India V China

Every where (most recently, Washington Post, Newsweek and Times Online) you read and listen, people are comparing India and China and the fact that India is a democracy while China is not. Whether the Indian democratic society that is bound by leftist leaders and by a need of having to please a coalition will be able to compete with a more flexible, focused Chinese autocracy that is not hesitant in wiping out everything that comes in its way. Which model do you think would you choose? Which is a better model to have for the long term?

May God bless India and Pakistan, and may God continue to bless the United States

Thank God for President Bush. He said these important words today. (Read the last line from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/international/asia/22cnd-prexy.html )

He requested God to bless India and Pakistan today while requesting Him to continue to bless the United States. He wouldn’t have lost some blessings for the United States if he had simply said “May God continue to bless the United States, India and Pakistan”. But that would have meant that God is already blessing India and Pakistan and hence no need for a special recommendation from the only person on this planet closest to God (as we all know God speaks to him directly and takes important advice from him every now and then). Also – we, the commoners, wouldn’t have a clue as to how much blessings HE has – so maybe He has to be conservative in his blessings.

And so as the president makes a special request on our behalf, all Indians and Pakistanis should bow down and say thank you Mr. President, for you remembered us in your prayers today. May God ALWAYS bless you, continue to bless the United States and bless India and Pakistan every now and then.

Our Farmer's Market.

Every Saturdays, apart from the regular habits of getting up late, a relaxed tea in bed and the likes, we have developed a love for our local farmer’s market which is not far from where we live. We make sure we have some cash in out pockets and we head to the large shed where the local farmers display and sell their produce. From a distance of more than a hundred meters, we could make out the hustle bustle inside the place.

After I parked the car this past Saturday, my wife mentioned a strange feeling that she gets – something that I agreed I have too – that of a strange nervousness and a strange excitement. In that large open building (I’ll take my camera the next time we go there) we interact with at least 2 to 3 dozen people, sharing our vegies and fruits, asking for change, asking for bags etc. Its an activity that takes some courage and getting used to if you haven’t done it before.

We get a lot of fresh vegies and at a very nominal price but the best thing of all is the sight of so many people at one place.

Valentine's Day!

So what exactly is this Valentine’s Day? Restaurants, Greeting Cards companies (think Hallmark), flower companies (think FTD) make a killing on this day – I read somewhere that it’s the 2^nd busiest day for the restaurants (Mother’s Day taking the top spot here). I guess it makes sense to assign days when you think about a certain member of your family. Like a program tells a mechanical robot when to blink, a set program on the calendar tells a materialistic and overly indulged society to stop and take some time out for their loved ones. So we have Mother’s Day, Father’s Day & Valentine’s Day. But wait - what about the poor brothers and sisters? Lets not even think about the grandparents, uncles and aunts.

Of course, being a materialistic society, it would have been blasphemous to leave the money factor out from the equation.

Actually, we discovered it’s a great day to do your groceries and do any other mundane tasks. The stores were practically empty and cashiers cheerful!

What did we do? We got a bottle of red and celebrated at home. In the day, we had a great laugh exchanging emails (me and my brother) about what each of us would write to our wives if we were to write a Valentine’s Day email .

Bob Cesca: EXCLUSIVE: First Photo of Cheney Shooting Victim - Yahoo! News

Here is the latest on the Cheney Shooting incident.
I somehow knew that there is something more than what is apparent in this whole incident.

Bob Cesca: EXCLUSIVE: First Photo of Cheney Shooting Victim - Yahoo! News

Today's Links:

As if enough hasn’t already been said about the cartoons of the Prophet – so I am not going to say much.

For the inquisitive – who have looked on Google and failed – the cartoons can be viewed here:

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698

The Philly Enquirer published one of the cartoons – and gave an explanation here:

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/13805804.htm

I also found this article of interest.

http://livecurrent.latimes.com/livecurrent/2006/02/kill_the_cartoo.html

Watch Inzamam obstructing the field

Here’s Inzi obstructing the field in the last One Day International against India (Feb 5^th 2006 in Pakistan). Somebody please tell him the rules first – Cricket is not just a game where a bunch of boys put bat on ball and run.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7291827629213340346&q=inzamam

This has got to be it!

This has got to be the funniest spam I received in a loooooong time:

“Former President Bill Klinton uses Voagra!”

What measures people take to get around my spam filters!

And sometimes they succeed – and I don’t really mind. Keep trying ...

The Australian: India pushes its own barrow [February 09, 2006]

An intersting comparison of an 'open' and a 'closed' society. Indeed, we don't hear much of what's going on inside China. Most of the time it's all positive news coming out - which is hardly realistic. For an investor, this paints a false picture as there is very less to properly judge the advantages and the disadvantages of investing in that country.

""Contradictions within the people," a Maoist euphemism covering anything from small, peace protests to riots involving thousands, are admitted to have totalled 87,000 last year, up from an already remarkable 74,000 in 2004. Beyond efforts to stop the news travelling by tightening internet censorship and clamping down on the more outspoken publications, the leadership cannot work out how to contain them. "

I did not hear about even 1 protest!

The Australian: India pushes its own barrow [February 09, 2006]