Sadly for India our freeloading journalists never write the truth. They just repeat whatever garbage they are fed by politicians and kleptocrats like parrots without scepticism or enquiry. It was obvious that India was in the midst of a gigantic bubble waiting to burst with Sensex at 21000 and house prices doubling in one year. The bubble was used to massively increase indirect taxes across the board. We even have to pay service tax on our accountant's charges to file our tax returns which means paying sevice tax to pay income tax, an abomination which probably does not exist anywhere else. All this extra loot allowed the kleptocrats to give themselves huge salary increases and will increase the rate of bribes they charge. Well, lies and theft will out. The Sensex is down to 8892. Growth has fallen from 9% to 5.3% in the last quarter and the rupee has fallen to 50.39 to the dollar from 39. Headlines say that inflation has fallen to 3.4% but read on and right at the end you find that food inflation is 8.6%. 230 million are undernourished, 50% of deaths in children due to malnutrition. 43% of children under 5 years are underweight, greater than sub saharan africa at 28%. And so it goes on and on. So what are the looters doing for the aam aadmi? Five luxury aircrafts for ministers at Rs. 9.5 billion, salary increases upto 60% for kleptocrats and a proposal to allow ministers to take friends and relatives in airlines at tax payers' expense. India is being slowly murdered. No sharam, no izzat.

Several anonymous bloggers left comments saying that Shiv Sena is trying to divide the country along region and caste lines on a fellow called Ajith D.'s web community. Incensed the youth wing of Shive Sena has filed a criminal complaint with the police. Ajith D. approached the Supreme Court to quash the complaint but the court refused to do so. It seems that in India it is alright for local goons in Mumbai to beat up people from the north whom they derisively refer to as ' bhaiyas ' as opposed to as some creature called ' marathi manoos.' Several in the main stream press have been very scathing of Sena's and especially Raj Thackeray's tactics but have not been accused of anything. The ULFA in Assam is doing the same thing while kannadiggas want all jobs to be reserved for locals. Surely if each local community is to claim the state for itself and demand the removal of all other Indians then the country will end up being divided. It is impossible to understand how this is defamation ( which is a civil offense ) and why it is a criminal case. Have the police in Mumbai nothing better to do? Have they forgotten their totally inept performance during the attack by Paki terrorists? While Indians are being denied job opportunities outside their respective states Bangladeshis are swamping this country. Seems that 300,000 have managed to get voter identity cards in UP. These are providing ISI of Pakistan with all the terrorists they want. With the justice system occupied by trivia I despair for my country.

After thirteen, yes thirteen, years Mr. Sukh Ram, who was telecom minister under Mr. Narasimha Rao has been sentenced to a derisive three years in prison for accumulating more than Rs. 40 million in, what is known as, disproportinate income. As I recall notes were found stuffed in mattresses and pillows by CBI sleuths. Why has it taken so long when the evidence was so clear and why such a ludicrously low sentence? Ministers have to take an oath to protect the constitution so when they violate their oath they are guilty of treason and deserve at least 3o years. He is already 82 years old and plans to appeal so one can assume that he will die of old age before he pays. Meanwhile Raju of Satyam has been shifted to a luxury cell with clean sheets and tv. He has confessed to his crimes without duress and so should be immediately tried and sentenced to a very long jail term. While he is sweeping the floors he can be questioned about the various details of his fraud. Meanwhile steps are on to protect him. SEBI, the Stock Exchange regulator, were not allowed to question him for over a month and had to approach the Supreme Court to get access to him. The case is to be handed over to the CBI but, ramarkably, the local CID, who have been investigating the case so far will not hand over any evidence to the CBI officers. Now that bloggers may be charged with criminal offense for telling the truth as they see it I will not say what I think of the entire justice and poltical scene in India. No sharam, no izzat.

