My Thaughts (c)

JAY LENO JOKE ABOUT ROMNEYS SUMMER HOME as GOLDEN TEMPLE DID NOT HUMOR SOME IN PANJAB

2012-01-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Last week Jay Leno while making fun of Romney's wealth showed some lowly houses as belonging to some politicians and showed GOLDEN TEMPLE AS THE summer house of Romney on some American lake.It indeed was a nice satire and got a nice quick laugh
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SGPC ShrimonyGurudwara Prabhandak Committee the management committee of the temple was not amused and protested in the election season in Punjab.Government of India could not miss the opportunity and filed an official complaint to the us department of state for this insult.

IT WOULD BE FUNNY IF IT WAS NOT TRUE.

It is sad that Rushdie was not allowed to address the Jaipur literary festival LIVE.Government was afraid of the complainers .I guess freedom of speech does not mean the same in India as in US.Many of attendees made fun of silly ban of Salman Rushdies books in India.Some of them recited from his writings on the stage.

JANUARY 23 THE BIRTHDAY OF NETAJI SUBHASH .

2012-01-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Long ago when i was a kid .I had a special place for Netaji in my heart.Their were some Sepoys who worked with dad.These were no lowly sepoys as their rank would denote.They were outstanding proud people.One day dad told me that they were former soldiers of Azzad Hind Fauj of Netaji.It was before India became free and independent.
They were proud of their service with Netaji.I wanted to know all they knew about Netaji.Was he still alive or what they believed.How was the life in his army..Sadly later i found out that their service was not recognised by free India. In spite of this all they were no bitter soldiers.They loved me for my love of Netaji and my interest in their life as his soldiers.

On 23 January we would meet at Netajis BUST on top of the Bridge(PULL) in Amritsar.I was may be seventeen or so.I remember missing my DAV College for this event ,not that i was such a serious student .This is for sure one of the memorable occasion for me to miss some classes.

What I said that day was a young mans logic which i still hold true in its essence.I said if Hitler had won the second world war Netaji would have been the reason for India's independence.For sure i still believe that second world war had made British so weak that they had to let India be free.

For what we know about Hitler no body could love him for his cruelty and hatred.They say all is fare in love and war so i think I support Netaji's action to join enemies of British in India's struggle for freedom.
From that day on i was loved by many INA soldiers and we developed great mutual affection.

Every time I see this day on Calender it reminds me of my childhood and Netaji's bust and those great freedom fighters of Azzad Hind Fauj who never got recognised by free India.
Jai Hind

Amartya Sen Nobel prize winner writes for HINDU. Very thought provoking.

2012-01-06T17:33:00.000-08:00

The glory and the blemishes of the Indian news media

Amartya Sen

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The Hindu AMARTYA SEN: “The political support for tolerating — and defending — the present profligacy in catering to the relatively better off contrasts sharply with the fiscal alarm bells that are sounded whenever proposals for helping the poor, the hungry, the chronically unemployed come up.” Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Our free media, including our largely unfettered press, are a hugely important asset for democratic India. And yet the celebration of the Indian news media can go only so far — and no further. There are at least two barriers to quality that need to be overcome. The first is some real laxity in professionalism in achieving accuracy. The second is the bias, often implicit, in the choice of what news to cover and what to ignore, and the way this bias relates particularly to class divisions in India.

One of the great achievements of India is our free and vibrant press. This is an accomplishment of direct relevance to the working of democracy. Authoritarianism flourishes not only by stifling opposition, but also by systematically suppressing information. The survival and flowering of Indian democracy owes a great deal to the freedom and vigour of our press. There are so many occasions when, sitting even in Europe or in America, I have wished for something like the vigour and many-sided balance of the Indian press to confront the vilification of chosen targets.

One longstanding example of some moment is the organised mischaracterisation in the USA of the British National Health Service and similar public health arrangements in most of Europe. Despite the fact that America has some superb newspapers, such as The New York Times, the information industry has managed to undermine thoroughly the understanding of the great accomplishments of public health care in Europe, and its contribution to enhancing health security, life expectancy, and the quality of life. Rather, the National Health Service and other such medical arrangements are often seen as some kind of a “health lock-up,” generating a widespread horror of what is called “socialised medicine” (I have heard of a rumour that American children are persuaded to eat broccoli by threatening them with “socialised medicine” as a dreaded alternative).

Professionalism and accuracy

Despite the limitations of the Indian news media, some of which I will discuss presently, we have every reason to applaud our free media, including our largely unfettered press, as a hugely important asset for democratic India. And yet the celebration of the Indian media can go only so far — and no further. There are at least two huge barriers to quality that are very worth discussing: one is concerned with the internal discipline of the media and the other relates to the relation between the media and society. The first problem is that of some real laxity in professionalism in achieving accuracy, which can be harmed even without any deliberate intention to mislead or misinform. The second is the bias — often implicit — in the choice of what news to cover and what to ignore, and the way this bias relates particularly to class divisions in India.

Indian reporting can be, and often is, extremely good. I always marvel at the skill of the reporters, often very young men and women, in being able to capture and bring out the nuances of points that are hard to summarise accurately. However, Indian reporting is characterised by great heterogeneity, and sometimes serious inaccuracies can receive widespread circulation through the media (or initiating in the media). While I have been personally lucky, most of the time, I am aware of problems that others have had, and sometimes I see them in my own experience. As an Indian reader, I would like to be sure, when I open the morning newspaper, that what I am reading — that A said B — is actually accurate. It is hard to have that assurance.

Let me give a couple of examples, despite — I should re-emphasise — my generally good experience with reporting in the press. Four days ago in a public discussion I said in answer to a question about the Lokpal initiative that the solution to the extremely important problem of corruption would have to be sought within the Indian democratic system (including our courts and Parliament), and also that I had not seen the blueprint of any effective Lokpal Bill – neither from the government nor from any faction of the Opposition.

When, later on, I opened the web, I found reports with the following headlines: “Lokpal Bill well thought out: Amartya Sen” (The Times of India, India Today, Zee News, NDTV, among others); and “Lokpal Bill not well thought out: Amartya Sen” (DNA News, Money Control, The Telegraph [which did not make it a headline], among others). One paper first distributed the former story and then the latter, without noting that there is a correction here, and I was amused because it is a paper — The Economic Times — with which I am personally associated, since I was given the privilege of editing the paper for one day a few years ago (it was a great day for me, though I gather from the Editor that I drove them all mad, by rejecting entries and asking for several rewrites).

Based on another meeting in Kolkata on the same day, a lecture for the Cancer Foundation of India, I found the following headlines: “To smoke is individual option” (The Statesman) and “Curb smokers' liberty: Amartya” (Hindustan Times). All this is just from one day. Unfortunately, a misreport on one day can have quite big consequences. The Times of India said on December 15: “Amartya Sen: People on street can't deal with corruption.” I had said nothing of the sort, as the audio record of the speech confirms, but once that misreporting, coming from a news agency apparently used by many newspapers, is in the public domain, it is hardly surprising that I would be showered with rebuke and moral advice. Dozens of pages of denunciations materialised immediately. Much of the moral advice to me would be sensible enough had the statement reflected something I had said. The one I liked best said: “I think Mr. Sen should keep his mouth shut” — an eminently sensible piece of advice given the constant danger of misreporting by a careless press — or, as in this case, a careless news agency on which many papers mechanically rely.

What I had, in fact, said was that the judgment and penalty for corruption cannot be a matter for street justice, and must come through the democratic procedures that we cherish in India, including the courts and Parliament. I believe the Indian people are fully committed to that democratic priority, rather than “summary justice.” What they really complain about is that the democratic procedures are not being applied sufficiently vigorously and stringently to corruption. This is indeed an important demand, and this understanding is very far from any dismissal of the ability of “street people” to comprehend the political challenge arising from corruption. Since I have taken part in street demonstrations myself, complaining about many injustices in India (one recent activity of this kind was related to the public agitation for the right to food), I must stand up for the right of ordinary folks — what the news agency called the “street people” — to be heard loud and clear.

On enhancing accuracy

So what can the media do to deal with the lapses from accuracy in reporting? I don't know the answer — my main intention here is to raise the question — but one thought that is fairly straightforward is to get all the newspapers to agree to publish corrections of their own stories as a regular feature (and highlight them online, along with the corrected accounts). This is done with much effectiveness by The Guardian and The New York Times, and some Indian papers already have such a section (the host of this essay, The Hindu, has had this for many years), but the practice can be made more universal among the papers, and also more active and more well-known.

There is also an issue of journalistic training. Taking notes in a rush is never easy, and it has become harder still since most reporters today, unlike those in the past, do not know shorthand. But there are marvellous recording devices in our modern world, and they can perhaps be used more uniformly, rather than the reporters tending to rely on memory, as many still seem to do. There are surely other ways of reducing inadvertent inaccuracy, and it would be nice to see more discussion on it. But now I must move to the second problem to which I referred.

Class bias

If greater accuracy is mainly an internal challenge for the media, avoiding — and fighting — class bias involves an external challenge that relates to the divisiveness of the Indian society. Of course, class divisions are present elsewhere as well. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has drawn attention to what it sees as the contrast between the very prosperous — the 1 per cent at the top — and the rest of the 99 per cent in the United States. I will not comment here on the veracity of this 1%-99% contrast, as applied to the United States, but relying on a similar division in India would miss the mark by a long margin. There are, of course, many divisions in India — and some apply to newspaper ownership as well — but the division that introduces a generic bias in Indian news coverage, related to the interest of the newspaper reading public, is more like one between a fortunate fifth of the population who are doing just fine on the basis of the economic progress that is taking place in India, and the rest who are being left firmly behind.

There is, in fact, a substantial part of the Indian population — a minority but still very large in absolute numbers — for whom India's economic growth is working well, along with those who were already comparatively privileged. An exaggerated concentration on their lives, which the Indian media tend typically to display, gives an unreal picture of the rosiness of what is happening to Indians in general. There tends to be fulsome coverage in the news media of the lifestyles of the fortunate, and little notice of the concerns of the less fortunate. To refer to three of many unfortunate facts (the list can be quite long): (1) India has the highest percentage of undernourished children in the entire world, measured in terms of the standard criteria; (2) India spends a far lower percentage of its GNP than China on government-provided health care and has a much lower life expectancy; and (3) India's average rank among South Asian countries — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan — in the standard social indicators, varying from life expectancy and immunisation to infant mortality and girls' schooling, has dropped over the last twenty years from being second-best to second-worst (even as India has surged ahead in terms of GNP per capita).

The problem here does not, of course, originate in the media, for it is social division that feeds this bias in coverage. But the media can play a more constructive part in keeping the reality of India persistently in the view of the public. The bias in coverage, even though it is by no means unpleasant to the reader, contributes quite heavily to the political apathy about the urgency of remedying the extreme deprivation of the Indian underprivileged. Since the fortunate group includes not only business leaders and the professional classes, but also the bulk of the country's intellectuals, the story of unusual national advancement gets, directly or indirectly, much aired — making an alleged reality out of what is at best a very partial story.

What is probed and what ignored

The group of relatively privileged and increasingly prosperous Indians can easily fall for the temptation to assume that given the high rate of economic growth, there is no particular need for special social efforts to enhance the lives of people. When, for example, the government introduced, as it did recently, its plan of providing subsidised food for the Indian poor, an enormous number of critics pointed immediately to the fiscal problems involved, and some even talked about the sheer “irresponsibility” that is allegedly reflected in the Food Security Bill.

There are indeed many serious problems with the Food Security Bill that has been tabled, and the Bill can be much improved and one hopes it will be. Furthermore, fiscal responsibility is certainly a serious issue and the financing of food subsidies, like other social programmes, demands critical examination. But it is worth asking why there is hardly any media discussion about other revenue-involving problems, such as the exemption of diamond and gold from customs duty, which, according to the Ministry of Finance, involves a loss of a much larger amount of revenue (Rs.50,000 crore per year) than the additional cost involved in the Food Security Bill (Rs.27,000 crore). The total “revenue forgone” under different headings, presented in the Ministry document, an annual publication, is placed at the staggering figure of Rs.511,000 crore per year. This is, of course, a big overestimation of revenue that can be actually obtained (or saved), since many of the revenues allegedly forgone would be difficult to capture — and so I am not accepting that rosy evaluation. And yet it is hard to understand why the cost of the Food Security Bill should be separated out for fiscal gloom without examining other avenues of fiscal soundness. An active media can draw attention to what is being probed and what remains underdiscussed and underexplored.

The impact of India's division between the privileged and the non-privileged can also be seen in the political power of the advocates of continuing — and expanding — subsidies on fuel use, even those that go particularly to the relatively rich (such as petrol for car owners), or of fertilizers, which yield major transfers of a regressive kind, even as they help with agricultural production. It is possible to redesign these fiscal arrangements to introduce more economic rationality, greater environmental awareness, and the demands of equity with efficiency. The political support for tolerating — and defending — the present profligacy in catering to the relatively better off contrasts sharply with the fiscal alarm bells that are sounded whenever proposals for helping the poor, the hungry, the chronically unemployed come up.

If the first problem I referred to, that of accuracy, is one of improving the performance of the news media through better quality control, the second, transcending class bias, concerns the media's role in reporting and discussing the problems of the country in a balanced way. The media can greatly help in the functioning of Indian democracy and the search for a better route to progress including all the people — and not just the more fortunate part of Indian society. What is central to the functioning of the news media in Indian democracy is the combination of accuracy with the avoidance of bias. The two problems, thus, complement each other.

(Amartya Sen, the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998. The Bharat Ratna was conferred on him in 1999.)

Bhilwara India.

2011-12-03T07:27:00.000-08:00

Bhilwara is a town(now bustling)in Rajasthan India.I virtually grew up here.In my development it played an important role.I learned to wander here .To walk for hours in fields and streets was norm not exception in those days.We walked( me and Shamu and Amrik)Even when we had a bike as we were not going anywhere.I guess homes were not condusive to conversation so streets were used or may be thats why they were invented.In our case that would have to be the reason.And drinking cheap tea from street vendors( even when we had no money)Amrik mostly paid for it he worked in mines and factories and always appeared magically after ten pm .It was not that we were exploiting his generosity.I would mention to him how much money i had in my pocket and he always seemed to make up the shortfall or entire charges for tea.I am sure at times we must have shared a cup of tea which in my memory were 7 paisa for pre made tea(today there are 50 rupees in a dollar and their were 100 paisa in one rupee) Figure it out you could buy 14 cups of tea for 2 cents .Kids in america could collect five cents by looking for empty coke bottles in those days and a kid named Amrik singh like the american kid paid for the Tea (chai).By the way the special tea made to order was called special had more milk and made to order but i think it did not taste any better.Besides you will have to waite till it was made and pay 15 paisa.
In my memory those were best of time.His genorisity did not make us beholden to him.must have been best of friendship as the view of any of us is not altered by any financial roles in buying chai.It was understood that the one who had the money normally paid.That was where i mostly used my discretionary funds.My sister was also very kind and some times gave me her allowance.

My couple of days in New Delhi

2011-10-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Sri,and every body

I am doing fine.This is midnight of 14 Th October.journey was OK .Please send me number of Hima.My number is 0941 703 7855.I have been checking out New Delhi.More have changed and more have stayed the same.Respect for the ordinary people is extremely lacking in the officialdom.

Went to Raj Ghat and India Gate and they were sort of cordoned off and people were not allowed to sit near on the grass.No body was there to inform the public what was happening.Security was told not to let people sit on grass .People honored this without question for fear of abuse.

Akshar Dham( A grand temple built by BAPS} was beautiful and well organised and planned in every aspect.Restrictions on diaries and notebooks were not needed. I am sure that it would discourage many artists from promoting their art and art education.Self explanatory info was good.

Highest position was given to their Guru and most decorative part was for the founder Swami. Deities of Hinduism had beautiful but lesser representation.Their food was as always in very good and served in efficient manner. Here again people were not allowed to sit on floor and limited facilities were available for handicap people.Excess emphasis was put on security and keeping people from taking pictures.

Visited National museum.I found two unique miniature painting from Rajasthan of eighteenth century depicting Madonna and Son( Jesus) and other had Madonna breast feeding baby Jesus.I was pleased that they were part of the collection.Manuscripts exhibition was under construction ,so was denied entry.

Tickets for foreigners were 300 rupees and Indian nationals was 10 rupees and no extra services were provided for them.Do not like being discriminated.Then as a true Indian did not tell them and they charged me 10 rupees.When i asked them if one could take pictures he said after paying twenty rupees.Did not pay it and still took Pictures .

There was security staff getting bored in exhibition area and no curators. It would have been much better if these security staff was trained to provide the info or curating staff was present to answer the questions.

Bathrooms in most places i visited were much cleaner than i remembered.At Raj Ghat ( where Gandhi's grave is they were in bad conditions and smelled bad.Water was not available in bath room.I saw only two men urinating in open which is pretty decent for two days.

At the airport(new ) bathrooms had marble fixtures which needed continuous cleaning and one man was continuously doing it for about twenty sinks and toilets.

Many planes had arrived at the same time nobody was guiding people.Was a large line at the immigration counters, several of them were closed but officials though older handled the visitors very well and efficiently

Duty free shop was friendly and liquor was being sold at good pace.Had a cup of tea at Costa coffee for 95 rupees( about two dollars) Tea was made in steamed milk and using tea bags.The person working their told me they pay 30 thousand rupees daily rent.The tea was may be ten ounces.

I forgot to tell that airline had good service and polite employees.This is Etihad airline .Was booked solid from Abu Dhabi.It allowes two 23 killo bags and two small carry on bags.Other than make my trip charging 950 dollars instead of web price of 911 every thing went well.I have impression that 950 dollar price is also a good price.Even the Arabs working at airport were polite.

India is becoming Polite.Metro is efficient and overcrowded.Their are ladies compartments.I saw much fewer women travel in regular trains.Trains were clean and efficient.You could hear all announcements well may be my ear filters were tuned right( haha)

Three Wheeler scooter rickshaws are efficient loud and bumpy.Some times they are smokey also.They use CNG.Most of the artisans and workers are from UP or Bihar.Two of the poorest states in the country.Even the poorest person told me they had two kids good sign.

Saw three kids at 4 years begging and weaving in and out of traffic.I was told by the rickshaw driver their parents were near by and exploited and abused the kids I wonder if theses people were part of beggars mafia as depicted in Mistry in his books.None of the children were deformed.I counted about four kids in this family so they are not following national advisory on family size and had time for sex even if not for work.

I was also told most labor earned 300 rupees per day That gives them wages of 9000 that is about 200 dollars per month..

All people seemed to be busy.

One thing I always found is stray dogs Dogs were not aggressive but roaming around.and was told Manica Ghandhi ( member of parliament and daughter in law of Nehru Gandhi family in the name of human treatment for animals has created a public nsense.I hope in the name of publkc service she would run a campaign to spade or neutor all dogs so none of the stray dogs are allowed and public is saved from this menace in ten years.

One thing more and last about my uncle and aunt with whom i am staying in Delhi,.They are a lovely couple in seventies.They are very self suficient.My Uncle does all small chores.They do not have a live in servant. For sure they could afford one.Aunty cooks all the meals and they live simple and very wholesome life.They read about five news papers daily.They chat daily with their daughters who are married and have one son each in teens.

Something about their house.They have power inverters for the house which maintains lights and fans running and they work automatically.They have installed western style toilets That helps as we all get old and has problem with knees.They have water filtration system Reverse osmosis for drinking water.They have Internet,cable TV and phone and cell phone which cost them about 60 dollars a month while we pay at least 200 dollars per month for theses service in USA.They have 36 inch wide doors and no thrash hold for easy movement.They have also tried to reduce pollution and use resources wisely.They live as well in Delhi as they could live in US.Power issues and all other problems they have resolved in a practical manner.

They are a perfect couple in harmony.

yours

kul bhushan

On 16th i will be going to Chandigarh .
Ps it seems i will be leaving Delhi on 18th morning

Some poems by new Nobel prize winner Thomas Transtromer in translation.

2011-10-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

Seven poems by Tomas Tranströmer

National Insecurity

The Under Secretary leans forward and draws an X

and her ear-drops dangle like swords of Damocles.

As a mottled butterfly is invisible against the ground

so the demon merges with the opened newspaper.

A helmet worn by no one has taken power.

The mother-turtle flees flying under the water.

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Translated by Robin Fulton from New and Collected Poems by Tomas Tranströmer by Robin Fulton, published by Bloodaxe Books (www.bloodaxebooks.com). Copyright © 1997 by Robin Fulton. Reprinted by permission . All rights reserved.

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Allegro

After a black day, I play Haydn,

and feel a little warmth in my hands.

The keys are ready. Kind hammers fall.

The sound is spirited, green, and full of silence.

The sound says that freedom exists

and someone pays no tax to Caesar.

I shove my hands in my haydnpockets

and act like a man who is calm about it all.

I raise my haydnflag. The signal is:

“We do not surrender. But want peace.”

The music is a house of glass standing on a slope;

rocks are flying, rocks are rolling.

The rocks roll straight through the house

but every pane of glass is still whole.

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The Couple

They switch off the light and its white shade

glimmers for a moment before dissolving

like a tablet in a glass of darkness. Then up.

The hotel walls rise into the black sky.

The movements of love have settled, and they sleep

but their most secret thoughts meet as when

two colours meet and flow into each other

on the wet paper of a schoolboy’s painting.

It is dark and silent. But the town has pulled closer

tonight. With quenched windows. The houses have approached.

They stand close up in a throng, waiting,

a crowd whose faces have no expressions.

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After a Death

Once there was a shock

that left behind a long, shimmering comet tail.

It keeps us inside. It makes the TV pictures snowy.

It settles in cold drops on the telephone wires.

One can still go slowly on skis in the winter sun

through brush where a few leaves hang on.

They resemble pages torn from old telephone directories.

Names swallowed by the cold.

It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat

but often the shadow seems more real than the body.

The samurai looks insignificant

beside his armor of black dragon scales.

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Track

2 A.M. moonlight. The train has stopped

out in a field. Far off sparks of light from a town,

flickering coldly on the horizon.

As when a man goes so deep into his dream

he will never remember he was there

when he returns again to his view.

Or when a person goes so deep into a sickness

that his days all become some flickering sparks, a swarm,

feeble and cold on the horizon

The train is entirely motionless.

2 o’clock: strong moonlight, few stars.

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Under Pressure

The blue sky’s engine-drone is deafening.

We’re living here on a shuddering work-site

where the ocean depths can suddenly open up

shells and telephones hiss.

You can see beauty only from the side, hastily.

The dense grain on the field, many colours in a yellow stream.

The restless shadows in my head are drawn there.

They want to creep into the grain and turn to gold.

Darkness falls. At midnight I go to bed.

The smaller boat puts out from the larger boat.

You are alone on the water.

Society’s dark hull drifts further and further away.

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All translations are by Robert Bly from The Winged Energy of Delight: Selected Translations by Robert Bly, published by Harper Collins. Copyright © 2004 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission . All rights reserved.

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The Blue House

It is a night of radiant sun. I stand in the dense forest and look away toward my house with its hazy-blue walls. As if I had just dies and was seeing the house from a new angle. It has stood for more than eighty summers. Its wood is impregnated with four times joy and three times sorrow. When someone who lived in the house dies, it is repainted. The dead person himself is painting, without a brush, from inside.

