Wars at Will

 It's becoming a pandemic, with world leaders the most susceptible.

Starting wars, I mean. Look around in the last few years. More than any other problem, Coronavirus excluded, it's the manmade ones that are endemic. 

The Russian and the American (and a couple of others) heads of state seem to think it's their playground. They can get up one fine morning and declare a war. Or Abduct Heads of State.

The U.N. watches helplessly. 

If China were to take over Taiwan, the same jokers would preach differently. Or if North Korea were to attack South Korea.

A democracy should probably have a referendum, like that for Brexit, when an offensive is to be launched. The laws must hold a Head of State guilty for a war that nobody in the country wants.

Uprisings in Bangla Desh and Nepal have underscored that unpopular governments or leaders can be unseated by popular will. Some day, it might happen in the bigger nations.

Ruled Out?

There was this curious phrase on the news today. There was a suspicious-looking package that turned out to be a bomb in Germany. The police defused it, but they also said that more such packages in town CANNOT BE RULED OUT. That got me thinking about what else we can't rule out.

Aliens coming to earth day after tomorrow.

RaGa as the P.M.

My learning how to dance.

Kapil Sharma coming out of coming out of a depression induced by too much comedy.

Santa really turning up with a gift for all of us.

North Korea's great leader getting a proper haircut.

Trump making sense.

America banning ownership of guns.

Teenagers giving up social media and reading books.

Startups without a Bansal or Agarwal at the helm, in India.

Padmavati releasing.

All of us losing weight in exactly the (kilo)grammage we want.

My blog going viral.

Diwali in North Korea

During Diwali, there used to be an array of differently named bombs attractively packaged and named. Laxmi bomb, atom bomb, hydrogen bomb, lavangi, and so on are some I remember from my childhood. It is said that (male) children grow up to play with different toys. Country heads seem susceptible to this too-male ones in particular.

So North Korea gets into its own Diwali celebration act with its recent explosion that it claims is a hydrogen bomb. This has brought the usuually soporific U.N. to an emergency meeting to discuss what it should (or should not) do. Many countries have (politically correctly) expressed outrage. But what I don't get is why that outrage is missing when any random act of war is carried out by the ex-colonial or the new colonial powers.

Anyway, to express our own, maybe we can return a few awards. Anyone game for it? Criteria-

1. You must be outraged
2. You should have won an award

If not, find someone who can give you one, and then express your outrage. But careful, someone may be outraged at your receiving it.

Crime and Punishment- Executions

There is a headline going around the net that North Korea has executed a number of people for watching TV. Though I have not read the details, I think it should have been the other way. Producers of ghastly TV shows (and films?) should be shot, and people watching such clap-trap should get our sympathy, ad should be counseled at state expense. The poor guys did not know what they were doing, and deserve to be forgiven.

But seriously, don't governments have better things to do than this? Why is it that every dictatorship lives in mortal fear of the media? More importantly, does this strategy work? In a world of democratic media (largely, except where the net is banned or censored), does it matter what you control in the mass media? Even in olden times, there were underground pamphlets and stuff like word of mouth going around, bypassing attempts to muzzle the free flow of information.

The lesson may be, first, not to be a dictator, and second, make your money and leave to enjoy it, rather than stay and face an inevitable loss of life (the dictator's), or get jailed. Really, times have changed. No one takes dictation any more. Wake up, smell the coffee.