Nicolai Ouroussoff writes that “We long for a bold urban vision” in his NY Times piece “Reinventing America’s Cities: The Time Is Now.” Below the fold are some selected excerpts.
India too needs a bold urban vision, as I have been arguing for a while. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) for India, most of India does not live in cities. India does not have to reinvent its cities — it has to build new ones. Fortunately though, the world has learned a lot about building livable …

YouTube has banned the James Randi Educational Foundation channel.

The reason is not yet known. I fear that it did so because of some religious group was offended by the JREF’s rational argument. Can’t really blame them since even governments are bending over. Recently the UN was the site of an unsightly scene where it was decided that any expression that offends the followers of one particular religion was to be banned. In India, they jailed a newspaper editor because thousands of violent thugs demanded his death for offending …

Excellent feature on Freeman Dyson in the magazine section of the New York Times. I like the man and agree with him on — among other things — global warming and the environment. (Or should I say that I agree with the man and therefore I like him?)
A few paragraphs of excerpts below the fold.

It’s been a while since I caught up with my contrarian friend CJ. I asked him what he’s been up to. I nearly dropped the phone when he said that he read in the newspapers that Indian elections were announced. It wasn’t the news of the impending elections that jolted me – I knew that already. The admission that CJ read a newspaper that was shocking.

It could not possibly be a lack of imagination, could it? Why is everything in India named after Nehru, Indira, Sanjay, and Rajiv? I have pondered that matter here before.

In my previous post on “The Rational IT Policy” I claimed that there “is no need for any specific IT policy. The use of tools is the outcome of a set of rational processes which arise from a set of rational policies that address rational goals. IT use is a derivative demand, not a final demand. IT and its tools are an intermediate input to a process whose end result is desired.”

So it’s time to unveil the IT policy that I had been promising for a while. I have already laid a bit of ground work in the previous three posts — “BJP’s IT for All“, “A Rational IT Policy: The Preliminary Bits“, and “Of IT and Pascal’s Wager.” In the following, I will conclude the introduction with a brief discussion on tools as means, and then present my version of a rational IT policy.

Whether personal or societal, transformations generally require will and vision. In the case of personal transformation, unless one is a schizophrenic, a combination of intelligence, basic human values, determination, foresight and will is sufficient. For social transformation, something more is needed. Clearly leadership matters.
Here’s something to think about. Below the fold is an extended excerpt from the book, “Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas” by Kwang, Tan and Fernandez. Indian leaders ought to take note. Or at the very least, they should read what Lee Kuan Yew …

Gordon Dryden is a Kiwi friend of mine. Born in 1931, he dropped out of school at age 14 and went on to become — as he puts it — a legend in his own mind. He lives in Auckland and is co-author of UNLIMITED: The new learning revolution and the seven keys to unlock it.
Below the fold you will find an article adapted from a presentation by Gordon to New Zealand Futures Trust, Wellington, on March 17, 2009. As Gordon writes in an email to me, “The first …

Technological Idiocy
Technological hubris is sometimes the result of infantile solipsism commonly encountered among those who are – paradoxically – at the two opposite ends of a spectrum of technical competence: those who are understand technology very intimately and those who have a very feeble grasp of what technology is. The former see the world and its concerns as merely a collection of technical problems just waiting to be solved by the available large collection of expensive technical wizardry; the latter are ignorant of technology but have a magical belief in …

“Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? ”

Follow up to BJP’s Policy of “IT for All”.
In the following, I will present the features of a rational “IT Policy” and argue why it makes sense. This is only an academic exercise as this is not likely to be followed by the policymakers of India. Color me cynical but if Indian policymakers were in the habit of making rational policies, India would not be a desperately poor country, would it? Why India gets saddled with moth eaten policies made by inept policymakers is a different matter that we will …

I ask if Karan Thapar is a idiot or is he just a clueless retard? You might say that this is a false dichotomy — hardly much to choose from, you’d say. OK. How about if I rephrase that question: Is Karan Thapar a lobotomized cretin or is he a bottom-feeding douche bag? There, now you have a clear distinction. You may still reject the assumption implicit in the question — that he is either one or the other — and say that he is both. OK, I hear you …

Information technology (IT) is arguably one of the more remarkable products of the advanced industrialized countries (AIC). Its development in the AICs and subsequent widespread use there indicates that IT tools are not only a consequence of economic growth and development, but is also the cause of further economic growth. Developing countries such as India are attempting to catch up and they are fortunate to have the use of IT at an earlier stage of their development than the currently developed countries had when they were developing.
I am pleased to …

Warren Buffett is an extraordinary man. His annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway share-holders is worth reading even if you aren’t one. Here’s an excerpt (below the fold) from an edited version of the letter published in Newsweek: Our Country Has Faced Far Worse Travails.

Elections are the most visible of the external trappings of the institution called democracy. Democracy, like other important institutions that support a liberal civil society, has an inside structure — a deep back-end — that is not visible. What you see is definitely not all that there is. There is an internal structure to this institution without which it is only a facsimile and not the real object. It could be a cargo-cult democracy.

We are urban Indians and we number around 400 million. Our aspirations are principally related to working hard for a living, caring for our families, educating our children, and being good and responsible citizens.
As an urban Indian, I will vote for a party that promotes the values that matter to my country, my family, and me. I address this open letter to the political parties who seek my vote in the upcoming elections. Drop me a line if you can credibly demonstrate that you share the concerns and values that …

Download PDF. Online at Pragati: The Indian National Interest Review.

[Hat tip: Jayant]
It’s true, isn’t it, that we need less government solutions to government created problems. If only, lord if only, the government would get out of interfering in society.
On a lighter but related note, I am reminded that sometimes the explanation for an error makes the action less excusable. The story goes that the court jester was in a playful mood. Seeing the king bending over, he runs up and places a swift kick in the royal derriere. Livid with anger, the king demands, “What the hell do …

Indicore in the process of accepting applications for their August 2009 Fellowship. Their application deadline is March 15th. More details below the fold.
Ashoka Changemakers are launching an online competition to search for system-changing innovations in agriculture and rural development. “Cultivating Innovation: Solutions for Rural Communities” is hosted at Changemakers.net. Details below the fold.
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