Heart-to-heart

Spineless geriatrix and a stupid bimbo

2010-03-27T09:41:00.001-07:00

See this video. She is a cancer.

ARRRGGGGGGHH!!!! I am so mad, you can make an omlette on my head now. I do not know if I will campaign for Obama in the next election, that depends a lot on what he does the next few years. But if this is the woman that is going to run for President or Vice President, bring it on! I will knock on every single door before I see this bimbo taking over. Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to take her seriously? And what nerve making fun of Obama's oratorical skills. She can't construct one grammatically correct sentence and here she is feeling all proud that she is using a 'poor' man's teleprompter, her hand. Oh, give me a fucking break. She blew all that money at Neiman Marcus and now she acts like she understands poor people? She has a political target map on her Facebook page that gives the location (with sniper scopes) of all the democratic members of congress, and has the arrogance to claim she is not inciting hatred? What an imbecile! Her map resulted in "protesters shouting homophobic and racial epithets and spitting at members of Congress about to vote on the bill, and even bricks being thrown through lawmakers' office windows". And McCain whose team had the nastiest things to say about her after the election, has now hired her to campaign for him!!!! This is outrageous! I want him to soo lose in AZ. While that might actually be detrimental, since his opponent in the primary is more conservative than he is, I just want Palin to lose. This mad competition to see who is more conservative (read as retarded), has made this man select this bimbo to help him. This has got to STOP!!! The county that I plan to live in, is already democratic, and I am not sure how much of a difference it will make when I campaign, but I will definitely go out there, rain or hail to get this woman out of politics. HELL F*****G NO!!!!!

Mississippi burning......

2009-11-22T08:28:00.001-08:00

NOTE: I have purposely avoided citing references in this article since I do not want to link to the Klan's website and increase their page rank any further. Please Google "Mississippi White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan" to verify information.

This post is the result of a piece of news I came across yesterday about the Mississippi White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan rallying before an Ole Miss game.I know you hear all the time that the Klan is irrelevant today and has lost its power and influence, but it hasn't completely died yet.

In the 60s, this very same cell of the Klan was responsible for the deaths of the three well known civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner. James Chaney was black but Schwerner known as the "Goatee" among the Klan members, was the most hated. He was a Jew who rallied for the cause of African Americans and was promoting registration to vote among Mississippi African Americans. He was hunted down and shot at close range. He was a very brave man. The Klan tried to murder him a number of times before he was finally shot down in Neshoba county, Mississippi. They were expecting him at the Mount Zion church in Longdale earlier and when he did not show up, killed all the black men and women they could lay hands on and burnt the church. On hearing this, Schwerner headed to Missisipi to investigate the incident and fell victim to the members of the Klan.

Today, the mastermind behind these cold-blooded murders, Edgar Ray Killen is 80 yrs old, has dodged prison a number of times and is receiving donations -donations for man slaughter, from the Mississippi White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. Protected by the first amendment, The Klan openly runs a website, uses the term "negroes" and has the audacity to claim that the whites have a higher IQ than the blacks. There are other equally ridiculous and baseless claims the website makes but I am not going to waste my time and energy talking about them. I don't think they deserve any attention or importance. I also found proof on their website to establish that republicans are indeed stupid blood sucking racist leeches. These are the images the Klan proudly displays on its website.

Even today I see some incidents that remind me of this sad past. The black Harvard professor being arrested by a cop for entering his own house , the loud, angry racist statements at the Palin rallies and so on. And though the Klan was outnumbered by the protesters in Mississippi , I have to ask where the rest of the student body was. 250 from a university with 17,000 people? They were perhaps watching Ole Miss take it out on LSU in a game dominated by blacks. Isn't it ironic? While the aforementioned events bog me down, the comments the HuffPo article received from its numerous readers cheered me up and the faces of my friends that I see everyday at work gives me hope.

As I sit here sipping a warm cup of tea, curled on my couch writing this article, I am aware that my freedom is a result of the sacrifices made by those brave souls who lay down their lives so people like me can have a decent one. I salute you and pray you give us strength if we are ever called.

A scary video

2009-11-22T01:05:00.000-08:00

NOTE: This is an old draft that I just posted.

This post is about this scary video I just saw. Click on the link to watch it on you tube.

-- So the GOP is taking advice from a 13yr old? HAHAHAHA!!

This is just so wrong. No child can ever be a "natural" conservative, it is the inherent nature of children to question and not blindly believe everything that is said. Conservative principles in a child means he/she has been fed horse shit by his/her parents. According to this poor, brainwashed child and lots of other conservatives, conservatism is based on 4 principles:
1. Respect for the constitution- Like we liberals don't believe in it. Remember it was Bush that disregarded the constitution a thousand times?
2. Respect for life- I can debate on this forever, bring it on!!!. How do you hate-mongers define "life"? So eating meat is respecting life, legalizing death penalties is respecting life, owning guns to shoot other human beings is respecting life but preventing the development of an embryo that is unwelcome by society is sacrilege? Where are these people after the child is born? Those who rally to force other women to keep such pregnancies should prove their worth by sticking around after the baby is born. They won't because that violates their fourth principle- personal responsibility, which I will get to in a minute. Maybe all of you that ride the high horse should remain celibate, please don't kill the sperm! BTW, since when do men have the expertise to make decisions on pregnancy related issues?
3. Less government-This is my favorite. It is so freaking funny because the politicians are often saying this!!! What a joke! They know THEY ARE THE GOVERNMENT but are slyly trying to shift the blame on this other thing. Oh wait, themselves!!!
4. Personal responsibility- Where did this personal responsibility bullshit go when you were 18 and looking for a job and a kind gentlemen offered to forward your resume? Where did this personal responsibility bullshit go when the social security helped pay your grandmother's bills? You ungrateful hypocrites!! This is the difference between the conservatives and liberals isn't it? Conservatives think THEY MADE IT ON THEIR OWN!! Whereas the liberals always realize that someone helped us along the way and want to reciprocate. Hey republicans, "Democrats brought in social security and you slugs rallied against it all the time and are now scaring and misleading the elderly by telling them that the govt is going to take it away from them!!! Like you supported the cause all along. Shame on you. And shame on Sarah Palin!!" I don't know why I brought in Sarah Palin, badmouthing her makes me happy.