Beyond the house, open ground. Once a garden, now grown over. Stationary breakers of weed, pagodas of weed, welling text, Upanishads of weed, a viking fleet of weed, dragons heads of weed, lances, a weed empire! Across the overgrown garden flutters the shadow of a boomerang that is thrown and thrown again. It has something to do with a person who lived in the house long before my time. Almost a child. An impulse comes from him, a thought, a thought like an act of will: “make… draw….” To reach out of his fate.

The house is like a child’s drawing. A deputizing childishness that grew because someone—much too soon— gave up his mission to be a child. Open the door, step in! In here there’s unrest in the ceiling and peace in the walls. Above the bed hangs a painting of a ship with seventeen sails, hissing wave crests, and a wind that the gilt frame can’t contain.

It’s always so early in here, before the crossroads, before the irrevocable choices. Thank you for this life! Still I miss the alternatives. The sketches, all of them, want to become real. A ship’s engine far away on the water expands the summer-night horizon. Both joy and sorrow swell in the dew’s magnifying glass. Without really knowing, we diving; our life has a sister ship, following quietly another route. While the sun blazes behind the islands.

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Posted July 13, 2011 by Steven Ford Brown

Thomas Transtromer is new Nobel prize winner for literature and that also for poetry.

2011-10-06T05:58:00.000-07:00

Thomas Transtromer the new Nobel Prize winner of literature is 80 years old and Swede.This is a nice way to expose, not that well known artists to the English language readers.Besides he is a poet.Nice to have poets recognized for their work.

After Mario Vargas Llohsa (last years Nobel winner) who gave some nice material to read and comment on, i hope to be reading Transtromer.Sadly i will be reading him also in translation.Both of these winners are English language proficient and so i hope their translation convey gist of their original works.I am sure uniqueness of all languages can not be be fully conveyed even by best of translators.Translating poetry to poetry in other language is monumental task it is good that they were translated before they became Nobel winners.

Congratulations to Mr Transtromer.

the Punjab Bloodied Partitioned and cleansed by Ishtiaq Ahmed

2011-10-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Look anyway you like These are the facts of partition and views are of real people.Views are of the people they are assigned to.leaves me thinking.

kul bhushan

The Punjab Bloodied Partitioned and Cleansed by Ishtiaq Ahmed.

INTRODUCTION
(Pages xxxviii-xxxix)

A Sikh Plan to eradicate all Muslims from East Punjab They alleged that the Sikhs had a definite plan to eliminate Muslims from East Punjab and that the Hindu group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was behind many heinous bomb blasts and other assaults on Muslims. Notes on The Sikh Plan says:

‘The ultimate goal which the Sikhs had set before them seems to have been the establishment of Sikh rule in the Punjab. Their preparations to this end were aimed directly and exclusively against the Muslims. Whether the Hindus who formed the bigger minority in the Punjab, would ultimately have acquiesced in the fulfillment of Sikh ambitions at their expense, is doubtful; but for the time being they made common cause with the Sikhs. The activities and preparations of the two, therefore, run parallel to each other and even where active conspiracy between them is not evident, the fact that they regarded the Muslims as their common enemy created mutual disposition towards collaboration which virtually amounted to a conspiracy and let [sic] to concerted effort’ (1948: 1-2).

Chaudhri Muhammad Ali, who represented Pakistan in the Steering Committee of the Partition Council set up by the colonial government, and was later prime minister of Pakistan (1955-56), alleged in his book, The Emergence of Pakistan, that the Sikh leadership at the highest level, especially the Maharajas of Patiala and Kapurthala, were involved in a macabre conspiracy to wipe out all Muslims from East Punjab.

The former Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, Muhammad Munir, one of the two members nominated by the Muslim League to the Punjab Boundary Commission, admitted in his book, From Jinnah to Zia, that the first large-scale communal attack in Punjab occurred in the Rawalpindi region in March 1947 against Sikhs and Hindus, and its perpetrators were Muslims (1980: 17). He reiterated the charge that the Sikhs had a plan to eradicate all traces of Muslim presence in the eastern parts of Punjab.

THE MARCH RIOTS: RAWALPINDI AND ADJOINING RURAL AREAS
(Pages 226-230)
Ranjit Singh Bhasin

‘Thamali was a rather large, quiet village of some five hundred families. It was mainly populated by Sikhs of the Khatri castes such as Kandharis, Gandhis, Gujrals, Bhasins, Sahnis and some others. There were some Hindu Brahmins too and three or four Muslim families. The gurdwara in the middle of the village was the central place where we congregated. The Thamali primary school was on the eastern outskirts of the village. I studied there up to the sixth class. Afterwards I went to school in Kalar [now called Kalar Syedan], which was only about 1-2 kilometres from Thamali. I either walked to school or sometimes rode on the back of a donkey. One never felt unsafe or insecure. I had a Muslim classfellow whose name was Nasiruddin Haider. I don’t remember any other name now.

‘We lived in peace and had excellent relations with Muslims. My grandfather owned considerable land, which he had inherited. It was not Muslim property under mortgage to us. We did not practice moneylending. My family served in the army and was awarded land in lieu of their services. The Muslims in this area used to sell goats and buffaloes. We had an orchard in which Muslims were employed to work.

‘The first batch of raiders arrived around the village in the evening of 6 March. There was no warning, although we had heard that trouble had started in Rawalpindi a day or two earlier. The first attack on the village was from behind, from the north and not the road in the south. Initially only a few hundred took part in the assault but soon others joined them. Their numbers continued to swell all the time. They were beating drums and shouting Allah ho Akbar. Some were on horses but most were on foot. Our elders took positions on the rooftops, giving the impression that we were well-armed, whereas in fact we had only three double-barrelled shotguns and almost no ammunition. The early attacks were mostly cases of brick-throwing which continued sporadically until the 12th when several thousand men encircled Thamali. In the meantime, efforts were afoot to reach some agreement that would terminate the hostilities. On the 12th, finally, an agreement was reached. My father, Subedar Diwan Pal Singh, had retired only six months before the riots. He and retired Superintendent of Police Bal Mukand, a Brahmin, represented our side. The Muslims had Subedar Lal Khan and some other notables representing them. The agreement was that if we surrendered our weapons they would escort us safely to village Pharawan from where we would be able to take the road to Poonch in Kashmir. During the negotiations, the raiders realised that we were poorly armed. So, against all moral and religious principles, the same evening a massive attack took place. Bal Mukand and some other Brahmins had already left for Lal Khan’s village under a secret understanding. One Brahmin, Jagan Nath, was killed because he had a rifle and the Muslims had seen him firing at them. About 10-12 Sikhs from our village had gone to village Kaloha and were saved. ‘The Sikhs decided not to surrender. Some of them even went out and fought in the fields, but it was clear that we were fighting a lost battle. The women were taken to the gurdwara. They brought along their valuable possessions. Then a fire was lit. It had been decided that we will not let the Muslims touch our womenfolk. My grandmother, mother and one of my sisters died in that fire. My brother’s wife, her father, and her infant son and her daughter were also burnt to death.

My father’s uncle, his two sons and their wives and a dozen children from our extended family also died. For some reason my bhabi [brother’s wife] sent me out of the gurdwara. ‘My father fell fighting in the fields outside. Before the violence broke out some Muslims had offered to protect my father and our family provided we sought refuge with them, but my father refused saying that if you want to save us save the whole village. Some people remained in their homes and did not come to the gurdwara. Most of them were found by the attackers and brought out in the open field. I and some children were also driven out to that spot. By that time, it was early morning of 13 March. About fifteen-twenty of us were now assembled in an open field. It was mostly young men but some elderly men were also rounded up.

‘The Muslims ordered us to chant loudly “Allah, Allah”. There was a retired policeman, Ram Singh, who must have been seventy at that time. He was repeating loudly “Allah, Allah” but a man hit him on his bald head with an axe. He fell to the ground. Then he struck me. I received the blow on my shoulder. I was hit again on the right side below my arm [Mr Bhasin lifted his shirt at this point and showed me his ghastly scars]. I fell to the ground bleeding profusely. I was in great pain but held my breath and said nothing. The attackers collected thorns from a kikar (Acacia Arabica) tree and put them on the bodies lying in the fields and started a fire. Someone said, “Why do you burn them? They had been chanting ‘Allah, Allah’. Therefore they had changed their religion!” For some reason, that argument prevailed and the fire was quenched. This saved me and some others who were pretending to be dead.

‘The army arrived at about 11.30 a.m. on the 13th. It had been in the area for some time, but remained passive. The soldiers shouted loudly to find out if someone was alive. A man answered, ‘Unless you remove the thorns how can we get up?’ That they did. Altogether about twelve to fifteen of us were saved. The soldiers were Hindus; I don’t remember seeing any Sikh among them. There were no Britishers among them. I and three of my sisters were saved. One of them was completely traumatized and became mad. Another had been burnt, but survived while the third was saved by a Muslim who returned her one day later to my aunt’s husband. One Sikh family that remained in their home and did not come to the gurdwara remained undetected

Happy Gandhi Jayanti(birthday)

2011-10-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

October 2nd is Gandhi's birthday.as times goes by it seems non violence and non cooperation are the most powerful tools against exploitation and human deprivation.Arab summer may fold out to be a great proof of success of techniques used and developed by Gandhi.

kul bhushan

My India and poverty line expenses.

2011-10-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

India has its own quirky way of measuring the poverty.One of the early measure had been number of calories intake.All the people who were not able to consume or procure 2100 to 2400 calories per day were considerd poor.According to this criteria a person in rural area could get these calories by spending 26 Rupees per day and in cities they could do with 32 Rupees per day .

So with income of 60 to 75cents per day one would be out of the poverty line.India is a land of contradictions.Some places with natural resources and productive animals one can live healthy lives with little money.It has been said that in Kerala as most people have 4 coconut trees they can get enough calories from the coconuts.In the process the nutrition needs of people are met and full education people have been empowered to take care of health and governance issues .

With the same money most people in cities like New Delhi would starve and live in extreme deprivation.As no other resources are available to them.While visiting India i will write about cost of subsistence living in different places .I will keep track of my expenses.As i am vegetarian my food cost should be more reasonable if i choose to eat in moderate places cost in fancy places can be many times higher.
Its just an idea.

India Ink discussions about INDIA LARGEST DEMOCRACY IN NY times EVERYDAY

2011-09-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

September 8, 2011, 11:21 AM

Welcome to India Ink

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Welcome to India Ink, The New York Times’ first-ever country-specific site for news, information, culture and conversation.

With an expanded team in India and a line-up of great contributors, India Ink will provide more in-depth, on-the-ground coverage of the world’s biggest democracy — and of a people who know that no matter how far they roam, their hearts will always be Indian.

We’ll be reporting from the Ram Lila grounds in Delhi to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, tracking the triumphs and frustrations of daily desi life and the changes sweeping the nation. As we do, we plan to collaborate with readers in new ways, spark new debates and re-think old ones — all while producing more of the high-quality news that The New York Times is known for.

We’re at IndiaInk@nytimes.com or on Twitter at @nytindia, and we’d love to hear from you.

SGPC elections and role of political parties.

2011-09-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

It is sad that SAD a major political party and ruling party in Panjab has chosen to bar the sheajdhari sikhs from participating in the elections of Sikh temple management committees(SGPC).If all the sikh gururs were alive none of their wives would be able to vote for any candidate of SGPC.All the pyaras and the authors of granthsahib would be barred from voting.Suddenly if a bibi is not named a kaur would not be able to participate in the election and setting of agenda for the gurudwara,s(Sikh temples) Sudenly SAD is promoting a culture of exclusion and casteism in the sikh bodies .This will hurt the citizens and culture of panjab.The caretakers of the SGPC are making rules of exclusion elitism which will only harm the soul and body of sikhism.The tradition in all homes of having one child become sikh in house is being dishonored .Under the new voting lists half the sikhs would not be allowed to vote for the temple management.It is time tha leacdership realise that if they want to exclude the people from the management half of the revenue from the gurudwara,s will disappear and people will give their money to institutions who honor equality of human beings and dont forget the govind in the guru govind.Hinduism has accepted and morphed into an inclusive faith(if you choose to do so)So has gurus houses have accepted all comers.In the historical time when we are rulers of our own Destiny.Every Sikh is not required to fight for the country .In our armed forces sikhs,muslims,hindu.s and all other citizens serve with distinction.Today sikhs have equal status in police and armed forces in promotion and service.I will say to all Sikhs and hindus who are not on the elector rolls of sgpc to stop contributing to sgpc gurudwara.s and start Sikh service NGOs to set an example of service for all .In the tradition of Gurus we need to set an example for the society and get rid of poverty hunger ignorance ,and help provide education and health care to all.If SGPC would be denied funds they will understand that revolutions have been fought for representation when masses were taxed without representation.In this case it may not be taxation but no representation for management when contributions(financial) are from all.Iknow many Sikh families in AMerica where none of the men have unshaven hair and beards.Is it apostacy or blindness on the part of Gobinsinghs shiksha.s for elitism and exclusion.I am still glad most of my friends accept me as i am and do not consider me as other.I am one of them and they are one with me.My brahmin ancesstors have given life for Sikh Gurus and faith inspite of all this Ruckus i refuse and wont allow others to refuse my hindu brahmin,sikh indian heritage with all its warts and i live in america and i am American citizen..

9/11 2001 A TWITTER MESSAGE

2011-09-11T09:22:00.001-07:00

saybz Sabrina (Saybz)

September 11, 2001- lost for words so I will let prayer speak for me. Isaiah 41:10- Fear not for I am with you.

1 hour ago

"A hanging" by Orwell

2011-09-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

Its time that we ended death penalty.An article by George Orwell.it is argument for ending death penalty.

A hanging by Orwell

Essay

It was in Burma, a sodden morning of the rains. A sickly light, like
yellow tinfoil, was slanting over the high walls into the jail yard. We
were waiting outside the condemned cells, a row of sheds fronted with
double bars, like small animal cages. Each cell measured about ten feet
by ten and was quite bare within except for a plank bed and a pot of
drinking water. In some of them brown silent men were squatting at the
inner bars, with their blankets draped round them. These were the
condemned men, due to be hanged within the next week or two.

One prisoner had been brought out of his cell. He was a Hindu, a puny
wisp of a man, with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes. He had a thick,
sprouting moustache, absurdly too big for his body, rather like the
moustache of a comic man on the films. Six tall Indian warders were
guarding him and getting him ready for the gallows. Two of them stood by
with rifles and fixed bayonets, while the others handcuffed him, passed a
chain through his handcuffs and fixed it to their belts, and lashed his
arms tight to his sides. They crowded very close about him, with their
hands always on him in a careful, caressing grip, as though all the while
feeling him to make sure he was there. It was like men handling a fish
which is still alive and may jump back into the water. But he stood quite
unresisting, yielding his arms limply to the ropes, as though he hardly
noticed what was happening.

Eight o'clock struck and a bugle call, desolately thin in the wet air,
floated from the distant barracks. The superintendent of the jail, who
was standing apart from the rest of us, moodily prodding the gravel with
his stick, raised his head at the sound. He was an army doctor, with a
grey toothbrush moustache and a gruff voice. "For God's sake hurry up,
Francis," he said irritably. "The man ought to have been dead by this
time. Aren't you ready yet?"

Francis, the head jailer, a fat Dravidian in a white drill suit and gold
spectacles, waved his black hand. "Yes sir, yes sir," he bubbled. "All
iss satisfactorily prepared. The hangman iss waiting. We shall proceed."

"Well, quick march, then. The prisoners can't get their breakfast till
this job's over."

We set out for the gallows. Two warders marched on either side of the
prisoner, with their rifles at the slope; two others marched close
against him, gripping him by arm and shoulder, as though at once pushing
and supporting him. The rest of us, magistrates and the like, followed
behind. Suddenly, when we had gone ten yards, the procession stopped
short without any order or warning. A dreadful thing had happened--a
dog, come goodness knows whence, had appeared in the yard. It came
bounding among us with a loud volley of barks, and leapt round us wagging
its whole body, wild with glee at finding so many human beings together.
It was a large woolly dog, half Airedale, half pariah. For a moment it
pranced round us, and then, before anyone could stop it, it had made a
dash for the prisoner, and jumping up tried to lick his face. Everyone
stood aghast, too taken aback even to grab at the dog.

"Who let that bloody brute in here?" said the superintendent angrily.
"Catch it, someone!"

A warder, detached from the escort, charged clumsily after the dog, but
it danced and gambolled just out of his reach, taking everything as part
of the game. A young Eurasian jailer picked up a handful of gravel and
tried to stone the dog away, but it dodged the stones and came after us
again. Its yaps echoed from the jail wails. The prisoner, in the grasp of
the two warders, looked on incuriously, as though this was another
formality of the hanging. It was several minutes before someone managed
to catch the dog. Then we put my handkerchief through its collar and
moved off once more, with the dog still straining and whimpering.

It was about forty yards to the gallows. I watched the bare brown back of
the prisoner marching in front of me. He walked clumsily with his bound
arms, but quite steadily, with that bobbing gait of the Indian who never
straightens his knees. At each step his muscles slid neatly into place,
the lock of hair on his scalp danced up and down, his feet printed
themselves on the wet gravel. And once, in spite of the men who gripped
him by each shoulder, he stepped slightly aside to avoid a puddle on the
path.

It is curious, but till that moment I had never realized what it means to
destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to
avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of
cutting a life short when it is in full tide. This man was not dying, he
was alive just as we were alive. All the organs of his body were working
--bowels digesting food, skin renewing itself, nails growing, tissues
forming--all toiling away in solemn foolery. His nails would still be
growing when he stood on the drop, when he was falling through the air
with a tenth of a second to live. His eyes saw the yellow gravel and the
grey walls, and his brain still remembered, foresaw, reasoned--reasoned
even about puddles. He and we were a party of men walking together,
seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two
minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone--one mind less, one
world less.

The gallows stood in a small yard, separate from the main grounds of the
prison, and overgrown with tall prickly weeds. It was a brick erection
like three sides of a shed, with planking on top, and above that two
beams and a crossbar with the rope dangling. The hangman, a grey-haired
convict in the white uniform of the prison, was waiting beside his
machine. He greeted us with a servile crouch as we entered. At a word
from Francis the two warders, gripping the prisoner more closely than
ever, half led, half pushed him to the gallows and helped him clumsily up
the ladder. Then the hangman climbed up and fixed the rope round the
prisoner's neck.

We stood waiting, five yards away. The warders had formed in a rough
circle round the gallows. And then, when the noose was fixed, the
prisoner began crying out on his god. It was a high, reiterated cry of
"Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!", not urgent and fearful like a prayer or a cry for
help, but steady, rhythmical, almost like the tolling of a bell. The dog
answered the sound with a whine. The hangman, still standing on the
gallows, produced a small cotton bag like a flour bag and drew it down
over the prisoner's face. But the sound, muffled by the cloth, still
persisted, over and over again: "Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram! Ram!"

The hangman climbed down and stood ready, holding the lever. Minutes
seemed to pass. The steady, muffled crying from the prisoner went on and
on, "Ram! Ram! Ram!" never faltering for an instant. The superintendent,
his head on his chest, was slowly poking the ground with his stick;
perhaps he was counting the cries, allowing the prisoner a fixed number--
fifty, perhaps, or a hundred. Everyone had changed colour. The Indians
had gone grey like bad coffee, and one or two of the bayonets were
wavering. We looked at the lashed, hooded man on the drop, and listened
to his cries--each cry another second of life; the same thought was in
all our minds: oh, kill him quickly, get it over, stop that abominable
noise!

Suddenly the superintendent made up his mind. Throwing up his head he
made a swift motion with his stick. "Chalo!" he shouted almost fiercely.

There was a clanking noise, and then dead silence. The prisoner had
vanished, and the rope was twisting on itself. I let go of the dog, and
it galloped immediately to the back of the gallows; but when it got there
it stopped short, barked, and then retreated into a corner of the yard,
where it stood among the weeds, looking timorously out at us. We went
round the gallows to inspect the prisoner's body. He was dangling with
his toes pointed straight downwards, very slowly revolving, as dead as a
stone.

The superintendent reached out with his stick and poked the bare body; it
oscillated, slightly. "HE'S all right," said the superintendent. He
backed out from under the gallows, and blew out a deep breath. The moody
look had gone out of his face quite suddenly. He glanced at his
wrist-watch. "Eight minutes past eight. Well, that's all for this
morning, thank God."

The warders unfixed bayonets and marched away. The dog, sobered and
conscious of having misbehaved itself, slipped after them. We walked out
of the gallows yard, past the condemned cells with their waiting
prisoners, into the big central yard of the prison. The convicts, under
the command of warders armed with lathis, were already receiving their
breakfast. They squatted in long rows, each man holding a tin pannikin,
while two warders with buckets marched round ladling out rice; it seemed
quite a homely, jolly scene, after the hanging. An enormous relief had
come upon us now that the job was done. One felt an impulse to sing, to
break into a run, to snigger. All at once everyone began chattering
gaily.

The Eurasian boy walking beside me nodded towards the way we had come,
with a knowing smile: "Do you know, sir, our friend (he meant the dead
man), when he heard his appeal had been dismissed, he pissed on the floor
of his cell. From fright.--Kindly take one of my cigarettes, sir. Do you
not admire my new silver case, sir? From the boxwallah, two rupees eight
annas. Classy European style."

Several people laughed--at what, nobody seemed certain.

Francis was walking by the superintendent, talking garrulously. "Well,
sir, all hass passed off with the utmost satisfactoriness. It wass all
finished--flick! like that. It iss not always so--oah, no! I have known
cases where the doctor wass obliged to go beneath the gallows and pull
the prisoner's legs to ensure decease. Most disagreeable!"

"Wriggling about, eh? That's bad," said the superintendent.

"Ach, sir, it iss worse when they become refractory! One man, I recall,
clung to the bars of hiss cage when we went to take him out. You will
scarcely credit, sir, that it took six warders to dislodge him, three
pulling at each leg. We reasoned with him. "My dear fellow," we said,
"think of all the pain and trouble you are causing to us!" But no, he
would not listen! Ach, he wass very troublesome!"

I found that I was laughing quite loudly. Everyone was laughing. Even the
superintendent grinned in a tolerant way. "You'd better all come out and
have a drink," he said quite genially. "I've got a bottle of whisky in
the car. We could do with it."

We went through the big double gates of the prison, into the road.
"Pulling at his legs!" exclaimed a Burmese magistrate suddenly, and burst
into a loud chuckling. We all began laughing again. At that moment
Francis's anecdote seemed extraordinarily funny. We all had a drink
together, native and European alike, quite amicably. The dead man was a
hundred yards away.

Dont blame Harvard for Dumb Harvard guys.

2011-08-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

They have put foot in their mouth more than expected from them.

In India we have Mr Subramanian Swamy who has a weird theory which only makes the distance between Hindu,s and Muslim,s wider and deeper.It is sad theory. He seems to not notice that if his views are not acceptable in USA they will fall flat in India too.Who is going to tell a Harvard Guy.Besides a dumb Harvard Guy.

P. Chidambaram,Another Harvard alum Union home Minister of India.Whose job is to help keep the law and order in the country.Normally considered a bright thinker.Has only put both feet in his mouth.While criticizing the Anna Hazare an anti corruption crusader.Has only made legalistic arguments without taking into account the dire situation in the nation where corruption has stopped the functioning of the government at all levels.In many state chronyism is prevalent and is flaunted.Many members of one family are ruling for many generations .IT is worst in case of first family of India .Instead of founding solutions where people would feel empowered he has said that power of parliament is such and such and so on and so forth.

