Kamala Harris For The Supreme Court

It is amazing how many diversity criteria she fulfills.

• Young
• Woman
• Indian
• African 
• California
• Non practicing attorney
• Not Ivy

Supreme Court speculation about Kamala Harris shadows Senate bid

Speculation that California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris could be on President Obama’s short list of possible nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court has reached a fever pitch ...... Harris, 51, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica. ...... a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and earned her law degree at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. ..... Harris has brushed aside the speculation ..... Most describe Harris as a veteran prosecutor and astute, ambitious political leader. Harris also has been a strong Obama supporter since he was a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois. ..... Harris' national profile got a boost when Obama gave her a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. The headlines continued in 2013 when Obama apologized publicly for having described her as "the best-looking" attorney general in the country. ..... Throughout her political career, Harris has articulated clear positions on many controversial, divisive issues that could come before the nation’s high court. ......

Harris favors the protection of abortion rights, an end to the federal ban on medical marijuana and a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. She backs major changes in the criminal justice system, in part to address racial disparities, including shorter sentences for low-level drug crimes and a shift in government funding from prisons to crime prevention.

Free Speech And JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar

I don't have to agree or disagree with anything Kanhaiya Kumar said. He has a right to free speech. I am perplexed he was arrested. If the BJP keeps taking steps like this, regardless of the economic performance, it might lose in 2019. This is the first time I have felt that way.

The BJP/RSS is a large tent. But this arrest is official action. The government is responsible. This is a major self goal.

Testing the outer bounds of free speech is true patriotism in the largest democracy. Nobody is more patriotic than an Indian who relishes and practices and preaches and celebrates free speech. No free speech, no India.

What is ABVP, by the way? Pahli baar naam sun rahe hain.



An ominous operetta
The alarming, exponential reach of the ‘anti-national’ can find you out in the most unexpected places.

The design is pretty obvious. A flexible combination of street violence (the ABVP, Bajrang Dal, etc), certain provisions of the penal code (Sections 153, 295, etc), and a compliant police administration, is deployed in order to silence all expression of dissent, and to destroy the institutional locations where critical ideas may be aired — and maybe even shouted. Between easily hurt “sentiments” and the ever-present threat of public disorder, which can be produced on demand, and the ease with which all manifestations even of scepticism, let alone dissent, are being dubbed “anti-national” — still, was hanging Afzal Guru in order to satisfy the justifiably outraged collective consciousness really right, your honour? — the brief pre-election “debate” about imminent fascism appears, well, naïve. Somewhat surprisingly, the semi-literate but still honourable human resource development minister — how “semi-” is a matter of some uncertainty — has even yoked her Saraswati to the cause of her “nationalism”. (Mine is still playing the veena.) But perhaps it is time to reframe K.C. Bhattacharya’s famous question: “Is there an Indian way of fascism?” ....... It is time that the home ministry published a list of all the things that must not be said, or seen — or, apparently, even heard, like “anti-national” slogans. The most sacred is, of course, the sacred cow. But almost nearly as sacred is Prime Minister Narendra Modi — because, one gathers, that being critical of him was the “offence” of the boys of the Periyar Study Circle at IIT Madras. Rohith Vemula’s “offence” has been rather obscured by the pious platitudes prompted by his suicide, but it must have been pretty dire for a Union minister to have declared him “anti-national” and hounded him, via the compliant administration, to his heart-breaking end. ........ The alarming and exponential reach of the “anti-national” can find you out in the most unexpected places. ....... We can’t all only be doing “Saraswati Vandana” all the time — the goddess demands other, sterner forms of worship too: At the very least, a certain minimal commitment to ideas, rather than the pathological fear of ideas manifested by the “nationalists”.

