Guns have just one function and that is to kill. As expected the right wing Supreme Court in the US overturned the ban on handguns in Washington DC. The surprising thing, for me, is that the conservatives, including President Bush, are devout Christians. The life of Jesus was exemplary. As the Son of God he took great care to be born in a stables of a single mother, always took care of the poor and the sick including leprosy patients at a time when leprosy meant a slow and painful death and he forgave his enemies while in great agony on the cross. For me one of the greatest defining moments of his life was just before his capture. He knew that he had been betrayed and the Romans were coming for him yet he did nothing. He could have prayed to God,' Father, please send a dozen angels armed with AK47s and we will teach the Romans the mother of all lessons. While you are at it send down a couple of RPGs and we will have the Pilate fellow washing his underwear instead of his hands.' But he did nothing. He did not ask for spear, sword or even a knife. Worse he did not ask for a shield. HE CHOSE NOT TO DEFEND HIMSELF. These Christian fanatics send millions of dollars every year to India to convert Hindus but worship the National Rifle Association. Strange fellows.

At last the official rate of inflation is stated to be around 12% after lying for years about the Indian growth story. However, this is still the wholesale rate so the Consumer Index will be closer to 20%. As usual the free loading press accepts the government lies and excuses about what caused the inflation. The Finance Minister goes around blaming OPEC for the rising oil prices and the industrial countries for causing food inflation by diverting land for biodiesel production. He does not have the courage to blame himself for the mess he and his colleagues have caused in the last four years that they have clung on to their seats. We are told by the sycophantic press what a great economist the Prime Minister is and then we are told that there is nothing anyone can do. It is only recently that oil prices have been raised in India so that could not be the cause. As for food, it was this bunch which reduced our food stocks because they had begun to believe their own lies about the great Indian growth story. The truth is that the Congress has allowed the treacherous Commies to dictate terms and have not carried out any economic reform. The much vaunted growth has been fueled by bubbles in property and share prices brought about by black money which is generated by corruption. The remedy is simple. Cut the number of ministers, hang Chinese spies, shut down the IAS school and reduce the number of kleptocrats by 75%. Talking rubbish about the aam aadmi and hanging on to gaddis with the support of traitors will nullify any effort at controlling inflation. We wait for stagflation.

At last a few African leaders are waking up to the killing fields of Zimbabwe. No one has had the decency to speak the truth about Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe for more than two decades while he has destroyed the economy, murdered thousands of opposition supporters and shamelessly allowed his wife on shopping trips to Europe. Now he is helpless. He cannot allow anyone else to become President because he may be tried and hanged. Possibly he will be killed by his own coterie of murderers if he tries negotiating with the oppostion or tries to flee the country. Problem is that there can never be any adequate punishment for mass murder or genocide. After all you can hang a man only once so once he has killed one person he might as well kill as many as he likes since the punishment remains the same. So the people suffer. Trouble is that not one leader in Africa can chastise Mugabe because he can be accused of the same offences. Therefore, they have been taking refuge behind stupid excuses that it is an internal problem and that Mugabe is a resistance hero as if that gives him the right to murder. It is hard to understand how that continent can breed an army of butchers including Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, Omar Bashir and Mugabe to name a few. The list of honour will probably stretch to hundreds. Perhaps with murders, Aids and now famine Africa will one day become devoid of human beings.

It is all about race. Recently I have read many articles all of which have propounded the theory that in these post modern times the US has moved beyond racial divisions citing Obama's popularity among young and educated whites. But is it all so simple? All blacks interviewed on tv have said quite clearly that they voted for him because he is black and a lot of whites have voted for him so as not to be accused of racism and to feel a supercilious smugness about their open mindedness. African Americans ( AAs ) are quick to accuse others of racism but as an Asian I see them as one of the most racist people in the world. They were brought as slaves by whites in inhuman conditions and treated as less than animals for centuries but they have adopted the religion and names of their white masters, joined the American army and killed hundreds of thousand of Asians. They have fought in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet these countries never shipped African slaves or ever colonised any African country. Only one AA had the courage and honour to say 'this is not my fight' during the Vietnam war and that was Mohd. Ali, the boxer. For that he was hounded and paid a heavy price. A few days back an AA film director ( forget his name ) accused Clint Eastwood of racism because he did not feature any black in his film on Iwo Jima. Clearly this fellow is proud of AAs killing Asians as part of the American army. He is not alone. African Americans have killed hundreds of thousands of Asians for no reason and are proud of it. Rabid racists.

