I started to reside in Newyork from 2001. From that time I have been going to a Gasoline station near my home. The person who fills petrol there, is an Indian, specifically speaking, a Punjabi. I try best to fill gas there so that I can give him a tip. Whenever I go there, we exchange few words in English.
Right after few visits, I suspected his legality in US. Recently, two months back, it become more evident when he told me that his wife comes from India, once in couple of years to see him. Same distance exists between him and his children too. Basically, he can not move around in US borders.
Today, I met him again and remembered our past conversation. Driving back home, started dwelling more in to his situation, using my insight as an immigrant. Major difference between us is that I am sacred. Thinking about his life: I wonder how long can this go on? Is that it, will he never share the roof with his wife and offspring? Why we force ourselves in to such position? These must have made sense at one time, may make sense, to some extent even now. Did we think of exit strategy? Worst, does one exist at all?
Talking about my own life, a over-cast day is a brilliant one to me. On such a day view from my window is very peaceful, and I struglle to convey this to my mom over phone. What makes our communication worse is my mother does not have victorian-like background, so I can not tell her to relate to the verses of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost.
Recently, I had kept few paintings under sun and it was a beautiful set up. I could not convey this to my sister over phone, so I e-mailed this picture to her. I doubt this picture helped because photographs do not go beyond their frame.
Are we being forced?
No one sanctioned us to migrate, either legally or illegally. No one is also forcing us to maintain current status. Moreover, this is not an alienating country at all, in fact, for many of us, chances of getting discriminated is higher in our own native country.
Fundamental question is, do we have a choice?
In general, at almost every phase of our lives, neither we are forced nor we are given reasonable choice. French philosopher, Jean Paul Sartre, proposed existentialism and "free will" theory. According to that people have choice whether to do it or not. It seems, in his advanced years, he expressed doubts about this theory.
Dynamics of time
I also believe that state we are in, is partly due to our action and partly because of the dynamics of our time. We do not control the dynamics consequently can not posses free-will. For example, the Ice sheet in Arctic has to melt, it can not win over the dynamics of weather, and Iceberg can neither control the consequences of its own disintegration.
Ways to absolute free-will
We can not live and also have absolute "free-will". We may move closer to "free-will" if we became one with Gautama Buddha( by having absolute control over our desires). But we can definitely achieve rock solid "free-will", if we withdrew ourselves from this dynamics, in to death.
"free-will" amidst the dynamics of time
Reforming 'this' and 'that'
Obama talks about reforming this and that, and at the same time, seem not to realize(at least I think so) that same style-of-business runs through all these problems.
Without changing the culture at Wall-street, he can not bring any change, in any area. Even he manages, that may not sustain.
Will China prove Democracy overrated?
I feel so more and more...this comes from my past experience in India and what is going on now in US. In India, politicians use democracy as weapon to destroy growth and in US politicians use it as a sequence as speed dumps(to give an impression of constructivism) to divert growth.
In both countries, people have are happy to have a choice that has been not usefull till now. Elites and pseudo intellectuals have built TV shows around this democracy.
Politicians who are part of democracy will always brag it as best option, repeat Churchhill's quote. We people believe those preaching because it makes sense to brains crippled by excess automation.
Yes, democracy gives equal TV time to both satan and saint, but it is prudent if only the people are able to see the lessening difference..
For a second, come out of Churchill's quote in to day light, and look at voparizatin of Healthcare reform and Financial Reform
We continue saying, life goes on, so does our counter part in China, so what is the difference in the end.
Well, I am not going to do anything special either. I will also wait for next placebo, called Election. And it will definately make me feel that I have acted
Epidemic
Today two items stopped working
1) My not even two years old cellphone's head phone stopped working. The problems is more complicated, it resets the connection within two minutes. I can not convince myself that the age of cell phone is just two years. I am talking about Motorola Razor phone made for Verizon
2) Nine months old backpack, purchased in India gave up. Today strap got disengaged. This shows that the virus has reached India too. It would have been perfectly normal if I had purchased the crap in a US chain store.
Here is the list of the things that died in less than 2 years
-Pressure cooker.
-Cooking vessel.
-Salt shaker
-Hair drier
-Rubbermaid box(stared to leak)
-Cellphone charger(previous phone)
-Cellphone head phone(current phone)
-Backpack
Things that I purchased in 2000 sees to be durable. Samsung cellphone, purchased in 200 had been functioning well when I lost it in 2005. Backpack that I purchased in 2001 is torn but still usable. So moral of the story is, do not throw anything that is old.
Lazy and crocked style capitalism of wall-street has become global epidemic, will surely drive the world to ditch while morons like me vent anger by blogging...and continue popping pills, just to survive these un-engineered materials.
Dumb or smart
Either you have to be dumb enought to not see problem or smart enough to fix the problem. Anything in between is going to be just a torture.
Friedrich Nietzsche - 001
On friendship
"Be at least mine enemy!"- thus speaketh the true reverence, which
doth not venture to solicit friendship.
If one would have a friend, then must one also be willing to wage
war for him: and in order to wage war, one must be capable of being an
enemy.
On women
In woman's love there is injustice and blindness to all she doth not
love. And even in woman's conscious love, there is still always
surprise and lightning and night, along with the light.
As yet woman is not capable of friendship: women are still cats
and birds. Or at the best, cows.
As yet woman is not capable of friendship. But tell me, ye men,
who of you is capable of friendship?
..............................................................
..........................................
...................................
....... Thus spake Zarathustra.
Why kill to rob a Bank?
Bank robber kills 8 to rob a bank
This news amuses me because he could have robbed the bank peacefully if had come Manhattan :-)
Copy & Paste : modern day activism
I heard a radio program on recent protests in Iran. Speakers also spoke about great movements like Indian Independence, US Civil rights and it made sense. I add SA Apartheid and Iranian revolution of 70's to that list. How these previous generations succeed in organizing using pathetic communication devices compared to current standards?
I think movements need sustainable will, not just spontaneous armchair, feels-good actions like tweeting, blogging, YouTube clips etc... Everywhere people(including me) express great outrage but hardly move. Pattern is easy to spot: so many Americans have expressed deep outrage about the clout of financial companies but not even a day of protest.
There is so much chatter about Iranian protests, it even beats dead Micheal Jackson. BBC World Service is on its tows, it even interviewed a lady in Philippines who wrote poem about that protester who got squashed by Iranian militia. It was a fortnight of celebration for wired community.
Till this year, I believed in cheer leading and hoped it would give birth to some leader. Last nail to that coffin of hope came from all talk American society, which consumes probably 80% of internet of traffic but took no action to stop Financial companies taking over their Nation. So what can I expect from Africans, Burmese but I give some credit Palestinians.
As you can see I do F**ing blog and do not take any physical action. What is the difference between my mom, who is not even aware of wall-street crooks and me, bloggers?
Mouse clicks do not slap dictators; we lack leaders and soldiers but have abundance of bloggers to archive....I mean to copy/paste :-)
Confession: This post is strictly for recreation and to induce sleep, in what is already a leisurely night.
Doctors in US
Coming from outside into US, I find doctors as another businessmen. It was a shocking realization. I saw word ‘discount’(on insurance report) and till then I was under the impression word ‘discount’ applied to other businesses. I visit ophthalmologist, the main doctor answers to my questions like an attorney, as if I am going sue if he wavers. Doctors work like clock, their behavior makes very clear(to patient) that they are spending time!!!.
I think others also share responsibility for this state. How can doctors be immune when the society’s pulses are ‘profit’ & ‘earnings’?
People file frivolous law cases. Everyone makes mistake, penalty should be to punish without destroying and also should not be for profiting. Govt should put threshold on penalty, at least to prevent law suites from making whole medical system expensive.
Govt.of China, Google and capitalist dogs
Just for the sake of recording I am posting this. I may needs this sometime when Google comes out blaring that it is the emblem of free choice.