Watch JNU Student Union VP Make A Powerful Speech Against The Arrest Of Their President

Posted by Prashant Jha on Monday, February 15, 2016

JNU row: BJP MLA caught on camera assaulting person; justifies it

BJP MLA O.P. Sharma who was at the Delhi's Patiala House Court on Monday to show his support to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who had a court hearing in a defamation case. After Jaitley left the court, Sharma and his supporters took to violence, along with lawyers who launched a blatant attack on JNU students, teachers and journalists...... Sharma while talking to a TV channel justified assaulting a person, saying there is nothing wrong in “even killing those who raise pro-Pakistan slogans.” ...... On Monday, lawyers turned violent during the hearing of a bail plea of Kanhaiya Kumar, JNU students union president. Lawyers shouting anti-JNU slogans got into the fight with students, teachers and mediapersons present there...... According to the reports, police has been accused of inaction as lawyers went on a rampage.

‘Defending Bharat Mata’, With Kicks and Punches

The Patiala House court complex was the scene of chaos and violence Monday when a group of lawyers and BJP activists – including one party legislator – attacked and manhandled students and teachers from Jawaharlal Nehru University who had gathered to show solidarity with arrested student union president Kanhaiya Kumar. Even journalists were not spared, with at least five of them sustaining injuries after being set upon by right-wing activists. ....... The charge of being “anti-national” was flung inside and outside the courts at all those who had come from JNU.

In the court room itself, a group of 40 lawyers accompanied by the police tried evicting 10 JNU teachers from the premises, badly beating one academic.

Outside, the lead was taken by BJP MLA from Delhi OP Sharma. Captured on camera assaulting Ameeque Jamai, a leader of the Communist Party of India, he not only justified his action but said he was even prepared to murder someone if he thought they were pro-Pakistani : “If you ask me, there is nothing wrong in beating up or even killing someone shouting slogans in favour of Pakistan,” he said. ......

Asked by Zakka Jacob on CNN-IBN on the 9 pm news on Monday night whether he approved of Sharma saying it was alright to kill someone shouting pro-Pakistan slogans, Sudhanshu Trivedi, national spokesperson of the BJP said he did.

....... Inside the court, Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing charges of sedition, had his judicial custody extended till February 17. Though Kumar, who is a member of the All India Student Federation – the student wing of the CPI – has flatly denied the police charges of sedition, Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi claimed there was “irrefutable proof” against him. So far, however, in all the video “evidence” circulating on television and social media, no footage of Kumar shouting “seditious” or “anti-national slogans” has emerged. ......... Legal experts say that

the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the charge of sedition cannot apply to mere words

and that an accused person has to have sought to instigate violence in order for his speech to be criminalised. ....... “A group of these people in lawyers garb came into the court room shouting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’. They asked us to leave, and when we questioned this they caught hold of one of our male colleagues, Rohit, and slapped him”, Neera Kongari, professor of Japanese studies told The Wire. Ayesha Kidwai, professor of linguistics, added that several of the female professors present including her, Janaki Nair and Chitra Harshvardhan were molested and manhandled by these lawyers. All this time, police were present but did not take any action, and the professors had to specially request a police escort till the exit. The professors are exploring all legal options available to them. .........

But Kidwai’s main fear was what would happen to Kanhaiya once he entered the room, as all the exits were blocked by BJP lawyers. Since he was their prime target, she was afraid he would receive much harsher treatment.

........ Students and media persons also received the same violent treatment at the hands of the protesting lawyers. Varun Chauhan, a close friend of Kumar’s, said he and his friends were called “Pakistanis”, and when they did not respond they were hit and pushed out of the court room. The All India Students’ Federation (AISF) general secretary Biswajit was also badly beaten, and his clothes were torn. “Look at what they are doing”, he told The Wire. “And they can still call Kanhaiya a terrorist?” .....

While the police told the journalists to leave in order to avoid getting hurt, they did not do anything to stop the lawyers and BJP members.

