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Blind faith or emotional pull?

2010-03-22T09:41:00.000+02:00

By Rehan Ali

Recent debates, especially on facebook, regarding Zaid Hamid and his relations with a convicted blasphemer who died in jail almost a decade ago have certainly caught the Pakistani youth by surprise. They find themselves locked in an argument which is taking a heavy toll on their intellect and energies. On one side there are people who look upto traditional religious scholars with a good number of years and experience in the matters of religion while the other segment is quite wary of these sources and choose to follow their “Sir” Zaid Hamid.

A closer look into the matter reveals that our youth can easily be generalized as passionate, emotional, irrational, impulsive, aggressive, vulnerable, know-it-all, mind guarded and above all frustrated. The description is equally valid for all the participants irrespective of their point of view. Ironic it may be both the parties well and truly are the future of Pakistan. These youngsters are enrolled in medical, engineering and management universities.

A visit to pro-camp points how easily we the Pakistani youth fall prey to rhetorical war mongers in the name of religion. The followers there are not madressah students, long branded for being fanatics and extremists, but rather educated minds. While on the anti-camp you will find statements of religious scholars belonging to various schools of thoughts, evidences produced and deemed authentic in the court, even the complete court judgment. The advocates calling Zaid Hamid of being a vice of a blasphemer are actively gathering proofs to justify their allegations and even interacting with scholars while the other party seems to be too naïve to listen to or visit anyone. What is more surprising is that there have been defectors in the later camp while the former are steadfast.

The often asked question “Are you (Zaid Hamid) associated with Yousuf Kazzab?” is secondary to who are you? A self proclaimed defense analyst, a jihadi during American funded afghan war, religious scholar, economic expert, a historian and a diehard fan of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal. The question to ask is “What exactly is this character in question?” Who is at the centre to the most ferocious, vivacious, unique and splitting cyber war the country is experiencing.

Cross checks and his own statements presents Zaid Hamid as a computer systems engineer from NED University, Karachi, a very involved jihadi during the afghan war. Later he managed Brinks Securities, Rawalpindi before the entrepreneur in him created Brasstacks an organization which provides security updates and guidance to various national and multinational companies operating in Pakistan.

So how did an engineer from NED become a defense analyst, expert in economics, history and religious matters? These achievements, if true, are nothing short of a fairy tale. Globally, it is general practice that experts have certain contributions such as white papers to their credit, which are examined and debated upon by their peers and seniors to lend credibility and validate their authenticity; unfortunately in this case no such document exists.

What is even more surprising is that a particular and a self proclaimed jihadi is given a lot of room to freely go and deliver speeches and produce TV shows while his contemporaries are blocked, banned and put under arrest. So what is so good about this eloquent speaker that he is allowed to beat the war drums. What is more interesting is that every scholar of repute irrespective of his maslak (school of thought) eyes Zaid with suspicion.

But than again vision often gets blurred when emotions run high and we prefer to perceive things to our liking, facts are molded and our whims and fantasies have the better of us. Those who refer to documented evidences are told to directed their attention on the greater cause which is preached by the controversial speaker and it is explicitly stated “one should believe what is said and forget about who is saying it” as quoted by a diehard fan to avoid further argument. However, for any scholarly debate it is advised that before you lend your ear to someone, ensure that he is of good lineage, his immediate family is bears worthy credentials and he has a sound upbringing and tutoring in the concerned subject.

However, in this particular case it is argued; his (apparent) intentions are not only good but a realization of Pakistan’s destiny as predicted by ‘Syed Nurullah Shah Wali” a saint who existed 900 years ago, amazingly no clue to this saint nor his prediction is available anywhere except a book authored by non-other than Zaid Hamid.

Void of any qualification in defense studies, strategy formulation, economics, history and politics we are forced to lend an ear to an eloquent speaker through the air waves. He even goes on record suggesting that “Pakistan should launch one or two missiles at Israel, perhaps without nuclear warheads to reprimand Mosad for interfering with Pakistan’s internal security”.

Quran in Surah Munafiqoon, verse 4, gives the final verdict “When thou lookest at them, their exteriors please thee; and when they speak, thou listenest to their words. They are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). They think that every cry is against them. They are the enemies; so beware of them. The curse of God be on them! How are they deluded (away from the Truth)!”

Reflecting on our decisions we should ask ourselves whether our conclusions were drawn or derived through intellectual exercise or are a result of some personal impression, facts or simple hearsay. We must ask our selves, Why we as a society are vulnerable to such rhetoric? What is the state of our intellect? How long will we keep acting like a flock of sheep or a hoard of cattle?

Do we as a nation, need to focus our energies on insulting traditional religious scholar and engaging in war hysteria with neighbouring India or should we look inside and try to resolve our core issues i.e. illiteracy, unavailability of basic necessities and rising unemployment. How much longer can we blame America, Israel, India and Govt. for our shortcomings? What have we done remaining well within our constitutional domains for the inequalities, injustices and malpractices we observe around us? Has any one of us ever lodged a complaint, even thought about doing it, against these everyday occurrences? The lamest excuse in this matter is that the system is not conducive to individual efforts. Instead of following someone’s oratory and condemn Institutions we should actively pursue our constitutional rights. Civil disobedience or military take over as suggested by the enlightened expert are not a solution but rather a grave mistake.

[Via http://talkhaaba.wordpress.com]

Facebook users more loyal to news sites than Google users | TG Daily

Five children sacrificed in Indian village, 4 held

2010-03-22T01:55:00.000+02:00

Five children were killed since December in a suspected case of child sacrifice in a village in Hingoli district in Maharashtra.

Indian children in New Delhi. Many of them exposed to human rights abuses.

The Indian police have now arrested four persons including three women to unravel the mystery.

The boys, aged between 4-12, belong to a family in Digras village near Aurangabad in Maharashtra and were killed between December 2009-March 2010, police said.

The killings came to light recently following which police registered a case of murder against six suspects and arrested four persons yesterday after conducting searches at their residence, police inspector M A Rauf told PTI.

Police also recovered several materials like ash, black threads, unknown poisonous substances and some herbs during the search, he said.

The four accused identified as Parshuram Dalvi, Kalvati Kundlik Mokle, husband Kundlik Mokle, Aasha J Dalvi, Vandana Mokle and spouse Vithal Mokle have now been remanded to police custody till March 22.

The accused landed in police net after Vandana allegedly tried to sacrifice one more child named Rikishesh Dalvi earlier this month. This attempted murder was done on behest of a local self styled godman who is still absconding.

Vandana who is childless was also preparing to sacrifice 11 kids under the ritulistic killing to fulfill her wish for a child, sources said.

Source: Press Trust of India (PTI).

My comment:

Only Satan wants us to sacrifice blood of humans, even of animals. There is no need for this kind of offerings, thanks to Jesus. He has redeemed us with His own blood.

Even in the more than 3.000 year old First Mosaic Covenant, such offerings were banished.

Leviticus 18:21

‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

2 Kings 23:10

He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

The elite in India keeps 500 million of its population outside the society of humanity, denying them basic human rights like education.

Satan will continue to demand blood sacrifices of children in India. The scale of this activity in rural India is unknown. This is presently the worst crime against humanity on Planet Earth.

[Via http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com]

Stupak Postpones News Conference - Prescriptions Blog - NYTimes.com

Canoes with Dolphins

2010-03-19T09:58:00.000+02:00

‘You are not a frickin Hardy Boy John.’

He is pointing with his oar at a giant scrub-laden hill that he wants me to climb with him.

Urghhhh, I groan letting the oar flop.

‘It will be an adventure.’

‘I don’t want an adventure. I’m tired.’

‘You’re so no fun.’

‘You’re not in the famous five.’

Everytime I get in a canoe I think of Last of the Mohicans. That’s what makes me get in the canoe. Then after approximately three seconds I decide Daniel Day Lewis made it look much sexier than it actually is. ‘I will find you. Stay alive no matter what occurs,’ rings in my ears.

I am not sure I am going to stay alive no matter what occurs in this canoe as John steers us towards a great big bloody boulder in the sea. ‘Mind the big rock,’ I call out.

‘Thanks for that. I can’t see anything at all so it’s great that you’re navigating.’

I struggle to turn with the oar in my hand. ‘You can’t see?’ Then I realise he is being sarcastic. I stop paddling. Not that he notices. Our speed remains the same. We head towards some rapids. ‘Ahhhh rapids.’

‘Why are you worried?’ John says still paddling.

‘Because it might overturn. I might smash my head on a rock and drown.’

‘They aren’t even rapids.

He’s right they are more like the little waves you make when you get in the bath. We ripple through them.

And then we see them. Three dolphins start dancing around our boat. I have never been this close to a dolphin. And for some reason the only thing I can find to say is, ‘Why don’t we eat dolphins?’

‘You’re watching dolphins play five feet away and you’re asking why we don’t eat them? You are unbelievable.’

‘I don’t mean I want to eat them (I’ve been vegetarian now for 8 weeks – kudos please) I just mean that we eat most things in the sea, we eat urchins and ugly shit like squid. Why not the dolphins?’ Why is there no dolphin nicoise on the menu? Have you ever wondered about that?

John ignores me and keeps paddling after them.

‘If I were a native American I’d be called Canoes with Dolphins,’ I say.

John doesn’t say anything but hazarding a guess, I think he’s thinking his Native American name would be ‘Canoes with idiot’.

[Via http://canwelivehere.wordpress.com]

Nexus One | News and Updates

The Scandal of Gendercide — War on Baby Girls

2010-03-19T01:46:00.000+02:00

In many nations of the world, there is an all-out war on baby girls. In 1990, economist Amartya Sen estimated that 100 million baby girls were missing — sacrificed by parents who desired a son. Two decades later, multiple millions of missing baby girls must be added to that total, victims of abortion, infanticide, or fatal neglect.

The murder of girls is especially common in China and northern India, where a preference for sons produces a situation that is nothing less than critical for baby girls. In these regions, there are 120 baby boys born for every 100 baby girls. As The Economist explains, “Nature dictates that slightly more males are born than females to offset boys’ greater susceptibility to infant disease. But nothing on this scale.”

In its lead editorial, the magazine gets right to the essential point: “It is no exaggeration to call this gendercide. Women are missing in their millions–aborted, killed, neglected to death.”

[Via http://douglawrence.wordpress.com]

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Eating out@Google

2010-03-17T09:57:00.000+02:00

Clicking this pic in the men’s loo was one of the many things I did at Google.

And the many things somehow always ended at Google’s pantry.

Over the two days that we visited Google I ensured that I didn’t miss on any of the dishes.

There was a 2 day session at Google’s premises where the instructor trained us in Google adwords.

The pic above is Google’s in-house initiative to save trees.

"Wipe your hands. Don’t wipe off trees. Use hand dryer."

[Via http://chronicleofmylife.wordpress.com]

ABC News plans paywall by June | Media | guardian.co.uk

Indian Monkey Business called diplomacy

2010-03-17T01:00:00.000+02:00

There is a famous proverb in Urdu and in Hindi as well, meaning that Hindu would never deal straight; that is what India is doing in resolving Kashmir issue. Late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was an authority on international affairs who has written in his book, ‘Bilateralism’, “If you forget history, history will forget you”. …yes, he was right in case of India and the US, in particular and other countries in general.

In 1989, owing to indigenous freedom movement, the Indian-held Kashmir was on the verge of being freed from the clutches of India. The Kashmiri Muslims’ sacrificed more than 90,000 Kashmiris, apart from destructions of their properties worth millions of dollars and burning of their religious places whereas UN and the big wigs of the world either have become silent spectators, though they call themselves as the flag carriers of Human Rights which proves that they are just hypocrites and biased against Muslims. However, India again played her old trick of asking international community, the 3rd party, to intervene and ask Pakistan to stop aiding the freedom movement as the issue will be resolved through ‘talks’ hence the international community, mainly US and Britain, pressurized Pakistan to accept the Indian offer of “talks”, and Pakistani rulers, being not so far-sighted, accepted it which turned the table not only against Kashmiri indigenous freedom movement but it also deviated Pakistan’s stand from the UN Resolution of Plebiscite in Kashmir, of 1948.

It has been an irony of fate that the Pakistani rulers, ever since birth of this country, civilians or the military, have always succumbed to undue pressures from the US and the Britain, on different international issues. The intensity of pressurization from US, on Pakistan enhanced to an unbearable extent when US asked Pakistan to accept India as a regional ‘super power’. In other words US wanted Pakistan to accept Indian hegemonies to the extent that Holbrook asked Pakistan to let India to do a few “surgical strikes” on supposedly “terrorist’s camps” in Pakistan, soon after RAW and Mossad produced drama “Mumbai Carnage” was played. It was also being said that Zardari, succumbed to such an absurd demand from Holbrook, had also agreed but our patriotic armed forces straightway refused and threatened to treat it as an attack on Pakistan and told that if India did go for such an adventure, an appropriate and befitting response will be given to India. This is what USA and her Vice Royal of Pak-Afghanistan; Holbrook had the designs against Pakistan whom they call “an old ally” and a partner in “war-on-terror’. Holbrook probably knew that it was quite likely that unpatriotic Pakistani rulers might give permission of a few surgical strikes and under the cover of “surgical strikes” India would have gone for a full fledged attack on our nuclear sites. This is what USA’s “friendship is, that she is always keeping a dagger under the ‘cloak of its friendship’, to stab us in the back, any time.

However, coming back to the subject, late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto only in public meetings kept demanding for Plebiscite in Kashmir in accordance with the UN Resolution but his daughter Benazir Bhutto not only accepted the offer of ‘talks’ but she even went to the extent of confederation with India under one President and one currency. May be she owed an obligation to US or to India. She preferred to seek help from those who were known enemies of Pakistan. In Simla agreement why Z A Bhutto accepted to rename ‘Cease Fire Line’ to ‘Line of Control’ and declared it as a bilateral issue is not understandable.

The well planned ‘Monkey Diplomacy’ of ‘talks’ is going on for the last 21 years without any results, as probably India waiting for the implementation of USA’s New World Order wherein Balochistan of Pakistan, along with Balochistan of Iran, has been made a separate country, NWFP including the northern areas of Pakistan have been added into Afghanistan and the whole of Kashmir has been shown as part of India. Although the ‘basic principle’ of the “New World Order” is to form new states on the basis of ethnicity of the population in the Middle and the South East but US being biased against Muslims has divided all the Muslim countries into small states but did not see that India is also made of more than a dozen ethnic groups out of which Kashmiris, Muslims, Sikhs, Tamils, Gujratis, Assamese, Bengalis, Biharis, Nagas, Mizos and the Chinese in the north east, are the major groups which could also form separate independent states.

The Indians being more cunning in diplomacy than Pakistan’s incompetent and dubious rulers as well as below-average intelligence level diplomats absorbed in foreign service on quota system, lost the Kashmir case that since the Simla agreement never saw light in any UN or Security Council meetings. Therefore it was relegated to a bilateral issue that could not be raised on international forums. Unfortunately in an apparent move, Pakistan also accepted the issue as a ‘Bilateral issue’ and to be resolved through ‘bilateral talks’. Why did Pakistan accept the change in the status of an issue already decided in her favour…? This is, in fact, sheer incompetence of Pakistani rulers and the diplomats, which, one could only believe, had been done because of “vested interests” which prevailed upon national interests and nothing else. Is it the way that governments are run, without self-respect and accepting pressures and disgrace at any cost…? It doesn’t matter even if we are a small country but we have dependable resources, men and material, which may allow us to sustain feeding of our population at a much lower cost than what we are spending on imports and subsidies without aid, provided we have sincere and patriotic leadership.

The Indian diplomacy could be gauged from the fact that whenever India wanted has used the 3rd party’s intervention like in 1989 if India would not have sought help from US and Britain to pressurize Pakistan, she would have lost Kashmir but when the hard time passed and 7 heads of the states offered arbitration for the settlement of this long-awaited issue, India refused 3rd party arbitration. This is hypocrisy and “Monkey diplomacy”. Whereas Pakistan has always been clean in these affairs as she not only accepted UN Resolution of Plebiscite but also the arbitration offers made by different heads of the states of the world, including Nelson Mandela. Pakistan could never assert itself with force to get a third party arbitration or raise it at the United Nations.

The absence of self-respect and the intensity of incompetence, prevailing at all levels, are the dominating factors in failure of our foreign policy whether it’s with India, US, EU or the Muslim countries. India, taking the ‘plea’ of Mumbai mayhem, refused to resume ‘talks’, but the Pakistani rulers from the President down to the level of minister of state as well, started begging before Indians and the international community to resume the ‘talks’. These politicians did not even feel disgrace for the country in asking, which was like begging, for resumption of “talks” as if India will offer Kashmir in a platter through the so-called ‘talks’, probably it shows their ‘blood-type’ in not thinking about disgrace and self-respect of the country, which comes up naturally before taking any step.

Indian refusal to resume ‘talks’ was a golden, God-given opportunity for Pakistan to kick-off and to get rid of the Indian ‘cobweb’ of ‘talks’, moving even with the slower than snail’s speed for the last 21 years, therefore, should have demanded plebiscite or arbitration, in Kashmir, by a 3rd party, preferably through Nelson Mandela. But because of in-competency, prevailing at every level, Pakistan lost this opportunity and again fell down into the ‘traps’ of talks which are going on and on and on……..for the last 21 years.

Whenever India is cornered by some countries, whom she can not avoid, India somersaults saying that this is a ‘Bilateral issue’, between Pakistan and India, so we can not accept arbitration whereas India always call the same 3rd party for intervention when she has uncontrollable trouble in Indian-held Kashmir. So, this is also one of the several self-contradictions of India on Kashmir which I have mentioned in my article “Indian Self-Contradictions on Kashmir”. This is all “Bania diplomacy” of India because India CAN never say it a bilateral issue as it had been raised at the UNO by India herself, and the UNO resolved it with unanimous voting for plebiscite then how can she deny it and label it as a ‘bilateral issue’ which is just like throwing dust into the eyes of the international community.

More recently Indian Interior minister, on his visit to US asked USA to intervene and ask Pakistan to punish the (so-called) Pakistani non-state actors in Mumbai Attack. May I ask him if this is not a bilateral issue..? Why India asking for arbitration of 3rd party in this matter too…?

It is also being observed that whenever India gives schedule of ‘talks’ to Pakistan she gives the list of the agenda, the Kashmir issue is not specific and rather is in the last under the heading ‘other disputes’, giving least importance to this major issue despite of the fact that both the countries were about to go for a big nuclear war twice in the near future. Even on international forums Indian delegations walk-out, of the international forums, if Pakistan brings about the Kashmir issue, taking the plea that Kashmir is an integral part of India and why this issue is being raised here although this used to be like saying Day to night by India as how can India say like that about an issue which has been resolved at UNO level in 1948 and 1971, awaiting implementation. Moreover, now what did India say to the World Bank when India was refused development programme aid/loan by the World bank on the plea that Kashmir is NOT part of India and India did not come out with even a meager sound. Why..?

If we go back to the history of this problem we shall observe that the indigenous struggle of the movements for the independence of Kashmir has been made off and on by Kashmiri Mujahideen. And whenever India has been under severe pressure, by Kashmiri Mujahideen, she requested international community to intervene and ask Pakistan that the issue will be resolved through ‘talks’, despite of the fact that India has always been refusing to arbitration offers by seven heads of the state but when she is in real trouble India would go begging international community, the 3rd party, to intervene which was NOT acceptable for arbitration, this is called the Indian “Monkey Business”.

However, international community, the 3rd party, particularly UK, US and other EU countries, used to pressurize Pakistan to stop moral and material support to the Kashmiris Mujahideen as India has agreed to resolve the issue through ‘talks’. That is totally wrong approach not only of international community but of Pakistani rulers to accept this plea as because India always wanted to defuse and break the momentum of the freedom movement of Kashmiri Mujahideen, which used to be at its peak built after sacrificing of hundreds of (young) lives and property. Thus India has always been successful in befooling not only international community, the 3rd party, but the Pakistani rulers as well. The Pakistani rulers have been forgetting the saying of a Muslim Persian scholar “Aazmooda ra aazmoodan juhl ast” means, to test someone already tested is equivalent to illiteracy which is 100% correct in case of India and USA.

The international community, the champions and the flag carriers of Human Rights, have never realized the loss of precious human lives and the unrecoverable loss of property of Kashmiri Muslims as it has never happened once or twice but least a dozen times. The fact is that not only UNO but even the international community has been keeping their eyes blind on Kashmiris agonies because of the barbaric atrocities of Indian police and the seven divisions of army posted there.

China is the only country following the verdict of UN Resolution on Kashmir and hence refused issuance of visas to the citizens of Indian-held Kashmir, taking the plea that Kashmir is not a part of India, exactly as the World Bank has also told clearly to Indian government that Kashmir is NOT a part of India. The irony of fate is that despite being a party to this dispute, even Pakistan’s foreign office and its diplomats did not realize it and have been issuing visas to Kashmiris on Indian passports. Whereas all the countries of the world should follow the suite, thus should refuse issuance of visas on Indian passports like China. This is one of the jobs of the embassies which they should carry out along with other jobs. The Secretary General, Foreign affairs of Pakistan is supposed to take personal interest in perusing our embassies abroad.

India also played the ‘Drama’ of Mumbai Terror Attacks, killing its own innocent people and the put the total blame on Pakistan, hence, refused to talk on Kashmir issue, and rather talking of “punishing” Pakistan, in collaboration with USA. exactly as the USA played the ‘Drama’ of 9/11, killing its own people and then putting blame on Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, but surprisingly, after invading Afghanistan, USA came to know that Al-Qaida is in Pakistan exactly as she came to know the non-existence of WMDs after invading Iraq and killing and committing genocide of more than 3 million Muslims.

However, Pakistani leadership has weakened its position not only before India but before the world community as well by insisting, like begging, for ‘talks’ on Kashmir issue as in view of UN Resolutions of 1948 and 1971 Pakistan should insist on Plebiscite immediately and by asking India to come to the talks is weakening our own case, therefore, Pakistan should ask UNO, for implementation of UN Resolutions on Kashmir i.e. Plebiscite and take a firm stand on it, come what may.

As mentioned earlier, Pakistan should (1) Not to accept the new twist of India of labeling it as a bilateral issue and (2) should NOT go for talks on Kashmir issue at all as it has already been resolved in the United Nations in 1948 and 19971 with unanimous voting to hold Plebiscite in Kashmir. (3) There should No talks on any issue until the issue of Kashmir is resolved in accordance with UN Resolution, as Bhutto had taken this stance and no one in the present regime as well as in the opposition benches have that much caliber to over-rule Bhutto’s stance and view points about Kashmir and India. Therefore, by asking India to come to the talks is like off-setting the already decided United Nation’s Resolution of plebiscite, thus it would be tantamount to weakening our own case.

Pakistan should kick off the Indian stance to resolve the issue through “talks” or as she has made it a “bilateral issue”. The acceptance of Indian stance of “talks’ and the “bilateral issue” shows absence of caliber in Pakistani government that they have given-up its stand on the issue and has accepted Indian stance. Pakistan MUST insist for implementation of UN Resolution of 1948 and 1971 on Kashmir issue and NO less than Plebiscite, under any circumstances, whatsoever.

In view of Bill Clinton’s interview on Kargil affair, he said that both the countries were on the verge of nuclear war, on Kargil issue. He was right as it may happen, if not today may be tomorrow but it will if the Kashmir issue is not resolved. Therefore, now there are only two ways of resolving this issue, as the “talks” going on for the last 21 years have NOT been able to yield any results and these two ways, by virtue of which peace could be achieved in the sub-continent, are.

1. UNO should go for plebiscite in Kashmir without losing time or

2. Pakistan and India will go for a final war using as many nukes as they have, killing millions of innocent people on both sides and then the international community will decide the issue, the bone of contention, on merit and i.e. to hold plebiscite. So, isn’t it better, for UNO and the world’s so-called champions and flag carriers of Human Rights, to hold plebiscite before both these countries go for a horrible nuclear war? Sajid Ansari

[Via http://thedawn.com.pk]

Wakeboarding HD on PSN this week News | PS3 | Eurogamer

Telangana Reflections: Three Months Later

2010-03-15T09:38:00.000+02:00

Three months after the eruption of Telangana’s latest independence movement, I want to take a few minutes to examine the issue at large. This dispute has caused so much fury and hatred on both “sides” that it’s easy to forget the genuine historical issues that lie at its root. Every two weeks or so, the students at Osmania University begin new demonstrations. The suicides have not ceased – in fact, they’ve accelerated. A bright young chemical engineering student, age 20, hanged himself a few days ago, leaving a note that specifically identified the delay over Telangana’s statehood as the reason for his death. He joins at least one hundred who have successfully killed themselves for this issue, and several hundred who have tried.

The many supporters of Telangana’s statehood with whom I’ve spoken invariably bring up the historical injustices their region has suffered. These date back to the pre-independence era, when the Nizam of Hyderabad, an “independent prince”, ruled Telangana as a fiefdom within the British Empire. The areas now comprising Andhra were under direct British rule. As a result, those from Andhra gained exposure to the English language and institutions, which put them at a natural advantage after Independence, when India adopted an English administrative language and a government modeled after Britain’s.

Independence brought to India a raft of state-related problems, in many ways similar to the current Telangana agitations. In 1956, the States Reorganization Act divided India along “linguistic” lines, wherein they tried to give every major language group its own state. Ironically, Andhra Pradesh was itself born of such a struggle, as the Reorganization Act largely sprang from agitations for a Telegu-speaking state, what later became Andhra Pradesh.

Any Telegu-speaking state would have to include Telangana, and so it joined the new Andhra Pradesh by what is now known as the “Gentleman’s Agreement”, which stipulated that Telangana be given a certain percentage of state spending with respect to population along with a raft of other demands including an escape clause for Telangana to secede, if it should wish.

The Andhra Pradesh government violated the agreement before the ink dried. In not one year after the signing did Telangana receive any of the promised investment. The region was already “underdeveloped” with comparison to the Andhra region due to its separation from the British Empire and the pervasive corruption of its previous ruler, the Nizam. After centuries of feudal serfdom under the Nizam, Telangana found it had merely traded one oppressor for another.

The statistics bear this out. Telangana has received only 13% of irrigation projects in the state, and face discrimination in employment, education, health services, and many other areas. The average citizen of Telangana is noticeably worse off when compared an average citizen of Andhra.

In 1969, Telangana exploded into secession demonstrations that the Andhra police brutally suppressed, killing 300. Then began a long and humiliating list of “programmes” – the “Six-point plan”, the “Eight-Point programme”, etc – each valid only on paper. They essentially put the issue on permanent back-burner, allowing Telangana’s frustrations to slowly simmer for forty years, until now, when they again boiled over.

Irrigation is a major thorn. Telangana lies naturally on a plateau, and rivers tend to flow away from it. To add to that, the Andhra government built two dams that diverted away what little water reached Telangana. As a result, Telangana farmers find themselves at the mercy of the rains. Two or three years of uncertain rainfall, as they’ve just experienced, can utterly ruin them.

The monsoons were three months late last year, and no one in India can afford the luxury of climate change denial. Each summer is hotter than the one before it. Telangana, being rain-fed, stands to lose the most. In many ways, this issue can be seen through a climate perspective.

Detractors of Telangana’s statehood generally employ “practical” arguments as to why it would be unwise to grant Telangana independence. Often, they refer, with no intended irony, to Telangana’s historical deprivation as a reason it “needs” Andhra to help it ‘develop’. I have even heard one vehement opponent claim that “they [people from Telangana] are just lazy – they don’t want to work and expect jobs to come to them,. Some level of overt discrimination is thus apparent, at least among certain circles – wealthy ones, I should imagine.

Others wonder whether Telangana will still rely on the fertile Andhra plains after it becomes independent, given the terrifying food inflation rate in India – a sore point to raise since a major aspect of this crisis is agrarian.

One also hears the problem of Hyderabad as a good reason this dispute ought to be evaded, or even ignored. Hyderabad is the capital of the consolidated Andhra Pradesh state, and it happens to be right in the center of Telangana. One reason why Andhra wanted Telangana so badly, many contend, is Hyderabad’s attraction as a capital. The Andhra region has no suitable city. And whether by deliberate planning or unconscious will, Andhra’s significant investment in Hyderabad (“colonization”, some would call it) became an unspoken claim to the land.

Hyderabad now stands as perhaps the fourth most-developed city in India, and it has attracted a surge of foreign investment. The city, hazy and overcrowded as it is, now sports dozens of shopping malls, every major fast-food chain, a “world-class” international airport, a burgeoning IT sector, four 5-star hotels, and a jet-set of American and European businessmen, promising to “do business”.

At various press conferences I’ve attended in my capacity as a newspaper intern I’ve heard Indian scientists, businessmen, politicians, all talking about how Hyderabad knows no recession, how it will become a “world city” by 2015. Over the last two months, these pronouncements have had a tinge of worry to them. Everyone “knows” – or thinks they know – that if Hyderabad goes to Telangana, investment will be ’scared off’.

