19 Themes from Journal of International Affairs

1. Fall/Winter 2015 – Breaking Point: Protests and Revolutions in the 21st Century
2. Spring/Summer 2014 – Global Food Security
3. Fall/Winter 2013 – The Gender Issue: Beyond Exclusion
4. Spring/Summer 2013 – The Rise of Latin America
5. Fall/Winter 2012 – Transnational Organized Crime
6. Spring/Summer 2012 – The Future of the City
7. Fall/Winter 2011 – Inside the Authoritarian State
8. Spring/Summer 2011 – Sino-Indian Relations
9. Fall/Winter 2010 – Innovating for Development
10. Spring/Summer 2010 – Rethinking Russia
11. Fall/Winter 2009 – Pakistan and Afghanistan: Domestic Pressures and Regional Threats
12. Spring/Summer 2009 – Africa in the 21st Century
13. Fall/Winter 2008 – Global Finance
14. Spring/Summer 2008 – Water: A Global Challenge
15. Fall/Winter 2007 – Religion & Statecraft
16. Spring/Summer 2007 – Iran
17. Fall/Winter 2006 – Historical Reconciliation
18. Spring/Summer 2006 – The Globalization of Disaster
19. Fall/Winter 2005 – The Politics of the Sea: Regulating Stateless Space

Top 20 global leaders with the longest names

Source & Thanks: World Political Heads and Foreign Premiers | News | The Guardian

State	Head of state	Name count
Madagascar	Hery Martial Rajaonarimampianina Rakotoarimanana	44
Bhutan	Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck	27
Argentina	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	27
Kuwait	Sabah AlAhmad AlJaber AlSabah	26
Guinea Bissau	Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo	26
Equatorial Guinea	Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	26
Turkmenistan	Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow	24
United Arab Emirates	Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan	23
Andorra	Joan Enric Vives Sicília	22
Indonesia	Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono	22

State	Head of government	Name count
Qatar	Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani	34
Samoa	Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi	31
Kuwait	Jaber AlMubarak AlHamad AlSabah	28
United Arab Emirates	Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum	26
Iceland	Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson	26
Mauritania	Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf	25
Djibouti	Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed	23
Swaziland	Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini	23
Tonga	Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō	23
Chad	Kalzeubet Pahimi Deubet	21
Vanuatu	Moana Carcasses Kalosil	21

Ford Foundation: Notable Indian Grants, Corporate NGO partnerships & Fellowships

1. Amitabh Behar, Executive director,  National Foundation for India Supports voluntary development $25,00,000
2. Dr Gladwin Joseph, Director, ATREE Striving to conserve biodiversity through sustainable development $13,19,031
3. Indira Jaising, Director, Lawyers’ CollectivePromotes human rights for marginalised people$12,40,000
4. Mathew Titus, Executive Director, Sa-Dhan Association Umbrella body of MFIs $9,10,000
5. Kinsuk Mitra, chairperson, Winrock Intl – Sustainable rural resource management$8,00,000
6. Sandeep Dikshit, Governing body member,CBGA Promotes accountability & participatory governance $6,50,000
7. J. Mohanty, Chairperson, Credibility Alliance Promoting norms of accountability among NGOs $6,00,000
8. Akhila Sivadas, Executive Director, Centre for Advocacy & Research Rights of marginalised populations $5,00,000
9. JNU, Leading liberal arts university; FF funds used to set up Centre for Law & Governance$4,00,000
10. Manish Sisodia, Founder, Kabir – Promoting RTI for transparency & accountability; Anna Hazare supporter$3,97,000
11. Yogendra Yadav, Fellow, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, A think-tank largely funded by ICSSR $3,50,000
12. Parthiv Shah Founder Director, CMAC Promotes culture, design & focuses on governance $2,55,000
13. Nandan M. Nilekani, President, NCAER, Influential think-tank on policy issues that have found application $2,30,000
14. Pratap Bhanu Mehta Head, Centre for Policy Research Leading think-tank, provides advisory services to govt $687,000
    

10 Indian Films in Toronto Film Festival

The Festival | tiff.net

Peddlers is a movie by debutant filmmaker Vasan Bala and it has Gulshan Devaiah, Kriti Malhotra and Nishikant Kamat in the lead roles.

Ishaqzaade is a romantic drama film written and directed by Habib Faisal

Miss Lovely is a drama directed by Ashim Ahluwalia.

