Sunday morning roundup Part I: no surprises here

No one is shocked-shocked!-that there is corruption in Uttar-Pradesh, so it's taken a string of assassinations--of doctors--to raise eyebrows.

Nor should it surprise anyone that writing well about India is a challenge. Here's an insightful excerpt about a book that stands out:

In isolating these strains of misery, Deb is not unique; several journalists and commentators have previously dismissed the bluff cheer about India’s growth that has been peddled by authors like Thomas L. Friedman. The transformation of India has wrecked the lives of her farmers, has stoked people’s appetites for money and power and has ripped open fresh gulfs of inequity between her rich and her poor. But there is a nuance to even the direst of Deb’s pessimisms — an acknowledgment that India’s lives are newly precarious precisely because they could swing either the way of opportunity or the way of ruin.

Speaking of books, what's a good production rate for a novelist?

But back to news-that-shocks-no-one: fast food playspaces are nasty. That said, if you're regularly buying your kids fast food, you have bigger health implications to consider.

Maureen Dowd is concerned about the anti-knowledge ardor of the candidate pool.