Dhoom: 2

2009-10-28T18:23:00.001-07:00

I just saw one of the worst hindi movies ever called Dhoom2. Man was it lame. The only redeeming feature was Hrithik Roshan, which is why I saw the movie in the first place. I saw Jodha Akbar a while ago and thought Hrithik had done a good job only to be conned into seeing this movie. Abhishekh Bachan looks like a monkey, especially when he drives his bike, he looks like a big orangutan sitting on a vehicle. I wonder why in the world Aishwarya Rai married this loser of a guy. What a worthless movie man.

Cultural events

2009-05-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

When I look back at my school years, I wonder what I enjoyed the most. And it was the cultural events hands down. If there is anything I am proud of accomplishing, it is the fact that I took part in SO many events. I took part in Adzap, music competitions, dance competitions, drawing competitions, fashion shows, Rangoli, collage, dumb charades [somebody gently pointed to me a while ago that I had this typed as "dum charades", quite fitting :)))] ..... Name it and I did it. I feel so happy that I utilized every single opportunity I had. Of course, I had my parent's support in everything I did. They were always there to encourage me and pay for my expenses :)) If I ever have kids, they will go to every cultural event whether they do well in school or not :)) Ours was a girls school because of which we had the freedom to literally do whatever we wanted. I cannot ever forget how we danced like maniacs in sarees. I remember once when we were dancing, a woman took me aside and asked me how my saree hadn't fallen off after all the crazy dancing I was doing :)) Rhapsody was so much fun. Hmmm.... I wish I could all of that again. :((

OK.. sorry.

2009-05-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

My previous post was vitriolic. I am sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings. Especially sorry to this friend who is dear to me. At work, she is the one who listens to all my ramblings and here I am dissing her beliefs. I know she does not read this blog or even know of its existence. Yet, I am sorry if you ever read this. I respect this friend of mine because her beliefs are polar opposite to mine and yet she never imposes her ideas on me. She has strong convictions but will never try to convince me that mine are faulty. She is the only person with whom I can talk for hours together and still not get into an argument with. Thank you for putting up with me and my caustic statements. :)) Peace.

I mean.. come on!!!!

2009-05-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

[All pictures taken from http://www.durangobill.com/Creationism.html]

I am EXTREMELY angry as I write this blog. I just watched a video of some women arguing about creationism and Darwinism on "The View" and it drove me NUTS!!!! Sherri and Elizabeth Hasselbeck are so fu****g ignorant, it is not even funny. These women do not believe in Darwin and think God created this world. I am willing to bet all my money on the fact that neither of these women truly understand Darwinism. They just believe in one book, "The Bible". And EVERYTHING else that contradicts this "sacred" writing is bullshit. Ask these women to describe what they think evolution is and they are going to stammer and stutter. They are a freaking disgrace to women and society. And the worst aspect of this is that, it is women like these that homeschool their kids. I am not against homeschooling but am mighty suspicious that most of these people have ulterior motives. Honestly, I felt like punching Elizabeth's and Sherri's face. I fail to comprehend how religion and science got so mixed up in this country. I do definitely understand the need for prayer and such. Sometimes when you feel out of control, it is comforting to know that there is a superior being that can handle the situation. But do these people actually believe that there is a guy up there sitting in the clouds making children??? That is scary s**t. I am from a so called "third world" country and in my "third world" country, if you hear people dissing science, trust me, you will be ostracized. People in India might do things that contradict science and most of them don't even understand that their actions imply that, but no one would ever, ever diss science. I am not saying one shouldn't question science, questioning itself is one of the most important aspects of science but so is research. There is a question and there is an answer, but THERE IS RESEARCH HAPPENING IN BETWEEN. You can't just pull stuff out of your ass and expect to convince people. Where is the evidence? These people will publish stuff in some unknown religious journal and will claim it is science. And then when you tell them the journal has no impact factor, they will say, "Ahh.. all these other journals are run by scientists who are together on a conspiracy and therefore don't count." My foot they don't count. One can virtually concoct any number of conspiracy theories to wriggle out of situations but it is people who don't have any facts to back their claim that will come up with such excuses. So please spare me. If I ever see one of these creationists stepping into my house again, I swear I am going to break their face.

An ode to a lost loved one.......

2009-04-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today we lost a valuable member of our family. Our dear dear driver Ganapathy. Though he did drive our cars for a living, he was far more than a driver to us. He was like an uncle to my brother and me, a younger brother to my dad, a son to my grandparents. Today, he passed away at the age of 42 leaving behind a young wife, an infant child and 2 young children.

I remember Ganapathy as this warm young person who had an eternal smile and referred to me as "papa". He was around when I first learned to ride my bicycle and was around to take me to my first swimming lessons. He was ever happy to take my grandfather to the beach and my grandmother to her gazillion temples. But today, he isn't around to either teach his youngest child to ride a bike or to teach her the alphabet. He was so proud to drive me around everywhere and eventually taught me to drive. One day, on the pretense of taking me shopping, he actually took me to the beach to let me drive our car. I was but only 14- 15 then and did not have a license. Being a rather clumsy driver, I attracted a cop's attention by driving on the wrong side of the road. Ganapathy so tactfully got me out of the sticky situation by claiming that I was a lawyer's daughter and spared me a good spanking. He saved my skin more than once and today I am unable to even see his face as he is being buried in some far away town in India.

Our hearts bleed. Ganapathy, you were a part of our family. You were there to help my grandfather move during his last few years and you were there to carry our grandmother when she was dying. You so skillfully lifted my uncle when he was immobile and today we aren't around to pay our last respects. Sorry!! We miss you!!!

Everyday ignoramuses.

2009-02-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

I was conversing with a couple of visitors we had form Netherlands the other day. One of them is originally from Africa and my curiosity led me to ask her about her country. Here's the conversation.

I: Where in Africa are you from?
Visitor: Oh, I am from Zimbabwe. It is a small country in ..
I: Oh,please. You do not have to tell me where Zimbabwe is! Of course I know. And, you guys have a cricket team don't you? I am sure that makes every Indian well aware of your country.
Visitor: [Laughs] Well, we used to have a cricket team. Sorry for trying to explain the location of my country but many people in Europe think Africa is one BIG country!
I: Are you kidding me?
Visitor: No. Just the other day, I had this person ask me if I knew his friend John from Ghana!
I: No kidding.
Visitor: No seriously, they do not understand that Ghana is a totally different country. How am I supposed to know this John?
I: Oh, well, at least this person did not live in Africa. When I was in grad school and I told my friend I was visiting New Mexico, she asked me if I needed a visa. And this was not even an immigrant. She was a white American who got her degree in engg from Urbana-Champaign and her Masters from Indiana.
Visitor: Seriously??
I: Yeah!!!