Mumbai’s King is directed by Manjeet Singh and stars Rahul Bairagi, Arbaaz Khan and Tejas Parvatkar.

‘The Bright Day’ by Mohit Takalkar

‘Theseus’ Ship’ directed by Anand Gandhi

English Vinglish is an Indian drama film directed by debutant director Gauri Shinde and produced by R. Balki.

Shahid directed by Hansal Mehta

Gangs of Wasseypur is a crime movie co-written, produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap

Shanghai is a political thriller film directed by Dibakar Banerjee, starring Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Prosenjit Chatterjee.

S Ramakrishnan: Foreign & World Translations: Top 10 International Kid Books for 2012

எழுத்தாளர் எஸ்.ராமகிருஷ்ணன் பரிந்துரைக்கும் சிறார்களுக்கான 10 புத்தகங்கள்:

1. குட்டி இளவரசன் – க்ரியா பதிப்பகம்.

2. ஜெனி எனும் சிறுவன் – பாரதி புத்தகலயம்

3. தி மேஜிக் ட்ரீ – பாரதி புத்தகாலயம்

4. ஆயிஷா – பாரதி புத்தகாலயம்

5. மார்ஜினா சத்திரபே – விடியல்

6. குரங்கின் அரசன் – பிரேமா பிரசுரம்

7. புத்த ஜாதக கதைகள் – பூம்புகார் பதிப்பகம்

8. 1001 அற்புத இரவுகள் – வ.உ.சி பதிப்பகம்

9. காட்டுக்குள்ளே மான்குட்டி – என்.சி.பி.ஹெச்

10. தி ஹொய் – சந்தியா பதிப்பகம்

S Ramakrishnan picks his Favorite Foreign Authors from Current Generation Book Writers

வாசிப்போம் வாருங்கள்

1) யான் மார்டில் ( Yann Martel)
2) ரானா தாஸ் குப்தா (Rana Dasgupta)
3) கார்லோஸ் ருஸ் ஜபான் (Carlos Ruiz Zafón)
4) காலித் ஹொசைனி (Khaled Hosseini)
5) ஹருகி முராகமி (Haruki Murakami)
6) ராபர்ட்டோ போலனோ (Roberto Bolaño)
7) ஹாசு இஷிகாரோ (Kazuo Ishiguro)
8) ஜீன் சினோஷ் (Jean Echenoz)
9) எட்கர் கரிட் (Etgar Keret)
10) ஷியாம் செல்லதுரை (Shyam Selvadurai)

இவர்களுடன்

• நோபல் பரிசு பெற்ற எழுத்தாளரான ஒரான் பாமுக்(Orhan Pamuk)
• கனடாவின் புகழ்பெற்ற எழுத்தாளரான மார்க்ரெட் அட்வுட் (Margaret Atwood)
• இத்தாலியின் ராபர்ட்டோ கலாசோ (Roberto Calasso)
• பிரான்சின் மார்க்ரெட் யூரிசனார் (Marguerite Yourcenar)
• அமெரிக்காவின் பிலிப் ராத் (Philip Roth)

போன்றவர்களையும் விரும்பி வாசிப்பதுண்டு

Lifted Tamil Movies: Adapted screenplay, story from Foreign Films

Source: IdlyVadai – இட்லிவடை: 80% ஹாலிவுட் + 20% மசாலா = 100% கோலிவுட்

Brewster’s Millions – அருணாசலம்

Hardcore – மகாநதி
Planes Trains and Automobiles – அன்பேசிவம்
What bob can do – தெனாலி
Very Bad things – பஞ்சதந்திரம்
Too Much – காதலா காதலா
She Devil – சதிலீலாவதி
Corsican Brothers – அபூர்வ சகோதரர்கள்
Life of David Gale – விருமாண்டி

Barefoot in the park – அலைபாயுதே
Hot bubblegum and American Pie – பாய்ஸ்
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid – திருடா திருடா
Sense and Sensibility – கண்டுகொண்டேன் கண்டுகொண்டேன்

Shop around the corner – காதல்கோட்டை
Big – நியூ
Sliding Doors – 12B
Fear – காதல் கொண்டேன்

21 grams – சர்வம்
Bangkok Dangerous – பட்டியல்
Network – வேகம்

முந்தைய பதிவு: Stolen Tamil Films? Thanklessly possibly adapted from Foreign Cinema « 10 Hot

Stolen Tamil Films? Thanklessly possibly adapted from Foreign Cinema

Source: திருடி எடுக்கப்பட்ட தமிழ் சினிமாக்கள்!