Our first Prime Minister, Mr. Nehru did a lot of damage to the country. Apparently Gen. Cariappa told him, ' give me 24 hours and I will give you Kashmir' but Nehru chose to go to the U.N. and left a permanent problem for India. He failed to read the treacherous Chinese and the country paid a heavy price. The Chinese still occupy at least 50000 square miles of Indian territory. He followed a command economic structure which bred massive corruption and this has become institutionalised today. He was pro Russian but it was the US which saved the country from famine with PL 480 supplies. He divided the country along caste and state lines. The list goes on. He did two good things. First, he held elections every five years probably because he knew he would win. Second, he built centres of excellence and these have served the country very well. Unfortunately the present government seems determined to destroy the only legacy Nehru left behind. First, Ramadoss, the Health Minister tried to wreck AIIMS, the only quality medical institution in this country. Now some idiot has decided to open seven new IITs in seven different states. These IITs do not have any building or any faculty but will begin admitting students this year. Thus under the stewardship of the widow of his grandson, Sonia Gandhi, Nehru's only legacy will be devalued for ever. India, the country of the third class.

The Hon'ble Finance Minister has expressed satisfaction at record tax collections in the last financial year and has urged the tax department to greater diligence. He even sets targets for the department much like private companies set targets for their salesmen. While the F.M. was asking for more taxes the Prime Minister was asking the kleptocrats not to hold their meetings in five star hotels and for politicians to cut down on foreign junkets, 90% of which are for personal enjoyment. It would be funny if it were not so tragic. One politician has described the Gujjars as 'beggars' for wanting a bigger slice of reserved jobs. Surely the politicians and the kleptocrats are the biggest beggars in the world. In all this talk about increasing tax collections there is never any talk about better services and proper accountability. Every time an Inidan buys a car about half the price is a total of various taxes. Petrol is heavily taxed. Road tax is collected with registration tax. Yet all the new highways being built are toll roads. For example to travel from Delhi to Agra you have to pay toll three times but that does not guarantee you a hassle free ride. Some youngsters from the US were travelling to Agra by taxi but were pulled over by the police who noticed 'goras' and wanted bribes to let them go. When we pay tax we should have the power to say that this money is n0t meant for thieving politicians, their fat ugly wives and their drug crazed criminal children. Unless we know that our money is being spent for the right causes Indians will always be reluctant tax payers.

After dithering for a long time the Indian government has increased patrol price by Rs. 5, diesel by Rs. 3 and domestic gas cylinders by Rs. 50. This has been applauded by our free loading journalists who are always complaining about subsidies on fuel because this helps the middle class people who own vehicles and use gas for cooking. Since the subsidies are paid out of the government's tax collections there is less money left for poverty alleviation schemes. This is so false and perverted that it takes your breath away. Very little of the poverty alleviation schemes actually reaches the poor. Vast sums are siphoned off by politicians and kleptocrats. These schemes are hand outs which make the poor think that they can go on producing any number of children and then expect to be given money. Studies have shown that rapists and criminals come largely from the poorer sections of society and these people are breeding without control. The middle classes pay all the taxes, get no services and are ignored by politicians because they do not form a vote bank. We are supposed to be equal in a democracy but to be middle class in India is to have no power at all.

As feared, Barak Obama is indeed the Democratic candidate for President of the US in November. He has marketed himself as a candidate for change but one wonders what change he has in mind. Will he dare to take on the NRA and ban all guns that kill so many blacks and put so many in jail every year? Will he dare to sign a comprehensive climate change treaty against the wishes of the oil lobby? Will he pressure Israel to stop settlement building on Palestinian land and not to use disproportionate force against civilians? Will be able to change the rabidly right wing Supreme Court where judges are appointed for life and will refuse to resign of die during a Democratic administration? Will he be able to carry out comprehensive reforms of healthcare industry so that poor blacks can access quality healthcare? Will he be able to enforce human rights for terrorist suspects against the wishes of the miltary? Perhaps he will change the colour of the loo paper in the White House. One thing is for certain, he is likely to be disastrous for India. Because of his parentage he may favour Pakistan to our detriment. All Indians should pray for John McCain and those who can should try and get him elected.