One hears often how we must protect “Brand Hyderabad” at all costs. At press conferences and business luncheons, the Caucasian benefactors from America or Europe, those who write the checks, can be seen clucking their tongues in dismay. These protests are “bad for business”.

“Pragmatism” aside, however ,I think it should be clear that Telangana has suffered severe discrimination, and that they deserve some sort of redress for the historical disadvantage at which they find themselves. Further, they’ve been lied to, systemically, for more than forty years. Their anger is legitimate, and it cannot be deferred any longer. However, whether actual statehood is the solution to Telangana’s problems remains to be seen.

I admit my original reaction to these demonstrations was ignorant and uninformed. I saw this movement then as so much emotional nonsense – that even if Telangana had legitimate grievances (which, even at the time, I was beginning to suspect that they did) these pointless demonstrations distracted the political establishment from what should be the real focus of their endeavors: controlling India’s population, reducing the toxic brown cloud lingering above the subcontinent, ensuring equitable water and food distribution, and solving the land problem. I did not realize then that Telangana was agitating precisely for these things, albeit, only for themselves.

[Via http://pavanvan.wordpress.com]

Karl Rove - Meet The Press - Fox News - MSNBC | Mediaite

This Is How US Agents Sneak Into Pakistan

2010-03-15T01:57:00.000+02:00

For a few hundred dollars, low-paid border guards are allowing entry into Pakistan to spies and agents of multiple foreign intelligence agencies operating in Afghanistan. In this story and video, see how a US lady entered Pakistan through Torkham on Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010, without visa and without the knowledge of Pakistani intelligence officers posted there. This happens in a country that faces terrorism exported by both US-controlled Afghanistan and its Indian ally.

BY SYED FAWAD ALI SHAH:

TORKHAM, Pakistan—Rampant corruption and a weak Pakistani state are helping the entry into Pakistan of spies and terrorists from multiple foreign intelligence agencies operating in Afghanistan. Almost all terror in Pakistan is coming from Afghanistan.

This American woman tried to sneak into Pakistan through Torkham on Afghan border today, Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010, around early afternoon. She was wearing an Afghan woman’s burqa and apparently spoke local dialects. She would have successfully crossed into Pakistan safely hidden among a group of Afghan women but something about her demeanor raised the suspicion of a Pakistani border guard.

However, the border guards, known as Khasadars, made sure that Pakistani intelligence officers posted in the area are not told about this arrest. Torkham is considered a hot station within Kasadar tribal force circles. With salaries that go less than PKR 10,000 per month [less than US$ 130], major checkpoints such as Torkham provide an extra source of income for the Khasadars through bribes from travelers.

The guards kept the woman in a room for about thirty minutes and then let her enter Pakistan in her burqa. She paid the Khasadar guards a handsome amount of money as bribe. According a source in the Khasadar Force who witnessed the whole thing, the woman didn’t panic. She appeared composed and familiar with the ways of the border guards. She knew what to do in such a situation.

Thanks to my contacts in the border force, I was able to make a cell phone video of her passport while the Khasadar chief at the checkpoint talked to her.

Her name on the passport was Zohra Rehmati, which makes her an American from either Iranian or Tajik-Afghan extract.

Over the past four years, a large number of US agents have entered Pakistan through Afghanistan. Several have been arrested in different parts of the country disguised as Afghan men, complete with beards and Turbans and fluent in Pashto, Dari and Urdu. Unfortunately, much of this covert American activity was sanctioned first by the Musharraf government and now by the pro-US Zardari-Haqqani combine in the incumbent government.

Ms. Rehmati, if that is her real name, may or may not be a CIA operative, or one of its private contractors associated with either DynCorp or Xe International. But such lax security in a country that is a target of terrorism, DynCorp managed to create quite a covert network in Pakistan before being busted by Pakistani security last year. DynCorp remains in Pakistan, thanks to backing from both the US Embassy in Islamabad and the pro-US government, despite repeated attempts by the country’s security officials to force the US defense contractor to wrap up its operations here. Xe International, formerly known as Blackwater, also operated in Pakistan until 2005 before being moved to Afghanistan, according to an earlier report in the New York Times. But going by the number of incidents in Pakistan over the past couple of years where US private agents were seen operating in major Pakistani cities, it is safe to say that both contractors continue to quietly operate in Pakistan in one

Private contractors help give CIA the benefit of deniability if an agent is arrested on foreign territory.

CIA has been known to send US citizens of foreign descent to their home countries for espionage.

The most recent example is Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American who was busted in Tehran carrying sensitive documents handed to her by an informant. Ms. Saberi was sent to Iran posing as a journalist. CIA even managed to get her newspaper accreditation from a major American newspaper. The US government was embarrassed at the arrest because Ms. Saberi was arrested red handed receiving official documents from a contact.

In Pakistan, a State that is falling apart at the seams, with no central figure or department to control the rot, is providing the perfect environment for meddling in the country not only by the United States, UK, India and other established powers based in Afghanistan, but also by a puppet regime like that of Mr. Hamid Karzai and his spymasters, who in eight years are in a good position today to wreak mayhem inside Pakistan while the politicians in Islamabad and the military in Rawaplpindi have little recourse beyond words of appeasement or caution during closed-door meetings with foreign powers in Afghanistan that are never translated into action to reestablish Pakistan’s writ domestically and in the region.

Mr. Shah is an independent journalist based in Peshawar.

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

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Dork - The Incredible Adventures of of Robin 'Einstein' Varghese

2010-03-12T09:46:00.000+02:00

It’s been ages since I’ve read a book. I knew nothing about this book, before starting to read it. I knew the author through twitter. He writes whacky tweets, gives contrarian comments and last but not the least, supports Sreesanth. I have never seen such an ardent supporter of Gopumon. I was unaware of the fact that he had a hugely successful blog running and my friends used to read it. I was totally ignorant. I must thank ‘RT’ in twitter, without which I wouldn’t have noticed this guy. Because in my initial, this was the twitter handle I used to see the most. In no time I was following this guy. Eventually came to know that he has a book coming out soon with a name ‘Dork’. What sort of a name is that! I heard people talking about it, was more than eager to read it. After months of waiting, the book landed in my hands. Thanks to Vidhyut and Deval for getting it for me.

I can’t put in words on how much I enjoyed this ‘nonsense laugh riot’. I can’t think of a better description. I’ve been raving about the book ever since. I will have to take an anticipatory bail here, because I won’t be able to write well about the movie. Simply put. So please don’t throw brickbats at me for that. :|

There is a classic proverb ‘Don’t judge the book by its cover!’. This book is one big exception. The back page is one of the most hilarious one that I’ve seen so far. There is no part of the book which will not make you laugh or smile even the ‘Author’s Bio’.

Prelude/Prologue/Preface is something that I had not seen till now. ‘Whatay’ intro! It gives you the feel of how whacky this book is going to be. The author tells us the turn of events on what led to the book. Quite amusing I must say. Fingers crossed and off to the next chapter. The book got me hooked that, I couldn’t keep the book down. I finished the book at a stretch and only took bio breaks and for dinner. The book had a unique narration style. Totally first person. Yet it never got monotonous. The hero is a Dork, in the literal sense. One can’t get dumber than him. He is a kind of a person whom we know from our lives. The obvious goalpost! As the tagline says, the book is full of his hilarious escapades. Period!

What made me like the book which was small and had a wafer thin plot. It is just because it gave me a good hearty laugh. Not much variation in the plot, simplistic language used. Background used is a consulting firm, with references to Engineering and management colleges. The book also has cliché’s in other places also. Mallu bonding, inspirational SMS etc

The book has one hilarious ending. It reminds you of the Saroj Kumar interview in ‘Udayananu Tharam’. The book is short, that it keeps you yearning for more. But have to say that, sometimes small is good

I totally recommend you all to read this book. Totally worth the money you pay for it. Enjaaaay.

Hats off to Sidin Vadukut for the wonderful book.

Links for the book. Link 1 Link 2

[Via http://ameenmaj.wordpress.com]

Vanguard News Online

Pakistan Navy to participate in DIMDEX 2010

2010-03-12T01:56:00.000+02:00

Doha—Pakistan Embassy has announced the participation of Pakistan Navy in DIMDEX 2010. Two Pakistani Navy ships and a submarine will be in arriving at the Doha Port on March 28 to participate in DIMDEX 2010 exhibition and seminar, according to Pakistan Embassy in Qatar.

Units participating include PNS Zulfiquar, a frigate recently commissioned in Pakistan Navy. The ship is fitted with state of the art weapons and sensors and carries a Z9EC helicopter, according to a Qatari newspaper The Pennisula.

The ship is part of the F-22P Project which encompasses construction of three frigates in China and also envisages complete transfer of technology for the construction of fourth ship at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works.

PN Submarine Humza is also going to be present in Doha during the exhibition. The submarine was constructed by Pakistan Navy in collaboration with DCNS of France.

Hamza is the first submarine to incorporate Mesma which is an air independent propulsion system installed to achieve an increase in submerged endurance.

The submarine by virtue of its weapons and sensors outfit, equipment efficiency, stealth and well-knit crew is fully capable of undertaking variety of missions.

Third unit to be present at the DIMDEX is PN Missile boat Quwwat. PNS Quwwat was constructed at the Karachi shipyard in 2006.—Online

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

Chaos Theory - Desperation News Network -- Politics Daily

India Win and Lose Both in a single Day

2010-03-10T17:46:00.000+02:00

After much drama and the initial hiccups the ruling UPA government finally managed to push through the Women’s Reservation Bill through the Upper House much to the delight of women in the country. While this can be seen a major victory for Indian government, on other hand it has lost in failing to protect the citizenship of one of its prestigious citizens and country’s most renowned Painter, Mr. M.F Hussain.

It is a disgrace on part of the Indian government that an Iconic figure of M.F. Hussain Saab’s stature had to apply for an Overseas Citizen of India card. It is disheartening to see that a foreign country has empathized to keep intact the dignity of the one of the best painters in the modern era, while our very own people have kept quiet and didn’t even bother to take any initiative to prevent losing one our greatest artists of all times.

The government should be ashamed of itself that it succumbed to the hooliganism of a handful of extremists group, which is holding the very concept of democracy to ransom. It’s ignominious that the government of India failed to provide a security assurance to a National hero like M.F. Hussain and as a result an Indian born citizen has to apply for an overseas citizen of India card for he has immense love for his motherland.

It is appalling to see that such a situation has arisen before a national figure and he had to live most of his life in a foreign country because he felt threatened for his life in his own country for just expressing his freedom of expression, a right guaranteed to him by the Constitution. This makes it obvious that the constitution is just a mere piece of paper and the rights stated in it are a mere statement. In reality people have to be careful in while expressing their freedom of thought and speech otherwise their life is under threat.

The VHP, RSS and other right wing extremists issued a warning to M.F Saab to not to step in India for painting Indian Goddess in nude. The VHP and RSS have to understand and come to terms with the reality that what M.F created was just a creative piece of art from and there is no limit to ones creativity. If these so called protectors of Hindu religion found M.F Hussain’s painting so offensive they must have long demolished the sculptures of Khajuraho, which continues to exist for centuries and is equally erotic as M.F’s depiction of Indian goddesses.

It is very much clear that the Hindu groups are clearly against M.F just because he is a Muslim; they are holding a personal grudge against under the pretext of their pseudo Hindu ideology. The Indian media which otherwise sensationalizes some very petty issues has completely ignored to give the due importance it deserves to this issue. Had media been proactive and created a debate it would have given the people of India a platform to raise their voice and we could easily prevented losing M.F. saab to Quatar.

But now that we have already lost of our priced citizen, the least the government of India can do is grant him an OCI and save itself from further disgrace.

[Via http://girishkannan.wordpress.com]

Codemasters unveils Bodycount FPS News | PS3 | Eurogamer

The Power of Controversy

2010-03-10T09:53:00.000+02:00

Article by Pritish Nandy in TOI - source

“Many of us knew of Arthur Andersen, the global consulting firm. But when it broke up and morphed into Accenture, not many made the exact connection. The connection was made on that fateful day when the media decided to out Tiger Woods for his sexual transgressions. Suddenly all the brands he had endorsed, from Accenture to Nike, made it to the headlines of every newspaper, with eager readers panting to find out who drops him first. A golfer worth a billion dollars is not the worlds most loved person, however much he may be admired. But this columns not about celebrity hunting.Its about controversy. The power of controversy.

Nothing builds a brand quicker than controversy. The uglier the controversy,the more profitable its outcome. You can ask me why this happens in a world where we are always taught to sidestep trouble,walk the straight and narrow. The reasons simple: Controversy polarises opinion. When public opinions polarised on any issue,be it Tiger Woods or MNIK, Raj Thackeray or Mayavati, Husain or Bt Brinjal, it immediately grabs headlines. You cant help but notice it. In fact,everyone notices it and then,thanks to the net,everyone reads up everything on it. No amount of paid publicity can ever achieve the phenomenal reach controversy delivers. A broken theatre and a few torn hoardings can give an unbearably boring film screaming front page coverage for days on end,and fans a righteous cause to fight for. Yes,it was the Sena that made MNIK such a success. There was little buzz about its promotions till Saamna attacked it and SRK cleverly turned the table on them.

This brings me to the smart art of conflict management. Take an issue,any issue. Instead of spending a fortune on putting out your point of view,its much easier to design an emotionally charged controversy around it so that people can take extreme positions. Make it a clear love/hate choice and,before you know it,everyones on one side or the other. The commercial objectives will be instantly realised. Funnily,no controversy ever goes to waste. The worms in Cadbury chocolates led to Amitabh Bachchan being brought in to repair the brands image. He not only repaired the image but brought the brand back into business, stronger.

Every time consumer activists attack soft drinks,they sell more,almost as if by consumer defiance. The more we rant about transfats,the more people flock to fast food counters. Its not only the young who refuse to have health concerns forced down their throat; everyone resents being told what not to do. Any pressure exerted, be it not to see MNIK or not to drink Coke or not to eat a burger at McDonalds only helps to increase their sales. Word of mouth, an old aphorism we used in the context of movies that people saw, liked and spread the word about, no longer works. People want to make their own choice these days. A tiny movie called Thanks Maa has got rave reviews this week. Will they sell one extra ticket. Unlikely. Will the film be around in theatres long enough to reap the benefit of word of mouth publicity. Unlikely. Quality and saleability walk on divergent tracks these days.

Actually good, clean entertainment is no longer in great demand. Good, healthy,nourishing food hasnt even taken off. Brain dead cinema rules. So does wicked food. The moment you talk about wholesomeness,you drive away consumers. Good is confused with bland. It works on the same principle that Sarat Chandra (author of Devdas and Parineeta) once espoused, that the more you denigrate a woman, the more you call her immoral, the more attractive she appears to everyone else. Simple question: Would you rather spend an hour with Mother Teresa, listening to her homilies, or with Angelina Jolie risking your perfect marriage.

So lets not kid ourselves. If you have something to sell,go make such a huge controversy around it that the world stops dead in its tracks. Husains fortunes were flagging when the saffronites went for him. Tyeb, Souza, Gaitonde, even young Subodh Gupta had hijacked his best selling tag. Auction after auction saw Husain’s prices tanking. Now,post this silly controversy,hes back–right on top. Raj Thackeray followed the same strategy in politics,instigating one controversy after another,to ensure that he created a space for himself in Maharashtra politics. Its not a unique strategy. Balasaheb Thackeray, Mayavati, Jayalalitha, Mamta Banerjee, and even Sonia Gandhi used every controversy to further their political cause. Each controversy helped consolidate their presence in politics,enhanced their play. Just as Sanjay became a bigger star after Khalnayak and his stint in jail. Salman has hit a purple patch with every controversy. Saif even got a Padma Shri for riling the Bishnois.

It all goes to prove the point: If success is what you seek,go get yourself a controversy. Or else,consign your dreams to oblivion.”

[Via http://q8life.wordpress.com]

Codemasters unveils Bodycount FPS News | PS3 | Eurogamer

To Conquer Oneself

2010-03-08T09:48:00.000+02:00

“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others”.

(Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha)

This seated Buddha is sheltered in a room which is barely opened to visitors in Hemis Gompa which is a Tibetan monastery located in the Himalayan hills, on the opposite side of the Singge Tsangpo river (Indus) in Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir).

I was surprised by the beard and the turban which give a Muslim influence to the statue.

This unusual piece is surrounded by impressive painted walls of a high quality.

There was a natural light coming from the open door.

[Via http://designldg.wordpress.com]

Stocks in the News: Marvell, Apple, TiVo - DailyFinance

3 (superstitious) Idiots: Sourav, Aamir, Sachin

2010-03-08T01:42:00.000+02:00

In addition to cricket, I am also a big fan of Aamir Khan, an innovative and phenomenal Bollywood actor/director/producer, and the only one, IMO, who’s maintained some sort of standard in Bollywood. I don’t really watch Bollywood movies (except for the rare, supposedly good ones — which are mostly Aamir Khan movies) but yesterday I had the chance to see his latest movie, 3 Idiots (which is quite good BTW). Aamir obviously cares about education (remember Taare Zameen Par?) and a lot of the message of that movie, he sincerely believes. Since this is a cricket blog, I won’t get anymore into it. But, while looking it up online, I found that before the movie premiered, Aamir travelled to many places in India under disguise. One of those places was Kolkata, where he went to Sourav Ganguly’s home under disguise to try and meet him and get his autograph, but was turned away.

He had set it up to meet him in the evening regardless.

Now Aamir is a huge cricket fan (remember Lagaan?), and so the topic of cricket (and inevitably Tendulkar) obviously came up. And kindly presented me the opportunity to blog about Aamir here.

I’ll refrain from extolling Aamir here (at least, not any further), but if you want to know more about him, head over to his blog. If you want to see videos from his trip across India, go here.

[Via http://yorker.wordpress.com]

Cowboys tendered Alan Ball, Steve Octavien, too | Dallas Cowboys ...

Religious cretins

2010-03-05T17:15:00.000+02:00

Churumuri links to an article in the Telegraph by Swapan Dasgupta-

Earlier this week, a newspaper in Delhi published a telling cartoon that drew many a snigger: a figure fully veiled in black with the simple caption: “Qatar Mata by M.F. Husain”.

The apparent absurdity of India’s most famous artist relinquishing his Indian nationality for the citizenship of Qatar, a place where he claims “no one controls my freedom of expression”, has disappointed many of his ardent supporters who had faithfully backed him against militant and litigious groups. In turning his back on “my motherland” because “India doesn’t need me” and “no one came forward to speak for me”, Husain has handed out an unqualified victory to those who feel that free speech and expression cannot include the right to offend.

[...]

In the past decade, the threshold of tolerance in India has been lowered considerably — thanks in no small degree to the takeover of the internet by competitive extremists. ‘Sensitivity to faith’ has come to mean accommodation of organized blackmail.

The successful anti-Husain and anti-Taslima protests have to be seen in the context of a progressive shrinking of the enlightened public space. India imagined it would be a world player on the strength of its ‘soft power’. Today, that power is being steadily undermined by the clash of rival ghettos. The nonsense has gone on far too long and has touched dangerous heights. It’s time the country extends democratic rights to those who offend fragile sensitivities.

Nice. But the same person, in the same article, writes this – “In theory, there is nothing hideously objectionable to citizen’s rights being qualified by the realities of India.”

As for Husain, I heard the clueless fellow on television, saying the words Dasgupta attributes to him – “no one controls my freedom of expression [in Qatar].” I guess the operative word here is “my.” If only Qatar had offered asylum to Nasreen and Rushdie…

[Via http://aristotlethegeek.wordpress.com]

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Indra : Deva or Rshi?

2010-03-05T00:58:00.000+02:00

Prerequisites :

Devas: Human or Divine? : Vaishnava writers in english use the word demigod or man-god to refer to the devas. It is possible to interpret the devas in a human, astronomical, spiritual, extra terrestrial, divine and so many other ways. This article discusses that.
Deva Bhashas : Sanskrit And Tamil? : There is evidence in the the puranas well as sthala puranas to indicate that the deva-home was the south-eastern coast of India. This article consolidates exploration of all that data.
Aditi and Kasyapa, Adityas – Suras, Daityas, Danavas
Indra : This article looks at the human, heroic, natural, divine as well as astronomical interpretations of Indra.

Discussion :

Many (4 to 12) of the important Devatas of the Rg Veda Mantras were Adityas ie sons of Aditi and Kasyapa., for eg Indra, Viwaswan, Varuna and Mitra. Aditi was the daughter of Daksha and granddaughter of Brahma. Kasyapa rshi was the son of Marici and the grandson of Brahma. (See : Daksha : He named the fixed stars!, Brahma)

So Indra and his brothers including his Daitya step brothers were genetically 100% brahmans. Contrast this with his second cousin Ravana, Ravana and his siblings were half brahman, 1/32 rakshasa, 3/32 deva, 3/8 gandharva. (See Rakshasas for the detailed lineage of Ravana).

While Indra is the Devata of many of the Veda Mantras and his great-uncle Vasishtha was the rshi of some of these mantras, there is one mantra in which, Vasishtha is the devata and Indra is the rshi.

(Click here for the devatAs of Vasishta’s Veda Mantras : 7th Mandala : “trayastrims’am sUktam : vasiSTaputrAh, vasiSTah devatah : Please note that the Devatah for these mantras are Vasishta’s sons and Vasishta himself. Thus we learn that the Devata is the luminary who is the object of worship. The rshis for these mantras are vasiSTah for his sons and vasiSTaputrAh indrah va rSayah for Vasishta himself. That means that Vasishta’s sons and Indra worshipped Vasishta and Vasishta worshipped his sons”, See Also Difference between Mantram – Slokam)

So both genetically and from the Veda Mantras, we see that Indra was a brahman and a rshi.

Contrast with Ravana who was half-brahman and not a rishi at all. (Please also bear in mind that in the Krta Yuga, there was only 1 varna, so when I say brahman, I refer to jathi and not to varna. : Indian Caste System: Then and Now: Jati, Varna, Kula)

In movies and paintings we see Indra with a golden crown and jewellery, clean shaven, unlike the rshis of his time whom we see with long beards, matted hair in a top knot and wearing only the yajnopavitam. We also see that he is the king of the devas.

From the puranas and itihasas we know that Indra was a heroic fighter and a strategist who did a lot of the back ground planning such that Sri Rama, the descendant of his brother Viwaswan (Surya), could defeat his (Indra’s) cousin Ravana. See Indra.
We know that Indra fought and killed Vrtra with a weapon made from dadIci maharshi’s backbone. We know that Indra was defeated by Ravana’s son Meghanath, who then took on the title Indrajit. We know that Jambavantha and Indra fought alongside each other.
While shaving is a waste of time for rshis, flowing beards are a nuisance for warriors. Perhaps this why we perceive Indra as clean-shaven.

It is also interesting that Brhaspati was the guru of the devas and therefore Indra also, and that his son Bharadwaja is rishi of many mantras of which Indra is the luminary.

As I was struggling yesterday to understand Bharadwaja Maharshi’s mantras to Indra, I prayed to my (our) forefather Bharadwaja to help me understand what all this was all about and all this is was what was revealed to/or struck my mind.
Brihaspati was a grandson of Brahma and thus an uncle of Indra. Bharadwaja was thus Indra’s cousin.
One of the many possible interpretations of these Veda Mantras (there are at least 6 interpretations per mantra if not more) might be that Bharadwaja was reminding his cousin Indra of his great strength and heroism so that he could defeat their common enemies and protect their godhana, and other forms of wealth etc. “win! protect us! you can do it!”. (No wonder then that Pandu selected Indra to father one of his sons! It makes me very curious about what mantras Durvasa taught Kunthi.. but that is a whole other matter!)

For more on meanings of Veda Mantras, Books, Links, Dictionaries and other related information you can explore http://satyaveda.wordpress.com

Om Tat Sat.

[Via http://ancientindians.wordpress.com]

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England make it 2 from 2 on World Cup 2010 - Day 3

2010-03-03T09:51:00.000+02:00

England continued their good start in the Honda World Cup with an excellent 6-4 win over South Africa. SA took an early lead but England soon levelled and then went 2-1 up, only to let SA back in before the half time interval.

An 8 minute spell early in the 2nd half saw England go 5-2 up but South Africa kept battling and scored twice each side of a Richard mantell PC goal to keep their hopes alive. England held on to clinch their 2nd win of the competition.

Pakistan ended Spains winning record with a narrow 2-1 win and that will make up for the defeat by India on Sunday.

Australia also are looking to bounce back from their day one defeat and they started very strongly against hosts India. The OZ quickley went 3-0 up and only a strike right on the half time whistle kept Indian hopes alive. Australia then got 2 goals in aminute and that would have killed off most teams, but with the crowd roaring them on India pulled one back with 18 minutes left on the clock. Unfortunately for the hosts they can not find the net again and Australia miss a PS and the chance to make it 6.

South Africa 4 v 6 England 2010-03-02 16:35

No Venue | Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 POOL B (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

Pakistan 2 v 1 Spain HT 1-0 | 2010-03-02 18:35

No Venue | Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 POOL B (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

India 2 v 5 Australia HT 1-3 | 2010-03-02 20:35

No Venue | Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010 POOL B (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

[Via http://ne14hockey.wordpress.com]

Sony advises against PS3 use News | PS3 | Eurogamer

Trash pickers in India go to waste

2010-03-03T01:37:00.000+02:00

As India asserts itself as a rising power, its capital city is feeling the urge to spruce up its new image. New Delhi is hiring private contractors to collect trash from the streets. But that move isn’t good for everyone. Raymond Thibodeaux reports.

Tess Vigeland: Today is a holiday in India. It’s called, appropriately enough, “Holi.” The Hindu festival marks the coming of spring. And on the streets, people smear each other with brightly colored powder. But in the Indian capital Delhi, some of the poorest residents aren’t in a celebratory mood. They’re angry that city bosses wanting to spruce up the metropolis plan to hire private contractors to collect trash from the streets.

From Delhi, Raymond Thibodeaux reports.

RAYMOND THIBODEAUX: Bhole Kashyup sorts through bags of trash for aluminum cans, glass bottles, cardboard boxes — anything he can sell to junk dealers. He came to Delhi as a young man 15 years ago to work as a cook, but this is as far as he got — a ragpicker, more like a freelance recycler. It’s a job he hates, but even at $2 a day, it’s still a job.

BHOLE KASHYUP: I’ve never seen it this bad. We used to earn 350 rupees a day. Now it’s down to about 100, which is just not good enough. So now my wife and my children must work alongside me. I’ve had to take my four children out of school.

His anger is directed at Delhi’s city government. The city is handing off some of its responsibilities to private contractors, everything from bus service to trash collection. That means trash pickers like Bhole are barred from collecting garbage in areas of the city that have already been privatized. Soon the entire city will be off limits. In Delhi alone, there are as many as 250,000 who make their living off of what others throw away.

KASHYUP: Everything is getting handled by private operators who have no use for the poor. There are no jobs for us anymore because of the government’s decision to privatize. We have to run away from Delhi.

More and more cities across the country are privatizing municipal tasks, in hopes of saving money while improving services for residents.

Bharati Chaturvedi is director for Chintan, a charity that supports ragpickers.

BHARATI CHATURVEDI: Trash has become an especially valuable commodity in our country. We’re talking of displacing hundreds of thousands of small, private players in favor of just two or three really large players.

Because those large players — the private companies — have first rights to the garbage, people like Bhole are being shut out of the system.

CHATURVEDI: That’s unfortunate because a lot of the small players are able to provide personalized services. They recycle 2,000 tons of waste every single day in the city of Delhi. So why throw them out?

City officials say they don’t want to throw anyone out. On the contrary, they’ve urged private waste companies to hire the ragpickers.

Parth Shah is president of the Center for Civil Society. He agrees with the decision to privatize trash collection, because city trash workers weren’t doing a good job. On any given day, nearly 40 percent of trash collectors don’t bother showing up for work.

As an alternative, Shah says the ragpickers could form their own companies.

PARTH SHAH: We have suggested to governments in other cities to organize them as a cooperative. Let them bid for the contracts. They know how to run this service. This is what they’ve been doing for the last 20 or 30 years.

In the meantime, Bhole and his family walk past the trash collection areas that are now closed off to them. Bhole says he hates seeing so much good waste going to waste.

In New Delhi, I’m Raymond Thibodeaux for Marketplace.

[Via http://lanle.wordpress.com]

Sen. Bunning is Angry: 'This Is a Senators Only Elevator!' - The ...

Holi

2010-03-01T17:43:00.000+02:00

CBC News reports:

Revellers celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi in the Indian city of Mumbai have been warned not to waste drinking water for traditional rain dances or water fights.

Municipal officials in India’s financial capital issued the edict on Monday as a result of chronic water shortages in the city.

…

The call for restraint comes as much of the country celebrates Holi, or the Festival of Colours, the public holiday to mark the arrival of spring.

Rain dances?

[Via http://oakblue.wordpress.com]

Anderson Cooper Said to Meet With CBS News Executives - Media ...

