A friend of mine at university, a Scottish guy who was studying political science, researched the recent wars in the Balkans. He then presented his work in class, and stunned everyone. It was partly about Yugoslavia, partly about the media and how we are all taken in.

On some other friends' request he later made a small blog or webpage or something based on links to accessible sites and emailed me a copy too. For the webpage, he greatly simplified the material and the width of his actual research, so that people who didn't know much about Yugoslavia could understand.

I am going to be pasting extracts here. <b>Bold</b> and other emphasis are his. If I make any comments, they are at the top or bottom of a post in round brackets.

http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/11train...?q=tp&file=.htm

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A bomb blast rocked the first class compartment of a suburban train in Mumbai's Khar station on Tuesday evening as the peak hour commuter traffic made its way home.

The Western Railway emergency service confirmed the blast, and said further details were awaited.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Well folks,

First of all, I am a Sikh. I am having a little trouble with another site sikhnet.com. They wouldn't allow my post because in it I said that the founder of Hinduism or the first person in Hinduism to introduce the concept of God must have realized God. Well this is a simple logic that the first one who introduced concept of God must have realized God and since Hinduism is the oldest religion, whoever introduced concept of God in the beginning of Hinduism must have realized God before anybody else. Since someone in Hinduism had realized God, it does make sense to say that following that person (accepting him as a guru), God could be achieved just like following Sikh gurus "properly", God can be achieved. Therefore, it can't be said that Hinduism was imperfect religion and Sikhism is a reform of Hinduism.

So I would like to know who introduced God to Hinduism.

The reason why I am posting it here is that because I know something is wrong with saying Sikhism is a reform of Hinduism and that's what being said out there and hopefully we can find out the truth.

Thank you

<span style='font-family:Optima'><span style='color:orange'>Shaheedon ki chitaon par lagenge har varsh mele,
Watan pe mitne walon ka yahi baki nishaan hoga...</span></span>

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Remember Chandrashekhar Azad? Our nation's legendary hero of freedom struggle, who not only laid down his life at the peak of his youth for his nation, but also ignited the fire of nationalism in the hearts of thousands of youth of his time.

It brings tears to my eyes to notice that everyone seems to have forgotten that great icon of our nationalism. July 23, 2006 which would mark his 100th birth anniversary, is about two weeks away, and there is absolutely nothing from the thankless nation he died for? I don't see anything in media, anything from Indian government, or anything from any political or otherwise organization. Films? I only find him as a side character in some Bollywood films.

Just contrast this to the birth anniversary celebrations of Congress leaders.

I wander if our nation still remembers his heroic sacrifice. When confronted by ambushing British police in the Alfred Park of Allahabad UP, he fought bravely and in the end chose to shot himself instead of getting caught. Only son of his ailing old mother, at that time He was all of 25 years of age. Does our nation remember that golden story when a single man with mission had challenged the British Raj's might?

His short life was no small life. In that short life he had mentored a whole team of firebrand revolutionaries who went after fighting the British tyranny, head on. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Ashfaqullah Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and many more were all his proteges. From a diary of one of his protegees: someone complimented him that he was the bravest and most patriotic Indian. He immediately responded back saying he wished he was the least worthy son of his motherland and rest of her sons were braver than he was!

Nation may have forgotten him. Here is a very small thing that we can do. I am creating this thread, and I request every member to try and add material related to his life and mission, as a shraddhanjali to that great legendary son of Bharat Mata.

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Maha Purush, Please accept shraddha suman from my humble generation! Children of the nation you died for have not forgotten you! Indeed:
...Shaheedon ki chitaon par lagenge har varsh mele,
Watan pe mitne walon ka yahi baaki nishaan hoga...</span>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrashekar_Azad

Sachetak
Bodhi

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Letter in the Daily Times 07 July 2006
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p..._7-7-2006_pg3_8
Defence II

Sir: This letter is in reference to “Defence expenditure and pragmatic policies” (daily Times, July 5) by Nikhat Shaheen. India’s Defence expenditure vis-à-vis Pakistan’s defence spending is based on the following realities: India’s maritime boundary is seven times bigger than that of Pakistan; India’s land area is four times that of Pakistan’s; India’s population is seven hundred percent greater than Pakistan’s; and India’s economy is seven times greater than Pakistan’s economy. Therefore, it stands to reason that India’s defence capability and expenditure should be between five to seven times greater than Pakistan’s. Hence, it is naïve for the Pakistani intelligentsia to expect India to spend as much on defence as Pakistan does considering such a situation will result in greatly reducing India’s ability to defend itself from any external threats, from Pakistan or elsewhere.