Auto bailout

2008-12-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

The only compelling reason would be to save the jobs of thousands of people. But workers losing their jobs seems inevitable anyway if these companies don't mend their ways. Time after time, we have been warned about global warming and the depleting oil resources. And what do these companies do? They churn more and more SUVs and minivans. Did they actually think people would continue to buy them despite the soaring gas prices? Now that all those hummers are in parking lots with huge "FOR SALE" signs printed on them, these automakers want a bailout. I fail to understand the logic behind some of the solutions suggested to cut US dependence on foreign oil. "Drill baby drill", "we need to ask Saudi Arabia to produce more oil". Why do right wingers have this notion that oil is a never-ending resource? Don't they see that no matter what they do, they are finally going to run out of oil and will be forced to move to alternate sources of energy? And why are they bent upon destroying other life forms before they destroy earth? It is not rocket science you know? When you run out of something, you switch to a better, viable option.

I hate the fact that oil prices are now at an all time low. I say, jack the prices up so high maybe 10$ a gallon so that these morons that drive SUVs and mini trucks are forced to sell their monstrosities. And then take the money away from oil companies and use that to build infrastructure. Good public transportation is what we need now. We also need to invest in technology that will help transmit energy generated by windmills and such. Transmitting and storing this energy seems to be the stumbling block.Apparently, North Dakota alone could supply one third of the country's energy if there were an efficient way to transport the energy to where it's needed.

According to Michael Moore, who drives a Chrysler(BTW, why is he driving a Chrysler? Shouldn't he be driving a hybrid? A quick Google search only comes up with Chrysler Aspen hybrid 2009, so I assume it is not out yet.),
you could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion while they want $25 billion. Now that surely seems like a good deal! Even I, the dumbest person when it comes to money can see the gaping hole in this arrangement. But the dems give white-house an ultimatum. In my "expert" opinion, there needs to be a bailout. What we need to do is to bailout on the automakers as opposed to bail them out.

Am I an atheist?

2008-12-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

It depends. I know for sure that I am not very comfortable being called an atheist.
a·the·ist Pronunciation Key - [ey-thee-ist]
–noun a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
You are an atheist if you believe that God does not exist. My stand is similar to Bill Maher's. I just don't know and it is impossible to know. I guess by definition that makes me an agnostic. Being atheist is being sure of God's non-existence and that is not being humble or in fact scientific in some sense. In science I don't think you throw anything away unless you prove it wrong. I cannot throw any idea away unless I know for sure that it is faulty. How can anyone be sure?

I am a believer. How can I be one when I am an agnostic? Because, I believe that God is not a separate entity but that he/she resides in each one of us. To respect each other and have compassion for one another is to respect God. I don't think I believe that there is this supreme being that created all of us and continues to do so. But I do believe that there is something. I am not sure what it is. But I believe there is a thread that connects all of us that can be tapped. A thread of energy? Maybe, I don't know. Like I said, I am not sure. But I certainly detest following any sacred book in the name of God or religion. I believe in using my brain. I cannot live by something I do not comprehend. None of these books ever have any convincing answers anyway. Take The Bhagavat Gita for example. No matter how many times I read it, I still cannot convince myself that Arjuna did the right thing by killing his relatives.

I am also a non-believer. When I see innocent people being killed everyday, I question the existence of an almighty. Why is there so much suffering if there is an omnipotent being? Please don't give me this crap about karma and previous birth. Isn't God supposed to forgive? Isn't he supposed to love everyone, the evil-doers and the good alike? Why create miscreants and then punish them? Catastrophes make me believe that everything happens at random, there is no order. There is no karma, there is no afterlife and there is no selection process (here, I am NOT referring to Darwin's theory, I am referring to selection based on karma) that determines who dies and who lives. And if you still believe in this supreme being, I must say that he is rather cruel.

There is a fundamental difference between the fundamentalists and non-believers. Fundamentalists think that we should not use our brain. Why? Because according to their logic, we are imperfect beings created by a perfect almighty. So our thought process is imperfect, which leads to imperfect reasoning. So we should blindly follow what He has prescribed. I must say, I NEVER would have come up with this reasoning if not for my friend who enlightened me on why religious conservatives do not use their brains. To me this convoluted logic is absolutely ridiculous. I am not willing to live a life worrying about afterlife. I let my brain and sometimes my heart decide what is right or wrong.

Am I an atheist? You tell me. The following quotes sum up my belief.

We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God,
who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes. - Gene Roddenberry

I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence. - Doug McLeod

It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. - Mark Twain

I refuse to believe in a god who is the primary cause of conflict in the world, preaches racism, sexism, homophobia, and ignorance, and then sends me to hell if I’m ‘bad’. - Mike Fuhrman

If God created the world, then who created god? and who created whoever created god? So somewhere along the line something had to just be there. So why can’t we just skip the idea of god and go straight to earth? - Ryan Hanson

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means. - Clarence Darrow

I have known many good people who did not believe in God. But I have never known a human being who was good who did not believe in people. [language slightly modified] -John Lovejoy Elliott

I am freaking out!!!

2008-10-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

     I cannot wait for the next 5 days to be over. I have so much invested in the upcoming elections. I have worked my ass off for Obama. Campaigning as much as I can, which involves being shouted at, doors being slammed on my face and angry stares from old women. The first day of canvassing, I was shivering. I come off as a very confident person but really I am a coward. I cry a lot and constantly question my intelligence, I hate confronting people. If someone hoodwinks me, I can barely stand up to them. Canvassing was going to be difficult.
     I have now spent 3 weeks canvassing for Obama and my conclusion is this. F**k those who scream at me. I don't give a rat's ass if they choose to be uncivil. I don't ever have to face them again ever in my life. All I care about is those few people we have managed to convince to vote early for Barack.
     Palin f*****g doesn't even believe in science. She is a stupid bimbo that is a disgrace to all intelligent women. Only last week, she laughed at fruit fly research (watch it here). She thinks it is a big joke. She thinks it is wasteful spending. And she said all this at a children with special needs meeting. Sarah, have you heard of the disease Autism? Do you know that fruit fly research is being done to understand and cure this disease? If you do not, you should enroll in a Genetics 101 course to enlighten your stupid self. Just because your tiny little brain cannot understand complicated subjects like evolution and genetics, you cannot call it CRAP!!! This woman is worse than Bush. Bush looks and acts stupid. This woman pretends to be intelligent when she really is as smart as a hotdog.
     I will be watching the Nov 4th elections with my friends, my fellow Obama supporters. If Barack wins, history will be made. He will be the first African American to be elected President. America will set an example for all nations to follow. Blacks can finally say to their kids, "America is a land of dreams. Anything is possible if you persevere." If however he loses, dreams will be shattered, hopes will be lost and countless tears will be shed. I can hear African Americans saying to the rest of the country, "We have stood by you in war and peace. We have lost some of our children in Vietnam and Iraq and yet there are those that question our patriotism. We have now given you the brightest mind. He is intelligent, inspiring, smart and caring. He wants to unite us, treat us equal. America, can you now stand by us and get yourself to vote for him?"