Gujjars are at it again. They are listed as OBC which probably stands for Other Backward Classes but want to be classified as Scheduled Tribe which will give them greater access to reserved education seats and government jobs. However the Meenas have cornered this category in Rajasthan and have been enjoying the benefits for decades. They do not want to have to share the pie which has resulted in this confrontation between the Gujjars and the Rajasthan government in which more than forty people have been shot dead by the police. Last year the government stopped the supply of food to the agitators and so forced them into submission. The Gujjars learnt and have secured food and communication channels this time. Ominously the Jats are helping them. Maybe the Jat community would also like to be Scheduled. Andhra is also seeing similar problems. Reservations were never going to help the backward communities. When vast numbers of poor children are deprived of primary education it makes little sense to reserve seats for them in IITs. It was always designed as bribes to the 'leaders' of backward castes who were already rich is the first place and were exploiting their own communities as much as the upper castes. It has led to division of society. Upper caste children who miss out on an IIT seat by one mark and see a Scheduled Class fellow getting in with much fewer marks, even though he comes to class in a luxury car, develop enormous resentment. There is no mixing between castes even if they may be in the same class for years and reserved children are referred to as 'shaddoos'. Is it any wonder that over 160 districts have Naxal problems.

A small news item two days ago said that Research In Motion, RIM, the Canadian company that owns Blackbury has refused the Indian government's demand of disclosure of its encryption codes so, at least for now, users of Blackbury devices are safe from snooping by the authorities. On the same day Deutsche Telecom set up investigation into allegations that it had been logging calls of its personnel to find a the person who has been leaking sensitive information to the press. Deutsche Telekom did not actually listen to any conversation, as the Indian police wants to do, but just logged what numbers were being called and this has caused an uproar. Unfortunately Indians are so busy trying to survive that no one is outraged by this assault on our privacy. Government officials, including the police, have given themselves the right to bug any phone without permission. The excuse is that they want to catch terrorists. Yet terrorists are able to thrive because of the help they receive from the same sarkari officials. Bangladeshis are allowed free entry into the country and no attempt is made to expel illegal immigrants. They obtain ration cards easily by paying bribes. In the Mumabi blasts case policemen were convicted of knowingly allowing trucks full of explosives to pass on being paid money. Yet after every episode of terrorism our civic liberties are curtailed. After the recent bombs the Jaipur police has ruled that all bicycles must be registered. Presumably if a suicide bomber came with explosives up his rectum they would want to register all rectums. It is hopeless.

A debate is raging between various government departments about whether to raise prices of petrol for the consumer and by how much. Oil companies which are government controlled are losing billions of rupees because they are being prevented from charging realistic prices from the customer. One way would be to cut taxes such as excise duties but the Finance ministry is unwilling or unable to do so. One reason may be that there are so many ministers with so many civil servants that they are unable to reduce expenses. Inflation is officially around 8% which means that it is probably around 12% and there is no hope of controlling this. Actually inflation has been high for a long time and the reason was the enormous rises in indirect taxation. Ever since this Finance Minister took office he has found ever new services to tax and has also increased the rates by slyly adding road and education cess. Although services make up over 50% of the economy they do not seem to figure in calculating inflation. It is urad dal, low quality rice and probably cow dung. The bubble created by phenomenal rises in property and share markets sucked in enormous quantities of dollars leading the rupee to rise to 38 to the dollar which in turn kept inflation in check. Past sins have caught up. The rupee is now 43 to the dollar and with the dollar falling may sink out of sight. The free loading press is still talking up this governement but the truth is beginning to catch up.

Seems that Barak Obama is going to be the Demacratic candidate for the Presidential elections in novemeber. He is so far ahead that Hillary Clinton has almost no hope catching up with him barring some unforeseen miracle. Much is being made of the fact that Obama is from a minority community which is African American. However everyone seems to forget that George Bush is also represents a minority of the population as did Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan before him. I am talking about men. 47% of the American population is male and 57% female. It is a shameful fact that not one woman has been found suitable for the top job. The US preaches demacracy to all and sundry and surely the first rule of democracy is rule by the majority but women are being consistently denied. Had all women voted for Clinton she would surely have won but they did not. After this Women should not whine about the glass ceiling and unequal pay. Women still look up to men. What a shame.

