Desi In Toronto

One of the reasons why I am glad I got out of India.

Friday saw the beginning of the annual mid-summer nightmare for Delhiites. Air conditioners grunted to a halt, as an overstretched power grid left the Capital power-starved with only three-fourths of the supply flowing in.

Of the 2,503 MW daytime demand, only 1,903 MW came in. On Friday night large swaths of the city and its suburbs were reeling under power cuts.

The city faced the dual impact of heat — the mercury touching a peak 42°C and sweltering eight- to 10-hour powercuts.

The Liberal leadership is hotting up. Here are is the list :

This is a sad ending of the drama that has been unfolding for the last few days about whether the flag should be lowered for dead soldiers, whether pictures should be taken of funeral ceremonies of dead Canadian soldiers, whether Canada should continue leading the fight in Afghanistan, etc. etc. etc.

At the end of the day, these soldiers are DEAD. They probably knew what was going to happen to them. Soldiering a volatile region does not come without risks. But they left behind mothers grieving for their lost son, they left behind fathers grieving a shoulder to rely on when they are old, they left behind wives who will not hear them say “I Love You” ever again, they left behind children who will probably forget their dead father’s faces in another year or so. None of the soldiers there know what’s going to happen to them. Each and every soldier goes there with an intention of completing their job. He/She has a sword hanging over their head when they go into this region to complete a job that Canadian politicians back in the boardrooms of Canada promised the world (read USA) they would carry out. Despite the risks they are doing their jobs admirably. Despite the shenanigans of US, our esteemed Canadian politicians and our wingers, they are carrying out their jobs.

And this is what Canadian need to celebrate. The ability of the soldier to carry out his/her job against possible death. And when a soldier falls in line of duty, his/her bravery needs to be honoured (with due consideration of the relatives of the fallen soldier). Not to be hidden behind a shroud of deceit, of lies and blatant US pandering.

I started the post by saying that this is a sad ending. But is it really an ending or a beginning?

Here we go. Even more integration to US and not the kind we want.

Stephen Harper’s government has quietly committed Canada to “indefinite” participation in NORAD and agreed to give the military alliance new responsibilities to watch for a terror attack by sea.
…………………….

Yet in Ottawa, officials with the Harper government tried to keep word of the renewal under wraps.There was no notification of any signing ceremony. Officials at both the foreign affairs department and defence department initially refused to confirm that a deal had been signed.
…………………….

With Canadian officials saying nothing, it was left to U.S. officials to lay out the details of the renewal.”The new agreement expands NORAD’s mission by adding maritime warning to NORAD’s aerospace defence mission,” Hironimus said.

It’s almost as if the Canadian government is being told what to do by the Bush administration each and every day. It’s as if the Bush administration said “ok we’ll give you a little slack on the softwood lumber deal but you have to give us the cake on a whole other set of issues beginning with NORAD.”

I don’t mind the government being pro US but when you start to toe the line from south of the border it’s time to start ringing the warning bells.

Been out of the blogging picture for the past few days. Had my LOMA exam today. Am back to the world of blogging!!

OK. This just out. Bush is missing is “How To Curb Freedom Of Press”.

And guess who stole it from Bush. Stephen Harper.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended his government’s decision to ban the media from covering the return of bodies of soldiers killed in the line of duty, accusing the opposition of politicizing the issue.

Reporters were not allowed into the military airbase at Trenton, Ont., to cover the Tuesday evening arrival of the remains of four soldiers who died in a weekend bombing.

These days all I have been listening to is Johnny Cash.

What’s so surprising about that, you ask?

Well, there are two genres of music that I don’t like at all and they are Rap/Hip-Hop and Country. I just don’t like the sound of these two styles. And Johnny Cash may not be firmly entrenched in country music, his roots certainly from that genre. The first time I heard his music soon after the movie “Walk The Line” came out, I just shut down my iPod. But after reading somewhere that he had covered Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage” and Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt”, I tuned the iPod back to Johnny Cash. After giving him an uncritical listen, I was astounded by the depth of his lyrics and music.

From “Folsom Blues” : When I was just a baby/My mama told me “son, always be a good boy and never play with a gun”/But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

From “Man In Black” : We are doing might fine I suppose/In our streak lightening cars and fancy clothes/but just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back/up front there ought to be a man in black.