Some Little Known Facts about Jallianwala Massacre

2010-02-26T09:51:00.000+02:00

Very few people in India, perhaps none abroad, know as to why General Dyer ordered massacre of innocent men women and children on April 13 1919, the Baisakhi day. Here are some important little known or unknown facts which resulted in the massacre of more than 500 and serious bullet injuries to more than 1500, mostly citizens of Amritsar who had gathered there to listen to Gandhi and other leaders against what Gandhi called “Devilish” piece of legislation ie. two Bills under Rowlett Act.

Arthur Herman, the author of Book “Gandhi and Churchill, describes the event before massacre of hundreds of innocent Indians gathered in Jallianwala Bagh as under:

‘ Winston Churchill told the House of Commons , “Never has there been a time when people (Indians) were more disposed to turn to courses of violence or show such scant respect for law and custom , tradition and procedure.” To ally the fears of men like Churchill Indian government officials decided to act.’

In February 1919, as the Defense of India Act was to expire six months after the war; two bills by Sydney Rowlett, reached the Legislative Council in Delhi; “an outery began. Even with every Indian member (of legislative council) voting against it the bills were passed in March and became law. The two bills contained two controversial provisions. One allowed judges to convict suspected terrorist or subversives without a Jury, the other sanctioned interning those same suspects without trial.”

Gandhi thought by supporting British war effort India would get independence (Swaraj) or at least Home rule. So Gandhi had enthusiastically supported the British Empire in their war against Germany. He even went so far as to recruit 20 able-bodied persons from each village in Gujarat and walked for hundreds of miles. At the end he could recruit only forty instead of more than a thousand. He justified his war effort to the annoyance of his close associate (Sardar) Patel, who refused to be a party to that effort of Gandhi, due to twist in his philosophy of Ahimsa- Annie Besant sarcastically called Gandhi “Recruiting sergeant” of British Empire. Even many villagers felt ashamed of their Gandhi’s support to British and left his meetings or showed their back.

Gandhi justified his pro British stand. Gandhi went so far as to say “Of all my activities I regard this (recruitment) as the most difficult and the most important.”

It is surprising that there is no mention of Gandhi being pro-British upto 1919 in the ‘Advanced History of India’ by Dr R C Majumdar and others, and also Gandhi going to many villages to recruit as soldiers for British-Indian Army and the sarcastic remark of Annie Besant, that Gandhi was “Recruiting Sergeant” for the British.

It is noteworthy that Gandhi’s pro-British views in 1914 to 1919 were in absolute contrast to Annie Besant’s views…. Annie Besant a British citizen who came to India and after seeing extreme poverty in villages and the conditions of vast majority of Indians, the repressive imperialist rule by the same British who were just and democratic in their own country, got so perturbed that she started ‘Home Rule India’ party. She wanted British to concede independence to India. She said “The moment of England’s difficulty is the moment of India’s opportunity.” But Gandhi differed with her and wanted India to support British war effort “unconditionally, spiritually and physically.” Lokmanya Tilak was released from jail after the 1st world war started in 1914. Tilak wanted like many other Indians British to concede ‘Home Rule’ to India, if not independence, just now. He therefore joined Annie Besant’s Party. As a result within one year, Annie Besant’s ‘Home Rule League’ had more than 60,000 full time members while “Indian National Congress had only 20,000 members.”

However after the end of war with Germany, British Government and in particular imperialist Winston Churchill went back from their promise of conceding Home Rule to Indians. This made Indian National Congress furious and Gandhi, too, felt betrayed by British. So he joined the independence movement of Congress and was going to address congress sponsored meeting at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, just, adjoining the Golden Temple the holiest Sikh Gurdwara. But on way Gandhi was taken out of train before reaching Amritsar, arrested and taken to Bombay. Punjab Government, as well as the British Government of Delhi kept this and Jallianwala massacre and meeting as top secret and did not let anyone know for couple of months.

In brief here is sequence of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on 13th April 1919: Dyer entered (Amritsar) city central with a convoy of Armoured cars, his troops following. With him was the Amritsar town “crier.” He was shouting Dyers order in Hindi and Punjabi, English and Urdu. “On reaching his temporary headquarters, he learnt that a demonstration was under way in Jallianwala Bagh. He became furious, rather lost balance, at the “deliberate violation” of his order and immediately marched with “ninety Baluchis and Gurkhas towards Jallianwala Bagh where thousands of citizens had gathered to protest against the ‘devilish’ provisions of Rowlett Act. With Dyer were only four British, two officers and two security guards. ‘Otherwise there were no white soldiers at all.’

Arthur Herman describes the order of Dyer as under:

“Dyer barked the order to open fire. For ten minutes Dyer encouraged his soldiers to keep shooting unless bodies carpeted the ground.” Dyer and his troops had marched off after completing the massacre in Jallianwala Bagh leaving about a thousand dead and more than 2000 wounded. “Cries of pain and moans rose to the roof tops, bodies lined the entire wall around the Bagh. In many places the eyewitnesses said, they were ten feet deep.”

Where an English woman had been pulled from her bicycle, “Dyer ordered every citizen of Amritsar to ‘crawl on all fours”. He also set up a whipping post where any ‘native’ who refused to crawl was to be flogged.

‘Gandhi did not hear of this massacre and cruelty at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar ‘until June’. For almost two months there was complete clampdown. But as the news of worst ever British tyranny trickled there were unceasing protests and cries all over India.

Jallianwala Bagh massacre united all Indians against British, for the first time. Rabindra Nath Tagore returned his knighthood in protest, Gandhi returned his Kaisar-e Hind medal that was awarded for his pro-British services in South Africa. Jinnaha relinquished his membership of imperial legislature. Motilal Nehru collected his British furniture, suits and ties and made bonfire in his home garden and started wearing hand span Khadi clothes.

“The evidence was harrowing. Eyewitnesses who had watched the Jallianwala Bagh killings from the rooftops had seen “blood pouring in profusion…even those who were lying down were shot….Some had their head cut open, others had eyes shot and nose, chest, arms or legs shattered.” Some witnesses had sat all night in the Bagh with dying husbands and brothers. Others remembered the bodies of those who had been shot, but managed to escape, being left in the street for dead-including the bodies of small children.”

“At one point an entire wedding party had been flogged for failing to follow the crawling order.”

The pain and cries because of more than a thousand deaths in Amritsar “united Indians as never before and after”. More than any other events “Amritsar and its aftermath solidified national support for Indian independence.

[Via http://hcsingh.com]

Team17 doing new Worms for Steam News | PC | Eurogamer

School books with beer drinking and smoking «Jesus» confiscated

2010-02-26T01:52:00.000+02:00

The government in the Indian state of Meghalaya has confiscated textbooks showing pictures of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette and a can of beer.

A beer can and a cigarette has been added to the Catholic image of Jesus.

The book has been used for primary classes and has caused a furore in the north-eastern state, where more than 70 per cent of the population are Christians.

State Education Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said legal action against the publishers was being contemplated. The company, based in Delhi, has so far not responded to the complaints.

«We are now considering legal action against the Skyline Publications of New Delhi who published the controversial textbooks», Mr Lyngdoh said.

The controversial picture of Jesus was discovered in cursive writing exercise books being used at a private school in the state capital, Shillong.

«We are deeply hurt by the insensitivity of the publisher. How can one show such total disrespect for a religion?», asked Dominic Jala, the Archbishop of Shillong. The Catholic Church in India has banned all textbooks by Skyline Publications from all its schools.

«We have told all our member schools across the country to ban this publisher»,said Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) spokesman Babu Joseph.

«Jesus Christ is central to Christian faith and Christian life. The attempt to tarnish his image is highly objectionable and goes against the spirit of religious tolerance in India», Mr Joseph said.

Source: BBC.

My comment:

According to the gospel of John, the first miracle of Jesus was to make water into wine. He also shared suppers with His disciples, who were drinking wine. The Jewish Apostles Paul instructed Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach problem. And Jesus him self might have taken quite a few drinks. And He might not.

Matthew 11:18-20

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

So what is the fuzz?

The problem is that makers, promoters and defenders of images and idols are sinners. Such people claim to be Holy, but they mock God of the Bible, by breaking the second commandment. You can not tarnish the «image of Jesus», because the only valid «image» of Him is found in His Words. The Jew did not recognize Him neither by seeing His image, nor because they had seen a statue of Him.

Still thousands of Jews recognized the Messiah when He walked on Earth. How did they do that?

By reading the scripture, obeying the scriptures, and sharing the scripture with others. Thats why a blind man could cry out and say. «Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me».

Religious people who are offended by tarnished «images» of Jesus, please read:

John 9:41

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

[Via http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com]

Introversion opens up on Subversion News | PC | Eurogamer

Fructe pentru suflet

2010-02-24T09:51:00.000+02:00

Iata o carte pe care vreau sa o citesc:

‘Anotimpul fructelor de mango’ de Amulya Malladi

Am auzit numai lucruri frumoase despre aceasta carte, o poveste despre diferenta dintre culturi si despre lupta launtrica dintre traditie si nou, asa ca imi voi bucura sufletelul cu o noua carte azi ma duc sa o cumpar…revin cu impresii.

Sunshine

Ce spun altii:

„Fascinant… un roman tulburător, presărat cu detalii şi evocări pline de senzualitate ale vieţii din India.” – The Washington Times

După şapte ani petrecuţi în America, Priya Rao se întoarce în India natală. Doreşte să-şi anunţe familia că este logodită cu Nick, americanul pe care-l iubeşte, dar vestea frânge inimile celor din jur, care insistă ca ea să se mărite cu un „băiat bun indian”.

Vizita se transformă într-o experienţă copleşitoare. Tânăra femeie, care a cunoscut lumea occidentală, încearcă să aducă schimbarea şi în propria familie. Între două culturi profund diferite, între tradiţie şi modern, între generaţii diverse par să existe conflicte de netrecut.

[Via http://zuzele.wordpress.com]

Brown: UK games industry best in Europe News | Eurogamer

Pakistan is fully prepared to give a befitting response to any misadventure from the eastern border: COAS Gen. Kayani

2010-02-24T01:27:00.000+02:00

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said the army is fully prepared to give a befitting response to any misadventure from the eastern border and there is no possibility of the adversary catching Pakistan unawares.

Responding to questions raised by members of the Senate standing committee on defence during a briefing at the General Headquarters, he said that India’s cold start doctrine based on hegemonic designs had not been taken lightly and the armed forces were capable of responding to the challenge and safeguarding the country’s geographical frontiers.

According to a participant, Gen Kayani said Pakistan had played an important role in the global war on terror and remained committed to combating the menace. But he added, long-term national interests would never be sacrificed on someone else’s short-term interests.

The Senate committee recently received briefings at the naval and air headquarters, but this was possibly its first meeting at the GHQ.

Director-General Military Operations Maj-Gen Javed Iqbal gave a detailed briefing to the committee on the role functions and organisation of GHQ, the state of preparedness in the wake of internal and external threats and counter-insurgency operations in the NWFP and Fata.

Gen Kayani made some brief remarks which were followed by a question answer session.

Although most of the members praised the army’s role in combating terrorism, according to sources, some of them expressed concerns over what they called an extension of the US-led war on terror and said that Pakistan was paying a heavy price for it.

The sources said that Prof Khursheed Ahmed of Jamaat-i-Islami said that time had come for Pakistan to review its policy on cooperating with the US in the war on terror.

Some members said there was a perception that the operations in the NWFP and Fata had been launched under US pressure.

They were of the view that steps should be taken to consolidate the gains.

The members asked questions about the future scenario in Afghanistan, the US troops surge, Pak-US relations and external threats faced by Pakistan. They observed that the army’s requirements should be fully met at this juncture to enhance its capacity to protect national security interests. They promised to raise the issue in the Senate.

The committee headed by Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi comprises Senators Waqar Ahmad Khan, Faisal Raza Abidi, Mian Raza Rabbani, Sardar Ali Khan, Maulana Mohammad Khan Shirani, Haji Mohammad Adeel, Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Jan Mohammad Jamali, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Prof Khursheed Ahmed.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar is ex-officio member of the committee.

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

UK charts: AVP is the new leader News | Eurogamer

2010 Worldwide Medical Laboratories Industry Report-Aarkstore Enterprise

2010-02-22T09:50:00.000+02:00

The Medical Laboratories Industry report, published annually by Barnes Reports, contains timely and accurate industry statistics, forecasts and demographics. The report features 2010 current and 2011 forecast estimates on the size of the industry (sales, establishments, employment) for the 47 largest world countries, such as Japan, China, India, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, UK, France, Germany, Italy and U.S.. The report also includes industry definition, 5-year historical trends on industry sales, establishments and employment and estimates on up to 10 sub-industries

For more information please visit:http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/2010-Worldwide-Medical-Laboratories-Industry-Report-37227.html

PH.NO. 919272852585

[Via http://aarkstores.wordpress.com]

AMERICAblog News: New GM CEO to be paid $9 million

Reply To Claimer of Enlightenment (Yaani Drucker Correspondence) Part 2

2010-02-22T01:40:00.000+02:00

Continuing from: Reply To Claimer of Spiritual Enlightenment (Yaani Drucker Correspondence) Part 1 Posted by Barry Pittard on February 20, 2010 …. , my response to Jaani Drucker, who claims both in correspondence and on her website to be enlightened, and to: “Have truth, will travel”. In an email to me, she says:

“Baba demonstrates that He clearly manipulates the laws of physical reality, because He can”.

In another email to me, she says:

“Sai Baba has demonstrated powers of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. I am convinced of His divinity and that everything He does is in the service of the uplift of all. He knows the past, present and future of each of us, and He knows how to transform the world into a world of peace, love and joy for all”.

She put the question to me:

“Is it necessary for a rape victim to receive professional counseling? This assumes that psychology/ psychotherapy has answers that ABSOLUTE TRUTH does not“.

————————-

Note: Ms Drucker writes that “I am happy to discuss and debate issues. I have responded to every issue you raised”. But she has clearly not responded either in the spirit or the letter of this claim. There is no happiness. Despite the fact that she claims to be spiritually realized and gives workshops and writes on spiritual transcendence, there is no rising above the hebdomadal. Hers is an emotive and churlish reaction. The following is but a sample:

“You are simply not getting it. I have no stomach for defending myself against people who are threatened by my truth. I just have not time for it. If you had come to me without baggage we could hope for a debate. As only as you keep your junk on the internet in public view I will conclude that YOU are not open to honest dialogue”.

Her concerns are centered on herself, and certainly suggest the sort of narcissism referred to my very qualified and experienced psychotherapist friend who wrote:

… “My additional reaction to Yaani Drucker’s account of the rape is that if she can use her faith and spiritual references to overcome the trauma, then she is fortunate. Such coping behavior is successful for her. (- not to imply that it would be successful for others). There is a psychoanalytic term, “Narcissistic Defense” which can explain how people turn negative feelings into positive ones)”.

Jaani Drucker is a public person with a website, a book and a workshop schedule. Before I responded to her emails that came via this http://barrypittard.wordpress.com , I did a reality check and sent what I had written to several individuals of professional background, who are perfectly ready to criticize me if need be. I do not think any sensible and perceptive reader will perceive in at all the same terms as Jaani Drucker has perceived in her reaction to what I have written. She writes:

” I wonder whether you would consider removing your discrediting and unkind words? If so, perhaps there would be the possibility of an honest debate. Until then you demonstrate that you have already drawn your conclusion, that I am a dangerous energy that you need to protect others from, etc.”

My attempt was, in a polite way, to say that I thought her claims were excessive and to point out their consequences in the real world. If she wants to propagate her Truth, then she must expect that others will comment on it, and not necessarily accept it. She claims her good name is besmirched. But no, if anything her good name is under question because of her support of Sathya Sai Baba, against whom evidence of many abuses (and not sexual ones alone) are subject to a great deal of evidence from many parts of the world. A world-class investigator, the BBC, in its many months of huge research for ‘The Secret Swami‘, interviewed many parents and others who alleged Sathya Sai Baba’s sexual abuse of young males, and other charges. The Assistant Producer, David Saville, told me that the researchers had found other primary witnesses of young male sexual abuse and that their names did not occur on our (extensive, international) lists.

Jaani Drucker defended Sai Baba on the formality that he has escaped justice. This is intellectually dishonest (though I get a sense that she does not mean to be). One would have though that, via her contact with India and many Indians, that she knows that the ashram officials and the entire Indian system of corrupt politicians and judges who worship Sai Baba have protected him from all accountability! As will later be seen, she says she only knows of “rumors” of Sai Baba’s sexual abuse. But she did not say whether she knows from her husband Alvin Drucker that many parents have complained to him of sexual abuse by Sai Baba. I pointed out to her that we have very reliable documentation. (I shall post what I cited to her). How can she expect those whom she once knew and respected as Sai brothers and sisters to respect her when she will not answer such questions properly?

She has yet more recently sent me documents showing that she is a good person, as if this were the issue. It is not. Again the self-absorption and unwillingness to entertain that the many who have questioned Sai Baba’s conduct are good people too. Of course, like any of us (though we do not claim spiritual realization), she can have good intentions, and heart and decency and yet all the while be wholly misguided, and unwilling to face inconvenient facts or reply to pertinent and honest questioning in a coherent way.

I entirely refute her implication that “honest debate” is not possible in the public arena. She would be correct, of course, in the case of communication with fools who are nasty, and I leave the reader to judge whether I am of that ilk.

To be continued ….

————————————–

Barry Pittard responds to earlier email of Jaani Drucker:

Can you understand how your website appears to promote a ’solution’ to the rape question - quite strongly – e.g., “Have truth, will travel“? Several people, including very qualified mental health professionals with long experience in the sexual abuse area, have observed how your website can be too readily interpreted as campaigning for recognition that rape and other terrible occurrences have an ideal answer. That is to say - if only people will follow what you hold to be truth. It may be that you cannot accept that you have – and I think without meaning to – promoted a very misleading ‘theory’ based entirely on belief. And this belief is one from which you may not be able to free yourself, for, if you were to free yourself without recourse to an in-denial situation, you would have to face the trauma.

You now explain that it was not to justify rape, but that it was to explain that rape is not really a problem if one will just recognize that one is not the body. This view goes against the fact that we all HAVE a body and violations of it have an extremely forceful effect on the psyche.

Jaani Drucker: It is something you would find in the Enquirer – I don’t know if you know what that is. It is a gossip magazine that digs up sensationalism to entice its readers.

Barry Pittard: I have heard of that appalling magazine. If you see mere gossip in what I have written, I think objective readers will not agree with you. I would make the same observation about the output of the most prominent writers critical of Sathya Sai Baba and his apologists - Robert Priddy, Brian Steel and the independent British author on religion and philosophy Kevin R.D. Shepherd or at http://barrypittard.wordpress.com or in the many who have left the Sathya Sai Organization (including major leaders). See:

The Late Leo Boogaard: A Dutch Voice of Conscience On Sathya Sai Baba

Stephen Carthew, A Voice of Testimony From Australia, On The Dangers of Cults

Sathya Sai Baba Critic Serguei Badaev: An Incisive Voice of Conscience From Russia

Letter from Stephen Carthew

Alaya Rahm’s Lawsuit vs Sathya Sai Society of America. (Joint Statement by the International JuST Group and the Rahm family (Al Rahm was one of the foremost of top leaders in the SS Org.)

Al Rahm’s Explanatory Letter To Sathya Sai Baba Internet Proxy Gerald Moreno

————————————–

Select Further Reading

Dangerous to Rationalize Rape. A major Sathya Sai Baba Follower’s Example

Barry Pittard Replies To Sathya Sai Center Rape Survivor’s Note To Him

Will the Real Professor Alvin Drucker Be Upstanding?

————————————–

Petition

Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL

Subscribe to Call for media and government investigation of Sathya Sai Baba

Subscribe in a reader

[Via http://barrypittard.wordpress.com]

Find My iPhone now accessible from iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge News

Textures from Goa

2010-02-19T09:45:00.000+02:00

Sand and water drawings on the beach in front of Elsewhere… Nature; the unbeatble artist.

“Water drawings”

Fish Scale drawings on the beach

“Rivers of Sand”

Sand glaciers

“Rippled Sand”

Rivers of sand II

“Sand & Water Encounter”

[Via http://yuyuse.wordpress.com]

Michelle Obama's Fox News Debut: First Lady To Talk Child Obesity ...

How to write an application letter in Indian English

2010-02-19T01:32:00.000+02:00

Pappu Patligali, our perennial hero, recently moved to India after spending years abroad working on various IT projects. Pappu studied in English-medium schools before completing his engineering degree from a state engineering college in Karnataka. In school, Pappu enjoyed reading novels written by Enid Blyton, but was not thrilled with studying English. He didn’t know why his teachers insisted that he study grammar from Wren & Martin, a book originally written for children of British officers in 1935 (during the reign of King George V) .

Pappu wrote in a very ornate style before moving abroad for higher studies. He soon learned how to write letters and emails in a more direct manner.

So, upon his return to India, he applied to join the local Housing Cooperative with the following letter:

Dear Sir/Madam:

My name is Pappu Patligali. I’ve recently moved into the neighborhood and I’d really like to join your Society as a full-time member. I’ve enclosed a completed application form along with all required fees. I’d really appreciate your help in expediting the process.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information. I look forward to meeting you in person!

Thanks in advance,

Sincerely,

Pappu Patligali

On submitting the letter, Pappu was told brusquely that he didn’t know how to write in English and that he needed to resubmit in triplicate with full particulars per the approved sample proforma letter. Of course, there was no use telling the Society’s members that the National Council of Educational Research and Training now publishes a textbook recommending that letters be written in a modern style. Pappu just ended up showing his NRI ignorance.

Ultimately, Pappu followed the prescribed proforma and sent the following letter in triplicate:

Respected Sir:

Respectfully, I beg to state that I am Pappu Patligali, son of Sri Jhappu Patligali currently domiciled in Nayaghat within PS- Kotwali in District Uttar Dinajpur under the jurisdiction of your esteemed Society. My permanent address is Village Rampur, of aforementioned District and police jurisdiction. It is hereby requested forthwith that I may please be enrolled as a Member of your Society under the provisions of Bye-laws and State Act of 1962 the Rules framed thereover and thereunder.

Therefore, I seek to humbly request herewith to deposit the prescribed amount as payment in cash the membership fee and the entrance fee today for which kindly money receipt from branch-office near Hanuman Mandir may please be issued on paper in my favour. Further, I am to forthwith state that I shall endeavour to solemnly and most faithfully abide by the rules and Bye-laws of the Society as Member of the Society with my firstborn forfeit and under pain of death (as per provisions articulated in Byelaw No. 221 Part C dated Jan 20, 1962). Moreover, sir, it is my heartiest and most humble entreaty to you to kindly and most generously look into the matter and do the most needful at your earliest convenience.

I remain, yours obediently,

Full signature of Pappu Patligali

Place :

Date :-

(s/d attestation of first-class gazetted officer)

Needless to say Pappu’s letter is currently in a file under a stack of similar letters awaiting review by the Secretary of the Society.

Footnote: Although I’ve written both letters specifically for this post, I’ve been heavily influenced in the second letter by actual examples on the internet including this one. If you have time, take a look at question 17 of the 2009 UPSC General Ability Test which asks test-takers to look at the following sentence: “Respectfully I beg to state that I am suffering from fever for the past fortnight.”

[Via http://milkmiracle.net]

CPAC 2010 Updates: Latest News, Video From Conservative Political ...

On children at the market

2010-02-17T09:47:00.000+02:00

I went to Anjuna market again today – not particularly to shop (there are only so many sarongs, pashminas and necklaces that one woman needs) but to say hello to the El Shaddai team, drop off my used paperbacks for their bookstall, soak up the atmosphere and take photos.

I travelled via boat – not an experience that I’d recommend or will be repeating. It was a small, six seater boat with an outboard motor, piloted by two psychotics who thought it was fun to gun the boat into 20’ high waves. To be fair, there were five other people in the boat with me – young “up for it” Russian tourists who loved it; cue much screaming and arm waving as if we were at Big Splash Mountain (or whatever it’s called). The journey is only a mile or so, but it took twenty minutes, due to all of this water based chicanery.

So of course, we arrived at the market completely soaked – I was absolutely sodden from head to toe, hair to flip-flops, and staggered up the beach as if I were re-enacting the Normandy landings.

To continue the analogy, I then had to fight them on the beaches and fend off the ministrations of the hawk-eyed female beach sellers, who take up residence on a rock and wait for soaked tourists to drag themselves ashore.

“Hello madam! Oh you are so very wet. Come, come, I help you get dry. Come to my shop [stall], relax, buy lovely new dry clothes. My name is Nikita, what is you? Where you from, how many children you have?”

Etc.

However, the amount of child beggars and performers at the market continues to depress me; apparently, people travel from all over western India to participate in this huge orgy of tourism, and that includes children.

At the market this morning, I witnessed tiny children performing on a tightrope in front of a paparazzi like array of camera and camcorder wielding western tourists, who then filled the begging bowl which was passed around by the adult ringmaster.

(For obvious reasons … I don’t have any photographs of this event – I actually felt so nauseated by it that I couldn’t bring myself to be part of the throng – but here are, I assume, the parents, setting up the tightrope first thing).

What do these visitors think when they get home and show their friends and family that film footage of a tiny child, perhaps five years old, balancing on a tightrope – how cute? Isn’t she clever?

Or: “why isn’t she at school?” Or: “what future can she ever have if this is how she spends her time as a child?”

This week, there are more Western children than usual in evidence, as it’s the British school holidays, and so the contrast between the children that one sees is particularly pronounced – some are in Ben 10 t-shirts and are on holiday with their parents … others are working or begging, or both. I was staggered (and disgusted) to see one tourist filming the child performers and then sending his seven-year old son down to the beach to pay the children – with no apparent sense of the irony of this act, as far as I could see.

Goa seems to be such an economic magnet to so many people from other India states, particularly Karnataka. If western tourists stopped making it appear to be so economically advantageous to be either a child who begs or to have a child who you can send out to perform (thus making your child a resource) then perhaps the influx would cease or at least slow down?

I truly believe that every time a tourist gives a child money, be it for either begging or performing, they reinforce the notion (to both child and adult) that begging is an economically viable way of spending time and that it is, in every sense of the word, “worth” it to be on the beach or at the market rather than at school.

The Goans are constantly telling me that their state’s infrastructure (water supplies, electricity, the road system, food supplies, accommodation) can’t cope with this influx of workers from other states and that the Goans disapprove of the children who beg – but yet I don’t see any evidence of the powers that be challenging it – for example, policing child beggars/performers and/or the adults who visibly control them.

I think I need to go back to Rainbow House again tonight (I’ve been going to see Renuka every few days) in order to remind myself that there is another way and that it’s possible, through the work of El Shaddai and other charities, for children in Goa to have a different, brighter, more hopeful future.

[Via http://thegenderblog.com]

Evan Bayh to Retire: More Bad News for Democrats - The Gaggle Blog ...

Throat chakra (13 Feb 2010)

2010-02-17T01:11:00.000+02:00

I sing the Gayartri Mantra

The entire plane ride into India

I may be singing for enlightenment

But really I’m subduing the little patterings of fear

India. Holy Mother, I’m entering into

The domains of destruction

Dancing with Shiva

With a man who kisses his feet

(The intoxicated devotee that he is)

And he rides the fastest bike in town

I confess; I love an adventure

He and I are an illusion

In love, out of love, in love

I fall completely free

To say I love you

Has a quality that sounds

Redundant. Love

Is all there is before the object (him)

And subject (me) ever existed

Take us out of the equation; I and You do not sustain

Truth. And I confess, the crakes

Are showing; it’s difficult to take

Myself as a known quantity

I am patterned, I can see that

(It plays out in my heat)

And I am strikingly independent

A Palm Reader who I have a crush on

Tells me I’m special; destiny is waiting

I see truth and contradictions in his reading

I see truth and contradictions in my beliefs

(mainly contradictions)

And when I stop for just a moment

Stop talking about Me, that is

I learn that rather than being left with

Nothing to say

It leaves me with Everything to express

[Via http://squashedmosquito.wordpress.com]

Sony warns of PS3 shortages | News

Being Paul Harris...

2010-02-15T09:52:00.000+02:00

…apparently means that the day after getting excoriated in print by a famous cricket blogger, you rewrite history by setting a new record for the most wides sent down by a single bowler in a Test match innings (10, to be precise) while Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar frolic past on scores of 143 and 87 respectively.

Bloody hell. I don’t particularly like Harris, but I almost – almost – want to give him a hug.

Also: that whole, hey-we-can-just-get-DeVilliers-to-keep-wicket-and-drop-old-man-Boucher thing is working out fabulously for South Africa, isn’t it?

…oh, wait.

Damn. Who came up with that one, again?

[Via http://longwayoff.wordpress.com]

Energy and Global Warming News for February 12: Warming water ...

