tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193263992024-02-07T09:41:35.881+00:00Musings of The Third Eye"Information is the currency of democracy." Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826.<br>
"In the real world, nothing happens at the right place at the right time. It is the job of journalists and historians to correct that." Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain, 1835-1910Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-92064716515975716602012-12-02T21:51:00.001+00:002012-12-02T22:12:05.305+00:00Student Perception and Credibility of Student’s Opinion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg023l4_NeM9wnAJVsjLNhxZL410JKEwQOKulAcnZyLq344tCYlSoYW-tVsQPC3vTTxlgRpS4uzN8HGWt-00zx-vX8grzFoTq4BOlB_3wE51iWn-GhbYhHa2VbxYn9_PKLfOlC/s1600/student.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg023l4_NeM9wnAJVsjLNhxZL410JKEwQOKulAcnZyLq344tCYlSoYW-tVsQPC3vTTxlgRpS4uzN8HGWt-00zx-vX8grzFoTq4BOlB_3wE51iWn-GhbYhHa2VbxYn9_PKLfOlC/s200/student.jpg" width="200" /></a>It is difficult to divorce student’s positive perception of an institution from desire to secure admission in it – assuming, there are no other major variables influencing the outcome of the decision. The perception tends to be formed, in my opinion, on social interaction and active feedback mechanism from alumni, peer groups, and institution’s enrolled students. These views are cross checked with reference groups, community leaders/elders including parents and other siblings, as well. I believe that the notion of students forming opinions about institutions based on heresy, rumours, and superfluous or supercilious parameters is not exactly true! </div>
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The younger generation, on an average is ‘performance’ conscious and does like to evaluate institutions based on ‘effective educational practices,’ ‘environment & culture,’ ‘industry & job market’s assessment of an institution,’ ‘affordability,’ and faculty performance. I would go to the extent that often these perceptions are based on outcomes of informal, as well as formal research undertaken by the potential enroller of all ‘higher education.’ There may exist indications that ‘disciplinary culture,’ ‘opportunities to engage in personal growth, confidence building, and extra as well as co-curricular activities’ also tend to influence today’s average student in deciding to join an institution. I am not sure to what level parent’s/family’s ‘economic reality’ factor plays a crucial role in ‘college/university’ decision – especially, in today’s world where, even in traditional eastern societies, exists a trend of students beginning to ‘work’ to pay for or/and contribute towards the cost of education. </div>
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Yes, indeed, admissions are also sought in several institutions because of certain snob value, however, to retain ‘snob value,’ these institutions have to retain their ‘core values’ (the ones discussed above) and extrinsic value (which stems from patronisation by ruling elite class). You may note that even these institutions vie to enroll accomplished and promising students (even if from lower economic strata to retain its reputation as premier academic institutions. </div>
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I remember reading a study (Umbach & Wawrzynski, 2005), which concludes that students tend to demonstrate higher level of engagement and learning at institutions where <em>“faculty members use active and collaborative learning techniques, engage students in experiences, emphasize higher-order cognitive activities in the classroom, interact with students, challenge students academically, and value enriching educational experiences.”</em> (p. 153) </div>
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Then there is an issue concering credibility of student's opinion or perception. How does one justify a study that is based on student opinion? Is it more to do with justifying or negating the exercise of student feedback to gauge the quality of an academic institution! </div>
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I will like to draw attention to a paper on student perceptions of faculty credibility based on email addresses (Livermore, Scafe, & Wiechowski, 2010). The idea is not to belittle your concern but to accentuate. The survey conducted indicated that <em>“… a faculty member’s selection of an email address does influence the student’s perception of faculty credibility. An email address that consists of a nickname reduces the student’s perception of faculty credibility. The reduced creditability may have a negative impact on the faculty member as well as the college.”</em> (p. 27) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu_s3FcJJJEGuTGHIHsWpeobsSTDd3oW7lYjkreZkJQzGFg4w3CCFT8PgZf1BKHp2_pf2qZ_uDa3dhZ8YyfErmOy0HmthV-WAkdyoj8ROhR8Jk7dcpqQBBETEbvvdQWwdQfKh/s1600/00123f55b17b10bbf34a29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwu_s3FcJJJEGuTGHIHsWpeobsSTDd3oW7lYjkreZkJQzGFg4w3CCFT8PgZf1BKHp2_pf2qZ_uDa3dhZ8YyfErmOy0HmthV-WAkdyoj8ROhR8Jk7dcpqQBBETEbvvdQWwdQfKh/s200/00123f55b17b10bbf34a29.jpg" width="200" /></a>It is apparent that student’s perception plays an important role in not just faculty’s credibility but the institutions credibility, as well. The lack of credibility, as some researchers point out, is linked to perceived learning (Russ, Simonds, & Hunt, 2002); (Glascock & Ruggiero, 2006). In today’s highly competitive and cut throat business, most colleges are struggling with increased competition, decreasing share of pie, and uncertain economic scenario – given the scenario, student satisfaction assumes a greater importance. A lack of perceived learning is likely to reduce a student’s satisfaction, leading to dwindling enrollment numbers. So, it will be right to assign greater importance to Student Perceptions despite the credibility issue. </div>
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Given the fact that there is an increased investment in education industry from the private sector, which adheres to ‘Profit Model’ for all of its socio-economic activities, client perceptions will always be important. It may be noted that most successful business enterprises decide to change with times, strategically re-invent themselves, re-brand or re-position themselves, to meet their customer’s expectations… Only, in this case student has become the customer.</div>
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Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-37156971828655565532011-10-27T22:56:00.000+01:002011-10-27T22:56:02.680+01:00Social Media and Construction of Alternate Truths<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHRrOHsM7fuTnPGLO3Ad9Byl-2cKUfFExlX_XD2aldxxKtkg1rFBk0xaZst0Q30YlR1APQUgSLL-MhmP-GI11neNtyVzl_xhY7EWFL2NJtJQCQGpoFIRuJsfHpPY2-4ZxM0Kq/s1600/Composite+Satellite+Image+of+India.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHRrOHsM7fuTnPGLO3Ad9Byl-2cKUfFExlX_XD2aldxxKtkg1rFBk0xaZst0Q30YlR1APQUgSLL-MhmP-GI11neNtyVzl_xhY7EWFL2NJtJQCQGpoFIRuJsfHpPY2-4ZxM0Kq/s320/Composite+Satellite+Image+of+India.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>E</strong></span>very year, just as the Indian festival of Lights, Deepawali, gets over, a viral composite image of a satellite picture by NASA ritualistically starts making the rounds on social media. If we see the lights and concentration of colour then Deepawali seems to be a major festival in parts of Afghanistan (Hindu-Kush region), Chinese Occupied Kashmir (Aksai Chin), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan (Indus Basin), Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir), Sri Lanka, and all across India (from Kashmir to the Andaman) apart from regional deviance or predilection for different colours. Further, for the alleged Diwali light spots to be burning so bright, megatons of magnesium, sulphur, and phosphorous (to say the least) would have been burnt and pollution equivalent to the annual output from America and China would have risen from the Indian sub-continent, in a single night, wreaking a major environmental catastrophe. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As early as in 2009, a watertight case sealed the fate for the photograph christened ‘How INDIA Looked on Diwali Night from the Sky.’ The image was contextually a ‘fake.’ <span style="color: black;">The photograph is a NASA satellite composite put together from many different images taken at different times.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The original caption to the alleged photograph of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How INDIA Looked on Diwali Night from the Sky</i> reads:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><em>“India at night, satellite view. This image is a composite showing the change in illumination over India from 1992-2003. Satellite data from 2003 is coloured red, 1998 is coloured green and 1992 is blue. The three data sets are composited to form the image. Night-time lights on the map that are white are lights that were present throughout the entire period. Areas that are marked by red have only appeared in 2003. Areas coloured green and blue were only present in 1998 and 1992 respectively but are no longer visible. This image was created by the Defence Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, USA.”</em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To review the composite satellite image and the caption readers may visit </span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/160012/view"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/160012/view</span></a>. Alternatively, visit <a href="http://www.sciencephotogallery.co.uk/india_at_night_satellite_image/print/1705155.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.sciencephotogallery.co.uk/india_at_night_satellite_image/print/1705155.html</span></a></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The photograph or the visual, however, is not important but the idea behind it, which has serious ramifications. The construction and interpolation of an alternative truth and negotiation of meaning by the working class is of serious concern. It is possible to construct alternate truths and let the media (social media in this case) do the rest. Often, behaviour psychologists, agents of the ruling elites, and online advertisers make use of such tactics. This technique is not limited to visual communication; in fact, it can help percolate any information requiring a simple contagion to diffuse as truth! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This incident, as have other countless examples, demonstrates the efficacy of any form of media (especially social media) as a tool to build convincing alternative truths and how interested parties (vested interests) can use this aspect as a semi-politico media complex to re-construct the (imaginary and euphoric) notion of ‘nation,’ specially amongst the Indian diaspora. Further, such social constructs of alternative truths always help the impoverished and denied masses with a dose of opiated nationalism and a false sense of progressive identity. What gives credence to the alternative truths on social media are their supposed inherent democratic credentials. True, the democratic potential of media increases the working classes’ access to information, which may lead to a functionally better-informed work force. However, at the same time, it leads to issues of information overload and practices of disinformation (through corporate and governmental malfeasance) generally with the complicity of the favoured elite or their agents. Both, information overload and practices of disinformation (propaganda) result in re-enforcement of prevalent and socially accepted norms and behaviour, i.e. status quo.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This construction of an alternative truth suits the agenda of the ruling elite. In fact, the elite class aids and abets most constructions of alternative truths. In some instances, it directly plants and grafts such constructs, thereby, curtailing and regulating the working class and their hopes & aspirations, while sanitising the social environs of any signs of class struggle or dissent - real or perceived. Any well-informed consumer of the internet knows that in the world of social media there is hardly a website not spiced wi<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">th little icons encouraging a consumer to share, like, comment, publish, and so on. Just a few pixels square, these icons are signifiers of the potent tools for influencing people’s lives. They strongly influence and in some instances govern the way the working class generates and consumes all forms of data. It is important to understand that “the instruments of social media are well suited to making the existing social order more efficient. They are not a natural enemy of the status quo.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1120377569"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-no-proof: yes;">(Gladwell, 2010)</span></w:sdt> Another point that is noteworthy, is that there are 800 million active Facebook users<w:sdt citation="t" id="-1757271498"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-no-proof: yes;">(Facebook, 2011)</span></w:sdt>, 100 million active tweeters<w:sdt citation="t" id="2053110950"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-no-proof: yes;">(Twitter, 2011)</span></w:sdt>, over 4 billion cellular phone subscribers by late 2008<w:sdt citation="t" id="1803416377"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-no-proof: yes;">(International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 2008)</span></w:sdt> and these people actively consume and gratify themselves with new technology media products & services. The data available to an everyday consumer is phenomenal and beyond her/his capability and ability to process and negotiate meaning. Indeed, the age of Web 2.0 is the age of ‘communication overload’. This information overload suits the favoured governing elite of the third world, when in reality these selected few are by-products of the process of ‘manufacturing consent’ <w:sdt citation="t" id="1886991747"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-no-proof: yes;">(Herman & Chomsky, 1988)</span></w:sdt>, which replaced the Era of Colonial Empires. The super elites, the custodians of post-colonial hegemony, sit smugly enthroned in the western/developed world, manipulating, as biased gatekeepers, all data (information) to engage in subversion of universal rights and aspirations by the engineering of consent. Ironically, the ruling elite subscribe to manufacturing consent when dealing with their own working class and media. It is, therefore, of little surprise that technology, technological innovations, and media ownership should be concentrated in the hands of the few. In fact, all key industrial and production units in any society are always owned by the watchdog elite (agents of the ruling elite - second tier in the hegemony of manufacturing consent), though not necessarily by the ruling elites themselves (barring in the third world).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, coming back to the photograph, if everyone knows that the image is a ‘fake’ (in the Diwali context), then, why should this image virally surface every year? What is in the image that makes it so endearing to Indians and people of Indian origin? Does the caption, ‘How INDIA Looked on Diwali Night from the Sky,’ fulfil any of J. L. Austin’s <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1006209411"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(1962)</span></w:sdt> ‘felicity conditions’ required of some ‘performative utterances’? Alternatively, is this image, as Émile Durkheim <w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr><w:sdt citation="t" id="-1824198516"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(February 1, 1912)</span></w:sdt> would have suggested, a visual symbol acting as a catalyst to achieve ‘collective effervescence,’ which in the eyes of some interested party/s serves to help unify Indian (read Hindu) society? Is there an ulterior motive, as was in the case of Babri Masjid/Ram Janam Bhoomi movement… is some individual or a politico-religious entity attempting to gauge public opinion or seek public (read majority’s) approval? Any person or organization depends, according to E. L. Bernays, “ultimately on public approval, and is therefore faced with the problem of engineering the public’s consent to a program or goal…When the public is convinced of the soundness of an idea, it will proceed to action.” <w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr><w:sdt citation="t" id="-2036720328"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Bernays, 1947, p. 114)</span></w:sdt> However, it may still early and the data insufficient and inadequate for any scientific/rational inference…or, is it?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria;">Bibliography</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Austin, J. L. (1962). <i>How to Do Things with Words</i> (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, London, Oxford, New York 1976.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Bernays, E. L. (1947, March). The Engineering of Consent. <i>The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 250</i>(1), 113-120. doi:10.1177/000271624725000116 </span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Durkheim, E. (February 1, 1912). <i>'The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life</i> (May 17, 2008 ed.). (M. S. Cladis, Ed., & C. Cosman, Trans.) Oxford: The Oxford University Press.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Facebook. (2011, October 27). <i>Press: Statistics</i>. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from Facebook: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Gladwell, M. (2010, October 4). <i>A Small Change, Why the revolution will not be tweeted</i>. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from The New Yorker: </span><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). <i>Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.</i> New York: Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">International Telecommunication Union (ITU). (2008, September 25). <i>Press Release: Worldwide mobile cellular subscribers to reach 4 billion mark late 2008</i>. (http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/29.html, Editor) Retrieved October 27, 2011, from International Telecommunication Union: </span><a href="http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/29.