The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Alex Morey) discusses
the incident; I also commented on it yesterday morning on AirTalk (with
Larry Ma...
Showing posts with label Our World. Show all posts
Is There Anything Mitt Romney Can Learn from India's Anna Hazare Movement?
Anna Hazare has proved to be the modern Don Quixote of India. Your life is only worth as the cause you stand for and legitimate action by the government can wipe out your cause. That is what Anna Hazare movement eventually shows the world. If America's Mitt Romney has taken up any cause and is counting on it to win the election he has to make sure it won't be gone in thin air, come November.
Like any other consummate politician who he claims he isn't, Anna Hazare took on an opportunistic fight against corruption when an avalanche of perception of rampant corruption was engulfing India and its UPA government, led by the Congress party.
A year back, negative public sentiment, fanned by a series of presumptive allegations by India's CAG of loss of billions of dollars to the government due to corruption, gave Anna Hazare a cause worth giving his life for. The protest and agitation by Anna Hazare, who went on a fast for several days, forcing the Indian parliament to agree to enact a bill, caught the attention of the world by the mass following it generated.
However, a year own his attempt to rekindle the massive public support he had has fallen flat, with hardly a fraction of the masses coming forward to support his fast and forcing his gang to adapt the path of politics to achieve their goals.
So what has happened even as the proclaimed cause of removing corruption from the public life remained unresolved?
The problem was, like Don Quixote, Anna and his gang were trying to tilt his imaginary windmill of corrupt government whereas the real cause lay in the staggering inequality in education, healthcare and housing of urban population, heightened by the influx of massive amount of foreign investment in recent times.
The influx of easy foreign money has since abetted, even retracted with several billions of dollars withdrawn from the Indian stock market on account of falling confidence and global crisis. The reality of faltering growth and unemployment has dawned on the Indian urban elite making Anna's life not all that important to save at any cost.
Perhaps, more importantly, genuinely honest actions of the government and the political leadership to let law take its due course, which saw several high profile ministers and business leaders involved in corrupt practices behind the bar, had a much more sobering effect on the public sentiment as well as anyone prone for corruption.
Though this has not vastly changed the corruption faced by the people in day to day life, several high profile politicians and administrators all over India have been pulled up, giving a common feeling that, after all serious governments can do with existing laws to act against corruption.
Though a series of faux pas by Anna Hazare and his team over the year might have eroded the credibility, this general impression of positive government action may have more do with the evaporation of the mass support for Anna Hazare.
Of course there are no comparable issues in the American public life Mitt Romney can declare to undertake a fast for which will turn millions in his support. Corruption, nepotism and related evils, which get promptly punished whenever exposed, are a way of American life everyone has taken for granted. Mitt Romney's fasting is not going to change much.
However on issues like the Obamacare, which Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal, he might find the hard lesson from Anna Hazare that a cause can disappear over time, worth taking note of.
Given that the presidential aspirant of the GOP has numerous other issues like his taxes and those related to his employer to convince the American public about, this may not be important to him. But for the world who is keenly watching his steps abroad and see only faux pas whether it is with the British Olympics or his recent visit to the Middle East, a scenario of a landslide victory for President Obama, already being talked about, will be more reassuring.
London Olympics 2012, the Night Danny Boyle and the British made Rest of the World Feeling Cheated and Green Eyed.
The truth is the world is dazzled and jealous how the British pulled off a magical night as their own with characters that in fact belonged to the whole world. The London Olympics opening event is slowly getting its shower of praises after not so flattering and sarcastic remarks from foreign media.
There were some early cringe-worthy scenes of pre-industrial Britain: maypole dancers, thatched cottages, mustachioed beekeepers, and a hirsute Kenneth Branagh dressed up as British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel orating from Shakespeare's The Tempest.
At times quixotic, the Opening Ceremonies were immediately accused by some of being simply too British, laced as they were with obscure references to the National Health Service and English club music
Despite being fantastic eye catching events, many people can hardly remember anything from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing or several others before, which were telecast to the whole world.
From Chincha Alta (Peru) to Siem Reap (Cambodia), who doesn't hold a little corner of their heart with some affection for many of the characters who enlivened the evening? Starting with the Queen, several living and fictional characters like Mr Bean, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, James Bond, Harry Potter, Paul McCartney, David Beckham and many others have left indelible marks on human memory and will continue to do for centuries.
Is there anyone fortunate to have a basic education who is not taught of the Industrial revolution? Is there anyone who whish they didn't have a universal health assurance epitomised by the British NHS, except perhaps the Americans who think it is a crazy idea?
