Chandra Kumar recently wrote on my Facebook page: One other thing not mentioned in the media: all these gun-happy killers seem to be male. Lots of women have ‘mental health’ problems too but I don’t hear about them going out on mass killing sprees. Surely this fact, in a civilized society, would be cause forContinue reading “The Bushmaster Male (Man Card in Tow)”
Author Archives: Samir Chopra
Growing up with Guns
I grew up with guns. Two of them: a 12-bore shotgun and a .25 automatic. I do not remember the make of the former but the latter, I’m pretty sure, was a Browning (a ‘Baby’; again, if I remember correctly). They belonged to my father (and thus, our family): he had purchased them overseas afterContinue reading “Growing up with Guns”
A Couple of Reflections Prompted by Sandy Hook
Yesterday, on Facebook, I reposted a link to a post I had written here in response to the Aurora shootings in July. You could change the title of the post slightly to reference ‘Sandy Hook’ rather than ‘Aurora’ and nothing else would need changing. This morning, still clearly unable to write anything coherent in response,Continue reading “A Couple of Reflections Prompted by Sandy Hook”
Psychologizing, Immortalizing, and Unamuno Contra Nietzsche
As promised yesterday, here is Miguel de Unamuno on Nietzsche. In my first post on Unamuno, I had written that ‘there are streaks of ‘conventional’ conservatism visible in his fulminations against Nietzsche.’ The following is one such outburst. It occurs in the chapter that sets up Unamuno’s central thesis in The Tragic Sense of Life: ‘TheContinue reading “Psychologizing, Immortalizing, and Unamuno Contra Nietzsche”
Unamuno on Lasting Glory
Today’s post is merely a pointer to a couple of lyrical passages from Miguel De Unamuno‘s The Tragic Sense of Life (Collins; The Fontana Library of Theology and Philosophy, 1962). These aren’t just lyrical, they ring true as well. Or perhaps that’s the same thing. Either way, here they are. This violent struggle for theContinue reading “Unamuno on Lasting Glory”
RIP Ravi Shankar
I was born in an obscure small town in Central India: Maihar. If that name is known outside of its local, provincial, confines, it is almost certainly due to the Maihar gharana of Indian classical music. (From Wikipedia: ‘In Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, andContinue reading “RIP Ravi Shankar”
Free Software and ‘Appropriate Technology’
Last week, as part of a panel session organized at Queens College of the City University of New York, I spoke briefly on ‘Free Software and Appropriate Technology.’ I began by introducing the term ‘appropriate technology’ by setting it in the context of India’s attempts to achieve self-reliance in energy production, an effort that inContinue reading “Free Software and ‘Appropriate Technology’”
Aimé Césaire’s Immortal, Eminently Quotable Line
From Notebook of a Return To My Native Land: For it is not true that the work of man is finished, That we have nothing more to do in the world, That we are just parasites in this world, That it is enough for us to walk in step with the world, For the work ofContinue reading “Aimé Césaire’s Immortal, Eminently Quotable Line”
Watching People Lift Heavy Things
I have written about my weightlifting experiences on this blog on previous occasions. (Sometimes, about my experiences with, feelings about, and lessons learned from, particular lifts like the squat or the clean.) Today, I am writing about watching others lift weights. More specifically, I am watching some friends of mine complete the so-called Crossfit Total:Continue reading “Watching People Lift Heavy Things”
Coming For You with Chuck D and Public Enemy
In reviewing Jay-Z‘s book Decoded—a collection of lyrics with extensive commentary–(‘Word‘, The New Yorker, December 6 2010) Kelefa Sanneh writes: Too often, hip-hop’s embrace of crime narratives has been portrayed as a flaw or a mistake, a regrettable detour from the overtly ideological rhymes of groups like Public Enemy. But in Jay-Z’s view Public EnemyContinue reading “Coming For You with Chuck D and Public Enemy”
Samir Chopra 