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2008/29.html</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 1em 0cm 1em 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="color: blue;">Twitter. (2011, October 27). <i>Basics: What is Twitter</i>. Retrieved October 27, 2011, from Twitter: </span><a href="http://business.twitter.com/basics/what-is-twitter/"><span style="color: blue;">http://business.twitter.com/basics/what-is-twitter/</span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-49101712593200231602011-10-21T22:59:00.000+01:002011-10-21T22:59:39.269+01:00Ibn Rushd (Averroës), 1126-1198<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">I recently had a chance ‘encounter’ with works of Ibn Rushid, a philosopher, and found his writings interesting… so am sharing with you all…Also, please be warned that the article makes no claims of academic or theological authority on Ibn Rushd, Islam, and the Holy Book – The Quran.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ibn Rushd (Averroës) (1126-1198) was one of the most important Islamic philosophers. His writing tend to focus on medicine and jurisprudence, but he is best known for his work on the philosophy of Aristotle. The excerpt, which follows, is from one of his best-known works. Written around 1190, he attempts to demonstrate that the study of philosophy is combatable with Islam. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em>The present text is from Ibn Rushd: On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy, in Arabic Kitab fasl al-maqal, with its appendix (Damina). Appended is an extract from Kitab al-kashf`an manahij al-adilla, published and translated as: Averröes, The Philosophy and Theology of Averroes, trans. Mohammed Jamil-al-Rahman (Baroda: A. G. Widgery, 1921), pp. 14-19.</em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">…All that is wanted in an enquiry into philosophical reasoning has already been perfectly examined by the Ancients. All that is required of us is that we should go back to their books and see what they have said in this connection. If all that they say be true, we should accept it and if there be something wrong, we should be warned by it. Thus, when we have finished this kind of research we shall have acquired instruments by which we can observe the universe, and consider its general character. For so long as one does not know its general character one cannot know the created, and so long as he does not know the created, he cannot know its nature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All things have been made and created. This is quite clear in itself, in the case of animals and plants, as God has said, "Verily the idols which you invoke, beside God, can never create a single fly, though they may all assemble for that purpose" [Qur'an 22.72]. We see an inorganic substance and then there is life in it. Therefore, we know (for certain) that there is an inventor and bestower of life, and He is God. Of the heavens, we know by their movements, which never become slackened, that they work for our benefit by divine solicitude, and are subordinate to our welfare. Such an appointed and subordinate object is always created for some purpose. The second principle is that for every created thing there is a creator. So it is right to say from the two foregoing principles that for every existent thing there is an inventor. There are many arguments, according to the number of the created things, which can be advanced to prove this premise. Thus, it is necessary for one who wants to know God, as He ought to be known to acquaint himself with the essence of things, so that he may get information about the creation of all things. For who cannot understand the real substance and purpose of a thing, cannot understand the minor meaning of its creation. It is to this that God refers in the following verse "Or do they not contemplate the heaven and the earth, and the things which God has created?" [Qur'an 7.184]. And so, a man who would follow the purpose of philosophy in investigating the existence of things, that is, would try to know the cause which led to its creation, and the purpose of it would know the argument of kindness most perfectly. These two arguments are those adopted by Law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The verses of the Qur'an leading to a knowledge of the existence of God are dependent only on the two foregoing arguments. It will be quite clear to anyone who will examine closely the verses, which occur in the Divine Book in this connection. These, when investigated, will be found to be of three kinds: either they are verses showing the "arguments of kindness," or those mentioning the "arguments of creation,” or those which include both the kinds of arguments. The following verses may be taken as illustrating the argument of kindness. "Have we not made the earth for a bed, and the mountains for stakes to find the same? And have we not created you of two sexes; and appointed your sleep for rest; and made the night a garment to cover you; and destined the day to the gaining of your livelihood and built over you seven solid heavens; and placed therein a burning lamp? And do we not send down from the clouds pressing forth rain, water pouring down in abundance, that we may thereby produce corn, and herbs, and gardens planted thick with trees?" [Qur'an 77.6-16] and, "Blessed be He Who has placed the twelve signs in the heavens; has placed therein a lamp by day, and the moon which shines by night" [Qur'an 25.62] and again, "Let man consider his food" [Qur'an 80.24].</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The following verses refer to the argument of invention, "Let man consider, therefore of what he is created. He is created of the seed poured forth, issuing from the loins, and the breast bones" [Qur'an 86.6]; and, "Do they not consider the camels, how they are created; the heaven, how it is raised; the mountains, how they are fixed; the earth how it is extended" [Qur'an 88.17]; and again "O man, a parable is propounded unto you; wherefore hearken unto it. Verily the idols which they invoke, besides God, can never create a single fly, though they may all assemble for the purpose" [Qur'an 22.72]. Then we may point to the story of Abraham, referred to in the following verse, "I direct my face unto Him Who has created heaven and earth; I am orthodox, and not of the idolaters" [Qur'an 6.79]. There may be quoted many verses referring to this argument. The verses comprising both the arguments are also many, for instance, "O men, of Mecca, serve your Lord, Who has created you, and those who have been before you: peradventure you will fear Him; Who has spread the earth as a bed for you, and the heaven as a covering, and has caused water to descend from heaven, and thereby produced fruits for your sustenance. Set not up, therefore, any equals unto God, against your own knowledge [Qur'an 2.19]. His words, "Who has created you, and those who have been before you," lead us to the argument of creation; while the words, "who has spread the earth" refer to the argument of divine solicitude for man. Of this kind also are the following verses of the Qur'an, "One sign of the resurrection unto them is the dead earth; We quicken the same by rain, and produce there from various sorts of grain, of which they eat" [Qur'an 36.32]; and, "Now in the creation of heaven and earth, and the vicissitudes of night and day are signs unto those who are endowed with understanding, who remember God standing, and sitting, and lying on their sides; and meditate on the creation of heaven and earth, saying O Lord, far be it from You, therefore deliver us from the torment of hellfire" [Qur'an 3.188]. Many verses of this kind comprise both the kinds of arguments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This method is the right path by which God has invited men to a knowledge of His existence, and informed them of it through the intelligence which He has implanted in their nature. The following verse refers to this fixed and innate nature of man, "And when the Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam, and took them witness against themselves, Am I not your Lord? They answered, Yes, we do bear witness" [Qur'an 7.171]. So it is incumbent for one who intends to obey God, and follow the injunction of His Prophet, that he should adopt this method, thus making himself one of those learned men who bear witness to the divinity of God, with His own witness, and that of His angels, as He says, "God has borne witness, that there is no God but He, and the angels, and those who are endowed with wisdom profess the same; who execute righteousness; there is no God but He; the Mighty, the Wise" [Qur'an 3.16]. Among the arguments for both of themselves is the praise which God refers to in the following verse, "Neither is there anything which does not celebrate his praise; but you understand not their celebration thereof" [Qur'an 17.46].</div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-55392762961752994722011-10-21T21:52:00.001+01:002011-10-21T23:10:53.157+01:00Growing Older is Mandatory. Growing Up is Optional<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">Recently, a mail was delivered to me with a wonderful content and worthy of sharing with all. So, here it is:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"<i>The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. <br />
<br />
I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.<br />
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She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"<br />
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I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze.<br />
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"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked. <br />
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She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids..."<br />
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"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.<br />
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"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me.<br />
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After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.<br />
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We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.<br />
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Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up..<br />
<br />
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.<br />
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Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."<br />
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As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.<br />
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There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.<br />
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We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!<br />
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There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.<br />
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If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty -seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.<br />
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Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.<br />
<br />
The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."<br />
<br />
She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose"<br />
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She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.<br />
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One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.<br />
<br />
Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.<br />
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When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they'll really enjoy it!<br />
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These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.</i>"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">REMEMBER, <b>GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL</b>. We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"<i>Good friends are like stars....... ..You don't always see them, but you know they are always there</i>."</div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-7584763430437344382011-09-11T20:32:00.004+01:002011-09-28T16:19:05.149+01:00Issues and Challenges of Television Advertising: Empowering the Future Generation through Education.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span class="MsoSubtleEmphasis"><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Cambria","serif";"><em><span style="font-size: small;">Paper presented at the Eighth AIMS International Conference on Management (AIMS-8) jointly organized by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (www.iimahd.ernet.in) and AIMS International-The Association of Indian Management Scholars (www.aims-international.org) January-1-4, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></span></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><em><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Authors<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rashid Narain Shukul, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">Manipal University (Dubai Campus), </span></span><a href="mailto:rnshukul@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">rnshukul@gmail.com</span></span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">&<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Bellukutty Sudhakar, </span></i></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Manipal University (Dubai Campus), </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="mailto:bellaksudha@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: blue;">bellaksudha@gmail.com</span></span></a></span></div></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">INTRODUCTION</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertising, a persuasive venture, is a complex phenomenon. It is today an intrinsic part of society, culture, history, and the economy — defying any simple or single definition. Some aspects of it are universal, while others are culturally specific. It is personal salesmanship metamorphosed into mediated communication. Most academicians agree that it sometimes provides new information, often cajoles, and always attempts to persuade. In addition to selling messages, advertising encodes cultural values and social ideals. Further, depending on one’s point of view, it is a positive or negative force in society and the economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In general, there are two ways that persuasion occurs, either through a rational, analytical process or through an instinctive, reactive process . The key features of the rational process include active listening, active thinking, focusing on the issue at hand, weighing the pros and cons, and reason and logic which dominate the process. In contrast, the key features of the instinctive, reactive persuasion process include passive listening, not thinking at all, not focused on the issue at hand, not analysing the arguments, and instinctive and mindless reactions dominate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Raymond Williams (1997) recognized the historical role of advertising as a means of getting attention and providing information, which is the essence of James Laver's definition (De Vries, 1968, p. 6). Raymond concentrates on looking at advertising as a modern institution and a profession that evolved around 1800s in Britain and elsewhere, its commercial function, and its persuasive power. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In economics, there are two contradictory approaches to the role of advertising in the economy. One school of thought believes that advertising is a source of information for consumers who can use it to make better-informed decisions in the market place. This school of thought believes that advertising increases market efficiency by providing information about alternatives (Mitra & Lynch, 1995).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The alternate school of thought was made popular by Harvard economists such as John K. Galbraith. Galbraith, in his book, The Affluent Society, stated that advertising is manipulating the public by creating artificial needs and wants (Galbraith, 1958). Economists catering to this school of thought argue that advertising adds to cost, encourages consumers to perceive new wants and desires, and redirects the distribution of their scarce resources to acquire highly advertised products. Other disciplines too have their own priorities, for instance, Psychology emphasizes persuasion, Political Science - regulation, Sociology and Cultural Studies stress on gender, race, and class while Anthropology is concerned mainly with culture. Consumer myths, marketplace mythology, and mythmaking are central concepts used by advertising academicians and advertising professionals today. They define advertising as a form of mythmaking (Randazzo, 1993). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
To sum up, Advertising is about desires, aspirations, and values. It identifies them, describes them, and offers satisfaction through the purchase and consumption of consumer goods. But, whose are the desires, aspirations, and values that advertising talks about? This definition of advertising suggests that the core values in most advertising copy are those of the middle class, or those who would aspire to be a part of it (Deresiewicz, 1998) . Advertisers use advertisements for various purposes with diverse possible effects. However, the core motivating factor for the producer-manufacturer-corporate establishment to use this mode on consumers is the persuasive power of the medium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
TELEVISION ADVERTISING</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The term ‘Television’ has come to refer to all aspects of television programming and transmission as well. The medium, similar to any contemporary means of communication, acts as a link in the living rooms - like a magical bridge opened to the world. More than anything however, Television, perhaps is the most influential form of media as a primary storyteller (Oulette, 1997). According to George Gerbner, stories teach us ways of thinking about the world that stay with us for a lifetime. Storytelling has taken different forms throughout history; however with the advent of the electronic revolution and the introduction of the electronic storyteller the process of storytelling and television has changed, and thereby the process of enculturation (Jhally, 1997). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