Saw the whole of Obama's speech this morning. Good language and very well delivered as we have come to expect from him. After a very long time there were three democrats, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Obama, on the dais. I thought that his speech trashed Bush pretty comprehensively. He started with the economic disaster created by Bush. End of huge executive bonuses that the GOP supports. Support to alternative energy sources away from oil, Bush's cronies. No torture, a kick in the lower regions of Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bush. No tax cuts for the rich which started the era of huge fiscal deficits. Healthcare cover for everyone including the poor. Stress on education for every child which means no more morons for anyone to endure. A start on tackling the humungous deficit so that future generations do not have a burden to start with. The Republicans sat with glum faces and were churlish in their applause. I remember them giving enthusiastic standing ovations to Bush's stupidities including the ' axis of evil ' idea which resulted in the Iraq mess. Even now they will not cooperate with Obama even though the country is crying out for firm bipartisan action. They show themselves to be without shame or honour and a party of criminally thickskinned. However though the GOP have proved themselves to be a party of knaves the question still remains about how Obama is going to fund his stimulus plan. We will know probably by this time next year. Hopefully the answer will not be a world wide crash.

I have not seen Slumdog Millionaire but so I suspect have half the idiots who were celebrating on the streets yesterday. I have seen the BBC celebrating the victory of a British film by a British director. A BBC reporter went with one of the child actors of the film to where his father lay under an awning of some sacking material. He claimed to be dying of TB. The boy said that he hated life in the slum which was like that of a dog. He should have told his father that. Only a dog would give birth to a load of children without having a roof over his head. TB was also the cause of death of the father of Balram Halwai, hero of the Booker Prize winning novel by Aravind Adiga. I have read the book in which the hero murders his employer, who has been treating him very well, and robs the money he was carrying to pay bribes to government officers and starts a transport business for call centre employees in Bangalore. India has had a family planning programme running since the 1950s and poor people are aware of it. They are not stupid. They do not produce so many children as an insurance against old age but to send these children out to work as soon as possible and then live on their earnings. They pretend innocence and demand free handouts from the politicians in return for their votes thus depriving the educated people of any say in the running of the country. No country can survive this exponential growth in its underclass yet that is what these liberals tell us we should do. No wonder they are called wooly headed.

The UK government has a massive headache with suspected Islamic terrorists. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that prolonged detention of terror suspects without charge is illegal and awarded damages to those who were held. Not only will the governement have to release these murderers but, adding to its outrage, will have to pay compensation. Thus in these days of economic hardship where people are losing their homes Islamic fanatics will receive payment for plotting or helping in the murder of British citizens. The case of Abu Qatada is particularly infuriating. This revolting person of Palestinian origin openly promotes hostility to western countries but is fighting extradition to Jordan. The government case is weakened by the fact that they are unable to release all the proof they have against him because that might help to identify informers and bring about their deaths. Still the Law Lords have allowed him to be deported but he is now taking his case to the EU Court of Human Rights. Wonder where these scum get their financing. They come into western countries as penniless refugees and yet seem to have endless funds to carry on with limitless litigation. Lawyers in these countries are bloodsuckers and one can easily run up bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Saudi Arabia is a known financier of terrorists as is Iran. Are these ancient enemies collaborating in the business of murder?

The world economy is in a mess. The predictions range from recession to depression to deflation. The Indian government has been trying to stimulate the economy but it has limited scope for further action. Having given massive increases to useless civil servants and paid for cancelling bank loans of farmers the deficit has already reached 6% of GDP and taking states into account will reach 10%. Internal debt is set to reach 80% of GDP. Tax receipts are expected to fall further limiting government spending. Exports have been hit hard. Already 5 million jobs have been lost and a further 10 million are expected to go. Industrial output has declined two months running and could continue to do so if people cut spending. The pressure is on for the Reserve Bank to reduce interest rates. The Bank seems curiously reluctant to do so even though interest are near zero in the US and Japan and falling elsewhere. Maybe the Bank is afraid of a run on the rupee. Yet evreyone from minister to kleptocrat to business tycoon predicts a growth rate of 7% next fiscal. For a trillion dollar economy 7% is $ 70 billion which amounts to Rs. 3.5 trillion. Surely such a massive amount should employ millions more? Yet Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, who is standing in for the Prime Minister, who was standing in for the Finance Minister, who morphed into Home Minister says that employees should take a cut in wages to prvent job cuts. Er, the maths seem like Satyam accounts.

