Sam Rao BLOG ARCHIVES
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BLOG ARCHIVES 2004 Sam Rao Indian -American Indian-American.org
DEC 29, 2004:
AID REQUEST: MOST RELIEF AGENCIES REQUEST CASH Rather Than Clothes , Food etc- BEACUSE THIS CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM OF USING MONEY TO SHIP AND TRANSPORT Etc.
BY USING CASH TO BUY LOCALLY- THE RELIEF AGENCIES CAN ALSO HELP LOCAL ECONOMY.
The "Tsunami" which struck Southern Asia has wrecked havoc in its wake-with reports coming in of 50-60,000 dead and Milllons unaccounted for and Structural damage and Property Loss in the Billions of Dllars. Add on to this the need for rehailitation in future years. A Huge task indeed!.
Some of the affected countries will be better equipped for fundraising and delivery of services and rebuilding efforts both from within and from outside e.g. Indians living abroad etc.
The ensuing aid also needs to be directed towards Poorer areas of the region, including the fisherfolk settlements in Sumatra, Java/Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka Thailand, Andaman & Nicobar, Coastal India- many who lost their ENTIRE livlihoods.
Another chapter of this Tragedy here is the Lost Generation of Children- both killed in the onslaught and by the thousands of kids who are now Orphaned.
Also, in places like Andaman & Nicobar-100 miles from the epicenter- entire concrete bunkers and Indian AirForce and Navy bases have been wiped out. This Indian territory of Andaman and Nicobar ( a series of islands and atolls) also hosts Aborginal tribes (endangered & isolated) for thousands of years-and there is only an estimate of their TOTAL population- and the Death toll from these areas alone is estimated at 7,000- apart from Coastal India, Srilanka etc
RELIEF & AID:Already extraordinary tales of survival and the rallying around the aftermath of victims as well as people of the World is heartening. In USA relief agencies are floodeed with aid and donations. Non Profit Agencies like AID(Assoc for India's Dev.) with a strong presence in Southern India via Tamil Nadu Science Foundation) has already garnered $400,000 and started disaster relief- along with experienced folks like RED CROSS, U.N. and contingents from other Countries.
Locally, groups like TNSF(Tamil Nadu Science Foundation with AID in USA) are coordinating relief and delivery efforts to villages and fisherfolk in TN and AP as well.Others like RSS (Rasahtriya Swayam Sevak~ IDRF/Sewa Bharati in USA) have swung into gear- taking up the disposal of dead bodies and also relief camps, Food kitchens etc- for which the RSS always have an extraordinary record as First responders.
There are also numerous reports of local endeavors and faith based organizations working cooperatively-So in Tragedy most people have come together and working to solve the issue at hand.
AID REQUEST: MOST RELIEF AGENCIES REQUEST CASH Rather Than Clothes , Food etc- BEACUSE THIS CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM OF USING MONEY TO SHIP AND TRANSPORT Etc.
BY USING CASHTO BUY LOCALLY- THE RELIEF AGENCIES CAN ALSO HELP LOCAL ECONOMY.
INTERESTING: Among all this bad news comes the interesting report from Sri Lanka Wild Life folks that NOT A SINGLE WILD ANIMAL including Elephants, hares, rabbits etc ARE AMONG THE DEAD. These animals "sensed" the impending tsunami and made way to Safer higher ground. The dead animals are the DOMESTICATED Cows, Buffaloes, Dogs etc- who were trapped closer to Human habitat- threatening the contamination of ground water.
DEC 27, 2004: With the disaster in Southern Asia stricking several countries severely- and the impact felt as far as Ethiopia to the West! The magnitude and power of nature-tidal wave can only be imagined! even folks who survived couldnot begin to describe the raw power of nature unleashed!.
Methinks that the ONLY prepared Relief Agency especially for IMMEDIATE RELIEF is the RED CROSS-International Wing- RedCross/Red Crescent- as they have Warehouses with Tents/Shelter-Warm Clothing and Food/Material NEEDED THE FIRST FEW DAYS!- So please donate immediately to Red Cross..........Soon Other types of Relief will be needed as needs change- i.e Relocation -Rehabilitation -Sanitation -Construction - Ongoing Food and Clothing etc- Which probably LOCAL CHARITIES can direct it much better.
Heres hoping such severe calamities will bring people and warring factions together - to better serve humanity and also force government to consider the fragile earth -ecosystems -all different species -all co-inhabiting the planet.
More practically- I sincerely hope a DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN and EDUCATION is brought up for the population(s) in the affected countries as a priority.
DEC 23, 2004: Ex Indian Prime Minister PV NARASIMHA RAO Passes away at age 83.
Quotes (Paraphrase) * see interesting context later
* "Even When I don't make a decision, I MAKE a decision NOT to make a decision."
Hon.Pamulaparthi Venkata "PV" Narasimha Rao (born June 28, 1921- Karimnagar, AP) was the ninth Prime Minister of the Republic of India. "PV" OR "Tatha"(Grandfather) as he was affectionately called died last week at age 83. .
May his Soul Rest in Peace.
A long time political figure all in the Indian National Congress Party- he did not flip parties in his long career right from when he was a Freedom Fighter. He held various State Level and Cabinet positions including CM of Andhra Pradesh and Foreign Minister and eventualy Prime Minister of India.(1991 to 1996).He also worked as a newspaper reporter for a while.
Rao was often called "Chanakya" by the media- (named after the Brilliant Sytatesman Genius of Indian History- who had written an entire treatise on Statesmanship).
Rao never sought the "Top position" but was unanimously elected by his Congress party leadership in 1991, as the PM after Rajiv Gandhi's assasination.
Looking at troubled economic times for India, Rao as a visionary, recruited current PM Manmohan Singh from his job at World Bank and also Montek Singh Ahluwalia as finance secretary - and RESHAPED the entire Economic landscape and future of India.
Along with reducing several (not all) Socialist inspired measures of Bureaucracy of"Licence Raj" and cutting the Gold Standard and Liberalizing Foreign investment etc- the Indian economy grew and maintained growth at about 5.5%.
In 1992 The Babri Masjid Mosque was demolished under his watch. Rao's inaction and failure to send in the trops to protect the Mosque was criticized and blamed for the destruction and subsequent fallout. NOW SEE QUOTE: * "Even When I don't make a decision, I MAKE a decision NOT to make a decision."*
Rao was a Scholar and linguist and could read and write 17 languages. His mother tongue was Telugu, Hindi,Marathi and English and Sanskrit. He was fluent in Arabic, French,Urdu, Spanish and Persian. He got his Degree in Hindi Literature and wrote books in more that 3 languages.
After his retirement, Rao wrote a book: "The Insider." The book follows the career of a person as he rises through the ranks of Indian politics, supposedly resembled events from Rao's own life. He was also charged in Bribery cases but later completely acquitted and exornated.
Rao is survived by three sons and five daughters.
May Tata "PV" garu's Soul rest in PEACE ~ Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantih!
DEC 22,2004:ANU NATRAJAN Appointed to Fremont City Council: YAY!!! The City of Fremont-population 250,000 with 20-25,000 (10%) Indian_Americans will be first major city in CA with Indian-American as City Councillor- Anu Natarajan.
Anu has been active in the City of Fremont as a Planning Commissioner for few years and was also active in the Alameda and Fremont Tri-City Democratic Party circles.
Anu is intelligent and a great person and WISH HER THE BEST OF LUCK- as this is an apponted position and Anu will have to prove herself to the Fremont City- whic I have NO DOUBT that she will succeed!.
NOTE: There is a growing undercurrent resentment noticed among some of the "long Term" residents of Fremont ( ie SOME Caucasian Folks)- on the Cultural Values and improvment brought to the City by Asians- Chinese and Indian in particular.
Heres wishing that the BETTER MAJORITY OF FOLKS- Caucasians, Asian and Every good Person will unite for the better of thE city and Community and get Anu the support to make Fremont even better!
Technically, the second Indian-born Fremont City Councillor- as Ex Council Woman Judy Zlatnik was born in India to Missionary parents.
By The Way- This ends the Male dominated City Council of Fremont and along with Steve Cho- Anu Natarajan will make up 40% representation for Asians- which is just about right for Fremont city!
Way to go Anu!
DEC 17, 2004: R.I.P- BHARAT-RATNA MS Subbalakshmi ji. The Nightingale voiced "MS" from Madurai-Chennai passed away last week. Her Beautiful voice and Soulful rendition of Bhajans(all languages); Carnatic Classical Music, Telugu, Tamil folk songs & Marathi Abhangs etc has inspired and brought solace to Millions of listeners and singers including many who were not really learned in nuances of Shastriya Sangeet or Indian Classical Music.
Her Accolades and Appreciation ranged from Many Many Greats in Carnatic Music AND ALSO Greats in Hindustani Music like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and also folks like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru etc.
Many folks dont know that MS Subbalakshmi was NOT born into a Brahmin family- and made her mark despite this "handicap" in an arena dominated and perhaps controlled by Brahmins. Tells you Music DOES indeed Transcend ALL BOUNDARIES .
May Her Sould rest in Peace.
MTV starts Indian Movie & Ethnic Language Channels:
Just announced! and you guessed it HINDI MOVIES and INDIAN Language oriented Shows are ON very very shortly. So Along with the ususal TV channel catering to Ethnic Community and few Local Channels teh Cable and Satellite shows like Zee TV, Sony TV etc - We have a Heavyweight production department into the Mix.
Sounds like Fun- hopefully Good input ges into programming- or else we will get the same COPY CAT Drivel with Whole mass of people dancing in Somewhat sync steps :-(. and imitating Hollwood Dancers......
........ Oh! Who am I kidding? :-)
PRESIDENT'S MEDAL OF HONOR: to Gen. Tommy Frank; (Iraq-Revitilization Chief) Paul Bremer and Ex-CIA Chief George Tenet.
Q; Whats going on??? Lets see who Prez Bush and His Advisors have rewarded :
a) Paul Bremer- who since his appointment has seen the Iraqi insurgency rise to a New level. Also an Dramatic Increase in Iraqi Suicide Bombers- and a Population Which may yet see an installation of an Islamic Oriented government- and a Fractious Coalition of parties at best AND a Increasingly Pissed-off population who dont really see Light at th End of the Tunnel!
b) Ex- CIA Director George Tenet- The guy who was FIRED a few months ago and who actually ENDORSED the Iraqi WMD as a reason for going into War!!
Actually since his ouster, his replacement Mr Goss has fired 200 CIA employees and for this Tenent Get a Prez Medal of Honor??
c) Gen Tomy Franks- a career Soldier probably is one desreving this award- as he simply executed his orders to very good level without questioning orders too much.
LAST WORD: How Come NO FATWA (n religious pronouncement) AGAINST Osama and Al Qaieda has ever ben issued by ANY of THE So-called Progressive & Peace Loving Imams and Mullahs ANYWHERE??
IF they truly think that Osama is An Anti-islamic Figure- Does it not make them responosible to issue a Fatwa AGAINST Osama and Al Qaieda??
Dec 15, 2005: Iranian Nobel Prize Winner Mrs Shirin Ebadi - A VERY courageous Woman- who has Dared and Defied the Ayatollahs of Iran is rightly deserving of support from all Democratic minded people.
But in a comedy of Errors- the US State Department will not allow her to earn from her writings and proceeds of her book BECACUSE She is an Irani Citizen and USA Has SANCTIONS against doing business with Iranis!
Is this not absurd! One can expect such reactions from Red Necks - whose reactions are seen in Racists acts, Vandalism; Mistaking Sikhs for Islamic Afghanis and Stupid IGNORANT things like this but the US Government??
Well, then again........
Isnt this a shame that such thought process permeates from the Top, What is even worse is that it AIN'T just Republicans- as State Dept is often comprised of Career government folks- could Be Demos or Independants etc....
How in the World can you NOT support a person who is STANDING UP to an Islamic movement which has been declared an Axis Of Evil??
..But then again.......We can talk of NUMBER of CUT & RUN by US State Department policy like the Kanchin Rebels in Myanmar WWII or the Hmong Rebels fighting the VietCong Or Even the Afghan Mujahadeen soon after Soviets were defeated! ALSO the Kurds who were slaughtered by saddam AFTER US-Iraq I and so on.
So is she persona-non-grata -because Ms Shirn Ebadi has often spoken strongly against US Foreign policy in a Global and Mid East Context??
AIDS DRUGS To Africa/Asia: Close on the heels of a story acknowledged by NIH (Nat'l Inst Health)- that AIDS drugs WITH KNOWN ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS- were shipped to Africa Anyway!
What was long suspected and revealed by a NIH whistle blower- was that Moms and Kids with AIDS will have become Double victims- by getting HIV from Errants husbands/Boyfriends and Then taking Drugs from USA knwn to cause severe side effects. This immoral conduct was KNOWN to NIH officials- US AID and covered up. It has long standing "open Secret" that expired medicines- Banned IN USA, Europe etc are often NOTt destroyed- as they are supposed to be but sent to Asian/Africa by Cynical Business people in cahoots with Corrupt Health Officials of the receiveing countries. Culpable in this are often Non Governmental Health Agencies and NPO'sw who receive and distribute them!
How Morally bankrupt are these folks! Makes you want to believe in KARMA after all!! "They will get what they deserve"
Dec 14, 2004: Recently passed without much fanfare in media circles-
Dec 10- recognized as International Human Rights Day.
This is one of the most important day in Human history- as WW I and WW II was fought based on this as well as principles of Democracy and Equality are based on it.
However, most media folks and discussions centered around more "topical" or Commerical intersting things including US-Iraq War II.
US Officials knew of Side Effects in AIDS Drugs Shipped to Africa anyway: What a Shame! What a Callous and Cynical attitude. Some of these things have been suspected and exposed in the past but with Morally BankruptFOfficials in Modern countries and Finaicially Corrupt Officials in Third World Countries getting together- its not too dificult to imaging how this would happen.
A quick investigation will reveal Expired medicines including Asprins, medicines for Heart; Cholestrol; Diabeste which are NON LONGER ALLOWED tO BE SOLD IN USA AND EUROPE- routinely makes their way to Asia and Africa.
Read more :http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041213/D86UUS7O0.html
Genderbias: Selection of Baby gender IN USA!
Very Sad issue- -This Wash. Post article illustrates theee&&aamp;aamp;aamp;ammp;ltt;
Genderbias on Society in AMERICA- where couples are choosing their
Child's gender bfore birth.
-The intersting part is this in America where Literacy is near 95%!
and One has to Observe if THE SAME FOLKS WHO RAISED A HUE & CRY FOR
THIS TOPIC In INDIA ALSO REACT WHEN IT APPLIES TO AMERICA(??)
So Lets see if Media/Press letter-writers and Organizations are TRULY
BALANCED in condemning this issue.
PS: This includes the Anti Abortion Lobby ANd the Religious
Right/Fundamentalists as well as many "Friends of SOUTH ASia" types
NOTE: The important issue IS the Gender bias against kids and
resultant "selection" "deselection"- WHICH DOES translate into killing
of Female babies- ALL OVER THE WORLD
http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-dyn/articles/A62067-2004Dec13_4.html ( type in one line)
Dec 7, 2004- Pearl Harbor Memorial Day today
This day was a Harbringer of many Earth Shaking Things.
A Sneak attack on USA Soil from Japan- Masses of KamaKazi (SUICIDE) Plane Bombers. The reaction of USA soon after - Unleashing Atomic Weapons - the first and Only Time used against Civilians and Military targets.
Looking at the 1000's of Lives Lost since WWII in Wars- coupled with the recent memorial anniversary of Bhopal Poison Gas WMD Tragedy- where immediately 20,000 peopl died and over 200,000 pople have died lingering deaths and of complications developed a a result of being Gassed by A WMD. Responsible Science and Ethics in Science comes immediately to mind.
When rules are flouted and circumvented just to suit cynical Super Powers and Super Corporates- A Rule of Might is established- which INVARIABLY results in an Uneven enforcement of Law and Order and Safety Standards etc.
What a Shame that Humanity has to pay for the Greed and Self interests of a Few- often resulting in paying with lives by So Many!
Dec 3, 2004:
BLOG ARCHIVES 2004 Sam Rao Indian -American Indian-American.org
DEC 29, 2004:
AID REQUEST: MOST RELIEF AGENCIES REQUEST CASH Rather Than Clothes , Food etc- BEACUSE THIS CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM OF USING MONEY TO SHIP AND TRANSPORT Etc.
BY USING CASH TO BUY LOCALLY- THE RELIEF AGENCIES CAN ALSO HELP LOCAL ECONOMY.
 |
RED CROSS- Click here for Link "International Response Fund" DONATE TO REDCROSS DIRECTLY-ONLINE Tsunami Disaster Relief in Southern Asia with 70,000 Dead and Millions Homeless |
The "Tsunami" which struck Southern Asia has wrecked havoc in its wake-with reports coming in of 50-60,000 dead and Milllons unaccounted for and Structural damage and Property Loss in the Billions of Dllars. Add on to this the need for rehailitation in future years. A Huge task indeed!.
Some of the affected countries will be better equipped for fundraising and delivery of services and rebuilding efforts both from within and from outside e.g. Indians living abroad etc.
The ensuing aid also needs to be directed towards Poorer areas of the region, including the fisherfolk settlements in Sumatra, Java/Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka Thailand, Andaman & Nicobar, Coastal India- many who lost their ENTIRE livlihoods.
Another chapter of this Tragedy here is the Lost Generation of Children- both killed in the onslaught and by the thousands of kids who are now Orphaned.
Also, in places like Andaman & Nicobar-100 miles from the epicenter- entire concrete bunkers and Indian AirForce and Navy bases have been wiped out. This Indian territory of Andaman and Nicobar ( a series of islands and atolls) also hosts Aborginal tribes (endangered & isolated) for thousands of years-and there is only an estimate of their TOTAL population- and the Death toll from these areas alone is estimated at 7,000- apart from Coastal India, Srilanka etc
RELIEF & AID:Already extraordinary tales of survival and the rallying around the aftermath of victims as well as people of the World is heartening. In USA relief agencies are floodeed with aid and donations. Non Profit Agencies like AID(Assoc for India's Dev.) with a strong presence in Southern India via Tamil Nadu Science Foundation) has already garnered $400,000 and started disaster relief- along with experienced folks like RED CROSS, U.N. and contingents from other Countries.
Locally, groups like TNSF(Tamil Nadu Science Foundation with AID in USA) are coordinating relief and delivery efforts to villages and fisherfolk in TN and AP as well.Others like RSS (Rasahtriya Swayam Sevak~ IDRF/Sewa Bharati in USA) have swung into gear- taking up the disposal of dead bodies and also relief camps, Food kitchens etc- for which the RSS always have an extraordinary record as First responders.
There are also numerous reports of local endeavors and faith based organizations working cooperatively-So in Tragedy most people have come together and working to solve the issue at hand.
AID REQUEST: MOST RELIEF AGENCIES REQUEST CASH Rather Than Clothes , Food etc- BEACUSE THIS CREATES ANOTHER PROBLEM OF USING MONEY TO SHIP AND TRANSPORT Etc.
BY USING CASHTO BUY LOCALLY- THE RELIEF AGENCIES CAN ALSO HELP LOCAL ECONOMY.
INTERESTING: Among all this bad news comes the interesting report from Sri Lanka Wild Life folks that NOT A SINGLE WILD ANIMAL including Elephants, hares, rabbits etc ARE AMONG THE DEAD. These animals "sensed" the impending tsunami and made way to Safer higher ground. The dead animals are the DOMESTICATED Cows, Buffaloes, Dogs etc- who were trapped closer to Human habitat- threatening the contamination of ground water.
DEC 27, 2004: With the disaster in Southern Asia stricking several countries severely- and the impact felt as far as Ethiopia to the West! The magnitude and power of nature-tidal wave can only be imagined! even folks who survived couldnot begin to describe the raw power of nature unleashed!.
Methinks that the ONLY prepared Relief Agency especially for IMMEDIATE RELIEF is the RED CROSS-International Wing- RedCross/Red Crescent- as they have Warehouses with Tents/Shelter-Warm Clothing and Food/Material NEEDED THE FIRST FEW DAYS!- So please donate immediately to Red Cross..........Soon Other types of Relief will be needed as needs change- i.e Relocation -Rehabilitation -Sanitation -Construction - Ongoing Food and Clothing etc- Which probably LOCAL CHARITIES can direct it much better.
Heres hoping such severe calamities will bring people and warring factions together - to better serve humanity and also force government to consider the fragile earth -ecosystems -all different species -all co-inhabiting the planet.
More practically- I sincerely hope a DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN and EDUCATION is brought up for the population(s) in the affected countries as a priority.
DEC 23, 2004: Ex Indian Prime Minister PV NARASIMHA RAO Passes away at age 83.
Quotes (Paraphrase) * see interesting context later
* "Even When I don't make a decision, I MAKE a decision NOT to make a decision."
Hon.Pamulaparthi Venkata "PV" Narasimha Rao (born June 28, 1921- Karimnagar, AP) was the ninth Prime Minister of the Republic of India. "PV" OR "Tatha"(Grandfather) as he was affectionately called died last week at age 83. .
May his Soul Rest in Peace.
A long time political figure all in the Indian National Congress Party- he did not flip parties in his long career right from when he was a Freedom Fighter. He held various State Level and Cabinet positions including CM of Andhra Pradesh and Foreign Minister and eventualy Prime Minister of India.(1991 to 1996).He also worked as a newspaper reporter for a while.
Rao was often called "Chanakya" by the media- (named after the Brilliant Sytatesman Genius of Indian History- who had written an entire treatise on Statesmanship).
Rao never sought the "Top position" but was unanimously elected by his Congress party leadership in 1991, as the PM after Rajiv Gandhi's assasination.
Looking at troubled economic times for India, Rao as a visionary, recruited current PM Manmohan Singh from his job at World Bank and also Montek Singh Ahluwalia as finance secretary - and RESHAPED the entire Economic landscape and future of India.
Along with reducing several (not all) Socialist inspired measures of Bureaucracy of"Licence Raj" and cutting the Gold Standard and Liberalizing Foreign investment etc- the Indian economy grew and maintained growth at about 5.5%.
In 1992 The Babri Masjid Mosque was demolished under his watch. Rao's inaction and failure to send in the trops to protect the Mosque was criticized and blamed for the destruction and subsequent fallout. NOW SEE QUOTE: * "Even When I don't make a decision, I MAKE a decision NOT to make a decision."*
Rao was a Scholar and linguist and could read and write 17 languages. His mother tongue was Telugu, Hindi,Marathi and English and Sanskrit. He was fluent in Arabic, French,Urdu, Spanish and Persian. He got his Degree in Hindi Literature and wrote books in more that 3 languages.
After his retirement, Rao wrote a book: "The Insider." The book follows the career of a person as he rises through the ranks of Indian politics, supposedly resembled events from Rao's own life. He was also charged in Bribery cases but later completely acquitted and exornated.
Rao is survived by three sons and five daughters.
May Tata "PV" garu's Soul rest in PEACE ~ Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantih!
DEC 22,2004:ANU NATRAJAN Appointed to Fremont City Council: YAY!!! The City of Fremont-population 250,000 with 20-25,000 (10%) Indian_Americans will be first major city in CA with Indian-American as City Councillor- Anu Natarajan.
Anu has been active in the City of Fremont as a Planning Commissioner for few years and was also active in the Alameda and Fremont Tri-City Democratic Party circles.
Anu is intelligent and a great person and WISH HER THE BEST OF LUCK- as this is an apponted position and Anu will have to prove herself to the Fremont City- whic I have NO DOUBT that she will succeed!.
NOTE: There is a growing undercurrent resentment noticed among some of the "long Term" residents of Fremont ( ie SOME Caucasian Folks)- on the Cultural Values and improvment brought to the City by Asians- Chinese and Indian in particular.
Heres wishing that the BETTER MAJORITY OF FOLKS- Caucasians, Asian and Every good Person will unite for the better of thE city and Community and get Anu the support to make Fremont even better!
Technically, the second Indian-born Fremont City Councillor- as Ex Council Woman Judy Zlatnik was born in India to Missionary parents.
By The Way- This ends the Male dominated City Council of Fremont and along with Steve Cho- Anu Natarajan will make up 40% representation for Asians- which is just about right for Fremont city!
Way to go Anu!
DEC 17, 2004: R.I.P- BHARAT-RATNA MS Subbalakshmi ji. The Nightingale voiced "MS" from Madurai-Chennai passed away last week. Her Beautiful voice and Soulful rendition of Bhajans(all languages); Carnatic Classical Music, Telugu, Tamil folk songs & Marathi Abhangs etc has inspired and brought solace to Millions of listeners and singers including many who were not really learned in nuances of Shastriya Sangeet or Indian Classical Music.
Her Accolades and Appreciation ranged from Many Many Greats in Carnatic Music AND ALSO Greats in Hindustani Music like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and also folks like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru etc.Many folks dont know that MS Subbalakshmi was NOT born into a Brahmin family- and made her mark despite this "handicap" in an arena dominated and perhaps controlled by Brahmins. Tells you Music DOES indeed Transcend ALL BOUNDARIES .
May Her Sould rest in Peace.
MTV starts Indian Movie & Ethnic Language Channels:
Just announced! and you guessed it HINDI MOVIES and INDIAN Language oriented Shows are ON very very shortly. So Along with the ususal TV channel catering to Ethnic Community and few Local Channels teh Cable and Satellite shows like Zee TV, Sony TV etc - We have a Heavyweight production department into the Mix.
Sounds like Fun- hopefully Good input ges into programming- or else we will get the same COPY CAT Drivel with Whole mass of people dancing in Somewhat sync steps :-(. and imitating Hollwood Dancers......
........ Oh! Who am I kidding? :-)
PRESIDENT'S MEDAL OF HONOR: to Gen. Tommy Frank; (Iraq-Revitilization Chief) Paul Bremer and Ex-CIA Chief George Tenet.
Q; Whats going on??? Lets see who Prez Bush and His Advisors have rewarded :
a) Paul Bremer- who since his appointment has seen the Iraqi insurgency rise to a New level. Also an Dramatic Increase in Iraqi Suicide Bombers- and a Population Which may yet see an installation of an Islamic Oriented government- and a Fractious Coalition of parties at best AND a Increasingly Pissed-off population who dont really see Light at th End of the Tunnel!
b) Ex- CIA Director George Tenet- The guy who was FIRED a few months ago and who actually ENDORSED the Iraqi WMD as a reason for going into War!!
Actually since his ouster, his replacement Mr Goss has fired 200 CIA employees and for this Tenent Get a Prez Medal of Honor??
c) Gen Tomy Franks- a career Soldier probably is one desreving this award- as he simply executed his orders to very good level without questioning orders too much.
LAST WORD: How Come NO FATWA (n religious pronouncement) AGAINST Osama and Al Qaieda has ever ben issued by ANY of THE So-called Progressive & Peace Loving Imams and Mullahs ANYWHERE??
IF they truly think that Osama is An Anti-islamic Figure- Does it not make them responosible to issue a Fatwa AGAINST Osama and Al Qaieda??
Dec 15, 2005: Iranian Nobel Prize Winner Mrs Shirin Ebadi - A VERY courageous Woman- who has Dared and Defied the Ayatollahs of Iran is rightly deserving of support from all Democratic minded people.
But in a comedy of Errors- the US State Department will not allow her to earn from her writings and proceeds of her book BECACUSE She is an Irani Citizen and USA Has SANCTIONS against doing business with Iranis!
Is this not absurd! One can expect such reactions from Red Necks - whose reactions are seen in Racists acts, Vandalism; Mistaking Sikhs for Islamic Afghanis and Stupid IGNORANT things like this but the US Government??
Well, then again........
Isnt this a shame that such thought process permeates from the Top, What is even worse is that it AIN'T just Republicans- as State Dept is often comprised of Career government folks- could Be Demos or Independants etc....
How in the World can you NOT support a person who is STANDING UP to an Islamic movement which has been declared an Axis Of Evil??
..But then again.......We can talk of NUMBER of CUT & RUN by US State Department policy like the Kanchin Rebels in Myanmar WWII or the Hmong Rebels fighting the VietCong Or Even the Afghan Mujahadeen soon after Soviets were defeated! ALSO the Kurds who were slaughtered by saddam AFTER US-Iraq I and so on.
So is she persona-non-grata -because Ms Shirn Ebadi has often spoken strongly against US Foreign policy in a Global and Mid East Context??
AIDS DRUGS To Africa/Asia: Close on the heels of a story acknowledged by NIH (Nat'l Inst Health)- that AIDS drugs WITH KNOWN ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS- were shipped to Africa Anyway!
What was long suspected and revealed by a NIH whistle blower- was that Moms and Kids with AIDS will have become Double victims- by getting HIV from Errants husbands/Boyfriends and Then taking Drugs from USA knwn to cause severe side effects. This immoral conduct was KNOWN to NIH officials- US AID and covered up. It has long standing "open Secret" that expired medicines- Banned IN USA, Europe etc are often NOTt destroyed- as they are supposed to be but sent to Asian/Africa by Cynical Business people in cahoots with Corrupt Health Officials of the receiveing countries. Culpable in this are often Non Governmental Health Agencies and NPO'sw who receive and distribute them!
How Morally bankrupt are these folks! Makes you want to believe in KARMA after all!! "They will get what they deserve"
Dec 14, 2004: Recently passed without much fanfare in media circles-
Dec 10- recognized as International Human Rights Day.
