No Exclusive Immigration Queue For First / Business Class At T3

Link

Fuck You!

The Bureau of Immigration and/or the Home Ministry ‘does not see the need for such a facility’? Well, I am pretty sure there are a lot of us who don’t see the need for an idiotic Home Ministry or Bureau of Immigration either. What will it take to replace these idiots with someone sensible and competent?

If your intentions are to give equal treatment to ALL (obviously with the exception of diplomats / top officials / crew members), then that should NOT translate into making EVERYONE suffer equally. Instead why don’t you focus on making things easier for everyone?

Instead of shutting down the exclusive counters for First / Business Class, why not open up additional counters for the Economy Class passengers? There is no need to make the First / Business Class passengers suffer.

Alternatively, you could actually charge a fee for using priority immigration / security clearance and get some revenue. Never thought of that, eh?

Also, airlines could even come up with a sort of partnership or arrangement with the airports to extend a priority service to their passengers in exchange for a certain payment (made by the airline directly to the airport in question). The airline could net-off this expense by simply passing on the cost to the passengers buying the tickets.

See, there CAN BE a sensible solution if one were to just sit and think about the issue OR if one was genuinely interested in resolving the issue. This action taken by the Bureau of immigration clearly highlights that they have no real desire to actually resolve the issue. Their priority is to simply appear to be doing ‘something’ about the issue. It doesn’t matter to them if the suggested measures are counter-productive. The philosophy is – “Here is a problem. Something must be done. This is something, let’s do it”.

What next?

• The Ministers / Officials will look at people travelling by trains and conclude that the officials don’t see the need for airports when there are people spending more time in a train commute?
• The Ministers / Officials will look at people dying in remote areas due to the lack of hospitals and conclude that the officials don’t see the need for private or public speciality hospitals when there are people dying because of the inaccessibility of medical facilities?
• The Ministers / Officials will look at the homeless and conclude that the officials don’t see the need for people to have flats or mansions when there are people living on the footpaths?
• The Ministers / Officials will look at people dying due to starvation and conclude that the officials don’t see the need for restaurants when there are people living (dying) below poverty line and cannot afford food?

Fuck you!

Beyond The Harvey Weinstein Story

By now, not only has everyone heard about the story, but they have even made their respective judgements. This post is NOT about Harvey Weinstein. This post is about the discussions and debates that have arisen as a result of the Harvey Weinstein news story.

It would be safe to say that MOST (if not all) news channels / debate panels / social media influencers, have made this out to be a gender issue with the central theme - Women being exploited by men. I do not agree with this view. It is NOT about men exploiting women. This story (and a lot of similar stories) is about Abuse of power and position.

At least SOME news channels / social media influencers SHOULD touch on this point. It is sad that the primary issue is being completely ignored while celebrities and reporters harp on about the lack of women in senior positions.

The number of women holding a position of power / influence is an issue but the Harvey Weinstein story is NOT about gender bias. It is not a Men vs. Women issue.

This story is about abuse of power. If anyone is truly serious about addressing the issue, then it is important to first identify the problem correctly. One can NOT expect to solve a problem by ignoring the core issue and simply hijacking the story to drive a completely different agenda because it happens to be the flavour of the season.

IWC Portofino

Got myself an IWC.

Same story - Was hoping to find the BLNR (this time in Dubai). Wasn’t available, so ended up looking at other watches in the store. Liked this, so got one.

Conspiracy Of The Rich – Robert T. Kiyosaki

Some parts were informative and made sense.

However, most of the book was devoted to shameless self-promotion (which gets annoying after a while) and repetition (which is even more irritating than the annoying self-promotion).

The unnecessary inclusion of diagrams / figures / tables and two graphs doesn’t add much value if all you do is keep repeating the same nonsense for a few hundred pages.

And then, there were typos!

 

        

---

APB

Done with Season 1. Have no interest in Season 2 (If the series does get renewed).

The first few episodes were interesting, but then it just got really pointless.

Blonde Bitch Lauren Fitch (Kim Raver) seemed to be the only interesting character that could bring in SOME sense to this show. Sadly, she features only 3 times in Season 1.

Billionaire Gideon Reeves (Justin Kirk) is tolerable (at best).