Of course one could argue that going back further in history, to Shakespeare and Henry VIII; you could be really English and British. Though that would have been more 'Greek' to the rest of the world, there would still be some universality about it.
The reality is, it is almost impossible to conceive a 'totally British' Olympics 2012 opening ceremonylike the one presented by Danny Boyle without having a universal appeal. That is because there was hardly a 'British' character in the whole show that didn't belong to the whole world.
Yet, the London Olympics opening spectacle of Danny Boyle, with the Bond-Queen séance and Mr Bean's version of Chariots of fire, both of which have gone viral on the social web, is already being etched in to the human psyche.
If the British characters have become the world's own, you can't blame the British for it. Neither can you blame the English Language. It is the genuinely human appeal each of these British born or conceived heroes evoke in human minds which make Macbeth to Slumdog Millionaire endearing to human minds, something no other nation has been successful at.
That is the quintessential Brutishness evinced by Danny Boyle's wonderful and ingenious production the British can be really proud of. In fact a celebration of the freedom of spirit and mind engrained in the British social values, and in the ultimate British sense of humour.
As the IOC president Jacques Rogge reminded in his opening speech, London is home to the Olympics games in many ways, by establishing many of the ground rules in the 1948 games and proceedings. Danny Boyle and his team can be proud that the 2012 Olympics Opening Gala will make it even more so by establishing the standard and benchmark for future opening events.
That sheer regimentation, pyrotechnics and robotics, at the cost of millions of dollars just for showmanship and the grandeur of any event have come to the end of their limits, is shown by the Beijing Olympics. That the way forward, in the real world beset with economic crisis, is the ingenious use of imagination and modern technological innovations in media and imagery is shown by the London 2012 ceremony.
Yet it will be almost impossible to better what was seen on the night of the 2012 Olympics opening night in London in the imaginable future, because Danny Boyle has already pulled out the best of everything.
Whether you like it or not the British have done it again. No point being jealous about it.
Will the Indomitable British Spirit Still Save the London Olympics From a Fiasco?
The Brits, as a nation, get pretty excited even at the drop of a royal hat. Anything remotely British like mere thought of winning a Wimbledon or World cup which were last won decades ago can turn the national pride and spirit a notch or two.
From the public reception the Olympic torch received around the UK, braving heavy rains, floods and even attempts to snatch it, the British are determined to make it a brilliant success by all means.
Yet judging from the sparse and lukewarm and evennegative coverage of the much expected event and its preparations during the week before the event in the media, the London Olympics seems to inspire no one, even the British. With the proposed strike of the border security and London trains Is it heading towards the greatest fiasco of the new century?
One reason for the global lack of enthusiasm no doubt is the paucity of adrenaline which has dried up in the wake the excitement over several recent sporting events like the Euro cup, Wimbledon and others.
Perhaps it Is the unpleasant reality, that at the end of the day, when the flags come down and the visitors go back, no jobs, only the bricks and mortar of the shiny infra structure in London will remain, which douse the Olympics spirit? You have examples of Olympics and Commonwealth games of the past to prove that claims of these expensive international sporting events paving way to economicgrowth haven't been substantiated by economic growth in the past.
There is a sense of imminent disaster in the air with men in military uniforms controlling movement and security around the game venues and advice being given to Londoners to stay locked inside their homes. Is it the over regimentation, which makes it look as if the Olympics games are being held in Pyongyang by the North Korean President Kim Jong-un rather than by the most democratic nation in the world, which fail to enthuse the crowds?
Is it the sponsorship mania which has killed the goose before it can lay any eggs? Each day more and more dictats are being issued about phones, cameras, tee shirts and shoes and food you can take to the games which makes you wonder what you can wear and take to the games and what you will be left with when you come back?
In fact there was great euphoria and excitement eight years back when the United Kingdom won the rights to stage the 2012 Olympics. Perhaps that was the greatest moment for the UK for this Olympics. A series of controversies around the games have overshadowed most of the preparations towards the games.
The Olympics 2012 Logo itself came to be criticised for being various things other than an inspiring symbol of the planned games.
The Orbit, a commemorative structure, which looked like a heap of scrap and eye sore reminiscent of its sponsor rather than sports came to be much criticised.
Now the mascots of the Olympics 2012 are under similar scrutiny for being something no one can judge.
The British weather, particularly unkind this year, with heavy rains and floods coming in the way of the Olympic torch hasn't helped.