Now we have a worst case of dumb and criminal Harvard Guy who plotted to kill his wife in city street with his alleged lover. Kashif Parvaiz, and Antoinette Stephen, who were charged in the murder of 27-year-old Nazish Noorani(wife of Parvaiz).He had two kids with his wife.He is student at Harvard.Whole America takes a sigh of relief that it was not a terrorist act or hate act against a minority Family. we are saddened that one of the guys born and educated in America, having benefited from the best America has to offer acted so badly.His connection with our continent and wife being Karachi born, leaves us all heart broken.Sadly Even Harvard could not correct personality flaws.

Michael J Sandel for president HAHA.(if i were the presidents some views)NYT

2011-08-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Harvard professor and the author of “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?”

I would lead a campaign against the skyboxification of American life. Not long ago, the ballpark was a place where C.E.O.’s and mailroom clerks sat side by side, and everyone got wet when it rained. Today, most stadiums have corporate skyboxes, which cosset the privileged in air-conditioned suites, far removed from the crowd below. Something similar has happened throughout our society. The affluent retreat from public schools, the military, and other public institutions, leaving fewer and fewer class-mixing places. Rich and poor increasingly live separate lives.

I would invest in an infrastructure for civic renewal — not just roads and bridges, but schools, transit, playgrounds, parks, community centers, health clinics, libraries and national service. This would put people to work. And it would draw us out of our skyboxes and into the common spaces of democratic citizenship.

8.7 trillion is tha value of all the gold in the world

2011-08-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

At 1700 dollars per ounce value of all the gold ever mined (140,000 tons)is 8.7 trillion at 1700 dollars per ounce.Just in 2005 it was 1.9 trillion.That's the difference in spot price can make. For the first time platinum is priced at parity with gold 1718 dollars per ounce.
Worldwide production of platinum is 30 tons and gold is 2500 tons.Pt does not react with any chemical other than a arsenic compound while gold may react with thirty or so chemicals.

As high school student we learned properties of platinum and we used to use a very thin platinum wire on a glass rod and use it in a flame test where a compound was touched and put in a blue flame of bunsen burner.Presence of different colors i the flame would tell us the presence of different elements in the compound. Yellow color for Na(sodium) like in salt (sodium chloride)The colors in fireworks are from the different elements present in different compounds and their combustion at high temperature with use of explosive.Oh that was the wonder of chemistry in high school.You can see the whole spectrum of colors in the Wikipedia entry for Flame test.It really mesmerized a young kid in me, then.

Total value of all the gold produced every year (2500 tons) is 50 million per ton and 125 billion for all of 2500 tons.Yes world wide total gold is valued at close to nine trillion most of it as central bank reserves.It is only in the interest of govt of india to maintain a stable price of gold because of craze for gold jewelery and tradition in ritual and culture.Industrial demand for gold is low.New demand in gold from china may be reason for the current price in gold.

I nrealty gold is a dead investment .If looked historically it only appears a good investment if you compare peak price to earlier low prices.For the true comparison peak prices should be compared with peak prices.when peak prices are compared 840 dollars of late eighties it has only doubled in last 30 or so years and any investment in long term securities or treasury would have tripled the return.
If one could time the market we would be gods of investment .An investment in gold quadruppled in six years from 2005 that is realy great for investor with great vision.Then again we are talking about past.

If one needs to invest wisely old saying goes "buy low sell high"

So go and buy the qqq or the market average and with few years horizon you will make money.On the other hand if you had invested today instead of year ago you are saving your interest income for sure.Markets have been trampled and desimated.

About Jiffy Pop, a writer of smut in a book review in NY Times.Mr Nicholson Baker.

2011-08-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

about Jiffy Pop: “Jiffy Pop was the finest example of the whole aluminous genre: a package inspired by the fry pan whose handle is also the hook it hangs from in the store, with a maelstrom of swirled foil on the top that, subjected to the subversion of the exploding kernels, first by the direct collisions of discrete corns and then in a general indirect uplift of the total volume of potentiated cellulose, gradually unfurls its dome, turning slowly as it despirals itself, providing in its gradual expansion a graspable, slow-motion version of what each erumpant particle of corn is undergoing invisibly and instantaneously beneath it.”

visiting india

2011-08-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

Dharamshala India five days.

Spend two days with Tibetans and three days with Himachal natives.See how lives have changed in last 50 years.

Study Haryana Khap
and unusual justice in free India with relationship to british india.

Study hindu muslim inter marriages and status of family in interfaith marriages.

Temple and mosque disputes all over India.
Best of acceptance and tolerance all over India.

Muslims of Kota and
muslims of Panjab(India)

Traditions of nomads of Rajasthan.

Hill people who are nomads and come to pathankot

Hindus of sindh who migrated recently

visiting India

2011-07-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

on my itinary for India

border villages in india for the route at partition

velur math

banglore

madras

delhi

bhilwara and villages in area and chitor

Jaipur foot and wheel chairs

Assam Dr Datta

Best foods of several towns

Southern state houses in delhi

Sikh Gurudwara act of 1925

2011-07-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

this is the website which lists the details of the act.It is important document as the Govt of India act of 1935.Which for the first time established muslim and hindu constituent assemblies and codified the religous family and inheritance laws.

http://www.punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/33.html

what are the fate of shakespeares protagonists in tragedies

2011-07-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

We go to tragedy to watch a man be destroyed. Macbeth must be destroyed for his lust for power, Othello for his jealousy, Antony for his passion, Lear for the incompleteness of his renunciation.

My question is can a man be saved from himself and in the process giving hope to all the mortals desiring for the a hope and chance at immortality and forgiveness.

I doubt if their ever will be another Shakespeare but masterpieces will continue to be created,not by one soul.That is truly the genius. No wonder some research has revealed that Shakespeare may be many different people giving credit to that master and remain anonymous in the process.

On Kudratduttachaudhary.blogspot.com on response to her blog on Model UN

2011-07-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Bush here said...
Hi Kudrat, i had to search for MUN and found out it is mock united nations.Not bad for the opportunity to attend a youth mock UN.Look the experience to meet and greet the people from many places .It is a process and as UN charter they can not interfere in internal affairs of a country.Many of the dictators have used it to abuse their people.In china,s cultural revolutions 20 million died ,Many have died in Darfur,Ethiopia,Sudan and other places of the world.Gulags of soviet Union were well known.In spite of all members having signed universal human rights charter writers and signers of charter 8 of china have gone to jail for long time.Shamelessly china has put its Nobel peace prize winner in Jail.

When i left India in 1970 China India Mexico korea were poor countries. Today Korea is a financial and industrial powerhouse.Mexico has a large GDP and India and china on the path of progress.China has removed extreme poverty and has 3 times the per person income of India.

China has developed it by using the state capitalism model and by exploiting the weaknesses of the free enterprise system.It has kept its citizens under ideological straight jacket.China has used its economical power to build infrastructure and now military power.
America is great not for its wealth but wealth of ideas .world is looking at the challenge of development models based on Chinese model or Indian MODEL Which is late to the party.It has finally started getting rid of the shackles of colonial rule(System).Again youth of India are unafraid and strong.

If only we could focus on the education of all and nourishment of all.I am putting a great faith in Adhar (Unique ID) being developed and implemented.Hopefully human development will take the priority of the order of defense.

Dont be discouraged .United nations have not been able to help avoid internal conflicts.It has provided an opportunity for great number of people to meet in neutral setting .Yes security council is not a democratic institution.Look at it as a world forum for ideas more like a university think tank.
Could you improve on its charter.And convince Saudi Arabia,China, Japan,India and USA join in.

how to dry clothes in tundra

2011-07-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

I became aware for the first time tat in frozen tundra sometimes clothes get washed and to dry them they put them on the clothes line where they freeze and with wind and low humidity and they dry in couple of days.It is so interesting that frozen water evaporates and leaves clothes dry.

I thought i knew a lot about nature till i find other wonder of nature.

July and august the independence days

2011-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

July fourth is a great day in history of the free people of the world.America broke its colonial ties and became the first true democracy.Our founding fathers were able to create a system where we have a president elected every four years in November.It has happened in times of war and peace ,in times of plenty and historical poverty.Nation has learned and in 2008 it broke its shackles of slavery and ended its tragic legacy by electing a black man raised by white grand parents as the 44th president of the united states of america.The founders were revolutionaries in thinking and created a constitution which has survived without many changes.It continues to be beacon for the freedom loving people of the world.People all over wonder at the greatness of its people in their ability to limit the powers of the government.This nation has reinvented itself and has become the supreme economic and moral power in the world.yes we know how 7.5 million people are in jail system(in jail or parole).We are fighting two wars at exhorbitant costs in human lives and treasure.

On the midnight 14 th 0f august 1947 India another Colony of Britain became a free nation .Actually it became two countries India a secular democracy and Pakistan an Islamic republic.Pakistan chose 14 the august as its independence day and India at midnight so declared its self as free from the colonial rule of England.So India has used best of american practices and has by some miracle had survived the democracy and is becoming one of the maturing democracies in Asia.India has a inspite of problems created a very good society where diversity is welcome.president of India is a woman,speaker of lower house is woman.Most powerful person is Congress party president Sonia Ghandhi a woman who was born in Italy.India,s chief executiveIs dr Manmohan Singh who is member of one of minorities (Sikh). India,s defense minister is christian Anthony.
In august Their are two festivals which are celebrated with great gusto one is Janam Ashtami(8/21) is birth day of lord Krishna and Muslim celebrations of ID UL Fitr (8/30, 8/31)which culminates at the end full month of fasting(dawn to dusk)by the faithful.Both of these days are holidays in India.India also has Christmas and good friday as national holiday.Id ul fitr is celebrated in India ,Bangladesh and Pakistan with great enthusiasm.

Beate Sirota Gordon commencement address woman who helped Mccarthur to write Japanese Constitution

2011-05-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

She was one of 65 caucasion Japanese speaking people in america .She was in Mills college as a studentfrom japan who had lived in a household with servants and had not learned how to do laundry and iron pleated dresses.find her way in america and learned to be american by learning to do ordinary chores like all Americans with the help of other students.

As a senior in the university she and a team was asked by general mccarthur to write the constitution for japan in seven days.

Having learned how to do the research she went to library and got 8 constitutions of several countries.

She was also assigned the job of writing womens rights as part of the constitution.She became most popular woman in the group of constituent committee.

when the Constituition draft was completed the Lt col in charge of the group told her that she had given more rights to Japanese women than the American women had. Her answer was that one she was not writer of US constitution and no women were the writers.

Later she was assigned the job of double checking the Japanese constitution for the spirit of the draft

She said she was proud that Japanese constitution allowed its people only to defend not attack any nation. As the discussion moved to rights of the women they were adamant that it was against the Japanese tradition and culture.Once the american colonel told the Japanese interlocutors that Miss Sirota the cute and friendly translator has her heart set on having these become part of the constitution ,thats how women got more rights in Japan guranteed by the constitution.

That is how sometimes constitution is written.

Eighth Amendment and excessive punishment

2011-05-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Excessive bail, cruel punishment

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

THE PARKING FINES OF 25 DOLLARS FOR OVERTIME PARKING IS EXCESSIVE AND FOR SURE LATE PAYMENT OF THIS FINE AND TRIPLING OF IT TO 75 DOLLARS FOR SURE GOES AGAINST THE BILL OF RIGHTS VIII AMENDMENT.
THIS AMENDMENT PROHIBITS EXCESSIVE FINES.
CITY OF PROVIDENCE CAN NOT BE OUTSIDE THE RULES PASSED UNDER THE US CONSTITUTION.NO MATTER WHAT THEIR NEEDS ARE FOR SURE EXCESSIVE FINES IS NOT THE WAY.

Right of search and seizure regulated IV amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Cameras in the intersections may also be intrusive search and disrespectful to the privacy clause of the iv amendment as no search and oath is taken to take pictures of the intersections
It also is mostly benefiting the private enterprises who work as sort of modern bounty hunters

Workers to middle east need job and wage protection NYT

2011-05-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Philippines: Pay Cut Rejected for Maids in Saudi Arabia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 20, 2011

The Philippines has rejected an appeal from Saudi Arabia to cut by half a minimum-wage requirement for Filipino maids working in Saudi Arabia and will not be sending new domestic helpers until the dispute is resolved. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Friday that the Saudi government wanted the minimum monthly salary for Filipino maids lowered to $200 from $400. About 1.2 million Filipinos work in Saudi Arabia. Ms. Baldoz said that abuse of overseas workers in Arab countries was rampant and that the government would not compromise on its demand for higher wage

IT IS TIME THAT ALL WORKERS IN MIDDLE EAST UNITE AND WORK TOWARDS A LIVING WAGE.IT IS DUTY OF THE GOVERNMENTS TO PROTECT ITS CITIZENS FROM EXPLOITATION FROM NATIVE AND FOREIGN EXPLOITERS.iN MANY OF MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES EXPLOITATION OF THESE POOR CITIZENS GOES ON AS A MATTER OF POLICY. LEAVING THE POOR MIGRANTS WITHOUT ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE AND HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTIONS.

A great MOTTO

2011-05-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

If only most of us could finish what we start we would have a world with lot of finished projects If i am successful in doing a small task daily and a bigger project once a month and a larger project once a year and one item for the life it would be enough.

Thanks

As the late Boris B. Gursky once told me: “When I start doing something I never quit. I keep doing it, doing it, day and night, doing it until I finish. I’ve been like that all my life. That is my way.”

India's Energy Policy as stated by Baldev Raj former director (IGCAR)

2011-05-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

The former Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) Baldev Raj.

Made a statement which defines Indias energy agenda in clear terms.India wants to use non fossil fuels.Should use renewables and nuclear after ascertaining safety of the same.He also wanted that clustering of the several reactors at the same location as in Fuckushima reactor.

Earlier, he said a portfolio of energy solutions and energy technology was needed for sustainable energy development in the future.

Stressing need for the energy policy to be pro-needy and pro-rural, he said India could leapfrog while skipping some intermediary steps. It could altogether opt out of the race for fossil energy by deciding to go in for a suitable mix of renewable and nuclear in a big way.

The Slogan CHANGE made famous by success of Obama is working in Begal as PARIBORTAN.

2011-05-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

After almost a lifetime state of Bengal under the Leadership of this fearless and dedicated leader a single woman MAMATA Banerjee whom everybody calls Didi ( sister)has taken the power from long entrenched communist rule by the ballot box.

Many of the Stalwarts of the politics thought that communists having ruled the state for over 30 years were so entrenched to be removed.They have at times sided with China against the national interests of India.By fighting against the police and creating law and order situation in tribal regions they had alienated ordinary Bengal.Bengal was feeling left behind in the progress of India into a technology center of world.Every body felt condition of Bengal had become worst since the British moved the Capital form Kolkotta to New Delhi.

Congratulations to Mamata Ji.Your fearlessness has shown how this middle aged woman could make a difference in the lives of terrorist prone state like Bengal.She is new hope for terrorism wrecked states of norh east India.She may be the new face of nation building even when foreign supported terorists are bent on playing havock with peoples lives.

It seems industry is welcoming her victory with congress in the state.It is great that it is also a proof of maturing democracy in India.Even the leftist (Maoist) terrorist gave to the will of people and state will be governed by the party lead by Mamata Ji. She is no nonsense leader.Who is the Railway Minister of Govt of India .A ministry with largest number of employees for any organization in the world.

She has played with most powerful men of India and shown that a woman of resolve can beat all odds against her in democratic India.

Paulocoelhoblog.com here Paulo Coelho tells about the best definition of GOD by an Atheist

2011-05-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well, this confirmed atheist wrote one of the most beautiful definitions of God that I have ever come across:

“We gaze with perplexity at the highest part of the spiral of force that governs the Universe.
“And we call it God.
“We could give it any other name: Abyss, Mystery, Absolute Darkness, Total Light, Matter, Spirit, Supreme Hope, Supreme Despair, Silence.
“But we call it God, because only this name – for some mysterious reason – is capable of making our heart tremble with vigor.

“And let there be no doubt that this trembling is absolutely indispensable for us to be in contact with the basic emotions of the human being”.

Woody Allen in New York Times" Midnight in Paris"

2011-05-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson in a scene from “Midnight in Paris.” More

By WOODY ALLEN
Published: May 5, 2011
THE preview at MoMA calculated to ignite euphoric Oscar buzz over the studio’s new $60 million comedy ended and the lights came up, revealing an audience of 400, stiff, with eyes shut, bringing to mind what it must have been like when outsiders first stumbled upon Jonestown. As the local opinion makers revived and shuffled through the exits, I bumped into Philo Cubbage, a schmendrick I knew from the periphery of show business who surfaced intermittently over the years with some fresh scheme for achieving bankruptcy. After the customary exchange of insincere remarks about how neither of us had aged, we agreed to masticate a pair of sirloins and repaired to Upchuck’s, where we could dine and disembowel the film we’d seen at leisure.

Allen Abroad
Exclusive Clip: 'Midnight in Paris'
Exclusive Clip: 'Midnight in Paris'

The director Woody Allen on the set of "Midnight in Paris."

Woody Allen, far right, talks with Owen Wilson and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, during the filming of “Midnight in Paris.”
What are you up to?” I inquired.

“I just finished a production of ‘Long’s Day’s Journey Into Night’ on ice,” he explained, spearing a chunk of marbleized meat. “And you?”

“I’m going to shoot a movie in Paris,” I said.

“Not bad,” he mused. “Avec qui? Marquee-wise.”

“Well, so far I’ve talked with Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, even Carla Bruni.”

“Sarkozy’s main squeeze,” he enthused. “That’s using the dreidel. She could probably help you with parking permits. What’s the premise?”

“The truth is, I’m still trying to structure the piece,” I told him.

“Of course you are. What Paris says to me is love story, awash with painters, shots of the Seine, Champagne. Thank God I have a can’t-miss notion to sell you. I call it ‘Midnight in Paris.’ ”

“Romantic title,” I had to admit. “Is there a script?”

“Actually, there’s nothing on paper yet, but I can spitball the main points,” he said, slipping on his tap shoes.

“Maybe some other time,” I said, mindful of Cubbage’s unbroken string of theatrical Hiroshimas.

“Owen Wilson plays Bud Hartoonian,” he began undaunted, “a gifted songwriter whose sensuous melodies and sophisticated lyrics have spoken volumes to a generation of America’s cognoscenti but whose own love life has been a series of emotional holocausts. When we first meet him, he’s wandering home at night from the Folies Bergère. He had originally planned to go to the Louvre to see some nudes by Reubens but decided the ones at the Folies Bergère would probably be more fun.

“Passing a trash can he notices a discarded photograph in an old frame. It’s a picture of Rachel McAdams’s face, and he falls in love with it, vowing to find the woman and marry her, or at the very least throw her photo away and sell the frame. At that moment we hear the sound of Big Ben chiming midnight.”

“Big Ben is in London,” I interrupted.

“On a quiet night sound carries across the channel,” Cubbage continued unfazed. “Suddenly a woman runs up to him with a small package.

“ ‘You must help me,’ she says. ‘They’re after me.’

“ ‘Who?’ Hartoonian asks, adrenalin aquiver.

“ ‘Never mind,’ she pleads. ‘Take this package and guard it with your life. If anything happens to me you must bring it to a Monsieur Laval on Rue Bonaparte.’

“ ‘But what’s in it?’ asks our protagonist, and here the camera dollies into the woman’s face for an extreme close up.

“ ‘Van Gogh’s ear,’ she tells him.

“ ‘What?’ he says incredulously. Incidentally, this dame with the exotic lolly could easily be Marion Cotillard. Just then a car pulls up and a shot rings out, killing her.”

“It’s a skimpy role for a star of Marion’s stature,” I pointed out, beginning to dimly discern the dimension of Cubbage’s psychosis.

“Believe me, to work with you, Cotillard will do anything. You’re an icon in France — like snails.”

Cubbage had warmed to his theme now, and nothing would stop him. “O.K.,” he said. “Owen Wilson grabs the ear and starts running. He hails a cab and goes to Rue Bonaparte.”

“But who is Laval? And why does he want van Gogh’s ear?” I said.

“Because he’s got the other one,” Cubbage explained.

“But van Gogh only cut off one ear,” I argued.

“Who sez? Nobody ever knew what happened to the other ear. The first one to come off got all the attention. Who’s to say van Gogh, who was nutsy-fagan anyhow, didn’t eighty-six his other aural appendage.”

“But why?” I fifed, my voice now ascending to the piccolo octave.

“Why? Who knows? Maybe yet another broad jilted him. Maybe he was careless shaving. Maybe he was just a stickler for symmetry.”

“And Laval?” I asked. “You still haven’t explained him.”

“Laval has been in search of van Gogh’s ear for years. He’s followed it from Istanbul to China to Rio. Once he thought he found it, but it turned out to be the ear of a man named Sheldon Finkle in Great Neck. Incidentally, Rachel McAdams is Laval’s daughter. It gives Hartoonian a reason to meet her when he shows up with the missing ear.”

“And why does Laval need both ears?” I asked, slowly rising.

“Because ears are only valuable as a set. Who the hell needs a single ear?”

I couldn’t come up with an answer as I reached for my wallet.

“Of course there are still some loose ends,” Cubbage admitted. “Like who shot Marion Cotillard. I haven’t figured out why anyone would want to kill a nice lady like her — or exactly who she is in the story.”

“It’s no use, Philo,” I said. “It just won’t play.”

“But why?” he asked, crestfallen.

“The idea has originality,” I said, searching for a way to sweeten the rejection. “But there’s no part in it for Carla Bruni, and we have an agreement.”

“Of course there’s a part for her,” he snapped back, his eyes burning now with divine madness like Mahdi’s. “She meets Alfred Dreyfus while he’s imprisoned. She has the cell next to him. They’re both a pair of wrongly convicted jailbirds. They fall in love and this gives Bud Hartoonian an idea for a song: ‘I’m a Real Devil on Devil’s Island With You.’ ”

At this point I dropped a Benjamin on the table to cover the mortgage for all the tasty cholesterol and fled up Broadway. While Cubbage’s plotline was a little loose, I did send him a bottle of Dom Pérignon for the lovely title.

The actual “Midnight in Paris” will be the opening-night film at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday and will open in the United States on May 20

This story about marriage if not true could have been written by a play write

2011-05-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times
Rehana Mirza and Michael Lew were married in the garden of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

By ROB DAVIS
Published: April 29, 2011
BEFORE the two young playwrights fell for each other, they first fell for each other’s prose.

It was fall 2005, and Michael Lew and Rehana Mirza had just joined the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, a company of Asian-American playwrights in Manhattan.

Every week they brought in fresh pages to read, and bounced ideas off colleagues. Ms. Mirza, from Bridgewater, N.J., had noticed Mr. Lew, who is from San Diego, from the first day, when he arrived late, cruising in on a skateboard.

They briefly introduced themselves to the group that day, but not to each other. Not until their third meeting did they interact. And even then, it happened as feedback, not conversation.

Ms. Mirza seemed so quiet during the weekly workshops, Mr. Lew thought. But her writing shouted.

She had presented part of a new play, “The Good Muslim.” The Pakistani woman at its center fell in love with the United States, with her freedom here, but slowly lost her moral compass. The writing spoke to Mr. Lew. The dialogue and emotion felt so fresh. Ms. Mirza had humanized Islamophobia and sharply jabbed at proselytizers of American ideals.

“That just blew my mind,” said Mr. Lew, 29, a magna cum laude Yale graduate. Still, he had questions and suggestions. How had her two characters connected? How had two so-different people decided to move in together? Ms. Mirza, now 32, recalled being surprised that he had been so engaged by it.

