base] [Comments R.J. Rummel: "One would think that murdering an unarmed man was a heroic act" (Death By Government, p. 323)]"
Yes, what is India doing to the population? Nothing compared to the sort of ethnic cleaning that took place in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the Kashmir valley in the name of Islam, perpetrated by Pak-trained terrorists from Pak, Afghanistan, Chechnya etc.
"When were Bengalis evicted or their land taken?"
Please refer to this page http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html
The following is from that page...
"The Hindus -- "We are only killing the men; the women and children go free. We are soldiers not cowards to kill them
You only have to see these results http://www.google.co.in/search?q=Hindus+in+Banglad esh+1971&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&i e=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla: en-US:official to realise what sort of barbarism has been allowed to flourish in the name of Islam.
"Saudi Arabia hasn't evicted anyone nor stole their land."
The polytheists in existence in Saudi Arabi during the time of Mohammad were converted or massacred. Presenting someone with a choice between becoming a Muslim or dying is forcible conversion.
"Afghanistan? Who was evicted and killed? "
Read history. Afghanistan was a Hindu province till 1000 AD. It was attacked and its citizens converted to Islam or massacred. Kandhar is the current mispronunciation of the Sanskrit term Gandhar which was the capital of a flourishing ancient Hindu kingdom. Uzbekistan and Takzikistan Formed part of the Afghan kingdom in those times. Tashkent has one of those ancient Shiv temples standing even today.
Baku (capital of the Azerbaijan region) known for its underground petroleum yields has still an ancient Hindu temple of the Divine Flame generated by the subterraneas petrol and gas). During the Czar regimes in Russia a Punjabi priest officiated at that temple. The walls display some religious stanzas written in Punjabi Gurumakhi script. The market there also had Hindu merchants. Nearby was a locality too of Hindu inhabitants.
Kenduj a province of Afghanistan, ruled by a king had a Hindu prime minister. This is mentioned in history books. Albirruni's travel account contains details of ancient Hindu Afghanistan, He mentions a Hindu king, Khingla whose coins bore the imprint of God Shiva.
Arabs began invading Afghanistan around, 155A.D. A Persian chronicle TARIKH-E-SISTAN records that invasion and the plunder and devastation of a shiva temple there The invader ibn-e-Samurah carried away the gold idol of Shiva among other Valuables. When ibn Samurah invaded kandhar he carried out a general massacre.
But I guess all the Hindu and Buddhist population of the region just decided to vanish into nothingness and present their lands to the muslims.
"Look, even if it happened once, you're blowing it tremendously out of proportion. Islam wasn't spread by the sword."
Most of the middle east to the east of Saudi Arabia was forcibly taken by Islam through massacres and forced conversions. Iran was Persian. Afghanistan was Hindu. Uzbekistan was Hindu. What are they now? Islamic countries. I have given you examples of 4 countries (Pak, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran) that were made Islamic by the sword. You have given me one example of Indonesia. I don't think you know what you're talking about.
"Are you going to blame Kashmir on Pakistan?"
Kashmir is Pakistan's fault. It trained and sent Armed tribals alongwith their Pak army reg
"Do you read CAIR's survey's of Muslims in America? Have you studied the concepts of fiqh and ijtehad and can you tell me in detail how the Muslims have "changed" since then? The Quran is unchanged since then. How are Muslims today somehow less Cosmopolitan than in 7th century AD?"
I don't think a survey of American Muslims has any bearing on what muslims in the rest of the world think.
And although the Quran is the same, its interpretation has changed over the years.
"I don't believe you can find a Muslim who would say "true Muslims are supposed to conquer land" in order to add to the land of Islam."
You only have to go so far as Pakistan or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to find the muslim who will say that.
"You're dropping names that are incorrect and in the minority view."
Yes, they are in minority view. But it is this minority which is the cause of terrorism, isn't it?
" If there is no Dar-ul-Islam, then there is no dar-ul-harb. (Land of war. BTW, you misspelled harb)"
Correct me if I am wrong, but if a piece of land is not Dar-ul-Islam, then it is dar-ul-harb. That would mean every piece of land is dar-ul-harb (Land of war).
"BTW, you misspelled harb"
Sorry.
"For those who aren't familiar, a lot of critics have taken an old medieval scholarly opinion that divided the world into Muslim rule and non-Muslim rule."
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this the view taught by Wahhabi Islam in the middle east and Pakistan? And hasn't the rise of Wahhabi Islam coincided with the rise of Islamic terrorism all over the world?