At this juncture China’s economy is twice that of India but its defence capability and expenditure is, in real terms, more than thrice that of India. Thus Pakistan should reduce its defence spending to at least one-fifth or one-seventh that of India. <b>As far as Pakistanis’ fear of India invading Pakistan is concerned, it would be unreasonable to continue with this belief given that India is already burdened with a population of over 1.1 billion people without trying to take charge of an additional 165 million Pakistanis. </b> <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
NK WADHERA
UK
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Archive/Link to Part-1
http://indiaforumarchives.blogspot.com/200...n-theories.html
______________________________________________________

Husky,

Why should the Indologists go for the simple explanation when witzelian "complex scenarios" are always possible. You see, absolutely nothing can discourage the Indologist, heir to the precious enlightenment. See here:

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->wiki on horse domestication
<i>The traditional scenario, in which the horse would have been domesticated in one isolated locale in the 5th millennium BC, is not without some serious anthropological puzzles.</i><b> For instance, how could the Ukraine's indigenous nomadic hunter-gatherers proceed to the sophistication of proto-Tocharian disk-wheeled ox-drawn wagons in such a short time span? </b>[1] Use of the wheel in this fashion commonly appears much later in the historical record (see Wheel), and wagon construction techniques require advances in carpentry that might seem beyond the reach of Neolithic peoples (see History of Ukraine). <i>Also questioned is why these advanced peoples suddenly appear and then disappear from the local archaeological record.</i> External influences are suggested but unknown; others may suggest transported evidence <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

The author should learn from the Indologists how to counteract "serious anthropological puzzles".

The civilizing gypsies from SSVC sindh-punjab, famous for their ox-drawn wagons, could certainly account for the sudden and extraordinary rise in two-bit ukraine's material culture.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Sack Ramadoss </b>
The Pioneer News Desk
He is a risk to India's health sector ---- Ever since taking charge as Union Health Minister with the advent of the UPA Government, Mr Anbumani Ramadoss, whose <b>credentials as a medical practitioner do not merit comment, has been going about inflicting enormous damage to the country's health infrastructure with single-minded devotion.</b> From insisting on meddling in the affairs of the Indian Medical Council to poking his nose in the setting up and management of private medical colleges, <b>from authorising bulk purchase of drugs like the anti-bird flu vaccine that are destined to rot away in Government stores at the taxpayers' expense to promoting individuals of questionable repute, his objectionable actions have successfully sullied both his image as well as the office he holds but which he least deserves. </b>Mr Ramadoss's already bruised reputation has taken a fresh beating following his unseemly and uncalled for spat with Dr P Venugopal, Director of the prestigious All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, with the explicit purpose of grabbing control over this premier health facility with a <b>Rs 500-crore budget</b>. It is unthinkable that a Union Minister should get involved with minor administrative affairs of an autonomous institution, slyly ordering the transfer of officials while the Director is on leave. But this is precisely what Mr Ramadoss, true to his style of functioning, has done at AIIMS. That the Minister's gross interference would leave Dr Venugopal - or, for that matter, any self-respecting Director - incandescent with rage was only to be expected. Nor is it surprising that Dr Venugopal, known for his professional accomplishment and personal integrity, qualities that are alien to unprincipled politicians, should have threatened to resign from his post unless the Government reins in its Health Minister. The anger among doctors, who have threatened to put in their papers, and students at AIIMS over the Minister's outrageous conduct bears testimony to the righteous stand taken by Dr Venugopal.

And how has the Minister responded? By justifying his brazen interference, and <b>callously asking Dr Venugopal to resign if he so desires and threatening to take disciplinary action against a doctor who has spent his entire life setting up what is perhaps the best cardio-thoracic-vascular surgery facility in the country. Both commitment and selfless dedication, it would seem, have ceased to matter for the UPA Government.</b> Instead, Ministers utterly lacking in scruples command a premium simply because they represent partners in the ruling alliance whose support overrides all other considerations, including those of probity and rectitude in public life. Here is a Minister whose presence in Government poses a serious risk to the nation's health infrastructure, a Minister who violates norms of propriety, a Minister who disregards the spirit, if not letter, of the Supreme Court's order on the anti-quota agitation, a Minister who throws his weight around and tries to bully people into submission by flaunting his political clout. India can do without such a Minister. Admittedly, stripping Mr Ramadoss of his portfolio is a tough call for the Prime Minister. But that call needs to be taken, and taken now, to save AIIMS.  <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Ramdoss is diverting funds to TN, appointing his own people, transfering those who are doing good work and pocketing money on every deal.

The Ministry of External Affairs today named <b>Dr Shashi Tharoor</b> for the position of Secretary General of the United Nations. The term of Mr. Kofi Annan, the current incumbent, ends at the end of 2006.

Dr. Tharoor is currently the Under Secretary General of UN for Communications and Public Relations. He is also a critically acclaimed author of several fiction and non-fiction books.

<b>Something similar in EVR (referred as “Periyar” in parts of Tamil Nadu) and Bin Laden?
</b>Every action of EVR was aimed at wiping out Brahmins from the land he was born... The followers of him and the organization he founded, the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) were all busy only in abusing a small, minority section of people in Tamil Nadu in the name of establishing equality. People in a small town near Salem were assaulted several times just because they were Brahmins, until almost all they decided to flee away. Most of the Brahmins live under the fear of being attacked by these DK activists. It is strange that EVR is being portrayed as “humanist”.