She was just as intrigued by Mr. Lew’s work. Her creative spark so often meant drawing on her half-Pakistani, half-Filipina heritage and speaking her mind through her writing. So his play “A Better Babylon” shocked her.

Set during the Vietnam War at the University of California, Berkeley, it told a story based on Mr. Lew’s parents, Wilbur and Bertha, who grew up poor and passed up protests for medical school. Protest, Mr. Lew believed, was an upper-class privilege. Not being involved — choosing career over conscience — was O.K.

“It ripped my brain out of my head and threw it back in upside down,” Ms. Mirza said. How could not being involved be O.K.?

She wanted more, so as they debated the play in the workshops she pushed Mr. Lew to make the characters’ love story less cute and more three-dimensional. It would be better, she told him, if the protagonists were making their choice for each other. Only then, she said, could she understand why they weren’t protesting.

These heated discussions, prompted by their conflicting writing styles, were drawing them closer together. But months passed before either took a romantic interest in the other, they said.

Mr. Lew tried signaling with an all-too-subtle hint: he mentioned to Ms. Mirza that he planned see “Seven.11 Convenience Theatre,” a show she was helping produce. Ms. Mirza thought he was fishing for free tickets. But when he awkwardly concluded their conversation with, “I like your hat,” she picked up on his cue.

After that show of seven 11-minute plays set inside a 7-Eleven, Mr. Lew stood back from the crush of people who swept in to congratulate Ms. Mirza. He feared being pushed aside by others. She saw him lingering there, just a little timid, for what seemed like an hour.

He eventually approached and said that he liked the show (years later he would confess it wasn’t his favorite). They had their first real conversation, during which he noted he had left his umbrella at home. It was pouring outside, so she offered to walk him to the subway under her umbrella. As they parted, he tried to kiss her on the cheek. He missed, but regained himself.

“We should hang out sometime,” he told her.

Which left her to wonder: Was he really interested? They had gotten to know each other’s writing, but the cues he was giving weren’t strong.

They arranged to meet in Central Park. Still unsure whether this was a date, she turned up late and sweaty from a yoga class, carrying her yoga mat. Noncommittal, she thought.

A second meeting was arranged: a play at Columbia, to which she brought along another playwright friend. Later, Mr. Lew walked Ms. Mirza home to her dorm, without her chaperone. This time, at the doorstep, his kiss didn’t miss.

After a year they were becoming inseparable. Then, in early 2007, as Ms. Mirza was finishing a Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting at Columbia, she was given an opportunity to spend nearly a month in London, where she would observe Tamasha, a British theater company.

Once there, she was exhilarated but lonely, she remembered, and surviving on two grocery-store sandwiches a day. By the last week, when Mr. Lew was to meet her in London, she simply couldn’t wait to see him, or to have him take in the production she had been studying.

“I was dying for him to see it, just to know what he thought, just so we could talk about it,” Ms. Mirza said. “That’s when I knew: this is someone I can’t separate myself from.”

After they moved in together in Brooklyn, they challenged each other by obsessively playing Boggle and Texas Hold ‘Em. They continued writing, finding time between her day job in video merchandising at Columbia House and his as an administrative assistant for D. E. Shaw & Company, a hedge fund.

Their writing began to reflect the emotions they had explored together. Her view of love had been dark, dire. His was flat, idealized. She began writing softer; he with stronger women.

Mr. Lew’s friends saw their disparate styles begin to intertwine. Last February, when Mr. Lew’s play “Microcrisis” was in rehearsal at the Ensemble Studio Theater in New York, they needed to condense for time. Mr. Lew’s playwright friend, Graeme Gillis, suggested killing one of its jokes. Mr. Lew refused.

“He said, ‘I’m not cutting this joke, it’s Rehana’s joke,’ ” said Mr. Gillis, who recalled how Mr. Lew then confided in him how he and Ms. Mirza would sit and write jokes together. “It was the most romantic thing,” Mr. Gillis said. “They let each other in.”

On April 16, Ms. Mirza and Mr. Lew recited more words they had written together. The setting for their union was the garden of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, in the city’s La Jolla section. The bride’s brother-in-law, Gitesh Pandya, who was named a deputy marriage commissioner by San Diego County for this event, officiated.

As the sun drew low over the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Lew began: “You have touched my life and forever changed it,” he said. “Together we will live as two minds.”

“Two spirits,” Ms. Mirza replied.

In unison: “And love as one.”

Horse riding bride makes a brave statement and a step to end female foeticide

2011-05-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Bride & unbridled courage
Bhiwani girl gallops over stereotypes,village celebrates, blesses Monica
Geetanjali Gayatri/Shiv Sharma/TNS

Bhiwani/Chandigarh, May 4
Kaparwas, today, erupted into celebration as a decked-up Monica stepped out of her modest house in the village this evening to trot into history. Attired in a red and blue suit, wearing a pagri on her head and a garland of currency notes around her neck, mehandi adorning her arms and hands, she mounted the horse to break the age-long tradition of limiting “ghurcharhi” to the groom-to-be.

As an elated crowd broke into thunderous applause to mark this new beginning, where a bride-to-be undertook a “nikasi”, (going around the village to share the happiness of her marriage), hope of better days for girls seemed writ large on the faces of those who came to watch the “spectacle”.

There were people in the procession and people hanging out of windows, those on terraces and others on treetops who watched this Class 12 dropout, all of 22-years, send out the message that determined women were second to none and the sky was the limit for those wanting to be catalysts of change.

As the procession of friends, relatives and well-wishers trailed behind and alongside Monica’s horse, her brothers on either side, proud of their sister’s dare, danced and rejoiced with the others that made up the crowd, all through the “journey” to the village temple.

On the way, villagers offered her money as a token of their love while at other homes Monica stopped to accept glasses of milk offered to her. Her friends, also a part of the procession, found it difficult to contain their happiness. They were proud that one of them had pulled off an act which would go a long way in heralding a new thinking in the village. With news of her initiative having spread, the procession comprised of a number of people from neighbouring villages who merely came to witness the “ghurcharhii” by the bride-to-be.

At the village temple, Monica and many other newly-weds pledged not to indulge in female foeticide before the crowd broke into another song-and-dance round.

Like 70-year-old Chhanno put it, “I wish this had happened 50 years ago. Women just may have got the respect and place in society they deserved. I am so glad somebody had the courage to do this.”

From the same village, Lakshmi who recently got married said that she would make sure her daughter, if she had one, undertook a “ghurcharhi” at the time of her marriage. Forty year-old Ramrati and her other friends who are looking forward to tomorrow’s marriage ceremony, said in unison, “There is not a single villager who is frowning upon Monica’s decision or her family’s support. In fact, this initiative has united everybody, making every villager a part of this marriage. It is a day to remember for each one of us.”

Monica, too, is over-whelmed with all the support her initiative has generated. “I was expecting people to come out of their homes to see me but this kind of support where everybody has been blessing me is indeed heady,” she said.

Tomorrow, her groom-to-be, a computer engineer from Bhariwas, will undertake a “ghurcharhd” before coming to her village for the marriage ceremony

Abbotabad the history of it

2011-05-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

Abbotabad is a weird pakistani name.Simple reason it is not an urdu Panajabi or Hidustani name. Bad after a word means colony or city or neighborhood . We have many names like that in the subcontinent.

The town of Abbottabad in British India was the headquarters of the then Hazara district, and was named after Major James Abbott who founded the town and district in January 1853 after the annexation of the Punjab. He remained the first Deputy Commissioner of the Hazara district between 1849 until April 1853. Major Abbott is noted for having written a poem titled "Abbottabad", before he went back to Britain,

The Pakistani pronounciation is Abtabad.
that clearifies the mystery about the name.

Their is no need to try to pronounce the name of town as some urdu name. It is an english name ABBOT.

HOPE PEOPLE WILL USE IT.

Did you guys see that Situation room in white house

2011-05-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Mr Obama is the only black guy in picture.All are older than him accept the young woman and guy next to her in the back,

Hillary Clinton is the only woman in front one of the five central figures in picture.

I have not scene such a picture before .If i am not mistaken this situation is very new in American political power. It changes in future.

Yes i remember general Powell as secretary of state and Condalese Rice as the security adviser to President Bush may be another high power picture . Which has been for the special impactof such a success as this has happened.

just sharing a letterto editor by Mr Shukla in NY Times.

2011-05-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

“Offerings to the Hindu Gods End Up as Jamaica Bay Trash” (front page, April 22) could have presented a broader context to the causes of pollution in Jamaica Bay.

According to a 2007 report by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the health of Jamaica Bay has been threatened for decades. Excessive dredging, millions of gallons of waste and untreated storm water, sewer overflow, wind-blown trash, soot and chemicals from transportation, and large-scale development are the real causes of pollution — not just the occasional ritual offerings of devout Hindus.

John Zuzworsky, a former park ranger who was quoted in the article, is correct that “a lot of the Hindu traditions are based in respecting the earth.” Thus, Hindu New Yorkers share both a civic and a dharmic duty to keep the water and wildlife of the bay safe and clean.

Rituals are central to Hindu practice but are often reinterpreted to comport with environmental realities. The beauty of Hinduism lies in its adaptability to time and place without compromising its eternal truths.

SUHAG A. SHUKLA
Kensington, Md., April 22, 2011

The writer is managing director and legal counsel of the Hindu American Foundation.

Osama bin laden is dead his body in US custody .He was evil incarnate

2011-05-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

After 10 years America has finally killed the devil incarnate himself
Osama Bin Laden leader of Al Qaeda.

He was one of the leaders of Jihadi movement Pakistan Saudi Arabia and USA put together to end soviet occupation.This was a cold war relic.Pakistan and Saudi Arabia was able to convert Afghanistan into a Caliphate who had draconian laws implemented by uneducated Jihadists.Pakistan and Saudi Arabia continued and supported the Taliban governments of Afghanistan.They were brutal and were even part of hijackings of international flights from India costing civilian lives and got the release of long term terrorists from Indian prison.These people lived in Pakistan as state guests. Very comfortable lives.And one was responsible for murder and release of beheading video of Daniel Pearl the reporter for wall street Journal.

Pakistan has helped the terrorist groups who were helping it to keep violence going in India and keeping tensions high in Afghan border Region.Costing many American lives.Pakistan has been exploiting American need for a land route to Afghanistan and the terrorist foothold in border region for its financial exploitation of the situation.
This Kleptocracy and feudal society has totally failed to improve the life of ordinary Pakistanis in last sixty years.
Military has redirected resources provided by America towards getting more advanced nuclear weapons from the Chinese.Have tried to stale mate the American agenda by threatening alliances with China against USA.
they have threatened that they will kill the world if they did not get their way.

Their generals who have more power than the elected leaders have been belligerent and threatening to the world peace.
This death of Osama Bin Laden and taking custody of his body resets the relationships with the military. This will make it easy for general Petr us to implement US agenda in light of his taking over as CIA director.
He understands the politics and structures of powers in the region.It will be an opportunity for him to set the agenda with this changing ally who has not served its own people well.

Congratulations to the participating soldiers for work well done.Osama was the man who changed my basic thinking where my belief that all human being were redeamable was changed .He was the man who made me think that their are people so evil that they can only defined as evil.

Response to Kudratduttachaudhary.blogspot.com on god and others

2011-05-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Kudrat, hope you are fine. Nice to see you blogging again. I am always looking for great posts.

About GOD the religious people start with that there is god and atheist say their is no God and So both do not agree on basic rules, so both are flawed if discussing god.

We all need god and are comforted by hope of help like at test times, or when some dear one is sick, even at times taking a flight. So God serves its role well. When we see the religious people suffering and innocents suffering, one cannot accept an all powerful god is responsible for all this mess.

Even if one has no belief in God we have to believe in Soul. That is the force which separates a dead person from the living one. We can study it, understand and make the connections. We know very little about the meta physical world.

Keep searching . Ask people who have made informed and thorough search of the subject. some of the great monks have resolved problems in their own way. Some of the solutions to complex problems are much simpler than the problem. Ask one and all how they resolved conflict in mind.

Some elders who may seem simple in their methods have resolved to be so after great enquiry. I have been amazed at the thought that these people have chosen a simpler path like Bhakti as others were tedious and not fulfilling .A great Bhakt enjoys the life of devotion much more than a deep scholar of god and man relations.

I wish you well with this enquiry .It is always good to believe good family traditions. Understand them and your elders way of prayer will open path for you .It should always meet the test of good logic or and sound judgment..

I am glad you are writing again. Wish you well in this new year. In School. You will do very well.

Dawn .new attacks on christians

2011-04-30T09:58:00.001-07:00

LAHORE: At least 10 people, including police officials, were wounded as demonstrators attacked the residences of members of the Christian religious community in Gujranwala on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

The attackers who accused certain members of the Christian community of committing blasphemy also shattered the windows of a Christian school in the neighbourhood.

Police and authorities in the area arrested 25 people for their involvement in the disturbances. Those arrested include three Christians, including a priest.

Moreover, police was now patrolling the area. However, most members of the Christian community had reportedly locked their residences and fled the area.

Article about Dr Memon in projo.com 4 /25/11

2011-04-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Brown professor tells survivor stories in ‘Breast-Cancer Breakthroughs’

04/25/2011 01:00 AM EDT

Barry Lopez hit the nail on the head when he wrote, “Sometimes people need a story more than food to stay alive.” I believe this and witness the power of story each and every week during our various support group meetings. Women catching the courage from the women whose stories are being shared. And once in a while a book will accomplish the very same thing. Indeed, it is a very beautiful thing to be a part of.

Dr. Sattar Memon’s new self-published book, “Living Longer — Breast Cancer Breakthroughs,” is a compilation of moving and inspirational patient stories combined with information on the latest screening tools and treatment options for the breast cancer patient. Although the stories themselves are based upon actual events, stages, diagnoses and treatment (at times unfavorable), they are all fiction. This should not take away from the very purpose of the book, and, speaking for myself, it didn’t.

An associate professor of medicine at Brown University, specializing in the practice and education of cancer medicine, Memon left India to come to America, where he attended medical school on a scholarship. During his residency training in the late 1970s, he received word that his father was ill with what was thought to be a chronic stomach ulcer. He left for home — a remote and poor village in northwestern India where physicians and clinics were nonexistent.

“Returning to America was a very difficult thing to do,” Memon said. Not long after, he learned of his father’s passing. “I had come to believe that what my father had died from was actually stomach cancer,” Memon said with sadness but slowly perked back up as he began telling me how the death of his father had been the catalyst in shaping how he envisioned his future. Once back in the U.S., he applied for a fellowship in medical oncology at Brown University.

“When contemplating what area of oncology to work in, I chose breast cancer because at the time, so many things were happening in the field. New treatments and new screening tools. It was all very exciting,” Memon said. But that was not the only reason for his choice of focus. In the back of Memon’s mind, and heart, lived the sadness that stemmed from the memory of a childhood friend in India who, for lack of medical care, died from late-stage breast cancer. “The field [breast cancer] lacked much of the glamour that many of my fellow comrades were choosing, but it held much promise, and that was exciting to me. To be able to help others to live is what I wanted to do,” Memon said.

The book is written in a thoughtful and honest format that allows the reader to connect with the patients in the stories, stories that can share courage as well as abundant information on the hows and whys of the disease. From the staging of breast cancer to the treatment and genetics of the disease, the book does not disappoint. Captivating artwork by Dr. Mahendar Paul graces the pages of the book, helping connect the reader to the topic being presented. Near the back of the book, Memon has included a chapter on the “100 Most Commonly Asked Questions,” along with their most up-to-date answers. Proceeds from the book will benefit various Rhode Island nonprofits.

Linda Phelan is founder and executive director of The Healing Co-Operative in Middletown, supporting and celebrating the lives of women with cancer since 1996.

What’s New

Early Diagnosis

With early detection becoming more common, why is it that so many women are diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer? It can range from lack of health insurance and education to fear, all of which can mean the difference between life and death. Mammograms and self breast exams DO save lives.

Better Screening Tools

Most women are familiar with the "standard" screening tools of mammogram and ultrasound but few ever hear of Breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), a noninvasive (no radiation) screening tool that uses a powerful magnetic field, radio frequency pulse, a computer to produce detailed pictures of the breast tissue and frequently a contrast dye given through an intravenous needle (IV).

Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) also known as Miraluma Sestamibi or Scintiamammography is an experimental screening test considered to be as safe as mammography and as powerful as an MRI, at a fraction of the cost with an equal or lesser amount of radiation than mammography. The big advantage of this new test is that doctors gain markedly increased visibility of tumors in dense breast tissue, with a lower breast compression, which means a much less painful/uncomfortable experience. .

Thermography measures the (breast) skin temperature through the use of a highly specialized infrared camera. Malignant tumors have increased blood flow due to new blood vessel formation, which the cancer needs to thrive. This increased blood flow makes malignant tissue hotter than healthy breast tissue. Thermography picks up this heated image on its camera and shows the areas as red, while cooler tissue is blue.

Census of India

2011-04-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Many interesting facts are emerging from the census data.
Sex ratio for boys and girls is being scewed in favor of boys. Sad . Mostly through sex selection

Interesting thing happened in Ladakh .With the high number of military personnel their ratio was extremely distorted against girls.when it came like 583 girls for 1000 boys.every body was surprised.A stigma against the population being girl killers was being formed.

Local community had its own data. according to which they new ratio for women was actually majority of population was girl.So with pride they can say they are girl friendly.This distortion was because of military personnel being counted in the count and large number of them being male.

Other interesting number is that they are counting males,females and Aphrodite's( People who could be gender not determinant)
Next major Development we will see is the unique identification for all Indians.If successful it will be milestone for India's progress.This can be as important as energy or independence of nation for the development of nation.
lets see how it happens

Sidharatha Mukherjee wins Pulitzer prize for his book on cancer

2011-04-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

The award for general nonfiction was awarded to Siddhartha Mukherjee for “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.”

This book is written like a history of the malady we call cancer. Dr Mukherjee is an outstanding fighter and researcher in the field of treatment of this disease.

He had an article this week in the New York Times discussing the effects of low level radiations, particularly speaking of those emitted from cell phones when used frequently. In a conversation on National Public Radio, he said that he can not say that cell phone use creates cancer of the brain. He also said that at the same time he can not say that conclusively that it does not cause cancer. There is always a risk from low level radiation of radio waves. The risk is far less than from x-rays and MRI’s.

His Pulitzer prize puts him high in the category of select writers, whose writings have been honored by Columbia University in the name of Pulitzer. It is indeed one of the highest honors for any writer in America. The only thing more honorable is being awarded a Nobel Prize for literature. I am glad that the Pulitzer Prize honors many writers and journalist representing a variety of genres.

Jhumpa Lehri is another Indian writer who was honored at a very young age for her fiction work Interpreter of Maladies. When she received the prize, she was only 33 years old. She was raised in Rhode Island and we are proud to have a renowned daughter. Dr Mukherjee is also a young 40 year old physician who has been in the spotlight since his highly researched book has been out. Now, this Pulitzer will put his book on a fast sales path. I wish him good luck.

I found it unique that a malady is a common word used by both authors in the title of their prize winning books. Can we read anything into that?

Gao Hui, my chinese friend

2011-04-15T11:52:00.001-07:00

To tell you the truth I have been chatting with people from arround the world as a stranger in chat on a site called Omegle.
It is a nice site if you want to pretend .It may be hook up site for the young people.Most of the people on it are 15 to 22 years old.Many of them are looking for sex chat.So many are looking to improve their english which is very nice for people who are not native english speaking.Many people from India are their .I met a young girl from China her name is Gao Hui.her friends call her Hui Hui.I as pretending i was 23 year old American. yes White. You maywonder why. that is the first barrier in anonymous chat.
ASL age sex and location .it is mostly expected that people normally talk to opposite sex people other than gays and lesbians.I will write other tim about the chat i had with a texas girl 23 who said that she was bi.I was pretending to be 23 f from India. she tried to convince me to send her my picture and how i could a 61 year old m and indian american.it was afun somewhat rauchy conversation probably only rated R.May be I will publish a book with all these conversations
and call it mengle.

Ok Gao Hui in chinese means Wise and chaste. she was smart and kept her moral bearing. She was confident of self .She did not have a religion but believed in soe power like god .That was reaasuring .It was not Budhism.she had heard of confucious. her mom was acollege teacher.This girl wanted to be a biology scientist. She would be nice friend to have .I tried to move the conversation towards sexual topics she was able to manipulate the conversation well. her spelling and language was very good.
she even gave me a e-mail address what i could write her I am a 61 one year old mail .Not nice to shatter good thoughts of a young person.I asked her what she admired about america her answer was very charming "freedom".

Oh wise and chaste Gao Hui my salutations to you.

Something about compensation to Victims of Nuclear radiation

2011-04-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Japan does things differently than the rest .It seems like better way.The power company decided to pay 10000 dollars per couple and 8000 dollars an individual.
It is not a lot of money but egalitarian way that they will distribute funds to all without discrimination and heavy duty accounting is really admirable.

It may be not a lot for the people who had to leave everything.It is still more than a poor person could expect.

Many times litigation solutions are not the best one.A society which is more or less litigation oriented can not get the best benefits of the procedures created.Most case involving injustice do not get litigated for lack of funds and energies.Many times in cases involving large sums the attorney fees become as if they were wronged party.It is sad that attorneys representing victims made something on the order of 70 million(rough memory) dollars against victims like 200 million dollars.That is more than one third of the victims got who lost their life in the process.

IN Japan it seems so far no cases have been filed .In Bhopal case in India the American attorneys in the case brought higher value than the Indian system would have provide.In the end it did not serve them well as the site was never cleaned and the union Carbide was allowed to be acquired.With new company having little financial impact.Sadly the victims of the largest Industrial tragedy did not get justice or satisfaction from this tragedy.Society is poorer for the experience.

Our experience wit New Orleans hurricane has been not much better .the government failed to protect the citizens .Buses and people drowned in the total mismanagement of a mediocre tragedy.

A world wide equitable system should be created for relief where bandages and water does not cost a years salary of natives.

All relief should be locally run and direct payment may be best investment. Afghanistan model of war (one million for a soldier a year) is not practical.Pay to Taliban and other gangsters in bags of money is shameful also.No money should be paid to Afghan government by any parties in bags.

It does more harm to all we stand for.

Oil Prices and what is going on in America

2011-04-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Oil prices are running around 105 dollars per barrel.Brent crude is 15 dollars more than that .traditionally Brent used to be 2 dollars a barrel cheaper .It means that for the first time in many years Crude oil is cheaper in USA (Texas Crude)THAN IN Europe. What are the reasons for it.America has been reducing use of Crude Oil.We use 20 percent less gas and diesel as the efficiency of our vehicles have been improving and will improve further as the older cars are replaced by more efficient vehicles.

On the other hand India, China and other developing countries are buying cars for the first time and demanding fuel for it and in the process raising prices and demand for the fuel. America has also stopped using Oil for power generation.Natural gas production has improved by using new techniques of fracturing and new more efficient power plants using natural gas have come on line reducing the need of crude oil derivatives.

IT seems that we do not import any middle east oil other than to fulfil any legal obligations.Other thing has happened that gasoline has been mixed with 10 percent ethanol and in the process also reducing need of Crude oil.It has had the effect of increasing cost of corn and food products in the process.That is a different matter at all.