"All of the religious groups are focusing on other things, like the restoration of the caliphate or spiritual rejuvenation of the Ummah."
Sorry, not all of them. There have been numerous journalists who went inside Madrassas in Pakistan. They interviewed people studying there and apparently the scholarly opinion which divided the world into the land of islam and the land of war is being taught there (along with hatred of all things non-islamic).
"Your sources are all wrong, Muslims don't follow what you're saying, no matter what Anti-Muslim critics claim."
My sources are not wrong. You're generalising. Most muslims don't follow what I'm saying, but quite a few do. And that is the bloody problem.
"Any countries that had Muslim armies forcibly evict or kill people and take their land?"
I believe it is referred to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Azad Kashmir. Take your pick.
You can also include Bangladesh in that list. Or how about Persia? (Have you heard about the plight of the Parsis who had to flee it?) Saudi Arabia during and after the time of Mohammad. Afghanistan. Want more? Pakistan - please refer to the ethnic breakup of the population of Pakistan immediately after partition (after the forced migration, which did go both ways - I never said anything to the contrary) and now.
I am not from Israel. I am from India. And I agree with your thoughts on Iraq being a big strategic fuckup. Afghanistan was a step in the right direction (don't know about the oil there) but then there have been fuckups since the very beginning. Instead of invading and fighting with an international coalition's armed forces (Iraq in 91-92), the US propped up warlords with seriously dubious motives. And then it's been mostly downhill.
Pakistan acts as if Afghanistan is it's vassal state (Pakistan will not allow India to be given any sort of role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, nor will it allow food from India to travel overland to Afghanistan. So all food aid has to go to Iran by sea and then 2000 kms over land to Afghanistan) and the US lets it. Afghanistan was not the epicentre of terrorism - Pakistan is.
As for American corporations, the less said the better (you said it pretty nicely).
"Perhaps you'd recall how NICE it would be if someone sold YOUR home to a bunch of foreigners, shot you, and moved them in."
Please refer to what has happened to Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Also refer to the genocide perpetrated by the Pakistan Army in Bangladesh prior to 1971. Or maybe you'd be better off referring to the greatest forced migration in the history of the world - India's Independence and Pakistan being cut out of it.
Please don't become an apologist for Islamic terrorism.
"Perhaps you'd recall how NICE it would be if someone sold YOUR home to a bunch of foreigners, shot you, and moved them in."
This is exactly how most of the muslim countries were founded from 700 AD to 1700 AD.
When you are cornered, and an omnipresent foe threatens to destroy your lifestyle and enslave you to a set of norms completely against everything you believe, do you not think you would take up a rifle or machete and fight "the man" ??
Osama Bin Laden's fortune is rumoured to be greater than $300 Million. The London bombers weren't cornered by an omnipresent foe. The symptoms you describe are that of paranoia - a neurosis.
We don't ask "WHY?" we just react. And thus our country is less like an elite martial arts master, analyzing the situation and acting properly, we are more like the dumb gangbanger shooting up the sidewalk full of innocents to kill some other kid that might belong to another gang.
There is no tried and tested safe and secure way of fighting these people. My country has been dealing with such problems for the greater part of our independence. It is not easy. And avoiding civilian casualties becomes extremely difficult because the targets and battlefields chosen by these people are urban. That said, Invading Iraq was stupid and wasteful - you diluted your troop strength in Afghanistan (where you could have broken the terror network's back) and have the biggest exporter and trainer of terrorists as a major NON NATO ally (pakistan). That is where the true failure of your leaders lies. The inability to see beyond cold war relics.
We keep "buying" cheap goods made in China, we keep listening to those Indian IT support people.
That just makes you seem racist and bigoted.
We leave the arabs to reconquer their lands, and we're likely never going to hear from them again. Especially after we put alternative fuels and energy sources to work.
Do you have any knowedge of the basic tenets of Islam as taught in the middle east and Pakistan? Dar-ul-Islam and Dar-ul-harab? Land of the faithful and land of the infidels? And how true Muslims are supposed conquer land from the land of the infidels and add to the land of Islam?
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Go back to your videogames.
I tend to judge him by what he has said more than any experience with software he has written or managed. And really his blog has very good insights on software that other people ignore at their peril - this particular story is no exception to that rule.
Ah yes! Quite like taking tactical and strategical advice on a battlefield from Tom Clancy because I tend to judge him by what he has said and written more than any experience with battles he may have commanded or fought in. And really, his blog has very good insights on tactics that other people (read: serving officers in the armed forces) ignore at their peril.
