Tattooed shoulders and arms

Just a thought
Is this the declaration of one's beliefs to the world OR a reminder of one's beliefs

Perhaps, Many get it for 'coolness quotient'.

Hidden meaning of words we use in daily language

Mr. Jaiprakash Chouksey has intelligently reflected on the underlying meaning of words we use

Complete article available on http://digitalimages.bhaskar.com/mpcg/epaperimages/22022013/BP2819164-large.jpg

Why it matters to protest, if somebody creates public nuisance

It is a common refrain "I don't want to poke my nose in somebody's personal matters" when somebody misbehaves in public.
But if matters are sorted in public, are they personal anymore!

Ignoring a public wrong amounts to encouraging hooliganism.With the legitimacy provided by mute spectators It becomes 'fair game' and spreads quickly. It is only a matter of time before you would find yourself target of one.

The past serves an example :
Martin Niemöller wrote about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

On conspicuous consumption

I find it unusual that sometimes people strut off their latest gadgets.
An incident comes to mind.

Sometime back, I was at Bank making a demand draft for applying for MBA programme. While I was waiting to get my demand draft, a man in mid forties walked up to the cashier with a cheque, the ones which are present in the bank, asking to withdraw for going to the doctor. I saw the cashier give him a 100 rupee note, That is the sum he withdrew for going to the doctor.

It stands to reason that we live in a country where people go to the bank to withdraw money for visiting a doctor. How do they feel when some of us feel an indomitable need to show we have arrived?

Moral of the story: Etiquette cannot be regulated.

Crash (2004)

Over a thirty-six hour period in Los Angeles, a handful of disparate people's lives intertwine as they deal with the tense race relations that belie life in the city.

Among the players are: the Caucasian district attorney, who uses race as a political card; his Caucasian wife, who, having recently been carjacked by two black men, believes that her stereotypical views of non-whites is justified and cannot be considered racism; the two black carjackers who use their race both to their advantage and as an excuse; partnered Caucasian police constables, one who is a racist and uses his authority to harass non-whites, and the other who hates his partner because of those racist views, but who may have the same underlying values in his subconscious; a black film director and his black wife, who believes her husband doesn't support their black background enough, especially in light of an incident with the racist white cop.

Beautifully crafted movie. No short-cuts taken.

Stars: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Michael Pena

Details taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/

Verity

My friends often ask me - Of the two ways in life, Why do you always choose the difficult one?

I ask them - Why do you see two ways?

-Anonymous

Interpretation : 

It talks about eternal verities such as honor, love, truth, honesty. There are no two ways about these regardless of the costs.

Some may argue otherwise that 'Wealth' trumps everything. So actions should be taken to maximize  profits even at the the cost of cheating others, But little do they realize they have mistaken arrangement for friendship and alliance for love.

Calvin on skiing

How a tornado went through a scrape yard creating a Boeing plane

One of the big arguments put in favour of existence of god is
"You see, how incredibly complex life-forms are. How much effort would it have taken to create us? Do you think we could be created without efforts of an invisible hand. If you don't believe in an invisible hand.You are  saying: A tornado went through a scrape yard and assembled a Boeing airplane."

The above argument appears gripping argument for existence of a divine being But it fails on its own premise to truly comprehend the efforts involved in development of complex beings like us.

We are a product of millions of years of recorded history. We started off as a pool of mixture of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur etc. all atoms gamboling around when two atoms collided under appropriate conditions (say hydrogen and oxygen) and made water which was more stable compound. Atoms interact with one another (called reaction) for benefit of stability. Atoms reacted to form molecules. Molecules combined to form DNA's, RNA's etc. creating a first single celled life to come into existence in which every molecule served a purpose and existed. As time progressed we became more complex with more cells interacting with each other to create ever complicated life forms.We humans are ourselves a lot of organisms working in tandem. For example the bacteria in our stomach help us digest food.

In coming to the present form was not an instant creation of tornado, the so called tornado blowing through the scrape yard of hydrocarbons blew for a million years and more to make us what we are - a set of atoms co-ordinating with each other.

Hence, it stands to reason "A tornado can assemble a Boeing plane in a scrape yard, Just give it time." :)

My Interpretation of Karl Sagan's idea of "us".

All things bright and beautiful

The resplendent sun

A nation of faith

Religion is the opium of the masses - Karl Marx

We are a nation with about 83.6 crore (77% of population) surviving on less than 20 rupees a day, But still to my amazement Crowds gather and vote when one Mr. Owaisi (an elected MLA) declares: "His faith makes people braver than others, Only if Police give him an opportunity to show that"

Never mind, his community seems to have missed more on economic growth than others accounting for twice (22.6%) occupancy in jails than its population (10.6%). But well Mr. Owaisi is the knowledgable leader of masses, who visits London for medical treatment. He must be more well-informed on the issue.

Not to be outdone Mr. Togadia declares his faith's strength by the bodies piled up by his followers.

Both leaders are banking on the fact that "Faith will provide 2 square meals to the 83 crore Indians", perhaps reasonably so because it is providing feasts in their homes, at least.

As Mark Twain put it in his book Following the Equator: "It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes…. enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining."


Source:
'Most Indians earn less than Rs 20/day in India' accessed on 10 Feb 2013, 10 pm
More Muslims in Maharashtra and Bengal prisons than Gujarat accessed on 10 Feb 2013, 10:30 pm
After Owaisi, it’s Togadia’s turn to make hate speech accessed on 10 Feb 2013, 10:40 pm

;)

The new judge in town

Interesting choice of words:
Mallya’s holding company will get Rs.2,400 crore from Diageo.
Though Mallya has not publicly said so, he is expected to use at least some of the proceeds of the Diageo deal towards debt repayment and equity infusion in his grounded Kingfisher Airlines.

Who is expecting Mr. Mallya to do that? Is this Media speculation? Reminds me of posts by some people on facebook, a while back, which labeled Sachin a Congress sycophant for taking retirement to divert attention for UPA government because UPA nominated him to Rajya Sabha. Do the people think that Sachin should ask them before retiring, since they watch his matches.I wonder, Why should Sachin be answerable to public for his retirement? It's his life, it should be his decision. Perhaps, we need to stop trying to decide for famous people, what they should do in their life.


Also true for court cases where media declares who is innocent and who is guilty while case is still going on in courts. This makes so much more difficult for courts to deliver judgement. Is Media, the new judge ?




Personal freedoms are sacrosanct

Martin Niemöller wrote about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. 

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Sugar

Beautiful song and video!

Research has proven a direct relationship between consumption of sugary drinks and an increase in obesity, which promotes diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and many other health problems.

Health :

An extra sugary drink each day increases a child’s risk of obesity by 60% (The Lancet, 20010)

Drinking one or two sugary drinks (such as Pepsi, Coca Cola, etc.) per day increases your risk for type 2 diabetes by 25%.
Diabetes can lead to erectile dysfunction.
Diabetes in the cause of more than 60,000 amputations a year (U.S. Centers for Disease Control)

Beauty :
The sugars and acids in soda promote tooth decay (Surgeons General’s Report on Oral health, 2000)

So it's not advisable to make a habit of consuming such drinks regularly.

Detailed plot : Why the bears? What's the story exactly?
http://www.popisms.com/TelevisionCommercial/64595/Center-for-Science-in-the-Public-Interest-an.aspx

Wise words

No one else will accept you if you don’t love yourself.You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.