US today buys Majority of crude from Canada,Mexico,Venezuela.Brazil and some from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.Shares of oil from other continents has been reducing. Because of economic down turn our energy use have also shrunk. The price of gasoline has been going up because of tight refining capacity for fuel.Some of that is made up at a very high cost from imported fuel from refineries of middle east.

Finally the cost of crude oil has been going up because excessive trading in oil by speculators on Marginal shortage of Oil production in the market place.This is trading in speculation not in commodity.President should order to release oil equal to short term loss of production because of war or other reasons to the market.This will end the speculation and make up any shortages in the supply.Govt can release oil till the prices fall back to 90 dollars a barrel and when it goes down they can refill it.

Anna Hazare and the Lok pal Bill

2011-04-11T06:36:00.000-07:00

Concept of Lokpal is unique.It is a watch dog with staff who has authority to expedite public grievances It is like ombudsman who is there to serve in political sense the nations agenda.balance the powers between govt and people.The purpose of the position is to expedite and check the abuse claims by people.

It is very commendable on the part of Mr Anna Hazare to bring to people attention need of expedited authority to check power and abuse by the government. Government has given in and ten members of committee Will be formed to create this legislation. five will be from the Govt and five from the civil society. There are some outstanding civil society leaders in this group including Mr Hazare. sadly process has not been as well thought out as it could be.There has not been any room for opposition party viewpoint.

A selection process for the committee should be inclusive and democratic. In legal system problem is slow justice. India must pass law so all cases are adjudicated in first stage with in a year.If not they are dropped .Fictitious cases should have high penalties for the culprits.Laws about cronyism and nepotism should be strengthened. In this case Mr Hazare has appointed a father and son team on the committee.I can not believe he could not find another competent Indian.

For this committee to work well process should be made so that Govt appoints five non serving members(so they may spend the time needed to develop the program)LOk pal may not be limited to Judiciary as their record is not blameless and we should have citizen wisdom.Mr Hazare can appoint may be 4 people on committee and five people should be appointed by opposition. That will create an environment of fairness to develop the bill.Their should be time limit to create and pass the bill.

Lok pal should have the power to investigate all elected or appointed officials .In case lok pal is convinced of wrong doing by the PM or other ministers case can be refereed to a supreme court panel for adjudication. State lok pals should be appointed so that people feel empowered against the abuse by the government. They have worked well in the states they have been involved.

Other than justice and graft India is facing issues with providing nutrition to the poor,power concentration in the hand of few connected and related one.Large business houses have also very high concentration of wealth . Hope they continue to practice the old ethos of caretakers rather than owners of the wealth. As a nation India Will have to carefully nurture the poor and weak.Unique Id will provide significance help in ending some of the inequities.

Sad state of border prisoners in India and Pakistan

2011-04-11T06:22:00.001-07:00

WE have been reading stories of prisoners from India and Pakistan spending years after serving sentences for the crimes they may have not even committed.One prisoner was releases from Pakistan on Plea of Supreme court Of India a few months ahead of scheduled release date by Zardari president of Pakistan.He spent more than twenty years.
India released several prisoners who had spent more time in prison than they were punished by courts.Their was no mechanism to repatriate them.
One woman had overstayed her stay while visiting her mother and was sent to jail for sixteen months.These are cases which show's signs of not caring system.Many prisoners had said that they were not given wages for the work they did in prison. Very shameful act.It should be investigated.

This recent effort to repatriate the prisoners is a good start . For real criminals a system can be created where convicts can serve in their home country and save the extra fear created by serving sentences in hostile country.

About Quran Burning and mutual respect.

2011-04-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

Mutual respect requires that we hold others holy and revered relics in high esteem and do not denigrate them.In this tradition all children are taught they should always when s hold flags high fold them properly,protect them from dirt and damage.All children are also told to respect all elders and symbols of other faiths.This respect is mutual and by mutual respect we create harmony in our society.

It is the worst kind of violence when religious symbols are destroyed and not proper respect is given to others symbols and sanctified materials.It is common in Saudi Arabia to confiscate religious materials of the visitors and summarily discard them .Mohammad himself has known to have destroyed deities in Mecca.This was one of the occasions where he was able to prove to his followers that he was more powerful than the Pagan gods.One of the ideals of Islam is to follow Mohammad lead in lifestyle. Ironically many Muslims have taken it to mean to destroy even the places of worship of other faiths.

Sadly it has been reason for destruction of Mosques of other Muslim sects. Shia,and Ahmadi Mosques have been destroyed In Pakistan By Sunny majority in name of Islam. Even the secular places of Sufi shrines have not been left alone.Non tolerance of Taliban had destroyed Bagram Buddha's which wer there not only before Mohammad but even Christ of Nazareth.

Many Christians, Hindu's and Sikhs have been victim of Islamic hegemony in Pakistan and other countries where religious fanaticism is abundant .Now in order to protest burning of Quran by a US preacher (which is not prohibited in US LAW)Actually if somebody wanted to burn bible or other symbol of reverence would also be legally protected.They took the revenge on weak serving members of United Nations in Afghanistan.Killing many innocent people .

In my view Mr Karzai who has lived and worked in US is guilty of Inciting this violence by promoting this act which was not on American news.He knows that US government could not do anything about it other than criticise this act.

I would have forgiven any other person of ignorance not this leader and American Ally Karzai.

This sexy ,reserved stranger sitting a seat over next to me

2011-04-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

We went to attend a lecture by Ed Albee at Roger Williams university in Bristol RI. Oh this has been an occasion we were to relive .We reminisced the time he had welcomed us in his loft in New york.He was a wonderful host .I did not know how important a play right he was .i had never read his plays and had heard of who is afraid of Virginia wolf. I had not known neither Virginia wolf or Albee.

He told story of his childhood and this time did not mention that he was bought for the amount his parents paid to adopt him.It seemed to have left an impression on him.He was not impressed by their bourgeoisie life style . At eighteen he was told that he did not belong to his family and asked to leave and never come back.Albee did not feel any loss only fulfilment of a desire.

Albee is not the reason for this post.This post is for that sexy stranger sitting a seat over next to me .It is important that she was sitting next to me yet was siting a seat over .Sadly the hall did not become overfilled to force her to move right next to me.She had a all knowing female smile .She might have been around 50, more or less. Dressed in black two inch heels a black silk cardigan with some maroon design. She was smiling a smile of satisfaction. On other side Subhash was sitting next to me with his I phone and picture of Him and Albee in his loft some 18 years ago when he thought that he may do PhD on Albee's plays.Albee is like god of American play rights .With three Pulitzer prizes .Highest number of Pulitzer any body has recieved.I liked when he said that he is a writer and he thought of himself as writer.He wrote poems,novels,short stories and essays and found that he was not much good .Till he wrote his first play.He believed it met his standard for being well written .Which was sent by some of his friends to some professors and ended up in hands of a America professor in Germany who liked it who sent to his friend who like it and translated into German and was to be performed in Berlin .His unpublished play without his knowledge was being translated into German language with verb at the end like Sanskrit and Hindi.

He was working at 38 dollars a week at Western Union to deliver the Telegrams in New York which he loved for the chances it gave him to interact with other artists who were starving artists in real sense.Happy and challenged and without class distinction.May be because they were all poor. He ended up quitting his job and borough enough money to go to Berlin for the premier of his first play.He seemed to relish the end of play in German OH mir Got better than oh my god oh my god.

I was curious about this woman who was alone was she saving the seat for somebody.I guess not.A couple moved on the other side of her leaving a space between them .May be her demeanor said that leave the space.I asked her was she a teacher ,she said no she lives in the town near by Jamestown.Over the bridge may be two bridges.When i told her Subhash was a school administrator she asked where and i asked Subhash and his answer of west Warwick elicited the comment that is far away for RI. How true.She asked me if i was a writer and my answer that pretender made her wonder was i or was i just trying to hide my great writing prowess from the stranger .She also asked if i was a teacher at university ,negative and for job again negative.How much likely it is that a person without job and pretending to be writer would come to listen Albee on Sunday evening . I bet every body there was either a student of Roger Williams University,alumni,faculty , benefactor or an avid listener of NPR.They had announced this free open to public event of Roger Williams university .They all seem to have wanted to see this octogenarian who never finished college and was bought by parents for very small amount of money.This gay writer wrote about edgy issues in his youth . I wonder if his works will entitle him to a Nobel prize .I do not know.He can be interesting an author (play right) if Pulitzer committee has to be believed in its judgement.

Then again No body asked about Elizabeth Taylor . Oh and that lady .During the lecture I looked at her often trying to catch a glimpse she never looked at me ,but had that knowing smile that at the end you are looking at me and thank you.I noticed that she did not have a wedding band .i tried to show my hands without a ring. If asked i would have said that i was married . Was it all flirting or just my mind playing mental games with itself ,I would never Know.

Hundred political characters

2011-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

starting with RI

Buddy Ciancy

charles moreau

Diprete

Mayor of pawtucket

Political suicides

Clinton

Judges

servants

In India

IN USA

rest of the world.

If any of my readers have idea please send in an comment

Concept and Theory of electronic birth control device.

2011-04-02T16:04:00.001-07:00

: concept

Rhythm method of birth control has been practiced and promoted by Catholic church for many years.The principal is that a female is able to get pregnant for only a few days a month.These days are limited to only 3 to 5 days a month.That is the period woman is ovulating.Catholic church teaching helps one to figure out the ovulation period by counting the days from a mensuration cycle.

Normally woman is fertile ( ovulating ten days before mensuration) so it depends on charting the menstrual cycle and predicting fro it the most fertile period and then regulating sex in that period for getting pregnant or not.

Why it is needed:

Currently most common method of female birth control is Pill( estrogen).This is a daily hormone dose to have higher level of hormone which fools the female body to think it is already pregnant and as such protect it from going through another pregnancy.Other methods are slow release of hormones by an implant and cervical ring.Ring has to inserted by doctor or a Practitioner which is not very practical and expensive in the west.The chemical methods( hormones) create problems for many women and leave them bloated and dis comfortable.None of these methods help women know there fertile time for the ones who want to have children.There is a need of non chemical method of detecting fertile period of women for birth or avoidance of it.

Biology of it.

If a female takes daily basal temperature and it is tracked and charted .this temperature goes up by .5 degrees during the period a woman is ovulating.By choosing to or not desired results in pregnancy can be had.

Proposal.

To build a Digital memory thermometer with visual and sound alarm .All would be required is for female to check daily temperature and when the temperature is .5 degrees higher alight will go on and a beep will be heard .This will be a signal that female is ovulating .it will give the choice of birth control in the hands of patient. A chart can be transferred to a smart phone for further analysis if needed.Specialist could be developed to analyse this data or this data could be sent electronically for analysis.

Unique observation from the data of Electrol Roll in Tamil Nadu

2011-03-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

Very interesting data. I just noticed the unique demographics of the electoral roll of the Tamil Nadu state in south.

Total electorate 45.9 million .

men 23.0 million .

women 22.8..Million.

Transgender 844.

I have seen some very interesting data at different times but have never seen the count for transgender separately listed . I wonder where is the count of transgender in USA.

Paulo Coelho,s Blog and about precise simple writing

2011-03-29T12:01:00.001-07:00

I was reading Coelho's Blog post and noticed that he has a story where this wave seeing that other waves ahead of it were crashing on the rocks and breaking up.She was sad for coming demise till it met other happy wave come by and in answer to the question posed said smilingly" oh do not worry you are not the wave ,you are the ocean " Paulocolehoblog.com

Another story in NYT about precise writing and comments on it had accompaniment to a long letter and apology that read" for lack of time have written you a long letter as i did not have time for a short one"

Language and ideas are wonderful thing .Some times most precise words to express ideas can be NO or YES.

"Santhra" a practice of death by not eating or drinking is being challenged in the Courts of India.

2011-03-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Dawn has an article where it is stated that ancient Practice of Elderly Jains to relinquish their bodies by Declaring and abstaining from food and drink is being challenged in Courts by people who think that nobody has a right to suicide and anybody helping in taking a life is also guilty of the heinous crime. This practice called"Santhra" is ancient practice and it is said that Mahavir the founder saint of Jains left his body by fasting.In recent times it is said that Vinoba Bhave a spiritual follower of Gandhi had left his body in the same way by rejecting food and drink.For people in control of their faculties to decide to leave the body( choosing to die in lay terms)in a very deliberative process of fasting for days and may be months if just without food and with only water is some thing very difficult to understand but protectors of human choice and freedom can make arguments that ,they should not be hindered by any body at least the legal authorities.Then again people in last days of their life if chose to do so is it not their way of saying that they have made this choice instead of prolonging their personal pain and misery. I would say that society has a role that are these people choosing to die by fasting on their free will or were influenced by others to do so .One nice part of the practice of Jains is once somebody decides to participate in "Santhara", person fasting moves into Upashray(Jain Monastery). Where they are surrounded by many other people in prayer and service . "Santhara " raises many questions and leaves me thinking about issues relating to death .Any way that is one thing all living things have in common that is certain death.

GE profits and negative income tax.

2011-03-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

GE on of the largest industrial and financial giant had profits in USA of 5. 1 billion dollars and negative taxes .It forces one to wonder why it is that burden of national taxation has been shifted to smaller enterprises and individuals by higher property taxes ,Sales taxes and other taxes and fees.

In the last year company had 14.2 Billion profit from the worldwide operations and its American businesses earned 5.1 billion profit with Zero tax liability.

Is this the image of outstanding corporate citizen we want to promote.Yes GE is in important enterprises including defence ,aviation and power generation including Nuclear.Mr Obama has appointed Mr Immelt head of the Presidents Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. I hope his contribution can be in job creation and helping USA in being more competitive and not avoidance of taxes. Corporate tax burden as percentage of tax revenue has been reduced from 30 percent in Mid fifties(1950) to 6 percent in 2009 .

Highest rate of income taxes for corporations is 35 percent but with all the tax loop holes shelters and tax credit it is much lesser as it is proven by the taxes paid by one of the largest corporations in America.

IT would be nice If along with other data of large corporation ratings by Forbes a line would be added for the federal taxes paid by these corporations .I would like to see the same done for the richest in America and world wide.I wonder if in many of the cases the gains have been privatised and nations (citizens) are holding bags for all the expenses which make it possible for these entities to make exorbitant profit.

US military engagement in LIBYA could be a blueprint for future engagements .

2011-03-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

It has been proven time and again nations where power has been arrived at by coup or other means and super leaders come to power.In the long run average citizen is the looser and humanity suffers at the hands of Corrupt,egocentric or just arrogant leaders.

These leaders even if they came to power by popular support and sometimes by popular vote have changed the laws also have intimidated ordinary citizens where they were afraid to even have official disagreement with the rulers.

I was more surprised than probably average Cuban to hear that Fidel had no official party position in the country for last five years .I guess he wanted to tell the world that Cuba was different than other dictators of the world and he has not prolonged his term any further than needed which was 45 years even if we take his word for it .He forgot to tell all Cubans though.
Oh i forgot the other part he was replaced by his brother Raul Castro and he has continued in the mean time.

Qadaffi has ruled and used the assetts of Libya as his private wealth .He has intimidated and tortured all who challenged his authority.When a popular peaceful opposition was developing in Libya and many military leaders were showing support for the new desire for more freedom and say in the nation.They were brutally attacked by air and heavy weaponry by Qadaffi.

US decided to stop Qadaffi and his forces and give a chance for the opposition to change the oppressive regime of Libya.It seems by limited engagement America is going to be with the peaceful populace in the future.It seems that alliances just based on some resource security is not going to protect any dictators in the future.

THIS IS LIKE AN OPEN WARNING TO DICTATORS WHO HAVE USED NATIONAL WEALTH AS PERSONAL PIGGY BANK. AMERICA IS NOT GOING TO PROTECT YOU AND AMERICA IS NOT YOUR PARTNER IF YOU ABUSE HUMAN RIGHTS OF YOUR PEOPLE.

Sonia Gandhi and Parliament(Lok Sabha)

2011-03-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha ) is a very interesting place and notable for criticism, sarcasm and masterful oratory .
Urdu poetry is one of the power tools in parliament to disarm the opponents or cajole the friends like lovers trying to please each other.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi though leader of the governing body never speaks in parliament.Yesterday when aggravated by opposition and attacked for assorted misdeeds said same was the case in opposition government which brought joy to opposition and created a scene in Parliament where members took joy for her speaking first time since the May 2009p.The opposition leader Mr Yashwant Sinha took the joy in response by saying his point was well made.

Bhagat Singh museum and his memory

2011-03-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

As i grew up in India and always admired the freedom fighters and the struggle for Independence.I read all i could lay my hand son about the martyrs.

Bhagat Singh and his entourage were central to my interest for their zeal and love for the country.That was the time of my childhood.I was born two years after the Indian Independence and lived in several cities as child in border state of Punjab.

At that time only pictures we had seen were of Bhagat Singh with a Hat. We thought of him as essential Indian freedom fighter.See how history can be rewritten and recreated to make a point.Role of Sikh regiment during British rule is not very patriotic rajas's of Pepsu were sort of protected puppets of the British.Now it seems you may not find a picture or art depicting Bhagat Singh without turban.None such picture existed of him to best of my memory.

When we visited museum in his village Khatkar Kalan on the main road at that time his mother was alive.These two totally incompetent persons without respect and dignity or information were caretakers of the place .We were attracted by the sign .They were relaxing on a charpai.Were not happy to be disturbed .They charged us an entrance fee and have confiscated our cameras . After paying the fee they did not even had courtesy to guide us about the exhibits. I am sure a middle school kid even in India could have put a better exhibit together. Displays were poorly maintained and unframed pictures of the events and newspapers . I would have a better representation of the museum if i was allowed to make video of the Museum.In total including conversations with the care takers/guards it would have been less than ten minutes. Their were no more than 30 pictures in total. If it had some paintings and sculptures depicting his life would have brought color to the exhibits.
Now i read that today Government of Punjab is hosting a big event where 2000 buses are coming for celebration and many very large tents with stages have been set up .120 acre has been cleared and farmers have been compensated 20000 Rs per acre for the use of land.
I also read another contemporary of Bhagat Singh is living in extreme poverty and no body has felt it fit to take care of his meager needs .They will miss him and have a great memorial service when he is dead.
Here is the repor in Tribune from Chandigarh

Ferozepur, March 23
Harbans Singh, an associate of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who experienced third-degree torture from British police, claims that he lost vision in the one eye due to torture, remained in jail for two months and provided safe shelter to these national martyrs for about two years to facilitate independence for the country. He is penniless and bedridden in his small house in Gandhi Nagar here.

Gripped by extreme poverty, the sacrifices made by Harbans Singh to attain the freedom of the country are yet to be recognised by both the Centre and the Punjab Government. No monetary help has come to him so far despite the fact that he has reached the last leg of his life.

The plight of Harbans Singh and members of his family could be judged from the fact that his son and four grandsons are working as iron smiths to eke out a living for the past many decades.

What adds insult to injury is the fact that a Cabinet rank minister of Punjab once promised him that he would be given Rs 1 lakh in recognition of his contribution to freedom struggle but the money never reached him.

Belonging to Bagrian village of Lahore district, Harbans, who has crossed 100 years of age, took the British police head on whenever they raided his premises, situated on his farms, to arrest Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who would stay there for days together to keep their freedom struggle going.

“In one of the raids, conducted by British police from Lahore in my house in 1927, my right arm was broken by them and hence fingers of that hand got twisted and ceased to work properly,” he recalled, adding that this gave him a stronger resolve to helping Bhagat Singh and his comrades.

Another raid was conducted at my house on July 12, 1928 when Bhagat Singh and his associates were three. “I was arrested by Din Mohammad, SHO, police station, Khana Kasha, Lahore on July 15, 1928.”

“After I came out of jail, I again came in contact with Bhagat Singh and others. I attended all the court hearings of the case, for which Bhagat Singh and his associates were facing trials in a Lahore court,” he said.

Castro has not been the leader of the communist party of Cuba the

2011-03-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Fidel Castro has not been the leader of the communist party of Cuba for last 5 years.But he forgot to tell any body and party forgot to notice it and select his successor oh it was to be his brother Raul.Any way all in the family. Does Raul has any kids to take over as he is getting old too.Will they have some sort of open process or All dictators have to die in office.

This statement of Castro has no Validity.I hope people of Cuba can exercise more freedoms .It has been 40 tears since Cuba had done anything to be proud of .His support for Chavez,Ehmadnijad and Qaddafi just proves that in year 2011 not the United States but all these single party dictators are their own allies.They may have no safe havens.Last safe haven of Muslim scoundrels Saudi Arabia(it gave shelter to IDI Amin) will find it difficult to do so in the future.

It is a clear sign that time for the end of dictatorships is coming soon .It is no more going to be business as usual.They can not even defend themselves .

In next 20 years oil is going to loose its importance and with it the influence.

Phagwah is Holi celebrated in Carribean.NEW york is the capital

2011-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

New York Times has a very nice article on celebration Of Phagwah the festival celebrated in Caribbean and new york.It is the festival of Holi as adopted in the Caribbean.

It is celebrated like varying traditions of India and carribe.Lord Krishna is shown playing his Flute.A festival King and Queen is chosen.

It is like a spring festival.It prayer feasting and celebration with dance and music. It is becoming a well celebrated fest of Indo Caribe community with focus on the food and the restaurants in the community.

It adds to the fun and diversity of New York.

veggie burger and variations with specialty drink

2011-03-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Pav bhaji.
vegi burger with lettuce onion pickleand tomato jalapenio
Potatoe onion and green peas burger with fixings
chick pease veggie burger
weiner schnitzel sandwich with sauer kraut and weiner roll
chicken boti sandwich with yougurt sause

drinks
specialty tea in a pot
rooh afjah/sugar free
Satoo drink
coconut drink
mixed juice drink

Wiki Leaks Hindu and USA Visa.

2011-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Hindu a left leaning Indian paper of great reputation is conduit for wetting and publishing leaked cables .They really throw a light on the understanding of US diplomats in INDIA.
Mr Narendra Modi a very Charismatic leader who is Chief Minister of Gujarat was denied Visa for United states a few years ago.Gujarat has progressed beyond any expectations of people under his leadership.He has been the vehicle for delivering goods and services to the people .According to the analysis of the diplomat in Mumbai he is incorruptible.for any leader to be labeled so is a badge of honor.It also shows the honest analysis by the diplomat of the character of this leader.

Many time undeserving people have gotten not just tourist visa for USA but have even gotten immigration.Denying a tourist Visa to a leader of national status on some flimsy grounds does disservice to our American value of Fair Play.I have read at times members of terrorist sympathising organizations have gotten visa to USA and they have collected funds in USA to do us harm.

In Mr Modi's case State department could have kept eye on his activity and would have understood who are his sympathisers and recieved a better insight into the political mind of this leader .I think they have only annoyed him and his sympathisers in the process.With a large number of Gujrati's in USA it is important that state department be aware of the political dynamics of the community.Wiki leaks cables confirm the view that he is a man of high moral character and state department should not listen to some left wing ( may be of congress party) adviser about the alleged character of leaders .If we do so we not only hurt the good peole but we hurt our own interest as it gets hijacked by these villans.It would be prudent if state department developed variety of sources with broader understading of the host countries.

India with its trade and population and geo positioning requires a better understanding for the improved relations.

Libya and Qaddafi.No tears shed !!

2011-03-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

When Qadaffi took power world thought that there was this young man who may develop this country with the oil wealth of his nation.

