kiran’s pensieve

So many things to occupy time, so little time for them to occupy.

I was reminded recently by *someone* that I barely post here at all. Now, since, it seems, more people are visiting, I guess I need to shape up and post something regularly. And since Battlestar Galactica is on the dreaded pre-finale 6-9 month hiatus, I’ll have to find other things to waste the precious few hours of leisure at my disposal any given week.

Here’s an interesting interview I came across with author Salman Rushdie

For the other geeks among us, you might find PC World’s list of the Top 50 Tech Visionaries inspiring.

Here, you can listen to an audio version of a Q&A between Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell and Ann Hathaway (listen to the audio online by clicking on the link in the middle there).

Lastly, but definitely not leastly, here’s a tribute to the funniest guy who ever lived who died this past weekend, George Carlin. The world was funnier with ya, George, we’ll miss your sick, twisted, brilliant brain. Here he is, in his own words…

This is encouraging news for people who are compassionate towards all animals: KFC Canada listens to PETA.

This just goes to show, politics mean more than pragmatic solutions to politicians.

You have a substance, let’s call it urmaj, that is processed and produced by large corporations, is physically addictive, causes long term damage to various major organs, is usually a major perpetrating factor in many crimes, especially “crimes of passion”, and has proven to be a leading cause of death including by its own overconsumption.

While, another substance, let’s call it cloha comes directly from the earth, grows freely anywhere in any condition, needs no processing, has no addictive properties, is not responsible for terminal organ failures, is rarely the reason people commit crimes of passion, or any other violence, and does not cause death or destruction no matter the amount consumed.

In our world, urmaj, the first one, is readily availiable left, right and centre. The government controls it, taxes us for it, regulates it, and enforces the rules around its usage. Still, year after year, more and more people are dead from its misuse, dying from its addiction or injured by the accidents that urmaj causes.

While, cloha, the second one, is completely criminalized, and distributed only covertly through vast, worldwide organized crime networks who, more than a few have noted, seem to have friends in all the right places. More and more people are imprisoned over cloha each year in jail cells full of hardcore criminals, with whom, one can imagine, they get to spend lots of quality time swapping tricks and tips, making bigger criminals out of them when they get out than when they had first gotten there.

What a weird world, huh?

The Economist has an article about the small but growing movement of people concerned about cruelty to animals in China.

Eat less meat

Not only are meat and dairy production & processing immensely energy-inefficient and polluting, the animals we eat are saturated with hormones and genetic modifications.

My partner and I decided on my last birthday (August 2007) to walk the Vegan path. It’s been at times inconvenient and at times very easy to keep it up, especially because we chose to not go too militant about it and so we keep our minds open for when practicality must win out over our ideals (like when we’re stuck somewhere and the only non-meat option out there is pizza with no meat but with cheese), it’s still very satisfying. We are both more energetic, we feel calmer inside in general and we are saving loads of money. And the food options are enormous! We both love Indian food which has countless vegetarian options, and we have discovered and rediscovered so many delicious foods from spicy and filling falafel to Licks’ juicy veggie burgers, rich vegan brownies, hot and soothing soups, exotic vegetarian pasta and so much more. The one thing I still love is eggs, and so we choose to buy only Free-Run (cruelty free), organic eggs raised on local farms .

We also try and buy products which are not tested on animals, products from relatively enlightened companies like Revlon, The Body Shop, Jamieson, Estee Lauder, M.A.C. cosmetics, Whole Foods Markets, Victoria’s Secrets and many more.  And we try to avoid buying products from companies that still perform unnecessary and cruel animal testing, like Clairol, Arm & Hammer, Cover Girl, Johnson & Johnson, Pantene, Pfizer, L’Oreal, Suave, Sally Hansen and others like them.

For most of my life I thought I didn’t have it in me to give up eating meat. But it’s been easier than I had imagined. Yes there are some changes we’ve had to make, but it’s been a lot less of a hassle than I had thought. Now, the thought of eating meat the way I used to is actually repulsive to me. Knowing the kinds of cruelties that factory farms put their animals through, and how,, at the grocer’s the meat is packed with artificial hormones, has made me cringe at the thought of consuming such Karmically poisoned flesh.

Something to think about… the powerful meat and dairy industries put a LOT of money in trying to convince you otherwise, but the truth is cutting back on meat and dairy is good for both your body’s and your planet’s health.

If you’re reading this, I dare you to check out the sites linked here and others, and try to become more vegan and be the cause/consumer of lesser and lesser cruelty in the world. Just try it for 1 month… I dare ya!

