There are few popular media articles that can explain why a poor country like India would invest in a space program, and why that space program could maintain bipartisan support through the decades. This article is worth reading:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-07-03/nasa-needs-an-indian-tutorial
I don't agree with the conclusion in the article, though. There is room for both NASA's wide-ranging program centered around exploration and ISRO's pragmatic, technology-driven one.
Invention of wings
When a book starts out saying:
I would moved on to another book if it hadn't been our book club's selection of the month. Muttering a bit, I continued to read Invention of Wings
. I'm glad I did. Fortunately, Sue Monk Kidd doesn't overdo the dialect bit, beyond insisting of giving the slaves cutesy pet names. The book turned out to be tightly written, with a gripping story and very sympathetic characters.
The book captures the interweaving stories of women and African Americans trying to attain their freedoms in a world that is arranged to give them nothing easily. Throughout, it is a very moving book, but it was the afterword that brought me up short. Turns out the story of one of the two main characters in the book is true. And thinking back on it, no one can make this stuff up.
My mauma was shrewd. She didn’t get any reading and writing like me. Everything she knew came from living on the scarce side of mercyI normally would simply discard the book. Writing that tries to capture the ungrammatical speech and slightly-off pronunciations of poor people is just plain obfuscating. Any writer who does this page after page doesn't deserve to be read. Even that phrase -- "scarce side of mercy" -- seems so powerful. But what exactly does it mean?
I would moved on to another book if it hadn't been our book club's selection of the month. Muttering a bit, I continued to read Invention of Wings
. I'm glad I did. Fortunately, Sue Monk Kidd doesn't overdo the dialect bit, beyond insisting of giving the slaves cutesy pet names. The book turned out to be tightly written, with a gripping story and very sympathetic characters.The book captures the interweaving stories of women and African Americans trying to attain their freedoms in a world that is arranged to give them nothing easily. Throughout, it is a very moving book, but it was the afterword that brought me up short. Turns out the story of one of the two main characters in the book is true. And thinking back on it, no one can make this stuff up.
On Hinduism and Xenophobia
I remember reading something set in ancient Persia and noting that the name of the chief god, Azura Mazda, was quite similar to the names of the demons ("asura") in Hindu myths. Reading Wendy Doniger's latest book, On Hinduism, brought the aha moment:
On Hinduism
is a collection of the essays that Doniger wrote over her lifetime. The essays are great -- the one on the representation of Shiva ("lingam") alone is worth the price of admission, but she tops even it in her essay on Saranyu (the Hindu equivalent of Eve). Even her throwaway asides are gems of insight. The essay on Saranyu, for example, ties the obscure tale of the the Ur-mother of Hindu myth that dates to the Rig Veda to the well-known story of Kunti and Karna. Once she points it out, it is amazing how many of the remnants of the Saranyu story -- an abandoning mother, a brilliant father, mortals and immortals, mutilation -- all make their way in slightly modified ways into the Karna myth. The essays are wonderful and I have been savoring the read, going back and rereading some of them (I can't think of a book that's ever made me do that).
Doniger says that she has changed the essays to account for changes in her views over time. She also changed words, like dharma and Shiva, whose italicization and spelling conventions have changed since the time when she first wrote the essays. Finally, she says, she had an Indian reader read the text to point out areas where she might have inadvertently caused offense. She needn't have bothered. The right-wing blowhards who succeeded in getting Penguin to drop the book in India would have taken offense anything more real than a bowdlerized Amar Chitra Katha comic.
Considering that it's precisely her droll, outsider's voice that I find refreshing, it is ironic how many of the criticisms of her work come down to her "otherness": she's a woman, a Jew, a non-Indian; who is she to write this stuff?
The great god in the Avesta ... is called Ahura Mazda, the great asura, a benevolent spirit. Even in the Rig Veda, several gods are still called asuras (Varuna in particular). And just as benevolent asuras became malevolent demons in later India, so too, benevolent Greek daemons (another sort of god) became malevolent demons in Christianity, and the devas of ancient India and Persia (gods, cognate with deus in Latin) became the devils of Christianity.The change had, in other words, something to do with xenophobia. This habit of identifying other peoples' gods with devils has been happening a long, long time.