This also to prove, current capitalist are dogs
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gKrY51vO2V86xiICf35Q05J0FIEAD98TPD380
Indian spice to fight lens Fungus...
All of a sudden several of my lenses have got fungus(Pentax f2.8 100mm Macro and Sigma f2.8 180mm Macro). I had not had to fight this for few years; Last time I faced fungus was in 2001, and I spent 175$ for cleaning. At that time, Pentax said that fungus has etched in to glass and replaced the glass.
Today, I found these two articles on Fungus, and one suggested the use of Carom key ingredient of Indian spice. Carom is anti fungal.
http://www.mypentax.com/Fungus.html#kill
http://www.chem.helsinki.fi/~toomas/photo/fungus/
This article suggest to have a pack of Silica gel inside lens case and also to observe for change in color of Silica. This is an important piece of information, change in color of Silica means it is saturated with water, time to change.
Immigration
Ten more people die while trying to get in to US. Death like this is not so much troubling compared to the motivation behind such desperate act.
http//www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/us/08arizona.html?ref=global-home
Non-US media broadcasts news like this way too often. It is always people trying to get in to West or its kins. Africans take risk of crossing ocean to reach Italy on flimsy boats regularly; there are many African Jews, waiting to get in to so called promised land called Israel and get treated like second-hand people for obvious reasons and still those Jews try; Australia catches illegal immigrants(coming from Afghanistan) regularly and locks them in camps(Yes, they feel better for not getting deported); there are people from Philippines trying to enter its affluent neighbors; funniest incident was one African sportsman, when on tour to AUS over stayed his visa.
May be it is impossible for people to resist pampered life-style that they get to see on TV; may be it is not temptation but miserable state of their respective society. Who knows but it is very apparent that we are living in highly tilted world, as if a part is sinking in to sea.....
Having spent all my life in India, reading such news while sitting in NewYork makes me guilt of having exceptional advantage over others; as if every other person is a lame in this race....
"Energy conservation lifestyle" Google could do more
After living in US for 8 years, I think in US, conservation is like a occasional event like festival or party, where as in Asian countries(like my home country India) it is a lifestyle(yes, motives are different). Here are examples for conservation that encomposses whole life: in India, I have washed bowl using trickling tap water; also was conscious of number lights that are on at any time in home; always traded paper & plastic for goods. What I am trying convey is conservation should extend to water, electricity, petrol etc... not just be a symbol like hybrid car.
I believe conservation will show substantial yeilds once people start thinking about it all the time. Here are two ideas that I think might help in this regard.
1) www.google.com could have a tab called "Conservation" like 'News', and in this section, people could share realistic ideas & experiences about conservation. Person after reading these for 10 times, may start to change his/her's lifestyle to conserve energy.
2) www.google page could randomly show messages, like reminder, about actions that an individual could take to save energy.
Shoppig bags
True US society has few employment opportunities because people are lazy. I mean, don't like to do ACTUAL work, rather be middle man.
Here is an example, shopping bags made by cloth, sold in grocery stores. It is so easy to stitch them, no complex cutting like blouse, shirt or trouser but still people do not mind paying. In my family circle, in Bangalore, almost every person knows stitching, so feel not worth buying them. I rather stitch myself, I used help my mom and aunt stitch clothes, woolen sweaters.
This is just an example for available opportunities; yes these would not yield million.
Repetative books authors
When I am home I usually keep radio on all the time. So, I get to hear same book author interviewed in 2-3 different radio stations; some times radio stations are separated by continent.
What I find interesting is authors quote same example in every one of those interviews. That somewhat disappoints me because it sounds premeditated. I usually imagine writers as individuals with 100 eyes, and this repetitions paints them as less spontaneous.
Here is latest example: David Kessler, author of 'The End of Overeating', was trying explain the grip that food has on peoples' mind; he even used word addiction. And in the course of this description, he quoted exactly same example on both BBC and NPR. The repeated line is, I start to salivate in anticipation of Chinese dumplings as soon as his flight lands in San Francisco.
Selective Marxism and Capitalism inside same corporation
Based on my luke warm book knowledge, Marxism advocates normalisation of salary, and on the contrary Capitalism says more the one works the more one would earn. Bhagvath Geetha, holy literature in Hindu religion, says something like "work without worrying about outcome", which I think comes close to Marxism theory.
Now, talking about my own experience in US corporations: I have seen both these theories applied inside same company; yes, I mean both; some get Marxism and some Capitalism, depending how close you are to top. Yes, I meant, workers at lower cadre get Marxism treatment where as the top officials get to taste real Capitalism. When I say Marxism, I do not mean that lower folks get absolute zero; but compared to the leaps that top officials take in earnings, lower levels take home relatively nothing. How much one exploited depends on how expandable one is. I have seen colleagues who did not get any rise for few years in sequence.
To give more to one, company has to suck somewhere else. So saying capitalism needs Marxism is not a stretch at all.
Swiss bank rules are discriminatory and dogmatic
1) Swiss bank, UBS say "Under Swiss bank secrecy laws, disclosing clients’ names is a criminal offense that can carry prison terms and large fines. "
2) Taliban says that according our age old customs, it is criminal for women to claim equality with men.
I think both 1 & 2 are descriminations that should be abolished without any debate. For Tax criminals Swiss is same as Afghanistan is to terrorists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/business/global/27tax.html
What is loosing-touch?
We say, "I lost touch with him"; What does that mean, on a scale of 1 to 10?. Following is my observation (not a theory :-) about loosing-touch.
Let us start with two random individuals L & M, who do not know about each other at all. And some how L & M develop a friendship, and then L brings L1, M brings M1 in to group. In the end, group consists of L, M, L1 and M1. Assume that this group does not grow any more, all it contains is four individuals. Few decades pass by and all four stay as friends.
Then one day M dies, and the remaining members of group(L1, M1 and L) may not feel that they lost 100% contact with M because they can still talk to someone about M. To make this more clear, let us focus on L. In spite of M's demise, L may not feel that she/he lost all contact with M because L can still talk to L1 & M1 about M.
Then few years later both M1 and L1 die, leaving L alone. Now L, at last feels that he/she lost all contact with M, L1 and M1 because L can not talk to anyone about three missing friends M, L1 and M1. Note that L may still have 1000 freinds but can not talk about M or L1 or M1 with them.
So, I somewhat or loosely summarize this as follows: an individual(X) looses 100%contact with another individual(Y), only when X can no longer discuss about Y with anyone.
A question remains?
In the context of above example, assume M has left an offspring, and does that make L feel that he/she still has contact with M? May be...
Applying this to our real life....
One may get away by not noticing this at all, as long as the individual resides among the people with who you grew up( like classmates, same town, same community etc....). Immigrants are good candidate to test this hypothesis :-)
Running bare footed on sand
At around 1998, we were trecking in remote part of India. On that day, we started trecking early in morning, in bare feet(to avoid shoes from getting wet in stream). Sun had whole sky for himself, and we started to head back at around 2.00pm. On the way back, we had to cross appromximately 2kms of land, almost flat, with no grass, no shade and ground was dusty and baking. We were bare footed and there was no respite from hot ground, so we almost ran the whole distance continously, to reach the place where we had deposited our footwear. It seemed, as we ran faster, every step became closer to heat.
Marriage is like this run; bare feet, on shade, hot sandy ground. I am not saying life is desert, but I am focussing on the consistent speed of runner and also the frequency at which his/her's feet has to hit ground. On this marathon, runners should not forget to keep their foot off of hot sand, so as to not get burnt. So it is all about consistency, should be more consistent than breathing.
