yazadjal.com

We have a new genre of jokes. Blondes are passé. Bloggers are the in-thing. Yaya!
Q: How many bloggers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two — one to change it while the other apologizes for the recent lack of illumination and explains that they’ve been really busy lately.
From Defective Yeti. The comments section […]

The tripe that is published these days is astonishing. Like this “story”:
Indian, Pak actresses can save Earth from Mars omen

If some of the popular Indian and Pakistani actresses dress up with full make up and offer prayers as the planet Mars comes close to Earth on Wednesday, it would be a […]

I saw this banner bang opposite the BMC building in South Bombay. It’s one of the “spirit of Bombay survives the blasts” type put up by the Samajwadi party. The last line is mind blowing. Here it is verbatim.
The pigeons are back at Gateway. People are back on track. We won’t budge, we won’t panic. […]

It’s bad enough that so many innocent people get killed in bomb blasts. But it’s infuriating to read news like this:
Intelligence agencies warn of more attacks
The Central government has been warned of the existence of more independent modules of terrorists who could strike terror in Mumbai.
The commercial capital could witness more terrorist acts ‘after […]

Telephone lines and cellphones are down in what seems to be another series of bomb blasts in Bombay. The only source of news trickling in is from the web. As I keep refreshing Rediff, there seem to be more blasts!
1. Gateway of India
2. Zaveri Bazar
3. Pydhonie
4. BMC Headquarters
Uptil now, all in South Bombay.
Update (14:27) […]

A print of this painting by the Dutchman Jan Vermeer hangs opposite my desk in the office. The intensity and concentarion of the geographer inspires me to stop wandering and get back to the work at hand!

Update: Forgotten Delights has an interesting description of the painting.
Vermeer, who is exceptionally skilled at portraying details, has shown […]

I’ve thought a lot about what to do with the posts on my previous blog, Carpe Diem. MT has the option of importing all the posts, but I think some of what I wrote is best left where it is. I am going to selectively repost stuff from there on AnarCapLib.
The question now is, […]

Gerogia O’Keefe’s paintings fill up my senses. Her flowers, mountains, skulls and the sparse landscape she painted are so much larger than life. I can feel myself entering those huge petals and losing myself, strangely comforted by their largeness.
There’s a famous O’Keefe called “Pelvis with Pedernal,” I love that pic but can’t seem to […]

Rather obvious. But kudos to the Daily Telegraph for putting it down on paper and not leaving it to the “stars.”
Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong [needs free registration]
Good news for rational, level-headed Virgoans everywhere: just as you might have predicted, scientists have found astrology to be rubbish.
Its central claim - that our […]

Over the last few August 15ths, I keep wondering at the hype and hoopla over “independence,” “freedom,” etc etc.
How “free” are we really?
Update: In order to please all the spelling language Nazis who visit my blog, I have corrected my heinous crime of misspelling independence. Happy Independence Day!

I posted yesterday on a cult icon who was really a mass murderer. Ironically, the name is shared by the leader of a prominent Libertarian party in Costa Rica. Julian Sanchez of Reason interviewed Otto Guevara of the Movimiento Libertario — The Other Guevara.
A very interesting story of how free market ideas sprouted in a […]

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation brings news of two think tanks. The Indian Liberal Group, Kerala and the Alternate Solutions Institute in Pakistan.
The ILG, Kerala is an offshoot of the Indian Liberal Group based in Bombay but they seem to be doing some work. The site’s patchy, but does throw some light on their […]

Cato Institute has a rich tradition of research and publications on free markets. While critiquing governance, you need the facts to back you up. A report card works wonders. Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors: 2002 has a detailed evaluation on each and every governor in the US and grades them from A to […]

Nice piece on how open source software has strong free market and libertarian vibes. A balanced and mature opinion, without any clutter of tech jargon.
I believe open source software development is driven by neither foolish, altruistic programmers, who could be using the time they spend giving away their source code making money working for a […]

For the last few years, I’ve been a dormant member of Bureaucrash. Some info from their “about us” page.
Bureaucrash is an international network of activists of all political persuasions who believe that bloated, sprawling governments and the bureaucrats and politicians who control them ought to be mocked. Mercilessly.
Why? Because when governments grow, our freedom to […]

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible is perhaps the best introductory book on libertarian principles that I’ve read. The author, Ken Schoolland has teamed up with Lux Lucre to bring out a superb animated presentation based on the book that takes you through the Philosophy of Liberty. [Opens onto a new page] I loved it […]

Swaminathan Aiyar writes in the TOI today on our flawed perceptions and still present firang complexes. Kingsley Jegan commented on the same issue a few days back.
Swami: The British Raj believed in the white man’s burden. Rudyard Kipling saw Indians as “lesser breeds without the law”, of whom no decent standards could be expected. […]

We all ought to know that Swaraj will not at once, or I think, even for a long time to come, be better government or greater happiness for the people. Elections and their corruptions, injustice, and the power and tyranny of wealth and inefficiency of administration will make a hell of life as soon as […]

An interesting sidelight to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bid to run for the governorship of California are his libertarian leanings. When Milton and Rose Friedman’s Free To Choose series was re-issued in 1991, Arnold introduced it, explaining why he left Austria to come to the US.

Tunku Vardarajan on How Not to Say What You Mean
Tastefully written, with words like comestible and locution for garnish. Regardless of his support for euphemisms as mild expressions for awkward realities, he does not mince words while describing why he dislikes political correctness.
. . . one should distinguish what might be called the political […]