This is one of the most important day in Human history- as WW I and WW II was fought based on this as well as principles of Democracy and Equality are based on it.
However, most media folks and discussions centered around more "topical" or Commerical intersting things including US-Iraq War II.
US Officials knew of Side Effects in AIDS Drugs Shipped to Africa anyway: What a Shame! What a Callous and Cynical attitude. Some of these things have been suspected and exposed in the past but with Morally BankruptFOfficials in Modern countries and Finaicially Corrupt Officials in Third World Countries getting together- its not too dificult to imaging how this would happen.
A quick investigation will reveal Expired medicines including Asprins, medicines for Heart; Cholestrol; Diabeste which are NON LONGER ALLOWED tO BE SOLD IN USA AND EUROPE- routinely makes their way to Asia and Africa.
Read more :http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041213/D86UUS7O0.html
Genderbias: Selection of Baby gender IN USA!
Very Sad issue- -This Wash. Post article illustrates theee&&aamp;aamp;aamp;ammp;ltt;
Genderbias on Society in AMERICA- where couples are choosing their
Child's gender bfore birth.
-The intersting part is this in America where Literacy is near 95%!
and One has to Observe if THE SAME FOLKS WHO RAISED A HUE & CRY FOR
THIS TOPIC In INDIA ALSO REACT WHEN IT APPLIES TO AMERICA(??)
So Lets see if Media/Press letter-writers and Organizations are TRULY
BALANCED in condemning this issue.
PS: This includes the Anti Abortion Lobby ANd the Religious
Right/Fundamentalists as well as many "Friends of SOUTH ASia" types
NOTE: The important issue IS the Gender bias against kids and
resultant "selection" "deselection"- WHICH DOES translate into killing
of Female babies- ALL OVER THE WORLD
http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-dyn/articles/A62067-2004Dec13_4.html ( type in one line)
Dec 7, 2004- Pearl Harbor Memorial Day today
This day was a Harbringer of many Earth Shaking Things.
A Sneak attack on USA Soil from Japan- Masses of KamaKazi (SUICIDE) Plane Bombers. The reaction of USA soon after - Unleashing Atomic Weapons - the first and Only Time used against Civilians and Military targets.
Looking at the 1000's of Lives Lost since WWII in Wars- coupled with the recent memorial anniversary of Bhopal Poison Gas WMD Tragedy- where immediately 20,000 peopl died and over 200,000 pople have died lingering deaths and of complications developed a a result of being Gassed by A WMD. Responsible Science and Ethics in Science comes immediately to mind.
When rules are flouted and circumvented just to suit cynical Super Powers and Super Corporates- A Rule of Might is established- which INVARIABLY results in an Uneven enforcement of Law and Order and Safety Standards etc.
What a Shame that Humanity has to pay for the Greed and Self interests of a Few- often resulting in paying with lives by So Many!
Dec 3, 2004:
WMD on Dec 3rd 1984- 20 years ago- Still not much Accountability for Union Carbide/ DOW chemicals.This was the ACTUAL WMD_ Weapon of Mass Destruction- causing 20,000 deaths and the devastations on Generations following with genetic problems resulting in Birth Defects.
While Systemic Corruption and Bureaucracy was the reason for not delivering final justics an d monetray compensation to the ACTUAl vitims- Till now DOW Chemicals/Union Carbide and their Management Still DOES NOT CONFESS and APOLOGIZE and MAKE AMENDS except for covering up and token exgratia payments.
While many individual heros and heronines have emerged from the Victims Like Rashida Bee and Champa Devi (see earlier blog/article) etc- the CALLOUS ATTITUDE and COVERUP is the worst Legacy.
Focus on Rehabilitation and Prevention of WMD instead of Wild Goose Chases for imagined/contrived WMDs- The ONLY comon point being the resulting in 100,000 deaths of innocents!
http://www.bhopal.net/
While Systemic Corruption and Bureaucracy was the reason for not delivering final justics an d monetray compensation to the ACTUAl vitims- Till now DOW Chemicals/Union Carbide and their Management Still DOES NOT CONFESS and APOLOGIZE and MAKE AMENDS except for covering up and token exgratia payments.
While many individual heros and heronines have emerged from the Victims Like Rashida Bee and Champa Devi (see earlier blog/article) etc- the CALLOUS ATTITUDE and COVERUP is the worst Legacy.
Focus on Rehabilitation and Prevention of WMD instead of Wild Goose Chases for imagined/contrived WMDs- The ONLY comon point being the resulting in 100,000 deaths of innocents!
http://www.bhopal.net/
Dec 1, 2004: WORLD AIDS DAY
( See AIDS Fight Blog Comments Below)
PERSONAL: I'm back to blogging :-)
Having taken break from WRITING a Blog- I promoted my Photo Journalist Documentary eye :-)as a Blog. BUT with too many emails and reminders- I'm back doing BOTH!!!!
PERSONAL: I'm back to blogging :-)
Having taken break from WRITING a Blog- I promoted my Photo Journalist Documentary eye :-)as a Blog. BUT with too many emails and reminders- I'm back doing BOTH!!!!
US ELECTIONS & AFTERMATH: For many folks who thought I had tuned out- Nope...was still around. See my blog Predictions from JAN 1, 2004.
Dubya Wins-Powell out. King Lateral move. etc.
Dubya Wins-Powell out. King Lateral move. etc.
.Have also predicted Rumsfeld neing eased out- Watch for early 2005 for Rumsfeld's adieu.
WORLD AIDS DAY-
AIDS is a tremendous problem for Third World Countries- especially those countries still in denial. Unfortunately the most populous ones fall in this category ie CHINA, INDIA and individual countries in continental AFRICA.
There are 5.3 Million reported cases of AIDS in SOUTH AFRICA already. In INDIA the figure is 5.1 Million cases! And we all know the MASSIVE UNDERREPORTING IN India and simlar Third World countries.
Such Countries better WAKE UP as the Cost of AIDS- Eradication and Hospitalization is HUGE.
ALARMING STATSISTICS FOr AIDS: -Peter Piot- UN AIDS says -"In South Africa, it took five years for prevalence rates to move from 0.5 percent to 1 percent. Then, in only seven years, it jumped from 1 percent to 20 percent."
NOTE: AIDS is no longer a Homosexual ONLY disease. Heteros and "Travelling" people contract it the MOST and infect their Wives/girlfriends; prostitutes and so on.
Another MAJOR source is Tainted Blood Supplies. With Poor screening of Blood in Third World Countries- its only a matter of time before AIDS explodes unless an Urgent Education and Eradication efforts take place.
NOTE: Thers is no need to wage a War with such countries. A significant 4 point Slide in gains made in the Economy are very easily concievable- which means an Economy Growth of 6 % (considered Healthy) can EASILY SLIDE to 2 % because of the cost and devastation of AIDS Also the Toll and effect is most felt on its most productive citizens- young men and women!!.
LAST WORD: Heres wishing Celebrities ion all Walks of Life dedicate at least One Commercial or Infomercial to Community Causes like Fighting AIDS or Volunteerism etc
Original Article-(Planet Guru) Nov 1 issue
SLIDE SHOW "DURGA PUJA 2004- Sunnyvale Hindu Temple"-
Oct 22-24th- Palo Alto PHOTO JOURNAL
SLIDE SHOW "DURGA PUJA 2004- Sunnyvale Hindu Temple"-
Oct 22-24th- Palo Alto PHOTO JOURNAL
Oct 31st SARDAR VALLABHAI PATEL Anniversary
(Sunnyvale) PHOTO JOURNAL
Oct 25th- ARUNA ROY- MKSS Talk- Stanford University
- Palo Alto PHOTO JOURNAL
(Sunnyvale) PHOTO JOURNAL
Oct 25th- ARUNA ROY- MKSS Talk- Stanford University
- Palo Alto PHOTO JOURNAL
Website/General- FEEDBACK FORM
PHOTO JOURNALS
Oct 9- "JHOOM"- Bay Area DANDIA RAAS- Palo Alto
Organized by SRI Comm (Sam Rao)
Oct 2-GANDHI DAY 2004- Palo Alto- (SLIDE SHOW)
Organized by SRI Comm (Sam Rao)
Organized by SRI Comm (Sam Rao)
Oct 2-GANDHI DAY 2004- Palo Alto- (SLIDE SHOW)
Organized by SRI Comm (Sam Rao)
Sept 19, 2004 -GANESHA PUJA- Fremont Temple-200 kids doing Ganesh Pooja-
Sept 18, 2004 VIBHA WALK 2004 -Slide Show
Sept 12, 2004 Slide Show BATA SPB Concert
Sept 1, 2004 : CRY WALK 2004-slideshow
AUG 23, 2004 TEAM WALK 2004-slideshow
AUG 22, 2004: EXCLUSIVE SLIDE SHOW
FESTIVAL OF INDIA 2004- FREMONT
Day1: General (slide show)
DAY 2: Stage | Parade | Crowd
SEPT 16, 2004
Experiments with Truth! (and Democracy :-))
Congrats on latest experiment by Saudi Arabia to ALLOW a limited form of Elections!!.
Turnsout that the Saudi Government is trying out a partial election for the 170-odd municipal seats in their kingdom. This is a first! With saudia granting their Citizens or is it "Subjects" the choice of limited Voting rights! Great News !!
A reaction to the growing disenchanment of Saudi people to the Monarchy- who really dont do much. AND MORE DANGEROUSLY- a tacit admission of the Dis-enchanted -Disenfranchised YOUTH- Mostly Muslims- AND who seemingly are turning to Radical Islamic Fundamentalism as an alternative.
Turnsout that the Saudi Government is trying out a partial election for the 170-odd municipal seats in their kingdom. This is a first! With saudia granting their Citizens or is it "Subjects" the choice of limited Voting rights! Great News !!
A reaction to the growing disenchanment of Saudi people to the Monarchy- who really dont do much. AND MORE DANGEROUSLY- a tacit admission of the Dis-enchanted -Disenfranchised YOUTH- Mostly Muslims- AND who seemingly are turning to Radical Islamic Fundamentalism as an alternative.
(Reminder- 12 of 9/11 hijackers were these young men from Saudi!- who were willing to KILL and Be KILLED for 'Cake in Heaven" or "Paradise in Heaven" or some bull S**t the Imams and Mullas promised them.)
What is shuddering and sad and dangerous is that young people in their 20's would giveup their entire life ahead of them! This tells us of the Poor prospects available- the despair/futlity in their lives and the POOR EDUCATION-IMPAIRED VALUE JUDGEMENT & VALUE UPBRINGING - which would allow them to ACT as violent terroists!.
This actually portends and signals a vey clear ominous signal that the World watchout- as the snake is loose. In long run this is is healthy but portends danger in the short term. IT ALSO CLEARLy SHOWS THAT THE POLICY TACTIC OF PAY OFF THE TERRORISTS-SO THEY CAN "PLAY" ELSEWHERE... DIDNOT WORK NOR LAST LONG.
Lessons for All countries incl USA- Remember Taliban and the Mujahadeen and the trained Saboutuers in Afghan war who came back and bombed the World trade Center 1993 for starters!! And Now recently for Pakistan with the State sponosred terrorists in KAshmir - LeT, HuM and JEM who have targeted Musharaff etc
This actually portends and signals a vey clear ominous signal that the World watchout- as the snake is loose. In long run this is is healthy but portends danger in the short term. IT ALSO CLEARLy SHOWS THAT THE POLICY TACTIC OF PAY OFF THE TERRORISTS-SO THEY CAN "PLAY" ELSEWHERE... DIDNOT WORK NOR LAST LONG.
Lessons for All countries incl USA- Remember Taliban and the Mujahadeen and the trained Saboutuers in Afghan war who came back and bombed the World trade Center 1993 for starters!! And Now recently for Pakistan with the State sponosred terrorists in KAshmir - LeT, HuM and JEM who have targeted Musharaff etc
LAST WORD: CORRUPTION in RUSSIA- Seems 1,000 rubles= $34- BRIBE got an ARRESTED WOMAN TERRORIST (Chechen) BACK ON the Airplane- which she then blewup recently killing all on board.
While a SHOCKER- EVERONE IN THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRY has taken a sharp breath!- saying " We were expecting this!".
Unfortunately- for terroists even $1000 is nothing- which is a SMALL FORTUNE for workers and corrupt officials in Third World countries.
Unfortinately- this aspect will easily CLOUD THE JUDGEMENT of many people and officials-even there is no intent of malice- and they can become unwitting party to Terror bombs etc. What a shame!.
Lets launch a MASSIVE CAMPAIGN against corruption- using the terror bomb possibility as an example- MAYBE THIS TACTIC WILL RID OR AT LEAST REDUCE ENDEMIC CORRUPTION. We Wish-Hope & Pray
While a SHOCKER- EVERONE IN THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRY has taken a sharp breath!- saying " We were expecting this!".
Unfortunately- for terroists even $1000 is nothing- which is a SMALL FORTUNE for workers and corrupt officials in Third World countries.
Unfortinately- this aspect will easily CLOUD THE JUDGEMENT of many people and officials-even there is no intent of malice- and they can become unwitting party to Terror bombs etc. What a shame!.
Lets launch a MASSIVE CAMPAIGN against corruption- using the terror bomb possibility as an example- MAYBE THIS TACTIC WILL RID OR AT LEAST REDUCE ENDEMIC CORRUPTION. We Wish-Hope & Pray
SEPT 12,2004 :
BATA SP Balasubramanyam Concert SLIDE SHOW
SEPT 15, 2004
Congrats on latest India National Sports awards Winners 2004
The annual awards include the ARJUNA AWARDS- & TENZING ADVENTURE AWARD & DRONOCHARYA AWARD- duly named afer some illlustrious Indians and the Super award the KHEL RATNA AWARD- awarded this year to WORLD CLASS Long jumper Anju George.
Anju's Husband Bobby George got the prestigious DRONACHARYA award for Best COACH. The MAULANA AZAD AWARD- Best institution for Sports was the Guru Nanak Dev University-Punjab.
Notable in theArjuna Award list- R.S. Rathore- Silver Medalist Olympics 2004- and Harbhajan Turbanator Singh- Cricket (tho' no performance in 2003 but deserved for previous years).
Anju's Husband Bobby George got the prestigious DRONACHARYA award for Best COACH. The MAULANA AZAD AWARD- Best institution for Sports was the Guru Nanak Dev University-Punjab.
Notable in theArjuna Award list- R.S. Rathore- Silver Medalist Olympics 2004- and Harbhajan Turbanator Singh- Cricket (tho' no performance in 2003 but deserved for previous years).
Dronacharya award:
Robert Bobby George (Athletics), Anoop Kumar (Boxing), Rajinder Singh (Hockey), Suckchen Singh Cheema (Wrestling).
Arjuna award:
Soma Biswas (Athletics), Madhuri Saxena (Athletics), Pankaj Advani (Cue Sports), M C Merrycom (Boxing), Koneru Humpy (Chess), Rajesh Pattu (Equestrian), Devesh Chowhan (Hockey), Surajlata Devi (Hockey), Akram Shah (Judo), Sanjeev Kumar (Kabaddi), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Shooting), Harbhajan Singh (Cricket), Mithali Raj (Cricket), Shokinder Tomar (Wrestling), N M Srinivas Rao (Paralympic Games).
Dhyanchand Award:
Labh Singh (Athletics), Hardayal Singh (Hockey), M D Parsuram (Physically Hhandicapped).
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Lifetime Acheivement award: Bula Chodhary Land Adventure: Brian Dermot Kharpran Daly Water Adventure: Relu Ram Thakur.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
LAST WORD: Interesting sociologically speaking- how much credit and interest Sports generate from time immeorial. Personal and team feats of powess, skill and talent. Right from tribal times and ramayana and aMhabharata and Greek mythology (olympics)- is replete with stories of Games and Sports.
Modern India has embraced Colonial sports like Cricket while only sporadically producing "good results"...but PARTICPATION also counts and its interesting to see the effect on the Morale of a country AND The Physical Wellbeings of Peoples of a nation..based on Sports and Games.
Modern India has embraced Colonial sports like Cricket while only sporadically producing "good results"...but PARTICPATION also counts and its interesting to see the effect on the Morale of a country AND The Physical Wellbeings of Peoples of a nation..based on Sports and Games.
SEPT 12,2004 :
BATA SP Balasubramanyam Concert SLIDE SHOW
SEPT 6,2004 :
Wishing Prez. Clinton Well and A speedy recovery from the Quadraple Heart surgery:
As unexpected as deadly as ever-Prez Clinton experienced symptoms which strike Millions and Millions of middle aged people everyday in USA.
While Clinton jogged regularly- he still very clearly an imbiber of Unhealthy food- esp. Cheeseburgers-Hambugers etc of the McDonald variety.
While junk food and Unhealthy greasy food DO TASTE GOOD- Moderation is required and even WITH the High incidence of blocked arteries-obesity and ill health sweeping the nation- many folks continue to indulge
In all thsi is lost the MAD COW Disease and AVAIN FLU Disease- both alive and thriving only suppressed ( from the people) that is!!!
NOTE: Mad Cow disease affects Cow/Buffalo etc while
AVIAN of BIRD Flu affects Birds ( which should include Chicken and Turkey!!!)
GO VEGETARIAN- Or at Least be Moderate
PROLIFERATION- Recent reports have highlighted the clandestine trade in Nuke Proliferation via Libya and Iran- Each helped clearly by Pakistan and N.Korea to some extent. The funding came partially from Saudi intersts- clearly these folks were looking for the "Islamic bomb!!
while good sensible people of Pakistan want peace and friendly relations with neighbors- and MORE money spent of Educatioan and Nation develoment schemes- the NOT-SO STABLE Military Dictatorship of Pakistan and their Fanatic wing are on their OWN ROGUE MISSION!
While Time and again- one hears of AL Qaeda terrorists operating with impunity in the "Tribal Badlands" near Afghanistan- EVERY HIGH PROFILE AL QAEIDA/TALIBAN OPERATIVE HAS BEEN CAPTURED WELL INSIDE PAKISTAN!!
Infact. many in KARACHI- and some in Defence Colony apartments or "Safe Houses" of ISI and Pak Army Generals!!
Gen Musharraf is treading a thin line with instablity all over and Islamic fanatic elements in the army waiting around!!
Hope that no "hostile takeover" happens- especially as ISI Pakistan has a stake in Internationalizing the KASHMIR issue - esp by using the old method of infilterating Terrorists into Kashmir BEFORE Winter SNOWS SEAL the Himalayas and Kashmir mountains- ie Terror infiltration reaches a peak in OCTOBER/NOVEMBER (and again in March when snows melt)
LAST WORD: In all this MUSHARAFF's Daughter and Children have taken the ART OF LIVING Meditation Course. This course inspired by Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar has recently been offered in Pakistan by AoL Trained Bay area teacher Naeem Zamindar.
While the same course has also been offered to troubled citizend of war torn Afghans and Iraqis- Gen Musharaff's daughter is ONE HIGH profile person sincerley accepting a proven method of Meditation and yoga- which has come from Thousands of years of ancient Culture- WHICH ALL THE PEOPLE OF Indian Sub-continent SHARE!
...So more grassroots efforts like this are needed to rid the area and elsewhere of violence and let peace reign.!
AUG 31,2004 : PHOTO JOURNALAs unexpected as deadly as ever-Prez Clinton experienced symptoms which strike Millions and Millions of middle aged people everyday in USA.
While Clinton jogged regularly- he still very clearly an imbiber of Unhealthy food- esp. Cheeseburgers-Hambugers etc of the McDonald variety.
While junk food and Unhealthy greasy food DO TASTE GOOD- Moderation is required and even WITH the High incidence of blocked arteries-obesity and ill health sweeping the nation- many folks continue to indulge
In all thsi is lost the MAD COW Disease and AVAIN FLU Disease- both alive and thriving only suppressed ( from the people) that is!!!
NOTE: Mad Cow disease affects Cow/Buffalo etc while
AVIAN of BIRD Flu affects Birds ( which should include Chicken and Turkey!!!)
GO VEGETARIAN- Or at Least be Moderate
while good sensible people of Pakistan want peace and friendly relations with neighbors- and MORE money spent of Educatioan and Nation develoment schemes- the NOT-SO STABLE Military Dictatorship of Pakistan and their Fanatic wing are on their OWN ROGUE MISSION!
While Time and again- one hears of AL Qaeda terrorists operating with impunity in the "Tribal Badlands" near Afghanistan- EVERY HIGH PROFILE AL QAEIDA/TALIBAN OPERATIVE HAS BEEN CAPTURED WELL INSIDE PAKISTAN!!
Infact. many in KARACHI- and some in Defence Colony apartments or "Safe Houses" of ISI and Pak Army Generals!!
Gen Musharraf is treading a thin line with instablity all over and Islamic fanatic elements in the army waiting around!!
Hope that no "hostile takeover" happens- especially as ISI Pakistan has a stake in Internationalizing the KASHMIR issue - esp by using the old method of infilterating Terrorists into Kashmir BEFORE Winter SNOWS SEAL the Himalayas and Kashmir mountains- ie Terror infiltration reaches a peak in OCTOBER/NOVEMBER (and again in March when snows melt)
While the same course has also been offered to troubled citizend of war torn Afghans and Iraqis- Gen Musharaff's daughter is ONE HIGH profile person sincerley accepting a proven method of Meditation and yoga- which has come from Thousands of years of ancient Culture- WHICH ALL THE PEOPLE OF Indian Sub-continent SHARE!
...So more grassroots efforts like this are needed to rid the area and elsewhere of violence and let peace reign.!
Exclusive CRY WALK 2004-slideshow
Exclusive TEAM WALK 2004-slideshow
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-
Great Olympics- with its share of Great Moments- Achievement- Scandals- PhotoOps and Clowns etc-
Great that non major terror incident took place- except for the publicity seeking deranged Priest who shoved the Brazilian Mrathon Leader into the crowds. This is the fourth or ifth time he has interrupted major Sports event- maybe he should be sent to prison psyc ward instead of giving a suspended sentence.
OLYMPICS clearly lived up to the spirits and camrederie of All nations- where sports or a common end brought all to the stage. GREAT GAMES ATHENS- and REPORTS Indicate a Great Time AT Athens too!!
TEAM Vs INDIVIDUAL PLAY: Along the way TEAM events were CLEARLY defined a opposed to INDIVIDUAL SPORTS. CASe and Point being TEAM USA Basketball- which has fantastic and best Individual players.
EVERYONE including Basketball players from other countries and coaches ALL agree that US basketball players are the Best ..BUT In TEAM sports like B-BAll/Soccer/Hockey etc you cant win if you DONT PASS TO A TEAMMATE.!! so LeBaraon, Carmello et al were not very good selections.
AS Gold Medal winner Ginobli ( Argentina AND NBA Player San Antonio Spurs )- "Olympics basketbal is NOT One-on-One but Five-on Five"
So a Lesson watched and hopefully learnt by TEAM USA AND THE REST OF the Country-as this is ALSO a lesson for recruiting raw talent STRAIGHT FROM Highschools without Emotonal maturity of Teamwork etc developed.
Many Coaches and observors commented on the lack of emphasis on basic skills in Sports but rather on Commercialization of the sports and emphasis on the spectacular like Dunks etc and not on sound fundamentals.
SPORTS METAPHOR On US Lifestyle???
This incident underscores and itself may be a statement on the current popular lifestyle in USA- especially those trying to live in isolation- without learning abot other countries and maintaining the technological superiority of The USA. To maintain the current lifestyle and economy etc- it takes SKILL AND HARD WORK- Nothing will be given to you in a platter- as many seem to have come to expect in Domestic issues .
LAST WORD:.Funny- it may take a popular sport to shake some of the folks into doing something fundamentally different and shake the complacency which seems to have permeated into USA popular culture.
I mean this includes areas OTHER Than Sports ie Fndamental values of a nation like Education - Emphasis on Higher Education- Sciences- Reinvestment into Education and Schools and Teachers etc..... We all hope!!!
AUG 22, 2004.
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-:
While Olympics has lived upto its expectations in terms of being a Mega Sporting event- with Saga of Actions and events- Stories of Ups and Downs- seen at ALL THE GAMS....Still this time around there seems to be an unusually "RICH CONTENT FILLED OLYMPICS"!!
Whether its The Iraqi Soccer Team story OR the Doping Scandals pre and duiring Olympics and More to come!!
Some interesting features- due to some semblance of crackdown (selective!) on Doping- many American Atheletes stayed home. This also explained the SUB-PAR performance of many Previous record holders from All over the World.
This also explained some athlete.. "pulling out due to injury"!
BULGARIA again was featured as a Doping powerhouse- and even the Indian Weightlifting got caught doping by 2 Women Weightlfters. Sure Enough! India had hired Bulgarian Coach ( inspite of his past known involvement with Dope and Steroids!!). YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!
THE UNSPOKEN SCANDAL: The not so spoken of story was the FIXING of matches in favor of America.
I'm talking about what the Media IS NOT SPEAKING LOUD ENOUGH ABOUT- The 3 suspended Judges in Paul Hamm being Awarded the GoldMedal in Men's Gymnastic (Individual)
- A great job and comeback by Paulllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll HHHHHHHamm who literally VAULTED from 12th plcae position to 1st place- and eventualy was "AWARDED" the Gold.
-Seems The Gold was actually WON by The SSSSSSSSSSSSSSooooooooooooouuuth Korean- who was AWARDED the Bronze and this was by virtue of the 3 now-suspended judges who started with a Low score maximum- which resulted in a Lower final score- enough to screw the S.Korean out of Gold Medal.
Well the SILENT SCANDAL- The Supervising Referee /Judge (suspended) was AMERICAN- along with Judges from Colombia and Spain.
RELATED NOTE: Many folks felt felt it stank when at SYDNEY 2000 Olympics- the Female Gymnastics VAULT Horse was almost 6" (six inches) LOWER THAN REGULATION!!!
-This resulted in many Female gymnasts ffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaalllling on their butts INCLUDING Russian Gymnast KHORKINA- who went on to flub her later routines- and ended up with SILVER.....-BTW_ No RETRY WAS GIVEN- NO POINTS ADDED- tho' the VAult Horse was fixed and raised to 6".
--Add to this the IOC BRIBERY SCANDAL in USA- SALT LAKE CITY was AWARED because of BRIBES paid to IOC
--ADD TO THIS- The USATF and US Olympic CCCCCCCCCCoooooooooooooooommitee NOT doing a thing to suspend JEROME YOUNG and Calvin AND Alvin Harrison and a host of Others who HAD TESTED POSITIVE for Doping in last Decade!!! .. so you get the picture...
What needs to be realized by USA is that there is a sort of lingering suspicion that such things have ALWAYS happened..so when the s**t hits the celing- most folks around the world go " We knew it- We told you so"...
LAST WORD:-!In ALL This Olympics is still a Great Event in History. The USA Athletes are the Best in the world.
-Cheaters Exist and should be punished.&p;;;;ampp;ampp;;aamp;ltt;;; -Too Bad that Corporate Profits- Greed aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnddd an Easy Way out Drives a FEW To CHEAT- TAINTING A WHOLE MOVEMENT and A GREAT NATION of people.
As quoted by the NEW Iraqi Soccer team member " We are not against American people and Culture- we are against the policy "
......... and What about the TEaM USA Basketball...........well Action will speak louder than words! ....WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO IT!!! (pun intended)
AUG 17, 2004.While Olympics has lived upto its expectations in terms of being a Mega Sporting event- with Saga of Actions and events- Stories of Ups and Downs- seen at ALL THE GAMS....Still this time around there seems to be an unusually "RICH CONTENT FILLED OLYMPICS"!!
Whether its The Iraqi Soccer Team story OR the Doping Scandals pre and duiring Olympics and More to come!!
Some interesting features- due to some semblance of crackdown (selective!) on Doping- many American Atheletes stayed home. This also explained the SUB-PAR performance of many Previous record holders from All over the World.
This also explained some athlete.. "pulling out due to injury"!
BULGARIA again was featured as a Doping powerhouse- and even the Indian Weightlifting got caught doping by 2 Women Weightlfters. Sure Enough! India had hired Bulgarian Coach ( inspite of his past known involvement with Dope and Steroids!!). YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!
THE UNSPOKEN SCANDAL: The not so spoken of story was the FIXING of matches in favor of America.
I'm talking about what the Media IS NOT SPEAKING LOUD ENOUGH ABOUT- The 3 suspended Judges in Paul Hamm being Awarded the GoldMedal in Men's Gymnastic (Individual)
- A great job and comeback by Paulllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll HHHHHHHamm who literally VAULTED from 12th plcae position to 1st place- and eventualy was "AWARDED" the Gold.
-Seems The Gold was actually WON by The SSSSSSSSSSSSSSooooooooooooouuuth Korean- who was AWARDED the Bronze and this was by virtue of the 3 now-suspended judges who started with a Low score maximum- which resulted in a Lower final score- enough to screw the S.Korean out of Gold Medal.
Well the SILENT SCANDAL- The Supervising Referee /Judge (suspended) was AMERICAN- along with Judges from Colombia and Spain.
RELATED NOTE: Many folks felt felt it stank when at SYDNEY 2000 Olympics- the Female Gymnastics VAULT Horse was almost 6" (six inches) LOWER THAN REGULATION!!!