Of all the natural disasters earthquake is the worst. In a volcanic eruption the pyroclastic flow kills in an instant and virtually no one survives as happened in Pompeii. In a tsunami or a cyclone people die within minutes but the survivors are usually healthy and can survive if given food and water early enough. In an earthquake survivors are trapped under tons of loose masonry making rescue both difficult and dangerous. After shocks add to the danger. Trapped people die slowly and in great pain. Inspite of heroic efforts by the government thousands of Chinese have died of the recent earthquake. Although China is an enemy of India it is impossible to see the suffering of the people. In Burma on the other hand the survivors are free and can easily be reached as happened after the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia. Unfortunately the tyrants in uniform will not allow foreign aid workers to reach the affected areas and a lot of otherwise healthy people will die unnecessarily of disease and hunger. If this is not genocide what is ? These filthy thugs are much more brutal and murderous than Saddam ever was but no one is suggesting regime change. It is ironic that this regime survives because of China so the Chinese are indirectly killing thousands of Burmese while saving their own people. Regime change in China, now that is worth praying for.

So our esteemed Health Minister has got his comeuppance at the Supreme Court which struck down the legislation designed to get rid of well known cardiac surgeon, Dr. Venugopal. He has refused to resign and the corrupt Congress will do nothing to kick him out. Since this fellow became Health Minister some four years ago he has waged a mean minded, vindictive campaign to put his own chamchas incharge of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the only premier medical institution in India. His only other contribution is trying to abn smoking in films. He has not the slightest concern that some 57% of children in India do not get adequate medical cover. Poor people are thrown out of state hospitals. A woman in labour was thrown out of a government hospital and delivered on the street outside. Both baby and mother died. One would expect that a horrified Health Minister would work day and night to see that such disgusting events are never again repeated in this country. He is very vocal about reservation in higher education for students from lower castes but does not show the slightest concern about providing basic welfare to such people. Since he has no sharam or izzat we should show him that he is a disgrace to the medical profession by revoking his medical registration. In this country of chamchas does anyone have the moral courage to say loudly ' GET OUT'.

Couple of weeks back municipal elections were held in this hill town. There was huge excitement as the usual and some unusual people registered themselves as candidates. The local cablewallah also stood and gave free connections to over two hundred families with a promise of more free connections if he won. Unfortunately he could manage less than two hundred votes so promptly cut all free connections. Clearly gratitude is seriously lacking. Political parties had cars driving up and down streets with loud speakers blaring out the name of their candidates and urging people to vote for them. Three days before election day all liquor stores were shut down presumably to reduce the possibility of fights breaking out. So political parties were distributing quarter bottles of country liquor free to anyone who wanted any. Our cleaner collected around fifteen such bottles and seemed very pleased. All shops were closed on the day of the election as parties set out tables outside various polling booths. Results were announced a couple of days later and the victors paraded around their constituencies in open topped jeeps with chamchas dancing all the way. One would expect that the elected people would be nervous about the huge responsibility thrust on their shoulders and the weighed down by promises made. Not a bit of it. All victors seemed ecstatic probably foreseeing huge gains to be made. So much for the aam aadmi.

Yesterday the Speaker of the Lok Sabha switched off the lights inside the chamber because of the unruly behaviour by members. Seems that the opposition were raising slogans and then staged a walk out. One expects the communists and regional parties to indulge in loutish behaviour but for the BJP it is totally unacceptable. If the party wants to project itself as a credible alternative to the present government it will have to behave with dignity and convince the people that it cares about the problems facing the country. Raising slogans and behaving like hoodlums does not inspire us with confidence. The party should lay out its position and plan of action to bring down inflation and avert impending meltdown. If the Congress steals its proposals so be it. It should also vote with the Congress to pass the nuclear pact with the US. The BJP can then take credit for rising above meanness and working for the good of the country. As an added bonus it will create a massive rift between the Congress and the communists. The communists are traitors and the BJP should use every trick to wipe it out. In any event the communists will never support a BJP government so wiping out this bunch of vipers will help the party later. Once this is achieved it the Congress will lack support and will then be ready for the taking. Unfortunately politicians are only interested in filling their pockets. No sharam, no izzat.