From “A Boy Named Sue” : When my daddy left home when I was three / He didn’t leave much to my ma and me / just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze / Now I don’t blame him ’cause he run and hid / but the meanest thing he did / before he left he went and named me Sue

From “Sunday Morning” : On a Sunday morning sidewalk / I am wishing Lord that I was stoned / cause there is something in a Sunday / that makes a body feel alone

From “Delia’s Gone” : If I hadn’t shot poor Delia / I’d had her for my wife / One more round / Delia’s gone.

These are just a few of his lyrics. His music, although very much like country music, is not exactly country. The sound lies somewhere in between Rock and Country or is it between Rock and Rap or is it between Country and Gospel or is it……that’s what makes it so special. You just cannot pin his music down. Some of his live recordings are pure joy to listen. But the most powerful thing about his music are his lyrics.

Do give him a listen.

Here’s my question : Would Iran be a cake walk for the US military as Iraq was?

All signs point to NO.

The first and foremost reason why not is the fact that unlike Iraq, Iran’s leaders were elected through a democratic process. Although the current Iranian regime won by a slim majority, if US were to attack Iran the political opposition would join the elected leaders. If there is no opposition to the current regime at the time of an attack (like there was in Iraq (Shites and Kurds)), US would have a hard time garnering internal support. Without internal support there is no peace in an antagonised population which would mean that US would have to act as an occupying force and we have all seen what a bang up job they do.

The second important reason is, who would support this invasion? Britain, US’s staunch ally, is ready to pull out of Iraq and I don’t see how Tony Blair could justify to the British an Iranian invasion after the unpopular Iraq debacle. Moreover, Britain seems more interested in a diplomatic route than a military route. The rest of Europe and Russia would be vehemently opposed to any form of military operation in Iran. China and India, who have investments in Iran are likely to be opposed to an invasion as well.

The third reason is the US citizens. After the Iraq controversy, would they go along with a controversial Iranian invasion? Again, most signs point to no. Support for Iraq in the US is falling drastically and I don’t know what “evidence” will enable the Bush administration to garner more than 50% support for an Iranian invasion. I mean, everyone already knows Iran wants a nuclear bomb and sooner or later are going to get it. Does it mean that they want to shower US, one of their major oil customers, with nuclear weapons? I would say no.

A nuclear weapon in the hands of a state is more like a bargaining chip than an actual weapon. And to think a state can launch an unprovoked nuclear attack is to think like a person with his head stuck in his ass. Nuclear weapons are used more to grease other negotiations on the table as India showed what could be achieved by becoming a nuclear power with the deal that was struck with the US last month. Unfortunately, this has set a bad precedence. The world and Iran have seen that as long as you have a nuclear weapon, the other party cannot snub you at the negotiating table.

Only a terrorist group can launch a nuclear attack. Does it mean Iran could pass this nuclear technology to terrorists? Sure it’s possible. But to attack a country based on “what ifs” like this is like throwing gasoline in a fire. Remember when USSR broke up everyone said that the nuclear technology is now unsafe and will be used by terrorists? What happened to that scenario? Nothing. The western world (primarily the US) negotiated with the countries formed after the break up of USSR secured most of the nuclear sites.

So why is it impossible to negotiate with Iran. Because of the underlying belief that Iran will use the nuclear weapon as a part of the Islamic Ideology to bomb Israel or US. That again is stupid and completely ostrich like. If a state (in this case Iran) carries out an unprovoked nuclear attack, it would be signing it’s death warrant.

The worst scenario is that even if US was able to bomb the nuclear sites in Iran to oblivion, what then? There will be an out and out war between Islam
nations and US. And the rest of the world will be caught in between and will have to choose sides.

That could be the beginning of the third world war. Are you ready for it?

Reality is around the corner :

The 1970s gave us the six-million-dollar man. Thirty years and quite a bit of inflation later we have the six-billion-dollar human: not a physical cyborg as such, instead an umbrella term for the latest developments in the growing field of technology for human enhancement.

Helping the blind to see again, being able to carry enormous loads without the prospect of backache and a prosthetic robotic hand that works (almost) like a real one were some of the ideas presented at a recent meeting of engineers, physicists, biologists and computer scientists organised by the American Association of Anatomists.

Do you know what I think? I think that in another 300 years or so we would be using hardware and software in conjunction with our human minds and bodies to better ourselves even when a replacement is not desired. In a 1000 years we human will become the Borgs of Star Trek (Borgs are half organic and half artificial beings and are nasty as hell). We might not be as evil
as the Borgs on the TV show but we are definitely going to get there.

