There, certainly will be, a bunch of pinch hitters walking in, on one-down. They may have the ability to score boundaries for every ball they face…
But can they do this ?
I don’t think so, I will never watch a test match again!
Tag: rants
Is she Lara Logan or Lara Croft?
I have a question for my readers and friends, on fundamentals of Feminism. While I am not sure how to put in a politically correct way, I am worried that I will end up offending a whole lot of them, especially women including my better half. (Update: Oh… No! She is already offended by the idea of this post).
It’s related to latest incident in Egypt, where a CBS correspondent Lara Logan was roughed up (to be specific, sexually molested) by celebrating Egyptian crowd (obviously men!). There is a whole lot of discussion happening in blogosphere. Was that right for an attractive white (read clearly distinguishable in Egyptian crowd) woman to report amidst frustrated (later celebrating) mostly men crowd of a male centred society (with less respect for women, officially!) without anyone to protect her. What happened was obviously wrong, but could that be avoided in the first place? She is Lara Logan not Lara Croft!
Now my question: Is “Asking for it” still considered as a factor, even a remote or tiny one?
I may look naive questioning like this, but please educate me. I guess, this must have been discussed over and over again in all forms of media, but there are still questions.
Here, let me provide an analogy, feel free to dispute it.
There is a high possibility that money left around will be stolen or robbed (depends where you leave it), even in an established social, political and religious (starting from 10 commandments) understanding that stealing is wrong, someone with a need of it will simply take it, like it or not! You would need a protection against it, that’s why we have a massive industry created just to protect your money! To this day we agree stealing is wrong, while we still protect our money from being stolen.
Well… this may not be a right analogy, but an attempt. Anyway, let me know your thoughts.
Update: I would like you to read one such post on the same topic “Is …” where he reasons out:
- Women are the weaker, frailer sex. The average man is physically stronger than the average woman, and absent physical protection (in the form of other men, be they police, military or family) women are COMPLETELY at the mercy of men.
- Egypt is a nation resistant to feminism. Egyptian men do not “ respect ” women, unlike the pale, porn-addicted, gelded fembois of America and Europe.
- A riot, by definition, is an event defined by its lack of law and order – meaning that the structures that protect women from the predations of men do NOT exist.
- Logan is a white foreigner, and is thus despised by the violent hordes who believe their government to be in thrall to hers.
Accentophobia!
Onshore support translates to more expensive service, offshore works out cheaper. Both have their own advantages and drawbacks. Companies pick one of these, so that they can sell their service at feasible price.
Now, what did I miss? (scratching me head)… No, I dint. It’s so simple.
Alright, that context is this post – “Accent neutralisation and a crisis of identity in India’s call centres”, and this comment caught my eyes.
He declares :
FACT: Nobody enjoys speaking to Indian call centres, because it’s really difficult to understand what they’re saying.
FACT: Even the Indians who try to disguise their native accent are barely understandable.
FACT: Many people have switched suppliers (be it power, internet, mobile phone, etc) simply because they’re fed up with talking to Indians when they want support.
This part is very interesting..
Personally, I don’t care for Indian accents, and I refuse to speak to Indians on the phone (even if they’re British). This suits me just fine, as I have none of those frustrating calls any more.
If I do need support, and the support is via an Indian call centre, then I go straight to the Terminations department and tell them I don’t want their services any more. When they ask why this is, I say it’s because I need help but I’m fed up with talking to Indians. They will normally put me straight onto a British person and I can deal with them.
Don’t be shy of telling them you don’t want to speak to Indians. Just because you don’t understand what somebody is saying, it doesn’t mean you’re racist
My brain’s all over the wall.
Is First Love Overrated?
There is nothing wrong with the planet!
This is George Carlin on “Saving the Planet”, I couldn’t resist sharing it. What a wonderful philosophy ! Never happened to see “Saving the Planet” from this angle until I saw this guy on You tube. Since then, I am accountable for nearly half of total 3 million views 🙂
Here, the video and complete transcript (©George Carlin himself)
You got people like this around you? Country is full of them now! People walking around all day long, every minute of the day — worried about everything! Worried about the air, worried about the water, worried about the soil. Worried about insecticides, pesticides, food additives, carcinogens; worried about radon gas, worried about asbestos. Worried about saving endangered species.
Let me tell you about endangered species, all right? Saving endangered species is just one more arrogant attempt by humans to control Nature! It’s arrogant meddling! It’s what got us into trouble in the first place! Doesn’t anybody understand that? Interfering with Nature! Over 90 percent.. over… way over 90 percent of all the species that have ever lived on this planet, ever lived, on this planet are gone. Whissssshht! They are extinct!
We didn’t kill them all.
They just… disappeared! That’s what Nature does! They disappear these days at the rate of 25 a day, and I mean regardless of our behavior. Irrespective of how we act on this planet, 25 species that were here today, will be gone tomorrow! Let them go… gracefully! Leave Nature alone! Haven’t we done enough?
We’re so self-important. So self-important! Everybody’s going to save something now. “Save the trees; save the bees; save the whales; save those snails.” And the greatest arrogance of all, “Save the planet.” What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet? We don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another, we’re gonna save the fucking planet?
I’m getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. Tired! I’m tired of fucking Earth Day! I’m tired of these self-righteous environmentalists; these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren’t enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world safe for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don’t give a shit about the planet. They don’t care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don’t. Not in the abstract they don’t. You know what they’re interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They’re worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The people are fucked. Difference. Difference! The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We’ve been here, what? A hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we’ve only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the conceit to think that somehow we’re a threat? That somehow we’re gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that’s just a-floatin’ around the sun?
The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles; hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors; worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages… And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet… the planet… the planet isn’t going anywhere. we are!
We’re going away. Pack your shit, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet will be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.
You wanna know how the planet is doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, “How the planet’s doing?” You wanna know if the planet’s all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.
The planet will be here for a long, long — long— time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself; it will cleanse itself, because that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover; the earth will be renewed; and, if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the Earth plus plastic! The Earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the Earth. The Earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the Earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old philosophical question, “Why are we here?” “Plastic! Assholes.”
So! So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that it has already started already, don’t you? I think, to be fair, the planet probably sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And I am sure the planet will defend itself in the manner of a large organism, like a beehive or an ant colony, and muster a defense. I am sure the planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet trying to defend against this pesky, troublesome species? “Let’s see… What might… Hmm.. Viruses! Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh…viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.”
Well, that’s a poetic note. And it’s a start. And I can dream, can’t I? See I don’t worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we’re part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron.” The Big Electron…whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn’t punish; it doesn’t reward; it doesn’t judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while.
Thanks for being here with me for a little while tonight!
The Bach 