Politics

Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s brilliant article brings out the troubling state of our country today. Everyone utters the platitude that they respect freedom, but they then use the qualifier that no freedom is absolute in the most mendacious way. … In fact, the claim made by politicians that this kind of content (i.e. Twitter, Orkut, Facebook) will lead to violence is insulting doubly over. First, it is just a plain lie to justify censorship.

Minutes from a government sponsored Cow promotion conference in Madhya Pradesh. (Newspaper article) Only those inside houses coated with cow dung escaped the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. There are only two ways to remain insulated from nuclear radiation, and one of them is application of cow dung. Using cow dung can ensure normal delivery instead of C-section. Those who drink the milk of jersey cow and buffaloes commit more crime than those who consume only desi cow’s milk.

Watching Arun Jaitley’s interview about POTA, and his criticism of the PM’s idea of a federal investigation agency made me recoil with disgust at the games these political parties play. POTA was created during the NDA rule in 2002 as a replacement for the much maligned TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) which was allowed to expire in 1995 during the Narsimha Rao government. It was created not after some major event in India, but after 9⁄11!

So he decided that this was perhaps not such a wise move. There is a video presentation explaining why. The summary is that the representative he is fighting against is pretty strong, and for a first hand politician, the margin of defeat is going to be enormous. And “losing big” is not the best way to start such a campaign. Nice quote I read today which summarizes the frustrations of newbies in the FOSS world - I would RTFM if there was an FM to FR.

I just saw the update on Lessig’s blog - he is actually considering running for Congress this year! You can find more at http://lessig08.org/. Lessig’s announcement last year of the shift of his efforts over the next decade had significantly changed the way I look at myself. I had been involved in LUGs and FOSS advocacy for almost eight years by then. But I suddenly realized (and perhaps there are quite a few people out there who always felt that way about me) that I am nothing more than an armchair activist.