அதே கண்கள் – ரோஷோமான்
நாயகன் – காட் பாதர்
ரோஜா – ஹெல்ட் ஹாஷ்பேஜ்
ஆயுத எழுத்து – அமரோஸ் பெரோ
கண்டுகொண்டேன் கண்டுகொண்டேன் – சென்ஸ் அண்ட் சென்சிபிலிடி
போக்கிரி – டோனி ப்ராஸ்கோ
குஷி – வென் ஹேரி மெட் சாலி
ஜேஜே – செரண்டிபிட்டி
காதலர் தினம் – யூ ஹேவ் காட் மெயில்
நம்மவர் – டூ சார் வித் லவ்
காக்க காக்க – த அன்டச்சபிள்
வெயில், ஆட்டோகிராப் – சினிமா பாரடைசோ
மே மாதம் – ரோமன் ஹாலிடே
குணா – டை மீ அப் டை மீ டவ்ன்
சதிலீலாவதி – ஷீ டெவில்
புதுப்பேட்டை – சிட்டி ஆப் காட்
கஜினி – மெமண்டோ
துரை – கிளாடியேட்டர்
அந்நியன் – செவென்
பட்டியல் – பாங்காக் டேஞ்சரஸ்
வேட்டையாடு,விளையாடு – மர்டர் ஆப் மெமரிஸ்
அஞ்சாதே – மிஸ்டிக் ரிவர்
தாம் தூம் – ரெட் கார்னர்
சரோஜா – ஜட்ஜ்மென்ட் நைட்
வேகம்,நாயகன்(2008) – செல்லுலர்
அலிபாபா – த்ரீ அயர்ன்
அவ்வை சண்முகி – மிஸ்டர் டவ்ட் பயர்
பச்சைக்கிளி முத்துச்சரம் – டிரைல்டு
பொல்லாதவன் – பீஜிங்க் பை சைக்கிள்
நந்தலாலா – கிகிஜிரோ
யோகி – சோட்சி
வாரணம் ஆயிரம் – கிளாசிக்

The 2009 TIME 100 Finalists

Courtesy & Complete List: Time

Activism

• Aung San Suu Kyi: National League of Democracy leader (63)
• Yoani Sénchez: Blogger (33)
• The Charter 08 authors: The 303 Chinese citizens who signed this pro-democracy manifesto
• Dalai Lama: Spiritual leader (73)

US Politics

• Barack Obama (47, President of the United States)
• Sarah Palin: Governor of Alaska (45)
• Hillary Clinton: US Secretary of State (61)

President Contenders – 2012 America

• Mike Huckabee: Commentator, candidate-in-waiting (53)
• Michelle Obama: First Lady (45)
• Ron Paul: U.S. Representative, former presidential candidate (73)

GOP Opposition

• Eric Cantor: Republican whip, U.S. House of Representatives (45)
• John Boehner: U.S. House minority leader (59)
• Newt Gingrich: Political analyst (65)
• Jonathan Krohn: Lil’ Limbaugh (14)

Behind the scenes – Wheeler dealers

• Ron Bloom: Auto adviser (53)
• Neel Kashkari: TARP-throb (35)

Government Organizations

• Bill Gross: Pimco co-founder (65)
• James Lockhart: Federal Housing Finance Agency CEO (62)
• Sheila Bair: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chairwoman (54)

Religion – Jesus Christ

• Pope Benedict XVI (81)
• Rowan Williams: Archbishop of Canterbury (58)
• Rick Warren: Evangelist (55)

Social Service

• Sister Mary Scullion: Philadelphia’s Mother Theresa (55)

Finance

• Leonard Abess: Banker (60)
• Odell Barnes: The foreclosure king

Filthy Rich & Powerful

• Warren Buffett: Berkshire Hathaway chairman (78)
• T. Boone Pickens: Billionaire, renewable-energy booster (80)

Media, News Heads

• Sam Zell: Tribune Co. chairman and CEO (67)
• Rupert Murdoch: News Corp. chairman (78)

TV Executives

• Charlie Gasparino: CNBC on-air editor (47)
• Abdul Rahman al-Rashed: Al-Arabiya general manager
• Seth MacFarlane: Animation maven (35)

On Screen Persona – Ladies

• Katie Couric: News anchor (52)
• Oprah Winfrey: Kingmaker (55)
• Rachel Maddow: MSNBC host (35)