"There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America." -- Barack Obama

VIVA OBAMA!

2008-09-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

After all these days of ranting and wailing, Palin made me do it. She finally made me get off my ass and go campaign for Barack Obama. Why do I care you ask, here is why.

1. I am a woman. I have enough confidence and certainly am not so insecure that I need a bimbo running for VP to make me feel intelligent. I am not going to just sit here and watch this stupid woman (Palin) go on and on about God's will in Iraq.
2. I live in America. I care. Whether or not I like it, the same laws and regulations apply to me. While I cannot vote to change them, I can campaign to influence them.
3. I love the people here. I recently traveled to Europe and everything was beautiful no doubt. I visited France, Germany, Netherlands and Italy. There were friendly people there but there were also quite a few racists. And these racists were in big cities like Frankfurt and Milan. One thing we learnt from our trip is that the Americans are the friendliest people we have met. I should exclude Amsterdam from this or Paris for that matter. People in Amsterdam and Paris
were very helpful.

The bottom line being, I now campaign for Barack Obama. I am so inspired that I and a couple of friends decided to go watch him speak in Espanola, NM. We got there at 7:30am. The gates were supposed to open only at 10:30. So we stood there under the sun, eating burritos and sharing our worries with other people. When it was finally 10:30, they let us in. I thought Obama was scheduled to speak at 11:30 but to our horror, we found ourselves standing there in the scorching heat for 3.5 hrs more to see him. People were fainting all around me, others were hungry and thirsty. I thought, "what a way to campaign in NM. People are going to be so angry by the time he shows up that he is not going to get any votes." I couldn't have been more wrong. As soon as Obama stepped onto the stage, there was so much enthusiasm in the air. People cheering, chanting "Viva Obama", "Si se puede" and there were even some war chants from native Americans. Obama was terrific. I was in the third row and I could almost see the pores in his skin. He was beautiful, intelligent, articulate and best of all, seemed like one of us. We actually felt like he was conversing with us as opposed to delivering a speech using a prompter. To put in a nutshell, I think he is going to win NM. NM will be playing a big role in this election. If Obama wins all the Kerry states + Iowa, NM and Colorado, he will clinch the presidency. He will not need Ohio and Florida anymore. I truly hope that this happens and will do everything I can to help him.

VIVA OBAMA!!!

BTW someone from dailykos the left-wing website interviewed and put up pictures of some of us. Here it is!!!

The Grand Old Party

2008-09-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, after I got back home tired and exhausted, I decided to watch MSNBC. I must confess, MSNBC tends to suffer from a strong liberal bias at times and I would rather listen to news that is bipartisan. But considering that my only other options are CNN and FOX, I think I'd rather stick to MSNBC. Anyway, I was home watching the Democratic National Convention when I heard a knock on my door. I opened to find my rather nice but extremely conservative landlord standing there. As soon as he saw what I was watching, he commented "Oh did you know that Obama said he would take away the 'nukelar' weapons from countries like India and China if he became President". I had never heard of such a statement, and I watch a lot of TV. I retorted, "What? Do you actually believe he could do that? India did not even sign the NPT, and you think Obama can take away their weapons. Maybe you do not know about India's history, they rarely succumb to USA's threats." Then he said, "I actually have video footage in which Obama declares he is going to shut down weapons research in the US." I merely laughed. "I am a pacifist who believes in Gandhi. That being said, no President of the US will ever have the courage to do something that risky". Now he had to attack Obama's health care plan. "With Obama's plan, we have to pay 500$ more a month on health care and we already have trouble making ends meet. But McCain's plan will help us save money. He will give the people a tax break". Having just returned from Europe, I was telling him about the effective and functional health care people in Germany have and all he had to say was "But that's because America is paying for their defense. They can afford to pay for health care". But who the **** asked America to still pay for Germany's defense? Aren't they a developed country now? Doesn't America have ulterior motives in doing this? It is high time they get out and pay for their citizens. This was the last straw really. These people do not realize what they are talking about. If he thinks he is having trouble making ends meet, what about all those people who live in trailers and cannot afford health care? What about my friend who just returned from Iraq, traumatized and has virtually lost precious years of his life and is learning high-school math at the age of 30? My landlord truly symbolises the John McBush voters who think people who make less than 5 million dollars a year are middle class [sic]. And now McCain has chosen Palin as his VP candidate. You must be kidding me! This is an insult to Hillary voters and all women in general. Does he think women are so stupid not to see the ploy? These two women are diametrically opposite. While Palin is a beauty contest winner, Hillary actually strived to get bills passed and worked for women, not against them. While I respect Palin for choosing to keep her last baby even though she knew he would suffer from Down syndrome, I do not respect her views to force others to do the same. Her choice is hers, but she has no business telling others what they should or should not do with their bodies. What was McBush thinking? If something happened to him during his term, considering the fact that he is old, is this the kind of woman who will take over the most powerful country in the world? Give me a break. She doesn't even believe global warming is because of mankind [sic]. What does she think? That a bunch of beavers chewed acres of forests down? And McCain lost my respect when he said this about Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton. And this is a party of 'FAMILY VALUES'. I am getting more and more nervous as each day passes by.

Obama or Clinton?