India is holding the IPL which is a cricket tournament in the twenty twenty format. Teams are owned by rich industrialists and film stars. The game is played at a frenzied pace and millions of people are hooked. To increase entertainment cheerleaders of the Washington Redskins have been brought over by the organisers. Unfortunately, like everything in India, it was too good to last. Now politicians and other assorted hypocrits have started criticising their routine as obscene. These liars claim that they object on moral grounds but actually it is because they are unable to control their lust. Had these young ladies been Indian they would have probabaly been approached with lewd suggestions or even raped but these are Americans and no Indian politician would have the guts even to touch their shoes. Some also claim that they are against women dancing for money because that is exploitation of women. Last week a woman was refused admission in a government hospital because she had no money. She delivered on the road outside the hospital and both mother and baby died. Two days back a Delhi Police constable and friend raped a twelve year old girl in a car and through her out unconscious. Have not seen any politician rushing to help. No sharam, no izzat.

Now that Hillary Clinton has won Pennsylvania the race for the White House goes on. Who gets there in the end is not only important for the US but also for the rest of us who have no vote but will certainly feel the effects. US mismanagement of Iraq, the stupidity of the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsidies being given to the production of fuel from corn are some of the more obvious policies that are having enormous repercussions on the whole world. We could only watch when Bush stole the election from Al Gore and then attacked Iraq, on pure lies about WMDs, after talking to God. Then we look at Africa and can find not a single leader who is even a little honest or is interested in the welfare of the people. Nelson Mandela is the only name that comes to mind from an entire continent. Somalia is a mess as is Darfour. Kibaki stole the election in Kenya as is Mugabe doing in Zimbabwe. Even in relatively prosperous countries South Africa you could be shot to death in downtown Johannesburg in broad daylight. A lot of coutries in Asia became independent from colonial rule at about the same time as African countries but are now way ahead economically. Are Africans incapable of governing?

The papers are regularly full of how the government intends to build new airports and upgrade existing ones. Two new ones have been recently opened at Hyderabad and Bangalore. Delhi and Mumbai are being upgraded. All this is being done by private companies which will then make their profit by charging passengers for use of the airport. Already air travel in India is exorbitant compared other countries. For instance it is cheaper to go from Delhi to Bangkok than it is to Kerala. This is because politicians and kleptocrats are determined to keep air travel out of the reach of the aam aadmi although they themselves regularly travel by air. Taxes on aircraft fuel, ATF is highest in India. Every ticket carries a very high tax burden. For example a ticket to New York will cost about Rs. 57000 of which about Rs. 15000 will be tax. On domestic routes taxes are fixed so if an airline offers a cheap ticket for Rs. 100 the passenger will have to pay Rs. 2000 because the amount of tax is not reduced. Private airlines are forbidden from serving alcohol. Partly this is to protect the state companies, Air India and Indian Airlines which are poorly run companies with very poor service and enormous corruption levels so that they almost always run at a loss. The other reason is to force people to travel by rail so that upper class passengers are used to subsidise travel by the poor in inhuman conditions. Not much point buiding airports if we cannot afford to fly.

Hindu vegetarians in India seem very proud of their diet. When asked they seem to puff out their chests when proclaiming loudly that they are pure vegetarians and would not touch meat or fish. Their pride comes from a feeling of being purer than non vegetarians and being somehow holy. They will indignantly deny drinking any form of alcohol but admit to drinking lots of milk and eating milk products. Unfortunately alcoholic drinks are pure vegetarian products and all bottles carry the green dot certifying them as such while milk comes from cows and has cow protein in it which means drinking milk is similar to eating beef. When we invite a vegatarian we make extra vegetarian dishes and make a special effort to avoid any contact with animal products but when we are invited by vegetarians we are served some leaves and paneer which I do not like. They can easily get a caterer to serve chicken or fish separately but this would cost money. Of course they never serve alcoholic drinks which means that I have to come home and eat. Would I be wrong in thinking that vegetarianism is a cover for mean minded misers?