Today seems to be the day on which I give myself some meme time.

This time, fugney infected me with the meme.

Is sex without love a sin?


The questions posits the construct of "sex without love" as a transgressive activity which must meet with the approval of the patriarchy in order to be "confirmed"¹ as trangressive within the arbitrary limits of the acceptable. The physical activity of sex with or without love is carefully, if arbitrarily contextual, limning the essentialist nature of the three letters "S-E-X" as reified masculinity. This is a narrative of subjugation.

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To honour the forthcoming third anniversary of the Iraq War, I think we should add a new collective noun to the English language: a conspiracy of Muslims.

edited in response to rparvaaz's post.

A thought sparked off by rparvaaz's post: if Arundhati's Roy's prose was a painting, it would be signed "MF Husain".

Buildingsroman: a novel about a child who grows up to be an architect.

I'm thinking of writing a trilogy about life on an IIM campus. The first volume, A Game of Thrones, will be about two groups linked by strong bonds- the Tharkis and the Tullys, and their struggles with RG(*) wanna-be investment bankers, the Maal-iccha. This supremely ambitious and intensely competitive clan is obssessed with shitting gold. The Maal-icchas also display a positively incestuous desire to stick to their own kind. A Game of Thrones will be about attempts by various parties to occupy the loos till the last possible minute so that others in queue miss the early morning class- thus affecting their grades.

* RG: Relative Grading- has the effect of making human beings behave like live crabs in a over-crowded pot- clawing each other to get to the top.

I just saw this headline on MSN: Salman Khan sent to prison.

I wonder. I think it's more logical to state that he was sentenced to one year in prison. The sentence will be initiated when he's sent, and the sentence will be completed when the period is finished.

Sometimes, the unbearable fatuousness of the living amazes me. So The Week has just come out with a massive survey of young people in India. In the section on religious beliefs, one of the questions was "Is God [note capitalisation- judeo-Christian influence alert!] male or female?". 51 per cent say "male", and 28 per cent say "female". I have the following observations to make:

a. This is an incredibly stupid question to ask in a polytheistic culture, in which we have male, female and hermaphrodite gods.

b. It seems reasonable to assume that most of those who responded to the question fall into two classes: i. The vaguely/strongly monotheist. This includes people who might be polytheistic, but have this idea that Someone's Really in Charge of all those gods and demons running/flying around; ii. The reflexive question-answerers.
To the first category, I pose one question: so what do you think God does with his/her dangly/tucked away bits? Does s/he process waste matter? What if the Big Bang was really a Giant Fart? For the reflexive question-answerers, I have one question: why are you such a useless waste of oxygen?

Also in The Week's supplement, a quotation from the Executive Director of Talwalkar's Gym. "Delhiites have good genetics". You twit! Delhiites are not a race! They are merely people living in the city of Delhi. Do you even know what a city is?

There's an interview, in [you guessed it] with HD Kumaraswamy, the new Chief Monster of Karnataka. This is what he has to say: "Ideas like secularism and communalism should not come in the way of development". False dichotomy, Mr. Kumaraswamy, and a dangerous creed.

Edited in response to prashantr's response

Indian ads are very strange. There's one about some kind of hair removal cream for women. This chick decides to get married in the next ten minutes, and then barrels down city streets in a sports car while simultaneously removing hair. Not the strongest endorsement of road safety that I've seen.

Then there are two ads for Titan, starring Amir Khan. He's jobless, so he starts a business to do...exactly nothing. But it hires women based on the watch they wear: hires them to do...exactly nothing. The entire purpose of the exercise appears to be so that he can fake an MBA certificate degree. This is morally reprehensible and undermines our educational system. You can complete a legitimate MBA and be a fraud- and a superbly paid one at that.

Fraud, hair removal, reckless driving...all these are symptoms of the irreversible moral decline of our great nation and its ancient culture. I say it is time for us to go back to our roots. Women should stop wearing jeans and start wearing mini-saris; Hindu men should be encouraged to shamelessly display enormous paunches; none of this Christian, western "fitness" nonsense. In fact, this concept of "sports" is a Christian plot to undermine Bharat. We should stop giving coverage to any sportsperson's achievements and focus on their brazen display of legs instead to show people the evils of this threat to our national pride. If we have to have sports, they must be traditional, pure Indian sports like kushti, in which nearly naked young men roll together in the mud.

Bollywood films should not make movies about love, partnership and committment, and should adhere to pure Indian values and dances involving dozens of well oiled and scantily-clad young women gyrating their hips.

Jai Hind!