Seems that the government has had second thoughts about introducing a bill in parliament which would allow ministers to take friends and relatives while travelling by air at taxpayers expense. So far they were allowed to take only wife and children but the bill would have allowed them to take anyone they wanted. This is supposed to be part of their salary and perks and would undoubtedly have come in very handy. For one, any minister would be able to sell a few seats on the plane for some taxfree shopping. After all a few bottles of single malt would help them relax nicely. Secondly they can show their caring sides. For instance a niece is missing her newly married husband who has gone for a temporary assignment to the US. No problem. Take her along for a bit of cootchie coo with her husband and bring the smile back to her lips. Taxpayer pays. Thirdly one could reward a good act. ' This blogger is getting too big for his boots. Silence him and come with me for a merry trip to Paris and Amsterdam.' Taxpayer pays. With elections imminent they did not have the guts to introduce the bill now but will undoubtedly do so just after. There is no reason why a minister should be allowed to take his children while travelling on official business let alone friends and distant relatives. Just proves what I have been saying all along. Our politicians are a bunch of criminal beggars and our journalists are freeloaders. No sharam, no izzat.

Like every other Indian I am convinced that Indian cricketers have been treated harshly when compared to players from white countries. Sachin Tendulkar's test average would probably have been in the eightees if not for blatant umpiring decisions. The number of times he has been given out when rapped on the pads a foot outside the stumps or caught behind when the ball clearly flicked off his shirt is beyond count. With neutral umpires officiating wrong decisions seem to have balanced out but there is no excuse for the onesided decisions of the third umpire who dish out fines and suspensions to Indians while being blind to the crimes of the white skins. Australians had been abusing opponents with complete freedom but when Harbhajan Singh retaliated all hell broke loose. Unfortunately with most of the money coming from India they could not ride roughshod over us as easily as before. Most cricket boards have compromised with the situation in the interest of their players but the English just could not tolerate the situation. After all cricket was invented in England. When IPL started last year the English Board would not allow its players to participate. IPL was a great success and foreign players made a lot of money except the English which gave rise to a lot of resentment. Along came Sir Alan Stanford, a white man, who put up a million dollars in cash to the winner between England and the West Indies. Sadly England lost and the Windies took the entire jackpot. Now comes the news that Stanford has swindled $ 8 billion and the English Board are looking for excuses. Being racist was alright when you had an empire but not when you are slaves of the Americans. What say.

Having lost the last time out Hugo Chavez has won the referendum not to be limited to two terms as president and to be able to stand as many times as required. No doubt he will claim that this is ' democracy ' as is claimed by Kim Jong Il, Hu Jin Tao and Robert Mugabe. To politicians around the world democracy has come to mean a mark on a piece of paper every four to six years but every politician secretly wants to be a king and behaves like one. Whether it is Tiananmen Square, the Patriot Act or the DNA archive ( in the UK ) the idea is to control the people and acquire absolute power, all in the name of protecting the same stupid people. In India we are so proud of our democracy when compared to those of our neighbours, congratulating ourselves for our elections which get rid of one set of ugly geriatric scoundrels for another. Do you choose a murderer or a rapist? Perhaps a shameless footlicking chamcha will be better than a smuggler? Innumerable parties led by ugly old men who refuse to die and are grooming their drugged, criminal sons to follow them. Elections are won by appealing to religion, caste or linguistic groups. Black money and armed goons give status. Uneducated naked people are bought with promises of free electricity, rice at Rs. 2 per kilo or free saris, all at taxpayer's expense. It is no wonder that politicians are totally despised and almost every state in India has some kind of armed group fighting the state. General elections are scheduled for May. Another chance to mark one's favourite ugly villain. What fun democracy!