....... Rahila, a JNU student and friend of Kanhaiya’s who had also been pushed out of the court room, expressed her outrage at what was happening. “I am ashamed that these are the people who are supposed to uphold our constitution. They behave like this,

that too in a public court room

, yet you call JNU students anti-national? And the police are only bystanders, not intervening on our behalf. The entire country should be ashamed”. ....... More than 40 universities from all over the country have now expressed their support and solidarity with JNUSU and JNUTA. Public universities in Karnataka, Osmania University in Hyderabad and Calcutta University have planning action including strikes and public meetings to show their support. ....... In spite of the widespread support they have received from political, cultural and academic groups, the persecution and branding of JNU students continues. A website has created profiles of JNU students who are “anti-national”, in order to “know them and expose them”. In addition to names, the website also has links to their Facebook profiles, exposing these students to online threats and harassment.

Purpose And Politics

Joe Biden und Barack Obama in Springfield, Illinois, right after Biden was formerly introduced by Obama as his running mate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Barack Obama in 2007 talked relentlessly about clean energy on the campaign trail, to the point it almost felt out of whack sometimes. Like, who exactly are you talking to? And it felt impossible. Dirty energy's dominance was total. But by now solar is about to achieve grid parity with dirty, and is on track to totally take over by 2030.

The oil spill in the Gulf was Obama's Bay Of Pigs fiasco. I think the British did it on purpose. They are like, there is a black guy in DC and an up and coming brown guy in New Orleans. This is not looking right. Bobby never really recovered.

The democratic process matters. The conversations political leaders steer with the broader electorate matters.

The gay marriage victory was pretty dramatic. And it happened faster, much faster, than anyone imagined. I for one thought it might take a few more decades.

So, talk people.

What Did I Do?

Kashmir And Peace

The Disputed Territory : Shown in green is Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. The orange-brown region represents Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir while the Aksai Chin is under Chinese occupation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have no desire to tow the Indian government official line on Kashmir. Heck, I don't even know what that is. I have an idea, but I have not done my homework.

But peace is everyone's desire. Palestine is thought of as the number one flashpoint in the world. I think it is Kashmir. Modi and Nawaz should work towards a permanent peace and get a shared Nobel Prize.

Of course Kashmir can be talked about. Everything can be talked about. The two sides just have to come up with the right framework.

There has to be some out of the box thinking. The two foreign ministries are in a rut. They play the same tug of war over and over again.

The larger framework is the deal Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India signed last year. The four have agreed on an economic union within 10 years. Pakistan should start talks on the same. Pakistan eventually being part of that economic union solves the Kashmir problem, I believe. Because if the people in Pakistan and India can freely work in either country, then the question as to which country Kashmir belongs in becomes less urgent.

I think the eventual right solution is to respect the current Line Of Control and then make it pretty much meaningless through a Pakistan India economic union. There are also two Punjabs, one in Pakistan, another in India. It's the same people who live in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Madhesh in Nepal. You have West Bengal and Bangladesh. Kashmir is not an exception, more a rule.

Demilitarize Kashmir on both sides. That's the eventual goal. But the path to there might be tortuous. In the short term the right strategy perhaps is to stay engaged and keep the expectations low. Two full fledged democracies would have quite easily solved the problem. But in Pakistan the army and the ISI act as parallel power centers to the Prime Minister. That makes it complicated.

नेपालको बाबुराम भट्टराई र भारतका नक्सल हरु (२)
नेपालको बाबुराम भट्टराई र भारतका नक्सल हरु

Mr. T Explained

Donald Trump’s white America is revolting: New numbers show just how noxious the GOP front-runner’s coalition is
Exit poll data proves it: Trump is the candidate of voters who resent African-Americans and immigrants

Donald Trump wants more things for “us” and fewer things for “them.” .....

