USA- The land of premature eclapulation*

Before you put your hands together for the land of freedom and the greatest country in the world.... 2 instances to prove this theory wrong:

1) Electoral College (United States)- "Rather than directly voting for the President and Vice President, U.S. citizens cast votes for electoral college representatives, known as electors. While electors are theoretically free to vote for the candidate of their choice, in practice they pledge to vote for specific candidates". ha ha. Have you heard of anything funnier in a democracy? This is such a farce.
Elections in India are won by:
a) Booth capturing (rural model): go to the place of voting and force people to vote for your party or fake the votes. Very rare.
b) Pay per vote(rural & urban model): buy votes from the citizens
The point is...the voter/people/citizen decide who their leader is...until the next step in evolution of bribing the guy counting the vote or bribing the guy who announces the results comes along.
But the founding fathers of the USA were visionary in their quest for retaining power. Let not people of this country choose their president, but let them FEEL they have chosen him. So currently 270 people out of a population of 300 million choose the president of the most powerful country in the world.
Now most of you will say its system that has worked for over 150 years or more. I say please judge for yourself keeping in mind the outgoing president.

"We are here to preserve democracy, not practice it" - Crimson Tide, Movie

2)Saw a documentary on NDTV yesterday. It focused on unlawful detention and torture of "POWs" captured by the US and allied farces. Torture included Waterboarding, Standing up to 40 hours, Forced nudity etc. The Geneva convention apparently isn't applicable / understood here. Most of the US solders were "doing their jobs" apparently.
Only 7% of detainees have been captured by the US. 93% have been handed over by warlords in exchange for $$$. As you may have guess majority of them were innocent citizens. The war strategy seems to be "if you kill enough of em, you automatically wipe out the terrorists".
I sometimes wonder about the people of Iraq who don't have anything to look forward to ...no jobs, money, homes, security. The picking up relatives or friends acts as a trigger for young men/women to take up jihad. In a land (US) where your "rights" are of utmost importance and you spilling coffee on yourself makes someone else liable to pay you millions these poor bastards truly are children of a lesser god.

*premature eclapulation- the process of clapping, during events such as plays, operas, and orchestral performances when the climax of the moment or the moment most appropriate for ovation has not yet been reached.

US Elections

The US election this year is a WWE encore but of gigantic proportions. All elections are, but the profile of candidates make it more interesting. Middle class "educated" Indian are highly concerned how the primaries are shaping. It is somehow of great consequence to us thought we don't have a say in anything that goes down. Hell we don't have a say in what happens in our country. Most I know don't vote either. But discussing the US elections is a fad and if you show ignorance, get ready to face high doses of neglect from your peer group.
The profile of the candidates:
1) John Sidney McCain III - Republican party nominee. This guy is old. 72 to be precise. Fought the Vietnam war, survived 2 plane crashes, torture in a Vietnamese POW camp for 6 yrs and divorced. His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. His father was a top admiral. He lost the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush. He seems to encompass all qualities that an American president must process and more. He is white, fought a war, tortured, had an influential father and is divorced. The things going against him are his age and he being Republican (remember George W. Bush?).

2) Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton- WOMEN. Democratic nominee. The forgiving wife of Bill Clinton. Also a lier. Lied about coming under sniper fire while visiting Bosnia, playing a big part in bringing peace to Norther Ireland etc. The US for all its liberal views has never has a women president and all signs show it aint going to change. She reminds me of one of my sadistic teachers with big nails and bigger smile who bled kids by twisting their ears. I think the US may select a black man or brown man or muslim or jew as president but never a women.

3) Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. - Democratic nominee. The youngest and most colored character (no pun intended) of the 3 stooges. Born to a Kenyan father and a American mother. He is an author, community organizer, university professor and lawyer. Seems the most balanced of the 3 candidates. He being half-black , running for president and getting support would be liberal America's next advertising pitch. He is open for talks in the middle east and anti war. The most interesting point is he was half Muslim until he converted to Christianity. Islam clearly states if a man whose father is a Muslim converts to another religion - its blasphemy and punishable by death.

I see this election as a process of elimination rather than selection. Nothing new. We do it in India every year.

Go on....make dinner table conversations.......

Different strokes

Lots been said/written about the "election budget" this year. Not getting into that. Have been reading about farmers who got their Rs. 15000/- loan waived off and are actually in a position to restart their lives.
On the other hand we have Ludhiana-based businessman Amit Malhotra who bought the number - 9780000000 - from mobile company Hutch in July for a mind-boggling Rs 15,50,000/- through an online auction.

Rs 15,000 - "meri life bangayi"
Rs 15,50,000 - "saddi life bangayi"

Similar aren't they?

Maybe I could get a loan to fund a fancy number and have it waived off....!!!

dial in here!