2008-06-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

This question seems obsolete now since Obama did win the primaries. But are they really that different? I am not so sure. The only real difference I see between them is that Obama voted against the Iraq war. Now, this also seems to be a point of contention as Bill Clinton said "You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war, and you took that speech you're now running on off your Web site in 2004. There's no difference in your voting record and Hillary's ever since. Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen,". Obama is slowly losing my admiration as he turns into the person he once criticized. I admired him for bringing in most of his campaign money from small donors and not from Washington lobbyists or hedge funds. But now, apparently Clinton is "introducing" him to her top donors. He fell a notch right there. Being African American, I though he would be able to bring people of different races together. But after reading this NY Times article, I not only feel angry but sad. Sad for those muslims who had reached out to him and seen hope, only to be rebuffed. Some people say they like him because he is different from Clinton on issues that matter most. What issues? If it is war mongering, then sorry to say, I am not so sure Obama will not take us to war again. He did say that he would leave all options on the table when it comes to Iran. Finally, his speech at AIPAC drove me mad. I understand that he needs Jewish votes, but this strong partisan support for Israel made my blood boil. Any time I see a government offering unstinted support to a country, something is awfully wrong. Support should be offered based on the issue at hand, not because you have been allies forever or because you will lose some religious votes. The last thing America needs is to go to war with a country like Palestine in order to support Israel. Are we really going to see change? The democrats control the congress, if indeed they were interested in changing something, it should have happened a year ago. But has anything changed since they took over congress last year? No. Is anything going to change if they win the election this year? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is for sure, my hope is dwindling and dwindling fast. I miss Kucinich.

This is awesome!!!

2008-03-05T11:34:00.001-08:00

Prison gets exam centre status

V.S. Palaniappan

Coimbatore: The Coimbatore Central Prison becomes the first prison in the State to get the status of a Government examination centre for enabling prisoners to take 10th and 12th standard examinations.

Talking to The Hindu, the DIG of Prisons, Coimbatore range holding additional charge of Coimbatore Central Prison, P. Munivelu, said that prisons should become centres for transformation of the victims of circumstances. The process initiated four years ago was pursued meticulously by Sister Selvi of Prisoner’s Ministry under instructions from the Additional Director-General of Police, Prisons, A. Subramanian.
Attitude

While serving a sentence at the prison, the prisoner should undergo reformation and corrective procedures to change their attitude and mindset. Basic education would enable transformation and eliminate the feeling of revenge.

Thus, prisons instead of being punishment centres could play a reformative and corrective role effectively, Mr. Munivelu said. In addition, formal education would help in making them equipped for employment so as to ensure their rehabilitation on discharge. Towards this objective, already the prison was offering opportunities under the distance education programme of a university for undergraduate courses.

Focusing on those who had the required age and serving life sentence, the prison administration through Collector Neeraj Mittal approached the Directorate of Government Examinations. Out of 2,400-odd prisoners, 96 will appear for Std. VIII, 76 for Std. X and 30 for Plus Two examinations in October this year. Once the process starts, more prisoners were likely to evince interest, he said.

Besides the Collector, two teachers deputed from Valar Kalvi scheme were also making efforts to rope in the services of voluntary organisations in bringing in teachers to provide coaching to the willing prisoners five days a week so as to enable them to take examinations with confidence.

In addition, 15 teachers from NGOs along with seven graduate prisoners would help in teaching the inmates, Mr. Munivelu added.

GRAVEL AT DARTMOUTH DEBATE: "WE'RE STARTING A WAR RIGHT NOW"

2007-09-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Senator Mike Gravel, appearing in the Democratic presidential debate on Sept. 27 in Hanover, N.H., wasted no time laying out his plan to force an end to the Iraq War.

When asked by moderator Tim Russert how Senator Gravel would overcome the deadlock on passing legislation to end the war, he responded: "You stop the debate [over ending the war] by voting every single day on cloture. Twenty days, and you'll overcome cloture. The president vetoes the law. It comes back to the Congress. And in the House at noon every single day you vote to override the president's veto. You tell me that the votes aren't there-you go get them by the scruff of the neck, that's what you do. You make them vote."

Questioned by Russert if he was suggesting that the candidates suspend their campaigns to end the war, Senator Gravel responded: "If it stops the killing-my God, yes-do it."

The Senator then turned his attention to a vote that New York Senator Hillary Clinton had cast earlier in the day on a nonbinding resolution, known as the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which sanctions a U.S. attack on Iran.

"We're just starting a war right today," said Senator Gravel. "There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has offered another resolution, and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to war with Iran. I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for voting against it. And I am ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it."

The topic turned to immigration and whether the candidates would allow safe havens or "sanctuary cities" for undocumented aliens.

"We're scapegoating the Latinos of our society because we as a society are failing in education, we're failing in healthcare, we're failing in our crumbling infrastructure, and we're failing by invading countries and spending our treasure," said Senator Gravel. "That's what's wrong. And so I'm ashamed as an American to be building a fence on our southern border. That's not the America that I fought for."

Gravel was the only candidate to respond affirmatively to Russert's question concerning lowering the drinking age to 18.

"I think we should lower it so anybody that could go fight and die for this country should be able to drink," answered Senator Gravel.

Later, Senator Gravel pushed his plan for a carbon tax to wean America off its addiction to oil.

"We can get off the gasoline in five years, and we can get off of carbon in 10 years. All we have to do is want to do it," said Senator Gravel. "[If] we put a tax on gasoline, [this] permits politicians and bureaucrats to play favorites. You do it right at the lump of coal, and you do it at the gas, and you do it at the oil, and then that filters through the system properly."

When asked if he supported nuclear power, Senator Gravel responded emphatically: "Not at all. The solution, obviously, is wind power. If we manufactured 5 million of these 2.5 meg windmills across the country, we could electrify the entire nation-the entire nation."

Russert closed the debate by questioning the candidates on their favorite Bible verse. The Senator responded: "The most important thing in life is love. That's what empowers courage, and courage implements the rest of our virtues."

Source: www.gravel2008.us

Brr.... its winter.

2007-09-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Summer is fun where I live. Tons of outdoor activities; hiking, trekking, mountain climbing, rafting and such. This place turned me into an outdoor person. I was having fun with my hiking and trekking and here comes winter, bringing all my activities to a screeching halt. My friends have promised to take me cross-country skiing (regular skiing passes are outrageously expensive, about 700$ dollars for the season) this winter, let's see how far I go with it!!!

KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT!!!!

