Re: [silk] The Willat Effect
On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 10:29 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote: http://blog.sethroberts.net/2011/07/08/the-willat-effect-side-by-side-comparisons-create-connoisseurs/ The Willat Effect: Side-by-Side Comparisons Create Connoisseurs About ten years ago, while visiting my friend Carl Willat, he presented me with five versions of limoncello (an Italian lemon liqueur) side by side in shot glasses. Two were store-bought, the rest homemade, if I remember correctly. I tried them one by one. So it wasnt a blind tasting ? If it was a blind tasting, he would not be classifying taste by price.
Re: [silk] Guilty as charged
On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 6:27 AM, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote: Amazing story. We've all heard this many times, but have we made a change? Does it happen only after a life altering experience? What do you think? http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/08/elias.plane.crash/index.html?hpt=Sbin Why throw around the miracle word .. thank the pilot or the sturdiness of the plane ...
Re: [silk] Silent running
wow... I saw the subject and thought this was about that science fiction movie from the 70s about the last plant.
Re: [silk] Why do we hate our girls?
On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 1:39 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote: On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 7:37 PM, underscore listmans...@gmail.com wrote: tribal states , no baggage of indian/hindu religious or cultural dogma in meghalaya traditionally men pay dowry etc and of course no elaborate arrangement of marriages. Just to nitpick, in Southern Africa (and other parts as well, I suspect) marriage contracts are also traditionally sealed by a payment by the groom to the bride's family. As the name for this transaction -- bride price -- indicates, this doesn't really correlate with better treatment of women. They're often bought and sold like cows that are the usual currency for these transactions. 'bride price' is a bantu tradition... so you find it in west, central, east and southern africa as the bantus were the first 'colonizers' in africa. yeah, women may be bought and sold like cows -- but the transaction is fundamentally different from the indian system of dowry -- primarily, its not the families doing the match-making, secondly - the dowry demand is from the girl's side (since the girl's family are losing a working member )... there isnt much social stigma towards single mothers or divorced women (in fact many women will take on a man simply to have a child, and once that is done show him the door). my point is, it discourages prior / post birth gender selection. the evidence is pretty clear, most of sub-saharan africa has a slightly favorable gender ratio towards women.
Re: [silk] Why do we hate our girls?
On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 7:44 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote: http://www.indiatogether.org/2011/apr/hlt-sexratio.htm The child sex ratio (ie., the number of females to every 1000 males in the age group 0-6 years) ranges from 830 for Haryana, to 971 for Mizoram. I find it instructive that the 3 states with the highest child sex ratios are Andaman Nicobar, Meghalaya and Mizoram. tribal states , no baggage of indian/hindu religious or cultural dogma in meghalaya traditionally men pay dowry etc and of course no elaborate arrangement of marriages.
Re: [silk] Why do we hate our girls?
On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 5:43 PM, ss cybers...@gmail.com wrote: On Sunday 10 Apr 2011 2:39:11 pm Stephanie Das Gupta wrote: Women have proven they can do just as well as men, if not better, in many levels. Why should we feel that women or girl children are so insignificant that they can just be tossed away. Apart from making it a criminal offence to even detect the sex of a child pre- natally I think legislation to favor the girl child has to be enacted. Incentives must be given for girl children - like free education - or even payment of a sum of money to the family in exchange for ensuring that the girl actually attends school regularly. Laws that entitle daughters to ancestral property are a powerful tool. How about abolishing arranged marriages ? Isnt that the problem ... parents getting involved in a marriage contract involving 2 other adults and subsequent chain of cultural imposition.
Re: [silk] A crisis of confidence
On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 7:45 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote: The average Indian isn't a very confident animal, how else can one explain the absurd popularity of self help books? Poverty is evil. Poverty leads to a lack of control over one's life. This is true in India and much of the third world where even if you are lucky enough to be rich as an individual, most events are unpredictable. When life seems stochastic to you and to people around you there is a general crisis of confidence caused by the uncertainty, and naturally people turn to self help books, charms, religion and other sources of succor. A voice bold and true no matter how stupid is the surest symbol of hope for people in these circumstances. Whats the link between your conclusion and poverty ? self help books, charms , gurus , healing churches, pyramid schemes : I would say that of the people I know who have never experienced living in poverty (not just indians -- but a fairly general global demographic ) -- an overwhelming number of them are still susceptible to one of these ...
Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt
On 1/30/11, Ingrid Srinath ingrid.srin...@gmail.com wrote: the regime, yes -- its a matter of survival. but, i dont think there is even a single protestor who is out there in indignant anger because the americans reduced funding for some civil society groups Absolutely, but choking off the channels that press for democratic reform, social justice etc. leaves people with no avenue but insurrection. And the signal the regime received was that the new US administration cared less about democratic reform than the Bush administration did. I am not disagreeing with you on the above -- what I am trying to say is that these channels did not begin-to-exist / cease-to-exist because of the US cutting funds for civil society groups. All such funds are channeled via USAID ...which does not fund anything remotely smelling of dissidence or having an incendiary agenda. They typically support the powder-puff change-the-world seminar / conference kind of project revolving around themes like : urban poverty, upliftment of women, infant mortality etc [In my part of the world the favorite is : youth empowerment, and FGM ]. They are there not just in Egypt, but in every strategically important 3rd world outpost. No one cares about these programs ...neither a regime worried about policy shift ...or the US government. This sentence is from a USAID audit of their own democracy projects in Egypt in 2008 : the impact of USAid/Egypt's democracy and governance programmes was unnoticeable in indexes describing the country's democratic environment (page 2, link below -- also has a description of a typical seminar run by USAID) http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/egypts-democracy-groups-fear-shift-in-us-policy-will-harm-their-work So, the obama administration decided to do the smart thing : save money and shut down some of these programs. The only ones i think, willing to come and throw stones for this indignation are American commentators on huffington post. More interesting is this foreign policy report -- which i believe appeared in the economist sometime back --- but is available un-gated here : http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2010/10_middle_east_hamid.aspx quote: the hype surrounding the Bush “freedom agenda” – which included the creation of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and a doubling of National Endowment for Democracy funding – obscured the fundamental reality that American, as well as European, financial assistance has been just as limited as the NGOs and political groups it has tried to support quote: As for political groups or movements, they generally have not received US assistance. Such groups are obviously more controversial as their goals extend well beyond the mandate of NGOs, which are relatively small and focused on more limited objectives. In Egypt, this includes groups such as Kifaya, April 6, the National Association for Change, and the Muslim Brotherhood. None have received U.S. funding.
Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt
funny that the article focuses only on 'democracy' while ignoring the obvious -- that the main reason the americans have kept quiet and propped up the regime is because of the Islamic Brotherhood. If there were democratic elections in egypt the Islamic Brotherhood would probably be in power. The americans made the same mistake in Somalia when the Islamic Kadhi Courts came to power 5 years ago -- they were the most likely to bring some semblance of order. The americans decided to setup a puppet regime involving criminals and christian ethiopians... The end result now is total anarchy and an epidemic of piracy in the indian ocean. History(and stupidity) repeats itself.
Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt
The Obama administration has, in fact, significantly cut US funding to human rights and democracy groups in Egypt. I think its only a few americans who care about such things. Fact is, without american aid and big brother backing most egyptians would starve. large part of the wheat used for making bread in egypt comes as friendly aid from the americans. The long term sustainability of the country is in some doubt given their dependence on the nile. uganda, ethiopia, south sudan all have plans to place further dams on the nile and its tributaries ...until now a colonial era nile waters treaty and threats from western powers have slowed down most of these plans in favor of the egyptian state.
Re: [silk] Kragen's essay on Egypt
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 9:44 PM, Ingrid ingrid.srin...@gmail.com wrote: Regardless, the shift in policy on democracy did not go unnoticed by Egyptian civil society and, I'm sure, by the Mubarak regime. the regime, yes -- its a matter of survival. but, i dont think there is even a single protestor who is out there in indignant anger because the americans reduced funding for some civil society groups
Re: [silk] Stochastic Terrorism
On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 9:41 AM, Anand Manikutty manikuttyan...@yahoo.com wrote: couple : Ashoka's armies and the people who built the Pyramids. In each case, there was a tangible result, viz., the conquest of Kalinga, etc. and the construction of the Pyramids. My original point remains : Christianity and Islam don't hold any records as being the first time a group of humans came together for a common cause. And, in fact, to my original point, I will add one more : Christianity and Islam do not hold any records in terms of longevity either. Consider the aboriginals of the Andamans. They are a people who have been united for a common cause for much longer than Christianity, the cause being their own survival. The difference is that Christianity, Islam are motivated and encouraged by acts of proselytizing and conversion (Christianity was perhaps the first, neither the pharaohs, nor the romans or the greeks had such a motivation. ). To put it crudely -- this is kind of like a software virus -- i get infected -- and then i convert someone else ...and so on -- it ensures growth and a long and happy life for the faith. One can see this overwhelming force of conversion by taking an example of any of the numerous african tribes -- they have slowly become disengaged from traditional faiths and beliefs ...eventually they will lose them. The same will happen to the Andaman aboriginals (in their case the conversion is to modernization -- probably television, alchohol , junkfood, clothing )-- the sheer numbers are completely against them.