-This resulted in many Female gymnasts ffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaalllling on their butts INCLUDING Russian Gymnast KHORKINA- who went on to flub her later routines- and ended up with SILVER.....-BTW_ No RETRY WAS GIVEN- NO POINTS ADDED- tho' the VAult Horse was fixed and raised to 6".
--Add to this the IOC BRIBERY SCANDAL in USA- SALT LAKE CITY was AWARED because of BRIBES paid to IOC
--ADD TO THIS- The USATF and US Olympic CCCCCCCCCCoooooooooooooooommitee NOT doing a thing to suspend JEROME YOUNG and Calvin AND Alvin Harrison and a host of Others who HAD TESTED POSITIVE for Doping in last Decade!!! .. so you get the picture...
What needs to be realized by USA is that there is a sort of lingering suspicion that such things have ALWAYS happened..so when the s**t hits the celing- most folks around the world go " We knew it- We told you so"...
LAST WORD:-!In ALL This Olympics is still a Great Event in History. The USA Athletes are the Best in the world.
-Cheaters Exist and should be punished.&p;;;;ampp;ampp;;aamp;ltt;;; -Too Bad that Corporate Profits- Greed aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnddd an Easy Way out Drives a FEW To CHEAT- TAINTING A WHOLE MOVEMENT and A GREAT NATION of people.
As quoted by the NEW Iraqi Soccer team member " We are not against American people and Culture- we are against the policy "
......... and What about the TEaM USA Basketball...........well Action will speak louder than words! ....WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO IT!!! (pun intended)
CONGRATS TO Indian Trap Shooter RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE!! SILVER MEDAL IN Trap Shooting- Olympics 2004.
FIRST INDIVIDUAL MEDAL Higher than a Bronze Medal!
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore- Ex Army Major- proudly Served in KASHMIR-India during Kargil
EXCLUSIVE Photo journal SLIDE SHOW
FESTIVAL OF INDIA 2004- FREMONT
Day1 General
DAY 2: Stage Parade Crowd
|FEEDBACK FORM
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
REPUBLIC OF INDIA- a SECULAR- VIBRANT DEMOCRATIC STATE
FESTIVAL OF INDIA 2004- FREMONT
Day1 General
DAY 2: Stage Parade Crowd
|FEEDBACK FORM
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY
REPUBLIC OF INDIA- a SECULAR- VIBRANT DEMOCRATIC STATE
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-:
LIVING UPTO EXPECTATIONS!! AS olympics Celebrates ALL people Coming and competing in Games- with a FAIR CHANCE FOR ALL COMPETITORS.!!
This has been borne out- with several Underdogs winning Medals!!
JAPAN Men's gymnasts Get Gold. UNITED STATES Men's team gets Silver! (Both underdogs compared to Chinese-Romania Etc)
Several upsets in Swimming too- with SOUTH AFRICA winning the Gold in Swimming Team Relay
IRAQ Soccer team upsets Greece (Euro 2004 Champs) AND Costa Rica!! This from a team who practiced less than 2 months together and whose Star players were decimated By Saddam Hussain and tortured by Udai Hussain (SEE about USA Basketball Team below)
DONT FORGET- INDIA's Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore- SILVER MEDAL IN TRAP SHOOTING!!
More Later ( YEs maybe Anju George- Long Jump and Field Hockey Weightlifting???)
LAST WORD:- USA BAsketball Team- NO EXCUSES.
My Tax Dollars are paying for your performance. Screw the Nike and Corporate Commercials and WIN THE GOLD.
All the AlleyOops will not stop the "OOPS! We did it again!".. when you lose.
MOST BASKETBALL ATHELETES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES MAKE LESS MONEY THE WHOLE YEAR THAN YOU EARN & SPEND IN A DAY.
SEE IRAQ Soccer Team for example!
ALSO- How Come the 15 OTHER NBA stars CAN PLAY WELL(!!!) with Other Teams ??? Only You & Coach Brown seem to have excuses that you'll didnot Play together long enough- ISn'T THAT TRUE for NBA playerCARLOS ARROYO (Puerto Rico)???
Let's Play TEAM BALL for a change and we KNOW u'll CAN DO IT!! ( Corporate pun intended!
LIVING UPTO EXPECTATIONS!! AS olympics Celebrates ALL people Coming and competing in Games- with a FAIR CHANCE FOR ALL COMPETITORS.!!
This has been borne out- with several Underdogs winning Medals!!
JAPAN Men's gymnasts Get Gold. UNITED STATES Men's team gets Silver! (Both underdogs compared to Chinese-Romania Etc)
Several upsets in Swimming too- with SOUTH AFRICA winning the Gold in Swimming Team Relay
IRAQ Soccer team upsets Greece (Euro 2004 Champs) AND Costa Rica!! This from a team who practiced less than 2 months together and whose Star players were decimated By Saddam Hussain and tortured by Udai Hussain (SEE about USA Basketball Team below)
DONT FORGET- INDIA's Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore- SILVER MEDAL IN TRAP SHOOTING!!
More Later ( YEs maybe Anju George- Long Jump and Field Hockey Weightlifting???)
LAST WORD:- USA BAsketball Team- NO EXCUSES.
My Tax Dollars are paying for your performance. Screw the Nike and Corporate Commercials and WIN THE GOLD.
All the AlleyOops will not stop the "OOPS! We did it again!".. when you lose.
MOST BASKETBALL ATHELETES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES MAKE LESS MONEY THE WHOLE YEAR THAN YOU EARN & SPEND IN A DAY.
SEE IRAQ Soccer Team for example!
ALSO- How Come the 15 OTHER NBA stars CAN PLAY WELL(!!!) with Other Teams ??? Only You & Coach Brown seem to have excuses that you'll didnot Play together long enough- ISn'T THAT TRUE for NBA playerCARLOS ARROYO (Puerto Rico)???
Let's Play TEAM BALL for a change and we KNOW u'll CAN DO IT!! ( Corporate pun intended!
AUG 15, 2004.
EXCLUSIVE Photo journal SLIDE SHOWFESTIVAL OF INDIA 2004- FREMONT
Day1 General DAY 2: Stage Parade Crowd
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY & BIRTHDAY
REPUBLIC OF INDIA- a SECULAR- VIBRANT DEMOCRATIC STATE
EXCLUSIVE AND FRESH- AUGUST 14th 2004
REPUBLIC OF INDIA- a SECULAR- VIBRANT DEMOCRATIC STATE
EXCLUSIVE AND FRESH- AUGUST 14th 2004
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-:
Good News Olympics is underway- without too much trouble and a SPECTACULAR OPENING CEREMONY.
Too bad the TOP GREEK Athelets and Gold Medal Prospects got BUSTED!!
AUG 11, 2004.Good News Olympics is underway- without too much trouble and a SPECTACULAR OPENING CEREMONY.
Too bad the TOP GREEK Athelets and Gold Medal Prospects got BUSTED!!
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-:
YAY! Hail The OLYMPICS- The GAmes are finally here!
With some athletes already in the Olympic Village- Training for the Games!
Latest to be Busted-- under the new testing-Kenyan Boxer-who was already in the Olympic Village and hence came under the IOC jurisdiction- even before Games offficially started!!
Hope the team from Equitorial Guinea gets their papers in order- Actually its a ONE PERSON TEAM!!
One of the best parts of the Games is the pening and Closing ceremony- with the dignified Walk of atheletes representing their country- some will have less than ten- some like USa over 500!
Politics WORLD-
Afghanistan is getting ready for General Elections ! Good News.
While the area remains problematic- its a step in right direction and in any case no one said the Democray was easy.
Good news is that Almost 9 Million people have registered to vote- including a large number of Women!
Current President KArzai- an ethnic Pashthun-played "politics" in NOT retaining the Senior VP on his ticket - an ethnic Tajik Fahim ( former Northern Alliance Commander). His Move to UNDERCUT the Tajik population was the appointment of ANOTHER Tajik as VP choice- -current Ambassador to Russia) & a younger brother of Gen Masood- who was assasinated on Sept 10 (day before 9/11) by Al Qaida terrorists
Sec. Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to Afghanistan pre election and met with President Karzai. So apart from ALL of PM Karzai's bodyguards being American!- now clearly US administration has thrown its weight behind a candidate (;-))- As if that was any surprise :-0
Oh BTW Did u know-previously, Pres Karzai was a Manager for AMOCO- American Oil company- with interests in Oil pipeline!!
LAST WORD: Vermont sues US Government to allow it to import Cheap drugs from Canada- for its Senior Citizens!
This follows Minnesota bypassing US Customs law by getting a Canadian firm to ship drugs to Bahamas and THEN inporting to USA- Sorry didnt work- US Customs caught it!
More importantly- the SENIOR CITIZENS Lobby and Voting Bloc are one of the MOST powerful. This issue with direct consquences on the Seniors Health and WEALTH- will play a HUGE ROLE in Nov. Elections as it develops.
....And the fact that US Pharma Companies are GOUGING the people by charging 6 times to 50 times the prices for same drugs available in Canada!!!
AUG 9, 2004.YAY! Hail The OLYMPICS- The GAmes are finally here!
With some athletes already in the Olympic Village- Training for the Games!
Latest to be Busted-- under the new testing-Kenyan Boxer-who was already in the Olympic Village and hence came under the IOC jurisdiction- even before Games offficially started!!
Hope the team from Equitorial Guinea gets their papers in order- Actually its a ONE PERSON TEAM!!
One of the best parts of the Games is the pening and Closing ceremony- with the dignified Walk of atheletes representing their country- some will have less than ten- some like USa over 500!
Politics WORLD-
Afghanistan is getting ready for General Elections ! Good News.
While the area remains problematic- its a step in right direction and in any case no one said the Democray was easy.
Good news is that Almost 9 Million people have registered to vote- including a large number of Women!
Current President KArzai- an ethnic Pashthun-played "politics" in NOT retaining the Senior VP on his ticket - an ethnic Tajik Fahim ( former Northern Alliance Commander). His Move to UNDERCUT the Tajik population was the appointment of ANOTHER Tajik as VP choice- -current Ambassador to Russia) & a younger brother of Gen Masood- who was assasinated on Sept 10 (day before 9/11) by Al Qaida terrorists
Sec. Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to Afghanistan pre election and met with President Karzai. So apart from ALL of PM Karzai's bodyguards being American!- now clearly US administration has thrown its weight behind a candidate (;-))- As if that was any surprise :-0
Oh BTW Did u know-previously, Pres Karzai was a Manager for AMOCO- American Oil company- with interests in Oil pipeline!!
LAST WORD: Vermont sues US Government to allow it to import Cheap drugs from Canada- for its Senior Citizens!
This follows Minnesota bypassing US Customs law by getting a Canadian firm to ship drugs to Bahamas and THEN inporting to USA- Sorry didnt work- US Customs caught it!
More importantly- the SENIOR CITIZENS Lobby and Voting Bloc are one of the MOST powerful. This issue with direct consquences on the Seniors Health and WEALTH- will play a HUGE ROLE in Nov. Elections as it develops.
....And the fact that US Pharma Companies are GOUGING the people by charging 6 times to 50 times the prices for same drugs available in Canada!!!
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-:
USA Basketball back on trak with easi(er) wins over Serbia Montenegro and Turkey.
Also Marion jones wins another Long jump pre wamup tournament AND also wins in Team USA Relay.-
Hope all her races in Olympics are as clean and clear cut!
Politics USA-
CARPET BAGGER (see below) Black Republican Alan Keyes running against popular Democrat Barrack Obama in Senate race in Illinois.
This Keyes is in the same Mould as Hypocrites Ex Speaker Newt Gingrich and Speaker elect & Ex Congressman (Louisiana) Bob Livingston. These dudes are HYPOCRITES. While LOUDLY criticizing and calling for impeachment of Prez Clinton for an affair with Monica Lewinsky- all the time these "Morally Upright" folks (SIC) were carrying on theri own sordid affair with yound aides and others. Both go exposed and resigned or got booted......
. .Similarly- commenting on Sen. Hilary Clinton's decison to run for Senate Seat of NY State- Keyes LOUDLY complained about "Carpetbaggers" and complained about the moral fiber of someone changing states just to run for political office.....
..... Well Looks like its a classic case of the Pot calling the Kettle Black!!!!! Keyes is from MAryland and has to MOVE to Illinois before elections!
PS Did you know that George Bush Sr. maintained residence in Texas at a Hotel room address. He actually stayed at Kennebunkport , Maine most of the time.
Talk about a Confused person- Alan Keyes is a Right Wing Republican- who also African-American! I guess he needs to be reminded of that once in a while since he doesnt seem to acknowledge that :-)
BTW_ Do you think GoP Republicans are foooling any of the African-American voters by pitting one black person against another??? No! More like their consistent strategy of giving a SURE LOSER seat to a minority candidate thereby denying him apossible seat elsewhere..
LAST WORD: Sorry again its GoP comedy of Errors- In Washington State-a contendor for Washington State Auditor Will Baker was approved by the Republicans for a tough race against popular Brian Sontag ( 4th term).
Turns out Baker was in jail for 19 times since 1992 mostly misdemeanors. Gop is now stuck with Baker as the deadline for withdrawal or replacement has passed
AUG 7, 2004.USA Basketball back on trak with easi(er) wins over Serbia Montenegro and Turkey.
Also Marion jones wins another Long jump pre wamup tournament AND also wins in Team USA Relay.-
Hope all her races in Olympics are as clean and clear cut!
Politics USA-
CARPET BAGGER (see below) Black Republican Alan Keyes running against popular Democrat Barrack Obama in Senate race in Illinois.
This Keyes is in the same Mould as Hypocrites Ex Speaker Newt Gingrich and Speaker elect & Ex Congressman (Louisiana) Bob Livingston. These dudes are HYPOCRITES. While LOUDLY criticizing and calling for impeachment of Prez Clinton for an affair with Monica Lewinsky- all the time these "Morally Upright" folks (SIC) were carrying on theri own sordid affair with yound aides and others. Both go exposed and resigned or got booted......
. .Similarly- commenting on Sen. Hilary Clinton's decison to run for Senate Seat of NY State- Keyes LOUDLY complained about "Carpetbaggers" and complained about the moral fiber of someone changing states just to run for political office.....
..... Well Looks like its a classic case of the Pot calling the Kettle Black!!!!! Keyes is from MAryland and has to MOVE to Illinois before elections!
PS Did you know that George Bush Sr. maintained residence in Texas at a Hotel room address. He actually stayed at Kennebunkport , Maine most of the time.
Talk about a Confused person- Alan Keyes is a Right Wing Republican- who also African-American! I guess he needs to be reminded of that once in a while since he doesnt seem to acknowledge that :-)
BTW_ Do you think GoP Republicans are foooling any of the African-American voters by pitting one black person against another??? No! More like their consistent strategy of giving a SURE LOSER seat to a minority candidate thereby denying him apossible seat elsewhere..
LAST WORD: Sorry again its GoP comedy of Errors- In Washington State-a contendor for Washington State Auditor Will Baker was approved by the Republicans for a tough race against popular Brian Sontag ( 4th term).
Turns out Baker was in jail for 19 times since 1992 mostly misdemeanors. Gop is now stuck with Baker as the deadline for withdrawal or replacement has passed
OLYMPICS Athens 2004-
TEAM USA Basketball gets a scare or two- Losing one and nearly losing to Germany....but No Worries..Once Team USA (2nd tier) got the message that the World Competition is not a Cake Walk anymore- Allen Iverson & TEAM USA will get down to business and Walk Away with the Gold!! (Not a Cake walk but an easy stroll:-))
-Reports that 2 Athletes in the Indain OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOllyyympic team have tested positive for Steroid use
-Routine Suspensions of 5 more atheletesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss hhhaas occured from Eastern European Teams.
-Torri Edwards- who qualified for US Sprrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriinnnts and Relay- will likely get Booted from the 2004 games this week.
-Still awaiting a few more decisons inclllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll MMMarion Jones etc
Politics USA-
In an address to UNITY 2004- A convention of all Media folks of Color- Asian-American, African-American; Latino/Chicano-American and Native Americans- Pres. Bush also took questions.
He came across much better than his reputation for being a Lightweight- what is clear is that he is naturally uncomfortable with a crowd asking Q's and (possibly an intellectual one- meaning Football crowds and Frat/ Sorority crowds OK).
Pres Bush answered all questions with relative ease (well prepped :-) Pun intended)- stating HIS position- which one MAY or MAYNOT agree with. Thats Cool.
On being pressed on Affirmative acton- He was adamant about being AGAINST Quotas and ONLy Believed in Merit system!
And on being pressed further- HE Stated he was "OPPOSED to Legacy" ie Getting Admission by being related to some famous Alumnus etc.
........However, it seems inspite of his stated position on Legacy- Pres Bush Jr "managed to get into Yale ONLY after knocking on several doors" as he stated....TRANSLATION- without the LEGACY of his dad Prez Bush SR. being a Graduate of Yale Univ- BUsh Jr would probably NEVER have got into Yale on Merit alone!!!
BTW_ Even looks like Legacy helped Pres Bush Jr GET INTO the WHITE HOUSE with help of his Brother's LEGACY- FLORIDA Governor Jeb Bush during Election 2000!!!!
LAST WORD: In a landmark decison- Aug 6, 2004 the WTO ruled AGAINST the EUROPEAN UNION on Subsidies to European Sugar Farmers ( Who often "dumped" Excess produce in the World MArket) - as it had affected primarily poor farmers in developing countries
This ruling is against Western Protectionism and follows a similar decison AGAINST USA re: SUBSIDIES for 25,000 American cotton farmers ruled illegal couple months ago!
So I guess WTO is working some of the time after all..esp. to mitigate Fairness and Justice for ALL WORLD parties
Aug 2/3, 2004
OLYMPICS 2004 Athens-- AUG 3,2004 LATEST- Olympian Calvin Harrison is kicked OFF the US 4x400 mts Relay Team!
Based on a positive Drug test and a 2nd Strike rule- the 2nd arbitration panel has decided to ban & suspend Calvin- resulting in his being kicked off the 4x400 mtr Gold medal prospect team for the Athens 2004 Olympics.
Also in jeopardy is the Sydney 2000 Olympics Gold Medal for TEAM USA 4x400 mts with World/ Olympics Winner Michael Johnson as a member!!
Too bad! Since Relay is a TEAM sport in Track & Field- The Whole Team's results are affected and Everone is tainted and punished!!
USA Elections 2004- (Dateline Nov 2, 2004)
The GOP is starting to wag- with Prez Bush and entourage going through the Swing States of OHIO and PENNYSYLVANIA.
More of a 'Look-See' as much as deciding on the Strategy in the coming months. Traditionally, late July and August month are "slow" with both candidates conserving their funds for SEPT AND OCT.
However- with the Gauntlet thrown- its clear that the Republicans will come swinging. Already planned announcement of spending upto $30 Million just in the month of August- esp to counter the "Bounce" which Kerry/Edwards got right after the Demo Convention.
NOTE: While 40% will Vote Democrats and 40% vote Republican- its always the 15-20% SWING voters which BOTH parties will Vie for!
NOTE: Its the REGISTERED VOTERS who both parties are eyeing!
ATTENTION- ASIAN -AMERICANS and Some LATINOS (strongly Catholic)- Watch out for the STRONG pitch by the Republicans and as a followup by the Democrats!!!
Although ASIAN-AMERICANS AND LATINOS are Traditionally DEMOCRATS- the Young Generation and UPWARDLY MOBILE Asians and Religious Latinos are deemed APPROACHABLE by the GoP (Republicans)!!.......Dont Get Fooled!... the GOP (Republicans) STILL HAS LESS THAN 5% PEOPLE OF ANY COLOR in their Party!! Ever Wonder Why???
Also- the main points is - that its NOT neccessarily the GOP Republican Leadership that is (completely) racist but RATHER The RANK & FILE of GoP whom Asian-Americans / African-Americans & Foreign Born folks etc have to Face day in and day out and who are teh ones to WORRY ABOUT!!
GOP FOLKS!!GET IT IN YOUR MIND SET & THINKING - Although some points and issues that your party brings up are valid- but Do you ALL Believe in it yourself through and through???
LAST WORD: The VATICAN and The Pope issued a statement on Women's Empowerment and Feminism- seemingly harshly criticising the Values of an emancipated Woman, and suggesting the best place for them is in the Household etc.....This has lead to amused and outraged reactions from WOMEN & MEN all over- one person brilliantly saying- Looks like The Vatican/Pope are a bunch of old men in a Time Wrap."
AND ..... Is this not the same mentality(commanality) of the Taliban and (dare i say it) Al Qaeda?? 12th Century to Midiaeval thinking ABOUNDS in Fundamentalists of ANY PERSUASION- Christian - Muslim - Hindu or Jewish people!!!!
July 31, 2004.
USA ELECTIONS 2004- (Date Line nov 2, 2004)
Withe The Democrats officially sealing the John & John ticket for Nov 2, 2004-
nominee Pres JOHN KERRy & Vp JOHN EDWARDS.
The Demoocratic Convention in Boton was a bit uplifting for Sure!!....
... So at least the Demos got it right This time- preaching UNITY- HOPE & Looking Forward to a Better future for Great America!!
This message cant be missed by most people as well as the Riot of Colors (pun intended!) OBVIOUS at the Conventions.
While token presentations or pandering to the minorities was NOT evident- it seemed clear that an AIR OF INCLUSIVENESS exists in the Democrats- with large number of African-Americans- Hispanics-Asian Americans and Caucasians of different (self-proclaimed persuasion!) all under one roof.
It will be intersting to see The GoP- Republican response to all this- probably Guarded and Fighting back But at the Same time NOT showing the Divisiveness or "Pulling people apart" and "pitting americans vs Americans" etc.!!
It was clear The Demo strategy of "taking the High(er) Road" and Highlighting not too Subtly the "Wisdom" and "Strength" of John Kerry- a ala Vietname etc vs george Bush Jr's ALck of Combat Experience and "Wisdom"..... and making sure heavyweights like Bubba Clinton made it Clear about this point!!.
As Usual the stirring speeches were from Rev Al Sharpton ( a la Jesse Jackson)- who did emphasize that "Afro-American Votes are not for Sale"!! Something the GOP has been trying hard to get or at least divide! similarly for Latino Voters
YOUNG STARS. HIGHLIGHTS: A decent and strong speech of young BARACK OBAMA - (Kenyan father-Kansas Mother ) hit the wires hard and was a culmination of future of America. A decent sort- OBAMA epitomised what America has to offer to the world always! Values- Outlook-Hope.
FYI- Obama is also the Leading Candidate for Illinois Senate Seat
TOO BAD THE NETWORKS NBC/ABC/FOX/CBS/CNN etc TOOK A BREAK AND DIDNOT COVER THE DEMO CONVENTION LIVE & ESPECIALLY OBAMA on TUESDAY JULY 27,2004! SHAME on YOU ALL!
YOUNG STAR 2: People are agog over the prime time convention CALL for "TIME OUT CHENEY" by 12 year old Lil Orphan Annie Look-a-like llana Wexler of Oakland, CA!
Illana Wexler- said that VP had used a "BAD WORD" and if She had used the same word she would get a TIME OUT- So it was time for VP Cheney to get a TIME OUT!! Good job- Neat Delivery with apolmb and confidence (www.kidsforkerry.org)
STRATEGY: Methinks- Contrasting VP Cheney vs young -Charismatic John Edwards will pay off much better for the Demos esp. considering the NATURAL CHARM of Vp Dick Cheney!!!!
Also- with John Edwards profile rising- with Obama- it sure looks like the Democrats have set the pace for a Younger American outlook in the future! and A diverse One at that!!!
2004 OLYMPICS_ in Greece:
Now it turns out that US Swimmers (Women) at the Olympics Qualifying used "PATCHES" on their Skin- releasing a mixture of Amino-Acids and Vitamins.
The Women's Coach Richard Quick is an Idiot!!! With all the scrutiny going on- one would wxpct a Clean progam -at least NOW- withOUT a WHiFF of any scandal. All he has succeeded in doing is Tainting" ANY MEDALS WON by US Swim team FOR EVER.
Ever heard of Masking Drugs- Inhibitors for Steroids- so That they WONT APPEAR on Tests!??? What an ASs**** to taint the hard work of all the US athletes
RELATED NOTE: NFL Star Ricky Williams QUIT after 5 years (ONLY). He had a Top season in Miami last year and suddenly Quit. It has come out that Ricky Williams had Failed a Marijuana test for the THIRD Time.
It was also revealed by RICKY HIMSELF that- he was smoking Marijuana Regularly INSPITE of regular and RANDOM NFL Drug Tests by taking Masking agents/Drugs and Drinking Lots and Lost of Water before the tests and apparently succeeded in clearing the Drug tests!!!!
Looks like Science in USA is definitely AHEAD of the Dope Testers- DOESNT COACH QUICK know this...or Was it an Pre emptive Strike by US Swim coach Quick- to Obfuscate the pending revelation that "masking agents" etc MAY HAVE BEEN USED???
LAST WORD: Whats in a name OBAMA?? BARACK OBAMA
It also shows just a small change in a Letter can mean a lot from "oSama" to "oBama"!! A definite high ranking official in the future.
(Kenyan Dad- Kansas mom & Leading candidate for Illinois Senate Seat)
July 29, 2004.
2004 OLYMPICS_ in Greece: It also shows just a small change in a Letter can mean a lot from "oSama" to "oBama"!! A definite high ranking official in the future.
(Kenyan Dad- Kansas mom & Leading candidate for Illinois Senate Seat)
July 29, 2004.
NBC has promised the most complete!!! coverage for 2004 olympics on the NBC Universal networks (NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, NBC HDTV) in 30-minute segments.
1,210 hours of programming from Aug. 11-29 ......But I bet you wont see the RARE sports instead it will be mostly Gymnastics-Boxing-Swimming-Basketball- some Track& field .....
Hope they show Wrestling-Field Hockey-Weightlifting- ALL track & Field & stuff we rarely get to see!
NBC- Its the OLYMPICS!!! Get with it
The proliferation of Indian-American movies & the "Miss India- Something" Events!!!!
With every person wanting to be an Organizer- it looks like the exploitation of Desi folk's fantasies is taking a new height. Now there are TONS of kids with parents-Young girls going for the glamor and Parents encouraging the vicarious pleasure of their kid entering the "Miss India-Something" contest- after duly paying the usually Exhorbitant entrance fee!
The next step (and secret wish of most Desi folks)- especially in the field of glamor!! are FILMS- a la Bollywood style but half Hollywood- i.e Desi movies made in America.
And since every movie ticket in USA costs $7 to $10= (Rs 300-450!) and only $1 in India- simple Mathematics make filmmakers coming to USA by the dozen.
Not far behind are the local Digital Video experts-many who have cottoned on to the same market.Out of the proliferation of such movie makers comes horrendous movies and the COMMON FACTOR ALWAYS is the large bevy of young women and men who are ready to AUDITION! for any type of movie
NOTE: Exploitation- Sexploitation i s NOT Far behind folks!!
Watch for Scandals coming soon
LAST WORD: Every time the government of Pakistan is in trouble with the finger of suspicion on the Government of tacit support to Al Qaida and the Taliban- RIGHT ON TIME- there is an arrest of two of some mid level Terror operatives.
And Just like that statements are floated about how important an "ally" the Pakistani Government ANd how cooperative the Pakistani ARMY(!!) has been- and some more US Aid is doled out.......
Every wonder why- ISLAMIC MILITARY DICTATORSHIP Pakistan and its nefarious Secret Service ISI was never taken to task for...-
a) Creating/Supporting the Taliban..
b) Harboring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - Ramzan Al Shibbh( 9/11)
c) The murderers of Daniel Pearl released to ISI chief 1 week BEFORE being released to Paki Courts system!!
d) Spreading terror in India with confirmed 35,000 deaths - YES! THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND in the last decade!!!
e) Pakistani ISI-hand in the BOMBING of the Mumbai/Bombay stock Exchange and Terror attack on the Indian Parliament??
f) THE $100,000 WIRED TO Mohd. ATTA (9/11 terrorist) just days before the 9/11 Hijacking and terrorism incident by ISI Paki Secret Service General visiting USA-Washington DC??
and so on
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/24/politics/24pakistan.html
United States Needs to Take a Stand With Pakistan, Report Says
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS = July 24, 2004
July 23, 2004.
LATEST!! OLYMPICS_ in Greece: And Just like that statements are floated about how important an "ally" the Pakistani Government ANd how cooperative the Pakistani ARMY(!!) has been- and some more US Aid is doled out.......
Every wonder why- ISLAMIC MILITARY DICTATORSHIP Pakistan and its nefarious Secret Service ISI was never taken to task for...-
a) Creating/Supporting the Taliban..
b) Harboring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - Ramzan Al Shibbh( 9/11)
c) The murderers of Daniel Pearl released to ISI chief 1 week BEFORE being released to Paki Courts system!!
d) Spreading terror in India with confirmed 35,000 deaths - YES! THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND in the last decade!!!
e) Pakistani ISI-hand in the BOMBING of the Mumbai/Bombay stock Exchange and Terror attack on the Indian Parliament??
f) THE $100,000 WIRED TO Mohd. ATTA (9/11 terrorist) just days before the 9/11 Hijacking and terrorism incident by ISI Paki Secret Service General visiting USA-Washington DC??
and so on
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/24/politics/24pakistan.html
United States Needs to Take a Stand With Pakistan, Report Says
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS = July 24, 2004
July 23, 2004.