TV Shows

• Jon Stewart: Faux-news anchor (46)
• Jay Leno: Prime-time TV host (58)
• Tina Fey: Actress, comedian, writer (38)
• The View: Whoopi Goldberg moderates discussions and is joined by Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters

Extreme Right: Conservative Gang

• Bill O’Reilly: Commentator/enforcer of spin-free zone (59)
• Rush Limbaugh: Radio host (58)

Bank Board

• Jamie Dimon: JPMorgan Chase CEO (53)
• Ken Lewis: Bank of America CEO (61)
• Dick Kovacevich: Wells Fargo chairman (66)
• Lloyd Blankfein: Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO (54)

Dow Brass Ring

• Michael Duke: Wal-Mart CEO (57)
• Jeffrey Immelt: General Electric chairman and CEO (53)
• Indra Nooyi: PepsiCo CEO (53)

Hi-Tech Crowd

• Jeff Bezos: Amazon.com chairman (45)
• Steve Jobs: Apple chairman and CEO (56)
• Jeff Kindler: Pfizer CEO (54)
• John Chambers: Cisco Systems CEO (59)
• Steve Ballmer: Microsoft CEO (53)

Dangerous Liaisons

• Muqtada al-Sadr: Shi’ite cleric (35)
• Rod Blagojevich: Former Illinois governor (52)
• Baitullah Mehsud: Taliban leader

Glamor Dolls

• Kate Winslet: Actress (33)
• Angelina Jolie: Actress (33)

Rich People’s Hobby

• Stella McCartney: Fashion designer (37)
• Tom Ford: Fashion designer (47)

Mid-Life Crisis Gentlemen

• Joaquin Phoenix: Actor, alleged rapper (34)
• Ricky Gervais: Comedian, scamp (47)
• Patrick Swayze: Actor (56)

Out-of work Hollywood Stars

• Tom Hanks: Actor, filmmaker (52)
• George Clooney: Actor (47)
• Brad Pitt: Actor (45)
• Hugh Jackman: Actor, Oscar host (40)
• Clint Eastwood: Actor, director (78)

Teenage Heartthrobs

• Zac Efron: Actor, pinup (21)
• Miley Cyrus: Actress, singer (16: Hannah Montana)
• Taylor Swift: Singer (19)
• The Jonas Brothers: Kevin, 21; Joe, 19; Nick, 16 : Musicians, hormone aggregators

Teaching in University: Academia

• Nouriel Roubini: Economics professor (49)
• Meredith Whitney: Banking analyst (39)
• Roland Fryer: Harvard University economics professor (31)

Fancy Construction: Civil Engineers

• Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio: Founders, Diller Scofidio + Renfro
• Rem Koolhaas: Architect (64)
• Renzo Piano: Architect (71)

Queer

• Dan Barber: Blue Hill at Stone Barns chef (39)
• Damien Hirst: Wealthy art provocateur (43)
• William Kentridge: Artist (54)
• Gustavo Dudamel: Los Angeles Philharmonic (28)

Rappers

• Kanye West: Musician (31)
• Lil’ Wayne: Self-proclaimed greatest rapper alive (26)
• T-Pain: Musician, producer (23)
• M.I.A.: Singer (31)

Alternate Grammy

• Rain: South Korean pop star
• Prince: Singer, commercial genius, legend (50)

Gulf Autocrats

• Gamal Mubarak: Egyptian politician (46)
• Sheik Mohammed al-Maktoum: Emir of Dubai (59)
• Madeeha Hasan Odhaib: Seamstress, Baghdad district councilwoman (38)

Petrol & Oil mixed with Money

• Ali al-Naimi: Saudi Arabian Oil Minister (74)
• Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: Saudi billionaire (54)
• Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority managing director

Forbes Top 10 in World

• Carlos Slim: Mexican monopolist (60)
• Alexander Lebedev: Billionaire (49)
• Mo Ibrahim: Sudanese-born cell-phone magnate

Sports

• Tiger Woods: Golfer (33)
• Danica Patrick: Racy driver (28)
• Manny Pacquiao: Boxer (30)
• Rafael Nadal: Tennis player (22)
• Lance Armstrong: Bicyclist (37)
• Kaká: Soccer star (29)
• Michael Phelps: Olympian (23)
• Kobe Bryant: Basketball star (30)