Chapter 2: Don't Build A Car When You Need a Bullock Cart

2010-02-15T01:10:00.000+02:00

Idea/Product can’t be applied universally: Even though we are in 21st century and in a global market an idea/product can’t be taken from place/country “A” and applied to place/country “B” without any understanding of the place/country “B”. Chapter: 2 in the book talks about Hindustan Motors Rural Transport Vehicle that was targeted to India’s rural segment, Tata Nano and other examples. Each of these examples is successful because the companies promoting them spent considerable time, resource and energy in understand the need of the market based on utility, price and need. It is also important for companies to know that compromising on product and quality will always fail whether the product is launched in developed or developing market. That is the reason companies like HM and M&M even though had vast experience in automobile industry still preferred to work with foreign companies to launch products targeted to specific segments.

Consumer Behavior: Understanding consumer behavior is very important when a company is trying to either enter a country for the first time with a product/products or when an established company is trying to launch a new product in an existing country of operation. As illustrated with examples of Amway and Domino’s Pizaa in developing countries consumers can either take a promotion or assurance in either positive or negative way that can have a bearing on the company. Again to restate it is important for a company to know firsthand who its consumer is and what kind of consumer culture they have. Based on that knowledge the company should provide offerings and/or educational programs to compensate.

Respect Power of Religion and Culture: Countries like India are very good examples of how diverse a population or target market can be. It is very important for companies whether multinationals or local to come up with offerings that don’t disturb religion and culture fabric. The book talks about McDonalds severing hala chicken products in Detroit and even McDonalds do sever Indian customers with halal and pure vegetarian products. McDonalds is a very good example of how a company has adopted itself to different cultural and religious fabric in developing countries. In India McDonalds severs its customer’s pure vegetarian and halal food and desist from serving beef products because of religious sentiments of consumers.

[Via http://mbagrad2010.wordpress.com]

Microsoft dates Halo: Reach, XBL Game Room | News

Hindus gather for the Kumbh Mela at the Ganges in India and Maha Shivaratri in Nepal

2010-02-12T17:51:00.000+02:00

Thousands of Hindu holy men, some naked and smeared with ash, took dips in the chilly waters of the Ganges river while surrounded by cheering, dancing supporters, on one of the most auspicious days of a festival expected to attract more than 10 million people

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/7222387/pictures-Hindus-gather-for-the-Kumbh-Mela-in-India-and-Maha-Shivaratri-in-Nepal.html

[Via http://wotab.wordpress.com]

What News Stories Are 'Awesome'? - The Learning Network Blog ...

Will You Be My Valentine!!!

2010-02-12T09:45:00.000+02:00

Another Valentine’s Day. Does not make any difference to folks like me, however wish to send across affectionate message to some people and some sections of mankind.

According to me, Valentine’s Day is about celebration of Love and Love is a serene Energy and just as Energy is in different forms like Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy, Nuclear Energy and all…..Love is in different forms like Love towards Parents, Love towards Siblings, Love towards Teachers, Love towards friends, Love towards partners( if at all those creatures exist), Love towards nature and all.

However, I wish to send my valentine day wishes to the below people with a special message:

1) Sonia Gandhi ji :

Dear Sonia Aunty!!! You are personification of Grace. Love you loads. I really admire you for your leadership qualities and the way you manage UPA by having right people in right position. We are relieved to have a stable Government at the center under your effective leadership. However, I have an issue to discuss – Food Inflation. Food Inflation is 18%, prices of basic food products like rice, toor dal, onion and all are very high. If the prices further, it would be tough for majority of people in India to have proper complete meal in a day. Please do something more effectively to bring the prices in control.

Happy Valentine’s Day once again!!!

2) Sushma Swaraj ji :

Dear Sushma Aunty!!! Who deserves better valentine wishes than you who is celebrating birthday on valentine’s day. You are personification of Elegance. I have grown up watching your classy debating style. However, I have an issue to discuss. BJP is such a development oriented party and it brought excellent improvement in telecommunications and infrastructure in India during Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Prime ministership. However, BJP is crumbling these days and this so sad. Indian Democracy needs a strong opposition party. Please make much more efforts to strengthen BJP in all the dimensions. It would be nice if BJP concentrates more on people’s issues rather than religion.

Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day once again!!!

3) Meira Kumar ji:

Dear Meira Aunty!!! Its very nice to have you as the speaker of Lok Sabha. You have done excellent job as an IFS. However, I have an issue. We send our MP’s to Parliament with lot of Hope and faith. We expect them to discuss them to discuss all the issues related to our development. Hope you ensure that in this 15th Lok Sabha MP’s are given proper time to discuss ‘useful issues’ and hope you ensure that they do not waste precious time during parliament proceedings in petty issues.

Happy Valentines Day !!!

4) Sabitha Indra Reddy ji:

Dear Sabitha Aunty!!!

Its very nice to have you as First Woman Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh. In fact, this is the first time that a woman is appointed as Home Minister for an Indian state. However, I have an issue to discuss. Because of the agitations in the state common people, daily laborers and students are suffering. It would be nice if you are more assertive and would like you to use your expertise to the maximum level.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

5) Karthika Reddy ji:

Dear Karthika Di!!! We are proud to have you as the First Woman Mayor of Hyderabad(GHMC). We are glad to have a a post-graduate in sociology as a Mayor. Indeed you are inspiration to all of us. However, I have an issue. Please make Hyderabad much more better place. Please coordinate with the city police to control the traffic jams in the city. Some of the roads in the city are really problematic. Please check all these issues and am hopeful that you will do all these successfully.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Ok. First I need to draft emails for above ladies to ask “Will you be my Valentine”. It would be really my privilege to have a coffee with these powerful ladies of India.

Cheers,

Prasanna Rayaprolu

[Via http://rayaprolu.wordpress.com]

Wonkette : Fox News Poll: Yes, We Are Insanely Racist Crazy People

Let The Blame Game Begin

2010-02-10T09:50:00.000+02:00

Oh Lord Shiva: how about a wicket?

After going through the pains of the 90’s, India’s journey to the top of the cricket world has been greatly satisfying. But yesterday, we were reminded of those pains all too well.

Dale Steyn unleashed his awesome skills on the Indians and was rewarded with a 10 wicket haul for just over 100 runs. Hashim Amla batted for 2 days and scored 20 more runs than the entire Indian team in the 1st innings. So what happened to the much vaunted Number 1 test team in the world?

Poor selection happened.

The blame is directly pointed at Kris Srikkanth and his band of inept morons. They dropped a season wicketkeeper in Dinesh Karthik for the uncapped Wriddiman Saha for no explainable reason. The morning of the 1st day, both Laxman and Rohit Sharma were deemed unfit which left the team management no choice but to include young Saha.

Saha was out for a duck in the first innings, his nervousness getting the better of him against a fiery in swinging ball. Why Virat Kohli, the best young batsman in the country, had no place in the squad despite his recent successes in the one-day game remains a mystery.

Then, to prove their ineptness to the world, the selectors picked four fast bowlers ven though India had no intention of changing from their 2-seamer-2-spinner strategy? One of the selectors told Ravi Shastri that Abhimanyu Mithun was picked because they “wanted to have a look at him.” All this when we desperately lacked a quality batter.

Damn this was easy!

Is this sport or a beauty pageant?

Saying that, the team is in desperate need of a bowling overhaul. Ishant Sharma labors in like a camel after a long Sahara sojourn and Amit Mishra’s spin is as threatening as a schoolgirl bowling underarm. And then there’s Harbhajan Singh. He can consider himself lucky for picking up 2 wickets. His bowling was pathetic.

Saying that, credit to the Proteas for their performance. They outclassed the hosts and pushed them into an embarrassing loss. With just 1 test match left and Steyn troubling batsmen with both conventional and reverse swing, there is little hope for India to walk away with a 1-1 draw.

And *poof*! There goes the much vaunted Number one ranking.

[Via http://catch14.wordpress.com]

Transcript of News Conference by President Obama -- Politics Daily

"Body's Revenge", and "Oats Fight Back!"

2010-02-10T01:20:00.000+02:00

Grrrr….angry, aren’t ya?

I’m convinced my body is still punishing me for the way I treated it this past weekend on my trip to Montreal with Alexis and Jessica…let’s just say some things that I normally do not go NEAR entered my body in large quantities at a fast rate! (To clarify: I am not referring to any illegal substances. ha!)

And, rightly so. I’ve been treating it very well the past couple months and so clearly this would be a shock to the system! However, I had no idea that this “detox” would go on for so many days, but I really think my body’s weirdness lately has had something to do with it!

Saturday night = Groggy, tired. Stomach blahs. Tossed and turned in bed.

Sunday = Sick to stomach. No appetite. Tossed and turned in bed.

Monday = Woke up at 6:40am. Sore knees. Fatigue. Tossed and turned in bed.

Tuesday = Woke up at 4:40am. Fatigue. Major blahs and icky food cravings.

Did you see that? I woke up at twenty to five in the morning. Attempted to sleep, but felt too twitchy. Decided to lay in bed an listen to my ipod in the hopes of falling back asleep. At 5:15 I was still awake and my tummy was rumbling. Ugh!

Got up. What else am I going to do? I thought I might as well get an early start and maybe try and cram some work in before I went to school to meet Milena (to talk about yoga/india!) at 9:15.

Clumsily made steel cut oats. Really clumsily. I dropped a few things, spilled stuff, cracked my egg yolk into the white and had to try and spoon it out….ugh. Tried the “pumpkin pie” twist – adding in canned pumpkin and spices.

It was super ehhhhrwwwhrhehhh. And that is my expression to state that it was pretty…bleeehhh…the pumpkin made the texture….pumpkiny. It was too much of the wrong texture and the pumpkin taste was too overpowering. And it made SO much. Again, my 1/4 c oats, 1/2 c almond milk and pumpkin expanded to over 2 cups of oatmeal! I think this has something to do with soaking the oats overnight – they expand a LOT more.

Anyway, I ate it, and felt ok as I fininshed, but afteward started to feel super full, my belly felt all distended and gross!Looks like my body had perhaps finally said: “TOO MUCH OATMEAL!” (Isn’t it ironic?)

I was starting to yawn again though, so I tried rolling back into bed at about 6:30. Finally…SLEEP!

I woke up again at 8AM when my alarm went off. Still felt gross.

Since then today has just been super off! I haven’t had much of an appetite but have been having all these weird food cravings (ie. popcorn, curry) that I don’t normally have.

I went to the gym in the afternoon but after a 30-min full-body workout on the True Total Body Trainer (which, by the way, make you look like a total idiot as you stand on the sides and push/pull the handles…oh man….)….I was DONE. I wrapped up with a few quick pushups, crunches and stretches, and then I essentially let my mind melt for 20 minutes in the sauna. That was nice.

Tonight has been uneventful. I have to get cracking on my work. I just have no motivation whatsoever. It’s the worst feeling. I’m going to have to start isolating myself at St. Paul’s library again…it’s so nice and quiet and small, and walking distance to my house…it’s the only thing that works!

Okay. I’m going to post this, close my window, and bring up my good ol’ media coding sheets. Waaahhhh….

Oh, and for the record, tomorrow I am not having oats. I think I’m going to go for a good ol’ bagel with pb instead. haha.

*cross your fingers my body decides to stop hating me. soon.*

[Via http://briogusto.wordpress.com]

Chinese maker of iPad clone vows to sue Apple | iLounge News

The Pooh-Pooh of Maharashtra Politics [2]

2010-02-08T17:45:00.000+02:00

Every newspaper around the corner is busy criticizing Shiv Sena. We as part of the so called educated middle class of India safely stick to the words “Equality, Liberty, Rights, Duties, etc” written in our constitution. Let us not forget that the laws are formed by men and where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the greatest injustice. It astonishes me to find that most of my countrymen are not able to see both sides of the problem.

According to me migration is the mother of all problems. If Bihar is not able to employ its uneducated youth, then why should Mumbai bear the grunt of excessive population and poverty. Mumbai, the great metropolitan of India, is slowly disintegrating into slums as a result of 300-400 families entering into it on daily basis. How are we planning to support them? Aren’t the resources and the overstretched infrastructure already eaten up? Are we not facing huge traffic jams on every nook and corner of the city? What happens if all the Biharis enter into Mumbai one day and take up all the menial jobs which were once kept for the undereducated Marathi youth? And what about the development of Bihar which will ultimately be devoid of its labor force? Why are we trying to make Mumbai a power house of everything while leaving Manipur or Nagaland to develop on their own? These are the questions we must ask ourselves before criticizing the basic ideology of “Mumbai for Marathis”. We just can’t afford to sacrifice one state in order to protect the other. So, I see nothing wrong in supporting Thackeray’s cause but certainly I don’t believe in his methods.

When we say migrants – we are mainly talking about the uneducated class who come into another city in search of a better job. It is important to understand that when a worker who comes all the way from UP to Mumbai, he is ready to do a work for a much lesser pay which otherwise would have been offered to a similar uneducated unemployed Marathi youth. So it is certainly a bad time for the Marathis. There is much unemployment already in India and to add to this if someone kicks you out of the job just because another person is doing it for a lesser pay, then surely this becomes a social problem which calls for a serious solution.

So, the migration has to stop and laws have to change. There must be some inter-state VISA laws in place just like the US. There should be work VISAS for a stipulated time or may be something like that which keeps a stringent check on the migrating labor. There has to be some development in each state. India just can’t move in a direction where the GDP of one state is almost 100 times that of the other. What I am talking looks like an Utopian philosophy since there is no such law even near to it. In fact some time back there was a buzz about separating Mumbai from Maharashtra and thus making it an independent state. The philosophy behind the separation was that Mumbai alone eats up the state budget whereas the other cities have to remain satisfied with a smaller amount. Don’t you think we are maintaining double standards when we say that?

Thackeray is demanding nothing but just that. He is supporting a Maharashtra for Marathi people. He wants it to be separated from the rest so that it could develop by its own, on its own and for its own lower class people amongst others. But at the same time we have to be critical of his means to achieve that. We can’t see the beating and killing of people coming to Mumbai for a Railway Exam. We can’t listen to the unreasonable insults done to our stars who have done nothing but maintained a politically correct stand on certain issues. We cannot bear the hate speeches made in public by the so called Sainiks against our North Indians. But may be one day it leads to some change in the policies. May be 5 or 10 years down the line, we have a law which checks on migration. And we begin to witness the laws which have a moral basis and have an inner compelling force for every citizen to obey.

[Via http://smellinghorizons.wordpress.com]

Fox News Reports On The Tea Party Convention's Birther Problem ...

Incredible India

2010-02-08T09:54:00.000+02:00

It isn’t as if I was unaware of the way India functions in reality. Having been born & brought up there for over two decades I knew all the pros & con’s of this developing country. But living in the beautiful state of J & K I wasn’t much aware of how life is for a visitor. However during my recent 2 day visit to Agra, I got to see India from the eyes of a tourist.

On leaving the Indhira Gandhi International Airport I was well aware of the fact that the rest of Delhi wasn’t as developed as the airport. The moment we boarded the pre paid taxi, the reality of being in India started sinking in. The hotel we had booked was in Safderjung with Kamal Cinema being a nearby attraction. The moment we reached Safderjung, the taxi driver started showing his reluctance in looking for the hotel. We had to make him stop the taxi, enquire about the location & then move on. In spite of this he was clueless about which direction to choose & he had the audacity to blame us for not knowing where we had to go. Thankfully a scooterist had to go to the same place & he agreed to accompany us. Had he not been around, we might as well have spent the day arguing with the nut of a driver.

Finally we did manage to reach our hotel in one piece. The next day we had to reach Fatehpur Skirl at the earliest so we booked the TAJ EXPRESS which would be leaving at 7:30 am from the Nizamudin Train Junction. Now for those of you who haven’t been to India, a visit to this junction is a nightmare. People, luggage, kids, beggars-you name it, everyone is everywhere all the time. People waiting for their trains which are running late by even 10 hours; people saying goodbye to their loved ones or coming to receive their loved ones. Its Jam packed. Luckily for us, it wasn’t much of a shock for we already knew what to expect. Our train got delayed & arrived at 8:30 am. Thankfully our A/C boogie was very comfortable & we enjoyed the four hour journey.

We reached Agra Cant by about 12:15 pm. The moment we stepped on the platform we where hounded by taxi drivers, rickshaw wallas & beggars. They did everything in their power except pushing us into the taxi/rickshaw. Walking & bargaining with us till we reached the pre-paid taxi stand (which seemed to be more like run by the taxi wallahs than by the government). We booked a taxi to take us to Fatehpur Sikri; one of the worst travel decisions we made in this trip.

The taxi wala had a second hand vehicle which he drove at a uniform speed of 60km/hr. Imagine our plight-without lunch or water we where in a taxi which had no A/C on the road. Our pleas to the driver to drive a bit quickly met with no response. He could sense that we where hungry so he stopped at a road-side restaurant (dhabha) which he was advertising all through to be the best in Agra. That’s when we realized we where being exploited for the dhabha was less of an eatery & more of a tuck shop. We refused to get down & asked the driver to drive on. Very reluctantly he drove on.

Finally as if after an eternity we reached Fatehpur Sikri.That’ when another surprise greeted us. The taxi couldn’t go up to the Buland Darwaza. According to our driver the government had restricted the entry of taxis in view of the pollution they can cause to the monument. Fair enough we thought till he added that an auto would take us there! Autos don’t cause pollution?!?We where absolutely furious but he was unfazed. The moment we got down from the taxi we where again hounded by the auto Walla’s (something we had started getting used to). They wanted us to pay 50 Rs for the small almost wakable distance from the taxi stand to Buland darwaza. It was because we paid no heed to their walking alongside us & bargaining that they finally agreed to take us there for 15 Rs. I couldn’t but imagine what the foreign tourists are charged. They don’t even know the language.

We finally reached the Buland Darwaza, after a satisfying lunch at a local restaurant. Once we set foot inside, we where again hounded by self proclaimed guides who where claiming to be government employees / local students (obviously they would charge bakshish at the end of their tour). The sheer absence of any government guide/body around the monument was appalling. This was Fatehpur Sikri, which dates back to 1570 AD.

The visit to the dargah of Sheikh Salim Chisti was very refreshing & soul enriching. After that we went to Jodha Bhai’s Palace. Here we saw how suspicious Indian’s can get. The ticket collector took us to be foreigners but our Urdu confused him. He however gave the tickets. The palace is a dream in red for sure. The Diwan-i-aim is truly a sight for the sore eyes. It has greenery, parrots, shade & the finest of architecture. One can easily picture how life would have existed for Jodha bhai back in time.

Finally at about 5 pm it was time to head back to the taxi. We had to escape from hounding sellers who wanted to sell us necklaces, tavees, budding poets who would charge us just 5 Rs for each couplet & what not. We finally reached the taxi & left .En route the driver again began sympathizing with us telling us we better stay at a hotel which was just near the Taj with the best facilities (we happened to talk amongst ourselves about getting a hotel near Taj). At the same time his boss called him & he told us to talk to him. We refused to talk to his boss who was talking about arranging a hotel for us. This seemed to anger the driver but we held our ground. It was indeed funny to see him angry & us singing Hindi songs to infuriate him even more.

In the middle of traffic his car broke down & we had to push it for some distance before it started. When we did reach around Taj we where again hounded by hotel owners who wanted to strike a deal. Finally we decided to finalize one hotel; from nowhere the driver came out & began negotiating with the hotel owner. As we looked on he did manage to lower the price by about 100 Rs, act as our well wisher & of course earn his commission.

We went to sleep straight off to wake up by 6 am the next day. It was like a dream come true-visiting the Taj, a dream in white marble. There where separate ques for Indian’s & foreigners. It was interesting how local self-proclaimed guides where nearly stalking foreign tourists. My camera stand was not allowed inside the Taj for reasons best known to them. Perhaps I might have used it to break some pillars!!

An American standing next to me was fuming too. His videocam had inbuilt mike (like all videocams) & because of that he either had to remove the mike from the cam or leave the cam outside! How hilarious can the security folks get? This is one of the wonders of the world for its architecture, beauty & history not because of the moronic security reasoning. I do hope they realize it sooner though.

Once inside we left all the bad vibes behind. The Taj has a mesmerizing effect on everyone. It was truly worth the trouble. Be it the ambience, architecture, eye to detail, location, peaceful environment et al. The exterior decorations have been emblazoned by Quranic passages in line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms. Everything is just perfect. I was moved to see the tomb area. Though it was full of people, the moment we entered the iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) we found how peaceful a grave can be.

I was surprised to know that the actual graves are in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right and towards Mecca as Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Then we strolled around the Taj & within an hour we left this mausoleum of royal love.

My experience of just 2 days as a tourist in India where enough for a years time. India is a beautiful,developing country with a rich, multi cultural past & a vibrant present. If only its managed properly it can well be a major tourist attraction.

This time I saw bargaining, stalking, getting frustated, hounded, taken for granted & what not but as I sat in the train on my way home only one tune was coming to my mind—-India, Incredible India

[Via http://kubramubashshir.wordpress.com]

The Morning News: Superbowl, Boeing, Tea Party, Iran, Toyota, Pac ...

India is on the road of anti-satellite capabilities: DRDO

2010-02-05T17:52:00.000+02:00

India is making the “building blocks” of the technology to develop anti-satellite capabilities as part of its space security measures according to DRDO chief V K Saraswat .He was responding to queries on India’s plans to develop capabilities to destroy satellites in space while speaking on the sidelines of a function to sign MoUs between DRDO laboratories and private industries to commercialise technologies developed by the defence research organisation.Asked about the developments in the indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence programme, he said, “the (BMD) test is going to be conducted in February.” DRDO is working on the BMD programme, under which it is developing a system to destroy incoming enemy ballistic missiles both in space and in earth’s atmosphere.

read it here

[Via http://rashidfaridi.wordpress.com]

Stocks in the News: Aetna, Beazer Homes, Tyson Foods - DailyFinance

Upgrading Software

2010-02-05T09:46:00.000+02:00

I downloaded and installed the windows 7 RC last year and it is the first windows I actually like. It just runs sooo well. I have it on the leveldesign machine and it will run out this year. I also put it on Mum’s new Compaq and she likes the OS too. Had to install Ubitmenue for her 2007 Office (3 licences for 3.000 Rupees – have to be activated in India though). Now I found out that the RC does not upgrade normally. You have to go and install the whole thing new. That is ok for me but not for Mum since I won’t be there to do it, so I looked on the internet and I can do it like this:

You buy windows7 ultimate to have a valid key. Then I take the files from the RC iso and change a value in the cversions.ini file located in the sources folder – The MinClient value needs to be below 7100. Done. Burn the iso to DVD or run Setup from the HD – you can now upgrade windows to the Final version (has to be ultimate) and type in the key from the bought Version. All this only to avoid backing up her files to an external harddrive (which she does not have) and bringing them back in again. … still risky. Might find a better solution.

Raghu is going to treat me with dinner in a location I choose – will pick his Cafe (wireless he he). And he promised to bring his credit card so we can setup an apple ID for him … about time.

[Via http://butterbaerchen.wordpress.com]

Obama's Director Of Citizen Participation Patents Displaying News ...

Hockey World Cup 2010 Schedule

2010-02-03T09:50:00.000+02:00

Awesome! The countdown has begun. I am super-excited about Hockey World Cup 2010, being held in New Delhi, India and I am doing everything I can to promote it around my circle. Finally, those thirsty-for-hockey crows in India (like me) will have their thirst quenched.

Here are the teams and all the fixtures and match schedules you might want to remember.

Note: All matches will be played at Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi and the timing given for each match is according to IST( Indian Standard Time)

POOL TABLE:

POOL A POOL B Germany

Netherlands

Korea

New Zealand

Canada

Argentina Australia

Spain

England

Pakistan

India

South Africa

MATCH SCHEDULE:

28 February 2010

16:35 South Africa v Spain 28 February 2010

18:35 Australia v England 28 February 2010

20:35 India v Pakistan 1 March 2010

16:35 New Zealand v Canada 1 March 2010

18:35 Germany v Korea 1 March 2010

20:35 Netherlands v Argentina 2 March 2010

16:35 South Africa v England 2 March 2010

18:35 Pakistan v Spain 2 March 2010

20:35 India v Australia 3 March 2010

16:35 Canada v Germany 3 March 2010

18:35 Argentina v Korea 3 March 2010

20:35 New Zealand v Netherlands 4 March 2010

16:35 South Africa v Australia 4 March 2010

18:35 England v Pakistan 4 March 2010

20:35 India v Spain 5 March 2010

16:35 Korea v New Zealand 5 March 2010

20:35 Germany v Argentina 5 March 2010

18:35 Netherlands v Canada 6 March 2010

16:35 Australia v Spain 6 March 2010

18:35 South Africa v Pakistan 6 March 2010

20:35 India v England 7 March 2010

16:35 Korea v Canada 7 March 2010

18:35 New Zealand v Argentina 7 March 2010

20:35 Germany v Netherlands 8 March 2010

16:35 Spain v England 8 March 2010

18:35 Australia v Pakistan 8 March 2010

20:35 India v South Africa 9 March 2010

16:35 Germany v New Zealand 9 March 2010

18:35 Netherlands v Korea 9 March 2010

16:35 Canada v Argentina Play off 11th\12th Position 11 March 2010

15:35 POOL A 6th v POOL B 6th 9th\10th Position 12 March 2010

15:35 POOL A 5th v POOL B 5th 7th\8th Position 12 March 2010

18:05 POOL A 4th v POOL B 4th 5th\6th Position 12 March 2010

20:35 POOL A 3rd v POOL B 3rd Knockout Stage Semi-finals 11 March 2010

18:05 Winners of Pool A Match 31 Runner Up of Pool B 11 March 2010

20:35 Winners of Pool B Match 32 Runner Up of Pool A Third place play-off 13 March 2010

18.05 Losers of Match 31 Match 33 Losers of Match 32 Final 13 March 2010

20.35 Winners of Match 31 Match 34 Winners of Match 32

[Via http://voice2revolt.wordpress.com]

Video: FOX News Cuts Off President Obama's QA With GOP

Praying to the God of fertility by the Bay of Bengal & shoe shopping!

2010-02-03T01:54:00.000+02:00

Tuesday February 2nd

This morning marked a major triumph for me and my computer. After three evenings, over 9 hours on skype, speaking with 19 individuals from Microsoft, 6 different hotline phone numbers, one return and repurchase, my Microsoft programs now work again! I have never been so frustrated in my life or wished that I had taken a computer class during college.

Today we visited the temples of Mahabalipuram and lounged in the afternoon. (Well everyone else lounged and I caught up on this blog). I must admit that sitting in a lounge with the ocean to my left, fabulous scenery all around, and a glass of sweet lime juice was pretty fantastic!

Mahaballipuram was a very small town lined by the ocean on one side and stone carvings on the other side. The temperature was warm and the sun shone strong. Thanks to a lovely cool breeze, I was in heaven.

Today’s guide was the first poor guide that we had. Unfortunately, I could not understand most of his discussion. The few tidbits that I did understand with regards to these temples –

These temples were built during the 7th and 8th Century AD. They depicted many scenes of the King and his girlfriends. The people that once lived here prayed to the gods asking for fertility for their women to bare many sons. I realize that these sentences do not explain much. I will have to do some further research. Until then please enjoy the photos from my walk around.

Can you imagine if church was beside the sea? Perhaps more people would attend more often!

What trip to visit temples wouldn’t be complete without buying a pair of sandals! Everywhere in this town were men making beautiful leather flip flops …I couldn’t resist!

Dinner in town tonight at Moondancers: King fish steak cooked in butter garlic sauce, chips, and white wine.

[Via http://curlyrobin.wordpress.com]

iLounge's Jesse Hollington becomes Applications Editor | iLounge News

Vacancies of Faculty in Institute of Advanced Study in Science & Technology

2010-02-01T09:53:00.000+02:00

About the organization:

Institute of Advanced Study in Science & Technology (IASST)

(An Autonomous Institute under DST, Govt. of India),

Paschim Boragaon, Garchuk, Guwahati – 781035, Assam, India

Job or Vacancy Description:

Application on plain paper are invited from Indian Nationals for the following post :

Assistant Professor : 05 posts,

Pay Scale : PB-3 Rs.15600-39100/- with grade Pay Rs. 6600/-,

Qualifications: Ph. D with consistently good academic record and four years post doctoral experience in the relevant field.,

Age: Preferably below 40 years

How to Apply : Application must be accompany complete bio-data and two recent passport size photographs and attested copies of mark sheets, certificate, reprints of research papers published in cited journals/award of patents. Complete application should be sent to the Director, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) so as to reach on or before 26/02/2010

Tentative Last Date: 26-02-2010

Vacancy Details

[Click above to download the vacancy details]

[Via http://myninjaway.wordpress.com]

Facebook Wants To Be Your News Source | WebProNews

Walled Gardens: The fate of iTunes has been written before

2010-02-01T01:53:00.000+02:00

Remember ‘walled gardens‘? It was a popular concept in debating the blossoming of social networks a few years ago. Today Facebook – having surpassed the United States and moving toward China and India in population – is far more open than the walled communities it was once compared to – AOL and CompuServe. But Facebook is still a walled community. On Facebook you play by Facebook’s rules. For the most part we citizens of FB are content. In exchange for giving up some of our freedom we get an easy to use interface and a safe way to explore and experience the fascinating tools of Web 2.0.