Moral of this story is, one should drink but not much; should sleep not too late, not too long; should not blog for too long :-)
'self-examination'
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103372877
Carol Leifer uses 'self-examination' to indicate her visits to Psychologist
For Kellermann's peers to learn
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8012527.stm
I have read several opinions on Kellermann's death. I would not say it is a sad event. Guy was not happy, so took this step, and his death is not going to load burden on society because he was financially sound. This event is devastating to his family but could still live comfortably.
His peers have only one thing to learn that is death is going to be same for everyone; all we are doing is here is spend some time and let us be fair
Reincarnation: an infinite torture
This is an another a way to view reincarnation that I heard in Deine Lakaien's song Reincarnation. I am far from believing dogmas like reincrnation but if it all exists it is bloody recursive loop. May be this song will wakeup the believers :-)
Reincarnation.......the torture will not end
Reincarnation.......our bloody fate
Deine Lakaien - Reincarnation
There is no peace in heaven
There is no peace on earth
There is no love in heaven
There is no love on earth
There is no faith in heaven
There is no faith on earth
There is no hope in heaven
There is no hope on earth
So you go round and round
another live another wound
from death to birth, from birth to death
No time to waste, no time to rest
So you go round and round
another live another wound
and when you finally touch the light
they send you back into the night
There are no friends in heaven,
there are no friends on earth
There are no saints in heaven,
there are no saints on earth
There are no ghosts in heaven,
there are no ghosts on earth
There are no gods in heaven,
there are no gods on earth
Reincarnation, the torture will not end
Reincarnation, our bloody fate...
Reincarnation, the torture will not end
Reincarnation, our bloody fate...
Did he say Banks have capital?
“Currently, the vast majority of banks have more capital than they need to be considered well capitalized by their regulators,” Geithner said
http://www.bloomberg.com/
Read this...http://turnerradionetwork.blogspot.com/2009/04/
...Bank of America`s total credit exposure to derivatives was 179 percent of its risk-based capital; Citibank`s was 278 percent; JPMorgan Chase`s, 382 percent; and HSBC America`s, 550 percent. It gets even worse: Goldman Sachs began reporting as a commercial bank, revealing an alarming total credit exposure of 1,056 percent, or more than ten times its capital!...
attributes of happyness
I think people use wrong attributes to measure happyness: No, I am not going to say money, it is number human relations. Many equate not having money and time sucking, complex web of relations as being deprived of happyness. I do not understand that philosophy;
Some working people who got pets, to make themselves happy, may have ended up making pet's life miserble because animal is forced to spend time alone, in 20' x 20' apartment.
It is like strenous climb to just to fall :-)
Different blues
You want different BLUE hues. To start, out of tube you can get Pthalo Blue(PB), Cereleum Blue(CRB), Cobolt Blue(CB), Utramarine Blue(UB). Identify these colors on color wheel(it is as below):
---SET-1
[violet]
UB
CB
PB
CRB
[green-blue]
2)
Now above Blues have compliment in ORANGE and YELLOW-Orange, and those compliments colors are Burnt Sienna (BS), Burnt Umber(BU), Raw Sienna(RS), Burnt Sienna(BS) and Yellow Ochre(YO).
Identify these colors on color wheel(it is as below):
---SET-2
[orange]
BS
BU
RS-YO
RU
[yellow]
3)
Now mix both SET-1 and SET-2 to get different compliments. These compliments are going to be dark, say these mixes as SET-C.
4)
Now you can mix both SET-1 and SET-C to get various dull blues. I say dull because colors in SET-C is going to kill the chroma of SET-1
However you try, it is impossible to comeup with definite formula or procedure to achieve this. You have to experiment with the colors that you have; basically it is very very confusing. You better write down the results.
Does your job also suck?
Being a s/w engineer, I used to think the day of me saying that my job sucks would never come, no it is here. I do not see it changing anytime.
I feel sick looking at try/catch in C#. First of all having try/catch everywhere is a sign of lack of faith in own code or deterioring quality, and try/catch is a final weapon and using it everywhere seems like an act of desperation or overkill.
Sometime I think, developers use try/catch at the drop of the hat, to blot their code so that they can tap their own back, as if they did something big(BTW. Microsoft has given a class for every sh*t, so developers hardly have to do anything).
Financial HIV & AIG condoms
Current financial crisis is vast, crosses continents like HIV. Like any typical HIV victim, during lusty swaps, these bankers forgot to wear condoms, and some had but third-rate ones made by AIG.
Bastard bankers
Citigroup says AIG tax would hurt firm, sector
CEO of boA, JPC and Citi are trying to block the taxing tax.
I do not understand why Govt. should give these bastards give any more...
F*ckers should be scrawl, weep, beg and die...
Fucking bastards
Obama addresses Iranian people
Obama addresses Iranian people
What a change compared to past administration....
TARP documents should be made public
sneaking-in bonus clause in to AIG contract
All the documents, related to any TARP activity should be published on-line so that public can go through it. Public could be a optional verifier and make sure that no one sneaks-in unjustified clauses(like above clause that aggreed to give bonus for AIG executives.). Tax-payers are funding TARP so have right to every related document.
BTW. Obama had promised to make every legislation available for public scrunity and has not done so till now.
Stoa - Taumel
This song succeeds by far, in creating dark mystery. Music is least stress full on ears, and almost at halfway, vocal starts. I could not decipher the words, partly because the voice is very faint, and she sings as if she does not want to disturb the background music. This is a haunting piece..To fully enjoy this song, read the lyrics aong with singer.
Meaningwise, this song is mobdidly encouraging; one example is
But Im to weak to try.
That lie was my undoing.
I say morbidly because she tries to make us act(without hesitation) by presenting us how we would regret otherwise, and the picture of regret is not violent but beautiful, like this
Tired eyes -
I scan the old horizon.
My path cant end this way.
But dyes rapidly fading.
In last lines, I think she equates hesitation to childish ness.
Thus far I was the child.
The sleepers now awakened.
You can watch this grainy video, I think it is a true Gothic song. And Qntal too has similar songs.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7rqnrghdw
Stoa - Taumel
Time runs out.
I left behind
My breath came up to here.
Till now I hesitated.
Tired eyes -
I scan the old horizon.
My path cant end this way.
But dyes rapidly fading.
Find to calm,
My heart without.
But Im to weak to try.
That lie was my undoing.
Breakable
Arising hope for silence, -
Thus far I was the child.
The sleepers now awakened.
Human suffering value..
If there were a way to assign value to each and every human suffering(irrespective of time), probably earth would sink....
Obama's address to Congress
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7908476.stm
I have heard every one of Obam's speeches, I think this is the best speech from him. Critics alwayed used ask for more details and today he gave good amount of them, especially how he is going to reduce deficit(I like the one about farm subsidy and military expenses). He spoke about individual responsibility and the one struck me was him urging parents to turn-off TV and make kids focus om home work.(I do not think it is all school that is responsible).
Major departure from previous years, focus was not on how US is going to take revenge and slice enemy throats.
Regarding economy, I am not sure Govt. should prop-up banks, not on ideological grounds but banks are in coma state, let them die, we can rebuild new ones.
I like how Obama highlighted the banker for sharing his money with his employees. Along with this, with his characteristic sincere and confident tone, his speech was very inspirational. No doubt he is such a grand speaker.
Jindal from GOP, sounded like younger version of McCain. He spoke about same things, I am so bored, I do not even want to write them.
Google s/w is no angel compared to that of MS
If any one thinks that s/w written by Google is any better than that of MS, no it is not. MS writes sh*t load of s/w to take care of. Here is one of Google's bugs that frustrated me enough to blog
1) In the blog editor provided in blogger.com, add a custom HTML code like & nbsp ; to the body of post and click 'Save'
2) View the final post, you would see the effect of & nbsp ;
3) Now, click 'Edit', to modify the same post and you will that version shown in editor will not have retained & nbsp ; So every time you modify the post, you have to add these special HTML characters. What an annoying piece of cr*p.