On Hinduism
is a collection of the essays that Doniger wrote over her lifetime. The essays are great -- the one on the representation of Shiva ("lingam") alone is worth the price of admission, but she tops even it in her essay on Saranyu (the Hindu equivalent of Eve). Even her throwaway asides are gems of insight. The essay on Saranyu, for example, ties the obscure tale of the the Ur-mother of Hindu myth that dates to the Rig Veda to the well-known story of Kunti and Karna. Once she points it out, it is amazing how many of the remnants of the Saranyu story -- an abandoning mother, a brilliant father, mortals and immortals, mutilation -- all make their way in slightly modified ways into the Karna myth. The essays are wonderful and I have been savoring the read, going back and rereading some of them (I can't think of a book that's ever made me do that). Doniger says that she has changed the essays to account for changes in her views over time. She also changed words, like dharma and Shiva, whose italicization and spelling conventions have changed since the time when she first wrote the essays. Finally, she says, she had an Indian reader read the text to point out areas where she might have inadvertently caused offense. She needn't have bothered. The right-wing blowhards who succeeded in getting Penguin to drop the book in India would have taken offense anything more real than a bowdlerized Amar Chitra Katha comic.
Considering that it's precisely her droll, outsider's voice that I find refreshing, it is ironic how many of the criticisms of her work come down to her "otherness": she's a woman, a Jew, a non-Indian; who is she to write this stuff?
Is Delhi really more polluted than Beijing?
The WHO recently released a report where Delhi was fingered as the most polluted city in the world.
Having been to both Delhi and Beijing, this seems odd. Delhi is polluted, but Beijing seemed to be in a class all by itself. In Beijing, visibility was in the tens of meters. Delhi is bad, but it never seemed that bad -- you can always see what's on the other side of the street.
Contrast these two pictures, both taken in summer in the city centers of the two cities:
Two possibilities that I can think of:
(1) Perhaps the Beijing numbers reported to the WHO are "cooked"?
(2) Perhaps the pollutant mix is different, and the Beijing pollutants are more visible and more likely to remain suspended in the atmosphere?
And just to provide some contrast in terms of the distance one can see on a summer day in the center of the city: Kathmandu, Paris and New York:
Of the three cities above, Kathmandu was the dirtiest. I found it dirtier than Delhi. Once you get out of the city, though, the Nepali countryside is gorgeous. But we are talking only about cities here.
Having been to both Delhi and Beijing, this seems odd. Delhi is polluted, but Beijing seemed to be in a class all by itself. In Beijing, visibility was in the tens of meters. Delhi is bad, but it never seemed that bad -- you can always see what's on the other side of the street.
Contrast these two pictures, both taken in summer in the city centers of the two cities:
Two possibilities that I can think of:
(1) Perhaps the Beijing numbers reported to the WHO are "cooked"?
(2) Perhaps the pollutant mix is different, and the Beijing pollutants are more visible and more likely to remain suspended in the atmosphere?
And just to provide some contrast in terms of the distance one can see on a summer day in the center of the city: Kathmandu, Paris and New York:
Of the three cities above, Kathmandu was the dirtiest. I found it dirtier than Delhi. Once you get out of the city, though, the Nepali countryside is gorgeous. But we are talking only about cities here.
Net Neutrality is a terrible idea
My view on net neutrality changed after reading this article.
Read the whole thing. It is not often that a well-honed argument can change minds, but this one probably might.
Turns out that when we argue for net neutrality, we are arguing from a position of privilege. And we need to check that privilege -- getting rid of net neutrality can be very beneficial to the poor everywhere and to everyone in developing countries.
You may think that walled-garden access to Facebook or Google is inferior to neutral Internet access—and you’d be right. But if the neutralistas got their way, people in developing countries wouldn’t have better Internet access; many of them would have nothing. Wikimedia notes that in Kenya, mobile service costs can exceed 25 percent of monthly income. “Additionally, nearly 1 in 5 have reported that they will forgo a usual expenditure (such as food) in order to reload phone credit.” Low-quality (free) Internet access, therefore, is part of the optimal stock of Internet access.
As if it weren’t enough to connect the world’s poorest for the first time, non-neutrality can also help to fund necessary network buildouts on an ongoing basis. By giving access to Facebook, Google, and Wikipedia away as a loss-leader, carriers are serving with their basic tier of service those who can’t afford more, and habituating those who can afford to click beyond the walled garden to using the mobile web. This price discrimination not only increases access but also raises more revenue than a neutral strategy would. Developing-world carriers need that revenue if they ever intend to build the kinds of networks that will support widespread Internet use. Net neutrality, in other words, would not only keep the poorest offline, it would keep investment in poor-country telecom infrastructure down for longer.
Read the whole thing. It is not often that a well-honed argument can change minds, but this one probably might.
Turns out that when we argue for net neutrality, we are arguing from a position of privilege. And we need to check that privilege -- getting rid of net neutrality can be very beneficial to the poor everywhere and to everyone in developing countries.