Exit poll results from the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night showed deep discontent with the Republican Party

and the federal government, and the candidate who railed hardest on those topics, Donald Trump, won with multiple groups of voters. ....... Trump won 6-in-10 voters who said they were looking for an outside candidate. ..... Two-thirds said they support Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. He won 42 percent of their votes......Four in 10 supported deporting undocumented immigrants; Trump won 46 percent in this group........ measures resentment toward African Americans and immigrants with statements like “blacks could be just as well off as whites if they only tried harder” and “it bothers me when I come in contact with immigrants who speak little or no English.” ......... compares how favorably respondents rated whites to how favorably they rated minority groups. ..... Most striking is how each of these measures strongly correlates with support for Trump. The graph below shows that Trump performs best among Americans who express more resentment toward African Americans and immigrants and who tend to evaluate whites more favorably than minority groups. ....... statistical models show that each of these three attitudes about minorities contributes independently to Trump’s vote share. So much so, in fact, that GOP primary voters who score in the top 25 percent of their party on all three measures are 44 points more likely to support Donald Trump than those who score in the bottom 25 percent ........ he combines the nativism, racism, pro-big business attitude, wants more tax cuts for the wealthy, militaristic nationalism, and out-group animosity that typifies mainstream conservatism, with promises to expand healthcare, enact trade protectionism, fix the nation’s infrastructure, and improve the lives of the (white) working class. ........ Donald Trump’s particular version of right-wing populism is a direct threat to present day Republican orthodoxy. .......... right-wing producerism. ..... Producerism is a belief that society is divided between “makers” and “takers.” Right-wing producerism tries to mobilize “real citizens” against “evil” parasites on the “bottom” of society such as the poor, people of color, immigrants, gays and lesbians, “the lazy” and any other subordinate group that can be identified as the Other. ....... “producerism, with its baggage of prejudice, remains today the most common populist narrative on the right, and it facilitates the use of demonization and scapegoating as political tools.” ......... Trump is also channeling Herrenvolk ideology with his explicit promises to protect the white working and middle class from “those people” (be they supposedly rapine and violent immigrants; scheming Chinese; or nebulous brown Muslim terrorists in ISIS and al-Qaida) while also ensuring that there is a social welfare state, economic mobility and expanded healthcare for “real Americans.” .........

In a Herrenvolk society, the racial in-group is fully enfranchised while the racial out-group is marked as an “anti-citizen” that is not worthy of full democratic rights.

.......... the racial Other’s subordinate status is used as a marker for elevating the status and power for the dominant racial group. Centuries of chattel slavery and then Jim and Jane Crow were means through which white Americans defined the meaning, worth and boundaries of citizenship.

Historically and to the very recent present, American democracy and the exclusive white male franchise were not contradictions in a society organized around the Herrenvolk principle.

......... Citizenship and belonging are demarcated along racial lines in a Herrenvolk society; benefits, resources, rights and support from the state are allocated by the boundaries that separate “us” from “them.” ....... Donald Trump’s right-wing populism is a return to an understanding of the modern American welfare state that dominated from the end of the Civil War through to the Great Society. And while the American welfare state has certainly “evolved” in an era of neoliberalism, extreme wealth and income inequality, surveillance, punishment and austerity, there are a litany of programs that disproportionately benefit the white working, middle, upper classes, and rich as compared to non-whites. This, what is now termed the “submerged state,” is a de facto type of welfare for (white) America. As public policy, the submerged state is heavily protected as an “entitlement” while simultaneously being decoupled from the history of white privilege and white supremacy that birthed, and in some ways, continues to sustain it.

White voters are attracted to Donald Trump because they are afraid that the benefits of the submerged state will be taken away from them.

......... Trump’s supporters are largely composed of frustrated and alienated working-class white Americans who are embracing authoritarian values. ...... A white lower-educated supporter on the lower-income scale is not what we normally term middle-class: It’s more aptly called the working-class. ..... “Trump is the staunchest champion of the white working class that American politics has seen in decades.” .......

“authoritarian predispositions and ethnic prejudice flow more naturally from the situation of the lower classes than from that of middle and upper classes.” These were the people who formed the base of the Nazi labor unions, the White Citizen’s Councils in the segregated American south, and race rioters in England

......... “working-class groups have proved to be the most nationalistic and jingoistic sector of the population. In a number of nations, they have clearly been in the forefront of the struggle against equal rights for minority groups, and have sought to limit immigration or to impose racial standards in countries with open immigration.” This, of course, describes a Donald Trump rally almost perfectly… ......... rather than seeing most Trumpists as Middle American Radicals or even a uniquely American phenomenon, it is more accurate to see them as

the latest in a long line of working-class authoritarians—people with a very scary, very dishonorable past.

