Forget the hair and the abs - what's with the music?? The one redeeming point of Hindi movies used to be the music - and this is what we have come to! And Dard-e-Disco??!!! I mean, really - could we get any cheesier?

I don't understand the constant harping on Bengali art-house movies either. Mr. Leonard may be waking up to the globalization of pop-culture today - but Bollywood movies have been carrying on in this manner for a while now... And let's face it, Bollywood has won. Big time. Bengali art-house movies have not only lost - they really died with Ray. So, as gracious winners, Bollywood should really stop taking cheap potshots. Yes, there will be a few of us who will hold on to our old tapes. Yes, we actually do enjoy watching them and no, we do not expect Bollywood fans to understand why we do so. All we ask is to be left alone.

Organizations like these are essentially huge money-making corporations feeding on the gullibility of ordinary people. They own TV channels, schools, universities and hospitals - mostly pegged as charity, except that the universities charge really hefty fees.

And then, time and now, news items crop up about criminal activities. The allegations die down pretty soon. The devotees include the rich and the powerful, including ex-Prime Ministers.

If you are really in search of religious gurus in India, the slopes of the Himalayas and the banks of the Ganges are dotted with teeny tiny ashrams with the old-style gurus who cannot afford helicopters. I would suggest you might start your search there. This "arrogant atheist" wouldn't find much to complain about.

I weep for my country as I read this article. It's a shame that Salon chose to publish this nonsense. Maybe Salon can now give Deepak Chopra a weekly column and I can finally stop wasting my time here.

Yes, readers can stay away.

This is about authors and publishers whose rights get violated. Doesn't matter if the author is someone as wildly successful as Rowling. Wrong is wrong.

Is this newsworthy? Even if it is, a story on illegal filesharing did not need to actually mention the name of the site - that makes me suspicious of Manjoo's intentions. Oh yes, of course, he didn't do anything illegal - he didn't link, after all.

Instead of admitting that what you did was wrong and taking the article out, you are actually lecturing your readers on why you are right because you didn't link? And you claim to be a technology writer?

Sheeeshh! I cannot even begin to explain how outraged I feel that this appened on Salon.... and I am not even a "fan"!

frantaylor, there are mineral bottles that use PCs instead of PET. And most baby bottles are made of PCs as well.... who knows what all the sterilization is doing to them...

A good way to avoid bisphenol a in your food/water would be to look at the recycling code at the bottom - the number inside the triangle. 7 would indicate that it is in all likelihood a PC with bisphenol-a. 3's are PVCs - another one to stay away from.

It is rude to expect others to accommodate your bad behavior.

Of course. Except that an infant screaming on a flight is not bad behavior. A parent deciding to travel with said child is not bad behavior. A 19 month old repeating " bye bye plane" is not bad behavior. For that matter, a toddler screaming on a flight is not necessarily bad behavior.

Yes, some parents are oblivious to the discomfort their cildren cause. But mostly, from what I have seen, parents are decent people who try to make the best of a given situation. Screaming children, even if their own, are not easy for them either.

Deal with it. The headphones might help.

So when Shakepeare wrote " unto thine own self be true", he meant "unto yours own self be true"?

When my inbox gets over a certain limit (which it frequently does because I work with a bunch of people who love sending out 2 Mb attachments instead of sticking them somewhere and sending out a link), I get an email stating "Your mailbox is full" and then I cannot send out email till I clean out some of the stuff.

Of course, I have sometimes used this as an excuse for not answering emails. But mostly, this is very annoying!

I can still understand someone who has launched a million-dollar business (although, I had the impression that successful businessmen turned politicians were not that popular among Salon's readership).

But why, oh why, would earning a PhD make someone more suitable for public office than a cheerful, strong mother with good organizational skills?

The entire Pakistani jihadi force was the creation of the Pakistani army and the military dictatorship under General Zia. And now, with the growing anger in the country against Pres. Musharraf, more people seem to be turning towards the fundamentalists. Jamaat and the other fundamentalist parties have been growing more popular. Say what you will about the corrupt civilian governments, at least, the religious nuts were not this powerful within Pakistan under them.

So when will the US push for a return to democracy for Pakistan? Never, I guess. The way things are moving there, what if Jamaat and the other fundies won the election? Pakistan has the bomb, after all.

for the sake of fairness, the Senate will invite the Flying Sphagetti Monster guy to lead them in prayer.

cost between $0.99 and $1.99. They do look kind of funky... so maybe, I'll just grab a marker like the first poster suggested.

How about the following describing the darkies (OK, he didn't actually call us that) in "The White Man's Burden"?

Your new-caught, sullen peoples,

Half-devil and half-child.