Team USA has Marion Jones and Torri Edwards and Alvin Haarrison- all accused or indicted because of alleged Steroid use.
Now comes a bombshell that C.J Hunter- Ex husband of Marion Jones and US Shot putter turned in Federal evidence-under oath -that his wife Ms Jones injected theree type of cocktail drugs before winnning the Sydney 2000 olympics- the one in which she won 5 MEdals total!.
The Defense came out swinging that CJ Hunter was a Liar and getting revenge at his Ex Wife.... but Too much poison in the air and too much water under the bridge.
I guess the USOC has decided to let IOC and Athens 2004 to trip up these athletes after all.
Torri Edwards has a pre 2004 trip hearning and Marion Jones abitration in on Aug 17th- just in time for the Olympics Track & Field eevnt.
The IOC WILL allow an exception to field alternates ....if need be!!!
Hope Marion can concentrate and run a Clean race ( pun intended)!
INDO-CANADIAN GANGS: are doing the worst in canada- with 26 murders for Drug turf war!. These mostly Punjabi gangs led by Bindy Johal And Ron Dossanj. Ron was killed 1994 and Johal was arrested but acquitted. Later Johal was killed himself.
This saga unfortunately continues with kids mostly from Well to do Immigrant families- not poor street kids usually associated with inner city problems in USA.
Parental neglect and Lack of Social Guidance are some factors cited.
WARNING SIGN FOR PARENTS IN USA. Get WITH IT- and Communicate- Else in 2 generations- some of kids here in USA may turn out this way.
NOTE: Many Parents Themselves did not "Get" Indian Culture- so time to boneup and Support those who did and SHOW SOME MORAL VALUES that you Speak of to the kids but dont practice!!!
No wonder the kids turn out the way they do- Just Bhangra and Chasing after Bollywood Starlets wont do (any) Body good!
KUDOS TO INDIAN SChool team Winning NASA honors:
-A 14 member team from Buddha Dal Public School and Thapar Engg College(Patiala) won a NASA competition beating out world wide competition.
The team's project of building a space settlement to accommodate 16,500 people in space/moon costs $2.56 trillion. The project included- construction,practicality, human needs, luxury and entertainment, scientific laboratories and environmental aspects etc
Congrats! Keeping Dr Kalpana Chawala's legacy alive and well!
LAST WORD: Revealed in 9/11 commission report the culpability of Pakistan as a Mother counry to Taliban and terror camps and MAdrasas School breeding camp for Terror.
Also revealed several question on culpability and KNOWN SECRET of $100,000 wired by ISI General to Mohd Atta- prinicpal Hijacker on eve of Sept 11!!!!
Q: Why is USA not looking Harder at the Rouge elements and Rouge state Sponsored terror from Govt of Pakistan???
The Good people of Pakistan and Good people of the World will be Rid of this menace!- if such terror sponosrs are taken care of!!!
July 20, 2004.-A 14 member team from Buddha Dal Public School and Thapar Engg College(Patiala) won a NASA competition beating out world wide competition.
The team's project of building a space settlement to accommodate 16,500 people in space/moon costs $2.56 trillion. The project included- construction,practicality, human needs, luxury and entertainment, scientific laboratories and environmental aspects etc
Congrats! Keeping Dr Kalpana Chawala's legacy alive and well!
LAST WORD: Revealed in 9/11 commission report the culpability of Pakistan as a Mother counry to Taliban and terror camps and MAdrasas School breeding camp for Terror.
Also revealed several question on culpability and KNOWN SECRET of $100,000 wired by ISI General to Mohd Atta- prinicpal Hijacker on eve of Sept 11!!!!
Q: Why is USA not looking Harder at the Rouge elements and Rouge state Sponsored terror from Govt of Pakistan???
The Good people of Pakistan and Good people of the World will be Rid of this menace!- if such terror sponosrs are taken care of!!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1266317,00.html
Pakistan's 9/11 connection- The Guardian UK
Pakistan's 9/11 connection- The Guardian UK
The REAL W.M.D.: In 1984- Toxic Chemicals of Union Carbide frm a factory disaster in Bhopal killed 20,000 while 100,000 suffered the terrible Lung-Chest and health ailments following a Chemical disaster.
Now even following born generations anre bearing the consequences! TODAY Indian Supreme Court had directed Government of India to release the $300 Million in Direct compensation to the victims and their families (as many are already dead). A Great victory in a Free-Democratic country with Independant judiciary and Media. What IS STILL needed is the FOLLOWUP and continuing GRASSROOTS Work to make sure the payment reaches the Affected and the Victims.
In all this DOW CHEMICAL (who bought Union Carbide) has declared "No more Liability for the incident- and considers the matter settled between Union Carbide and GoI and Victims".
More Info-samrao.com/bhopal.html
LATEST!! OLYMPICS_ in Greece:
The US has named the Team USA for ATHENS OLYMPICS 2004.
Good Liuck TEAM USA for the 100's atheletes taking part in Clean-Healthy sports.
BUT-Among the notable- Track and Field has in the Long jump- and with that qualifier CAN be named to the Womens Relay team. Marion Jones - Torri Edwards is also going- pending an decision/Hearing for her Positive test for Steroid this week. and Athens bound Alvin Harrison 4x400 Relay- has been indicted for previous positive Steroid use.
Wish the Cleanup was done in USA to save the embarrasment at the Olympics games- Unless the atheletes are confident that their TRAINING METHODS are unreproachable or at least UNDETECTABLE!:-)
Also What a Shame that we have to start talking about the Olympics via the Doping Scandal :-(
GOOD TEAM NEWS: US Gymnastics took 25 year old MOHINI BHARADWAJ (Indian-American) as their Vault Specialist along with 26 year old ANNIA ( Ex Cuban Olympian!).
This is remarkable- as team USA and Coaches Karioly went for the TEAM concept and Chose Experience and Age.
One unfortunate loser was a 2-Gold medalist at the 2003 World Championships who couldnt make the 6 member team.
Props for for Mohini who is VEGETARIAN- has an Indian for a parent (another is Russian) and whose Training bill was picked up Bay watch Star Pamela Anderson (also a Vegetarian)
Go TEAM USA! especially the HARD WORKING ATHLETES......not the Cheaters
LAST WORD: A report released by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), an Arlington, Virginia-based public policy group,The Multiplier Effect' says foreign-born professionals and students are contributing more to the US than previously thought -- their children are rising intellectual superstars, and without them the nation's technological and scientific standing is at risk.
Interestingly it states that 40% of kids with H1B Visa holder parents are topppers in National Science & Math Talent Competitions- ChinaIndia/Korea/Vietnam- WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT- as H1B visa constitue a TINY FRACTION oF OVERALL US POPULATION!
An Additional Kicker is that of the 60% of the Other HIGH ACHIEVERS- a MAJORITY are Kids of and 1st Generation immigrants & Refugees etc.
SEND THIS INFO TO ALL FORUMS AND ANtI IMMIGRANT GROUPS!!
July 18, 2004.Interestingly it states that 40% of kids with H1B Visa holder parents are topppers in National Science & Math Talent Competitions- ChinaIndia/Korea/Vietnam- WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT- as H1B visa constitue a TINY FRACTION oF OVERALL US POPULATION!
An Additional Kicker is that of the 60% of the Other HIGH ACHIEVERS- a MAJORITY are Kids of and 1st Generation immigrants & Refugees etc.
SEND THIS INFO TO ALL FORUMS AND ANtI IMMIGRANT GROUPS!!
LATEST!! OLYMPICS_ in Greece: Latest news is that IAAF(Int'l Athletics Assoc Federation) has decided to yank the gold medals of the US 4x400 Realy team from Sydney Olympics 2000. So now the IOC will abide by this decision and comply before the Athens olympics 2004. This is because of Olympian Jerome Young testing postive for steroid use in 1999 (just before the Sydney Olympics), Though they knew about it- US Track & Field Athletics allowed Young to take part!!
So The US Gold Medal team loses its Medal and Nigeria-Jamaica- Bahamas get their Medals Upgraded. So Along with Jerome Young- we have brothers Alvin Harrison/Calvin Harrison-Michael Johnson -Tony Pettigrew and Angelo Taylor LOSING their GOLD MEDAL. Sad! ( BTW- Calvin is under indictment for another Steroid related charge and Alvin is currently under indictment for possible steroid use)
NOTE: US Track & Field had CLEARED Jerome Young and allowed him to compete- Talk about pressure from the Sports Orgs and Corporations - so now USATF has to answer for its ACTION THEN AND LACK of Action Now!!
Well- most folks expected and accepted this- for in a RELAY TEAM race if one athlete is Busted- the whole team is penalized!.
Unfortunately with Doping and Drugs- the victims are many- the families- the teammates- the country- reputations etc.
NOTE: So far about a Dozen US atheletes are under the Steroid Glare-Oakland's Regina Jacobs- Accepted her 4 year ban and announced her retirement. Calvin Harrison is under suspension. Kelli White- Union City, CA accepted her 2 year ban. We also have 2 Shot putters and One Cyclist and one Wrestler already Kicked of the circuit! and MORE COMING??
Any bets (in Las Vegas!! Pun intended!) :-)) that we will have an investigation into drug & steroid abuse in FOOTBALL or BASEBALL????- NAH- not anytime soon...
Private Jails in Afghanistan/Iraq: The recent headlines of Illegal Jails run by "Bounty Hunter" types took another strange turn- as the accused Johanthan Idema and others claimed the Knowledge and tacit approval by US authorities for this "extra cirricular" interrogations and jails for accused Taliban
Well this defence was expected and What else do you expect!??
Idema is a former Green Beret/Special Forces and Also How the hell did they get Visas to enter a War-Zone- even AFTER The prison scandal??
Also Now with the horrendous exposure of prison abuse by deviants and Int'l Red Cross exposing "Secret" and "Ghost" prisoners - which even Sec. Rumsfeld apparently knew- So you think anyone will believe the US State Dept or Pentagon denials so readily??
NOTE: CREDIBILITY 101: With Credibility damaged- its hard to win back the trust of people- Media and the world-wide!
BTW_ Is the above accusation/claim too far fetched- Now that its CLEAR that we have PRIVATE CONTRACTORS in Afghanistan/Iraq doing "Special tasks"(otherwise known as Mercenaries in any other war) like Interrogations- Translation- even Driving trucks-Oil tankers-Security guards-Bodyguards etc... and getting paid 5 x the salaries of the brave G.I's and Coalition forces serving in the same war theater!!
LAST WORD: THE REAL WMD- 20 years after the real WMD- UNION CARBIDE/DOW Chemical-Toxic clouds in Bhopal killed 20,000 people and affected 100,000 more and has affected GENERATIONS COMING LATER!
Yet TOXIC CLEANUP is NOT DONE! THIS WEEK US Court in New York is listening to arguements/petition asking DOW CHEM. Corp to take responsibiliy to CLEAN UP THE WMD mess.
PLEASE TAKE THIS INFO and SIGN THIS PETITION
samrao.com/bhopal.html
July 16, 2004.Any bets (in Las Vegas!! Pun intended!) :-)) that we will have an investigation into drug & steroid abuse in FOOTBALL or BASEBALL????- NAH- not anytime soon...
Private Jails in Afghanistan/Iraq: The recent headlines of Illegal Jails run by "Bounty Hunter" types took another strange turn- as the accused Johanthan Idema and others claimed the Knowledge and tacit approval by US authorities for this "extra cirricular" interrogations and jails for accused Taliban
Well this defence was expected and What else do you expect!??
Idema is a former Green Beret/Special Forces and Also How the hell did they get Visas to enter a War-Zone- even AFTER The prison scandal??
Also Now with the horrendous exposure of prison abuse by deviants and Int'l Red Cross exposing "Secret" and "Ghost" prisoners - which even Sec. Rumsfeld apparently knew- So you think anyone will believe the US State Dept or Pentagon denials so readily??
NOTE: CREDIBILITY 101: With Credibility damaged- its hard to win back the trust of people- Media and the world-wide!
BTW_ Is the above accusation/claim too far fetched- Now that its CLEAR that we have PRIVATE CONTRACTORS in Afghanistan/Iraq doing "Special tasks"(otherwise known as Mercenaries in any other war) like Interrogations- Translation- even Driving trucks-Oil tankers-Security guards-Bodyguards etc... and getting paid 5 x the salaries of the brave G.I's and Coalition forces serving in the same war theater!!
LAST WORD: THE REAL WMD- 20 years after the real WMD- UNION CARBIDE/DOW Chemical-Toxic clouds in Bhopal killed 20,000 people and affected 100,000 more and has affected GENERATIONS COMING LATER!
Yet TOXIC CLEANUP is NOT DONE! THIS WEEK US Court in New York is listening to arguements/petition asking DOW CHEM. Corp to take responsibiliy to CLEAN UP THE WMD mess.
PLEASE TAKE THIS INFO and SIGN THIS PETITION
samrao.com/bhopal.html
LIFE ON MARS??: Great Possibilities!!!!
In the midst of all the negative stories- there is an intriguing possibility of LIFE on MARS! The recent Spectral probes by European Space Agency- "MARS EXPRESS" have detected signs of AMMONIA (NH3). Just FYI_ Ammonia doesNOT occur naturally and is short lived! Only kown Organic Microbes (LIVING) produce it and this too is Burned off quickly So for ANY AMMONIA TO BE DETECTED in the ATMOSPHERE especially Mars- means a definite Chance that MICROBES /BACTERIA are present!
Not only is this exciting to Scientists- this will being a new LIFE into SCIENCE ( pun intended)!!
As a member of NASA's SETI-Search for Extra Terrestial Intelligence- Distributed computing- I have maintained a definite interest in this area.. STAY TUNED!
OLYMPICS_ in Greece: Seems Marion Jones has qualified in The Long Jump for Team USA. .......Now What?? Just like Kobe Bryant and The Lakers (waiting for the Rape case to be resolved)- .....Everyone will be waiting to see How or What the US Olmpics committee and the Arbitration commitee finally decides on this one with Marion Jones??
Now it turns out that Olympics-bound Tori Edwards tested postive for a Steroid earlier this year!!. FYI- Tori has qualified for the Womens 100m at the Olympic Trials July 2004 & this means Tori may be kicked OUT of the US Olympics team.
a) Why did the drug test results take this long??
b) What is going to happen to the other 100 m Qualifiers??
BTW_ Tori said " She took the drug/steroid INADVERTANTLY!
Isn't that the excuse of almost 99% of The Thieves?? i.e. "I Took it by Mistake" or "That doesnt belong to me" ??
I hope USA shows True Leadership and Prez. Bush appoints someone respectable to cleanup this mess ! instaed of USa preaching a "Holier than Thou" attituide!
Submarines in China Sea: China has quietly introduced a new class of Submarine and an Unique design. Word is that US defese folks didNOT know that the Chinese were working on suh a New Class of Submarine.
This introduction in the waters (around Taiwan) comes just around the time when USA is selling/delivering about 6 submarines to Taiwan.
NOTE: Condi Rice just had an exchange of words with Chinese Folks last week- and China responded that "They would not idly stand by".
"Om" or "Aum"symbol on footwear. Just this week a UK company (Lacey's) apologized and withdrew footwear with the AUM or OM symbol on them- They didnot realize that it was offensice to the Billions of Hindus and Others as a religious symbol.
This was also seen earlier by a Canadian Company. Someone needs to look harder into this and see WHO THE DESIGNERS WERE in the first place.
I refuse to believe that in the modern age of internet and Search Engines etc- that DESIGNERS (i.e. computer savvy folks) can come up with a Symbol- seen by Billions all over and NOT REALIZE THAT IT WAS A RELIGIOUS or SPIRITUAL Symbol!.
LAST WORD: US Government refuse to turn information to investigating commission in UN- about NO-BID awards to Halliburton Co. in Iraq/Afghanistan.
a) Why did the drug test results take this long??
b) What is going to happen to the other 100 m Qualifiers??
BTW_ Tori said " She took the drug/steroid INADVERTANTLY!
Isn't that the excuse of almost 99% of The Thieves?? i.e. "I Took it by Mistake" or "That doesnt belong to me" ??
I hope USA shows True Leadership and Prez. Bush appoints someone respectable to cleanup this mess ! instaed of USa preaching a "Holier than Thou" attituide!
Submarines in China Sea: China has quietly introduced a new class of Submarine and an Unique design. Word is that US defese folks didNOT know that the Chinese were working on suh a New Class of Submarine.
This introduction in the waters (around Taiwan) comes just around the time when USA is selling/delivering about 6 submarines to Taiwan.
NOTE: Condi Rice just had an exchange of words with Chinese Folks last week- and China responded that "They would not idly stand by".
"Om" or "Aum"symbol on footwear. Just this week a UK company (Lacey's) apologized and withdrew footwear with the AUM or OM symbol on them- They didnot realize that it was offensice to the Billions of Hindus and Others as a religious symbol.
This was also seen earlier by a Canadian Company. Someone needs to look harder into this and see WHO THE DESIGNERS WERE in the first place.
I refuse to believe that in the modern age of internet and Search Engines etc- that DESIGNERS (i.e. computer savvy folks) can come up with a Symbol- seen by Billions all over and NOT REALIZE THAT IT WAS A RELIGIOUS or SPIRITUAL Symbol!.
LAST WORD: US Government refuse to turn information to investigating commission in UN- about NO-BID awards to Halliburton Co. in Iraq/Afghanistan.
Lets hope that Watchdogs in USA will do abeter legal job and Get those papaers and data.
July 14, 2004.
OLYMPICS_ in Greece: With the upcoming historic Olympics games coming up- Pray that the Games emphasis is back on Healthy Comeptition and Nations of the World working together.
While Steroids and Drug use will be apart of the News staple diet- hope it doesNOT overshadow the People of The World stories.
Remember- The Great running stories of Marathoners from Africa- The Do or Die Spirit of Atheletes FINISHING the race even if very very Late or The Jamaican Team for Winter Olympics Or The GoldMedalist from Surinam or The Solo or Small Teams from War torn Nations and The Small Teams from Smalll Countries ALONG with The Glamor teams and masssive Sports Industries and Star Atheletes.
Thanx to Modern technology and Communication- We can all watch MOST any games we want- Else leave it to the TV Networks esp NBC to give us the SAME STUFF " Boxing- Baseball-
Basketball -Swimming-Gymnastics and Glamor Track and Field.
Me- I wil be Looking for- the OTHER Sports at the games
ALL of it PLus Marathon-Middle Distance-Field Hockey-Football (soocer)- ALL Track & Field- Weight Lifting- especially "Pocket Hercules"- Malleswari- Heptathlon and Decathlon and The Opening and Closing.
So Hope NBC people and Satellite feeds dont mess this up by TOO MANY Human interest stories and Cutaways and Excessive comments.
NOTE: NBC Folks & Advertisers! - We have a LOT MORE CHOICE TO cut away to Satellite Channels.
I AM Looking forward to the 100 meters and Glamor Track an Field to See MAURICE GREEN -USA Win the race CLEANLY (now that Tim Montgomery and Others wont Go to the Olympics). The YoUNG USA Female Runners ( Now That Marion Jones wont be here in the 100m and 200 m etc)-I want to see the MIDDLE Distance runners KENYA & ETHIOPIA and others! Cool! Am already Ready for the Summer Games.!!!
PHEVOS AND ATHENA 2004 OLYMPIC MASCOTS
OFFICIAL LINES- Ο Phèvos and Athen� are two modern children, a brother and a sister. Yet they were inspired by a doll from ancient Greece, as their names suggest. The boy is named after Phèvos Apollo, the God of Light and Music, and the girl after Athen� , the Goddess of Wisdom. In this way, Phèvos and Athen� symbolise the unbreakable link between the modern Olympic Games and Greek history.
NOTE: NBC Folks & Advertisers! - We have a LOT MORE CHOICE TO cut away to Satellite Channels.
I AM Looking forward to the 100 meters and Glamor Track an Field to See MAURICE GREEN -USA Win the race CLEANLY (now that Tim Montgomery and Others wont Go to the Olympics). The YoUNG USA Female Runners ( Now That Marion Jones wont be here in the 100m and 200 m etc)-I want to see the MIDDLE Distance runners KENYA & ETHIOPIA and others! Cool! Am already Ready for the Summer Games.!!!
PHEVOS AND ATHENA 2004 OLYMPIC MASCOTS
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At the same time, they carry with them all the values that represent the Olympic ideal. They are two children who show us, through their love
of play and their love of the game, that the important thing is taking part and not the result. A brother and a sister, symbolising the great Olympic idea of fraternity of all the world’s people. A boy and a girl, ambassadors not only of cooperation and noble competition, but more importantly of equality.
And most of all, two human beings that represent Human Scale and remind us that the heart and soul of the Olympic Games is and will always be humanity.
Phèvos and Athen� are two children, happy and simple, full of life and creativity.
Two children ready to make mischief, but giving us an object lesson in how we should participate in the 2004 Olympic Games.
With their laughter and their vivid presence, running around and playing together inseparably, Phèvos and Athen� express with enthusiasm and optimism the need that we all have to unite and share in the joy of the world’s greatest celebration of humanity: the Olympic Games...(from Official Olympics site)
LAST WORD: Me thinks Ms. ANU GEORGE of India will Win a Medal in the Long jump for INDIA.
Also in WOMENS Weightlifting! Malleswari-Sunita!
Possibly one in Archery and Shooting. (Chance)
Possibly Medaling in Wrestling!! (Good Chance)
The Firsts in a long time. Who Knows may be when Fortune smiles- it will smile in a BIG WAY
( Indian has only won in Field Hockey (Several) and Tennis Paes-Bronze-US) , Weightlifting (Bronze-Malleswari Sydney) AND WRESTLING!!!)
BTW_ Did you know that Mr KHESHAVA JHADAV (Goleshwar Village near Karad-MAHARASHTRA) won a BRONZE MEDAL IN Wrestling for India in 1952 Helsinki Olympics!!
Inspite of being the ONLY Indian EVER to Win an Olympic Medal-
He was NOT AWARDED even the Arjuna Award.
and not even Promoted in the Police Force he joined in Mumbai (Naigaum PD).
SALUTE TO MR JHADHAVji!! Hope Anu George & OTHER Winners in 2004 Remember him in Their Hour of Glory!!.
July 10, 2004.
ONE VOTE COUNTS: Rep. Zoe Lofgren San jose Voted "Present"- instead of Yes or No. She had the Tie-Breaking vote for an amendment in House of Reps.(US Congress) and Hence the Amendment didnot go thru'
BUT- Wrong Choice! Shame on Zoe. By ONE VOTE of Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) allowed that " Law enforcement folks retain the right to obtain Library and Bookstore records of LAW ABIDING CITIZENS- without probable cause under Patriot Act- Sec. 15."
What a shame that America has come to this! It would be another matter if the Law pursued it under probable cause or Court order - a la wiretaps and such. Shame Zoe! Now Big Brother is REALLY Watching you in the Library!
OLYMPICS "Trials"On-going on in Sacramento
TEAM AMERICA to be chosen after couple of weekend esp Track and Field."Trails Ongoing" in Sacramento- PUN INTENDED!
Unfortunately- there is a cloud hanging over the athletes.
Steroids- Drug useage- many suspected for a while- soon to be revealed that many of top atheletes were taking performance enhancing drugs. Seems the full force of Technical and Scientific Know-how was put in place to Escape detection by standard tests by Labs like BALCO
So the claims of Marion Jones that "she never failed a test" rings hollow- as these drugs/steroids were designed NOT TO BE DETECTED- with the current round of tests.
Its like Cops and robbers- keeping one step ahead to avoid getting caught.
Prediction: Soon we will have a rash of NON PERFORMANCES and " Failure to Qualify " by Top atheletes- both due to lack of "Energy boosters" as well as TO NOT GET CAUGHT AT THE OLYMPICS.
GREENPEACE WAS RIGHT!
This is the campaign I would wish the organization starts putting out!. Way back decdaes ago GreenPeace warned of pesticide and contaminants in the food chain- the water table- Antibiotics in animals etc- Causing harm to the body and the Ecosystem.
Right from Prez Reagan's time- in the 80's- a systematic campaign (disinformation) launched against them decimated the organization.
Now a LOT of what they warned aginst is Unfortunately coming true.
Rocket Fuel in Cows Milk! Genetically altered corn and Food etc
Pesticide hazards and in Food - BGH- Bovine Growth Hormone and connection to diseases like Pancreatic cancer etc
NOW GreenPeace- Europe/France is fighting AGAINST GENETICALLY MODIFIED BEER. Seems France is touting Genetically altered hops and beer.
( BTW- Did you know by Charter and Mission- GreenPeace is a Nonviolent Organization! Civil disobedience Yes! Violence NO????)
LAST WORD: Russia is now geared up as a leader in Arms Manufacturing and Sales! With the Arms Industry back on track- seems Russia is the second major supplier of Arms. and With Bargain prices!
Buyers include CHINA-INDIA ( World's Largest Armies) and -Jordan, Egypt, North Korea, Libya etc.
Under Premier Putin - "Rosoboronexport" - is the merged entity dealing with Arms exports. Russia has made inroads of $5.07 Billion ( 25.5 %) of sales this year!
One Guess who is the Worlds Leader... United States with 41.9 % nearly 9 Billion ( sounds quite less tho')
Where are Sec. Condi Rice and Gen. Colin Powell these Days??
(Last Heard- Condi Rice is Saber rattling with China over Arms supply to Taiwan! Do we need a bogey in time for Nov. elections??)
July 8, 2004.
WE ARE AMERICAN TOO!: How We Celebrated July 4th
For past decade or so- every July 4th Weekend has become a hub for Indian-American REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (of INDIAN-ORIGIN) to have their Annual NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. Telugu-Marathi-Bengali-Oriya-Gujarati (Jain)-Kannada-Tamil1-Tamil2 etc
As we all know- India is probably the MOST Diverse Country -lingusitically -Sub-Culturally -Socialooooooooooooooooooooogggiiccally------------------------------ Spritually/Religious - Racially speaking ( and what else :-))
Part of that has to do with ancient civilization and "Old Soul" of the Land!Many Western Folks dont realize HOW incredibly diverse India is- and a greater wonder to ALL is how CONNECTED Indians Still are- irrespective of their Religious Choice or Presence etc- BECAUSE OF CULTURAL IMPRINTING AND VALUES pAssed on thru' ancient times
This Past July 4th Weekend I was at the TELUGU MEET in Chicago- American Telugu Association's 8th Bi-Annual meet to be exact. An incredible amount of people 7,200 by official count met from July 2nd to July 4th in the Windy City- (which was very pleasant and Sunny during the stay.)
Along with Reinforcing "CULTURAL" values- the emphasis (at least on paper) was YOUTH- motto:- "Arrive-Assimilate-Excel".
So we had Traditional Inaugral ceremonies (AND SPEECHES),
-US and INDIA National Anthems ( yay! 4th july),
- Bunch of Dances (Traditional and Moderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnn && Western) performed to Recorded music (Some Youth Involvement here!!!)
-Great Traditional Ganesh pooja ( duly boycotted by the Youth)
-Great Asthawadhanam-tho' long- a centuries old tradition where impromptu poerty rhyming and CLASSIC concentration- is demonstrated - in high clever Sanskrit/Telugu couplets- from words suggested by a dozen selected people- all the while the principal Poet is interrupted by Gongs- and even More Questions to challenge his concetration etc........This TRUE CULTURAL portryal of Indians Legacy- drew 2,000 people (again Duly Boycotted by Youth :-))
Begs the Question- What CULTURAL VALUES are Really Successfully being imparted or TRANSLATED for youth??
OVERHEARD: in one of Spiritual Sessions at the Convention- " I dont know What he's talking about. We dont understand it at all"- from a few youth who CAME to find out More from Some Swami-Beyond-any- Ananda or something.
BTW_ this ATA Convention was "Special" and had some Modern NEW AGE Swamis- including some Dude( IT Bubble victim likely) who claimed Self Realization by meditating for couple years........... and Another Who uses Hypnosis to Tell you about your 10-12 PAST Lives etc
....... While Another FORCED mediatation by Counting down minutes to RELAXATION!!! WTF?? Lucky we didn't have some Psychic/Fortune tellers and Snake charmers to complete the CULTURAL EXPERIENCE? WTF??
Welcome to AMERICA! Land of SELF PROCLAIMED SELF REALIZED- Forcible Meditations and POWER YOGA and HOT YOGA!! (another story:-))
Man! WHEN THE ORGANIZERS/PARENTS DONT HAVE A CLUE ON THE CULTURE AND WHAT CAN BE PRESENTED/TRANSLATED To YOUTH.. ARE THE Youth at Fault??- NOPE! Get a Clue! Parents & Organizers
Can U fault these youth who prefer to Attend the SPEED DATING or HOOK UP SESSIONS and Talk about the "incredible party/Time" they had the Night Before"?? WELCOME To AMERICA & I'll LET U FIGURE OUT- WHAT REALLY "MOTIVATES" these kids to have an OUT of Body Experience!! at these National Conventions.
LAST WORD: Oh! We are American too- So ALL enjoyed the Fireworks and Like it or Not THIS ATA convention EXPERIENCE is All-American as 90% Kids were Born and Raised in USA and MOST Folks are Long Term Citizens/ Residents of USA!