........ “Trumpmania” is a combination of the Know-Nothings, the Republican Southern Strategy and a type of right-wing populism that views people of color and non-white immigrants as toxins in the body politic. ...... Donald Trump promises to “Make America Great Again.” Trump cannot do this without excluding millions of Americans who are not white and Christian. In practice, Donald Trump’s right-wing populism will shrink the boundaries of political community. This will make for a less vibrant, rich and productive American society. While Trump promises health, strength and vitality for his voters, the reality is that working-class authoritarianism and right-wing populism are poisons to a modern cosmopolitan society.

Silicon Dhanush, Silicon Crescent

Silicon Crescent: Delhi - Ahmedabad - Mumbai - Bengaluru

Janakpur to Patna: 180 KM
Patna to Kolkata: 580 KM
Kolkata to Dhaka: 250 KM
Dhaka to Mandalay: 1100 KM
Mandalay to Kunming: 760 KM

2870 KM = 1780 miles

That's two and a half hours on a hyperloop.

The Janakpur to Dhaka stretch is barely 1000 km. That's an hour and a half on a hyperloop. That entire stretch could be one big city.

61st Filmfare Awards 2016

Bad News For Hillary In The South

English: New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg with Spider-Man at Midtown Comics Downtown. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Iowa was pretty much a draw. This huge gulf that Bernie has drawn in New Hampshire is bad news for Hillary in the South. Times have changed. Bernie already pulled a giant sum of money in January. This month he might double that haul. That makes a huge difference.

Used to be, you waited to get to the South, and the South was that one place where you could go hugely negative on your opponent, and it would work. That is no longer true. The South itself has changed much. And it stays a national campaign.

Suddenly the Republican race feels much more competitive than the Democratic race.

And the winner is? Mike Bloomberg. The way the two races are shaping is making a lot of room for someone like the Mayor.

Idealism is back. Bernie is sweeping the young vote like Obama swept the black vote. After JFK-RFK-MLK, there were decades of cynicism. Looks like Barack Obama has managed to put idealism back into American politics. That is such a good thing. That is a reward in its own right. These are not young fools. These are smart, young people who do understand the political process. Precisely because they understand how things work, they are willing to take idealism up one notch. Because they feel that is how they can beat the system.

This race is shaping up to be pretty interesting.

US News (7)

Bloomberg: I'm considering 2016 bid

"I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters," Bloomberg told the Financial Times, adding that the public deserved "a lot better." ..... he was troubled by Donald Trump's success on the Republican side, and Hillary Clinton's inability to stanch Bernie Sanders' growth on the Democratic side. ..... Bloomberg would run as a moderate promising to bring compromise and business savvy to an election characterized by highly charged disputes and political partisanship....... Bloomberg is seen as a pragmatist and fiscal conservative who has taken liberal positions on issues like gun control and the environment...... With a $39 billion fortune, Bloomberg is expected to self-fund his campaign and would likely spend north of $1 billion to do it.

Donald Trump: 'I'd beat Bloomberg'

Donald Trump says he's unfazed by the prospect of running against Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor who is considering a possible third party bid in 2016....... "I'd beat him," the Republican presidential frontrunner told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview on Monday....... The braggadocious real estate magnate also appeared to goad Bloomberg. At one point, Trump cast doubt on Bloomberg's business success, suggesting that the head of the Bloomberg media empire wasn't actually worth the $36.5 billion estimated by Forbes. ...... "I don't believe it, I don't believe it," Trump said....... Trump said that the success of Bloomberg's company could easily be undermined if someone came up with a better machine than the Bloomberg Terminal, the costly financial data hardware that accounts for the bulk of Bloomberg's revenues. ...... Bloomberg, who has long been said to harbor presidential ambitions, has taken a more serious look at the 2016 race after concluding that

Trump's victory on the right and a Bernie Sanders victory on the left could leave moderate voters without an alternative.