Today, I was editing following posting, about the poem by Oscar Wilde, and I inserted & nbsp ; in to post, to retain the indentation that is there in book. I saved and everything was fine but on re-edit, I lost all my special HTML chars. http://asnowfall.blogspot.com/2009/02/grave-of-keats.html
Good that Google is not in to writing enterprise s/w....
The grave of Keats - OscarWilde
Rid of the world's injustice, and his pain,
He rests at last beneath God's veil of blue
Taken from life when life and love were new
The youngest of the martyrs here is lain,
Fair as Sebastian, and as early slain.
No cypress shades his grave, no funeral yew, <--
But gentle violets weeping with the dew <--
Weave on his bones an ever-blossoming chain. <--
O proudest heart that broke for misery!
O sweetest lips since those of Mitylene!
O poet-painter of our English Land!
Thy name was writ in water--it shall stand:
And tears like mine will keep thy memory green,
As Isabella did her Basil tree
ROME
Comments: The part caught my attention is marked with <--
The phrase ever-blossoming chain is simply superb.
Diorama's Times galore
I recently went back to Diorama's Times galore; this time sounded nice. When I first heard this song few of the lines made me cringe and dislike those lines were:
....
Time - doesn’t every angel fall?
I’m hunting shadows at night
...
But now went back to hear again and found some intriguing lines like these; they give merit to lyrics and background score was always to my liking. I wonder how these writers come with up such lines.
alive
within another brain
within another maze
a wonderful donation
I'll throw it away
stone by stone
sit down and cure
forgotten fever
....
who cares?
for you and I will once
flutter in these winds of scorn
while my little lake is so calm
....
....
"sin skinner" and "soul stripper"
Just last year, I found Diary Of Dreams, what a complete band. Diorama once worked for them and gives one more reason to love them. In fact, in the beginning, I could not differentiate DOD songs from the ones by Diorama.
DoD has two interesting song titles "sin skinner" and "soul stripper". For me, "sin skinner" brings the image of confession in church and "soul stripper" brings the image of confession of God because in Hinduism Yama is the God or angel of death.
I think lyrics of DoD are not always great but still they sound entertaining. Here is the line that I caught my attension and you should the watch this song being performed for video "Nine in Number"
My friends of slaughter
Noble brothers
Sisters of violence
And fathers of destruction
I enslave you all
You shall not deny me
You must obey
Marching into death with me
Die with me!
This is my gift for you
This is my therapy of hate
This is the poison room
This is your home my friend
Sensing ability of specialized individual and ordinary person
To recognize that that air is fresh one need not have to be scientist. That said scientist certainly has edge over layman because of his ability to split the air particles. Similarly to feel and understand the poem one need not have to be Professor in language (say English). Professor may be able to appreciate metering and use of syllables.
Greatness of Wikipedia
Wikipedia site, for layman like me, gives an impression that I am reading biographical history of individual. Generation grown being with Internet is less prone to doubt its merits. So whatever is your opinion, for a second, assume that Wikipedia site is akin to history book. Greatness of Wikipedia is it gives space for World leaders like Gandhi without denying space for porn stars.
What historian may say on Bush on Hamas
In few more hours GW Bush is going give the control of not only US but virtually the stop dictating things to whole World.
Bush and Hamas share same time in history so take a hypothical situation of a histrorian comparing Hamas's role with that of Bush's; The historian, looking back at Bush's actions, may say that he fought for spreading freedom and democracy across the world, and I do not agree with that judgment and add that, on the same standard Hamas members would become freedom fighters.
Munsel and Classical color wheels
This is the notes that I made while discussing Munsel Color wheel and Classical Color wheel with my cousin.
Shrinking Kitchen
Yesterday I was at my friend's house, it looked like recent construction. Kitchen did not appear to have its own space, instead looked to be part of living-room; like finger nail and finger. At one time homes used to have four walled kitchen,distinct like bedroom. Gradually kitchen's presence is shrinking.
Shrinking kitchen reflects change in society. People hardly cook at home. Some heat frozen vegetable or prepared food, and many do not even do that.
Few months back, I came across an interesting book, called "In defence of food", this is primarily about industrialization of food and also about talks about disappearing tradition of cooking. One food company marketer predicts demise cooking tradition in coming decades.
"Small town values" muslim passengers removed from DC flight
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gfsO6SsGJUrRCXhujgS5ycbUIsfQD95F2IT00
These fellow passengers are disgusting, they do not deserve to live any civilized society, let alone USA. That ****ing airTran should get sued till to death.
AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson says the airline strictly followed federal rules.
Idiots at Govt. advice people to "report any suspicious activity"; these phobic people think that every muslim/forigner about to lynch them. Stupid Govt. should clearly state what it means "report any suspicious activity". My question is how these fucking passengers say that is suspcious when they can not even understand the language.
May be this is what they mean when they say "Small town values"
"end of december"
Wow "end of december" also means new year's night; Yes, there would be music on clinton street. Ok, I understood the first line of Leonard cohen's "Famous blue rain coat" which I had glossed over all these times :-)
The Grave of Shelly - Oscar Wilde
The Grave of Shelly - Oscar Wilde
Like burnt-out torches by a sick man's bed -->
Gaunt cypress-trees stand round the sun-bleached stone; -->
Here doth the little night-owl make her throne,
And the slight lizard show his jewelled head.
And, where the chaliced poppies flame to red,
In the still chamber of yon pyramid
Surely some Old-World Sphinx lurks darkly hid,
Grim warder of this pleasaunce of the dead.
Ah! sweet indeed to rest within the womb
Of Earth, great mother of eternal sleep,
But sweeter far for thee a restless tomb
In the blue cavern of an echoing deep,
Or where the tall ships founder in the gloom
Against the rocks of some wave-shattered steep.
*Gaunt-thin or bleak
*chaliced-cupshaped
*pleasaunce- secluded garden
*yon-Distance within sight
*founder-break down
I understand that he is talking about graves: one on in the land and other is ocean.
I feel proud of myself whenever I understand a poem because it is hard to get inside a one; and this is the first poem that i read, rather understood, in 2009. Infact, I did not choose this poem; usually I try to understand which ever poem comes across when I open the book.
Nietzsche on Alcohol & Church
Last week, I came across a BBC Documentary "Nietzsche on Hardship", and here I have tried to reproduce, word by word, whatever was told in that documentary. In brief, documentary says, Nietzsche was against alcohol therapy; and equated consoling oneself by going to Church to consoling by drinking Alcohol.
Comfort of alcohol
To imagine that there is a benefit in escaping our troubles, once in a while with a alcoholic drink or two, is to misunderstand Nietzscheian analysis of relation between happiness and pain. Happiness does not come from escaping trouble, it comes from cultivating them, turning them to your advantage. Nietzche did not want anyone to drown in worries, instead he said our worries are pointers to the things that need attension.
Comfort of Church
Nietzsche was rather against Church for the same reason as he was against getting drunk. In the short term, going to hear a service in a Christian church may make you feel quite good in the same way as getting very drunk may make you feel quite good. But in the long term, Church in Nietzsche's eyes dulls pain and in this way, it also dulls the energy that pain can give us to overcome problems and so reach real happiness.
There are differences between Church and Pub, but Nietzsche insisted that there are similarities in the consolation available at both the places; it seemed to him that New testament tried to make us feel better by saying that many things that we thought of as problems are not in fact problems at all but rather assets.
- a) To anyone worried about being too timid, New testament advises blessed are the meek they will inherit the earth.
- b) To anyone worried about not having friends, New testament says blessed are you when men hate you, they exclude you and insult you.
- c) To anyone that worried about not having enough money and who envies that those who do, New testament has these soothing words, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to the enter the kingdom of god.
Nietzsche took such words to be catastrophic, like alcohol Church counsel might dull pain but it will also weaken the resolve to overcome the problem from which the pain has risen. Essentially, Nietzsche did not want to people in trouble to pretend that they did not need the things they could not attain.