CHILDREN’S EXPOSURE TO TELEVISION ADVERTISING</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Children’s exposure to television advertising is often conceptualized as a simple by-product of their time spent watching television. In the late 1970s, a research team estimated that children viewed an average of about 20,000 commercials per year (Adler, et al., 1977). The formula was simple, average number of advertisements per hour multiplied by average number of hours a child viewed television during a day, and all this multiplied by 365 days. It was estimated, using the same approach, that children typically viewed more than 30,000 product commercials per year in the late 1980s (Condry, Bence, & Scheibe, 1988). This estimate rose to 40,000 television advertisements per year for children by early 1990s (Kunkel & Gantz, 1992). Indeed, with the growing proliferation of 15-second spots, even these enormous figures may be a gross underestimation of the true number of commercials viewed by children in the new millennium (Comstock & Scharrer, 1999). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Advertisements are growing not only more prolific but are also being made more appealing for children by many of the advertising and marketing campaigns who use popular children’s television and movie characters to attract and retain children’s attention . For many children thus, advertising media has become a normal part of life. Anderson et al. (1986) had raised a serious concern over time spent by children and young ones using or watching television being upped to between 20 and 30 times greater than the time spent associating with their family. The latest trend, taking into account the nuclear structure of the family and working parents, indicates that children in the United Kingdom and the United States may, on an average, spend between four and five hours a day, outside school time, watching some form of electronic media (Cooke, 2002). This may expose children to much potentially harmful material. Kunkel (2001) suggested that today’s children in the United States might view more than 40,000 advertisements every year. The huge number of advertisements on television means that many children spend a significant proportion of their lives watching advertisements. Although it seems to be an issue of concern for most academicians, a study by R. K. Gupta et al (1994), also found that television viewing enhances cognitive development, and conveys knowledge, skills and information to the child. It motivates learning and imparts general awareness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Recent developments in advertising for children indicate a tendency of marketers and advertisers to employ some form of animation in children's television advertising. This helps them to catch children's attention during commercial programming. The technological advancements, especially in computer graphics, allow a greater flexibility, variability, and creativity in the elaboration of advertisements. On the other hand, the practice of taking advantage of the improvements in computer animation and special effects seems to suggest that marketers may be experiencing an increasing challenge to capture children's attention. They are therefore compelled to be even more creative, requiring new and improved ways of reaching them, particularly because children of the 1990s grew up accustomed to technology, consumer electronics, and video games. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
One aspect of today’s media dominated society that is of particular concern is that the advertising industry aggressively seeks to understand, anticipate, and influence the perceived needs and desires of young consumers. By taking an increasingly disciplined approach to market research, marketers have gained a wealth of information about children. Successful marketing relies on correctly representing customer lifestyles and making products relevant to their lives. The range of advertising styles, techniques, and channels used, reach children and youth to foster brand loyalty and encourage product use. Some of these approaches are market segmentation; television advertising; sales promotions at schools, stores, and sporting events; multimedia exposure; celebrity endorsement; kid’s clubs; product placement; and advertorials. In addition, retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, the media, schools, and corporate donors are creating mutually beneficial partnerships to gain access to, and capture the attention of young consumers. One of their long-term goals seems to be to develop a market for tomorrow’s adult consumers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTISING, CHILDREN AND LAW</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The pervasiveness of marketing to children is of particular concern because of their inherent vulnerability to commercial persuasion. Children under the age of eight do not recognize the persuasive intent of ads and tend to accept them as accurate and unbiased (Kunkel D. , 2001). It was also found that a 30-second commercial can influence brand preferences in children as young as two years old. As young children have not developed the cognitive skills and abilities of older children and adults, they do not grasp commercial messages as do mature audiences, and, therefore, are susceptible to the persuasive intent of advertisements. Many researchers have documented evidence that there is an age-related difference in children’s understanding, and, thereby, the way television advertising affects them. Such evidence has formed the basis for a wide range of policies in the United States intended to protect children from advertising. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It is obvious that Advertising enjoys an unfair advantage over youngsters due to their limited comprehension of the nature, purpose, and intent of commercial appeals (Kunkel D. , 1990); (Young, 1990); (Kunkel & Roberts, 1991). These policies form the foundation of a broad societal consensus that children require special treatment and protection from the unbridled efforts of the economic marketplace (Kunkel, Wilcox, Cantor, Palmer, Linn, & Dowrick, 2004) . In some western nations, the authorities have tried to protect children by establishing age limits and ratings. However, all children and their parents do not always understand the ratings, or they tend to belittle their value. The year 1874 saw the English Parliament enacting the Infants’ Relief Act to protect children “from their own lack of experience and from the wiles of pushing tradesmen and moneylenders” (James, 1965, p. 8). The Infants’ Relief Act is one of the earliest known modern day governmental policies recognising children’s vulnerability to commercial exploitation. The core issues underlying this 20th century policy remain much the same today even more than a century later. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Advertising in India falls under the purview of statutory and self-regulatory authority. Regulatory authority of all broadcast media (cable channels and ground stations operating within and directed at India) is the responsibility of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry of the Government of India. Special protection for children is included briefly in the India Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act (1994) and in the self-regulatory code of the Advertising Standards Council of India (Hawkes, 2007, p. 34). However, there is still serious concern that the basic tenet of advertising regulation – that it should not mislead – is not being observed. One legal expert stated that “children in India seem to be particularly vulnerable to the infringement of these regulations which is unfortunately a common occurrence” (Vadhera, Quarter 4, 2004). Two efforts are being made to address this situation, one statutory and one self-regulatory. Yet, it is apparent that there is plenty of room to improve to protect young impressionable minds from commercial exploitation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In today’s globalised scenario, some researchers argue, the opening of regional and local markets to international business has increased consumerism and created an appetite for what is American in many developing countries. The spread of American television and the general spread of Western mass media programming to the developing world have acted as a catalyst in increasing people’s consumerist appetite. Writing on this process, Schiller (1991) says that the goal of Western media is the creation of good consumers. Exposure to Western media, including advertising, has increased consumerism and created the desire to possess advertised goods. This aspect of globalisation affects everyone, but it may have its largest impact on children. According to D’Silva et al (2007), advertising forms, a significant part of American television programming, both overt and embedded, because advertisers constantly seek an effective means of influencing consumer behaviour. This trend is now spreading to Indian shores. A number of studies show that children who are heavy viewers of television consume more advertised foods and want more advertised toys than do children who are light viewers of television (Atkin C. K., 1982); (Goldberg M. , 1990); (Robertson T. S., Ward, Gatignon, & Klees, 1989).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Most of these studies focus on American children, and it is important to find out whether such behaviour is or is likely to be replicated by children in countries like India. A quick glance at Third World & Indian television programming makes it obvious that embedded advertising is pervasive. Imported programming, particularly from core countries, forms a substantial part of the programming in India. Of particular interest, therefore, are its influences on the vulnerable segment of Developing Societies population – children. Although children generally are very perceptive and intelligent, the fact is that they are considerably less informed - as compared to adults – and, thereby, are a largely vulnerable audience for hard advertising. Advertising converts a child's natural energy into a permanently heightened state of acquisitiveness. It moulds the self-concept of a child on material acquisitions. Some toy manufacturers use selling strategies, which make children who do not have their products feel ‘un-cool’, or ‘inferior’. In 2004, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry (of India) began to monitor actively and decide on violations of its television advertising codes for TV as per the Cable Television Act’s Rules (The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In 2002, they set up an inter-ministerial committee, which has since been reviewing complaints, issuing notices to television channels, and deciding whether advertisements violate the rules. A bill was introduced on the floor of the parliament, which was passed as the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act 2002. However, in 2006, the Ministry set up another 30-member committee “representing diverse interests” to rewrite the programme and advertising codes for the Cable Television Act and its Rules, and to develop a mechanism by which to enforce the codes, a process which is far from complete, till date. It is reported that the codes developed by the committee are primarily adapted from the United Kingdom’s Ofcom codes, with specific sub-sections on children and food advertising (Hawkes, 2007, p. 34); (Express, 2005).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In 2008, the Central Government amended the Cable Television Network Rules through a gazette notification to ban ‘surrogate advertisements” in order to prevent tobacco and liquor brands from circumventing the law. According to the notification, no advertisement would be permitted which encourages “directly or indirectly sale or consumption of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants.” The Ministry of Consumer Affairs also recently set up a committee to make recommendations to confront misleading advertising (Joshua, 2008) .</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The growth and development of modern day advertising as a social system, an important component of mass media, connects with the growth of an economy into industrial, mass, and affluent society. The more a society develops wider circulation of information through nongovernmental agencies, mass production of goods & services, high degree of reliance on technology, and highly specialized division of labour.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
People in developed and developing societies rely on the established Industrial Order or the system called “the market” to satisfy their needs. People no longer produce what they consume. In fact, they earn wages by selling their labour so that they can buy the goods produced by others for consumption. It is here that we see advertising’s principal function – to inform and persuade consumers - come into play. Today, advertising is all-pervasive and a part of our daily environment. Advertisements aired on television are now a measure of a programme’s success (Jamieson & Campbell, 2000, p. 156). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
To survive, maintain and sustain itself Advertising seeks to generate profits, which in turn requires attracting sizeable audiences. Mass media audiences fulfil this requirement of sizeable audience. Advertising, therefore, is subject to various influences. Changing demographics have also had an impact on advertising. Today, target audiences are referred to by advertisers as ‘upscale’ or ‘downscale’ . Some nations can also influence and control their media greatly. In addition, powerful corporations have enormous influence on mainstream media. Further, the market pressures that affect these companies, affect the media as well and hence, the media itself is largely driven by the forces of the market.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
However, the niche and segmented audiences also consume mediated messages but negotiation of text from mass media remains a major source for most advertisers. Thus, it is of little surprise that television and commercials (advertisements) on television remain a major source of debate for impact studies. Some of our fear and distrust arises from a belief that the mass media are monolithic, owned and / or controlled by ever fewer people who tend to speak in one voice (Jamieson & Campbell, 2000, p. 9). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The emerging ownership pattern, which also seems to fuel our suspicion, is that fewer media conglomerates own more and more media outlets. The concentrated ownership of mass media seems to work against alternative sources of opinion / diversity of opinion; this seems to work against democracy. The fact that a broadcast signal is no respecter of geo-political boundaries means that a message from one society finds its way into another with diverse traditions, patterns of social, economic & cultural life, needs and possibilities, unhindered. Increasingly, national broadcasting is being replaced by an international medium through satellites, making it available to people in different countries across the globe. The Cable News Network entered into an agreement with the Soviet Union in 1986 to use the Intersputnik satellite to increase its effective footprint to the Indian sub-continent & adjoining arena. Along with its use of Pan Am Star transponder, CNN is today transmitting its signal to over 85 sovereign states over and above the United States of America (Tuch, 1990, p. 122); (Carmody, 1989).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The ability of mediated messages to flow across international boundaries has had an impact on the politics of many a nation. Today, the world has witnessed the rise of global media and with it the rapid fall of informational barriers though economic barriers tend to be more tenacious. In fact, television commercials do not even require the audience to be either literate or multi-lingual. There is a steady decline in the use of text or copy in advertisements and the increase in display and illustrations, as pointed out by Daniel Boorstin (1962); Guy Debord (1975); Jean Baudrillard (1975); (Baudrillard, Simulations, 1983) and Leiss et al. (Leiss, Kline, & Jhally, 1991), concerning the increased importance of images in contemporary culture. And with this trend, yet another important issue of concern has emerged, a shift of emphasis within advertisements away from communicating specific product information towards communicating the social and symbolic uses of the products.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Consumer society has caused a "profound transformation in social life" involving "the change in the function of goods from being primarily satisfiers of wants to being primarily communicators of meanings" (Leiss, Kline, & Jhally, 1991). In the consumer society, individuals identify themselves as consumers and obtain gratification from consuming products. Hence, marketers and advertisers by associating their products with certain life-styles, symbolic values, and pleasures generate systems of meaning, prestige, and identity. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