Sports Club Owners

• Mark Cuban: Entrepreneur (50)

Military, Army

• General Petraeus: General, U.S. Central Command chief (56)
• David McKiernan: International Security Assistance Force commander (57)

Local Govt; Big Impact

• Michelle Rhee: Washington, D.C., schools chancellor (39)
• Elizabeth Warren: Congressional Oversight Panel chairwoman (59)

Finance

• Ben Bernanke: Federal Reserve Chairman (55)

Hollywood Movies

• Judd Apatow: Director, producer (41)
• Tyler Perry: Filmmaker (39)
• Danny Boyle: The Oscars’ top dog (52)

Television Programming

• Matthew Weiner: Mad Men creator (44)

Thinkers, Bestsellers

• Malcolm Gladwell: Author (45)
• Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein: Nudgers

Writers, Book Keepers

• Tucker Max: Frat-boy laureate (33)
• Jeff Kinney: Author (38)
• Takashi Murakami: Artist (46)
• Stephenie Meyer: Author (35)
• Roberto Saviano: Mob muckraker (29)
• Khaled Hosseini: Author (44)

Notable Indians

• Ram Charan: Management consultant to the stars (67)
• Ratan Tata: Tata Motors chairman (71)
• Mukesh Ambani: Petrol prince (51)
• Ronnie Screwvala: UTV Group CEO (46)

Commonwealth

• Tony Blair: Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (55)
• Gordon Brown: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (58)
• Boris Johnson: Mayor of London (44)
• Kevin Rudd: Prime Minister of Australia (51)

EU

• Angela Merkel: Chancellor of Germany (54)

Jews, Israel Lobby

• Benjamin Netanyahu: Prime Minister–designate of Israel (59)
• George Mitchell: US envoy to the Middle East (75)
• Tzipi Livni: Israeli Foreign Minister (50)

Environment, Pollution

• Steven Chu: U.S. Secretary of Energy (61)
• Connie Hedegaard: Danish energy czar (48)

Researchers: More Academia

• Yochiro Nambu: University of Chicago professor (88)
• Nicholas Christakis: Social scientist (47)

Medical Doctors

• Dr. Alain Carpentier: Heart surgeon (75)
• Peter Pronovost: Johns Hopkins physician (44)
• Eric Chivian (professor of psychiatry at Harvard) and Richard Cizik (Evangelical)
• Doris A. Taylor: Medical researcher
• Stephan Schuster and Webb Miller: Gene genies
• Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki: 23andMe co-founders
• Douglas Melton: Harvard Stem Cell Institute co-director (55)
• Craig Venter: Geneticist (62)

South Asia

• Sonia Gandhi: Indian National Congress Party president (62)
• Asif Ali Zardari: President of Pakistan (53)
• Ashfaq Pervez Kayani: Pakistan army chief of staff (56)

Africa

• Morgan Tsvangirai: Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (57)
• Robert Mugabe: President of Zimbabwe (85)
• Paul Kagame: President of Rwanda (51)

Enemy?

• Vladimir Putin: Prime Minister of Russia (56)
• Hu Jintao: President of China (66)
• Ma Ying-jeou: President of Taiwan (58)
• Evo Morales: President of Bolivia (49)

Incumbent?

• Jacob Zuma: African National Congress president (66)
• Anwar Ibrahim: Malaysian politician (61)

Technology & Web Entrepreneurs

• Jessica Flannery: Kiva co-founder (32)
• Nate Silver: FiveThirtyEight.com (31)
• The Twitter Guys, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone
• Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook founder (24)
• Jay Adelson: Digg CEO (38)
• moot: 4chan.org founder

Entertainment Industry

• Michael Rapino: Live Nation CEO (43)
• Ryan Schreiber: Pitchfork Media founder (33)

Cool Guys

• Dov Charney: American Apparel founder (40)
• Richard Kelly: Xcel Energy CEO (63)

Inner Villain Exposure Enablers

• Jeff Han: Perceptive Pixel founder (33)
• Will Wright: Game designer (49)
• Dan Houser: Rockstar Games co-founder (34)
• Shigeru Miyamoto: Video-game designer (56)

Volunteering, NGO, Donations

• Larry Brilliant: Google good guy (64)
• Nancy Brinker: Susan G. Komen founder (62)
• Mary Lou Jepsen: Pixel Qi founder (44)