Perhaps he did not have access to the kind of arms that Bin Laden had, but these two men appear to be pretty similar in their thought process on eliminating whom they hate.

In almost every talk of EVR, he was attacking those who had faith on God and he and the thugs of DK had painted the whole of Chennai in 70s with slogan “all those who believe in god are fools and idiots”. (Read god as only Hindu gods, because these thugs had no guts to take on against Islam and Christianity, according to DK, those Gods were OK!) . Many of these graffiti ridiculed the concept of “temple “.

So, suddenly why should they (the DK and their political arm DMK) push the agenda of allowing anyone to perform “Poojai” in the temple? Yet another disparate attempt to eliminate that miniscule Brahmin community who live on temple jobs. EVR and DK miserably failed in stopping the masses from thronging the temples in their State. The statistics indicate that the crowd to Thiruvannamali alone for Girivalam is surging at over 300% year on year. Just an hour drive from Tamil Nadu’s border is the country’s holiest site, the Tirumala. So much so that the Pilots flying in or out of Chennai often tilt the aircraft to give “ darshan” of the holy “gopuram” of the Tirumala. Perhaps one of the best managed organizations in the world, the TTD has done much more than any “humanist” could do to address the needs of the poor and under privileged.

Temples and Hindu Gods are here to stay as it has been through the Mogul period. So the best that DK and the EVR‘s admirers can do is to attempt to eliminate the temples as they have tried for years to eliminate the Brahmin “archakas”.

Will DK and the EVR followers now step up the campaign to stop people from going to temples ? Why have they not prevented Christian from going to the Church or a Muslim from going to the mosque or a Sikh from going to Gurdwara?

Leave alone assaulting Muslims or Christians, can the DK thugs stop a single “ Kowari” this year going to the holy city of Haridwar. The National Highway, NH4 , all the way from Ghaziabad to Haridwar is shut down during the Kawarias movement. Perhaps millions of people will be walking that 250Kms stretch . Can DK do anything about stopping those Hindus who have a lifetime wish to see the Lord at Bardinath ? Thousands, many at 70 + of age brave one of the toughest terrain of the mighty Himalayas to enter the holy shrine at Badrinath. And, for sure the vehicular traffic to Badrinath is doubling every year, despite of severe restrictions on the timing of the vehicle movements. The growth of faith on the Sri Mataji at Vaishnodevi, the Lord at Kedarnath, Amarnath and Mount Kailash is only increasing every year !

According to EVR , each of those millions of Indians who live on faith are “ fools”.

Bin Laden had his way to shatter the WTO, but EVR ‘s way of attacking the people with faith on Hindu gods are not very different.

How could EVR be called a “ humanist” ?

Tamil Nadu has a 69% reservation and is prospering
On the face of it, it looks like reservations are good for society

Let us start digging deeper

In Tamil Nadu, several upper castes that normally would be considered dwija in
north India are classified as Shudras or OBC

Banias - Chettiars are OBC
kayasthas - kanakku pillai ( counting pillai ) are OBC
Vellalas - Rich super landlords ( thakur type ) are OBC
Naickers - Descendants of Vijayanagar soldiers are OBC
Reddiars - Reddy migrants in tamil nadu ( landlords ) are OBC

In short the entire Dwija segment , minus brahmins is OBC

Much of this is due to historical stupidity of tamil brahmins
They were very reluctant to hand out dwija certification
For example, in Andhra, the Komati Chetty ( bania ) is a dwija,
whereas in Tamil Nadu, the Chettiar was not granted dwija and is an OBC

P.Chidambaram for example is an OBC

I am going to call this segment - OBC-Dwija or Dwijas masquerading as OBC

The net result is that in Tamil Nadu, the only Dwijas are brahmins,
Meaning in Tamil Nadu, the Dwijas are less than 3% of the population vs 25% in north India

In tamil nadu, the OBC-Dwijas have a 30% reservation
in addition they can compete in the open seats and possibly get 15% out of the 31% open seats

So 31% open seats are gotten by brahmins and OBC-Dwijas
30% OBC seats are gotten by OBC-Dwijas

Real OBC are called MBC ( most backward castes ) yadavas etc
They get 20%
Dalits get 18%, ST gets 1%

So

Dwijas -
Tamil Nadu - 61%, All India 50%

OBC -
Tamil Nadu - 20%, All India 27%

Dalits
Tamil Nadu - 18%, All India 16%

ST
Tamil Nadu - 1%, All India 7%

As you can see , Tamil Nadu is over-represented in Dwijas and is run by a higher average IQ group than the rest of India and no surprise it is doing well

Of course by not driving out the tamil brahmin they could do even better