VINDICA

Here is a collection of three articles, that have no connection with each other other than having been written on the same day. Gold Till the early 1970's, the US Dollar was backed by Gold. That is, the Government guaranteed that they would give you a certain amount of Gold in exchange for your dollar bill any time you asked for it. If the Government wanted to print money, they had to buy and store more gold. An echo of this much loved system survives in the use of the phrase "Gold Standard", for that was exactly what it was called. Nixon broke the US dollar from the Gold Standard, in order to be able to print more money more quickly to finance an expanding war and shrinking economy. Printing more money neither won the war, nor did it fix the economy. However, it did lay down the template for future abuse of governmental power. Harry D. Schultz, a popular investment consultant has this to say about Gold. ...but in my view we should fight for a pure gold standard, th...

A cutting and insightful essay on the current conflict in Iraq that looks at it from the point of view of a Sunni-Shia fight. The Shia, too, may have to come to a time of reckoning. Their old tormentor was sent to the gallows, and a kinsman of theirs did the deed with the seal of the state. From the poor Shia slums of Baghdad, young avengers answered the Sunni campaign of terror with brutal terror of their own. The old notion--once dear to the Sunnis, and to the Shia a nagging source of fear and shame--that the Sunnis of Iraq were a martial race while the Shia were marked for lamentations and political quiescence has been broken for good.

I have felt that one of the reasons organized religions have their vast appeal is because they present a monopolistic vision of morality that is sadly emaciated in secular thought. I have always thought why there is no scientific research on the underpinning of morality? While there are professional Ethicists, it seemed like there was not much scientific funding for their activities. After all, Ethics is taught as a Philosophical, not as a Scientific subject in schools. However, new research in Neuro science and consiousness may finally be changing that. It can finally fight back against "out of body" and "near death" experiences that are held as "proof" of an afterlife. And when the physiological activity of the brain ceases, as far as anyone can tell the person's consciousness goes out of existence. Attempts to contact the souls of the dead (a pursuit of serious scientists a century ago) turned up only cheap magic tricks, and near death experien...

A very long and detailed article by Jeff Sharlet includes many first hand references. The old theories have failed. The new Christ, fifty years ago no more than a corollary to American power, twenty-five years ago at its vanguard, is now at the very center. His followers are not anxiously awaiting his return at the Rapture; he’s here right now. They’re not envious of the middle class; they are the middle class. They’re not looking for a hero to lead them; they’re building biblical households, every man endowed with “headship” over his own family. They don’t silence sex; they promise sacred sex to those who couple properly—orgasms more intense for young Christians who wait than those experienced by secular lovers.

A hilarious piece that bemoans the boringness of sex scandals among American political class compared to those of their cousins in London. From Bill Clinton seeking body warmth in Lewinsky's pillowy embrace to Foley batting his eyelashes online, ... the high-profile Washington sex scandal is marked by desperate lunging, not lusty abandon. The piece ends with a pillorying of the American prudishness: It's just that a dreadful piety has taken hold in American life, predicated on the notion that no one misbehaves out of choice or inclination or a simple warm itch, but because they were driven to it by drink, drugs, or childhood dysfunction and finally thanks those Fundamentalist preachers who are keeping American hypocrisy alive! Well, at least we can go to bed happy and content in the knowledge that somewhere out there are Fundamentalist preachers up to no filthy good. They, bless them, are keeping the sacred flame of American hypocrisy brightly lit.

Not much of a surprise that the RSS is against discrimination against the Dalits. The indiscriminate vilification of the organization smooths over the subtle point that the RSS believes in Hindus as a unitary community. Because of this reason, it has consistently opposed such things as the Aryan invasion theory, untouchability and other forms of brutality that the Dalits are subjected to. The RSS has castigated what it repeatedly calls the “so-called uppers castes” for their discriminatory ways saying they are in fact of the “lowest levels” for doing so. It is heartening that they did not feel any compulsion to mince words.

An intriguing article about the collapse of Enron. The commonly held perception is that Enron executives hid information about the financial state of the company. However, it is argued here is that everything that was needed to correctly diagnose the state of the corporation was in public documents revealed by the company. Analysts were unable to get to the truth because there was just too much documentation out there. all Enron proves is that in an age of increasing financial complexity the “disclosure paradigm”—the idea that the more a company tells us about its business, the better off we are—has become an anachronism. So what is the answer? The article looks back at World War II and at individuals who analyzed Nazi propaganda as a way of figuring out what the Nazi leadership was really thinking. It argues that there is a dispenser and a consumer for information. Both have to be sufficiently sophisticated in order for the information exchange to be successful. as Enron’s busin...

An insightful and sometime exhaustive look at dissidence in Iran. Many parallels are drawn with the Czech dissident movement and India's own independence movement. The anti-Shah revolution was not hijacked by the clerics, he said, just as the Bolshevik revolution was not stolen by Stalin, as Trotsky had claimed. “We began revolution, in order to create a paradise, but we created hell.” An unjust regime can be changed only by civil disobedience, nonviolently, he holds. Invasion cannot export or impose democracy either. The basic thrust of the article is the claim that the fight in this world is not between civilizations, but between open secular societies and religious worlds. This fight happens, according to the author, in all societies including the western ones.