In Britain a girl of 15 has given birth to a baby girl fathered by a 13 year old. They were 14 and 12 when she became pregnant. Had an adult had a relationship with one of these children he or she would have been jailed for paedophilia and labelled for life but no punishment will meted out to these two. Instead they will be paid child benefit financed by the tax payer. But what of the baby? These two are clearly too young, inexperienced and unemployed to look after a baby. No other animal baby is as helpless as a human one because a more mature baby would have a brain so big that it would not pass through the mother's birth canal. Also only humans have the power of language which, in turn, needs years of education before adulthood. Meanwhile in the US a single mother, who already has six children, has given birth to octuplets by IVF. Unless she is a sow with eight teats it is hard to imagine how she is going to breast feed all of them. She lives in a 3 bedroom apartment with her mother supporting her previous children so how she is going to hold on to a job to support so many is hard to imagine. Possibly she is hoping to earn a lot of money publishing her story. What of the babies? Surely every human child has the right to expect the best living conditions, education and parental care possible and clearly the above parents will fall far short. It seems to be an accepted fact that every woman has the right to have babies and to say anything different would invite the accusation of eugenics. But surely babies have rights too and the most important one would be the right NOT to be born.

The UK government has decided not to bring criminal charges against armed policemen who cold bloodedly executed Jean Charles de Menezes, an electrician from Brazil, in an underground train at Stockwell station. No surprise there. In a farcical inquest last month the coroner, Sir Something or the Other, would not allow the jury to bring in a verdict of unlawful killing because it would mean that officers were guilty of murder. He allowed them a choice between lawful killing or open verdict. Why have a jury if they are not allowed to have an opinion? Better still why have an inquest at all? Why not write your own verdict and save the taxpayer an awful lot of money. The policemen, who were not identified, shed tears of repentance and lied about shouting a warning before killing the innocent man in cold blood. The jury showed their disbelief by bringing in an open verdict. The UK justice system is totally corrupt. In the past there have been innumerable cases where innocent people were locked up for years for crimes they did not commit such as the Guidford four and the Birmigham six. IRA prisoners in custody were shot in the back in Gibralter. Lawrence, a black teenager, was murdered in cold blood by white youths but the police did not investigate even though everyone knew who they were. The list is too long for me to remember. I would not care but for the fact that British ministers dare to lecture others on corruption. Surely the thing to do would be to make a list of all the cases and hand a copy to the next idiot who dares to lecture. But that would mean we have people with character.

One of the ways that developed countries show their superiority is by making their citizens more important than those of the third world. Thus the US maintained sanctions against Vietnam for over 20 years and only lifted them when the Vietnamese agreed to find the bodies of soldiers who had been missing in action since the Vietnam war in which the US was the aggressor, committed innumerable war crimes and lost. The sanctions were a way to tell the world that dead Americans were more important than millions of living Vietnamese. Similarly the Syrian who is alleged to have bombed the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie is still in jail in Scotland but the captain of the American warship who cold bloodedly shot down an Iranian airline plane full of civilians is free to enjoy his life and boast about his kill. Third world leaders kill their own people to stay in power and think that this gives them status. Not so. Robert Mugabe may strut around protected by his thugs but if his people are reduced to picking grains of wheat from the road like rats then as head of state he is also a rat. You may class yourself as VVIP and spend Rs. 9.5 billion buying luxury aircraft but if the aam aadmi are living in conditions worse than cattle then what are you?

