rantlust

Posted by manish on July 19th 2010 in Rants
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A thought provoking post by Intel’s Andy Grove. He correctly points out that we seem to think that inventing products and manufacturing them are two entirely separate competencies. What he points out nicely, is that today’s manufacturing expertise will lead to tomorrow’s inventions; therefore by outsourcing manufacturing expertise almost entirely, we are running our much vaunted invention engine on borrowed time. Or, as the saying goes, genius is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. As a society, we seem to be saying: let the Chinese and Indians do the perspiration; we’ll step in for the last 10% and put in the creative genius that really matters.

However, his solution of trade wars and protectionism in not as impressive as his diagnosis of the problem. Here’s a rebuttal.

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Posted by manish on March 08th 2010 in Debate, Pornography, Women
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Today is international women’s day, and feminists deserve a large part of the credit for getting some semblance of equality for women and attention to their voice and needs. Kudos to them for building themselves into a necessary and formidable political force. However, no political force, no matter how necessary, deserves to go unexamined by a responsible society. Hence, with all due respect, I would like to use this very opinionated forum to bring up a topic that has been bothering the feminists (among others) for a long time.

Estimates of the size of the porn industry vary widely. But really, does size matter? The mere existence of the porn industry, or any form of porn for that matter, is evidence of social malaise to some. Different folks attribute different diagnoses to the phenomenon — from moral depravity to gender exploitation.

Of course, I have my own opinions on this. But I’d like to get your collective opinions instead. I’ll gather the interesting comments from down below and thread them into a coherent conversation on this main space. Any and all comments are welcome, anonymously posted or otherwise. You can feel as free to offer an opinion as a studied thesis (of course, the thesis carries more weight with me ).

I know that the registered bloggers on this site are mostly male. I’m hoping the lurking ladies will make up for any gender imbalance in perspective.

Here is an incomplete list to get you started:

1. Is porn an “evil” in and of itself? Even if it isn’t, does it lead to evil? (See papi’s comment for a more precise definition of evil)
2. Does porn necessarily imply exploitation?
   1. What about amateur porn? (consider Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, exploited?)
   2. What about secondary effects of porn? (i.e. even if the amateur porn producers aren’t exploited, does having porn cause society to sexualize and objectify other people)
3. Is it desirable to ban pornography?
   1. What about freedom of expression?
   2. What is the line between what is banned, and what is not? Who decides? (Justice Stewart’s ridiculous cop-out : “I know it when I see it”, is not an acceptable answer)
   3. Is it even possible to ban pornography? What would the side-effects be?
4. Child pornography is bad, right? If all porn is bad, then you can skip this question.
   1. What about child porn that doesn’t involve children in its production.
   2. Same question for animal porn. If that’s bad on the grounds of “non-consent from participants”, then how does this compare to other uses of animals’ bodies (which animal consents to be eaten?).
5. What about keeping porn away from children?

Type away.

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Posted by manish on December 05th 2008 in Rants
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Today, the 5th of December, marks a landmark in the struggle for human rights. This is the day the 21st Ammendment, which ended prohibition, was added to the US Constitution.

We often overlook the deep debt of gratitude we owe the brave men and women of the mafia, many of whom laid down their lives so we could have a drink. It is due to the tireless efforts of civil rights icons like Al Capone that we can now get wasted.

We need to thank these heroes for free beer (”free” as in free speech, not “free” as in free be.. … wait a minute! who came up with this metaphor?). But that’s not all. The bootleggers are responsible for the existence of NASCAR.

So whether you’re are a fan of drinking like crazy, or driving like crazy (but hopefully not both at the same time), raise a glass tonight to these role models. Or, why fight yesterday’s battles today? Raise a bong.

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Posted by manish on February 01st 2007 in Grand Unified Theories
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Every now and then, rantlust takes some time off trivial stuff and tackles the really hard questions in life. On these hallowed pages, the seeker may find resolution to such profound mysteries as: who would win a fight between a python and an alligator; exactly how great is Chuck Norris; what is proper shitiquette, and so on. All this, however, has merely been a build-up to tackle the most important mystery of all: why are men so fascinated by tits?

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Posted by manish on December 11th 2006 in Rants
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Fellows who know me, know me as the most religiously tolerant of all creatures. Tolerance and understanding practically ooze out of my pores and orifices — even when concerning intolerant, immature religions that don’t understand the concept of free speech, constructive criticism and humor. It is with this paternalistic wisdom that I approach the great religion of Global Warming, which I look on as a child of humanity. A child that shows great promise in how it provides the essential psychological elements that make the classical religions so compelling. Yet one that needs guidance to overcome its shortcomings.

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Posted by manish on November 13th 2006 in Movies, Rants
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If you haven’t been living in a third-world country (other than Kazakhstan) for the last few days, you’ve certainly heard of Borat. The guy and movie have almost universally been acclaimed as funny, witty, and even insightful. Although I do think the movie is funny, I disagree with the comments some professional reviewers seem to have about it (e.g. comparisions with Mark Twain, on the Boston Globe)

When failing to grasp a supposedly poignant social commentary, one risks being described as dense. So please allow me to explain. Those planning to watch the movie, and desiring to do so uninfluenced by others’ comments are advised to skip this.

Borat is silly. Not that there’s anything wrong or non-funny or simplistic about that. There are different funny ways of being silly. One way is to just be silly and not attempt to have a point. Seinfeld is a good example of this. Or, one can be silly and use the silliness to make a point. If done right this is funny and poignant. Steven Colbert is a good example of this.
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