It is amazing how very often these international events create international anxiety by reports arising out of unfinished preparations or snags during trials, raising questions about the success of the events. Yet once the inaugural ceremony is over and the games get under way, the world is mesmerised by the new heights of human physical prowess and endurance displayed by the athletes.
Despite the snags, the reported problems of traffic chaos and the imminent strikes of border staff and London bus drivers, the British spirit, hopefully will render the much awaited Olympics 2012 a memorable event of the new century. If there must be a reason to be British and feel British it will no doubt be in plenty in the coming days. David Beckham has already shown that.
Yet judging from the sparse and lukewarm and evennegative coverage of the much expected event and its preparations during the week before the event in the media, the London Olympics seems to inspire no one, even the British. With the proposed strike of the border security and London trains Is it heading towards the greatest fiasco of the new century?
One reason for the global lack of enthusiasm no doubt is the paucity of adrenaline which has dried up in the wake the excitement over several recent sporting events like the Euro cup, Wimbledon and others.
Perhaps it Is the unpleasant reality, that at the end of the day, when the flags come down and the visitors go back, no jobs, only the bricks and mortar of the shiny infra structure in London will remain, which douse the Olympics spirit? You have examples of Olympics and Commonwealth games of the past to prove that claims of these expensive international sporting events paving way to economicgrowth haven't been substantiated by economic growth in the past.
There is a sense of imminent disaster in the air with men in military uniforms controlling movement and security around the game venues and advice being given to Londoners to stay locked inside their homes. Is it the over regimentation, which makes it look as if the Olympics games are being held in Pyongyang by the North Korean President Kim Jong-un rather than by the most democratic nation in the world, which fail to enthuse the crowds?
Is it the sponsorship mania which has killed the goose before it can lay any eggs? Each day more and more dictats are being issued about phones, cameras, tee shirts and shoes and food you can take to the games which makes you wonder what you can wear and take to the games and what you will be left with when you come back?
In fact there was great euphoria and excitement eight years back when the United Kingdom won the rights to stage the 2012 Olympics. Perhaps that was the greatest moment for the UK for this Olympics. A series of controversies around the games have overshadowed most of the preparations towards the games.
The Olympics 2012 Logo itself came to be criticised for being various things other than an inspiring symbol of the planned games.
The Orbit, a commemorative structure, which looked like a heap of scrap and eye sore reminiscent of its sponsor rather than sports came to be much criticised.
Now the mascots of the Olympics 2012 are under similar scrutiny for being something no one can judge.
The British weather, particularly unkind this year, with heavy rains and floods coming in the way of the Olympic torch hasn't helped.
It is amazing how very often these international events create international anxiety by reports arising out of unfinished preparations or snags during trials, raising questions about the success of the events. Yet once the inaugural ceremony is over and the games get under way, the world is mesmerised by the new heights of human physical prowess and endurance displayed by the athletes.
Despite the snags, the reported problems of traffic chaos and the imminent strikes of border staff and London bus drivers, the British spirit, hopefully will render the much awaited Olympics 2012 a memorable event of the new century. If there must be a reason to be British and feel British it will no doubt be in plenty in the coming days. David Beckham has already shown that.
Who Needs Tony Blair for British P M Any Way?
In the olden days, not so long ago, heads of states used to look older, wiser, indomitable and even formidable. These days a G8 summit photo has many baby faces of leaders who don't have a clue of not only how to deal with the Euro crisis but even of the price of milk they still drink. Gone are the days when the British voices of Churchill, Wilson and Thatcher were carried along as far as the waves of Britannia reached.
If France's Sarkozy shuns extending a hand or Germany's Angela Merkel throws a disapproving glance, at a British Prime Minister, only we, the voters who put too much confidence in young blood, disregarding the need for time and experience for human development, are to be blamed.
Unfortunately, the British don't have much of a choice. All they have to show the world is another dour young face which shows no intention to put on a smile in the near future. The poor taste the leader of the Labour party has shown in challenging his brother didn't hold much promise as no one needs a potential sibling rivalry in the Downing Street, hurting national interest. By failing to disprove the skeptics by pulling out any signs of a spectacular leadership, the Labour leader has already lost hismagic.
The recent candid admission of Tony Blair, that he will accept the post of the Prime Minister again if offered, raises the question if the British don't have an alternative. However, judging from the avalanche of abusive comments and reactions Tony receives to his posts in the Huff post, one would agree with him that he has only fat hopes of that ever happening.
Our memory is getting easier to erase and rewrite than the fastest micro chip, especially when instant self gratification is the only thing everyone seems to want anymore. Who does bother to reflect on a decade which passed by in which the British pride came across as tolerable to the rest of the world because it was backed by an appearance of leadership, stability, achievement and a feel good factor in the British Isles ?