According to the Critical theory of Advertising, advertising plays a key role in the transition to a new image culture where discursive concepts are replaced by aesthetic figures as a mode of cultural communication and power (Jhally, 1987); (Leiss, Kline, & Jhally, 1986). In today’s environment, advertising is playing increasingly important roles in subtly shaping consumer needs and continuing to channel desire into various products, fashion, and life-styles (Kellner, 1989a).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTISING AND GLOBALIZATION</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Connecting and stratifying peoples around the world, globalization shrinks time and space, and intensifies awareness of the world as a single place (Robertson R. , 1992). Globalization and consolidation are also leading to rapid changes in the advertising industry (Levitt, 1983); (Kennedy, 1993); (Legrain, 2003); (Mittelman, 2000). Clearly a process involving the compression of international time and space, and intensification of trans-national relations is taking place (Hargittai & Centeno, 2001). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Scholars often examine “change,” and its closely kindred concept “difference,” as a vehicle for getting into the particularities of a culture (Nederveen, 2003); (D'Silva, Futrell, & Reyes, 2007, p. 254). While some researchers focus on cultural change, others confess that some things have remained the same. In particular, many deeply held cultural beliefs persist even in the face of momentous changes. To a large extent, globalization is about the negotiation (sometimes referred to as a “clash”) that occurs between change introduced from outside a culture and the conservatism that sustains a culture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTISING AND DEMOCRACY</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Advertising, it is argued, represents a free flow of information and helps people exercise choice – a valuable instrument of democracy. On the other hand, it can be said that advertising’s current role in society is to a degree exploitative, wasteful, and manipulative (Ewen, 1988). It indirectly represents a form of domination that perpetuates capitalist hegemony (Leymore, 1975) and obstructs participatory democracy and the development of individual autonomy (Schudson, 1984); (McChesney, October, 2000). From a historical, developmental perspective, advertising can be said to erode traditional social structures of meaning, which it replaces with ideals and images of privatized commodity consumption.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a Capitalist Democracy, advertising attempts to assure and assuage its audience and to promote the belief that individual commodity consumption is the solution to all problems (Haug, 1986). Advertising also undermines the psycho-cultural base for a public sphere and democratic participation in social life (Best & Kellner, 1991) A close examination of the relationship between increasingly concentrated and powerful corporate advertisers and increasingly fragmented and isolated consumers/citizens reveals that advertising's practices and trends contradict democratic ideals and goals (Ewen, 2001). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTISING AND ECONOMIES</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Advertising has often been charged with promoting consumerism in developing societies. Concurrent with the development of consumerism has been the creation of new and sophisticated types of marketing and advertising. While these effects of consumerism benefit a developing society, the weight of the argument concerning the effects of consumerism lies heavily with the alternative approach. From an alternative approach, Sterns (2001) suggests that consumerism describes a basic function of our society that is populated by people who are no longer concerned with subsistence, but desire to acquire and accumulate goods. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It has been argued often that western-style marketing and advertising are causing the spread of conspicuous consumption with negative consequences for developing countries. While some argue that globalization is raising the standard of living in low income countries, “more than one-fifth of humankind still lives in acute poverty” (Mueller, 1996, p. 250), critics point out that even the poor have become subsumed by consumerism and that, “local governments in developing countries must consciously decide where valuable resources are to be spent” (Mueller, 1996, p. 256). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTISING AND TECHNOLOGY</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Satellites, force multipliers, have profoundly influenced advertising. Today millions across the globe watch a single television commercial. This has brought into play ‘International Advertising’ (Jones, 2000), where the global players do not advertise on a regional basis but the goods and services in a worldwide market. Technological innovations have also influenced the production design. Computer aided animation has captured fantasy into a smooth flowing reality on screen. The success of computer creatures led to an explosion of Computer Generated Imagery or CGI in all media. Manipulation of digital pictures is a valuable technology enabled tool for producers of advertising content. The ability to alter motion pictures and visuals by computer software and technology can be considered a serious threat to the integrity of the profession because it distorts the historical record of a culture. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
On the other hand, advertisers themselves use technology as a signifier in advertisements such as those of Mobile phones, Notebook computers, and cars (to name a few) in appealing to the fantasies and dreams of consumers to become part of the elite class. Portrayal of images of successful businesspersons and elitists suggests the luxury of mobility that comes from using the advertised company's product. Such advertisements tend to lead consumers to falsely believe that the globalization process is having a positive effect on everyone and eventually we will all become richer.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
STEREOTYPING IN ADVERTISING</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Media’s stereotypical portrayal of women reflects society’s male-dominated view. Women are often portrayed as sex objects designed only for man’s pleasure, as wives whose chief duty is to serve their husbands, and as mothers who must often singlehandedly bring up their children. Women are portrayed as “being less intelligent than men, being inferior” (Lester, 2000, p. 90). Stereotypes in media are also often culturally biased. Often, the only place where people regularly and over a long time come across other cultural groups is in the pages of newspapers and magazines, on television, and in the movies. However, when most of those media images are misleading, viewers often accept them as reality and fail to realize their prejudices. To change people’s mind about diversity may require far-reaching changes in the entire culture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
FALSE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION IN ADVERTISING</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
False advertising, in essence, is the passing off goods or services as something or someone’s they are not. It is the usurpation of good will and sales by unfair means. False advertising is prohibited and actionable in most societies by various state statutes, which prohibit deceptive trade practices and unfair competition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTORIALS — ADVERTISEMENTS DISGUISED AS NEWS!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Sometimes, news stories or editorials are subtle product advertisements, giving rise to new terms in critical circles, such as advertorials. Advertisements designed to simulate editorial content, also known as infomercial, offer commercial information to prospective clients -the underlying idea being that people give more credibility to editorial content than to paid advertisements, since all producers would claim their product to be the best. Editorial content however, would suggest that an outside agency has endorsed the product or service. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
ADVERTAINMENT — ADVERTISEMENTS DISGUISED AS ENTERTAINMENT!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Advertainment is where advertisers focus on creating entertaining branded content. This does not mean simply placing your brand in the context of pre-existing programming. Advertainment instead creates entertaining content and weaves a brand message into it. This type of advertainment represents a trend in television advertising: creating advertising that is so entertaining, people want to watch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
FREE MEDIA CHANNELS HAVE A COST – COMMERCIALLY PERSUASIVE MESSAGES</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the growth and evolution of mass media, advertisers have used this means of communications to inform a large number of people about their products, thereby, allowing a free flow of innovative ideas and concepts. However, over time, as advertising methods and techniques became sophisticated, enticing, shaping and even creating consumerism and needs where there had been none before or turning luxuries into necessities, became the order of the day. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Various public and free media, such as the numerous channels available in most countries, sought subsidization of their running costs with advertising. However, as corporate competition increased, so too has the need for returns on massive expenditures on advertising. Producers of goods and services spend millions to win the hearts of their audiences and influence their choices towards their products and ideas. The sheer amount of money this brings to media companies is significant and in many cases forms their main form of support. Hence, if something is reported that the advertiser does not like, the media company risks losing much needed revenue to stay alive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">ADVERTISING AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF CHILDHOOD</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Commercialization of public and religious holidays helps promote sales as well. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Deepawali, Id, Holi, Makkarsankranti or Independence Day (15th of August) in India, like in numerous other countries, sees a high amount of consumerism. The purchasing power of children, and their purchasing influence, has forced marketers and advertisers to deliberately adopt focused strategies in an attempt to influence those dollars (Barbaro & Earp, 2008). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
TELEVISION ADVERTISING AND ITS IMPACT ON CHILDREN</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Throughout the history of children's television advertising, researchers have criticized in various ways the use of television commercials directed towards children. Winick et al. (1973) argued that while advertising directed towards children stimulated their materialism and consumption, it also encouraged conflicts with their peers and parents for the same materialistic issues. They further advocated that, because children have not yet fully developed reasoning abilities, they are unable to evaluate the conveyed message, which could contain non-rational or unrealistic information that could be deceptive. Children, therefore, should be protected from advertising. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Today, researchers have explored a whole plethora of topics reflecting the child as a consumer, its knowledge of products, brands, advertising, pricing, decision-making strategies, and parental influence and negotiation approaches. In addition, the social aspects of the consumer role, exploring the development of consumption symbolism, social motives for consumption, and materialism have been examined in detail. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
On the whole however, behavioural studies tend to focus on the extent to which children are persuaded by advertisements. They focus on children’s preferences for certain products over others and/or by the requests made for products in response to advertising. Studies on the behavioural effects of advertising, notably, find that television has a major effect on the products children ask for and that increased television-watching leads to increased requests for advertised products. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In addition, television advertising creates misconceptions among children about the nutritional values of foods and ways to maintain positive health. Health experts believe that constant promotion of high-calorie food significantly contributes to the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States by encouraging preferences for junk food and encouraging poor eating habits. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, according to George Gerbner, the mass media cultivate attitudes and values, which are already present in a culture: the media maintain and propagate these values amongst members of a culture, thus binding it together. He argues that television tends to cultivate middle-of-the-road political perspectives. Gerbner and his colleagues (Gerbner & Gross, 1976) & (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, &Signorielli, 1986) contend that television has a small but significant influence on the attitudes, beliefs, and judgments of viewers concerning the social world. The focus is on ‘heavy viewers’ (Miller K., 2005). People who watch a lot of television programmes are likely to be more influenced by the ways in which television programmes frame the world than are individuals who watch less, especially regarding topics of which the viewer has little first-hand experience. Light viewers may have more sources of information than heavy viewers. Judith van Evra (1990, p. 167) claims that due to inexperience, young viewers may depend on television for information more than other viewers do. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to immediate obvious advertising, there is also the persuasive influence in television shows (The National Readership Studies Council, 2006). Commercially crafted words and images promoting from unhealthy foods to toys and commercial vehicles confront today’s child wherever the child may choose to turn, in fact even commodities & services like paints & distemper to vacations that children cannot directly need are targeted at them in the hope that they may act as a pressure group for parents. Advertising messages designed to capture children’s imagination, appear on television and radio, on the internet, at the cinema, in comics and magazines, on food labels and even at school. Whilst most parents and many medical, health and education professionals agree with the Government advice that fatty, sugary and salty foods should be consumed only infrequently and in limited quantities, food advertising targeted at children portrays these unhealthy foods as attractive food choices. The food sector, as also other goods’ manufacturers & service providers recognize television as a particularly powerful advertising medium, which reaches tens of millions of children and adults on a daily basis. Some European countries, most notably Sweden, recognize the need to protect children from commercial pressures created by television advertising and have well-established controls to ensure that advertisements are not targeted to children under the age of 12 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">EFFECTS OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING ON CHILDREN</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To evaluate the effects of television advertising on children, it is pertinent to conceptualise the impact of television advertising as intended and unintended. Intended or “primary” effect, as Comstock and Paik (1991) call it, of most advertisements on television is the direct promotion of the advertiser’s economic interest, i.e., generating product purchase requests and increasing product consumption. Although, each advertisement may have as its primary purpose promoting the sales of its featured product, the cumulative impact from the totality of television advertising to children may exert far broader sociological influence. These effects are categorised as unintended or “secondary” effects.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Advertisers are interested in outcomes such as viewers’ recall for the product, desire for the advertised product, and (depending on the age of the child) either purchase influence attempts or actual purchase of the product. Certain advertising strategies tend to enhance the effectiveness of advertising appeals to children. Finally, research also makes clear that children’s purchase-influence attempts have a relatively high degree of success. Frequent parent yielding to children’s purchase requests has been reported in studies that rely on parent self-reports (Frideres, 1973) & (Ward S. &., 1972) as well as unobtrusive observation of behaviour in the supermarket (Atkin C. K., 1978) & (Galst & White, 1976). Thus, it will be correct to state that television commercials, when directed at children, are highly successful at accomplishing their intended goal of securing product sales. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The “secondary” effects, some researchers have suggested, of television advertising to children include increase in materialistic attitudes (Goldberg & Gorn, 1978) & (Moschis & Moore, 1982). The influence of television advertising on children’s eating habits is worth mentioning. Many studies (Dietz, 1990) & (Jeffery, McLellarn, & Fox, 1982) convincingly demonstrate the influencing/persuasive power of television advertising on children. The general finding that eating habits formed during childhood often persist throughout life underscores the serious implications of advertising influence in this realm (Jacobson & Maxwell, 1994). Further, there are some modest short-term effects of influence of commercials for sensitive products not intended for children, including drugs and medicine as well as alcoholic beverages (Almarsdottir & Bush, 1992); (Butter, Weikel, Otto, Wright, & Deinzer, 1991); (Robertson, Rossiter, & Gleason, 1979) & (Rossiter & Robertson, 1980). Children’s pestering their parents for a product they have just seen advertised on TV is often taken as evidence of immediate effects. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another important area of unintended effects worth considering is the parent-child conflict that emerges when parents refuse to respond to children’s purchase-influence attempts (Robertson T. , 1979). In one study, Atkin (1975) found that more than half of the children reported becoming angry or arguing when a toy request was denied; in another (Atkin C. K., 1978), he observed high rates of child disappointment and anger in response to the majority of parent refusals for cereal requests at the supermarket. Other studies have also confirmed these patterns (Goldberg & Gorn, 1978) & (Sheikh & Moleski, 1977).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">THE INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING RELATIVE TO OTHER FACTORS</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Messages conveyed in mass media are more effective when it comes to calling attention to products and phenomena than they are at bringing about long-term changes in attitudes or behaviour. It is worth noting that television has long been the predominant medium that advertisers have chosen for marketing products to children. Proponents of television advertising point out that it is difficult to isolate direct effects of advertising from other interpersonal influences. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Furnham (1996) finds it impossible to isolate the influence of TV commercials from other influences. Furnham argues, further, that we have to take into account factors such as the age of the child, the family’s socio-economic status, the parents’ level of education and cultural background as well as the product category in question when we discuss influence. However, despite his conviction it is impossible to demonstrate the direct effects of TV commercials in isolation from other factors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