With this week’s announcement of the iPad I have been again thinking about walled gardens. Put aside the debates about the device itself. Consider instead the iPad’s contribution to a shift that is taking control of content distribution from publishers, studios and record labels and putting it in the hands of hardware manufacturers.

Unlike the battles over Beta and VHS, SD Cards and Memory Sticks, or HD DVD and Blue Ray, the stakes here are higher because the devices themselves now carry the stores on them. Once you buy a Kindle or iPad, you effectively lock yourself into the content they offer through their convenient, online and embedded stores. Conversely, for content producing industries that are struggling with the digital disruption, popular devices like iPods deliver literally millions of potential customers. So if iTunes says a song will cost $1.29, or Kindle pegs e-books at $9.99, what’s the label or publisher to do? Turn away millions of customers by rejecting the platform?

Companies like Apple and Amazon are vying to position themselves between content sellers and content buyers. They are, in this sense, becoming gatekeepers.

And if you have gates and gatekeepers, then you must also have walls.

Again with the training wheels.

We’ve been here before. Recent history provides some insights that we might use to consider the future of Apple or Amazon controlling the distribution of digital content. AOL and Internet Explorer serve as interesting precursors to the current situation. In both cases, people demonstrated a consistent behavior that seems to be showing up again in consumer behaviors today.

That human behavior is this:

When the Internet was new (to the general public, anyhow), people were apprehensive and unsure. They asked for a safe entry point. Insert American Online. AOL was the Internet with training wheels. While most of us were discovering chat rooms and instant messaging, a minority of web surfing pioneers eschewed AOL and struck out on their own. They came back with stories of wonderful things you couldn’t get on AOL. The more people heard the more curious and discontented they became. Eventually, as all citizens of walled communities do, they started to think beyond the walls.

No sooner had the newly liberated masses escaped AOL for the wide open Internet than they began to again feel a little disoriented and apprehensive. The Internet was big and open and wild. While they didn’t want the walls of AOL they admittedly needed some help navigating this digital wilderness. Along comes Internet Explorer, conveniently bundled in your operating system. IE provided people comfort, usability and essentially training wheels via a familiar (enough) user interface and a brand they had known and trusted for some time (Microsoft).

As with AOL, some brave innovators opted not to dine on what Explorer was serving. Again people began to hear that IE rendered the web a certain way. In fact it sometimes ignored web pages completely. As with life in AOL, when those Internet pioneers came back with tales of something better beyond the confines of IE people again demanded the walls come down.

Today Apple, Amazon are providing the same training wheels as we get oriented to digital content delivery. We people are just getting comfortable with digital music and e-books. So, as with web surfing in the late 90’s and web browsing in the early millennium, we’re willing to accept the training wheels again. Shiny, touch-screen training wheels that make the whole experience easier.

“But today we can still go out on the Internet, using our browser, and pull down any content we want,” you might be thinking. That is true. But if you want to play content on the sexy news devices – the same innovative devices that deliver instant access to your online community, the convenience of portability, and of course the social cache that you’re cool – you have to choose the content those device manufacturers are selling.

Just as it happened for ISPs and then Web browsers so I am guessing it will happen with mobile social-media devices. It’s easy to get swept up in the talk of paradigm shift, but these empires built by AOL, Netscape, Microsoft, Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are in truth transient. Sometimes they live decades. Sometimes just years. No doubt some pioneers are out there right now, toiling away in anonymity, hacking at the walls being built, sneaking content onto iPhone and iPads and Kindles. Some day they will return with wonderful stories of all the great things to be enjoyed were we all not tethered to iTunes or the Kindle store. At that time people will begin to chip away at the very walls being built right now.

The Internet is famous for the phrase ‘Information wants to be free.’ This ‘openness’ is an inherent conflict with the commercialization of the Internet. In some sense, it is a necessity. It keeps people wanting more which forces businesses to continually innovate.

[Via http://cyncerely.com]

Steam News

Hotel Keralafonia :: The Yeagles

2010-01-29T09:52:00.000+02:00

via YouTube:

A funny and hilarious take on the conditions of hotels in Kerala (India) using a parody on an all time hit song – Hotel California by The Eagles.

This song is not directed towards any group/person/religion/race, etc. So please try to enjoy the song and refrain from flaming posts or name calling.

Once again, enjoy!

Lyrics:

On the road to Trivandrum

Coconut oil in my hair

Warm smell of avial

Rising up through the air

Up ahead in the distance

I saw a bright pink tube-light

My tummy rumbled, I felt weak and thin

I had to stop for a bite

There he stood in the doorway

Flicked his mundu in style

And I was thinking to myself

I don’t like the look of his sinister smile

Then he lit up a petromax

Muttering “No power today”

More Mallus down the corridor

I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Such a lousy place,

Such a lousy place (background)

Such a sad disgrace,

Plenty of bugs at the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Any time of year

Any time of year (background)

It’s infested here

His finger’s stuck up his nostril

He’s got a big, thick mustache

He makes an ugly, ugly noise

But that’s just his laugh

Buxom girls clad in pavada

Eating banana chips

Some roll their eyes, and

Some roll their hips

I said to the manager

My room’s full of mice

He said,

Don’t worry, saar,I sending you | meen karri, brandy and ice

And still those voices were crying from far away

Wake you up in the middle of the night

Just to hear them pray

Save us from the Hotel Kerala-fonia

Such a lousy place,

Such a lousy place (background)

Such a sad disgrace

Trying to live at the Hotel Kerala-fonia

It is no surprise

It is no surprise (background)

That it swarms with flies

The blind man was pouring

Stale sambar on rice

And he said

We are all just actors here

In Silk Smitha-disguise

And in the dining chamber

We gathered for the feast

We stab it with our steely knives

But we just can’t cut that beef

Last thing I remember

I was writhing on the floor

That cockroach in my appam-stew was the culprit, | I am sure

Relax, said the watchman

This enema will make you well

And his friends laughed as they held me Down

God’s Own Country? Oh, Hell!

[Via http://aanondo.wordpress.com]

Purported tablet images appear ahead of event | iLounge News

Peter was not a rock to build a church upon

2010-01-29T01:22:00.000+02:00

http://forum09.faithfreedom.org/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4657&p=92983#p92983

A Christian says:

Upon this rock (Peter’s faith) I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

paarsurrey says:

Hi friends

I don’t think Jesus ever could have said such words for a person who denied him three times. Was this rock made of a mud which got cracked in the first available opportunity? Similarly no Church was erected by Jesus. Please tell us if the first Church was built before the event of Crucifixion or after when Jesus made good his escape to India.

This also seems to be Paul’s clever doing:

1. How many of the twelve did Paul meet? He did not meet them.

2. Peter was only eulogized by Paul for a purpose; to gain a little credence, which was not there.

Peter was not a rock to build a church upon. He was among the first who defected from Jesus and melted like anything; he was not loyal to Jesus. Paul chose him as a natural collaborator, in my opinion.

3. Paul did trade the concepts of Jesus, with mythical creeds of the pagans, all in Jesus’ name.

4. Paul did not meet Mary- the Mother, not even once. If Jesus had disappeared from Galilee, Paul did not meet Mary at least she would be there.

In my opinion, Paul must have smelled that Jesus, Mary and all of the loyal disciples of Jesus were missing from Judea; they were heading towards India.

Paul an enemy of Jesus and his friends changed his strategy. He used Jesus’ name and invented a creed which had nothing to do with Jesus. Paul invented a theological philosophy using Jesus as a scapegoat – which was based on “Jesus dying a cursed death on the Cross”, a mythological faith.

I love Jesus and Mary as mentioned in Quran.

Thanks

[Via http://paarsurrey.wordpress.com]

Fox Is Most Trusted Network News Operation – 24/7 Wall St.

Waging 10 year war on Taliban then making peace with same Taliban!

2010-01-27T09:43:00.000+02:00

Stanley McChrystal, the senior US general in Afghanistan, has told the Financial Times he believes a negotiated settlement would be the right way to end the Afghan conflict. His comments have fuelled a debate on the merits of talking to the Taliban.

Can negotiations end the war?

The appeal of dialogue to end the Afghan conflict has a whiff of alchemy about it: great in theory but extremely difficult in practice. The biggest problem may be that the Taliban feel they are winning. US troop deaths more than doubled in 2009. Gen McChrystal hopes his surge of 30,000 troops will convince his opponents they are better off negotiating but admits that Taliban attacks are likely to spike. “They have got to create the perception that Afghanistan’s on fire,” he told the Financial Times. With Nato allies already eyeing the exit, the Taliban may believe their long-term goal of regaining power in Kabul is within their grasp.

Who could help facilitate dialogue?

Pakistan played midwife at the birth of the Taliban and, along with Saudi Arabia, was one of only three countries to recognise the movement when it ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Reports of efforts by Islamabad and Riyadh to broker talks have surfaced repeatedly. Both are US allies that would use their leverage over any peace process to expand their influence in Washington. Pakistan, in particular, would want to be rewarded with greater backing in its competition with India.

How would talks happen?

Even contacting the Taliban is a complex process involving intermediaries bearing scraps of paper: the leaders shun telephones that could be used to trace their location. Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former Taliban ambassador who lives in Kabul, helps facilitate contacts with the Taliban’s leaders, but organising face-to-face talks would be complex. Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, which also recognised the Taliban government when it was in power, might be the most plausible venues for initial meetings between low-level representatives.

Although many insurgents loosely pledge allegiance to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the movement’s founder and spiritual head, he was a renowned recluse even before fleeing the 2001 US invasion. Distinguishing key Taliban decision-makers from mid-level commanders who control only small groups of fighters would be tricky.

So what’s the problem?

Too many to list. It is hard to see Mr Omar, who once ruled Afghanistan as emir of an austere theocracy, accepting a role under the current western-style constitution. Although the Taliban has recently stressed it does not pose an international threat, its leaders are conscious of the ire they earned in the west for allowing Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda, to organise the September 11 2001 attacks from Afghan soil. Mistrust on all sides runs deep.

What about other insurgent leaders?

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who leads the insurgency in several eastern provinces, is most likely to cut a deal. A former prime minister, he founded a party called Hezb-e-Islami, a faction of which already shares power in Kabul. A father-and-son team from the Haqqani family who run a fiefdom straddling the Pakistan border are less biddable.

Can Taliban fighters simply be bribed?

Maybe. Western countries gathering in London for a conference on Thursday will pledge funds for a scheme outlined by Hamid Karzai, the president, to try to lure Taliban foot soldiers with job offers. Details remain sketchy. Insurgents may simply accept the incentives then return to the fight. The central problem remains: the Taliban may simply believe it can outlast the west. (Q&A: How do you get the Taliban to negotiate By Matthew Green in Kandahar )

[Via http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com]

News Ticker: Conan O'Brien, The Scorpions, Joaquin Phoenix, Black ...

A long trek in the Himalayas, curl up with a great read.

2010-01-27T01:53:00.000+02:00

Garry Weare

I’ve just finished a wonderful book about the Himalayas. Snow leopard country. It’s called “A long walk in the Himalayas – a trek from the Ganges to Kashmir” by Garry Weare.

Weare’s story of his five-month trek from the sacred source of the Ganges through the Kullu Valley, remote mountains of Zanskar and Ladakh (known as Little Tibet) to his beloved houseboat on a lake in Kashmir is an entertaining read. Throughout many years of travel in the Himalayas he has come to know the region, its peoples and cultures well and he writes about them with compassion, empathy and understanding.

"A long walk in the Himalayas"

Weare has serious Himalaya credentials. He’s a life member of the Himalayan Club, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a noted mountain photographer and a founding director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation.

The book is a travel log, a meditation on walking, a memoir of places visted and loved and a tale of adventure. His journey, which is taken with a secret stash of rum and whisky, involved walking 2500 kilometres, most of it above 5000 metres and crossing at least 20 passes, a tough experience and he lost over 15 kilos.

During a trek in September 1995 Garry was lucky to actually see a snow leopard. “I had left camp early to cross the Konze La, a pass in western Ladakh. There had been an unseasonable snowfall and ….I stopped to watch a herd of yaks. At that point I sensed I was not the only one watching the yaks. Glancing around I caught a glimpse of a large cat. I had seen enough snow leopards in zoo enclosures to know what I was looking at. I just had a glimpse and no more but it was sufficient and for a while I did not move, hoping against hope that the elusive cat would reappear. It was not to be.”

Garry recently tod me, “The cat sighting was after a particular early but heavy snowfall in September. However as you appreciate the best opportunity to get a cat sighting is during the winter soon after the first winter snowfall when the bharal (Himalayan blue sheep, a favourite snow leopard prey) head to the valleys and the cats follow.” Lucky him!! Is all I can say.

Currently Garry is working on a Primary Health Care project in Zanskar and Ladakh, Northern India supported by the Australian Himalayan Foundation. The program trains the local Amchis, traditional faith healers in basic western medical advice. Often these Amchi are the only medical help available to villagers in remote parts of the mountains. You can support this and other Australian Himalayan Foundation projects here.

[Via http://snowleopardblog.com]

News to know: Apple; Google; Office 2010; 3D monitors | Between ...

US-Hikmatyar peace deal brokered by Pakistan

2010-01-25T09:48:00.000+02:00

RupeeNews

KABUL—One of the three main leaders of the Afghan insurgency, mercurial warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has a long history of switching sides, and once fought against his current Taliban allies.

Now, he has held out the possibility of negotiating with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and outlined a roadmap for political reconciliation, opening what could be the most promising avenue for Mr. Karzai’s effort to peacefully resolve the conflict.

It is far from certain that any talks with Mr. Hekmatyar will begin, let alone succeed. But in contrast to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and allied insurgent chief Sirajuddin Haqqani, who refuse any talks with Kabul as long as foreign troops remain in the country, Mr. Hekmatyar took a much more conciliatory line in a recent video.

“We have no agreement with the Taliban—not for fighting the war, and not for the peace,” said Mr. Hekmatyar, who commands the loyalty of thousands of insurgents. “The only thing that unites the Taliban and [us] is the war against the foreigners.”

Unlike in previous videos, where Mr. Hekmatyar used a Kalashnikov rifle as a prop and expressed support for al Qaeda, in the latest tape, recorded in late December and provided to The Wall Street Journal by his aides in Pakistan, he assumed a professorial tone, wearing glasses and a black turban as he spoke in a quiet, soft voice.

Mr. Hekmatyar, who is 59 years old and lived in exile in Iran when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, built his movement over the last three years into a formidable force. His men dominate the insurgency in several eastern and central Afghan provinces, such as Kunar, Laghman and Kapisa, according to American intelligence estimates.

At the same time, a legal wing of Hizb-e-Islami, an Islamist party that Mr. Hekmatyar founded in the 1970s, participates in the Afghan parliament, with 19 of 246 seats. One of its leaders is minister of the economy in Mr. Karzai’s new cabinet. Though the legal Hizb-e-Islami denies formal links with Mr. Hekmatyar, many of its senior members are believed to maintain communications with the grizzled warlord, and openly support the idea of bringing him into the government.

Mr. Hekmatyar’s “reported willingness to reconcile with the Afghan government” has already become a key factor working against the militancy because it “causes concern that others may follow,” the U.S.-led international forces’ intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn, noted in a recent presentation. In addition to subtracting fighters from the battlefield, such a reconciliation would boost the legitimacy of the Kabul government.

Currently, fighters of the three main groups—Mullah Omar’s Taliban in the south, where the bulk of combat takes place, the Haqqani network in the southeast, and Mr. Hekmatyar’s men in its strongholds—cooperate with each other, at least on the tactical level, American intelligence officials say.

But, while Mr. Haqqani made a formal oath of allegiance to Mullah Omar, recognizing him as his overall leader, Mr. Hekmatyar repeatedly refused to make such a pledge. In the tape, he said he spent “a couple of months” with Mullah Omar and al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri in 2002, but insisted that he “had no direct or indirect contact with them since then.”

He also said that the main reason he’s fighting American forces is because the U.S. allied itself with his bitter Afghan enemies after the Taliban’s downfall in 2001.

“It’s just a convenience for Hekmatyar to be with the Taliban,” says Marc Sageman, a terrorism expert who, as a Central Intelligence Agency officer in Pakistan, worked with Afghan insurgent leaders in the late 1980s. “Hekmatyar’s main goal is Hekmatyar. He’ll do anything that will help him out—it all depends on the deal he’s going to get.”

In the tape, Mr. Hekmatyar outlined his political program, calling for elections under a neutral caretaker government once U.S.-led forces withdraw, predicting that Hezb-i-Islami will win 70% of the votes, and saying that he would accept an impartial international peacekeeping force. While the Taliban brand Mr. Karzai a traitor, Mr. Hekmatyar promised to support the Afghan president should he stop being subservient to his American backers.

“Negotiations with the Afghan government will not be fruitful unless the foreigners give the Afghan government the authority to start negotiations independently—but unfortunately it has not been given this authority yet,” Mr. Hekmatyar said in the tape.

Similar overtures by Mr. Hekmatyar in recent months failed to produce any breakthrough. And, while some Afghan and American officials have already explored indirect contacts with Mr. Hekmatyar, the U.S. government so far refuses to make a meaningful distinction between him and the two other man insurgent chiefs.

“Each one has a different origin and orientation,” says Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. “But all work together and are linked to al Qaeda.”

A Pashtun former engineering student from the northern Kunduz province, Mr. Hekmatyar started out in politics as a pro-Soviet Communist. He embraced pan-Islamist ideology in the 1970s, and famously refused to meet President Ronald Reagan even as the U.S. was pumping millions of dollars into his guerrilla movement through the Pakistani intelligence in the 1980s.

After the pro-Soviet regime collapsed in 1992, Mr. Hekmatyar reduced large parts of Kabul to rubble as he fought rival mujahedeen commanders for control of the capital, and briefly served as the nation’s prime minister. Once Pakistan switched its support to the nascent Taliban movement in the mid-1990s, Mr. Hekmatyar was chased out by the Taliban, and had to seek refuge in Iran.

After the U.S. overthrew the Taliban in 2001, it excluded the warlord—who was seen as a spent force—from the new Kabul government. In the following months, as an embittered Mr. Hekmatyar started voicing support for the Taliban and al Qaeda, he was expelled by Iran, and was nearly killed by a U.S. airstrike. In 2003, Mr. Hekmatyar was designated a terrorist by the U.S. and put on the United Nations blacklist alongside Mullah Omar and Mr. bin Laden.

These days, some American officials say, Mr. Hekmatyar has managed to rebuild his fortunes in part because of help from elements of the powerful Pakistani spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. Mr. Hekmatyar’s movement uses the area around the Pakistani city of Peshawar, with its teeming Afghan refugee camps, as its logistics hub. His daughter and son-in-law reside in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Pakistan denies it is giving any aid to the Taliban or its insurgent allies.

“Hekmatyar could be turned if the ISI wanted him to be turned,” says Bruce Riedel, a Brooking Institution scholar and former senior CIA officer who oversaw President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan and Pakistan policy review last year. “He is too closely tied to them to operate for us without their okay.” ASIA NEWS JANUARY 21, 2010 Afghan Insurgent Outlines Peace Plan. By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV

Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at yaroslav.trofimov@wsj.com

[Via http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com]

Of Arms and the Law: Internal ATF news

Kirtan Shmirtan

2010-01-25T00:58:00.000+02:00

Went to Govindas in Darlinghurst, Sydney last night for some Kirtan chanting followed by a vegetarian dinner. The place was packed and raring for some great chanting. Kirtan is call-and-response chanting performed in India’s devotional traditions, it involves chanting mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium and the two-headed drum. Somehow it did not live up to the expectations I had and left me a bit flat.

Kirtan relies on the power and influence of the caller who takes you to a meditative place where the sounds of the mantra, rather than the meaning, take over. He leads you in a way that means you don’t need to think, you just flow along with where he is going. For this to work he needs to be clear and strong so you don’t let your mind get in the way. Once he has established the rhythm and melody he can improvise and vary both to raise the level of excitement and involvement.

Somehow last night this didn’t happen. The callers were from ‘Le Carnaval Spirituel’ (see below) and, I felt, were too interested in performing and showing their virtuosity than truly leading. One of the men was so weak in his leading that it was extremely difficult to work out the rhythm of what he was singing. Part way through the evening drifted away with a rendering of ‘Hare Krishna’ that just went on and on. There really is a lot more to Mantra Chanting than ‘Hare Krishna’.

I found it interesting that the evening was about peace and love and yet when we arrived we were greeted with anything but. We were greeted by a lovely, friendly lady in a tiny lobby. While trying to sort out paying and removing our shoes we were shoved and jostled first by a man who was keen to push past and then by a lady dressed in ‘indian cotton’ who insisted on pushing aggressively past even though there was little room. “But I am already ‘in’” she kept saying. This was a clue to the rest of the evening. It was for those who were ‘in’.

Three of the world’s most popular Kirtan performers will be taking part in the show. Indradyumna Swami, an enigmatic traveling monk who founded Le Carnaval Spirituel in Paris, France in 1979, has been circling the globe performing kirtan for over three decades, often to Woodstock-like crowds and has performed for many world leaders like Nelson Mandela. New Zealand-born Sri Prahlad catapulted to fame as a child prodigy in the late 1980s when his debut album “Through the Eyes of a Child” topped the Australian and world music charts. Since then his evolving distinctive style of Kirtan has brought him the love of audiences worldwide. Tribhuvaneshvar, affectionately known as Tribi, has enchanted music connoisseurs with his soft, melodious European style Kirtan.

[Via http://gphoenix.wordpress.com]

Catholic 'Womenpriests' Touted in WaPo News Story by Leftist ...

India's misplaced glacier row

2010-01-22T09:23:00.000+02:00

India’s central government is making triumphant noises about what it sees as a vindication of its stand concerning Himalayan glaciers. The central Ministry of Environment and Forests had refuted the widely held scientific view that the glaciers of the Himalaya were shrinking, posing a grave – if not catastrophic – threat to the water security of millions downstream.

The mainstream English press in India (a majority of whose readers are urban salaried, self-employed or professional) has been toeing the central government line on the matter and has placed on front pages the story: “IPCC admits ‘Himalayan’ blunder” said Business Standard; “IPCC expresses regret over glacier melting conclusion” said The Hindu; and “West uses ‘glacier theory’ to flog India on climate change” said The Times of India.

What has the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) actually said?

Here is the full statement (dated 20 January 2010) made by the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the IPCC, and the Co-Chairs of the IPCC Working Groups.

“The Synthesis Report, the concluding document of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (page 49) stated: ‘Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on water resources from population growth and economic and land-use change, including urbanisation. On a regional scale, mountain snow pack, glaciers and small ice caps play a crucial role in freshwater availability. Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow cover over recent decades are projected to accelerate throughout the 21st century, reducing water availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes), where more than one-sixth of the world population currently lives.’ “

“This conclusion is robust, appropriate, and entirely consistent with the underlying science and the broader IPCC assessment.”

“It has, however, recently come to our attention that a paragraph in the 938-page Working Group II contribution to the underlying assessment refers to poorly substantiated estimates of rate of recession and date for the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers. In drafting the paragraph in question, the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by the IPCC procedures, were not applied properly.”

“The Chair, Vice-Chairs, and Co-chairs of the IPCC regret the poor application of well-established IPCC procedures in this instance. This episode demonstrates that the quality of the assessment depends on absolute adherence to the IPCC standards, including thorough review of ‘the quality and validity of each source before incorporating results from the source into an IPCC Report’. We reaffirm our strong commitment to ensuring this level of performance.”

The text in question is the second paragraph in section 10.6.2 of the Working Group II contribution and a repeat of part of the paragraph in Box TS.6. of the Working Group II Technical Summary of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. The quoted text in the fourth para is verbatim from Annex 2 of Appendix A to the Principles Governing IPCC Work.

What makes the episode ugly is that this is a central government, and a ministry, which has right through 2008 and 2009 worked extra hard to push all aspects of economic growth measured by GDP. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has steadily diluted legislation protecting environment and natural resources, given opportunities to industry to sidetrack checks and balances relating to clearances (especially in forest areas) and which has gone to great lengths to cobble together a scientific-cum-economic consensus to show that GDP growth at 9% a year for the next generation will not harm the global environment nor add very much to global emissions. The hypocrisies in pressurising the IPCC into this corner are staggering. The pity is that India’s scientific community – in which true independence is rare – will do little to help the citizen understand more.

[Via http://makanaka.wordpress.com]

Stocks in the News: IBM, Bank of America, Alcon - DailyFinance

Evetta Petty's Hat's From Heaven

2010-01-22T01:50:00.000+02:00

Designer and owner Evetta Petty’s hats from Harlem’s Heaven Hat Boutique has been featured in the New York Times, Crain’s NY, and the New York Daily News. Harlem World tried to caught up with her while she was still in India, searching for fabric for her hats before she gets back in my store next month.

Harlem World: Who is your main consumer in Harlem who buys hats?

Evetta Petty: The Ministers Wives and the well dressed Church Divas.HW: What fabric are most of your hats made of?

EP: Our favorite fabric for hats is Grosgrain and Satin ribbon because the hat can be worn all year round. We like to call it “The hat for all seasons!”

HW: Where are most of your clients from (Harlem, etc.,)?

EP: We are shipping hats to clients from all over the World because of our busy website.

HW: When is the best time to where a hat (year around, Sunday’s, etc.,)?

EP: Hat Lovers won’t leave the house without a hat but, hats do have a high season starting with Easter time followed by Mothers Day then the Kentucky Derby and ending with the Ascot races in England. The time period between March and June is high hat season. After that, the fun in the sun Hat Lovers will be struting their chapeau on the beaches and at fabulous resorts.

HW: Why did you go into designing hats?

EP: After graduatiing from FIT, I worked in many areas of fashion but always designed hats as a hobby on the side. After placing a couple of hats in a boutique, they started selling like crazy and I ended up being in the hat business full time.

HW: What’s hot for Spring (colors, styles, etc.,)?

EP: This spring look for citrus colors. You will see a lot of lemon yellow, kiwi green and vibrant orange. You will also see a lot of baby pink and powder blue. In my new spring line, will have an aray of colors accented with jewels, beads and embrodiery inspired by my recent trip to New Dehli, India.

www.harlemsheaven.com

[Via http://glamaddicts.wordpress.com]

Early 'Scott Pilgrim' Test Screening Brings Good News - Cinematical

Big Veggie Curry

2010-01-20T09:39:00.000+02:00

Big Veggie Curry is what I call a foundation dish. It can be eaten “as is” over rice, which makes a delicious low fat meal. Or you can add various things to it, such as shrimp or chicken. I freeze it in serving size containers to have on hand when I have a bit of leftovers that might mix in well. This curry is also a whatever-you-have-in-the-house recipe. I often make it when I am cleaning out the refrigerator and discover odd and ends of vegetable, or perhaps a bag of vegetables in the freezer that is getting old. One of the times I make this curry is when I’m about to travel long enough for vegetables to go bad when I am gone. I make up a pot of it, divide it in serving size containers, and freeze it, thus not wasting the produce and having something inviting to eat when I get back.

In many ways, this curry is more like the curries my neighbors in Mumbai made on a daily basis – less a formal recipe and more a way of cooking, each cook adding her own touch to the process. Women would come back from the bazaar across the railroad tracks from our apartment building carrying a tote bag full of whatever was fresh in the market and combine it with onions and garlic and the spices that were the staples of the Mumbai kitchen. The beauty of this curry is that it doesn’t require specific vegetables or fruit. I sometimes add 1/2 a cup of raisins or some sliced peeled apples. This time I had half a bag of frozen cranberries left from an earlier dish, so I threw them in too. It was delicious. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

This is not a “hot” curry, although you could add a couple of peeled, seeded chopped jalapenos to it, or some red pepper. I tend to want to add heat when I am serving it if I’m in the mood, with a few drops of hot pepper sauce.

Big Veggie Curry

I Tablespoon Canola oil

2 teaspoons black mustard seed (optional, but it tastes more authentic with it)

1 teaspoon cumin seed

2 Tablespoons good quality garam masala or curry powder

1 big onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves of garlic

2 cups of low fat vegetable broth (you could also use chicken broth, but then it wouldn’t really be “veggie” curry)

1 15 ounce can chopped tomatoes, undrained

8-10 cups vegetables, cut into about 2 inch pieces (you can substitute up to 2 cups of fresh fruit or 1/2 cup of dried fruit)

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the mustard seed and cook until you hear the seeds start popping. Add the cumin seed and garam masala and cook for about another minute, or until the spices smell fragrant. Lower the heat to medium and add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally. Don’t let it burn. Add a little of the broth if you need to to keep it from burning. Add the broth and tomatoes. Add the vegetables (and fruit if you are using it.) Bring to a boil, cover, and lower the heat. Cook for 1 –2 hours until the vegetables are tender. The timing will depend on what vegetables you use. Stir in the cilantro and cook for 2 more minutes. This makes about 8 servings at 2 grams of fat/serving.

This is served over brown rice mix, with Greek yogurt on the side. My vegetables this time were potatoes, cauliflower, a box of frozen green beans, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and half a bag of frozen cranberries.