For example, we have forgotten the Euphoria of winning the rights to hold the 2012 Olympics making the French very sore indeed and how Tony Blair, David Beckham and Prince Charles and others won that for us. If we failed in translating the hard won victory in to a much bigger fame, prosperity and throbbing flow of enthusiastic tourists to London, we can of course blame the British weather.
No one remembers how the bombs of Omagh were doused slowly but surely thanks to the determination of a British Prime Minister and parliament aided by a helping hand of a U.S. president. Thankfully those who had to fight the war on terror no longer had to face a pointing finger at them and a decade later hands could be held out to forgive and forget.
When we whisk through the widened motor ways and newly built bridges from Land's End to John o' Groats, we tend to forget the long road works and delays which took a decade and meant nothing but investment and employment under stable and equitable governance.
When we drive in to the suburbs more and more towns all over the United Kingdom and reminded of London with big signs of prosperity like the bill boards of supermarkets and other commercial outlets, we know wealth and development indeed has arrived in the remote corners during the last decade.
Lying on a hospital bed waiting for a heart procedure in modern Heart Lung centres and other advanced facilities across the country, many people wonder how lucky they are to receive the type of care they get, but forget where it came from.
For those who left the country in the middle of the miner's strike and returned, a decade without strikes and disruptions must have made the UK an unreal land. With happier, nurses, teachers and police men and women and numerous other public sector staff, no wonder life in the UK appeared better and easier with a smashing housing boom as poof of the pudding.
Who can forget the Spice Girls, David Beckham and Manchester united and many other feel good contributions all of which add to the icing on the cake of three labour governments, which in many ways turned the eyes of the world on the UK with the respect it deserved.
Not that all of these were achieved by Tony Blair alone, but he was the Prime Minister and leader, despite the unfortunate circumstances he had to turn away from a fourth term.
For those who believe he let us down in his decision to go after WMD, what are we to do with another dictator in another country who flaunts another pile of those after a decade?
Tony Blair may never be elected again to become the leader and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but with Hollande of France, Merkel of Germany, and Obama of the United States, who are going to lead the world in this decade, there will be a gaping hole in the British chair around the table.
Article first published as Who Needs Tony Blair for British PM Any Way? on Technorati.
If France's Sarkozy shuns extending a hand or Germany's Angela Merkel throws a disapproving glance, at a British Prime Minister, only we, the voters who put too much confidence in young blood, disregarding the need for time and experience for human development, are to be blamed.
Unfortunately, the British don't have much of a choice. All they have to show the world is another dour young face which shows no intention to put on a smile in the near future. The poor taste the leader of the Labour party has shown in challenging his brother didn't hold much promise as no one needs a potential sibling rivalry in the Downing Street, hurting national interest. By failing to disprove the skeptics by pulling out any signs of a spectacular leadership, the Labour leader has already lost hismagic.
The recent candid admission of Tony Blair, that he will accept the post of the Prime Minister again if offered, raises the question if the British don't have an alternative. However, judging from the avalanche of abusive comments and reactions Tony receives to his posts in the Huff post, one would agree with him that he has only fat hopes of that ever happening.
Our memory is getting easier to erase and rewrite than the fastest micro chip, especially when instant self gratification is the only thing everyone seems to want anymore. Who does bother to reflect on a decade which passed by in which the British pride came across as tolerable to the rest of the world because it was backed by an appearance of leadership, stability, achievement and a feel good factor in the British Isles ?
For example, we have forgotten the Euphoria of winning the rights to hold the 2012 Olympics making the French very sore indeed and how Tony Blair, David Beckham and Prince Charles and others won that for us. If we failed in translating the hard won victory in to a much bigger fame, prosperity and throbbing flow of enthusiastic tourists to London, we can of course blame the British weather.
No one remembers how the bombs of Omagh were doused slowly but surely thanks to the determination of a British Prime Minister and parliament aided by a helping hand of a U.S. president. Thankfully those who had to fight the war on terror no longer had to face a pointing finger at them and a decade later hands could be held out to forgive and forget.
When we whisk through the widened motor ways and newly built bridges from Land's End to John o' Groats, we tend to forget the long road works and delays which took a decade and meant nothing but investment and employment under stable and equitable governance.
When we drive in to the suburbs more and more towns all over the United Kingdom and reminded of London with big signs of prosperity like the bill boards of supermarkets and other commercial outlets, we know wealth and development indeed has arrived in the remote corners during the last decade.