To sum up then there is consensus among researchers that family, siblings and friends exert a stronger influence on children’s lives than mass media in general and TV advertising in particular. This has long been considered an established truth among mass communication researchers. All these studies point to the hypothesis that interpersonal communication is far more effective when it comes to influencing attitudes, conceptions and behaviour than mass communication. The main difficulties we face when we attempt to assess the effects of media content are (1) to specify the various influences, independent from others and (2) to specify the interaction between interpersonal and mass communication. Questions that need to be answered are, for example: How do messages carried in the mass media penetrate and circulate through groups and interpersonal networks? If a friend tells a child that he should obtain something s/he has seen in a TV commercial, is the source of influence the child’s friend, or the commercial?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Surveying the research on children and television, we found that many different social and market agents having economic and political stakes in the issue are active in the policy debate. Proponents as well as opponents of television advertising aimed at children have initiated and financed studies, the results of which often serve their respective interests. The fact that a majority of the studies on this subject have been steered by extra-scientific interests, e.g., the policy decision, whether or not advertising to young children should be banned or regulated, means that the studies have had different starting points and perspectives. Thus, we find that those favouring TV advertising aimed at children prefer to cite research based on observations, the results of which indicate that even very young children can recognize and comprehend commercial messages. Opponents of such advertising tend, on the other hand, to cite findings based on verbal responses that show that only after some years can children distinguish commercials from other programme content and perceive its intent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">CHILDREN’S COMPREHENSION OF ADVERTISING</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Children are required to acquire two key information-processing skills to negotiate meaning and “mature” comprehension of advertising messages. First, children should be able to discriminate at a perceptual level commercial from non-commercial content, and secondly, children must be able to understand the persuasive intent behind advertising and adjust their interpretation of commercial messages consistent with that knowledge. Most researchers agree that these capabilities develop over time, largely as a function of cognitive growth and development rather than the accumulation of any particular amount of experience with media content (Kunkel D., 2001).Due to the similarities in terms of production conventions and featured characters in both children’s television programs and commercials, it is little wonder that young children experience difficulty in distinguishing between the program and commercial content.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is evidence that young children often fail to discriminate between a program and a commercial (Palmer & McDowell, 1979). Even if they acquire the ability to correctly apply the label “commercial” to advertisements, they do not necessarily understand that such content is separate and conceptually distinct from the program material. (Kunkel D., 1988a), It is apparent that the primary purpose of all television advertising is to influence the attitudes and subsequent behaviour of its viewers. Adults use a defence mechanism, a kind of cognitive filter, which helps them comprehend the intent and purpose of the commercial. However, young children, by virtue of their limited cognitive development, typically lack the ability to apply such protective and cognitive mechanisms to their understanding of television advertising. Given the complexities involved in appreciating the source’s perspective in the advertising process, there is a strong theoretical basis to expect that young children will have difficulty recognizing the persuasive intent underlying television advertising (Roberts, 1982). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">MEDIA LITERACY: EMPOWERING CHILDREN THROUGH EDUCATION</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It is noted that education and democracy are highly correlated. Education raises the benefits of civic engagement (Glaeser, Ponzetto, & Shleifer, 2007). “The uneducated man or the man with limited education is a different political actor from the man who has achieved a higher level of education” (Almond & Verba, 1989, p. 316). Democracy’s mainstay, citizenship, requires responsibility and exercise of such responsibility well and thoroughly in turn requires the need to be able to see the world and to see through media’s limited and inadequate representations of it (Silverstone, 2004). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Media literacy has often been described as a facilitation of a greater understanding of the persuasive intent behind advertising (Austin & Johnson, 1997a). This narrow definition presumes that by being forewarned of the persuasive intent, both adults and children can acquire necessary tools to effectively negotiate undesired effects of advertising in general. As the importance of media, information and communications in society grows media literacy has come to imply the ability to access, analyse, evaluate, and communicate information in a variety of format including print and electronic/digital. It includes the ability to both read (comprehend) and write (create, design, produce). It should lead to individuals attaining competencies develop critical thinking skills in order to question, analyse and evaluate any mediated information/message (Considine, 1995).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Media literacy Education and training has long been proposed as a necessary intervention in order to protect consumers, especially children, from the negative impact of persuasive communication such as advertising and product placement and to enable children to make informed choices before purchasing, or requesting, products (Kennedy D. G., 2004); (Rogers, 2002); (Armstrong & Merrie, 1988). There is some evidence that specific interventions in other areas, particularly alcohol use, tobacco use, body image issues and eating disorders, can be effective in changing both perceptions and behaviours and that pre-adolescents can be successfully targeted (Gonzales, Glik, Davoudi, & Ang, 2004); (Irving & Berel, 2001); (Austin & Johnson, 1997a); (Austin & Johnson, 1997b). Immediate effects included an understanding of the persuasive intent of advertising and a decreased perception regarding the desirability of products such as alcohol.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Concerned Children’s Advertisers (CCA) is a non-profit organization of Canadian companies established in 1990 which includes such flagship brand owners as Coca-Cola, McDonalds Restaurants, Kelloggs and Nestlé. For over fifteen years, CCA have provided a wide range of educational programs for children on topics such as drug use, self-esteem, coping with bullying and media literacy. Television public service announcements addressing each topic are aired using donated television time (Loblaw, 2001). Similarly, Media Smart a U.K. based media literacy program focuses specifically on advertising, and has been working towards increasing the ability of children to think critically about information from the media to which they are exposed (Media Smart 2003a and b). They base their recommendations for intervention on Section 6.7.1 of the British Communications Act: “This will help people to understand the distinctions between different media services, to appraise their content critically, to use the tools which are increasingly becoming available to navigate the electronic world, and to become empowered digital citizens. It will also help children to learn how to maintain critical distinctions such as those between fact and fiction (especially in interactive environments) or between reportage and advocacy, as well as how to assess commercial messages" (Media Smart, 2003a p.1).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">By contributing media literacy resources, the marketing industry may be seen positioning itself as being part of the solution to these problems and thereby seeks to avoid wide restrictions or outright bans on marketing communication, particularly for food products deemed to have little nutritional value directed at children (Kleinman, 2003a); (Rogers, 2002); (Teinowitz, 2001). The need to be seen to be taking positive action primarily in order to avert potential restrictions on advertising, says Cincotta (2005), is openly acknowledged by some sectors of the industry itself. Further, Hobbs (1998) suggests that such programmes are also in the interests of media organizations that support the interventions in order to reduce criticism of the potential negative effects of the media themselves. Considine (2002) somewhat cynically suggests that there is also an element of exploitation of the issue of media literacy by all parties simply for its rhetorical value.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Not much research has been done about how well adults themselves understand online content, but small-scale studies suggest that they are often unaware of the origin of information and may lack the skills to take into account the point of view from which that information is presented. This begs the question, that if parents themselves are not media literate how will they help their children understand the implications behind the advertisement? Although viewers are well aware when they are confronted with commercial messages on television (Sancho & Wilson, 2001), the changing conditions of advertising, sponsorship, branding, merchandising, paid-for-content, and other forms of promotion through broadcasting, the internet and mobile phones, set new literacy requirements. Little research exists on adults’ critical awareness of such promotional practices or on how better to support parental mediation of promotion to children (Kunkel & Wilcox, 2001); (Montgomery, 1996).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Media literacy therefore needs to be addressed not only towards children but adults as well. There are three main areas where media literacy can contribute. In a democratic society, a media-literate individual can take more informed decisions on matters concerning the public and political environment. Thus in a media-literate society an individual would be more aware, critical and proactive in the public sphere. In a market economy increasingly based on information, a media-literate individual would be innovative and competitive, and would be able to make positive choices. In today’s heavily mediated environment which informs and constructs the choices, values and knowledge that give meaning to everyday life, media literacy would facilitate an informed, creative and ethical society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">REFERENCES</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">1. Adler, R., Friedlander, B., Lesser, G., Meringoff, L., Robertson, T., Rossiter, J., et al. (1977). <i>Research on the effects of television advertising to children: A review of the literature and recommendations for the future research.</i> Washington, D.C.: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">2. Almarsdottir, A., & Bush, P. (1992). The influence of drug advertising on children‘s drug use attitudes and behaviors. <i>Journal of Drug Issues, 22</i>, 361-376. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">3. Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. 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(1990). <i>Television and Child Development.</i> Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">81. Williams, R. (1997). <i>Problems in Materialism and Culture: Selected Essays.</i> Verso Books. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">82. Winick, C., Williamson, L. G., Chuzmir, S. F., & Winnick, M. P. (1973). <i>Children's Television Commercials: A Content Analysis.</i> New York: Praeger. </span></div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-36326237139718086022011-04-08T07:11:00.000+01:002011-04-08T07:11:20.756+01:00'India Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The bane of our education system is deeply rooted in our failure to keep pace with latest developments in various academic fields, world over. We still teach from redundant texts. The traditional government sponsored institutions of learning are slowly crumbling into oblivion due to lack of funds and infrastructure. Moreover, Un-regulated privatisation of education in India is another major issue. Further, today, students seek a piece of paper called degree and are largely oblivious of the need to pursue knowledge and benefits of being well educated. Worse still, the schools and colleges are busy chasing profits – it’s just another business! They refuse to provide decent wages to their army of workers. Interestingly, just a decade ago these workers used to be called educators. The result is that we have teachers who take to teaching because they could not manage any other job. There is no passion or calling – just substandard human work force.<br />
<br />
<br />
There is a new corporate culture which has overtaken the education sector and subverted it into a regular profit centric industry with little or no ethics and moral qualms. The quality of students passing out each year has been steadily deteriorating by the passage of each academic year. These jewels are burgeoning as our new intelligentsia. These newly spawned intellectuals, products of privatised individual consumption and capitalist hegemony, form the capital that will decide the fate of our country – a frightening thought, indeed!<br />
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Yet, all is not lost! Despite the all-pervading bleak scenario – there is hope. Once in a while, we do run across a youngster studying with unadulterated thirst for knowledge; a gifted educator teaching with burning passion – a mortal who took to teaching out of ‘calling’; and a business man chasing a selfless vision for better tomorrow decides to setup schools and seats of higher learning. Yes, there still exist a certain percentage of people who realise that all private institutions are always better, efficient, and professionally managed than public institutions is a myth of modern consumer based market. It is time when we all reign in the downslide by contributing our mite before this sign of dwindling hope is lost for ever.<br />
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Also, please read: 'India Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire' at<br />
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703515504576142092863219826.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703515504576142092863219826.html</a> </div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-32563077545634166042009-11-28T16:40:00.000+00:002009-11-28T17:00:01.315+00:00“SHORTS”: Not So TALL Tales from the Director of 'Spy Kids'<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZpAsEkHZtPLOD6tfpigfZvZiRbBvl84u9szJr4vrO98xIYst-T7jpPfsX2B1qhm4B_zZyJy0UcNVrO3m-WWwMBc4PHlo8Hu0hQZ7_2a12YPxbR2abLWiqOwFweDmxNbYdvb3/s1600/Jolie+Vanier.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 231px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409195803104739362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ZpAsEkHZtPLOD6tfpigfZvZiRbBvl84u9szJr4vrO98xIYst-T7jpPfsX2B1qhm4B_zZyJy0UcNVrO3m-WWwMBc4PHlo8Hu0hQZ7_2a12YPxbR2abLWiqOwFweDmxNbYdvb3/s320/Jolie+Vanier.jpg" /></a>After rather insistent pestering & pleas, I sat down with my kids to see Robert Rodriguez’s Shorts (released 2009). The kids laughed and seemed to enjoy it, so did my wife. The film has a non-linear story structure coupled with a storyline, which is not too boring! I must admit, much to the director’s credit that the cast & the narrative do manage to keep one’s interest in this otherwise ordinary film.<br /><br />Critically speaking, the movie lacks finesse and survives on a rather low-mid end effects and an over-simplistic script. Robert Rodriguez fails to capitalize on Jon Cryer, and Leslie Mann while wasting a very versatile actor in James Spader.<br /><br />I find it hard to believe that anybody thinks this movie will be successful. Actually, it is going to be surprising if this movie really does well at the box office. It tries rather unsuccessfully to tag themes like wishful thinking, intra-personal communication, teamwork, parenting, brothers, bullies, and boogers into a film with the hope that any one device will work… the end is too didactic! I found some redeeming features in the portrayal of a child who emerges as the most intelligent being in the Black Fall community and saves the world (read as the film) from disaster.<br /><br />However, the film can stake claim to having focused our attention on a rather talented child-actress, Jolie Vanier, who plays the female lead. I think this young eleven-year-old woman seems to have a great future.<br /><br />In the end, it may be surmised that this movie is not suitable for anybody over ten. However, some adults (parents) are likely to give it a nod more for the clean sanitized script rather than for any other reason.<br /><br />Jolie Vanier photograph taken from: http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTc5Mjk3MjU2OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODE0MzkyMg@@._V1._SX289_SY400_.jpg</div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-747209012476276892009-11-27T07:08:00.000+00:002009-11-27T07:40:24.358+00:00Is America bashing just a sport...Many people revel in loving to hate America. Some say that this hate has flowered into a favorite past time for many a disgruntled lot. Well, what ever is your viewpoint, I am sure, you have your reasons.<br /><br />I am rather indifferent to such expressions of hate and love. I don't hate America. However, its foreign policies remain largely unacceptable and its attitude to some of the issues like pollution, environment, arms race, Israel and nuclear control is appalling, immature and short sighted. <br /><br />Yet, I say - without any fear of contradiction - I do admire America and like Americans. I am no America-hater, but do not indulge in over simplistic uttering of George Bush and likes... ‘American way or the highway’.<br /><br />We have to take a note of the fact that America has over exploited the initial doctrine of Grand Isolation to the hilt and interfered everywhere to suit its shortsighted gains.<br /><br />If America is to redeem itself, it has to realize (and same goes for its bitter critics) and accept that it is an important leader in the world community... but America needs to embrace this role with sagacity, seriousness and without typical western biases.