No such luck he became entrenched and like all other totalitarian kings,monarchs and other hoodlums(including Castro brothers and Hugo.These leaders had promised people more power and delivered little.No body can say that Castro has not run out of usefulness .Time is coming fast the royal families with unlimited power and private wealth in the middle east will be history and democracy though slow at times in delivering goods and services(in comparison to Communist China)is still a preferred mode for human satisfaction.China with changing face of leadership is at least gives a hope that may be policy will also change with new leader as it did Deng Chou.

Qaddafi has made the national wealth his private wealth and west has gone along with it.Now by supporting ordinary citizens if we can bring public good to this nation world be much better of.

As a policy we can not afford to support dictators even if our interests align . Time has come we can not support military dictatorships even when they have faces of democracy like in Pakistan.Minority rights are very important principal for our nation.

PS, reading some other blogs i was reminded how Qadaffi had a penchant for funding assorted idea makers and influence peddlers arround the world.He bought the nuclear technology from the greatest merchant MR A.Q.KHAN of Pakistan.Most famous Cricket grounds are called Qadaffi stadium in Lahore.It is said that he offered unlimited oil to INdira Gandhifor the Nuclear Technology.He gave bags of cash to many reporters,publishers and pundits arround the world.Qadaffi and Saddam Husain were well known to fund many islamic leaders .If I am not mistaken Jessie Jackson and Farrakhan were the beneficiaries.

Rajat K Gupta sue's S E C asking for prosecution in federal court Challenging SEC powerTo use administrative remedies

2011-03-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2011, 3:06 pm Legal/Regulatory | White Collar Watch
Behind Galleon Figure’s Court Challenge to S.E.C.
By PETER J. HENNING

Eric Piermont/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Rajat K. Gupta.It is extraordinary that someone would sue the Securities and Exchange Commission, contending that he should have been accused of insider trading in federal court. But that is exactly what Rajat K. Gupta, a former board member at Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble, has done in seeking to stop an S.E.C. administrative case that alleges he tipped off Raj Rajaratnam about inside information at both companies.

Mr. Gupta filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Friday, asking for an injunction preventing the S.E.C. from pursuing insider trading charges before an administrative law judge. The case against Mr. Gupta is the first in which the S.E.C. took advantage of a provision in the Dodd-Frank Act that allows for civil penalties and disgorgement for a securities violation in an administrative proceeding. Those remedies previously were available only in federal court cases unless the defendant was a broker or investment adviser.

The issue is whether Congress intended to limit the S.E.C.’s use of this new avenue for imposing penalties to securities violations occurring after the Dodd-Frank Act went into effect on July 22, 2010, or whether prior misconduct could be the basis of an administrative filing so long as the case started after that date.

Ex-Goldman Director Sues S.E.C. Over Galleon Case
.The only statement in the law on the timing of its effectiveness is that it “shall take effect after the date of enactment of this act.” Not surprisingly, judicial decisions on retroactive application of civil statutes are not entirely clear, so the outcome of Mr. Gupta’s claim is up in the air.

An interesting potential wrinkle in the case is which federal judge will be assigned the matter. Under the court’s rules, the lawsuit will first be reviewed by the judge assigned to the S.E.C.’s civil insider trading case against Mr. Rajaratnam to determine whether it is “related” to those cases. That is none other than Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who has proven to be a bit of a thorn in the side of the S.E.C. in other cases, like the settlement with Bank of America over the Merrill Lynch acquisition.

Judge Rakoff is not required to accept the case, but up to this point all of the civil insider trading cases filed in connection with trading by Mr. Rajaratnam and his hedge fund, the Galleon Group, have been designated as related and assigned to the judge. At a recent hearing in another insider trading case connected to the Galleon Group, Judge Rakoff said the decision to pursue the charges against Mr. Gupta before an administrative judge struck him as “sort of bizarre,” according to Bloomberg News. That may be an ominous sign for the S.E.C. if the challenge ends up in his courtroom.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Judge Jed S. RakoffIf the case against Mr. Gupta had involved criminal charges, then the ex post facto clause of the Constitution would prevent retroactive application of a law that imposed new rules after the conduct at issue occurred. But the S.E.C.’s case is clearly civil, even though it seeks a monetary penalty.

Courts generally look to the label applied to any liability imposed by the statute in determining whether it is a criminal punishment or just a civil remedy. Insider trading penalties and disgorgement are viewed as civil, so Mr. Gupta must rely on more general principles of statutory construction and due process that limit the application of new laws to prior conduct unless Congress makes clear that the new rule should be applied retroactively.

The leading case in this area is Landgraf v. USI Film Products, a sexual harassment suit that involved the issue of whether a change in the law authorizing a jury trial in such cases should be applied even though the violation occurred before enactment of the provision. The Supreme Court referred to the general presumption against retroactive application of laws unless Congress clearly wants the new rule applied to earlier cases. There is nothing in the Dodd-Frank Act about allowing the S.E.C. to pursue administrative cases for conduct prior to July 22, 2010, which works in Mr. Gupta’s favor.

But the Supreme Court also noted this presumption would not necessarily apply to every change in the law, so that “the court must ask whether the new provision attaches new legal consequences to events completed before its enactment.”

Exactly what impact the Dodd-Frank Act had on Mr. Gupta’s rights will be the key to the retroactivity issue. The S.E.C. can point to language in the Landgraf opinion in which the Supreme Court explained that “changes in procedural rules may often be applied in suits arising before their enactment without raising concerns about retroactivity.”

The S.E.C. is likely to argue that expanding its authority to pursue a civil penalty and disgorgement before an administrative judge is merely a “procedural” change that does not affect the substance of the securities laws. In addition, even before the Dodd-Frank Act, it could have sought a cease-and-desist order against Mr. Gupta in an administrative proceeding for violating the securities laws, even though it could not obtain any penalty, so adding to the available remedies did not alter any rights he might have had.

Mr. Gupta’s lawsuit points out the significant changes affected by the Dodd-Frank Act’s authorization to pursue securities violations in administrative proceedings, perhaps most importantly denying him the right to have a jury decide his liability for the suspected insider trading violations if the case had been filed in federal court. The presumption is against retroactive application of a new law, so having the case decided by an administrative judge and then reviewed by the S.E.C. itself could be viewed as impairing “rights a party possessed when he acted.”

Not surprisingly, the law in this area is murky at best. Each side can point to language in Landgraf that support the conclusion that the provision should, or should not, be read to allow the S.E.C. to pursue an administrative hearing on whether Mr. Gupta’s tipped off Mr. Rajaratnam.

If Judge Rakoff accepts the case, we can certainly expect him to demand an expeditious resolution of the issue, much as he has done in the past when overseeing S.E.C. litigation by setting short deadlines and quick trial dates. Regardless of the outcome, Mr. Gupta’s lawsuit highlights how aggressively he intends to fight the S.E.C.’s charges.

list to interview people

2011-03-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

1. police chief
2.fire chief
3 fire marshal
4 fbi agent in chief
5.justice of supreme court
6 justice of high court
7.justice of federal court
8.top defence lawyer
9. richest man in state
10 poorest man in state
11, man who has everything
112 man wit long historical memory
13 scholar of great reputation
14 scholar of bad repute.
15 innovators
16 great surgeon
17.great healer
18a child of 4
19 a child of 12
20 a drop out
21 migrant kid
22. prostitute
23.priest
24 hooker
25 drug addict.
26 a hunred year old person
27.A person who was present in historical moment{eyewitness)

please help me include others

J,D, Salinger and "catcher in rye" . "NOT JD SALINGER SCHOLARSHIP"

2011-03-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

One of Salingers Alma Matter for years wanted to capitalise on his popularity and promote literature in their Pennsylvania Urisinus College.

JDS had lived in dorm for one semester and had been writing for the school paper.In last fifty years "catcher in rye had be required reading in many of high schools in the country and students have sympathised with the bratty Holden Caulfield and his lover.

When college announced a 30000 scholarship in JD's name they got a letter for them not to exploit his name and stop.

As time went by they chose a scholarship "not JD Saliger scholarship " with the prize that the winner will stay in Salingers dorm room with the plaque "Salinger slept here."To win the scholarship a freshman would have to write a literary piece.

I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE URSINUS COLLEGE IS SUCCESSFUL IN DOING SO AS I AM BLOGGING ABOUT IT AND NEW YORK TIMES HAS GIVEN IT NICE SPACE IN IT.AFTER THE DEATH OF SALINGER HE HAS GOT MORE INK IN TIMES. IT JUST HAPPENS I HAD READ 'CATCHER IN RYE' NOT LONG AGO AND FOUND IT VERY MEDIOCRE.

very nice description of lfe in one town in California

2011-03-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

Ramesh Gopalan
Calif.
March 11th, 2011
11:13 amThe global melting pot is alive and well.
Last night, we ate at our local Asian Indian eatery in Fremont, CA. - serving only vegetarian, South Indian cuisine. There only 4 staff in this place - a Peruvian head cook, a Mexican assistant cook and the Guatemalan waitress, and the South Indian (sort of) manager - who speaks only Spanish to this staff, who understand little else.
The waitress' 4yr old son was playing a video game sitting on a milk crate. but exclaiming only in English, even while making sure to talk to his mother in Spanish. His mother set up a plate of dosas and sambar (S. Indian fare, not Latin American) which he happily ate, washing it down with mango lassi.
Down the street is a Thai restaurant, run by ethnic Chinese, where the clientele is almost entirely Indian.

about patents for drugs and innovation

2011-03-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

Lipitor a 10 billion drug is going of the patent and Pfizer will lose the cash stream from this patent.Somehow the media is feeling sorry for them. The whole drug innovation and patent system has served the drug industry and all inventors reasonably well.
Now it has become a racket to try to increase the time for the patents by filing appeals against the generic manufacturers.We should all CELEBRATE this going of the patent with a party.Cost savings to the nation will be from this one drug will be in tune of 6 to 8 billion dollars. Worldwide savings will be even higher.

The questions have been raised by several studies in Canada where it has been found that the positive effects of lowering Cholesterol by medication is minimal for generally healthy citizens.It may be asked if we are creating Mega drugs with little benefits to the public.It is time that we study how any billion dollars in expenses for the society can benefit the nation.

This argument is not against the special care given to patients in USA.But is about public funds spent on all the systems from aggressive prenatal care to aggressive end of life care.

The money saved by one drug going generic is enough to end one major killer of humanity like Malaria (over 2 million deaths a year).

We need to reduce human suffering and improve quality of life not extend marginal lives by few hours in vegetative state.Given the choice like all informed people we will choose life of Independence over life dependent on even inanimate machines.

Duff Wilson writing for New York Times states that ten drugs with sales of 50 billion dollars will go of patent this year.We have a potential of saving 40 billion dollars now on per year.If we look at the benefits from this protection ending we could wipe out many diseases from the poorest parts of the world so in a global village we will protect us from those diseases becoming epidemics .

The new drug innovation should be speeded and efforts be mad that new drugs be reasonably priced to benefit the patients otherwise we will have two tier service and cost for medical care.I was checking that the drug cocktail needed as first line of defence against Aids is 3500 hundred dollars per month in US and in India though it is very difficult for people without health care to afford the drugs a months supply is 40 us dollars per month.We will be hard pressed if poorer nations did not honor our drug patents to protect the lives of Its citizens.

In USA we had paid Bayer several billion dollars for Cipro for the Anthrax scare while a Pharmacology specialist friend had told me that drugs could have been manufactured by National health services for only a few million dollars and stored for use in case of eventual emergency .If it would be still under patent protection royalty could be paid to the rightful owners. He told me that Cipro was not under any such protection.

Violence against religious minorities continues in Pakistan.

2011-03-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

Sad sad day in Pakistan!!

Today minority affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti was gunned down in cold blood in targeted killing in the Capital city of Islamabad.

Mr Bhatti was threatened and felt that he was target of the Pakistani Tehrike Taliban group.This has happened only 54 days after Mr Salman Taseer governor of Panjab was gunned down by his body guard for asking to repeal the bad blasphemy laws a sad memory of Zia ul Haq's rule.

Sadly the killer of Taseer A fundamentalist named Kadir was garlanded by lawyers when presented to the court in violation of any professional courtesy or human dignity.President Zardari did not even attend the the Funeral of Mr Taseer sending signal that he was afraid of the militarist Islamic groups in Pakistan who had declared a war on any group who wanted to repeal Blasphemy laws as they are a way to victimise the minorities in Pakistan.This all had started when a christian was charged by Blasphemy laws in her village and was sentenced to death on trumped up charges of Blasphemy. All the voices of reason That is Taseer and now Bhatti are being silenced one by one.Last remaining Sikhs are moving out and have to pay special tax(Jazia) even for minimal peace to Taliban.

By keeping Blasphemy laws which are a tool for Jihadi and extremist religious parties life for minorities is being made totally unbearable and mockery of freedom of conscience is being made.Silence on the part of leadership is deafening.Mr Bhatti was the only non Muslim member of the federal cabinet.

Sherry Rehman former information minister who at times had talked about repealing the blasphemy law has been a target of Killing .Hope she gets additional security in light of these murders.

Pakistani Government is responsible for not providing adequate security to Mr Bhatti and in the process for his death.

Case against Mr Kadir must be prosecuted to the fullest extant of the law.

Sadly many of the Leadders of religious parties protesting against repeal of Blasphemy laws live in England and visit USA on regular basis.The status of these so called leaders should be challenged and if they are against the american or British law their priviledges in these coultries should be curtailed.

Maulana Fazalur Rehman (2L) chief of the Pakistani religious party Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) addresses the crowd during a rally in Karachi on January 9, 2011, against the amendment of the Blasphemy law. More than 50,000 people rallied in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, police said, against the controversial reform of a blasphemy law that was behind the killing of a senior politician

Altaf Hussain a leader of MQM addresed to his followers from England that their was no need to protest as government has changed its mind about repealing Blasphemy law.

Anant Pai, 81, Is Dead; Comics Told Indian Children Their Country’s Stories

2011-02-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

Anant Pai, 81, Is Dead; Comics Told Indian Children Their Country’s Stories

New York Times has an obituary of a comic creater Uncle Anant Pai who created "Amar Chitra Katha". A comic book creater and publisher who thought that history has to be made interesting for youth to maintain their interest.Comic was ideal medium to do so .He was one of the earliest comic creaters in India.Prior to that Indian papers used to use only syndicated foreign comics.

By making a picture book of history and other folk and religous tales he made culture aadn history accessible to young of India.India is indebted to him .In a way whole world knows a little more about India from his books.

Earth is worth 3000 trillion,Really !

2011-02-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Earth is worth 3000 trillion.That value may be for the possibility that we are already here and earth has a hospitable environment. One wonders if this valuation is worth solely for its environment or the inhabitants.
Some of the planets are not worth much as they are far away from the humans and would be very costly to reach them with negative value for the human currency.Earth with its environment and life diversity has great economical value.As we pollute the waters and air including the fauna and flora value of the earth is decreasing.

If we do not pay much attention we may have a planet not as useful for human habitation and will increase the cost of habitation in it.

Areas away from equator are more expensive( in caloric needs) to live and reduce value of the planet.
If we increase the brain power of the inhabitants we will have a planet much higher valued than otherwise.I guess the valuation is based on Flora,fauna,water,land, atmosphere and the humans who can make decisions independent of all other factors to improve the well being of one species and may be many others.

How much the Human capacity alone is worth .With six billion population.If we can bring value to each human at one million dollars( in body parts they may be worth more in present market conditions) the race is worth six million billion that is six thousand thousand million.Oh that is six thousand trillion.

Finally it seems the scientist who calculated the value of earth at 3000 trillion was Short changing us .Humans alone can be worth double of that.If you added all the other stuff it becomes a complex matter and new questions arise?

What is the cost of exploitation of the resources of this planet.Is the value received from oil for transportation enough to offset losses to environment because of depletion of resources ,hydrocarbon release in the atmosphere and other impact on the species native to earth.

Breast Feeding controversy,because some can not miss a chance

2011-02-21T08:17:00.000-08:00

These are craziest of time .It is no more acceptable that 2 plus 2 is four .It has become and issue who is saying it.Politics in America has become very polarized.Lines are blurred.Even good ideas are not welcome somebody wants to criticise even motherhood and breast milk for the babies.

Sides are so polarized if one side comes in support of breast feeding the children other comes against it on the premise that government wants to control how parents raise their children.I thought that it was governments job to help us raise our future citizens and if breast feeding is good for mothers and children's physical health and mental well being and economical and ecological way to raise the children all would be for it.Not if Michele Obama first lady of the united states is promoting it.

Then their are others who want to sell the fancy breast pumps with tax exempt dollars.Help to poor parents to pay for the needs of children is always respectable.These people are OK for tax breaks for oil companies(i do not think all of them are bad) but are against tax exempt status for breast pumps.I am for the tax break for all new mothers to use as they need for children.

LET US TAKE BREAST FEEDING OUT OF POLITICS .I AM SURE PEOPLE IN CHINA MUST BE LAUGHING AT OUR SILLY POLITICS.

40 years have not healed the pain. Story of Bangladesh.

2011-02-20T15:16:00.001-08:00

Some hurts are too deep to heal by time alone.Of those one can call the pain caused by separation and partition of India and Pakistan,Holocaust, and may be atrocities committed By Pakistani forces in East Pakistan during the freedom struggle in 1971.

It seems if somebody wanted to make a love story of A SS soldier and his Jewish girl friend and their love and struggle .It will be hard for a Jewish person who has been a victim of the tragedy commit ed by Hitler and his cohorts to accept as a simply on the merits of story. Wounds are too deep to forgive yet and may be the victim can never get enough solace to forgive even after this lapse of time.

In case of Bangladesh's wounds might be too raw .Forty years is a short time in the memory of a nation.Some times i wonder that may be the reason for all these wars Between India and Pakistan and the hatred openly displayed. This hatred only make us lesser and madder.Questions may be asked if the film makers are intentionally inciting the raw nerves or have an artistic view to promote.

This whole controversy is raised by the new Liberation film made and being shown in Bangladesh called "Meherjaan" starring beloved Indian actress Jaya Bachchan and Victor Banerjee.It is love story where a Pakistani soldier falls in love with a Bangladeshi Girl and is court martial for disobeying the command.

Forty years a very short time to forget when 3 million Bangladesh's were killed in independence struggle and 200,000 girls and women were raped by Pakistani soldiers.Sadly there has been no effort on the part of Pakistani people and Military to admit atrocities and make mends for the tragedy.It seems that no responsible leader has ever even shown remorse and expressed regret on behalf of the nation for the wrongs done 40 years ago.Let us start with Sorry and begging for forgiveness. I hope that such tragedies can be avoided in the future and reconciliation and justice be the ways of the world.

Sri Jayadeva Institute of cardiology

2011-02-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

Just check out how with little India is doing wonders .See this heart hospital with 530 beds.

Sri Jayadeva Institute of CardiologyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology (SJIC) Bangalore, is a tertiary care autonomous institute run by the Government of Karnataka, in Bangalore. It presently has 530 in-patient beds for cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and pediatric cardiology, spread over two twin eight story buildings and is considered one of the largest dedicated heart hospitals in Asia. The new building which was commissioned in 2001, was built at a cost of 17 million dollars[1]

Location: It is located on Bannerghatta Road,Jayanagar, Bangalore.

some data on PGI Chandigarh on wikipedia.

2011-02-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Graduate_Institute_of_Medical_Education_and_Research

Tahrir Square and freedom.

2011-02-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

ADD TO THE REVOLUTIONS OF PAST THE TAHRIR SQUARE OVERTHROW OF MUBARAK AND HIS RULE BY ORDINARY CITIZENS Not even well organised,without leadership but with single purpose FREEDOM.They knew one thing they were sick and tired of being sick and tired of the treatment by the rulers.They demanded that,respect and dignity be restored to the ordinary people and by their will alone it was restored on Friday february 10th 2011.

I PRAY THAT IN new found freedoms Egypt(Misr) would find repect for individuial faith and choice.If Misar succeeds we will be able to undermine the dictators worldwide .They will know that america can be better ally to the democracy even when they choose paths not in total alliance with ours,i hope they may keep the dialogues going.
My hats OFF to Obama for not siding unduly with long term ally President Mubarak of Egypt.He gave adequate support to the protesters and asked them to remain peaceful.In the end that technique won.Gandhi and Martin must be smiling over them.It is a great moment for human history.Nelson Mandela lived through this revolution and has been a witness to Tunisia's revolution in last month .

It is time that Life time leaders like Castro Brothers,Chavez,Qaddafi see and unleash the human spirit for its potential.

Would it not be better if Pope appointed half the bishops women.It would be even better if choice of marriage was available to Catholic priests.

Oh break the shackles of women's subordination and let them be the full partners in the society where they always contribute more than 50 percent.

Somebody once said that women can do everything better than men.A wise ass said remarked he could pee farther and was replied back not if you did not hold your pecker.

FINAL OBSERVATION IN LAST TWENTY SO YEARS TWO SQUARES IN THE WORLD HAS BEEN IN THE mAJOR NEWS .TINNAMEN SQUARE A SYMBOL OR REPRESSION AND TAHRIR SQUARE HAS BEEN A SYMBOL OF HUMAN DIGNITY AND VICTORY OF REASON AND FREEDOM OVER FORCES OF NEGATIVE THOUGHT.

My guests for protest at Pakistani Embassy

2011-02-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

AT least on from each faith and from different nationality

1.hindu
2.Jain
3. sikh
4.budhists
5. thai
6.srilankan
7.Tibetan
8.From taiwan
9.Combodian
10 .shia
11.sunny
12 Ahmadi
13. methodist,
14. catholic
15.eastern orthodox
16. greek orthodox
17. lutheren,
18 .baptist
19. southern baptist
20 .agnostics
21 .atheist
22. bahai
23. zorostrian
24 .Nirankari
25 .vedanti
26.Haitian shurch
27 . woodoo
28 hare krishna
29 jewish
30

Please feel free to add to the list.A notification will be sent to news papers and tv stations.
Will need to create a list of all attendees the organizations athey belong to and their contact info along with e-mail.

A statement will be made and sent to all the Congressman and senators and the international missions.in new york and dc.

Sabrina's Stay at Military guest house in India. 'THEEK HEY'

2011-02-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

My daughter Sabrina while in India for January this year had an opportunity to stay in Military Officers Guest house .She was sharing the room with her 16 years old cousin.
To make her stay more exciting(my assumption)my cousins who are ex military officers in India told her that Foreigners are not allowed to stay in Military rest house.She was told to pass as an Indian.She figured no problem and decided to use Theek Hey (it is OK ) as answer to most questions.In the morning a military attendant came in at 8:30 with bed tea for them.Bed tea is tradition in many homes first thing in the morning.Her cousin was sleeping.Attendant asked in Hindi if she would like tea every hour. Sabrina not understanding what he was asking shyly nodded her head and said Theek Hey.

This uniformed attendant(military recruit) came every hour with military punctuality with a pot of tea.Annoying the cousin as no body wanted the tea.They only wanted to be left alone .When cousin got annoyed with the attendant and said why are you bothering us and bringing us tea every hour ,he simply said the other lady had ordered the tea.She had hard time convincing him that it was all a mistake.

They all had lots of laughs when ever they heard her say Theek Hey.

A Gandhian of American descent commits suicide, failing to get Indian citizenship !

2011-01-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

John James Knaeebel 71 years old American committed suicide by self immolation.He had lived in India for 15 years .He was Vietnam war veteran.

He left behind a brief suicide note, blaming the US and Indian governments.He had moved to India in 1995 and when his visa expired he burnt his documents in Raj Ghat and asked for political asylum in India.Which he was denied .He was very distraught and committed suicide by self immolation. He blamed US and Indian governments for it.