[Via http://perpetualfeast.com]

Bayh Warns "Catastrophe" If Dems Ignore Massachusetts Senate Race ...

Lemon, Lesbians and Closets

2010-01-20T01:29:00.000+02:00

I recently saw a 30 Rock episode (S4 E09) titled “Klaus and Greta” where James Franco guest starred as James Franco-in-love-with-a-b0dy-pillow. But I suppose many of us may also watch it for Tina Fey like I do. Women who can carry off Nerd glasses are, queerly enough, SO attractive. In this episode, “Lemon” (Fey’s character) has her gay cousin, Randy Lemon ( no really, they named the character “Randy Lemon”, this is 30 Rock ! C’mon!) from small town Pennsylvania come to NYC after a fight with his parents. He insists upon going out and having a good time and giving her a makeover in this time there. The clincher is a scene where they argue and Randy locks her in a closet [ A good wry joke can keep me going for a week ] My apologies to those outside the US who cannot access the video, The scene falls in the latter half of the episode: Look for Randy with Slut written on his forehead -

I also recently watched Dostana – Yes, it has taken me a while but for some strange reason it always said “Long Wait” on my Netflix queue. I was curious about the movie mainly after seeing Tarun Mansukhani ( The Director) on a few of the Post Article 377 debates on Indian News Shows and having encountered positive reviews of the movie about its depiction of gay men. I dunnoooo….There were men. They pretended to be “gay”. Pretended is key to note here. And yes, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant – a nice shiny movie with Yash Raj production values and not too much angst. But it was based on stereotypes. In the sense that whenever the men had to “be gay” they resorted to effeminate behaviour ( not affectionate alone – there is a distinction ), when they were straight while lusting after the girl they were normal ( by the societal yardstick). So yeah, maybe Dostana is a fun movie – maybe it doesn’t represent gay men in negative light but it still offers what the audience wants - A recognizable impression of the effeminate gay men. The one part of the movie I did thoroughly enjoy though was the song “Maa Da Laadla”, Funny lyrics (try and read the english lyrics if you can), Catchy and Kiron Kher is a delight to watch. Here you go -

[Via http://queercoolie.wordpress.com]

App news & reviews: Trapster, Observation, Foto Brisko and more

tropical beer notes #24

2010-01-18T09:52:00.000+02:00

King’s Black Label Premium Pilsner 4.8% Goa India

It’s rubbish, but comes in this cool little medicine bottle. There’s a big “land that time forgot” thing going on in India – safari suits, compulsory ‘tashes, Ambassador cabs, Enfield motorbikes. This little stubby fits right it. Cheers to the 1960s

[Via http://beyondbagot.wordpress.com]

Haiti Earthquake: Breaking News, Updates (VIDEO)

Finished!

2010-01-18T01:07:00.000+02:00

Yes, we’ve come to the end of another amazing Indian adventure! Next post will be from home—I hope! Thank you for all of your prayers and gifts that made our ministry possible and changed the lives of many.

Friday, 1/15—children’s program

Our final children’s program was held at a church in Boyce Company. All of their Sunday School children were there as well as kids from several other villages nearby. When we arrived a little after 10am, there were about 30 kids there, but as the morning went on, we ended up with over a hundred! We went through the same program with them that we had done at the previous children’s program– singing, nativity skit, Simon Says, flannelboard of the nativity and nativity stickers. Since we were here in Coonoor, we had our huge parachute that we left here 3 years ago. The kids loved that! We didn’t have any balls, but there happened to be balloons hanging left over from the Christmas/New Year’s decorations, so we used those. I explained the gospel using the colors on the parachute—black is sin which keeps us from heaven (yellow), red is for Jesus’ blood and white for when we’re forgiven and washed clean, green is for growing in Christ and blue for baptism. Pastor Suresh (the pastor of this church) led the children in a prayer of salvation. We pray the seeds we’ve planted will continue to grow! Even though it was almost 2pm by then, their lunch had still not arrived. So the kids started entertaining us! Each Sunday School group did a choreographed dance to a song from a CD. They were so cute. When lunch still had not arrived, they just turned on the music and everybody danced! Rose and I had a great time, but Debbie was not into it. I think it was after 3 when lunch finally came, and we passed out Beanie Babies to all of them (thanks, Mom & Aunt Judy!).

Saturday, 1/16—Tailoring school graduation and jungle safari

Rose woke up with a throat infection and couldn’t talk at all—just whisper!

It was our great privilege to speak at the graduation and also present some of the women with sewing machines. As an example for our advice to these women, we brought two shirts that we had made—one loosely hand-stitched and falling apart and the other nicely sewn and finished. On the inside of the messy one, we had written the words: anger, hate, fear, depression and quitting. On the inside of the nice one, we had written the words: patience, love, peace, joy and faithfulness. Rose and I took turns sharing experiences in our lives when God had taught us to have patience, love, peace, joy and faithfulness instead of anger, hate, fear, depression and wanting to quit. Pastor Jamie offered them the opportunity to trade in their old “shirt” for a new one—in Christ. Several—including some Muslims—prayed to accept Christ as their Savior! It was awesome to hear their testimonies of how the Tailoring Institute had changed their lives, too!

As soon as the graduation was complete, we jumped in the car and headed down the mountain to the nature preserve. It was so busy at the place in Tamil Nadu that we continued on into another state, Karnataka, to see what kind of animals we could see. Just as we crossed the state border, a family of 4 elephants—2 babies!–came right up and crossed the road behind us. It was amazing! Also, as we were driving, we came upon peacocks, spotted deer, langu monkeys, bison, wild boar—so many wonderful animals to see right next to our car! They were all a gift from God! Then as we returned to Tamil Nadu, we saw that they were giving elephant rides. This has been a dream of mine since our very first trip to India! I was so excited! However, it turned out that you had to have special reservations to ride the elephants…how sad. By the grace of God, one of the elephant caretakers overheard Jamie asking about the rides and privately offered to get the tickets for us—amazing! This wasn’t just an elephant ride—it was an elephant safari! We were riding that elephant for a half hour through the deep jungle! It was so beautiful…what a special way to end our trip.

Sunday, 1/17 church

We went to church at Boyce Company where the children’s program was held. Pastor Suresh is awesome, and it was so nice being with his church family of about 100 (though some were missing because it was a holiday weekend for them). After the singing, Pastor Wilson spoke on Psalm 23, then we had testimonies, offering and did a baby dedication. By then, it was after 1pm (church started at 10am), and Jamie turned and asked us to speak. Rose spoke on Ephesians 4—unity in the Spirit. Because it was so late, I just said a quick word about how blessed they were to have Pastor Suresh and each other, and most of all to be chosen by God to be His children (Eph. 1:3-4). After church, several people came to me and asked why I didn’t speak longer—they were so looking forward to my message!

We spent the afternoon visiting and packing, then had our last supper together at a nice hotel here in Coonoor. We’re certainly going to miss Jamie and Wilson and their families!

Monday, 1/18 travel

Today we leave Coonoor for the 8-hour drive to Kochin where our flight leaves at 8pm.

Praise report: many children and women committed their lives to Christ; elephant safari—what a blessing!

Prayer requests: Rose will get better and be able to talk again; no one else will catch her cold; safe driving and flights home

[Via http://bjill.wordpress.com]

openSUSE News » Reminder: openSUSE Weekly News Team Meeting

Sankranthi - II

2010-01-15T17:47:00.000+02:00

....

[Via http://sonalimangal.wordpress.com]

Apple, RIM sued by Kodak over photo technology | iLounge News

Shadow Education :: Impact on Mainstream

2010-01-15T09:39:00.000+02:00

As the shadow cast by a sun dial can tell the observer about the change in time

Shadow of the education system can tell the change in society

Shadow education is a metaphor used for private tutorials that supplements the main stream education system. As the size and shape of the shadow depends on the source object, on the same lines change in mainstream education system impacts size and shape of supplementary education system.

Unlike dictionary definition of shadow which is a passive entity to the object it immitates, Shadow in shadow education is an active entity in every sense. It affects the mainstream system and somewhat controls the flow of it.

Private tutorial is not a new name in the world. It has its foot prints long back in the history that now nobody questions on its existence. The size of private tutorial industry varies from country to country depending on some key factors. Research shows that shadow education is popular in countries having poorly structured education system as compared to countries having advanced education system. Believe it or not, South Korea supplement education market is 150% of the mainstream education system.

Stupendous isn’t it? Believe me, it’s true.

MES v/s SES

Private tutorial works as a load sharing mechanism and hence reduces the burden on mainstream education system. It helps students to navigate a successful passage from school to adulthood. Not only students but tutors also gain a lot for private tutorials.

In a country like India where a secondary school teachers hardly earn 200$ per month, private tutorials provides them a good option to supplement their earnings. It helps in retaining quality teaching staff as the money they earn from private tutorials sometimes goes as high as 500$- 1000$ per month which is even more than a university lecturer.

Guardians are happy in shedding some extra dollars for private tutorials if it helps their ward to perform well. Research confirms that it helps in better understanding of concepts (In this article I am not considering the trauma that a student has to go through when he has to attend 2-3 daily of private tutorials after 8 hrs of school).

Is it a win-win situation or a Paradox?

Wait! Before coming to any conclusion it is wiser to analyze micro & macro dimensions of the state of affairs.

Studies adumbrate that SES plays a coercive role in destabilizing mainstream equilibrium. It exacerbates the nation’s education problems because it fabricates variance in the classroom. All guardians can’t afford a private tutorials for their wards which widens the understanding level of the concept between two kids .Secondly, it is analyzed that if the private tutor is a teacher from the same school then he gives more emphasis on the coaching classes than in the classroom, which further exacerbates the disparity.

SES has its own cons and pros, with more pros than cons if one considers the student aspect under this umbrella. We should improve our mainstream education system so that it doesn’t need a shadow to walk along with it. The money and resources that the world is poring in a well of shadow can be used in strengthening the pillars of the mainstream.

[Via http://kunalsingla.wordpress.com]

Sarah Palin's Fox News Debut On The O'Reilly Factor | NewsBusters.org

Energy Efficient Windows For Your New Home Construction.

2010-01-13T09:53:00.000+02:00

Of particular importance in your effort to build an environmentally-friendly home is the windows that you will choose. Energy efficient windows for your new home construction can make your heating bills lower in the winter and your cooling bills easier to handle in the summer. An energy efficient window needs to be at two panes thick, have a low-E (emitting) glass coating, an airtight frame, and be rated as energy-efficient by the Energy Star program. Let’s look at each of these elements of the energy efficient window in greater detail.

Frames

When considering your window frames, the material of the frame is very crucial the energy efficiency of the window itself. Opting for a vinyl or fiberglass frame ensures maximum efficiency and both of these materials do a great job of reducing the heat transfer and improving the insulation factor of the home and the home’s envelope. The decision to go with vinyl or fiberglass is usually an aesthetic one for most homeowners, although cost of the window frame itself certainly plays a role in that decision. Look for window frames in vinyl and fiberglass that have been specifically engineered and designed to perform optimally, such as those that have chambers within the frame that enhance their strength, provide additional insulation and reduce noise

Multiple Panes

Having dual pane or multiple pane windows is important when installing windows that are energy efficient. Dual pane windows have a space between the two panes of glass that is filled with either gas (look for those gases like argon or krypton for their non-toxicity) or air. This provides more insulation than a single pan window. If you can afford it, go for Energy Star rated windows that have three or even more panes for the highest level of energy savings. Look for windows that feature spacers between the panes that allow for the correct distance of panes in order to allow for airflow within the pane. These warm edge spacers can be made of fiberglass, vinyl, foam or steel and will have the added benefit of reducing or preventing condensation between panes. Your windows should also feature low-E coating that will block out the infrared light from the sun that makes your home hotter in the summer and that can fade your flooring, carpeting, or furniture over time.

Financial Incentives for High Efficiency Windows

Local, state and federal governments have recently announced incentives for homeowners who install energy-efficient upgrades in their homes. These incentives include tax breaks and tax rebates. Talk to your installer or your contractor to find out if the windows that you choose qualify for these tax incentives and be sure to file for them in a timely manner. You can get up to $200 under some programs for each window that you install, either as a tax deduction or a credit on your taxes. That makes paying for your high efficiency windows easier, and provides you with a bit of money to spend on other eco-friendly upgrades.

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http://ezinearticles.com/?Energy-Efficient-Windows-For-Your-New-Home-Construction&id=3496868

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Stocks in the News: Alcoa, Citigroup, Ford - DailyFinance

India: A Year of Struggle in Lalgarh

2010-01-13T01:34:00.000+02:00

The following article is from Sanhati:

A Year of Lalgarh

Partho Sarathi Ray, Sanhati

Lalgarh – the name resonates in the hearts and minds of struggling people all over India: adivasis and dalits, farmers and fisherfolk, workers and students. In West Bengal it has taken its place along with Singur and Nandigram in songs and slogans of resolve and resistance. Wherever people are fighting for their livelihoods and their dignity, resisting the onslaught of state and capital, Lalgarh now provides inspiration and courage. Most importantly, for the long-oppressed adivasis, Lalgarh has already entered the annals of legendary struggles of the likes of the santhal “hul” led by Sidhu and Kanhu, and the historic rebellions led by the likes of Birsha Munda, Tilka Majhi and Chand Bhairab.

It has been just over a year since the unprecedented uprising of the adivasi people took place in Lalgarh, triggered by the brutal police raids in the wake of the land mine attack on chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s convoy. It is a good time to look back on this year, and to learn our lessons from Lalgarh.

In the last one year the movement has gone through many ups and downs, has faced brutal oppression by the state and the terror apparatus of the ruling party, culminating in the entry of the joint police and paramilitary forces of the state and the central governments (referred to as the “joint forces”) in the middle of June, 2009, and the arrest of its main spokesperson, Chatradhar Mahato. It has been the subject of both the wonder and vilification of the corporate media, and has elicited varied responses from civil society. However, all this has not dampened the resolve and the courage of the struggling people of Lalgarh, who have stood up in the face of oppression, and will not be subdued. Even today, when the joint paramilitary forces have closed in on Lalgarh and each day brings stories of atrocities, of firing on farmers tilling their fields, of arrests of children playing cricket, of looting and pillaging of villages and poisoning of wells, the people of Lalgarh are marching out in larger and larger numbers to assert their rights and to resist this onslaught.

On just a single day, 7th January 2010, a rally of 15,000 people proceeded from Jaipur in Salboni towards Pirakata, which is the site of a major camp of the joint forces, in protest against the raid on the previous night in Sundarpur village in Salboni where the joint forces personnel indiscriminately beat up people, looted houses and arrested twenty persons. At the same time as these 15,000 people proceeded towards Pirakata, another rally of 10,000 people proceeded from Kalsibhanga to Pirakata. Such rallies and demonstrations have been a daily occurrence, with women in the front ranks in every case. As police have raided villages, the news have been spread from village to village using both the dhamsa madal (the traditional Santhal drum) and the mobile phone, and within minutes village women have assembled and resisted the raiders, facing beatings and arrest. School students have gheraoed schools from which they have been displaced by joint forces personnel. They have even blockaded the Rajdhani Express, the ultimate sign of the power and privilege of the elite, to make their voices heard in the corridors of power in Kolkata and Delhi.

The forces of the state can lathicharge and teargas and arrest these people as much as they will, but it is evident that they will not be able to subdue them, to get them back to the docile condition where they will suffer the daily indignities of harassment and hunger silently and where their resources and labour will fatten the likes of Anuj Pandey, the notorious CPI(M) leader whose palatial house was destroyed in Dharampur in June 2009 in a mass upsurge.

The Lalgarh movement has been unprecedented in its intensity, its breadth, and the challenges it has thrown up in front of the state, which has kept the adivasis in a miserable condition while flaunting its democratic nature, and towards society, that has always been apathetic to their conditions, except as subjects of anthropological research and as examples of exotica. Within a few days of the upsurge in early November, 2008, the entire Lalgarh area was out of bounds for the state, especially its police apparatus, which was the face of the state that had always confronted the adivasis. The police stations, always the places from where the “rule of law” emanated as a daily nightmare for the people, were locked with the policemen cowering inside, under a social boycott.

Like the proverbial prairie fire, the movement spread to the other districts of the adivasi-populated region, collectively called as jangalmahal, and soon thousands of people were marching on the red soil of West Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia. As the traditional institutions of adivasi society, including the apex body of the village headmen, the Majhi Madwa, failed to keep up with this revolutionary upheaval and became discredited, and as the adivasis were vehement in their opposition against the leadership of their movement being taken over by the parliamentary political parties, as happened in Singur and Nandigram, the Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) was born to spearhead the struggle.

The Peoples’ Committee did not derive its authority from the established social and economic hierarchies in adivasi society, or from the established political parties, but from the general assembly of the masses, as exemplified by the mammoth rallies that were held on a nearly daily basis. New, and unprecedented, forms of democratic practice sprung up, giving rise to the village committees having fifty percent male and fifty percent female membership. Members of all political parties, as long as they joined independently of their party identities, were welcome to join the people’s committee.

The enthusiasm of the people, who were now united together in not only throwing off the yoke of oppression by the state, but were also trying to build something new, was palpable, and infectious. Young men and women, armed with their traditional weapons, exuded an air of empowerment. Housewives, in the front ranks of ten thousand strong marches raised cogent questions in the face of policemen (and women) who were confronting them: Aren’t the police supposed to serve the people? How would it feel when someone kicks a pregnant woman on her abdomen? New leaders of the movement emerged, Chatradhar Mahato, who became the spokesman of the movement, Sidhu Soren, a young energetic organizer, Lalmohan Tudu, Sukhshanti Baske and many others.

As the people, and this new leadership, recovered from the trauma of domination by the Indian state and the ruling party, and gained confidence in their own abilities, they took up the developmental activities which the same state and party have always denied them. “Development” is the buzzword which the state has always used to justify its actions on behalf of the ruling class, just as today “development” is being used as a pretext by the union home minister P. Chidambaram to unleash the might of the armed forces in a war on people resisting the loot of their land and resources. However, the lives of the adivasis of Lalgarh show the development disaster of the Indian state, and of the CPI(M) government which claims to have been a “government for the poor” for the past thirty two years. All the basic necessities of life: food, water, education, health, roads, and the control over the resources that enable them: land and other sources of employment, have been all but absent. What have been present instead are the rapacious timber and kendu leaf mafia, corrupt government contractors, and increasingly, big corporations that are out to grab the land and the mineral resources of the area.

In contrast, the peoples’ committee took up a modest initiative to provide the same development measures, with a new developmental model ensuring popular participation in planning and execution. Land distribution programmes were taken up, check dams to harvest and store rainwater during the monsoons were constructed, mini tubewells and shallow pumps were installed, kilometers of roads of red gravel (moram) laid and health centres staffed with volunteer doctors and health workers from Kolkata were started (the health centres confirmed a depressing apprehension, 90 percent of the thousands of patients who visited the health centres, especially women, showed symptoms of malnutrition like low blood pressure and edema). Together with this, the people ensured that much-touted government schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana for providing cheap housing to poor households, funds for which were systematically siphoned off by CPI(M) and Jharkhand party functionaries, were implemented properly. These efforts might have been modest in their scope, but they were successful where the state had failed abysmally and provided a new paradigm of participatory development.

Much of this has come to a standstill as the joint forces have moved in, promising to bring “development” in their wake, development as defined by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Chidambaram. Many of the tubewells and shallow pumps have been destroyed or looted by the paramilitary forces and the health centres have become their outposts. Schools have been reoccupied and students forced to give exams sitting on the roads. When some of the schools were vacated by the joint forces personnel, because of a court order in response to a public interest litigation filed by an organization from Midnapore, they were found in a pathetic condition, classrooms filled with human excreta and walls smeared with pornographic grafitti. This is the “development” that Buddhadeb and Chidambaram plan to bring to the adivasis. However, the people of jangalmahal are still determined to continue their efforts towards a popular and participatory development process, and after the initial shock of occupation by the joint forces, some of the developmental activities are limping back on track.

Just as Lalgarh threw up an unprecedented challenge to the state, it also presented a new, and somewhat incomprehensible paradigm, to the various political and civil society forces which have elicited a wide variety of responses. Much of it is centered around the involvement of the Communist Party of India (Maoists) in the movement. Among the political parties, the CPI(M), have been virulently hostile to the movement as the movement has destroyed its hegemony in the jangalmahal area and its members and supporters have been targeted by the Maoists. The CPI(M) have long been identified as a primary oppressor by the people of Lalgarh, with its local leaders like Anuj Pandey running a reign of terror in the area through his armed henchmen. Beyond these local leaders have been district leaders of the CPI(M) like Dipak Sarkar, the district secretary and Sushanta Ghosh, the state minister in charge of the area, who have maintained a stranglehold on the adivasis (the infamous “ghoskar bahini”, the armed cadre force of the CPI(M) is named after the duo).

Since the beginning of the movement in November 2008, CPI(M) goons, referred to as harmads, have launched attacks on peoples’ committee members to regain lost ground, resulting in the deaths of people like Rajaram and Lakhindar Mandi and Nirmal Sardar. These attacks had been resisted both by the peoples’ committee and the Maoist squads active in the area. These attacks finally culminated in the Dharampur incident in June 2009, when the adivasis, incensed by a CPI(M) attack on a rally, were led by the Maoists to destroy the house of Anuj Pandey and the CPI(M) party office in Lalgarh, and kill the hated musclemen of Anuj Pandey. This finally led the CPI(M) government in West Bengal to request the Congress government at the centre to send paramilitary forces which were waiting in the wings, and the home minister Chidambaram couldn’t be happy enough to oblige, declaring Lalgarh to be the “laboratory” for his forthcoming attack on the adivasis of the Maoist-dominated belt stretching from West Bengal to eastern Maharashtra.

The response of the main opposition party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), was more interesting. The leader of TMC, Mamata Banerjee, at first expressed support for the movement, visiting the area without her party banner, and even sharing the stage with Chatradhar Mahato, a fact which the CPI(M) uses today to allege a Trinamool-Maoist nexus. However, after the parliamentary elections in May 2009, which the TMC won handsomely in alliance with the Congress, and went on to join the UPA government, which eventually sent in the paramilitary forces into Lalgarh, she did a volte face, and dissociated herself from the movement condemning it as a handiwork of the Maoists. She now claims that the CPI(M) and the CPI(Maoist) are two sides of the same coin, and has even censured her party MP, Kabir Suman, for writing a song on Chatradhar Mahato. The TMC’s opportunistic politics regarding Lalgarh stand exposed, although Mamata continues her posturings in sympathy of the adivasis.

The responses of various other political parties and civil society organizations have been multifarious. Smaller left parties like Majdoor Kranti Parishad (MKP) have played supportive and constructive roles, participating in demonstrations in Kolkata in solidarity of the Lalgarh movement, and even trying to enter Lalgarh with a couple of hundred party activists when access was blocked by the joint forces. Parties like the CPI(ML)-Liberation have been openly critical of the actions of the Maoists, but have participated in demonstrations held in opposition to the arrest of Chatradhar Mahato. On the other hand, some like Santosh Rana’s faction of the CPI(ML), which also has connections with the Jharkhandi groups in the area, have accused the Maoists of taking over the movement and for preventing the functioning of institutions like panchayats.

The involvement of the Maoists has also been the central problematic in the response of various members of civil society and some intellectuals to the Lalgarh movement. When the Lalgarh movement started, for some time the civil society did not know how to respond to it. Here were the long-oppressed adivasis, challenging successfully the might of the state and marching in the triumph of being able to throw off the yoke of oppression. Here, unlike Nandigram and Singur, there were no apparent victims of massacres or CPI(M) brutalities who could be sympathized with. This was a hitherto unexperienced paradigm confronting civil society. However, civil society soon woke up from its inertia and expressed its solidarity with the Lalgarh movement as it found the epitomization of many of its own aspirations in the latter’s democratic expressions and popular participation.

However, this was accompanied by a sort of romanticization of the movement as an expression of the quest of dignity by the adivasi , the “noble savage” of European humanist tradition, and a sort of naïve admiration of its “purity” and “spontaneity”. Therefore, when the Maoists came to the forefront, inevitable fissures showed up among civil society, with a section considering that a “spontaneous” movement of adivasis has been hijacked by the Maoists. Some forwarded the “sandwich theory”, the adivasis caught in a crossfire between two equally condemnable forces, the state and the Maoists. In contrast, another section thought that the entire movement is a brainchild of the Maoists.

The reality is probably somewhere in between. The Maoists have been active in the area for a long time, even from before the CPI(Maoist) emerged as a party. They have been involved in long term organizational work in the area and organized peoples’ struggles for raising the price of kendu leaves, against the timber mafia and against corruption in panchayats. As a result, they enjoy immense prestige among the adivasis; anyone who has interacted closely with the adivasis will know about their respect for the “boner party” – the party of the jungles, as they refer to the Maoists. Just as most of the reporters having Lalgarh on their beat have the phone number of Kishenji, the Maoist leader who was in charge of the jangalmahal area, so do have many common villagers, and many a times a call to Kishenji becomes the last resort against the attacks of CPI(M) harmads.

This is a reality in jangalmahal which can only be dismissed by people who want to fit reality into the straitjacket of their own prejudices. The uprising in Lalgarh took place spontaneously as an assertion of adivasi dignity in the face of police oppression, but the groundwork by the Maoist activists have been an important contributory factor.

The violence by the Maoists, mostly targeted against the members and supporters of the CPI(M), but also sometimes against members of the Jharkhandi factions and Trinamool Congress, is also a major reason why a section of civil society and the intelligentsia is ambivalent, if not antagonistic, in their attitude towards Lalgarh. Mindless violence by the Maoists should definitely be condemned; however the violence by the Maoists has a certain strategic implication.

The experience in Chattisgarh has taught that the state has organized and armed a section of the adivasis to create the infamous Salwa Judum, an anti-Maoist vigilante force which has gained nationwide notorierty for its sprees of murder, rape and looting. The first inklings of such a phenomenon has also been seen in the jangalmahal region, with the formation of the Gana Pratirodh Committee, consisting mainly of members of the CPI(M) and also various Jharkhandi groups. The presence of the joint forces in the area has encouraged the activity of these people. The Maoists, with their violence directed against CPI(M) members and supporters, want to nip this attempt in the bud, such that a Salwa Judum-like phenomenon does not spread its roots in the jangalmahal area. Moreover, the violence by the Maoists is also meant to challenge the hegemony of the joint forces, which have become increasingly besieged and in many cases scared to even step outside their camps without overwhelming force. However, indiscriminate violence is reprehensible, and detrimental even to the long term interests of the Maoists themselves in the area, as it is sure to create a large body of hostile individuals. The Maoist movement today has the greatest potentiality in bringing about fundamental change in the condition of the most exploited and marginalized section of the Indian people and in resisting the onslaught of capital. To fulfill that potential, it is necessary to go beyond the logic of mindless militarism and evolve new methodologies of mass mobilization.

The movement in Lalgarh still continues, and is expected to gain greater heights as the Indian state goes into an all out war against the people in the entire adivasi-populated region of India. The state might consider Lalgarh to be the laboratory for such an operation, but it might finally prove to be the mortuary of the same. Terrible oppression, daily firings and indiscriminate arrests of people have not been able to subdue Lalgarh. The people of jangalmahal have stood up, and they will not bow down again.

[Via http://marxistleninist.wordpress.com]

Twitter: CNN Breaking News …

The new C's of January

2010-01-11T09:33:00.000+02:00

The two new C’s beating the P and the G in Gillette or now called the ex-Folgers sanitary brand coy has failed to deploy the safety parachute as campaigns from Coke are likely soon flooding the market for this year’s numero uno position in Asia. Esp. with the Asian challenge fading for Coke as it is firmly established in China as well, In India it has further cemented the gold rush for the heat with a new mega celebrity , budgeted in Indian rupees campaign with cinekhiladi Akshay. Last seen in the Colors resurgence on the Indian terra firma, Akshay may still be out first export from Bollywood for non Indian audiences or diaspora with 2010 establishing a second decade for innoarket aware vative Coke marketing and most of it corresponding to the Indian desi heady rush without the Ramesh Chauhan fights early on.

Also, the second C that got the gall of the razor was Canon which beat doomsday prediction for the recession friendly retail industry with a 35% uptick in budgeted targets for cross RS 1000 crores or $400 million this year riding a new market aware Xerox and Photograhy products campaign. Here’s to the new Cs..there are enough jobless students out there to absorb a lot of additional Cs in the marketing software.

If you want more Financials and related stuff, double back to http://advantages.us. Adage has the revolution for now and we are on Ad age.

[Via http://twitterone.com]

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I typed this with one hand

2010-01-11T01:48:00.000+02:00

You know what’s a great idea? In the midst of planning frantically for your as-yet totally unplanned, semi-solo trip to India, slam your hand in a car door.