<br /><br />I would encourage the readers to visit an interesting link below to get some insight on the issue...<br />http://www.vexen.co.uk/USA/hateamerica.htmlMusings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-34460761687655462772008-12-22T11:26:00.000+00:002008-12-23T07:52:01.690+00:00George Walker Bush: A Failed Legacy<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTevtFwwFEyb-5v1O6plShsuKb8vnyxeD47ekcy2uWNcqGH1979EiVSnXEcOeFFFMhxcItc72fRD9e3806imnPa2RCe1Iyvp66SZKBThX6yiAHYY4oBNK_IHi7Qf9iazwGQet/s1600-h/Bush+Sketch.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282574907494891506" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 217px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTevtFwwFEyb-5v1O6plShsuKb8vnyxeD47ekcy2uWNcqGH1979EiVSnXEcOeFFFMhxcItc72fRD9e3806imnPa2RCe1Iyvp66SZKBThX6yiAHYY4oBNK_IHi7Qf9iazwGQet/s320/Bush+Sketch.jpg" border="0" /></a>How will you remember the out going 43rd president of the United States of America, George Walker Bush? </div><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify">The days after 9/11 were a spine chilling reminder that America faces murderous enemies spanning the globe, and to his credit, it was President Bush who reassured and led his nation in a time of unimaginably harrowing grief. His leadership immediately following the September 11th attacks, especially with regard to building a worldwide coalition in the early fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, seemed to promise great things… but then promises are mere promises!</p><p align="justify">Those great things, however, never materialized. The Iraq war, the Hurricane Katrina debacle, near showdown with Iran, standoff with North Korea, handling of emergent Russia and a history of disregard for civil liberties and international law has virtually destroyed President Bush’s legacy in the short term, at least for the remainder of his lifetime. Not to forget, his lame duck role as the American Economy went into recession and thousands lost jobs and homes.</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLcTXBUryCFde6lvoEB09X2ZplQw4YqqE90zl2YSAOFPTb6AldPQtEs9h3_gEQN7PMr4DcyF9XK1ci3xvlc_wOfK9EMElEVXZ94Nw67v2BE0vJlai6n0-iVBYpXEyHeJntdSe/s1600-h/Time+Magazine+ground+Zero.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282579200185531442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 211px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLcTXBUryCFde6lvoEB09X2ZplQw4YqqE90zl2YSAOFPTb6AldPQtEs9h3_gEQN7PMr4DcyF9XK1ci3xvlc_wOfK9EMElEVXZ94Nw67v2BE0vJlai6n0-iVBYpXEyHeJntdSe/s320/Time+Magazine+ground+Zero.jpg" border="0" /></a>I still remember, it was hot and sultry in the newsroom and everyone’s eyes were glued to a TV set - New York’s iconic twin towers were conspicuous by their absence, amidst dirt and rubble, at ‘Ground Zero’ stood President George W. Bush addressing a shell shocked nation. “America today is on a bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. This nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens.” A rescue worker, who couldn’t hear the President uttered: “I can't hear you!” What followed was unscripted rhetoric. President Bush remarked extemporaneously, "<em>I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!"</em> [Transcript Source: White House (www.whitehouse.gov)] I immediately developed a sense of awe and respect for the patriarch whose paternalistic devotion to protect his people in the wake of 9/11 reigned supreme. But what followed was an unmitigated disaster for America.</p><p align="justify">If my memory serves me right, I think President Bush has the unique distinction of being the first president of the United States to include diverse underrepresented groups within the federal government, especially within his cabinet. He needs to be acknowledged for crossing partisan lines and continuing the Clintonian tradition. History will remember President Bush in part for appointing Condoleezza Rice (the first African-American National Security Advisory), Colin Powell (the first African-American Secretary of State), Elaine Chao (the first Asian-American Secretary of Labour), and Alberto Gonzales (the first Chicano Attorney General). Dr. Condoleezza Rice subsequently went on to become the Secretary of State (second African American, and the second woman - after Madeleine Albright) …</p><p align="justify">President Bush, despite having highly qualified and intellectual office-bearers at the Oval Office, has suffered a misplaced ideological handicap. He never came out of the influence of the Cold War Era (perhaps courtesy his father and Ronald Reagan, his hero) nor did he choose to acquaint himself with the larger reality that the <em>American Way of Life is not the only way of life</em>. He was lost in the world where free and unregulated Market Forces formed the only life support system and <em>Capitalism was the will of God</em>. Economic & Market Regulatory framework amounted to governmental control, therefore akin to Socialism – thus a taboo! Therefore, when the American Economy showed the first major signs of crisis, about two years ago with the housing/realty sector, some intervention was warranted. No not for President Bush! Run away corruption and greed has been raising its ugly head at Wall Street for now roughly three years. Corporate scandals (like Enron) abounded as did the greed of Oil companies to reap profits with the ethics of a grave robber. All this did not bode well for the corporate sector, the economy, and the American goodwill world wide.</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpCVN-TfQEMQnHd8YfWPJrN2atsC4Vfz-aM2Sn6sucQpDTKM9r7mv9Kolbe_CTt1pnqhpU8HVdhgbdXsNmHk2u6zw0FU9i7XGzHtWS3K3keIALR82f1q735c9V-Fbk2wpXGVAH/s1600-h/anti-american+sentiment.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282579475757456914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpCVN-TfQEMQnHd8YfWPJrN2atsC4Vfz-aM2Sn6sucQpDTKM9r7mv9Kolbe_CTt1pnqhpU8HVdhgbdXsNmHk2u6zw0FU9i7XGzHtWS3K3keIALR82f1q735c9V-Fbk2wpXGVAH/s320/anti-american+sentiment.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>What will be George W. Bush’s legacy?</strong> The answer seems sadly simple… the president who, on his farewell visit to Iraq, had to duck and negotiate flying shoes. <em>The “President of War”</em>! The President who misinformed and in all probability even lied to the world, as his administration conspired against Saddam Hussein. Bush mesmerized the American people with his highly imaginative and inaccurate tales of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein being flip sides of the same coin.</p><p align="justify">The 43rd President of the United States of America will also be remembered as the one who finally managed to alienate America’s closest European allies. Germany and France found themselves openly voicing their disenchantment with the <em>“Bush Doctrine”.</em> Ironically, after eight years of Bush rule - inclusive of five years of the “Bush Doctrine,” America landed up undermining the very foundation of the United Nations that it had helped create by unilaterally embarking on the Invasion of Iraq. Interestingly, <em>the American Don Quixote</em> while championing the cause of democracy pursued a typical authoritarian road map to Baghdad. In the process, the knight in tin armour sowed seeds of discontent and resentment even in quarters that were sympathetic to <em>the American View of the World</em>. It is under President Bush’s stewardship, the Pew Global Attitudes Project findings indicate, that the global opinion of the United States of America has taken a serious tumble.</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwec2rL7mVKLGvG5B6kIEfFes8Aoq2oxYplBP8jQ8ynUXxvQ2nsHRCj4fqE2nChI6Ra04P5qPt76LZwcluXhXfPOkaIfk0BnCU8EcWRdfqzJ_ZmHRYVEXq31knwoUAnxMnTI1C/s1600-h/american+forces+patrol+iraqi+border.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282589634991306530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 231px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwec2rL7mVKLGvG5B6kIEfFes8Aoq2oxYplBP8jQ8ynUXxvQ2nsHRCj4fqE2nChI6Ra04P5qPt76LZwcluXhXfPOkaIfk0BnCU8EcWRdfqzJ_ZmHRYVEXq31knwoUAnxMnTI1C/s320/american+forces+patrol+iraqi+border.jpg" border="0" /></a>In today’s world of economic inter-dependency, given the size and nature of the America-centric international trade and commerce, it is unlikely that many countries may go the whole hog in assuming rigid anti-American stances. But, I fear that America may have isolated itself in most international organisations, including the United Nations.</p><p align="justify">Denial of the Global Warming Phenomena, Somersaults on the Kyoto Agreement, keeping quiet on the China-Tibet issue, overlooking tin-pot dictators in Africa (and at times supporting them), skewed policies in dealing with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, wanton violation of the Geneva Convention at prisons like Abu Ghraib and detention centres like in Guantanamo Bay have done irreparable damage to America. And, all of that has happened under the watch of George W. Bush.</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZC81FDKl0wh9ctgVxq28jIKIKJ1zKFl38csJ6TEOhXqsh_aMUU2NzY11RAj-3nTVsluTS_RH8ux7DUmIitZPj34BL9YbC1a38EGXinCBMQt_kz_1jAk5WZBChGKc3rkleAqxa/s1600-h/mission-accomplished.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282580999590473122" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 179px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZC81FDKl0wh9ctgVxq28jIKIKJ1zKFl38csJ6TEOhXqsh_aMUU2NzY11RAj-3nTVsluTS_RH8ux7DUmIitZPj34BL9YbC1a38EGXinCBMQt_kz_1jAk5WZBChGKc3rkleAqxa/s320/mission-accomplished.jpg" border="0" /></a>It was not long ago when President Bush stood on a naval aircraft carrier with a banner screaming “<em>mission accomplished</em>!” The invasion of Iraq was over, the war on terror won and democracy established in Iraq! Three years down the line body bags continue to arrive in America, with no end in sight. America today rides a tiger which it fears disembarking! The truth is that the moment American forces retreat from this quagmire; all rival factions will usher Iraq into a bloodbath. It seems, Iraq was definitely better off under Saddam!</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Tf8TLsoVXWntkop2KLWyht4dJkyP4o7Nd_rTBUM5q6ng6zRjvo3cZA__mK0sycj9BcdZ2JeNa2tcEKrYvYrOz_SZ1-ZIxbeWGvAnB776y62sbuyqJ5OTEh7sV2fYj8z6Znwe/s1600-h/war+in+iran.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282581274593023122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Tf8TLsoVXWntkop2KLWyht4dJkyP4o7Nd_rTBUM5q6ng6zRjvo3cZA__mK0sycj9BcdZ2JeNa2tcEKrYvYrOz_SZ1-ZIxbeWGvAnB776y62sbuyqJ5OTEh7sV2fYj8z6Znwe/s320/war+in+iran.jpg" border="0" /></a>On the other hand spasmodic efforts to engage Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan have failed to secure safety for America. Mr. Bush committed himself and his people to the Afghan War (and I am reminded of “Auckland's Folly” of 1838) without having deliberated on a viable alternative to Taliban for Afghanistan – like economic and social development. The President had <em>rushed in where angels have feared to tread</em>! Today, America faces graver security threats at the hands of terrorist than ever before.</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOP3zoT18HERbookO5AnHnFAJoD2MLMmI2IdM585zStrHncBHcsuCMYbXhBd4KNeZKnBx5-_XM4d6FMjTPqLOzQWBOtwwoLD6iTlxAV3BLlowVF5AO2MHSL0xgsRgR-DhSVrJ/s1600-h/stevebell512ready.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282581553483615074" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 237px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOP3zoT18HERbookO5AnHnFAJoD2MLMmI2IdM585zStrHncBHcsuCMYbXhBd4KNeZKnBx5-_XM4d6FMjTPqLOzQWBOtwwoLD6iTlxAV3BLlowVF5AO2MHSL0xgsRgR-DhSVrJ/s320/stevebell512ready.jpg" border="0" /></a>President Bush went on to become highly unpopular within his own country, as well. The Patriot Act provided the federal government with the legal jurisdiction and political capital to access the personal information of its citizens. President Bush reversed some of the most basic of guaranteed civil liberties including Article IV of the Bill of Rights. The security agencies indulged in stereotypes and social profiling is carried out against a certain set of people irrespective of their nationality to the extent that it has become an abomination.</p><p align="justify">Many critics believe that Bush was a disaster; they have gone to the limit of attributing even the present global economic crash to his policies. According to them, President Bush will go down in history books for the following reasons: </p><ul><li><div align="justify">Abu Ghraib<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3MK2VtWL_8XNF87pX1qaMvaCZU49Kd2RTbyoR8wpbTyfNPoIsCsMIV8hDAKdwyJqM4d13Fo5SKdzezJfo2rRPrk2soPz8MOOuOAygr5bjmhx5SMM4A5-Z8ni4JshnR-830Ye/s1600-h/three_dead_american_soldiers.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282583209517217474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 179px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC3MK2VtWL_8XNF87pX1qaMvaCZU49Kd2RTbyoR8wpbTyfNPoIsCsMIV8hDAKdwyJqM4d13Fo5SKdzezJfo2rRPrk2soPz8MOOuOAygr5bjmhx5SMM4A5-Z8ni4JshnR-830Ye/s320/three_dead_american_soldiers.gif" border="0" /></a></div></li><li><div align="justify">Alberto Gonzalez</div></li><li><div align="justify">Blackwater</div></li><li><div align="justify">Cheney shooting someone in the face</div></li><li><div align="justify">Enron</div></li><li><div align="justify">Faith Based Initiatives</div></li><li><div align="justify">Falsified intelligence</div></li><li><div align="justify">Firing of U.S. Attorneys</div></li><li><div align="justify">Inflation</div></li><li><div align="justify">Loss of Habeas Corpus</div></li><li><div align="justify">Rising unemployment</div></li><li><div align="justify">Scooter Libby</div></li><li><div align="justify">September 11, 2001<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbKJ63SlXtrgmh6E9yXk4fEmXJm7Nf_A-lEFfcrQjo2FGC5CTn1isX1nba97aVaiYCoDYyxJ_Tlg98qRcCKlmg096lQZJO5mTDTI_DRJkgevyncnbWj2iHICRRq_mqagqWzvZ/s1600-h/casket08.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282584347665701970" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbKJ63SlXtrgmh6E9yXk4fEmXJm7Nf_A-lEFfcrQjo2FGC5CTn1isX1nba97aVaiYCoDYyxJ_Tlg98qRcCKlmg096lQZJO5mTDTI_DRJkgevyncnbWj2iHICRRq_mqagqWzvZ/s320/casket08.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></li><li><div align="justify">Sinking economy</div></li><li><div align="justify">Sinking public opinion</div></li><li><div align="justify">Soaring gas prices</div></li><li><div align="justify">Suppression of climate science</div></li><li><div align="justify">The Afghan War</div></li><li><div align="justify">The Iraqi Quagmire</div></li><li><div align="justify">The Katrina debacle</div></li><li><div align="justify">The Patriot Act</div></li><li><div align="justify">Torture</div></li><li><div align="justify">Tyco</div></li><li><div align="justify">Veto of stem cell bill</div></li><li><div align="justify">Water Boarding</div></li><li><div align="justify">Wire Tapping</div></li></ul><p align="justify">To sum up I would like to quote Monti Narayan Datta’s dissertation work focusing on the consequences of anti-Americanism for the US national interest.</p><blockquote><p align="justify">“The legacy of George W. Bush will be bleak. Here stands a man with essentially a good heart, and the right intentions—to help spread freedom and democracy around the globe. He has enjoyed the company of a brilliant cabinet in the Oval Office that has shared his ideological misadventures. Yet, the man has done more harm to the US national interest in the past five years than all other US presidents have over the past fifty-years combined... President Bush’s policies have garnered hatred around the world, particularly in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration has sharply curtailed some of Americans’ basic civil liberties... tarring America’s image as a country of freedom and equality... America is far less safe today because of one, and only one man—George W. Bush.”</p></blockquote><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhnb98pDmdKu00EPUKJTITY7FQdA45YfNm6pTdtdYN2hpx-UsIojO6_aQyCdFwEV790F9agRSp_V9bHktGAkTyj9IIQW7-UrbrnFBLwmnfW35Diz2EriCJ-SculIo5wKkaIhP/s1600-h/Israel.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282585124482113986" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 284px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 243px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhnb98pDmdKu00EPUKJTITY7FQdA45YfNm6pTdtdYN2hpx-UsIojO6_aQyCdFwEV790F9agRSp_V9bHktGAkTyj9IIQW7-UrbrnFBLwmnfW35Diz2EriCJ-SculIo5wKkaIhP/s320/Israel.gif" border="0" /></a>I do not absolve President Bush of his doings, but I am also convinced that President Bush <em>served merely as a catalyst to polarise all Anti-American sentiment which had been simmering across the globe</em> for a long-long time. Europe has been talking of the neo-imperialism of America long before even George Bush Senior had descended on the White House. Latin America always found itself at wrong end of the White House’s policies. Many dictators and unpopular governments, all across the globe, have survived by merely granting concessions to Multi-National Companies (to be read as the American Interest). Ever since the Balfour Declaration in 1918, the Arab World has felt cheated! The American policy in dealing with Israel has done little to restore trust or even assuage the frayed tempers in the Middle East. The West’s and the US’s long standing obsession with Islam as a threat perception has added fuel to fire.</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSn_MnpDqY9JZfKJMuawvD0Ttu62PwjGFr6OdZ-NYCOLyNqoYoSDD1O4AoIsinqTl_H71PViMhpMER8sroye0mkN2a5LRpD6oCNHeuVZDCWXqgZfEVyYhMTZ_cg4HEeUBpJLx/s1600-h/patriot_missile_batter_at_sunset.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282586956708938674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 247px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSn_MnpDqY9JZfKJMuawvD0Ttu62PwjGFr6OdZ-NYCOLyNqoYoSDD1O4AoIsinqTl_H71PViMhpMER8sroye0mkN2a5LRpD6oCNHeuVZDCWXqgZfEVyYhMTZ_cg4HEeUBpJLx/s320/patriot_missile_batter_at_sunset.jpg" border="0" /></a>We know that George Walker Bush did not conjure up the “Clash of Civilisations” theory, he simply was not wedded to the idea of a “Dialogue among Civilizations” keeping in line with polices of many of his predecessors. Most of the Third World and the Developing Nations have been wary or “pissed off” with the American View of the World. President Bush did not create Osama bin Laden, Osama and his likes are outcome of a consistent viewpoint held by the American polity! Ironically, Bush tried to don the mantle of the Messiah of Peace between Israel and Palestine but failed miserably! When giants cast a shadow hope for shade!</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IHDvjwQHz056J93k6d-T4l-mahI9mpBnMrjYFnyolrprdceeSIQljfsctyRQWELps-s_CqXyq0eLerCGo0IlXyM_GLu1kJ3sOh6D80gqRNDbculXjetUvxeCkCocKtbxSAKw/s1600-h/bushsoldiers_web.