Officer Nicholas Brandt (Taylor Handley) keeps yapping about his military tours. Shut up, already!

Detective Theresa Murphy (Natalie Martinez) is annoying with her Holier-Than-Thou / Know-it-all / Street-Smart shit. Sequences between Detective Murphy and her family (mom/son/ex-husband) are torture!

Rest of the cast – Supporting or otherwise – is Rubbish.

…

Ahh. I have finally figured it out!

It is my mistake; to expect the device / OS to work/operate/behave in a sensible/logical manner. I mean, these people can’t even spell! Expecting them to understand the core purpose of a device is OBVIOUSLY too much to expect!

Breitling Transocean Day Date

I was looking for the Batman (BLNR). When I couldn’t find that, I walked into Breitling and was pretty sure I would get a Navitimer. However, it was extremely difficult to ignore this Transocean Day Date. Simple. Stately. Clean.

That said, I am not sure how long I will continue to like this one…

BlackBerry Mercury

Got it and have been using it for a little over a week now. It’s better than the Venice, that’s for sure, but…

The device runs on Android, which means (for me) it’s cluttered with shit / ‘Features’ I don’t need or care about and missing the things that I DO NEED. There simply is no escaping this scenario and I absolutely hate the fact that a superior OS had to die. That said, at least this Android has a proper keyboard - without the slider, so that’s a relief.

The Physical Keyboard on this one is significantly better than the one on the Venice. The PKB can be used to swipe / flick the words or for scrolling, BUT a proper track-pad would make things considerably more tolerable.

The BlackBerry HUB needs A LOT OF work on the Android!

Err…

The article goes on to say:

“

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was asked to provide a copy of the minutes of the meetings held in its office during which the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was taken. It was also asked to share a copy of the correspondence made with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the finance ministry on demonetisation issue.

…"Disclosure of such information would detriment economic interest of the country from the viewpoint of the objectives sought to be achieved by such decision," the RBI said in reply to the RTI application filed by a PTI correspondent.

It is also likely to impede future economic or fiscal policies of Government of India, the central bank said. The disclosure of information, therefore, qualifies for exemption under section 8 (1) (a) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act…

Link

There are plenty of us who hold the opinion that there are NO MINUTES, because this shitty decision was taken arbitrarily by ‘King Narendra’.

Any ‘meetings’ that might have taken place would simply be - the PM / some idiot from that bunch - DICTATING to the RBI Governor as to what is expected of him. All the correspondences (formal / informal) involving the PMO-RBI-Finance Ministry would simply be about ‘Damage Control and/or managing the situation (read media)’.

That said… how hard is it to just WRITE UP a set of back-dated minutes showing a wide ranging discussion, conducted at an undisclosed location - to ensure confidentiality, touching on several points, including the effectiveness of demonetization of existing high denomination notes. ?!!?

• Just come up with a set of minutes.
• Look up at the previous calendar schedules.
• Find a date and/or time that doesn’t place you (and the supposed participants) at any other verifiable event / meeting / place.
• Mark said manufactured minutes as Minutes of a ‘CONFIDENTIAL / TOP SECRET MEETING’.

This counters any staff from RBI or PMO expressing no recollection of such a ‘meeting’.

PMO and/or RBI can’t bother themselves for even this? Is that too hard? Or are you cunts just too lazy to come up with a sensible cover up?

Guess it’s just easier to use some crap like the Official Secrets Act or similar caveats.

STOP!

French artist turns chicken for three-week egg hatching

He will live inside a glass vivarium until his charges hatch, watched by visitors to the Palais de Tokyo museum in Paris.

---

French artist Abraham Poincheval entombs himself in boulder

He will become the "beating heart" of the 12-tonne boulder, he says - discovering how that perspective warps time and space.

Poincheval is conducting his experiment at Paris's Palais de Tokyo gallery.

---

French artist starts fortnight inside bear

A French artist has begun an artistic performance that will see him spend 13 days living inside a hollowed-out bear.

---

Stop terming this crap as ‘Performance’ and if this is all that Poincheval is going to do then please stop calling this cunt an ‘Artist’.

Versailles – Season 2

Done with Season 2. Entertaining. Interesting. Intriguing. Exemplary execution. The way the story-line unfolds is brilliant.

Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan (Anna Brewster) – She is still good to look at, but the character is rather annoying to watch. The mopey bits make one want to slap her around.

Barring her, all the other characters, including the supporting characters, delivered exceptional performances.

Waiting for Season 3.

…

Came across this on Boing Boing, the other day:

Couldn’t be bothered to click on this animated GIF, but I did spend a few minutes looking for another GIF to express how I felt:

 

“Stopped To Paani Puri…” Err…

Seriously guys! PROOF the content before publishing it.

With that out of the way, let’s examine the case itself:

• The CA in question forgot the keys in the ignition.
• Someone noticed the keys and tried his luck with the glove box.
• All this happened on a day when he had INR 500,000 in the glove box.
• Investigators suspect an organised gang and suggest that somebody with prior knowledge about the cash was following the CA and capitalised when the opportunity presented itself.

While all of the above events seem plausible, the likelihood of all of the events occurring simultaneously is... well... let’s just say it is possible, just not highly probable (and extremely unfortunate).

Point 1 – Let us rubbish the suggestions of the investigators. Organised gangs do NOT wait for the mark to ‘STOP TO PAANI PURI’. Hit-Snatch-Run would be a more likely approach. Especially if they had information that the individual was carrying cash.

Point 2 - Any individual (with criminal intent / leanings) who encounters keys in the ignition is more likely to ride away with the scooter, as opposed to attempt to unlock the glove box and expect to get lucky. UNLESS the individual had prior information, in which case… refer to Point 1.

Point 3 – A more plausible, probable and simple explanation exists. The CA in question has orchestrated the incident. Even if CCTV footage is found of another individual opening the glove box, reasonable doubt still exists about collusion.

I am not an investigator. My conclusions may be far from the actual account of events (I am just bored). That said, the above conclusion is the only logical deduction (based on the information provided in the article) that actually fits.

Everything else… although plausible and possible; is highly improbable.

…

Obviously there is a lot more that’s wrong with that country; it’s not just the President or the Electoral College methodology…

It’s one thing to criticise the policies and / or insensitive/nonsensical remarks of an elected official. Perhaps we could even go ahead and criticise the general appearance and / or shabby/inappropriate sense of dressing. But criticising how s/he likes to eat her/his steak … seriously?!

Trump is criticised for his idiotic remarks, his tweets, his behaviour, his handshakes, several (if not all) of his policy decisions. He is criticised not only for his gaffes but also those of his spokespersons’. Which is all fine and understandable. However… making an issue of how he likes to have his meat?! This is just as idiotic as making an issue about Bill de Blasio having his pizza with a fork [Link]!

Evidently, when it comes to Freedom of Choice, there is a huge problem in the ‘land of the free’. Not just limited to policy makers wanting to ignore it, but even the general public simply having a tough time respecting the choices of an adult for something as simple as how one prefers to have her/his meal.

“Brilliant In Technology” – Err… Not Really

How does one react, when an individual claims to be BRILLIANT in technology (with reference to IT) but:

• Asks what is OTP (with reference to online banking) and needs a tutorial on how to use it?
• Is not aware of the Keyboard Shortcuts for Cut-Copy-Paste?
• Clicks on any link on any website that offers Free System Scan and then wonders how she ended up with a ton of extensions and toolbars on her browsers?
• Expresses shock when contacts deleted from her phone (not syncing with email) are actually deleted from the phone and not sent to a recycle bin?

I could go on with the ranting but it’s rather pointless. Just venting.

BlackBerry Mercury

They want to call it the KEYone (The device and the name does remind me of the Sony Ericsson P1). I don’t get the capitalisation and I honestly feel that ‘Mercury’ was a much better choice, but… anyways…

Expected - April 2017.

Priced at USD 549. Some people are of the opinion that the specs of the Mercury do not justify the pricing, as there are phones with higher specs available for cheaper. Go ahead and get those. This device isn’t intended for you.

This device is primarily aimed at people who REQUIRE a physical keyboard in the candy-bar form-factor and a battery that lasts. Given that there aren’t many options available, these guys could price the device even higher and it wouldn’t be a problem.