The attacks in Mumbai were on 26 November. Since then Pakistan has lied about the origin of the terrorists. It has insulted India by rubishing the dossier of proof provided by us. It has added to the insults by threatening massive response if attacked including nuclear weapons and it has blackmailed the US by threatening to divert armed forces from the Afghan border leaving US and NATO forces more exposed to Taleban attacks. What has been this government's response to all these threats, insults and blackmail? The Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has said that we will wait to see how the Pakis respond. In that case we will all be dead because the Pakis have absolutely no intention of doing anything and even now the ISI is planning the next attack. It is true that a war will result in many dead but not true that there is no other way. We should cut off all official and unofficial relations. Close our High Commission and ask the Pakis to get the hell out. Mine the border so heavily that not even a mosquito can cross. Stop all train and air links and stop any Paki earning money in Indian cinema or music. Build up troops on the border and threaten to bomb if anything at all happens inside India. If the Americans sqeal tell them that Indian lives are no less valuable and invite them to hit the Pakis from that side as we hit them from here and we can finish this filthy country of killers once and for all. I suspect the Congress is doing nothing so as not to upset the Indian muslims before the general elections. This has been the Congress strategy since 1947. How many more should die at the hands of the Congress?

Tiny item in today's newspaper. Seems that taxes are to be increased at Delhi airport by Rs. 200 on domestic fights and by Rs. 1300 on foreign flights. This is over and above extortionate taxes already being charged on airtravel and is to compensate the company improving the airport. Since the last two years private airlines have been teetering on the brink of insolvency, first due to increased oil prices and now due to the recession. Increasing taxes will further reduce air travel and may result in bankruptcies leaving only Air India which will survive inspite of bad management and terrible service because of taxpayer money. The national carrier may then be able to earn a profit as it has been merged with Indian Airlines. As people are forced to travel by trains Indian Railways will also make huge profits on undeservedly high ticket prices on air conditioned trains and by crooked practices such as selling half the tickets under Tatkal ( instant ) scheme at 20% premium thus forcing people to pay more for the same service. Of course all this is done in the name of the aam aadmi who will be offered cheap travel packed into Shtolypin cars in conditions not fit for animals. You do not have to look far for the gulag.

Inspite of billions of dollars of research no one can claim to know how the human mind works. The latest scans show parts of the brain related to pleasure, sorrow, fear or reward but no one can say why any one person reacts to a certain situation or predict how one person or a group will respond. This is the problem with economic theories or predictions. Nobel Prize winning economists can analyse the past and come up with fancy formulas but cannot predict what will happen in the future because this depends on human behaviour. No one predicted the current depression or the preceding burst of the dotcom bubble. Every time there is a boom we hear of a Goldilocks economy and any warning of a coming bust is laughed off as doom mongering. So now we have a situation where 700 billion dollars were doled out to ailing banks so that they would resume lending. Instead banks hoarded the cash and spent $ 18 billion in bonuses. So now another $ 800 billion dollars are going to be poured in. This response is based on analying the 1929 depression but the world today is totally different to what it was back then. With trillions of dollars pouring out of national coffers no one knows if central banks have any control over money supply, whether currency fluctuations will get out of control or whether public anger will cause unintended consequences like the break of the European Union. It is all about the ' psychology of the individual.' We may have been safer with Jeeves in charge.

A bunch of thugs in Mangalore entered a pub and beat up some women claiming that it is against Indian culture. It is totally against Indian, especially Hindu, culture to assault women and these goons should be thrashed to taste their own medicine. Papers are full of women repeating western feminist ideas that women and men are the same so they can behave in the same manner sexually. Not correct. First, only women become pregnant and even if abortion is available it is bad for health. Second, sex cannot happen without the consent of man. Thus a woman can never rape a man no matter how strong or well armed she is. Third, a man can entertain one woman or, at most, two women but a woman can and regularly take on a succession of men. Hence prostitution is almost totally a feminine enterprise. One common feminist rant is ' it is my body hence I can do whatever I please.' Sure it is. Why not smoke 40 a day, drink a bottle a day and take heroin and cocain? It is all about human anatomy and physiology and no amount of feminist ranting is going to change that soon. Should women have the freedom to have one or more men and go to pubs. Absolutely. Will they be called sluts if they are seen to be promiscuous? Most likely. Unfortunately men and women are not the same animals.