NOTE: Most Kids and Folks are Hadworking AMERICANS- Over-achievers because of the Opportunites afforded to them by USA AND INDIAN Cultural imprinting/programming......... INSPITE of efforts of their Parents ( Something to look into!).. as WE ARE AMERICAN Too! INDIAN_AMERICAN!!!
July 5, 2004.
CONGRATS To Greece for Winning the EuropeanUnion Soccer Title.
They won against portugal 1-0 in the finals!.
Folks must have noticed that England, Germany, France crashed out early and Holland lost too.
This sets up an interesting upcoming OLYMPICS 2004 in July in Soccer- especially as England- France- Brazil didNOT qualify!!
Itay is still there along with Serbia Montenegro and Hosts Greece and Portugal.
USA ELECTIONS: Democratic Ticket is Complete: John Kerry Chooses John Edwards as VP nominee.
I guess this was waiting to happen. Obviously, Sen Kerry had to wait a decent amount of time before choosing an opponet in the primary- who gave him a good fight and a run for his money.
Interesting-this scenario is similar to Prez. Reagan and Vice Prez Bush- at that time George Bush Sr ran a hectic campaign calling Prez Reagan's Economic proposals as "VOODOO Economics"- and in fact helped popularize that phrase..But soon on becoming the VP Nominee- Embraced the Economic policies Wholeheartedly....
..Watch the Same thing happen with John Edwards!!.
I remember VP nominee Edwards being particularly harsh on Kerry's FLIP-FLOPS and lack of Public Appeal etc.
COMMENT on Vice President Choice(s): Republicans have yet to FORMALLY announce the ticket!Maybe Prez. Bush would like to think of a New V.P ( Please!!!)
I would have still liked to see Sen Hillary clinton as a VP choice- just to make it interesting, and especially with USA being a leader and Superpower and all- it would be great to set an example for finally the USA to Choose a Woman as a Vice President..
Now Hillary will have to fight HARD to establish her bid for President in 2008- especially if Sen. Kerry becomes the President in 2004...
.......Unless the Hillary Clinton camp have analyzed the situation and expect Pres Bush Junior to carry on for ONE MORE TERM ( Likely!!).
LAST WORD: Maybe Clintons are being cautious and maybe there is credence to the rumor that some bigwig has been captured in the current war on terro and held in detention-...waiting to be announced in time for the Nov elections ????
June 30, 2004.
ELECTION ANALYSIS & COMMENTS: India and USA : Massive Elections in Indian concluded recently with 315 Million Plus voting and Exercising their franchise for DEMOCRACY!!
Aftermath is another (true) 'INDIA SHINING' example- Only in India did a person Eligible and Chosen to be Prime Minister DECLINE ( for personal reasons).
This Would have made Mrs Sonia Gandhi- The SECOND Woman PM of India and a Foreignborn one at that!! (different story :-))
What is remarkable is that: India has Once again By example shown a near Unanimous Choice of a MINORITY as the Current PM Manmohan Singh- without Any Nay sayers.
What is EVEN MORE REMARKABLE is that the President of India- Another near-Unanimous Choice Dr. Abdul Kalam- is ALSO A member of the MINORITY community (Muslim).
USA ELECTIONS: This leads to the thesis and a HINT TO US ELECTORATE a including the DEMOCRATS and Sen JOHN KERRY! on How to get a Minority Elected to high Office.
THINK CLINTON AS V.P Designate! Not "Bubba" But the OTHER ONE- YES!! HILLARY CLINTON AS V.P.- On DEMOCRAT TICKET for NOV 2004!!
This will get USA the First Woman as Vice President and Open up possibility or 1st Woman President in 2008!!!
With all the public interest in Bubba Clinton and his book- all eyes will be on "Stand By your Man" Hillary and EVERYONE (esp. Republicans) know that she is a STRONG-INTELLIGENT WOMAN LEADER.
BTW- POLITICS WISE- Its a great move for Hillary too! VP in 2004 means Presidential Nominee in 2008 ( Win or Lose!!! :-))
JUNE 29, 2004
The Latest saga in the Olympics Doping Sandal is "Vigorous Defense"!!. The High powered attorneys hired by each of the accused in the doping scandals are launching a high powered defense. This includes the accused Athletes and the tainted Coaches and the Chemist/Druggists.
Not too far in the sidelines are the Sports sponsoring powerhouse Corporations (like Doing it"); the Associations and Sports Leagues- which has a potential to lose Millions and Millions of Dollars etc. if Doping is exposed and Public loses faith and The Leagues lose their "Star Players" etc.
Guess What!- Right on Cue! The World body- (CAS)- COURT Of ARBITRATION IN Sports- has ruled that US Sprinter Jerome Young will be stripped of his Gold Medal as part of the 4x 400 Relay Team.
NOTE: Young had tested POSITIVE in the USA by tests conducted by USATF in 1999- this would have STOPPED Young from competing at the Sydney Olympics!!! The reason Young was "allowed" to compete in Team USA was because USATF couldnot release the findings due to "CONFIDENTIALITY RULES"!!
WTF???? Sorry! USAATF got Caught trying to sneak one past The Olympics and along with Jerome Young got Caught Redhanded!!!.
Unfortunately- this means that good runners and probably Clean ones like Micheal Johnson-Andrew Pettigrew and Angelo Will have to RETURN THEIR MEDALS.
(Oh Btw Other Team Members were ALVIN AND CALVIN JOHNSON- Brothers- Alvin tested positive for Steroid use- at another time and Calvin did too but for smaller quantity- No big deal ;-) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040629/sp_nm/sport_doping_young_dc_1
Latest one to be busted for Sterioid use was Pakistans Olympic Hopeful Boxer Karim(6/28/04)
While East Bay-California sprinter Christie Gaines copped a plea and agreed to a 2 year suspension- World track star Marion Jones, Sprinter Tim Montgomery and soon Oakland's Long distance runner Regina Jacobs etc will all be launching an all out effort- ala "O.J. simpson" defence style.
In fact, Tim Montgomery has worked to BY pass the USA Doping Asociation - and taking it to International court/Arbitaration.Watch for similar antics by the rest of the accused.
All are waiting for Barry Bonds or Giambi or some high profile Baseball figure to get caught- so that Doping can be exposed in "Other" high profile sports too!!
BTW- In Baseball we are talking about exposing ONLY the ILEGAL drugs.
NOTE: Testesterone type boosted steroids and drugs ARE LEGAL in Baseball!! Remember Al McGuire- the famous Homerun king(*)- he admitted to taking dope and that INCIDENT died a quick Media death indeed. Mc Guire admiited using Androstene - pro-hormone- illegal in most sports but NOT in Baseball.
IN GENERAL- Systematic Doping of Athletes has followed and proved of Former Soviet Union and East Germany Sports programs and Their Legacy today NO DOUBT Continues!
Further in other sports- rumors of BLOOD DOPING (Replacement) has persisted from Tenis great Martina Navratilova- Hurdler /Sprinter Gail Devers (even accused by fellow Olympian sprinter Gwen Torrance)- to Cyclist Lance Armstrong and many more etc. Even The Chinese contingent has come across suspicion especially the Swimmers and Track and Field athlletes- who have recently shown "remarkable" improvementin a short span of time!
In the USA- NONE OF THE MEDIA MENTIONS The BRUTAL SPORTS OF FOOTBALL! Guaranteed Rampant Steroid Use Exists- right from High School Footbal players! including Steroids for Rehab of Limbs etc. Players who have Millions of Dollars invested in them- when hurt and routinely sent back to play- with cursory medical care and injections to "deaden the Pain- so they can go back to action.
MS Marion Jones- was married to CJ Hunter- Top US Shot Putter- who was caught and Banned for taking Steroids. THEN Ms. Jones got a Boyfriend Sprinter Tim Montegomery- who the USADA believes they have very solid evidence of doping and even an self-testimony of Steroid abuse to US Grand Jury......Oh BTW- Ms Jones N and Tim Montgomery CHANGED Coaches and CHOSE the Coach Charlie Francis of Canadian Sprinter Ben Johnson- who was busted for Steroid Use and banned several years ago
LAST WORD: So for starters-Marion Jones associates with known Drug/Steroid users and Chooses "Company" UNWISELY.......and FOR SURE SHE IS GUILTY OF THE COMPANY SHE KEEPS!! and for someone on "probation"- one has to avoid company of known drug users.
June 25, 2004.
So many things happening- Latest with release of Farenheit 9/11- many people lined up to see the movie- not because they oppose Cheney or Bush- rather "just to make a point."
With the Bush team getting unravelled : it has become more and more apparent that Sec. Donald Rumsfeld knew about the Iraq Fiasco (that there were no WMD)- and they knowingly smeared Weapons inspector Hans Blix and the UN team... and as it turns out Rumsfeld was "in the know" about Torture of Afghani detainees ... who it turns out are increasingly NOT Talibans but farmers and neighbors caught in "reward money" scams. This is evidenced by release of almost 600 detainees including recently 60 more from Guantanamo. And then of course,there are those infamous Iraqi "detainees" with the photo spread...where it looks like- following a hue and cry - instead of quickly making only LOWLY ranked US Soldiers the scapegoats- MORE IMPORTANT AND HIGHER UP HEADS WILL ROLL.
Watch out Generals- some more Military Intelligence People and may be even Rumsfeld?? to be censured- perhaps demoted. ( If not now- may be for the next term of Prez. Bush??)
Already you see the Halliburton scandal popping its head with more details of the Price gouging by Haliburton Corp- along with preferentail treatment for awards of contracts for rebuildinmg of the mid East- esp.during the War effort..
More of Vice Prez Cheney getting "Stressed out" and "relieveing himself" by uttering profanities...Can't be good for his health or heart though VP Cheney said he felt better afterwards..prompting someone to say to Cheney " If you like it SO MUCH- Why don't you do it yourself???" :-)
IN ALL THIS- WHERE IS CONDELEEZA RICE??? and to a lesser extent Gen. COLIN POWELL??. Remember when Condi Rice awas asked to face the music in front of the Senate and House committees - after the first onslaught of the criticism of IRAQ war and NO WMD was found??
Soon, with CIA falling out of favor of the Bush civilian adminstrators, it became clear that Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz- Cheney are the ones required to be "Up front and Center"!! Remember Richard Pearle- quietly fired AFTER the poorly FORGED papers about Nigerian Yellowcake were detected- a pathetic attempt for some indications of nuke WMD program and "a different sort of Nigerian Scaam "-(not quite unlike the typical Lottery Winner scam or Secret Bank account scam one gets via email all the time !!!)
LAST WORD:
VP Cheney- If you felt much better afterwards- Why dont you do it Yourself??
MAY 11 ,2004:
INDIAN ELECTIONS-With a massive 50-55% of the 671 Million eligible -Voting-the exercise in Democracy has been realized. -Joining the ranks of "Instant" polling and Fast Results'; India deployed E-Voting machines- a Great achievement indeed. Congrats!
-Indigenous designed Voting Machines- with clear markings and SYMBOLS for even illiterate people to vote (Yes remember 50-60% India is still illiterate tho' VERY INTELLIGENT!!- More later)
The best part is the sheer efficiency of the process with updates coming from many constituency via the internet and barring few incidents- a swift and clear elections & results! GOOD NEWS INDIA!!
Hope the India bashers sit up and take note And Applaud for a change. CHECK OUT The OFFICIAL INDIAN ELECTION WEBSITE-Fantastic!
INDIA ELECTIONS 2004
INDIA ELECTIONS 2004
INDIA VOTES- Over 300 Million Vote!!!
IDEA(Inst. For Democracy Electoral Assistance)
The amount of info available for analysis and the swift nature of the Carefully planned elections- should make EVERYONE proud of the Institution of Democracy and recognition of people Power & Technological Achievement by India-the largest democracy!INDIA VOTES- Over 300 Million Vote!!!
IDEA(Inst. For Democracy Electoral Assistance)
EXIT POLLS -INDIAN STYLE!:
For the first time Organized EXIT-polling was "attempted" by several sources.
NOTE: While Exit polling had been used before- never in this massive scale. Interestingly, this exercise has met with mixed results :-). Me thinks, that Folks are Content to Vote in Secret but may NOT choose to reveal all to EXIT POLLSTERS- PLUS Throw in the factor of "Media -Manipulation" and &aamp;&aamp;ammp;ammp;aamp;ammp;ammp;ammp;ammp;aamp;aamp;aamp;ammp;aamp;&aamp;>t;&ammp;ammp;aamp;ggt;&&aamp;aamp;aamp;aamp;aamp;ammp;ammp;ammp;aamp;aamp;gtt;&&ammp;ammp;aamp;ammp;&aamp;aamp;ammp;gtt;&ammp;aamp;aamp;ammp;aamp;aamp;llt;Exit Poll manipulation" --- so u'll see the END RESULTS different than the Polls ;-) .....So without Further Comment:
A.P.ELECTION RESULTS & EXIT POLLS - Andhra Pradesh ( May 10,2004)
| BJP+TDP |
Congress+TRS |
Others |
|
| ACTUAL |
50 |
214 |
12 |
| NDTV |
80-105 |
180-205 |
5-10 |
| Outlook |
163 |
122 |
9 |
| STAR |
136-146 |
135-145 |
8-18 |
ELECTIONS In INDIA
April to May, 2004 MASSIVE elections in the most Vibrant DEMOCRATIC Elections in the World...with almost 300 MILLION Voters voting......Folks in US and elsewhere should understand how vibrant Democracy and the elections are in India!!
NOW that tells you about about DEMOCRACY & the RIGHT TO VOTE!
NOTE: This phenomenon of maybe being ILLITERATE BUT most folks are not UN-INTELLIGENT!!!- a DISTINCT Difference...... which MANY WESTERN Observers seem to have trouble comprehending.
HENCE they are taken for a ride by "ordinary, illiterate" folks from THIRD WORLD Countries. For example ordinary Afghani or Iraqi folks, post conflict, were many times viewd as being "illiterate, and ill-informed".. But Sure Enough! Many of these folks got a lot of Reward Money by fingering old enemies & settling scores and leading Coalition troops on Merry Go Round- so much so that the Int'l Commitee of RED CROSS says over 80-90% people in detention by Coalition and US troops are INNOCENT!! ( and over $25 Million in reward money spent :-(
FINAL INDIAN ELECTION RESULTS: As of May 12 reading- the day before final results- Seems the BJP led N.D.A. Govt will barely be able to form the next National Government too. What remains to be seen is the margin of Seats garnered by BJP. Whether an outright victory or the need for several alliances to makeup the majority.
Andhra Pradesh has rejected the Cyber CEO ex- Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. A clear indication of the DISCONNECT of the current HIGH TECH Politicians to GROUND REALITY!!
-Literally, while the people received No Water and were met with Escalating prices ..........the current AP government AND Central Governmant & most NRi- NON RESIDENT INDIANS!!! were content to celebrate the High Tech Revolution helping a mere 0.01% of the population while IGNORING the major portion of population- who felt totally disenfranchised!!!.
This portends a VERY SERIOUS MESSAGE To INDIA- USA And THE WORLD!! Repurcussions in terms of WORLD ECONOMY & projected- REFORMS and The place of Basic Needs vs Technological Advancements.
Its more than Just Winning ot losing an Election. The SYSYTEMIC PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS of a Developing Country Need to be addressed- not Molly-coddling a few individuals and Corporates who will tend to get Mega Rich quick!.
The ISSUES CLEARLY were BASIC RIGHTS- Of FOOD-HOUSING/SHELTER and INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS.
And Specifially in Andhra Pradesh- issues of RURAL Development -Womens Rights -Representation of OBC/SCST and Backward Castes Groups- who represent 60% of the population -along with WATER SCARCITY & RISING PRICES.
DOMSESTIC- USA : MILITARY UN-INTELLIGENCE ...:Looks like now the topic has shifted from Military Intelligence Failure to Military Intelligence Perversion......Booklets and handbooks available....
..........Obviously a disconnect between Pentagon- White House civilians - Intelligence Comunity (including CIA) and Each Group trying to Jockey for position by Damaging the Other group...
EXIT Strategy?WHAT EXIT STRATEGY???
APRIL 15 ,2004:
Personally, although hailing from Mumbai and having played cricket regularly growing up (fairly well :-) I never did think that it was a great sport like Football-Soccer. ....Possibly because only 5-day cricket was around and that could be so boring!! ..With people batting for 3 days and stil resulting in a Draw ( No result declared)!!! The One-day limited-over cricket was more to everyones linking and was fun- esp thats what people played every weekend anyway!!!
This time I made it a point to watch cricket when I could- as it was historic- and saw the One Day internationals and the Final cricket -enough to last me for another 10 years :-)
-(Asian Week)- Sam Rao
FEB 5,2004, Milpitas
THE Untold & UnderTold STORY
The Lack of Media attention on THE FAILURE OF US INTELLIGENCE on Islamic Nuke Bomb!
Where was US intelligence and CIA on the ISLAMIC NUKE BOMB of Pakistan??
The Pakistani Flea Market of Nukes that went to North Korea-Iran and Libya.....
But for past 2 decades, The Pakistanis were engaged in 2 Wars with India + in 2 wars as US "Ally" in Iraq/Afghanistan/Iraq II... ....During this time- EVEN with Attention SUPER Heightened with WARS GOING ON...the CIA/ US State Dept did not have a Clue about the Islamic Nuke Flea Market in Pakistan !!
......NOW-Shouldn't the REST of the World be the One pardoning? (If at all!!)
What a Shame for the good people of Pakistan- to have a Rogue person appointed as Father of Nation and then Father of Nation caught apologizing- What a humiliation. Uncalled for the GOOD people of Pakistan. The TOTAL Blame is on Army Govt and Dictators caught in seeing the World thru' Jihadi Islamic and "Hate-India" eyes.
NOTE: The BUSH Sr. -CLINTON & BUSH Jr. ADMINSTRATION ARE ALL TO BLAME for bringing the World closer to Islamic Nuke!!
Shouldn't the US Stand by and Support INDIA instead of just lukewarm support and WRONGLY choosing to embrace "ally" Pakistani Dictators & Taliban Supporters?? What a sad state of affairs that the general US population fed on TV and mundane matters seem to lap it all up-including the explanations of a tinpot dictator-who has gave 4 x 100% assurances and Swore on Allah! about safety of nukes in Pakistan!!! ...all promises that went up in smoke!....Hope its only the promises that go up in smoke (not lives)
SHAME/IRONY:
Time and again Politicos etc come up- even the ones AGAINST the war = AND talk ONLY about the 500 Deaths of US serviceman in the War in Iraq......NEVER BREATHING A WORD for the 50,000 Children in Iraq dead from Malnutritionand of the of the 10,000's people dead in the recent UNNECCSARY war- and 100,000 more scarred for life- w/ injuries and kid w/o school-no food-no heat.
Bobby "Pyush"JINDAL-4 CONGRESS
Announces run for Congress- better chance this time around. By choosing a constituency has proven that he wants to stay in professsion of Politics....Unlike many left licking their wounds.
Will likely get the nomination ( Same district voted for him 66% to 33% over rival & current Governor Kathleen Blanco).
Positives- JINDAL HAS HIRED A WOMAN OF COLOR - Indian-American Ms . RANIKA AHUJA TO WORK AS TOP CAMPAIGN STAFF.(Dir of POLICY!!)
Could it be a Reform for Jindal's outlook....Nah!! But a GREAT STEP/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT anyway!!
LAST WORD: Janet Jackson apologized to all & acknowledged poor taste for the SuperBowl Halftime "show"......Must be relief for her to finaly get it off her chest!!!
January 18,2004 Fremont, CA:
PEACE BELLS IN THE AIR for India & Pakistan! Hope So!....May be......
Great Start to the New Year- with at least part of the Pakistan leadership seemingly attempting to join the Real-Peaceful World! Great News!- and Reflects the Wish of MOST OF THE PEOPLE-The Silent Majority...What remains to be seen is the sincereity of Musharaff aand his entourage......For after all- Pakistan did exactly this couple times BEFORE while reneging on the Peace dividend.
Now, with 2 assasination attempts on Musharaaf's life- the High wire balancing tightrope act of Musharaff needs a safety net...as advised by Ringmaster USA.....
.........Well Heres to Stability & Prosperity and Peace in the Region- Strength to Non Violence and all the True Peace lovering populations and Leaders...
US Primary Caucuses Elections:
IOWA /New Hampshire etc coming up........
Most of it is media hype anyway...Look for Hourly Polls showing little or no difference from before But the TVAnchors trying to flag interest as if it was the end of the world.
Lightweight reporting from FOX TV etc has Anchors desperatelyl trying to "make it" in the TV world weighing in on issues obviously handed to them by research staff- so happily mispronounce-misinterpret age-old issues and present it "as (if) Never happened before".
POLITICS: Indian-American population is in a stage of Advanced "ABCD" syndrome orAdvance NET-Ip-ism (Network of indian Professionals"syndrome.)
Here, folks born or raised or living in USA for a considerable period of time- want to embrace the American political process. Great! Good in principle and should be encouraged- but many more cynically see it as a self promotion trip and want to wade into the Political pool- as there is a niche- even though they know nothing of the political process.
Hence a slew of ALSO RANS plus "Campaign workers"!! All claiming victories and announcing that its a phenomenon for them to be engaged in the Indian-American community for the first time...
The problem here again is that most Indian Americans (or South Asians as they have been conned into referring to themselves by the Pakistani lobbyists and India-apologists...more later on this).....are running around looking for candidates to support or draw attention to themselves...
Hence you see hard core Democrats supporting Right wing Republicans like Jindal.... and the lkes of upstarts like Vik Bajwa raise $40,000 and manage only 1093 votes and folks like Ash Bhatt (Fremont,CA) running for Congress in Fremont- raising $62,000- or Ro Khanna(San Mateo,CA) running against Tom Lantos- a 20 year incumbent Congressman- a Liberal democrat and friend of Indian to boot.....All Wanna-be Candidates with no chance in heck ...
ENCOUNTER: A self styled union supporter was passionate about Jindal- till I informed him about Jindals Right wing Republican credentials. He had no clue. Seems there are a LOT of Folks like him!!
NOTE: There are good and interesting candidates like Upendra Chivukula- NJ- Re-ELECTED to NJ Assembly and Ms.Kamala Harris- Elected SF DA- sharp-smart and brilliant.. and now the Indian(South Asian) community Suddenly discovers her and blightly glosses over her half-African ancestry :-) as "it never mattered to them before!!" ....and now she’s invited to all Indian functions. Watch for Kamala be a GRAND MARSHALL in the FIA parade this time around :-)
SIMPLE PLEASURES: Nostalgia- of seeing Dozens of Kites flying everyday in Mumbai during January- for Makar Sankranti- simple pleasures of kite flying and seeing Manja (thread) Duels of kites and kids chasing after cut string kites to retrieve them...Occassionally catching a LIVE RADIO Commentary on kite Flying Duels on SW radio from Gujarat and enjoying, marveling and joking about the "imagined visual"........
CULTURE CALL : Phone call received-for a Classical Dance Contest I'm organizing
ME:Hello!-Yes!
HIM: I want to enter a Classical Dance- Group Dance!
ME: Are u sure its Classical Dance that you want to enter? Let me know what style and music??
HIM: Yes! I guarantee its Classical. It’s the Dance by Shah Rukh Khan on top of train....(You see this dude thought Classical was like 'Classical" like in "Very good"-Excellent" (!)
VOTE BLOC-This year targeted are SINGLES incl SINGLE SOCCER MOMS!!!
>>Polls show Unmarried women account for 46 percent of all voting-age women. In the 2000 election, 16 Million unmarried women didn't register to vote, and another 22 million were registered but didn't vote.
>>If single women voted at the same rate as married Women, there would be 6 million more voters in the 2004 election. Some 68 percent of married women voted in the last presidential election while only 52 percent of unmarried women cast ballots.
>>Since 1960, the number of unmarried women calling themselves independents have doubled to 37 percent. By contrast, 44 percent say they are Democrats and 18 percent are Republicans. Interesting!! http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0102/p10s03-comv.html
LAST WORD: Old Sanskrit saying- "When you play with a snake- It’s very likely that you will be stung" ...
Pakistan sees Trained Jihadis turn on them -Musharaff nearly assasinated..... similar to the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing terrorists- trained by CIA and Pakistan to fight against Russians- and some given Green Cards- turned around and bombed Trade Center in NYC 1993 and also entered Kashmir India and created havoc. Now Pakistan? Musharaff is getting a taste of it.
December 26,2003 Sunnyvale, CA:
April to May, 2004 MASSIVE elections in the most Vibrant DEMOCRATIC Elections in the World...with almost 300 MILLION Voters voting......Folks in US and elsewhere should understand how vibrant Democracy and the elections are in India!!
- -Imagine 300 million voters (more than US ENTIRE population) voting
- Imagine-people WALKING 10-15 miles to reach polling stations- after all 70% Indian is still Rural, Agro-based
- Imagine-people who live on DAILY WAGES- giving that up for the right to vote & standing in line for several hours to Vote!!!!
NOW that tells you about about DEMOCRACY & the RIGHT TO VOTE!
NOTE: This phenomenon of maybe being ILLITERATE BUT most folks are not UN-INTELLIGENT!!!- a DISTINCT Difference...... which MANY WESTERN Observers seem to have trouble comprehending.
HENCE they are taken for a ride by "ordinary, illiterate" folks from THIRD WORLD Countries. For example ordinary Afghani or Iraqi folks, post conflict, were many times viewd as being "illiterate, and ill-informed".. But Sure Enough! Many of these folks got a lot of Reward Money by fingering old enemies & settling scores and leading Coalition troops on Merry Go Round- so much so that the Int'l Commitee of RED CROSS says over 80-90% people in detention by Coalition and US troops are INNOCENT!! ( and over $25 Million in reward money spent :-(
FINAL INDIAN ELECTION RESULTS: As of May 12 reading- the day before final results- Seems the BJP led N.D.A. Govt will barely be able to form the next National Government too. What remains to be seen is the margin of Seats garnered by BJP. Whether an outright victory or the need for several alliances to makeup the majority.
Andhra Pradesh has rejected the Cyber CEO ex- Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. A clear indication of the DISCONNECT of the current HIGH TECH Politicians to GROUND REALITY!!
-Literally, while the people received No Water and were met with Escalating prices ..........the current AP government AND Central Governmant & most NRi- NON RESIDENT INDIANS!!! were content to celebrate the High Tech Revolution helping a mere 0.01% of the population while IGNORING the major portion of population- who felt totally disenfranchised!!!.
This portends a VERY SERIOUS MESSAGE To INDIA- USA And THE WORLD!! Repurcussions in terms of WORLD ECONOMY & projected- REFORMS and The place of Basic Needs vs Technological Advancements.
Its more than Just Winning ot losing an Election. The SYSYTEMIC PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS of a Developing Country Need to be addressed- not Molly-coddling a few individuals and Corporates who will tend to get Mega Rich quick!.
The ISSUES CLEARLY were BASIC RIGHTS- Of FOOD-HOUSING/SHELTER and INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS.
And Specifially in Andhra Pradesh- issues of RURAL Development -Womens Rights -Representation of OBC/SCST and Backward Castes Groups- who represent 60% of the population -along with WATER SCARCITY & RISING PRICES.
DOMSESTIC- USA : MILITARY UN-INTELLIGENCE ...:Looks like now the topic has shifted from Military Intelligence Failure to Military Intelligence Perversion......Booklets and handbooks available....
..........Obviously a disconnect between Pentagon- White House civilians - Intelligence Comunity (including CIA) and Each Group trying to Jockey for position by Damaging the Other group...
In ALL THIS people suffer-
American people- Jobs/Lifestyle and Image
Iraqis/Afghani people- All around trouble for the ordinary people facing daily hardships CONTINUING anD COMPUNDED for OVER 2 decades!
LAST WORD:American people- Jobs/Lifestyle and Image
Iraqis/Afghani people- All around trouble for the ordinary people facing daily hardships CONTINUING anD COMPUNDED for OVER 2 decades!
EXIT Strategy?WHAT EXIT STRATEGY???
APRIL 15 ,2004:
CONGRATS - INDIAN CRICKET TEAM!!!&;;;;&aamp;ammp;ammp;aamp;ammp;ammp;ammp;ampp;<
A historic Win in Pakistan Soil indeed!!
With a crushing, innings defeat- (meaning the Indians had to bat only once and Pakistan couldnot makeup their total in 2 Innings!!!)
India beat Pakistan in Cricket on Pakistani soil for the FIRST TIME. For nearly 50 yrs the Indian cricket side never had any success in Pakistan--(Although for the last decade Indians had NOT visited Pakistan )
Quick Summary/ Observations:A historic Win in Pakistan Soil indeed!!
With a crushing, innings defeat- (meaning the Indians had to bat only once and Pakistan couldnot makeup their total in 2 Innings!!!)
India beat Pakistan in Cricket on Pakistani soil for the FIRST TIME. For nearly 50 yrs the Indian cricket side never had any success in Pakistan--(Although for the last decade Indians had NOT visited Pakistan )
- A STRONG Indian batting lineup & with a surprising GOOD BOWLING by the Indian side.
- -Helped by an Imploding Pakistani side- with Open Team Dissensions galore!
- Poor morale & poor performances from Pakistani World class pace bowlers AND
- The usage of Neutral Umpires made a LOT of difference!!!