"Al Quada was successful because they were able to get sphisticated weaponlry and intelligence from the US. Who will back them now? Maybe china? maybe north korea? Maybe Iran? maybe somebody from south america? maybe even the russians? I am afraid too many countries hate us and would like to see us suffer. It could be anybody."
Actually, the most likely backers are China through the ISI (Pakistani Intelligence).
You see, China has a northwestern territory which is predominantly islamic and has had problems with islamic terrorism. If islamic terror in other parts of asia ends or simmers down, these mercenaries will flock to the Chinese province and that won't be good for China's access to central asian OIL.
I speak as a neutral observer to this debate. I am not Chinese, nor am I American. I don't own stock in Cisco or its competitor. But I come from one country which has been the target of Chinese aggression before. India. We fought a war against them in 1962 and lost. They are illegally occupying many thousand sq. km. of our territory (just like Pakistan) and all this happened with the blessings of the US.
You speak of censorship in the US. You speak of rights being trampled upon in the US. You know nothing of censorship or trampling of rights. Go speak to a Tibetean refugee (there are whole towns and cities filled with them in the Himachal Pradesh state of India). Then you'll know how privileged an existence you lead.
Don't go about comparing the rights violation by the US with the rights violation by China.
Take the worst possible example of rights violation you can think of. I guess you're thinking of the Nazis. Multiply that a hundred times with itself. There you get the Chinese. This is happening because Corporations are bending over backwards at the Chinese government's behest to earn some more profits.
The Nazis were extremely racist and so are the Chinese. Ask my tibetean.
The thinking of corporations is very short term. The moment China can afford to do so (economically and militarily), they will show the US the finger and take Taiwan. Then we'll have Arunachal Pradesh (a part of India since 1947) next in line, followed by Sikkim, Ladakh and other parts of Northeast and North India. Somewhere in there they'll take over Nepal as well. They've already taken over Pakistan (where do you think Pakistan gets its ballistic missiles, aircraft and nuclear reactors / weapons from?)
And it's apologists like you who are preventing straightforward debate about this monster.
Someday we're all going to pay for the greed of Corporations.
I speak as a neutral observer to this debate. I am not Chinese, nor am I American. I don't own stock in Cisco or its competitor. But I come from one country which has been the target of Chinese aggression before. India. We fought a war against them in 1962 and lost. They are illegally occupying many thousand sq. km. of our territory (just like Pakistan) and all this happened with the blessings of the US. You speak of censorship in the US. You speak of rights being trampled upon in the US. You know nothing of censorship or trampling of rights. Go speak to a Tibetean refugee (there are whole towns and cities filled with them in the Himachal Pradesh state of India). Then you'll know how privileged an existence you lead. Don't go about comparing the rights violation by the US with the rights violation by China. Take the worst possible example of rights violation you can think of. I guess you're thinking of the Nazis. Multiply that a hundred times with itself. There you get the Chinese. This is happening because Corporations are bending over backwards at the Chinese government's behest to earn some more profits. The Nazis were extremely racist and so are the Chinese. Ask my tibetean. The thinking of corporations is very short term. The moment China can afford to do so (economically and militarily), they will show the US the finger and take Taiwan. Then we'll have Arunachal Pradesh (a part of India since 1947) next in line, followed by Sikkim, Ladakh and other parts of Northeast and North India. Somewhere in there they'll take over Nepal as well. They've already taken over Pakistan (where do you think Pakistan gets its ballistic missiles, aircraft and nuclear reactors / weapons from?) And it's apologists like you who are preventing straightforward debate about this monster. Someday we're all going to pay for the greed of Corporations.
"On a side note, why is the concept of zero considered so advanced on the intelligence ladder? I know it was well after Greek times that man came to terms with it. But could it be the case that we were over-thinking its concept?"
Not accurate.
The concept of zero originated in the vedas. The period of composition of the Vedas is hotly debated. Although popular sources say it was around 1500 BCE, back-calculating the positions of stars described in the vedas leads to figures of around 4000 to 7000 BCE (Meaning they were composed over a period of three thousand years).
The usage of zero (the numeral) is seen around 500 BCE or 1500 BCE (depending on your sources).
The usage of the concept predates the greek civilisation (?), the usage of the numeral is concurrent with the greek civ.
The rigidity crept in later. Earlier the system was quite fluid (AFAIK). However, even if you discount this, there were other benefits.
1> There was a ready profession for every person. A child once born would have a ready profession to work towards. (S)he wouldn't have to face the problem of unemployment / lack of education leading to unemployment because the education in the trade was provided by her / his parents.