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282590578834519986" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 250px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IHDvjwQHz056J93k6d-T4l-mahI9mpBnMrjYFnyolrprdceeSIQljfsctyRQWELps-s_CqXyq0eLerCGo0IlXyM_GLu1kJ3sOh6D80gqRNDbculXjetUvxeCkCocKtbxSAKw/s320/bushsoldiers_web.jpg" border="0" /></a><em>America is definitely not a villain of the first order nor is all encompassing conclave of so-called anti-American sentiment innocent lambs.</em> All that the 43rd President of the United States of America did was, rather tactlessly; bring the malady plaguing the world to the fore! He was, in part, reaping the fruits from the seeds that some of his predecessors had sown. Yet, he will be seen as a President who missed opportunities at every turn to make the country and the world a better, safer place. He will be remembered as the leader who diminished respect for America around the globe. And more than any President in American history, he divided people along religious and ideological lines to further his own agenda. Given the reason for the ongoing fight in Iraq, this last part is the saddest irony of all. He was simply a wrong man at a wrong place at a wrong time!</p>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-14082338900025978712008-11-28T07:58:00.000+00:002008-11-29T09:18:16.533+00:00Mumbai 26/11 - Hostage Drama plays out on Electronic Media<div align="justify"><div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tJ-25G9HQxOHhY8JBjRl8X93ntqmbLeH9k6gn8_uXnQgQbqkfYCNBWD37NaQmA-Ji_OGymllLpdRZhX_8H9ZvJhqka6dBKxUNqUNBUbEJ44v9fdMrUrebJMvpQq81de9YCGF/s1600-h/mumbai-attacks+6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273659450050647474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 258px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tJ-25G9HQxOHhY8JBjRl8X93ntqmbLeH9k6gn8_uXnQgQbqkfYCNBWD37NaQmA-Ji_OGymllLpdRZhX_8H9ZvJhqka6dBKxUNqUNBUbEJ44v9fdMrUrebJMvpQq81de9YCGF/s400/mumbai-attacks+6.jpg" border="0" /></a>It is has been over 42 hours since Indians have been struggling to come to terms with the new face of terrorism which descended on Mumbai with altered ‘rules of the game’. The wake of terror has left around 125 dead, over 300 injured and some 30 presumably held hostage.</div><div align="justify"><div align="justify"><div align="justify"><p>Yes, the security lapses are evident, from the luxury hotel staff level to anti-terrorist forces right through counter-terrorist bodies & intelligence agencies. Yes, the Financial Capital of India, Mumbai, with a population of around 19 million coupled with a humungous figure that floats in and out each day as immigrant work force makes it a rather uphill task to enforce a security blanket or track potential threat perspectives with surety.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqm8FBTPYdWNpTLO6HriAWE6c3JGqQAQxEL2uxErsbwiWF-V7Z8mQDRtlGrPXUOIh0M_zmbpQsqh2CJkqX0qCE35d90Vaj_b2k_R0X2vnFlwt_WCcJijXJ9mc6t-bPt8SeN6xA/s1600-h/army+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273993065963709650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 145px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqm8FBTPYdWNpTLO6HriAWE6c3JGqQAQxEL2uxErsbwiWF-V7Z8mQDRtlGrPXUOIh0M_zmbpQsqh2CJkqX0qCE35d90Vaj_b2k_R0X2vnFlwt_WCcJijXJ9mc6t-bPt8SeN6xA/s200/army+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Yes, the security forces may have fumbled initially but to insinuate that they were a bunch of headless chickens running amok is wrong, biased, outright stupid and irresponsible as some of the international media tried hinting. The BBC World Services went to the extent of stating that the Indian Security Forces were adopting the same foolhardy approach that the Russians had taken during the Chechen separatist / terrorists’ October 2002 seizure of Moscow's Dubrovka Theater, where approximately seven hundred people were attending a performance. Russian Special Forces launched a rescue operation, but the opium-derived gas they used to disable the hostage-takers killed more than 120 hostages, as well as many of the terrorists. BBC London went the whole hog on how India has transformed from a strong emergent economy and a highly favoured foreign investment destination to a highly unsafe, terror and strife ridden country. According to initial reports from London, foreign investors are trying to withdraw their capital, lock stock and barrel. It seems that this illustrious institution of journalism forgot all about the global credit crunch, recession in Europe and the United States of America, not to mention China, India, Japan and the rest of the world. Interestingly, all of the major financial rating companies have attributed the decline in foreign investment in India to the global credit crunch and strongly feel that 26/11 – the Mumbai crisis will have a marginal effect in the long run. The foreign media seems to be much more concerned with the foreign tourists being targeted rather than the human tragedy which is unfolding. However, despite the initial reports of British and American passport holders being singled out, according to the reports filtering in, out of the 125 deaths so far, only six were that of foreign nationals while the death toll of security personnel lost has still not been released.</p><p>Paula Newton, an international security correspondent for CNN based in CNN's London bureau, came up with an equally ridiculous stance that the Indian Intelligence was as blind as a bat and had no idea how to react to situations like 26/11. She then embraced a didactic avatar educating the viewers about how the security forces should have conducted themselves and what<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vVdyIM2R7wgCOC_9UMXYtYBMxLc3_Wyr6l-zy7LfZa3pDRZj2ev1UQHFXckRwIbYYE6pt3LcJJAENQ9WZT_oGuykTPGZ1ETgy8jo95nWW0Q1qA5pco6YxrRsJTZXsFg9FaCt/s1600-h/army+6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273993811044665714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 142px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vVdyIM2R7wgCOC_9UMXYtYBMxLc3_Wyr6l-zy7LfZa3pDRZj2ev1UQHFXckRwIbYYE6pt3LcJJAENQ9WZT_oGuykTPGZ1ETgy8jo95nWW0Q1qA5pco6YxrRsJTZXsFg9FaCt/s200/army+6.jpg" border="0" /></a> precautions should have been taken by the Indian Security Agencies post-Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing that occurred on 20 September 2008. She made it seem that American Security Agencies knew that 9/11 would take place and they had prevented it. She spoke of how western security concerns are addressed by their respective countries. Ironically, the security agencies in the world’s most monitored city by all sorts of cameras failed to foil the 7 July 2005 London bombings (also called the 7/7 bombings).</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c00JTLk_d8BCqcbQwK1FtnyOgACBBafNfWKISQorKFDPgewG4YygGZZbkphFXhAB8aSQiySeUcESrUxg4deiNlC-2FF_zBSZy0Kv_XWAJ9R5eVgYgQwcNRvOug_h1PF_ILhf/s1600-h/Bombaybomb_12__441078a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274000625641374946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 123px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c00JTLk_d8BCqcbQwK1FtnyOgACBBafNfWKISQorKFDPgewG4YygGZZbkphFXhAB8aSQiySeUcESrUxg4deiNlC-2FF_zBSZy0Kv_XWAJ9R5eVgYgQwcNRvOug_h1PF_ILhf/s200/Bombaybomb_12__441078a.jpg" border="0" /></a>Al Jazeera had its own take! Mahan Abedin, an insurgency analyst, deliberated on the “sheer inequality of life in India” theory. Al Jazeera is confident that India has highly fractured, bitter and acrimonious inter-communal relations between the Muslims and the Hindus as the order of the day. Terrorism in India should be seen in this light and be regarded as home grown. Abedin stated that even people who commit heinous acts of violence occasionally make a valid point. I do concede that indeed by showing genuine concern for the plight of the millions of people who are at risk of death from poverty and by honouring the sanctity of the lives of the most destitute, we have the best chance of defeating the ideologies of hate. However, it is pertinent to point out that this alleged hatred is confined to the ultra-rightwing thinkers of both side of the divide only. India would have not emerged as a major economy if a state of peaceful coexistence and profit making had not existed.</p><p>Here I would like to point out that it is highly probable that there is a ‘foreign sectarian conspiracy’ that seeks to punish India for having sided with two major western powers in its so-called war against terror. This foreign hand has tapped on the ultra-rightwing minorities. But the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbQPakwwp-5vp5kQVFWUhw1E2FpVQ-q6y8khaon0bkxrSXyRG8IJfa-5D5FZWSak0pby4YvHqRmSlRzWTW8a3h3_PJPU0nsr66JLMXoFUaogK580DxzA_PeDAG8kWNojy6O__/s1600-h/army+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273994572051765090" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 146px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbQPakwwp-5vp5kQVFWUhw1E2FpVQ-q6y8khaon0bkxrSXyRG8IJfa-5D5FZWSak0pby4YvHqRmSlRzWTW8a3h3_PJPU0nsr66JLMXoFUaogK580DxzA_PeDAG8kWNojy6O__/s200/army+3.jpg" border="0" /></a> Indian Terrorist/Separatist Movement (and mind you I refer to all ultra-right wing Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Nagas) has never ever targeted the western populace. It has at most indulged in planting bombs, low or high intensity, but never sent trained warriors to undertake ‘urbanised terror-war games’. Unfortunately, the appearance of the Grand Old Butcher of the Western Indian State of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, on the national media with his blame game did validate Al Jazeera’s claim.</p><p>The very fact that India’s war on terror, and I use the term with some reservation and it is not in the same way that Bush uses it, is summoning up resources from various federal and state authorities, also came under fire from many an international news agencies. All three major and respected broadcasting agencies used disparaging terms like ‘confused’, ‘uncoordinated’, and ‘aimlessness of the effort’. I am yet to come across any security operation conducted by any security agency anywhere in the world having invited the media as its silent partner. The media has always been used by everyone as a vehicle of their intent only. Yet it is the duty of the media to work as a watchdog of society to deliver authenticated facts and not indulge in rumour mongering. Maybe, in retrospect, the Indian authorities should have had regular press-briefings<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUGkbKt5a40VGkluVB9c5i7d0KYhxC68KxQ7RJL9txUD4mcXd0HsIwhix4nUwnZAmscvkWv3t55fyBk4Q2Th8iLnhavCe4Dij8FO5-XPEtRuaYwVxMCOPGgV7fhVwx35bsWeJ/s1600-h/army+4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274000031288139858" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 152px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIUGkbKt5a40VGkluVB9c5i7d0KYhxC68KxQ7RJL9txUD4mcXd0HsIwhix4nUwnZAmscvkWv3t55fyBk4Q2Th8iLnhavCe4Dij8FO5-XPEtRuaYwVxMCOPGgV7fhVwx35bsWeJ/s200/army+4.jpg" border="0" /></a> to feed the media with controlled information that could circulate in the public domain. When the press briefings did happen they were definitely uncoordinated, ill prepared and the authorities seemed to present unfriendly officers before the press. These officers were members of the actual tactical teams that had gone in. Further, these officers had not been briefed, by their superiors with public relations experience, about how much to speak or what to speak.</p><p>It was natural for all international media to turn to the Indian broadcast institutions for information. It turned out to be a case of the ‘blind leading the blind’. NDTV, one of India’s major news channel’s coverage looked immature charged with passion, devoid of any real authentic facts, pathetic use of clichés, and highly ungrammatical usage of English. We heard pidgin statements like “terrorists full of guns”, “eighth round of gunshots”, “forces will encounter here”, “two terrorist are encountered here”, “this is where fresh blood fell”, “they first come by sea” etc.</p><p>The first 12 hours were reported with the enthusiasm of an election coverage mated with readings of a cricket score card. Reporters, it is obvious were fresh and had no idea how to report an incident like what was unfolding in Mumbai. One excited young lady reported with spasmodic gestures, “These are fresh blood stains, this is exactly where somebody was killed.” Another, journalist was seen beaming with pride that she was at an undisclosable location to witness “the end game” unfold… a refrain that she is still using after a lapse of 40 hours of the hostage drama. Another journalist, obviously <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4TON2a6Sa8PBV1ElCCr0HYDnkDcIbQb-iBpmUDgEgTZ7HUchfhks1OFWahTSqRWC7LyfVuvp1d8nd_bqyD1LkTVKbLR164k21dTPHJau0TBFGxNZRLPf_l607C-s9Bao_HiR/s1600-h/Bombaybomb_9__441090a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273999221815163874" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 233px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4TON2a6Sa8PBV1ElCCr0HYDnkDcIbQb-iBpmUDgEgTZ7HUchfhks1OFWahTSqRWC7LyfVuvp1d8nd_bqyD1LkTVKbLR164k21dTPHJau0TBFGxNZRLPf_l607C-s9Bao_HiR/s320/Bombaybomb_9__441090a.jpg" border="0" /></a>impressed by the phrase, adapted a new construct of ‘final push’. Then there was another journalist who could only utter “there is utter confusion here” repeatedly, as the camera kept rocking and swaying only to reveal security forces calmly lining up some hundred metres away. We also heard the refrain of “mother ship”, “delicate stage of end game”, “war zone”, “this is India’s 9/11”, “Mumbai 9/11”. And we had a barrage of questions at the press conference, with classics like “What is the condition of the dead bodies?” “What is the condition of the explosives?” and “How did the holed up terrorists defend themselves?”</p><p>However, once the initial rush of adrenaline subsided and the senior journalists descended on the scene, NDTV tried going slow on the rumour mill and projecting unconfirmed reports and conjectures as facts. Unfortunately, by then the damage had been done. International media was quoting them as Indian commentators calling the situation as fluid and highly confusing. This picture may be attributed to the fact that most Indian broadcast journalists claimed access to well placed, authoritative and informed sources and what they were narrating as facts. NDTV’s attempt to portray the human angle to this hostage drama is commendable, especially when facts are hard to come by.</p><p>On a lighter note, I couldn’t help noticing, during the early hours of the hostage drama, that when one foreign media chose to interview some Mumbai radio jockey by the name of Ms. Malini, as a witness, her accent transformed from a typical Indian to a highly affected and anglicised and nasal English… </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKznD_GQM5Q6Zk7hhL1QxsdW5F_uQeHJcbHHlRK51FD71CuF-sd2508ma7MFM-gaqBl1utywdfkCCdoLIH13Xg9Q2_xbHOHmFtEugKTc0HbEfpuKLWBFaf9GjV6DNWQLFgSOSh/s1600-h/army.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274001791221280018" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 142px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKznD_GQM5Q6Zk7hhL1QxsdW5F_uQeHJcbHHlRK51FD71CuF-sd2508ma7MFM-gaqBl1utywdfkCCdoLIH13Xg9Q2_xbHOHmFtEugKTc0HbEfpuKLWBFaf9GjV6DNWQLFgSOSh/s200/army.jpg" border="0" /></a>To finally conclude, I feel that the counter-terrorist operations are being conducted in a highly professional and coordinated manner. But, the flow of information from secured governmental domain to public domain is conspicuous by its absence. The ire of the public especially those were directly affected, who had their kith and kin and loved ones unaccounted for is understandable. Here it is commendable that the dissemination of information expected from governmental agencies is actually being done by the media, no matter how sketchy at times. This is an important aspect of the outcome of this scenario which hopefully the government will review seriously. After an ordeal of 40 hours, hanging about in the hope of some news, nay any news of the ones trapped inside; unfortunately the only lists to come out were for the consumption of the foreign consulates in Mumbai. This preferential treatment speaks ill of the attitude of the governmental institutions for their own citizens. The government will have plenty to think about in the future about how to coordinate activities of various counter-insurgency, counter-terrorist, intelligence agencies and how they should work in tandem and in a coordinated fashion. Who will coordinate all these dime a dozen federal and state bodies, further how should these bodies be administered without getting caught in a quagmire of red-tapism? Maybe, the government will also want to work out its logistics as well… there are questions that come to fore… why did it take such a long time to deploy the NSG? Why were the NSG units bundled in to public buses to be ferried across the city and not deployed with the help of choppers? Are the anti-terrorist security agencies not well equipped to fight the changing face of war on terror with a change in the rules of the game? Why were no remote controlled devices used to survey the interiors of the hotel before committing the commandos to the hostile situation?</p><p>The broadcast media in the country should take a long and hard look at how they covered this situation. I feel most of the failures stemmed from the news desks and it was the editorial and research teams at the studio end which mucked up! The senior correspondents and editors could have guided reporters from falling into the trap of generalisations and sensationalisations and not<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFL7SXFbIIUgMXWXgY7EWsM-tIvd0uZ2JGcRylU_F-4wjGf1FfZTNsTcZZy9G2eHZs_xWXDN4BgUG8ghyphenhyphenQDQjwb_EG0kPs7zJB6NxK4vQ6H-KgKYxHsVpCcWHNe8_Mw8KCOUK/s1600-h/Bombaybomb_7__441076a.jpg"></a> project their own confusions on to the scene/scenario that was being covered. It is time that the<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0KoIql2oT8roD8aif81PJSSRp3Ej_HevBxV2f2oLg7MUI3EoL36KlVw9OGzFwJVQW0i78kPtmh0lfT0J3aKXI1TnHM-4NWbndNKLge7lhYjZM5bLDJmG8BIuBJ5rIr248Hv0/s1600-h/Bombaybomb_7__441076a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274005596006944530" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 148px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0KoIql2oT8roD8aif81PJSSRp3Ej_HevBxV2f2oLg7MUI3EoL36KlVw9OGzFwJVQW0i78kPtmh0lfT0J3aKXI1TnHM-4NWbndNKLge7lhYjZM5bLDJmG8BIuBJ5rIr248Hv0/s200/Bombaybomb_7__441076a.jpg" border="0" /></a> Indian media pressurises the governmental agencies to hold regular press briefings (like the ones held in the United States and in England) through a single platform especially when multi-governmental agencies are involved. Finally, the reporters, senior and junior alike, should acquire some sort of proficiency in the language that they want to use when broadcasting. Plus these broadcast agencies and institutions should develop a style book which they can follow when in the field!