Re: [silk] Close the Washington Monument
On 12/24/10, ss cybers...@gmail.com wrote: But of late I have been wondering if there are deeper reasons for the peculiar reaction to Islam from western politicians. It occurs to me that the entire western democratic political set-up exists in a secular environment that was created by the poltical defeat of the Church. From my somewhat limited anecdotal evidence in Europe (and impromptu interviews) ...the reasons are perhaps more socio-economic rather than religious. -- i met various single europeans (i.e. unmarried / non-cohabiting men and women) who had difficulty getting housing loans -- since housing loans were preferentially being given to families -- in many cases families asking for loans were immigrant moroccan or eqyptian famililies ... -- many traditional businesses in the city squares were no longer economically viable ... these had been taken over by chinese (and other immigrant) businessmen who have started other non-traditional businesses(i.e. discount stores selling chinese goods, international phone call / money transfer services ) -- in some smaller towns many of the school students are of immigrant origin ... changing the dynamics of the school. for instance -- i found a school in northern italy where about 40% of the students (because the local population was aged ...and birth rates low etc) were of meghreb origin and they had objected to singing christmas carols, so they were exempted. -- then you hear of common complaints in the health care system like i am paying a lot of taxes ... and there are these immigrant families having 3-4 kids who are reaping the benefits You will find that many churches are empty and many of the priests imported from south america / asia or africa. Everything possible has also been legislated to death in europe. Anything that does not fit within a strict set of rules is upsetting the apple-cart ... the examples you mentioned and even very simple things are all going to contravene one rule or the other at some point...everything from traditions for naming a new born baby...to wearing a turban ...eating with your hands ...eating unapproved EU food items ...burial / cremation protects ...rites of passage ceremonies (like circumcision ..) . etc
Re: [silk] Close the Washington Monument
On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 3:38 AM, Nikhil Mehra nikhil.mehra...@gmail.com wrote: Fuck this. And fuck this list if this is the lot of asswipes I have to deal Fuck you. I sure hope its all consensual and you are using a condom. Advocate, Supreme Court of India Tel: (+91) 9810776904 Res: C-I/10 AIIMS Campus Ansari Nagar New Delhi - 110029.
Re: [silk] nettime US prof behind EVM study deported on arrival
On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 8:56 PM, Eugen Leitl eu...@leitl.org wrote: Paper is self-documenting. It creates its own documentation trail. Paper is offline, so it can't be scrambled. Paper is distributed over multiple independant physically securable compartments. People understand sealed urns, counting, locks, guards. Paper can be trusted to be fully inspectable to uninstrumented humans. Paper can be counted independently by mutually distrusting observers. Paper is physical, and is subject to the usual safety protocols. People understand protocols and processes for physical objects. All the above could be true ... but the problem in most developing countries is the word people -- who have greater involvement in a paper based process ... there are enough documented rigged elections around -- in most cases the people are more easy to corrupt than the system itself (paper or electronic). for e.g. -- this sentence ... Paper can be trusted to be fully inspectable to uninstrumented humans. ... is the very reason paper ballot elections are so easy to rig in technology and democratic process deficient regions where many such incidents take place. If you have a well audit sealed electronic voting box scenario -- it would be significantly more difficult to rig it using traditional means -- at least until the ones attempting to fix an election have caught up with it technologically.
Re: [silk] Coffee Machine Recommendations
On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 5:35 AM, Aditya Kapil blue...@gmail.com wrote: Can the 'fresh brewer' experts recommend a reasonably priced ($1000) coffee machine? One that makes 2-3 cups ber brew. Adit. How about a bialetti stove top espresso maker ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_(coffee_pot) http://www.google.com/search?q=bialettitbs=shop:1aq=f I have been using them for years ... they cost about $15-$20 and the only parts you need to replace every 2-3 years are the rubber gasket and the iron filter (totally about $5 ) .
Re: [silk] Lurkers, hidden audiences, and public archives
On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Shoba Narayan narayan.sh...@gmail.com wrote: Since Udhay said that he feels strongly about this, let me start by stating that I too feel very strongly about this group's privacy settings you could post with a pseudonym / alternate email to reduce searchability and improve deniability