Welcome to the Ninth : The young Beethoven burst into his dad's workplace and demanded half the pay to feed his siblings. Daddy was welcome to drink away the rest. He did not know then, but this was to be the story of his life. Triumph over the disadvantages of life, through determination and a sheer force of personality. A mother who died when he was young. A drunk father. An upbringing in provincial Bonn [10], away from the nerve center that was Vienna. And deafness. Creeping, terrifying, isolating, lonely deafness. It is said that music moves the soul. Sometimes, it also grabs it by both hands, shakes it up like a rag doll and take it for a wild ride. [1] Beethoven's Ninth symphony is officially called The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125. It is also sometimes referred to as "Choral", because of its use of the human voice on par with instruments in the fourth movement [2]. However, it is most often referred to simply as "The Ninth". Compose...

The tenuous peace in Sri Lanka that has held for the last few years has broken down and a full fledged civil war is again underway. India is once again under pressure from all sides to come out of its shell and put behind its hands off policy. While this may or may not happen, the question does arise as to what India's policy should be in case it does decide to play a more active role in Sri Lanka. It is my opinion that India's policy should be work towards a single, consistent goal - that of preventing the emergence of an independent Tamil state on the island, or popular support thereof for a similar idea. The emergence of such a homeland will lead to strategic irritants for India in the long term. In consonance with such a goal, it makes complete sense for India to call for and actively support the destruction of the LTTE. Prabakaran has made it clear by his actions in the recent past that nothing but a completely independent homeland with him as the permanent dictator wou...

Lifelong conservative John Derbyshire talks about this loss of faith, and the lessons of his life, as seen 61 years into it.

You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. - Former New York Senator Danial Patrick Moynihan

There is a movie comming soon to a theater near you named 300. For those who liked Lord of The Rings, Sin City, V for Vendetta and other movies with innovative screen imagery, this movie is going to be the golden grail. From what I have seen, it is going to be breathtaking. There is a commemorative stone in Thermopylae in Greece that reads "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie". The event it commemorates is the battle of Thermopylae where a mere 300 Greek soldiers fighting under Leonidas (who was one of the Spartan Kings. Sparta, strangely and almost uniquely in history was a kindom that had two Kings). Most western historians have latched on to this battle as the defining moment in the history of western civilization, when Greece and western civilization itself stood on the precipice, facing a massive Persian army under Xerxes. What glory of glories, it is saved by the individual valour of 300 men fighting for freedom and...

The news it the article is less interesting than the general sweep of what it is posited to represent - the theory that third world companies are more efficient because of the necessity of having to battle government regulations and low income in their home countries and are hence on very good footing to compete in the globalized world. ...experts say they are strengthened by the twin imperatives of having to compete with old-guard multinationals and overcome the exigencies of commerce in the developing world, with its low incomes and high business costs Govindarajan, an Indian-born business professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire has the following to say: The very genesis of Indian multinationals has to be around business-model innovation. The reason that business-model innovation will come from India is that India is a very different laboratory

Voltaire quoted in a TIME magazine story. Even if I don't agree with what you say, I'm ready to fight to my death so you can say it.

A few recent books, including one by Richard Dawkins are reviewed.

I had linked to this book review a long time ago when the book initially came out. Over time, I have realized this piece is a true classic. I am linking to this again. Hats off to the reviewer (Matt Taibbi), this is the funniest review I have ever read! Some examples: (Friedman writes) I stomped off, went through security, bought a Cinnabon, and glumly sat at the back of the B line, waiting to be herded on board so that I could hunt for space in the overhead bins. Forget the Cinnabon. Name me a herd animal that hunts. Name me one. Here is another quote: It's not for nothing that Thomas Friedman is called "the most important columnist in America today." That it's Friedman's own colleague at the New York Times (Walter Russell Mead) calling him this, on the back of Friedman's own book, is immaterial. Friedman is an important American. He is the perfect symbol of our culture of emboldened stupidity. Another master stroke, questioning the use of "flat...

"Viji, are you awake", asked Chetan. I opened my eyes, and looked up into the cloudless, brilliant sky. A sky unlike anything visible from habitation. The city lights are bright and intoxicating, but the greatest beauty of the world may yet belong to its subtleties. Chetan and I, the "before" photo. This was after Madhura's sharp comment to tuck my tummy. In my defense, the camera adds 5 pounds and so does the backpack! There, all tucked away! Trailhead. 6600 feet. On the hike up to the high camp, I had let out a silent prayer to the weather Gods, asking for a clear sky on my summit day. The rain Gods were smiling on me. But the wind Gods were not. A chill wind was blowing across the face of the mountain, freezing everything in its path. For the millionth time that night, I wished I had carried a heavier tent, rather than the light weight bivy sack. Even with three layers of clothing on me, all I could manage was a couple of hours of fitful sleep, dr...

This excerpt it taken from a review of Jaswant Singh's new book, A Call To Honour. The review was publised in Asian Age. This is Mr. Singh responding to Madeline Albright's comment that "India and Pakistan should climb out of the hole they have dug themselves into." I must point out that civilisationally, we in India do not dig holes to bury ourselves in, no, not even metaphorically speaking. Therefore this observation exemplifies yet another fundamental lack of comprehension about the Indian stand and about addressing Indian sensitivities.

Sandy started her own company. More info can be found at her website at www.UncoverU.com .