Lying on a hospital bed waiting for a heart procedure in modern Heart Lung centres and other advanced facilities across the country, many people wonder how lucky they are to receive the type of care they get, but forget where it came from.
For those who left the country in the middle of the miner's strike and returned, a decade without strikes and disruptions must have made the UK an unreal land. With happier, nurses, teachers and police men and women and numerous other public sector staff, no wonder life in the UK appeared better and easier with a smashing housing boom as poof of the pudding.
Who can forget the Spice Girls, David Beckham and Manchester united and many other feel good contributions all of which add to the icing on the cake of three labour governments, which in many ways turned the eyes of the world on the UK with the respect it deserved.
Not that all of these were achieved by Tony Blair alone, but he was the Prime Minister and leader, despite the unfortunate circumstances he had to turn away from a fourth term.
For those who believe he let us down in his decision to go after WMD, what are we to do with another dictator in another country who flaunts another pile of those after a decade?
Tony Blair may never be elected again to become the leader and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but with Hollande of France, Merkel of Germany, and Obama of the United States, who are going to lead the world in this decade, there will be a gaping hole in the British chair around the table.
Article first published as Who Needs Tony Blair for British PM Any Way? on Technorati.
Does Obamacare Make The Americans Mere Third World Citizens?
Americans may not see it because they may not want to. But when it comes to basic human rights at least, the world is coming to see little to differentiate the U.S. from the Taliban it wants to get rid of in Afghanistan. The Taliban thinks women shouldn't go to school; the Americans think 32 million of them shouldn't have a mandatory health cover. What is the difference?
The United States of America may be the richest country in the world without universal healthcare for all, a situation Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) will certainly change. For the rest of the world, with no easy access to facts and figures to compare and who is unaware of the historical U.S reticence towards human rights, the United States of America, which wants to challenge and repeal Obamacare is looking more like a third world country.
That is the take away from the recent Obamacare judgement by the U.S. Supreme court, the dissentand the ensuing political battle cries, all of which have brought the U.S politics and the legal system to world focus, with some disbelief. Hey, is this the America everyone looks up to?
To many foreigners, thanks to its legal system, the U.S. had been the "Never Never Land" which gives shudders down your spine, nearly the same feelings an American family, who is offered a free holiday in Iran, gets in the guts at the thought of a trip.
The general apprehension about the U.S. attitude towards human rights might not be entirely without justification:
• When an Australian citizen seeks asylum in a third world country's embassy out of fear of incrimination and death penalty from a U.S. court if extradited to the U.S.?
• When an ex president of a "friendly" nation with a population of 1.3 billion can be stopped andfrisked at the airport because of his name and racial profiling?
• When a president of the World Bank is handcuffed and thrown in the prison cell overnight withoutrecourse to any legal aid because an illegal immigrant cried foul?
• When recent cases of miscarriage of justice have sent innocent people to the death row which all civilised countries have abolished by now?
• When Guantanamo and stories of renditions are still a reality?
That is to say that there is certainly a 'disconnect' between how the Americans see their justice system from a lot of other people around the world, who are apprehensive, or at least can't understand the way Americans think.
It was not surprising that the entire world, like the President himself, had resigned to the reality and waited for the U.S. Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, to throw the Obamacare, proposed by a democratic administration, in to the bin. That would have been treated as an internal matter and the fate of the U.S citizens.
However, how one judge decided to change history by passing the law has brought the issue to the attention of the world and its scrutiny. Whether Judge Roberts acted to avoid the Supreme Court verses elected representative controversy or out of conscience and a desire to bring the United States of America in synch with the social values the rest of the developed has long since taken for granted has become immaterial.
What gives credence to the question whether the U.S. has really evolved in its human rights view is the vehement and destroying fury of the dissent by the four judges, who have chosen to ignore the human rights implication, in their fervour to uphold the U.S. constitution and the free market.
But what is even more shocking and raises the question if the U.S. indeed cares a toss to be viewed as a third world country is the intransigent politics which has turned the Obamacare, which brings the Americans closer to civilised societies, in to the bone of contention of the next presidential election, with the GOP and its candidate Romney wowing to destroy it at any cost.
Twenty five years back as an immigrant from India in France, I was shocked by a scene when a nearly paralysed lady arrived in a supermarket for her weekly shopping, flat on her back, in a stretcher, being carried by two attendants. That day I had realised what universal healthcare really means in a caring society.
Today, I wonder what would have happened to that person if she lived in the richest country after the next presidential election of the U.S.A.
| Article first published as Does Obamacare Make Americans Third World Citizens? on Technorati. |
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