- IMHO- The Neutral Umpires from (UK,S.Africa,W.Indies etc) made consistent mistakes throughout the series :-)
This time I made it a point to watch cricket when I could- as it was historic- and saw the One Day internationals and the Final cricket -enough to last me for another 10 years :-)
For the UN-INITIATED to Cricket: -Here's my article on CRICKET for the New Dudes- published in ASIAN WEEK-largest circulated Asian Am weekly from San Francisco:
THE CRICKET INVASION-(Asian Week)- Sam Rao
NOTE: Photo Credits are mine too :-)
ELECTIONS In INDIA
April 20-26th, 2004 are the MASSIVE elections in ....possibly the most Vibrant DEMOCRATIC Elections in the World...with almost 350 MILLION Voters voting...promises to be another intersting one.
...Folks in US should understand how vibrant Democracy and the elections in India is!!
NOW that tells you about about DEMOCRACY & the RIGHT TO VOTE!
INDIAN RESULTS: Seems the BJP led N.D.A. Govt will form the next National Government too. What remains to be seen is the margin of Seats garnered by BJP. Whether an outright victory or the need for several alliances to makeup the majority.
--More interesting are the STATE Elections-which will also have an impact on Nationals -esp. in South and Western India.
Andhra Pradesh is interesting esp. as the Chief Minister Naidu (Telugu Desam)has been aggressive in Urban reforms and IT and Technology enabling in India...what remains to be seen is how Voters will react to the "OTHER" issues of the day: including RURAL Development -Womens Rights-Representation of OBS/SCST and Backward Castes Groups- who represent 60% of the population.
PREDICTIONS:
...Seems like BJP supported TELUGU DESAM will squeak in a win although with a definite showing of Congress Party...Is still a tossup of who can garner enough to form the AP Govt.
Looks Like Telangana (non-Coastal area of Andhra-which has elections on April 20th- 1 week ahead of rest of A.P.- will go Congress's way!!!)
.....Seems the BJP led N.D.A. Govt will form the next National Government too.
LAST WORD: "The INtelligence Fallout of the Bush Administration"
... As duly predicted the dissensions of the Bush Admin. have come to the forefront. VP Cheney/Rumsfeld vs Condi Rice/Powell.........
The Cheney-Rumsfeld camp seemingly got out of the way -while getting Condi Rice to "face the Music"on 9/11 commission.......
.....Now Pulitzer prize winner Bob Woodward writes about-
Prez. BUSH (TERM II) will have a Fall out:
.......Methinks- Rumsfeld is on his way out- Dick Cheney could retire- Gen.Colin Powell will certainly opt out...I guess for Prez Bush to win- we would need another major target captured in time for the elections.....& Guess Bremer could be primed for Vice Prez job by then......
MARCH 4,2004: ELECTIONS
I hope Indian-americans folks wake up and smell the coffee. "Politicians" have seen a cash-cow in the Indian-American community and are lining up to take our money.
-Not bad for a 2 month campaign.The fools are the Indian-Americans who fund these "candidates".
NOTE: Ro Khanna is probably better qualified and obviously was looking for the future rather than current election cycle.
Our community has money hopefully it will also wise up and act smart too.
March 1, 2004 :
Elections-Super Tuesday on March 2- - Methinks: Kerry Wins Demo nomination.Pretty much seals the Democratic Nomination for US Presidential Elections in November. Tho' will take a while to get John Edwards on Board as VP.
Local Predictions: California has its share of Indian-American candidates. No one will get the nod except possibly Anjali Lathi-Sanitary Water dist in Fremont area. Bobby Jindalfor Congress- possibly in Louisiana for primary at least.No Rohit Khanna -No Peter Matthews or others.period.
RESPONSIBILITY with NRI Community: The onus is on us-NRI community- who are ready to fund light-weight candiates.April 20-26th, 2004 are the MASSIVE elections in ....possibly the most Vibrant DEMOCRATIC Elections in the World...with almost 350 MILLION Voters voting...promises to be another intersting one.
...Folks in US should understand how vibrant Democracy and the elections in India is!!
- -Imagine 350 million voters (more than US ENTIRE population) voting
- Imagine-people WALKING 10-15 miles to reach polling stations- after all 70% Indian is still Rural, Agro-based
- Imagine-people who live on DAILY WAGES- giving that up for the right to vote & standing in line for several hours to Vote!!!!
NOW that tells you about about DEMOCRACY & the RIGHT TO VOTE!
INDIAN RESULTS: Seems the BJP led N.D.A. Govt will form the next National Government too. What remains to be seen is the margin of Seats garnered by BJP. Whether an outright victory or the need for several alliances to makeup the majority.
--More interesting are the STATE Elections-which will also have an impact on Nationals -esp. in South and Western India.
Andhra Pradesh is interesting esp. as the Chief Minister Naidu (Telugu Desam)has been aggressive in Urban reforms and IT and Technology enabling in India...what remains to be seen is how Voters will react to the "OTHER" issues of the day: including RURAL Development -Womens Rights-Representation of OBS/SCST and Backward Castes Groups- who represent 60% of the population.
PREDICTIONS:
...Seems like BJP supported TELUGU DESAM will squeak in a win although with a definite showing of Congress Party...Is still a tossup of who can garner enough to form the AP Govt.
Looks Like Telangana (non-Coastal area of Andhra-which has elections on April 20th- 1 week ahead of rest of A.P.- will go Congress's way!!!)
.....Seems the BJP led N.D.A. Govt will form the next National Government too.
LAST WORD: "The INtelligence Fallout of the Bush Administration"
... As duly predicted the dissensions of the Bush Admin. have come to the forefront. VP Cheney/Rumsfeld vs Condi Rice/Powell.........
The Cheney-Rumsfeld camp seemingly got out of the way -while getting Condi Rice to "face the Music"on 9/11 commission.......
.....Now Pulitzer prize winner Bob Woodward writes about-
- Prez. Bush Jr. was planning an Iraq attack within 2 months of the Afghanistan invasion!!!
- Rumsfeld (& Bush) kept it almost entirely from Condi Rice/Powell.
- Gen Tommy Frank using abusive language at Pentagon-when informed about US plans to invade Iraq-while still pursuing war in Afghanistan.....
Prez. BUSH (TERM II) will have a Fall out:
.......Methinks- Rumsfeld is on his way out- Dick Cheney could retire- Gen.Colin Powell will certainly opt out...I guess for Prez Bush to win- we would need another major target captured in time for the elections.....& Guess Bremer could be primed for Vice Prez job by then......
MARCH 4,2004: ELECTIONS
I hope Indian-americans folks wake up and smell the coffee. "Politicians" have seen a cash-cow in the Indian-American community and are lining up to take our money.
- Poor candidates siphon off 1000's of Dollars and there is absolutely no clout or any significant policy changes helping/affecting us because of these un-electable candidates and waste of money.
- THIS MONEY COULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO ELECTABLE CANDIDATES- Non Indian in most cases and resulted in better/favorable Policy changes etc for OUR community!!
-
- eg Rohit Khanna-for Congress with zero experience- kept talking about Tom Lantos "running scared"- This for a 12 term (24 year Congressman).
- eg Ash Bhatt-For Assembly came in last in primaries with 3.3% of the vote (total 1,100 votes) and raised about $70-80,000)
- Eg Vik Bajwa- foGovernor- zero experience- got 1,098 votes and raised $40,000.
NOTE: Ro Khanna is probably better qualified and obviously was looking for the future rather than current election cycle.
Our community has money hopefully it will also wise up and act smart too.
March 1, 2004 :
Elections-Super Tuesday on March 2- - Methinks: Kerry Wins Demo nomination.Pretty much seals the Democratic Nomination for US Presidential Elections in November. Tho' will take a while to get John Edwards on Board as VP.
Local Predictions: California has its share of Indian-American candidates. No one will get the nod except possibly Anjali Lathi-Sanitary Water dist in Fremont area. Bobby Jindalfor Congress- possibly in Louisiana for primary at least.No Rohit Khanna -No Peter Matthews or others.period.
Imagine instead of gifting $40,000 to a candidate who has no chance- divvy up the $40,000 to 40 legsilators! Folks like Stark, Honda etc- people who can affect change in policy!Mainly Winnable and elected candidates.!!!!
Also get the Aides to the Legislators a decent briefing -Update and Education (and less than $1000 can get you this meeting!!)
THINK: Again $40,000 distributed over 40 legislators.- NOT neccesarily of Indian origin but WINNABLE AND ELECTABLE!!
To the ones itching to engage in Civic Duties- Help get out the Vote and you can always call in and register your opinion with legislator- local, Congress etc.Also get the Aides to the Legislators a decent briefing -Update and Education (and less than $1000 can get you this meeting!!)
THINK: Again $40,000 distributed over 40 legislators.- NOT neccesarily of Indian origin but WINNABLE AND ELECTABLE!!
Thats what great about USA! Its a PARTICIPATORY Democracy-(for the most part). Eg- CAll on the Hot button issue affecting the WHOLE WORLD- The Nuclear proliferation and blackmarket in Pakistan. You have Everyright to call and express your opinion as a resident in USA and a world citizen!.
Q: US CONGRESS: Why is a bill in US Congress promising $70 Billion to Paksitan-(after this fiasco of supporting Islamic Jihad and Blackmarketing Nukes) and only $15 Billion to India- a Stable, Secular, Democracy??
Q: SENATE "INTELLIGENCE" COMMITTEE:- Where is the Intelligence in the Committee.... Who could NOT even identify that Pakistan was blackmarketeeing in Nukes- while the World went throught 2 wars in the region!!!a) The Gulf War #1
-b)1999 Kargil Indian-Pakistan war -b) The Gulf War #2.!!!!!
- SURPRISE!!!-Dropped off the Radar:-b)1999 Kargil Indian-Pakistan war -b) The Gulf War #2.!!!!!
Mad Cow Disease- Disappeared from Public perception and Media Waves!!..Kinda strange for such a massive health problem.
If anyone in their right mind can say that only a SINGLE isolated cow got infected!!
If anyone in their right mind can say that only a SINGLE isolated cow got infected!!
THEY ARE:
a) totally ignorant;
b) unaware of statistics and simple biology or
c) Lying through their teeth.Its like saying only one kid got a cold in a school -inspite of mixing with 1000 other kids in school for a period of time...and Hence no more colds for the year are possible...Guess what!!
b) unaware of statistics and simple biology or
c) Lying through their teeth.Its like saying only one kid got a cold in a school -inspite of mixing with 1000 other kids in school for a period of time...and Hence no more colds for the year are possible...Guess what!!
What a massive PR Blanket SNOW job...kinda like when OJ Simpson trial was played up and engaged the entire nations attention...while
AT THE SAME TIME (as the OJ Trial in CA) In NY/NJ there was a trail of the FIRST World Trade center Bombing of 1993.!!
March Melting Snows makes me Shudder: Now with the March melting snows in Himalayas-and the US Armed Forces Noose being tightened on Osama Bin LAden-I shudder and pray that NO CORRIDOR OR SAFE PASSAGE will be given to these Terrorist Jihadis who fought side by side w/ the Pakstani regulars in war against the West & USA and India!!AT THE SAME TIME (as the OJ Trial in CA) In NY/NJ there was a trail of the FIRST World Trade center Bombing of 1993.!!
These same Jihadi will attempt to slip into Kashmir and raise havoc on innocent population as wella s the Army in India
LAST WORD: Na Ghar Ka Na Ghat Ka...."...
An old Indian parable talks about The Dhobi's (washerman) Dog- The Dhobi (washerman) -would take clothes in regularly-go to a Ghat (Stone by a river/pond) and Wash clothes by the riverside or pond. His Dog- would hang out & Shuttle between BOTH the Ghat and the Dhobi's home- but BELONG TO NEITHER PLACE- .....leading to an Expression " The Dog- Who belongs to Neither the Home or the Ghat" In Hindi "Na Ghar Ka Na Ghat Ka...."...
...This is the predicament of Gen.Musharaff- sometimes "a Staunch Ally" i.e a Puppet of the West/USA..... and sometimes breathing fire having to appease the Taliban supporting Islamic Jihadis.
LAST WORD: Na Ghar Ka Na Ghat Ka...."...
An old Indian parable talks about The Dhobi's (washerman) Dog- The Dhobi (washerman) -would take clothes in regularly-go to a Ghat (Stone by a river/pond) and Wash clothes by the riverside or pond. His Dog- would hang out & Shuttle between BOTH the Ghat and the Dhobi's home- but BELONG TO NEITHER PLACE- .....leading to an Expression " The Dog- Who belongs to Neither the Home or the Ghat" In Hindi "Na Ghar Ka Na Ghat Ka...."...
...This is the predicament of Gen.Musharaff- sometimes "a Staunch Ally" i.e a Puppet of the West/USA..... and sometimes breathing fire having to appease the Taliban supporting Islamic Jihadis.
FEB 5,2004, Milpitas
THE Untold & UnderTold STORY
The Lack of Media attention on THE FAILURE OF US INTELLIGENCE on Islamic Nuke Bomb!
Where was US intelligence and CIA on the ISLAMIC NUKE BOMB of Pakistan??
The Pakistani Flea Market of Nukes that went to North Korea-Iran and Libya.....
But for past 2 decades, The Pakistanis were engaged in 2 Wars with India + in 2 wars as US "Ally" in Iraq/Afghanistan/Iraq II... ....During this time- EVEN with Attention SUPER Heightened with WARS GOING ON...the CIA/ US State Dept did not have a Clue about the Islamic Nuke Flea Market in Pakistan !!
WHAT A MASSIVE FAILURE oF INTELLIGENCE!!!
About Islamic Nuke:
Pardon (Me) by the Pakistani govt.
"We Didnt Do it. It was A Rogue Scientist"
( who also happened to be the "Father of Nation of Pakistan).......NOW-Shouldn't the REST of the World be the One pardoning? (If at all!!)
What a Shame for the good people of Pakistan- to have a Rogue person appointed as Father of Nation and then Father of Nation caught apologizing- What a humiliation. Uncalled for the GOOD people of Pakistan. The TOTAL Blame is on Army Govt and Dictators caught in seeing the World thru' Jihadi Islamic and "Hate-India" eyes.
NOTE: The BUSH Sr. -CLINTON & BUSH Jr. ADMINSTRATION ARE ALL TO BLAME for bringing the World closer to Islamic Nuke!!
- Where were you President George Bush Sr??
- Where were you Prez Clinton??
- Where were you Statesman Gen Colin Powell??
- Where Were You Mr John Kerry (Senate Intelligence Committee)??
- What kind of circus are we brokering and running -Gen.Powell?
- What kind of "Allies" do we keep??
- Are we so blatantly Double Faced??
- Where is the Outrage?Honesty?
- Is this Leadership of the World?
Shouldn't the US Stand by and Support INDIA instead of just lukewarm support and WRONGLY choosing to embrace "ally" Pakistani Dictators & Taliban Supporters?? What a sad state of affairs that the general US population fed on TV and mundane matters seem to lap it all up-including the explanations of a tinpot dictator-who has gave 4 x 100% assurances and Swore on Allah! about safety of nukes in Pakistan!!! ...all promises that went up in smoke!....Hope its only the promises that go up in smoke (not lives)
Time and again Politicos etc come up- even the ones AGAINST the war = AND talk ONLY about the 500 Deaths of US serviceman in the War in Iraq......NEVER BREATHING A WORD for the 50,000 Children in Iraq dead from Malnutritionand of the of the 10,000's people dead in the recent UNNECCSARY war- and 100,000 more scarred for life- w/ injuries and kid w/o school-no food-no heat.
Where are you Joe public??
POLITICS-Domestic:Bobby "Pyush"JINDAL-4 CONGRESS
Announces run for Congress- better chance this time around. By choosing a constituency has proven that he wants to stay in professsion of Politics....Unlike many left licking their wounds.
Will likely get the nomination ( Same district voted for him 66% to 33% over rival & current Governor Kathleen Blanco).
Positives- JINDAL HAS HIRED A WOMAN OF COLOR - Indian-American Ms . RANIKA AHUJA TO WORK AS TOP CAMPAIGN STAFF.(Dir of POLICY!!)
Could it be a Reform for Jindal's outlook....Nah!! But a GREAT STEP/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT anyway!!
LAST WORD: Janet Jackson apologized to all & acknowledged poor taste for the SuperBowl Halftime "show"......Must be relief for her to finaly get it off her chest!!!
January 18,2004 Fremont, CA:
PEACE BELLS IN THE AIR for India & Pakistan! Hope So!....May be......
Great Start to the New Year- with at least part of the Pakistan leadership seemingly attempting to join the Real-Peaceful World! Great News!- and Reflects the Wish of MOST OF THE PEOPLE-The Silent Majority...What remains to be seen is the sincereity of Musharaff aand his entourage......For after all- Pakistan did exactly this couple times BEFORE while reneging on the Peace dividend.
- a 180 degree turnaround after Supporting and Militarily advising the Islamic Taliban for decades!
- Approaching India (Nawaz Sharif PM and Musharraff-Military Commander) for Peace normalization talks- while Infiltrating Pakistani Army into India Kashmir (KARGIL) in 1999- for which Pakistn received -whats called in Military parlance " A bloody nose" and LOST ONE MORE War.
- Nuke Transfer to N.Korea, Libya, Saudia- and who knows who else....
Now, with 2 assasination attempts on Musharaaf's life- the High wire balancing tightrope act of Musharaff needs a safety net...as advised by Ringmaster USA.....
.........Well Heres to Stability & Prosperity and Peace in the Region- Strength to Non Violence and all the True Peace lovering populations and Leaders...
...........and in the Words of President Ronald Reagan: "TRUST but VERIFY"
(BTW_ did u know that Musharaff was born in India!!)US Primary Caucuses Elections:
IOWA /New Hampshire etc coming up........
Most of it is media hype anyway...Look for Hourly Polls showing little or no difference from before But the TVAnchors trying to flag interest as if it was the end of the world.
Lightweight reporting from FOX TV etc has Anchors desperatelyl trying to "make it" in the TV world weighing in on issues obviously handed to them by research staff- so happily mispronounce-misinterpret age-old issues and present it "as (if) Never happened before".
POLITICS: Indian-American population is in a stage of Advanced "ABCD" syndrome orAdvance NET-Ip-ism (Network of indian Professionals"syndrome.)
Here, folks born or raised or living in USA for a considerable period of time- want to embrace the American political process. Great! Good in principle and should be encouraged- but many more cynically see it as a self promotion trip and want to wade into the Political pool- as there is a niche- even though they know nothing of the political process.
Hence a slew of ALSO RANS plus "Campaign workers"!! All claiming victories and announcing that its a phenomenon for them to be engaged in the Indian-American community for the first time...
The problem here again is that most Indian Americans (or South Asians as they have been conned into referring to themselves by the Pakistani lobbyists and India-apologists...more later on this).....are running around looking for candidates to support or draw attention to themselves...
Hence you see hard core Democrats supporting Right wing Republicans like Jindal.... and the lkes of upstarts like Vik Bajwa raise $40,000 and manage only 1093 votes and folks like Ash Bhatt (Fremont,CA) running for Congress in Fremont- raising $62,000- or Ro Khanna(San Mateo,CA) running against Tom Lantos- a 20 year incumbent Congressman- a Liberal democrat and friend of Indian to boot.....All Wanna-be Candidates with no chance in heck ...
ENCOUNTER: A self styled union supporter was passionate about Jindal- till I informed him about Jindals Right wing Republican credentials. He had no clue. Seems there are a LOT of Folks like him!!
NOTE: There are good and interesting candidates like Upendra Chivukula- NJ- Re-ELECTED to NJ Assembly and Ms.Kamala Harris- Elected SF DA- sharp-smart and brilliant.. and now the Indian(South Asian) community Suddenly discovers her and blightly glosses over her half-African ancestry :-) as "it never mattered to them before!!" ....and now she’s invited to all Indian functions. Watch for Kamala be a GRAND MARSHALL in the FIA parade this time around :-)
SIMPLE PLEASURES: Nostalgia- of seeing Dozens of Kites flying everyday in Mumbai during January- for Makar Sankranti- simple pleasures of kite flying and seeing Manja (thread) Duels of kites and kids chasing after cut string kites to retrieve them...Occassionally catching a LIVE RADIO Commentary on kite Flying Duels on SW radio from Gujarat and enjoying, marveling and joking about the "imagined visual"........
CULTURE CALL : Phone call received-for a Classical Dance Contest I'm organizing
ME:Hello!-Yes!
HIM: I want to enter a Classical Dance- Group Dance!
ME: Are u sure its Classical Dance that you want to enter? Let me know what style and music??
HIM: Yes! I guarantee its Classical. It’s the Dance by Shah Rukh Khan on top of train....(You see this dude thought Classical was like 'Classical" like in "Very good"-Excellent" (!)
VOTE BLOC-This year targeted are SINGLES incl SINGLE SOCCER MOMS!!!
>>Polls show Unmarried women account for 46 percent of all voting-age women. In the 2000 election, 16 Million unmarried women didn't register to vote, and another 22 million were registered but didn't vote.
>>If single women voted at the same rate as married Women, there would be 6 million more voters in the 2004 election. Some 68 percent of married women voted in the last presidential election while only 52 percent of unmarried women cast ballots.
>>Since 1960, the number of unmarried women calling themselves independents have doubled to 37 percent. By contrast, 44 percent say they are Democrats and 18 percent are Republicans. Interesting!! http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0102/p10s03-comv.html
LAST WORD: Old Sanskrit saying- "When you play with a snake- It’s very likely that you will be stung" ...
Pakistan sees Trained Jihadis turn on them -Musharaff nearly assasinated..... similar to the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing terrorists- trained by CIA and Pakistan to fight against Russians- and some given Green Cards- turned around and bombed Trade Center in NYC 1993 and also entered Kashmir India and created havoc. Now Pakistan? Musharaff is getting a taste of it.
December 26,2003 Sunnyvale, CA:
HAPPY NEW YEAR & HOLIDAYS:
Wish for Peace & Well Being All over the World
PREDICTIONS: (Politics)
(Stay tuned- more later)
"TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER"& Plausible Deniability
NOTE: RULE# 101 in Clandestine business is cut the Strings-No Blow black Blame-Plausible Deniability!!!!
OUTSOURCING:
December 10,2003 San Francisco: CA:
Kamala(means LOTUS)is the daughter of reputed breast cancer specialist Dr.Mrs.Shyamala Gopalan who immigrated to the US from Tamil Nadu and Donald Harris, a Jamaican born Stanford University Economics Academic. Kamala was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley.Her Granddad was a Envoy for India to the UN in Africa and her Grandmom was an educated homemaker-with quite an influence on Kamala as recounted by her when I met her at the pre-election IALI -Indian-American leadership Training initiative in SFO .
Folks of all races and persuasion came together in SFO-while clearly choosing a Frat Boy look a like (Newsom) as Mayor- they went ahead and ALSO chose Kamala as the DA! For the Indian-American community/ Minority community this is again great news. Kamala may be the bridge from the Indian-Am community to the African American community.
We hope many young Indian-Americans will be encouraged by the "Role Model" phenomenon. And Hope older Indian-Americans will also gravitate towards Kamala. It is also a testament to breaking of Self imposed Glass ceiling by Indian-American community-who many times CHOOSE NOT to Participate in mainstream AND by choosing less than desirable candidates to throw their support.What a pleasure to write this ......as opposed to any other wannabe candidate..... including the almost-ran Jindal (tho' for different reasons :-)).
Way to Go Kamala- CONGRATS!!
AIDS is no longer considered a "homosexual-only" disease. AIDS can spread very fast in countries like China and India- with myths and stories keeping modern medicine at bay. Also in Africa and India and China etc- There is NO PROPER documentation of the infected and the epidemic!!.
Sobering reports indicate that a COUNTRY CAN BE SET BACK by 2% points on Economy growth -offsetting any recent Economic gains by India's Tech and Computer boom! Hope the Babus are paying attention. We are talking SET BACK & LOSSES of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!
LAST WORD: Sony corporation is bigger than Pakistan Economy with annual revenue of $61,335 Million http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/351936.cms
November 20,2003 San Francisco: CA:
Well! looks like that the White folks stayed home - given a choice between a conservative Colored candidate or a Woman as their Governor!!
For the Indian-American community/ Minority community this was probably the best result possible.- While many young Indian-Americans will be encouraged by the "Role Model" phenomenon. Ditto for most older Indian-Americans - who still know more about the details of the District elections in Bihar or Maharastra Than local US Assembly and City Council elections!!
While most Indian-Americans naively fall behind 'Support Jindal becos' he's Indian" syndrome- Methinks better to choose a candidate who is right (NOT neccessarily "Right-Wing").
Plenty of NON-INDIAN lawmakers are easier to work with AND will represent Indian-American wishes much better than Opportunistic Multi-speak candidates- with NO CHANCE of getting Elected.!(Here the wannabe candidate list goes on and on- Vik Bajwa, Peter Mathhews etc.).
Factoid: Republicans have Less than 5% of their membership roster of people of Color!!
Ever wonder why??
Q: Did you notice the "Vijay Singh being BLACK- reference!!" This is Great! and ALL Indian-origin folks Better Acknowledge this!! What ever Indian-Americans wish for-" MANY PEOPLE VIEW INDIAN-AMERICANS AS BEING BLACK/COLORED esp. REPUBLICANS. Better Acknowledge this Folks- includings Jindal and others folks like him.
What was Very interesting to me was that Our Mumbai (Bombay then) hang-out-gang WHISTLE CALL-SIGN- devised by one of members Deepak M- Sounds Just like the SILBO language for "OK! OK! Ok!" Heard here in the Last Sequence!!.
Listen to SILBO:http://www.agulo.net/silbo/silbo.mp3
RELATED: VEDIC CHANTING declared a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO- VEDIC CHANTING link
To encourage Votes and Steel industry- Presdient Bush had issued tarrif for Steel coming INTO USA. This was ruled illegal by WTO in interests of Free Trade.
If US persists- expect a huge backlash on all US goods going into Europe and other Trading blocs. (Now we hear of Textiles form China being dealt similarly. by the USA)
Folks like Alan Greenspan and others have comeout stronly against protectionism and isolationism-which has huge ramifications for the future of America! ...(Or then maybe the current rulers dont care- as they will have retired by then??)
LAST WORD: Laskhar i Toiba Terrorists arrested in USA The LiT terrorists were arrested in Virginia, USA. This cell belonging to a Declared terror group by US State Department!- were funnelling Money and Arms to Pakistani Terrorists operating in India. The same group had sown terror in Jammu & Kashmir- targetting civilians (Muslim & Hindu) as well as the Indian Army personnel.
The same group was also responsible for the Suicide attack on Indian Parliament in New Delhi.
The swift US reaction- this time- (instead of coddling the Dictator regime euphemistically called "US-Ally")- is good news And an homage to the nearly 60,000 people killed via terrorists In India for the past decade. These victim numbers are acknowledged by UN and USA State department- and NYTimes and Washington Post!!
The arrests and statements come on the heels of assurances of Gen. Mushararaf and his cronies- that they had "successully dealt" with terror outfits.!! Well this time they DIDnOT fool the USA!
Swiftly US sent a PUBLIC word via US Ambassador about continued existence of the terror groups in Pakistan these outfits were STILL in opearation- often brazenly visited by ISI (Pakistani CIA) and high ranking Pakistani Army officials. Actually, these terror outfits continued to operate, sometimes only with a Change in Name of the outfit!!
Sort of PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY-this way the Paki Generals could swear that LiT did NOT exist!!! and be True to their Oath!!and Technically they would be correct too! Wonder! Where the Pakis learnt this idea from?? See link below Article:http://thefridaytimes.hypermart.net/
THE FRIDAY TIMES (PAKISTAN NEWSPAPER), Nov.21, 2003
RELATED: VEDIC CHANTING declared a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO
"The oral tradition of Vedic chanting has been declared an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO. In a meeting of jury members on November 7, 2003, at Paris, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, declared the chanting of Vedas in India an outstanding example of heritage and form of cultural expressions.
The proclamation says that in the age of globalization and modernization when cultural diversity is under pressure, the preservation of oral tradition of Vedic chanting, a unique cultural heritage, has great significance. The jury members included Dr. Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklore and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution (United Nations), Mr. Juan Goytisolo, Writer (Spain), Mr. Yoshikazu Hasegawa (Japan), Ms. Olive W.M. Lewin. Pianist, ethnomusicologist, Director of the Jamaica Orchestra for Youth (Jamaica).
The UNESCO declaration will bring international recognition to the excellence of the Vedic chanting tradition of India, which has survived for centuries encoding the wisdom contained in the Vedas through an extraordinary effort of memorization and through elaborately worked out mnemonic methods. The purity and fail-safe technique devised for Vedic chanting in the olden days led to access to one of the ancient literatures of humanity in its entirety today.
The Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, took the initiative to put up the candidature of the Vedic chanting to UNESCO. A presentation was prepared by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
The Department has also prepared a five-year action plan to safeguard, protect, promote and disseminate the oral tradition of Vedas in terms of their uniqueness and distinctiveness, encourage scholars and practitioners to preserve, revitalize and promote their own branch of Vedic recitation as the custodians of their own traditions and direct the efforts primarily to making the tradition survive in its own context".