Some random dude on TV just claimed that his body is his temple. In my experience, temples are smoky and run on charity. You've got to wonder about the lifestyle he's endorsing...

Not long ago, I built a case for the US to outsource torture. This is what the Guardian said two days ago:

US accused of using gangster tactics over terror suspects

· Washington 'outsourced torture', says senator
· Critics attack lack of evidence in report

The scariest part of the report is this:

"There is a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of 'relocation' or 'outsourcing of torture'," Mr Marty told the 46-nation council."

In other words, it isn't just a measure adopted for the sake of temporary expediency; we're talking policy here. That said, the veracity of the report is being called into question. This is one of those rare instances in which I hope the establishement is right.

My bonds with London's underworld continue to grow. My flat was burgled today while I was out, and my laptop stolen. In the short space of 16 months, I have:

a. Been violently mugged-knocked unconscious and robbed.
b. Been hit by a taxicab.
c. Talked my way out of yet another mugging.
d. Had my laptop stolen from my flat.

I must have a Chinese enemy somewhere. These have been interesting times, indeed. My bloody brother doesn't help either. Also he can do is to compare peaceful Paris (only the odd riot here and there) to the "crime-infested hellhole" that is London.

This strategic brief will provide an overview and certain recommendations relating to the direction and future of the use of torture by the United States.

It seems that Senator McCain's anti-torture bill is likely to be ratified. The Bush administration appears to be increasingly isolated on the issue. This isolation reflects a lack of long-term strategic thinking within the White House. The pain industry is being seen, not in economic terms, but in qualitative terms such as "laws" and "human rights". Arguably, such a point of view represents a major departure, on the part of the current administration, from an approach towards human rights that, hitherto, has been firmly grounded in economic considerations. This approach is fundamentally flawed. An elementary analysis of the relevant stakeholders and an application of the concepts of core competence all point to one conclusion: outsource the United States' torture needs to India. Such collaboration would bring long-term benefits to both economies, with the potential for cooperative research and development in a wide range of civil society suppression services. Instinctual decisions based on emotions like "compassion" and "disgust" will only lead to sub-optimal decisions. The argument here is for a rational and analytical approach regarding the use of torture. The ultimate objective should be the development of a reproducible and efficient business model of terror and control based on new market research paradigms.


The Stakeholder model of the pain industry: Analysis and issues

A superficial analysis would include the following stakeholders:

a. The Presidential administration
b. The legislative bodies; that is, the Senate and Congress
c. Law enforcement agencies
d. The media
e. Businesses

As will be shown, this analysis does not extend far enough. Before that, however, certain related, and important, issues will be dealt with.
Peripheral stakeholders include the people of the United States and, of course, the targets of any attempts at pain infliction. It must be noted that, while these are indeed stakeholders, they are so only by proxy. For example, the people can be influenced by sending a clear, strong message of hope about torture through the media; the people’s influence, in turn, is exercised through the legislature. Therefore, the interests of the people can be formulated and catered to, by these two stakeholders.
The subjects of torture are a different issue entirely. The common presumption is that torture is a one-way transaction; that only those who inflict torture benefit in some way from it. In reality, this is far from the case. The effective delivery of pain infliction services relies on anticipating the needs of the ultimate consumer- the individuals undergoing torture and, in a mutually beneficial transaction, catering to those needs. For example, the tortured subject might be deprived of sleep, or possibly his or her fingernails. But these are merely the subject’s wants. What the subject needs is an end to suffering. This need is addressed through a mutual process of negotiation in which the tortured provides a full confession to those inflicting the torture. The importance of this paradigm shift in thinking about torture can be grasped by studying the case of the Sony Walkman. The implications for Sony were huge; this lesson applies equally to the current discussion.

Finally, some might say that the judiciary is also a stakeholder. As the case of John Gilmore demonstrates, this is no longer the case. The judiciary’s relevance to the legal system is reducing. This trend can be expected to continue. In any case, most of the pain industry's activities are extra-legal in nature, and therefore not subject to judicial oversight.

Issues

Clearly, the foregoing analysis does not take into account the challenges posed by globalisation. The issue is the use of torture by the government. The demand for torture is derived from the government strategic mission of control. Seen in this light, international terrorists, with their substitute service offering of chaos, offer a very serious global challenge. The situation is analogous to the challenge posed by low-cost short-haul carriers, such as Ryanair, to ground transport, such as high-speed trains and buses. Like Ryanair, global terrorism presents a manouverable, highly flexible competitor offering a substitute service that is hard to beat because of low fixed costs and capital investment and the outsourcing of all but the core functions to independent vendors. The core functions of murder and intimidation as part of an overall political vision are executed by a cadre of highly motivated personnel.

