Mama Lapalu machang.!!

With the winter approaching, the momentum and the buzz about the occupy movement is dwindling and thus calls for an evaluation of it's goals tactics, and of course, success. The Neoliberal policies that have captured most of the world today have created a crisis of the middle class. The dwindling middle class has created social instability and with the occupy movement, the people's resurgence against these systematic problems has come into the spotlight all over the world. If one expects to change things for the better, a re-formulation of tactics is needed to benefit from the heightened momentum of the occupy movement, and it needs to be done fast. The expectation of most liberals seems to be that this momentum will bring the democratic party to the power with a progressive political base, and that would lead to better reforms. I agree with that 'expectation' and think that will be a win for the occupy moment and the people in general. However, is...

Our education system is based on the ideal that best and the brightest gets the best education and opportunities. This translates into the opposition for affirmative action, as racial prioritization in selection will deny some of the more 'qualified' students their chances of getting the best education they can. While most people agree that the American history plagued with racism has created unequal opportunities in the past, they argue that racism is mostly a thing of past. It's a common to hear people say, "I'm not a racist, nor are my parents, so why do I have to pay for a slavery that happened more than a century ago?". On the other hand, even some liberal minded people seem to think that the situation of minorities today is partly due to their own fault, "it's just that they are not trying hard enough". Hence the question is, almost 40 years after the civil rights movement (ok, 37 years), do we really need to talk about the historical fac...

I am sure you all have at least heard of Occupy Wall Street . When I first saw their announcement in August, it felt like a joke, and until Sep 17, most media outlets played it as a joke. When the momentum started gathering, it was called a get together of some lazy lunatics and got only abysmal coverage. However, today of course, it has become a centerpiece in the media, not in a positive way, but still, it has grown to a point that mainstream media cannot ignore. The main question most of us have is what is the purpose? If you listened to news, you probably know that the Occupy movement does not have one specific demand, and you cannot find one coherent voice within the movement as to what their demand is. But is it really needed? Are demands what determine a revolutionary movement? Is it having a solution? I think NO, it is the acknowledgement that we have a problem that is needed. And most importantly, it is the realization that us, t...

Yes, If you want the perfect justice system, you would look at the kind of justice and laws that comes forth from a society of equals. If you have no information about how you compare with others of the society, then inevitably you are forced to assume every one is equal. This would lead to a society where the justice is based on equality (which we are supposed to have today). Well, in my view, if I were in such a society, my main proposals for justice would be these.. well apart from the basic human rights, atleast, which I don't think I should repeat. A representative democracy (I dont see any other way around it) Right to free education, with no strings attached (untill you get out of high school, atleast work-study for university depending on the major) Right to free healthcare. No extensive medical support for non-vital medical needs, like life support (for aged if you are 95, just let it go), or plastic surgeries, and limited abortion (use contraceptives, for gods sake). It w...

School districts seem pretty intuitive, accepting only kids that live close to school. But is it really a fair approach? The schools in low income neighborhoods gets less and less resources (not particularly monetary resources, but personnel resources), and kids in those areas tend to mingle with more and more high risk kids which creates a downward spiral of negative youth development. On the contrary, if the schools would accept any kid, from, say the county, or the state, that would flatten out this problem. Yes, you wouldnt want your kid to be hanging out with those gangster kids... But the reality is, your child looks for peers who matches his and his parents views. Thus if you spend more time looking after him, you wouldnt have to worry as much about his or her peers.

Watching news from different media channels is usually pretty fun. You get to see how fair-and-balanced-ly the channels report the news. This is just one such instance I thought was funny. Glen Beck targeted Obama's tour in Europe to bring some humor to his show. While I'm not sure how good a comedian Beck is, Obama's visit did indeed have a couple of funny moments. Specially him toasting the Queen while the UK national anthem "was"(As fox reports,) playing. That was an embarrassing moment for the US president (The fact that he didn't know it was the national anthem) But the best part is how Beck reported it, compare the Beck's video with the Telegraph's one with a more complete footage. Watch after 3.15 mins The real footage (which doesnt seem to have been picked out of context)