Nov 11,2003 Fremont, CA :
Wish for Peace & Well Being All over the World
PREDICTIONS: (Politics)
(Stay tuned- more later)
- President G. 'Dubya' Bush in 2004.
- Vice president Cheney will not seek Re-Election.
- Gen Colin Powell Re-retires-out of administration.
- Rumsfeld retires & "kicked upstairs". (Media finally recognizes senility. Twinkle in eye and Rudeness/Deflection of questions all done to hide senility).
- Paul Bremer choice for Vice President/Sec. of State.
- Condeleeza Rice -run for senator in CA or NY (?? Obviously "qualified" for the Vice Prez job but loses on account of being a Woman AND Black.
- Robert Blackwill-Ex Ambassador to India- Will take over imp Cabinet position- NSC or Sec State.
"TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER"& Plausible Deniability
ISLAMIC NUKE:Look no further- It already exists in Pakistan. If you look right from 2 decades ago- Libya, Saudi Arabia have funded Pakistan for the Nuke bomb- while USA looked the other way. The funny thing is USA folks and media don’t realize Musharaff and Pakistani ISI (Secret Service) are PLAYING them for a fool.
Every time a major incident leaks in the media- a low level "Successful operation" results- while the lynch pins and trained terrorists still operate with impunity!! Also, the Madrasas- religious schools-training 1000's of young kids are STILL OPERATIONAL.
The official line about "Technology transfer" of Nukes form Pakistan to N.Korea and now Iran is "Its a rogue Operation" -No Governmental official sanction"-etc.
Ever heard of Plausible Deniability by the government?? The official line about "Technology transfer" of Nukes form Pakistan to N.Korea and now Iran is "Its a rogue Operation" -No Governmental official sanction"-etc.
NOTE: RULE# 101 in Clandestine business is cut the Strings-No Blow black Blame-Plausible Deniability!!!!
OUTSOURCING:
Now, CAFTA is coming up.(USA & Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) This is the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)-just in time for election year 2004. This has been termed "politically risky and vulnerable in Congress".
As we have seen NAFTA- The NORTH American Free Trade Agreement- has NOT stood up to all the (bad) promises made by Pro-Business folks to Americans.
For those extremely PRO-BUSINESS- they will throw out the fact that US and Mexico trade has increased by Millions of Dollars. True & Great for Corporations- But NO TRICKLE DOWN to the people!
Now in 2003 its reported that almost 60% of Manufacturing jobs in Mexico are now Shifting to China- by the same corporations which took advantage of NAFTA. Loss of jobs in USA-Loss of jobs in Mexico/ N.America!
Great for overall Free Trade- but tells you of the Corporate soul- who are looking at the bottom line ONLY. NOTE: The people who move these jobs OVERSEAS are NOT ALIENS/FOREIGNERS. They are US Corporate types-( 90% White folks!) sitting in Board rooms in USA.
As we have seen NAFTA- The NORTH American Free Trade Agreement- has NOT stood up to all the (bad) promises made by Pro-Business folks to Americans.
For those extremely PRO-BUSINESS- they will throw out the fact that US and Mexico trade has increased by Millions of Dollars. True & Great for Corporations- But NO TRICKLE DOWN to the people!
Now in 2003 its reported that almost 60% of Manufacturing jobs in Mexico are now Shifting to China- by the same corporations which took advantage of NAFTA. Loss of jobs in USA-Loss of jobs in Mexico/ N.America!
Great for overall Free Trade- but tells you of the Corporate soul- who are looking at the bottom line ONLY. NOTE: The people who move these jobs OVERSEAS are NOT ALIENS/FOREIGNERS. They are US Corporate types-( 90% White folks!) sitting in Board rooms in USA.
Again, while in principle MANY Americans are in favor of FREE TRADE- all over- when it comes to the crunch -meaning having to compete FAIRLY globally and potentially lose jobs- MOST are ambivalent.
NOTE: We in USA give annually Billions of Dollars in Agro and other subsidies -yet we complain about "Cheap goods" coming from China, Japan etc. Human Rights DONT seem to matter when it comes to Toys, Luxuries and stuff like that from the SAME Countries with poor Human Rights records!!! .....BUT LOSS of Jobs/Profits seems to bring out all above arguments of Human rights etc from people and Corporates!!!.
NEWS ITEM-(Christian Science Monitor)
"This Christmas, as pajama-clad kids across the US wake early to race to the tree, they will probably be shaking boxes filled with toys made in China - especially from China's southeast coast. Every day, year round, Guangdong province alone - which covers most of the delta - exports $300 million of goods to world markets. That's a third of China's total. Ten percent of all Delta exports are stocked on Wal-Mart's shelves." Ch. Sc. Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1215/p08s01-wosc.html
COMMENT: Ever wonder why its OK for the CEO/CFO to outsource workers jobs BUT NOT their own??
-Ever wonder why Congress May ALLOW Seniors to buy Drugs in Canada (Also is Outsourcing)- Think Major VOTEBANK!!
FACTOID: AIDS drugs in USA costs $15,000 - the same drug from India's top notch labs available for $4,000.
Dr. Reddy's Labs(India) is facing an appeal from US Pharma companies in USA courts after a lower court said their cheaper drugs should be allowed in the US markets!
BTW- The Indian government has also promised FREE AIDS VACCINE to HIV+ patients (Something the Governor of Illinois is thinking about)
-Ever wonder why Congress May ALLOW Seniors to buy Drugs in Canada (Also is Outsourcing)- Think Major VOTEBANK!!
FACTOID: AIDS drugs in USA costs $15,000 - the same drug from India's top notch labs available for $4,000.
Dr. Reddy's Labs(India) is facing an appeal from US Pharma companies in USA courts after a lower court said their cheaper drugs should be allowed in the US markets!
BTW- The Indian government has also promised FREE AIDS VACCINE to HIV+ patients (Something the Governor of Illinois is thinking about)
SADDAM's CAPTURE: Good thing Saddam was captured and will be brought to trial. Good riddance-Only came decades late! His capture - again has become controversial-with the Kurdish Resistance Army- claiming that THEY had captured Saddam- AFTER he was betrayed by a victim’s family member.
This news was announced on KURDISH RADIO several hours BEFORE the US army went into "capture" Saddam .(kinda like the Jessica Lynch rescue) The Kurds reportedly drugged Saddam and informed the US- who then arranged for a Cordon and Search and Seizure. Which could explain why Sadaam looked so disoriented etc.
Why does the admin. put the brave soldiers thru' this type of charade and trivialize their contribution. The Soldiers DONT need this kinda "Help"- Folks recognize the bravery and contribution of soldiers
LAST WORD: The top story reported in headlines said the stuff found in Saddam’s "Spider hole" were Mars bars, Fruits, Rice AND Canned Ham! and Hot Dogs!!! …….Tells you what a good Muslim Saddam was! (Joke)
FYI-Pork is taboo to orthodox Muslims (and Jews).This news was announced on KURDISH RADIO several hours BEFORE the US army went into "capture" Saddam .(kinda like the Jessica Lynch rescue) The Kurds reportedly drugged Saddam and informed the US- who then arranged for a Cordon and Search and Seizure. Which could explain why Sadaam looked so disoriented etc.
Why does the admin. put the brave soldiers thru' this type of charade and trivialize their contribution. The Soldiers DONT need this kinda "Help"- Folks recognize the bravery and contribution of soldiers
LAST WORD: The top story reported in headlines said the stuff found in Saddam’s "Spider hole" were Mars bars, Fruits, Rice AND Canned Ham! and Hot Dogs!!! …….Tells you what a good Muslim Saddam was! (Joke)
www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/ special_packages/iraq/7502821.htm
December 10,2003 San Francisco: CA:
SF DA Elections! KAMALA HARRIS Wins!!
Best result possible
Best result possible
KAMALA HARRIS WINS TOP LAW SPOT IN SF!!
Kamala Harris 56% (122,193) soundly beat incumbent DA Hallinan 44%(94,715)!! Pre election polls showed neck to neck but San Franciscans showed the way by VOTING THE FIRST WOMAN & OF COLOR- as District Attorney for a very important city in California.
Ms. Kamala Harris- SF District Attorney Candidate (at the Indian-American Political Training- SF 2003)
And that too an African-Indian Woman! Talk about political Leadership in the West Coast.!! Kamala(means LOTUS)is the daughter of reputed breast cancer specialist Dr.Mrs.Shyamala Gopalan who immigrated to the US from Tamil Nadu and Donald Harris, a Jamaican born Stanford University Economics Academic. Kamala was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley.Her Granddad was a Envoy for India to the UN in Africa and her Grandmom was an educated homemaker-with quite an influence on Kamala as recounted by her when I met her at the pre-election IALI -Indian-American leadership Training initiative in SFO .
Folks of all races and persuasion came together in SFO-while clearly choosing a Frat Boy look a like (Newsom) as Mayor- they went ahead and ALSO chose Kamala as the DA! For the Indian-American community/ Minority community this is again great news. Kamala may be the bridge from the Indian-Am community to the African American community.
We hope many young Indian-Americans will be encouraged by the "Role Model" phenomenon. And Hope older Indian-Americans will also gravitate towards Kamala. It is also a testament to breaking of Self imposed Glass ceiling by Indian-American community-who many times CHOOSE NOT to Participate in mainstream AND by choosing less than desirable candidates to throw their support.What a pleasure to write this ......as opposed to any other wannabe candidate..... including the almost-ran Jindal (tho' for different reasons :-)).
Way to Go Kamala- CONGRATS!!
WORLDS AIDS DAY-Dec 1
Rememberances and protests -All over the world.
AIDS day went relatively UNNOTICED in the Indian-American community- even in SF Bay area.- What a Shame! While AIDS is a PANDEMIC and even Governments are acknowledging it. It's still another matter in educating the people- even "educated and professional" ones!Rememberances and protests -All over the world.
AIDS is no longer considered a "homosexual-only" disease. AIDS can spread very fast in countries like China and India- with myths and stories keeping modern medicine at bay. Also in Africa and India and China etc- There is NO PROPER documentation of the infected and the epidemic!!.
Sobering reports indicate that a COUNTRY CAN BE SET BACK by 2% points on Economy growth -offsetting any recent Economic gains by India's Tech and Computer boom! Hope the Babus are paying attention. We are talking SET BACK & LOSSES of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY-Dec 10
While this Day was observed amid protests all over the World- a lot was SAID and a LOT WAS Left UNSAID about the State of Human Rights in USA.
With the passage of Patriot Act I - several Civil Rights of the population has already eroded - with mere suspicion of a crime or "terror"- enough to warrant surveillance, even arbitrary arrests.
While the well being of "Enemy Combatants" were decidedly "iffy" in the eyes of the Public- However, hundreds who have been imprisoned in Guantanmo Bay (Cuba) are being held in cages-in decidely INHUMANE conditions & Without due process- a cornerstone of the constitution of USA.
Now while Al Qaida folks dont deserve sympathy, What about the innocent folks among these prisoners? More that 60 of these "guests" were deported to Pakistan- No charges-no review-No Lawyer- No Civil Court!!!
One poor guy interviewed by Associated press was a victim of his neighbors in Pakistan/Afghanistan settlling old scores- and informing US authorities that he was a Taliban! SO he was rounded up and brought to Cuba. After a long stint in barbaric conditions, he is now back in Pakistan.
NOTE: This could happen to you!! Read on!
Well! these were non-citizens & arrested on Enemy soil and treated as Enemy Combatants. What has brought this issue to the forefront is the arrest of Joeseph Padilla and Army (Muslim) Chaplin Yee-Both US citizens. All we know is Padilla was known as the Dirty Bomber- a US Citizen- Phillipino ancestry. Padilla was arrested in Chicago, USA- so can't be classified as an "enemy combatant on enemy soil. Ditto Army Chaplin Yee. In fact Yee was "swiftly" charged with being a Spy and even Swifter released on bail on Thanksgiving- after the Govt. dropped spying charges but reinstated other charges including "Adultery"!! Yikes! Wonder if all those married Sailors and Marines will keep it zipped up-lest they be charged with this "crime".
With the passage of Patriot Act I - several Civil Rights of the population has already eroded - with mere suspicion of a crime or "terror"- enough to warrant surveillance, even arbitrary arrests.
While the well being of "Enemy Combatants" were decidedly "iffy" in the eyes of the Public- However, hundreds who have been imprisoned in Guantanmo Bay (Cuba) are being held in cages-in decidely INHUMANE conditions & Without due process- a cornerstone of the constitution of USA.
Now while Al Qaida folks dont deserve sympathy, What about the innocent folks among these prisoners? More that 60 of these "guests" were deported to Pakistan- No charges-no review-No Lawyer- No Civil Court!!!
One poor guy interviewed by Associated press was a victim of his neighbors in Pakistan/Afghanistan settlling old scores- and informing US authorities that he was a Taliban! SO he was rounded up and brought to Cuba. After a long stint in barbaric conditions, he is now back in Pakistan.
NOTE: This could happen to you!! Read on!
Well! these were non-citizens & arrested on Enemy soil and treated as Enemy Combatants. What has brought this issue to the forefront is the arrest of Joeseph Padilla and Army (Muslim) Chaplin Yee-Both US citizens. All we know is Padilla was known as the Dirty Bomber- a US Citizen- Phillipino ancestry. Padilla was arrested in Chicago, USA- so can't be classified as an "enemy combatant on enemy soil. Ditto Army Chaplin Yee. In fact Yee was "swiftly" charged with being a Spy and even Swifter released on bail on Thanksgiving- after the Govt. dropped spying charges but reinstated other charges including "Adultery"!! Yikes! Wonder if all those married Sailors and Marines will keep it zipped up-lest they be charged with this "crime".
LAST WORD: Sony corporation is bigger than Pakistan Economy with annual revenue of $61,335 Million http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/351936.cms
November 20,2003 San Francisco: CA:
Jindal-Best result possible
The recent election is Louisiana turned out very interesting after all. While pre election polls showed Jindal barely ahead- something like 51-49, the final results was more like Jindal 48%- Blanco 52.% . A swing of nearly 4% compared to the Telephone polls. Well! looks like that the White folks stayed home - given a choice between a conservative Colored candidate or a Woman as their Governor!!
For the Indian-American community/ Minority community this was probably the best result possible.- While many young Indian-Americans will be encouraged by the "Role Model" phenomenon. Ditto for most older Indian-Americans - who still know more about the details of the District elections in Bihar or Maharastra Than local US Assembly and City Council elections!!
While most Indian-Americans naively fall behind 'Support Jindal becos' he's Indian" syndrome- Methinks better to choose a candidate who is right (NOT neccessarily "Right-Wing").
Plenty of NON-INDIAN lawmakers are easier to work with AND will represent Indian-American wishes much better than Opportunistic Multi-speak candidates- with NO CHANCE of getting Elected.!(Here the wannabe candidate list goes on and on- Vik Bajwa, Peter Mathhews etc.).
Factoid: Republicans have Less than 5% of their membership roster of people of Color!!
Ever wonder why??
Indian_origin people are seen as being Black!
Pro-Basketball player & Sports Commentator Sir Charles Barkley had it right when he said on ESPN recently-"Its a good thing successful Black golfers like Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh on tour can be viewed as "Role Models" -acknowledging that Children look to Public figures as Role models tho' Parents have primary responsibility!Q: Did you notice the "Vijay Singh being BLACK- reference!!" This is Great! and ALL Indian-origin folks Better Acknowledge this!! What ever Indian-Americans wish for-" MANY PEOPLE VIEW INDIAN-AMERICANS AS BEING BLACK/COLORED esp. REPUBLICANS. Better Acknowledge this Folks- includings Jindal and others folks like him.
COMMUNICATE VIA WHISTLING:
This is an ancient way to communicate and efforts are underway to revive SILBO -a whisting only language! What was Very interesting to me was that Our Mumbai (Bombay then) hang-out-gang WHISTLE CALL-SIGN- devised by one of members Deepak M- Sounds Just like the SILBO language for "OK! OK! Ok!" Heard here in the Last Sequence!!.
Listen to SILBO:http://www.agulo.net/silbo/silbo.mp3
RELATED: VEDIC CHANTING declared a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO- VEDIC CHANTING link
OUTSOURCING:
By rashly promising several US states and Steel Lobby's during last elections- GOP/President Bush has created a potentially huge trade war issue.To encourage Votes and Steel industry- Presdient Bush had issued tarrif for Steel coming INTO USA. This was ruled illegal by WTO in interests of Free Trade.
If US persists- expect a huge backlash on all US goods going into Europe and other Trading blocs. (Now we hear of Textiles form China being dealt similarly. by the USA)
Folks like Alan Greenspan and others have comeout stronly against protectionism and isolationism-which has huge ramifications for the future of America! ...(Or then maybe the current rulers dont care- as they will have retired by then??)
LAST WORD: Laskhar i Toiba Terrorists arrested in USA The LiT terrorists were arrested in Virginia, USA. This cell belonging to a Declared terror group by US State Department!- were funnelling Money and Arms to Pakistani Terrorists operating in India. The same group had sown terror in Jammu & Kashmir- targetting civilians (Muslim & Hindu) as well as the Indian Army personnel.
The same group was also responsible for the Suicide attack on Indian Parliament in New Delhi.
The swift US reaction- this time- (instead of coddling the Dictator regime euphemistically called "US-Ally")- is good news And an homage to the nearly 60,000 people killed via terrorists In India for the past decade. These victim numbers are acknowledged by UN and USA State department- and NYTimes and Washington Post!!
The arrests and statements come on the heels of assurances of Gen. Mushararaf and his cronies- that they had "successully dealt" with terror outfits.!! Well this time they DIDnOT fool the USA!
Swiftly US sent a PUBLIC word via US Ambassador about continued existence of the terror groups in Pakistan these outfits were STILL in opearation- often brazenly visited by ISI (Pakistani CIA) and high ranking Pakistani Army officials. Actually, these terror outfits continued to operate, sometimes only with a Change in Name of the outfit!!
Sort of PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY-this way the Paki Generals could swear that LiT did NOT exist!!! and be True to their Oath!!and Technically they would be correct too! Wonder! Where the Pakis learnt this idea from?? See link below Article:http://thefridaytimes.hypermart.net/
THE FRIDAY TIMES (PAKISTAN NEWSPAPER), Nov.21, 2003
RELATED: VEDIC CHANTING declared a Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO
"The oral tradition of Vedic chanting has been declared an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO. In a meeting of jury members on November 7, 2003, at Paris, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, declared the chanting of Vedas in India an outstanding example of heritage and form of cultural expressions.
The proclamation says that in the age of globalization and modernization when cultural diversity is under pressure, the preservation of oral tradition of Vedic chanting, a unique cultural heritage, has great significance. The jury members included Dr. Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklore and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution (United Nations), Mr. Juan Goytisolo, Writer (Spain), Mr. Yoshikazu Hasegawa (Japan), Ms. Olive W.M. Lewin. Pianist, ethnomusicologist, Director of the Jamaica Orchestra for Youth (Jamaica).
The UNESCO declaration will bring international recognition to the excellence of the Vedic chanting tradition of India, which has survived for centuries encoding the wisdom contained in the Vedas through an extraordinary effort of memorization and through elaborately worked out mnemonic methods. The purity and fail-safe technique devised for Vedic chanting in the olden days led to access to one of the ancient literatures of humanity in its entirety today.
The Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, took the initiative to put up the candidature of the Vedic chanting to UNESCO. A presentation was prepared by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts.
The Department has also prepared a five-year action plan to safeguard, protect, promote and disseminate the oral tradition of Vedas in terms of their uniqueness and distinctiveness, encourage scholars and practitioners to preserve, revitalize and promote their own branch of Vedic recitation as the custodians of their own traditions and direct the efforts primarily to making the tradition survive in its own context".
Nov 11,2003 Fremont, CA :
FRIEND: REST In PEACE
Narayan Keshavan expired@NYC-11/13/2003
Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantihi!
Seen Here with President George Bush
About Keshavan L2E'02-India Currents
Narayan Keshavan expired@NYC-11/13/2003
Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantihi!
Seen Here with President George Bush
About Keshavan L2E'02-India Currents
Memorial service: Wed., Nov. 19, 2003, Time: 6.00 PM
Venue: India House, Consulate General of India
Memorial-CA:Wed Nov 19,2003 7:30PM- FIA Meeting
Fremont Hindu Temple, 3676 Delaware Drive, Fremont Phone: (510)490-9597.
Memorial service by SAJA: Wednesday 11/19/2003 Manhattan at Maharaja Restaurant, 230 E. 44th St, 5:30-6:30 pm (followed by a reading from SAJA president and WashPost reporter S. MITRA KALITA's book on Indian immgration to the U.S.).
POLITICS:LOUISIANA GOVERNOR'S ELECTIONS scheduled on Nov. 15,2003:
Bobby (Piyush) Jindal qualified for a Runoff Election versus Cajun rival Democrat Ms Kathleen Blanco
To win Jindal needs all the White votes And some Black votes as well...also to hope a LOW VOTER turnout.
Latest reports indicate a virtual neck-neck race. Hope mud- slinging and negative campaigning is kept to a minimum.
Waiting with bated breath to see if voters in the Deep Southern state of Louisiana will set an example for rest of the USA by electing a Colored Governor!!
Bobby Jindal is originally from India- and it may surprisehim to know that he is still considered Colored/Brown by others- even if not by himself :-).
Still a bit difficult for Jindal IMHO to pull it off.
CARTOON:http://www.badmash.org/laugh_yo/issue12.html
LAST WORD: George Soros- one of the Wealthiest man in USA has pledged $5 Million to MoveOn.org- a grassroots movement involved in Election Campaigns etc.
Soros has now pledged $15.5 Million of his wealth, in his personal campaign to oust Current president George Bush Jr.
Well its a free country ( well not really), and he can do what he wants with his money- as long as its within the Law..
..But the MAJOR Question is-
-Who will the Voters vote for?? Isn't it a good idea to invest some of that money for a CANDIDATE SEARCH!!!
- Will someone get the Democrats to Define themselves and actually represent the people!!!
Have the lessons not been learnt from last time? Remember Ralph Nader (Green Party) took a hefty vote percentage away from the Demos and/or GOP- denying a clear victor!
OCT 27,2003 Fremont, CA :
Indo-American Dhillonji is a US Citizen since 1980 and after several hours of interrogation- he was allowed back on a plane nearly SIX (6) hours later.
Dhillonji filed a complaint and demanded an explanation/apology for the airlines- who ignored him---Well! Dhillon filed a law suit- to which the airlines responded quickly!
After being forced to go to trial, the airlines issued a note of regret! at which point- Dhillon felt vindicated and dropped the lawsuit/case. A MORAL VICTORY FOR SURE!!
We are all proud of Dhillonji for sticking to the truth and also this time the Justice system came through. BUT......
a) Wonder if Bigots deserve to be let off so easily?
b) Wonder what would happen if Dhillonji was NOT a US citizen (or even worse....)
c) If he was jailed under the "Patriot Act"--No one including his lawyer would have heard from him- since by THAT law (Patriot Act)- he could be concievably still be in jail if so deemed- without being charged or with access to a lawyer!
Scary! It Could happen to YOU!!!
POLITICS: California Elections- WHAT A CIRCUS!! Especially for Indian-American candidates...While Governator Schwarzenegger got 3,847,468 votes (48.7%). The total combined of Indo-American vote getters was not more than 4,000 maximum (still Zero-0%).
Vik Bajwa got 1,094 votes and Vik Bhola got 573 votes.
- not bad for 1 months of campaigning!! PLUS
- He got his name splashed in all Indian media!!
( Dumb supporters!)
Why cant Desi candidates be better qualified! and have a representative stance! and have a decent chance of winning?
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR'S ELECTIONS scheduled on Nov. 15,2003:
Bobby (Piyush) Jindal qualified for a Runoff Election. Republican Jindal got 33% vote and his nearest rival Democrat Ms Kathleen Blanco got 24%. However, if you tally up the numerous Democrats who ALSO RAN- the Democratic votes come up to 52%.
To win Jindal needs all the White votes (sorry folks no politically correct way of saying this esp. in Louisiana and Bobby Jindals' election) And some Black votes as well...also to hope a LOW VOTER turnout.
Some reports indicate that some Black clergy have endorsed Jindal. Still a bit difficult for Jindal IMHO.
CARTOON:http://www.badmash.org/laugh_yo/issue12.html
At the party and press conference, the Badwals came across as very nice couple-hardworking with Friends & Charity on their mind. Sankara Eye Foundation is the first recipient of their genorsity.
1 Milllion for every year of 49.5 year old Narinders' life- Cheers!! Karma!!
COMMENT: What bothers me is that this perception was NOT analyzed and BRIEFED to President Bush before he went to Malaysia/Indonesia!!
Exactly, WHAT INTELLIGENCE(!) ARE WE GATHERING and ANALYZING??
This perception is widely prevelant esp in terms of Uneven US foreign policy and dealing with Palestine and Israel issue!! PLUS Just look at the street of "US Ally" Pakistan- where American flags are burnt on a daily basis!. Let alone demonstartions in Iraq/Iran /Indonesia/Malaysia/Palestine .....etc
LAST WORD: 22 Arab Nations forming the Arab League voted to keep the one seat belonging to Iraq -VACANT... as they did not recognize the USA appointed governing Iraqi Council as legitimate reperesentative of the Iraqi people.
.......Seems that they will wait till a Democratic Elected power is in place!!
WHAT A LAUGH!! MOST of The 22 ARAB NATIONS ARE NOT DEMOCRACIES. They are all Appointed and/or Dictatorships! We are talking about Saudi Arabia- Kuwait-Sudan-Libya-Lebanon!!
OCT 16,2003 Fremont, CA:
OCT 7,2003 Fremont, CA:
California Elections- Oh Well!
ARNOLD as Governor!
Looks like Folks are really mad at the state of ecomomy in Califiornia with a huge deficit his year..... whereas California had a surplus 4 years ago.
Now substitute the word "CALIFORNIA" in above text to "USA"........
Wonder if there will be similar results at elections in Nov. 2004
REMEMBER Daniel Pearl.
Oct 10 would have been his 40th Birthday.
Well, once agin- most "Hard Science" departments will be affected- viz. Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, All Engineerings etc- since its no secret that 80% of these departments' incoming graduate students are Foreign born/read ie from India, China, Taiwan, Korea etc-
LAST WORD: Israel bombs the Terror training camps in Syria- because of the terror suicide bombings in Palestine.
Now, with 68,000 acknowledged deaths in India due to Islamic Jihadis and CLEAR proof available of ISI inspired terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir- Will USA show the same support to India if it decided to bomb the camps??
FYI- Military attaches from 20 countries were in Jammu and Kashmir and SHOWN proof of the terror camps in POK.
President Bush, VP Cheney, Sec Rumsfeld, NSC Advisor Condi Rice AND Sec. Colin Powell- Can we see some Consistency and NO double standards.
At least issue a clear statement acknowledging the fact, instead of equating the many Foreign mercenaries and Pakistan army irregulars as "freedom fighters".
Sept 24,2003 Fremont, CA:
My Take on CA Elections- After the Debate:
Outsourcing: Last week EBay/Paypal announced the Shifting of operations to IRELAND- with the Outsourcing of 400 jobs.
So do we have the same protests from the folks protesting Outsourcing- OR are the protests only for China and India??
.......Well the bottom line is that its RACISM.
And Duplicity is not new to such folks like Irish American Pat Buchanan- one of the strident Isolationist/ failed Presidential candidate or for F.A.I.R- the group against immigration.
The duplicity are the arguements on anti immigration- when it suits them......
...Like-When it's sound bytes and media attention they are after...... they rail against "Low wage workers" and "a budren on the Welfare system" etc.
BUT When forced to address the higher paid workers eg High Tech workers etc - who pump in more Tax dollars than theyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy reeceive or will ever receive in their life time. The hard working immigrants who CONTRIBUTE and SUPPORT the Economy & "the American Way of Life" by bringing GOOD FAMILY VALUES & QUALITIES- then these racists anti-immigrants start talking about Overcrowding for the "Native Born" (Which is a misnomer !- as none of these groups EVER address the original Natives of the land -the Native American Indians. )
One even hears complaints from these Anti-immigrant folks about the school systems
COMMENT: ON OUTSOURCING: Recent reports have shown that phramacuticals and companies are gouging American consumers. It shows that Drugs are available in Canada and elsewhere upto70% Cheaper.These are medicines that are of the same standards and often same companies,
So a move is on in US Congress to allow Senior Citizens to access cheaper drugs from Canada- (which many were doing privately anyway). AND the politicians have joined the bandwagon, having recognized that the Seniors are the LARGEST VOTING BLOCK in USA. Thats Great! for the people.
but, Is this ALSO NOT OUTSOURCING??
POLITICS: Watch out the Pakistani PR machine. Already they are using the media to portray themselves as an injured party of terror.With Musharaff trying to tie Jammu & Kashmir to Palestine. What a laugh.!
With Saudi PR also operating in tandem,(as the Saudis have to show the Islamic community that they are indeed still the saviors of Islam)- watch for more media planted stories of Kashmir and Palestine connection.
Also Watch out for more domestic "seminars" and "fact finding sessions" on Minorities in India to be floated.
With plenty of Naive and some self promoting Leaders from the Indian-American community around- it will be easy to fund and launch such activities.
