living with terror

"Terrorism is a normative term which is used to describe what the 'other' does, not what 'we' do.Powerful nations such as Israel, the US, Russia or China will always describe their victims' struggle as terrorism.However, they fail to acknowledge as acts of terror the destruction of Chechnya, the slow slaughter of the remaining Palestinians, the repression of Tibetans, and the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Normative rules and what is legal and permissible are determined by the powerful. They formulate the concept of terrorism in normative terms and make it appear as if a neutral court derived such definitions instead of the oppressors.For the weak to resist becomes illegal by definition.This excessive use of legal jargon actually undermines the fundamentals of what is truly legal and diminishes the credibility of international institutions such as the UN. The law becomes the enemy of those who struggle."

Find the whole article here.

We need to live with terrorism in the next century. Every country America attacks like in Iraq or Afghanistan is going to sow seeds for the next breed of terrorists. Terrorism is the modern day war.With most of the countries making peace with their neighbors and working on development, the battleground for war is shrinking. And there are too many good men to the bad to fight fair.

Today's wars have no boundaries, no logical purpose and I should say no scope for negotiations and peace treaties. Everlasting peace is a mirage no one would see. There are always going to be the good and the bad and they are gonna fight it out. History books would still show up wars in the 21st century.

Beckham walks the ramp

This time for AC Milan with the Number 32 shirt.
Beckham has agreed to endorse Milan over the next 3 months given his hollywood folks are on a break for winter. Beckham would appear for commercials in the traditional san siro colors and also pose for the cameras during training and pre match displays. His number 32 shirt and other merchandise opened for record sales as he was unvealed for Milan. Officials at the club are very sure he'd make good business for them given his track record at England, Madrid and America. The win is not only for Milan but the entire Serie A which was finding a hard time to sell itself outside Europe.

Sevanti Ninan gives the media a well deserved dressing down in her column for the hindu.
Also check out her organization thehoot.org that serves as a watchdog on media ethics.

I'm growing a beard

But don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you.