**Note that I do not know the details of New testament; here I just wrote whatever was presented in BBC documentary.
Warm and cold green
When trying to get GREEN tint we have can look at Yellow ochre as "warm green" and Cereleum Blue as "cold green" and choose appropriately.
Fine art material retailers in Bangalore
For the first time I saw my cousin, Shalini's paintings in person and they were much better than the photographs which she had sent by e-mail. This energised me and I decided to teach her how to photograph paintings and also thought of buying a decent easel. I believe that the use of proper tools for painting would infuse sense of value, responsibility and pride in painter. Ability to photograph is aslo important because in this age, for amatures, internet is an art gallery; in addition to this, good photograph can also be used for making quality prints which can be used for display purpose,inside home, instead of original painting; i believe this is one way to protect original paintings from dust and other pollutants.
Global brands of colors
Bangalore, probably for that matter, whole country is in its infancy when it comes to fine-art materials. Except for Winsor Newton, average dealers have barely heard of international brands like Liquitex, Golden, and only two special dealers showed name familiarity.
Camlin and Crystal beverages are distributers for Liquitex paints and Golden acrylics inside India. Liquitex, Golden products are sold at MRP by retailer but are not readily available, customer has to pre-order through retailer. Retailers that I spoke to said that consumers are neither aware or seek these foriegn brands because these(especially at MRP) are way beyond typical Indian consumer, so all ones sees is sea of Camlin colors. Camlin's paint products are pathetic; screw caps of their water color tubes cracks after few months, and this shows how much importance Camlin gives to quality, so I would not trust my creative work in the hands of Camlin. After looking at how wilted Camlin colors tubes were, I feel embarassed to say that I will use Camlin paints for painting movie star cutouts for theaters.
In Bangalore, there are two retailers in Avenue road selling paints; the stores are congested, and unorganized like rice or grains selling shop. These shops do not even seem to know where an item is located; everything is some where in that pile.
And there is an another retailer in Commercial street, better organized but selling same brands as Avenue road retailers. It is frustrating that one has to go back to these stores, and all they have is Camlin, Camlin; why not call these Camlin outlets.
Artist quality papers
My cousin is not able to get thick water color papers made by branded company. All that is available is handmade paper with vast difference in thickness and without proper thickness rating(gsm/lb); and these aspects makes one suspect the reliability of these so called hand made papers.
Where can I get these brushes?
Loew-Cornell makes great quality brushes; I have used them for 2-3 years and seen their bristles hold over years and also handle do not crack under moisture. These brushes are made in Japan, SriLanka and India but are not available for consumers in India, and it is frustrating to know that quality brushes are made in India when the brands curently sold in India fall apart in no time.
Winstor Newton Canvas?
Fortunately W&N canvasses are made and sold in India.
Is this going to change ?
I do not think this situation is going to change any soon, may not be in my life time. There is not any Art economy. India has gotten macro things(like Benz car, Plasma TV) implanted but subtle things are not available. One can see easily spot lack of harmony in growth, they glare at you like bad silicon implants.
Camlin, camlin...
Every retail store is filled with cheap Camlin color products. Camlin's paint products are pathetic; screw caps of their water color tubes crack and break after few months, and that shows how much importance Camlin gives to quality, and I would not trust my creative effort in the hands of Camlin; they seem like Indian postal service: arcane, corrupt and unresponsive to consumer needs. After looking at how wilted the Camlin color tubes were; I feel embarassed to say that I would use Camlin paints for painting cinema star cutouts for theaters :-)
Bangalore airports limitations
I flew from Bangalore air port(BLR) recently, and it is new airport and they could have bettered it by just following the example of other airports.
1) Toilets' entrance have narrow doors, and these doors are totally unnecessary and is a shortcoming. And toilets should have been designed so that one does not need door at the entrance. Because of narrow door, only one passenger could pass at a time and this ridiculous design fails when serving large number of people, and also passenger carrying luggage in both hands would have to struggle to open the door. Like other international airports, toilets entrance should have been kept wide and open so that at least two passengers carrying luggage could walk unhindered. Discomfort caused by these doors are more that what it appears to be.
2) In the whole airport, there were just two public phones. The public telephone was on a table without any privacy for the speaker and there was a guy sitting there to collect money, and there was a queue of people waiting to talk, all these people could have over heard telephone conversation, and the whole setup was totally unprofessional, just like road side STD/ISD shop in a village. Also, charging money for local calls was bad, and there was not a way to pay by credit card so I had search my bag tharoughly to find Rs10 currency to pay for 2 minutes conversation.
Looks like some of the people involved in designing this international airport never travelled outside country. They just had to look at other airports.
3) Luggage carts were given free of charge, and I think there should be a fee for that so that service can be sustained.
Passport episode
1) This is the passport who's barcode could not be interpreted by the issuer, that is Indian Govt.
Passport1
2) This is the quality of the picture in the passport issued to replace above passport
Passport2
Passport1 was issued by Indian Consulate located in NY, in Jan 2008, and then in Nov 2008, I flew to Bangalore and the bar code on this passport could not be scanned by immigration officer at Bangalore airport.
Day1
I went to passport office in Bangalore, early in the morning(6.50 am) and the enquiry counter opened 30minutes late, that is 10.00 am. And the Govt. rep told me to apply for a new passport implying that Passport1 is a 'Damaged passport'.
Day2
After gathering all the documents, and with the filled passport application, I went to passport office early in morning(8.00am). I was carrying to Rs 4500, thinking that the fee for fast processing is Rs 2500, but I came to know that Govt. charges extra Rs 2500 for expediating process of replacing 'Damaged passport'(as if Govt. wanted to punish me for damaging passport intentionally). Then I came back to home to collect another Rs 500 and went back to passport office, paid Rs 5000 and submitted the passport application.
Day3
I went to collect my passport but found the picture on the passport had blotches similar to Passport2(as shown above). The clerk blamed the photo paper of the picture that I submitted along with passport application, and asked me to bring another picture, printed on good photo paper. This incompetence of irked me and went to speak to Deputy Passport Officer, and asked him to refund part of the fee because all along it was Govt. fault; it was Govt. that issued the passport who's bar code could not be read, and again it was Govt. that was not able to properly scan the picture. Officer got angry with me, and told that the classification of 'Damaged passport' is broad and refused to refund any money.
Day4
I went to passport office with new photograph and waited for couple of hours to collect the new passport, the one shown as Passport2, and surpraisigly picture on this passport was also not any better, it had blotches at same place as previous passport. I showed it to Deputy Passport officer and he said it is would not cause any harm.
In the end, Govt. officails did not take responsibility for issuing a passport who's barcode could nor be read by themselves, and also Govt. did not show ability to scan the photograph properly. And, out my 20days of stay in Bangalore, I had to go to passport office on 4days. When the citizens are served with such unaccountability and incompetence, how can one be proud of the country?
Bush meets his Eastern counter part
Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7783608.stm
foot-wear as assault weapon in Indian society
In India also, foot-wear is considered as an weapon of ultimate insult. We should note the difference between verbal threat of assaulting with foot-wear from the actual act of hitting with foot-wear; former is 100 or 1000 times higher than the latter, and in fact I have not seen any one doing it but heard people using it in conversation. For example this is a most popular usage, "I would have hit with foot-wear if he had....". Educated people of any generation do not use it, and also have not heard any one from my generation indulging in foot-wear assault, verbally or physically so I can confidently say that this is a thing of past.
Some times, angry mob uses festoon of foot-wear to garland the statues of political leaders, and this practice is relatively more compared to assautling a living individual with foot-wear.
Bush ducking foot-wear
Bush has a history of mis pronouncing, failing to make to construct proper sentence, and he is very bad at answering to unexpected question, but for the first time, Bush displayed a remarkable presence of mind by ducking away from the flying shoe :-) .