Preferably right after you discover that the flights you had been tracking for three months inexplicably tripled overnight; and right before you were about to start sorting through your summer clothes in search of the long skirts and non-cleavage-revealing shirts you already know you don’t own. Just as you realize that, oh my god, you totally never bought any tour books, and why doesn’t the Borders on Broad Street have any, anyway – those Europe-centric travel section pricks – and is Bank of America joking when they tell you that it will take a week to get rupees, because that’s just ridiculous. And was someone seriously expecting you to spend more than seven minutes on the elliptical when you have all this packing and planning ahead of you, especially when your headphones spontaneously combusted – like actually – the second you plugged them in? Because that’s not happening. And there’s no way you’re spending a 15 hour flight without headphones, so that just got bumped to the top of you 24-item to-do list. All those prescription medications and associated malaria-fighting measures still to be picked up will just have to wait.

So, to answer your questions: yes, I am a huge klutz, yes, I currently have a bag of frozen edamame on my left middle and index fingers, and yes, I’m freaking the fuck out. But at least this time I don’t have junior prom to worry about! Just a transcontinental journey to a third-world country. Fab.

[Via http://theblabbermouth.wordpress.com]

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Aman ki Asha: Now Why DIdn't We Think of That!

2010-01-08T09:33:00.000+02:00

Sometimes an idea just takes a while to germinate. Sometimes the big guys simply need to feel that the idea was all theirs before they’ll really run with it. Whatever the reason, it seems that the time has finally come for a serious effort at an Indo-Pak peace initiative based on simple people-to-people interactions and cultural exchange, principally through music.

The proponents of this undertaking are two of South Asia’s largest media outlets, the Times of India and the Jang Group in Pakistan. In the garbled, half-literate language of the writers at the TOI: “Starting with a series of cross-border cultural interactions, business seminars, music & literary festivals and citizens meet that will give the bonds of humanity a chance to survive outside the battlefields of politics, terrorism and fundamentalism.”

The project is being called “Aman ki Asha”, Hope for Peace. Amitabh Bachchin, no less, is promoting the as-yet-vaguely-defined, bridge-building concerts.

If this sounds familiar, it is because it appears to be based on our lovely Friends Without Borders project and its not-quite successful sequel, Dil se Dil, both the brainchild of service wizard John Silliphant.

Friends Without Borders was a four-month blitz through India in 2006 to collect friendship letters from tens of thousands of Indian school children and deliver them to kids in Pakistan. Major events were held in around the country, television commercials played on major networks for two solid months, and the project was lauded by the Prime Minister of India and featured in newspapers, magazines (here and here), online media, and television.

The Dil se Dil project was even more ambitious. On the night of 14-15 August 2007, we had planned a special celebration to celebrate the shared 60th anniversary of India and Pakistan and an unprecedented event designed to bring the people of these countries closer together: a concert of Indian and Pakistani superstars, right at the famous Attari/Wagah border. A coming-together of midnight’s grandchildren, as it were.

At the heart of both projects was a belief that peaceful, productive coexistence is profoundly wished by ordinary people on both sides of the border, whereas intransigence, antagonism, and recrimination are the domain of politicians and a minority of hardliners. We found tremendous resonance with these ideas during both projects.

Our print-media partners for that undertaking were, of course, the Times of India and the Jang Group. If there is any doubt about the origin of the genesis of the projects, take a look at the TOI article that announced the program. The photo was taken by a TOI photographer at our Friends Without Borders event at Wankhede Stadium in Bombay on 6 February 2006. Even the Aman ki Asha logo looks a bit derivative of the Dil se Dil logo.

Of course, the FWB team is given no credit or kudos for the idea – but that’s just fine. Our objective has always been to create positive change. We are open source. If you can take our ideas and do more with them than we can, more power to you! In fact, we’ll be glad to assist you.

True, the appropriation of the concept, without attribution and for purposes that appear principally publicity-seeking and commercial, and only secondarily public-spirited, is a bit shady. But then, what do you expect from TOI, the most disreputable, sleazy, ethically challenged media outlet in a country not exactly famous for journalistic integrity?

Still, we are delighted to see these important ideas taken forward.

***

This revival of Dil se Dil prompts me to tell a more detailed story of the crushing disappointment surrounding the eleventh-hour cancellation of our border concert. There were a number of factors censoring my commentary during the course of the project. Chief among these were close monitoring by the Indian Home Ministry at a time when I was in the country on a tourist visa and the fact that our brilliant partners at the NGO Routes 2 Roots were heroically negotiating the permissions with two distrustful governments that did not want to see anything in the media before the deal was done. Even my online announcement of the cancellation was truncated by the judgment that details of the fiasco would only serve to antagonize, when our objective was to sooth.

The concert project had its grand opportunities and major challenges. A.R. Rahman had personally agreed to be our headliner; but his manager, Deepak Gattani, turned-out to be one of the most venal, corrupt, slimy human beings on the face of the earth. The border was a fabulous location; but we had to obtain permission from both governments (never before given) and work out security and logistics with both armies. The United Nations Millennium Campaign agreed to be a partner; but dealing with the UN-anything is an almost guaranteed fuck-up. Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to show-up; but we could only accommodate a few thousand within the secure area of the concert venue and there was no way to turn-back impromptu celebrants from the general area. Nokia signed-on as our major sponsor; but they had done so in such a soulless and shamelessly exploitative way as to completely miss the spirit of what we were attempting to achieve. We had a team of extremely creative, articulate American volunteers; but, fearing al Qaeda targeting of the event, the Home Ministry forbid any overt signs of American involvement, effectively handicapping our PR machinery.

Two weeks from show-time, our partner, the brilliant NGO Routes 2 Roots, was called before the Home Ministry to be advised that security threats from al Qaeda and other, non-disclosed antagonists were running extremely high. Border Security Forces and police from around Punjab, which would have been detailed to our event, would be reassigned to the protection of Delhi. The Government of India would not tell us not to have the concert – it would lose tremendous face in light of Pakistan’s go-ahead, were it to do so – but the warning was clear.

Six days from the concert, the show had been scripted, the musical line-up of A.R. Rahman, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ali Asmat, Shafqat Amanat Ali was ready to go, as were the MCs Shah Ruhk Khan, Julia Chawla, Wasim Akhram and Shaiyanne Malik. The show had been scripted and we were working with the fabulous CNN-IBN team on the taping of special content. The concert was to be broadcast through India and Pakistan by major networks, and beamed around the world to satellite affiliates. Television advertisements were already in the air and newspapers were beginning to print stories. The stages, lighting, and television installations were under construction at the border. And all hell broke loose.

It began with anonymous telephone threats to one of the directors of Routes 2 Roots, which the Indian Intelligence Bureau was able to trace to “an off-shore satellite source somewhere in the Indian Ocean.” These call were followed with calls to the Routes 2 Roots office, traced to a pay-phone in Delhi. Routes 2 Roots were once again summoned to the Home Ministry and this time the message was clear: the Government of India would not be able to guaranty the safety of those attending the event and was considering withdrawing its No Objection Certificate – government-speak for the permission we had arduously obtained to be able to hold the concert. The Intelligence Bureau believed the threats were al Qaeda related.

We had no choice but to cancel the concert.

The extent of this fiasco apparently had repercussions well beyond our shattered volunteer team, collaborators, sponsors, and supporters. Although President Pervez Musharraf was up-to-his-ass in a constitutional crisis, thanks to ongoing conscientious protest in the judiciary, his office took the time to telephone Routes 2 Roots to insist that the show must go on. But we could not allow that to happen in the circumstances; and by then it was too late anyway.

The Aman ki Asha agenda is substantially less ambitious and backed by two media powerhouses. This bodes well for success. We wish it well.

[Via http://memestreamblog.wordpress.com]

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Anti-Trafficking Activist Sunitha Krishnan breaks the silence on sex slavery in India

2010-01-08T01:05:00.000+02:00

By: Lakshine Sathiyanathan

It begins as a promise for a better life.

Girls (and boys) as young as five years old are forced into prostitution and sold into a life worse than they had lived before. Estimates of the number of young children sold for sex globally go up to 1.2 million annually.

“No one should tolerate trafficking, no child, no woman deserves it,” said Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of Prajwala to ABC News.

Krishnan has spent years rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked women and children.

At 15, Krishnan, then a teenage social activist was gang-raped by eight men.

“I don’t remember the rape part of it so much as much as the anger part of it,”she says in her talk on TED.com, “Yes, there were eight men who defiled me, raped me, but that didn’t go into my consciousness. I never felt like a victim, then or now. But what lingered from then till now – I am 40 today – is this huge outrageous anger.”

Sunitha Krishnan speaks against silence on the sex trade. Image courtesy of TED Blog.

She is angry at the culture of silence.

“Two years, I was ostracized, I was stigmatized, I was isolated, because I was a victim. And that’s what we do to all traffic survivors,” she says in the talk.

Krishnan speaks on the isolation and stigma that victims of rape and the sex trade face. These are experiences that transcend global borders, where victims are victimized over and over again and pushed to the fringes of society.

As she speaks, behind her a screen projects haunting images of young women who bear the marks of the horrors of sex slavery and human trafficking.

“It’s like their faces are branded. They go through labelling; it is stamped on them forever. You are that. You are eternally morally loose, and therefore you have no right to come back to this so-called moral society,” says to TED Blog following her talk.

Her organization Prajwala, which means “eternal flame,” is an anti-trafficking organization based in Hyderabad, India that works to rehabilitate and reintegrate girls and young women rescued from the sex trade into normal livelihood.

Prajwala provides girls and young women education and job training that offer opportunities for development and growth. The organization continues to raise awareness and advocates for policy changes to protect communities from trafficking and ensure that their rights are safeguarded. Similar programs have been adopted in other parts of India.

Krishnan feels that teaching trades, especially male-dominated trades are not only practical but empowering and therapeutic.

Prajwala girl working as welder. Image courtesy of TED Talk.

“It had a really miraculous impact on their hearts and minds. Some of the girls said they felt on top of the world. They were no longer rejected by the outside world; they were on par with men and sometimes even doing better than men,” she says to TED Blog.

The organization teaches screen printing, welding, carpentry, masonry and motor mechanics and other male-dominated trades.

“It’s not just the economic empowerment; it’s also psychologically restorative,” she says.

Working collectively with the Indian government, corporations, law enforcement and NGOs, Prajwala has rescued more than 3200 girls and young women.

Her talk can be found online.

Warning: Some images in this video are disturbing.

[Via http://mcclungs.ca]

Mouth Of The Potomac - NY Daily News

Mahindra Navistar Launches 25 & 31 Tonne Trucks

2010-01-06T17:49:00.000+02:00

Mahindra Navistar

Mahindra Navistar has unveiled its 25 tonne and 31 tonne trucks for the Indian market. The trucks have been developed utilising 175 years of technological and truck R&D expertise and know-how of Navistar and over 60 years of experience of Mahindra in developing successful products based on deep insights of Indian customers and driving conditions. The Mahindra Navistar range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles is being manufactured at a new greenfield plant at Chakan, near Pune. The plant, which spans over 700 acres, has been set up with investments of over Rs. 4000 crore and will produce other M&M products as well. This will help MNAL leverage the benefits of synergies of an integrated manufacturing facility.

In 2005, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and International Truck and Engine Corporation – the operating company of Navistar – entered into a JV to manufacture light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles for India as well as global markets. The joint venture is in the process of addressing every segment of the commercial vehicle market from 3.5 tonne GVW to 49 tonne GVW with variants of passenger transport, cargo and specialized load applications. Mahindra Navistar aims to expand its product line over the next two years to emerge as a full range commercial vehicle player.

[Via http://gratiscarconnect.wordpress.com]

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India Inc Set to Raise Rs.50k Crores Through IPOs in 2010

2010-01-06T09:51:00.000+02:00

India Inc Set to Raise Rs.50k Crores Through IPOs in 2010.

. Domestic companies seems set to get on with the huge fund raising exercise this year with plans to raise over Rs 50,000 crore via public offers, driven by the sharp recovery in the stock market.

Almost 50 companies have already filed the draft prospectus with the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This depicts at the healthy prospect of the strong IPO market after the encouraging revival of IPO market in 2009.

Indian companies had raised about Rs 20,000 crore through IPOs in 2009.

Market Experts feel that fund raising can go up to Rs 50,000 crore this year since Government has already planned to sell shares in a host of public sector companies by way of IPOs and follow-on public offers (FPOs).

Five companies aiming to raise over Rs 300 crore have already received the regulator’s clearance for the IPO, if draft prospectus filed with the SEBI is anything to go by.

“The IPO pipeline looks strong in 2010. Also the way the government is pushing ahead with the disinvestment plan, fund raising can go up to Rs 50,000 crore by the end of the year,” SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.

As part of its disinvestment plans the government intends to raise over Rs 20,000 crore by way of FPOs of NMDC, SAIL, NTPC, and REC.

Some of the prominent private companies which have their IPOs lined up, beside this, include Jindal Power, BPTP, Reliance Infratel, Emaar MGF etc;

“Of the total IPOs that are in the pipeline, as many as 16 are from real estate sector. However, their success is a bit doubtful as the appetite for realty IPOs are currently less,” Thunuguntla added.

Primary market fund raising in 2008 saw 30 IPOs mopping up Rs 17,000 crore, but shares of many these companies gave the investors modest-to-good returns.

[Via http://smcinvestment.wordpress.com]

The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2009 | Right Wing News

Aman Ki Asha - WTF?

2010-01-04T09:34:00.000+02:00

What does the Times of India really want to achieve through the “Aman ki Asha” initiative? Beats me. It is rather silly that the newspaper which claims to be India’s best and biggest, does not understand that getting a bunch of artists, cricketers and page 3 people will not solve any issue. Yes, we want peace, but one has to get realistic.

The issues do not lie with the people. The “aam” aadmi does not care about the peace with Pakistan, he worries about his next meal. He does not care about the ghazal singer from Karachi, he wonders about why is Ajmal Kasab still alive. The real issues are on the political front. No amount of people’s movement, if that ever happens, will serve any purpose towards peace. Yes, The “Times of India” can vie for another award (in journalism or social advertising), like they did with Lead India and the Teach India campaigns. But even the campaign looks unconvincing, defensive, and non committal in its targets.

Many issues remain unanswered. Should we forget and move on? What does TOI have to say about the firing across the border which occurs almost everyday? And what about the likes of Sarabjeet? And will it get the Jang Group to pressurise the Pakistani government to finally come clean and accept the attack on Mumbai?

Wet dreams, TOI. “Aman ki Asha” just feels good, doesn’t achieve anything. And yes, it soils you.

[Via http://pastpresent.wordpress.com]

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Learning Nasta'liq

2010-01-04T01:37:00.000+02:00

For the longest time, I did not want to learn the Perso-Arabic script used to write Urdu. I had little interaction with those who could read Urdu and with places that had signage in that language. It is a little uncharacteristic because I understood the Persianized Urdu register reasonably well — and faced with similar scenarios in the past (signs in Gurumukhi or in Gujarati script), I had put in the effort to learn the language.

A few months ago, that changed. I have forced myself to learn Urdu orthography and my plan for the next six months is to read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in Urdu where it is titled Harry Potter aur Razon ka Kamra. Unfortunately the first book in the series is not available easily in Urdu, at least not in the US. Here it is.

رازوں کا کمرہ

And here is the name of the author (due to left-to-right direction of Urdu, I cannot just embed the phrases, or so it seems).

ے کے رولیںگ

I can go into a lot of depth here about the stereotypes that prevent people in India from learning another script because it is politically and religiously charged. All four of my grand-parents were refugees from now what is Pakistan and they lost most of their belongings behind. They hated the partition and by association the Muslims that in their mind made the partition inevitable. Yet, in their speech they used a vocabulary more Persian than Sanskritized when dealing with daily life. For example scholarship was wazifa and not shiksha-vritti; writing was ibarat and not lekhni. I am not talking about different shades of meaning here or a conscious effort to be this or that. That’s just how life was and still is in many places.

[Via http://rekhta.wordpress.com]

Group Calls For Halt To Tax Subsidies To Enviro Lawyers

Anniversary Post..

2010-01-01T17:45:00.000+02:00

Hi guys…

It’s Whiteopal’s first birthday today. Been an eventful year, this one. And very happy one too. I hope it continues. And wishing a happy year ahead for all you guys…

I got back from Dubai yesterday. You might recall, that I had co-authored a paper, which got published by IEEE Computer Society. Had been invited for an oral presentation for the same. Well, had gone to Dubai for the conference, but must confess- it was more of a vacation. The fact that we’d presented the same topic at a number of places back home made us complacent- didn’t really hit us that we were supposed to present the same till the day of the conference. But it went of just fine. Had to present the paper towards the fag end, so had only a dozen or so bored Chinese listening to us, which was a bit of an anti-climax, but what the hell- the claps were loud enough!

The conference venue- Hyatt Regency

The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was Air India, and spent most of the time before the flight at Mumbai airport comparing the air-hostesses walking by. Verdict- Dr. Vijay Mallya really knows how to pick his gals. I mean seriously! Heard that he himself sits at their air-hostess job interviews. That true? I knew the hostesses in Air India would be in saris. In my opinion, there is no dress in the world as elegant as a sari. But what I didn’t expect was 45 year old hostesses. I mean, cummon! The funny thing was, we’d asked for a window seat both times (to and fro) But Both times, we found ourselves at the Emergency Exit. With a rather serious looking air hostess asking us-”Will you like to assist the crew in case of an emergency? ” . And then proceeding to give us instructions…

Dubai itself was great. The Arabs have poured a lot of money there, I tell ya. What with intricate wooden dustbins. Everything is in superlatives over there. Tallest building, largest mall. All glitz and show. Name the brand, and you got it. Its clean, disciplined and $$$$$. If you ever want a reason for wanting to be a billionaire, go to Dubai. Suddenly you feeling poor . And yes- the Arabs don’t like Indians. Literally, they put up with us just because they have to. They don’t like Pakistanis either. They seem to have some preformed notions, as most Indians and Pakis they see are laborers. And yeah- the Arabs don’t work. They don’t need to. They own all the places, and have Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos working for them. The Arabs are like the most chilled out people in the world, roaming around in pure white Jellaba shirts.

Luckily for us, we had a classmate who is from Dubai, and he showed us around the city. The first day we had to go to the conference venue to get ourselves registered. The next stop was Burjuman Mall, and then Mall of the Emirates, and finally Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. Right in front of the Dubai mall is Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, scheduled to be opened on 4th Jan. The fountain-dance in the adjoining lake is fantastic, and a must watch. We must’ve walked at least 10 km that day, covering most of the malls. I’d put that figure around 15, but my friends disagree. At any rate, it was enough to send me packing for the night.

Burj Dubai seen from Jumeirah beach- haven't quite been able to capture the size of it.

The next day, was the day of the conference. The whole thing got over by 6 p.m., after which we visited yet another mall- the Deira city Center, and then spent a leisurely evening at the Dubai creek. Lots of hotels had their private boats in the creek, and the city lights across it were fantastic. The breeze was quite chilly, but not uncomfortably so.

Dubai creek

The last day we first checked out of the hotel, and then went to the Jumeirah area. Our first stop was Madinat Jumeirah, a shopping mall selling Arab antiques and stuff. I absolutely loved this place. IF I have a ton of money one day, and want some decor for my house, I’ll buy it ALL from here *fat dreams* . Then we check out Burj Al Arab, the only 7 star hotel in the world- from outside. The entry fee is AED 200.

Madinat Jumeirah, with Burj Al Arab in the backdrop- the old and the new

Lastly we chilled on Jumeirah beach, and soon it was time to catch the flight back home.

All in all, it was a great experience, and a perfect way to end the year. Happy New Year to you once again

[Via http://whiteopal.wordpress.com]

From NPR News in Washington, That Was Carl Kasell - Media Decoder ...

Happy New Year with "Gendha Phool"

2010-01-01T09:41:00.000+02:00

In India marigolds are traditionaly used in garlands, offerings and any social functions. This is the reason why I am using this picture in order to wish you all a very happy new year. In Hindi “Genda Phool” means “marigold”. This picture was shot at the flower market which is located in Maldhahia in Varanasi (Benaras). Enjoy “Genda Phool” a song from movie “Delhi 6”:

[Via http://designldg.wordpress.com]

Apple tablet rumor party: Fox News, former Google China president ...

About the Hindu view of life

2009-12-30T09:32:00.000+02:00

India is known as the home of religions as there are more than 250 linguistic groups is living together with different shades of religious faith and beliefs. The bond that links the religious minded throughout the length and breadth of the land is bhakti. ‘The aim of life is to attain bhakit’, said Ramkrishana (1836-1886), the saint-prophet of Bengal.

Bhakit is intense devotion to God, springing from a deep love of Him. It finds it a spontaneous expression in the Bhajan, or religious love lyric. Bhajans are composed by literate villagers in the remotest part of India known as pundits. These love song of God reveals the yearning of the human soul to possess him here and now. This ecstatic love of God flowers in the other religions sects as well.

Hence by religion in India is meant no formal dogma embodied in an institution but the realization and appropriation of God in the personal life of every single individual upon earth. This goal is to be achieved through Sadhana or self –discipline. The Guru, or spiritual guide, must be found, and he will show his pupil the path of mukti or moksha, the spiritual liberation. This, in belief, is the Hindu view of life. The Hinduism divided a man’s life in to three stages, from the ages of seven to twenty-one years when, in the past, a boy was handed over to a rishi or sage who dwelt in the forest and taught his pupil the Vedas as well as the cultural arts of music, song and dance. The second stage is that of the Sansari, when a man marries, rears a family and follows a trade or profession. The last stage is that of sanyasa, when a man renounce the world and all worldly duties, at the age of fifty-five years or so, and retired into seclusion to meditate and commune with God and attain moksha or seclusion.

[Via http://rajudas1.wordpress.com]

AT&T cuts off online iPhone sales in NYC | iLounge News

India-Pakistan in War and Peace

2009-12-30T01:44:00.000+02:00

J.N. Dixit, former foreign secretary of India, and one of the world’s leading authorities on the region, has written a balanced and very readable account of the most tempestuous and potentially dangerous flashpoint in international politics.

‘J.N. Dixit, former foreign secretary and prolific policy analyst, has come out with a book that has a majestic sweep.’ - India Today

‘An important, indeed remarkable contribution that takes a comprehensive view in a long perspective. An insider’s account and therefore an authoritative one.’

- The Hindu

‘One of the most significant books on India’s relations with the outside world to be published since the Cold War.’

- The Hindustan Times Download:

http://www.ziddu.com/download/7944465/India-India-Pakistan.In.War.and.Peace.rar.html

[Via http://ebooksarchive.wordpress.com]

Notes from Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer's news conference

Editors should label their product

2009-12-28T01:42:00.000+02:00

Several publishers now see their newspapers and periodicals as a commodity. Past norms are being altered to increase revenue and stay competitive. If they are indeed products, laws that apply to consumer products should apply to newspapers and periodicals also.

Politicians and others used to purchase reporters, often ‘cheaply’. Politicians who embezzle crores of rupees from the exchequer could befriend journalists by throwing them a party or giving them minor gifts like a pen. Some reporters were also known to demand gifts from business houses and others seeking publicity. Politician are businessmen used to have not much access to editors as they functioned from offices. So, they served as gatekeepers.

Now, business houses have found access to the editors either directly or through their advertisement departments. News items are being paid for directly or indirectly. Most editors and publishers have succumbed to the lure of money that they brought. Some even charged for election coverage.

Journalists have often claimed that self-regulation was the best for them and their publications. This had justification when free expression was being threatened by authorities, and the argument may still valid when the authorities try to influence content. However, with paid news getting acceptance, self-regulation has failed at least in respect of separating news and views from advertisements. Only the Editors Guild is feebly speaking against paid news and none of the publishers seems to mind them.

So, it is time that the Parliament stepped in. It should pass legislation that makes it mandatory for the news organisations to label their content– as news, views, advertorial or plain advertisement. If makers of food, drugs and other items should indicate the content of their products on the label, it is only appropriate that the publishers are also forced to do so.

Editors should label their product

Journalists have often claimed that self-regulation was the best for them and their publications. This had justification when free expression was being threatened by authorities, and the argument may still valid when the authorities try to influence content. However, with paid news getting acceptance, self-regulation has failed at least in respect of separating news and views from advertisements. Only the Editors Guild is feebly speaking against ‘paid news’ and none of the publishers seems to mind them.

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/rajdeepsardesai/1/54019/paid-news-undermines-the-foundation-of–journalism.html

[Via http://keralaviews.wordpress.com]

Dining@Large: Local food news stories of the decade - Elizabeth ...

Thoughts on information and knowledge while planing for South America

2009-12-25T17:44:00.000+02:00

I’m once again turning my world up side down, put my self in a situation where I have to learn a new culture and language. To learn Spanish is certainly going to be a big challenge for me.

Thinking about how it is going to be once I’m there. A lot of thoughts are going true my head. Trying to gather information. I’m getting other peoples view’s and ideas. But they have their perspective or glasses, so, a lot of times the information is contradicting. Leading to a lot of confusion and miss conception. Together with my own imagination, I’m getting some type of image of how it is going to be once I’m there. But, whatever I imagine before I’m going, it’s going to be different once I’m there. That’s the beauty of traveling, I have to make up my own mind, see it my self. If I know every thing, why even bother getting on the plane.

I have previously been volunteering in India for nine month. What ever I thought before I went there, it was very, very different being there. My view of India is certainly different from others who has been there. It’s not a bad thing, just an obvious observation, that’s to often is forgotten or overseen.

Today, I read a newspaper article a girl from my hometown writing about South America, while she is traveling alone there. She pointed out that South America has a undeserved bad reputation in Europe. Almost every one I meet that hasn’t been in South America is concerned about safety and thinks it is dangerous, to dangerous. Every one I meet that has been there says, you are going to have an awesome time. The conversation starts in a completely different way. Their thoughts on safety is, be street smart, think, ask locals and you will be fine.

There has never been easier to travel, and information is a Google or Wikipedia search away. But how much do we know about the world? How much is guessing, outdated knowledge or preconceptions? Ask your self, what do I actually know about a continent that you haven’t been to?

The idea of knowing more then we/you actually do is the core of preconceptions. Creating problems that are harder to address and deal with, then just not knowing and realizing it.

[Via http://grahncalminder.wordpress.com]

New York Daily News Takes “Major” Stake In Content Aggregator ...

Deviating from Ancestral Business

2009-12-25T09:28:00.000+02:00

Any issues in thighs points to transition in our lives.

A patient had pain from thigh to knee on the left side of his body for nearly three months. Neuron medicines had no effect on the pain. I asked him whether he is planning to change to different business, from the traditional profession he is doing currently – selling stationery.

He said, “Yes. I am also confused about my decision. My wife says that with the earnings from our traditional business alone, my father could perform the marriage of his three daughters. Why should I leave that? Though I want to do a different business, my wife’s words put a brake to my action”.

I told him that his body also says so, “Why do you want to change to a new profession? Keep your hand on the left knee and affirm that I will continue to do my father’s business”. He did. And to his surprise his pain went off while he was affirming!

Sita Rao

[Via http://healbymindbodymessages.wordpress.com]

Steam News

Dear Fellow Distinguished, Sirs

2009-12-23T17:44:00.000+02:00

Dear Fellow Distinguished Sirs

Of the British Trading Company:

23rd, December 1827

I am with duty bound to thee to supply

of adventures

within of my time spent here within palace walls

as well

as the land of Gomatak and to others

areas of my travails.

I have recently seen and experienced first

of hand the plunder of that

of my heart.

It seems that one of our own

kidnapped of my heart with selfless manner

of ways.

One woman such as I, should not be held in

total account, other

than being a woman of heart.

It seems from out of nowhere this

piratical pirate named Sayer, a true gentleman

from distance, great of mind with untapped passions

drifting through his being,

taunted

of my mind in such innocent ways.

Somehow, in his due course of time,

he planned to seek of me, the poetic lady

of sonnet.

His ship made way to, my destine to

that of my

present revelry here in the land

of Gomatak, India.

Shocked was I, when word came to me

within the royal palace compound.

That he had

docked his ship within mere distance of my current

supplication

of province.

I had not intent of ministrations of my heart,

at such time.

I was far removed from knowledge that

one such as he shall contrive to ply the

strings of pearls that

run across this heart of mine.

As thou with desire to touch of the pearls

that lie within wait in that of me.

I feel that I contrived of relevant

friendship

at the very least. I shall share with you,

that in due regard, I fear that,

this heart of mine shall be

raptured within the realms of sincerest amour.

I know not what steps to take other than of self

to be supplicant within the bounds

of his desirous needs. Oh, I do so fear

that with time he has

over powered me to feel of such passions

calling that

swirl like a cloud of gulls. Breathless and heated

I have felt within the tormented

moments of my body

being relegated to reach levels

of lust and

desire for that of he.

His ship was within bounds of harbor for a week.

Then it appeared duty

called of him to return,

back to his native area of sea. My mind adrift, with

dream like thoughts powered from

experiential experience

of time with him, drew me into hiding.

Parting of words,

seek reunion with that of he, in future

course of time.

I feel not far from that of he, in my alone moments.

I know that distance does

not relegate of matters of the

heart, you see.

I think with some unknown feeling of

intuitiveness, that with passing of the moons, a mutual

commune of souls shall be the bridge

between our souls.

