Obama adds to Musharraf woes

Obama’s teaser to his bold speech tonight indicates an approach that neither the American President or any of the wannabe Presidents have spoken about. Don’t know if this move will get him any closer to Hillary Clinton or force Bush to tighten the screw on Pakistan, but it seems very likely that Musharraf way out of hell isn’t getting any shorter.

“If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will,”

Mr Kalam Leaves New Delhi

Dr. APJ Kalam’s exit seems to be a bigger disappointment than the (s)election of India’s new President. Such is the standard set by the departing President, that there are more printed words eulogizing Mr Kalam, than those that welcome Mrs Prathibha. Of the one’s I’ve read, there’s one that stood out.

…another revelation — so far kept under wraps at Rashtrapati Bhavan (under presidential orders): In May 2006, President Kalam’s relatives from the south decided to descend on him (as relatives tend to often do). On instructions of the president they were welcomed by his staff at the railway station, and were looked after right up to the time they departed. But the Controller of Household was under strict instructions to keep a meticulous account of all the expenses incurred on behalf of the relatives — all 53 of them. Not once was an office vehicle used for any of them.

It was made clear by the president that he would pay — not only for the transport of all his relatives to and from Delhi, and also within Delhi, he would also pay for the various rooms occupied by them at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the food that was consumed by them — the rooms at the prescribed rate, the food on the basis of expenses actually incurred.

When his relatives left after a week’s stay, the president was of course sad to see them all go, but he was also lighter in his pocket: the total expenses debited to his personal account was Rs 3,54,924!

Any polititian who stood in the way of Kalam’s second term is a traitor.

Musharraf the dramatist

Never dismiss Musharraf. Everytime he has to make an unpopular move, he neutralizes it with an ace from his sleeve. The laughable part is how he still makes the American media suck it up.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille rises above our staple expectations (Kid-friendly storyline, eye-popping visuals, morals to be learnt) from the Pixar movie machine. In many ways Brad Bird displays the charm that he first displayed in the captivating The Iron Giant. Swinging between humor and emotion, Ratatouille will have you engrossed every single moment; can’t say the same for our 5-year old though.

When it comes to visuals, Pixar has always raised its own bar with every movie. In Ratatouille the visual enhancement goes beyond the characters and backdrops. Pixar dresses Paris to its graceful best and captures the city like no live-action movie has.

The standout performance comes from none other than Peter O’Toole as Anton Ego, the punishing critic whose final exposition could not have been delivered by any other actor.

Let’s laugh at that Indian guy

If Michael Bay has mastered the art of playing to the gallery, he excels here, in a nasty sense. In an promo from his upcoming Transformers, an Indian call-center guy is shown as being apathetic to a desperate call for help. I don’t think its in bad taste to use the offshore call center thing for a comic relief, but to actually portray the guy as a disgusting character speaks volumes about Michael’s low-brow approach!

It’s not just that, there is a very subtle and vicious twist to portraying the issue with outsourcing call centers. On screen, the guy isn’t just failing to help a regular American, they’re actually turning their back on the ultimate American Hero, the soldier who’s braving it out on an Arab soil. Wow! Class act that Mike.