In Eastern world, say India, a foot-wear wielder represents a rowdy, a thug, and in this scene involving Bush, a Eastern thug took his Western counter part.
US Auto industry may need a correction
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7715896.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7647708.stm
When I started my life in US, in Bay area, what surprised me was that series of big car dealerships, located on either side of El Camino Real. It created an impression in me that Americans eat cars for breakfast. Car is a utility and I do not think that should be elephant in the room. And with this rising environment consciousness, US can no more afford to have elephant. So what I am saying is that Auto industry has to shrink and adjust to global reality. (Please note that I am not an Auto industry specialist :-) )
Auto industry has not played fairly; I read about an instance where GM bought a public transportation system just to kill. Also, just few years back, GM was broadcasting it's lack of support for sensible cars. So I do not have any sympathy for Auto industry. Yes, jobs will be lost but as I described above, Auto industry may need a correction.
Showcasing Indian Government's failure
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7754190.stm
This terrorist attack comes as no surprise to those who are living in any Indian city that is under going so-called change. All these years, we all billionth know very well that every Indian Government is ridden with corruption. And then came this age of growth through the multi-national companies, and Indian Governments instead of rising to occasion, festively continued their corrupt way of life. But we billionth, in spite of having democratic process are not able to turn this tide of irresponsible politics in a non-bloody manner. But unlike we citizens, someone had to show these Governments, the consequence of being dis-functional, and these terrorists have just done that, in a mammoth scale.
Am I happy? I can not say NO, and my feelings have gone past frustration.
Unlawful elements of Nature come back
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7732239.stm
Current forest fire in California has made me say following.
We try to domesticate nature by cutting forest and draining wetlands. Animals, one of many elements of Nature, loose their habitat and also find the law of their land changed. So these newly branded unlawful animals, get hunted or punished for being in domestic land.
Yes, by hunting we take care of one element of nature, but what about weather(hurricanes, forest fires and draughts)? Without the wetlands to dampen hurricanes; and extra forest to negotiate with fire, we continue to pay dearly, again and again.
It is high time that we act on reducing the growth of population, shrink our foot print, so that we can maintain respect full distance from Nature and its elements.
Let us have a baby; they are so.. cute
Today I was in Newyork city and had to walk for 30minutes to reach my friend's home. On the way I came across 3-4 Newyorkers, walking thier dogs.
-First dog-walker was a young lady with two dogs; and when I first set my eye, she was almost standing still, texting on her mobile pc phone. Then she started moving in strides and one of the dog was not ready for straide, and she started yelling at the dog and dragged it.
-Second dog-walker was also young man, with a dog; and when I first set my eye, he was standing near a store, and when he started walking the dog, it was not keeping pace with him, and he went on dragging it.
-I also came across few elderly people, walking their dog leisurely.
I have heard that some of these people have dog because they are living alone.
Yes, puppies look cute but that is not enough of proof, to say that the individual would be responsible to take care of it. I had dogs in my home and know that it is not easy to manage them. The city dogs may want to walk leisurely, especially after staying locked up for long hours inside small apartments. This behaviour is just another example showing that the people are impulsive and are unable to see the depth of responsibility. Any sensible individual would agree that modern communication devices have made us impulsive, anxious and could leave dangerous scars in life, and I believe these devices are just good for utilitarian professional communication.
Look at the irresponsible moms & dads; it just takes spontaneous emotion to throw a veil on responsibility and make a baby. One should not bring a puppy or baby, just because they are cute :-)
Shades of liberalism (Pacifica, NPR & CNN)
When I came to US I started with Pacifica radio station. I used to listen to Amy Goodman's Democracy now, every day from 9.00am to 10am. And I also used to watch CNN at home. Then when I started talking to my friends about politics, they started telling me that CNN is a liberal channel, which I could not accept at all because CNN was no where near Pacifica. Then I started listening to NPR radio and even that did not sound liberal to me. I felt NPR hosts, like Diane Rehm, are afraid to go anywhere near the controversial line. And compared to Amy Goodman & Naom Chomsky of Pacifica, NPR did not sound liberal to me; BTW, I am yet to hear Naom Chomsky on NPR; I guess he Chomsky is too radical for NPR. From past few yaers, I am listening to NPR, everyday for few hours, and I am able to see the shades of liberalism, and I see Pacifica as a far-left, NPR as a center-left and CNN as center-right.
Pacifica station has pacifist agenda and it seems the founder was pacifist and also parent of NPR. Pacifica does not take any kind of corporate contribution and depends entirely on listeners' donations. Even the some of the hosts during night time are volunteers, and keep on asking for volunteers. It seems Pacifica runs on rags and stands for its ideals (See kind of donations they are seeking http://www.democracynow.org/get_involved/donate).
Pacifica gives platform for critics of US, like Naom Chomsky. If you want another views of America which you do not get on main stream, including NPR, listen to Amy Goodman's Democracy Now(War & Peace report); you can even get the mp3 podcast, free at http://www.democracynow.org/ Like Pacifica, NPR station does not let you download mp3 files for free, and that itself shows where they stand. Amy Goodman is a fantastic host, broadcasts controversial issues much weeks before main-straems dares to glance, and she has a bold voice which I am yet to hear on any other radio station.
How easy to close a factory
This article describes the method used by factory owners in China, to close their operation. Owners, showing total lack of accountability to their employees, burn the books and flee. After reading this article, I can understand why major brand names, would rather heavily depend on contractors than run their own factories. Most recent example is DELL, which closed all of their assembly plants. In case of China, it seems fleeing is a best cure for industrialists from other countries like Taiwan, South Korea and province like Hongkong.
Some owners deserting factories
"Tao Shoulong burned his company's financial books. He then sold his private golf club memberships and disposed of his Mercedes S-600 sedan. And just like that, China's biggest textile dye operation -- with four factories, a campus the size of 31 football fields, 4,000 workers and debts of at least $200 million -- was history."
"Government statistics show that 67,000 factories of various sizes were shuttered in China in the first half of the year, said Cao Jianhai, an industrial economics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. By year's end, he said, more than 100,000 plants will have closed. "
What is Govt. doing?
"Others may flee not out of aversion to bureaucracy but because they want to get away with what cash they have left and not face angry suppliers, lenders, employees or regulators. Sometimes relatives and managers who help run operations flee too, and without anyone who can take responsibility, some factories have little choice but to shut down."
Post US election speeches
Here are some of the speeches given right after Obama won the election. Not that I adore these speakers for anything, off course except Obama, but I was interested in their response to historic nature of Obama's victory.
George Bush speech
McCain's concession speech His best line was "I wish ...... to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.."
Obama victory speech
devide to win: an ancient method
An interesting way of deviding people to win election, as suggested by US Republican operator
Kevin Philips:
"He told the "New York Times" in 1970: "The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republican.""
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11072008/watch3.html
Kevin Philips, was interviewed by Bill Moyer on PBS, on the eve of Obama's election to US presidency.
Federal law or State law
In US, every State can make their own law, in some areas. This has advantages and disadvantages.
This model helps when we are trying to solve a problem which needs some kind of radical action. In such circumstances, adventurous State can take the first leap, recklessly, when every other States are contemplating. Such adventurous states set standard and cultivate the minds of dis-aggrieng people to accept the change. Example: Califorina seems to take a leap when it comes to environment laws, and this may convince other states to adapt atleast some of the changes.
Negative thing is, when we are trying to solve mundane problems. In these circumstances, we may end up solving same problem again and again for every State. Example:- When it comes to voting policies, every state has its own law, and a good voting system is needed, and this is something for which everyone is going to agree, so we can make a one blanket federal law to solve once for all states.
I should conclude saying that this is lay-man's view.
On Obama before the election Day
This is the first time I am blogging specifically about Obama, but have lot to say because I have tracked him consistently, and this is an email that I wrote to my friend living in India.
