http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8196786.stm.

Essentially, “A group of rabbis and Jewish mystics has taken to the skies over Israel, praying and blowing ceremonial horns in a plane to ward off swine flu“.

To top that, they portray their self delusion as well with this statement – “We are certain that, thanks to the prayer, the danger is already behind us.” Maybe all worst hit countries can hire a few and stop the pandemic?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/theinbox/2007/12/believe_it_or_not_december_11t_2.cfm

In a nutshell,

“Atheism is a religion in the same way that not collecting stamps is a hobby”.

Most boneheaded religious fanatics fail to get this simple point.

They should be kept off the streets for a month.

Let the the garbage pile up. And let us realize the porcine attitude we have towards public cleanliness.

Admit it. We are without any civic sense. I only have to go and stand on the steps of my office building at around 1700 hours to prove it. There’s a fast food place right in front of it inside the building compound. Along with other shops. And a huge red garbage bin next to it which is never so full that you cannot throw something in it.

Still, people saunter by, grab a sandwich or a roll, and drop the paper plate, cup or small plastic packet wherever they are standing. Yes, right there. In the middle of the steps. In the middle of the road. As if they are standing inside the dustbin. Imagine them doing the same thing inside their drawing rooms. ‘Done Ma!’ screams the kid, carefully dropping the leftovers on his house’s marble clad floor, and pouring some water from his glass over it for good measure. Does this image seem ridiculous? How? You take such good care of your house. You should. It’s your property. But the road is not? Is that what you think the reason is? An unsaid stepmotherly attitude towards what is (or what you think is) not yours?

How long does this attitude take to encompass the lakes? the trees? the few places which have real green grass? None at all. We do it all the time.

It’s time we grew up. And realized that the environment does belong to us. Because if we don’t, soon there won’t be any environment left to write blog entries about.

Thanks to Jayeeta for this image – feel free to put it up on your blog.

Essentially, it’s about a ‘school’ where women are taught to be submissive and obedient towards their husbands and in-laws. This is supposed to be in accordance with Indian culture and traditions.

Yes, we Indians have a fine culture of sati, dowry deaths, treating women as property. I can go on. And before the self-righteous self-appointed moral brigade starts throwing comments like ‘It has become fashionable to demean your own traditions and culture’ and ‘It’s all due to Western influence that we’re losing our culture’, let me put forward some points.

Speaking out against regressive and abusive practices is NOT demeaning one’s culture. Every culture has traditions which have certain elements which are simply not acceptable from a moral and rational perspective. It is perfectly possible to discard these elements and imbibe what is good and progressive and thereby enrich the culture itself. Culture is not static. Those who believe it is, are, simply speaking, delusional.

As for the Western angle, the people who make such comments are simply not aware of how cultures intermingle. I’m not claiming to be an authority on cross-cultural interactions, but nobody has the right to decide what or what not should be read, worn, talked about, seen or practiced by others as long as it is not harming anybody.

Coming back to the article, it says a lot about the state of gender equality in India when you read the parts about women actually eager to join the school.