Banker of the Poor Urstruly, ask yourself this - why are you hanging out here theorizing on the impossible when you could be out there putting your ideas into practice?
When you give out a loan, there`s a cost associated with it due to cost of administration, credit risk and a built in margin (``profit``) to grow the program, even at zero inflation. This cost is reflected in the interest charged. In the case of interest-free loan, there will be a net diminution of principal when you factor in these costs. You simply cannot sustain something like that without fresh injection of capital every time.

Nehru’s Legacy: Time to pay tribute Nehruji`s record is mixed but on the whole he led india at a crucial time and did it well. He set the stage for the central government to dismiss elected state governments for political (not law & order) reasons, a practice that i reckon led to a lot of discontent at state level and fueled militant movements. At the same time, unlike its siblings, india has managed to stay as a democratic republic with the army having no role in the administration, thanks to Nehruji.
The skirmish with china is thought to be due to Nehruji`s lack of experience and naivete in foreign affairs and a strong streak of moralism.
Yes, he did give us secularism, however flawed it may be, to the consternation of hindutvavadis, altho he also gave us a daughter and a stupid grandson who undermined secularism in favor of vote bank politics.
His adoption of soviet-style planning and command economy perhaps served us well in the short run. There`s no way to tell how india would have turned out if we had adopted free market policies in the early days after independence. The global record is quite mixed in this regard.

Phantom of the Opera #12 I don`t quite understand the point - Bhutto was hanged even tho he went on a hunger strike - you should ask your pakistani husband how these things work - at any rate, you should have spiced it with sexual escapades of Gandhiji & Nehru so you`d have a lot of hits. Now even Yasser is hanging out at the other boards..

Making a Martyr of Saddam Another well-articulated piece on this sorry episode. The description of Bush as a bankrupt gambler - who knows he`ll get it all back at the end - is quite apt. Far from the sure-footed ``war president`` as he saw himself in an audacious flourish, encouraged by a conniving and manipulating coterie of yes-men, he`s now exposed as a bumbling idiot, true to his severely limited ability to be good at anything other than being a ``nice guy to have a beer with.``

Phantom of the Opera I don`t see any mention of Gandhiji - your editing skills require improvement.

Nehru’s Legacy: Time to pay tribute The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organized religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled us with horror, and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it.

I want nothing to do with any religion concerned with keeping the masses satisfied to live in hunger, filth, and ignorance. I want nothing to do with any order, religious or otherwise, which does not teach people that they are capable of becoming happier and more civilized, on this earth, capable of becoming true man, master of his fate and captain of his soul. To attain this I would put priests to work, also, and turn the temples into schools.

-Nehru

Saddam - The Sacrificial Lion urstruly, man your paranoia knows no bounds! IQ of body temp? What units? Kelvin?
It has been reported that the americans if anything wanted to postpone the execution but Maliki wanted the execution to be an ``eid gift to the people of iraq``. His government got Sistani`s OK for the execution during religious holidays, something forbidden under iraqi law. It should warm your cockles of your heart or something to learn that religious edict won over state law.
It was not american propaganda machinery that released the video. It was a clandestine video released to online video sites which are controlled by no one. FYI, the same ``american propaganda machinery`` also shows videos of IED attacks on american soldiers in iraq.
Lastly, Pat Robertson sure knows the future. He predicted that devastating tsunami would occur in the US in 2006 and we all know what happened.

Saddam - The Sacrificial Lion #79 masadi, sorry you`re late to the party. The argument over all available choices happened a long time ago and now people simply choose from the short list.

Saddam - The Sacrificial Lion masadi, you talk like an anarchist (#63).

Saddam - The Sacrificial Lion On pakistani culpability, remember Najibullah?

Saddam - The Sacrificial Lion I must say this is a well-argued article altho i disagree with the central thesis of it - saddam is no saladdin altho he fancied himself to be such.
#44 kaurasach & #26 subashjoshi have made, imo, some profound points. Saddam was propped up by the CIA (not europeans) and supported in his war against iran by the US & the saudis. The europeans, who have mastered the art of fishing in troubled waters, unlike the americans whose foreign policy tends to be coarse, mean, moralizing, and militaristic, sold armaments to both iraq and iran and kept the war going as long as possible. They recognized the golden goose once they saw it. As for CIA`s role in Saddam`s ascent to power and his subsequent actions, Prof. Juan Cole, has the whole sordid history on his website (Juancole.com).
Saddam, the brave, was ready to sacrifice others when he himself surrendered to the occupation army without firing a shot. He may have redeemed himself somewhat by showing definance in his death but if you are going to hold up anything as symbolic of arabic attitude, the moment of his surrender was it.

On the parallel discussion on the culpability of americans in the destruction of iraq, the american public as a whole is indisputably culpable. This is supposed to be the freeest nation in the history of the universe which makes its populace completely responsible to whatever happens in its name. Have they lived up to that responsibility? Absolutely not. A foreign venture every few decades where they end up destroying another nation (vietnam, nicaragua, haiti, afghanistan, iraq) shows that american public sees nothing wrong in invading other nations periodically and grind them into dust.
Same goes for iraqis, pakistanis, or indians altho perhaps to a lesser extent.

Imran Khan the Politician #207 masadi, for someone whose time is apparently so precious that he doesn`t want to waste it on his intellectual inferiors (pretty much everyone else), you do hang out here a lot.
You seem like a confused ``intellectual`` who doesn`t know what empirical evidence means. You`d rather guess what the CONTEMPORARY attitude of whites towards indians must be based on history rather than open your eyes and look around.Who`d you rather believe - your lying eyes or your conspiratorial instincts?
I think you do make some good points on occasion but spoil it all by abusing your interlocuters and being paranoid in general. That`s my answer to your patronizing attitude towards everyone else here.

Is it time to recognize Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians? The quota system could be amended/augmented by requiring 2 distinct conditions as necessary and sufficient. Perhaps a reclassification ought to be done that discards any religious affiliation. But, of course, quota system for christians and muslims is highly controversial as the author implies because religious conversion is supposed to have erased caste-based discrimination. Majority hindus consider anyone outside the fold as beyond the varna system and, depending on the location and their profession & economic status, christians and muslims occupy either an indeterminate position in the caste hierarchy or a lower rung.

The conditions are: 1. Belongs to SC or ST & 2. Financially needy.

Imran Khan the Politician #201 So what is the global repurcussion of the attitude of whites towards indians ?

Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: The Choice Between Alliance and Acrimony #117 zeemax, are you all right? Did the New Year`s start a little too early for you? What the hell are you refering to any way? Didn`t the muslims win already if islamic iran was behind the hanging (or ``political assassination`` as aptly descirbed by the Hamas) of a secular man?

About islamists prevailing - what are YOU doing about it - isn`t it all just talk?

Imran Khan the Politician #201 poor masadi, the misunderstood intellectual, I`m beginning to wonder if you don`t deserve all the crap you`re getting here with your airs of superiority.