Another retired general bites at Rumsfeld’s heels.

I fail to understand why don’t they demand Rumsfeld’s resignation before they resign. Why do they resign and then give the world their opnion?

The street children of India.

With a population of a Billion and growing, Indian children, especially those growing up on the streets of India encounter a bleak future. But I discovered that they cared less about future as they played with their cheap toys and siblings. It is amazing with what trash they can play.

-K. L. Kamat

With a schedule like this, is it any wonder that players of the caliber of Tendulkar and Shewag are burning out so quickly?

Such selfless acts will definitly end terrorism!!

Italy’s most famous porn star Cicciolina has offered herself to Osama Bin Laden.

“I am ready to make a deal, he can have me in exchange for an end to his tyranny. My breasts have only ever helped people while Bin Laden has killed thousands of innocent victims.”

Hmmmmm! Let’s see now.

Ever since I came into Canada in April 2002, I and my wife have brought a house, two cars, furniture and a slew of electronics. And this was all in the space of 1 year. In other words I and my wife pumped money into the house industry, the auto industry, the furniture industry and the consumer electronics industry almost CAD 120,000.

Apart from that, we brought life insurance policies, we have a mortgage, we have credit cards, we pay taxes and we have utility bills that need paying at the end of the month.

We have day to day needs which we pay for like gas, groceries, night outs, movies, books, DVDs, etc. etc. etc.

For all of you who say, immigrants come into the country and make you pay for their well being, all I can say is fcuk you.

For every refugee who comes into Canada, a lot more legitimate migrants come into Canada with money and the expertise to generate money for themselves (and, by extension, for Canada). Without immigrants Canada (and US) would be dead in 50 years. That’s the truth. The “local” population of these two countries is aging fast and the birth rates among this demography are abysmally low. It’s the migrants (turned citizens) who will be sustaining this old population. Canada and US need migrants as much as these migrants need an environment to grow as human beings.

This seems to be happening more and more these days (From Eschaton who links to Sadly No!).

Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, told students and faculty at the University of South Dakota Monday that the United States should pull out of Iraq and leave a small force there, just as it did post-war in Korea and Germany.

“It was an enormous mistake for us to try to occupy that country after June of 2003,” Gingrich said during a question-and-answer session at the school. “We have to pull back, and we have to recognize it.”

Is this the end of the hard core Republican era?

Here is a super crazy idea from Plumer :

Why should non-citizens have to be disenfranchised? Why not just let anyone living here legally vote?

It seems a bit crazy, but it’s worth putting out there. Non-citizen immigrants seem to be constitutionally barred from voting at the federal level in any case, but nothing’s stopping anyone from giving them the vote in state and local elections. And why not? Presumably immigrants should have a say in, for instance, what goes on in the schools they’re sending their kids to.

Holy cow!! Immigrants voting!!!?! What’s next? Pigs sprouting wings?

Now, Plumer was talking of U.S. but this question holds true for Canada too.

I have been in Canada for 4 years. Before that I was in Dubai and Bahrain for 3 years. Before that I was in India but since I was not living in my home state since 1993, I could not vote (the concept of absentee voting does not exist in India and I was too busy (read, lazy) to re-register myself in Delhi). So, for all rhymes and reasons, I have not voted since 1990. So does that mean I have no concept of politics?

Canada is a fascinating political country. It’s democracy mirrors Indian democracy to a large extent. Just as in India, the voters in Canada are by and large aligned to one party and their vote does not change with each election. But, because there are about 4 political parties the main stream politics (as opposed to 20 or so in India!!), each election throws up a surprise. Just as in India it is the provinces that have the ultimate say in the federal structure of the country. Just as in India, a government perceived not be performing to the set standard (BTW, who set these
standards?) can be bought down with a no confidence motion.

One of the main reasons for the “surprises” in Canadian elections is the migrant vote. Migrants are a big part of Canadian society and in Ontario, they play an important role. Since Ontario holds the most electoral seats in the formation of a federal government, needless to say that Ontario is generally the deciding factor in Canadian politics.

