Darn!
My team lost. And hero of Thursday was back at it again. Darn!
[Edit] Big surprise for me: Why were Goni and Oram playing when neither of them had performed well so far?
My team lost. And hero of Thursday was back at it again. Darn!
[Edit] Big surprise for me: Why were Goni and Oram playing when neither of them had performed well so far?
I am late to the party. But still, what the heck. Here are a few stray thoughts:
BTW Abi, it is entirely possible for people to be highly critical of Dr. Singh and still be happy at him securing a back-to-back term as the Prime Minister. That is perhaps failure of our democracy: that I have to be actually happy that the person who got elected is someone I disagree with significantly. I therefore won’t be gloating.
By none other than P.Z. Myers:
dont you have better things to do?
NO! Heck is symptomatic of a huge problem in this country: the arrogance of ignorance. Somebody has to step up every once in a while and respond to their lies.
A few months back, I was talking to a few third year students, when I asked them which politicians they consider as their icons. Three names popped up: Rahul Gandhi, <em>Professor</em> Abdul Kalam and Omar Abdulla.
The earlier post on being respectful was motivated because there is a growing feeling that I am being unnecessarily argumentative about minor things. If I don’t agree with someone else’s beliefs, there is no need to argue about it. The point I tried to make in that post was that it is not disrespectful if I express my disagreement with elders, even their closely (or loosely) held beliefs.
The point I make in this post is that superstitions are not without consequences. And how does one distinguish one person’s (innocuous) superstition with other person’s (non-innocuous) superstition?
Due to her belief in vaastu / Feng Shui, someone wanted to build a water tank next to the entrance to their house (this is a true story). If someone falls in that tank, who is to blame? Why is this belief in vaastu not criminal if someone does fall and lose his/her life? [edited]
Its summer right now and temperatures can surge in early 40 Centigrades. Still, there are millions of devotees lining up for a quick darshan at Tirupati (and other temples). Some of these people put their infants in great peril by standing in queue for a few hours in blazing sun. Where and how do you draw a line?
Recently, Phil Palit wrote about fifty people in Kottayam lost their eyesight by looking directly at the sun in hope of “seeing” Virgin Mary. Let me quote the Bad Astronomer:
[…] “What’s the harm in believing in a little nonsense?”
This is the harm: 50 people in India damage their eyes looking at the Sun hoping to see the Virgin Mary. They suffered photochemical burns to their maculae, a sensitive region in the eye.
All this apparently started when a hotelier, who has since moved, claimed statues of the Virgin Mother had been crying honey and bleeding oil and perfumes.
Yeah, caveat emptor, right? But at what point can you blame the believer for being foolish, versus the scam artist (perhaps a true believer as well) who started this? If people don’t know enough to know they don’t know enough, then it’s hard to assign blame to them. The fault lies in the system, which sometimes actively fights against reality and truth getting to the masses. (emphasis added)
The hotelier was perhaps a true believer or perhaps a scam artist. Based on actions and its effect, is it even relevant if he was either of the above? How do we take his word for it? And what else we have to go by besides that?
[P]eople believe in fantasies which can hurt them physically, financially, and emotionally. It destroys their ability to think critically. […]
So I will continue to point out nonsense like seeing Jesus in baked goods, and I will continue to poke fun at them and at other things which may at first seem harmless. Because, at some point, this stuff isn’t harmless any more.
Exactly! So if you are someone who believes fasting for a week will miraculously make your code give you the correct results, I will call you an idiot. (And you should call me the same if tables are turned someday.)
Shannon Rosa is a mother of two, the elder of whom is autistic, who bought into the antivax movement and did not vaccinate her second child. Thankfully, her child was safe because of “herd immunity” and now has been given her vaccines. Read Shannon’s conversion story here. Quote:
We live in a culture where some people make critical health decisions for their children based on the opinions of self-proclaimed celebrity graduates from “The University of Google.” I’m asking you to help right the balance, to ensure that science-based viewpoints counter earnest but misinformed sensationalism in the autism — and parenting — communities’ information flows. (links in the original)
This is a very simple dish if you get fresh large shrimp. Our five year old niece loved it so much that she calls it “Pradnya aatya kozhambi fry” (Pradnya aunt shrimp fry). You need:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and keep aside for five minutes. Heat two tablespoon oil in a pan on a medium-high flame. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the shrimp. Shallow fry for two minutes; turn them over and fry for another two minutes. Serve hot.
Note that you need fresh shrimp (uncooked, unfrozen) for this recipe to work. Shrimp cooks quickly, so be careful not to overcook it.
You may add a bit of garlic; or ginger garlic paste; or garlic, cumin and coriander powder; and rice/cornflour to the shrimp… but keeping it simple tastes much better.