Dis n Dat

Oprah no more queen of talk shows

The talk show queen’s popularity has diminished after she declared her support for Barack Obama, even though she knew it could destroy her career. She has publicly backed Obama as her choice to replace George W. Bush.

She is reported to have said, "What is the cost to me for doing it? Am I going to lose viewers? I made the decision that I have the right to do it as an American citizen. But I will not use my platform. I can use my own personal voice. I know him well enough to believe in his moral authority. And that is the number one reason why I am supporting him."

Big deal. Lots of people in Hollywood and media icons in the West openly support candidates of their choice. This ‘right to do this and that as an American citizen’ is getting tiring. And why will she not use her platform? It is her show. She can do what she wants. If she can promote books, she can do this. And what is this about moral authority? These Americans keep talking about moral authority which they carry on their zippers.

Besides, I am amazed that no one feels any pangs of shame when donations are solicited. And then they have the gall to throw corruption statistics in the face of Third Worlders. These are people who are being sponsored and their campaigns financed by sundry film stars and hoteliers. That NRI Sant Chatwal guy is irritating me, the way he keeps popping up each time Hillary is around, especially Hillary with that big smile and dazed eyes trying to second guess when Bill will open his mouth and she will have to ask him to shut up.

Aw, get on with it, you Yankees.

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I like Mayawati. I like it even more that she went ahead and commissioned her own statue and unveiled it herself. Because no one else would. At least she did not get some chamchas to do it. Great going. Okay, she is saying that Kanshi Ram made her his sole heir, which rings a bit sharply considering she has been rubbishing Rahul Gandhi of late for doing his time out with Dalits.

But I still like her insouciance. She did not care about what people said and thought about her relationship with Kanshi Ram and has truly stood up to the fascist forces. Did she use strong-arm tactics? Of course. Isn’t it better than batting her eyelids?

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“Did Priyanka Vadra recently meet Nalini Sriharan, one of those involved in the assassination of her father Rajiv Gandhi?”

Here is a portion of the front page report in The Times of India:

According to what Nalini told her lawyers, a visibly emotional Priyanka made Nalini sit next to her and asked several short questions related to the assassination. Why had it happened? For what purpose? What was Nalini's involvement? Nalini replied, “I didn't know anything till the end. But it is true that I went to the spot.” Nalini is the sole survivor of the five-member assassination squad.

Priyanka is quoted by the lawyers as saying, “My father was a good person. It could have been resolved through talks. Had you known about my father’s good nature, you would not have done this.” Nalini apparently kept quiet. Then Priyanka asked, “When did you see my father last?” Nalini said, “When he got out of his car.”

Initially I did not know what to make of it. Now I suspect it is this election year thingie. Sonia Gandhi had reduced Nalini's sentence from death to life imprisonment because of her little daughter. Now Priyanka might get Mommy to do something more.

At another level there is something very crucial: Does Priyanka have the authority to conduct such an enquiry? How the hell does it matter whether her father was a good person or not? We are talking about a hugely serious issue that is still on the boil: the LTTE. The newspaper has implied several things but we want to know how legally valid is it for the meetings to have taken place, for anyone to file a petition on the basis of Right to Information and, most importantly, whether the media ought to carry such stories at all?

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Tittle-tattle:

Pottering around

JK Rowling was attending the Galaxy British Book Awards where she was honoured for her outstanding achievement when her purple satin gown slipped off her chest.

Mark Hutchinson, her press aide, was at hand to cover Rowling's modesty, and holding up the front of her dress. It's not the first time Rowling has been left feeling overexposed - on a book tour of the U.S. last year, her dress slipped during a reading, exposing her white bra underneath.

Takes the term ‘press aide’ really far, innit?

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I am not newsworthy, but just thought I’d let you know that there is a bit of fresh excitement in life. My internet cable wires have been robbed. Had it not posed accessibility problems, I might have had a good laugh.