Sept 15,2003 Fremont, CA
Politics:
Comment by Christina Rocca On Pakistan : "It's strange that Washington Post, New York Times etc can find Taliban in Quetta (Pakistan) but NOT the Pakistan Government"
Comment: This can be taken in two ways- a)Rocca was commending Pakistan's help on War on Terror, while being sarcastic
OR
b) Read the Sentence again-Literally!!!
Doping:
What a shame! Just when you though you had a genuine US athelete, World Champion for 2 days Ms.Kelli White- She gets caught doping. Kelli White is from neighboring Union City,CA and she supposedly takes a drug-prescribed - on a "An as needed basis". Her defence suggests that should be OK. Their doctor is the same who got atheletes busted for doping, including suspended shot putter CJ- Ex husband of Marion Jones
Well guess what- most drug addicts and drunks also take their choice of poison "On an AS Needed basis." The worst thing was the hypocrisy of the Sports Writers, the Sports Industry and the USA Sports body. It been reported that Positive dope tests were reported to the USA Athletic Commission for several years - and they did NOTHING!
Getting Away with masking drugs is not playing fair!.
Look at baseball w/ McGuire admitting to taking Testestrone-based drug- since its NOT on the banned list! Crock! If u put a chemical in your body to enhance your game- you are doping. period.
Same goes with folks like athlete Gail Devers and Martina Navaratilova etc who have ben accused of Blood doping/transfusions by fellow atheletes.
Sept 9,2003
Santa Clara, CA:What a magnificent sight- about 300 kids were performing Ganesha Pooja prayers at the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple.
With a Large Ganesha idol on stage with Pandit Joshi and Pandit Narayanaswami in attendance, little kids, accompanied by their parents, were reciting Shlokas and performing Aarti- with trays of Diya (lamps) Aggarbatti (incense) as in a typical Hindu ceremony.
Blog Archives!
Sept 6,2003
Palo Alto, CA: Ganesha Utsav- Celebration of Festival of Lord Ganesha-Elephant headed God and the Remover of Obstacles. One prays before embarking on any project.
How appropriate-this is my first blog- a journey where we have not gone before....
Shlokas in Sanskrit- with the eggging on by hovering parents-some too close to the limelight :-0. You know what I mean-some parents looked like they were happy to be on stage with the kids!.
Some cultural items were decent- the jarring thing was the "filmi" song/dance routines- which always seems to masquerade as Indian/Bharatiya "culture". Apart from the "Lack of Culture" observations-Methinks that if I wanted to see a Michael/Janet Jackson or J-Lo-I would prefer the original version- rather than see a young kid in California imitate Shahrukh Khan- who himself copies his moves from Michael/Janet Jackson or J-lo!
Umm.... -a copy of a copy of a copy.......... dont think so!
Still was a good show on the whole.
Venue: India House, Consulate General of India
Memorial-CA:Wed Nov 19,2003 7:30PM- FIA Meeting
Fremont Hindu Temple, 3676 Delaware Drive, Fremont Phone: (510)490-9597.
Memorial service by SAJA: Wednesday 11/19/2003 Manhattan at Maharaja Restaurant, 230 E. 44th St, 5:30-6:30 pm (followed by a reading from SAJA president and WashPost reporter S. MITRA KALITA's book on Indian immgration to the U.S.).
Salute Veterans Day
9/11 Memorial-SF-
Sam Rao Photo (C)
9/11 Memorial-SF-
Sam Rao Photo (C)
Veterans Day celebrated the World across- as a tribute to Soldiers who died while fighting Wars. While it started out as Armistice Day- World War II, it is now a remembrance of All Veterans of All wars. World War II had allies from nations all over and little is said about African countries and Asian countries which also fought as ALLIES.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from India performed very creditably in stopping the Japanese invasion in Burma (Myanmar) and served in Africa too. Especially the Gorkhas, Madras Sappers, 5/5 Marathas, etc.. The British even established a special battalion for the Gorkhas to serve in Royal armed Forces and later in Hong Kong
In fact, at the World War II anniversary celebrations- the roll call revealed that Indian soldiers outnumbered all others in receving Victoria Cross (VC) and George Cross medals!!
(ref: Indian Heroes and Heroines of World War II By Vidya Anand)
It is sad when you hear of injured Veterans being asked to pay for their hospital meals- or when the Armed Force rules give preferential treatment to few soldiers within the same battalion etc...Soldiers do NOT ask to be put in wars- their Governments do..and then not to support them is criminal and immoral.
Heres to wishing that there is NO WAR!!
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from India performed very creditably in stopping the Japanese invasion in Burma (Myanmar) and served in Africa too. Especially the Gorkhas, Madras Sappers, 5/5 Marathas, etc.. The British even established a special battalion for the Gorkhas to serve in Royal armed Forces and later in Hong Kong
In fact, at the World War II anniversary celebrations- the roll call revealed that Indian soldiers outnumbered all others in receving Victoria Cross (VC) and George Cross medals!!
(ref: Indian Heroes and Heroines of World War II By Vidya Anand)
It is sad when you hear of injured Veterans being asked to pay for their hospital meals- or when the Armed Force rules give preferential treatment to few soldiers within the same battalion etc...Soldiers do NOT ask to be put in wars- their Governments do..and then not to support them is criminal and immoral.
Heres to wishing that there is NO WAR!!
POLITICS:LOUISIANA GOVERNOR'S ELECTIONS scheduled on Nov. 15,2003:
Bobby (Piyush) Jindal qualified for a Runoff Election versus Cajun rival Democrat Ms Kathleen Blanco
To win Jindal needs all the White votes And some Black votes as well...also to hope a LOW VOTER turnout.
Latest reports indicate a virtual neck-neck race. Hope mud- slinging and negative campaigning is kept to a minimum.
Waiting with bated breath to see if voters in the Deep Southern state of Louisiana will set an example for rest of the USA by electing a Colored Governor!!
Bobby Jindal is originally from India- and it may surprisehim to know that he is still considered Colored/Brown by others- even if not by himself :-).
Still a bit difficult for Jindal IMHO to pull it off.
CARTOON:http://www.badmash.org/laugh_yo/issue12.html
CHARITY: NPR -National Public Radio gets another windfall of $200 million from Joan Kroc, the late Widow of the McDonald's inventor(?) Good News!
LAST WORD: George Soros- one of the Wealthiest man in USA has pledged $5 Million to MoveOn.org- a grassroots movement involved in Election Campaigns etc.
Soros has now pledged $15.5 Million of his wealth, in his personal campaign to oust Current president George Bush Jr.
Well its a free country ( well not really), and he can do what he wants with his money- as long as its within the Law..
..But the MAJOR Question is-
-Who will the Voters vote for?? Isn't it a good idea to invest some of that money for a CANDIDATE SEARCH!!!
- Will someone get the Democrats to Define themselves and actually represent the people!!!
Have the lessons not been learnt from last time? Remember Ralph Nader (Green Party) took a hefty vote percentage away from the Demos and/or GOP- denying a clear victor!
OCT 27,2003 Fremont, CA :
MORAL VICTORY FOR Indo-American VICTIM Of POST 9/11 HATE INCIDENT :
Satnam Singh Dhillon was DE-PLANED on Oct 16,2001 due to "Pilot Discretion".Indo-American Dhillonji is a US Citizen since 1980 and after several hours of interrogation- he was allowed back on a plane nearly SIX (6) hours later.
Dhillonji filed a complaint and demanded an explanation/apology for the airlines- who ignored him---Well! Dhillon filed a law suit- to which the airlines responded quickly!
After being forced to go to trial, the airlines issued a note of regret! at which point- Dhillon felt vindicated and dropped the lawsuit/case. A MORAL VICTORY FOR SURE!!
We are all proud of Dhillonji for sticking to the truth and also this time the Justice system came through. BUT......
a) Wonder if Bigots deserve to be let off so easily?
b) Wonder what would happen if Dhillonji was NOT a US citizen (or even worse....)
c) If he was jailed under the "Patriot Act"--No one including his lawyer would have heard from him- since by THAT law (Patriot Act)- he could be concievably still be in jail if so deemed- without being charged or with access to a lawyer!
Scary! It Could happen to YOU!!!
POLITICS: California Elections- WHAT A CIRCUS!! Especially for Indian-American candidates...While Governator Schwarzenegger got 3,847,468 votes (48.7%). The total combined of Indo-American vote getters was not more than 4,000 maximum (still Zero-0%).
Vik Bajwa got 1,094 votes and Vik Bhola got 573 votes.
BUT, Bajwa is not stupid!His supporters and donors are.
Bajwa- never ran for ANY elected post before deciding to contest for Governor of California but reportedly still raised $40,000!! AND He invested ONLY $3,500 for the Election application fee.- not bad for 1 months of campaigning!! PLUS
- He got his name splashed in all Indian media!!
( Dumb supporters!)
Why cant Desi candidates be better qualified! and have a representative stance! and have a decent chance of winning?
LOUISIANA GOVERNOR'S ELECTIONS scheduled on Nov. 15,2003:
Bobby (Piyush) Jindal qualified for a Runoff Election. Republican Jindal got 33% vote and his nearest rival Democrat Ms Kathleen Blanco got 24%. However, if you tally up the numerous Democrats who ALSO RAN- the Democratic votes come up to 52%.
To win Jindal needs all the White votes (sorry folks no politically correct way of saying this esp. in Louisiana and Bobby Jindals' election) And some Black votes as well...also to hope a LOW VOTER turnout.
Some reports indicate that some Black clergy have endorsed Jindal. Still a bit difficult for Jindal IMHO.
CARTOON:http://www.badmash.org/laugh_yo/issue12.html
CHARITY: COINCIDENCE or KARMA?
Narinder and Lilla Badwal won the half share of California $99 million lottery. The $ 49.5 million windfall was celebrated by lots of his friends at Bay area Swagat restaurant What was amazing was that the Badwals bought the ticket from their own 7-11 store- which ALSO entitles them to $250,000 as a bonus. (They found this earlier and were happy enough!) .At the party and press conference, the Badwals came across as very nice couple-hardworking with Friends & Charity on their mind. Sankara Eye Foundation is the first recipient of their genorsity.
1 Milllion for every year of 49.5 year old Narinders' life- Cheers!! Karma!!
"DO THEY THINK WE ARE AGAINST ALL MUSLIMS??"-President Bush-
......taken aback and surprised to learn that the Islamic world thinks that US is against ALL Muslims!!COMMENT: What bothers me is that this perception was NOT analyzed and BRIEFED to President Bush before he went to Malaysia/Indonesia!!
Exactly, WHAT INTELLIGENCE(!) ARE WE GATHERING and ANALYZING??
This perception is widely prevelant esp in terms of Uneven US foreign policy and dealing with Palestine and Israel issue!! PLUS Just look at the street of "US Ally" Pakistan- where American flags are burnt on a daily basis!. Let alone demonstartions in Iraq/Iran /Indonesia/Malaysia/Palestine .....etc
LAST WORD: 22 Arab Nations forming the Arab League voted to keep the one seat belonging to Iraq -VACANT... as they did not recognize the USA appointed governing Iraqi Council as legitimate reperesentative of the Iraqi people.
.......Seems that they will wait till a Democratic Elected power is in place!!
WHAT A LAUGH!! MOST of The 22 ARAB NATIONS ARE NOT DEMOCRACIES. They are all Appointed and/or Dictatorships! We are talking about Saudi Arabia- Kuwait-Sudan-Libya-Lebanon!!
OCT 16,2003 Fremont, CA:
Happy Deepawali or Diwali- Festival of Lights- A celebration of triumph of Good over Evil and a festival- celebrated by folks of Indian origin-Hindus, Muslims,Sikhs, Christians, Jains etc -all celebrating the rejuvenation of many aspects of life- including "Fall" Cleaning-Financial Books-Family Relations etc
BALBIR SINGH SODHI- R.I.P.-Rest in Peace.
Hate killer Frank Roque got a death penalty for killing hardworking Indian Sikh immigrant Balbir Singh Sodhi- after 9/11 tragedy. Ignorance breeds violence and crime. Education is the key to combat Prejudice and Hate.
Even though Society demonstrates that killing another human is wrong...by Killing another human-...de-sensitizing all of us again and again.
Flashback: 1968 Mexico Olympics-Even though Society demonstrates that killing another human is wrong...by Killing another human-...de-sensitizing all of us again and again.
Olympic Track Medal Winners Tommie Smith and John Carlos (& San Jose St. Univ. Alumni) stood at the winning podium and raised their fists at the Mexico Olympics medal ceremony- reminding all about the fight against injustice- the historic oppression of Colored people and the Celebration of Human Rights. Smith also carried a box with Olive branch-symbolizing Peace in the World
In CELEBRATION- San Jose State University students, staff and community welcomed them 35 years later for an all day party. Meeting them in San Jose on Oct 16 th was an honor and a thrill. Taking pictures with these heroes-who will soon have statues on campus-will be a moment to cherish.
I still remember flashing fists to each other- when we read about this in sports and history books from the USIS and British Consul libraries in Mumbai.
In CELEBRATION- San Jose State University students, staff and community welcomed them 35 years later for an all day party. Meeting them in San Jose on Oct 16 th was an honor and a thrill. Taking pictures with these heroes-who will soon have statues on campus-will be a moment to cherish.
I still remember flashing fists to each other- when we read about this in sports and history books from the USIS and British Consul libraries in Mumbai.
POLITICS: GOOD FIRST STEP: 1st election in Saudi Arabia Ever!! for Local council in which 50% seats of local municipalities are elected! A Giant Step for democracy and it took 9/11 tragedy and lots of international pressure on the Saudi Royals to achieve this "concession".
What tipped the scale was when the teror hit HOME in Saudi. Till now- the Islamic Jihadis were paid off to fight their dirty war in "Other parts of the World" -Pakistan/Afghanistan, India, Chechnya, USA etc.
Now,with maximum dissension of the youth in Saudi Arabia- youth who are not actualy poor but seem to have lots of free time to get indoctrinated in Wahhabi Islam-the Saudi Royals had to take a break from partying in the night clubs of Europe to face the music at home.
What tipped the scale was when the teror hit HOME in Saudi. Till now- the Islamic Jihadis were paid off to fight their dirty war in "Other parts of the World" -Pakistan/Afghanistan, India, Chechnya, USA etc.
Now,with maximum dissension of the youth in Saudi Arabia- youth who are not actualy poor but seem to have lots of free time to get indoctrinated in Wahhabi Islam-the Saudi Royals had to take a break from partying in the night clubs of Europe to face the music at home.
Now maybe Kuwait is next- the "Liberated country" will maybe think of allowing women to have a valid drivers license and allow them to drive their own car!. Let alone Vote or stand for office!
OUTSOURCING?: NASSCOM-India (National Association of Software & Services Companies) announced an independant study by EVALUESERVE - a NY Market Research Firm, showing a shortage of 5.6 Million workers in Software and Hardware in USA by 2010.
Keep them immigrants coming!!
http://www.nasscom.org/artdisplay.asp?Art_id=2118
Keep them immigrants coming!!
http://www.nasscom.org/artdisplay.asp?Art_id=2118
CHARITY: Joan Kroc- died recently in S. California -widow of McDonalds Food chain owner and inventor?- and who inherited her millions ($1.7 Billion to be exact) & gave a lot of it to philanthrophy.
The Univ of Notre Dame-Instiitute for Int'l. Peace-$ 12 Million (1986), the San Diego Peace Institute -$30 million (2001). She also gave Salvation army $90 million.
Wish there were more souls like her- who would use their inheritance and celebrity status to Make the World a Better place to live.
(Even if McD's caused a lot of heartache and heartburn in the first place). RIP
LAST WORD:US Congress & Senate Finally voted to pay for war..something they all voted for in the first place. Ths costs of $66 Billlion for next year's Military upkeep and $21 Billion in Civilian expenses was nearly not met due to wrangling. Mud slinging about each other stances and complaints about which political party is MORE patriotic than the other...
The Univ of Notre Dame-Instiitute for Int'l. Peace-$ 12 Million (1986), the San Diego Peace Institute -$30 million (2001). She also gave Salvation army $90 million.
Wish there were more souls like her- who would use their inheritance and celebrity status to Make the World a Better place to live.
(Even if McD's caused a lot of heartache and heartburn in the first place). RIP
LAST WORD:US Congress & Senate Finally voted to pay for war..something they all voted for in the first place. Ths costs of $66 Billlion for next year's Military upkeep and $21 Billion in Civilian expenses was nearly not met due to wrangling. Mud slinging about each other stances and complaints about which political party is MORE patriotic than the other...
Why start a war when you dont want to support it. The patriot soldiers are the ones to suffer AND of course the Iraqi people.
OCT 7,2003 Fremont, CA:
California Elections- Oh Well!
ARNOLD as Governor!
Looks like Folks are really mad at the state of ecomomy in Califiornia with a huge deficit his year..... whereas California had a surplus 4 years ago.
Now substitute the word "CALIFORNIA" in above text to "USA"........
Wonder if there will be similar results at elections in Nov. 2004
REMEMBER Daniel Pearl.
Oct 10 would have been his 40th Birthday.
Murdered by Islamic terrorists from Pakistan. Pearl lived in Mumbai for a long time and was "totally at home and loved India". He was killed by terrorists, whose leader Ahmed Shaikh is now in custody of Pakistan Army/Govt. Well,the terrorist leader Ahmend Omar Shaikh had actually "surrendered" to Ejaz Shah, a former top ISI official, who is now home secretary of Punjab province.- ONE WEEK BEFORE his handing over to the Pakistan Army/Govt!!!.Tells you who is really running these terrorists.
POLITICS:
Republican candidate for Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal won his primary- meaning a Runoff vote with his Democratic Challenger.
Looks Great! Naive Indian-American went overboard and raised $1.2 Million for Jindal.
While we wish him luck- and may he serve as a "Role Model" to many Indian-Americans to come...BUT would like to bring up...
Q: WHY should we support a person just because he/she is of Indian origin??
FYI- Jindal is a Right wing Republican, having converted to Christianity from Hinduism as a teenager (not a problem-as its his choice). BUT...
..- He espouses FUNDAMENTALIST Christian philosophy ( Is a Problem).
...He is also Evangelical -meaning against other religions ( Is a problem)
....Is Against Affirmative action and IS Anti-Choice and Anti-Abortion. ( Is a problem)
......Methinks I would spend my dollars and support folks who share same values as I do- I dont care about skin color, origin, race etc.
BTW- I don't even know if in the end Jindal will be elected at all.
Outsourcing & Education :
And US Adminstration now have severely tightened the incoming Student VISA's for Foreign nationals ( F-1 visas).
Granted increased scrutiny is reqd. especially
after 9/11 terror incident,we realized that most terrorists involved were given visas even tho' not qualified. BUT the increased vigilance /documents/ interviews/ paperwork, background checks will cause upto 4 months delay- which means a delay of ONE SEMESTER after receiveing the approval from individual departments.
US STATE DEPARTMENT on GLOBAL TERRORISM
www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/2432.htm
www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2000/2432.htm
POLITICS:
Republican candidate for Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal won his primary- meaning a Runoff vote with his Democratic Challenger.
Looks Great! Naive Indian-American went overboard and raised $1.2 Million for Jindal.
While we wish him luck- and may he serve as a "Role Model" to many Indian-Americans to come...BUT would like to bring up...
Q: WHY should we support a person just because he/she is of Indian origin??
FYI- Jindal is a Right wing Republican, having converted to Christianity from Hinduism as a teenager (not a problem-as its his choice). BUT...
..- He espouses FUNDAMENTALIST Christian philosophy ( Is a Problem).
...He is also Evangelical -meaning against other religions ( Is a problem)
....Is Against Affirmative action and IS Anti-Choice and Anti-Abortion. ( Is a problem)
......Methinks I would spend my dollars and support folks who share same values as I do- I dont care about skin color, origin, race etc.
BTW- I don't even know if in the end Jindal will be elected at all.
Outsourcing & Education :
And US Adminstration now have severely tightened the incoming Student VISA's for Foreign nationals ( F-1 visas).
Granted increased scrutiny is reqd. especially
Well, once agin- most "Hard Science" departments will be affected- viz. Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, All Engineerings etc- since its no secret that 80% of these departments' incoming graduate students are Foreign born/read ie from India, China, Taiwan, Korea etc-
LAST WORD: Israel bombs the Terror training camps in Syria- because of the terror suicide bombings in Palestine.
Now, with 68,000 acknowledged deaths in India due to Islamic Jihadis and CLEAR proof available of ISI inspired terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir- Will USA show the same support to India if it decided to bomb the camps??
FYI- Military attaches from 20 countries were in Jammu and Kashmir and SHOWN proof of the terror camps in POK.
President Bush, VP Cheney, Sec Rumsfeld, NSC Advisor Condi Rice AND Sec. Colin Powell- Can we see some Consistency and NO double standards.
At least issue a clear statement acknowledging the fact, instead of equating the many Foreign mercenaries and Pakistan army irregulars as "freedom fighters".
Sept 24,2003 Fremont, CA:
My Take on CA Elections- After the Debate:
- Winner- NO ON RECALL (Gray Davis)
- Will get most Votes-Bustamante
- Moral Victor-Peter Camejo (someone hire him as an analyst)
- Next: Arianna Huffington-Sharp, Intelligent unf. a bit too sharp claws
- Next: Arnold- (Some one hire him as a bodyguard for the Governor. Keep making those movies.)
- Last: McClintock- Another White guy....an Also Ran........ Will drop out of the race soon.
Outsourcing: Last week EBay/Paypal announced the Shifting of operations to IRELAND- with the Outsourcing of 400 jobs.
So do we have the same protests from the folks protesting Outsourcing- OR are the protests only for China and India??
.......Well the bottom line is that its RACISM.
And Duplicity is not new to such folks like Irish American Pat Buchanan- one of the strident Isolationist/ failed Presidential candidate or for F.A.I.R- the group against immigration.
The duplicity are the arguements on anti immigration- when it suits them......
...Like-When it's sound bytes and media attention they are after...... they rail against "Low wage workers" and "a budren on the Welfare system" etc.
BUT When forced to address the higher paid workers eg High Tech workers etc - who pump in more Tax dollars than theyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy reeceive or will ever receive in their life time. The hard working immigrants who CONTRIBUTE and SUPPORT the Economy & "the American Way of Life" by bringing GOOD FAMILY VALUES & QUALITIES- then these racists anti-immigrants start talking about Overcrowding for the "Native Born" (Which is a misnomer !- as none of these groups EVER address the original Natives of the land -the Native American Indians. )
One even hears complaints from these Anti-immigrant folks about the school systems
- like overcrowding, &
- to my surprise:-)!! the increase in Grade curves due to high performing immigrant kids in school, &
- "too much homework for "their" kids"" (ditto), &
- how "they" have to work harder and earn more as the housing prices have gone up!!.
COMMENT: ON OUTSOURCING: Recent reports have shown that phramacuticals and companies are gouging American consumers. It shows that Drugs are available in Canada and elsewhere upto70% Cheaper.These are medicines that are of the same standards and often same companies,
So a move is on in US Congress to allow Senior Citizens to access cheaper drugs from Canada- (which many were doing privately anyway). AND the politicians have joined the bandwagon, having recognized that the Seniors are the LARGEST VOTING BLOCK in USA. Thats Great! for the people.
but, Is this ALSO NOT OUTSOURCING??
POLITICS: Watch out the Pakistani PR machine. Already they are using the media to portray themselves as an injured party of terror.With Musharaff trying to tie Jammu & Kashmir to Palestine. What a laugh.!
With Saudi PR also operating in tandem,(as the Saudis have to show the Islamic community that they are indeed still the saviors of Islam)- watch for more media planted stories of Kashmir and Palestine connection.
Also Watch out for more domestic "seminars" and "fact finding sessions" on Minorities in India to be floated.
With plenty of Naive and some self promoting Leaders from the Indian-American community around- it will be easy to fund and launch such activities.
Sept 15,2003 Fremont, CA
Politics:
Comment by Christina Rocca On Pakistan : "It's strange that Washington Post, New York Times etc can find Taliban in Quetta (Pakistan) but NOT the Pakistan Government"
Comment: This can be taken in two ways- a)Rocca was commending Pakistan's help on War on Terror, while being sarcastic
OR
b) Read the Sentence again-Literally!!!
Doping:
What a shame! Just when you though you had a genuine US athelete, World Champion for 2 days Ms.Kelli White- She gets caught doping. Kelli White is from neighboring Union City,CA and she supposedly takes a drug-prescribed - on a "An as needed basis". Her defence suggests that should be OK. Their doctor is the same who got atheletes busted for doping, including suspended shot putter CJ- Ex husband of Marion Jones
Well guess what- most drug addicts and drunks also take their choice of poison "On an AS Needed basis." The worst thing was the hypocrisy of the Sports Writers, the Sports Industry and the USA Sports body. It been reported that Positive dope tests were reported to the USA Athletic Commission for several years - and they did NOTHING!
Getting Away with masking drugs is not playing fair!.
Look at baseball w/ McGuire admitting to taking Testestrone-based drug- since its NOT on the banned list! Crock! If u put a chemical in your body to enhance your game- you are doping. period.
Same goes with folks like athlete Gail Devers and Martina Navaratilova etc who have ben accused of Blood doping/transfusions by fellow atheletes.
OUTSOURCING: What gives! People want cushy jobs without Training for it. Guess what! Corporations/Companies- run by mostly Caucasian folks- are running to make their companies and USA competitive. This means hiring BEST TALENT-BEST RESULTS. If workers in USA dont get REtrained-can't deliver the goods and are Not qualified AND still want to get paid top wages.....Guess What!...
(more later)
RELATED:
US objects to Countries bringing cheap goods to USA- often by subsidizing the goods.
Well. maybe We (USA) should ALSO get rid of Multi Billlion dollar Farm Subsides and Tax cuts for the corporations- "to make them globally competitive".
Comment: Hypocrisy never works in the long run. Apart from Leadership by Might- we should also show Leadership by Morals!
Sept 9,2003
Santa Clara, CA:What a magnificent sight- about 300 kids were performing Ganesha Pooja prayers at the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple.
With a Large Ganesha idol on stage with Pandit Joshi and Pandit Narayanaswami in attendance, little kids, accompanied by their parents, were reciting Shlokas and performing Aarti- with trays of Diya (lamps) Aggarbatti (incense) as in a typical Hindu ceremony.
Myself - not a very orthodox, "ritually type" of Hindu- was moved by the sight.
This is a good insight into the Indian/Bharatiya culture albeit tied to Religion... But then What part of Culture is NOT associated with Religious norms? (anyway much better than the imitation hip hop bollywood "culture")
My interest and cheering was that 300 kids got a glimpse into over 5,000 years of culture from the Indian subcontinent. What they do with this knowledge- after the fact is - Their choice....but at least they know about it... which is a LOT more than a lot of folks who reject being Indian or reject their historic roots or the good influence of Hindu- Way of Life in their way of Life.
Most of us being slaves to the McCauley Education system don�t even know the simple nuances leave alone the vast beauty of the "Way of Life."
Switching to politics:
Congratulations on Israeli Leadership and ties with India. Historically, the ONLY COUNTRY in the World that NEVER Discriminated against Jewish people was Bharat/India from time immemorial.
While there are a lot of blame to go around with Ariel Sharon et al as with the rigid Palestinian leadership- sympathy and hearts go out to the people of the region- The ordinary Jews and Arabs- who have suffered enough.
The Indian Government will have to do a fine dance in continuing to support Palestine and have an increased and welcome tie with Israel.
(Watch for the Left media and Pakistani oriented PR float stories about Israeli duplicity etc)
New York Times article finally acknowledges that since 1980's 68,000 people were killed in Indian via Islamic insurgency. About time folks realized that terrorism didnot start with tragic 9/11 incident in the USA.
Looks like the US administration is also waking up to this......Recently they were talking about "Pakistani infiltration"...ONLY it was From Pakistan into Afghanistan!!!
I guess it wont be too far a strech of reason for the US State Dept. to acknowledge the decade old problem of infiltration of Pakistani and Islamic Jihadi Terrorists into India from pakistan.
CAN U BELIEVE IT!! About $1.6 Million was lost by a church (Dupont Park 7th Day Adventist) in Washington DC- when the Church Treasurer (Wilbur Daniels) fell victim to the NIGERIAN SCAM. Remember the email about $5 Million to you if you send your Savings account information etc Wow! People actually sent money to the Nigerian Con men!!
Comment: Even with near 100% literacy in USA- such things happen!
Later Dudes! Stay tuned!Blog Archives!
Sept 6,2003
Palo Alto, CA: Ganesha Utsav- Celebration of Festival of Lord Ganesha-Elephant headed God and the Remover of Obstacles. One prays before embarking on any project.
How appropriate-this is my first blog- a journey where we have not gone before....
Shlokas in Sanskrit- with the eggging on by hovering parents-some too close to the limelight :-0. You know what I mean-some parents looked like they were happy to be on stage with the kids!.
Some cultural items were decent- the jarring thing was the "filmi" song/dance routines- which always seems to masquerade as Indian/Bharatiya "culture". Apart from the "Lack of Culture" observations-Methinks that if I wanted to see a Michael/Janet Jackson or J-Lo-I would prefer the original version- rather than see a young kid in California imitate Shahrukh Khan- who himself copies his moves from Michael/Janet Jackson or J-lo!
Umm.... -a copy of a copy of a copy.......... dont think so!
Still was a good show on the whole.