A day shall arrive unexpected I dream

where at nightfall

my head shall lie in rest,

upon that strong shoulder of he.

I was with post haste to scribe of feelings of the

heart that lead, to that of me journey bound to other

areas of knowledge here in India.

I have explored cultures of various

groups of people;

I shall share that, they are quite wondrous

in such spiritual ways. A multitude

live within ranks

and as well, live with great ease of

detachment from warring

against each other’s beliefs. As well,

I have developed

a kindred friendship with one of the monks that

is resident within one of the temples here.

We have

developed an outstanding friendship that

is very ceremonial

in principle with my garner of knowledge

that hence forth, ply’s

of my mind with the daily ministrations mind felt.

A gift, of such wondrous knowledge from

this holy man indeed.

I shall ever be indebted to the passionate

kindness of, kindred

spirit that he instills within the bounds of life.

Within, myself I feel greatly, indebted to

this man for his precious time spent with

much instruction

over due course of time, teaching me

much of the Vedic

history.

I shall with sincerest intent, extol to be

communicative of adventure

here upon this shore of wonderous land,

environ of richness a plenty of souls

that capture the essence of such fullness of life.

Preciousness, heartfelt within my currency

bounds of each passing day and the

movement of time forward.

With haste I have need to make way

to that of the shah, to read verses and share

with delight, my adventures each passing of day.

Until time appropriates languid moments

with great solitude, I shall

close for now of post, with haste to voyage

this across the seas.

With the warmest of my best regards,

Mademoiselle d’ Abanville

To the piratical pirate, far away from land,

know that in return, I shall play a melodic

harmony, with the strings of your heart

within bounds of time drifting nearest.

[Via http://madamoiselledabanville.wordpress.com]

Stocks in the News: State Street, Take-Two, Boeing, Citigroup ...

India vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI Live Streaming

2009-12-23T09:43:00.000+02:00

India V Sri Lanka 4th Odi Live Streaming December 24, 2009

Watch Live Cricket Match: India vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI Live Streaming Match. The ODI series between India and Sri Lanka has been a treat so far. Srilankan’s invaded India in hunt for some victory but so far Men in Blue have proved that defeating them on their soil is a tough job.

Watch India vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI Live Streaming Match

Studded with spectacular cricket and breathtaking moments, the series now stands 2-1 in the favor ofIndia. While Sri Lanka has been in good form and has shown great resilience and team spirit, India has managed to just get the better of them.

The opening game saw emotions running high, with both teams scoring well over 400. India managed to win that one, but the next match was won convincingly by Sri Lanka, leveling the series at 1-1. Just when the critics were fuming about the dismal performance India had put, the men in blue bounced back in a way that left the Sri Lankans gaping, smashing their way to victory. Of course the modest target of 240 did little to help the Sri Lankans.

The oncoming 4th ODI on the 24th December has set the bar higher for the Sri Lankans, who are still looking for the silver bullet. On the other hand, the Indian lineup looks ominous, with Sehwag and Tendulkar currently being in immaculate form. Sachin did miss a century in the third ODI, but that is all the more reason for the Sri Lankans to worry!

India vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI Live Score, Streaming, Eden Gardens Kolkata

For More India V Sri Lanka 4th Odi Live Streaming December 24, 2009

[Via http://livesportsupdates.wordpress.com]

Dallas Cowboys Blog | Sports News | News for Dallas, Texas ...

IRDA Allows Banks to Sell Insurance Products of Multiple Companies

2009-12-21T09:39:00.000+02:00

. The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) is likely to permit banks to sell insurance products of more than one company. . The move will allow banks to retail insurance products and not just be distributor for one insurer.

A panel, set up by the IRDA to look into bancassurance, is finalizing its report, an IRDA official said.

–

From 2002, IRDA had allowed bancassurance. . A bank was allowed to act as an agent for only one life and one general insurer according to the norms. . Bancassurance is a delivery channel in which an insurance company uses a bank’’s sales channel to sell its products. . At present, bancassurance garners more than a quarter of the entire premium collected by the insurance industry.

Combining scheduled commercial banks, co-operative banks and regional rural development banks, India has close to 1,70,000 bank branches.

IRDA has been concerned about tie-ups between banks and insurance companies and is considering a regulatory framework for an open architecture for such arrangements

[Via http://smcinvestment.wordpress.com]

Charlie Gibson Signs Off From 'World News' - The World Newser

How $5 Can Help Give Hope

2009-12-21T01:19:00.000+02:00

My husband has accepted a position as the Assistant Managing Director of operations for Rising Star Outreach for their facilities. On January 17th we will be moving to India to live on campus, where they currently house and educate 175+ children, many whose families are affected by leprosy.

Please watch the video below to see more about our mission at Rising Star Outreach. Then won’t you make a Christmas donation to help these sweet children? See the Christmas Wish List to view needed items, some as little as $5.

Please make a donation today, and contribute to making the world a better place.

[Via http://discovershareinspire.wordpress.com]

Gibson Signs Off as ABC's 'World News' Anchor - Media Decoder Blog ...

FMLF (F$*# My Life Fridays), not TGIF

2009-12-18T09:51:00.000+02:00

Who remembers TGIF?? What was your favorite show? I was a Full House fan all the way.

Minor complaint time.

I normally live for Fridays. Though I’m up at the crack of dawn preparing for the slew of conference calls we usually have on Fridays, I’m doing so in my sweats from my beloved white armchair in my family room, curled up with my laptop with the fire roaring and a cup of tea at hand. The mornings are frantic, the afternoons spent wrapping up activities from the week, and the weekend begins around 4:00 p.m. when Dr. P opens a good bottle of red.

Sounds pretty sweet, right?

Then I came to India…

After a night of restless sleep (I have major snooze issues in India) and hitting the snooze for about an hour, I reach for the iPhone and turn off the alarm and check my e-mail. Naturally, about 50 or so have piled up in my inbox while I tossed and turned. After scanning through them all (and replying to one or two), briefly checking Facebook and Twitter, I drag myself from bed, go through my morning routine, throw on the closest and cleanest salwaar kameez, and hungrily reached for the strong cup of coffee my aunt lovingly prepares for me every morning. After my coffee and a light breakfast of toast or pongaralu (pan-fried idly, my aunt’s delicious concoction), I plod down the stairs to the car and attempt to stay awake during the 5-minute drive to work.

Once arriving at TD, I trudge up the stairs and into the office, and sit as our driver brings up my work tote (a battle of wills I have recently surrendered). I putz around the Internet after booting up the computer, checking my Gmail, read the latest on my favorite blogs, and scan through the Google Alerts sitting in my inbox as I wait for my coffee to kick in. I forward the interesting articles and delete the rest and get to work responding to the e-mails sent overnight.

The rest of the morning is a blur, firing off e-mails, updating project tracking sheets, scheduling and participating in meetings, and staying awake with a steady stream of green tea. I head home around 1:00 for a home-cooked lunch prepared by my aunt(s), and after vegging for a bit return back to the office.

The afternoon is much like the morning though at a slightly slower pace, with the exhaustion from the week and the food coma settling in from lunch. One would think I would welcome heading home at 5:30, throwing on my beloved yoga pants and a soft J.Crew tee, and relaxing with the latest episode of Fringe/The Good Wife/Mad Men/Glee from my iTunes season pass, ready to welcome the weekend…

Yeah, not so much.

Those Friday morning conference calls in the States become Friday night calls here in India. Wrapping up around 10:30, I follow-up with meeting minutes and assigned action items after the calls, eyelids drooping and my fingers slowing down over the keyboard. What would normally take me an hour takes two, and by the time I actually crawl into bed to sleep, my brain is still running at full speed and I toss and turn, willing my exhausted self to fall asleep.

And then I wake up, and do it all again (minus the teleconferences).

“You would hate this to, if it happened to yoooooooooooooooou.” (sing to “It’s My Party”, I promise it makes sense).

Hats off to the India team, who do this every other weekend regularly. I can barely handle it for 5 weeks.

[Via http://hithaonthego.wordpress.com]

Paradox Interactive acquires strategy developer AGEOD // News

Science Understands the Power of Mantra(((Excerpts from Satsang of Pujya Sant Shri Asaramji Bapu)))

2009-12-18T01:39:00.000+02:00

Nanakji has put it so beautifully,

‘Chanting of the Lord’s name makes one fearless and sinless. Anyone who does Japa regularly is sure to succeed in all endeavours.’

The Lord’s name and mantra-japa are very powerful. Even scientists have now accepted this fact. When Taradevi, a famous singer of Bengal, played some classical notes on her musical instrument while rhythmically chanting verses from the Vedas, some decent forms appeared in the sand! When she sang Raga Bhairav in perfect harmony, with her eyes concentrated on the sand, first the form of a dog appeared and later it was transformed into the form of Bhairav a tutelary deity of Tantriks.

Even people in foreign countries are surprised to learn that words have such a natural and scientific relationship with figures. Now Dr. Liver Lizeria, Watts Haque, Madam Longo along with some other scientists have come to accept that uttering Hrim, Hari, Aum and other such words has a potent and positive effect on various parts of the body. After an extensive study that spanned over 17 years, they have found that when Hari is pronounced in combination with Aum i.e. ‘Hari Aum’, it has a beneficial impact on all five sense organs. It was also discovered that even childless couples can have children with the help of mantras. But our ancient Rishis had documented in the scriptures far more extensive information on this subject tens of thousands of years ago.

Chanting of the Lord’s name has a beneficial impact not only on the gross body, but also on all the five sheaths of the body (food-made, that is the physical body, vital or the life force, mind, intellect and bliss) along with all the Nadis and seven Chakras.

Regular practice of japa improves immunity, intellect, intuition, memory and valour. Saraswatya mantra, named after the goddess of learning Maa Saraswati, makes the intellect sharper and enhances memory. During summer vacation, or for that matter during any vacation, children should make use of the opportunity to do an Anushthana (a specified number of Japa at fixed timings for a stipulated period) of Saraswatya mantra and gain maximum benefits.

In the olden days the Gurukul system, apart from imparting lessons on worldly knowledge to students, had in its curriculum some well-devised techniques to awaken their latent powers. That is why the student of a Gurukul never had to run from pillar to post in search of a job. For he would be successful in whatever endeavour he tried his hands at. Today so many young people are seen making rounds at different recruitment boards and job agencies with their degrees and certificates in hand, but they are unable to get a job. And even after getting a job there is no respite at all, for then they are constantly concerned about their promotions, transfers or lay-offs.

If the students of the present era come to realize this reality and take refuge in the holy feet of an Enlightened Saint, they too can awaken their latent powers even today. Not only will they be able to improve their own life, but they will also become instrumental in uplifting the lives of many others.

[Via http://ajitpatro.wordpress.com]

ComScore: iPhone overtakes Windows Mobile in U.S. | iLounge News

Child Labour

2009-12-16T09:39:00.000+02:00

I saw one of my favorite TV programm weekly..Today’s topic is about child labour.

There are over 2 milions of children who work in the world…1 out of 6 children working under the forcing severe conditions. They don’t go to school, they work for more than 8 hours without resting, not given proper foods & education. There are half of population of children in the world working for wages only under $2 per a day. Generally, the rate of child labour is higher where incomes are low. Because children can’t go to school due to works, thus they can’t read or write. When they are grow up and become adults, they won’t hire for good wages and can’t emerge from poverty. Of course there is also exceptional and this is only example. Not all children aren’t like that. Why do they do labour? Because his/her is poor and need to support the family thus parents sell thier children. Most of parent aren’t educated as well as so, parent doesn’t understand why children need to go to school but they should work.

At 70% of most common child labour is agriculture…One example is in Egypt. They wake up at 1 oclock in the morning to pick up Jasmine because to get highest quality of perfum, it should have good humidity time to pick them up at night . In India, there are many children working at a carpet factory, children are used “because they have a good at it and useful”, however, this is only believed the veiw point from buyers… The children work from morning til night everyday same as adults. A boy Binodai sold for 300 rupy ($6) by his parent, some children kidnapped. Thier foods are always unhygenic thus everytime those children are sick and having diarrhrea. They have not given any medicine whatso ever conditions. They always wear same clothes adn dirty… Next is in a surburb of Guatemara city, in Guatemara, South America, they work at fireworks manifacture factory with doesnt say proper factory like in a hut when they turn to 6 or 7 years olds. They work without any safety for 10 hours. Rennee ahe 9 years old boy says ” My back ache after working for 2 hours. Masa, 6 had severe burning at all her bodyes while she worked and had explored it.

One of the guest a lady asked ” Is it possible to diminish these child labours? And the vice-president answered; ” ILO strives to abolish to prevent of ”labours of health development obstruction” “labours of denger” and “debt labours” from the worst dengerous by 2016.” The presenter asks ” What is the debt labours? ” The lady said “ Employer knows that parents are very poor and emploer lend money on interest to the parents which the ammount parents can’t repay a lot. The reason for the debt, children needs to work.

Look at India again, the area is called Siarkot ( I do not know exact spelling), children of 3000 works there. Asif is a 12 years old boy who has been working there for 4 years.

” I was scared to see people who had blood while they were working and I wanted to quit the job but I can’t stop this job because I still have the debt for parents.”

This boy’s prarent have a debt for $830, the boy makes about 150 of medical apparatus to repay for a day. However, he only can get $9 per day. Other place, in Filozaroad area children works at glass factory about 200oo kids. They work to weld glass bralets from eary morning at 4 am till evening with thier parents. The room is small and always percade poisonous smoke in the room which children become sick like pneumonia, bronchitis, and tuberculosis.

One of the biggest problem is a case for maids of children. ILO have difficuties to investgate into the actual conditions of those young children. Many people may imagine that maids works at rich house but actually not..poor family hire poor family…Those children work with condition as free of foods and staying ..without not much of wages…some girls/boys gets violences or sexual harrasments. In 1993, one of the american assembly member submiitted the idea of law which is ” we don’t import any goods which those children made” , then one of the close factory in Bangladesh had panicked and the employer dismissal all children suddently. The result of those became more harder after this. Some girls needed to be prositution or works more harder than previous job.

There is a successgul stories too. Making succer balls helped Pakistani children!

ILO (InternationalLabour Organization) is devoted to advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in handling work-related issues. (reffered ILO)

Many goverment tries to work out this problesm but it just takes long time processes…

I remember this video at my old blog and deleted it once. Now I think it is time to share this right now. This boy is from Yemen 12 years old Jamar who work for all day without going to school…Even he works, he still has a hope to be a doctor or a pilot oneday.

[Via http://thepwjo.wordpress.com]

Fox News: cutting minimum wage 'better for workers' | Raw Story

Whips

2009-12-16T01:38:00.000+02:00

My high school friends – Hepzibah and two previously umentioned ones, Rachel and Sarah – went to India the year after we graduated and lived there for a while, working at an orphanage and sending me hilarious e-mails. One of my favorite e-mails I ever received was from Rachel, right after she got to India. It said, basically, “People keep trying to sell me whips. Why do they think I want whips? That are seven feet long? Do I look like that kind of girl? The kind of girl who wants to do kinky things to people seven feet away from me?”

It was great. (It was especially great because the next year, when she was in college, she one day walked into her dorm room and discovered a whip she had never seen before leaning against her wall. BECAUSE IT WAS HER DESTINY.)

So I went to India thinking that people would also try to sell me whips. Which didn’t happen. (I apparently do not look like that kind of girl.) Whips were, however, still a presence, because of the Whip Guys. (Not to be confused with the Blanket Guys.) The Whip Guys would wander the streets, carrying seven-foot-long whips that looked like they were made out of live snakes, and periodically whipping themselves. And then, after they whipped themselves, they would ask for money.

I wouldn’t give them money – I very rarely pay to see people whip themselves (unless it’s a holiday) – but apparently, this was a bad call. I heard later – although I can’t confirm; I’ve spent some sad, unsuccessful time on Wikipedia researching this phenomenon – that these dudes are eunuchs, and have huge religious significance. If you don’t give them money, it makes you cursed to five years of celibacy. So that… is hopefully not true.

But yeah! Eunuchs! Whips! Curses! What a party. I would end this better but I’m going to go make cookies instead.

[Via http://mae1023.wordpress.com]

AMERICAblog News: Health care "experts" still want to pass the ...

Fighter aircraft Tejas clocks fastest speed during testing

2009-12-14T09:31:00.000+02:00

INS (Hansa) Goa: In the final phase of its tests before formal commissioning, India’s indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas went past its ultimate speed of 1,350 KMPH over the Goa skies and clocked the fastest speed ever, a top IAF officer said on Tuesday.

“The aircraft went past its ultimate speed of 1350 kmph on December 7 over the skies in Goa after take off from the naval air station INS Hansa,” Commander Rohit Varma, project director (flight test), National flight test centre, told reporters here.

“This is the fastest speed ever achieved by an Indian- made fighter aircraft,” he said.

The aircraft also passed flight flutter test diving from an altitude of four kilometers to almost sea level at 900 feet.

“Tejas has already passed high-altitude tests in Leh, the desert rigours in Rajasthan and now it has proved its worth over the maritime space in Goa,” Varma said.

The IAF has already ordered 20 LCAs from HAL at a contract worth Rs 2701.70 crore. The fighters are to be delivered by 2013.

The LCA, a project of aeronautical development agency (ADA) is the first supersonic fighter craft manufactured indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The aircraft will have naval and Indian air force version, of which the latter is undergoing testing at Goa naval base.

“It can fly from a base and also from an aircraft carrier,” P S Subramanyam, Programme Director (Combat aircraft) and director, ADA, said.

The officials confirmed that the naval version of the aircraft would be attached to aircraft carrier Gorshkov once the aircraft is inducted for operations.

Subramanyam said the LCA-naval will have capability to take off from ski jump platform of aircraft carriers. “The development of the naval version is progressing very fast.

There are few glitches but we will overcome them.” The IAF is likely to base the lightweight multi-role jet fighters at Sulur in Coimbatore. “They are earmarked for squadron no 45, which will be the first LCA squadron,” Varma said.

The HAL has manufactured four aircraft which are being put under rigorous testing by fighter pilots.

Varma said a team led by Captain Jaydeep Malawankar was testing the aircraft before their induction into the defence force.

Air vice Marshal Shankar Mani told reporters that the first consignment of four aircraft would be delivered by January 2011, followed by eight aircraft in 2012 and another eight in 2013.

(The Indian Express. 8 December 2009)

[Via http://securitysectorgovernance.wordpress.com]

Husband held over murder | The Sun |News

We are Indian, and so is our English!

2009-12-14T00:56:00.000+02:00

Only in India will you see ‘only’ as emphasis at the end of a sentence. This is one thing that the rest of the world will never get only. We are a quirky lot that way. Seriously, you will freak out if we told you how much we look forward to freaking out. A man can tell his wife he’s stepping out to catch a fag – or that he’d like to make a quick stop at the booth for an STD – and she won’t bat an eyelid.

It’s all been a part of our growing up. We give tests at the time we should be taking them, and we spend hours mugging in their preparation. Yes, in India, mugging is something only “good students” do. Unfortunately, it won’t help them when they’re being mugged by the “bad students.” One thing I guarantee you, however: whether you’re in India or in the US, mugging will almost always be followed by an eventful passing out.

An Indian student I know was perplexed when his friend asked him for a rubber to uh, “do” what he had to do. Understandably so. It’s counter-intuitive for an Indian to imagine how a rubber could be used to do, when its purpose – as we’ve always known it – is to in fact, undo. You could well argue that a rubber used for prevention is better than one used for cure – but come on now, don’t you wish rubbers in the US could do the magic that Indian rubbers do – erase your mistakes?

Unlike your Lady fingers, you don’t want to discover our Lady fingers in a sinfully delectable Tiramisu – unless Tiramisu to you is Gumbo. In any case, our vegetarianism isn’t just limited to Gumbos – even our jokes could be veg. or non-veg. We will ask you for your goodname, and introduce ourselves as “Myself, Goodname Surname.” We will be very eager to meet you – because you Goras are much cooler than us Indians (or at least so we all believe). In fact, we will even go so far as to do jugaad, take the long-cut, travel out of station, and even bring along a tiffin for you. And in case we cannot contain our excitement for too long, we might just ask to prepone our meeting.

Well, by now you must think we have mangled the English language beyond recognition. But alas, even when it comes to doing something wrong, we don’t quite get it right – Indian English is considered one of the official and recognized dialects of English. Most, if not all terms above have legal usage. No apologies, we’re Indian – and so is our English. What to do? We are like that only!

______________________________________________

Afterthought: I have a theory Indians invented the mathematical postfix notaion “za”. As in, “two one za two; two two za four.” Unfortunately, some ignorant killjoy told me that it is actually “two ones are two; two twos are four.” I shall reserve my verdict till the fact has been verified. What a shame!

[Via http://litterateuse.wordpress.com]

AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: UN study ...

Many Dialysis Patients Undergoing PCI Receive Improper Medication, With Higher Risk of Bleeding

2009-12-11T17:49:00.000+02:00

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2009) — Approximately 20 percent of dialysis patients undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedure such as angioplasty) are given an antithrombotic medication they should not receive, which may increase their risk for in-hospital bleeding, according to a study in the December 9 issue of JAMA.

See Also:

“In the United States, medication errors are implicated in more than 100,000 deaths annually. Medication errors include adverse drug reactions related to inappropriately prescribed or administered drugs. To minimize inappropriate medication use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guides pharmaceutical manufacturers and clinicians through drug labeling of which medications are contraindicated or not recommended for use in specific patient groups,” the authors write. “Little is known about the use of such medications and their effects on outcomes in clinical practice.”

Thomas T. Tsai, M.D., M.Sc., of the Denver VA Medical Center and University of Colorado Denver, and colleagues examined the use of the contraindicated/not-recommended antithrombotic agents enoxaparin and eptifibatide among dialysis patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and their association with outcomes. The researchers used data from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) from 829 U.S. hospitals on 22,778 dialysis patients who underwent PCI between Jan. 2004 and August 2008. The study focused on the outcomes of in-hospital bleeding and death.

The researchers found that overall, 5,084 patients (22.3 percent) received a contraindicated antithrombotic medication; 2,375 (46.7 percent) received enoxaparin, 3,261 (64.1 percent) received eptifibatide, and 552 (10.9 percent) received both. In unadjusted analysis, patients who received contraindicated antithrombotics experienced higher rates of in-hospital major bleeding (5.6 percent vs. 2.9 percent) and death (6.5 percent vs. 3.9 percent). Further analysis indicated that receipt of contraindicated antithrombotics was significantly associated with increased in-hospital major bleeding, but no significant association was found with in-hospital death.

“This study therefore demonstrates that these medications are used in clinical practice despite FDA-directed labeling, and their use is associated with adverse patient outcomes,” the authors write.

“Educational efforts targeting clinicians who prescribe these medications and quality improvement interventions, such as amending clinical pathway order sets to include consideration of renal function, are urgently needed.”

[Via http://ramanan50.wordpress.com]

Buick, GMC boss Richards quits after 8 days; Dewar to leave Chevy ...

Australia’s Positioning in the Asian Hemisphere with a Focus on India by Kate Hanlon

2009-12-11T09:49:00.000+02:00

It’s 11pm. I’m traveling alone by rickshaw back to my Mumbai apartment following dinner in a back-water restaurant with friends. The auto driver asks me if I’m enjoying India, I say; “very much”. He asks where I am from, I say; “Australia”. There is a pause … “It’s very bad what’s happening to the students there”.

Thus begins the next round of a conversation I’ve been drawn into many times – by rickshaw drivers, friends, students, colleagues …

They are referring to the racially-fuelled attacks on Indian students that occurred in Sydney and Melbourne and head-lined Indian media earlier this year. Before these attacks, I would instead expect to spar in a conversation on the recent prowess of either Australia’s or India’s cricket team.

It would appear potential conversation starters are extremely limited.

Over the last few decades, Australia’s sights have been firmly set on the gains of a strong relationship with countries in East Asia such as China, Japan and Indonesia. So it’s no small wonder that India and Australia have so little common ground. Maybe it’s time to broaden our reach and consider the wealth of advantages available from forging stronger ties with India. And in the process, improve our positioning amongst the wider Indian population.

My opinion is not that we should simply address Australia’s image in India (although we should), it is that there are very strong grounds for a relationship between our two countries.

Australia’s approach needs to be multi-pronged; spanning economics, migration and tourism. To start with, data on our countries reveals some useful insights;

Australia’s exports to India have risen at an annual average of more than 30% for the last 3 years and India is our 4th largest export market for goods and services (DIISR).

India is the world’s 5th largest consumer of energy and consumption is rising at one of the fastest rates in the world (CFR). A point of interest considering our supply to the energy commodities market.

40% of Indian’s population is under the age of 15 (World Bank). This represents a huge human talent market when we face challenges of skill supply in many core industries.

63,731 Indian students commenced studies in Australia in 2009 (to October-end). That’s 19% of overall commencements, second only to China (AEI).

India is one of the fastest growing outbound tourism markets and has grown despite a downturn globally (UNWTO).

Data alone, it looks like there is potential for mutual benefit in forging better cooperation between India and Australia. But there is also something that cannot easily be quantified, but is infinitely important. We should be outraged – OUTRAGED – for our country to have a racist image in any part of the world. It is imperative for Australia to address this, but not this alone.

To be serious about impactful engagement with India, our strategies need to be connected to our foreign policy generally, our involvement with Asia specifically, and connected to domestic initiatives.

Cooperating further with India should be part of an overall strategy of engaging with Asia, in fact, it should be part of an overall long-term foreign policy plan. This should be a bi-partisan plan that defines the growth of Australia’s cooperative partnerships strategically and outlines a conscious connection to forums we participate in and hold over the next 20-30years.

We need to work on regional institutions being comprehensive in their scope and membership. After many years of talking about a power-change from “West to East”, it would seem emerging and influential economic powerhouses in Asia are bringing the pendulum shift. This means a change in dynamic of global discussions is probably not far behind and, in the words of Paul Keating, “we will be looking at some concert of powers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans”. Australia should ensure that the voices of the countries in our region echo with the needs of the region, including our own, through a common comprehensive platform to outline those priorities.

To further access the growing tourist and student market, Australia should have a campaign specifically designed to attract visitors from India. This should be combined with an effort to attract longer-term visits from skilled employees. However, this initial effort needs to be more pro-active. Only 11% of India’s working-age population is educated at a tertiary level (World Bank India). To truly access benefits of the Indian labour market, we should be active contributors to the education of young people in India, invest in attracting these students to study in Australia, and therefore ensure our universities are of an internationally competitive quality.

We need to educate our country, and specifically our young people, on what it means to be truly multi-cultural. This is an excellent opportunity as we develop a national curriculum; how is Australia practically preparing our young people, through our educational institutions, for not just an increasingly multi-cultural country, but an increasingly culturally and linguistically dynamic world?

Australia’s partnerships in East Asia are a good example of how policy and action can lead to new partnerships the rest of the world is yet to consider. It is with this spirit, and in light of the potential, that Australia needs to act on building further ties with India.

To do this, we need to remake our image first. I will not forget the conversation I recounted earlier; being confronted with an image of racism in Australia I did not recognise. India will not forget the stories of their students; being confronted with racism they did not expect. And neither should we. We should not stand for it. We should nurture and promote the multi-cultural Australia we really are.

This is Australia’s time to build a powerful partnership with, and positive image within, India.

We should seek out partnership with current and future global leaders. We should not be observers, we should be architectures of tomorrow. To be on the sidelines is to stagnate, to lead is to be part of the future. Where do we want to belong?

[Via http://deeptichadda.wordpress.com]

Steam News

BDO Challenge - Day 1 Results

2009-12-09T09:29:00.000+02:00

Pool A

Belgium 4 v 3 China 2009-12-06 14:05

No Venue | BDO Men’s Champions Challenge Pool A (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

New Zealand 2 v 2 India 2009-12-06 16:05

No Venue | BDO Men’s Champions Challenge Pool A (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

Pool B

Pakistan 2 v 1 Canada HT 2-0 | 2009-12-06 12:05

No Venue | BDO Men’s Champions Challenge Pool B (National Mens) | Match Report(s)

Argentina 6 v 2 South Africa HT 4-1 | 2009-12-06 18:05

No Venue | BDO Men’s Champions Challenge Pool B (National Ladies) | Match Report(s)

Argentina took full advantage of home turf with an easy victory while in the same group Canada came back from 2-0 down at half time but could not find the late equaliser. Belgium just got the better of China in a 7 goal thriller, and New Zealand also came from behind at half time but thes did manage to tie the game with India.

[Via http://ne14hockey.wordpress.com]

Sony confirms PSP Minis for PS3 News | PSP | Eurogamer

An ant's castle is his home.

2009-12-09T01:30:00.000+02:00

All work and no play makes ants one of the most successful organisms to inhabit out planet. Here’s a short peom by Ogden Nash.

” The ant has made himself illustrious

Through constant industry industrious.

So what?

Would you be calm and placid

If you were full of formic acid? “

[Via http://noisypilgrims.wordpress.com]

Google News Blog: Exploring a new, more dynamic way of reading ...