Michael Bloomberg has no patience for your argument that he can’t win the presidency

It is funny to think of a presidential race featuring a guy from Manhattan, a guy from Queens and a guy from Brooklyn. Granted the Manhattan guy is Bloomberg who is actually from Boston, and granted the guy from Brooklyn lives in Vermont, and granted the guy from Queens now also lives in Manhattan -- but there's something perfect about the idea. Bernie Sanders's gruff Brooklyn socialism battles Donald Trump's appropriated Queens blue-collar roughness, facing off against the polished persona of Michael Bloomberg, the guy who wouldn't move into the New York City mayor's mansion -- a freestanding house in the middle of a beautiful park -- because he would rather stay in his expansive Upper East Side townhouse. ........... More than half of the people surveyed told Quinnipiac that they hadn't heard enough about Bloomberg to have an opinion of him, a pretty staggering number for a guy who 1) owns a magazine and 2) was mayor of the largest city in the country for 12 years. But still: People don't know him. So asking how this unknown person would fare against Bernie Sanders (who is still unknown to a fifth of Americans) and Donald Trump is a bit iffy. ....... Bloomberg's motivating principle is that he knows better than you. He knew better than the people he asked to watch over the Bloomberg media empire while he was mayor, cleaning house and upending the organization's newly created politics site. He knew better than the people who opposed his various efforts to fight obesity in New York City, including the infamous ban on large sodas (which is not in effect, FYI). He knew better than the term limits placed on mayors in the city of New York, convincing the city council to allow him to run for a third term despite those limits, a third term that he won by a surprisingly narrow margin. (Why'd the city council go for it? They got another term, too.) And Michael Bloomberg knows better than to think has no shot at winning the White House.

Mike Bloomberg: American public deserves "a lot better" in 2016 race
Donald Trump rolls out the expletives at Portsmouth rally

Another less literal screw-you of sorts: Trump took the stage to strains of Adele's," Rolling in the Deep." Earlier this week, the award-winning British pop star banned Trump from playing her music at his campaign events.

Star Screen Awards 2016

Six Fall Guys

1. A black guy.
2. A Hispanic.
3. An Indian. Two Indians, one a diplomat. 
4. A Chinese. 
5. A Sri Lankan. 
6. A Jewish guy. 

In the aftermath of the Great Recession I noticed there were six most visible fall guys. When democracy and the market are at their best, I believe that does not leave room for racism. Europeans have numerous schisms. But when those same Europeans gather in America, a white identity gets formed. Perhaps the Chinese identity is a similar melting pot identity formed over a few thousand years. It has always amazed me how a billion people can be a single ethnicity. 

When Wall Street wiped out 13 trillion in wealth, there were six fall guys, the most visible ones. 

Corruption in a city like New York where there is so much power and money concentrated in one small place is like speeding on the interstate highway. You can police it, you can get people to pay fines, but you can't perhaps eliminate it. You are essentially dealing with human nature. Greed has a tendency to creep in. 

One way to look at it is, after about 70 years banks accumulate so much in bad loans, those bad loans need to be wiped out, the slate needs to get clean. So it was not bad behavior. It was just the slate getting cleaned for a fresh start. 

But then there are other complaints. America built infrastructure in Europe, and then it stopped. Why stop? Why not go on to build infrastructure in Africa? Asia? Latin America? That was racism. A country choosing to destroy or park trillions while there is such unmet need in terms of infrastructure, credit, and clean energy is racism. 

The six fall guys point at that racism that impact billions of people. 

Also, there needs to be a less painful way to wipe out bad loans. An economy should be able to wipe out bad loans without bringing itself to the knees. Maybe this should be the last Great Recession.