Looks good (to me), at least in the pictures and videos. Single-hand operation should be possible. Putting up with the Android nonsense/eccentricities seems to be inevitable (for now, at least).

Err..

If you thought Bush had a problem forming sentences (that made sense), well…

And what’s with the swaying?

…

 

Talk about someone with a misplaced sense of entitlement. That’s not even the worst part.

The disappointing bit is that there would be a significant number of daft cunts who would have paid this cunt.

Why did you survive?

There are simply WAY TOO MANY idiots crowding the planet.

Request To BBC – Can You Get Better Presenters?

If you can’t fire Alan Kasujja, could you at least see to it that he stops using the word STUFF while presenting the news? For fuck sake… this is supposed to be BBC!

It would be preferred if Matthew Bannister, Alan Kasujja and Bola were pulled away from the microphones, but if that’s not going to happen, could you at least brief them on how to present the news and/or conduct interviews? Is that too much to ask for?

Belapur Youth Dies In ‘Cobra Kiss’ Stunt

 

 

The activists quoted in this article seem to be just as stupid as the Late Somnath Mhatre.

Such stunts must be strictly banned – Err… Ahem… Can you BAN stupidity? If yes, then that should’ve been done a long time ago (ideally before banning Beef or Liquor or 86% of the currency in circulation!)

It is very unfortunate that a young life…. – It is unfortunate that we have to share this planet with such idiots. It’s fortunate that at fairly regular intervals, natural selection takes over and a few of these idiots drop dead because of their stupid actions.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Mattis In South Korea

 

Am I the only one who found this funny? I mean… it does look stupid.

They aren’t offering a salute or even a courtesy wave. Not even smiling. It seems like they have been punished and are now being paraded to be shamed by the assembly.

Here is a (trimmed out) video clip:

Arrival

Disappointing. Boring. Pointless. Uneventful. Crap.

Raees

Well, if you do bother with the film, it’s best to leave your dimaag (baniye ka or otherwise) at home.

The fact that I watched this in a theatre in Kuwait does affect the review. A lot of sequences would have been cut-out, and at present; there is no way for me to determine if those sequences would have made the film better or worse.

Musa and Nawaab – Glorified extras. There was a lot of scope here.

To me, it seemed as if SRK was fulfilling some modelling contract or an ad campaign. This genre usually offers the male lead a huge opportunity to perform and shine. Wasted.

Pramod Pathak, playing the Chief Minister of Gujarat doesn’t fit the role. His outfits (in the film) don’t fit. No screen presence. Pathak’s ‘performance’ is laughable.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui does the best he could with what he was given. That said, he does have the best lines in the film and he delivers them well.

Atul Kulkarni – Not bad.

Mahira Khan has looked much better in her tele appearances. In the film, she looks… well… nothing much to talk about. Same goes for the character. Just another pointless addition to the film.

Airline Seats – Quota For Women

Yahaan bhi quota?!

It’s been suggested that this is the reaction to an incident where a female passenger was groped by a male co-passenger.

Could be that I am the only one who can’t seem to understand the logic or the point of this Six Seat Women Only Quota.

Pretty soon, some genius will launch an airline or a particular flight ONLY for women passengers. And perhaps, I will be able to see some point to that.

One thing is for sure, that definitely won’t bother me as much as THIS news article.

BlackBerry Vienna / Mercury / DTEK 70/40… There Is Hope!

A glimmer of hope.

We wait…

This Is NOT ‘Art’!

USD 14,000… and here is what you get:

“

Walead Beshty’s FedEx® Large Box, LA to NYC is part of a series of FedEx works that the artist began in 2007. For these works, the artist uses the FedEx Express service to mail laminated glass boxes, constructed to the exact dimensions of the standard FedEx boxes. Fueled by his interest in how art objects acquire meaning, Beshty’s FedEx works record their movement from place to place, in both the shattering patterns left behind on the glass box, and the shipping labels on the FedEx packaging. Beshty’s motivation in this series is also to comment on the “perversity of a corporation owning a shape,” as the boxes are proprietary volume owned by FedEx.

The box measures 18 x 12.5 x 18 in. The glass measures 17.75 x 12.25 x 3.25 in. The installed dimensions are variable.

Art?!