2007-07-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.dennis4president.com/

I watched the democratic debate this morning. Wow, was blown away by Dennis Kucinich. He is EXACTLY the kind of person I would vote for. When asked if he would be willing to work for a minimum wage, he said "I still live in the same house I bought in the 70's for 22, 500$, I would definitely increase the minimum wage so that my neighbors can lead a comfortable life just as I." Check out the video here.There was this question where one viewer asked "Look at the candidate on your left and honestly mention one virtue you like and one virtue you dislike about the person". When it came to Kucinich's turn, he was the last person in line and there was no one he could talk about and Anderson Cooper said "You know why that is Kucinich, we couldn't find anyone to the left of you!" Anyway, Kucinich ended up talking about Mike Gravel, my other favorite candidate and said "Sir, you are one of the most courageous men here. You opposed the Vietnam war and brought the truth out. I thank you for that and for being here today!" Check out the video here.When on the issue of energy and alternative sources, Anderson Cooper threatened the candidates with the question, "How many of you took the private jet to this debate?" And guess who were the only two people not to raise their hands? Obviously Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. Mike Gravel said "I took the train and then the bus. KUDOS to him. Who ever takes the train and then the bus, especially in SOUTH CAROLINA!!! This wasn't even San Francisco and this gentleman chose public transportation over an easy and comfortable jet!! I for one didn't even know you could take a train to South Carolina. One viewer was 'concerned' about gun control. He asked, "I want to know your views on gun control, I want to know if my baby will be safe in this country." He then took out his automatic weapon and said "This is my baby, is it safe?" This question was posed to Bill Richardson who apparently has the highest ratings with the NRA and he said something like, "The only concern is about the mentally deranged and criminals getting hold of these weapons. I would advocate an instant background check" (like these things EVER work!!) Joe Biden when faced with the same question said, "Honestly, if that's his baby, he needs help!! These are exactly the kind of people who should not possess weapons. I am not even sure if he is mentally balanced enough to ask this question" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA... loved it... totally loved the debate. GO DEMOCRATS!!!!!
For all the amazing, amazing you tube questions to the candidates, search for 'you tube debate' on you tube! For the full debate, watch cnn.Have fun viewing the videos!!!
CORRECTION: Senator Joe Biden also chose public transportation over private jets.

India's national language

2007-06-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Being an Indian residing in a foreign country, I am sick and tired of being asked why I don't speak Hindi. I am not really annoyed with non-Indians asking me this question, but mostly with 'North Indians' who go on and on about why everyone in India needs to learn Hindi. And their ill-informed reason that Hindi is our national language drives me crazy. Now, lets set the record straight once and for all. Hindi is NOT our national language and if that is your argument then tell me, should we all be learning all the 22 or so official languages? Utter bull crap. Oh, and "life will be a lot easier if you learn Hindi, you can communicate with people from other states." Oh really? Why don't you travel to the south for a change and try to converse in Hindi, lets see how far that takes you. If these people are half as patriotic as they claim, they should all learn one South Indian language (like someone suggested). Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are also part of India, just in case you didn't know. Those of you who still are in this dream world where everything Indian is Bollywood, please read this .

Hike at Jemez

2007-06-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I blogged, but here I am after a LONG break. Some of us hiked at the Jemez Springs this morning, near the East fork river, it was FUN. One of those hikes where you get to walk in water and on logs across streams. While today we just went half-way, a couple of weeks later, we plan to do the entire trail in which we will have to swim a bit too. Sounds like it is going to be fun and I am eagerly looking forward to it.

Women should work

2007-06-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

I, like many of my friends, firmly believe that it is extremely important for a woman to be independent, she should contribute financially to a family. Some women choose to stay at home to take care of children and elders, I totally respect that but also think that at any given time, she should be prepared to go find a job if need be, she should have worked at some point in her life. Women are extremely talented and it is such a shame to let all that talent go waste. I have some friends who are smart and talented but are forced to stay home because their husbands don't find the necessity to send their wives to work. If the decision is jointly made by the couple there is no point of contention, but if it is the husband or the parents-in-law making the decision, it a totally different situation altogether and should be strongly opposed. We have but one life, and should try to achieve as much as possible in this short time. One thing I have noticed is that working mothers are able to instill a higher level of confidence in their female children. I definitely do not have any kind of research backing my statement, it is just a mere observation.

A love-hate relationship

2007-05-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

Today was a very busy day, lots of work but I also had the opportunity to discuss religion with a very learned person. I complained to him "I just recently read this book about a religion and am appalled by the so called prophet who had all these wives, some as young as 13. He forced these women into 'holy' matrimony, how can so many people respect him? Beats me." As I uttered these sentences, the person who came to my mind was Lord Krishna! Lord Krishna did almost everything this prophet did, and yet, those actions never seemed blasphemous to me. But today, I question my religion, the religion I have been so fond of, the religion I knew had shortcomings, but I also thought possessed some redeeming qualities. But after this 2 hour discussion and reading some excerpts from Manusmriti, I must say, I am a bit ashamed. I definitely disagree with many of Hinduism's principles. If Hinduism procalims that all men are not equal, I don't need Hinduism anymore, if it has the audacity to state that God willed it that way, and if God indeed did, I am not sure I want that God either. I'd rather sin and not go to heaven then ill-treat fellow humans in the name of the almighty. Makes me wonder, how can we be so sure that these Gods we pray to, if they did exist, were indeed good beings?? Reading the satanic verses does make me wonder.

Prison conditions

2007-05-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

I was watching this show on prisoners yesterday. It was eye-opening, the kind of torture these people are subjected to in prison is depressing. They are purposely kept in unsanitary conditions. I know that prisons are not meant to be comfortable. I realize convicts are not in prison for doing a good deed but for taking someone's life or property. But death sentences in general just don't seem right. How can we take a life to compensate for an already departed soul? How many times have we seen the blood covered cadaver of a terrorist and felt sorry for him? I can definitely say that no matter how cruel a life a person has lead, when I see his motionless body, tears run down my cheek. No one has the right to take another's life, irrespective of the kind of crime committed by him/her. In these prisons, prisoners are not allowed to read novels, they cannot write to their victims, they cannot play games like chess, they are not allowed to have romantic relationships with other inmates. It beats me to know that they are not allowed to do anything to improve their life. What is the point in putting them behind bars if the are not given an opportunity to better themselves? What annoys me most is that, most of those who claim to be 'pro life' are for capital punishment.