2> Division of labour meant greater efficiency (since everyone worked for the kingdom, this was a good thing). It was a sort of specialisation of jobs.
3> Castes were and still are the biggest support system available to most people. People of one caste looked after each other.
As for room for individual brilliance, I don't suppose you can call the Vedas, the upanishads, Ayurveda, Indian Architecture, Mathematics (Pythagorus' theorem is described in a couple of verses in the vedas which have been dated, using the astronomical position of stars described within them to more than 8000 years BC), works like the Arthashastra by Kautilya, and other such works anything less than brilliant. Kautilya makes Machiavelli look like an amateur. These were the works of people who lived in the same caste system.
That said, there were quite a few attrocities committed in some parts under the guise of this system. I don't mean to deny those.
It's just worth noting that while a few non-brahmin leaders are credited with 'uplifting' the lower castes, the people who uplifted these leaders themselves were brahmins.
I know this might be slightly offtopic. But your reference to your grandfather's high regard for education brought this up.
I guess valuing education very highly is a trait shared by the Brahmins of India. I come from a brahmin family and I assure you they're fanitical about education. Nothing's valued higher - not even money (although with globalisation that's changing). You could be rich as hell, but a pauper who's well educated will be respected much more than you.
Over the years, the brahmins have been much maligned by being accused as being the sole perpetrators of the caste system. That wasn't completely true. There were three higher castes and one lower caste. The higher castes were the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas (warriors and administrators) and the Vaishyas (Merchants). The lower caste was that of the Shudras (menial labourers). While all three upper castes enjoyed the privileges of the caste system (which was not all negative - it had plenty of advantages too), it was the brahmins who have borne the brunt of the backlash post independence.
Bravo!
If you hadn't already written this, I would have!
Again, Bravo!
That took politically-incorrect balls!
" Uh huh another "professional" moron."
I'll have you know that I don't get paid for this. I'm an amateur, Sir, a complete amateur.
"This time the loser exposes his stupidity "
This time the teenager exposes his angst at his pals getting all the pussy and he getting nothing but the old hand. Seriously. Get some perspective before you call others stupid, losers or morons. How old are you? 12? In your parents basement?
"... "professional mountaineers". Hope on sucker."
Have you ever climbed a mountain? Do you know who these people I refer to are? Are you mature enough to understand something other than your need to eat and shit?
And you sound like a pimply-faced teen with raging hormones and a grudge against the world because you don't get any.
I qualified my statement about BoDs in my previous post - read the fucking post. They're not always infallible, but they will make sure the CEO is not the CEO just because he is friends with BG.
" They supposedly spend X BILLION a year on R&D!"
I don't know how much they spend. But I do believe XBox was really really nice. Wasn't that made by MS? Oh wait. I guess they outsourced RnD for that one.
"You sound like a Microsoft shill"
I already told you what you sound like - so I won't bother repeating myself. For the record, I don't work for MS nor do I own any stock in it. Nothing to do with that company what so ever - except the OS I use.
"or someone who realizes what an idiot he is for supporting this lying, incompetent, fraudulent, monopolistic company but can't afford to admit it to anyone because of his fragile self-esteem."
Oh right, that must be it - my fragile self-esteem. Oops - you just broke it.
As a company, MS is not incompetent. They make shitloads of $s. Way more than you can even count (I hope you can count). I don't really see what sort of fraud they've committed. Bring me up on that one. Lies? It's called MARKETING. Monopoly? Yes, they are one. It isn't my fault. I use Unix and MS Windows both.
Cheers,
Shaunak
PS: Do something about those pimples and those hormones too.
Once again the wonderful people at /. show the "It's M$ - SCREW THEM" mentality. How many of you "pundits" commenting on Microsoft's upcoming demise work or have ever worked at MS? How many of you know what sort of projects are being executed there?
That's right, I thought so. Most of this is just a part of your wet dreams where you're the dominatrix and MS is strapped to the bed. Oh! Did I mention Google is the whip? Get over yourselves.
And for those commenting on how Ballmer is an idiot and incapable of working competently as CEO, well, there is this thing known as the Board of Directors. Quite a few have to be independent. And while I don't claim that boards are infallible, if shareholders (many of them) begin to think the CEO is ignorant or not up to the job, he's usually sacked. Last I checked, BG does not hold the majority stock in MS. So he can't KEEP Ballmer there if Ballmer is incompetent.
Again, get over yourselves.
You sound like a kid who's climbed your local hill and is talking about professional mountaineers being incompetent at mountaineering.
I doubt there are a million pakistani literates, let alone nerds :)