He was a California native.He is survived by a son and a daughter in USA and hundreds of friends and well wishers in Jaipur.

30 hours at the Chabad House. a play

2011-01-30T10:12:00.000-08:00

30 hours at Chabad house in Mumbai

1.Scene at the house with rabbi his wife and son and made and the house guests
General picture of it beginning and arrival of this couple and their child birth.
2.Let people arrive in Mumbai and after killing so many peole arrive at the house.
3. how they empower the house and take hostages
4.dialogue s between rabbi and master minds and conversations to karachi and the masters
5.attempt by Rabbi to negotiate
6. Disappearance by the maid.her words and reasoning.
7.shooting and arrival of the commandos
8 final shoot out
9.hope and rebirth and conflict anew.

45 pages of script
main characters
dialogue
scenery
Sanskrit hyms
Hebrew Hyms
arabic Hyms
Allah hu akbar ( connected with death)
allah hu akbar ( connected with survival)
Ram Ram ( peaceful name of god)
Start as a 20 minuites of play as first incarnation
Any blacks american or african during this carnage

Bird bath heaters

2011-01-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

It is an important subject.Many things we become aware of by hearing from people with better knowledge and mindful living.One of such person I get inspiration from is Dr John Halamka CIO of Harvard medical school and many other institutions.He is very involved with EMR and meaningful use mandate for the federal rules.

He is a vegan,Emergency room Physician and outdoors man ,environmentalist who believes in living light and improve quality of human existence.He mentioned in his blog geekdoctor.blogspot.com that he puts out bird food in his yard and has a heated birdbath which makes water available for drinking for the birds.He has written about the birds attracted to his yard because of all these goodies.He has mentioned that he had seen a cardinal taking bath in his heated bird bath(for temperatures under 30 degrees bird baths are useless unless heated to keep water in liquid state .

I searched on web for heaters and found some available for under 20 dollars 45 watts capacity.I imagine they should be adequate for a moderate winter. If one has a heated bird bath in winter birds may visit such places rather than fly to far away unfrozen lakes or water dripping from melting snow.

In his blog he has a picture of a hawk perched on a tree in his yard.As he is a vegan he mentions that as cardinals were attracted to his yard he has also seen a hawk devour a cardinal.I guess such is the nature.Vegan or not one can not change nature.

Only Humans get to choose to become vegan,ego vegetarian,chicken eaters or meat potato(steak) people.Other than religious reasons many of us choosing to be vegetarians of various degrees.Thanks to human development .Even 50 years ago it was very difficult for Eskimos and Tibetans to be vegetarians.they would have to survive on Yak Milk or caribou milk for nutrition.

I WONDER DID YAK GAVE ICE CREAM INSTEAD OF MILK IN WINTER WHEN IT WAS COLD.BRRR..

Sex and reproduction and genetic effects of lack of sex.

2011-01-29T08:38:00.000-08:00

Lack of Sex Among Grapes Tangles a Family Vine
By NICHOLAS WADE

A very interesting article puts lack of sex in a story and as such gets the attention. Sex is a heavy weight three letter world to get attention .It is documented highest price paid for the domaine name Sex.com.Editors of NYT got my attention by using these words even if they cleared that it was only in case of grapes.

If you look at the studies (not a very scientific study by me)there is much larger initial interest in vouerism and not always leading to more sex.In humans because advent of birthcontrol Sex is not just for procreation can be for fun and good health.One may find folies in sex among unmarried people and extra promiscuity for social and pscychological reasons.Value of sex between couples in commited relationship is encouraged and even celebrated .

Let us see the procreation in grapes .They have used mostly cloning and starting from a branch as the method for creating new wineyards.It only means that the reproduction has been assigned to a method where genes of father and mother plant are comixed and a genetic mixer of the two is created which carries the quality of both parents. Lacking this reinvention of the more vibrant genepool, scintist fear the problems in grapes similar to the ones they have observed in Humans when interbreeding between cousins happen and they have tried to avoid this in the genepool of the lions .

This Author(Nicholas Wade)is alarming the community of this abberation in the genepool of the grapes.Some of the wine growers may say they have the best grapes for wine (superstars or champions) and so they are just making copies of them to maintain highest standards of wine.Here is even in animal kingdom we mate the best horses with variet of mares so we may hve even more valuable horses.In case of grapes we have choosen amethod closer to cloning by grafting.

Sex and lack of it even in Grapes make an interesting story.

Nicholas Kristof "Jesus evicted In Hospital By bishop"

2011-01-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

Catholic hospitals have 15 % of hospital beds and form the back bone of medical education and medical care.At times Hospitals have terminated pregnancies when life of mother was in danger.Now some Bishops have decided to punish the Hospitals for perfoming life saving abortions and have taken the rights of hosptals to serve the spritual needs of the patients and their families .

Bishop Olmsted initially excommunicated a nun, Sister Margaret McBride, who had been on the hospital’s ethics committee and had approved of the decision. That seems to have been a failed attempt to bully the hospital into submission, but it refused to cave and continues to employ Sister Margaret. Now the bishop, in effect, is excommunicating the entire hospital — all because it saved a woman’s life.

This ammounts to eviction of Jesus from the hospital.

This is what is happening In good old USA .Bravo to the hospital for standing up to The powers which may want to control peoples lives even beyond graveto protect them while they are still on this earth.

Stimulus payemts By John Halamka 1/24/2011

2011-01-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011

Obtaining Meaningful Use Stimulus Payments
Many clinicians and hospitals have asked me about the exact steps to obtain stimulus payments.

On January 3, 2011, CMS began registering clinicians for participation in meaningful use programs. Every region of the United States has Regional Extension Centers which can help answer any questions. Here's an overview of the steps you need to take.

1. Choose between Medicare and Medicaid programs. If you qualify, Medicaid offers greater incentives and does not require you to achieve meaningful use before stimulus payments begin.
a. To qualify for Medicaid, 30% of your patient encounters must be Medicaid patients. (20% for pediatricians)
b. To qualify for Medicare, keep in mind that meaningful use payments are made at 75% of Medicare allowable charges for covered professional services in the calendar year of payment, per the payment maximums below:

Year 1 $18,000
Year 2 $12,000
Year 3 $8000
Year 4 $4000
Year 5 $2000

Thus, a total of $44,000 is available at maximum, but could be less if your allowable Medicare charges are less than

Year 1 $24,000
Year 2 $16,000
Year 3 $10,667
Year 4 $5333
Year 5 $2667

Also, if 90% of your Medicare charges take place in inpatient or emergency department locations, you cannot qualify for the meaningful use program. This means that emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and pathologists generally cannot participate. Some professionals may also find that they do not have enough Medicaid or Medicare charges to benefit from either program.

2. Once you've chosen Medicare or Medicaid, you must register to participate
a. You need a National Provider Identifier and password. If you do not have one, go to the NPPES website.
b. One you have a password, go to the CMS EHR Incentives Website and register as an eligible professional
c. Two valuable resources include the Registration User's Guide and the CMS overview of the EHR incentive programs.

3. The Meaningful Use demonstration period is 90 days beginning January 1, 2011 so the first date that you can attest to meaningful use of Certified EHR technology is April 1, 2011. Note that the EHR technology you use must be certified by the time you attest. You can begin your meaningful use reporting period using uncertified EHR technology as long as it is certified by the end of your reporting period.

Medicare payments will begin in May. Medicaid payments are administered by states and will begin when state governments are ready to administer the program. Some states are ready now and others will not be ready until August. Remember that Medicaid payments start before meaningful use is achieved so there is no need to wait for meaningful use measurement and attestation for the Medicaid program.

Hospital requirements are similar
a. First, you must locate the following, which your Revenue Cycle staff are likely to have:
CMS Identity and Access Management (I&A) User ID and Password.
CMS Certification Number (CCN).
National Provider Identifier (NPI).
Hospital Tax Identification Number.
b. Go to the CMS EHR Incentives Website and register as an eligible hospital
c. The Hospital Registration User's Guide is a valuable resource

Here's a summary of the key dates for the program:

January 1, 2011 – Reporting year begins for eligible professionals.
January 3, 2011 – Registration for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins.
January 3, 2011 – For Medicaid providers, states may launch their programs if they so choose.
April 2011 – Attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins.
May 2011 – EHR Incentive Payments expected to begin.
July 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
September 30, 2011 – Last day of the federal fiscal year. Reporting year ends for eligible hospitals and CAHs.
October 1, 2011 – Last day for eligible professionals to begin their 90-day reporting period for calendar year 2011 for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
November 30, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to register and attest to receive an Incentive Payment for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2011.
December 31, 2011 – Reporting year ends for eligible professionals.
February 29, 2012 – Last day for eligible professionals to register and attest to receive an Incentive Payment for calendar year (CY) 2011.

I hope this clarifies your next steps. May your stimulus funds flow quickly in 2011!
POSTED BY JOHN HALAMKA AT 3:00 AM

Pt Bhimsen Joshi a great master of indian classical music no more

2011-01-23T23:44:00.000-08:00

A great Master of Indian classical music is no more at the age of 88 .He sang in public till two years ago.
He was responsible to for starting Sawai Gandharav music fest in honor of his Guru.

He was honored by all the highest civilian honors given by Government of India.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWPFHYvGav4

This piece showes the mastry of Bhim Joshi Sahib and Docttor Balamurali Krishna in Jugal bandhi in Raag Yaman Kalyan.

My salutations to these to great masters.

Pt Bhimsen Joshi the grand master .I salute you. Sadar Namashkar.

Farid Zachharia and Kissinger the appologist

2011-01-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

Henry Kissinger has been ,that is right has been at the center of power.National security adviser and then secretary of state of USA. That is a great achievement for German Jew who had lived through the Nazi Period.

He has his views and at times they are not sympathetic to the common man ,every thing he sees is in east west conflict terms.He along with Nixon opened the way to China and brought China in the American camp.this has been a great success for China They with the single party communism and a anti religion policy have brought in state capitalism.In this system they as the communist party has accumulated all the power including economic power. With the help of more free and capitalistic Hong Kong they have maneuvered and improved international trade where they are the factory of the world and is largest trading partner with the largest countries.This trade is substantially subsidised by trade surplus with United States of America.

Kissinger was apologist for the Chinese.i wonder how large a clients they are of Kissinger and vice versa.It is sad that we can not always trust the motives of our former officials .Today it seems that in America everything is for sale.We call it consulting, or lobbying when it is done honestly.

Kissinger was saying that we should be sympathetic to Chinese way of thinking.They should be aware that they do not make us mad as we are still source of their wealth and have much stronger alliances with the other international players.

America has very strong Cards .It is time that all Pundits realise that.America has six times larger GDP and is one third the population of China.

It is time that Indians are becoming aware that with population closer to China It has one third the GDP of China. It wants and needs to improve its economy for the upcoming young populations of the nation.India's demographics and English language makes it a great candidate for direct interaction with the nation. If India works its cards well it can develop its GDP and end hunger,poverty and development.It is a great laboratory for the world to show that free,pluralistic,multicultural,multi religious and multilingual society can come out of extreme poverty .

WE ARE BETTING ON IT.

Test taking the best way to learning

2011-01-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

We spend a lot of time learning and then take tests to evaluate the learning .It is a good method if all have equal capacities to reproduce learning and take tests.

We can start a new method where we learn and reinforced learning by taking tests .it will train our children to take the test and in the process teach them more and for sure retention will be much higher.

Till grade five you do not need much organised testing .Then the testing can be regular and daily. Tests may be developed which promote learning.Questions and the learning can be sequential where one learns low level and then learns higher level learning .

For higher learning processes need to be developed and all need to learn how to read and retain most of what we learn.We all need to learn a core set of subjects to be an outstanding student.It is agreed that language and a foreign language science, math, algebra,trigonometry,geometry,chemistry,physics,Philosophy,logic and methods of Scientific enquiry have to be learned then only we can be wholesome learners and leaders in learning.Any body lacking in any of the subjects(rudimentary knowledge) will not be able to understand and explain and decide complex relationship of knowledge to human relationship. Plato was correct even two Millennium ago the fundamentals of learning are strong.Yes I would add one more capacity to express in writing,vocal and visual method in the processes of learning.

This is a unique time.Soon we will be able to catalogue video and audio and find it when we need it .It seemed not doable part just a generation ago.All the written words of English are already catalogued. We are coming closer to having other works catalogued also.

Prepare all for core learning and through regular testing let us build a well educated society.

Trade as tool for India.

2011-01-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

USA is the nation with largest amount of GDP and largest trade in the world.It is USA which has given opportunity to China in spite of its State Capitalism and internal communism without equal rights for all.No religious and freedom of thought. America has thought that more trade will make China more free and responsive to world opinion and more democratic.

With the help of American enterprises China has the largest trade with USA .This trade is in favor of China .Where it is running about 300 billion dollars in Favor of China.China has done well with this trade surplus and has built trade with EU and other American allies and have become largest trading nation with India,Taiwan,Korea and others.

This is good politics for China .In case of India where China is providing lot of manufactured goods it is counter productive for a cheap labor country to buy all the manufactured low value products.One of the reason is that the raw material cost as well as power and other infrastructure costs have handicapped Indian small businesses. Even the Gods are being imported from China made by atheist Chinese Han.The items not officially imported from China are being smuggled in through Nepal,Burma,Bangladesh.

If India wants to be a relevant economic player and want to develop Double GDP in five years it will have to do more trade with USA and other developed nations.In the process the developed nations with their capital can develop India's Infrastructure and education for all where per capita education and income could be raised and may give the benefit of Young and Vibrant India to the all of the aging developed world.

This a short window May be 5 to ten years where India can make the progress and help the world to improve health,education and standard of Living.In this, India with a large number English speaking people has an advantage of ten years against China.In India they can not be lazy because China has Hong Kong and Taiwan which are very developed Communities and are part of the Chinese Sphere of Influence India lacks any such developed relationship.

Our Relationship in the Indian Diaspora in USA,Canada, England,Australia and south Africa can and should be used for development .Such opportunities do not come often and we should not miss them.

It should be made clear to all democratic nations that we want technology transfer in Parity with China a communist country where it is illegal to Teach child Religion of parents till they are 18 years of age.They are raising godless children for over 50 years.In today's China it is feared to be first generation who were godless not by choice after search but by birth where all the training is denial of God as a public Policy.It is a nation where ancient languages and cultures are dying.

Barbara Striesand invited to state dinner.

2011-01-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

Mr Hu of China had two important public meals in DC today .One was hosted by VP Biden and Secretary Hillary Clinton.

In the evening President hosted a state dinner in honor of the visiting president.With limited capacity in the white house for dinner additional rooms were used to accommodate the large number of guests.

Some who did not make it felt that they could not compete with Carters and Clintons. Fare reason.The answer given by Barabara was the best .When asked why she was invited she said because she had worked one time in a Chinese Restaurant.Good answer Barbara.

Paulo Coelho blog on Vespers

2011-01-18T07:25:00.000-08:00

San Francisco, United States

I walk through a park with my former American editor, John Loudon, and his wife, Sharon. We can see the city of San Francisco in the distance, illuminated by the setting sun.
Sharon wrote a book about a Benedictine monastery, and tells us that the afternoon prayers, called vespers, are songs of faith in the certainty that the night will pass.

- The vespers indicate the necessity we have to be near others at nightfall – she says. – But our society has forgotten the importance of this nearness, and pretends to greatly prize each person’s ability to deal with his own difficulties. We no longer pray together; we hide our solitude as if we were afraid to admit it exists.

Sharon pauses, before adding:

- I was like that once. Until one day I lost my fear of depending on my neighbor, because I discovered that he too needed me.

Rewriting hindu mythology and questioning the myth by 21st century logic.

2011-01-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Supreme court in a Judgement is trying to define the History of India to settle a rights case.this case involved mistreatment of a tribal woman who was stripped naked for having a liason with some person and paraded through the village.
Court increased the punishment of the culprits and has gone further in promoting the status of the tribals as the originals INdians who form about 8 percent of the population and called India a nation of long ago waves of immigration who made it their home.

Court has gone as far as criticising one of the most Famous of GURU's for asking a Dakshina(gift for teaching)of thumb of a tribal student who having accepted him as his guru studied and became greatest archer.Court wrote that Guru Droanacharya did wrong and improperly asked Eklavya to give gift of his right hand thumb which he did to honor his Guru.

Guru was selfish he wanted his favourite Arjun to be the greatest Archer.
Court wrote that inspite of shameful treatment of tribals ,they have maintained a high standard of morals.

A view on Trade and China,US and Pakistan

2011-01-12T10:06:00.001-08:00

Ram Ji Just a view :

China with its trade with west and transfer of technology and manufacturing has become a powerful nation and is able to leverage it in many fields including military power and power projection.

USA,India and Eu can not continue this imbalance in trade in favor of China.This trade will have to be substantially balanced .West with its high labor cost and living standard will have to develop alternate ways to balance this trade .In the process standard of living in west will stagnate and in India and china and other poorer nations it will get better still below the western standard but much better than the historical levels.

This gives a great opportunity to India.India needs to develop infrastructure and need to make products and provide services.With its english proficient population it has advantage for another ten years over others.It needs to tripple trade with US And EU in five years by buying technology and systems and slowly become a provider of low wage labor,services .If we miss the opportunity and are seduced by marginally cheaper goods from China mostly smuggled through Bangladesh,and Nepal.India needs to make sure that no goods are imported from China without Duty so that our economic system is not compromised by this method.

Develop trade with so we may remain relevant USA.It is said America's business is business That means unless we become at least number five or so trader with USA and EU , we will remain irrelevant to the political classes of the west.

Development of soft power with the thinkers of America is another place where we could do better.If you read the book Charlie Wilsons war one becomes aware how he was able to manipulate american system in Pakistans's favor.We should minimally learn how not to become victims of another Charlie Wilson.At times it seems that senator Kerry is acting as new Charlie Wilson.

Senator Kerry is the only american given Highest civilian honors of Pakistani Government.Pakistani Foreign Ministers son works as intern in his office.You guess the relationship and how he had been a supporter of Pakistani Machine while it has killed Ahmadi's, Shia,Sufi civilians.Supported Taliban leadership with training and resources,Have been supporter of anti India Jihadis and terrorists.

Have helped Taliban to attack Amrican and NATO soldiers with american money.Blasphemy laws have created an atmosphere of fear in Pakistan in all the minorities and Pakistan government is unwilling and unable to check Islamic Hardliners.The killer of Punjab Governor Taseer was garlanded with roses by lawyers the stalwarts of Pakistani intelligentia.All the power centers are impotent in face of this challenge and military is Mute.

Cheers
kul bhushan

He siad she said a one act play by alice Gerstenberg

2011-01-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

by Alice Gerstenberg

The following one-act play is reprinted from Ten One-Act Plays. Alice Gerstenberg. New York: Brentano's, 1922. It is now in the public domain and may therefore be performed without royalties.

CHARACTERS

DIANA CHESBROUGH, a society girl
ENID HALDEMAN, her friend
FELIX Haldeman, her husband
MRS. CYRUS PACKARD, their friend

SETTING

Living-room at the Haldemans, before dinner.

[Living-room at the Haldemans. Discovered Enid setting the room to rights. Enter in hat and coat and jingling a bunch of house keys Felix Haldeman. He kisses Enid affectionately as if it were a daily habit, and then tosses down the evening paper.]

FELIX: Hello, dear.

ENID: Felix, I asked Diana and Mrs. Packard over for dinner. You'd better hurry and wash up a bit.

FELIX: What? Am I to be the only man again?

ENID: Can't help it, darling. Mr. Packard's in Washington and all of Diana's suitors are in the trenches.

FELIX: There must be some old greybeard left somewhere to invite for Diana.

ENID: Oh, there are a few left-overs floating around but Diana doesn't like them. If she can't get the best male company she prefers female.

FELIX: Diana's a peach! She should have married one of the boys before they all went over. Poor Aubrey Laurence was madly in love with her.

ENID: Hurry up, there's soot on your cheek. [She taps it affectionately.]

FELIX: All right, if I have to dine with three women I'd better look my best.

ENID: (Admiringly) Yes, my dear Cock of the Walk.

FELIX: There're the evening papers. We gained three miles again. [Exit down left.]

[Enid is about to glance at the paper but is interrupted by the breezy entrance of Mrs. Packard.]

MRS. PACKARD: My dear, your maid told me to come right in.

ENID: Oh, Mrs. Packard, I'm so glad you could come on such short notice.

MRS. PACKARD: I jumped at the invitation. It's so lonesome with John away. How lucky you are to have your husband at home.

ENID: Thanks to his business, the Government prefers him here. Take off your things.

MRS. PACKARD: I'm a little early but I took advantage of the chance to ride this way in Mrs. Morgan's car. Do you like Mrs. Morgan?

ENID: Why, yes, don't you?

MRS. PACKARD: I don't think you ought to like her.

ENID: Why not?

MRS. PACKARD: She has a long, bad tongue.

ENID: Talks about people--

MRS. PACKARD: (Raises her eyebrows) Does she? You ought to hear her--but then you ought not to hear her.

ENID: About me?

MRS. PACKARD: Now, there, my dear, I have come for a jolly little dinner-party and I'm not going to gossip.

ENID: Still, if she said anything against me, I ought to protect myself--

MRS. PACKARD: That's just it, that's what I thought--and when she said--Oh, no, why should I tell you--

ENID: Why shouldn't you tell me?

MRS. PACKARD: Yes, why shouldn't I? After all, I'm one of your best friends and you ought to know--

ENID: Certainly, I ought to know--

MRS. PACKARD: But you may never forgive me--

ENID: Not forgive you for protecting me?

MRS. PACKARD: That's true, you must protect yourself. It is my duty to tell you.

ENID: What is it? You have me quite scared.

MRS. PACKARD: If she tells me a thing like that, of course, she will tell everyone else. By this time, no doubt, it's all over town.

ENID: How dreadful--what have I done--

MRS. PACKARD: It isn't what you've done--it's about Diana Chesbrough.

ENID: She's coming tonight.

MRS. PACKARD: Is she? Your invitation?

ENID: Why, yes--

MRS. PACKARD: Are you sure?

ENID: (A bit impatiently) Of course, I'm sure.

MRS. PACKARD: Well-- (She raises her shoulders and eyebrows.)

ENID: But in what way can gossip couple my name with Diana's? She is one of my best friends.

MRS. PACKARD: Oh, is she?

ENID: (Stoutly) I am quite sure she is.

MRS. PACKARD: Maybe she is--still, they wonder why Diana didn't marry one of the boys before they went off to war.

ENID: Why should she have--

MRS. PACKARD: Yes, why should she have really--still--anyone as attractive as Diana--she had plenty of chances, didn't she?

ENID: Oh, yes.

MRS. PACKARD: That's what they say. All nice men, too, and one or two real catches--don't you think it's strange Diana didn't marry one of them?

ENID: Yes, I do think it's strange.

MRS. PACKARD: (Pouncingly) There! Of course you do! I said it. But why do you think she didn't?

ENID: I don't know.

MRS. PACKARD: What does she say?

ENID: I think she--

MRS. PACKARD: Exactly! It's just what everyone is saying. And everybody feels so sorry for you.

ENID: Sorry for me?

MRS. PACKARD: My dear, you get all the sympathy.

ENID: What for?

MRS. PACKARD: Is it possible you have been so blind?

ENID: Blind, I?

MRS. PACKARD: You're with each other a great deal aren't you?