</p></div></div></div></div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-65947580179576760812008-11-05T19:10:00.000+00:002008-11-06T02:29:28.028+00:00A Giant Step For Mankind!<div align="justify"><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnhWTfiUyJZC3BoIl4p8PFbp5kBSgUat1wwsyWHlxPcQJBhwzHzPJJ9zp8xysJe3lopVyeMyOciw727Yym1rXuBhfrAkzknWExXV-lfUYWZ6qOSPrLHL7jyPCIy01lvdKpdWO/s1600-h/CARI_Obama.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265260535416418834" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 164px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnhWTfiUyJZC3BoIl4p8PFbp5kBSgUat1wwsyWHlxPcQJBhwzHzPJJ9zp8xysJe3lopVyeMyOciw727Yym1rXuBhfrAkzknWExXV-lfUYWZ6qOSPrLHL7jyPCIy01lvdKpdWO/s200/CARI_Obama.gif" border="0" /></a><strong>Audacity of Hope</strong><br /></p><p>The world’s largest democracy has spoken and the President Elect, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama, shall be inaugurated on January 20th, 2009. The American people, for the 44th commander-in-chief, have elected an Afro-American to the White House. The World went into frenzy… The Social Desirability Bias (aka Bradley Effect) factor was dismissed as the feverish imagination of the deprived. The media went into a spin that how history had been made in God blessed land of Equality, Opportunity, Hope, and The bastion of Free World. Indeed, Obama himself was proclaiming that ‘this can only happen in America’. Senator McCain in his concession speech referred to the President Elect having lived ‘an all American Dream’.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisN8XKfhUFTVj2EOQgn1Ie1tun1xT4QiQPTVnRVK0eg4zQ6ZQ4qsouGzTgoMZ9wdcy6sePO3GcbI6mG2U6kU4sNwbX5ZVtg_13m7dX_ahEGqRu3-1EOXae8l9N5D8SSrwLDqxZ/s1600-h/obama-obey.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265261014305619842" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 116px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisN8XKfhUFTVj2EOQgn1Ie1tun1xT4QiQPTVnRVK0eg4zQ6ZQ4qsouGzTgoMZ9wdcy6sePO3GcbI6mG2U6kU4sNwbX5ZVtg_13m7dX_ahEGqRu3-1EOXae8l9N5D8SSrwLDqxZ/s200/obama-obey.jpg" border="0" /></a>The world is convinced that this could have only happened in the United States of America while the American media tom tom-ed the historic event vindicating the stance that a member of the 13% minority which served as slaves and shoeshine, butlers at best, could be elected to the highest office by the people only in the land of the Custodians of all Free World Values and how race played a small role at the hustings’08. In fact, the British Broadcasting Corporation has cheekily hinted that the Great Britain, eternal ally and life-long buddy of the United States of America, is not ready for its black chief executive.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LpXWIyroS3jnyckeWF1-V0nGGJePKJQAD6NuoAusa5yf_8Xz5BQ_Ewnuav6PxQqlvCPRrsLZAIvKOowG_fY8kXSCQxJ_osOViNbfdxHp4P6wK-0XEf7R6vgtXBH590FhK_PZ/s1600-h/barack-obama-3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265258232249417122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 154px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LpXWIyroS3jnyckeWF1-V0nGGJePKJQAD6NuoAusa5yf_8Xz5BQ_Ewnuav6PxQqlvCPRrsLZAIvKOowG_fY8kXSCQxJ_osOViNbfdxHp4P6wK-0XEf7R6vgtXBH590FhK_PZ/s200/barack-obama-3.jpg" border="0" /></a>Let us understand that this race to the White House was ugly and highly polarised on the issues of black and white, as it was on anti-Muslim, anti-Socialism and anti-liberalism. The statistics are astounding! The Bible Belt of America and WASPs, voted over-whelmingly for John Sidney McCain III, 72 year old Senator from Arizona, and the white presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Exit polls indicate that at a national level a mere 43% of whites rallied behind Barack Obama. The truth is that this figure looks slightly respectable because 54% of the white youth (aged 18-29 years), constituting 12% of the electorate, stood rock solid behind Obama. Nearly 95% of the Afro-American populace, comprising less than 13% of the electorate voted on colour lines. In fact, a meagre 41% votes were polled from the Whites aged 30 years and above. They constitute 53% of the electorate. Latinos, Asians, and Others - who constitute 8%, 2% and 3% respectively of the total electorate size, rallied with 66%, 61%, and 65% votes. A quick ground reality check reveals that despite high electoral votes bagged by the President Elect, Obama secured 52% of the popular vote! </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPkh5yCg5DPeG787ScpJDmWAipnXSQYIEhhYwLkTrzANyUy-upph7v01L8Mm20cO040upxMzZtBCNVspdNy-vESYsC4E6SQKAU5eiS69F28F5g6caskvWNGREs8z-PKpvliWn9/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265265731107647650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 151px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPkh5yCg5DPeG787ScpJDmWAipnXSQYIEhhYwLkTrzANyUy-upph7v01L8Mm20cO040upxMzZtBCNVspdNy-vESYsC4E6SQKAU5eiS69F28F5g6caskvWNGREs8z-PKpvliWn9/s200/untitled.bmp" border="0" /></a>Looking back it seems that the nation cast its lot with the coloured son of a black-Muslim father from Kenya. But, it is note worthy that at no time during the over 21 months of tough campaigning did Obama once refer to himself as a black candidate. He presented himself as a saner alternative to the Republican policies. However, all opponents of Mr. Obama, right from the incumbent Hilary Diane Rodham Clinton, 61 year old junior Senator from New York, the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, to Senator John McCain and Sarah Louise Heath Palin, the 44 year old governor of Alaska and McCain’s sometime Roman Catholic sometime Pentecostal but conservative "Bible-believing Christian" and largely an ignorant “hockey-mom” with “lipstick” running mate constantly fanned conspiracy theories. Obama a “secret Muslim” issue, ‘latent terrorist’ issue, Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy, Controversy surrounding Obama & Reverend Rick Warren (pastor of the Saddleback Church in Orange County and author of the mega-seller The Purpose-Driven Life), Invasion of Pakistan Controversy, negotiation with Al Qaeda & Iran controversy, “Spread the Wealth” Socialist controversy, ABC’s “Obama Dropped Flag Pin in War Statement” controversy, Iraq <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-379PNdDVMqCcihPIx8MiqfnUidnaWm7hznDg23I7k8xJ3PjTnCiS4rpyVf9sUVOitvu0J7MB_AMt4YHm8KC2nIZKq7aOFz-9fuBRvdOn8vCsa_VtrpocpjHDQ6-Htrfmjm0w/s1600-h/obamaking.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265258952427281314" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-379PNdDVMqCcihPIx8MiqfnUidnaWm7hznDg23I7k8xJ3PjTnCiS4rpyVf9sUVOitvu0J7MB_AMt4YHm8KC2nIZKq7aOFz-9fuBRvdOn8vCsa_VtrpocpjHDQ6-Htrfmjm0w/s200/obamaking.jpg" border="0" /></a>War Controversy, The Barack Obama Stock Controversy, Rashid Khalidi controversy, “Palling around with terrorists” controversy and Obama & 1960s radical William Ayers controversy. In one controversy, ‘they’ even tried to fix his birth certificate. Then there was The Jesse Jackson versus Barack Obama Controversy much to the delight of anti-Obama mainstream media. In <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRfa5mgkLLg9qDPyIblheGsUVn9yXXBNOSOGx1GnTuq-fEUZxyrZGjKtdnNy9h-bIgECOz1PCN2xFt2Y84i7vlBR4ToZoNCPpQUD2mXV6g5jaNH2hTInd0SFZDgJphgymi1T2/s1600-h/untitled.bmp"></a>fact, the list seems endless.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WVEYH2eHYPBupTfavG6rKr0ae7uEfvWCz6YhlivjFloNZO7S_sh0js8-OaD6bgFYercb4XpiZyhYegCJ_Ah3F3hJNYY7W-uY9nGXKNAR0EKo-YJD9FSCvnuXr0WZQo0dTlNQ/s1600-h/OBAMA_NEW_YORKER.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265263927597204530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 136px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WVEYH2eHYPBupTfavG6rKr0ae7uEfvWCz6YhlivjFloNZO7S_sh0js8-OaD6bgFYercb4XpiZyhYegCJ_Ah3F3hJNYY7W-uY9nGXKNAR0EKo-YJD9FSCvnuXr0WZQo0dTlNQ/s200/OBAMA_NEW_YORKER.jpg" border="0" /></a>Obama was nearly held to ransom by the magical teardrop from Hilary, as he was by Joe the Plumber and the incendiary remarks of his former pastor. Attacks on Obama were never subtle; rather they were blatant and vicious. A satirical New Yorker magazine cover flaunted the Democratic presidential candidate dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist.</p><p>Interestingly, no one questioned the sanity and ability of Sarah Palin, the potential commander-in-chief, in case the septuagenarian with a history of skin cancer kicked the bucket in the White House. The media as well as the people chose to overlook footage posted on YouTube showing Republican running mate, who sees a resurgent Red Russia from her window, indulging in witchcraft.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiy78uv1L0xoYRIM2r5LsnjDzikTmfxB3PM4TJ_d_lYNzQDzQYCAx44EE91SuErFlEG4W8ZZ9cXzdM67iDCVR_nfMaxJHwi2qpVGbSJ1R0rXa2m0U3TgOeoaSbKfmasA4cNRdP/s1600-h/obama-oregon4.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PUxkQJHfcSG-kan8ksuRZLkZFheOjOxV0uMag_RdSW7Yl_VNtApIvPipDN2o6kOZxZEmcEVuJa84se5_zb_7mMIHV0fzvq9dKK7lwzwqVd718Yo15d-Llpp1XgEqXC7NkeZ6/s1600-h/obama-oregon4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265267573116420706" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 122px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PUxkQJHfcSG-kan8ksuRZLkZFheOjOxV0uMag_RdSW7Yl_VNtApIvPipDN2o6kOZxZEmcEVuJa84se5_zb_7mMIHV0fzvq9dKK7lwzwqVd718Yo15d-Llpp1XgEqXC7NkeZ6/s200/obama-oregon4.jpg" border="0" /></a>I think, white democrat Americans who voted for Obama voted not for a black candidate, as several panellist and invitees seemed to suggest in one of the BBC sponsored debates in the Middle East, to make history but for a candidate who came across as mature, stable & reliable and incidentally happened to be a black intellectual entity with poise and grace. Yes, they did vote because<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeb7_SZ85Sy1LRhH8-B6YI_X_manxu2b8vJU-Nfer0rQfhsJm9iU2JzEi_UxQI_5eULPQx_j0UyN4hXw3J4GcpMLhzrdPCDoOFhs7cJe9nD48Fg3qdhbL3KYWBeZLFZDyd1ws/s1600-h/the-audacity-of-hope.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265270762782951682" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 130px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJeb7_SZ85Sy1LRhH8-B6YI_X_manxu2b8vJU-Nfer0rQfhsJm9iU2JzEi_UxQI_5eULPQx_j0UyN4hXw3J4GcpMLhzrdPCDoOFhs7cJe9nD48Fg3qdhbL3KYWBeZLFZDyd1ws/s200/the-audacity-of-hope.jpg" border="0" /></a> Obama represented a window of Hope, of Positive Possibilities to reclaim the nation from the quagmire that the outgoing President seemed to have left America in. These are the voters, who represent the changing face of young and dynamic America, the intelligentsia, who need all their wits and unity to pull America through troubled times. In them I see a hope of the United States of America emerging as a world leader once again and hopefully also address issues of the Planet in Peril.</p></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-11664013917589557572007-03-02T15:35:00.000+00:002008-10-07T18:45:22.452+01:00Ajman 01<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKXYOz2DMYbAGmWvjB2LHpaLJVV5DZ-BGovyYISFG-iljKVv7GJtSDykXbpJMkh50epwv_Wp1tJLmD6myWZeQtUb6hhWoL3XPMpCoV85yP-WbWu3LqdV-oKsKA0rGyyAg3CVB/s1600-h/2-Sherris-from-Ajman+copy.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254468658885518034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKXYOz2DMYbAGmWvjB2LHpaLJVV5DZ-BGovyYISFG-iljKVv7GJtSDykXbpJMkh50epwv_Wp1tJLmD6myWZeQtUb6hhWoL3XPMpCoV85yP-WbWu3LqdV-oKsKA0rGyyAg3CVB/s320/2-Sherris-from-Ajman+copy.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />After pitting my wits with dwindling marine life in UAE, I have finally managed to land three fishes... </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">I have an Abu Garcia’s Enticer Beach 400 with casting power up to 90 grams, and two Berkley’s two piece Cherrywood Graphite - casting power not more than 35 grams. Only story that I had to tell was that my 5 year old had almost landed a barracuda… on my part I nearly netted 18 inches long Garfield (that to which had somehow managed to get hooked to a retrieving line!). </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">After over a million unanswered fervent prayers at Al Khalid lagoon, Mamzar (Sharjah side), and Al Khan beach, morning of February 24th found us exploring Ajman waters. It was just like any other outing – some bites but mostly irretrievable tackle and generous feed for fishes… as usual I<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVb5UP8cdnK9_znyErkgjfzpCMiTqOLQzx8ZJ6-83lYUdsKH7BuduOC90s2Z0-qMK1P23n2qBpTcvNSQNmlliygVbGs5a4pllxUrQXH7I3eru0ka-Wl8QVZyZP-0gXJa6kSOfF/s1600-h/First_Catfish_catch_24feb07.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254469302893642882" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVb5UP8cdnK9_znyErkgjfzpCMiTqOLQzx8ZJ6-83lYUdsKH7BuduOC90s2Z0-qMK1P23n2qBpTcvNSQNmlliygVbGs5a4pllxUrQXH7I3eru0ka-Wl8QVZyZP-0gXJa6kSOfF/s320/First_Catfish_catch_24feb07.jpg" border="0" /></a> found my self pottering around the rocks to make up for some lost lead… when my rod started to rigorously tap. Soon I landed a golden brown, around 14 inches long, fish called sheri in local language. The second was about 12 inches looked like sheri but was silver coloured. The third catch was around 30 inches long and some how looked like a catfish – at least it had barbels. It gave a fair fight and resisted my all attempts to cox it to the nets. </div><br /><div align="justify"><br /><br /><div align="justify"><br />My luck is changing, Amen!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3G586nQHT_w3FXBxaG1-DdpU0RjP0ltgleskAag3rZQHM92j1W64j31Qj1qz2HGwLBGn_UZL5BGv5dM6yaLa22JNBCjIkdz0-fgeP7Up7yGQshri07zKBtO6TZiJ2xxYGE-oc/s1600-h/First_Catfish_catch_24feb07.jpg"></a></div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-1133702752190532162005-12-04T13:06:00.000+00:002007-03-02T18:03:40.764+00:00Dubai 004<p align="justify"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7482/1910/1600/Potals-of-Education-web2.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7482/1910/200/Potals-of-Education-web2.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p align="right"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7482/1910/1600/Potals-of-Education-web.jpg"></a></p><p align="justify">Seeking solace, I have travelled through many a gateways of time. I once spotted a lonely man, a temporal figure tredging the vast ruins of human psyche...<br /><br />I wonder where was it that he had headed! Was it to the portal of education seeking a brighter morrow... or was it that he had merely drifted from one realm of Baudelaire into yet another abyss of Faustian Dilema.<br /><br />Was it the arch of knowledge or a mere mirage of amorphousl light that it <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7482/1910/1600/Potals-of-Education-web.jpg"></a>passed under..... Was it, I wonder, the one that humans call portal of education. </p>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-1132999525953056682005-11-26T10:04:00.000+00:002008-11-13T12:47:42.561+00:00Dubai 003<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYCgv61FJWlEgRZdyCR_SZQOOcjDWUwi3TUBIFjXeM_ZlhmM_WvRCd1V7KD2F9YY5fr9qo3yAUwxFaAsUc1biUGzo7dj14bdC2NIxIxOY0AT6BUZhzK9gm59Aw3EsfH_x5nfC/s1600-h/Sun-Tattooweb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5037395281763962562" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYCgv61FJWlEgRZdyCR_SZQOOcjDWUwi3TUBIFjXeM_ZlhmM_WvRCd1V7KD2F9YY5fr9qo3yAUwxFaAsUc1biUGzo7dj14bdC2NIxIxOY0AT6BUZhzK9gm59Aw3EsfH_x5nfC/s200/Sun-Tattooweb.jpg" border="0" /></a>The education system in entire U.A.E. stinks! The kids have no zeal, curiosity, and enthusiasm to be informed about the world that unfolds myriads of its colours each day. I am tempted to blame the hollowed institutions of learning in this part of the world… as I would blame the society and the parents! Most that is taught in the institutes of higher learning is what really should have been imparted to them at secondary level. There is no intellectual discourse, no introspection; retrospectives are conspicuous by its absence.<br /><br />Dilution of all intellectual needs amongst the younger generations is a disturbing trend that this young promising nation will have to contend with. It is this lot of intellectually challenged generation-next that will, sooner or later, be weaving the fabric called society, polity, and commerce. A frightening thought!</div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-1132999472767102082005-10-29T10:03:00.000+01:002008-11-13T12:47:42.665+00:00Dubai 002<div><div align="justify"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk-bM51wMOLOanqNvbBMhGEI0kAAaaR-bhRY7SdKoJQp7ZxaAkNmNPodbU_xkARzXeCQVZt6x-IAfhid1zgPVTN-FZZ75V_vNjylFtYOwtqc6fmt_TfHVb2GLcxVwXwushp8d/s1600-h/Sun-Cycleweb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5037396312556113634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilk-bM51wMOLOanqNvbBMhGEI0kAAaaR-bhRY7SdKoJQp7ZxaAkNmNPodbU_xkARzXeCQVZt6x-IAfhid1zgPVTN-FZZ75V_vNjylFtYOwtqc6fmt_TfHVb2GLcxVwXwushp8d/s200/Sun-Cycleweb.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">Most Indian expatriate kids, in Dubai, seem to be incompatible with mainland India’s education system and professional media scenario.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">The tragedy is that these wonderful kids are no less intellectually smart than the ones in the Indian sub-continent. Yet, a strange malady of consumerism and self-centrism dogs them.</div></div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19326399.post-1132999394174228152005-10-03T09:48:00.000+01:002008-11-13T12:47:42.790+00:00Dubai 001<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCbAS64rDFy_yZmNLwgiJCIPZDp2jVI-066SXbYax8DR52j2AbQunnkbqaQRHICWVcv3irCR8pcxu84Dt0wfZBmhl7H4eQqgwN7IwjZRkZ2KsWfaX0UbIXc9cMripvokCF7aB/s1600-h/Sharjahweb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5037397699830550258" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdCbAS64rDFy_yZmNLwgiJCIPZDp2jVI-066SXbYax8DR52j2AbQunnkbqaQRHICWVcv3irCR8pcxu84Dt0wfZBmhl7H4eQqgwN7IwjZRkZ2KsWfaX0UbIXc9cMripvokCF7aB/s200/Sharjahweb.jpg" border="0" /></a>I wonder what is it about Dubai that we all love to hate and hate to love... despite having great potential to become a true melting pot of all intellect, cultures, and ideologues, Dubai has strangely and doggedly retained tactility of an alien and a close-mouth society. Here, we are rootless individuals fending for ourselves and everybody else is a competitor. It’s a dog eat dog world here!<br /><br />This land, it seems, is caught in the twilight zone… between desire to rapidly modernise itself in order to compete with the affluent western nations and yet some how retain its cultural past and once dearly held traditions!</div>Musings of Third Eyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07820656572254357162noreply@blogger.com0