In Italy a young woman has been in a vegetative state for the last 17 years. Her father has been fighting for a long time to have her feeding tube removed so that she is allowed to die. Last November a court finally agreed to his request but the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi has signed a decree forbidding it. There is no doubt that this most corrupt of politicians has taken this step not out of any concern for the young lady or for any ethical concern but for political considerations such as to please his right wing coalition partner, Forza Italia. Meanwhile the woman's parents are left wondering why such a vulnerable girl has become a political football, wondering if she is feeling any pain that she is unable to articulate and always always wondering what might have been. As a physician I would never agree to help in euthanasia yet as a person I fervently hope that my suffering should be ended if I am in a similar postion. Like Berlusconi a lot of doctors already suffer from 'God Complex' and it would be totally wrong to encourage that. Also doctors might be tempted to accept cash to end an old person's life so that his heirs are able to inherit his wealth. Once that happens trust between doctors and patients will be destroyed for ever. It is time that this painful and emotional issue is addressed with calm logic and a protocol laid down so as to avoid any anguish in the future.

Watching nature channels it is striking that animals mix only with individuals of their own kind. Carnivores do not tolerate any other species or member of a different clan within their territories. Thus on the serengeti lions will kill any other carnivore such as leopard, cheetah or hyena unlucky enough to get too close. Lions of one pride will attack and kill a lion belonging to a different pride if caught within their territory. Herbivores of different species do congregate in large numbers but stay strictly separate. Thus wildebeest and zebras migrate together and spend entire lives in close proximity but do not interbreed. They are four legged, eat grass and have similar life cycles. They are born together, migrate together, eat together and live their entire lives next to each other but look different and never mix. Humans from different parts of the world look completely different. Whereas animals live basic lives which are very similar humans are also totally different culturally. We have different languages, dress code, eating habits, religion and manners which make us more different than a zebra is to a gazelle. Politicians keep lecturing us as to how we are all brothers and sisters but the truth is that culture, language and religion divide us much more than appearance divides the animal world. Thus the clash of civilisations. Glib rhetoric about a post racial world after Obama's victory seems stupid to me.

A British citizen was apparently captured by American forces in Pakistan trying to get out with a false passport. He was taken to Morocco where he was tortured with the help of MI5. He was then brought to Afghanistan and thence was taken to Guantanamo. Two judges have now said that the details of his torture cannot be released because of US blackmail. The Americans have threatened to withold future intelligence sharing if this information is made public. Some years back the highest court in the land, the Law Lords, ruled 3-2 that the Chagos Islands would not be returned to the islanders because the US needed its base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to continue its fight against terror. This is clear evidence of how the Americans give orders to the British government which then obeys without question. It is not surprising that the first foreign trip of the new US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, is to Britain. David Milliband, the Foreign Secretary was all smiles at this renewal of the Special Relationship. So he should be. As a representative of the slave country he must be delighted to be given a list of orders that he and his country must obey. As the Queen is the head of a governement of slaves does that make her a maid servant of Foggy Bottom?

The Prime Minister has left hospital after successful cardiac bypass surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS. Wish him well. During his government in the last five years AIIMS has had to put up with many problems. The first was due to the HRD minister, Arjun Singh who increased the number of seats reserved for low caste candidates. AIIMS students and house staff went on strike because the lower caliber of students would lower standards, a very legitimate grievance. The strike was put down with brutality that the
gestapo would have been proud of. As a man of principle the Prime Minister should have asked for a team consisting of only reservation doctors and thus would have put all suspicions to rest. That he did not shows what contempt and fear he has of them. The second problem was created by the Health Minister, Ramadoss who harassed the previous director, a doctor of some renown, only to put his own stooge in. The Supreme Court was scathing in its remarks of Ramadoss's actions. This resulted in many of the faculty leaving and morale falling to rock bottom. The Prime Minister showed his opinion of AIIMS by flying in a team from the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai who even brought their own instruments. Thus has Nehru's creation been destroyed by this government in just one term. No sharam, no izzat.