I don't recall...... :)

2007-05-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

Attorney General, firing of US attorneys, God! This is the only discussion that takes place on C-SPAN these days. People asking the AG over and over again what the specific reason for firing the attorneys were and him confessing "I do not recall the exact reason sir, but I accept full responsibility for my actions". Please give the guy a break. For heaven's sake, he has no clue as to what happened, why it happened or even whose decision it was. Even if he does, it doesn't look like he is going to disclose the reasons. Just leave the poor guy alone. He is a republican appointee, you can't blame him for being ignorant! It is really amusing to hear the Republicans and the Democrats speak on this issue. While the democrats take the accusative route, accusing him and drilling him with questions on the firings, the Republicans keep thanking him profusely for the GREAT job he's done. Wow, what a comedy show. For all those as ignorant as I am on what exactly an Attorney General does, here is what Wikipedia says, "In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General or Attorney-General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions". More on the AG here. The good thing about this situation is that, there are still channels like C-SPAN that deem such issues important, as compared to some TV channels that ceaselessly debate the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby while never even attempting to discuss the genocide at Darfur.

Cheese cake yummy!!

2007-05-05T21:53:00.001-07:00

I baked a cheese cake yesterday!!! My very own cake for the first time!! Yipeeee! It was for a friend's party and it came out really well. In fact, I must say that it was probably the best cheesecake I've had. With orange zest and vanilla essence, wow was it delicious!!! I wanted to post the original picture of the cake, but the people cleaned up the plate in a jiffy!!! The cake did have a mango topping like the one in the picture, just without the strawberries. Now I have to find vegan egg substitute to bake one for my husband who has been pestering me for a while to bake a vegan cake. My first ever baking experience was with cranberry-walnut bread. That did turn out good but it had a crispy crust, while I wanted it soft.

An obsession

2007-05-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

OK, I vow not to bore some of my friends with my political beliefs. I was totally unaware of how much politics I have been discussing off-late until yesterday when one of my very good friends walked into my office to take a break from work. She walked in all enthusiastic to talk to me and there I had to go again about my favorite candidates. Within 5 minutes she said, "OK, I better get back to work". I had certainly bored her with my monologue. Before leaving she said, "But you don't even VOTE!!" I replied, "Yeah, sure can't for now but I at least have the power to influence people!!" I must say, my addiction to politics happens right before election time and some of my friends think I get too emotionally attached to the democratic party. For example, after the last elections, I was crying bitterly much to the astonishment of my roommates. OK, there goes my vow again, Les, Ray and everyone else, I'm sorry!!!

True liberals

2007-04-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

I watched the democratic debate last week. I mostly watched to hear what the front-runners had to say, but to my utter disbelief was let down by my favorite candidate when he claimed that lethal force needs to be used on countries that violate the NPT. I was also pleasantly surprised by two men who made so much more sense and proved that they are true liberals. Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Senator Mike Gravel. Kucinich is my man, anti-war, pro-choice, he won the Mahatma Gandhi peace prize, is VEGAN and it just gets better, he thinks of drugs as a medical issue and not a criminal issue and seems like he is for making pot LEGAL!! My God, finally someone who thinks that if smoking can be justified (by doing which you are actually forcing tobacco smoke down other peoples throats), then what's the logic in preventing drugs!!! He represents the true liberals, is a man of conscience. I have begun to respect him and pray to God that he wins the primaries. Senator Mike Gravel is a lot like Kucinich in his views and thoughts but seemed to be annoyed with everyone and everything happening around him. I don't blame him, I feel that way too. Sometimes, by being too vocal, I think I get offensive. My intolerance for conservatives seems to be turning me into the person I so don't want to be; a preacher. Mike Gravel is anti-war, is pro-choice and I love the things he said during the debate. I only wish the media would give him more air-time. Like he himself mentioned, he did look like a potted plant standing in the corner and was probably asked like 5 questions on the whole. I really want to get to know him and wish him all the best for the primaries. If you wish to hear the debate, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ .

Code monkeys!!!!!

2007-04-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Been crazy busy the last few weeks. Pouring over thousands of lines of Perl code. Man, it sucks to debug amateur programmer's silly experiments. Some people write line after line without a single comment. They do things in the most obscure way and have no concern for those who have the unpleasant task of modifying the crap. Their code does not deserve any server space and they should be banned from writing anything whatsoever. I so wish people would stop hiring monkeys to write programs, code monkeys!!!!!

Color of God

2007-04-15T16:15:00.001-07:00

Color of God
Today, I was reading this book on a religion founded in America. A religion that actually states that "polygamy is the will of God" and people who do not follow it are sinners and will never see heaven.

As I read this book, I thought of all the stupid and insane things that people do in the name of religion and under the pretext of these "holy" texts that were written thousands and thousands of years ago. Some of these scriptures even go so far as saying that the earth is only 7000 years old and man was born as he is today without evolution and that Darwin's theory is a farce. How many of us actually think about why we are Christian or Muslim or Hindu? There are so many, many good things about these religions and yet, people choose to follow only those they find convenient.

Take Hinduism for example, there are so many Gods; Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and many more. Only a year or so ago was I able to come up with a satisfying answer to why there were so many. One of my American friends, looking at a picture of Lord Krishna, asked me last month, "Hey, I see that Krishna is blue in color, does it represent anything?" And I replied "Yes Brenda, this is how I think of it. God comes in different colors. He can be dark like Shiva or fair like Brahma. He can be fat with a tummy, like Lord Ganesha or he can be handsome like Lord Vishnu. He doesn't have a single face." Why else would they choose to color a God blue. If Krishna were fair, the dark people would be discriminated against. And if he were dark, the white people would be discriminated against.

I feel so happy when I think of the good things our ancestors tried to convey and sorry when we so successfully manage to convolute even the purest of thoughts. In some religions, this is probably why they don't believe in idol worship. They don't want to think of God as possessing one single form. And this is exactly what I will teach my children, that God lives in each one of us, black or white.

Santa Fe

2007-04-15T09:55:00.001-07:00

Just returned last week, after a 3 week vacation and
ofcourse there was a pile of work waiting for me :(

Did some interesting things on saturday though, visited Santa Fe with a couple of friends. Santa Fe is the best city I have ever been to.
Beautiful and artsy with its adobe architecture and galleries of famous artists including New Mexico's own Georgia O Keefe. It was a sunny day and we visited quite a few galleries with water color paintings. For those of you that love art, this is the place. People who visit the grand canyon always talk about Sedona being a beautiful town. If you think Sedona is beautiful, wait till you see Santa Fe!!