I do not know to what extent you are in touch with presidential election in US. I have followed this election since 2 years and understood how US presidential election works; it is made up of Primary race which is confined to a political party and eventual Presidential race. Leave these procedure aside, I am writing this to tell my views about Obama.
Saying Obama is a charismatic person is a understatement, and his continental background makes other get curious. He looks studious too. Obama has become a phenomenon is US; TV comedians call him has magician and say he has hypnotic power. Media loves Obama and so many young people. Sometime I get a feeling that supporting Obama is making me look trendy. Few thoughtful Obama supporters, who have understood candidate's policies make fun of other blind followers. I think it is these political-junkies who sit and read online newspapers, blogs understand candidate's policies.
Obama has auto biography called "Audacity of hope", and a reviewer interviewed the author(Obama), on NPR radio, and that interview went for an hour, and that is when I heard about Obama for the first time(Interview was on Diane Rehm). He sounded interesting. Then he started running for presidency and think that was 2years back. I should point out that this presidential campaign started way too early, that is nearly 2 years before the actual election day, and I have followed since then, I should say, on a daily basis.
Obama has many good qualities; he is humble when compared to other, US presidents. In some of his speeches he implied that America is not a perfect country, which one would think is a sign of modesty, but his opponents staged it as unpatriotism. Obama has spoken about integrity and has proved it, in his campaign by being civil towards his opponent and refraining from character assassination. And Obama is good at disagreeing without angering the other person and I have heard him do that many debates. Obama has not shown any intention to exploit his race, in fact he has tried to under play the role of race, and this reticence has made conventional black leaders(like Jessie Jackson) say Obama is not black enough, alluding to the fact that he was bought up by white mother (His dad, Kenyan, was black).
Obama has many qualities but he is not Gandhi, I mean does drive against wall. To give you an example, Obama's full name is Barack Hussein Obama, and he does not use his middle name very often, and I think that is because any association with Islam, including a name, is not popular in US.
Obama is a great orator; his sentences are not exotic but deliverers very effectively. I say 'effective' because it changes voters' mind. Let us go back a bit; when he started his campaign two years back, hardly anyone knew his name, and this is not surprising because he has not spent 20+ years in Washington like Hillary or McCain. Many people, who did not know him at all, have said that they decided to vote for him after listening to speech. People throng to his rallies; last week. in Colorado, he had 100 thousand people and that is not unusual for him; few months back he went on a world tour to meet world leaders, and he was more than well received in EU and middle-east. In that world tour, which was big success, he gave a speech in Berlin and 200 thousand people came to listen to it. As the election day approached, I heard listeners call radio program and tell that after hearing Obama's speech they decided to vote for him.
Obama's consistency, in past 2 years tells something about his discipline; and in past 2 years he has climbed a big mountain, inch by inch slowly showing his stamina. To become nominee of Democratic party he had to defeat Hillary Clinton; she is a such a political heavy-weight to Democratic party, Clinton is somewhat like Gandhi family is to Congress party(Note Kennadies are not that active now.). In fact Hillary Clinton thought that she is entitled to become the presidential nominee of Democratic party and she could not.
Obama has non-intrusive foreign policy; he is not planning to police the world, like George Bush or RNC; instead he wants to negotiate with Iran while his opponent, McCain wants to start war with Iran. People around the world seems to have recognised this attitude of Obama, so he was well received when he went on his world tour. In fact people outside US speak as if he is already a president. In fact, some Canadian's said "US, if you do not elect Obama, we will take him :-)".
Obama has bought so many young voters this year. Till now, youngsters were not active in politics, as if country is outsourced. Now Obama has bought back many of those. Obama he is a big hit in college campuses, there are so many teenagers working for free for his campaign. Some college students, who are working as volunteers, go to night-clubs, in the early hours, looking for eligible voters. I think 75% of people(<30yrs) are voting for Obama. There is so much enthusiasm that people make joke saying that Obama is a messiah and no wonder his opponent, McCain lessened Obama by comparing him to Britney spears and branded Obama as a rock star candidate without any meat. Obama has used Internet and text messaging effectively to keep the all those activists connected/informed. For us technology is a usual thing but it is new for politics.
And candidates have the option rising money for campaign, and Obama made a record in campaign fundraising; traditionally big corporates are the main source; and there are limited corporations and there is a limit on corporate funding too, so corporate funding saturates at some point. But Obama revolutionised fund rising by going directly to regular people, using Internet, and highest percentage of contributions are less than 200$(according to law, maximum a person can contribute is $4K ). So this model of depending on people is highly scalable, compared to depending on corporations. My colleague (an Indian) gave $700, and I gave lowly 10 :-)
Internet has played a big role in Obama's campaign. If you search in google, there are so many bloggers writing/defending Obama's policies, and those bloggers is made of professionals and armatures like you and me. This election season is like festival for bloggers; what surprises me is there are so many people like you & me doing it. And I think party with more educated members gets more bloggers; for example, Democratic party having more educated followers, has edge when it comes to Internet presence.
Internet is so crucial in organizing people for campaign, for example: if I want to work for Obama's campaign, I can go to a website, enter my ZIP code and get the address of nearest office. In any election, irrespective of roar of campaign, what matters is how many people actually vote; so parties should make sure that their supporter make time for voting. Yes, we in s/w know that technology can do many things, but very few can use this in such a mass scale and still make it sound it like a symphony.
In India we take it for granted that anybody can become Prime minister(off course, it happens because of wrong actions) but in US it has taken so many years for black person to become President, so this is going to be a historic election. Still there are people in West Virgina, who say(on BBC radio) that they are not going to for Obama because he is black. And some Jewish people think that Obama is a Muslim so do not want to vote for him. But, but, Obama seems to have turned such crowd in to minority, which is a tremendous work. And people are worried about threat Obama's life; there are people in US who can not accept black person as their president and they could resort to kill him. Many of my friends expressed concern about Obama's safety.
I am writing this because I wanted to let you know and also wanted to document for myself. I wanted to send this few weeks back but did not make time but I can prolong no more because election is on Nov 4th and I am sure Obama is going at least win if not sweep :-)
Democracy
I am not at an expert in constitution and structure of Govt. My knowledge comes by what I hear on radio.
I believe both US and Indian democracies should be decent, but Indian democracy if drenched in corruption. The load of corruption is makes one feel that they are not living in on; it is a window with think coat of dust. If some one can clean that, for which we may need a miracle, then citizen would *really* see the power of democracy. Voting does not make a place, democratic.
In US it feels the people really have rights because one can it working; so feels like you are living in a democracy. What is the use of democratic constitution, however stellar it is, if it is just limited to paper?
May be it was my ignorance, in Bangalore I always felt that Govt. is entitled to access every bit of my information, but in US rules are very different; till they came up with 'Patriotic Act' Govt. did not have free access to public libraries records.
And when Govt. fails protect people from morality police, like Shiva sena, democracy looks useless.
Sex laden TV shows breed teen pregnancy-Solution
Sex laden TV shows breed teen pregnancy... Link
Well, i suggest viewers, young and old, should wear condom before turning on the TV.
Measuring US employee productivity in Outsourcing age..
I have heard US politicians brag that US workforce has highest productivity. I am a software engineer in a fortune-500 company, and you guessed, most of our work is outsourced to China and India. So, how my company's productivity can be called as US employee productivity?
Booker prize for "White Tiger"
Today, an Indian born author, Aravind Adiga won the Booker prize. In this BBC interview, he says "In India for poor there are two ways to come up, one is through Crime and the other is Politics which can be a variant of crime..". I do not think he is exaggerating at all, but I would like to make two changes; first, instead of saying poor, I would say people living in slum and slightly above that level; second change is, I would add two more routes success "Extreme talented like that of Einstein or overwhelming amount of luck".
