Did you by chance see Economist’s last issue? I’m such a sucker for authority that I give it to anything that claims it. I’m a regular reader impressed with the vast amount of information that they cram into one issue that I come out of the reading room knowing all that is to be known from Chinese imperialism to the shithouse that is Bear Stearns. I went to the extent of predicting that Simba Makoni will takeover Zimbabwe (yeah you don’t give a damn, but it rhymes still). And now about Whats wrong with India? – Economist has an indepth analysis of the Babudom, which Indians that we are, I see tenth grade kids and livemint grade bloggers quoting till they go to sleep. Yeah, “As the Economist said about India, our problem is….”

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Now from the coverstory,

On paper, this looks terrific. It also helps that Kerala is one of India’s least corrupt states. And yet panchayat leaders, often drawn from feudal or political elites, can be as self-serving as any babu. S.M. Vijayanand, chief official of Kerala’s Local Self Government Department and a main architect of the reform, concedes that the new system also misses the collector’s managerial skills. He says: “It’s more equitable, more accountable, more democratic, but there’s a cost also in efficiency.”

In Kochi, the state’s seaside capital, the district collector, Muhammad Hanish, enjoys the same trappings of office, and suffers many of the same burdens, as Mr Samphel. Stepping out of his white Ambassador, Mr Hanish, who is 38, inspects a suburb of Kochi with relish.

First things first, Thank you on behalf of all Malayalees for calling Kerala the least corrupted state in India. We’ll surely quote you Sir when we talk about the Kerala Model. Secondly, when you write about Burkino Faso you know that the rest of the world doesn’t give a damn. But if you say that Florida state governor Charlie Crist is in Miami, the states sea side capital, I guess it would be factually wrong.

Though it occupies more space and takes more ink to print and is difficult to read, Tallahassee remains the capital of Florida. In the same vein, Kerala also has a beautiful sea side capital about 206 km from Kochi. Thiruvananthapuram is still the capital city, and you can’t call it for Kochi just because it saves more ink. What kind of cost cutting is this?

Its your frickin Cover Story man! and you charge 200 bucks an issue. Now I don’t know what dump they print about Chad and Darfur and Venezuela. How do we know?

I can understand Malayala Manorama’s new itch for Koch, but Economist – that some conspiracy!

And whenever I’ve doubts about being bad at my job, I go see CNN-IBN. They continue to call AB Bardhan a CPIM leader. I’m tired of commenting asking for a correction. Yeah it doesn’t make a difference, but the fact is that 32 council members walked out of CPI on April 11, 1964. AB Bardhan didn’t. He’s still in the CPI.

Link via Lijo (yeah tall, lean, handsome)

P.S: Mammooty btw was so pissed, he slapped three Economists.

P.P.S: Yeah, I’m overdoing this Mammooty bit. Mammooty might slap me, OMG!