Example Bureaucrats

• Tom Dart: Cook County, Ill., sheriff (46)
• Cory Booker: Mayor of Newark, N.J. (39)
• Michael Bloomberg: Mayor of New York City (67)

Newsmakers

• The Pregnant Man: Thomas Beatie (35)
• Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III: Pilot (58)

The world’s biggest losers: ForeignPolicy.com

Thanks: Elliot Spitzer, Christopher Dodd, Tim Geithner, the Pope, Joseph Fritzl, and more | David Rothkopf

Here are thirteen choices from this month’s headlines ranked by just how little sympathy we should have for them:

13.) Edward Liddy

The only reason this guy is on the list is that his career is probably finished simply because most people will forever associate him with A.I.G. But while the company has already joined Enron, Long Term Capital Management, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Blue Horseshoe in Wall Street’s Hall of Infamy, Liddy himself is something like a hero, coming to work for a dollar a year as a public service in the most thankless job in the global business community.  (And what is Blue Horseshoe? Hint: “Blue Horseshoe loves Anacot Steel.”)

12.) Forbes Billionaires List

According to Forbes, the official magazine of Wall Street greed, the world’s billionaires managed to misplace $1.4 trillion in the past year, their ranks thinning from 1125 to 793. Their average net worth has fallen by almost a quarter to only $3 billion. Both Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim each lost $25 billion. One, Adolf Merckle, ended up killing himself. Former Wall Street titans like Hank Greenberg and Sandy Weill fell completely off the list as did Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg. But Zuckerberg is only 25 and still has $900 million left. So as far as sympathy goes this is pretty much a mixed bag. The reality is that these days even a few hundred million gets you pretty far so let’s not lose too much sleep over them. (The reason they are this low on the list is not because I feel sympathy for them… it’s because I feel considerably less for everyone else on the list.)

11.) Eliot Spitzer

Poor Eliot. If only he had kept it in his pants, this would have been his moment. One can hardly imagine what is making his life worse right now, the fact that the A.I.G. scandal and the collapse of Wall Street could have been his apotheosis, the moment the howling dogs of ambition in his breast might have finally gotten enough red meat of press exposure… or the fact that his wife Silda has stood by him and thus will have the moral high ground in his marriage until he dies. Admittedly, while Spitzer unzipped his own career, his worst violation did not come against the public but against his family.

10.) Gordon Brown

It’s hard to hate Gordon Brown. In fact, it’s hard not to feel bad for the guy. This is due in part to the fact that he is Britain’s first prime minister who is also part basset hound. Also, he had to follow Tony Blair who was quite telegenic and appealing, particularly in that phase of his career when he was being played by Michael Sheen. (Less so later when he was being played by one of George W. Bush’s hand-puppets.) Still, Gordon did accept the job of PM, did screw it up to a fare-thee-well and now is on the verge of blowing his last big moment on the public stage as he prepares to host a G20 Summit that is very likely to realize somewhere between zero and few of his grand ambitions for it.

9.) Bibi Netanyahu

The fact that a man President Clinton’s White House spokesman once called “one of the most obnoxious individuals you’re going to come into — just a liar and a cheat” has managed to bring himself to the verge of returning as Israel’s prime minister is something of an amazing feat. Although perhaps not so much if you are familiar with what people in Israel euphemistically call politics. But Netanyahu assured that he was lost before he even took office by teaming up with racist boor Avigdor Lieberman. Together the two may fight so hard to protect Israel that they irreversibly weaken it.

8.) A.I.G. Bonus Babies

The NY Times writes, “Residents who had been pillars of Connecticut towns are finding themselves the focus of populist rage.” But shouldn’t we have hated them already for even wanting to be pillars of Connecticut towns? I mean, these people actually chose to become insurance executives and live in John Cheever hell just to become wealthy? Didn’t they see The Ice Storm. Oh, the humanity! I hate them for their stale dreams more than I do the fact they squandered one of the great names of Wall Street while gaming both global financial markets and the American taxpayer.

7.) Ben Bernanke

In ancient societies, dark uncontrollable forces were placated by throwing virgins into volcanoes. In Washington, the ritual involves throwing officials under the bus. (The bus is implacable but near-sighted.  As it approaches one victim, it will be at least temporarily satisfied if that victim throws someone else in its path.) Edward Liddy was in front of the bus this week during Congressional hearings and at the last minute, threw Bernanke in its path by saying the Fed knew everything A.I.G. was doing re: bonuses. But later the bus claimed other more delicious victims and Bernanke escaped… then he announced the U.S. government was going to print a trillion dollars in monopoly money to stem the crisis. Inflation was a near certainty before… now it will be Bernanke’s inflation. No one will even remember he had anything to do with A.I.G. … and that won’t be a good thing.