When we say migrant here in Canada it generally means people who are obviously “non-whites” rather than if they are citizens or not. Sad, but true. Therefore, the Sikh bloc (Sikhs are from the Indian state of Punjab and arrived in Canada in huge numbers in the 1970s and 1980s) most of
whose members are born and bought up here in Canada are viewed as a migrant bloc. So is the case of Chinese bloc, so is the case of south Asian Muslim bloc and so on. And all these blocs vote for the person from their community. Again, sad but true. In fact, I will go as far as saying that the average “non-Canadian migrant” voter (a citizen of Canada) is oblivious of the federal politics and votes for whomsoever his neighbour is voting for.

So my question is why cannot I vote? I have a fairly good grasp of Canadian politics and can form an informed opinion about a politician (or a political party) and decide if my vote should be going to that person or not. The reason why I cannot vote is because I am not a citizen. And what will it take me to be a citizen? I have to prove to the immigration board that I am going to stay in this country. Well, I have a home here, a couple of cars, my daughter was born here, my wife is trying to get her licence to practice dentistry here, I have investments here, I have debts
here. What more do you want me to do to prove that I want to die a Canadian?

I have the right to do anything in Canada except vote. I fail to understand why. This is what I was asking my colleague who was going to vote. As far as I know my daughter and (perhaps) her kids will be living here in Canada. I want her and her kids to grow up in a Canada which is
free from environmental disasters. To play my part I will vote for the politician today who has similar beliefs. But because the Canadian government has kept an artificial time limit for me to be able to attain citizenship, I have no say in my daughter’s future.

I need an answer to this question. Can anyone help me?

Saw Markos of the Dailykos.com on Colbert report on Thursday night. Contrary to his fire band posts on state of U.S.A. on his blog, he is quite a demure looking guy. But he was able to hold his own in front of Stephen Colbert (whose whole persona seems to throw some guests off track). Even in the face of such intense public scrutiny, Markos, who is on a book promoting tour, was unfazed and answered most of the questions without any show of nervousness (he later claimed on his blog that he was very nervous).

But the most striking thing while I was watching the Colbert Report was thinking “here is the birth of a celebrity solely on the basis of his blog”. Why I say that is the loud supporting shouts from the crowd who were obviously kossaks (readers of the site like to call themselves kossaks) and the feeling that I got “Man, I going to see Markos, the creator of dailykos.com!!”

Markos is no different than your generic average, everyday Joe who probably spends his weekend mowing the lawn, taking kids to school, and blogging whenever he gets the opportunity. He and hundreds of thousands like him are quietly redefining the political landscape in U.S.A. and, to a some degree, in Canada. The average number readers of the dailykos blog are something that at least 90% of the newspapers and magazines in North
America would die for. And with last night’s appearance on The Colbert Report, that number is bound to move up.

How are the blogs redefining the political landscape?

By monitoring our “esteemed” politicians’ decisions and their actions. It was easy for politicians until 2001 to say one thing and then, on the political arena, do exactly the opposite thing. Not anymore.

Example: John McCain, who has been posturing himself as a presidential candidate (2008) in the U.S., recently has been warming up to theological nutcase Jerry Falewell (I hope I have the spelling right). It was at dailykos (I forgot who posted the piece) that this news came out : In 1995 John McCain called Falewell an Intolerant Idiot (or something to that effect). This “posturing” spread like wildfire in the blogsphere to the point where John McCain had to come on The Daily Show to try and calm down the liberals (who have always viewed John McCain as a sane Republican). It did not work. It’s now common knowledge in the blogsphere that McCain has sold himself to the devil to get to be the president. This flip-flop (and his reversal on the campaign reform bill) will definitely cost him votes from the progressives.

This is just a small example of what bloggers can do to a politician. True, their reach is not quite as influential as, say, FOX or CNN or NEW YORK TIMES, but they are getting there. It was easy for the politicians to ignore the bloggers earlier as blogs were really at the fringes of the political landscape. But over the last four years, after the eroding of the public’s positive perception of the mainstream media (MSM), especially their blinding support of president Bush leading up to the Iraq War in 2003, blogs are in the limelight. No wonder some democrats (and some republicans) in U.S.A. are always courting (in the form of posts) the readers of these blogs (unfortunately, this has yet to happen in Canada).

With more people like this, the world would be so much better

(From Atanu Dey)…..

What awesome pictures of China!!

So who really creates the music. The musician who has the idea or the engineer who is able to translate that idea into a “listenable” work of art.

“I want my voice to sound like the Dalai Lama chanting from a mountaintop,” he told Beatles producer George Martin as Martin’s new engineer, a 19-year-old handling his first Beatles session, listened in. It would be the engineer’s job to make Lennon’s wish come true.