Fascist America, in 10 easy steps...

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them allClever, but strained logic.



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Should IT Companies Have Tax Holidays?

Indian IT Companies, the ones either remaking the software services world, or taking away jobs, have risen to their size, in part because of a near zero-tax policy. Why should certain big companies, which have gone public, have a brand name, and are making colossal profits, be enjoying a tax holiday?

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UNICEF (India) Chief Accused of Attempted Rape

UNICEF India chief Cecilio Adorna was accused by a 44-year old woman, Archana Pandey, that he sexually harassed and attempted to rape her. These are serious charges and if convicted Adorna can spend couple of years in Indian jail. The police won't file a case and the media won't cover the issue.

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FY2008 H-1B Visa Cap Reached On Day 1

The hard reality of the flat world is that despite mobility of capital and information, labour and people are still subject to borders and policies and little men in suits.

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Indian State To Tax Broadband Services and Light Energy

A Subordinate committee of the Karnataka legislature in India has found 'light' to be a 'commodity' and wants all the broadband services to be taxed for the sale of this commodity

WTF! Seriously, WTF!

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The Complete A-List of the Indian Blogosphere

Based on the questionable Alexa rankings, but a good round-up of the top Indian blogs

Desicritics placed well, but I don't really care much about rankings, etc. It's interesting how the Internet rewards socialization over stand-alone value. Some excellent sites don't list here because they don't focus much on linking or being linked to, but are worth checking out.

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LTTE Launch Air Raid In Sri Lanka - The World's First Terrorist Air Force

The LTTE might have changed the game, perhaps for the worse, with the use of two light aircraft to drop four bombs on a military base north of the Colombo International Airport today, killing at least three people and injuring sixteen.

Bad news, folks.

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Cricket World Cup 2007: The Indian Saga Ends

There will be a national mourning, houses will be ransacked and effigies burnt.

This team sucked, really, really sucked. Now you're gone, baby, gone.

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Martin Fowler on Being Transactionless

"A couple of years ago I was talking to a couple of friends of mine who were doing some work at eBay. It's always interesting to hear about the techniques people use on high volume sites, but perhaps one of the most interesting tidbits was that eBay does not use database transactions."

A very interesting way of looking at the design of large programs from a pioneer in the field.

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Naomi Campbell Begins Cleaning Public Toilets In New York, 3 Days To Go

Somebody please lend Naomi Campbell a French maid costume instead of a bland service uniform.

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Commentary: What goes boom must go bust - MarketWatch

Booms turn to busts not because something 'happened.' They turn to bust because there is simply no other path.
It is said that when men go mad they do so all at once. But they gain their sanity slowly and one by one.

Peerless, perspicacious writing.

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The Scandalous Cricket World Cup 2007

They don't need sportscasters for this show - they need a gossip columnist.

India plays Sri Lanka tonight, and either books their return tickets early or slogs for another few weeks. We'll see.

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Grand Canyon Skywalk to open today

Rising 4,000ft (1,220m) from the canyon's floor and 70ft (20m) beyond its rim, the Skywalk is being described as an engineering first.

I would love to check this out!

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Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Qualification Results

The season has now officially started, with the qualification for the first Formula 1 race of the year, at the Albert Park, Melbourne, also known as the Australian GP. The qualification was as exciting as one thought it would be with some of the "back-markers" showing it to the front runners and other expected strong performers lagging.

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Google's Quest for Global Web Dominance

Google and the other Internet giants' quest for global web dominance through 'insiderization'

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Formula 1 2007 Preview: The Australian Grand Prix

After five months of anxious anticipation, the day is nearly here for the start of 2007 Formula 1 season. And what a season it is going to be! No Schumacher. Some big names have switched teams. Then there's the rookies.

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Crime, Sociopaths and Revenge: Asian Film At Its Finest

While Infernal Affairs has had the privilege of being remade by Martin Scorsese, not all films coming out of East and Southeast Asia share this honor. Many other films deserve the exposure that Infernal Affairs received, and almost all of them are not going to get it. Some will be on display at the Asian American Film Festival in Berkeley.

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President Musharraf's Brutal Assault on the Pakistani Judiciary

In what appears to be now a very carefully thought out plan, the Chief Justice was dismissed by the President on Friday on alleged charges of "misuse of authority." Why hasn't there been any international condemnation of Musharraf on this blatantly unconstitutional attack on the judicial system of Pakistan?

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Indian Food Bloggers Take On Yahoo! India's Plagiarism And Win

March 5 was a big day in the Indian blogosphere; on that day, a horde of bloggers took on that giant named Yahoo! (India) and toppled it. A big win for victims of plagiarism anywhere!

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Google University on YouTube at Starbucks in Barnes and Noble

It makes sense that for-profit institutions like Google, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or even Starbucks, begin to consider applying for university accreditation, and offering degrees of their own. Google could provide college education better, cheaper and caffeinated!

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