Vinay | विनय

"That, to me, is Slumdog Millionaire: contrived, pretentious, absurd, hollow, inauthentic, a pseudo-statement about social justice. And yet today the film stands on the precipice of Hollywood's highest honour, the Academy Award for Best Picture." - Matthew Schneeberger - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

I just like the song "Jai Ho!" - Mohomed Abdullahi

Fascinating discussion in comments. - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

GAH! That would mess with my head! - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

Woah, I think I'd have a harder time waling on that than on the glass bridge over the Grand Canyon. - Kenton

"He concluded by saying: "We're going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town. I'm saying that when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things."" - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

"A tractor-trailer overturned on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway near Pennsylvania Avenue in Prince George's County just before 2 a.m., Maryland State Police said, but it was not immediately clear whether the accident was weather-related. The truck was carrying a full load of horse manure, which was scattered across the four-lane highway, no doubt aiding the melting of any ice and snow." - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

"The return of winter weather immediately resurrected venerable snow-day traditions, from raiding grocery stores for milk and bread to complaining about the habit of canceling school at the first sign of a flake." - Vinay | विनय

"I would contend that the movie's real sin is not its surfeit of style but the fact that its style is in service of so very little. The flimsiness of Beaufoy's scenario, a jumble of one-note characterizations and rank implausibility, makes Boyle's exertions seem ornamental, even decadent. Beaufoy has suggested that Mumbai itself inspired this narrative sloppiness" - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

"Everybody loves a good underdog. That is why Slumdog strikes a chord with audiences in these depressing times. But a clever telling of the story cannot hide the banality of it. Slumdog proves - like many films - that globalisation has largely failed to make cultures understand each other better. Because Indian cinema is synonymous with feckless Bollywood fare to many in the West, a vast body of critically acclaimed and often, popular, work which has consistently exposed India's underbelly with more ferocity and vigour than any foreign film is routinely ignored." - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

Thanks Vinay.... - Far

"Last Thursday, Lasantha Wickramatunga, who was fifty-two years old and the editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper called the Sunday Leader, was assassinated on his way to work by two gunmen riding motorcycles. The Leader’s investigative reporting had been fiercely critical of the government and of the conduct of its war against Tamil separatists; Wickramatunga had been attacked before. He knew that he was likely to be murdered and so he wrote an essay with instructions that it be published only after his own death. Some mutual friends in the region sent a copy to me today. Read it in full below. It is like nothing else you will read today, that I promise." - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

"Alleged"? - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

"The potential for foreign donors to the Clinton foundation to create the appearance of conflicts of interest for Mrs. Clinton as she handles foreign policy matters was illustrated by Amar Singh, listed as giving between $1 million and $5 million. Mr. Singh is apparently a prominent Indian politician of that same name." - Vinay | विनय via Bookmarklet

Several other donors have connections to India — a potential foreign policy flashpoint becvause of tensions with Pakistan. Among them was Lakshmi Mittal, an Indian businessman — the fourth richest person in the world, according to Forbes — who made billions in the steel industry. Although he has long lived in London, Mr. Mittal, who donated from $1 million to $5 million, is also a board... more... - Vinay | विनय