The God Delusion Hamid,

Are you all right? You do not happen to be one of those who sold their morality cheap in Wall Street this week?

The God Delusion Hamid,

Not to worry ..... morality is nothing but bait for the gullible. Right now it is being bought at a very cheap price in Wall Street.

The God Delusion Hamid,

".... my biggest problem with religion is that people have been conditioned to equate religiosity with morality ...."

Bas itni si baat? I thought that you were averse because it is equated with civilization and knowledge.

The God Delusion I would say that the Mrs is a wise person.

The God Delusion What is there to be confused about? Just ask the Mrs.

The God Delusion Hamid,

God exists and signs are everywhere in chowk. Had it been left to evolution, many in chowk (me included) would not have existed.

September Morning HP:

I will not compare FATA with Kashmir. You want an independent FATA to be dealt with by the US. I do not want the fallout in India of an independent Kashmir to be dealt with by fundamentalists or the US.

It\'s Politics Uber Alles In Kashmir ..... And India D-M,

Nice summary. The first and last paragraphs are opinions which could have been written and elaborated in a different article. I of course, disagree with your last para based on what I know. I would like to know how you would go about defending your first paragraph. Forget Urstruly .... he is shaping up to be the next Romair. This is chowk's loss really, I mean Urstruly.

Aafia Siddiqui to Appear in Court What happened to the children? Where are they?

The Indian Mujahideen – The Answer to BJP’s Pseudo-Secularist Fascism or a New Method to Spread Unrest? zeemax:

1. This seems to be the handi-work of Islamic militants not "separatist" groups, unless you mean "sympathisers" of "Kashmir banega Pakistan". The latter seems quite plausible. There are only two other separatist movements. ULFA of Assam and various Naga factions. There is a peace process, very successful, going on with the Nagas and the ULFA has been tremendously weakened. However, ULFA is known to have close links with the ISI and Bangladeshis. The Naxalites are more nationalist than the Congress.

2. The leftist baa-baa black sheep cry:

"Muslim terrorists kill people but Indian Muslims are good people".

The armchair right-winger cries:

" Muslim terrorists kill people hence Indian Muslims are bad people".

Both types are seeking blood by identifying a huge group with a set of criminals. The Left is "stupider" because by not exposing Muslim communalists like the Jamaat-this and that, they are willfully supplying ammo to the Hindutva fundamentalists.

The Indian Mujahideen – The Answer to BJP’s Pseudo-Secularist Fascism or a New Method to Spread Unrest? Some bast@#$s have murdered a whole lot of people and you get this great opportunity to come here in chowk and patronize the whole lot of Indian Muslims ..... ISI or some s#$t organization kill people and you get to come here and talk about Muslim contribution to India ... Abe why not talk about Hindu contribution to India. Ekalavya (#1) will love you ....

Government Wins Manmohan Singh Loses D_M,

It is nice to know that we agree to disagree on fundamentals. Have a very good day Sir.

Regards.

Government Wins Manmohan Singh Loses D_M,

".... a man of utmost integrity, such as Manmohan Singh, had to stoop to levels of Amar Singhs and Laloos in order to succeed ...."

Aah Manmohan the angel stooping to the level of the shuddar Amar Singh!

India should be thankful to all the three above. They are brilliant, shrewd, cut-throat and great facilitators. That is why we elect them to rule on our behalf. It is because of people like them we are different from the great burmese republic.

Government Wins Manmohan Singh Loses D_M:

1. V.P. Singh did nothing either. IMF had better access to Rajiv's govt. compared to previous govts. Montek, Shankar etc. were mouth-pieces then and were used .... just like Montek had used Rajan now. Anyway, in the broader scheme, all of them are pawns ... of course bigger pawns than me.

2. "But it is Manmohan Singh who is generally credited with ending the license-quota raj." Given what you said previous to this sentence, have you asked why? And are you convinced?

3. "But unlike you, I do not celebrate it as a "gift" but a "curse" of democracy..."

Why? What is wrong with buying or selling your vote as long as you are not forcing the other party? Indira Gandhi never bought votes from MPs .... it makes her more moral than Manmohan?

4. "... handed down to a people who were not ready for the responsibility that this system of government relies upon."

I agree, bring the Brits back to rule over these brown, uncivilized masses. Better still, get an enlightened dictator like Mushy baba. Did Mushy have to buy votes? Just asking.

Government Wins Manmohan Singh Loses iron:

"But who are Mr Dasgupta, Mr Phelps and Mr Bhatia and mr Walker? Are these the high members of the Borg Collective?"

That is the point. I do not know them too. But I do not call this club of lobbyists (brokers or dallals) - "Mr. Manmohan Singh".

Government Wins Manmohan Singh Loses D_M:

1. Not only you, but even the Economist is into creating myths. We know why the Economist does so. I do not know why you do so. Manmohan did not liberalize the Indian Economy then, neither is he the "only one" single-handedly getting the deal through. The deal got through because of behind the scene brokers (we used to call them dallals earlier) like, Mr. Dasgupta, Mr. Phelps, Mr. Bhatia, Mr. Walker etc. etc. If you do not know them, then just call them brokers. Do not call the collective "Mr. Manmohan Singh".

2. If the Congress bought votes, it is OK. In every democracy you buy votes through money, favors or promises. Voluntary, buying and selling leads to Pareto improvements. If constituents do not like their "netas" selling out on the deal then "democracy" will ensure that the neta will loose. If on the other hand the neta is able to "buy" constituents for Rs.100 each, that means that the constituent does not give a rat's ass to the deal. And you and I got to respect that.

3. I simply do not understand why we hold our netas to such high degrees of "morality" when we ourselves cheat without blinking an eye-lid. We forget that "elections" etc. are costly and money is needed. Plus, WE have given our netas "power" to fight "bad-people" on our behalf. We need to provide them with material needs at par with the power. I do not understand why we need to take moral high grounds, and make heroes out of unwilling average people, while living in "reality" 24/7/360 ourselves.