Average intelligence would not lead to anywhere, you have to be lucky and brilliant. There are so many graduates with no job and they just wait and wait for job, languish without any hope. It is a pathetic state and one should see to believe it, and I have few friends in that state. In India it is all about being at right place at the right time, which was the case with me.
Video of award ceremony
Video of Author's interview
Audio
Part-nationalization of US banks
At last US treasuery seems to have cameup with a plan that looks like has been analysed well. Nature of this financial scandal makes impossible to comeup with solution in one step. This complex problem is like a web, as it untangles we may have to change our solution, so our solution should start with basic rule but flexible enought to be modified. The first move, drawn in haste to throw 700B was shabby and immature.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7668704.stm
The lastest plan to part-nationalise the banks is a good one. Govt. move to buy shares without voting rights should be seen as a gesture of respect towards free-market.
I like following aspects of this bill.
1) The US government said it would buy preference shares in the banks. Preference shares pay a fixed rate of interest instead of a dividend, which has to be paid before other shareholders receive anything, but they do not carry voting rights.
2) Banks that receive the cash injections will be subject to restrictions on executive pay.
Adage -poem Billy Collins
I heard Billy collins recite this poem twice on radio. This is a less complicated and still emphatic poem. On radio Billy collins said something to this effect "Poetry should be like the chart hung in eye doctors' clinic; starting with thick letter and getting smaller as it proceeds."
Adage - Billy Collins
When it’s late at night and branches
are banging against the windows,
you might think that love is just a matter
of leaping out of the frying pan of yourself
into the fire of someone else,
but it’s a little more complicated than that.
It’s more like trading the two birds
who might be hiding in that bush
for the one you are not holding in your hand.
A wise man once said that love
was like forcing a horse to drink
but then everyone stopped thinking of him as wise.
Let us be clear about something.
Love is not as simple as getting up
on the wrong side of the bed wearing the emperor’s clothes.
No, it’s more like the way the pen
feels after it has defeated the sword.
It’s a little like the penny saved or the nine dropped stitches.
You look at me through the halo of the last candle
and tell me love is an ill wind
that has no turning, a road that blows no good,
but I am here to remind you,
as our shadows tremble on the walls,
that love is the early bird who is better late than never.
Tainted China water sickens 450
This is one more instance of collateral damage caused by rapid industrialization; I believe the engine of this raging industrialization is usually wealthy corporates and politicians spread around the world; yes, few consumers suffering from shopping syndrome also benefit from this. Corporates in US want an unregulated environment workplace so that they multiply their profits by selling cheap consumer products. And politicians in US, China sanitize this exploitation saying we are increasing the living standard of poor, and I think they are either ignorant or not honest.
Tainted China water sickens 450
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7665193.stm
McCain & Obama debate
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7658262.stm
I listened to debate between McCain & Obama over the radio. Policy wise McCain was not honest; he again spoke as if Iran is going to repeat Holocaust. If McCain really believes that, then it highlights his bad judgement. Also, regarding health care, I am not sure how realistic it is to assume that one can buy health policy for 5K. Obama could have slammed better. I also felt that candidates were trying to stuff as many keywords as possible (like N energy, Wind energy etc..), as if it was a job interview for a technical position :-)
I cringe whenever I hear him say "my friend", and that tone sounds too personal to be presidential and feels like he is trying hard to convince.
BBC radio made an interesting point at that this debate put candidates age on the stage.
All said, I would not give much importance to debates as pundits media because ruling a country needs more than debating skills and stage presence.
Why have melamine at all?
According to this Chinese Govt. is setting threshold for melamaine in Dairy products.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aA0__rfGpEec&refer=asia
Do we need Melamine at all?
Does milk taken from cow contain Melamine?
What is common between US & EU banking system?
Recent economic crisis has affected banks in US, EU equally. Example: Iceland, the country is teathering close to national bankruptsy; few banks in UK, France, Germany, Switgherland have been rescued from melting.
-Were the banks in EU and US were following same policies or systems?
-If so, when did EU banks started following US bank's principles?
-And who forced EU banks to follow US banking system?
-Was it WTO?
I would like to know answer to these questions, and media just keeps repeating same thing again and again. When i come across a serious article, I do not know what is the motives of writer because money is too real.
Polar bear's struggle in Pig's world
If you have seen Planet Earth's videos on Polar bears, you may remember how Polar bears travel in ocean, by swimming for a while and then climbing on to a mound of snow, in order to rest. Bears supposedly repeat this exercise while they are crossing vast seas, which for human like me, looks like an epic journey, and the scale of this adventure demands some respect and recognition. Without these snow mounds to rest, Polar bears would drown out of exhaustion, admist these long journeys. So those tiny, snow mounds are very crucial for Polar Bear's life style, and with the rise in global temeparature, these snow mounds are depleating, and according to this BBC article Polar bears have started to die and some politians are still arguing whether the Polar Bears are endanagered species.
Based on following article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7656871.stm
a) "Six polar bears recently drowned out in the open water. Their bodies were spotted by sailors."
b) Sarah Palin does not think Polar Bear is an endangered species.
Shallow side of 'age of information' and 'stay-connected'
Internet started this information age for good, then came Blackberry and then 'stay connected' mantra abused the system.
I believe we have too many sources of information covering same event, and every one of these starts with an introduction, and most of the readers get exhausted/distracted right at the end of introductory paragraph. This mostly because our attension span is ridiculously low and also media portal offer links with sensationalized titles.
I listen to radio and also read blogs, and in case of former I am forced to listen till the end(because there are just two source NPR and BBC), so in the end I absorb more information from radio than internet.
"Article Distraction and Democracy" http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/06/10.php#19911This was broadcast, few months back, on NPR. Accrding to this program, we 'snack' news and know less than our parents.
Let us look at the new providers: TV/Newspapers and Bloggers. There is one news event but many Newspapers and TV channels, and in the end, just to get distinguished, media outlets dissect the news-event like a 'crime scene' and end up reporting on superficial things like clothes & gestures.
Then, Bloggers, second in chain, enter the news scene, scatter the news through out Web. So, we endup with insane amount of articles. Yes, there is nothing wrong in this but the reader should be responsible, cautious and stay focussed on one article.And media outlets should end sensationalized 'small-town' journalism :-)
I may be going beyond this subject but I should say that website design may have something to do with peoples' inability to stay till they completley read the article. Usually articles, in newsites, seem to be buried inside a pile of ads.
So, this 'information/interruption age' is affecting everything, including policies & democracies. Changing this trend of shallowness needs both the provider and consumer to change.
Just like updrading speakers
I have had two Klipsche bookshelf speakers for 2 years, and I have been happy without any regrets, but I have gotten used to this and lately feeling that I want more, so I am looking subwoofers, not with the intention of regaining lost excitement but something less drastic than that :-)
Then my thoughts drifted towards relation between two human beings and narrowed on socio-sexual couples(official-unofficial/married-unmarried); probably, even they may think in these lines, first starts with bookshelf speakers, years later surround speakers, few years later subwoofer, and then on one big day they stop listening to music all together.
Citi, Wachovia and WellsFargo
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200810031604DOWJONESDJONLINE000788_FORTUNE5.htm
Look at the haste with which Citi and Wells are moving. This is what is wrong with these bankers; and already the analysts are cheering by saying that Citi needs this deal to grow. Was not the banking industry supposed to be on death bed? How did these banks regained their guice so fast? Look at the ethical side of it, Wachovia seems to be breaking the aggreement with Citi.Bankers have not learnt anything, are back to their bi-polar days, I do not think they deserved $700b bailout. I see this squabble as slap on face of rescuing Govt.
This shows how distasteful the people are in Wall-street, I would have liked these banker crawl. One does not have to go deeper to see, that in this $700b crisis, Henry Paulson has represented wall-street. What a disgusting drama of greed.
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