ENID: Yes--

MRS. PACKARD: And your husband--

ENID: Ah, that's what you mean--

MRS. PACKARD: Oh, my poor dear, that's what they say--

ENID: Just what do they say?

MRS. PACKARD: That she and--oh, no, my dear, of course I don't believe it, but--

ENID: (Worried) But just in exact words what do they say--

MRS. PACKARD: Hasn't he ever admired her in your presence--

ENID: Yes--

MRS. PACKARD: What does he say--

ENID: Oh, that she's a peach and popular and all the men like her and many of them want to marry her and--

MRS. PACKARD: There you are! That's just it! They said so and Mrs. Morgan told me that Diana refused the other men because--well she said because-- (Sees Diana entering, changes the subject quickly.) Oh, Diana, you dear, sweet thing, good evening.

DIANA: (Enters back center, gay, happy, pretty, unconsciously friendly) Hello, Mrs. Packard. Hello, Enid, old top. (Kisses Enid.) I'm early, because I came straight up from town after dressing at the club. Canteen work all day. How's everybody?

ENID: I've been nursing at the hospital all afternoon.

DIANA: Isn't Enid a trump, doing the home nursing and releasing someone else to get the glory over there? I'd have gone over there myself--

MRS. PACKARD: (Pouncingly) Why didn't you?

DIANA: Against the law. I have relatives in the trenches. Oh, I'd love the romance of being there. Enid, get the letter from your brother, won't you, and read it to Mrs. Packard? He gives such unusually interesting descriptions--

ENID: Yes, it's most interesting. Excuse me a moment, it's in my desk upstairs.

[Exit Enid back center.]

MRS. PACKARD: (With a backward glance to see if Enid is out of hearing) My dear Miss Chesbrough, pardon me for seeming to presume, but I am only trying to save you. Are you aware of what people are saying about you?

DIANA: Saying about me?

MRS. PACKARD: Of course they wouldn't say it to you--

DIANA: What wouldn't they say?

MRS. PACKARD: It is so much easier to flatter than to say disagreeable things--

DIANA: People are saying disagreeable things about me?

MRS. PACKARD: You haven't heard?

DIANA: No, but I should certainly like to know--

MRS. PACKARD: Of course you would; any young girl like you--but my dear, do you really think you should come to this house--

DIANA: Come to this house? Why, Enid and I went to school together, she is one of my oldest and best friends--

MRS. PACKARD: Best--did you say?

DIANA: You doubt it?

MRS. PACKARD: After what she said?

DIANA: She said something to make you doubt her friendship to me--surely you are mistaken--

MRS. PACKARD: My dear girl, I have eyes and ears--I can see and hear--

DIANA: What did Enid say?

MRS. PACKARD: She said she wished you had married one of the boys before they went to war--

DIANA: Oh, that--

MRS. PACKARD: You admit it! And still you come here--that is what people say--

DIANA: What do I admit? I don't follow your reasoning--I don't see--

MRS. PACKARD: Of course you don't see--love is always blind.

DIANA: Love! We haven't said a word about love--

MRS. PACKARD: Of course not, it is a delicate word to use and in this matter it is--well, the world does not think it becoming--

DIANA: (Indignantly) Mrs. Packard I do not understand your innuendos--tell me the plain facts--what are people saying--and what has love got to do with it?

MRS. PACKARD: Mr. Haldeman.

DIANA: (Laughs) Felix?

MRS. PACKARD: And you!

DIANA: I?

MRS. PACKARD: They couple your names together.

DIANA: (Furiously) They say that Felix and I--it is a lie--

MRS. PACKARD: It doesn't make any difference if it is a lie--the point is what people say--

DIANA: The people who say such things have rotten little minds that haven't enough brains to entertain themselves--

MRS. PACKARD: (Shocked) My dear Miss Chesbrough--

DIANA: And you're just the same repeating such slander--

MRS. PACKARD: (Angrily) You insinuate that I am one of the--

DIANA: I do.

MRS. PACKARD: You have insulted me!

DIANA: Not more than you have insulted me!

MRS. PACKARD: (Furiously) Miss Chesbrough, you will suffer for this! I tell you something in all friendliness of spirit to protect you from the slanders of the world and then you reward me by--

DIANA: You listen to idle tounges and then you come and rob me of my happiness--by putting poison into my mind--

MRS. PACKARD: I was telling you the truth, but people do not thank you for telling them the truth--

DIANA: I am the one who knows what the truth is! I know that Enid and I are friends and that Enid and Felix and I are friends and that is all. Felix adores Enid, he would never care for any other woman--

MRS. PACKARD: Oh, wouldn't he? Does the world know more than Mrs. Haldeman herself? It does not! Just a few moments ago in this very room she told me herself that she wished you had married because she knows that Felix is in love with you--she pretends to be your friend but in her heart she hates you--

DIANA: It's not true!

MRS. PACKARD: It is not pleasant to argue with you, Miss Chesbrough. I shall find my hostess and make my excuses and not stay to dinner-- (Exit up center.)

DIANA: (Goes as if to follow her) If I have been too utterly rude, I humbly apologize but I cannot allow you to circulate such outrageous--

FELIX: (Enters from down left) Hello, Diana, when did you get here? Want to help me mix the cocktails? (Goes to side table and begins to mix drinks.)

DIANA: Felix, a terrible thing has happened--they talk about us!

FELIX: Who is they and who is us?

DIANA: People are talking about you and me--

FELIX: (Mixing cocktail) Why, what have we done? Do you like a drop of orange bitters?

DIANA: You're not taking it seriously.

FELIX: But what is there--

DIANA: That's just it--what is there--if there really were something-- (She watches him anxiously.) It's most embarrassing for me--I don't know how to say it to you--

FELIX: My dear Diana, you can say anything to me--haven't I proved myself a real friend--

DIANA: But if what they say is really--true--

FELIX: Don't you know whether it's true or not--

DIANA: I thought I did--but after she said it I began to wonder--

FELIX: Wonder what?

DIANA: (Hesitates) Oh--

FELIX: Out with it!

DIANA: You know I love Enid--

FELIX: Why, you've grown up together--

DIANA: I wouldn't hurt her for worlds--

FELIX: No, you trump!

DIANA: So do you love her more than any one else--don't you?

FELIX: Of course--but--

DIANA: (Horrified) Don't say but--

FELIX: But why--

DIANA: Why did you say "but"--

FELIX: Did I say "but"? I don't know, what was I saying--

DIANA: You said of course--BUT--

FELIX: I don't remember--you have me all confused--

DIANA: You don't think I'm in love with you, do you?

FELIX: Great Scott, do they say you are in love with me?

DIANA: You never have thought have you--

FELIX: I'm not so conceited to think I could--

DIANA: Ah, then--but--

FELIX: Well, now, what, but--

DIANA: Are you in love with me?

FELIX: (Shouts) No!

DIANA: Thank goodness! But--

FELIX: What--

DIANA: That's what they say--

FELIX: That I am in love with you--

DIANA: And that I am in love with you--

FELIX: And--

DIANA: Exactly!

FELIX: Holy smokes!

DIANA: But it's not true!

FELIX: (Shouts) No!

DIANA: But they say it's true!

FELIX: And what they say--

DIANA: Amounts to the same thing--

FELIX: What can we do?

DIANA: That's what I'm asking you--

FELIX: Go straight to Enid--

DIANA: But Enid believes it!

FELIX: Nonsense!

DIANA: She said so--

FELIX: What "she" said so?

DIANA: Mrs. Packard said they all say it.

FELIX: How do they know?

DIANA: They don't, but they think they do so it amounts to the same thing.

FELIX: But Enid can't believe it--

DIANA: But there's proof that she does believe it--

FELIX: It's too absurd--

DIANA: Mrs. Packard said that Enid said that you said you were in love with me or something like that--and that Enid hates me--

FELIX: That's not true, I know she likes you--

DIANA: But Mrs. Packard wouldn't dare say anything--

FELIX: She said Enid hates you--

DIANA: Perhaps Enid does--perhaps she is jealous over nothing at all--perhaps she has been imagining things--perhaps she does hate me--perhaps she too has been saying things--making it seem as if--

[She stops as Enid enters followed by Mrs. Packard center.]

ENID: Diana, Mrs. Packard says you insulted her and that she feels she cannot stay for dinner--

DIANA: I apologized to Mrs. Packard but she would not accept my--

MRS. PACKARD: Ah, you do admit you insulted me--

DIANA: Only after you insulted me!

MRS. PACKARD: You hear, Mrs. Haldeman? It is just as I said, she accused me of insulting her when I was trying only to be kind and giver her a little motherly advice--

DIANA: Mrs. Packard took it upon herself to repeat some things that people are saying--things that are manifestly untrue--

ENID: Whether they are true or not--it is highly unpleasant for me to have this altercation in my house--

DIANA: I can tell by your voice that you are willing to believe that woman--

MRS. PACKARD: Mrs. Haldeman, I resent being called that woman--

DIANA: I don't care what you resent--you've come in and spoilt a beautiful friendship I've had all my life and I don't care what I call you--

ENID: But in my house--my guests--

DIANA: Don't worry--I shall not be your guest another moment--I'm going-- (Starts.)

ENID: No, Diana, I can't let you leave in--anger.

DIANA: But I do--I leave with my heart black against you for listening to what she said--

MRS. PACKARD: What did I say?

DIANA: You said that Felix and I were in love with each other and you insinuated that--

MRS. PACKARD: I never said such a thing in all my life!

DIANA: Mrs. Packard! Why just a few moments ago in this very room you--

MRS. PACKARD: I never said such a thing in all my life!

DIANA: Can you look me straight in the eyes and tell me you never said it?

MRS. PACKARD: I never said it! never, never, never!

DIANA: Didn't you tell me that you have eyes and ears and that you can see and hear--and that everybody was saying--

MRS. PACKARD: But what everybody else says isn't what I say!

DIANA: Didn't you tell me that Felix was in love with me--

MRS. PACKARD: I didn't know that! She told me that! (Turns to Enid.)

ENID: I never told you that!

MRS. PACKARD: Why, my dear, you did! In this very room, a few moments ago--

ENID: I never said such a thing in all my life--and how can you imagine--

MRS. PACKARD: I imagine nothing! I know what I see and what I hear and you certainly told me that you ought to know all I had heard so you could protect yourself. So I told you in a friendly way, trying to be a help and there we are.

DIANA: (Bitterly) Yes, where are we?

MRS. PACKARD: You have no one to blame but yourself.

DIANA: We have no one to blame but you--

ENID: MRS. PACKARD, I didn't know I had to protect myself--until you insinuated--

MRS. PACKARD: Why, it was you yourself who said that he wanted to marry her--

ENID: I said nothing of the sort. I said that he said--

[All women turn simultaneously upon Felix who up to this time has refrained from meddling in the quarrel. He is confused by this sudden demand upon him and answers foolishly.]

FELIX: I don't know what you're talking about.

MRS. PACKARD: Didn't you say to your wife that you wanted to marry Miss Chesbrough and didn't--

FELIX: I never said such a thing in all my life and whoever said it got it out of whole cloth!

MRS. PACKARD: He denies it of course.

DIANA: He has to deny it. To admit it would be false.

MRS. PACKARD: Whether it was true or false he would have to deny it.

DIANA: Why would he have to deny it?

MRS. PACKARD: Because the ethics of a gentleman would make him deny it in order to protect you--

DIANA: (Raging) So it doesn't matter whether it is true or not--nothing we can say or do can wipe out the miserable thoughts in your mind--

MRS. PACKARD: Not my mind! Everybody's mind! I have nothing to do with it!

DIANA: Enid, can't you stand up and defend us?

MRS. PACKARD: Ah, you admit you must be defended.

DIANA: The whole world has to be defended against women like you! If you were in my house I'd show you the door. Enid, show her the door and prove that you trust Felix and me, that you know there isn't and never has been anything between us but the most innocent friendship--you don't move, you don't trust me--

ENID: I have always trusted you--I never had the slightest suspicion--but perhaps I have been blind--perhaps the world has been able to see better from the distance and understand--

FELIX: Are you going to take the world's word against ours? Are you going to believe a silly gossip and let one minute of slander outweigh the love and loyalty you've had from Diana and me for a lifetime--

MRS. PACKARD: Why don't you tell your wife you love her?

FELIX: I love my wife but I do not see any reason to make a public statement of it. I stated that publicly when I married her. She knows I love her--don't you--

ENID: Do I?

DIANA: He adores you--

FELIX: Don't you know it--

ENID: But Diana is pretty and--

DIANA: Felix! I leave this house--forever! Thanks to you, Mrs. Packard, I have lost two friends who meant more to me than even the world's opinion. I shall never see either of you again!

FELIX: Diana, come back! It is too outrageous to allow such contemptible gossip to break your friendship with Enid.

MRS. PACKARD: You see he does not want her to go--

DIANA: It would never be the same between Enid and me again.

FELIX: I do not want her to go because I do not want to have an evil tongue like yours triumphant! If you had come into our home and stolen our silver you would be less a thief than you are now. New silver can be bought--but tarnished friendship can never be bright again. You caused this by your malicious remarks about my regard for Miss Chesbrough.

MRS. PACKARD: I didn't say it.

FELIX: Pardon me, you did!

MRS. PACKARD: I didn't say it, she did. (Turning to Enid.)

ENID: I didn't.

MRS. PACKARD: You did.

ENID: I didn't.

DIANA: What does it matter how it happened! It's done! Done! Our friendship is over but--I won't go without leaving my memory here white and clean--I don't care what the world believes but I want Enid to know I've never had a thought against her--and so I'm going to tell the truth even though I would rather have died than tell this before--

MRS. PACKARD: Ah, now we will hear something--

FELIX: Diana, be careful--you are under no obligations to--

ENID: (To Felix) So you know what she is going to say?

DIANA: No, he doesn't know. It is my secret. No one else has known. There is only one man I love or ever have loved and he's over there.

MRS. PACKARD: She's making it up, a likely story--

DIANA: I'm not making it up! If you don't believe me I'll have to tell you his name--

FELIX: No, no, Diana, it is not fair to demand that of you--

DIANA: They will not believe me--but I'll do anything for Enid--she'll have to know. It is Aubrey Laurence.

MRS. PACKARD: Aubrey Laurence! He wanted to marry you--

ENID: It's true he did--But Diana wouldn't--

MRS. PACKARD: Why wouldn't you?

DIANA: Because I did.

FELIX and ENID: You married him?

DIANA: (Takes wedding-ring from chain about her neck) Yes! I married him, the last day before he sailed--

MRS. PACKARD: But your family didn't like him--

DIANA: That's why I didn't tell them, but you can go now and tell them yourself, Mrs. Packard.

FELIX: Aubrey Laurence! Did you really, Diana?

MRS. PACKARD: He hasn't any money.

FELIX: But he's straight to the core! I'm awfully glad Diana!

ENID: So am I, Diana! Forgive me!

DIANA: There's the door, Mrs. Packard, and the world outside is waiting to hear the latest gossip!

MRS. PACKARD: I'll go, my dear, because I've offended you and I know you are not ready to forgive me, but I promise not to breathe it to a soul--not to a soul--

[Exit up center in such a way that one knows she is excited and eager to tell it to everyone she meets.]

ENID: Diana, I'll never forgive you for not telling me you married Aubrey. Why didn't you tell me that you married Aubrey?

DIANA: But I didn't.

FELIX: You didn't?

ENID: But you said--

DIANA: Oh, what I said! It doesn't matter what I said--

ENID: But she'll tell everyone.

DIANA: Of course she will--

ENID: But if it's not true--

DIANA: It might be true--

ENID: But it's not--is it?

DIANA: I told you it wasn't--

ENID: But now I don't know whether to believe you or not--

DIANA: Nor will other people know whether to believe her or not--

FELIX: But when Aubrey hears of it--Diana--what will he think--

DIANA: He will wish that it were true--

FELIX: But what will he say about you--

DIANA: He will say that I wish it were true--

FELIX: And do you?

DIANA: I do!

ENID: Have you found out since he left that you really love him--

DIANA: Madly--madly--madly--

FELIX: (Teasingly) Shall I cable him that?

DIANA: I have already.

ENID: You haven't!

DIANA: I have. I'm going to marry him by proxy.

FELIX: (Offering glass) Do have a cocktail on that.

ENID: But when we tell people you married him by proxy after Mrs. Packard has told them you are married already, what will people say?

DIANA: (Takes cocktail with a smile) What will people say? In any case, exactly what they choose!

CURTAIN

A book based on letters between Well Beck and Levy two of controversial people in Franc.NYT

2011-01-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

A letter from Mr. Houellebecq opens this book, and he comes out swinging. He calls Mr. Lévy “a philosopher without an original idea but with excellent contacts.” He adds: “A specialist in farcical media stunts, you dishonor even the white shirts you always wear.”

Mr. Houellebecq then begins to punch himself, sarcastically, in the face. “Basically, I’m just a redneck,” he writes. “An unremarkable author with no style, I achieved literary notoriety some years ago as the result of an uncharacteristic error in judgment by critics who had lost the plot.”

Mr. Lévy struggles to drag this conversation out of mud and self-pity, to discuss philosophy and literature and politics. But he ends up exulting, defensively, about the protests he’s led, the film juries he’s headed, the women he’s bedded. A not untypical observation from Mr. Lévy: “I also liked,” he writes, “having been one of the very, very few to have succeeded in traveling through the bush on board an improbable sort of rickshaw into the heart of the Nuba Mountains among people who hadn’t seen a white person since Leni Riefen

Mr. Houellebecq writes very well about the things you’d suppose he’d write well about — his anger at anti-smoking campaigns, how his writing leaves him in “a state of nervous exhaustion that requires several bottles of alcohol to get out of.”stahl

Here he is on (of all things) kids: “Few adults, very few, are aware to what extent children watch their parents, constantly on the lookout for some sign of how they should approach the world; how sharp and vibrant their intelligence is in the years leading up to the disaster of puberty, how quick to summarize, to draw broad conclusions. Very few adults realize that every child, naturally, instinctively, is a philosopher.”

A better title for this flickeringly engaging volume would have been, after Norman Mailer’s 1959 book, “Advertisements for Ourselves.” Mr. Lévy speaks for both men when he writes about his critics: “They have no effect on my narcissism. In the face of assaults, my ego is fireproof, shatterproof.”
These men can’t go on. They’ll go on.

Cell phone portability in India , it is simple and easy.

2011-01-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

India has started the number portability for cell phones and it is a tech day.For only 19 Rs( about 40 cents)
System is efficient and simple.You send and SMS to a given number and it sends a portability code.With this code you can port the number to any provider of your choice.It takes all control away from the providers and customer is locked in only for ninety days.
I can assure you if India Telecoms came to America it would eat lunch of Verizon and its all the cohorts.

Erotica in Pakistan.NYT risque writing

2011-01-07T06:27:00.001-08:00

Erotica used be part of underground literature in Pakistan till Zia made it illegal and un Islamic
One Author and publisher of erotica talks about escapes of a lesbian high powered woman who seduced poor young Girls.She took advantage of poverty and other taboos like alcohol consumption.Now it is coming back sort of in translated form in English writing.
I wonder If Mario Vargas LLosa could have survived in Pakistan.With his nudity and explicit language,he would have been banished to some back ward prison in backward regions of the place.One of the authors of Urdu erotica laments.

“I’m a machine, not a writer,” he said, looking down. “Unfortunately I’m an Urdu writer. If I wrote in English, I’d be a lord by now.

“Whatever has happened to this country has also happened to me. The country has become too expensive. Poets are not being born. Thinkers are not being born. If I write Sabiho Bano’s story again, she will kill the landlords for completely destroying the country. Or maybe she could have a daughter now. But she could never have a daughter.”

These political frustrations came across in Bano’s tantalizing woman hunts, including the bus journey:

“Now, when a 14-year-old girl reminds you of overripe fruit you know society has failed in its basic civic duties. Puberty before its time has its causes in specific societal evils, but if I start lecturing you on the flaws of our society, I’ll never get round to my own story.”
To date, Mr. Iqbal has written 150 novels and more than 300 short stories, mostly suspense and detective novels. But he cannot publish what he wants to, and feels more like a robotic tradesman than a creative spirit.

Just a poem on Khaddar

2011-01-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

GANDHI, KHADDAR (COTTON) AND ME

I purchased two meters of Khaddar,
Hand-spun and hand- woven cotton,
Day before yesterday…
It’s rough, bit costly… don’t care…

Many voices follow me
From the very moment I wore it…
Some ancient voices:
An old weaver, whose thumb was
Chopped by the British, desperately tries to sell
Products of Manchester Cotton mills… (1870)
A group of British Army leaders decide to
Make a memento with those chopped thumbs,
Dreaming: the Queen would congratulate!
‘Every Empire is an embodiment of greed’…
An old farmer, stares at the
Dried up cotton fields with dead eyes,
Zoom of the whip falls in his ‘slave’ ears…
Gandhi, fully clad in three piece suit, contempt
Himself while walking through the poor folk,
Not even properly clad with rags…
The panic of the British industrialists,
When Indians boycotted the extradite clothes
Listening to the call of Gandhi…
The boom of gunshots, shrieks, grunts…
The hymns while rotating the Charka...
'He Ram'... Gandhi writhe in pain,
‘The assassin is a Hindu, not a Muslim’:
Mountbatten shouts to the violent mob…
The yarns of Congress party leaders
Commemorating Gandhi on every birthday of
Gandhi in Congress houses across the nation…
Their starched white cotton clothes reverberate
The laughter of Monsanto executes,
Who convert the Cotton fields of India to shambles
With their genetically modified seeds…
The heart-rumble from a farmer who committed suicide…
The silent dream of an old man and family
Who weaved my shirt...
Our sweat join here…
Sweat recognizes sweat...

‘Sir, you should wash it before stitching…
You know, it is pure cotton, it will shrink…
Pure Khaddar shrinks,
Those who wear Khaddar become plump! ’
The sales girl told me…

Khaddar, it is a culture…
The most powerful weapon of Gandhi…
Symbol of self reliance and
Non-co-operation, purity and sacrifice…
An atom bomb to plunder globalization…

Sad,
Not even a single Congress man in India
Wear hand-woven Khaddar!
They all prefer the new generation Mill Khaddar…
New generation ‘Gandhi’s are of no exception…
When will the show the candour to tell
Their followers to abstain Mill Khaddar?
When will they save the lives of millions of
Hand loom weavers with such a move?

‘Never’
Gandhi breaks silence!
Kalavati laughs in the darkness...

premji premji

Cheap machine made Chinese saris is ending the glory of Banarasi sari.

2011-01-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

It is shame all the crafts are disappearing in the countryside of India .The crafts which were one of the reason for the Europeans to come to India is being challenged by new mercantile power china.It is no different than what Gandhi fought against.Sarvodya and Khadi are the pillars of self reliance or we will end up as a nation of computer call center labor without the base for manufacturing and agriculture.

We should learn from China and America and find a hybrid Indian solution for it.The ancient arts and crafts should be encouraged and new technologies should be developed to compete in today's connected world.India can be manufacturing hub with its English language and cheap and highly dexterous labor pool.It only takes Will and a national agenda.

Many in west and America want to help the democratic argumentative Indians bring up their standard of living.It is in the interest of the human race and demographics are governing it.

PS. It is important also for the wellbeing of Muslim population of Banaras many of who are weavers in the sari trade for generations.Many of India's craftsman are dalit and minority faiths.Protection of Sari trade may be step in Affirmative action.