After gallery hopping, we went to a friend's place for dinner and ended up discussing politics as usual!!!

School related chagrin

2007-04-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

1:
MANY of my friends from high-school agree when I say that studies was and is more important than anything else in our school. But some teachers seriously din't know where to draw the line. If a child did badly in school, they would stop smiling at her. We would wish them enthusiastically "Namaste ma'm" only to be glared at. I don't know if this is true only of the school I went to, I haven't heard similar stories from others. We were kids for heavens-sake, its not like we did badly because we were mean people. I was NEVER a good student at high-school, needless to say I was one of those unlucky few. I always ended up pondering "Am I a mean person?"

2:
OK, seriously, what's with the science is better than commerce and computer-science is better than biology attitude, especially in an educational institution. Shouldn't the teachers know better? This is how it worked where I studied and am sure in lots of other institutions.

math + science % >95% - Computer science
math + science % >90% - Engineering drawing(BTW this wasn't available for girls)
math + science % >85% - Biology
math + science % < 85% - Commerce

Now, how ridiculous can things get? Does this mean people who are incapable of memorizing a few formulae should be forced into commerce? Or that commerce is inferior in some convoluted way? Oh and if you secure low grades and if you want to be in science, too bad, you have to change schools, this institution is prestigious. Some would argue, "oh there is so much competition, how else do they select students?" A schools job is not to select the best few and churn good results. What's the schools contribution then, apart from conducting routine exams? You don't need schools to do that, you can get that from a coaching class. And the sad part is most students in such institutions including myself attended classes outside in order to perform well. Please let the students decide what they want to do. They shouldn't have to give up dreams of becoming doctors and engineers because they did badly in a stupid 10th grade exam.

I do have friends who went to other schools and while there are some with similar experiences, there are also those who love their alma mater and are proud of the kind of academic freedom they had and the kind of rapport they shared with their teachers. And these are not students who were at the top of their class. But they are just as successful now. Every single time I hear one of their stories, I feel sad and envious. Doesn't this say something about their schools?

More to follow in my future posts ...............

Bad hair day?

2007-03-28T08:27:00.001-07:00

Man.. yesterday was one of those dreaded bad hair days. Went to get a hair cut, was wondering why this woman was praising my hair all along, "oh you've got such lovely thick hair, so long.. do you get headaches often?" I was thinking to myself "What on earth is this woman up to?" and alas I realized that she cut close to 8 inches of my hair!! My husband's hair is probably just an inch shorter than mine! But this woman kept rambling on "Oh.. that is such a cute style on you, if I had cut 1 inch more, I could have donated your hair to the local Cancer institute" Yeah right, had that happened, I would have needed hair donation myself. I look like a totally different person now, amazing how much a hair cut can change your persona! I guess all forthcoming days this month are going to be bad hair days!!!

Me, doctor??

2007-03-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days when I accompanied my husband to the university and pretended to do work while actually reading cinesouth.com, galatta.com and indiaglitz.com (my favourite website for viewing photos of tamil cine events without subscribing). I just began happily drifting away into cyberspace when all of a sudden, a pile of work landed on me by email. Apparently the format of my output was wrong, so I had to reformat stuff, parse this huge ugly file, subconsciously aware that a single parse error could change these huge gigabytes of data into garbage :( That is the bane of programming, it is scary to think how much research is built on code that may contain some tiny treacherous bug somewhere waiting to challenge your results!! :( OK.. on to some serious stuff......

A couple of days ago, during one of my routine wanderings in the parallel universe, my husband called out "hey.. I forgot that you were an engineering undergrad, help me with something, what transform do you use to represent a 2D waveform, what do you know about up sampling and down sampling?" Sampling? I only know samplers, transforms.. transforms.. that rang a bell somewhere.. Fourier, Laplace.. Z transform.. I had heard those terms somewhere.. what the f$#% did I do with them? I had no clue, this yet again brought me to a sad realization that I had wasted 4 crucial years of my life "studying" something I couldn't care less about. I was one of those students who just followed the herd. I gave up admission at a prestigious architectural school and my dream of performing surgery to enroll into an ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING program. Why? Because, only idiots study science right? Only losers spend their life researching worms and flies, and here I am today researching tinier life forms. Where does this kind of prejudice stem from? Why do people from India look down upon those who are not engineers or doctors or lawyers? A PhD in english is sadly not equivalent to a PhD in computer science. I resolve that my children would never have to choose between satisfaction and money. Just as I was voicing my opinion, my friend Ray quickly pointed out.. "hey, but didn't you mention the other day that your kids would be doctors?" Silence. "Well, all I said was [clearing throat] when they are young, I would teach them biology and make them love the subject so much that they would eventually end up choosing medicine " :)

Oh.. do we ever change?

College sports, boon or bane?

2007-03-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how sports can influence your mood and behavior. Take me for example, I was never a big sports buff nor did I ever care for it, but ever since I started following football and more recently college basketball, I seem to have developed a dual personality. People who observe me watching these sports, swear that I am a totally different person. I scream obscenities, get angry and am a nervous wreck to a point where I have to start worrying about the fitness of my heart after the game is over. Is this all worth it? Maybe not, but the adrenaline rush that comes with such involvement is probably why people throng to games and sports bars. But by watching such college sports, people like me contribute to another unfortunate mentality that sports is more important than education. Think of it this way, when the US economy is affected by war and other natural calamities, how does the government try to recuperate from the loss? By cutting down research money. NSF is the first to suffer a loss followed by NIH. This obviously affects universities that solely depend on such sources for money. But then the sports departments, that are housed in universities continue spending millions of dollars on coaches and stadiums. The highest paid people in a university are the coaches, while a humanities professor probably makes 40-50,000$ a year (lower than the average US income, I am told), doesn't this seem unfair? I think that all sports departments should be forced to contribute a significant amount of money to the university (not just a meager 1 million a year to the local library). If not why are they part of universities, doesn't the reputation of the universities help them in any way? They should just go ahead and have clubs and leagues instead of living in the universitys shadow . Think about it!

A new beginning...

2007-03-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

After a lot of "I am not the kind who writes blogs" and "I don't have the patience" statements, here I am, writing my first blog entry. I also happen to be on vacation so that definitely contributed to this decision. I have been so out of touch with my near and dear friends that I thought this would be an awesome way to catch up with some of them and a fun way to vent my anger and share my happiness (I know you are thinking by now.. "tell us something new, this is why everyone writes blogs!!!")