Related links:
Veg.ca
Vegetarian Resource Group
Caring Consumers
How to Avoid Genetically Modified (GM) Foods
Why is American Beef banned in Europe?

From today’s LA Times:

By eliminating the (writers’ contracts) deals now, the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers even if the strike ends in the next month or two. The action saves the media companies tens of millions of dollars in payments…

This makes it even more apparent that the network studio executives are trying to starve out the writers, and potentially the entire entertainment industry. At this point, they’re basically saying, “Screw y’all, We will not take pay cuts, We will not adjust your contracts to share some of the billions of ad revenue and DVD sales revenue that We are collecting left and right. We will hide behind our American Idol and our Dancing with the Stars and We will cater to the dumbest parts of our audience’s psyche, at the expense of all the writers for all the TV shows and all the movies. Neeener Neener Neener! Pffft!”

Meanwhile, Chrysler’s marketing chief is quoted in Bloomberg as saying, “…the biggest thing we’ve noticed about the strike is that nobody is talking about it...” Well, the fact that you and I will not see whole lot of coverage, especially from the writers’ POV, on your mainstream news channel or newspaper couldn’t be in any way related to the fact that the news media is owned by the same conglomerates who have tentacles inside the AMPTP, could it?

Interestingly, even though SAG and AFTRA and virtually all their member actors and artists have been active and vocal in their solidarity for the WGA writers, both of the aforementioned unions are bound by “no strike” clauses in their contracts with the AMPTP (cushy, huh?). Makes you wonder, what is the point of having a union if you can’t strike against your wage-masters when they are being unfair to you and your colleagues?

In the meantime, more interim deals are being signed, this time between the WGA and Spyglass Entertainment &Media Rights Capital. This is just further proof, after David Letterman successfully negotiated a deal with the WGA, that the writers’ demands are not as extreme, outrageous or unreasonable as the AMPTP is whining about.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back on air without their writers as well. This has its pros and cons: the good thing is that they are among the very very few voices on traditional media who are (in their own whacky ways) cheering for the writers. The question that arises though, is whether them running their popular shows on a Viacom station is actually hurting the WGA’s cause by allowing network execs to rake in the cash these two shows are generating, despite the ongoing negotiations. It’s a fine line and frankly, even though I personally adore both shows, I don’t know which way the Stewart/Colbert duplex pendulum will ultimately swing. From that New University article:

Stewart and Colbert may be unsure, but their conservative critics are anything but ambivalent. “They serve as a branch of the Democratic Party,” said a user with the screen name “iveseenitall” on the conservative media criticism Web site NewsBusters.com. “They are immature jerks … constantly and overwhelmingly making one party the butt of jokes divides the nation.” Thomas Jefferson described constant critique of prevailing policy as “eternal vigilance.” Iveseenitall calls it “immature jerk[iness].” Attention all archconservatives: The truth hurts, but the “truthiness” will set you free.

As for the precious internet ad revenue that the AMPTP keeps saying is not significant enough to share with the writers of the very shows that are placed online, one must ask why it is that from the other side of their mouth, media giants do things like sue YouTube for $1 Billion dollars, or cut deals with the Microsoft ad network. If there’s no money in online media, why is the internet ad industry booming, and why are industry experts saying that online ad spending is expected to double in the next 3 years? Specifically:

“I think we’re going to see some of the largest growth in video ads on televisions stations’ Web sites,” (eMarketer’s David Hallerman) said.

The only thing for sure is that writers are the lifeblood of any entertainment. Reality TV shows get old really fast, they don’t survive in reruns and they can’t be sold too well on DVD or syndication. Without shows like The Office, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, Heroes, and of course, Battlestar Galactica, as well as others, the networks are looking at taking huge losses resulting from an increasingly disenfranchised audience that is turning off their TV sets and doing other things, like reading, or going outside, or having sex, or even (gasp!) blogging about these unscripted theatrics. Talk about stupid Reality Shows….

You never know you’ll find on just another ordinary stroll… A huge, unknown container of something unidentified washed up on a Scottish beach recently.

The tank, which is 27m high, has no markings and is thought to have fallen from a ship before being washed up on the west of Benbecula.

It was discovered by a dog walker on Poll Na Crann beach - known locally as Stinky Bay - near Griminish.

original image © Reuters

Imran Khan voices the question on many people’s minds about the lax security provided by the government.
Graham Stewart provides an insightful historical perspective on dynasties and assassinations.
Amir Taheri presents the chief reasons why religious extremists in Muslim countries despise democracy.

more to come…