Why a limited roll out of a credit card security program does not work
American Express has apparently started a program called "SafeKey". It's something like "Verified by Visa", except that instead of rolling it out worldwide, they decided to start out in the UK.
What's the problem with a limited roll-out of something like this?
It means that if you go, armed with your American Amex card, to British Airways's website, you can not pay for a ticket. This is the only card I have that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees (British Airways, in its infinite wisdom, wants to charge me for the tickets in Indian rupees), so I really wanted to use the Amex.
British Airways says it is an Amex problem -- the card is getting declined by their verification system. Amex says it is a British Airways problem -- the transaction is declined by the common system that handles "Verified by Visa" and "SafeKey".
The American Express support person got belligerent when I tried to explain the problem to him and asked how I could enroll my card in SafeKey. He had not heard of SafeKey, and kept insisting it was a merchant's custom program, and not anything to do with Amex. The British Airways rep essentially threw up his hands while maintaining his posh accent and polite voice. Sigh.
What's the problem with a limited roll-out of something like this?
It means that if you go, armed with your American Amex card, to British Airways's website, you can not pay for a ticket. This is the only card I have that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees (British Airways, in its infinite wisdom, wants to charge me for the tickets in Indian rupees), so I really wanted to use the Amex.
British Airways says it is an Amex problem -- the card is getting declined by their verification system. Amex says it is a British Airways problem -- the transaction is declined by the common system that handles "Verified by Visa" and "SafeKey".
The American Express support person got belligerent when I tried to explain the problem to him and asked how I could enroll my card in SafeKey. He had not heard of SafeKey, and kept insisting it was a merchant's custom program, and not anything to do with Amex. The British Airways rep essentially threw up his hands while maintaining his posh accent and polite voice. Sigh.
The First Muslim
It took me a while to read The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad
primarily because I didn't want to read it on airplanes (a sad commentary of the times we live in!).
I'd heard bits and pieces of Muhammad's story before, but did not know much about his life because there are few non-pious biographies of the founder of Islam. This is in contrast, of course, to other historical-religious figures such as Jesus or Buddha whose lives and teachings have received the once-over multiple times (p.s. an excellent Manga telling of the Buddha's life is Kapilavastu
).
I was surprised by how dichotomous Muhammad's life was. In Mecca, his story as an outsider, preaching non-violence and detachment, is similar to that of Jesus or Buddha. In many ways, it's the prototypical founder-of-religion story, and there is little there to offend anyone's sensibilities. But in Medina, however, his life turns into that of a strategic political figure. In some ways, it is as if Jesus, Paul and Constantine were rolled into one lifetime. Or Buddha, An Shigo and Ashoka rolled into one. So, you have Muhammad orchestrating a triple cross, divvying up resources from raids on caravans, ordering that an entire tribe be wiped out, etc. Pretty gruesome stuff. But during it all, you never lose total sympathy for the central figure.
It is a wonderful biography and well worth the read. (Even if you have to hide the title of the book as you read it ...)
Another sad commentary of the times we live in: I went to Amazon to see what the reader reviews were like. There were several reviews by Muslims hoping fervently that their compatriots would not be offended by the secular view of their prophet's life.
primarily because I didn't want to read it on airplanes (a sad commentary of the times we live in!).I'd heard bits and pieces of Muhammad's story before, but did not know much about his life because there are few non-pious biographies of the founder of Islam. This is in contrast, of course, to other historical-religious figures such as Jesus or Buddha whose lives and teachings have received the once-over multiple times (p.s. an excellent Manga telling of the Buddha's life is Kapilavastu
).I was surprised by how dichotomous Muhammad's life was. In Mecca, his story as an outsider, preaching non-violence and detachment, is similar to that of Jesus or Buddha. In many ways, it's the prototypical founder-of-religion story, and there is little there to offend anyone's sensibilities. But in Medina, however, his life turns into that of a strategic political figure. In some ways, it is as if Jesus, Paul and Constantine were rolled into one lifetime. Or Buddha, An Shigo and Ashoka rolled into one. So, you have Muhammad orchestrating a triple cross, divvying up resources from raids on caravans, ordering that an entire tribe be wiped out, etc. Pretty gruesome stuff. But during it all, you never lose total sympathy for the central figure.
It is a wonderful biography and well worth the read. (Even if you have to hide the title of the book as you read it ...)
Another sad commentary of the times we live in: I went to Amazon to see what the reader reviews were like. There were several reviews by Muslims hoping fervently that their compatriots would not be offended by the secular view of their prophet's life.
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