This suggests the way forward for the US government: to focus on its core competencies and outsource the unpredictable, non-core functions that could be executed at lower cost by more specialised service providers.

The case for outsourcing

Studies indicate that the costs of incarceration and enforcement in the United States are escalating. In addition, the cost of running effective torture chambers, with proper quality and control and lean production techniques, such as just-in-time confessions to coincide with political crises, could potentially be prohibitive. Given the specialised nature of the equipment and personnel required, this cost can quite reasonably be expected to escalate even further. Also, even if the US government contracts the jobs out to private firms, Corporate Social Responsibility codes could erode the brand value of these contractors and raise difficulties in their access to capital. This could, ultimately, have an impact on the quality of the services offered.

Finally, it must be noted that the United States has had a long tradition of outsourcing torture. Therefore, building internal organisational consensus within the administration will not be an issue.

Why India?

India is, of course, the first name that comes to mind when mentioning the word “outsourcing”. There are far more compelling reasons to select India as the pain-dispensing hub of the world.

Market research organisations focused on the torture industry, such as Amnesty International suggest that India’s paramilitary forces have a fine, blemished record of human rights violations. This forms a readily available pool of torturers from which to fulfil US needs. It must be noted that India is also a democracy. Therefore, local talent also has the experience and capabilities in evasion, judicial manipulation and cover-ups that are readily transferable to the democratic experience of the United States. The stigma of associating with unsavoury dictatorial regimes will also thereby be avoided. Torture in a demoncracy is undoubtedly more palatable.

Low-cost, high-quality labour is not the only reason to go to India. Given the many shared enemies and the proximity of Afghanistan and Pakistan, supply chain issues will also be simplified. Note that ample morphic and genetic material is available for experimentation into advanced, markless techniques such as direct nerve induction. The development of such a Pain Through Nerve Induction [PATNI] system could also provide lucrative domestic revenues, replacing the traditional bride-burning industry. The talent to develop these systems are available locally. It would also have the effect of reducing the overall crime level in India, since the crime would not be provable. In addition, firms such as JP Morgan are investing heavily in financial analysts in India, demonstrating that the Murders & Executions industry is thriving.

The challenges, as might be expected, are regulatory. India, unfortunately, has a Constitution promising basic rights to its citizens, and a Human Rights Commission, as well as several obstructionist citizen's agencies. Therefore, it is essential to provide an extra-constitutional area for the industry to expand without restrictions. The recommendations of this investigation are, therefore, as follows:

a. Establish a Special Executions Zone [SEZ] that will be declared law-free. This can be achieved by way of [Indian] Constitutional amendment that will make it illegal to have laws in the SEZ. Bihar appears to be the most attractive investment destination in this regard, since the vestiges of the legal system in that area can be easily excised.
b. In order to rapidly grow the industry, invest in freelance Russian consultants. Given the strong Soviet links to India, finding interpreters to mediate the process will not be an issue.
c. Collaborate with the India government to jointly provide tax breaks and other incentives to the Brutality and Pain Outsourcing [BPO] industry.

I just got a new phone. One the ringtones, labeled "Verdi" is actually the opening of Mendelssohn's lyrical Violin Concerto. First they butcher a great work of art by converting it into a ringtone, then they mislabel it. I've set the "Verdi" piece to be my ringtone, since I refuse to let my hatred for mobile phones die.

My flatmate was watching "Armageddon" when I walked on, so I couldn't avoid seeing it. The highlights:

a. Rajasthanis praying at the Taj Mahal for Bruce Willis to save the world.

b. Deathless prose: "Let's kick asteroid butt".

Enough. Enough now.

Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney were dickheads, the opposite turns out to be true. Bwahahaha.

Willer administered a gender identity survey to a sample of male and female Cornell undergraduates in the fall of 2004. Participants were randomly assigned to receive feedback that their responses indicated either a masculine or a feminine identity. While women's responses were unchanged regardless of the feedback they received, men's reactions "were strongly affected by this feedback," Willer said...

Masculinity-threatened participants also showed more interest in buying an SUV. "There were no increases for other types of cars," Willer said.

The study produced "the predicted results," he said. "The intention of the study was to explore whether masculine overcompensation exists and where. But the point isn't to suggest these are the only factors that can explain these behaviors. Likewise, there may be a wide variety of other behaviors that could increase when men are concerned about their levels of masculinity."

In a separate study, Willer verified that support for the Iraq War, homophobia and interest in purchasing an SUV were all considered masculine by study participants.

This sounds so much like an article from The Onion; but it's true.