Comments for Pertinent Observations

Comment on Time for bragging by Liberal Economist

Liberal Economist — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:58:04 +0000

As I can see, you have just collated all the exit poll data and come up with a summary article for Mint. There is no new analysis here.

TOI’s post-poll analysis link below shows what a good quant driven independent article should look like-
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/specials/news/Congress-gains-1-8-BJP-loses-13-9/articleshow/19960287.cms

You can use this as a reference for the future articles that you plan to write for Mint.

Comment on Time for bragging by Nobrainer

Nobrainer — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:31:24 +0000

This was a no brainer da.

Comment on Time for bragging by Yes Enthu Da

Yes Enthu Da — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:07:24 +0000

Yes, being unreasonable da! Easy decision this one.

Comment on The Upside of ADHD by Anand

Anand — Tue, 07 May 2013 07:36:14 +0000

Hi Skimpy…I’ve been a regular reader of your blog. Thanks for sharing so much about yourself. Your comment on with-ADHD and without-ADHD compelled me to write this comment. Please do see Stephen Fry’s documentary on Secret Diary of a Manic Depressive. It is very insightful with interviews with a number of people who suffer from the same. In the end, they all say what you’ve said – They’d rather be on this side of the curve than the other.

Comment on Football Forecasts by Sushanth

Sushanth — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 04:20:20 +0000

Wouldnt it be better to also take into consideration defensive records? Perhaps then the model can learn from more than one feature. It is probably markovian at some order, so previous game histories would also possibly factor in. The real advantage is none of the top 3 have anything to concentrate on but the league, so too arsenal, but, chelsea have the added baggage of the europa league to look at.

Comment on KJP split is going to hurt the BJP hard by Uday

Uday — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:54:21 +0000

Another implication is it is now a great time for honest, educated, hard working citizens to enter politics and displace the disgusting bunch of corrupt career politicians we have had from Congress, BJP,JD….

Comment on KJP split is going to hurt the BJP hard by Mihir

Mihir — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:55:43 +0000

Given the track record of BJP over the last 5 years – scandals, scams, infighting, drama over CM’s chair etc etc – i wonder how many of core BJP supporters in urban areas will come out and vote for them.

I dont see BJP sending Modi to campaign here as its a lost cause and Modi will not want himself to be associated with any defeat before the big one next year.

Probably best bet for BJP is that congress comes to power and then creates so much mess in a year that BJP wins majority of LS seats next yr from karnataka.

Comment on Foreign Policy Should Be National by palani

palani — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:19:57 +0000

@shrikanthk
I think the best solution is to have an European union kind of mechanism, and have each state(country) dictate its foreign affairs and other issues. An union would enable the movement of workforce and not change the current situation for people. A complete division into 25 countries with strict border control will be a viable option if people of each state/country decide so in the future.

Comment on Foreign Policy Should Be National by shrikanthk

shrikanthk — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:01:57 +0000

This incident highlights how tenuous the idea of India is.
Tamil secessionist tendencies that came to the fore in the 60s were never entirely crushed, but always lurking beneath the surface as we are figuring out now.

To me there are only two things that unite India -
- Brahminical Hinduism
- The legacy of British rule

Areas where both these factors were historically weak have already seceded (Eg: Pakistan). Areas where one of these factors is weak can potentially secede (Eg: TN, North east)

Comment on Foreign Policy Should Be National by palani

palani — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:54:28 +0000

The conception of india as a country is so arbitrary, at best can be a union like EU. Tamil Nadu has every right to dictate foreign policy that closely affects its affairs and borders. It is indded shameful that the rest of India is so butthurt about TN’s actions.