6.) Tim Geithner

Sadly for Tim Geithner, he even looks like a sacrificial lamb. Earnest, brilliant, trying his best, he will never be able to escape the fact that he is one of the few who will get the blame for both the misguided Bush era bailouts and the false-starts of the Obama administration. Every time there is a mistake, the bus will head in his direction. Obama says he has confidence in Geithner. That is exactly what they said about Tom Daschle before they pulled the plug on him. Heck, Obama said he would no sooner disown Jeremiah Wright than his own grandmother shortly before he disowned him, as they say, with prejudice. Geithner might survive, but he has been wounded. The good news for the economy: sometimes they say people who have been through near death experiences actually develop psychic powers.

5.) Asif Ali Zardari

Zardari was known to be a bad guy long before he became Pakistan’s president. Many of the closest friends of his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, could not stand him. Now, as it turns out, neither can most of the Pakistani people. Locked in a bitter struggle with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, Zardari showed his weakness by capitulating to demands to reinstate Pakistan’s former Chief Justice per Sharif’s demands. Now in a desperate attempt to reassert control of his own party he may be plotting the ouster of his Prime Minister according to Indian press reports. He’s on the ropes, his opposition is gaining strength, and meanwhile fraught, dangerous, complex Pakistan is hardly being governed at all.

4.) Chris Dodd

The Nutmeg State’s longest-serving senator got his job the old-fashioned way, he [effectively] inherited it from his father, Sen. Thomas Dodd. He is also now virtually certain to lose it the old-fashioned way, as a result of a combination of arrogance, corruption, lying, and misreading the mood of the times. From his questionable home-mortgage finances to the comedy of errors this week when he denied having anything to do with legislative provisions allowing the A.I.G. bonus then blamed it on his staff then blamed it on the Treasury, Dodd is serving himself up on a silver platter to his opponents. And none of that even addresses the issue that as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee he was at the center of a fat-donations-from-Wall Street-equals-zero-oversight-from-Congress culture that helped get the world into this mess in the first place.

3.) Bernie Madoff

What more can you say about Bernie? For a decade and a half he went to bed every night knowing that he was lying, cheating, faking trades, committing fraud, and putting his and countless other families at grievous risk. And yet he lived his life like a king, like the former chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers that he was, with yachts and mansions in the Hamptons and Mayfair. In fact, noted judge of character and bankruptcy-addict Donald Trump said “he was a pretty respected guy.” That says it all.

2.) The pope

To non-believers he may be just a creepy old ex-Hitler Youth member who wears funny clothes and has appalling values, but to Catholics he is so much more than that. For example, according to one Vatican insider quoted in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, “he’s out of touch with the real world” and his papacy is “a disaster.” Another is reported to have said he “is isolated and fails to adequately consult his advisors.” At least. His Africa trip pronouncement that condoms not only don’t help the fight against AIDS but that their distribution actually “aggravates the problems” is not just a PR nightmare for the Holy See; delivered on the continent where both AIDS is most rampant and the Church is growing fastest, it is a formula for massive death and suffering.

1.) Josef Fritzl

Back in the good old days, when Joseph Alois Ratzinger was a little boy, being an Austrian sadist was a surefire path to the top, it could lead anywhere, perhaps even to world domination. But today, Austrians are outraged that one of their own could have locked his daughter in the basement, made her his sex slave, and killed one of the seven children he had with her. Which is really bad. Austria has changed, you see. There is no tolerance for twisted brutality there anymore. Well, less. In fact, fewer than a third of Austrians voted for the hate-spewing, neo-fascist extreme right parties like the Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future. And while cynics (Jews or Muslims) might point out that this was the same proportion of the population who voted for Austria’s leading party, the Social Democrats, their point is undercut by the fact that it was only a relatively few Austrians who honor Nazi heroes in public ceremonies on the anniversary of Kristalnacht or who have participated in nasty little rituals like the recent unfurling of a Nazi flag in Hitler’s hometown of Braunau. No, there is no place for a Fritzl in modern Austria and so he will be sent to a psychiatric prison for the rest of his life. But one must wonder, is the outrage because of his crimes, because they were against fellow Austrians or because he thought so small?